Utah

As previously mentioned, we were in Utah for two days. Monday, we were supposed to spend the day with Lisa and Ashlynn but unfortunately Ashy girl was super duper sick and so they had to cancel. :( We did swing by their place to say a quick hello from the car and to borrow a stroller. Ryan and I went and perused the BYU Bookstore for a little while for fun and so Ryan could update his BYU wardrobe with a new sweatshirt and hat. We then grabbed a little lunch at none other than J Dawgs, of course! We followed that with a little shopping at some of the stores I was hoping to hit while in Utah, including See's Chocolates. :) Finally, Lucy and I went over to Megan Scott's house where I met up with a bunch of old friends and roommates and had an amazing dinner and lot's of fun catching up (why do we never get a picture?!). Ryan spent the evening with his Dad going through all of Ryan's old stuff in their basement and deciding what he was going to keep or get rid of.

Tuesday morning, I had an orthodontist appointment (only one more to go now) and then we headed up to Salt Lake to visit my grandma. Lucy took a good, long nap in a comfy little "nest" we made for her on the bed, and we caught up with my grandma, one of my cousins that stopped by, and had dinner there. My dad made an delicious dinner while we went and got Lucy's ears pierced at the new City Creek Center, and then we went back home to pack and get some rest before our early flight the next morning. We are so glad that we were able to spend a couple of very quick days in Utah while we were already out west!

Travel

So we recently got back from our vacation and we had such a blast! We flew from Ohio to LAX on Saturday, March 17th and stayed at Marc & Michelle's house for a couple nights. Then on Monday, we headed to the beach down in the San Diego area, where we stayed for the week. Ryan's parents and all of his siblings and their spouses and kids were there that day as well, except for Kevin & Amy and their kids who all joined us on Wednesday night that week. We had such a fun family reunion (more details on the reunion to come in its own post), and were sad when we had to leave. Then on Sunday, March 25th, Ryan, Lucy, and I drove with Ryan's parents from California to Utah where we visited with friends and family for two days. We flew home on Wednesday, March 28th.

Everyone has asked us how it was doing all of that traveling with a 4-month-old, and honestly it went way better than I expected! On the flights out, Lucy was mostly awake and happy, with the exception of some tears on the decent when our ears were all popping (I tried nursing and pacifiers like everyone recommended but it didn't work. I have terrible ears when it comes to flying so maybe Lucy inherited that). Our first flight home was the same, but our second flight was only about half full and they let us take her car seat on, which she was already sleeping in, and hook that into her own seat. She slept the entire flight and all the way home, too! Thank goodness because she needed that sleep!

The drive from California to Utah was what I was most worried about since she would have to be in a car seat the whole time and in Lucy's opinion, the car seat is the devil. But she was actually very happy almost the entire drive! She didn't sleep until the very end besides a little 20 minutes cat nap here and there but she was still content. That was a total blessing. A funny part of the drive was when I had to lay her on my lap to change a diaper. I was sitting in the middle seat and in the middle of changing her diaper I realized she had scooted forward a little bit and her head was completely off my knees and she was happily staring at Marc and Janae in the front seat. Ha! That must have been a new, interesting view! It was pretty funny.

She had already started lifting her head in this picture, so it was even farther back than this! haha.

Conference Weekend

We love General Conference weekend and feel so uplifted and inspired after hearing the messages that were shared. This session did not disappoint and thanks to a super good baby we heard every word of it! We also feel uplifted and inspired by yummy breakfasts, cute babies, and spring flowers. :)

Martin Family Reunion 2012

We just returned home on Wednesday from our Martin family reunion and that in and of itself makes me feel behind on blogging simply because there is so much I want to blog about to remember from this trip! Not mention that between me and my three sister-in-laws, we have close to 2,000 pictures that I have to now sort through... it was a miracle that all of us remembered our cameras AND took them out and used them frequently. :)

Anyway, we had so much fun but I just realized that Lucy has been sleeping for THREE hours already without a peep (amazing!) and I haven't even gone to bed yet. And when Lucy is sleeping at night, I should most definitely be sleeping as well. I will have to get to the details later... and goodnight.

Rice Cereal

We gave Lucy rice cereal for the first time yesterday and let's just say she was more interested in eating her bib than the rice cereal. I think the problem is that she HATES formula and I made the cereal with formula because I was too lazy to pump and was hoping the formula would be heavier in her belly (an obvious attempt to make her sleep better). Today, I made the cereal with water instead and she ate it all up at two different times and seemed to be pretty happy with herself for doing it (which may also have been because I was clapping and cheering with every bite)! Also, she mimics anything Ryan and I do with our mouths so I got down to her level and made chewing-type motions with every bite. Lo and behold, she copied me and chewed/swallowed! Let's hope this helps keep her a little more full and helps her sleep better at night (if that was/is even the problem).

Bling, Bling

We took Lucy to get her ears pierced at the new City Creek Center when we were in Salt Lake on Tuesday (March 27th). She did so well and only cried for about 30 seconds total and then was happy again. I hated having to hold her how they make you (one arm around her body to pin her arms down, and one arm pinning her forehead to me), but then I remembered that this was nothing in comparison to her getting shots and we even walk away with something to show! :) Here's the progression, thanks to Ryan's ipad since I forgot my camera.

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

4 Months

Lucy turned 4 months old on March 16th, but I was busy packing and getting ready for our trip that we were leaving for on the 17th. Now I can't really remember as many specifics as I'd hoped from month 4, but I'll give it what I can.

I remember someone at church a few weeks ago asking me how old Lucy was and when I told her that she was 3 months old, she gasped and said, "oh my gosh! 3 months already?! Hasn't that just flown by so fast?!" I just quickly agreed for the time being but what was really going through my head was "no, actually. This has been the longest three months of my entire life and I don't think they could have gone any slower." Yeah, it was a pretty rough transition for me. Now with that great attitude (sarcasm), I must admit that this fourth month I would have been able to truly agree with the lady at church. It has been so much fun to have a baby that seems a little happier each day and that has not had any health issues impeding that happiness. At 4 months this is what's going on (that I can remember):

• Lucy must have something in her mouth all the time! More specifically, two or three of her fingers are what usually bolt to her mouth anytime her pacifier is not in or falls out. Occasionally she will attempt to shove her whole fist in her mouth at once (and is pretty close to successful).
• She loved the rings we have hanging in her car seat and will hold on to them anytime she is in it and always falls asleep holding them.
• Still having sleeping issues (she can't sleep swaddled and can't sleep unswaddled. It's a lose/lose situation). Yeah, we just don't sleep around here. At ALL. And I've tried EVERYTHING. Holy moly I might die of sleep deprivation any day now. Moving on...
• She giggles more and more everyday and has started "talking" like crazy. I absolutely love hearing her cute little voice.
• Food intolerances are for sure over, besides chocolate (dang!), and some food I have to avoid for her reflux (citrus, spicy, and anything with citric acid).
• I've been trying to read books to her for a while, unsuccessfully, but just recently she has started to pay attention to the pages and laugh at my crazy voices/fluctuations that are necessary to keep her attention during said book reading. I think I would be embarrassed to read that way in front of any other human being, but if it makes Lucy happy.... :)

This is Lucy at 4 months and 1 day on her first flight ever, which went amazing, but more on that later. (Also, ignore the fact that I look nasty, please).