Trip to Atlanta

On Monday and Tuesday we took a 3.5 hr roadtrip to Atlanta since we had never been (except the airport which doesn't count in my opinion :)

It was freezing! And we actually enjoyed it since it's been so hot here in Savannah. It finally felt somewhat like Christmas.

Signing fish!
We went to the world famous aquarium and it was awesome. Azure loved all the fishies. There was a lot of traffic but, we managed somehow to find our way around.

Sea dragons. What a cool looking creature!

The sea turtles and sea otters were my favorites. We've added "sea otter" to our list of future pets, which currently reads: donkeys, llamas, racoons, dog, cat. And I'm not finding any pics or video of those adorable creatures...hmmm. That is really sad.

Tuesday we went to the Atlanta Temple and drove around the city.

It was a short trip, but an enjoyable one.

18 months

Our little Azure turned 18 months on Sunday. Here are some updates of what she can do now:

• She can say, "Stop!" and put up her hand like a traffic officer- wonder who she got that from :)
• Screams, "Mine!" while jerking an object under her side. Oh, the woes of nursery! :(
• Still sings, Badabadabada when she's happy (see 1st video)
• Can identify most of her body parts

• She's trilingual: English, Sign, and Spanish (favorite Spanish word is pies- feet). She knows about 30 signs.

• Shrieks in protest if you try to feed her. She must do it herself!

• Smiles sweetly and warms our hearts in an instant canceling out prior protests

The end of an era

I know most of you already thought Azure was weaned from nursing after the Hawaii trip, but we started back up as soon as I returned. Our car accident in July also made things difficult. It was hard to nurse with a cast on but, we both enjoyed it so much that we kept at it. Sometime in September I think, we were down to just 1 feeding a day, in the mornings. I enjoyed it because it was only once and she is so cute and serene when she wakes up. I think I can say that those 5 mins every morning were some of my favorites of the day.

Two weekends ago I had to skip 2 mornings in a row of nursing her. On the 3rd day she was just not interested anymore. I have kept trying every morning since but, to no avail. So, Azure is now officially weaned. I couldn't help but, cry as I sat there in the glider thinking that this was it, that I would never nurse my baby again. I have come to similiar cross roads with her before as I would pack away old clothes that are too small, but this has been the hardest thus far.

This is the first time it's really hit me that she's just not a baby anymore and that she's gonna keep on growing...

This is what Christmas is all about

Yesterday I went with a group of women from church to sing at a nursing home. We sang about 5 songs. People were wheeled in on wheel chairs to sit and listen. Some sang along loudly, others just sat not being able to say anything at all. As we were leaving we smiled warmly and thanked them for coming to hear us sing.

I felt I wanted to do something more for each of them, but didn't know what. My heart was overflowing with emotion and gratitude but, I didn't know quite how to express it. Then, one of my Young Women reached down and gave a woman, seated up front in her wheelchair, a hug. It gave me the courage to do the same. As I hugged this woman I thought about when the last time she was touched, really touched with a warm, loving embrace. After hugging her, I continued to hug more seated nearby. As I looked up, I saw that everyone from our group was doing the same, thanks to that sweet young woman who set an example.

I couldn't help but think about this moving story in the Book of Mormon that recounts the appearance of our resurrected Savior to a group of people called the Nephites:

"And it came to pass that
the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the
prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going
forth one by one until they had all gone forth..."

Each and every person was touched by the Savior. Each and every one. Touch is extremely powerful, especially to those that don't get touched very often. This was a special experience for me and as we were leaving I thought of another scripture from James:

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,
To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world."

I was reminded that doing things like this is what Christmas is all about, it's what life is all about really, but especially at Christmastime.

Christmas Festivities #1

This is Azure's first ever drawing. She finally figured it out!

On Monday for FHE we went to a Gingerbread House display with the Heimdals.


Some of Azure's favorite things as of late:

• Experimenting with the "potty".
  


• Screaming and then saying, "Shh", with her pointer finger pressed against her lips.


• Using a spoon to feed herself (she's getting better at it).


• Saying, "No, no, no", while doing things she's not supposed to be doing (like pulling all of her wipes out of the dispenser).


• Trying to say her own name followed by, "baby".


• Pointing at Jesus in our manger display and saying, "Je-Ji".


• Running to us with a huge smile, arms wide open, and eyes closed when she wants to cuddle :)


• Laughing with her eyes squinted and nose scrunched.
  
  I'm so happy I got this picture. Isn't she ridiculously cute?! I absolutely adore this little girl!

Opinions Wanted

Somewhere along the line I became a little wary of the whole Santa idea. Who knows when exactly it started. Either when Charles and I were engaged or recently married we shared our thoughts on Santa and the Consumer Christmas Crisis (coined phrase by me), and decided we didn't want to teach our kids to "believe" in Santa.

I do think it's possible to keep Christ in Christmas without eliminating Santa altogether but, it just seems easier to not include Santa at all. I know children love the thrill and fantasy of secret, make-believe fairies and what not but, I don't want to have that conversation when they find out the truth, are heartbroken, and then say, "You lied to me!"

So, I am interested in the experiences that you've had. Did any of you grow up or know someone who did without a belief in Santa? What do you think are the pros/cons of eliminating the Clause?

Also, what tips do you have to avoid the inevitable of kids who know the "truth" not telling other kids? The last thing we want is for parents of our kids friends to hate us!

*Please note that this is in no way to offend anyone that perpetuates the belief of Santa.

Thanksgiving

We drove up to North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with Evelyn. It was a 5 hr drive, not too incredibly bad. We realized that Azure needs something more than just a few toys to keep her occupied for that long though. We will be showing her DVDs on future road trips.

The day after Thanksgiving we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A-MAZING. I had driven on it once before with Ev in August 2004. And it was green and lush like this:

These are the Blue Ridge Mountains which are part of the Appalachian mountain range. Most of the leaves had already fallen off the trees but, had we gone a few weeks earlier it would have looked like this: Seeing mountains again stirred within our hearts a desire to always be close to them. We've decided we will permanently settle down where there are mountains nearby.

We drove to a cute town nestled in the mountains called Boone, home of Applachian State University.

Exploring the campus.

We also enjoyed lengthy conversations with Ev and her mom, playing Ticket to Ride, and eating chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, along with lots of Thanksgiving leftovers.

Hangin' Out

Every Wednesday, a grounds crew comes to clean up our complex. Azure loves watching them from her window as they blow all the leaves into one big pile.Last Saturday BYU played the U. As it is pretty much the most important game of the season, we all wore BLUE to show our school spirit. Azure's Aunt Erin knitted this cute dress for Azure which we had her wear since it appropriately matched. Unfortunately we lost and it was a horrible game to watch.

Posing appropriately. I told her to stand over by the wall so I could take her picture :)

Before the big game at the Heimdals.

Thanks Erin for the cute dress/shirt. (She is so tall).

Around town

Friday night Charles and I went on a spontaneous date (w/ Azure) and it was quite enjoyable. Usually unplanned activities don't go so well for us, but this one sure did. We walked around City Market and looked in some art galleries.It was quite chilly for Savannah, and I actually liked it because it truly felt like the holiday season. We also walked down Broughton St. and looked around some shops and did some honey sampling, yum! Then we had dinner at Panera Bread. I had Clam Chowder in a bread bowl and it was divine! There's nothing like warm soup on a chilly day.

Here we are devouring the remainder of my bread bowl.

I came home feeling nostalgic of past holiday seasons and felt that ever familiar feeling of gratitude that makes you smile and sigh, for all that the Lord has given me.

Update: kissing, singing, acting

We are in need of a general update.

Charles and I were the main characters in a film done by one of our friends who we previously mentioned in the last post. He is getting his masters in film and needed actors. Of course I volunteered. I would never give up a chance for stardom :) We even had a kissing scene in the film! Once it's all done we'll put a few scenes here on the blog.

Charles has had tests this last week and is gearing up for even more after Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to spending time w/ Evelyn again and celebrating Thanksgiving w/ her family in North Carolina. Charles is currently employed at CVS as a Pharmacy Intern.

I have been listening to Christmas music and practicing for a duet performance of O Holy Night for our ward Christmas party. I am keeping busy with the Young Women in our ward and trying to stay sane w/ all that that entails :) Last Saturday marked my 10 year anniversary as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have made it a tradition to do baptisms for the dead every 15th of November. I was indeed grateful to do them this year in the Columbia South Carolina temple. The 2.5 hour drive there was so beautiful and peaceful as I saw colored leaves everywhere and listened to inspired counsel from our beloved prophet and apostles from General Conference.

Azure is a happy little girl. She learned the word, "Ut-oh" today. She is trying hard to say thank you, but signs it well. She also is a singer as evidenced by this video:

Everyone in our ward has heard Azure shout, "Baby" in the middle of sacrament meeting whenever she sees a child 3 or under, including herself in pictures or the mirror. I really appreciate her enthusiasm and passion for life when she says it:

When reading a book to Azure that had racoons in it, I kissed them and she copied me. Now she kisses all kinds of animals in her books and sometimes babies. I especially love it when she gives me kisses :)

We give thanks for such a wonderful life!

Oopps...I did it again!

Last Tuesday, apparently as scheduled, Azure took her pants and diaper off again! We have wised up this time though- no more 2 piece jammies. I am hestiant even to put anything on her besides a onesie! And unfortunately this time, her "boop" was not so self-contained which required more clean up. I did take pics but, will refrain from posting them :)

We've had a few minor temper tantrums the past 2 wks due mainly to some new teeth coming in. But, for the most part we've been having fun. I LOVE teaching Azure new things. It is very fulfilling as a stay at home mom to see her repeat and do the things I've taught her. She recognizes the letter A. Not exclusively yet though.

She's learning to draw...

And to stack rings correctly...

The reason she's upset in this pic is b/c she wanted to see the "baby" (herself) on the camera screen!

We are loving watching the BYU football games every week with our friends the Heimdals. They have so graciously invited us over and let us watch the games since we don't have cable. Not to mention they feed us amazing food every week and babysit Azure for us for 8 hrs + when we take our monthly day trip to the temple. Talk about awesome friends!

Our little Cougar fan cheering

New one piece jammies to further prevent diasters...

hAlloWeEn

Azure was a bear yet again this year. Since I paid full price for that costume I intend to use it for all our kids to get as much use out of it as possible. It's also extremely fitting that Azure's nickname is Cub/Cubby.They had face painting at the trunk or treat we attended. Isn't she adorable? I realized later though that bears don't have whiskers, do they? Oh well.
The cutest thing of all though was that she kept signing bear over and over again saying, "Brr". She knew she was a bear! Getting washed up after a fun night

Charles and I are enjoying eating Azure's candy this year. I am a little sad that we didn't have any trick or treaters though. We live in a complex of condos with a lot of older folks so maybe that deters kids. I'm excited to one day pass out candy to trick or treaters since I haven't done that yet.

Shenanigans

So it finally happened today...we knew this day would come...if you have a weak stomach please skip this post.After a busy morning of touring the city with friends from our ward (our church) both Azure and I were exhausted. Equally exhausted. I had to carry her around from site to site since we didn't have the stroller. She wiggled out of my arms during the entire trolley ride. When I put her down to walk, she ran and I had to chase her around. All this she did because she was fighting sleep, it was past her nap time. And in the process she wore me out and made me want a nap of my own. About 2 minutes after getting into the car to drive home, she was out like a light. I regretted having to wake her up to get her out of the carseat. I hoped she would go right back down. I put her in her crib and took a much needed nap myself. In the meantime Charles got home from school and he woke me up to go to an appointment. Hearing Azure's babbling from her room, we figured she was awake. Charles went in to get her and found her completely NAKED holding her diaper in her hand and pointing to a pile of poop on the floor exclaiming, "Boop!"

Little Miss Azure for some reason took off her shirt, her pants, and her diaper. We have never witnessed her taking off her shirt before and are surprised that she figured it out on her own. There was also a wet spot of urine on her sheets so we're guessing that she had been naked for quite some time. She had been in her crib for about an hour and a half and we suspect that she didn't sleep a wink. Fortunately for us, the consistency of the "boop" was such that it maintained its integrity and was self-contained in a single sphere. (I apologize for the vulgar language of this description).

She was bathed and redressed and the proper disinfecting supplies were used. Suffice it to say, today was truly an Adventure with Azure!

Autumn days in GA

Spring is my favorite season but, autumn is a close second.

Azure has been getting some new molars in and has been pretty whiny and cranky this last week. But, all she has to do is say, "Mommy," and smack her lips together (which is her way of saying she wants a kiss) and all my frustration is gone :) After she saw me and Charles kissing she starting making kissing sounds like she wanted a kiss too and now she does it everyday. Those two are the sunshine in my life.

Our friend Amie was baptized yesterday! We are so happy for her. I sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

Autumn has been so refreshing...literally. It's nice going outside and not worrying about over heating. Azure and I had some fun today just playing in the leaves outside our apartment.

With the cooler temperatures we've busted out the feetie pajamas.Charles and I bought these for Azure last Thanksgiving b/c they were on sale. Size 18 months looked so big for our current 5 month old, but they fit her perfectly now since she's so long. Our little girl is growing up. I am grateful for these autumn days that I have a feeling I'll look back on fondly.