Two Months

On Sunday, July 25th our precious little Leah turned 2 months old. She's growing so fast, it's incredible! She's developing a cute little personality. She is still a really content baby and is often really happy. She smiles a lot and is getting really good at cooing. I love to just sit and talk to her since she's getting so good at interacting. She still doesn't cry much (which is wonderful). So if she does really cry, I know that something is wrong (i.e., she's in pain or discomfort).

She kicks her legs and moves her arms around a lot. She can hold up her head pretty well. And she's good at focusing in on things, especially our faces. She's awake a lot more often, but still sleeps quite a bit. We're still working on getting her sleeping better at night, but she is getting better. Although she still likes to be awake in the evening. (If she would sleep better in the early morning hours I wouldn't mind her being awake so much at night.)

On Monday she went to the doctor for her two month check up. She weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. She's around the 50th percentile - so right about average. The doctor said she is developing well. She also got her 2 month vaccinations at this appointment - 3 shots and 1 liquid. This was the hardest part. She was so happy all through the appointment, but when they poked her with the first shot she instantly cried so hard. Her beautiful little eyes were full of tears. I know that in the long run she will be healthier for having had the shots but seeing my little girl cry so hard made me tear up too. Fortunately she was able to calm down fairly quickly and was fine by the time we left the doctor's office.

Ross and I love being Leah's parents. We couldn't ask for a better baby. We love her SO MUCH!

Congratulations Brian, Norma & William

I'm a little late getting this post up, but this was such a great experience that I didn't want to forget it. William was part of the local foster program and about a year ago Brian and Norma met him and started having him come stay with them occasionally. It didn't take long before they wanted to adopt him. In May, the adoption was finalized.

But the latest and greatest news for them is that on Saturday, July 17 they were all sealed together as a family in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. Ross and I were privileged to be invited to the sealing. The sealer performing the ordinance was so in tune with the Spirit and gave each of them some beautiful counsel. It was such an amazing experience to be there with them. William is such a good kid and he's one of the sweetest little boys you'll ever meet. We are so happy to have him as part of our family!

Cousins, Cousins, Cousins...

Since Ross and I both come from big families (especially my extended family), it seems like there is always a baby who has just been born or a baby that is on the way. So Leah has been on a "cousin tour" of sorts since she was born. Hence, I decided to post some pictures with her and just a few of the cousins born around the same time she was.

Lucas is just 15 days older than Leah. He was born on May 10 and is the son my cousin Bryan and his wife, Amber. This is Leah with Kylie. She was born on June 28 and is the daughter of Ross's cousin, Emily, and her husband, Jeromy. (I love that they are kind of doing a mirror image of the same pose.) Sadly, Kylie is moving to Washington state with her mom and dad, so we won't get to see much of her soon. This little sweetheart with all the black hair is an actual first cousin to Leah. This is my sister, Lyndsee, and her husband, Jason's daughter, Makynlee. She was born on July 6 (my Grandma, Putnam's birthday). Before they were born, we would always talk about how they needed to come out so they could play together. It was so cute when we put them down next to each other for the first time. Leah was so alert and kept putting her hand over on Makynlee as if to say "OK Makynlee, I'm ready to play!" It was so sweet because it was like Leah knew Makynlee was there and who she was. Who knows, maybe she did.Little Rylee was also born on July 6 about an hour and 15 minutes after Makynlee (Grandma Putnam got two great-granddaughters for her birthday!). She is the daughter of my cousin, DeDe, and her husband, Russ.There were a couple of other cousins born during this time that we have not met yet. My cousin Eric and his wife Dani had their daughter Rachelle on May 28. And my cousin Aubrey and her husband Chad had their daughter Brianne on June 28.

This last picture I put in her just for fun. This is Leah with Hannah. Hannah is the daughter of my best friend, Lesley, and her husband, Brian. They obviously weren't born around the same time. Hannah is about 10 months older than Leah. But I figured that if Lesley and I are like sisters, then that would make Hannah and Leah like cousins. We are also looking forward to the cousins that are on the way. Leah's cousin, Jackson Leslie, is due in about three months. In addition, Ross has three cousins that are expecting and I have at least two. Those are just the ones that we know about. How fun it is to be a part of an ever growing family!!!

4th of July

Here are some pictures of Leah on her first 4th of July (well, 3rd of July actually.) As she squirmed around her head band fell down over her eyes.

We probably shouldn't have laughed at her discomfort, but it was pretty funny!

I love it when the 4th of July falls on a Sunday. It makes for a long fun 4th of July weekend. We spent Friday night at my parents house. It was Leah's first "sleepover" and she did pretty well not sleeping at her own house. She's so young, she doesn't seem to care where she's sleeping at this point.

While we were there, my dad made some yummy pulled pork. He woke up early and slow cooked it on his grill with the smoker box he got for Father's Day. He also made some tasty barbecue sauce to go on it. It's always fun to be around when my dad decides to try a new food experiment. The fruits of his labors usually turn out great!

Later we went to join the Turners for their traditional 4th of July BBQ. We had lots of fun playing Bocce ball and Catch Phrase with them. From there we went to Ross's mom's house to do fireworks with some family. We got home really late that night, but it was a good day.

Sunday, we went to the blessing of Ross's cousin's baby and later went to his uncle and aunt's house for another BBQ. Monday we tried to go to see Toy Story 3, but didn't think about of the droves of other people that might want to see it too. So we ended up just getting something to eat and a Hawaiian shaved ice for a treat instead.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend. It would have been fun to have done more of the traditional 4th of July activities, like a parade or a fireworks show (the big firework shows are my favorite part of the holiday). But with such a young baby, you just do what you can. Maybe we'll do more next year.