Awesome

So obviously I'm an awesome blogger.

January came and went, no blogging.
Feb, March, April and May came and went and still no blogging.

Oy vey. what to do?

I do have a few excuses which are lame so I will spare you. One of them is kind of funny though so I will share. About a month ago I was at the Ranch and decided to get my brother-in-law's horse out that hasn't been ridden for about a year and I got bucked off. Totally my fault but still annoying because I broke my elbow and sprained my wrist pretty bad so I have to type with one hand. Caring for a baby one-armed is pretty exhausting and so is one-handed typing so blogging is a little further down on my list these days. Plus, I can sleep or blog and I always choose sleep, except for tonight obviously.

Adventures of the past few months...

February included a quick trip to Saint George with Tracie and her cutie patootie, Parker. I stopped by my grandparent's place to say hi.

 Grandma Crystal

Grandpa Dip

 Aunt Sharla, SiSi, Grandma & Grandpa

Aaron and I ran to my mom's grave on Valentine's.

SiSi @ 6 months

Maui in February

SiSi really loved Maui.

Random's from March

Grub Steakhouse with Grandma & Grandpa Webb

Kipling is still alive and well!

SiSi @ 7 months

April 26th was the anniversary of my mom's death so we did a fun balloon release to honor her life. I want to do this every year so SiSi will know her Grandma Vickie. We had so many people come and support us and many more write the sweetest notes that we attached to the balloons and sent to heaven for her to read. Join us next year!

My angel mother, love you! 

My gimpy brother Aaron. He broke his leg the week before. 

We are an accident prone bunch.

That night A surprised me with a box of chocolates and a trip to San Diego! What a man!!! I can't get enough of him. It was perfect. A's mom even watched the girl while we were there, I got to sleep in! You moms know what I'm talking about! That is a present unto itself. If that wasn't good enough we stayed at the best hotel, ate like kings, went to the zoo and got massages. It may have been slightly hard to return to reality.

Diners, Drive-ins & Dives restaurant. Delish!

Glorious spa time!

but then we got to come home to this...

blurry but one of my faves

8 months old

just a little daddy

K is so sweet to her, she is still learning to be soft.

Tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point with Grandma, Aunt Abby & Michael

Grandma & SiSi

Abby & baby Michael

May hit us kind of hard, I broke my elbow and couldn't take care of SiSi for about 2 weeks without help. Luckily, A, his mom and Abby jumped right in and did everything. What would I have done without them? I really don't know.

SiSi loves to be outside, especially in her swing.

Then if my broken elbow wasn't enough SiSi got the flu. Worst week ever. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a sick baby.

being outside with her Sprite and saltine's made things a little better. 

Don't worry, we didn't give her Sprite, she just really liked the bottle.

worst ever. Let's never get sick again, okay?

Then last weekend we had to move all of my things out of the Orem house so my dad can sell it. A & his brother packed it all up and took it to the Ranch. We made the most of the day and enjoyed the fresh mountain air.

SiSi watching the dogs fight is a daily and entertaining occurrence. We always bet on Josey, sorry K.

This photo was taken right after Jared & Rose closed the door on their moving van. They are moving to Idaho Falls and we will miss them! My dad is selling the house as soon as the carpets get cleaned. It was bittersweet walking through it for the last time. I was 2 when we moved to Utah. There was a peach orchard across the street and always tons of kids outside. Many birthdays were celebrated there, baptisms, holidays, family dinners every night, singing Beach Boys and Josh Groban, movie nights, sleepovers, hugs and kisses, the best neighbors, learning to ride bikes without training wheels, scuffs and scrapes and even sickness and death. Somewhere between all of that I grew up and moved on and didn't even realize it. I try to not be sentimental about things because the memories are what is important but this one has been a little hard. This was my home for so long and I never thought of it being gone. Only happy memories though. I can't wait to create my own home with my sweet little family. Hopefully soon!

June will hold lots of good for us. House hunting (and hopefully buying), the girl is starting to stand on her own, my splint will come off, A's job is going well, K is happy and healthy and the pool is open! Get ready June, it's going to be a party!

9 months 

16 lbs

I can't remember how tall she is, let's just say she is teensy.

favorite foods: yogurt puffs, apple slices, graham crackers, veggie puffs, baked beans, rice, ice cream, chocolate, french fries, scrambled eggs, peanut butter, bananas, snap peas, pasta with pesto, cucumbers, avocado. Pretty much anything really.

She loves to stand at the french doors and squeak until someone takes her outside. LOVES cell phones and computer keyboards. Loves mommy, daddy, Kipling and grandma the most. Has the cutest squeaky laugh and talks all the time, even in her sleep sometimes. Wants to stand by herself and tries so hard. The swing is her favorite spot. Is the happiest around lots of people. Has to have her blankie and binkie. Gets so excited when A comes home from work. Loves animals. Has to touch everything. Her hair can finally go into a tiny pony. Hates getting her diaper changed and runs away from me every time I get her dirty diaper off. Can crawl at the speed of light. Loves to play in the dog water bowls. Hates her car seat. Loves walks. But the biggest announcement is that she cuddles with us now. Best thing ever!!!

Love her!

Welcome 2013!

You know those years when New Year's hits and you say to yourself, "That was my year, this next year could never be as good as last year."? Yeah, we didn't say that about 2012. It wasn't a terrible year, just not the best. The best thing about last year was little SiSi, a bright glimmer of goodness, even then she's been tough at times. I was talking to my friend Tracie the other day and she said, "You know, no matter what kind of baby you have next it'll be cake." Amen sister.

I hadn't really thought of it that way but seriously, there's not a whole lot else you could throw at me when it comes to the baby department and I'd be surprised. (That being said, I still knock on wood that my next little one will be cake because you really never know.) Not that SiSi is horrible or anything but she has come with her fair share of difficulties. I'm just grateful that she is healthy. I had a friend in the Cleve that had a little baby girl that wouldn't gain any weight. They were in and out of the hospital with her for months and I think of them and all the other parents dealing with serious stuff and I remember what a weenie I am and how grateful I am for a healthy baby.

She's napping, and I love when she naps, but right now it's taking all of my willpower not to go wake her up and just cuddle with her. (She hates cuddling unless she's really tired or not feeling well.) Sometimes she'll do something really cute, make some cooing noise or smile really big, and I'll pull her close to give her a big hug and she'll literally push away from me and look around as if to say, "Not now mom, I've got stuff to do." It's in those moments that I reply, "I don't care, you'll cuddle with me if you like it or not!" and squish her and pretend that she likes it. I'm already becoming delusional, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

this is Siena "cuddling" with A, how presh.

Okay, and another thing that I am grateful for...that I recovered from giving birth (you mom's know what I'm talking about). Holy mackerel, there were moments during recovery where I thought that I would never sit comfortably or walk up stairs without cringing and riding a horse again seemed like a sick joke. But my dear friends, it does come, there is hope and yes, you will be able to live your life without painkillers and padsicles! Thank heavens.

Okay so this whole post was meant to recap 2012 but I kind of got off on a tangent. Sorry.

Back to 2012!!! (I stole this idea for my dear Danielle, just so you know.)

January
-I rang in the new year in the Cleve by myself (and K) lying flat on the floor calling the non-emergency police # because people were firing guns outside my apartment. Apparently that's a "thing" in our old neighborhood, most people kiss at midnight but they like to step it up a notch.
-A spent the entire month selling the #*@! yak.

February
-We told our families about the bun in the oven. They were just slightly excited.
-I went to Maui to visit my Gpa and Aunt Valerie and Uncle Joe.

March
-NYC!!! I need to go back. That trip was way too much fun! We even got to hang out with my lovely Danielle and her hubs Michael while we were there. I need NYC in my life.

-We found out that the babe was going to be a girl and I about died with excitement.

April

-My dearest Sarah got married in Utah so I spent a week there enjoying the festivities and my friends and family.

this is Danielle and me at Sarah's wedding. One reason why I love Danielle and Sarah so much is that in 10th grade we decided to do a science fair project that tested our theory of how the media negatively portrays women. We went to regionals at a local university and got kicked out because our board had advertisements from beauty magazines plastered on it of half dressed, photoshopped women and the judges called it "soft porn". That was during my rebellious stage, getting kicked out of a science fair was pretty legit and earned me a whole lot of street cred. Another tangent but an important one.

-We visited Palmyra, NY and it was amazing.

-A and I ate out pretty much every night in the month of April trying to pack all of our favorite restaurants in before we moved. Jekyll's, DiBella's, Mary Yoder's, Zocalo, Stir Crazy, Brio, anything in Little Italy, Lola, Lolita, FlipSide, B Spot, Captain Tony's...on and on and on.

May

-A graduated but we didn't stick around for him to walk. If you don't know A that's just how he is and he doesn't regret it for one second so no photos of the blessed event.

-We packed up our car and moved to the 801 and stopped by Nauvoo on our way home.

-Jazz games, A's brother James won the State Soccer Championship and I was still getting large with child.

June

-We all rejoiced when we finally arrived at the Ranch but I think Kipling was most excited. I think I bathed him every day in June. I couldn't even be mad at him either because I knew how happy he was.

- A carved our initials in a tree at the GR for our 4th wedding anniversary.

July

-We celebrated A's birthday by doing absolutely nothing.

-My dad got hitched.

-We went fishing in Southern Utah and A went fishing in MT with the guys.

-We went to the GR a lot and roasted mallows and hung out with horses.

-My little brother, Aaron, stayed with us for a few weeks while he recovered from knee surgery.

August

-The Webb women went to Sun Valley, ID for a quick getaway.

-SiSi arrived!

-I celebrated my 26th bday in the hospital

 

September

-SiSi and I visited my mom's grave on her bday

-A became the cutest dad possible

-I shot a muskrat and wrangled 4 escaped horses 2 weeks after having a baby #ranchlife

-We drove to Idaho to introduce SiSi to my Grandparents and attend my cousin's wedding

 

October
-the girl started smiling and melted our hearts.
-the last 4 yak vacated the premises.
-SiSi celebrated her first holiday as a bunny!
-Halloween Jazz game with A's parents, way too much fun.
-We headed to beautiful and warm southern Utah for a quick getaway.

 

November

-SiSi and I flew to CA to celebrate my Gpa's 91st birthday

-A blessed the girl in our church

-We took her to a new doctor and found out that she has really bad acid reflux so she started on some meds and became a different baby.

-A's brother got his mission call to Malaga, Spain.

-Thanksgiving with both families was wonderful.

December

-A almost got eaten by massive raccoons in the crawl space.

-Annual girl's night at the Nutcracker

-and of course...CHRISTMAS!!!

  

that's all folks!