3 Months, Good News, and Love Day

I guess I'll start off with talking about Makayla since we all know that's what you are here for! ;) hehe!

Makayla turned 3 months old two days ago!! My baby is growing up so fast!

Such a happy girl!

Since she is 13 weeks old, I will tell you 13 things about our little punkin!

1. She weighs 11 pounds 4 ounces, according to my scale--getting big! :) However, 3 month old clothes still drown her most of the time! 

2. She has been smiling and cooing more than ever, but still no laughs--I can't wait for that day! 

She was telling me a good story when I took this picture!

3. She absolutely LOVES music! If I need to get anything done, I just lay her down on the floor or in her swing, turn on some music (any kind), and she'll be happy for however long I am busy!

4. Her favorite toys--her play mat, swing, Violet the dog, and her baby rattles. She still doesn't really reach for things on her own--she hasn't quite found her hands yet--but she does hit and grab things randomly and gets so excited when she does!

5. She has become quite squirmy lately...long gone are the days where she will just lay contently, cradled in my arms! No--she likes to be facing outward (definitely not cradled unless she is eating or sleeping) looking every which way and interacting with people.

Silly Girl!

6. She tracks REALLY well now! I could walk across the room and behind her and she will try to turn all the way around! And don't get me started on the TV! We can't really have the TV on while she is in the room because she will do whatever it takes to turn to see it! Little stinker!

She is so beautiful!!

7. She isn't very impressed with peek-a-boo...she looks at me like I'm retarded and that she totally knows that I'm not really disappearing.

8. She hates tummy time and her feelings get seriously hurt when I make her do it. She will cry and stick her little bottom lip out all sad-like! She already knows how to tug at my heart! But I try my best to do it a little bit each day! She is getting really good at holding her head up while on her tummy, though!

See what I mean? She hates it! I love this picture, especially
with little Brielle in the background!!

9. She LOVES her binky...I don't know where I'd be without that thing!

Yes we were being bad and had her in her bumbo on the couch.
We were all right there though, and she wasn't in it long...
don't judge me ;)

10. She still loves bath time! She gets one every night as part of our bedtime routine and it really works wonders at settling her down for the night! Speaking of bedtime, for the past two nights she has slept from 8:30pm-4am...HOLY COW! That's 7 1/2 hours (and then she turns around and sleeps from 4:30-8:30am)! I attribute this amazing feat to our consistent bedtime routine and our Leapfrog Violet doggy! The bedtime music on that thing makes Makayla zonk out! Amazing!

11. I finished breast feeding a couple weeks ago and started pumping and giving her a bottle. It was initially a hard transition--she had difficulties taking the bottle--but now she is a champ! I quit pumping a few days ago and she is now being exclusively formula fed. Her poop stinks. That is all. No but seriously, she is eating more ounces less frequently which makes for a happy mommy! I loved breastfeeding, but the convenience of a bottle of formula is heaven! All I can say is at least she got 3 months worth of breast milk! Maybe next time around I'll make it longer!

12. Today I put her down on top of a blanket on our bed (not quite sure if she was on a bunched up part of the blanket or not) but I walked away for a minute and when I came back she was on her belly. So one way or another she rolled over. Crap.

13. She has everyone wrapped around her little finger! Everyone can't help but fall in love with her chunky cuteness! Even George will go to her when she is crying and lick her face! My nephew, Braxton (2 years old), seems to be really interested in her! He calls her "baby Lalayla" and wants to hold her when we are visiting!

Top Left: My nephew Braxton holding "Lalayla"
Top Right: Grampy thinks she'll be a sporty girl...they were watching racquetball
Bottom Right: Finally got an up-to-date picture of Makayla and Grammy! 

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So...a LOT has happened since my last post, kind of crazy how that works!

First of all, I got a job! I had two interviews on the same day last month--one at UVRMC and one at the Heber hospital. I really didn't want the Heber one, since it was a full time position, but I decided to do the interview for practice. And they loved me. (And I must say--I rocked that interview :)) I got the job offer a couple days after my interview, and after a LOT of thinking, I decided to accept the offer despite the full time status. My decision to work has been one of the hardest decisions of my life and I get pretty emotional every time I have to leave her. But I know that our time now is more precious than ever (sorry about getting all sappy), and because of this sacrifice, we will be able to settle down, buy a house and build a more stable life (plus, it's only three 12-hour shifts a week).

So how is the job going, you ask? Great! Once I get to work and become too busy to think about my sadness incurred when I left Makayla, I have a great time. I feel like I get to utilize the skills I learned in nursing school much more frequently than I had at my previous job. Oh, and my co-workers are seriously awesome!--they are all so friendly and inviting (which actually surprises me, being in Heber and all!). Now, enough about me!

Branden's job is going really well! Last week he finished his training and is now able to work on his own. I've said this before and I'll say it again--he is seriously so happy with UHP! I'm so grateful he was able to switch over! Oddly enough, it feels like I have so much more time with him than before! Hmm..

So the biggest news of the month is that we have decided that we are going to build a house. For the past 2 1/2 months we have been searching for a house to buy. There isn't much out there (in Heber) that we can afford that isn't a short sale (which have 3-4 different people fighting for them) or 100 years old. It is CRAZY how much people think their old run-down crap is worth. So we found a building company (thanks to one of my co-workers) that is really great--so we are going to take the 5-6 month plunge to get-er-done! SO excited! We are still in the processes of figuring everything out, but I really hope it works out!

Last but not least, today is Valentine's Day, but Branden and I celebrated it yesterday since he had to work tonight. He was so sweet and surprised me with roses and some yummy fudge! I gave him a bucket full of candy with sayings stuck to them (ie: "You stole PIECES of my heart" [reese's pieces] and "You are the STAR in my eyes" [starbursts], "You are one HOT TAMALE," etc) We brought home KFC chicken (high class, right?) and set up our air mattress in the living room and had a sleepover (an idea I stole from Dating Divas!) It was super fun! Interesting side note: Today we have been married for 2 1/2 years...time seriously flies!

Makayla says Happy Valentine's Day!!

Life is finally calming down for us---in a sense! Branden and I are both starting the careers we are going to be in for a long time, we have the perfect baby girl, a really good dog, and we will hopefully have a house by the end of summer that we can settle in to! I feel like very soon I'll be able to finally take a deep breath, relax, and live!