Famine Before the Feast

Just like my journal, I sometimes go awhile without writing... The end of the school year along with the demands of being a wife and mother have kept me super busy. I apologize to my hoard of fans. Although, let's be honest. They are Jessica's fans, not mine. :)

Luckily, I have been keeping a word document on my desktop where I record all the fun things Jessica has done since she was born. I call it "Jessica's Fun Facts." Here is an update on a few things of interest (to me at least. If you're only here for the pictures, skip and scroll down...)

• Weight: a little over 16lbs now
  
• Height: 25.5 inches
  
• This past week she has found her "voice" and is her chattiest when she first wakes up.
  
• Wakes up like clock-work between 5:30 and 6:00 am. No matter what kind of a night she has had. Not so exciting now but, if it continues, will be super exciting when she's a teenager...
  
• For the most part she sleeps through the night (8-12 hours depending...)
  
• Not rolling over yet although she has started to take a little interest in it. She loves being rolled side to side by someone else though.
  
• Holds her head up really, really well.
  
• Giggles and laughs at the funniest moments! 
  
• Everywhere we go, Jessica LOVES to look around. She is such an interested child in everything around her.
  
• The Similac company has quit making Jess's formula so we switched her to soy. The soy formula is supposed to help with gas, fussiness, and spit-ups. She's already mellow, the gas is the same if not worse, and the spit-ups have increased. Hmmm...
• Has 2 regular naps each day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
  
• Each nap is anywhere from 30 min - 4 hours. Lately it's been 4 hours. I think she's growing.
  
• In the past 2 weeks she has become a drooling machine. 
  
• She really enjoys music. When music is on in the background and Jer or I am holding her hands while she is standing, she will actually bob in time to the music. Sounds like a coincidence? I'm not so sure. Another time she was in her car seat and bobbing her head in time with the music. She would start then stop. Every time she started it was in the correct rhythm to the music. Every time. I mean, I know every parent thinks their kid is the greatest thing since sliced bread but truly, my kid really is. :)
  
• Has a singing voice that is distinctly different from her talking voice. Now that she has found her talking voice she doesn't sing as much as she used to, but there are times when I am singing to her, or playing the piano and singing to her, and she will sing with me. So cute!
  
• When we read scripures together she calms down when we start reading. I believe that she can already feel the spiritual power that comes from reading the Book of Mormon. I also believe that she can feel the Spirit and that she knows that the "language" of scripture reading is different from the "language" of every day speaking.
• When someone other than her mother is holding her (when daddy is not around of course) she likes to watch me and follow me around. She likes to keep tabs on where her mother is. I love it!
• She is still a snuggly baby.
• Jessica is still a calm baby.
• When others want to hold her, she does really well for them for long periods of time.
• Jessica loves being swaddled for nap times. Sometimes she will be fussy because she's tired but then, when I start to swaddle her, she begins laughing or smiling. Then I pop the binki in and she dozes right off. Sometimes.
• I've noticed that, while in Alaska, other people are not able to get Jessica to go to sleep for naps. She becomes fussy and cries. Then, when I take her, she settles down quickly and dozes off. I love being her mom!

Here is the princess sleeping. She truly is a princess. I am constantly reminded of the trust given to Jer and I from Heavenly Father to raise one of His precious daughters.

Jessica kept waking up because the sun was in her face. So we draped a burp rag on the side and she went right to sleep. I love the difference in lighting in this picture.

The flowers on Temple Square are immaculate. This was just a pretty photo.

This was taken mid-April on Temple Square. I LOVE how she is sleeping so peacefully with the temple in the background! What a sweet reminder that families truly are forever. 

This was taken on Easter day. This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of Jessica! I believe that it shows how much of an angel she is, and how much of a daddy's girl she is!