All Things Amelia

She weighs 17 lbs 11 oz. She gained almost 2 lbs in 1 month. Phew!

Does she look like she's chunking up?

She bonded with her Aunt Kelly. It was their first time meeting.

She loves the pediatrician's aquarium.

Even when she got her shots, she only cried for 10 seconds. Happy baby.

Isn't the coat to die for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Years, Me and The Husband

Every day I watch re-runs of the Match Game on the Game Show Network. I love that show. Almost every contestant is a housewife and they all gush about they're wonderful husbands. I wish I could go back to 1975 and be on that show just to say, I'm married to a rotten husband. I'd love to hear the audience gasp.

May I dedicate this post to my 'rotten' husband, Juan.

We are not together today for our 5 year anniversary, Juan went and scored himself a job interview out of state.

Consequently, we celebrated a week early. At a breath-taking hotel in Park City, gorgeous. Our anniversary is at a brilliant time, 1 week before ski season. Great deals this time of year.

We shopped, ate, watched 4 minutes of Sleepless in Seattle before we both fell asleep. Mills was there with us, couldn't let her miss out on the fun.

Me and Juan, we're pretty good together.

And Mills, she couldn't let her dad miss out on anything while he was gone. So at 8:55 pm last night, she pulled out all the stops and introduced us to what we like to call the swim-crawl.

Things I am Loving

I'm only 38 pages in, but I am loving it. I thought it was a Sci-Fi like Star Wars or something. But I am feeling more of a Hunger Games vibe.

This little number that is on its way in the mail for Amelia. I love winter sometimes.

Her new tub! She can sit up in it, but I don't have to hover over the bathtub quite yet. As you can see, she loves it too.

Olivia the Owl. It is the cutest little carseat toy I have ever seen. Saw it on someone else's carseat at Target and I had to have it. Ordered it on Amazon for only $10.

Home-made baby legs. My friend Angie sent me some when Amelia was born. I picked up these 2 new knee socks at Target for $1.50 each and copied hers to make my baby legs! Technically my mom did the sewing, but I could have done it. Afterall, I am a seasoned sew-er.

This is halloween, this is halloween

This is my favorite church dress/tights combo yet. And for Halloween day, Perf.

Our little sweetheart was a ladybug for Halloween, of course. How can you resist a cute ladybug costume for your baby girl? It just can't be done.

We had a family party and Millie just drank in all the people and kids and their crazyness. She is so reserved and shy. Her little smiles are so sweet, and she is giving them more freely now.

And starting on Halloween day, she learned to clap. I clap with her every day, especially during her feedings. And she's been studying my movement. Well she decided it was time to perform. Here's a cute little video. She gets SUPER excited and gets in a few claps.

She also loves when I pat her mouth while she's talking. She will go aaaaaah and lean into my hand and make me do it. She thinks it's so much fun. She is still rolling around and can manage to get anywhere she wants with a few rolls and some pivots on her tummy.

And I just quick have to brag about Juan. It is recruiting season at BYU and Juan is looking for a job for when he graduates this summer. He took a test to work for the IRS (one of my top choices, all those benefits!) and he got the results back today. They rated him as Superior. The very top notch, their first picks at interviews. I have been calling him Superior Juan all day. He's a genius.

Playing House

We are away this week. In a home. With a mini van and bikes on the front lawn. A fenced in backyard with a dog. And 5 kiddos. Sounds like a painting.

The kids (minus Amelia) belong to my brother. We are playing parents, the grown-up kind. With just one baby, I still feel like a kid myself. We live in a basement, we have 1 car, we can take Amelia everywhere with us and she adjusts. This 5 kid thing, phew, kids are busy. Soccer, piano, reading, homework, instruments, chores. I'm exhausted for them.

And like always, I want 5 kids of my own. Maybe even 8. I thought to myself the other day, I can't imagine a stage in my life where I wouldn't want a newborn baby in my home. I suppose I'll grow up and my life will progress with time, but really, I can't imagine it. I'm smitten.

Click

The past week or so, something in Amelia has clicked. 

• She is eating again! I think it must have been teething, she still hasn't popped her first tooth. But now she will open her mouth and eat the food, even if it doesn't seem like she enjoys it. At least she's cooperating!
• She laughs when we tickle her now. And then cries when it gets too much.
• She plays peek-a-boo and cracks up.
• She smiles a whole lot. Before it was hit and miss. Now I feel like she smiles anytime I want her to.
• She tries to click her tongue like us. And she is still doing her shy, hand-by-her-side, very delayed wave.

 We went to our favorite park this weekend. Here are some more happy swing shots. Aren't they extra fun with her in the pictures?

 She'll get the hang of our self-taken family pictures one day...

And Mills sat up by herself all day today and played. It's so funny, she acts like she's so busy fussing with all the toys around her and will not look up until I call her name a few times. She finally looks up at me like, can't you see I'm busy mom?

7 Months

Here are the stats:

• 16 lb 1.5 oz, skinny mini
• 27.8 inches, still tall
• And still a big head

No ear infection so that is good news. We need to work on her eating habits. She currently arches her back and tries to run away from anything on a spoon. Unless it is our grown up food, that she would climb over any obstacle for. Too bad almost everything we eat has meat or dairy that she cannot have yet. I will have to do meal planning now with her in mind. I am just going to try every day 4 times a day and she'll have to learn to love food, right?

Any advice out there for picky-eater babies?