Sharing

We are trying to teach Bridget to share. 

So far, I think she is getting the concept down very well.

I am sure trevor is enjoying her decision to share her food rather then a toy.

Things I can't live without

When it comes to everyday Baby health there are a few things that I have found I can't live without. 


I don't want / can't take Bridget to the doctor every time she gets a sniffle or a cough. 
So I wanted to share with you a few things that I use on a regular basis to help keep my Bridgey healthy and strong. 


All of these products are from Natures Sunshine: website here


#1 Catnip & Fennel

Have you ever been to a Indian restaurant and at the end of the meal they give you a seed mixture? That has fennel seeds in it. Fennel helps with digestion.

I especially used this her first few months, it really helps to soothe the belly. When she was colic-y this stuff was my lifesaver. I still use it, she really likes the taste and it's mild so she can have as much as she wants. 

I dab it on her binky and she sucks it right off. 

#2  VS-C

I use VS-C to help build Bridget's immune system. 

Just like the catnip I dab this on her binky, and just like catnip it's mild and she can have as much as she wants.

Any time it seems like she is starting to come down with something I start giving her this and it helps to head off any ailment.

#3 Silver Shield

I use both the silver shield liquid & the gel. 
The Gel, for any diaper rash or topical issue. 
With the liquid I get an eye dropper and fill it 1/4 to 1/2 way full and squirt it in her mouth, 1 or 2 times a day when she is sick.
This also supports the immune system and is awesome with any bacterial sicknesses. 
I like Natures Sunshine with silver shield specifically because they make it so the silver particles are small enough that even children can digest it. 
I also use Silver Shield for ear aches. When Bridget starts to pull on her ears I drop a couple drops into her ear (and try to get her to stay on her side for about 5 minutes so it can get down in there.) within a couple days she always stops pulling on her ears.




So there you are, just a few things that have helped keep us out of the doctors office.

Nothing like a good workout.

We got a gym membership with free childcare. Therefore, I have no excuses.

Besides, they have classes and I really like classes. 

I went to a step aerobics class, a few things I noticed:

1. There are a lot of people working out in the middle of the day. Especially men 20-30-years-old. Do they not have jobs? Someone needs to tell them that they may initially attract women by their muscles but most ladies don't stick around when that's all there is.

2. I was the only one who could not for the life of me remember the combinations. 

Even the lady next to me who was roughly 7 months pregnant had the "ball-change, box-step, knee-lift, bow'n-arrow, elvis-leg, fairy-fly, repeat" down.

3. This wasn't even zumba and I'm having this much trouble.

4. The class was taught by a woman who was probably 55, with a rockin bod. Who knows, she could be older? Or perhaps younger deducing from her well tanned skin in the month of February. She kept looking at me with a hopeless expression... does that mean I will never have a body as rockin as hers? 

5. The combination that she kept repeating loudly "this is the easiest one" I always seemed to be up when everyone was down. Then this popped into my head:

I may have looked worse. 

But bless my own heart, I'm going to keep going back until I get the dang elvis-leg, fairy-fly down!

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Why do I blog?

I was thinking about it the other day.

Why do I blog?

I don't have the excuse that I am doing it to keep people updated.

The main people who would care; namely grandmothers, don't often read my blog.

Actually I don't think many of my family read my blog.

In fact Trevor rarely reads it, only when I tell him to. Although he does link it to his facebook which is nice. (But I've kind of taken that over too.)

I don't consider this my journal, although it is great to have a record of everything I have posted.

It may be a vain thing.... I really do enjoy when people tell me they read my blog.

But then I was realizing, I look at life differently since I started blogging.

I notice more details.

How ever ridiculous the phrase "blog about it"is, it's absolutely true.

I go through my day and I will have thoughts that were once just passing thoughts that I would never have remembered again. But now I don't let the fleeting thoughts (or moments) whisk away, I give them attention. And sometimes they end up on here, shared with the whole of the inter-galactic web world.

I feel as though I am more aware of my life and I live it more fully...because I blog.

I actually think more...because I blog.

I take way more pictures....because I blog.

I blog because I love to live my life.

Happy

Anniver-Birth-date-5-months!

This sweet girl is 5 whole months old today!

-Bridget is doing much better with solid food. She still eats mostly avocado but we have sweetened things up a bit with apples as well.
The consistency of her diapers have changed... I always enjoy new adventures....or so I thought. 


-She is getting good sitting up on her own.

-She rolls over periodically. I have now witnessed this for myself. Hizzah!


-She talks all the time, and is getting better at voice fluctuations.

-She LOVES to spit. The kind of spit where she pushes air and saliva through her lips. I think she does it because she likes the noise it makes. 
It's so dang cute, and even cuter when it tickles her nose.

She is so stinkin chunky, her legs are my favorite!
-She weighs 16.5 lbs.
As Grandma Ruthie says "She looks like a ball."


-She still prefers to be swaddled when she sleeps but unfortunately the biggest swaddle we could find has a weight capacity of 14 lbs:

-She LOVES to have her hands tickled. That's right I said hands. 
If she's tired and I tap the palms of her hands she usually falls right asleep.


I love discovering her little quarks.


I just can't get enough of her. 

Not just a bad hair day.

Bridget let me sleep in until 9:00 this morning! Thanks so much Bridge, but you know you didn't have to, my birthday's not for two whole months.

My hair is driving me crazy. 

I have been loosing fist-fulls of it with post-pregnancy baldness, plus it has grown out so there is no style or shape to it. 

So I decided to make myself a deal. 

I can't cut my hair until I loose 10 lbs. 

That sounded like good motivation until

I woke up this morning and looked at myself in the mirror and thought, 

"You have a lady mullet."

It's true, I do.

Here, I'll prove it

 

I know what you're thinking....yikes. 

So now I have to loose 10 lbs not just because of my own annoyance with my hair,

but for my compassion on human kind. 

It's not fare of me to subject anyone to this.

I needed to be sure it was unattractive and not just sexy, 

so I had to take a few more pictures.

 See that little baby bump.... there's no baby in there. 

So you all have to endure the mullet until that's gone.

Book Review

Atlas Shrugged

I love to read. 

I even love to find lists like: "Top 100 best books of all time" to see how many of the books I have read.

So when I saw the title Atlas Shrugged on almost all the lists I figured it had to be good. 

I was wrong.

It is Fantastic!

It is a massive book, 1084 pages. 

And it's not like Harry Potter with a relatively large type and double spaced, it's the itty bitty font and as many words as possible packed onto one page.

So I recommend getting the book on CD from the library and converting it to your iPod. 

It was written in the 1950's but it is unnerving how incredibly accurate the parallels are to America today. Litterally in every way; economically, politically, morally, etc.

 The novel's title is a reference to Atlas, a Titan of Greek mythology, who in the novel   is described as "the giant who holds the world on his shoulders".^[3] The significance of this reference is seen in a conversation between the characters Francisco d'Anconia and Hank Rearden, in which d'Anconia asks Rearden what sort of advice he would give to Atlas upon seeing that "the greater [the titan's] effort, the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders". With Rearden unable to answer, Francisco gives his own response: "To shrug".

 wikipedia

This book has sparked in me the desire to be the best possible person I can be. 

To be a great mind.

To think and choose for myself.

It has inspired me to develop my abilities continually. It's what I am capable of.

"No one's happiness but my own is in my power to achieve or to destroy."
-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Part 3, Ch. 2

So I ask you, 

Who is John Gault?

P.S. They have made the book into a three part movie, part one is available now on DVD.  Part two will be released in theaters this fall.  It is supposedly a "low budget" film, but I think they did an excellent job. 

Weekend Update

We had a wonderful weekend full of incredibly happy events and lots of family.


Trevor's brother B.J., his sweet wife Stacy, and their darling daughter Carli, were sealed in the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple on Saturday. 


It was wonderful to see them become an eternal family. 

On Friday Trevor came home from work early so I was able to go to the temple to be there when Stacy went for the first time. 


It was the longest I have ever been away from Bridget.


A whole three hours.


Three hours doesn't sound too long, right?


I didn't think so either.


But apparently it was long enough.


Bridget chose the only time I wasn't within 30 feet of her to rollover for the first time!


Twice actually!


And guess what? She hasn't rolled over since. 


Believe me, I have tried to coax her to it. 


At first I felt a little betrayed. 


How could she go and roll over when I wasn't there?


Then I realized, it was really special for Trevor to be able to be the sole witness and get to experience her great developmental milestone. 


He was so excited to tell me all about it. 


And I am sure I will be there for other big events in her life.
As long as I don't leave her side, not even for three hours.

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom

So I had a play date the other day. 

My very first one. 

It's where moms get together to let their kids play while they get some other adult interaction.

It was nice.

Bridge was the youngest. She sat on my lap and with bleary eyes watched the other kids play (it was nap time.)

I was selfish enough to sacrifice her nap time so I could reach out to other human beings.

As I chatted and got to know the other ladies I started to feel inadequate.

"Yeah, I started going to school when I was pregnant with my first, and I have been in school ever since."

(She is pregnant with her fifth due in May)

"I really hope this baby isn't clingy because I am starting nursing school in the fall."

"I know, going to school is the worst when you have kids. I failed two classes when my baby was a newborn, but now I am 3 weeks away from graduating."

"I teach aerobics." (and the primary president)

"I do hair."

"I have 4 kids and home-school all of them."

"I work part-time."

"I am a dental hygienist."

"I am so busy all the time, luckily today is my day off."

"Oh really, what do you do?"

"Music lessons, and I don't start teaching until 4:00 today so it feels like its my day off."

"Very nice, what kind of music lessons?"

.....

"So, what do you do?"

"I stay at home with Bridget."

"Wow that would be so nice. What do you do all day?"

"Uh............. I clean, and cook, play with Bridget, and make curtains?"

I decided not to mention that I only clean sometimes, that I blog, and some days neither Bridge nor I get our of our pj's.

 

On more than one occasion my conversation with Trevor has gone something like this:

"Ok, scenario, if you had a chance to win a T.V and a scooter OR a trip to South Beach what would you choose?

"I would....."

"Oh really, well the lady on price is right or let's make a deal did...."

Sure, there are the days that I feel completely lazy but I try to make those few and far between.

 I feel like I am not busy enough though.

But when I am honest with myself I don't want to be so busy. I like that I can literally play with Bridget all day. I assume it only happens with the first baby, but she gets my attention.

I know it wasn't any of the ladies intention to make me feel inadequate. 

So I am going to choose to remember:

-I actually do do quite a bit.

-I am extremely grateful I finished my schooling before I was even married.

-I get to spend everyday with my baby.

-I have become a much better cook than I ever knew I was capable of.

- We are incredibly blessed that we can live off Trevor's income so I don't have to work, one day that may change.

-My life will inevitably get busier, so there is no point in filling it with things I don't really want to do now, just so I can fit in. 

I am grateful for my life and what I have now.

p.s. I really enjoy all the ladies and I am excited to have them as my friends. I adore them already. And since they have gone through all the baby stuff before I am so grateful when they answer my never ending questions. 

Scenes from the...

Nutcracker. 

Not really.

Have you ever seen "Little Rascals?" 

It's the part when they are at the dance recital, the dance teacher says it. 

Anyone?

Oh wow. I obviously have not gotten enough sleep the past couple days.

In fact that's why I didn't post these pictures yesterday. 

Bridget has decided she doesn't need to sleep, ever. 

Not from 3am - 7am.

Not at nap time. 

I mean I know she is smart, she grows and learns new things everyday.

But I think she's still pretty young to think she is doesn't need sleep anymore. 

I'll google it.

Well, who knew it was possible to get on a tangent from the title?

here are some pictures.

I was going to do just pictures from valentines day, but we'll make it an assorted array.

This post seems to be a little aimless.

I said "smile."
This is what I got:

Grandma Ruthie made Bridget a special Valentine pillowcase.

Just hangin out.

she's probably thinking about how she doesn't need to sleep anymore. 

 I can't get enough of these faces, or these cheeks.

Now it's nap time... wish us luck.

Happy What?

Oh yeah.... Happy Valentines Day. 

I have never been great at Valentines Day. Especially before I was married, I forgot it was V-day every year.

I could never understand why some of my roommates would mope around, it's just like any other day, right?

Well I was going to tell you how I semi-botched / it was the best valentines day ever three years ago.

But I will start out by telling you how I already ruined today. 

It's 7:42am.

If after I feed Bridget she goes back to sleep then so do I. So I am rarely up when Trevor leaves for work. But for some reason after I fed her at 7:00 I couldn't go back to sleep so I came downstairs to start writing my valentines day post.

Nope, I didn't even think: "It would be really nice if I made breakfast, or pack a lunch or something for Trevor today."

I just came down and sat on my booty.

Well I heard Trevor go out into the garage so I thought he was grabbing a tool or something. 

He often needs tools when he is pouring himself a bowl of cereal. No, but really it didn't throw me off that he would be out there, he loves his garage.

What did make me curious was how long he was out there. I kept thinking, "is he trying to paint a coat on the dresser before work? He is going to be so late!"

So I went out to see what he was doing. 

He whirled around with the guiltiest face. 

It was like a caught a 4-year-old scribbling with permanent marker on my walls.

He had a beautiful rose in his hand.

"Oh no! I am so sorry! I was wondering what was taking you so long, I came out to help."

"You aren't supposed to even be awake right now!"

I spoiled the surprise. 

He also got me a box of chocolate covered strawberries and a beautiful card. 

My awful timing aside, he is an incredible man. I am so lucky to have him.

Which brings me to...Valentines Day 2009:

I actually need to rewind about a month. 

In January 2009 Trevor and I had been dating for a while and we started talking about getting married. 

I felt it necessary to tell him

"When you propose don't do anything too cheesy or cliche."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Well, like on Valentines day or anywhere near a temple."

You see we had met while going to school at BYU-Idaho, and I am going to throw out a statistic here and say 70% of engaged couples got engaged on temple grounds. 

Basically I had felt like it was overdone and I wanted something a bit more original.

So what did he do?

I am sure you have picked up on the foreshadowing here, but like any romantic comedy I will go on even though you know what's going to happen.

His family came down from Idaho to go through the open house for the draper temple before it was dedicated. 

It happened to be on Valentines Day. 

My parents also decided to come with us and as we were all walking though the temple we got to the sealing rooms. 

There was an usher standing near an altar in the middle of the room, he caught eye contact with me and Trevor and waved us over. 

He started whispering "look into the mirrors, they are placed that way so it looks as if you go on forever. It's symbolic."

I whispered back: "It's beautiful. Actually we are going to be married here in June."

(I was one of those girls who had already scheduled and picked out a date before I even had a ring on my finger.)

"Oh wow, congratulations." he responded.

"Yes just one thing left to do." Trevor piped in.

Then he turned to me and knelt down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

"Are you kidding me?" was my reply. 

Because you see, I thought it was a joke. He was doing exactly what I told him not to do. 

When I realized the little box in his hand with a gorgeous diamond ring inside meant it wasn't a joke I quickly replied with an emphatic "Yes!"

When he got up to hug me he was sweating excessively.

I was concerned so I asked, "Are you ok?"

 

"I thought you were going to say 'No'."

Oops.

Poor guy has to deal with me everyday of the year.

He proved me a fool though because it was the most wonderful Valentines day I ever had.

You can't take pictures inside the temple so here is a picture of the room we were in when he proposed. It was so memorable and sweet. 

I LOVE YOU TREVOR MILLAR!!

Before / After

Remember about a week and a half ago when I said I was in project mode?

Well I finished the curtains for my bedroom...
 I LOVE them!!!

BEFORE

 AFTER

 BEFORE

(And Trev patiently waiting for me to take my "before" pictures, even though he already had half of them up when I told him to take them down for my pictures.)

AFTER

Thank you Pinterest. 

They were super easy but time consuming. Especially because I only worked on them during nap time.

This was my inspiration:

You can find the tutorial here

Or if you want to repin on pinterest here

They are patterned after some anthropology curtains. 

The size I did would have cost me $208 for two panels if I had gotten them at anthro and I made FOUR panels, so I saved a whole ton of money 

(that was my argument for Trevor)

I used white muslin that I got for $3.99 / yard, and I got 21 yards. 

I have just barely less then a yard left.

In the tutorial she says she measured each panel 90" so that after hemming and casing the panels would be around 80". I measured my panels 100".

My curtain rod I got on clearance at Ross, I liked it because it expanded up to 128" so I only needed one rod for both my windows.

The whole project cost me $90.

I was amazed how different the curtains made the room feel. 

It feels so much more home-y.

I just want to hang out in there all day.

A new chapter in "The Tales of Miss Bridget"

An adventure with solids:

 Bridge has been showing some clear interest in solid food. 

With her teeth and the fact that avocados were on sale and I decided to give it a go.

She actually did pretty good.

She swallowed maybe two bites. 

But she sure enjoyed the new texture in her mouth by pushing it out and sucking it back in and blowing bubbles.

And so it has begun.

3:30 AM

The past few nights 3:30am has been a very active time at our house.

Last night when Bridget woke up for her nightly feeding she ate like normal and nearing the end I was getting ready to put her back in her bed when she decided it would be an excellent time for a poop. 

But not just a poop, a blowout. 
I know it doesn't look that bad, but it was everywhere.

 I thought I could just wipe her down and head back to bed but it required a bath.

Baths in the middle of the night aren't the best baths, I tend to be impatient. 

Bridge seemed to enjoy it.

 It's funny, babies don't seem to apply to any of the social rules, 

I get so happy every time she poops. 

Even when it's at 3:30AM.

Everyone's nicer after a bowel movement.

That brings us to a few nights before.

I get up with Bridget in the night and 98% of the time Trevor sleeps through any noise she or I makes. Which I am grateful for, I would feel bad if he were a light sleeper. 

On this night I was up feeding Bridget, Trevor didn't stir when I got up to get her.

Usually when I feed her in the night I sit in the chair with my head down and doze until she's ready to change sides.

I had my head down when I felt someone touch me! 

It came from deep in my gut, a raspy explosion out of my mouth: 

"OH MY GOSH!"

As I gripped my baby tighter to my body in a protective hold,

I started swinging my other arm ready to do some lasting damage to my perpetrator.

"Oh, Whoa! Hey!" 

It was Trevor.

He had come in on his way to the bathroom and decided to stop and was giving me a kiss on the forehead when he was assaulted. 

But the damage was done.

Adrenaline was pumping through my veins.

Bridget was crying.

And Trevor had some pretty good slap marks.

Have you ever watched the discovery channel, Trevor?

They call us Mama Bear for a reason. 

It took us all a little while to get back to sleep.

We love 3:30 in the morning.

It's the new 9:00.

What goes on in a baby's mind?

This past weekend we went to Idaho to visit Nana and Bumpa. 


Bridget got to spend some more time with her cousin. Here is a conversation between babies:

Hailey: "She's touching me!"

Bridget: "Nah uh, I'm just being nice. See."

Bridget: "Look, Hailey, the next three weeks are kind of rough. I know, I've lived through it. Sleep training, teeth, blowouts, the list goes on. But don't worry I'm here for you."

Bridget: "Nice talk. High five."

Bridget: "Now hold my hand."

A little while later....

Bridget: "Hey, Hailey, I know you're praying but I have a secret to tell you."

Bridget: "What?! I wasn't doing anything!!!"

Do you think we take too many pictures?

Thursday?

Holy smokes, how did Thursday get here?

This week really got away from me.

Probably because I have been in project mode therefore everything else has gone to the wayside.

When I get in project mode I don't cook, clean, sleep, shower. My baby is lucky she gets fed.

Trevor loves it when I get in project mode.

Would you like a sneak peak?

It's a lot of sewing

 And a lot of painting.

I hope to be done with everything next week so there will be some awesome before and afters coming your way.

Go and enjoy your Friday Eve. I will be sewing furiously.