4 months old

Anastyn had her 4 month birthday while we were in Idaho. She is so much fun! She is such a happy baby. She smiles at anyone who smiles at her. She just lights us all up. Taeya will say "mom she loves me, she smiled at me."

January 15, 2010 - 4 months old

She still isn't a very great sleeper. She will sleep about 4 hours than wake up and eat, sleep another 3-4 wake up and eat, then sleep another 2 hours or so before being awake for the day.

She is still a little night owl. She is getting a little better now though, she will go to bed for good between 11pm and 12am now.

She rolled over for the first time from her stomach to back a few days ago, and on her 4 month birthday she rolled from her back to stomach.

She still snacks - probably always will. She eats every 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

She is getting better at entertaining herself on the floor for a little bit, which gives me a little relief. She does love to be held though.

If she is being held she usually won't fuss at all unless she is hungry or tired.

I still swaddle her when she goes to sleep, I guess I don't wrap her tight enough because she always seems to gets her arms out.

She doesn't look scared when Taeya comes near her now!

She will actually take a bottle, she doesn't love it, but I think she realizes if she doesn't drink it she will be hungry!

She is starting to grab for things, and is pretty good at holding small, light objects.

We sure do love her so much. She is a great addition to our family and we are so greatful for her. She makes me truely happy. (Even if I don't get much sleep!)

I had her pictures taken on January 21, 2010 at 4 months and 1 week old. I love how they turned out. We had some taken in her blessing dress (finally) and the tutu that my mom and I made for her. She was really happy for the photo session and I love how the pictures turned out.

Idaho

From January 9th to the 17th we were in Idaho spending time with the Huntsman family. We had a great week. Taeya loved being with her cousins 24/7, and Anastyn didn't seem to mind either. Chantel and Casey and my parents went to Hawaii so I got to play "mom" all week long to a few extra kids. I have to say that overall it was really fun. The hardest part was Anastyn. She really is a good little baby, but she loves to be held and I am used to having Gordon around in the evening to give me some relief so I can get things done. But we survived without him. Here are some of the things we did during the week:

Cael and Taeya played together so well during the day (for the most part). The only thing they fought over was who got to be Jasmine, and Cael has a little race car track that had a red car and a green car and they both always wanted the red car.

Anastyn rolled over for the first time. On Tuesday night (Jan. 12th) she rolled from her back to stomach, and on Friday (Jan. 15th) she rolled from her tummy to her back. The kids all had fun loving on her. Collin was especially good with her and loved to hold her for me.

Taeya was obsessed with all of Cynthia's shoes so Cael often thought he needed a pair too. They have a "no shoes in the house" rule and I had a hard time getting Taeya to follow the rules when it came to Cynthia's shoes.

My happy girl was often put down anywhere I could find a spot, she didn't seem to mind.

We did have one accident though. On Wednesday afternoon Cameron, Cael, and Taeya were sledding in the backyard and Taeya hit her head on the rock fire pit. She hit her head earlier and came in crying but then wanted to go back out and thats when she really hit her head. Cameron came in and said, "um, Brandalyn, Taeya is bleeding really bad!" I brought her inside and just had to take a picture before I cleaned her up. I sent this picture to Gordon and he about had a heart attack! Cynthia and I debated all night wether or not she needed stitches. We called Casey and he told us to try sterile strips. Those didn't seem to be holding the cut together, so at about 10:30 pm we took her to one of Casey's doctor friends house and he gave her 3 stitches. They didn't have any painkiller so she cried pretty hard, I held her down on the table while he stitched her up. Taeya handled the first stitch pretty well, but by the third she was crying pretty hard. Thank goodness she held still so he could be fast, poor girl.

This is what the cut looked like after we cleaned it up, and before we tried to put the sterile strips on it.

After I got her cleaned up (and before the stitches), she fell asleep on the floor, all that crying really tired her out.

This is what her stitches looked like the next morning. Still kindof a mess from dried blood and the glue from the sterile strips.

And this is my new Taeya. Gordon said he wished it was in the shape of a lightning bolt so she could look like Harry Potter! I think she enjoyed the attention she got from the stitches, she will probably always have a scar to remind her.

Thursday night we made a huge mess in the kitchen. The kids had a great time rolling out the dough and putting toppings on their own pizzas.

Collin, Cameron, Cynthia, Cael, and Taeya

Collin was extra creative with his smiley face.

They must have been more fun to make than to eat because Taeya only ate the olives off the top of hers, Cameron only had one little slice, and Cael wouldn't even try it.

After the pizza we made sugar cookies. They made all sorts of cookies from and American Flag to a baseball cap.

I think Cael enjoyed it the most, poor thing couldn't even eat one, but he sure made alot of them.

Anastyn was a good little girl just hanging out of the counter. She wanted to suck on anything she could find.

We really did enjoy our week. We also went swimming, got ice cream, rented the movie G-Force, and went to Leo's (the Idaho version of Chuckie Cheese). By the end of the week Taeya didn't want to come home. She told me I should leave her there for a few more days. I asked Cameron if he thought she should stay and he said "mostly yes." What a fun time. I hope we get to go again next year.

New Years

We all love being at the cabin in the wintertime. Their is something so fun about being in the cozy cabin and playing in the snow all day. The roads to the cabin are closed in the winter because of all the snow and since we don't own snowmobiles we have to hike everything in. This is kind of a pain, but why am I complaining since Gordon is the one who does most of the work! This year we got the girls all bundled up for our hike. Anastyn was in the Baby Bjorn and we had walked about 20 feet when some nice family offered us a ride up to the cabin and us girls took them up on the offer (I think they felt bad for me because I was offered a ride 3 different times this weekend and I really think it was because of the baby!) We went right in and turned on the heater and Gordon took 3 more loads from the car. Thank goodness Anastyn was all bundled up because it was COLD inside for a good 2 hours.

While we were getting things uploaded Anastyn hung out in her bear suit. She didn't seem to mind and she was nice and toasty!

Taeya was so excited to go skiing. She did great this weekend and Gordon thinks she is ready for the ski slope now. This picture shows how he would carry her up the hill, then let her ski down.



Anastyn and I enjoyed watching.

A nice man snowboarding down the hill stopped to ask is we wanted him to take our picture. It was a beautiful New Years Eve evening.

Gordon had been getting Taeya all excited to bang pots and pans at midnight. At about 8:30 pm we pretended it was New Years. Taeya had a great time banging the pans.

I joined in the fun for a few minutes.

Gordon and Taeya made a pots and pans drum set.

This is my "goopey eye" girl just waking up on New Years day. This is what I call her almost every morning when she can't quite get her eye open. It is always the left eye, and it has been since she was about 2 weeks old. It makes me laugh to see the one eye so wide and alert and the left one stuck closed.

During our weekend we did a lot of sledding. Taeya always wanted to sled with dad for some reason. So he got both girls and I went solo. We raced and I usually won!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing a puzzle, trying out a new recipe in our "bouchon" cookbook, x-country skiing, and watching a lot of "Snow White." What a happy new year!

Taeya's Traffic Jam

Taeya loves playing barbies and she loves lining thing up. She can entertain herself for hours with a car and a barbie. This is how I found her in the playroom the other day. A few days after I took this picture she asked me for some more cars because she had a pile of barbies and polly pockets that didn't have a car so they had no way of getting home!

Anastyn's First Haircut

Anastyn's hair had really been bothering me. It was getting really long on top, but the hair on the sides and back have been falling out. At my mom's house on Christmas day I finally had the chance to give her a haircut.

During the "consultation" my mom and I determined that we needed to cut a few inches off the top.

The Before Shot

The During Shot

Another During Shot (notice my mom was holding the hair and I was cutting!)

Still During - but cutting off the some hair on the neckline - she wasn't so happy anymore.

The After - happy in Nana's arms, and her hair looks a million times better, just much lighter in color now!

Christmas Day

Of course Christmas was fantastic and Taeya got way too much! We didn't wake up until 10:00 am, so we kindof got a slow start.

Taeya with all of our presents.

One of Anastyn's gifts was this warm little snowsuit. We thought it would come in handy this winter while we "play" outside. I think she is the cutest bear!

One of Taeya's favorite gifts was this "Strawberry Shortcake" house. I just can't believe Strawberry Shortcake has made a comeback. I was her for Halloween in Preschool.

The girls and their cute new jammies.

Gordon made Anastyn a rocking horse for Christmas - now I just need to paint it. So far Taeya has really enjoyed it!

Some more play-time. We had a hard time getting Taeya to go outside to see her final gift because she was having too much fun playing.

Taeya and her Barbie Jeep! She had the biggest smile on her face when she saw her new jeep, but when she got in it to drive she was afraid to press the gas pedal. Our driveway is slightly slopped and she has crashed a few times on her big wheel going down it - I think she was afraid she would crash her jeep. (Santa found this jeep on KSL, slightly used. Gordon was afraid she wouldn't really like it that much and didn't want it to be her only Christmas present.)

Maybe she was just cold because as soon as Gordon put the blanket on her she was ready to try it out.

Taeya's friend Brielle got a Jeep too, so the girls had to go "jeeping" Christmas afternoon. This is a picture of Gordon and Scott on Traffic Control!

Cute girls!

Before heading off the Grandpa and Grandma's house we took pictures of all of our gifts. Taeya got an easel from Papa and Nana, a Kareoke machine, some games, a barbie blowdryer, curling iron, and flat iron (to compensate for not getting "the hair cutter thing"), Strawberry Shortcake house, a new Christmas outfit, and a power wheels Barbie Jeep.

Anastyn got a rocking horse, bear suit, barn blocks from Taeya, the movie Snow White and a toy from Papa and Nana, books from Grandma Elaine, money from Grandpa Lee

I got new snow boots (2 pair because Gordon didn't know which ones I would want, I took one of them back!), a dippin' dot maker, money from my mom and dad and Lee and Laura, a 72 hour kit from the Huntsmans, new razors, and candy.

Gordon got a new Shop Vac and lots of movies from me, money from my mom and dad and Lee and Laura, new razors, and candy.

Around 2:00 we went over to Lee and Laura's house. We had sandwiches and just visited.

At about 4:00 we went over to my mom and dads for dinner and presents. This is a picture of Skyler, Daylen, and Zach being silly and "showing me their tummies."

Cute Baby Jayne loved the Oreos - we made Oreo shakes for dessert and they were delicious.

Anastyn and Taeya with their Nana - by this time of day Taeya was really tired of me taking pictures and I felt lucky that I got these last few good shots.

Our Family on Christmas Evening

We sure enjoyed being with family. We are so grateful for the birth of the Savior and for this special day we have to celebrate. What a wonderful day it was.