St. George

Bob works in St. George for a couple days every other month. Usually he can get his work done in a day plus driving time, so we usually don't go. Too much work for a short amount of time. But this time we decided to tag along and stay an extra day.

We drove down Sunday night after spending the day with Ayrika after her homecoming talk. The next morning I got up and went to the hotel gym to workout before taking Bob to work. After dropping him off we ran to Target & Swig and then made our way to the park. I love that I was taking my kids to a park that my Mom used to take me to when we came to St. George as a family. Olivia had a great time.

We grabbed some lunch and waited for Dad to let us know that he was done. After we picked up Dad and had naps we made our way down to the pool. Mom and Ruby hung out on the chairs while Dad and Livy swam in the pool. After Olivia was done, I went back down for a half hour to read my book and enjoy the sun.

We went to dinner at Brick Oven (Where the guy sitting next to us got the all you can eat and broke his record by eating over 25 pieces of pizza.) and stopped at Fiesta Fun to mini golf. We played a few arcade games before golfing.

Somebody had a little too much fun and peed her pants on the way home. 

The next day we had a slow morning and after packing up we went to the Children's Museum in St. George before heading home.

Definitely a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun. Sometimes I question whether it is worth it to pack up everything, but we had a great time and I am glad I made the effort.

ruby {6 months}

I can't believe we are at 6 months with sweet Ruby Marie. I feel like she should only be 2-3 months old.

This last month has been a month of eating. We basically nursed every 2 hours day and night. I am hoping she had a good growth spurt, because I am tired. It's a good night if I only wake up twice to feed her. She also refuses to take a bottle. Ayrika watched the girls while Bob and I went on a date and were gone a little longer than 2 hours. She wouldn't take the bottle from Ayrika and cried until we got home.

She wants to sit up so bad. But she is still pretty rigid and won't relax for very long. She can sit up alone for a few seconds at a time before toppling over. But with support she can sit forever. She does great at tummy time even though she rarely rolls.

Her favorite toys are the crackly page books, Sophie the giraffe, and her ball. She spends some time each day in her bouncer chair, swing, and on the play mat. But she HAS to be buckled up when we put her in the swing and bouncer. She uses her strong legs and tries to wiggle out. I'm sure that she is ready for the jumperoo.

The last few weeks I have been trying to get her on a bit of a schedule. She usually naps 3-4 times a day. With one nap being a 2 hour nap. Problem is, I never know when that will be. She is also still sleeping in the bassinet in our room. I can't bring myself to put her in the crib in Olivia's room when she is still waking up so often at night. 

She now wears size 2 diapers. After a week of blowouts I knew it was time to move up. She wears mostly 3-6 month clothes. I still put her in some 0-3 month leggings, because they fit her waist and legs so well. They are more like capris though on her long legs. I might have to pull out the 9 month sleepers soon since she is so long. Size 1 shoes are still a little big on her. 

I tried rice cereal with her a couple weeks ago when she started nursing all of the time in hopes that it would help. But she hated it. She loved carrots and has also had squash. We are going to continue introducing foods and letting her taste things that we are eating. It's so fun to see their reactions but it's also so messy and time consuming. (Especially when you are still nursing all of the time.)

Ruby is talking all of the time. It is so fun to listen to her and the little noises she makes. She loves to watch Olivia and gives the best smiles.

ruby {5 months}

Ruby is still wearing size 1 diapers, but we will probably move up to size 2's when we finish this box.  She wears mostly 3-6 month tops and 0-3 bottoms. The leggings are a bit short but they fit her waist. The 3-6 month are still big on her. She finally fit into a pair of newborn shoes that I have been wanting her to wear for a while.

She is a tiny little thing and we love her to pieces. I took her in for a weight check and she weighed in at 11 pounds 3 ounces. They keep giving me different suggestions on how to help her gain. But I am just going with nursing every 2-3 hours during the day and making sure she is happy. We tried supplementing with bottles, but she refused.

This month she has been showing off her abs and her core strength. She wants to sit up all of the time, and can do it with support. She loves to sit in her bumbo and sit on the floor with me holding her up. When laying down she is kicking her legs constantly and moves around on the blanket. She loves to play with her toys and if they aren't in her mouth, she will suck on her hands and fingers. While nursing I have to hold her hands back or she tries to suck on them too while eating.

This month there has been no normal sleep schedule at night. She wakes up anywhere from 1-3 times a night to eat. And for that reason, she is still in the bassinet in our room. She goes to bed at 9 and wakes up around 8 in the morning. We still don't have a normal nap schedule during the day, but I am hoping to get one going. I think it's time to transition to 2 longer naps during the day instead of lots of mini naps.

BYU WCC Championship

Tonight is the WCC championship basketball game and BYU is playing Gonzaga. My cousin Ryan is a freshman on the team and we have loved watching him play and progress throughout the season. If you hadn't guessed already, we are big BYU fans over here. Whenever Bob's mom comes to Utah she makes the rounds to all of the stores looking for BYU shirts for the grandkids. She bought this shirt for Olivia when she was 6 months or so. It's a size 12-18 months and she has been wearing it for the last year and a half. I can't believe it still fits!

blurry selfie

Potty Prize

We finally conquered the beast of potty training. We went through a lot of panties, stickers, treats, towels, and tears by all - but we did it. I tried potty training Olivia a couple months before Ruby was born but it wasn't the right time for either of us. A couple months ago I bought the Little Mermaid and put it in the kitchen where she could see it. She really wanted it, but we kept reminding her that she could have it when she was a big girl. At bedtime she has been trying to get out of going to bed by saying she had to go potty. One night she pooped before bed and then woke up dry the next morning. I took it as a sign and we dove right in. After 2 weeks of going to the bathroom every couple of hours, we are pretty much done. She got sick with a cough/fever/runny nose about 4 days in and I think that being sick made it a little harder so that is why it took us so long. The only days she really had accidents were the days she was the sickest. The hardest part of potty training for me was letting go of being in control. I would ask her if she needed to go or take her almost every 2 hours during the day because I didn't want any accidents. Her last prize was a set of princess lip glosses. She looked at them everyday and couldn't wait to have them.

Oh Olivia!

A post dedicated to Olivia and some funny things she has been up to lately.

Stickers at church are a must. But after peeling these ones off her face, she'll stick to paper.

A few times a week, Olivia will get on her shoes and jacket. Then ask for her backpack and fill it with toys. "See ya later Mom, I'm going to Washington." She sure loves and misses her Grandma, Grandpa, and cousins.

After rocking Ruby to sleep, I realized I hadn't seen Olivia for 15 minutes or so. This is a rare occurrence in our small apartment. I found her laying in my bed watching cartoons. As soon as she saw me, she pulled a blanket over her head to hide.

We were visiting my grandparents and she came over to me and said, "let me check your poops mom." Obviously I've been checking her diaper a lot lately.

As we are getting closer to potty training and have been practicing she will cry at night when we put her to bed. Through her door we can hear her saying, "I need to go poop on the potty." Or "I'm pooping Mom."

Bob was flipping channels the other night when he stopped to watch a basketball game. Olivia upon seeing basketball started cheering, "Go Cougars, Raw Raw Raw Raw Raw."

Olivia and I were kneeling down saying prayers in her room. I prompted her to say I love Jesus. She repeated back, "I love Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

Grandma and Grandpa Barber were skyping with Olivia one Sunday and they asked her what she learned about in nursery, she replied "snacks."

While playing with her princesses the other day I heard her say, "Jasmine, say you're sorry!"

When eating donuts or cinnamon rolls, she just eats the top off.

I did a boot camp last month and Bob wanted to know what I did with the exercise ball. So I showed him the exercises we learned that day. Later I found Olivia doing the exercises on the ball. "Mom look I do my nexercise."

When I make lunch, Olivia loves to sit on the counter and help me. The last few times I have made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she has asked to taste the bread before I start. And then she takes 2-3 bites of the bread. She thinks she is so funny.

Olivia kept saying "there's a snake in my bed" "the snake is scary" "he's lookin at me" and I couldn't figure out why. We searched for the snake but couldn't find him. Then one day she said "there's a snake and he's lookin at me" and I made the connection with one of the books that she has in her room.

When reading the Book of Mormon, we were reading about the Tree of Life and we talked about the fruit. Now when we read, she says, "I want to eat the fruit." And then she pretends to eat it off of the page.

I have been using the nickname Sweetheart for Ruby. The other day Olivia came out of her room holding her baby, "This is my sweetheart mom." And sometimes when I am talking with Ruby I will say, Where's my Girl? And if Olivia hears me she will say, "I'm right here Mom!"

She overcame her fear of the bounce houses and play gym. 

4 Month Appointment

Because we were in Washington when Ruby turned 2 months, all of her appointments have been bumped a couple weeks. So her 4 month appointment happened when she was 4 months and 13 days. Poor Olivia was sick so I took her to a friends house. If I took her with me, I would've had to go in the sick side - which I didn't want to do since Ruby still hadn't caught her sickness. I met with Dr. Later and he immediately addressed his concerns about her weight.

But after I told him that she was eating well and that I had tried pumping and feeding extra after her last appointment he decided to examine her. He said that she looks great and that she is hitting all of her milestones. He was super nice about her weight although he told me 2 or 3 times that he was concerned. He recommended trying to top her off after 2 feedings a day with a bottle.

I know I said this before but it is so crazy how kids can be so different from each other. Olivia was shorter than Ruby at 4 months. So Ruby is just a tall string bean. I hope that over the next couple months we can gain the weight needed.