Utah Trip - Tubing!

I was so pumped for today!  (Aside from the hassle of getting everyone equipped to play in the snow and the super pain in the butt that is when you are looking for clothes to fit a non-size 6 body... Oh well, I made it work.)

We went up to a tubing park up by Park City with Peter's siblings and nieces and nephews.  I've never gone to a place like this so I was excited to try it and to have the kids try it too.

Clockwise from left: Korben, Payton, Jaxton, Jordan, Maxwell

The kids all hung out with me in a heated hut while the rest of the adults bought the passes.

And now the girls (and a few boys)

Jaxton, Payton, Harleigh, Emmalyn, Mariah, me, Felicia, Madison, Lola

All bundled up (poor Emmalyn could only move her fingers and her eyes).  Cute little snow kids!

Emmalyn aka Stay Puffed Marshmallow girl.  She couldn't even really sit up, just sort of lay against the chair.

Hitting the hills - - -you stand on this conveyor belt and it takes you up.  No big deal until you are trying to keep your balance, hold onto your tube, plus hold your puffed up daughter all at the same time.  It stressed me to no end.  After the first time, I let Peter take Emmalyn.  (Which left me with Maxwell which had it's own complications as I tried to help him successfully get on and stay upright on the belt.)

Maxwell and his tube

Everyone had to have their own tube, so Emmalyn went down in an adult tube because she fit better inside it than a smaller one (plus I felt it was safer in the wider base).  I didn't realize when we showed up that she would have to have her own tube and couldn't ride with Peter or I.  That made me incredibly nervous.

Video - Emmalyn going down the hill for the first time.  She wasn't sure what to think and you can see how she changes her mind a few times.  I thought for sure she'd love this since she's usually so bold and brave, but nope...not this time.

He was so happy and having a lot of fun.

Daddy's girl

Waiting in line to go up the hill.  The first couple times went really fast but after that, there were a ton of people you had to wait a long time.  That made it not so much fun for Emmalyn and Maxwell.  

Brothers and their daughters

I thought snow tubing was awesome (and I only did the little hill...that was plenty exciting)

It was a lot of fun having so many family members there.  We didn't stay together as a whole big group but there was enough of us that you frequently ran into someone.  After two times going down,  Emmalyn did not want to go anymore.  She decided it wasn't fun and was too scary for her.

At that point I took both the kids because Max was tired of waiting and starting to get cold, and Emmalyn kept saying she was poopy.  UGH!  That meant I had to trek all the way back to the car, holding my daughter who had doubled in weight thanks to all her clothes... get a diaper and wipes and trek all the way back to the bathroom.  On the way back, I grabbed our stroller so at least I didn't have to hold Emmalyn but that was tough too because the ground was snowy/slushy/icy.

Alex watched Maxwell while I took care of Emmalyn.  I think the diaper change took like 30 minutes because I had to take all the layers off and then put all the layers on.  And to top it all off - she wasn't even poopy!!!  She was totally lying because she knows that we act pretty quickly if she's poopy.  She was clearly trying to manipulate me and get out of having to go down the hill again.  Sneaky little girl.

Once Maxwell had some hot chocolate in him, he was ready to play on this mound of snow with Lola.

Sliding down on his rear

Trying it with a tube

Emmalyn was happy to just sit in the stroller and hang out.  She was so fussy that I gave her the binky.  I didn't put all of her layers back on after the diaper change so she was a little less puffy and I hoped still warm enough.

He was LOVING playing in the snow.

Nothing emphasizes how short one is better than wearing big bulky snowpants.  :)

She fell asleep (which made me confident she was warm enough - whew)

Maxwell tackling Korben.  They had fun playing together.

While I was with the younger kids, everyone else was having fun going on the big hill.

Group picture (minus Alex)...

...Oh, there he is

The area is just so beautiful!  I miss seeing these gorgeous mountains.

We all headed to McDonalds for lunch and then went our own separate ways after that.

Max and Lola buddying up

Emmalyn's cousins were so sweet with her :)

Peter and Madison

Peter, Madison, Mark, and Alex w/ Morgan in the front

Group picture with everyone this time

After we left, we headed to Sandy to go to my step-sister Katherine's grand opening of her esthetician salon.  We got to see Nana, Uncle Derek, Aunt Katherine, Aunt Marabeth, and Aunt Sharee.  We didn't get to spend much time with them because everyone was busy with the opening but I was able to help a little big and Maxwell and Emmalyn got to see Nana, which they were so excited for.

There were a ton of people there - it was crazy!

We were wiped out after our long day.  We stopped at Arctic Circle on the way back to Tammy's for another shake (I got cookie butter again because it was so yummy).

Emmalyn 9 months old

On January 13, 2015 Emmalyn turned 9 months old!

She is so mobile - crawling, kneeling, pulling up on things and walking along things.  She often forgets to hold on and lets go.  She will walk with you if you hold her hands. She wants to be where the people are so if you go into another room, she will follow you.  Watch out though if there are any crumbs or other little things on the floor because she will find them and try to eat them.  (She loves to go after and try to eat shoes.  Gross.)

She has stopped saying "ga" and now it's just "ba" or "ma".  She signs "more" and we think we've seen her do "eat" and "milk".  She doesn't say da da but when she tries it sounds more like "blah".

She loves to clap and will clap to songs or when she's happy.

She loves her brother and Landen and Hayden.  She wants to be around them.

She great at getting food from her hands to her mouth.  She doesn't have the pincer grasp down yet.  I've stuck to mainly the basics on food - brown rice cereal, applesauce, mangoes, pears, bananas, carrots, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, plus all the puffs type food and rice crackers.  She's not a big fan of mangoes or avocados.  We aren't pureeing everything and try to give her finger food as much as possible.  Her doctor is a fan of "infant led weaning" where you just give them what you are eating in baby sized pieces and let them gum it.  I haven't gone so far as to just give her what we are eating, but feel like I'm pushing the textures faster than I did with Maxwell.  The other thing is that she is soooo insistent if we are eating and she isn't.  So, she's gotten some non-baby food that I wouldn't have given in and given Maxwell.  She will get a bite of hamburger rice or garlic bread or french fries, etc.  Lucky second child.  :)  We have given her a baby sippy cup so she can start to learn how to drink water from it.

She is so wiggly that changing her or getting her dressed can be torture!  I try to keep a toy in her hands but that doesn't always work.

She is still breast fed but my milk supply has dwindled horribly.  I pump 3 times a day at work and lately my total output for all three sessions is about 4 oz.  (She will drink 3 4 oz bottles while I am work.)  So supply is not keeping up with the demand.  I have tried essential oils, supplements, tea, fenugreek pills, increasing pumping sessions, more water..everything! I have been talking to a lactation specialist but nothing is helping.  I am really discouraged because I'm willing to put in the time and effort but the supply just isn't staying up.  The only other thing I did with Maxwell was rent a hospital grade pump.  At this point I don't think it's going to make much of a difference so I don't want to spend the extra money.  I have enough with my fresh and frozen (and friend's frozen) supply that I should be able to make it to a year without having to do formula.  I wish I was a milk producing fiend because I wouldn't mind continuing to pump and then donating the extra.   :(  She wants to nurse all the time and clearly communicates that to me by pulling at my clothes or trying to eat my chest but then when she does nurse she constantly gets distracted by her brother, the tv, someone walking by.  It's frustrating for me how she doesn't just focus and finish.

She loves getting her "teeth" brushed (with the infant gum cleaner).

Her favorite toy is the activity table.  She can stand there for a long time, just playing by herself.  She rarely likes to be in her jumpy exercise center thing.  She doesn't jump and quickly wants to be out by everyone else.

She will give up the giggles for her daddy when he tickles her but we still have to work hard if it's just her and I to get them.  When she does laugh it's super cute and usually involves some screeching.

She's a momma's girl, which I love.  Even though it's not good sleeping habits, I love that she wants to sleep with us.  Her little hands will escape from her swaddle in the night and I'll wake up to her laying next to me with her hand on me.  Or she'll roll over to be next to Peter and put her hand out to touch find his face.  It's so sweet.

She is still a happy baby with lots of smiles.  She is really interested in what is going on and will peer around you to watching something that is interesting to her. She doesn't like to be held by other people and will quickly freak out.

This girl can scream.  When she gets mad she doesn't hold back.  This is most often when she needs to go to sleep and doesn't want to.

She isn't a huge fan of the car and has a short span for being happy in the car and then will either scream or go to sleep if you are lucky.

She loves to be outside and starts jabbering when she gets outside.

Bedtime is funny because I'll be cuddling with Max and she will crawl over him to get between him and myself so she can cuddle with me.  (It frustrates Maxwell so much!)  We don't have a bedtime routine for her, we've just added her to Maxwell's routine.  She usually goes to bed around 8:30, struggles to sleep until around 11:30 when we are in the room with her and she finally stays asleep.  Then she'll wake up to nurse between 4-6 and then will sleep until around 8 am.

During the day she usually take 3 more naps.  The first one is the longest and if you are lucky can last a couple hours but the others are shorter and are anywhere from 1/2 hr to 1 1/2 hrs.

She LOVES to get in the shower.  If someone is in the shower she will crawl over and lean on the glass.  I bring her baby bathtub into the shower, fill it up with some water, and let her play in there while I shower.  Sometimes Maxwell will come in with us.  I don't know how long we will be able to bring her bathtub in there because she's trying to crawl out of it now.

She is such a sweet girl and so happy.  I love watching her engage with her brother.  I know we are just at the very beginning of her being able to communicate with us and I will enjoy seeing her personality really blossom.  She does keep us on our toes though.  For example, she wants to climb the stairs and when Britt's family moves out in a couple weeks, the gate on the stairs will be going up.

She's a little person.  She knows what she wants and she makes it happen.

Those cheeks!