Gratitude

It's been a while since I've thought about all the things I'm grateful for. So I thought I would make a gratitude post, it always helps me put things in perspective.

* A new roof.

* Baby monitors that light up, so I can shut both bedroom doors when I blow dry my hair.

* Grandparents who babysit Andrea so she doesn't have to go to daycare.

* A husband who ends every phone call with "love you".

* Grocery stores.

* Lunch dates with Kristi.

* A healthy baby.

* Healthy Choice microwave meals.

* Weekly walks around town when I get to see the train, Spiers farm, or the house with all the gnomes.

Isn't it great to think of all the things we have and take for granted!

Anywho, Andrea had her 4 month appointment last week and all is well. She now weighs 17 lbs 15 oz which puts her in the 98th percentile. Her height was 24 1/2 in. which is in the 75th percentile. We started some rice cereal, here is a video. And I added some squash today which she seemed to really like.

MacGyver Lee

Pop some popcorn and get yourself a drink, it's funny story time! Last Sunday was a stormy day and the power went out while we were at the in-laws. Although we don't live too far from Ryan's parents, it's usually a big enough distance that our power is never off at the same time as theirs. Well, this was not the case, when we came home we realized we couldn't get into our garage with the automatic opener because our power was also out. I have the keys to the screen door and front door on my key ring, but we had Ryan's keys. No big deal, we figured we would just go for a drive and the power would be on shortly. After about a half an hour of driving through some of the same old streets (we really need to get some new hot spots in town) the power was still out. Andrea was sleeping, luckily, and I wasn't too worried because both of our parents have formula and diapers at their houses but Ryan just really wanted to get inside. He did have the key to his shop (his workshop in the back of our house) on his key ring and he thought with the help of some tools he might be able to open the back door to our garage, he realized another option was our bedroom window which we had open all day. However, our bedroom window is on the second story. So while Andrea and I waited in the truck, images of Ryan falling off the ladder and lying on the ground unable to call for help were racing through my mind. So I occationally went outside to see if he was okay. When he finally returned from the backyard he casually went up to the front door and unlocked it with his keys, I was so confused! So after he opened the garage door manually, he explained how he got the keys, "Well, I was trying to get in our bedroom window but I was too scared because the ladder wasn't quite tall enough. Then I remembered that when I was cleaning the front room earlier I put my other set of keys in my hat and set them on the dresser. So I got our tree prunner from the shop and fished my hat across the bedroom with the keys in it." I was dying of laughter. I couldn't stop laughing while I pulled the truck into the garage. What a funny guy, I wish I could have seen him on his ladder slowly pulling his hat across the bedroom. Oh man! So long story short (too late) we got inside and luckily the power came back on before "Breaking Bad".

Now for some cuteness:
When Andrea was first born, and we would set her in her bouncer, Ryan mentioned what a milestone it would be when she could pull on the umbrella to make it play music. Well it happened this week (tear) and I got it on video the second time around. Now when I set her in it she pulls it two or three times, the little sweetheart.




She has also become quite the chunk. She no longer fits in 3-6 months clothes and she is not yet 4 months. I just had to take some shots of her "chillin" in the tub this morning.Here is one of her and the dog staring each other down. I'm sure Andrea was giving a look of love, but Tessy was giving the evil eye. One more of Daddy with his girls.

Cedar City

Last weekend Ryan and I decided we better get Andrea down to Cedar City to meet her great-grandma and grandpa. I love Ryan's grandparents and am so excited that they are still around to see our family grow. My grandparents had passed on many many years ago so I treasure the fact that Ryan still has his.

On the way to Cedar City I couldn't help but remember so many trips back and forth to college. One trip in particular when Sharol and I would sing along to musicals (we found out that the trip is pretty close length-wise to listening to Rent and Chess) in PJs, drinking Dr. Pepper, and pausing for the occational belch. I smiled as I spotted "my mountain" and then quickly looked to the left to find Sharol's mountain. I couldn't help but turn on some Chess on my ipod. This trip however I was sitting in the back seat with my baby, drinking diet Pepsi, and I couldn't help but turn on some Chess on my ipod. I'm sure one day I'll remember this trip and traveling with my little baby instead of my infant or teenager (yikes).

As I said before, our main purpose for our Cedar City trip was to see Ryan's grandparents but we spent a lot of our time with Ryan's brother and family. It's always fun to get a glimpse of what our life will be like in a few years. I love spending time with the kids and they were definately obsessed with "Baby Anya". I had a little 4 and 2 year old follow me wherever Andrea went, they wanted to watch me change her diaper, get her dressed, make her a bottle. Poor baby Andrea, I've noticed she talks a little louder now that were home, I think she got used to all the noise.

Ryan helped Matt put a roof on the kids play gym while Sara and I visited. I'm so glad to have a sister-in-law that I can talk to and her and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. We also visited Ryan's aunt Sandy and uncle Fernlee who were babysitting baby Cambria. So with 4 kids, 6 adults, and 4 dogs, it was quite the adventure! We then had lunch with the Grandparents at "Lucky Buffet" (which has become a tradition), they have excellent cream cheese wontons! Afterwards, Matt was nice enough to take some family photos. Ryan and I had already tried with the timer at home so we could get some with Tessy, but having a photographer means Andrea might actually look up. It was a really fun weekend but it's always nice to come home. Today I promised Ryan I would get everything put away and our house back in order but, as you see, I still found time to blog. Here are some family photos that Matt took for us and some with the timer.