Bailey's Hunting Easter Eggs (sort of)

This morning our little town of Queen Creek put on a big Spring Celebration at one of the parks, and it including Easter egg hunts, bouncy toys, live music, and a lot of fun! Now I do know that Bailey can't actually hunt and pick up the eggs, but as I told Clinton many times...that's not the point. The point is that it is her 1st Easter and we need to at least have pictures of her celebrating it for the 1st time. So we went to the park and met up with Blake, Liz, & Finn, and Melissa & Reese for the Easter Egg Hunts. The 0-2 age group was first and yes I did run with Bailey and her Easter basket to the back of the field to grab her a couple of eggs. I don't have any pictures of that (though I'm sure it was a sight to see), because Clint was back watching the stroller and I took the camera with me. I thought maybe I could find a spot with a few eggs to sit her down and have her try to grab one and I would take a picture, but let's be honest the hunt was over in about 30 seconds and I was lucky I got her 5 eggs at all! We stayed to watch Reese do the next hunt and she made out pretty good! Melissa ran with her and I followed to take pictures...we got some good shots and she had a great time! Watching her made me even more excited for when Bailey is old enough to understand and do all of these things! But until that day we will be cheesy parents taking our child to these activities even if it is just for the pictures!

• Top Left - Yes, she is holding her basket with one hand & one foot
• Top Right - Capt. Finn sporting the eye patch found in one of Bailey's eggs
• Bottom Left - Our Happy Family
• Bottom Right - Super cute Reese filling up her basket

Doctors & Dancers

This past Thursday Bailey turned 4 months, which meant it was time for her 4 month check-up with the doctor! At 4 months Bailey wieghs 14lbs. 2oz. (67%), is 25in. long (90%), and her head is 16 1/2in round (78%). From the looks of it so far we think she has inherited my grandma's genes which will make her tall and skinny...I'm sure she'll thank me later! It has been 4 months with her and I can say that I really do love her more and more everyday, she is becoming so much fun and I know that will just keep getting better! Here are a few new things happening in Bailey's life...

• She had a schedule and then decided it was time to change it...so she is now eating about every 4 hours.
• Has found her upper octave and serinades us with high pitch squeals
• Can roll from her stomach to her back, but doesn't do it very often
• Goes to bed around 8:30pm, gets up once and then goes back to sleep til around 7:00am
• Pushes from her elbows up to her hands while doing tummy time
• Smiles so big every time she hears hers daddy's voice
• Still wears 3-6 month clothes, but the 3 month stuff is getting too short for her long legs
• Started playing in her exer-saucer and so far so good (she needs to be just a little taller and she will be bouncing away)
• Loves facing outward in the Moby wrap...she loves to explore and watch the world around her (especially her dog Bronco at the dog park)
• Will finally let me rock her to sleep while listening to her Baby Mine lullaby cd
• Loves to take naps with daddy

Friday night I had the chance for a night out without the little one to see some old friends dance. This last year before Bailey came I had the oppurtunity to dance with the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company based out of Salt Lake City, UT. I was a part of a special tour that they do featuring the work of choreographer Alwin Nikolais. While dancing with them I got to perform in Wickenburg, AZ, St. Louis, MO, Philidelphia, PA, Durham, NC, and 3 cities in France! Obviously, since I had a baby I would not be able to dance with them again this year, but as luck would have it their tour brought them to AZ. The company got in on Tuesday and I picked them up in the minivan on Wednesday to meet Miss Bailey and dinner at In-N-Out. It was so great to see them all and their concert was beautiful...it made me want to get in shape so that I can start dancing again. I had such an amazing time dancing with the company and they have become some of my best friends and given me AMAZING memories!

Has my life really come to this...

That's right, I am a proud owner of a MINIVAN! I really never thought that this day would ever come...okay I guess I knew it would come just maybe not this soon. Two Saturdays ago we traded in the Equinox and bought a Honda Odessey minivan. We quickly realized after the trip to Cali for Christmas that the Equinox was not big enough for our family of 4. We talked about getting a full size SUV, but the van allows room for Bronco to roam around while driving and let's be honest it is all about the dog. In all honesty though I really do love the minivan! It gets great gas mileage, it is super easy to get Bailey in and out of with the automatic doors, has tons of storage room, a DVD player for when Bailey gets to turn around in the bigger car seat, and he may not admit it but even Clinton likes to drive it! So I guess I have officially become a mom and I even have the minivan to prove it!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! Our day wasn't super eventful, but around 1:30 I decided that we needed to do something fun for this Irish holiday, so I called the family to see who could come over for dinner. Melissa and Reese would have come but were home sick and Kevin was in school, so we had Blake, Liz, Finn, and Liz's mom Cheryl over for a "green" dinner. We had our traditional Irish dinner of Corned Beef and Cabbage on Sunday at Blake's house, which was delicious, so I decided that tonight we would have green colored food (it was more difficult then I thought it would be). Our menu for the evening included green salad, green apples with green fruit dip, cheese raviolis with chicken in a green pesto sauce, and mint green chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. It turned out great and was fun to have people over to celebrate with.

Our "Green" Meal

Bailey had a couple of St. Patty's outfits so we did a little photo shoot in each and the results are pretty cute, if I do say so myself! Love this little Irish baby!!!

3 Months of Bailey

World's Cutest 3 Month Old Baby Girl

3 Months already? I really can't believe that Bailey turned 3 months on Thursday and even more then that I can't believe how much she has changed and learned. I think that the picture above sums it all up...Bailey is the cutest and happiest baby and I love her so much. So here is a list of some of the new and exciting things Bailey's doing...

• Recognizes and smiles at Mom and Dad 99% of the time
• Holds her head up when she is one her tummy, and sometimes will lift both arms off the mat and her head stays up - I like to call it baby yoga
• Loves to hit and grab onto the things hanging from her tummy time mat
• Sleeps for about 7hrs at night, wakes up to nurse and then goes back down for 3hrs
• Loves the TV and Baby Einstein (she is daddy's little girl)
• Sits up like champ with the assistance of her Bumbo
• Balances sitting up while Daddy holds onto one of her thighs, and he is already starting to try and have her balance standing up
• Is wearing 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers
• Likes Patty Cake and Wheels on the Bus
• Talks your ear off in the morning

We hope you enjoy her as much as we do...sorry I couldn't figure out how to center the video!

Oh BABY....it's time to catch up!

So its been awhile and a lot has happened, so let me catch you up......Bailey and I flew up to Washington the last week of January because my little bro, Gary, and his wife, Ashley, were going through the temple and then getting sealed to their little guy Gabe! If flew up on Tuesday and Clint wasn't coming until Friday so it was just me and Bails at the airport. Thanks to some recommendations from Kendall I got a new wrap carrier, which made going through security and everything else a breeze! Bailey did great the whole trip, even with our plane getting delayed over an hour. Really she should be used to flying considering she flew to Pittsburg, France, and North Carolina all while still in the womb...maybe I should try to get her some frequent flyer miles!!! While up in WA I got to catch up with a few good friends from high school, one on which had her 3rd baby that Friday morning we were up there so we got to go see the "not so little guy" Friday night.

Mom and Bailey on her "1st" flight


High School friends Sophia, Allie, and her 9lb. 10ozer Cooper


The rest of our WA trip was focused on my brother's family. Gary and Ashley went through the temple Thursday night and then were sealed to Gabe on Saturday. It was such an amazing experience and there was such a great spirit in the sealing room, especially when Gabe came in. I am so proud of Gary and Ashley for the choices they've made and way they have dealt with the challenges in their lives. There really isn't any better place then the temple and I am so glad that they made the decision to go and that we got to be there with them. Families CAN be together forever and being there with them and my parents just strengthened my testimony even more. We love you guys tons!

Cute little Gabe in his Temple outfit


Gary, Ashley, and Gabe...Forever a Family


Our whole family after the Sealing


What a CUTE face!


The day after we flew back from WA little Bailey had her 2 month check up. Bailey weighed 12lbs. and was 23.75in long, so that puts her in the 77th percentile for weight and the 88th percentile for her height. She also got her 1st set of shots, and let's be honest that is not something you want to watch your baby go through. A little bit of crying and a somewhat fussy night and our happy baby was back to normal the next day. Some of my favorite things happening right now are the smiles I get when she wakes in the morning and when you say her name, and the morning conversations we have...she is one chatty cathy!

Our little trooper


My last bit of catch up is super exciting...the last two Holloway cousins have arrived. Blake and Liz were over at our house on Valentine's Day when her water broke. So as you may assume our plans were cut a little short, cause someone had other plans. At 4:46am little Finnegan Holloway made his way into the world. We've been up to see them a couple times and are glad to see Liz's recovery so well. They should be out of the hospital today and we can't wait for them to get settled so Bailey and Finn can start playing. Then on Monday in CA Jason and Shannon welcomed a baby girl to even out the score. Sloan Stoddard makes the 3rd granddaughter and we can't wait to meet her!!! So as you can see A LOT has been happening in our family and it is all exciting stuff! I feel so blessed to have been born into such an amazing family and the one I married into is pretty great as well...I am so glad that we all get to be together FOREVER!

Baby Girl Stoddard


Bailey and her cousin Finn (why does she look like a giant?)


I LOVE YOU FINN!!!


*I will try not to wait so long til the next post!!!

All you need is LOVE...

Happy Valentine's Day to all our family and friends, we hope that your day is filled with lots of love!