(1) Wed May 04 2005 15:24: Lily is making leaps in progress. Mainly just mental and emotional progress. She is still crawling and getting better everyday, but I have mostly noticed little things about her personality changing lately. Like now when she is playing with something that is dangerous or that she might ruin and I take it away, she now realizes that I took something away from her. Whereas before I could take anything away and distract her with a new toy to play with instead. She is no longer satisfied with that. Also, she has been getting frustrated with us lately, or at least now we can tell when she is. She will clench her fists and shake them and grit her jaw and her little head starts trembling. It is so cute and hard to take her seriously when she does that.

I was just mentioning to Julie the other day that her toy basket is all filled with garbage. She loves playing with things that we use everyday, just random things. For instance there is a marker, an old chap stick, an old water bottle, paper, paper, paper (she loves eating paper), old magazine, our old cell phone with camera attachment, pieces of plastic that her book came in, old sunglasses, not to mention all her regular baby toys.

She is also naturally following a one-nap-a-day sleep schedule. This is ok by me, b/c now that she is 8 mos she can entertain herself and get around more, whereas before she could only just lay on her back or stomach and play with what you hand her so every other minute you had to fetch her toy. She also takes a 3 hour nap so I still get some stuff done. And now she is way more interactive and fun to play with. When we go on walks I can put her straight in the stroller facing out instead of her infant carrier clipped onto the stroller. She loves looking around and watching cars drive by.

I am not very glad, however, that she keeps waking up earlier and earlier every day. She is now waking up around 7:45-8:15, whereas before it was 8:30-9:00. At least I am getting used to it slowly and it hasn't been all the sudden. I do put her down at 7:00-7:30pm so all in all, I can't complain about her sleep schedule.

Fri May 06 2005 14:12 Role reversal: I left the house this morning for work and Aaron was watching The Ellen Show...and he makes fun of me, sheesh.

On another subject, I no longer have to brush my hair. I haven't brushed it since I got a perm. The only other time in my life my hair was easier to do was when it was super short, and I didn't have to brush it then either. I didn't have to use conditioner then either, but now I have to use a ton.

(1) Mon May 09 2005 14:02: Alyson and the boys have been in town, and we have been having fun. I am sad to see them go tomorrow. Tonight, though, we get to see John and Susie and hang out.

Tue May 10 2005 14:52: Yesterday, Lily pulled herself up to the standing position for the first time. She did it in her crib and then on the couch. Now today when I tried to put her down for a nap, she kept climbing up and standing there with her little eyes peeking over the bar just barely, waiting for me to come get her. I kept putting her back down, but sure enough when I checked on her 3 and 4 times she pulled herself up. Then she would bawl b/c she was scared to let herself down, but she got tired of holding onto the ledge. Every time I went in there, she was white knuckled holding on for dear life.

I think she learned how to pull herself up quickly b/c of her fun cousins who were able to walk and get around. She would watch and watch them mesmerized. I think she had a fun time with them. It was so cute b/c she kept wanting to give Samuel kisses.

(1) Wed May 11 2005 17:40: So yesterday Aaron surprised me with some gifts for Mother's Day. He forgot it on Sunday and I guess he felt bad and really made up for it yesterday. It was sweet b/c I wasn't expecting anything. I wasn't even mad he forgot about it on Sunday I guess because I had low expectations anyway and I didn't think he would remember. So he gave me a couple shirts from Old Navy and a really pretty pair of earrings from Argentos and some See's Candy chocolate truffles. All of the things were great, and I am glad Aaron knows how to shop for me. If all else fails with go with chocolate, jewelry, and clothes. I'm pretty predictable, huh?

The rain has been pretty bad here, but at least Aaron gets tonight off from work since the softball fields are flooding. I didn't get to go on my walk today, but I recently bought one of those exercising balls and workout video for that, so I worked out on the ball today. The first time I used it I was so sore from doing squats. Those things really work.

While Alyson was here I found out that Lily loves to bounce on my lap while I bounce up and down on the ball. Alyson did it with Samuel and Lily and she just loved it. She was smiling really big and you could hear her quiet laugh. She doesn't laugh much so when she does it is a treat. So today I bounced a lot with her. It is so cute now that she can pull herself up on things, she now crawls over to me and pulls herself up on my legs wanting me to pick her up. I adore this of course because it is so sweet that my baby wants me to hold her and now she can show it to me by reaching for me and crawling to me and pulling herself up on me. It just melts my heart.

Thu May 12 2005 17:52 Not a crumb in the cupboard: We have no groceries in the house, but I am trying to hold off till Monday before going shopping just to help get rid of some food creatively before we move. That usually helps clear the pantry pretty well. That and we don't have lots of money right now. We found out that Obra Homes wants to close on our house May 27th at which time a hefty down payment is due. I hope everything works out is all I have to say.

This morning I went for a walk, risking whether or not it would rain on me. I thought I better since I took a break from walking while Alyson and her boys were visiting. It only sprinkled a little at the beginning of it, but don't worry, Lily did not get wet. She was in her infant carrier attached to the stroller with blankets covering her up. I always get scared she is going to get sick from my walking in the winter but so far, I don't think the 2 1/2 times she was sick had anything to do with me, rather from her little cousins. I am very glad I went on the walk b/c it had been so long, and also because of the rain we have had- everyone's lawns had a complete make-over. Everything was so green and luscious; I love spring.

(1) Fri May 13 2005 11:08 The big 2-5: Happy Birthday Aaron!

Mon May 16 2005 15:22: I just filled up my gas tank, and it cost me $31.57! I am not happy about it.

(5) Thu May 19 2005 17:23: I've been fatigued lately. I have been wanting to go to bed at 10:30 instead of my usual midnight or so. I just run out of gas in the middle of the day. I wonder if it has anything to do with Lily waking up earlier now (at 7:45 :< ) or if has to do with her still waking up about every 3 hours for some odd reason. I guess everything is a trade off. We have a mild, good baby but she sleeps terribly. Maybe my next one will be really bratty, but will let me sleep through the night when they are almost 9 mos old! I can't blame Lily tough. Every time she gets close to sleeping pretty well, we get company and she gets kicked out of her familiar little nook in her room. I think I am also a little sick. Well, I know I am b/c I have a sore throat. I just hope it doesn't get bad b/c it is manageable right now.

I think Lily is teething again b/c she won't let my fingers go near her gums, and she has been a little tender and cranky lately. I hate when she teethes, it is so sad to see her in pain. She is getting so good at pulling herself up on things. She is also learning to alternate her legs when I hold her hands and walk her along the ground. Before she just had stiff legs and I ended up dragging them along the floor b/c she didn't know how to step.

I started listening to Da Vinci Code on cd and I am addicted to it now. I know some don't like it, but I am really getting into it. It reminds me of my humanities class I took and talking about the art works and different ideas and such in the class. It makes me miss school, and reminds me of why I love history so much. Maybe I just haven't come to the "blasphemous" parts in the book yet, but so far everything seems to be pretty logical and legit (besides the fact that it is a fictional story). Aaron got Angles and Demons from his brother for his birthday, so I want to read that after I am done with Da Vinci Code.

For Aaron's birthday I got him a new pair of dress/casual brown leather shoes, and a Dominos game we like to play at Dad's. He got from his mom spending money, and for family night we went to the mall on a shopping spree. Well, he did, but I lived out my want to spend money through him. Is it just me, or do you just feel sometimes like you just want to go shopping and get some cool nice stuff once in a while. You just need to spend some money and then you are straight? I feel like that once in awhile especially since lately we are on a budget and we haven't spent money on ourselves in a while except essentials. Anyway, it felt nice. Aaron bought himself some Xbox things, Carcassonne (a board game that is supposed to be like Settlers of Cattan), a year membership to Xbox live (don't ask me why someone would ever want this), a new Coleman cooler, cute spice bottles for our new house (ok, this is more of a gift for me, but Aaron liked them), a new belt, and what else...I think that is it.

He also got from his brothers a gift card to Cinemark (and free babysitting during the movie) and gift cert. to Cold Stone. Aaron couldn't wait to see Star Wars so he went and got tickets to the 10:30am showing tomorrow. I have never gone to a movie so early but it will be ok since we won't have to fight the crowd, and plus the babysitting can only be done in the day unless we wanted to deal with a tired cranky baby afterwards. So, that is about it for right now with us.

Fri May 20 2005 15:21 Official Review: Ok, Star Wars III was pretty dang good. I like the last 3, but the first two were pretty lame if you ask me. I am a tough critic when it comes to acting though. But the third one is not bad. Annikan's acting is better than the second one, which isn't saying much, so the movie overall was pretty good. And they did a good job wrapping it all up for the next 3. I recommend it in the theatres even if it is the dollar. We also saw some really good previews that made me miss being able to go to the movies a lot.

(2) Fri May 20 2005 15:42 Life is becoming unbearable. : Since the change in weather from nice and breezy with a slight chance of rain to desert hot, our house has been cooking. I told Aaron we have to get our window a/c out of storage and have it in by Saturday or I am going to die. In the evenings, now that the sun goes down at like 8:45pm, the house doesn't cool down till much later. Lily goes to bed in a onesie now instead of a sleeper. I hope she doesn't get hot. Why in the world did they build a house in the desert with no a/c I will never figure out.

(3) Fri May 27 2005 14:55: Not much has happened this week. Today, my work gets in free from 4-8pm at Seven Peaks Water Park. I thought it would be fun for Lily to play in the water. I hope it is not too cold. I am however, not excited to be in a swimsuit for the first time since having a baby. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get over my vanity. Speaking of Lily, she fell off the bed again. Man, it is so sad. At least this time she fell on a pillow so she didn't cry much, but she hit her chin on the nightstand before she fell. You'd think we'd learn by now.

Hmm, what else. Oh, I finished the Da Vinci Code. It is a good fast pace read. I didn't find it too offensive. I am a sucker for a conspiracy theory. Does that make me an untrusting person? I liked all the twist, but I figured one of them out. I also finished the last book in Chronicles of Narnia The Last Battle. I think C.S. Lewis must have taken the discussions or something b/c he knows the gospel.

(1) Mon May 30 2005 12:43 Memorial Day: I wonder if the Whitney's are going to do their annual tradition of visiting the Provo Cemetery this year since it is pouring outside. I would like to have gone with them, but I am working today. At least I get time and a half. We woke up this morning to a terrific thunderstorm. I love having rainy days once in awhile. Especially during the summer to cool everything off. Plus it is good for the toasted grass. Lily slept in till 9:00 too since it wasn't all bright outside.

Since I am working 8 hours today and am getting time and a half, I am treating myself to a Cafe Rio salad for lunch. They're the best!