Back to Work

 On Monday, December 12 I went back to work and Amelia started daycare.

It was a sad sad day for me.

 I got up early and got myself all ready. I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to get some extra snuggles with Amelia. You can see how "excited" I am to go back. Oh how i wish we were rich and I could stay home with Amelia.

 Amelia slept like an angel! She woke up around 4 to eat. So, I kept her in our bed after that. I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with her. Even after we both got up, she continued to sleep soundly in our bed! (excuse the mess)

 When I woke her up, she was SUPER HAPPY! We spent some time getting all lotioned up and dressed. She was SO HAPPY and talked to me almost the whole time!

 She was SO SMILEY! I think that made it even harder to drop her off!

 I was so glad I gave us lots of extra time. She nursed for a while, then we just had a nice long snuggle. I mostly cried, and she smiled at me. I think she was trying to tell me it was all right, that she still loved me, even if I couldn't be home with her all day.

After our snuggle Andrew buckled her into her car seat and we were ready to to.

Mom called me as we were on the way out the door to see how i was doing. I ended up crying so hard I couldn't even talk to her. 

Look at my beautiful, happy baby! I missed her SO MUCH all day. I did go in and see her and nurse her every 2 hours, but it just is not enough.

I have now been back to work for 2 weeks. Ann and Crystal are SO good with Amelia and I know they love her! She gets spoiled by them as well as Chelsea and especially Kara (she and Amelia share a b-day!)! It is a little easier to drop her off in the morning, i don't cry anymore, but I still miss her SO MUCH.

My hope is that one day (really soon) I will be able to stay home with her. I don't want to miss ANYTHING.

We LOVE Santa

We LOVE Santa!

Amelia enjoyed Santa (Papa) playing with her tosies at the 

Fayette Ward Christmas Party!

Mama Gets CRAFTY!

 OK... We (I) like "girly things" for Amelia! I love to dress her up and put little bows on her head! One day when she was a few days old I decided I wanted to MAKE her some bows because her head was so small, none of the store ones fit her. I went to JoAnns and got some things to make headbands with. AND... they sat in the bag FOREVER! SO... 9 weeks later Mom helped me and I made Amelia some PRETTY things for her noggin!

 This is the 1st one I made. It was simple! But I used white thread... so i colored the top with a Sharpie! Shhhh don't tell :)

This one was fun! I cut apart these little flowers and sewed them together. It "needed" something else, so Mom found these beads! They were PERFECT! This is one of our favorites! She has worn this one a lot!

 This one was kind of hard to make. I actually made the flower on this one. It is another favorite though, and she has probably worn this one the most! It went GREAT with all of her cute Christmas outfits!

This one is just like the first! 

Thanks for helping me Mom! It was so much fun to get a little CRAFTY and make something for my Sweet Baby!

I Love You Amelia!

2 Month Appointment

On Wednesday, December 7 Amelia had her 2 month appointment.

She weighs 11 pounds 4 ounces and is 21.5 inches long :)

I cannot believe how much she has grown!

My big girl!

She also got the rounds of 2mo shots. 

I was expecting it to be horrible. That we would both end up in tears. But it was quite the opposite. Amelia did SO WELL! She hardly cried at all. The first was an oral vaccine. She drank it willingly. She was tired though, and kept falling asleep while trying to drink it! It was kind of funny! Then she had one shot in her right leg and 2 in her left. She cried just a little after the 3rd shot until I picked her up. Then she was fine. A few hours later she got a little fussy, but nothing that we couldn't handle. I let her nurse a little more than usual to help comfort her and that seemed to work great. 

Doctor Berg said to only give her Tylenol if she spiked a fever. She never did, so we didn't even have to give her any medicine. We had a few teary moments, like the one above.  I am so proud of her! She did great! She even got 2 shiny silver sparkly band-aids :)

She is HEALTHY and for that I am grateful!

2 Months!

 I cannot believe my baby girl is 2 months old! 

Where is the time going?!?!

This is yesterday: December 4, 2011

 Amelia is such a happy girl! She is so smiley! Especially in the morning and after waking up from a nap! She loves the changing table, and we get many many smiles there! 

She is growing like a weed! I cannot wait for her apt. on wed to see how much she has grown!

I have been SO LUCKY to have spent the last 9 weeks at home with her! I am so grateful for every minute that I get to spend with Amelia! She is truly a blessing from God! Her smile warms my heart every day! She is trying to giggle now! I love to see her grow and develop! Her little personality is really starting to come out! She is such a sweet baby!

I will be going back to work next week, on the 12th of December. As much as I miss my friends and kids at work, I cannot imagine how it is going to go. I wish more than anything and pray every day that I will have an opportunity that feels right to stay home with Amelia (for a little longer anyway)! I am so lucky to work where I do though! Amelia gets to come to the day care where I work. I will get to see her through out the day, as I will be able to continue to nurse her! I am so thankful for that opportunity!

Amelia sure loves her Daddy!

A few other things about this past month in the life of Amelia! She is now sleeping through the night! That makes for a very happy Mommy & Daddy! She often goes to bed between 10-11 and gets up between 5-6 to nurse. Then goes right back to sleep! That makes for a great stretch of sleep for us (even though I get up MANY times a night to check on her)! 

She is also my little fashonista! We love to dress up, and will often wear multiple outfits in a day, just for fun! That is more for Mommy than for Amelia... but she is a willing sport!

She has also really started to "talk" to me! I love the way she moves her lips and mouth when she talks! SO CUTE! She loves it when I say "Your Mama's CRAZY" and "Your so freakin cute!"

Amelia also loves her family. She loves snuggles from Mu. She loves when Papa sings, hums, and talks to her. She loves her Aunt Sarah, and kisses from Sophie and Ella! 

Amelia is so lucky to have family close by!

We have learned that this Mama makes good milk! She is really starting to chunk up! I love to squeeze her legs and munch on her cheeks!

This has been the best 2 months of our lives! 

We just love our little girl so much! 

She is.... "so freakin awesome!"

<3

Amelia's Baby Blessing

Yesterday, December 4, 2011 Amelia was blessed by her Daddy!

She looked so beautiful and Daddy gave her the most beautiful blessing!

We are so grateful to have had some of our family and friends stand in the circle while Andrew blessed her. My dad, Rob Fleming, Edson Appleton, Justin Gahn, Howard Simmons, Jonathan Porchet, & Keith Baker! Thank you all for taking part in her special day!

Amelia wore her fancy headband given to her from her Aunt Sheila. Her dress and blanket were made by her Grandmother (Andrew's Mom) and her slip and bracelet were made by her Mu (My Mom).

 I am sad that there is a shadow in this picture, and that Amelia's head is tilted back. Oh well. 

Our little Family on Amelia's Blessing Day!

 My Mom made Amelia and I matching bracelets! They were beautiful and we love them!

(hint hint... we love them a lot and would like some more to wear to church! hint hint!)

This is the best shot I could get of her in her dress. I will take some more detailed pictured of her blanket and dress and post them soon! They are both so beautiful. Her dress was made from an old wedding dress that was given to Andrew's mother. It is just beautiful and fit her perfectly! The blanket she made was a replica of a blanket Queen Victoria had made for one of her children. The blanket took her almost 5 months to make. When she is finished making it, it has to be soaked and stretched. It is absolutely a labor of love. We are so grateful she uses her talents to bless the lives of her children and grandchildren. We thank you! (we hear that Heather helped as well! Thank you Heather!)

We are so grateful for everyone that was there to make her day so special. Especially for those who traveled! We really appreciate your love and support of Amelia.

We also want to thank my parents for the wonderful luncheon we had at their house afterwords! It was perfect! And to Sarah who helped put it on as well!

We are so blessed to have Amelia in our lives! 

Thank you for sharing in our joy! 

Thanksgiving 2011

Amelia's 1st Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year at Mom & Dad's house! We go there every year, but it seems that Thanksgiving just gets better and better with each passing year!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and just happened to be my birthday this  year too!

I have SO MUCH to be thankful for this year! Especially for Amelia! She is here and healthy and happy! We love her so much, and she is such a blessing in our lives!

Here is Sophie, Amelia, and Ella!

Amelia was being a little crabby, and the girls dealt with her so well!

The love her so much and and she is so lucky to have them as her cousins! We cannot wait for our little boy cousin to come in March!

Dinner was SO GOOD Ella didn't make it through! She fell asleep at the table! So, I brought her to the couch and she snuggled up with the beautiful blanket that Sister Cox made for Amelia!

This was my contribution to Thanksgiving dessert! It is a Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake. I found the recipe at Our Best Bites, one of my favorite cooking blogs! 

Boy was it TASTY!

Toffee cheesecake on the bottom, pumpkin pie on the top... whip cream and toffee bits!! mmmmmm....

 Andrew & Amelia didn't make it much past dessert! They were found having a nice little snuggle in Papa's oversized recliner! (don't worry... i didn't leave her with him!)

When we got home, we attempted a cute little family picture!

Our first Thanksgiving as a family!!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving & Birthday!

A BIG Thank You to Mom & Dad for the WONDERFUL dinner and day!!!

WE love you!

Snow!

 On Thursday Amelia experienced her FIRST SNOW!!

As you can see, she was pretty impressed!!

Mommy & Daddy are excited to share all these firsts with you Amelia!

We love you so much!

(Mommy is especially glad we were able to share your first snow and then have it melted when we got up the next morning! Lets hold off as long as we can!)

One Month

October 4, 2011

I gave birth to the most beautiful, amazing, and perfect little girl. 

My life is for ever changed.

November 4, 2011

My baby girl is one month old. 

I can't believe how fast she is growing. It is so fun to see her personality coming out.

I love this little girl more than I could have ever imagined! I love everything about her! I love the way she looks into my eyes when she nurses. I love the way she licks her lips and then smacks them when she is done. I love the way her little toes curl, and her sweet baby smell! I love the quiet moments that we have together in a day (and night). I just love to watch her sleep, watch her dream and wonder what she is dreaming about! I love to kiss and munch on her cheeks! I love the look she gives me when I do!

I love to look at her and wonder what life has in store for her. I wonder what she'll grow up to be! I wonder what her strong points will be, and what she'll struggle with. I wonder how I will help her through those times! I think about how lucky she is to have so many people who love her so!

Happy 1 Month Birthday Amelia!

Mommy & Daddy love you so much!

<3 <3 <3

Trunk or Treat

 Last night was the ward Trunk-Or-Treat at Church. 

This is one of Andrew's favorite activities, so we dressed Amelia up and took her out. 

 Here she is right before we left the house. We should have taken her picture before we put her in the car seat. Oops. We did get any really good pictures of her in her costume.

 Andrew did take this one. But she is upside down. At least you can see the little skeleton! There is a sparkly bow above her heart! SUPER CUTE! On the way home I was sitting in the back seat with her and I realized it GLOWS IN THE DARK!

 Andrew passed dad his clown nose. Who does he look like?!? 

One word... OPERATION?!?! :)

 Papa giving Ella a "Meep Meep"

 Eat a donught off a string? I think not! Ella just pulled hers off!

 Sophie was such a good sport! She tried SO HARD and got a few bites! Then we pulled it off for her!

Then it was time to go outside for the Trunk-Or-Treat. So, I bundled Amelia all up and we went outside for a few minutes.She slept the whole time.

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!
Happy Halloween!!!