Hall of Fame

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Hammin' it up

Lately Azure has been a little ham and smiling profusely everytime we pull out the camera, which of course I love. It's a lot better than her blank, wide-eyed stare she has consistently done prior to this stage. If you look closely in some of these pics you can see her 2 little pearly whites.

And here she is pulling herself up to a stand! I won't be surprised if she starts walking at 8 months! This child is EXTREMELY active and would run if she could. Good thing we're entering her into a 5K in 2 weeks.

Who woulda thought?

On Friday Charles and I went snowboarding at Sundance, up Provo Canyon. We both haven't gone much so we weren't sure how well we'd do. Actually that's an understatement, I at least, thought that I would be horrible judging on my past experience. But, we wanted to go since we both had never been in UT (to an actual resort w/ a lift) and have lived here for almost 9 years now and with our upcoming move to hot and humid Georgia we knew it was either now or never (practically). I had been checking the extended 10 day forecast to plan a day to go right after a snow storm so there would be good snow. It was supposed to snow all day Thursday so I thought Friday would be a good day to go. Turns out it didn't snow at all on Thursday so I was a little skeptical of how good the snow would be up there. Friday it started raining down here but once we got up the canyon it turned into snow and actually snowed almost 4 inches while we were up there which made for nice powdery snow :)

Once we got on the lift we were unsure of where to get off. We accidently missed the first stop and kept going higher up the mountain and I became quite nervous that I wasn't ever gonna be able to get down. Gratefully we got off at the next stop. Fell off I should say. The first time down was kinda rough. We both fell about 20 times. Charles explained to me how I could slow myself down without falling. Upon trying his technique I figured it out! After that I only fell about 3 more times and was doing pretty dang good! This was absolutely shocking because I am usually not good at stuff like this. The last time I tried wake boarding I couldn't even get up! So, I tell Charles to take a picture of me tearing it up and then we discovered that the batteries had died. So, I have no photographic evidence of my newfound skills :(

A BIG thank you to Ruth for watching Azure while Charles and I enjoyed our new favorite winter activity.

And the winner is...

Charles was asked to be a judge for a science fair in the Spanish Fork school district because of his expertise in microbiology. I'm sure because of this event Azure will now be the winner of every science fair that she enters, unless of course they refuse Charles' judging skills due to nepotism.

At which point we will change Azure's last name :)

8 months already

Azure is 8 months old today. She reached lots of milestones in her 7th month so we'll see what the 8th month will bring...

At church on Sunday I saw a baby a little younger than Azure holding herself up on the back of a pew. I hadn't given Azure any opportunities to do something like that so was unsure if she could or not so I tried it out and she didn't disappoint me:

Shortly after this newfound freedom she felt upon standing, she actually did pull herself up to a stand! We may have an early walker on our hands!

This little snuggle bear likes clean laundry! She's our bundle of joy!

My new favorite pic :)

And more pics from Zack's 2nd Birthday Party, thanks to Jonathan who took these.

Motility and Restraint

If there's one thing I've learned about babies, it's that they are smaller than we are. And they move around and grab things and have no concept of monetary value, fragility, or susceptibility to the enzymes in drool. If there is one thing I've learned about Azure, it's that she is a baby. "The motility factor" as we call it has created new challenges for us that demand our ingenuity and creativity to prevent the inevitable end product of our humble home left in the hands of a babe-a smoldering heap. Azure is pictured above enjoying "basket time," a preventative measure that benefits both parties.

Teething Biscuit Fun!

Behold Azure attack her teething biscuit, this is serious business!

InfantSEE

I was made aware of a free program called InfantSEE that I wanted to share with all you mothers of children under the age of 1. InfantSEE is a nationwide program where optometerists give a free eye exam for babies under 1 to catch eye problems like amblyopia (lazy eye) or retinoblastoma (eye cancer). When detected early, these problems can be corrected and cured. And it's free so all you have to do is find an optometrist that participates in the program and make an appointment.

I have the best husband in the world!

Yet another post about my darling husband. I just can't help but post this...
We had been planning a romantic dinner at home for Valentines Day and putting Azure to bed early. Since she's been crawling, the right way I might add now, it was hard getting the dinner prepared before Charles got home from work. And of course when he did get home he was tired and took a nap and I became quite anxious and began to lament in my mind how our romantic dinner wasn't going to be so romantic after all especially after pulling Azure away from the space heater for the 50th time!
And I also complained that we did not have a table (we have a bar with stools) which I wanted for the dinner so that I could actually sit across from him and look at him while we ate. He said that he'd think of something...

So, we started on the dinner together and Charles made our delicious salmon while I fed Azure some peas. Then we gave her a bath to get ready for bedtime. While I was nursing her to sleep I noticed that the kitchen light turned off. "Hmm," I thought maybe he was conserving electricity since he was going upstairs.
So, with Azure sound asleep I walk down the hallway to find a makeshift dinner table made from our coffeetable hoisted up by 2 stools! Atop that: a vase filled with tulips (my fave by the way, as most of you know), a lit candle and our masterpiece dinner! And our favorite love songs playing in the background. Then I found Charles sitting at the bottom of the stairs decked out in one of my favorite shirts and ties anticipating my arrival. I could have melted right there! I should have known that he really would think of something for the table, it was absolutely PERFECT!

I am the luckiest, most blessed girl to have the greatest husband in the world!

Oh and for dessert we had chocolate raviolis courtesy of Giada, you must try these, they are divine!

Teeth!

Azure now has 2 teeth! Both on the bottom. She has already bitten me a few times, now things will never be the same. Unfortunately we can't get any pics of her teeth as of yet.

Azure has been thoroughly enjoying bath time lately and splashing the water in her tub vigorously, leaving the bathroom floor quite wet.
And yes, Charles has grown a beard now that he is no longer a BYU student and I love it! I think he is the most attractive man that has ever walked the earth :)

Husband Tag

Lizzie tagged me and in honor of Valentine's Day next week I thought this would be fun. Though I realized this isn't really a husband tag, it's more of a relationship tag.

What is his name? Charles Stewart
How long have you been married? 2 years in May
How long did you date? 10 months before we were married
How old is he? 26 and me too. Yay for Festival of Lanterns!
Who eats more? He usually does but since I've been nursing sometimes I do :)
Who is taller? He is 6'0 and I'm pretty much 5'5
Who sings better? I like to sing more than he does (in public that is) but he has an amazing voice and can sing harmonies WAY better than I can. I just sing the melody.
Who does the laundry? We actually each did our own laundry up until we moved mostly b/c our washer was so small (a half) so we couldn't actually do our laundry together, plus we had separate closets each equipped with our own hampers so it just worked out that way. Now that we have a full washer I usually do it with Charles' help.
Who does the dishes? We both are pretty good about loading and unloading the dishwasher together. Charles always washes the big pots for me b/c I hate to and then I dry.
Who pays the bills? We both did when I was working (for money) but now that I have no income everything is withdrawn from his account now.
Who mows the lawn? We have yet to have a lawn and might not until we graduate from Pharmacy Sch at which point he probably will.
Who cooks dinner? Usually me on weeknights. Charles is a great cook though. We both enjoy cooking and trying different things. We frequently watch the Food Network together to get our inspirations. His new thing is making granola, which tastes fabulous. Maybe he'll share his secret recipe on the blog one of these days.
Who drives when you are together? Mostly me when we drive my car, which we almost always do since the carseat base is in there. He of course drives his car when we drive it since it's stick, which I can't drive.
Whose parents do you see the most? Since Azure was born we've been pretty good at seeing them both somewhat frequently.
Who proposed? He did and it was one of the most memorable days of my life!
Who has more siblings? He has 3 brothers. I have 1 sister.
Who wears the pants in the family? One of my favorite things about our marriage is that both of us do. We work together as a team to decide everything. Charles is very good at "giving me wings to fly" as President Hinckley described it. I can't find the citation for that on lds.org Does anyone know what talk that was?

And with all tags, you must tag so I tag: Julie and Martha.

Dada, Daddy

Videos

I am on a roll with posting everday but don't get too used to it, we'll stick to an average of 2x a week! Here are some videos I've been meaning to post... does anyone know how to put clips of multiple videos into one? That's what I've been trying to do. I'm sure it will be difficult to explain in a comment but maybe I'll understand :)
Oh and I've forgotten yet another 7 month milestone: self-feeding! She loves the little cereal puffs and little chunks of banannas and even bread!

7 month milestones

I love technology! Now, that we have the internet again we can post everyday :)

Azure has reached SO many milestones these last 2 weeks! She can finally sit on her own without the support of her hands (though she does prefer to lean) and she has made more improvements from the army crawl to the regular crawl. But this news just in.....

Earlier this week I felt something sharp on her bottom gums but couldn't see if it was a tooth but today we got a closer look and, indeed it is a TOOTH! A cute little tooth just barely poking out! I never thought I'd get so sentimental about a tooth, how silly huh? But, I feel like our little Azure is growing up now, almost ready to pack up a lunch box and head off to school!

"These are the moments" that I am so grateful to live, to have an eternal family, an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter and to discover a tooth while having Sunday dinner!

27th Annual Festival of Lanterns

Well, it's that time of year again where we dust of the papier-mache and decorate our lives for three months of non-stop celebration. Each year from January 4th to March 27th, we celebrate what is quickly becoming an international sensation, that's right, THE FESTIVAL OF LANTERNS! This year's festivities could be the most extravagant to date. Perhaps the most telling aspect of the festival is the consumption of meat and/or cake, coupled with recitation of Indian lore. Please, let us know what you have planned for this year's festival!