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Ring Out Wild Bells

I hadn’t really taken time to think about my new year’s resolutions, but after watching The Office episode today where Pam makes everyone write down one goal for the year, I decided I should write mine down too.

Spiritual Goals

  1. Study (not just read) the scriptures daily
  2. Go to the temple once a month
  3. Hold an FHE every Monday
  4. Do my Visiting Teaching every month
  5. Remember to do family prayer every night
Health Goals
  1. Get down to my wedding weight
  2. Make 3-4 dinners a week
  3. Be able to run a mile without stopping… I know that sounds really easy, but I have never been a runner!
  4. Work out 4 times a week
  5. Eat more fruits and vegetables
Personal Goals
  1. Stick to our budget
  2. Read at least one book a month
  3. Always show my husband that I love him
  4. Be patient
  5. Take more photos and videos of Eva
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Bunny Feet

Does Eva look like T.J. or what?

 

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The Sea Monster Died!

Yesterday one of our friends told us that Darryl from The Office died.

Considering I’m one of the biggest Office fans ever, I freaked out! I couldn’t believe it, nor could I believe that I wasn’t one of the first people to know about it!

Two minutes later, we were searching the web and figured out that it was not Darryl who had passed away, but Lonny–one of the warehouse workers from the earlier seasons.

Kelly Kapoor: Excuse me, Sea Monster, you weigh like a thousand pounds.
Lonny: Yeah?
Kelly Kapoor: Yeah.
Lonny: I bet you’d like to swim with this sea monster, wouldn’t you?

Sad day.

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Starting from Scratch

Going along with the last post, we think one reason Eva has been a little fussier than normal is because she’s been drinking more formula, which doesn’t sit too well in her stomach. Over the weekend, I started to give her more formula than usual because we were out with family a lot and it’s just easier to give her a bottle. Then yesterday I also noticed she wouldn’t latch on as well when nursing and that she’d get frustrated just after a couple of minutes.

I read a bit about it last night and learned that babies usually will start to prefer a bottle over breast because it requires a lot less work. A couple sites recommended starting over, re-teaching the baby how to latch on, and reducing–if not eliminating–formula all together for a while until they get used to breast-feeding again.

So, we started immediately and will be working on that exclusively the next couple days. Hopefully it will help Eva’s stomach feel better and reduce the tears during feeding time.

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Desperate

The past couple days, Eva has been a little fussier than usual. As new parents, T.J. and I probably think it’s a lot worse than it actually is, but can you blame us? We just want her to be her happy, healthy self! So, that being said, we have been trying anything and everything to get her to settle down, as well as reading article upon article online for tips and suggestions.

So far, two things work pretty well to get her to stop crying and to help her fall asleep.

  1. Putting her in her car seat with the cover on(where she sleeps in through the night still because she hates her cradle… help!) and walking it around the house. I think she likes the movement and the cover obviously gets rid of the distractions.
  2. Singing to her in the rocking chair. My mom is a elementary school music teacher and so every time we talk she tells me to sing to Eva because it will help her learn how to stay on key and develop a singing voice when she’s older. My mom says it’s true, so I’m sure it is. But I have to admit, it does calm Eva. I just need to break out the children’s hymnbook because I keep singing the same three or four songs. (One of which is “I’m Trying to be like Jesus” to the tune of Harry Potter.)

If you have any other suggestions of how to get a baby to stop crying or sleep… I would greatly appreciate it.

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5…4…3…2…

… And right then, when we were about to ring in the new year with T.J.’s parents and watch the ball drop, their TV turned off and said,

Outside viewing hours. Please enter password.

We missed it and we couldn’t stop laughing for a good five minutes or so.

Thank goodness for DVR!

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Can’t Believe it’s January

  • You know how the winter seems to drag on usually and in January you are just so ready for it to be summer already? I don’t feel that way at all this year. Perhaps it’s because we haven’t had any snow yet. But I think mostly it’s because time seriously goes so fast. I feel like it was just two weeks ago when T.J. and I were sitting in tubes on the lazy river at Seven Peaks.
  • There’s this Christmas song my mother-in-law had us listen to on Christmas called “A Baby Changes Everything.” It’s about how Mary’s ordinary life as a young teenager changed completely when she found out she would be bringing the Savior into the world. But of course, it is so applicable to all of us (my mother-in-law’s children and their spouses) since we just had babies  or are expecting. I think about the song almost daily. A baby really does change everything. There are the obvious changes such as the lack of sleep I now receive, the fact that just going to the grocery store now takes tons of planning… going anywhere or doing anything takes tons of planning, and I have to watch what I eat so much just because it affects Eva. But then there are all these other things that have changed or are starting to change, one of which is my patience. It turns out having a baby is the biggest test of patience I’ve ever gone through. There are times where I just want to throw in the towel give up, cry, and call my mom to say it’s too hard. And I’ve done that, several times. But the reward of having her in my life is so much greater than all the trials, and my life has so much more meaning now with Eva. It’s remarkable.
  • I didn’t get to watch The Bachelor premiere last night… how was it?!? I’ve never watched any of the seasons, I just watched the season finale of The Bachelorette with a bunch of girls last summer and now I’m kind of hooked.
  • I made Peanut Chicken and BBQ Chicken in the crock pot this past week. The slow cooker is seriously one of the best inventions in the world. You just throw your frozen chicken in there, put in a little bit of sauce, and then have a delicious meal 5 hours later waiting for you. Obsessed.
  • Now that Christmas is over, what am I supposed to listen to? I’ve been listening to Christmas music for so long, it’s going to be hard to go back.
  • Whoever says that you’ll be sick of Christmas decorations if you put them up too early is crazy because we put ours up about a week before Thanksgiving and I was so sad to take down everything yesterday. Now my home feels boring. Maybe I need to make some new decorations for our house? Must be time for a crevening.
  • We have church at 9 am now. I’ve never yawned so much in my life.
  • School starts back up for T.J. tomorrow. He has a little lighter load this semester so hopefully I’ll get to see him a little more than I did last semester.
  • Eva is almost a month old. Holy cow! Also, T.J.’s cousin and sister both took pictures of her and I can’t wait to share them with you all!
  • I can’t tell you how many boxes of gingerbread men cookies that I went through in the past five days because my mom would freak out if she knew. But I’m now having a withdrawal because we are all out! Oh, Smith’s please tell me you still have some boxes left!!!
  • Eva makes so many sounds. Sometimes she sounds like a little kitten. Who knew we were getting a pet along with a baby?
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