I'm A Big Kid Now

I went out to dinner with some girlfriends tonight and Bailey got to spend the evening with her Nana and Papa and Aunt Keri. When I pulled in to the house Keri and Maryanne came out to meet us. I got Bailey out of the car and handed her to Maryanne and immediately Bailey turned to me and said "ba bye" and waved. Oh what a little cutie. She makes me laugh and she's getting so big. It's quite amazing all the things she's learning.

I was making Bailey's lunch this afternoon and I guess I was really into her cheese bread because all of a sudden I hear her on the landing of the stairs. I rushed up the stairs when I heard her and when she saw me she just threw her head back and laughed. She thought it was so funny to make her mommy panic. I think I'm going to install the baby gates so they're permanently attached to each end of the stairwell.

New Tricks

We've had a full week with lots of fun activities and places to go. Yesterday was a very full day for me so Bailey spent a lot of the day with her Nana and Papa and discovered some new tricks. But before I get too far into our adventerous day, I have decided that Bailey is officially off milk. Our pediatrician recommended a no-dairy diet and for about three weeks Bailey hadn't thrown up and was doing great. Then we ran out of Rice Milk so I thought I would give 2% a try again. She did great for about two days, but then out it all came yesterday morning. When she woke up I gave her the milk with a little Chocolate Carnation Instant breakfast mixed in and I went to take a quick shower. When I went in to get her I thought it a little strange she was being so quiet. At first glance I thought she had spilled her milk all over the place, but as I looked a little closer I saw it was throw up. The poor thing had been laying there for about 15 minutes like that. I felt terrible. She also had a poopy diaper so into the bath she went but Bailey was not having it. She wanted me to hold her, but my only thought was to prevent getting throw up and poop everywhere. Bailey wanted out of the bath so bad that out came her first trick of the day--pulling herself up to a standing position. I was so proud of her, but couldn't really relish in the moment between her screaming and trying to clean her up. After getting all cleaned up we were off for the day. I had a photography workshop to go to so I dropped Bailey off at the Graybills. I was in the kitchen and Bailey was at the bottom of the stairs. She was so eager to get to me so she figured she would just climb up the stairs--ta da--trick #2.

These new talents made something click in Bailey's brain that she can do whatever she wants and the world is hers. So her third trick of the day--getting into every cupboard possible and pulling everything out of it to discover it's contents. I thought my life was pretty much over when she started to crawl, but now that stairs have increased the size of her world 100%, baby gates are my new best friend.



After my workshop I went to a bridal shower for Brianna, Zane's fiance. (Yes!! they are finally engaged). They're getting married June 5th and we are so excited for them. And to keep the romantic theme going, we had a BBQ and invited my sister to meet a guy in our ward who's also single. I think it went pretty well so we'll see how things go.

Bailey Likes to Dance

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Omai surprised me a couple weeks ago... we were up in the office just talking and he asked me if he could use my phone. I said sure and handed it over not sure who he was going to call. He dialed and started talking to someone, of course stating the obvious that it wasn't actually me who was calling but it was him. He asked the person if they wouldn't mind taking pictures of Bailey and I since I have about five pictures of me and Bailey together. I thought he might be calling my friend Emilie who's a photographer but then thought, no way would he be calling her, we don't have money for pictures right now. Turns out, it was Emilie on the phone and she agreed to take pictures of us. I insisted that Omai come along so we could get a few with him, but he demanded that he would not be in the pictures. It's like he doesn't like getting his picture taken or something... weird. Anyway, after I got over the shock of Omai's mysterious phone conversation, he handed the phone over to me so we could set up an appointment.

Emilie had had an Easter event where she rented bunnies to act as live props as she photographed little kids and I wanted to get a bunny for Bailey too. The weather had a hard time cooperating but we finally decided on place and time for the shoot. I had to drive down to Pleasant Grove to pick up the bunny from Kim, the girl who rents them out. The whole drive down all I could think was, please don't ask me to hold the bunny, please don't ask me to hold the bunny, please don't ask me to hold the bunny. I just don't really like animals--especially small ones that could pass as a rodent. It turned out okay because Kim didn't ask me the hold the bunny... phew. She did introduce us though and the bunny's name is Sunburst. Sunburst was in a very secure cage and Kim even put the cage in the car for me. She put it on the floor on the passenger's side so I got to look at it the whole drive back to Salt Lake. I talked to it and Bailey on the way to keep everyone happy but mostly to keep myself calm and think good thoughts about Sunburst and work into a 'be brave' mode for Bailey because I know eventually I was going to have to hold it. We got to Wheeler Farm and it was a rather blustery day. I got myself and Bailey all ready just in time for Emilie to show up. Emilie grabbed the bunny and we were off.

Bailey is loving anything soft lately--blankies, stuffed animals, her daddy. So to her, Sunburst was just another soft, cuddly thing that she could snuggle up to. Well, after a few poses with the bunny she realized that it was more than soft and cuddly--it was ALIVE and she wanted it the heck away from her. By this time, I was in full 'be brave for Bailey' mode, but I also knew I couldn't return an earless bunny to Kim so I did my darndest to prevent Bailey from ripping the poor things ear off or bolting into the nearby bushes, in the meanwhile, keep Bailey from falling off the rocking chair and keep my skirt up that was just not cooperating. After a few brave poses I had to tell Emilie just how freaked out I was at the moment and she just laughed. It is rather silly to be afraid of a little bunny, but I can't help it. I'm a wuss. Despite all the drama--well, my drama, we got some very sweet pictures. Thank you, thank you Emilie. You're amazing.

New Year's Eve

For those of you who missed a rockin' evening, click here for the recap.