Excited to Announce....

So, I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I did make a few birth announcements for Mia. I only sent out a few, mainly to Primary's and some of Kate's doctors.

Just a Few "FIRSTS"...

Mia and I spent the last couple of days in Fillmore while Bryan was in Chicago for work. I have always teased Bryan that we need to move to Fillmore because every time we would take Kate down there, she really liked spending time on Grandpa's farm and we always ended up turning her oxygen down. Well, while we were down there this past week, Mia slept through the night for the FIRST time...HALLELUJAH!!!! Every time Mia would wake up and make any little sound, I would immediately jump up and start feeding her. My sister-in-law, SuSan, gave me the best advice. She said to just get up and give her a Binky and let her calm down and go back to sleep. Most of the time, they are not even hungry. So, I tried it that night and sure enough....she woke up and started fussing a little around 2:30 am. I went in to check on her and give her the Binky and not even 5 minutes later, she was sound asleep. That night she slept for 9 hours. I couldn't believe it. There have been a few nights since that I've had to get up and feed her once during the night, but for the most part she is sleeping for longer periods. Like I said....there's just something about being in Fillmore :)

My niece, Drew, came and stayed with us for a couple of days last week and we had such a great time. We took Mia to the pool for the FIRST time. The Lehi Legacy Center has a fabulous indoor/outdoor pool and so we took Mia swimming. When Kate was about a year old, I took her to the pool a couple of times and she loved it. One difference between Kate and Mia, is that Kate loved when she would get splashed and Mia HATES it. Looking back, one thing I am grateful for are the times I took her to the pool. Although it was very awkward with her oxygen and all, I knew she loved it.

Mia had her 2 month appointment yesterday and she had her FIRST round of immunizations! She had to have 5 shots and I'm surprised how well she did. I have been dreading it, so I'm just glad it is over with. She is growing up so fast I can hardly stand it. Her are the stats:

WEIGHT.....11 lbs. 6 oz. (61%)
HEIGHT.....22 inches (31%)

Here are just a few of her LIKES and DISLIKES:

LIKES.....

Taking long naps (I like that too)
Sleeping on her tummy The Binky
Going for rides in the stroller
Being carried in the Baby Bjorn

DISLIKES.....
Being in her car seat
Lying on her back
Being woken up for her naps

Adios....Elder Roper!

We said our goodbyes to Jeff as he entered the MTC this past Wednesday. I can't think of another person who has been so anxious to get out into the mission field. The people of Uruguay are going to be blessed to have such a wonderful missionary amongst them. We are going to really miss him, but are so grateful for his example and his love for the Gospel.

Here's To a Great Daddy!

I have to say that my girls have the best dad there is. Bryan adored Kate like no other. She was his world and he did anything and everything for her. It was so hard for him to make it on time for work because his favorite thing was playing with Kate in the mornings. He loved it when Kate would reach for his mouth. This picture is one of my very favorites of the two of them:Bryan was always so proud to be Kate's dad. He loved to have "Daddy/Daughter" nights (that's what he called it). Basically that consisted of taking her to Lowes. I didn't know that Kate had so many friends that worked there, until I went there with the both of them and everyone knew Bryan and Kate by name. One of my favorite memories was last August I had gone to a wedding reception with my mom, and Bryan decided to have a "Daddy/Daughter night with Kate. When I got home Bryan had Kate dressed in this: ...I mean I probably wouldn't have chosen this ensemble, but he was very proud of his choice. The best part was that Kate's shirt was on backwards. His response, "all of my shirts button in front...." CLASSIC!!

Bryan has always been devoted to making sure Kate had the best. He kept up on all the latest and greatest trying to help Kate's growth and development. One day I got a call from him and he had decided to go to Babies-R-Us on his lunch break. He had told me about this "AWESOME" device that he thought Kate would love. Sure enough, he showed up at home after work with this jumper:With the great amount of stress and hardships that we have endured the past 23-months, I have never once heard Bryan complain. When Kate was hospitalized, he couldn't leave work fast enough to drive to the hospital to be with Kate.

His girls mean EVERYTHING to him and Kate and Mia are so lucky to have him as their Daddy. Here's to making new memories!

Going "Natural"

Goodbye Gas Guzzling SUV....Hello Natural Gas Dream!

It kills me that gas has actually reached $4.00 a gallon. I get sick every time I dump $60 into my car....and that's every week. I mean, we are basically paying an extra car payment with the amount of gas we use each month. The last couple of months Bryan and I have been researching natural gas vehicles and weighing the pros and cons. In the end, we found that the pros far outweigh the cons. So, we are the proud new owners of this 1998 Honda Civic. Isn't she a beauty? Although the car smells like mothballs.....she runs like a champ!Here are just some of the pros and cons to owning a natural gas vehicle:

PROS
*Paying $0.64 a gallon
*Getting a $2,000 tax credit
*Being able to ride in the carpool lane at any time...SWEET!

CONS
*Less cargo space
*A smaller tank (only holds 6 gallons)
*Limited gas stations carrying natural gas

We figured that if the gas prices stay where they are or increase in the future, we will be saving at least $3,000 a year.

Grandma & Grandpa Great

We had a real treat this week. Great Grandma & Grandpa Christensen came to visit from Colorado. They moved to Colorado Springs about 9 months ago, so this is the first time they have seen Mia. We had a great time visiting with them....we just wish that they were able to stay longer. Mia was so intrigued by Grandpa's oxygen tubes. Grandpa would take it off and Mia would furrow her brows and get the funniest look on her face. It was too funny!

A Good Weekend!

We wanted to take advantage of the {somewhat} fabulous weather this weekend, so we decided to go for a walk up the Provo River trail on Friday. It was absolutely beautiful. We've found that Mia loves the Baby Bjorn. In fact, she slept almost the entire time.

I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that Mia is growing up so fast. Here are a few of my favorite recent pictures of her.

A Sweet Reminder...

Memories of Kate consume my thoughts throughout the day and little reminders bring on a lot of emotions. Today, I had a meltdown. A meltdown in......of all places.....Wal-Mart. Let me preface.

The last couple of weeks Kate was in the hospital, she had the cutest little roommate, Parker, who was there waiting for a heart transplant. He had the cutest little talking Pizza Elmo that he would play over and over again. Bryan and I would always get this song stuck in our heads. I had every word memorized and would sing along every time he would play it. I loved it!! As I was in Wal-Mart today buying some ribbon, on the opposite isle was this Elmo doll (totally misplaced). I was a little hesitant to pick it up and press its hand to make him sing, but I did. I didn't realize how emotional I would get over this little doll. Here I was in the middle of Wal-Mart....tears rolling down my face...making this Elmo doll sing over and over again and I was completely oblivious to anyone walking by. I'm sure they were thinking, "uhhhh.....PYSCHO." I have to say, though, that I am so grateful for these sweet reminders.

Let the Training Begin....YEAH!

Wasatch Back 2005 I am so excited because I get the opportunity to run in the Hood to Coast relay this year. Our good friends, the Henstroms, live in Beaverton, OR and Stephanie signed up with a team this year and they needed an extra runner, so the rest is history.

The Hood to Coast is the largest running relay race in the world. It stretches 197 miles from from Oregon's Mt. Hood down to the Pacific Ocean beach in Seaside, Oregon. The teams consist of 12 runners, who are assigned 3 different running legs. The race is over 24-hours. The Hood to Coast is a lot similar to the Wasatch Back relay here in Utah. Bryan and I ran that 3 years ago and was a absolute blast. It's going to be A LOT of work to get myself into shape before August, but I am looking forward to having something to get me motivated.

Baby Shower, Birthday and Blessing

BLESSING

Today was such a special day. We had the opportunity to bless sweet Mia and Bryan gave her such a beautiful blessing. It was such a spiritual experience. It seems just like yesterday that we blessed Kate. We chose to have Mia wear the same dress as Kate, which was a little big on her, but I thought she looked adorable in it. Seeing her in it brought such a sweet reminder of that special day back in December 2006 when we blessed Kate. We tried to keep such a sense of normalcy with Kate, while still being very cautious of her health. We debated back and forth whether we should just bless Kate at home, but we chose to bless her at church and I'm so glad we did. I love having these small reminders, as it brings so much comfort. After the blessing our families came to the house for a little brunch. Here are some pictures of this special day.

BABY SHOWER

Yesterday we threw my best friend, Treo, a baby shower. It was so much fun and she got some really great stuff. She is due July 4th, but because of high blood pressure, she may be induced as early as June 20th. I am so excited for her and she is going to be such a great mommy. We had so much fun planning and putting on the shower. Here is my first attempt at making a diaper cake. I must admit that it turned out better than I thought it would :)

BIRTHDAY

Later that night, my family all got together at Buck & Kirstin's house for my Dad's birthday. We grubbed on Kirstin's fabulous ribs and dutch oven chicken & rice....Mmmmm! Happy Birthday, Dad (tomorrow)! We love you!