Sherlock....

I solved the mystery of the missing links. Look down at the bottom of my blog. Way down. Keep scrolling. There there are. Now how to get them back where they belong?

Puzzled...

So, take a look over at the right hand column of my blog. Is it empty? For about a week now the only thing that is showing up are my posts. No pictures off to the side. No posting history. And worst of all... no links! How am I supposed to blog stalk when I don't have links to your blogs?! Has this ever happend to anyone but me? Any suggestions of how to fix it? When I go to my settings it is all still there. Like where you go to add gadets or links, all is good. Hmmmm. Puzzling.

Be My Valentine

Jordyn is now 4 months! People say how the time flies and how quickly babies grow , and it is true, but mostly what is amazing is how much things change in 4 months. You go 9 months waiting and waiting and it all seems to drag on. Then BAM..., you have a baby and everything is a whirlwind. Both Chad and I are pretty busy during the week, and we live for the weekends when we have time to play with and love on our baby girl. On this Valentine's Day, we love our baby girl more than we thought posssible. Here are some of the things Jordyn loves on Valentine's 2011:
*Rolling. She rolls around everywhere and get herself caught in the oddest places. She has been rolling from back to front for about a month now. After a month of her rolling onto her tummy and then whining, she has finally learned to roll back onto her back. Thank heavens!
*Sleeping. She really is a good sleeper. We went through a rough period from about December through mid January where she was waking up 2-3 times a night. We worked on making sure she napped better in the day, and it has made all the difference. She slept until 9:30 this morning!
*Her thumb. She finds the thumb on her left hand and goes to town. It is so cute! (I hope I don't regret it in the future!) I think this has also helped her sleep. We hear her whine in the night and she soon finds her thumb and is back asleep.
*Rice Cereal! We have been trying to get her to take cereal for about a week now and she just figured it out the last couple days. She is a mess, but she loves it!
*Blowing bubbles. It is cute, but it makes for a slobbery baby.
*Attention. We played a "give me attention" game tonight. She whined until I looked at her and then magically it became a laugh. This pattern went all through dinner.
*Mirrors, toys on her playmat, music, daddy's guitar, dancing and singing with mommy, playing with her feet, her friends at the baby-sitter, and her changing table.
*She doesn't necessarily love the dr. but I just thought I should note her 4 month stats. She weighed in at 12 lbs 12 oz (20th percentile) and 23 inches long (10th percentile). For being a fairly big newborn (8lbs 7 oz), she is just a little baby now!

Friends

I don't know if it was irony, fate, or just the circle of life, but many of my friends were pregnant at the same time I was. It was so fun to chat with them about the joys of pregnancy, and now the blissfulness of motherhood! And plus, Jordyn automatically gets new friends too!

First there is Nikki. Nikki was one of the first people I told (even before my parents). Nikki and I have done so much together. Roommates for 5 years, college, dating, teaching, master's program, and now babies. We got together during our maternity leave and snapped this picture of Jordyn and her little boyfriend Houston!


And then there is Stacy. She and I go way back. I cannot even imagine jr. high, high school, and college without her. I love her to pieces. She had her little Ryker about 2 weeks after I had Jordyn. We got to meet her little guy when we were in St. George a couple weeks ago. And now, Jordyn has 2 boyfriends. She's a little player!

And then there Kelsey and her baby Landon. Initially, Jordyn and Landon had the same due date, but Landon ended up coming exactly a week earlier than Jordyn. Kelsey watched Jordyn for me a day this week and snapped these cute pictures of these two buddies.



So, this is a thanks to all my friends for being so awesome and making my life so enjoyable. You know who you are!

Weekend Getaway!

Adam and Camarie invited us along for a weekend getaway in St.George! It was such a fun weekend and we are so lucky to have awesome friends! One of the days we were down there we went hiking in Zions. It was Jordyn's first adventure and she did such a great job! She was strapped to the front of Chad and did not make a peep practically the entire time.

Chad's version of the pregnancy belly pic.

I just love Zion. When I lived in Cedar we would go hiking a lot down there in the spring and being there made me miss southern Utah. It was just as beautiful as it has always been, even in the snow. We went up to the emerald pools and were surprised to see that the waterfall had created a HUGE ice block (you can see in the top picture). It was so cool! The whole park looked stunning with patches of snow on the red rocks.

Dear Blogging World,

I recently read a blog of a cousin of mine who had posted about some programs she has that can detect who is looking at her blog. Her analysis showed that my blog is the one that visits her the most. It got me thinking... "Am I a blog stalker?" I am kind of embarrassed, even though I do not think I am quilty! I must defend myself. First, some of you private bloggers might think I pop in on your blog a lot, but that is because mine does not tell me when you update, so I check to see if you have any cute new pictures of your kiddos or any fun stories. Plus some of my most favorite and far away friends are private bloggers and the only way I keep in touch is through the world of blogging. And second, well this is a weak sauce excuse, but, I love my family and friends and just like to keep in touch. Thirdly, if you don't want blog stalkers, don't have a blog! I am sure there are some out there who feel the same way I do about these things! So to all of my fellow bloggers, Happy Blogging!

Sincerly,
Blogger Mandi

Wow. Reading over this, I totally sound like a blog stalker in denial. Hum. Well, so be it!

Your Secret Wish...

I think that we all have a secret thing we wish we could do. Maybe even more than one secret wish. Chad has two... to be able to draw really well and to be able to just pick up a guitar and whip out any song or make up any tune on the spot. I have a lot, but one is to be able to take good pictures. I saw a flyer for community classes on photography and photoshop, and I really wish I had time right now to do it. So I decided I would just try and teach myself. This weekend is the first since Halloween that we have not had somewhere to be, so I took some pictures of Jordyn and finally started to test out the photoshop I got last Christmas. I am definitely an amateur, and a nice new camera will help too (wink, wink) but here are the results:

What is your secret wish?