{we love} this babe

it's been two months since my last blog update. sheesh. life has been busy.

 we had an amazing holiday season. we stayed in portland for thanksgiving this year. i went on a long run with two of my favorite girlfriends, John played football for seven hours (slight exaggeration but not too far off...)and then we just stayed in the rest of the day, wore sweats and ate way too much. it was perfect. then it was christmas...we drove to my parents house in nevada. sutton's "aunt" chandra rode with us which was a huge blessing. ten hours in a car is a long time for a little nugget so it was sure nice for her to always have a buddy in the backseat. we had THE BEST time back home. we stayed for eight days and it went by way too fast. it was so fun to see sutton and her cousin emmery  interact and try to figure each other out. sutton loved spending time with her grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousins and extended family. we spent a lot of time relaxing, eating and watching movies. john and i did manage to get a few runs in, despite the FRIGID temperatures. i love running at "home". the best part...it SNOWED christmas night. seriously, i can't remember ever having snow on christmas. apparently, it has happened before but that somehow managed to escape my memory. we also got to FaceTime with my baby brother markie on christmas day. he is coming home from his mission in SIX months!!! it was so good to see his goofy grin, hear his stories and realize that he is still his "special" self. maybe just a bit older, more mature and definitely (why can I never spell that right on my first try?) more spiritual. love him. 

let me move onto the most important little person in my life, sutton  blue. she has changed so much over the past few months, as all babies do. it's just so surreal when it is happening right in front of you. i was snuggling her this morning and holding her soft little hands and realized that they aren't really baby hands anymore. they just looked big. not like "man big" but more like toddler big. it makes my heart a little sad that she is losing some of her infant characteristics. however, i must say that the age she is right now is SO fun. oh the interactions we have! she has been army crawling for a few months and yesterday she just got real crawling down! she is fast. she has also started pulling herself up onto her knees to get into things. she says "ba-ba" all the time. i'm trying to brainwash her to say "mama" next but so far we haven't made much progress. she'll get it....i know :) she now has TWO baby vampire teeth! dang, those babies are sharp. 

sutton's current loves/obsessions:

1) dog food bowls. my poor dogs are probably starving because i now have to put their bowls away whenever she is awake. she could have 30 toys on the ground and want nothing to do with any of them if a dog bowl is in sight. she's so weird. and i love it. 

2) food. you better not sit down in front of her to eat something and dare not be prepared to share. she is pretty open to all things at this age. except things with meat in them. future vegetarian? today i fed her an organic meal/concoction of chicken, brown rice, ginger and coconut. i know, sounds gross. it resembled fancy feast cat food so that also detracted from it's appeal. she was a good girl and managed to get it down but she definitely wasn't as anxious to get more spoonfuls like she normally is. she prefers fruit to vegetables and loves to eat little pieces of cheese that she so gingerly feeds herself. 

3) target, the store. but really, who doesn't? we have a weekly ritual (sometimes I forget things on purpose so I have an excuse to go back sooner) of a target shopping trip. as soon as she sees me putting on the front pack she gets SO DANG EXCITED. she never complains that we were just there either. love having her on my team.

4)people. miss social. she loves to look around (wherever we are...church, the store, gym) and see who she can get to look at her. she is very outgoing and never gets upset when i leave her at the gym daycare or with the occasional babysitter. 

sutton had her nine month check up last week and is doing great. she has a little cold right now but we are pushing rest and lots of liquids (loves her sippy cup) so she can fight that crap off. 

nine month stats:

weight: 19 lbs. 12.5 oz (67% percentile)

height: 27.5 inches (47% percentile)

no shots this time around so that was sure nice :)

our last few months in photos...

a picture with BOTH their eyes open. a christmas miracle indeed!!!

passed out from too much excitement.  need i say more?

we were skyping with mark and dad thought we needed documentation of the event.  i'm just grateful to have documentation of teo's awesome hair.

see it? see the snow?!!

apparently sutton was terrified during this picture.  

pretty babe...

i love this part of the drive from oregon to nevada

ready, set, go!!!

this just makes my heart smile. look at that goofy grin. 

baby girl cousins. you have no clue the effort it took to get them to sit like this . once again, sutton appears to be terrified. 

snuggling with daddy at church

someone was ecstatic that santa came!

this is what she does when she thinks i've taken too many pictures.  so rude :)

sutton blue and emmery elisabeth

christmas booty :)

these babes love their grandpa!

oh girl...

this mama loves her baby...

no, this is not a joke. this is real. real life sledding ghetto style back home on the ranch. 

yes, that is a car hood. 

and they may or may not be sitting on tires. 

grandpa making sure the rope is "secure"..hmmm

emmery saying goodbye to her BFF blue :( 

happy new year!

first attempt at eating cheese on her own.

first swim lesson was a success. next week she learns the butterfly. 

so not napping.

nine months old!

i am so in love with this little girl. she is so happy and has the cutest little goofy personality which makes me uber happy. she sure is one lucky lady to be loved by so many! 

{i love} this girl

beyond grateful....

it's been two months since my last blog post. we'll just call it what it is, i'm a slacker. sutton blue and i stayed home sick from church today so while she is napping, i shall blog. poor little lady has a very stuffy, icky nose and little cough. she has fake coughing down like a boss but this, this is a real little hoarse cough. i have a sneaky suspicion that a little vampire tooth waiting to pop through is the real culprit of these symptoms. she wants to bite everything. viciously. my collar bone is her new favorite victim. sutton blue just turned seven months old. wow. how did those months fly by? we just celebrated our first little thanksgiving as a family. last year at thanksgiving i asked john if he thought we would have a baby by next thanksgiving. he always said yes. (i may have obsessively asked him this question a time or two during our adoption journey) i'm so thankful that he was always so positive and optimistic. he always calmed my fears and i will love him forever for that. don't worry- there's a few other things i love about him too. so, back to the main attraction. sutton blue. 

sutton's six month check up went great. dr.m is a little concerned because her head measurement is in the 99 percentile so we are going back in a week to get measured again. i'm pretty confident she just has lots of smarts. she got more shots and didn't blink twice. maybe the delicious bottle i gave her right after had something to do with it?? seriously, who doesn't love a treat after a doctor's appointment?

sutton's six month stats

height: 26" (55 percentile)

weight: 17.15 oz (82 percentile) 

what this bugaboo is up to now....

1. eating real food. she loves avocado, sweet potato, pears, green beans, squash and bananas 

*let's clarify about the bananas. i made the mistake of giving her the fake, yummy ones (i hate bananas but have to admit these ones are pretty yum) and later tried to give her a fresh, mashed one. she tried to like it but it just didn't happen. then she barfed it all up. we'll be sticking to the fake ones for the time being. 

2. being obsessed with odd objects. water bottles, remotes (is this something innate that all babies are born with?!), mama's iphone, cords (yes, we have since baby proof'd) and food. if john and i eat in front of her and don't give her any tastes she becomes very demanding and does this adorable cave man grunt. i'm think she'll be a foodie like her mama. 

3. loves her bouncy chair. thanks again pops! she goes buck wild in it and sometimes i think she is going to jump her little self right on out of it. it's great baby cardio. she also LOVES going on walks. we went to the oregon coast a few weeks ago and it was incredible to watch her watch the ocean and the waves for the first time. she didn't even mind that it was windy and rainy. i think she loved the fresh ocean air. 

4. planking. military crawling. this shenanigans just started a few days ago, with no warning. she likes to plank while she is in her crib. maybe she thinks that's a good time to work on her core? i must say, she is pretty good at it. she also has the military crawl down. she also just discovered that she has two amazing things called knees. so as excited as i am for her new discoveries, i also realize that my life is over. i kid...i kid. i love watching her grow and discover new things. she is my favorite thing in this whole wide world. 

5. gym kids club. i started taking her to the gym with me when she turned six months old. she has never cried (knock on wood) when i leave to get my workout on but she sure is excited when i pick her up. she is very social and loves other kids, especially babies. gym time makes me a happier mama and i am so thankful that she is so easygoing. and adorable. and charming. oh, i could go on and on....but i won't. 

6. loves my voices. i'm so happy that finally someone appreciates my freddy krueger voice. she thinks it's hilarious and her approval might just complete my life. 

here are a few pictures from the last few months of our lives. 

we love when aunt kisty comes to visit

sutton blue october '12

family photos october '12

best. feeling. ever.

this might be my favorite picture. probably ever.

hey, pups like teething cookies too.

i'm six months old today!

first halloween

halloween booty

is it a sign i take too many pictures when she already knows the flash is coming?!

sutton's first time at the beach

so glad aunt channie came with us to manzanita

taking a moment to reflect and give thanks 

{i love}forever families

this past weekend was incredibly emotional, wonderful, and so many other things all rolled into one big ball of take your breath away amazingness. it started on friday night with the arrival of my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and little brother ethan(aka uncle doofus. sorry kid, you'll never outgrow that one). i'm so happy they made the 10+ hour drive from nevada safely. i was even more thankful they arrived in a timely, unscathed fashion when i heard that elevator music was the select station for the entire trip. my dad got a little courage in him at one point and changed the station to country but as soon as grandpa noticed, soothing elevator music was right back on. my family made the long, boring drive from nevada for a very special reason. this was the weekend that john & i were being sealed to sutton blue for time and all eternity in the portland temple, and we were blessing her in church on sunday as well.
being sealed to sutton blue was single-handedly the best experience in all my life. i can speak for both john and i when i say this. watching sweet sutton come into this world is also up there on my list of best life moments. the spirit in the temple that day was the sweetest thing i've ever felt. sutton was perfect. smiling, peaceful, happy and shining. all eyes were on her. i'm pretty sure she was the only one in the room not crying. i could not stop the waterworks. i'm so grateful for the promise of eternal families and also know that my two sweet brothers who have left this earth, along with other family members, were with us in the temple that day. even though sutton was not physically born to us, we know without a single doubt that she was always meant to be a part of our eternal family. and we thank the angel that brought her to us every single day.
on sunday john blessed sutton in sacrament meeting. being a convert, this was the first time john gave a blessing. he was nervous but he did an incredible job. he gave her such a sweet and original blessing. some of the blessings he placed upon her:
*that she will always have a strong, sweet spirit
*that she will be strong and grow in the church
*that she will be worthy someday to go to the temple to be sealed to a young man and have many children
*that she will have a strong mind & intellect and be able to face any challenge that comes before her
*that she will be able to attain any goal she desires
*that she will always know Heavenly Father loves her and is watching out for her
*that she will grow in her knowledge that this is the true church
*that she will know her mom and dad love her very much and waited a long time to meet you and will always be there for guidance and love
*that her ward family loves her

we are so in love with this precious little girl. how did we get so blessed?

sealing day

love my mama, dad and doof :)

sutton's smile sums it up perfectly!

grandma and grandpa

wow. dad has eyes. 

blessing day 

sutton blue with daddy and grandpa

my cute family

could.not.be.cuter.

have binky. will travel. 

daddy and his favorite sidekick

sutton loves grandpa!