Big Girl Bed

Well Bailey has been upgraded from her crib to a big girl bed. This wasn't really a decision on the part of Jennifer or myself but rather was all Bailey. The Sunday before Christmas she decided no more cribs, this decision was vocalized by her screaming at the top of her lungs every time we tried to lay her in it. Even if we rocked her to sleep in our arms as soon as we would bend over to lay her down she would realize what was going on enough to work herself up into a frenzy. We could not figure out the problem until finally we just laid her down with us. She slept through the night even if we didn't. The next night we pulled her mattress out of the crib and just laid it on the floor which seemed to be acceptable to her.

Her grandpa Anderson had planned on making a bed for her so Monday night we called him to tell him that she was ready. Amazingly, he called us Wednesday morning to ask what color we wanted it as the bed was finished. Bailey seems to really like it though she does fall out on occasion which makes for some late night baby retrievals. Also, she has decided that she does not like to fall asleep on her own and requests that one of us lay with her while she falls asleep. Maybe it is something we should try to discourage but when she puts on her sad face and just pats her mattress in a mute request to have you lay down it is pretty darn irresistible. Although, Jenn has had to come in and get me a time or two as I've fallen asleep right along with her. Good thing it is a sturdy little bed.

Aspiring Big Sister

So we are setting things in motion to again start the adoption process. We had a meeting scheduled with our new case worker but that was unfortunately rescheduled for the Monday after Christmas. We did however, have our paperwork mailed to us so that we could get a head start on it. We are excited but reservedly so. From start to finish the process took three years with Bailey. Hopefully, it will move a little more quickly this time. Bailey would be such an incredible big sister and she really wants to be now. Our friends have a six month old named Abby, and Bailey just adores her. All week she has been saying, "Abby, Abby, Abby". Whenever Abby is around Bailey loves to look at her, pet her, feed her even care for her. When Bailey hears Abby cry she will stop whatever she is doing to come help. It normally involves Bailey trying to force Abby to take her pacifier though she has also brought her her blanket. I would love for Bailey to be able to have a younger sibling to care for.

That being said there is a ton of paperwork that we will need to do and no telling how long it will take but I hope that it will be soon.

A UNR Family

Well now that Matthew is so busy I suppose it is time for me to step up and contribute to our blog. The big news is Matthew is enrolled at UNR. We have decided it is time for him to really focus on school so he will now be going full time (plus working full time). I don't know how they do it. But this means that he should be teaching in a few years. (Yay for nights with my Husband again.)
I am very proud of all the hard work he does for our family. Thank you Matthew!!

What a difference a year makes

So we were looking back at Bailey's pictures from last Halloween and we could not believe the difference in her. I thought that you might get a kick out of these.

Happy Birthday!

Well Jenn's mother turned 60 this last week. We had a really nice get together. Jenn's brother and girlfriend were there along with two of Jenn's uncle's and their wives, even one of Jenn's cousins. We were quite a big crowd packed in that little house. Jenn's grandmother wanted it to be special so she was the hostess of the affair. We had some delicious lasagna and garlic bread courtesy of Jenn's grandmother and a from scratch carrot cake courtesy of my fabulous wife. It was great to be able to share some time with family.

Parenting Fail and Country Dancing

First the fail. Just south of us there is a "Pumpkin Patch", not an actual pumpkin patch mind you (they have to truck all of the pumpkins in) but there it is all the same. We decided to take Bailey down last Friday to check it out. It was pretty predictable with a lot of their decor made up of dried corn husks and bales of hay. I have to admit I found the whole thing kind of chintzy but I realized that I was not really the target audience. Bailey had a blast. She ran around and tapped each pumpkin just delighted as all get out. She got her own little pumpkin which she was adorable holding. She was so adorable, but, we forgot our camera like she was a middle child or something. We have discussed going back for a redo of sorts so that we can get some pictures.

On Saturday our ward did a barn dance social. It was pretty cool in that they got a bona-fide dance instructor to teach us some line dancing. If you missed out, let me assure you, you missed a treat. Those in attendance were able to witness my attempting the Electric Slide, Cotton Eyed Joe and some nameless couples dance. I don't "dance" in the traditional sense of the word. My version involves mostly my looking dazedly around myself and trying to figure out how many steps behind I am.

I Am One Proud Papa

The other morning I had Bailey in her highchair and we were about to eat breakfast when I said, "We need to say a blessing", at which point Bailey promptly folded her arms (she had gotten pretty good at this already so no surprise there). As I started to pray I could her her jabbering away, also not a surprise. I wanted to make sure that she hadn't gotten a hold of something that she shouldn't so I peeked and I was just so surprised by what I found. Bailey had her arms still folded, her eyes closed and the most intent look on her face. That was when I realized that she was saying her prayers. She continued on like that for awhile until she was done at which point she just lifted her head up and had the biggest smile on her face. I am so proud of her.