Happy Anniversary

Eric and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on Saturday. Well, "celebrated" is something of an overstatement. I, for the second time, was sick on our anniversary. Eric got sick on our honeymoon, last year I was newly pregnant and was battling the Formidable Morning Sickness (another understatement), and this year I had the flu. We get sick alot, apparently.

We decided before we got married that we wanted to keep anniversaries simple, just go to the temple and maybe to dinner. We also had the great idea that we'd write a love letter to each other on our anniversary, seal it up, and open it the next year. Doesn't that sound so sweet?...yeah- we kinda suck on all counts, we haven't done any of it. All we managed this year was to go to dinner, and that probably wasn't the wisest either, what with me having a temperature of 102 and all. So no pictures, just this blast from the past (taken two days after the wedding).

And yet, we found time to countdown the top ten of this last married year.
1-Having Jane
2-Going through labor and delivery together (no kidding, one of the highlights)
3-When I came home from Idaho this last time after not seeing my honey for 16 days (never again!) and Eric had the house all clean and a special song playing and we just danced in the living room.
4-Doing a session in the SLC temple with my family this summer.
5-Jane's first week of life with my mom and Eric's mom visiting.
6-Road trip to Louisana with the Enigma that is Holly and the Insatiable Seth
7-Marcee's Family Reunion
8-Thanksgiving (which we celebrated in the student lounge about 20 minutes after Eric's last final on Dec 18. I bought the turkey, but I made everything else including Eric's favorite Green Pie)
9-One day in particular at Eric's parent's house when we had a rather interesting conversation on diversity with Eric's sister, bro-in-law, and mom.
10- New Year's Eve
(It's Gonna Rock!!!)

Hair

Pro: my baby's hair is finally coming in.
Con: it's only coming in on top.

Thus, my baby is growing a mohawk AND a tail--there are three hairs on the crown that are almost three inches long...

My Heart Belongs to Texas

I need to stop missing Texas so much...who'da thunk?

Sidenote

As long as I'm huzzah-ing out the wahzoo, I thought I'd huzzah for marriage. Whilst composing the previous post, I ran the duh story by Eric for approval. Following which he said impudently:
"speaking of socks, where are my slippers?"
Walking into the living room, he said impishly:
"Where the devil are my slippers, Eliza?" (for those of you fortunate enough to NOT have seen My Fair Lady, Eric was quoting the detestable Professor Higgens whom I detestfully hate).

And I, having learned well from my mother, flipped him off flippantly.

He, in response, took of his slipper, pretended to throw it at me and said unthreateningly:
"Oh yea? Take that President Bush"
which is really funny if you have seen this video.

And that's why marriage, or any close, trusting, caring, sharing relationship deserves a Huzzah.

And for her overly adverse overuse of adverbs is why Stephanie Meyer does not.

Thanksgiving Travels- Part II

Festival of Trees
This is like Burley Broadway, people. This is no small thing, in a small town. Growing up, every year the Christmas Season in all it's glittering and rushing-around glory began with the Festival of Trees, always the first weekend in December. And every year, at least every year that I lived there, I performed on that stage (which hasn't changed). This year was no different. That I would be performing this year came up as a side note to a conversation about sandwiches and after school jobs I was having with my youngest sister as we were driving through town. So, two days later, me, my mom, and youngest sister mounted the stage and sang six or so songs with relative success (again with those horrible puns).
And actually? It was a lot of fun. And we didn't sound half bad. My dad sat in the audience (like he has done every year) and took pictures while Jane slept in her carseat.

After the show we took Jane to see the resident Santa Claus and get her one of those yummy mini candy canes. Some babies smile for pictures. Mine pops her eyes wide open.


Soaking in the Fount of Knowledge that is my Mother:
Go Grandma! So, sometimes I feel about Mom the way Eric feels about me.

Let me explain: Mommies find themselves saying "duh" to Daddies a lot-- not aloud, mind you (at least not often). For example, last night Eric got Jane ready for bed and put her in a pair of jammies that weren't footsie jammies. He forgot the socks...duh. Or he gave her a bath the other day and asked me how warm the water should be...duh. (I secretly love these duh moments. They give me a strange sense of validation, like, I have this specialized knowledge that Eric doesn't. I like this not so I can say "nah, na na nah, nah" but because it proves to me that there is more than meniality to the tasks that make up my day).

My mom duh-ed me a lot this time around, only she's totally secure in her Mommyness thus she has no idea what I'm talking about. So Jane hasn't really liked her baths much. I started bathing with her forever ago so she'd tolerate it better. She started to like them a little then. Well, while I was visiting, my mother helped me bathe Jane one night (don't worry, I wasn't in the tub with her this time--we're not THAT close of a family) and pointed out that I was filling the tub too full thus Jane's discomfort...duh. I let out a couple inches of water and Jane was a different kid. Kicking like crazy and having a ball. And why do I tell this story? Because of this way cute picture of Jane in the tub (notice the strategically placed bubbles):




Seeing Old Friends:
Yep, I got to see my old high school peeps. Amber and I always carve out time to see each other when I'm in town, even if it means chatting while I'm packing for the airport and getting Jane ready for the day (more fun bath pictures--she'll make a great mommy some day, despite all her protesting).



But Laurie and I haven't seen each other since her little boy (the one in this picture) was four days old. Yikes, I know. *sigh* It was great to see each other, not enough time to catch up (that's what facebook and blogs are for ;-) but at least enough time to touch base.


So, my friends. Thanks for catching up with me via the blogosphere. I've really enjoyed writing tonight and I love reading the Tales of all my Friends. Keep it up! Huzzah for blogs!

Thanksgiving Travels- Part I

Yea, yea, yea. It's nearly Christmas. As my little sister says, "whatev". Yes, I still haven't unpacked my bag. So keep your shirt on. My shirt is still in my bag, so I'm good. But I did unpack my camera and it's cord...thus, pictures!

Thanksgiving:
With finals fast approaching, Eric and I naively thought he'd have an easier time if Jane and I were out of the way. So off Jane and I went for sixteen days, two airplane flights and 33 hours in a car...

Here are the highlights:
Visiting my 1LT sister at Ft. Irwin. Did I mention I got to do the pinning? (see picture below) Did I mention I am terribly proud of her? Word and pictures cannot describe. My sister rocks. She's an incredibly strong, smart, spunky, hilarious, sweet, give you her left arm and right kidney kind of gal. I'm loving watching her kick butt in the Army and in life.


Example: my sister has a jeep. It's name is Harold. My sister and Harold have all kinds of adventures together. Is she scared of the Mojave Desert? No! Does she need a road or a path to drive on? No! She blazes her own trails (bad jeep pun, I know).
Does she flinch in driving through small lakes? No! Yes, I flinched. Several times. But I trusted my sister. Jane enjoyed the desert air and the brilliant sunset. I miss desert sunsets.
Did I mention she takes awesome pictures? Huzzah for my sister!


Touring the Goldstone Complex i.e. really big Space Antenna Radar Receiving Thingies (ZAP--/Mommy Brain Strikes Again\--ZAP):

This was way cool. I learned all about the deep space projects NASA has got going and the twelve year old in me wanted to be an astronaut again. While my inner-geek missed my geeky husband even more, I felt Sci-Fi Fever rear it's strange head again.

Visiting the Wetlands in Vegas:
Yes, they do kind of stink. But in Vegas, they are a place that feels outside sardine-suburbia. That and Eric and I used to go on early morning or late night walks in them back when we were dating (because it was too hot during the day). And it was nice to walk in warm weather with Jane and her cousin Aubrey.


Stay tuned for Part II which takes place many hours north in Idaho.

Jane's Blessing

So I never posted pictures or mentioned Jane's blessing. And it's worth mentioning because a) it's an important event, b) I worked my toosh off on that dress, and c) the whole story is mildly humorous.



a) What a cool thing, almost elitist in a Chosen kind of way, it is to give a baby a blessing. In some weird way, it was almost like her spiritual birth. I mean, there was all this preparation and build up to her birth, largely on my end of things. And then there was the frantic, sleep-deprived, craziness of her first months of life. And right about the time they start smiling (or that mommies start smiling again) and seem to become little people, we get the opportunity of giving them a name and a blessing from their Heavenly Father. This time the ball was in Eric's court, the Adam and the Namer of the family. My body was the conduit for her physical creation, Eric's body, through his priesthood, the conduit of her spiritual...yay, I'm totally just pontificating (or BSing) here, so don't take me for doctrine by any means. But it was a really special experience and I'm trying to describe it.


b) My toosh is still recovering from many a motherly endeavor, but this particular one turned out quite beautifully. My mother made most of the dress and I got to prettify it. We actually bought the fabric at the JoAnne's superstore in Austin before we had her, you know, during that week of my due date when my mom flew out and we shopped, crafted, and walked ourselves silly willing the baby to come out. The bodice and sleeves iare from the extra fabric my wedding dress was made from and the skirt is shiny satin. My wedding dress had gorgeous tulle shimmering out the bottom, so at the last minute I decided to overlay the skirt with tulle. I gathered the tulle by hand then attached to a satin ribbon and sewed the whole thing on, again by hand (I was too nervous to use my machine). And then I stitched on the other pretties and made the headband while sitting in stake conference...which brings me to:

my dad, the Man of the Hour, with the Baby of the Hour

c) So, since I now live a couple miles from my sister, we decided to do a two-fer with Jane's blessing and my niece Juliana's baptism. My younger sister got special leave to fly out and both my parents and my youngest sister were coming. Plus my sister's in-laws, who I love, would also be there. I was stoked. I thought I'd be lucky to have my dad come out when we lived in Austin. Anyway, as it turned out, there was a misunderstanding at my Dad's work and he ended up not being able to come. I was, well, not entirely devastated, but pretty bummed. I wanted to cancel the blessing but felt bad for my mom and sisters who had come all that way. They told me I was silly on all counts and so we decided to reschedule for when my dad could come. We really had the pick of any day, so we picked a day so that dad could be around for Halloween (he makes a great Frankenstein) and then the week before we realized it was Stake Conference that Sunday...which means we DIDN'T bless her in front of the whole congregation, but at my sister's house. So instead of showing off my baby and her dress to several hundred people, we just showed it off to a handful.

And yet truth and beauty are not dependent on the audience (take that rhetoric), and both the blessing and the dress were full of both. My baby on the other hand, was just plain tired.

doesn't she look exhausted?

I'm still here!

Yes, I haven't vanished off the face of the earth. Not entirely, anyway. I'm in Idaho visiting family and friends, which is still on the face of the earth, but just barely. It's like on the tip of the earth's nose...yeah, sleep-deprived mommy jokes are funny.

I have no pictures to share--shocker, I know--but we've been so crazy busy I don't even think I know where the camera is at this point. We've had a lot of firsts in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I ought to write them down before I forget:

1- Jane giggled! It was not two hours after my last post when I complained she hadn't giggled yet. She's not a big giggler, though. She's only giggled about six times total. But dang is it cute!

2- We had our first airplane flight. And it wasn't too bad. We drove out to this tiny airport that had a short and very personal security line, so that helped. And Jane was a doll and slept through 2 hours and 15 minutes of the three hour flight. We'll see how the return goes...

3- Jane met two of my brothers, their wives and kids. She's a fan of cousins.

4- Jane went to her first basketball game and loved the noise. That kid kills me, she's so much harder to handle when it's just the two of us. Throw in a couple of noisy cousins and she's golden.

5- Jane had her first fever.

6- Jane got her first ear infection.

7- Jane is teething like crazy and typically needs at least one dose of tylenol a day, poor thing. I can feel the tooth under her gums but it hasn't come out yet.

8- Jane is now in size 3 diapers!!! Ahhh!!! And she wears a 6M in Carter's. She's growing up too fast! Now I know what all those people meant...

9- I got to "pin" my sister (it's actually a piece of velcro these days) at her promotion ceremony. She's now a 1st Lieutenant. Twas pretty cool. I'm pretty proud of her. We spent several days with her and I got a slight dose of what military life is like on a base. Jane really took to her Aunt Holli, she has a way with her.

10- Jane visited Vegas, California, Utah, and Idaho for the first time. I told you we've been busy.

11- Jane gets toys. She'll actually play with them now. My sister let us borrow her excersaucer the day before we left. I can't wait to get home to it, she loves it. I bought her a little toy bar thing to strap to her carseat, since we've spent so much time in the car. She really likes it.

12- Jane tried out the johnny jump up thing. You know, that thing you hang in a door frame? She's not sure about it quite yet. Although I foresee plenty of future enjoyment.

13- Jane enjoyed tummy time last night! No Kidding! I even got a picture with my phone of her laughing.

14- Jane's hair is growing! I think it's doubled in length so it's like a whole quarter of an inch now. Except for these three inch and a half pieces on the crown of her head above her bald spot. They give me hope, and yet I'm just waiting for them to fall out.

Basically, Jane is turning into a real-life baby. One that can do stuff. One that grandpas like playing with. She's getting adorably round.

3 Months Old!

So
this first pic was taken when Jane was a week old, the morning we left Austin (yes, I left the decorations above her changing table up until the last possible minute).

This picture was taken on her three month birthday, last Friday. This picture doesn't capture how HUGE she has gotten (and I'm not talking about her booty--she's wearing a cloth diaper).

At three months:

• Jane has rolled over several times starting a couple of weeks ago.
• She's pretty much addicted to sucking her hands.
• And she likes to yell a lot. Her voice has evolved from Pterodactyl to Cave Woman, as Eric put it.
• She still hates tummy time-- she's confused, she lifts her legs up instead of her head and ends up pushing her head into the floor, very reminiscent of a beached whale.
• She's decided she does like her swing now and loves to sit and watch me do my stuff while yelling.
• I'm pretty sure she's teething, she drools like, well, like a baby who's teething (yes, my ability to make similes and metaphors is still gone, darn baby-brain).
• And she's starting to be a bit more interested in toys and book. Up until now, she had all the stimulation she could handle between mommy, daddy, and her cousins.
• Still no laughing, but plenty of winning smiles.

Life is good and Baby Boot Camp may finally be over...knock on wood.

Favorite Comics

So I just wanted to share these with the world. They are my favorite comics about pregnancy and Baby Boot Camp. Hope they make you smile, they are SO true.

Like Mommy or Daddy?

As promised, we've gotten scientific on you...


So I've been wanting to post baby pictures of Eric, me, and Jane so that the voting can begin in earnest. Take a look at the poll at the top right of this page, it's been reopened. Hopefully any lingering election angst won't inhibit you.

Many thanks to my little sis who took a few of my baby pics to school and scanned them for me.

Eric and Jane as newborns:


Eric, Jane, and Marcee each in blessing outfits:


Bright-Eyed Babies (Eric, Jane, Marcee):


And sitting on the couch (Eric, Jane and Roxie the Cow, Cousin Scott and Marcee):




That's all folks. Thanks for looking. Please vote and/or leave comments. Me likey comments.

Halloween!

Meet the Amazing Rando and his Lovely Assistant.

They have this adorable little bunny, who wasn't very happy about being pulled out of a gigantic top hat.

We made the top hat out of an apple bucket and stiff felt. The wand is a painted dowel (don't tell Rando).

We put our many moving boxes to good use for my costume. , Incidentally, it's a great costume for a post-baby body. I made Rando's cape, Eric put his wedding tux to good use and Jane wore white pants and a long-sleeved onesie with pink felt pinned to it. I bought the ears and the ostrich feather in my hair. Ostrich feathers are expensive.

A lot of work for one night of fun. But we'll always have the pictures.

Bloggers Beware

It is very possible to jinx yourself when blogging. Particularly when bragging about your baby's sleep. If there is such a thing, Jane went on a sleep strike yesterday...*yawn*

Sleep Training

It's so great to have older siblings that have done this parenthood thing, especially great to live near one. My sister had me read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. The Doc could have used a good editor as he writes in circles, but it's got some good research and valuable information. I recommend it. After I read it, I kind of laughed at myself. From the time Jane was born, the big concern was how, when, and how much she was eating. It never occurred to me that sleep requires the same attention.

So a couple of weeks ago we began transitioning Jane from our bed to her crib, once we finally got it set up, to help regulate her sleep (and ours!) We set up a night-night routine kind of by accident. Jane loves to be swaddled, bounced, and patted while listening to music. This works great even if we've overtired her on accident or if she's just starting to get tired. So I thought I'd post some pictures of my darling drifting off.

This is my wide-eyed Jane fighting sleep, keeping her eyes open so she doesn't miss anything.

Slowly succumbing. We have a hard time not letting her get overtired at night.

And finally asleep.
I'm learning to treasure these moments with her on my shoulder as I can finally see an end in sight!

We started out with moving her to the crib when she was deeply asleep, otherwise she'd wake up once she realized she wasn't being held. Then we were able to move her when she more lightly asleep and the last couple of days we've been able to put her in before she's even totally out. She's learning! Of course, we've had to let figure out that her crib is an OK place via some old-fashioned letting her cry... but it's so worth it.

We caught the face Jane makes just before she starts wailing! This would be an over-tired Jane.

Milestones

So I'm inspired by a few friend's blogs to capture in bullets what Jane can do at 2+ months of age:

*She can hold her head up for a LONG time. She loves to sit in my lap and just hang. I love it, too.

*She discovered her hands a couple of weeks ago. Eric saw her holding them above her face inspecting them, really seeing them for the first time. Now she sucks them all the time. It's quite noisy, actually.

*She puts her hands together and tries to shove both hands in her mouth.

*She can grasp light rattles or rings and hold on to them, but only when we put them in her hands. She isn't reaching yet.

*She blows bubbles like an aquarium (yea, sleep deprivation=poor similes).

*She's progressed from kicking her legs like crazy, which she still does, to pulling them both up in the air like a Pilates move or reverse curl. She's got strong abs! I even saw her grab her feet a few days ago.

*She loves her mobile and her play gym (in the picture below, I caught one of her outbursts of joy)

*She's very close to rolling over, but not front to back. She still hates tummy time.

*She can nearly turn a full circle on her side like Donald O'Connor does in Singing in the Rain in his number "Make Them Laugh". Yesterday she was laying on her bed while I was getting ready. Every time I turned around, she had gone another 90 degrees. She started out facing the outside of the bed, did a full 270 degrees, and ended up facing the headboard.

*She has got the call and response thing done. I love having "conversations" with her. She even talks to her stuffed cow, Roxie.

*We have twice caught her trying to sing. No kidding, very different then all the sounds she makes, it was clearly trying to sing along. Speaking of songs, she has developed some clear favorites. She likes Kasey Chamber's "Don't Look So Sad." It's her fussy song and has become her goodnight song. In fact, we play it before we put her down for a nap. She also likes Eva Cassidy's "Baby Mine," Follow the Prophet, and Dr. Horrible's "My Freeze Ray." She's also a fan of some country, Regina Spektor, Chopin, and most recently Baby Einstein's Noah album and Beethoven album.

*And, I almost hate to mention this, but Jane has been sleeping like an angel (knock on wood). She had two nights this week where she slept four hours in her crib! And the last two nights she has slept for almost six in her crib! The sleep training we've been doing seems to be working. It's a little premature to say, but I think it's even worth all the crying it out we've had to do...

Oh so Lonely

So since Jane decided to wake up at 5:00 am this morning, I took the time to finally put together my bloglines account and add the feeds of my good friends so I can stay updated easier. The result? One very lonely Marcee. Eric has another big week with school--I'll probably see him a total of 4 hours between last night and Wednesday evening, if I'm lucky. And while it's very nice to live near my sister, pictures of Ashley and Chaliese swimming with their boys, videos of Breanne's kicking Tucker and Michelle's weekly recaps of post-pardum life (...and that's just my friends with babies!), just about do me in. Yes, I teared up. And then I find myself getting irrationally mad at Eric (again) for taking me away from Austin. That's when I realize it's time to go back to bed.

But to all my friends scattered across the country, I'm glad I met you even if I never see you again. To those of you who blog, thanks for keeping me company.

Jane in Real Life

...or at least in video. I've been meaning to get this up for a few weeks now. Jane and I got sick over a week ago and so it's been even tougher going... In between suctioning Jane's nose and blowing my own, I managed to put together these few clips.

Jane is apparently camera-shy. Or rather, she gets distracted from smiling by the camera. She is fascinated by technology. We've taken many a video that is only interesting to her parents. Hopefully this one will entertain a wider audience, help y'all get to know her better.

Just remember she is WAY cuter in person.

Chunkin' Up!

So Jane had her two month appointment on Thursday. She is chunking up nicely at 12 lbs 3.6 oz (90th percentile!). She's grown two inches since birth (75th) and I forget how big her head is, but it was in the 75th percentile. The appointment also meant immunizations or four shots in her legs I now know what her pain cry sounds like! We won't relive that experience on this blog, however. The point is, Jane is getting chubby! You can almost see her double chin in these pictures...