skinny girl

Ana had her 1 year doctor's appointment today. In 6 months she hasn't gained any weight. She's grown taller (she's in the 75th percentile), but over the last month she's actually lost a few ounces. At 15 months, if she still isn't gaining weight, they are going to do some metabolic tests to make sure everything is all right. I know I shouldn't worry, but I do. I'm afraid I'm not feeding her enough. I have a degree in health science and child development and my own daughter isn't growing how she should. Everything else developmentally looks good, but I still worry about my little skinny girl.

This and That

1. Ana got her first tooth on Tuesday! Its pretty late to still be toothless, but I was definitely okay with it. She always was a biter.

2. We had a fun day (Wednesday) with Grandma while Dave went fishing at Independence Lakes near Rupert. Ana learned how to go down stairs backwards, and had a fun time carrying balls up the stairs, throwing them down, and then climbing back down after them. We also went to the Burley pool and she just wanted to climb out of the pool, and then turn around and get back in backwards. She loved playing with her cousins. She kept crawling around following Jens, who is just a few weeks younger than her, but Jens kept crawling away. It was funny! After driving to Wyoming over the weekend, Ana wasn't too happy to be back in the car for a couple hours. I think we'll stay home for a few weeks.

3. Dave caught 2 fish, but they were both small so he threw them back. Its started to rain on them, so they headed down the mountain (a 5 - mile hike, with float tubes on their backs). On the way down he lost one of his brand new wading shoes. It was raining too hard to go back up and find it, but there was a Young Women's group heading up that he asked to watch for it.

4. In cleaning my room yesterday, I found a bunch of clothes to give to DI, and some more to just throw out. It still isn't clean... More work to do today.

5. Grades came in. 4 A's and 1 C. Its my only C in college and guess what class - Doctrine and Covenants. It was an online class and I didn't realize that some of the assignments had due dates, so I didn't get credit for some of them. Oh well. I still graduated. I don't know if I'm still qualified for Magna Cum Laude, but either way, I graduated. (I don't mind that religion classes are required to graduate, but I wish they didn't affect your GPA.)

Harry Potter

Don't worry, no spoilers here. I wouldn't even think about it. We finished yesterday at about 10:30. The house was a diaster, Ana had been slightly neglected all day and she knew it. (She started trying to push the book out of my hand.) Dave and I hadn't even really eaten all day, so Dave went and got a pizza when we were done. Its funny, though, now that its all done and there is no more speculating and wondering and thinking and theorizing, I'm kinda sad to see it go. Its the same way I felt at the end of Anne of Green Gables (the first book) when I realized Anne had all grown up and she was so much different than the 11 year old girl I loved at the first, I grieved a little over the change. I'm going to miss it. Is that pathetic? Maybe so, but I'll start a new book or a new obsession and my little grief that its over will be over too. Plus, we still haven't seen the new movie, and they'll be two more so there still is a little more to see of Harry Potter.

Family Reunion

This weekend has been crazy-fun! The day after graduation, we packed our stuff and drove 7 hours to a family reunion. We drove through Jackson, and as we were coming out of the pass there is a breath-taking view. So, we pulled over the snap a couple shots and wouldn't you know it, we packed our camera, but left our memory card in the printer at home. My bad. So, I have to rely on my sister's photos as soon as she sends them to me - we don't have one. But, it was a fun weekend. All but 2 of my siblings were there. On Friday we played on a Wii (my other sisters) and then later floated down the Platte River, it was fun. Ana went to the pool with half the family, and so Dave and I enjoyed a nice long float.

On Saturday, we went up to Martin's Cove. Have you ever been there? The Martin Handcart company stopped there in October of 1856 - trapped with little food in an awful early snowstorm. I always imagined it like a cave, but its not that at all. Its just an area surrounded on 3 sides by mountains. To me, it looked like it was a good idea to camp there to get out of the wind, but the first night they got there, the storm swooped in over the mountains and pounded them. In the week they were there before the rescue, 56 people died. As we were walking away from the cove I remembered this story of Francis Webster. As I looked over the land and saw what they had to experience, I was filled with emotion for the sacrifice they made. It was a pretty amazing experience. My dad said "The Lord could have tempered the storm, instead he tempered the saints." In the visitor's center, there is a list of those who were in the Willie and Martin handcart companies. I was amazed at how many people survived! Such harsh conditions with little food, thin clothing and shoes and only a cove and a handcart for protection, so many lived!

For the last event of the reunion we had a competition - Harry Potter Jeopardy. We are all HP fans, but My youngest sister is a bit more than the rest of us. She's read books one thru four 15 times, number five 11 times, and number six 5 times. Of course, she slaughtered us all, but it was still fun. She had to wait until the reunion was over the read number 7, but since she rode with us, and we had ours shipped to the reunion, we read it all the way home. She is now sitting in my front room reading it. We'll probably finish it up today...

The reunion was a turning point in our family, too. My mom she's "got to get a wii" and my dad is going to read Harry Potter. It was fun and that was why I didn't post all weekend. As soon as I get pictures, I'll post them, too.

P.S. I got so involved writing this blog as Ana ate her breakfast that I only just realized that she fell asleep in her high chair. Its been a long weekend for us all!

Its a party!!!

At 9:00 am I turned in my last assignment for college. This afternoon we had a party for me and for Ana's birthday.

Ana loved her birthday cupcake - of course, pink frosting!
She got a doll from me and Dave and a new outfit. From Grandma she got a new onesie and one of those popper toys (you push the button and an animal pops up.) She loves to give her dolly "loves." I'm excited for her to wear her new outfit - she has a little pink sweat-skirt. Its fun!


After the party, I graduated magna cum laude (top 5% in my class)! The speaker was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and it was really good. I got to sing in the choir, which was really fun because I always regretted not being in a choir in college.
After commencement, Ana was crawling up the stairs, but she paused enough to look at the camera!
Its really exciting to be done with school. Thanks Dave and Mom and Dad for all your love and support as I finished this up. Its always been a big goal of mine and I'm so grateful to you and to Heavenly Father for letting this happen. One of the big things I've learned is that when you trying to do what the Lord wants you to do, everything works out. Thanks!!!

My weekend

So, its been a fun-filled weekend for us here. Friday we went down to Pocatello to visit fam and then we headed to Rupert on Saturday morning. We played in the pool at Dave's sister's house and I think Ana would have liked it a little more if she hadn't been so tired.

She like eating otter pops for the first time. She even tried grabbing mine and eating it, too.
Ana loves swinging. I think this was her favorite part.

Dave and I also bought a Nintendo Wii. We've been looking for one for a while and finally found one at Hollywood video in Burley. Its been a lot of fun so far. We were going to wait until we Christmas to play, but we decided we better play now to make sure everything is in order before the warranty runs out.... Anyway, its been a lot of fun. I'm pretty good at bowling, but thats about all I can really do. Its still fun though.

Blankets

I made these two baby blankets instead of doing homework. But it was a lot more fun and I like how they turned out. The blankets are single layer and then I made a matching burp cloth that is double layered. 

I love the bright colors of this one, and I love polka dots!

As soon as I saw this pattern, I had to make a blanket from it. I love the monkeys!

I have a few more sewing projects for the summer. I'm excited to have the time to do them all.

the end...

I just got back from my very last formal class at BYU-Idaho. Now I just have a couple last minute quizzes for an online class and one huge project to finish (or start), then I'm officially a bachelor-ette!

9 days and counting ...

to Harry Potter 7!!! I've always loved these books. I convinced Dave to read them right after 6 came out and we both enjoyed them. A few weeks ago, we re-read 5 and 6 and I am officially obsessed. I have my own set of theories for how 7 will turn out and I've been reading this website (particularly here and sometimes here) for other fans' predictions. Some could be right on, but I think we'll have some surprises no matter what. We finished 5 and 6 so quickly and I went through withdrawals so we decided to read 1-4 again to refresh our memory. I also am really excited to see the new movie. Maybe this weekend? Dave and I might venture a date.

My little girl ...

Isn't she cute? Dave took this picture and its one of my favorites of Ana. The shirt she is wearing if one of my old t-shirts. (I can't believe it ever fit me...) I love her messy hair and her arm sticking out of the collar. Its so fun! She is such a funny little girl. She has so many expressions and she loves to talk. And what a personality - such stubborn little girl. She definitely has an opinion about whats going on in her little world. But she loves to play with Mom and Dad. I can't believe she's almost a year old. Its gone by so fast, but I can't imagine life without her.

I did it...

I started a blog. For a couple reasons... Number one - I really enjoy the "family blog" my fam has going on - and I want a little place of my own.

Number two (and probably the main reason) - reading my friends' blogs have really inspired me. I've always liked writing and have been a pretty good journal-er, but I wanted my thoughts to reach someone. So this little place of my own is to write - daily comings and goings, thoughts, things that inspire me, etc. Just a snapshot of what you might see from my front porch looking in.