Paige: Six Months

This milestone has really hit me. I cannot believe Paige is six months and in another six months will be a year old.

Paige's personality keeps getting better. She has started reaching for and grabbing faces and I love it. She started leaning toward me when we are facing each other and when our foreheads connect she smiles. It's the best and makes my heart burst. She is the most ticklish on her back but I can get her to laugh by tickling her legs and toes and sides too.
Paige can sit up by herself but falls over after a little while. She has started to grab anything that is around her and it can be entertaining to watch her concentrate and try so hard. She has rolled over from her stomach to her back but isn't super consistent with it yet. And she has rolled from back to stomach on a bed, so we don't really count that. But Dan and I are fine with her being immobile ha. Having three kids to constantly keep my eyes on will be a challenge.
Paige drools a lot. She loves to suck on anything she can get her hands on. She found her toes today. I have enjoyed watching her play with them. She still loves sticking her fingers in her mouth, always at least two and sometimes more. We started giving her food a couple weeks ago. She has had sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, and apples. She didn't seem too fond of the bananas but ate the rest pretty well. The first two days were a challenge but she picked up on opening her mouth when the spoon came near pretty quick. It has gone better than it did with the other two but they were also a little younger when we started giving them food. She has stopped spitting up for the most part, which is nice.
Since she has started eating food she is back to sleeping for 10-12 hours at night. She was only doing 5-8 hour stretches (I know, I realize I am spoiled) for a week and it was not fun. She has done amazing being in her crib. I have really enjoyed nursing her too so I am happy to keep doing it.
Paige is still in size 2 diapers, but we will probably go up to 3s once we finish off the 2s we have. She is also already in 6-month clothes, some even 9 months ha. But it all works out because the 9-month clothes are the warm weather clothes I have from Hayley and Evelyn and it is getting warm here in Texas. She kind of freaks out when I put things over her head, she does not like it. She is a chubbers and we love it. Her leg rolls are just delicious.
Paige is still thee happiest little baby. She is truly an angel. She is content to just sit and be. It is nice when we need to attend to the other girls. She is also a champ at going down for naps or bedtime. I can put her in her crib and she will put herself to sleep. I sing "You Are My Sunshine" to her every time I lay her down to sleep because it is the perfect song for her. She gets so excited when she sees me after waking up. It does make me a little sad she doesn't fall asleep in my arms as much anymore. I love holding her while she sleeps.
When she gets excited she sticks her hands out and they just kind of shake. She will also breathe in and make the pterodactyl sound. It's fun to see what gets her excited. Sometimes she will do it when she is just playing by herself, I love it. She has also started making an o with her mouth. She fake coughs when she wants to be dramatic. If she hadn't been doing it for months my paranoid self would be worried it was corona or something.
We have finally started taking her outside more. Because it's always windy here she wouldn't be able to breathe very well when we'd go outside. Plus it was cold. It's fun for all of us to go out and enjoy some fresh air.
Oh, how we all enjoy and adore this sweet, little spirit!

Playing peek-a-boo through the window.

Picnic in the living room.

This onesie is from Uncle Matt and Aunt Andrea and came all the way from Paris.

Baby cleavage haha.

This poncho is one of my favorite baby items. Hayley and Eve both wore it too.

Hayley wanted to read Paige some stories in the teepee. She is a great big sister.

Third baby in this outfit from Aunt Nikkole.

Happy Easter!

Hayley made her a bed on the couch.

 

Dress from Grandma Susan.

Sojourn to Utah: March 2020

This trip didn't go how I imagined it would. Between having to cancel practically everything and an earthquake it was different, but thankfully we got to spend lots of time with family which is the real reason we go anyway.

March 12

We left Lubbock around 2:30. Dan had his MBNE for Major Organ System Physiology that morning and Hayley had preschool so we had lunch, finished loading things up, and then hit the road. We stopped in Fort Sumner so I could feed Paige and that was about the time that everything was going crazy with COVID-19. The NBA postponed everything and The Church was making a few announcements. I wondered if we should have turned around but I am glad we didn't. I drove us to Alburquerque where we got dinner from Chick-Fil-A and took it to a park that was close by so we could eat it there and let the girls run around a little. (And yes I made sure we wiped off and sanitized our hands before eating and after playing.) We left there around 8:30. Dan drove us through the night, only stopping for gas in Durango and then we made it to Kaysville around 6:30 AM.

March 13

We didn't tell the girls we were going to Utah. Hayley thought we were just going to Alburquerque for dinner and to play at the park and then turn around and go home. I think that was the last time we will be able to trick her, haha, but we shall see. So they woke up as we were driving on the street that leads to my parents. They were so excited! It was a fun surprise. I was hoping they would go back to sleep once we got there but nope. I fed Paige and was pleasantly surprised she made it from Alburquerque to Kaysville without needing to eat. I was a little worried we would have to stop in Spanish Fork or something. My Dad was up so he watched the girls after I got them breakfast so I could sleep. Matt, Andrea, and Beau came up in the late afternoon and we just hung out.

March 14

I was supposed to co-teach a HIGH Fitness class this morning but Paige did not sleep very well, our room was cold down in the basement, and since I didn't sleep very well in the car on the way here I decided to stay home and sleep in because my body was pretty tired. Super bummed that I didn't get to teach any of the classes I was planning on. We took family photos this evening. The original plan was to do them at the Bountiful Temple, so we met Allie there, but it was super windy and that made it a little chilly so we ended up going back to my parent's house and doing them there. We had dinner after and talked until it was time to go to bed.

March 15
We had our first at-home. Church experience at Paul and Becky's this morning. I am so grateful we are able to still partake of the Sacrament and renew our covenants. Paul planned our Church lesson and wanted to talk about Jacob 5, even though it was a week early. Each of the adults shared a couple experiences from our missions and it was cool to hear about them. Dan and Paul have shared experiences here and there but I don't know much about Becky's mission. The girls did pretty well and they had a coloring activity when we were done with our discussion. We ate lunch with them and then headed back to my parents to put the girls down for naps and spend more time with Matt and Andrea while they were in Kaysville. Dan and I went for a motorcycle ride after Matt and Andrea left. It was a great social distancing activity.

March 16
We spent the day at my parents and then went to Paul and Becky's for dinner. We played some games after dinner and then went home so we could get the girls in bed at a reasonable hour.

March 17
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Nikkole brought her Nintendo Switch over on Sunday and left it for us to use so Hayley has been enjoying Mario Kart. My Mom and I took Hayley and Evelyn next door to play on the neighbor's swingset (they don't have any little kids, it is for their granddaughter when she comes so it hadn't been used recently). It was fun to get outside and see the sun. Tonight I went to a friend's house and did HIGH Fitness on the driveway. We all stayed 6 feet apart and had a lax group workout. It was good for me to forget the world for a little bit.

March 18
Today started how I never want a day to start, or end or occur during any part of the day, again. Evelyn came down to our bedroom around 4:00 AM and I woke up a little before 7:00 and figured I would go sleep with Hayley so I could hear Paige in the room next door if she woke up. As I was about to fall back asleep I heard what I thought was a huge gust of wind, but it was an earthquake. The room started shaking and all I could think was that I needed to get to Paige because I didn't want anything to happen to her. My Dad was awake and I yelled, "What is happening?" And he yelled back, "Earthquake." Hayley woke up as I made it to the door frame and I told her to stay there. I made it to the next room's door frame, grabbed Paige, back to the door frame, and when I finally made it back to Hayley's room door frame the earthquake ended. I felt like I was walking on a boat that was rocking back and forth. I was dizzy and had a headache for the rest of the day. There was no going to back to sleep after that. My anxiety was already super high from all the COVID-19 stuff going on and now this?! I asked for a blessing that afternoon to help calm me down. Luckily we only felt 2 aftershocks and they weren't too bad.
Mike and Nikkole were over all day because Mike didn't have to go to work because of the earthquake. We had fun doing stuff with them and watched Jumanji 2 tonight.

March 19
I did not sleep well last night. My headache continued into the night and was pretty bad from around 1:00-3:00 AM. I was grateful that it was gone when I woke up. I honestly can't remember anything significant about this day and I didn't take any pictures ha.

March 20
We played some more Mario Kart this morning and then headed to Paul and Becky's house. Dan and I got to go for a cruise in Becky's mustang while the girls were napping, or supposed to be. They woke up while we were gone. That was fun. Becky got out some craft stuff that Hayley had fun using. She has really liked making Forky's (from Toy Story 4) lately so she made a bunch of those and some little monsters. We ate dinner, played Ticket to Ride and then went home to get the girls to bed.

March 21
We were originally planning on going home today but since Dan's school got canceled we decided to stay a little longer. Dan went shooting this morning at Antelope Island so after nap time we headed over to Paul and Becky's again. The girls played in the bounce house before the sun went down and it got chilly. We ordered Cafe Rio takeout for dinner and played another round of Ticket to Ride. Grandma Becky surprised Hayley and Evelyn with some new Anna and Elsa jammy dresses that they love and wore home.

March 22
We had at-home Church with my parents today. Mike and Nikkole and Matt and Andrea were going to join us but poor little Luke got hand foot mouth from somewhere and since it's contagious everyone just stayed home. My Mom gave us a lesson on Jacob 5. She put little tags with our names on them on a globe where we served our missions. We had a delicious dinner afterward, played outside after naptime, and just relaxed. We played Monikers after dinner and then went to bed.

March 23
We hung out at my parents this morning and afternoon and then had dinner at Paul and Becky's.

March 24
We hung out at my parents all day today. The girls have had fun playing with the barbies and toys at Grandmas. She surprised them with some new dress-ups to take home. My Mom made us a delicious last dinner, white chili soup per my request.

March 25
We packed up all our stuff this morning and headed to Paul and Becky's after breakfast to say goodbye. We were there for about an hour and when we got back to my parents we had lunch, said goodbye, and hit the road. It's always hard to say goodbye and leave. Especially during a pandemic when who knows what could happen or when we will see them again. We were on the road around 1:30. We stopped in Spanish Fork to get gas and I fed Paige. I drove us to Monticello where we all ate dinner in a church parking lot. I made us sandwiches so we didn't have to stop anywhere or interact with anyone ha. The girls ran around a little bit, but we ate in the car because it was windy and that made it pretty chilly. Then Dan drove us the rest of the way home through the night. We stopped in Shiprock and Albuquerque for gas and made it to Lubbock around 7:30 AM.

I am so grateful we could make our trip to Utah when we did. I don't think we would have gone even a few days later. It was great to see our families! Definitely a bummer we had to cancel so many plans but we still had lots of fun.

I still can't believe this is real sometimes. I feel like I have lived two separate lives: one where we went out and did things without thinking twice about it and another where I don't want to interact with anyone or leave the house and I sanitize everything that comes inside it. My anxiety has been on a huge rollercoaster through all of this. I go from one extreme of total panic and chaos to the other extreme of calm and feeling like everything is good. It has taken a toll on me a little bit but I am mostly in a good place now that we are back home in our little bubble.

I hate all the unknowns that surround this virus but I am so grateful for what I do know, and that is that God is in charge and He is bigger than this quarantine. I was scrolling through some of my old notes/thoughts that I have saved in my phone and this one really stuck out to me, "Now is the time prepare, not the time to receive all our blessings." These are the last days. And while I have questioned God for sending me here at this time, wondering why He thought I could handle all this, I know the blessings that are promised me if I live the life He has shown and taught me to live. During a pandemic is not the time I will receive all these blessings, but it is a time for me to prepare to meet Him. Eternal perspective.

To those who read this, I hope it finds you happy and healthy. We can do hard things and we will get through this!