CHEESE!

Nothing melts my heart like this toothless grin!

So far, I can't get a picture of her smiling where she doesn't look a little goofy- it's SO much cuter and less drunk-looking in person! Love this little girl.

Another week

We took Millie to church for the first time yesterday! Despite my fears of her having a blowout or screaming/grunting the whole time, she did great. Slept the whole time and let everyone ooh and aah over her cuteness. I think maybe she was born with some jedi sense of what not to do in public- she has been so good every time I've taken her out so far! Knock on wood. I probably just jinxed myself by writing that.

She's still rollin' around, but it's hard to get her to roll when she doesn't want to. I think she must get her stubbornness from her mama. We ventured up to Uncle Dick and Aunt Sheila's house last night for dinner and it was a delicious and fun evening! Millie loved meeting her dad's cousins.

Heidi comes up this week! She and Papa J will arrive Wednesday and we are SO excited. We spent Saturday re-organizing the spare bedrooms and getting rid of stuff we don't need. The less we have to move with in a few months, the better! I'm in the process of scrapbooking all of the little love notes and random stuff from when we were dating. That's the kind of stuff I can't bear to throw away but didn't know what to do with for a long time. Then I saw THIS video and decided I'm going to copy Elder Scott and just paste them in a simple black book! I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Also, I need some reading suggestions! Now that I'm completely done with school, I'm excited to read for fun again. Any must-reads I should know about? Help please!

Kind of a big deal

Yesterday I took the final for the Independent Study class I've been taking... I am DONE!! A friend advised me to get it done as soon as possible after Millie was born, while she was sleeping a ton. So glad I did- it feels great to be finished! I'm excited to give all my time and attention to Millie. We celebrated last night with frosties and french fries... somehow, the value menu treat didn't quite match up to the time and money spent getting a college education! But we'll celebrate for real when we both graduate in April. Can't wait for that. 

I also did a little project the other day. I wanted to make a skirt for Millie, so I took this shirt

(mine, not Tyler's) since it had holes in both shoulders, and, using THIS tutorial, turned it into a skirt and headband for Millie!

She looks so cute in skirts. I'm definitely going to make more! Not sure how I feel about the headband- the flower is a bit too big and poky- but oh well. 

Love

Our Valentine's Day date was great! We got Olive Garden to go and ate it while watching the Biggest Loser. If that's not oxymoronic, I'm not sure what is! The surprise of the day was Millie rolling over. I couldn't believe it!! Is this when babies start rolling over?? I was taking a picture of her cute bum, 

and the next thing I knew she was on her back!

We made her do it about 10 more times to make sure it wasn't a fluke- AND we got it on video. I guess she really doesn't like tummy time!

Try it out

Pinterest is pretty darn fun. But I noticed after a while that I kept pinning things and that's as far as it would go. I don't think that's good. What's the point of all those great ideas if you're not going to use them?? So I'm starting to actually try some of the things I've pinned. You saw the blanket I made, and that came from a pin. This weekend I made THIS salsa and we love it!! We are big salsa people, so I was nervous to make it. But it fits our pickiest requests- spicy but not too spicy, NOT CHUNKY, and super addicting. Unfortunately, it's a bit too spicy for Millie, so it looks like Tyler will get the rest of this batch to himself. Bummer. 

I'm trying out some more pins this week... so excited to see how they turn out!! 

Blankets for generations

Millie was given lots of blankets. As I looked at them last night while putting some laundry away, I realized that a good portion of the blankets she has were made by family! She's got quite a tradition to get in on. I think handmade blankets are beautiful and special... seriously, check these out.

Grammy made two of the blankets in that stack, both SO beautiful.

 Cross-stitched Peter Rabbit characters

I can't imagine how much time each of these took! They're so beautiful.

This beautiful pink blanket was made by Gretchen. She has this pattern memorized- memorized!! Pretty amazing.

Then the quilts from my mom... I think the first one may be the inspiration for Millie's nursery once we get to Houston and have our own place. I just love the colors!!

And finally, the chevron blanket I crocheted. Took forever but I love the way it turned out! The pattern is HERE if you're interested.

I count 3 generations of blanket-making represented here... and it goes further back I'm sure. No pressure Millie!

One month of parenthood

Millie is a month old today! It has gone by so fast. But we've learned a lot over the last month... here are some things I would tell my still-pregnant self if I had the chance:

-Always wait a few minutes to put the clean diaper on after opening the dirty one. And take cover.

-Take as many pictures as you want- this girl changes every day!

-When all else fails and she's still crying, take a drive.

-Accept help when it's offered. 

-It may seem pointless to get dressed when you're staying in all day, but you'll feel better, so do it anyway.

-Don't even try to imagine how much you'll love this little girl- you can't even begin to know!

Guess who

A little girl I know slept for 4 hours between feedings last night! 

The difference in how you feel with one more hour is amazing. I'm a new woman.

Millie also moved out of newborn diapers. It's crazy how quickly she changes! Makes me regret not hiring an actual photographer to take some newborn shots of her. I attempted it myself yesterday and it was just pathetic! 

Full hand(s)

I don't mind typing my paper with one hand, as long as this is what occupies the other!

I am one lucky momma. Happy Tuesday!

Just for today

Can I admit something? I didn't really make any New Year's resolutions. My life has changed so much already this year and we have more big changes coming our way- graduating, moving, etc. so I didn't want to set some unattainable goal for myself and just end up disappointed. I've decided instead to set monthly goals and take life on in smaller chunks. So, my goals for February:

-Eat healthier. I watched "Forks Over Knives" last night- made me think quite a bit. I want to have a better, more plant-based diet. Not that I'm cutting out meat and dairy completely, but I'd like to use it less- the meat that's in my freezer will last me the whole month hopefully. This will require a little creativity and branching out on my part, so I'm excited!

-Journal more consistently. Giselle gave me the "Mom's One Line a Day" journal at my baby shower and I love it! The only problem is that I haven't been doing it every day. So then I go back and try to fill things in, but I know it's not as meaningful when I'm just writing general stuff. This month I will at least write in that every day. And maybe blog a little more too?

-Be better at the little daily things. Scripture study, prayer, etc. Because really, those things aren't little! 

I was reading in the Ensign today and was inspired by this quote: "As we reflect on the value of resolving to do better, let us determine to discipline ourselves to carefully select the resolutions we make, to consider the purpose for making them, and finally to make commitments for keeping them and not letting any obstacle stop us. Let us remind ourselves at the beginning of each day that we can keep a resolution just for that day." I think I tend to make a bigger deal of things than is needed, so I'm just going to take these resolutions one day at a time! February will be awesome!