9 months old!

Well Lydia is officially 9 months old (I'm posting this a week late, sorry life has been crazy!) Anyways 9 months seems like it has brought so many exciting changes. We are saying good-bye to a lot of things and hello to a lot of things and it seems like she changes daily now! Here are a few of the things...

Good-bye/ Hello

Good-bye to gumming everything/Hello to using our two new teeth to help chew

Good-bye to seeing the crib as a place to sleep/Hello to standing up and playing like its a play pen

Good-bye to having to have mom carry me everywhere/Hello to crawling to get where I want to go

Good-bye to laying on my back/Hello to standing and seeing everything thats going on

Good-bye to morning naps/Hello to one late afternoon nap

Good-bye to baby jabber/Hello to crying "ma ma ma" and laughing "da da da!" , and going oofh oofh when you see a doggy!

Good-bye to only the bottle/Hello to the new sippy cup

Good-bye to only baby food/Hello to eating off of mom and dad's plates

Anyways she is so much fun learning and growing every day, I love the time I get with my little Liddy bug, I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world!

5 Days of Bliss in Port of Vallarta!

Well we left freezing cold SLC at about 10:00 am, and arrived in tropical Port of Vallarta at about 3:00. We were welcomed by a perfect 80 degree weather, and some slight humidity. It was nice to get through customs and to the resort where we were greeted with a cold towel and cold fruit drink. As you can tell we look a little rough, partly because of the flight and the humidity!

We were enjoying the new vegetation...there were banana trees as well as falling coconuts so you had to be a little careful while walking near the palm trees!

Finally here in paradise...this is the view from our balcony, we actually had two balconoy's and our own hot tub... it was pretty amazing! I was a little obsessed with the onsight zoo, which had tigers so close you could almost reach out and touch them! One of them actually lunged at Darin one evening...I didn't see it but I'll be honest I would've been freaking out!

We got what is called the "ALL INCLUSIVE!" In other words eat until you can't eat anymore and then add another Pina Colada just because you can. I felt like Pina Colada's were running through my veins and I loved every minute of it!

Feeling like we were living the high life

Robin and Wayne were so nice to invite us to share their vacation with them. They helped us out big time on our flights and even paid for part of the all inclusive...Thanks you guys you are the best, and thanks for a great vacation we won't soon forget!
I don't know why I don't have a pic of Patrice and Clint but I'll get one to post later!

Justin and Lindsey

Jared and Stacey

We went into town and went to church...it was so cool we were actually there for stake conference. It also turned out that the girl that gave a bunch of us our massages was LDS, it just goes to show that in the church it is always a small world! After church we went to the flea market to get some goo "mexican junk" as one vendor lovingly put it!

One of the highlights for me was seeing and petting the baby tigers, they were so freaking cute. There are 6 but they only have 2 out at a time. Don't be fooled though they could definitely scratch, but it was well worth it!



He was the cutest little guy ever!

Watching the sun set over the ocean in January is something I would recommend to everyone!~

Playing a little beach volley ball...it was a lot of fun, and I even played one of the days which is a rare occurance!

Hanging out on the beach watching a "competitive" volley ball game!

So sad to be coming home, but atleast we left with a little bit of a tan for a reminder of the good times!

Cute Justin and Lindsey...crazily the second day there Justin actually got stung by a manta ray. It was the weirdest thing because all of the sudden Justin is getting carried out of the ocean and blood is literally spurting out of his foot. Turns out a manta ray got disoreinted and Justin just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was such a good sport about it though, he even got back in the ocean for a little boogie boarding.

THe whole crew together for one last Pina Colada and some nachos before saying good-bye to "Paradise Village!" It was one heck of a trip and so much fun to make so many amazing memories with everyone. I feel like I left out alot like Kayaking in the ocean, seeing dolphins swimming in the morning, playing a lot of fun games each night (go girls for killing in BUZZWORD!)

I also didn't get a pic of Darrin close up but notice is sweet corn rows he got the second day there...I thought he looked rad!

It was hard to come home until I realized what I was coming home to. I'll be honest it was a nice break, but I missed her desperatly the entire time. We got her the cutest little hand made dress at the market and I can't wait for her to wear it. I love my little munchkin and promise I won't leave you again for a long long time!

Even though I missed her it sounds like she had such a great time with my parents. Thanks to my mom who took a couple of days off of work to stay with Liddy bug. They spoiled her for sure, when we first got home she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be with us or them. Anyways thanks for taking such good care of my baby and thanks Nana for the darling dress and thanks Grandpa for the great toy! Love you both and thanks a million time over!

Getting chompers!

Well I'm pretty excited that Lydia has gotten her 1st tooth, last wednesday January 7th (this is for journal purposes!) she got her first tooth. It is her lower middle tooth. I got so excited and I've tried to take a picture but that is much easier said than done, and today I noticed her second tooth is also in. She also said her first word earlier that same day...well I can tell you a what I thought her first word would be "Mama!" I thought for sure that or doggy, since she loves dogs. But what do you know it was Dada! I was actually so excited Chris was absolutely stoked, he kept having her say it and trying to rub it in, but I was just so excited to hear her first word I coudln't care less that it was Dada! I get to spend all day with her so he deserves a little perk from her too. Anyways were just having so much fun, she is crawling like crazy, and trying to walk even more. It looks so funny to see this little midget trying to walk but I love it. Anyways this was more for journaling purposes for those of you who may think I'm updating about Lydia a little too much, but who are we kidding it is just all pretty exciting to me!

8 months...where does the time go?

Liddy bug at 8 months

Well I can not believe that Lydia is already 8 months old. The sad thing is I can remember the day I came home from the hospital, I had to go get a nursing bra, and the lady at the store asked me how hold my baby was, I remember saying 3 days old. She replied wow she is little if you can say her age in days. Now it makes me sad because before I know it I will be saying her age in years.Over the break it has absolutely amazed me what a good baby Lydia is. Her reflux is completely gone so fussy time is totally gone. I love that she can sleep anywhere and honestly I used to be totally obsessed with a schedule but it has amazed me that no matter what time we put her down, and no matter where it is she sleeps through the night. I feel so blessed, and lucky that she is the way she is! Anyways even though I don't want her to grow up too fast I am still getting a kick out of all the fun and new things that Lydia is learning. Here are a few...

-She can now army crawl just about anywhere she wants to go, for example she followed me down the hall when I was doing laundry, it kind of scared me.-Even though she can crawl as soon as she gets somewhere (i.e. couch, leg, chair) she wants to pull herself up and stand.-She can walk behind a walker toy that she got for Christmas.-She is using her voice a lot, Chris spoke in church on the 28th and Lydia just yelled and screamed at Chris because she could see him but he wasn't paying any attention to her.-She absolutely loves the water, it is so cute to see her kick her little legs and splash all around.-Now not only does she recogonize and love Che, but any dog! She get's all excited and tries to wiggle down to their level to unintentionaly hit them or pull their hair. It's so freaking cute to see her recognize things like that already.-She still loves her nursery rhyms, and it has now expanded to loving the piano. At my parents we take her to the piano only for her to bang on that thing for as long as we let her. We got her a little "Snoopy" piano for Christmas and she will sit there and play it forever, it's kind of nice to get a few things done while she is occupied.-Lastly she is a total flirt, and loves to be where the action is. I am so amazed how loving she is with just about anyone. I love that she will basically go to anyone who wants to give her attention, partly because I love seeing what everyone has to offer in Lydia's life!Well what can I say I absolutely love being a mommy, she brings so much love and joy to our lives. I feel so blessed to have her in my life and look forward to all that she has in store!

Christmas and much much more...

For Patrice's birthday we went to Good Things Utah...which is one of my favorite shows, needless to say I watch it religously! Anyways it was so much fun seeing them in person and we got some free stuff from Robert's crafts.

We were like junior high girls again laughing and taking funny pics, it was so much fun! We were also on TV because of Patrice's b-day it was pretty funny!

Lydia and Raini playing, I can already tell they are going to be the best of friends.

Patrice turned 25, it was so fun to hear Bode wish Patrice Happy Birthday he was so dang cute. Before dinner Darin tried to get a little shut eye with all the noise and commotion all I can say is he must've been pretty tired!

It has been so fun having the family all together. Jared and Stacey are up from Vegas for two weeks, it has been so nice catching up and reconnecting with them.

Justin and Linds looking cute and happy as always!

Opening presents with the Knudsen's on the 23rd...we did a DVD gift exchange that turned out so cute we got "Christmas Vacation" one of my all time favorites!
Patrice and Clint getting some snuggle time while the kid's were occupied, you learn that these moments are few and far between when you have kids!

Lydia opening her present from Patrice, Clint, Bode and Raini...it was the funniest little toy. A tigger that bounced. The joke was it reminded everyone of Lydia because she never stops moving. Needless to say she absolutely loves it!

Christmas eve we spent the night with my family. We had planned to go night boarding but found out that Brighton was closed. SO we went to plan B, we went and saw "7 Pounds" which was a great movie, a little sad but very inspirational. We did the gift exchange later that night and played Battle of the sexes...with Derek around it is hard for the girls to win! In this pic Lydia was chomping down on the celery...we are hoping that there are some teeth to go with all that drool!

Lydia opening her Christmas pajamas on Christmas eve...I don't think the tissue paper tasted very good!

Later that night we took Lydia in the "Luke warm tub" she had a blast but seemed a little tired compared to Sun Valley! It was still fun and so cute to see!

Christmas eve we stayed at my parents and woke up early and had breakfast and opened presents. Then we headed down to American Fork for a Brunch at my Grandma and her sisters! It was so sweet of them, and so nice to see my Grandma back to her old self after her fall. She is one resiliant woman to be where she is after everything she has been through!

My Grandma and her sister Thayles and my grandma and my mom...there were 4 generations of first born daughter there!

After the brunch at my Grandma's we headed over to Justin and Lindsey's for a brunch. They had some great food! It was so fun to see all their new christmas decorations and how cute they have decorated their condo. The highlight was a gift that Justin got Lindsey it is a "retro dual" it plays old school nintendo and nintendo 64 games. It was awesome playing games like donkey kong and mario kart again!

Lydia playing with all her new toys, I'll be honest I think she is enjoying these a lot better than the wisk (which was her favorite toy prior to Christmas!)

On the 27th we had my family christmas party over at our club house, since we had it rented for the entire day we had Chris' family over for some rockband in the theater room!
All the sister-in-laws hanging out with the kids, while the hubbies played rockband!

Lydia in her Christmas dress...I wish you could see her shoes better they looked pretty cute on her and they stayed on for 20 minutes as opposed to her average 3 minutes!

We had such a great Christmas, we feel so blessed to have our family so close. I feel like so often we take for granted how blessed we are to have come from and to be apart of two pretty amazing families. Anyways I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009 here we come!