More Vacation

Davis and I got back yesterday from our extended stay at my parents house in California. It was only supposed to be a weekend, but somehow turned into two weeks. (oops) Justin picked us up from the airport with hugs. kisses and flowers. I missed him so much but I think he missed us more. Our two weeks were filled with family friends, shopping, and tons of attention for Davis. I hope now that we are home she doesn't get bored with just me and Justin giving her attention.I loved seeing my family and the shock from my dad when we surprised him was priceless. Although he was a little slow to understand what was going on. I flew in with Davis two weeks ago Wednesday. We got in that afternoon and hung out at my brothers house until my dad got home from work. When we are in Utah we use skype to talk to my family, so when dad got home I called and asked if we could skype. He not knowing that I was literally ten minutes away agreed. We got on and after a minute I said "you should see how much Davis has grown." That is when I held up my two year old niece Ava. My Dad looked really confused and didn't really get it. Then we lost the Internet connection and had to finish the surprise on the phone. It still took him a minute but when he realized that we were at Ryan and Miriam's he hopped in the car and came right over. It had been his birthday earlier that week so this was is birthday present, meeting his new granddaughter for the first time. It was a great way to kick off Davis' first vacation.

Here we are at the Cheesecake Factory celebrating mine and Davis' return. Going to dinner with a newborn is a little more difficult. This was her first restuarant experience and she did very well.

Justin couldn't even put her down to eat. He was so excited to see her. It took her a minute but she warmed up and gave him some big smiles. He was so worried that she would forget about him, but it is obvious that she didn't. He is amazing if I don't say so myself.


Again he wouldn't put her down he wanted to do everything.



She was great on the plane ride. She loved taking off. I think all the noise when you take off was actually very soothing to her. She slept through most of the flight, and did get a little fussy when we were landing. The flight attendants and everyone were so sweet. I love flying southwest, they might not be the flashiest but they definately have the best customer service especially for families.(trust me taking thirty flights a summer I have experiance with a lot of airlines)









Papa meeting Davis for the first time. As you can see she was just thrilled. On the other hand you can see the happiness on my dad's face. You can tell that his grandkids bring him the greatest happiness. His face glows whenever they are around. Needless to say when he got to Ryan and Miriams he hogged Davis from everybody.






We went to my parents ward on Sunday. I was so nice to see all the people that I grew up with and show them Davis. I think it is very shocking they remember as a bratty teenager and now I have matured a little. Davis did great she was quiet all during sacrament meeting. Then as the we sang the closing song she woke up and opened her eyes but didn't make a peep. It's as if she knew that she was going to be shown off, and wanted everyone to see how pretty she was. She stayed that way for all three hours.(the first time going for all three hours)


My dad is like a kid in a candy store when he is with his grandkids. Davis just loved having him around.


I went over to hang out with Ryan and his family.

Davis is like a little doll. I never played with dolls growing up, so this is a whole new world to me. Everything I put on this girl looks cute. (gotta love the shoes)

One night the Lakers were playing the Celtics and she was in the best mood. She just hung out on my lap and made noises and smiled. Funny little sidenote, as we were watching the game the announcer said something about big baby Davis. Baby Davis is what we call her so I thought this was funny. One of the players on the Celtics they call Big Baby Davis. So little baby Davis was watching Big baby Davis play basketball.



Baby Davis playing with her cousin Seth. He looks huge next to her but he is only 4 months older. He is also the most chilled out kid (as my dad would say).

Grandma with the granddaughters in their tutus. Davis had hers on so Ava went and got hers. They both looked adorable. As you can see Ava is more interested in her tutu than in taking a picture.
All my nieces have big personalities Ava included. She danced around in her tutu demanded that dad (Ryan) play with her.



Seth is the most chilled out kid as I said before. He just lets Grandpa play with him and pester him. He is my brother in baby form. Easy going and happy, it's pretty near to impossible to get my brother worked as well.

Grandma with Davis at Ryan and Miriams.

We give Davis a bath as part of her bedtime routine. Up to this point bath was not her favorite part of the day. On this trip though she found her love for bath time. We got a bath lounger and she loved it. As you can see in the picture she was pretty happy splashing around. It really got her calm and ready for bed.

My friend heather who I played club volleyball and went to church with came over with her son. It was great to catch up with her. Her son Ryan was adorable, a little toddler tornado. He wanted so bad to get his hands on Davis, but we will have to wait a few years. I loved seeing them and thank you heather for driving to see us.

He is all boy.

On one of the more beautiful days when it was 79 degrees my mom and I took Davis to the new Thousand Oaks mall. I had not seen it since the huge renovations. They added a whole new outdoor part and the inside is beautiful. We got Davis some cute clothes at the Gap. They were having a great sale. It is sad to think that all these cute things she has will only fit her for a short time.(here is the blonde hair)

This is one of my faves. Papa and Davis. This is how I used sleep all the time when I was a baby.

On superbowl Sunday Ryan and Miriam brought the kids over to watch the game and have dinner. The game wasn't very exciting until the end so we got a little distracted here and there. (in a previous post about my dad I mentioned something called standers hup. This is what it is you stand up on his hands. apperently when I was a kid I had unusually great balance so I could do this with a spot.) Dinner was great, it got even more exciting when Ava started playing with her food. At the end the game it got exciting and the steelers pulled out the win.

Ryan and Miriam live in a beautiful place where basically their back yard is a bunch of hills with hiking trails through them. On Saturday they let my dad Davis and I tag along on their weekly hike. My dad strapped Davis to him Ryan had a pack for Ava and Miriam carried Seth. Somehow I got off without having to haul a kid on the trail. It was again a gorgeous day about 75 degrees not a cloud in the sky. Stupid I wore a sweatshirt, oh well I burned more calories.



She really was excited about the hike. Ryan was trying to figure what trail we were going to take.


I just like this one.

Ava didn't last long walking. That post in background is the begining of the trail.

Super Papa!! Davis is just chillen.


Seth and Ryan look so alike in this picture. This was when we stopped at the waterfall for a little break.

Ava was hugging Seth. He didn't understand what was going on.

The dude! This is how Seth spent the hike.


This is how Davis spent the hike. She didn't really get a lot out of the hike. It was nice for me though to be outside in the warm sunshine. Since Davis was born we have been stuck inside because of the cold and RSV. So this hike really meant a lot to me.


The whole second half of the hike was up hill so we were tired at the end. We all drank gatorade to relpenish those electrolites. Ava even had a little Ava sized gatorade. (I think that Davis looks so funny, her arms and legs just hanging dowm.)

My mom had a vibrating bouncy chair. Davis loved this chair, even way more than hers at home. The minute you put her this thing she was content. She wasn't even interested in her passy.

My dad the baby whisperer.

I just had to get a picture of her in this outfit. This what she flew in to go to California. It is my favorite with all the rainbows.


This is right after we got to grandma's house.


This one isn't from our trip I just liked and thought it was a cute one.

It was such a great vacation for everyone. Davis got to know her grandparents and we got to spend time outside, going on walks everynight with grandma. I love my family so much but it was different this time I didn't feel like my parents house was my home anymore. Every other time I have gone to visit I have felt like I was home. This time though I felt like a visitor and when Justin picked us up I felt like I was home. I now have my own family and home to take care of. It seems this is how it should be.

**A special thank you to my mom for all the help while I was home. She is the best, always willing to do and give whatever she can for others. She serves her family with perfect love, and is the best example of selflessness. I don't always treat her the way I should, I take for granted how amazing she is. But I want you to know mom that I love you so much and hope that I can be as great to my family as you have been to us.**

In following the example of my wonderful sister-Inlaw I am going to use this blog as a kinda of family journal. So that one day our children and grandchildren will have it to show their families. Davis is just over a month old now and it is already hard for me to remember a time without her. I have spent almost a year thinking, caring and loving her that is just seems natural now. We have been on vacation in California for a week and will be here for a couple more enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. While here Davis has really grown. She came fitting into certain outfits and now those outfits are a little snug. She was wearing size newborn diapers, and has moved into size one. She is awake more, and loves to lay on her blanket and kick her legs. She lays there and makes the cutest cooing noises and smiles and moves her head. She is so strong she holds her head up so well, and looks around taking in everything new. I can only imagine how exciting it all is. Everyday her eyes get a little clearer allowing her to experience more of the world. Now she finally enjoys bath time. I put her in the water and she turns into a little fish. She flaps her arms and kicks her legs with the most content look on her face. She is also sleeping so great, in fact last night she slept from 10 all the way until 5:30 in the morning. The hard part is not having Justin around to see these things with me. He is such a great dad and it has been really hard on him to not be able to have daddy Davis time. Being able to skype has made it easier because at least we can each other, rather than just talking on the phone. I can'

In these weeks I have had a few parenting epiphanies.
1. When our parents tells us they love so much they would do anything for us, they really mean it.
2. When parents see there children making decisions that will hurt them either physically or emotionally it literally breaks their heart. I now understand why, because you will always see your kids as the innocent perfect little babies that at one time only needed you for comfort. So at the time you hate your parents and think that they are just trying to hurt you. What is really happening is they love you so much they can't watch you do something they know will hurt you and them.

Our first vacation.

I am in California right now visiting my family. The weather is amazing, we are going on walks everyday, sitting outside on the grass, and loving every minute of it. I really don't want to go back to the cold, but Davis and I both miss Justin. Oh ya and I changed my hair color to blonde really blonde.

Pics will be coming soon...

Officially an AARP member!

Today my dad is officially old. The big 50!! but he doesn't look a day over 48. I love my dad so much, he cares so much about his family and always works so hard to take care of his family. He is also the best grandpa to his 3 grand kids. I love you dad and hope that you have a great birthday (even though you did have to give a talk in church). I wish that Justin Davis and I could be there to celebrate.

Things we love about dad:

* He always wants to pepper in the backyard

* He loves spending time with his family (especially his grand kids)

* He is always there to help out when you need it.

* He always did standers hup with us

* Never really follows any rules, walk to the beat of his own drum.

* Very funny (especially his gay voice)

* Takes great care of his family

* He is a hard worker no matter what he does whether it is work, home improvements, or play.

I love you dad and I am grateful for everything you have done for me. I have learned so many good lessons from you, even at the time they were hard to learn. Most of all I am grateful that Davis has such a rad Papa.

We have been getting out more these days which feels so great. I have been feeling a little bit of cabin fever, the weather has something to do with this. The winter here is beautiful but very cold and with Davis and it being RSV season I am very limited to what I can do. We took her to church for the first time this past Sunday, we only went to one hour. I am still a little scared of all the germs that are flying around. She looked so cute; she wore her brown and pink polka dot dress with a sweater. It was so different, I used to sit and look at the couples with new babies and wonder what it would be like. Now I know and it is great. In the words of our good friend Miah kids are great if want all you have to do is pinch them and then you get to leave church early. ( he was joking of course he would never do that)

Daddy and Davis, they matched wearing brown.

Here is the family, Davis was not happy about wearing her shoes. But she did look so cute!

Monday was Martin Luther King day and Justin didn't have school so we decided to get out again. Sundance is going on in Park City so we went up there and went to the outlets. They have a Carters outlet, I had to stop myself from spending a small fortune on clothes for the lady. We never actually made it over to main street to see all the Sundance fun but oh well there is always next year.

She didn't fit in her car seat with her big coat on. (fat baby in a little car seat)

We also gave her her first bath in her little bathtub. She made a fuss for a little while but then really enjoyed her time in the water. We are going to make this part of her bedtime routine, hopefully it will help her sleep even better than she already is. ( she wakes up once a night, we are pretty lucky)

She didn't like getting out of the water.


** more random shots of the babe for grandparents**

The sleeping babe.

2 weeks

Davis has her two week visit yesterday, and she is still doing great! She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 22 inches long. All of her vitals were good. They had to prick her foot to get blood to do her pku tests, she did not like that. She also hated having to be undressed for the visit. Everything looked good and she is still eating and sleeping great. We are so happy that our little girl is healthy and happy. Well she is happy as long as she is covered and being cuddled. I can't wait until we can start to take her out more and do fun stuff.

All we have blogged about is Davis so I think it is time to give an update on what Justin and I are doing. Club and School is starting for Justin which means that he does not get to spend much time at home. He does make sure that when he is home he gets daddy and Davis time. He gets to have her to himself while I get to workout and get ready. Justin is so amazing and helpful he is such a great dad I just love him. He is starting his last semester of school and we are excited that the end is near. (finally) It was weird when Monday rolled around and I didn't go back to school, I miss the kids. It is funny I can look at the clock and know exactly what they are doing in the classroom and probably predict exactly what is happening. I am loving being a mom though. It was hard for me to picture life as a mom, it was never something that I thought a whole lot about until it was right in front of me. But now that I am one I can't think of a more natural thing for me to be doing. I love just looking at her she is the coolest thing. I also love that for now I am the most important person in her life. Right now I am the one that she needs to survive, I know that will change as she grows but for now it is a pretty awesome feeling.

This new years was a little less exciting than those of years past. We have been getting used to the little ladies sleeping habits. She is a great sleeper she wakes up two times a night and eats then goes right back to bed in her bassinet. We really lucked out with such a great baby. Anyway back to new years, we bought some martinellis, put gave Davis a bath and put her in bed then shared our new years kiss then went to bed. Justin's mom Debby almost made it but headed to bed a little early.

This is how we spent our new years I have baby Davis and Justin has our other baby mowgli. He has been great with her by the way.

Davis and Grandma Debby, she helped so much and I am sad that she had to go. I feel like I won the in-law lottery, they are the best. It was just so nice to have her and my mom here to reassure me that what I was doing was right and that everything was okay. I feel like I am getting to understand this little lady, but it is nice to still know I have very wise woman to go to for advice.

I love when her eyes are open they are so big a beautiful!!
We also took Davis on her first outing. She reacted much better to her car seat this time. We put her in the car and she fell right asleep and stayed asleep. We had to go to the mall to return some of Justin's presents. She did awesome we put the car seat on the stroller and covered her up and she stayed asleep and quiet the whole time we were in the mall.