Busy

Libby is a pro crawler on both carpet and hard wood floors. She can pull herself up on almost anything and walks around the furniture. She really likes it when we help her walk too. She has stayed standing without holding on to anything for a few seconds. She is a busy girl and keeps her mommy busy chasing after her. She is also an expert peek-a-boo player. She will play it with just about anything: bags, burp rags, table cloth, stuffed animals, teething ring, etc. It is probably the cutest thing she does right now. She waves to everything now too and says "hi" which sounds more like "ha" sometimes. Other words she attempts to say: "kitty" or "KKKKee", ball, dada, mama, and occasionally "moo". She understands a lot more words too. So cute. She really really loves cats, so that is the word she tries to say the most and we chase poor Magellan (parents cat) around the house a lot. Yelling for attention is also one of her favorite things right now. Especially at dinner time (girl likes her food I guess). She knows what the monkey and dinosaur say and she will usually imitate them if you ask her too. She also has 3 teeth (2 bottom, 1 top) and another on the way in on top.
Richard will be getting his associates degree at the end of this quarter! He is doing great in his classes. (Spanish 1, Logic, and digital music). He got onto the Spring/Fall track at BYU-Idaho, which was a bit of a surprise. After much deliberation and pros/cons lists we have decided to move over in January as planned and hopefully find jobs and get settled before school starts. We are excited to go, but not really looking forward to driving a moving van and our car in the snow. yuck.

I have kept quite busy lately. On Dec 4th I will be a vendor at a craft fair in Port Orchard. I have made 20 tutu's so far and over 100 flower clips (in various stages of completion). I'm excited for it, but it's been a lot of work. I still have a lot to do.
We got family pictures done last week by my friend Sydney. We went down to the Fountain park by the ferry and got some good pictures around the cool rock sculptures. The weather was actually decent too and Libby was such a good girl. We are excited to see how they turned out. So stay tuned for pictures!!
Speaking of pictures I should put some Halloween ones up. We were all dinosaurs (surprise). Libby had 2 dino costumes one from Gma Sue and one made from jammies from Aunt Jana. She looked adorable in both! Our pumpkin is supposed to be Libby with a big smile & one tooth (which is all she had at Halloween)

Richard turns 24 and 2 year anniversary

I wrote a long post a couple days ago (incl. Halloween and other happenings), but I am lazy and haven't gotten around to downloading pictures off the camera to finish it (b/c what's the point of a blog with no cute Libby pictures?Here's one of her in uncle Matthew's hat)

Anyways, yesterday was Richard's birthday and today is our anniversary! We had a pretty fun day yesterday. I brought Richard breakfast in bed of eggs, toast, & juice. After Libby's nap, we went to K&G in Tacoma and bought Richard a spiffy new suit for his birthday present. He's been wanting a new one since we got married I think. (I also found an awesome red pea coat for $10 there! I love it). We wandered in guitar center as well. Then we had a delicious dinner at Red Robin. After that we went home for a few hours, put Libby to bed and headed to the Galaxy theater to watch Harry Potter. We got to be in the VIP room, where they bring whatever you order up to your seat, which was cool. (the time worked better than the regular room, and that's why we went in there). Harry Potter was awesome. I recommend it to any HP fans.

Since today is Sunday, we didn't really do anything fancy for our anniversary. It snowed today though which was pretty cool. It didn't really stick much, but it was fun to watch. We ate some delicious beef stew & biscuits made by Grandma and visited a little with Richard's cousins. Then for dinner we ate waffles with strawberries and had some sparkling cider (which is what we ate when Richard proposed to me). Now Richard is serenading me on the guitar and eating fruit snacks while I write.

Utah

Libby and I went to Utah Oct 6-11th so we could go to my best friend Carrie's wedding, meet my newest nephew and see lots of family! We had a lot of fun and I apologize for the length of this post! We got there Wednesday (Libby did awesome on the flight) and stayed at my brother Dan's house. Libby had a lot of fun playing with her cousins Sam, Josh, & Eliza. Now that she is mobile, she really likes playing with other kids. All of the cousins adored over her too, which she loves.
Thursday we spent most of the day at BYU with Penny. We got to see her dorm room, eat at the Canon, explore various buildings on campus and get caught in some crazy rain storms. Diane joined us in the evening and we watched Penny's volleyball game, (which she won, bytheway). Libby got very into the game and was waving her fists and squealing, it was quite funny. Afterward Ryan joined us for dinner at the Canon. Liberty was very curious of Ryan.

Friday was spent in Midway. We got to meet Isaac! (I just realized I don't have any pictures of him, I'll have to steal some from my mom later). He made Libby look so big and grown up. It was hard to believe she used to be that small. I miss the days where she would fall asleep in my arms and snuggle. We got a tour of the fish hatchery that my brother Chad works at, went swimming with Chad and Cody at the condo (Libby and Cody got along really well, Libby seemed to enjoy watching him and crawling after him) and later that night we had a birthday party for Chad with family. Lots of fun and delicious cake.
Saturday was a long and fun day. We left really early to drive down to Manti and pick Jessica up on the way. There was an obnoxious amount of road work on the way that made us a little later than expected. When we got there we couldn't find parking and then were led astray by signs telling us how to get to the entrance of the temple. When we finally got down there, I couldn't find Janae, who was going to watch Libby during the sealing. I had pretty much given up, but then I found her, pretty much threw Libby down and rushed inside the temple to change. It was a beautiful wedding and it was so happy to be with my 3 best friends in the temple. (I really wished Richard was there though).

After the wedding and pictures, Julie & Janae rode with us up to Sandy where the reception was held. They had a ring ceremony beforehand which was pretty cool (more like the traditional wedding you see in movies, made me wish I had one). The bishop gave a really good talk. We had milk and brownies at the reception which was cool b/c I always want milk not punch. The reception was outside, so we had to go inside for awhile b/c it was a bit chilly and Libby was a little antsy on my lap. I think this is a funny picture of her playing. (and check out the tooth!). Again Libby had fun with all the kids there. During the dancing, she got so excited and was dancing and squealing and clapping her hands. So cute. She was such a trooper all day. we didn't get home till 11 pm. Luckily she slept in the car.

Sunday Isaac was blessed. Chad did a wonderful job. After church we had nice lunch at his house with everyone.
Monday we returned home! Richard picked us up from the airport where we went to dinner at Red Robin. It was delicious of course! We found out Liberty likes lemons (a lot) and got to take her picture with a mini statue of Liberty!

Lost the baby weight

So, I just feel like bragging right now. I weigh 10 lbs less then I did before I got pregnant with Liberty. What is my secret to success? .....I have no idea because it certainly is not dieting or exercise. (unless chasing Libby counts as exercise) No wonder my pants are always falling down though.

7 months and crawling

Libby turned 7 months old yesterday. Above you can see her funny monkey face. it's really funny and cute. She also learned to crawl last week. (which is pretty early for those who haven't been around babies recently). We also noticed her gums looking rather swollen yesterday and sure enough, this morning we could see the bud of a tooth starting to poke through. She doesn't seem to mind though. (probably b/c Richard let her suck on an otter pop).

Here is a picture of her in these ridiculously cute boots my friend Joni is letting her borrow. They are a bit big, but there are so cute I had to put them on her. She did a little jig in them, which was funny. I'm not sure why, it is underlined and blue above, but I'm too lazy to fix it....

Liberty loves green beans

Liberty prefers green beans over applesauce. What a silly girl. She actually prefers green beans to any other food we've given her besides otter pops. (She's had carrots, peas, rice cereal, oatmeal and applesauce). I tried to put in a funny video of her eating peas, but it won't upload. I've tried like 4 times. :(

On Thursday we went to music makers which is a mom club put on by some awesome ladies in my ward for all the little ones. We were excited to see Carrissa and her girls there too. Libby loved every minute of it. We were late so we missed most of the story time, but we got to do finger plays, sing fun songs with actions and play a kazoo. Libby was dancing and jumping and trying to play with all the other babies and kids (and sucking like mad on that kazoo). I think we will try to go more often. (not sure if it will happen every week once we move though). I am going to miss our ward.

Liberty learned to sit herself up. It is quite impressive. She rolls to her tummy, pulls her knees up under her, pushes up with her hands and untucks her feet out and ta-da she is sitting. That is how I found her this morning. Sitting up in her crib sucking on her blanket. Silly girl. I imagine that is how she is now since she is supposed to be taking a nap and I can hear her blowing raspberries and jabbering away. (hey, at least she's not crying, right).

In other news, we rented our storage unit and will be moving our stuff in this week. Then we get to clean clean clean. Oh and in case you hadn't heard....Richard got into BYU-Idaho!!! They haven't given us his track, but it will probably be Winter/Spring. That is why we have a storage unit. We are moving in w/ family to save up some money until January when we will (hopefully) be going off to school! We are both very excited for this opportunity. (not too excited about the snow though, bleh).

6 Month Stats

Liberty's 6 month stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz (18th percentile)
Height: 26 1/2 inches (78th percentile)
Head: 16.25 inches (18th percentile)--last time she was 5th percentile, getting bigger, but still pretty small headed

New things Libby does: Take baths in the regular bath, which she thinks is awesome. Eat baby food. We'll have to put up a video of her eating peas. She thinks they are gross and has some funny reactions. Pick up Cheerios and eat them (although I'm not sure she really likes them that much). She has also started making this really funny face that Richard calls her duck face. If I capture it on camera, I am definitely posting it.

Summer Fun

We've been having a lot of fun on Richard's days off lately. Bellingham 2 weeks ago and Great Wolf Lodge last week. This week though is dentists and doctors...lame.
We had fun in Bellingham visiting my sister and her family. Libby and Laila are getting to more evenly matched now that Libby can sit up. Libby kept stealing Laila's toys. I'm pretty sure Libby is going to be the bossy/mischievous one out of those two. We went to a really pretty park on the water and had a picnic and drank delicious hot cocoa. (yes, hot cocoa...in the summer...in 80 degree weather). Richard and Zack had fun talking about police stuff and watching you tube videos and Sarah and I had fun talking coupons and crafts and watching the So you think you can dance finale. :) Richard and all the 10 yr old neighbor boys had a big water fight. Zack joined in for part of the time, but wimped out. lol. Richard couldn't pass up a good water fight. Us girls and babies watched safely from the porch.

Last week, we were planning on going to Ocean Shores and invited Penny and Mom. Kind of last minute, we all decided Great Wolf lodge would be at least as fun. Basically it is a cool hotel with a big indoor water park. Libby loves swimming so we thought everyone would have a good time and with it being a hotel we could just go upstairs at nap time, etc. It was awesome. Penny, Richard and I had fun going on the Tornado water slide, which was like a funnel. Pretty scary, but very fun. The kiddy pool area was nice. Libby could sit in the shallow part and splash.

Richard and Libs worn out from all the fun an me and Libs in the kiddy pool


Just finished going down the water slide & Richard and i getting soaked by 1000 gallons of water

Other happenings in our lives. Libby is 6 months old today! Which flew by so fast. She loves to jump in her johnny jump up, which is very funny. She laughs a lot too, which is the best (if you haven't already, check out the videos on youtube/facebook). She really is the cutest baby ever. Just started her on baby food, I have to fight her for the spoon, she is very grabby. We are also planning on moving out of our apartment and in with family at the end of September so we can save money for Richard's college. We are still waiting to hear from BYU-I, (the deadline to turn in applications isn't till Oct 1, but he's finished w/it already). Hopefully we'll be there in January. We are excited.

Libby peaking at me when I came to get her in the morning and Libby wearing dino outfit

My Etsy Shop

I sold 2 adorable baby tutus (top 2 images) last week on a website called Etsy. It's been pretty fun making little things to post on the site and I was super excited to have a sale. I really can't take that much credit though for the sales because I had Libby model them and well, as you can see she is the cutest baby on the planet and it's no wonder they sold. :) The pink and orange one is my favorite.

Here's a link to my shop (although not much on there, i need to take pics of new projects): www.etsy.com/shop/beckysbabyballerina

Goodbye Gordo

We gave our poor cat Gordo away. He was fun for awhile, but it became hard to take care of both him and Libby. He was always getting into everything and then he got fleas really bad somehow and as hard as I tried, I could not get rid of them and finally he peed on some stuff, which really was the last straw for us. It was a bittersweet farewell. Mostly sweet when considering the recent events, but he was awfully cute when he'd play fetch and chase the laser pointer and sometimes it was nice to have him snuggle up on my lap. Libby really was starting to like him too, but the fleas were liking her too, which was unacceptable. A nice young couple found our ad on craigslist and wanted him. I hope it turns out well for them.

Video of Libby sitting

Here is a much better video of Libby's sitting skills. She can sit up much longer, but i think she is camera shy.

Otter pops, Sitting up, and couponing

Liberty threw her first tantrum....because I would not let her eat my otter pop....I suppose it is partially my and Richard's fault. We've let her have a little taste of the otter pops on the tip of her tongue because it is funny to watch her facial expression as she processes the cold. I have realized though that she must like the taste too b/c whenever one of us eats one (which is quite often now), she reaches for them and whines/cries when she doesn't get it.....I am concerned about the future if she is throwing tantrums already. She's only 5 months.
For Libby's 5 month b-day, she decided she could sit up on her own! That is until she tries to reach for a toy that is a little out of reach. It was hard getting a good video of it.

Libby and Gordo (0ur cat) have also become friends. Libby loves to pet him and grab him. She hasn't really learned to be gentle, but the cat is very patient. Unfortunately for everyone, Gordo is pretty much infested with fleas. It is terrible. I have gotten a new flea collar, a flea comb, and flea spray. I have also given him a couple baths. He is an inside cat so i'm not sure how he got them in the first place, but I am doing my best to rid our home of them.
I made some little storage boxes for the changing table, it looks so much less cluttered. I love it, and they cost hardly anything to make! I have also decided to try and become a coupon lady. My sister got me this book by "the krazy coupon lady" and it teaches you how to use coupons in the most effective way in order to save the most money and buy things for almost nothing. It's all about being prepared and building up a stockpile (aka: food storage). I feel inspired, Richard thinks I am crazy.

Swimming

We took Libby swimming last night for the first time and we had a great time. Libby is a little fish. She loved it, kicked away. We were hoping she would b/c she seems to love bath time. We went to the YMCA and it happened to be family swim time and free (at least we hope it was free, there was no one at the window to pay and the doors to the locker room were open and the life guards didn't say anything...). There were only 3 other people in the pool while we were there, which was nice. We are hoping to go back every week since she had so much fun.

Rolling queen

Libby has mastered rolling to her tummy! She loves it too. I am sitting here watching her roll and make all sorts of funny squeals and blowing bubbles with her spit (another new thing she learned recently). It's surprisingly entertaining to watch her. Libby is very social and loves it when people talk to her and tell her how cute she is. She definitely knows she is cute already, she smiles and kicks whenever someone comes over to admire her. we didn't do anything too exciting for the 4th of July, but Liberty sure looked cute. So here are a couple pictures. When I steal pictures from my mom I'll put up another really funny one of my dad with Libby and her cousins Eliza & Laila. All three girls are crying in the picture and it's really cute. Well, Libby can't figure out how to roll back to her back and is protesting very loudly now. I better rescue her.

Seattle

On Richard's day off we went to Seattle to visit mom. Here are some pics from Libby's first ferry ride.
p.s. what are your opinions about Richard's shirt? I tried to talk him out if it....

Libby Updates

So we've been kind of lazy this month when it comes to blogging, etc. Liberty is 4 months old now. She some how gets cuter everyday too. She has started to roll a little bit. She did it twice last Monday and twice Tuesday on her own but hasn't been able to do it since. Now whenever she's on her tummy though she tries to roll and then gets frustrated when she can't. She has pretty good control of her hands now and grabs everything and promptly puts it in her mouth.

She's discovered her toes too which she finds quite fascinating. It's very cute. When I get ready in the morning, i copied my sister and let Libby sit in the sink. She usually just watches me in the mirror. She has also started laughing a lot more. Aunt Jana was amazing at getting her to laugh. (we're sad she lives so far away). Libby laughed at Laila for about 10 minutes, the video below is about half way through her laughing spell.