My Favorite Things

Reading Books

Climbing in Everything

Emptying Cupboards

Plaing Guitar

Playing in the Snow

I thought for sure the storm we had the first of March would be our last. It was wishful thinking and I knew it deep down, but I really like the idea of spring. We went and enjoyed the snow while it was here...Only to get dumped on all day yesterday. I guess we'll have to go sledding again today.

The Next Couple Months

Jon just finished his last two weeks at Vision Solutions and we are both working for my dad for the remainder of our time here.
Jon has finals until April 21 and then graduates April 23. Horray!
Jon flies to Florida April 27-29 to find us a sweet apartment.
May 1 we are having a garage sale and hopefully getting rich ;)
May 5-9 we are going to Moab with my family.
May 10 20 week ultrasound (find out boy/girl!)
May 11 Vanessa's birthday party with the fam and packing the U-haul (or whatever it is that we final settle on taking).
May 12 Jon and his dad head out to Florida
May 15 Vanessa and I fly to Florida
May 20 Vanessa turns ONE!
June 7 Classes start for Jon and I become a single mom :(
End of September...baby Brady 2 joins the family

I am craving sunshine and warm weather especially bad this year. I can hardly wait to get away from this cold and be in the sweltering heat! And I am being completely honest.

Vanessa and More

I've been meaning to update things for a while but it's been kind of crazy, so I haven't had a chance.
Vanessa finally got some teeth. This is actually old news because she has had them for a month but I've been trying to get a picture. Still unsuccessful. Anyway, she has her two bottom teeth. They came in together and are her only ones but she makes the most of them. She can bite through crackers and fruit sticks (the gerber ones). She thinks she's pretty cool.
She has also started crawling. She has been scooting for three months but a couple weeks ago she started crawling as well. I was pretty surprised because I didn't think she was going to crawl. She was pulling herself up to furniture and even walking around it before she crawled. But she has no interest in walking alone or with assistance and she won't stand on her own either; even though she has shown us a few times that she can. She is also starting to climb, to the death of me. She makes me nervous but I don't want to be overly paranoid and have an overprotected child. She gets stuck a lot though :)
Mimicking is a new favorite trick. She is doing little things more and more. She can pick up the phone and will say "hi da." She brushes her hair and her teeth with her new toothbrush. She tries to open doors and loves turning off the lights.
She is absolutely spoiled to death. With 6 adults in the house, she gets held probably the majority of the day. She loves loves loves attention. She loves her aunt Steph, uncle Ryan, uncle Matthew, and adores her cousins. Her grandma Purdy and grandpa Brady are probably her favorite (often over me, sadly). She saves the best laughs and giggles for daddy, of course. I'm more than a little nervous for how traumatic our move away from all the attention is going to be. At least there will be about 4 1/2 months adjustment before the new baby comes.
Speaking of new baby, that is going to be a crazy adjustment for sure. I'm definitely nervous about having TWO babies, 16 months apart. We aren't the first parents to do this though and we won't be the last and most seem to survive. It probably won't be our last time having kids close together either. Birth control isn't an option for me, and I've decided I probably wouldn't use it if I could. My opinion of it is less favorable now the more I hear about it.
The last couple days I have been feeling that strong desire not to be pregnant. I'll take another baby, just can't the stork bring it like in Dumbo? Being pregnant is no party and I'm sick of getting shots every night. Though I should count my blessings it isn't twice a day anymore.
Enough whining, though it's a surprise, we are absoulutely ecstatic to be having another one. It gets me that much closer to being done with my child bearing years anyway ;)

BIG Changes

Jon mentioned we bought a new SUV. We're pretty excited about it. It has tons of space and will hold 7 people!
But we did have to sell the RAV. I have absolutely loved this car but out it must go.
The RAV won't hold two car seats and we'll need that extra space come September.

We'll find out the gender May 10, just two days before Jon leaves with all our stuff to drive out to Florida!
The next couple months are going to be a crazy ride but we are so excited we can hardly wait!

Happy Birthday Lynette!!

24 years old today!

For her birthday Lynette just wants to wash the cars. Her birthday gift came last night in the form of a new SUV. Earlier this week we "celebrated her birthday" by going to a Jazz game.

Happy Birthday!

I CAN DO IT MYSELF!

These would be Vanessa's words if she could talk, though she communicates it clearly enough.

There are meals where she just has to do it herself and we just have to let her. Tonight we had spaghetti and here she is a delightful spaghetti mess. She didn't like the meatballs and if any got in her bites the whole thing would come back out. There's no tricking this girl! She did eat some peas though, which she wouldn't touch last time we tried, so that was a good thing :)

9 Months

I don't know why, but 9 months feels like a big milestone to me. POssibly because it's half-way between 6 mos and a year?...
Anyway, she had her check up today and is super healthy, if a little on the small side. She is 27" tall, in the 25%. And 16lbs 13oz in the 12%. She's turning out to be a picky eater but I think small is also in her jeans.

Aren't they cute?! I feel like I've been pretty spoiled.

Eight Months and a Bit

Vanessa is just over eight months. I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone. She is getting so big! She is eating like a champ (and a big girl). She has decided she isn't such a fan of baby food after all and prefers to have whatever we're having. She loves noodles and tomato soup. She seems to like everything better if it has some good flavor (ie salt). She will like one food one day and then not the next, just keeping us on our toes. She definitely has an opinion. She has learned to shake her head 'NO' and does quite often. She shakes her head no and shakes her hands in front of her whenever she is done eating or done with that particular food.
She has learned to wave hi and bye. We try to practice with her all the time and always tell her to 'wave'. For the first time today, she waved without us also waving and did it just with the word. It was a proud parent moment.
She is cruising EVERYWHERE. It's a lot of fun and quite hilarious. She will literally chase down whoever she wants to pick her up. Aunt Steph probably gets this the most often. Oh, but she still hasn't figured out how to crawl, just scoot. She can get up on her hands and knees but then drops to her belly when she wants to move. She figured out how to get from her belly back to sitting which has been great. She doesn't get ticked when she's stuck anymore. She's also pulling herself to stand on the furniture. A lot of times she is like a foot away and on her toes so it's pretty funny looking.
It is so fun watching her little personality come out. She is quite the fireball! She has such an opinion about things. If you take a toy away from her that she really wanted, she will either scream at you and shake her head or just start crying. If she is being held and you try to sit her down, but she doesn't want to be set down, she'll straighten her legs and arch her back.
She jabbers at everything. Da da da na na na ma ma ma. And screams! Man can this girl scream. She screams when she's excited, happy, and mad. I don't know where our quiet baby went. She also just figured out how to click her tongue. She started doing it on her own but will do it on command now. It's pretty funny.
She loves to play peek a boo. She likes when you hide or if you give her a hat or blanket she'll hide. It's pretty fun. She doesn't always get her eyes covered but you know you're supposed to say peek a boo because her eye brows go up and she just looks like she's waiting for your response. Then she squeals in delight.
She is still a funny sleeper. She naps for about 2-3 hours in 2 or 3 naps. We try to put her down between 8 and 9 and she'll usually wake up around 8. But she gets up probably every 3-4 hours to eat. I don't really think she's hungry, but she just can't seem to get herself back to sleep. I hope that's something she will start to figure out and I don't have to teach her, I'm really bad at tough love.

Snowbird

We had a blast this year at Snowbird. We stayed on Saturday night, then had to return home for work and school...blah blah. But, luckily, we were able to return on Wednesday night and stay clear through Friday night! We even got to go skiing/snowboarding, thanks to Shauna, Tommy, and Nicole!
Vanessa and Brooklyn chilling in the condo, waiting to go swimming.

Snowbird's sweet tunnel/conveyor belt. Just ride through the mountain and woala! you're on the other side.

First time the two of us have gone together.

First time in three years! It felt amazing!

Jon showing off some mad skills...8 years for Jon.

And this is a picture of the lodge

Vanessa absolutely LOVED the swimming pool. She let us throw her up in the air and dunk her under water. I am so glad she enjoys the water. We're going to have a blast in Florida.

Vanessa

Vanessa is so much fun. Lately, she likes to get into drawers and cupboards. She especially likes to sit on my lap at the computer and open all the drawers and pull out everything in them. It's amazing how long a baby can be entertained by a cord! She is very opinionated. She cries if you take away her favorite toy for the moment (which is usually something other than a toy that she can't have). She is still eating absolutely everything. Jon and I joke about that old excuse for losing your homework is because your dog ate it; well, Jon's excuse would be because Vanessa ate it. For some reason, she has a special love for sucking on paper. She's probably eaten more than I should admit. She loves peekaboo. She has yet to tire of it, it's usually me or Jon that gets bored. She is babbling a lot. She has da da, ma ma, ga ga. Every once in a while we'll hear a 'B' or 'W' in there, but they aren't really consistent yet.
I could sit and watch just play with her toys by the hour. She is so animated and excited about everything. It's really fun to watch her cognitive development. Her advancements are evident daily.

Photoshop

I got photoshop on a deal at Costco and I am super excited about it! I am trying to learn how to use the program and scrapbook all of Vanessa's growing up. And one day, I plan to go back and scan all of me and Jon's pictures that are pre-digital days. It's an overwhelming task to think about, but I'll get around to it...one day... In the mean time, I am loving this program and learning more and more about it all the time.

Christmas

We were really spoiled this year by both our parents. Vanessa got more toys than she can ever possibly eat (she eats, not plays with her toys). Jon and I got a new computer and a new stroller. The stroller is really more for me but Jon says he is pretty excited about it too :)



We have spent a lot of time with both our families the last couple weeks and loved it. Jon has enjoyed being out of school for a while, but he starts again on Monday so that feels pretty short lived. We didn't take as many pictures as we would have liked, but we definitely had a lot of fun!

Seven Month Check Up

This was taken December 16, just a few days before her check up on Dec 21. She's doing great and is very healthy.
Height 26"...35%
Weight 15 lb 6 oz...19%
Head 17"...54%
She's had a runny nose the last couple of days. She's actually snoring in my arms right now. I couldn't get her to stay asleep laying down, I think because she couldn't breathe so well. So here we are :)
She is sitting up like a champ now. And, this just in!...last night she army crawled across the counter. She did it several times last night but I can't get her to do it today. We did get it on film though.

Polar Express

The day after Thanksgiving we went with all the Purdy family on a Polar Express ride (aka Frontrunner). We rode into SLC, went to dinner and the lights and rode home. It was a lot of fun and the kids LOVED the train. Cody cried when the train going to Ogden came and left and we didn't get on. He was much happier when we boarded for Salt Lake.


We went to the Garden Restaurant for dinner and Vanessa tried a little lemon.



After dinner we got Vanessa to sleep and Jon 'wore' her in the carrier. He now knows what it is like to be pregnant :)
She slept through the entire time at the lights, which we are pretty sure she would have loved. Seeing how she still has an obsession with lights. When she woke up, on the train ride home, we unwrapped her and found we had kept her a little too toasty. Her hair was wet from sweating.

All in a Day's Work...

Helping with Laundry (sorta)

Hugs for Daddy

Festive winter PJs


I went to the doctor last week and I am finally done taking Coumadin! Horray! No more bloody noses and no more bruises. The bad news: the clot calcified in my leg so there is still a little there that is now a part of my anatomy. How endearing! I still have persistent swelling that is a pain, but nothing they can do about it. On the regime to "try out" is running a few times a week, massage, and hot baths. Hm....I can live with those. The doctor said they might help with the swelling and forcing my body to make "alternate plumbing."
The other bad news is there is a good chance I will have to take blood thinners every pregnancy. Super freaking lame! We'll see, nothing is for sure yet, and I'll definitely do my research ;)

Six Months!

Vanessa is six months old as of yesterday. I can't believe how fast it has gone! She is a beautiful baby and so much fun. She surprised me about two weeks ago by sitting up on her own. Just for a few seconds, but I hadn't even realized she could. We've been practicing and she's pretty much a pro now. Unless she really wants to see something. Then she cranes her head around and forgets she is still top heavy :)

We started feeding her rice cereal mixed with breast milk last Sunday. She did great with this. It tasted the same as what she was used to so she only had to adjust to the texture. She did great and tried to eat the spoon about every bite. Yesterday, we started feeding her bananas. I know, I know, veggies first. But I want to make her baby food and we only had bananas. So bananas it was. She did great with these too. Her poop kinda freaked me out this morning (green banana bread batter?!) but it didn't seem to bother her ;)

We also had some super cute pictures taken. We don't have them back yet, but they'll follow shortly!

Vanessa's check-up

Vanessa had her four month check up on October 28. Technically, she was five months, but we're a little behind.
She was 24.5", which is the 24%
She weighed 14 lbs. 6oz. and that's the 33%
And her head was 42cm, which is 49%
Hm...looks like she might be short, like her mommy :)

Steven's Wedding

Vanessa sporting her new hat
I'm pretty sure these cousins will be friends one day :)













Waiting outside the temple for the happy couple


Jenny and Steven tied the knot on October 1st. They were married in the Salt Lake temple. We had lots of fun that day and are so glad Jenny is officially part of the family. I have no idea how I went the whole day without getting any pictures of Steven and Jenny but their photographer covered that pretty well.

Vanessa's Favorite Things...

being tickled,
playing cards,

waterbottles,

and of course her Daddy!