Tonight is my kids’ dance recital and I am so excited! This year their classes were really small. They are practically the only ones in their clases. Due to scheduling conflicts it just ended up this way. They are soooo cute! Here are a few photos I took yesterday at dress rehearsal.
Yesterday was a big day in our home. Tiny Miss Vee turned one year old! Her day was absolutely perfect. We started the day with breakfast (whole milk yogurt) in bed. They are never too young to participate in our traditions! Then we picked up the house for her party and went shopping for last minute goodies while she crawled around and played with her toys and had a grand time.
Her party was awesome! There was plenty of yummy food and lots of friends and family. She was so cute and outgoing. She is usually so reserved and contemplative, it was strange to see her so friendly and social. She seemed to know that this party was all about her and she revelled in it.
Her cake was so cute. It was hot pink with tiny white flowers and mint green leaves with a tinkerbell on top. We sang to her and then gave her the cake. At first she was very dainty using just her pointer finger to test it out. She didn’t want to get messy so she dived in head first and started sucking the frosting right off the cake. It was so funny! Everyone was laughing and she was loving it.
She got many lovely gifts. She got sweet clothes, a bouncy ball which mader her belly laugh(another thing she rarely does), and some nail polish and earrings. She loved the presents and even though she was dead tired I have never seen her so happy. It was a lovely day!
Now I would like to share some photos we did the day before her birthday. She got to do a separate cake smash the day before for pictures and as you can see she also preferred to dive right into this one as well. Before you ask, yes those are earrings in her ears. I did take her to get her ears pierced on Monday and I am very happy! She looks just as cute as I imagined and so far taking care of them has been easier than I imagined. I am so glad I finally gave in and had them done!
I am humbled and surprised at being asked to be spotlighted in the honoring womanhood section of www.crazibeautiful.com I had to write an article about my life and it was really difficult. I have had so many experiences and I needed to sum up my whole life in a few short paragraphs. I also didn’t want to sound like I was bragging either. I hope the article doesn’t sound too scatterbrained. LOL
I would love it if you would visit the site and leave a comment there. This website is an awesome gathering place for Utah moms!
I realize that I haven’t written an update here in a while. There is a reason for that. We have decided to sell our home and move to a new larger home. I have been working like crazy painting and dejunking and I probably will be doing a lot more of that for the next 6 weeks or so. If you know anyone looking for a great 5 bed, 2 and 3/4 bath, rambler in West Jordan feel free to put them in touch with us. With six kids and all their homeschool supplies we are just busting at the seams and we look like an episode of Clean House ready to happen! LOL
The nutritionist appointment went pretty well. The nutritionist was so nice and she felt like we were doing a great job, but with just a few more changes we could be really successful helping Virginia to gain weight. She didn’t want me to supplement or wean, YAY, but just to add fats to the foods she is already eating. She was officially diagnosed as “Failure to Thrive” as now her height has fallen off from the 50th to the 7th percentiles and her weight has not improved much. That doesn’t mean she looks sick or lethargic. They diagnose FTT BEFORE those things happen in order to prevent them from happening. I was kind of sad when she said it, but I am handling it now and making sure Vee has all the high fat foods she needs to help her grow. She is now over 16lbs! I hope to have her up to 17lbs by the time she has to go in again at 12 months old.
Virginia is talking like crazy now! Her favorite two words are nuhzoo(nuzzle, our word for nursing) and xaduh (Xander, her favorite brother). She shakes her head no whenever she doesn’t want something and she says Yeah when she does want something.
Well that’s all for now folks. I hope I can keep up here while I am working on the house, but I have a hard time making it to the computer. Wish me luck!
I am so excited to say that my birth photography was featured on Utah Childbirth! The writer of the article was much too kind in her description of me, but I am of course delighted to say the least. This website is an awesome resource for finding a midwife in Utah. Don’t forget to bookmark it!
Modern Expression Photography Article on Utah Childbirth
I took Virginia in for her weight check on Monday. It had been 6 weeks since we last saw the doctor. I was hoping for over 15lbs but no dice. She is only 14lbs 13oz at 10.5 months old which is only a 7oz gain in six weeks time. She was sick, but the doctor said even if she did lose a few ounces last week, she is still not gaining enough. He told me she is definitely not failure to thrive because she is meeting all her milestones. Her muscle tone is good and she is bright and alert. But he wants me to see the nutritionists at Primary Children’s Hospital next week for a consultation. I have no idea what they will say. I only hope that they will not make me wean her and just help me to power pack her solids. I have nursed all of my biological kids for a minimum of two years and some much longer than that and I hope to do the same for Virginia. But I have to make sure she is getting enough fat and calories for healthy brain growth as well.
On a happier note. Virginia has really started communicating with me. She asks to nurse by saying “zuh zuh” (nuzzles which is what I call it), she definitely calls Da Da by name, she is trying to repeat words like toy, and bye bye and she now knows the sign for “all done” and can say “ah duh” while she’s doing it. She does sometimes use the same sign for “more” though.
Virginia is not as fond of modelling as Rani is. LOL! She was so cranky! This is the first of several model shoots that she will be doing for Whimsy Couture’s new spring line. I LOVE these clothes! They are fresh and spunky and girly. Check out her store!
Today I was reading on Ginger’s blog and came across this poem
With rosy cheek and droopy eye
She hears her mamma’s lullaby.
And snuggled safe to Mamma’s chest
She breaths;
She sighs;
At last she rests.
For some reason all the emotion I have been holding in all week just came spilling out of my eyes. It’s hard not to complain when you have had day after day of a sick feverish baby trying to become a permanent appendage to your body. I love her dearly, but it has really worn me out. Reading this poem made me realize that this week has been a blessing in disguise. Sickness can definitely be a time for stopping the business of life and taking a break and just enjoying each other. Most of the days this week have been spent hugging and loving on my sweet sickie. I am grateful for this time. I know next week she’ll be off happy and crawling away from me again.
So I will not let the fact that four of my six children are very sick get me down. I will rub my 3yos back while he is tossing cookies. I will give my 7yo her breathing treatments and antibiotics for her bronchitis. I will hug my 10yo and give him cough syrup and advil for his bad cold and I will continue to love on my sweet 10 month old who’s fever has finally come down to a manageable 99 after being at 102-105 for five days.
Wow, that’s a lot of updating for one day! I had to do it all at once. The baby is sick with a fever and I am stuck at home. I hope your St. Patricks Day has been great! Here are a couple pictures of my girls.
I can’t believe baby Virginia is already 10 months old. The time goes by much much too quickly. It has finally warmed up here a bit so we were able to do some pictures out of doors. If you look closely you might be able to see her snaggle tooth in the last picture. It’s so cute! I’m kind of sad that her two top front teeth are starting to break through. I love her snaggle.
