Chicken soup for the baby!

Amberly has been starting to eat solids the past month and she enjoys a good strawberry and likes watermelon, but she hasn't taken a huge liking to most vegetables that we've offered her...until I gave her some chicken soup last week. She absolutely LOVED it! Before adding the noodles and all of the salt, I took a little bit and pureed it for her and she gobbled it up!

Enjoying some chicken soup!

Strawberry face!

Amberly started crawling about three weeks ago and has been on the go ever since! She's also pulling herself up on the furniture and moving along the coffee table or couch to get to a toy she wants or to get to our computers! It seems like she spends a quarter of her day standing up at the coffee table!

About a week ago Amberly started staying "Dada" and has added it to her regular babbling! Needless to say, James is pretty happy about it!

New Sunday dress!

 

Amberly update!

My baby is growing so fast! She’s six months old already. And somehow, as she grows, the love inside my heart for my darling little girl grows and grows as well! Here are some of her recent accomplishments and developments:
-She’s becoming a Mommy’s girl! Although she’ll still go to just about anyone if she’s happy, this little one is sure becoming attached to her mommy. She prefers me to put her down for naps and bed, though Daddy does a good job too. Also, she’ll look for me in a room, will hold her arms out for me when she wants me to hold her (she doesn’t do that for just anyone!) and when she’s super excited, tired, or shy, she’ll turn into me if I’m holding her and burrow her head into my chest or arm. I love it!
-She’s an expert at rolling over now. Anytime she’s on her back she’ll almost automatically roll over to her tummy, pop her arm out in front of her, and push her chest up so she can look around with those bright eyes of hers.
-She’s started scooting around, like a little inch-worm! In the last few days she’s started pushing her little bum into the air and then pushing with her feet to scoot forward. It’s funny because she hasn’t figured how to do it with her head up yet, so she’s just pushing herself along with her face on the carpet! But between her new scooting skills and her rolling over abilities she’s starting to really be able to cover some ground when she wants to get somewhere!
-She’s sitting up on her own! In the last two weeks she’s nearly perfected the art of sitting up on her own. She still doesn’t know how to get herself into a sitting position, but if I sit her up, then she’ll sit and play with her toys, catching her balance with her hands if she tips. She’ll occasionally fall over if she over-extends to reach or toy or if she pushes herself over backwards. At least she only has about a foot or so to fall!
-She loves to walk when you hold her hands. Her little wobbly steps are getting much more coordinated lately. Also, she can really cruise and gets super excited whenever she’s walking. We’re wondering if this baby will ever learn to crawl or if she’ll just take off running one day soon!
-She makes super loud dinosaur sounds (i.e. shrieks and squeals at an extremely high pitch) and has recently started babbling with more muted, conversational sounds. This little girl already likes to get her opinion heard and isn’t shy about it one bit! I love hearing her happy baby sounds!
-She’s still a great sleeper and is getting on a more regular nap schedule as well. She regularly sleeps about 10 hours at night, waking up to eat only once. Thank you, baby!
-She watches everything with her super-big eyes and usually wants to touch everything with her super busy hands! She doesn’t want to miss a thing. I swear she’s taking notes on everything she sees! I love her curiosity and excitement!
-She wants to chew on everything in sight, especially anything that isn’t hers (ex: cell phone, glasses, computer, etc.). Still no sign of teeth, though I’m sure it’ll be soon.
-She’s a little social butterfly, sharing huge smiles, little grins and big laughs with anyone who is funny enough to deserve one! She’s very aware of people and has started noticing cats and dogs lately too. The huge grin she gives me when I come to get her out of her crib in the morning is enough to just melt my heart!

 

Visiting Disney's headquarters

Since James works for Disney we get a couple little perks, like access to Disney's studio lot. Last week we spent an fun afternoon walking around Disney's headquarters. Along with seeing fun pictures of character animations and creations, we saw some original paraphernalia in their archives, including the original wardrobe from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But, the best part of the day was spending it with Joe and Ellen, visiting from Utah!

With Walt and Mickey

With Minnie Mouse and somebody...

With Joe and Ellen

Little Minnie Amberly

The bear from "Brave"

Happy baby!

Love this face!!

Disney's animation building....now my hat!

And we bought Amberly Sully from Monster's Inc. We figured he belonged in the family, since his name is nearly identical to James' name!

Ponderings of a Mommy

Today I had a little scare. I was getting Amberly’s things put together for our weekend in San Diego and I had propped Amberly up on the big, soft rocking chair that we have in her room. She had gotten tired of playing on the floor and I needed both hands for a moment. She was happily playing with a toy sitting in the corner of the rocking chair while I was organizing her clothes right in front of her. I had to grab something from the closet across the room so I stepped over and then thought, “Oh, I’d better get Amberly” and just as I turned around I see that Amberly had wiggled and fallen forward on her face on the very edge of the chair and was going to topple off. It seemed like time slowed down and though I jumped as fast as I could, I reached her just as she bounced onto the floor. I swept her up in my arms and she hardly even cried. I was expecting full hysteria and, holding her close, ran to the other room to grab the pacifier. She whimpered and snuggled, sucking her pacifier, but didn’t cry much. My heart was beating so fast and I was worried by her lack of movement that something was wrong. I examined her through my own welling eyes, not knowing what I’d do if something was wrong with my darling little baby. But within moments she was happily playing with her pacifier as I held her close in my lap and stroked and kissed her little head. Tears were falling now as my love for her welled up in me. She is so precious to me, so close to my heart. I thought of my responsibility to protect her and keep her safe. I thought how fragile life is and how fragile her tiny little body is. I thought of the miracle of life. My mind reflected on my experiences of being pregnant and having her perfect little body grow within me and how my love for her seemed to start growing from those first moments that I felt her move. I thought of the pain of childbirth and how my heart seemed to leap in love and joy the moment her squirmy little body was placed in my arms. I caressed her perfectly smooth skin, admired her glowing pink, chubby cheeks and her gently curved eyelashes. I watched her chubby, dimpled fingers adeptly grasp her pacifier and her lips pucker in anticipation as she leaned forward to suck on it. How she depended on me! And how imperfect I felt. Tears continued to come to me as I thought about how much I lack and how I’m not going to be able to protect my baby from hurt and pain and sorrow. My heart ached knowing that she’ll be hurt at times when I won’t be there to soothe and comfort and hold her. And there will be hurts in her life that Mommy won’t be able to fix, even if I’m there. And even in my sorrow at her pain, my spirit was warmed. My soul echoed with the importance of teaching this precious little one that even if Mommy can’t fix the hurt, that Jesus can. That, no matter what pain she encounters, the Atonement can offer solace and healing. How my life has been blessed by the healing power of the Atonement. I’ve felt such strength, peace, comfort through the gift of healing and comfort that Jesus offers us. The Spirit testified to me of the importance of my calling as a mother. He emphasized the love that Father in Heaven has for my little daughter and how perhaps my most important responsibility to her is to teach her of His love for her as His daughter. So, through teary eyes and while clutching my sweet baby in my arms, I thanked my Father for watching out for me and for soothing my worries and fears through His great love for me and for her. 

Our little sickie

Sick, but still loves playing with her toys

Little Amberly came down with her first cold. It has been so hard to see her cough and rub her eyes and know she can't even blow her own nose. Poor baby. Two rough nights in a row Amberly hardly slept unless she was in my arms, which resulted in little sleep for either of us. Last night, however, she slept much better and we both woke up happier. She's finally improving and I'm so relieved. It's not fun to have a sick baby. But we did get some cute sick pictures, at least.

Helping Mommy with the laundry

Big red eyes

Sleeping soundly

On the mend and helping Mommy make the bed

Venice Beach

Last Saturday we went to Venice Beach to people watch, mostly. Venice Beach has beautiful, silky sand and tall palm trees, but you hardly notice these things because of the crowds of people. There are so many crazies to watch! There's a boardwalk going along the beach front that's lined with shops and venders selling things and street entertainers doing all sorts of things. Amberly loves going on walks in her stroller and especially loved seeing all of the people and hearing all of the sounds. We ate a picnic on the grass and walked up and down the sidewalk, enjoying the entertainment, being together and the beautiful weather!

Somebody playing the piano. There were groups on drums, little bands, and dance groups as well.

 Lots of bikes.

 Lots of people. And noise.

Our picnic!

Amberly loved her little beach hat and it helped keep her fair skin out of the sun! Thanks Marnae!

All tuckered out from the excitement. She fell asleep with her binki in her hand sticking straight out!

Update

Our lives can mostly be summarized in one word: AMBERLY

We are so in love with our little Amberly Brielle! I feel like my days (and sometimes nights) revolve around her. She's the first thing I think about and hear when I wake up and the last thing I'm usually thinking about before I fall asleep. I love being her mother. I feel so privileged to take care of and learn from this sweet little girl. She has both her daddy and I wrapped around her little finger, and doesn't even know it...yet!

Fun facts about our little girl:

• She is smiling all the time now! Sometimes is seems like her little face can't contain her huge toothless smile. She's started wrinkling her nose when she smiles and both James and I can't stand it, it's sooo cute!
• She is sleeping through the night! And I mean, ALL through the night. She generally sleeps 8-10 hours, wakes up to eat and will sleep for another hour or so. She doesn't take regular naps yet, though.
• She is 11 weeks old and growing fast!
  
• She is still wearing newborn clothes for the most part, but started wearing 3 month-old sleepers just this week!
• She loves bath time!
• She is cooing and babbling all the time. This little girl has plenty to say already and I love it!
• She LOVES playing with her tongue. She's always sticking her tongue out and playing with her bottom lip. As soon as she learns to grab things with her hand, then she'll be chewing on everything!
• She has dark blue eyes, that often look wise beyond her age. Sometimes when she gazes at me i feel like she's looking deep into my soul!
• She still likes to be swaddled at night!
  
• She loves to kick her legs and move her arms and bounce in her bouncy chair. And I love that she loves this, since now I can get things done while she just kicks and kicks!
• She is such a sweet, calm baby and we just can't get enough of her!
  

Other happenings in our lives:

• We had Amberly's baby blessing last Sunday and were so grateful for so much family support and love. It was such a lovely day and a beautiful blessing and our little princess looked so pretty in her white dress!
  
• James only has 5 more days (and 3 finals) before he is DONE with the Junior Core in BYU's Accounting program. Woot, woot! I'm so proud of his hard work this year. It's been extremely challenging with never-ending homework, but he's excelled in every class and really enjoyed it overall! He deserves a break this summer!
• James just finished applying to the Masters of Accountancy program! He'll here back by June, but I'm sure that he'll get in, based on his grades! Just two more years to go...
  
• In 7 days we're moving to California for the Summer! James has a tax internship with Disney, so we'll be living in LA for the Summer. We're excited for trips to the beach and hopefully a trip or two to Disneyland!
• I just celebrated my 26th birthday. For some reason 26 seems sooo much older than I feel. I guess this is why people don't seem to like getting older. Somehow our perception of age does not coincide with how we personally experience it. James was so sweet and put together a little party with balloons, streamers, fun party-paper plates and cups and party hats so that I didn't feel like I was getting old. I loved it! It was actually my first birthday party with party hats! He also made some delicious peanut butter brownies, thumbprint cookies and gave me new running shoes (which he picked out and I love!)
• We participated in We Witness Music's production of "Lamb of God" by Rob Gardner by singing in the choir. It was such a beautiful experience! Lamb of God is a musical production depicting the end of Christ's life, his death and his resurrection. all from the point of view of his closest friends. The Spirit was so strong during all of the performances and it really made Easter come alive to me this year.
  

Some pictures:

My birthday party!

Just sittin...

Helping Daddy with his homework

Doing her "exercises"! She always scoots way down...

Cutest bum ever!

Sound asleep...

LOVE this smile!!

Beautiful in white!Lamb of God carpool group, plus Nettie and Jarom