Kevin

This past summer before leaving Seattle, Amy (Sally Palmer's daughter) gave me Kevin. Kevin is one of the Minions from the movie Despicable Me. Recently Matthew and I started playing "Where's Kevin?". It's a game where one of us hides Kevin somewhere around the house and waits to see how long it takes the other to notice. Here are some of the spots we have found Kevin:

2 weeks

E had her 2 week check up today and Dr. Robinson says she's perfect! Here are her stats:

Weight: 7 lbs 15.5 oz (She gained over a pound in one week!! 75th percentile)

Length: 21 inches (70th percentile)

I kind of had a sense that she gained a bunch of weight this week, so it is nice to know that I'm not too crazy. I am happy she is healthy, but I'm not ready for her to get bigger, although I know it is inevitable. 

Our challenge for the coming week:

Pumping and Bottle Feeding! 

Wish us luck!

Loves of Mine

For Valentines Day this year, I spent my day staring in awe and wonder at my new baby! She really is so beautiful I can't believe it! In the past Matthew and I have made it somewhat of a tradition to get a heart shaped pizza and go to the temple. This year we still went to the temple, but instead of a pizza we decided to invite our friends the Bosshardts over for some homemade Cafe Rio! It has been a long time since Matthew and I have made this and when we first met Kara and Justin we soon discovered that we all shared a love and very similar recipe for Cafe Rio's pulled sweet pork. We split cooking duties and all enjoyed a great meal!

Matthew and E got me a carnation which I thought was perfect. I have told Matthew in the past that he doesn't have to make a big deal out of V-day, but some recognition of the day is welcomed. A flower is a great way to be recognized. Unbeknownst to me, that was not all that was up Matthew's sleeve. After the Bosshardts went home, Matthew shared with me 101 reasons why he loves me. It was a very thoughtful list. He told me that he added it to the list of reasons why we know the other loves us that we have on a shared Google Document.

Our Favorite Things About E

EmmaLynn has been a part of our lives (outside the womb) just over a week now and we are amazed at how she has captured our hearts. It is astounding how someone so young and so small can have such a great impact and personality. Here are some things we are noticing about her:

- She is very content. We feel super lucky about this. She cries when she is hungry and when she is being changed sometimes, otherwise she is calm and happy.

- She is happy. She smiles all the time. Some have joked that this is because she has gas and that may well be, but I don't care. I can't get enough of her smiles. They very from small smirks to all out grins. There have even been a few times where she seems like she is trying to laugh, but no sound comes out!

-Hiccups. I swear she gets them after every feeding. Her entire body bounces.

- She makes faces. We can't get enough of them. She makes them in her sleep and when she is awake. It ranges from the beautiful smiles we talked about before to looks of sadness and of course the look of "what are you looking at?". She puckers her lips and wrinkles her forehead. She started doing this from the moment she arrived.

-She has a little spunk in her. I remember while in the hospital first trying to breast feed there was a time that she would latch on give 3-4 sucks and them come off. She would give all the feeding signs, but keep doing this and then after pulling away she would give this smirk like "fooled ya!" The nurse and I were laughing pretty hard about it even though it wasn't the most comfortable feeling for me.

- Boy is she a poopy baby! Matthew and I think that poopy is better than pukey though. Matthew thinks she conspires against him; she never fails to either pee or poop while he is changing her or to poop again just a few minutes after a new diaper is donned.

- She loves it when I play with her face. This is something she has in common with Matthew. I almost never fail to get a smile if a caress her face or ears.

First FHE

During the course of our marriage Matthew and I have failed to have an official Family Home Evening (FHE). We have been lucky enough to spend many nights of the week together and even when Matthew was working nights we spent at least 1-2 nights out of the week together. We have always believed in family time and many of our conversations dealt with our beliefs, how we want to shape our family and other worthwhile topics. But now that E is here we want to make sure we are consciously setting aside family time. For our first FHE we decided to go to the library and finally get the library cards we have been meaning to get since moving to Rochester. Along with our cards we checked out a book to read together (from the Percy Jackson Series) and a show we like to watch together (the 3rd Season of Downton Abbey). After the library we headed towards the grocery store to restock our kitchen. On the drive over we talked about the traditions each of our families had for FHE and talked about what format we would like to have. I think we both agree that we want every member of the family to be involved so that they feel a part, some sort of discussion about our beliefs, prayer, singing and of course some sort of snack. All of the details have yet to be written in stone, but all in all I think we made a good start!

Photo Shoot

Only a few days old and E has already been a part of a photo shoot! This is all thanks to my friend Gentri. After throwing me an awesome baby shower she asked if I would be willing to let her get some practice with her photography by letting her take some shots of E. I was excited about her offer and the chance to get some professional looking photos for free! I knew that Gentri would bring a few props because she said she had been dabbling in photography for a bit, but I did realize that to her dabbling meant full-on backdrops! It was all very exciting and the pictures turned out wonderful! I would say that Gentri could easily make money with her dabbling!