I can't believe it's already here

Well, my baby is turning one! I can't believe it!!! I know this is cliche, but it really does seem like yesterday that I was in the hospital anxiously getting ready to meet our baby K.

Recently baby K has been getting more teeth. She has ten now, including two molars! She has also been learning to walk independently. She can take up to six steps on her own. She has learned to go up and down short flights of stairs, albeit precariously. But she has absolutely NO fear which is awfully worrisome. She goes down steps head first, approaches animals (like my siblings' cats) without hesitation, desperately tries to stick her fingers under the vacuum while it's running, and recently leaped off the edge of the couch when my back was turned for a moment. She has also discovered that she LOVES to "talk". Sometimes all I can do is laugh when she's sitting by herself playing with her toys and talking to them. She sometimes says, "tickle tickle tickle" and will pretend to tickle things. She "tickles" me, the carpet, her hair brush, her teddy bear, EVERYTHING. She has also learned to wave hello and goodbye really well and will sometimes tell people "hi." She is also developing a little bit of stranger anxiety and will get kind of shy around people who approach her directly that she's not really familiar with. I love to see her grow and can see little changes and progress every day.

Malone and I are still just plugging along. Malone passed his oral examinations and is now officially considered a PhD candidate. He just has to receive a first author publication and complete his research hours in the next couple of years before he writes his dissertation and has his defense. I say "just" but really it is quite a workload he has left ahead of him. But I am so proud of him for his accomplishments! This is a huge milestone that he just passed and now we're looking forward to completing the next.

I am still hard at work in my classes, work, and relief society duties. But foremost, of course, I love being a mom. I am anxious for the semester to conclude so that I can enjoy my summer vacation. Malone is looking forward to me having more free time as well. He has been so good at being supportive of my education goals. I am also anxious to get beyond my exam to qualify for my Social Work program. Wish me luck!

I will post later with pictures from our K baby's first birthday.

When did that happen?

Our Baby K is starting to try to walk! She pulls herself up on all the furniture and will let go with both hands to balance herself for a few seconds. She also has a baby walker that she has become quite proficient at using. It seems I'm about to have a toddler on my hands! The funniest thing is that I'm not really even sure how she learned to do all this. Only about three weeks ago we were worried because she wasn't showing much interest in crawling. But now she is crawling on her hands and knees like a pro and using the furniture to move around the room.

Nothin' Much

Well, it has been an awfully long time since I posted. Things have been so busy! School started up again for us and I have been swamped with homework. This semester I am taking two social work classes, an English class, and a psychology course. It seems my professors this semester are big fans of busy work. But the material is fascinating. Good thing I love it because I'm applying for the social work program this semester! In fact, I have been finding my coursework so interesting that for my birthday I am asking my hubby for The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association. I guess that officially qualifies me as a nerd. Other than school I have been staying busy with work and of course being Baby K's mommy.

As for the hubby, he is working on getting his first first author publication. Hopefully (fingers crossed) this will happen within the next month or so! Other than that, he just keeps plugging along in his program at school. He has the very last part of a big test coming up in a few weeks, so he is hard at work studying for that.

Baby K is growing in like a weed. It seems like her vocabulary is growing almost every day! She has mastered the words: mama, dada, and baba. She will also occasionally say: no, and uh-oh. She gives kisses, although they are still much more like head-butts. She loves to snuggle and she will clap when she's happy about something. Her rescent fascination has been playing peek-a-boo and she likes to throw things on the floor to watch me pick them up. She is proficient in the army crawl, and tries to crawl on her knees if she isn't in a hurry. She has also learned to pull herself into a standing position and will sometimes move her feet forward like she's trying to walk. As of this past week, she has six teeth. We are so proud of her!

Happy Holidays!

We are so loving every single minute of the holidays with our Baby K. She is such a joy.

Looking

As Malone and I are gearing up for our first holiday season with our little girl, I have been reflecting a lot on what Christmas traditions Malone and I grew up with that we would like to perpetuate in our family. One tradition has really been standing out in my mind. Each year around the first of December my mom would hang up our "Beary Merry" Christmas Day advent calendar. It's a wall hanging fabric quilted type thing. I know that sounds vague. Sorry. Anyway, it shows a cross section of a house with lots of rooms. Each section of the house and some of the landscaping has a little piece of velcro. With the calendar comes a little bear that you move from room to room each day as you approach Christmas. The calendar tells the story of this little bear looking for Christmas throughout his house. Finally on Christmas the little bear finds Christmas in his living room with his family. Cute, right? It is such a cherished memory from my childhood. Each day all of us kids (all nine of us!!!) would try to wake up as early as possible because the first one up got to move the bear. Trust me, there were more than a few times when my parents had to move it back because one of us would get the "smart" (totally predictable) idea to stay up late and move it ahead the night before so nobody else could. Anyway, I am looking for one of these advent calendars. It was created by Cranston Print Works company and was sold in the 80's and is no longer in print. I am looking for the 24 day one (not to be mistaken for the less awesomer 15 day version). If anyone out there has one they would be willing to sell or knows someone who would be willing to sell, I would REALLY appreciate the info. Please send emails about it to buildingoureternalfamily@gmail.com. I have included a photo of what the advent calendar looks like.

Ughhhh

Midterms=Migraines

That's all.

Just Pictures

We are busy busy bees

We have been so busy around our home. Baby K has been growing in leaps and bounds and is accomplishing new things every day. She can now sit up briefly with no assistance, roll over both from stomach to back and back to stomach, repeats "mamamamama" over and over again, loves to play peekaboo, and she has FINALLY learned to like her jumper. Our little monster has also learned to blow raspberries, and screech at the top of her lungs. But we are so proud of her every progression and we probably spoil her too much.

I also recently returned to school. I am hoping to finish up my Bachelor's degree. But the great thing is that I was able to schedule all my classes online so I still get to stay at home with Baby K which is such a relief.

Malone is also doing well although he is a bit stressed. He submitted his proposal for his oral examination which is coming up in about four weeks. Aside from writing up his proposal which was about 30 pages long, he will also have to make a presentation of the research he has done so far along with the research he is proposing to accomplish before being awarded his PhD to his board of professors and any students who care to come. For this presentation Malone is responsible for providing refreshments to those who attend, so I am going to put together the best spread those professors have ever seen!

After his presentation his board of professors will have a private examination with Malone where they will each have the opportunity to ask him any questions they care to ask. And by any, I mean ANY. They could ask him anything about basic high school chemistry or biology or they could ask about the most advanced or obscure Biochemistry they can think of. Based on his proposal, his presentation, and his examination his committee will decide whether he has provided satisfactory progress to continue on in the PhD program. If they decide he hasn't, it is a possibility they could kick him out with a Master's degree. That would be extremely rare and is highly unlikely considering he has several publications in the works, but it is still a possibility. Assuming he passes their inspection, he will be allowed to continue in the program and *hopefully* will be able to finish up his PhD in just another year and a half. I feel confident in my husband. He's the smartest person I know and he has worked so hard for this. But I know Malone is extremely nervous about the presentation and examination because he struggles with public speaking.

Anyway, this is the crazy life we lead! But we wouldn't have it any other way. I'll try to get more posts up soon with some pictures.