Valentine's Day Date

Jer's parents sent us a Valentine's Day surprise.
We opened it and found our:
Package! It came with a note...

Our date consisted of Triple Chunck Hershey's Chocolate Brownies, M&M's and DEJAVU, a movie staring Denzel Washington. (It is a really good movie!) I forgot to take a picture but Jer went out and got dinner. He called me when he was on his way home and wouldn't let me see what he brought. We put Jessie to bed and then Jer made me wait in the back room.

Jer came knocking at the bedroom door in order to "pick me up" for our date. He led me into our kitchen and sat me down to a fabulous candlelight dinner. We exchanged gifts and settled down to eat Indian food from the Bombay House. I LOVE the Bombay House! Amazing Indian food. Lamb Tiki Masala and Chicken Curry with rice and garlic naan bread. Very good. This picture above shows our V-day cards and presents. I gave Jer coupons for massages and he gave me "crooner" cd's. Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller and Bing Crosby. 

Funny story about the cards: Jer is always telling me that I'm to sappy. I'm always telling Jer that he's not sappy enough. So, I tried to get a non-sappy card and wrote a simple, succinct note telling him I loved him. Meanwhile, Jer wrote me a sweet, long, sappy note telling me how much he loved me. :) Funny how we tried to cater to each other...

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I love my husband. He is my best friend and other half.  He is a wonderful husband and father. Jer is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Happy Valentine's Day sweetie!

Her Royal Cuteness!

Fun pictures from the past few days.
This little girl is either going to HATE having her picture taken or she is going to be VERY camera friendly!!!!Hanging out with mom...

Hanging out with dad...

She's in her daddy's favorite outfit...hat and all.

She's soooo tired...

Getting wrapped, burrito style, for bed

She is really beginning to love her binki

Ahhh! So sweet!

I love when her eyes are open

Not quite sure what this face is saying...

She's just hangin' out on one of her favorite blankets

She was trying to sit up in this picture...no really. She was. For a second I thought she was going to fall out face first!

She looks adorable no matter what she wears!

She's watching something

Who...me?

Big downward stretch

Again with the camera lady?!?

I LOVE when dad wraps me up for bedtime!

Almost a smile!

I wonder if the smiles that come from having gas help teach babies how to smile. It's obvious when she's having gas but lately there have been a few times when she didn't have gas and was beginning to smile...it's so cute when she does it! (The smiling, not the gas. Ok. Maybe the gas is a little cute right now too...)

Gratitude

There are so many things that I am grateful for. This isn't a complete list but it is definitely a start:

• My membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
• My Father in Heaven who loves and knows me
• My Savior, Jesus Christ
  
• My best friend and husband, Jeremy
• The newest addition to our family, my beautiful daughter Jessica
  
• My parents - they have no idea how much I love them and are grateful for them. In the past month I have gained a whole new perspective on all that they have done for me in my life!
  
• My parent-in-laws - I truly hope they know how much I love and appreciate them.
  
• My siblings - I have the coolest 3 brothers and 2 sisters ever. I love them all very much and am so grateful that we are all friends.
  
• My sister-in-laws - I have 2 awesome older sisters. I love hanging out with them and feel pretty lucky to call them family.
  
• The world's cutest nephew, Ethan (he's a doll! I love him to pieces and wish we lived closer to him!)
• My job - I LOVE teaching 6th grade at the "Best School In the Land" - Wasatch Elementary!
• My co-workers - Betsy & Tawnicia have become such good friends as well. I truly appreciate all that they do for me
• My husbands job at the MTC - he loves it there!
  
• My hubby's co-workers: he has a great boss and co-workers who take such good care of him. I appreciate all that they do for him
• Chocolate...need I say more?
• Cleanliness & organization - we live in a modest 2 bedroom home. I am a pack rat so it has become necessary to be an organization freak! Plus, and more importantly, I love how you can definitely feel the Spirit better in a clean home
• Technology - it is incredible how the Lord has inspired men and women to create such an awesome medium for communication and learning.
• The feeling of love - which sounds a little hokey to say, but it's true. I have felt such love for so many people and blessings that I have to say I'm grateful for that feeling!
• The scriptures - Jer and I really want our precious daughter to feel the spirit and power that comes with reading the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, so we have already begun to have daily scripture study. And you know what? I firmly believe that at the precious age of 1 month, Jessica can feel the spirit of them.

Now, this list isn't complete. But it definitely covers some things that have been on my mind lately! :)

Future BYU Alumni

Rise & shout, the Cougars are out,

Along the trail to fame and glory!

Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out,

As you unfold your vict'ry story.

On you go to vanquish the foe

For Alma Mater's sons and daughters.

As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.

We'll raise our colors high in the blue,

And cheer our Cougars of BYU.

Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra!
Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra!

GOOOOOO Cougars!

80's Aerobic Workout

This onesie, combined with her socks, makes her look like she's wearing an 80's workout outfit! So cute!

She's finishing up some phone calls and getting ready for her warm-up stretches...

Whew! Look at those crunches! Feel the burn!

And 1, And 2...

Head roll stretches the neck

Number of push-ups: 1

Push-ups...those are hard!

Well, maybe one more try...

Leg kicks...I'm sure glad I have these baby leg-warmers on!

Hawaiian Baby

One of my good friends at work, Laura Snow, gave Jessica this white headband with 3 flowers that clip on. We put it on and took this picture. The flowers, combined with her beautiful olive skin tone (and the light the picture was taken in) reminded me of Hawaii.

So...our Hawaiian baby picture! :)

Cuteness...

She looks so much longer than she did when she was first born. It's hard to believe that she's almost 1 month old! The green pink and yellow blanket that she is sleeping on was given to us by my Aunt Roberta and Uncle Dean. Roberta is my dad's older sister who lives in Washington State. The blanket is crocheted and beautiful! The green, pink, and brown quilt underneath that was given to us by her Grammy Workman. It is the second one she got from her Grammy. I'll need to take a picture of both quilts spread out and then post them. They are absolutely gorgeous! I love them both!

She loves having her hands up by her face!

She's in the middle of a cheer! :)

Our little burrito!

This is a much better view of the gorgeous quilt Grammy made her.

Birthmark

The day after we came home from the hospital I suddenly noticed that Jessica had this purple mark on the palm of her right hand. When I went to the doctor's office for her post-hospital check-up (just before her 2 week...) I asked her doctor about it. He said it was a port-wine stain birthmark and she would probably have it for life.

I think it's so cute! Here's the conversation between Jer and I when I told him about it...

Me: Did you know that our daughter has a birthmark on her right hand?
Jer: What?!? Now no one's going to want to hold her hand when she's older!
Me: That's a good thing! We don't want boys to hold her hand. We'll put a fake one on her left hand too.
Jer: Well, maybe some nice returned missionary will want to hold her hand someday...
Me: If he's a nice returned missionary he won't care about the birthmark. In fact, that's how we'll know he's a winner. If he doesn't care about her birth mark we'll know he's ok.
Jer: Maybe...

Regardless, bottom line is, her birthmark is really cute!
(Notice in the picture that Jess is not happy that I'm taking a picture of her birthmark!)

Sunday Best

How cute is she! We believe in Sunday worship...we're trying to get Jessica in the habit of getting ready for Sunday's by putting her in Sunday clothes now... Do you think it will work? It's partially about getting into the habit early right? :) Isn't she cute?!?

She's so tiny!
She's not much bigger than this miniature stuffed animal.

She's not so sure about this dress thing...

They look pretty sharp together, don't they?

Uncle Derrall (my brother) is holding her! Uncle Derrall has been awesome and let us borrow his car when we needed to take her to doctor appointments...

Cuddly