Month Four

Skylie,
Your dad thinks I'm biased, but I'm positive that you're the cutest baby that's ever lived.

This month you hit some great milestones.

You:

• Conquored your first bout of sickness like a pro. (Nov. 27-Dec. 1).
• Rolled over from your back to your stomach (Friday, Dec. 11).
• Slept a little better. On a good night you'll take your last feeding at 10:30 and sleep until 8:00.
• Rubbed a bald spot on the back of your head.
• Grew into your 3-6 month clothes (0-3 month clothes still fit, though).
• Usually go down for your naps and bedtime without much crying.
• Could care less about your bedtime routine (story, scripture, prayer, song), but we do it anyway.
• Suck on anything you can get in your mouth. On Sunday, December 13, I'd put you down for a nap and a few minutes later I heard what sounded like you sucking on your hand. That would've been a feat in itself, as you'd been swaddled in your "straight jacket". Not so; you'd wiggled over to the edge of your crib and were sucking on the bars. Your dad and I laughed really hard at that one.
• Love spitting up. Once while doing sit ups with you, you projected massive amounts targeted right at my face. I turned my head to dodge the bullet, so my hair got the uh, extra moisture. Thanks, kiddo.
• Smile. Coo. Talk. It's all so cute.
• Smile any time your dad holds you up to this red and white Christmas decoration that's by a mirror in the living room.
• Managed your longest car ride, ever (15 1/2 hours from Des Moines to Utah) like a champ.
• Like your independence.
• Aren't always pacified by your swing anymore, but you love when we'll walk around with you so you can look at the world.
• Still love bath time.
• Like to be the center of attention. When your dad and I are eating dinner, you like to be right in the action.
• Are so happy and alert! Often when I'm feeding you, you'll stop just to look up at me and smile. It totally melts my heart!

I wish I could freeze time and hold on to these moments a little longer. You've grown so fast, and it makes me sad to think that you're not my newborn anymore. At the same time I think that every day you get more fun, and I'm excited to watch you grow.

We love you!

Love,
Mom

Skylie Rolls

While watching Skylie rockin' out on her blanket last Friday, I commented to Matt that I didn't think it'd be too long until she rolled over.

Five minutes later she began howling, and we found her like this:

She doesn't like being on her stomach.

Saturday I finally caught her new talent on video. This captures her fourth time rolling over. The actual rolling over is at about the two minute mark.

She's all over this rolling deal. In the middle of the night last night Matt and I rolled her back over onto her back half a dozen times because she managed to get on her stomach—and once she's there she goes crazy. What should we do?

Every time we're home, Matt and I battle between leaving Skylie's headband and flower off and keeping it on. (Matt always wants to take it off. "She's beautiful without it, and we already know she's a girl," he says.) During our snow day after many times of (me) putting on her headband and (him) taking it back off, I promised I'd let her go without a flower all day.

Later when he left to pick up some pizza, I tried out sticking a bow to her head. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

On Sunday after I'd put Skylie down for a nap, I heard what sounded like her sucking on her hand (which would have been a feat in itself as she was swaddled in her straight jacket). I peeked in to see this:

She'd scooted over to the crib bars and was sucking on one! Too funny! I'm pretty sure those bars aren't the worst things she's going to get in her mouth over the next few years.

And here's Skylie in her Christmas dress—a hand-me-down from Becca. I'm so glad it fits!

Skylie likes being part of everything we're doing, including dinner.

See that Christmas sign next to the mirror? Every time Matt holds her up to look at it she grins. She must know Christmas means getting to see her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Christmas makes me smile, too.

I love my baby girl!

Guilty As Charged

A week or so I complained and criticized. About stuff that's none of my business. To more people than I ought to have. If you're reading this there's a good chance you were one who heard my criticical remarks. Even if the complaints had a valid point—it was still none of my business.

The next day I was listening to this in the car:

(You know you're getting old when you listen to audio books more than the radio.)

Topic: Criticizing

Dr. Lund shared a portion from a speech President Hinckley gave at BYU on a "terrible ailment...in the land": criticism. President Hinckley said he'd given this talk at least three times previously because he felt it was such a problem.

"We're constantly fed a steady and sour diet of character assassination, faultfinding, evil speaking of one another...The tragedy is that this spirit of negativism seems to prevail throughout the country.

"...This spirit has infected the atmosphere on university campuses and the workplace, even this campus. The snide remark, the sarcastic gibe, the cutting down of associates--these too often are the essence of our conversation. In our homes, wives weep and children finally give up under the barrage of criticism leveled by husbands and fathers. Criticism is the forerunner of divorce, the cultivator of rebellion, sometimes a catalyst that leads to failure. Even in the Church it sows the seed of inactivity and, finally, in many cases, apostasy.

"I come this evening with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I'm suggesting that we accentuate the positive. I'm asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort.

"I am not asking that all criticism be silent. Growth comes with correction. Strength comes with repentance. Wise is the man or woman who, committing mistakes pointed out by others, changes his or her course. I am not suggesting that our conversation be all honey. Clever expression that is sincere and honest is a skill to be sought and cultivated. What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism."

"The Lord is at the Helm," Gordon B. Hinckley, Mar. 6, 1994, BYU Devotional

I felt reprimanded, to say the least.

On a similar note, I get a kick out of this clip:

The things kids say

I teach a group of kids, my Primary class, for about 45 minutes at church.

Avalon, Amy, and Aspen

This spring I taught three sweet and sassy six-year-old girls. One Sunday I taught a lesson on the priesthood. The conversation went something like this:

One smart girly: "Why do only boys have the priesthood and girls don't?"
Me: "Why do you think that's the way it is?"
One other girl (after serious contemplation): "Maybe because boys are a little bit taller than girls."
Me: "Good guess. Sometimes boys are taller than girls, but I'm not sure that's the reason in this case. Can you think of another reason why boys might have the priesthood and girls don't?"
Another sassy girl (in an ultra-dramatic voice): "Because us girls can't do EVERYTHING. Boys have to do SOMETHING!"

Sounds like a good reason to me. :)

Since this summer I've taught three nine and 10 year old kids.

Sometimes they're all reluctant to say the opening and closing prayers. In these instances I say, "Okay I'll say the prayer." At least 85% of the time one funny guy will quickly speak up, "No. No. I'll say it. You take too long."

Too funny!

Saturday afternoon Matt and I hosted a class party. Only Jack and Pete made it, but we (or at least Matt and I) had a blast:

• Eating cookies and popcorn and sipping cocoa
• Playing UNO, Pit, balloon games
• Busting a nearly indestructible pinata (thanks to Matt's mad pinata-making skills)
• Setting up an obstacle course and trying to break our record. (Pretending that the carpet's hot lava has never gotten dull to me.)

I seriously hope I never get called out of Primary, because I don't know if I could handle sitting through three hours of church without some wiggle time. Oh wait. I have Skylie. I can always use her as my excuse. ;)

Snow Day

Tuesday is snowed all day, and Wednesday we woke up to this:

(Photo stolen from here. Thanks, Jordan!)

The entire non-urgent care employees at the hospital Matt's working at were told to stay home. I, on the other hand, wondered if I needed to go into work. By 9 a.m. I still hadn't received word that our building was closed for the day, so Matt brushed two feet of snow off the car, and I plowed my way to work. (I'm not sure why I didn't just plan on working from home in the first place. Maybe I'm trying not to abuse my part-time-at-home status too much. Whatever.) Anyway, the normally packed parking lot was desolate, so I headed home with big plans to change into PJ's and hang out with my two favorite people all day.

Note to self: When an entire hospital closes down, Wells Fargo will too.

Quick Recap

Thanksgiving... mmm...
The Rose's invited us into their home for a fantastic Thanksgiving feast. It was delicious, to say the least.

Black Friday shopping began at 4:30 a.m.
After hitting up Burlington Coat Factory and the mall, we came home $85 poorer but with a coat, hat, and gloves (all for my Christmas presents). Matt's Christmas gift is an iTouch. He says it's helpful for his rotations, but the fact that he can access game scores anywhere there's wireless is another perk. ;)

Skylie had her first sickness.
The poor girl got congested during the night after Thanksgiving and had a hard time sleeping for long periods for a few nights. (Hence, Matt and I had a hard time sleeping, too.) At one point her temperature got up to 100.7, but she was a trooper and stayed pretty happy. We're all glad she's doing better.

Thanks to the West Des Moines Library we're making our way through classic Christmas movies.

We've watched:
Holiday Inn
Elf
Home Alone 2

Up Next:
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
A Christmas Story
It's a Wonderful Life
Fred Claus
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
White Christmas
Mr. Krueger's Christmas

Anyone want to join us?

We're looking forward to:
Church, work, and friends' Christmas parties
Seeing family for an extra long holiday

Skylie's Three Month Pictures