so much to say

Sierra is experimenting every day with new sounds that she can make with her tongue and mouth - it's super cute! Although she still grunts when she is frustrated or mad, most of the grunting has now turned into happier noises! (the grunts were pretty funny, but I was beginning to get worried she may grunt her way through adolescence!!)

Last week she was into the shrieking - very very high pitched shrieking. One morning when she and Kyle were playing downstairs, I woke up to sounds that sounded like cats playing in our house!

This week the new fad is blowing rasperries and spit bubbles! It is hilarious and she can entertain herself for a long time! At the same time as she is playing with her spit (or milk) and spraying anyone who is close by, she is practicing her "agoo"s and "gee"s. It is so fun to have these coos and baby talk fill our house :)

...and I see the days of constant bib wearing in our very near future

I'll have to get some video uploaded soon - she's too cute for words :)

she loves to stare at the camera, so it's hard to get a smile when the camera comes out

she loooooooves her Daddy! again, no smile because of the camera, but I promise you that just before I pulled it out she was smiling, talking and blowing raspberries and having a blast!

4 months

Sierra turned 4 months old this week! the weeks go by so fast!

she continues to grow like a weed...only much more filled out than a weed, maybe more like a bean stalk :)

at 2 months she was 75th % in height, weight and head circum. and now at 4 months her weight has leaped up to the 90's % and her height and head circum. continue strong in the 75th!

she weighed in at 16 lbs. 10 oz. and is 24 inches long and checked out to be healthy - we are so thankful!

she still LOVES her hands and holding anything she can. she now likes to scratch things too and sadly her sweet little face has become the evidence of that new skill. she gives us lots of giggles and shrieks and is soooo close to a full laugh! she can roll half way from her back to her tummy but can't quite get over her arm. she is very squirmy and loves to kick. we continue to struggle with naps, but overall she still seems to be a happy little girl!!! we love love love her :)

we have been taking weekly pictures of her in this same chair with the same bear. i'll have to post some of the older ones so you can really see how fast she is changing and growing !

in other news, to celebrate the day, when Sierra turned 4 months we were so excited to try giving her rice cereal. with her apetite, we were sure that she'd be all about it. well...although she didn't seem to dislike it, she just couldn't figure out what to do with it! it was so funny! she just played around with it on her tongue...but never swallowed.

guess she just isn't quite ready yet...we'll try again soon!

doing laundry with mommy :)

braving the cold to go run an errand

...stumped...

ok, so I started a post in December and just finished it and when I posted it, it put it under Dec.2009 instead of Jan.2010...and I can't figure out how to move it so that it shows up when you go to the blog...I'm stumped. any ideas?

so, to see the long (with lots of pictures) post, click on the 2009 link to the right and then on December. it's titled "catching up - part 1"

here's a direct link also: http://blueteam3.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=26

6 years!

Kyle and I have been married 6 years to the day today!!! Happy Anniversary mi amor!

I am so blessed and honored to be married to this wonderful man!! Last night we were reflecting on our 6 years of marriage and were amazed at all that we experienced each year - the good, the fun and the challenging. It's been a great adventure. :) We have SO much to be thankful for.

So much has happened just in this last year. This time a year ago, Kyle had just started his new job at CRES, I was substitute teaching while job searching for the 3rd month in a row, we had recently moved back into our condo...and we were pregnant and didn't know it! Here we are one year later with a 4 month old precious little girl and learning how to fulfill these new roles as Mommy and Daddy!

Thanks to Capts and G.G. for coming in to watch Sierra so that we could sneak away for the night (our first time alone together since Sierra was born) to a B&B just outside of Austin. We had a GREAT time reminiscing, reflecting, relaxing, sleeping (!!!) and celebrating 6 years together. It was so weird to not have Sierra with us and sad to leave her behind, but we are thankful for the uninterrupted time to be together. (we are so fortunate to have both sets of grandparents willing to come stay a night with Sierra - my parents did 2 weeks ago when Kyle went to Philly to visit John and I went to Plano for Lauren's shower - and that we KNOW they will love on and take care of our daughter and we don't have to worry about her in their care!)

But I sure was excited to come home to that sweet smile and those chubby thighs!

oh my hands!

ok, since my catch up post is taking entirely too long to finish, i'll just start with a recent update and keep working on the catch up. i think that shorter and more frequent posts will be much easier to maintain!!

starting just before 3 months, Sierra really discovered her hands! first she would just hold one hand in the other over her chest - we think she was doing a lot of praying! it was really cute and she still does it some but not as often now that she has discovered they have other uses.

right at 3 months, she started reaching for things and touching and grabbing them intentionally - this was a fun milestone! she can grab and hold on to toys (and anything else) that hang over her or are put within reach of her hands...and of course they then go straight into her mouth! some of her favorites are: the toys on her playmat, her burp cloths (because these are easy to chew/suck on), her bottle, my hair and our hands. it is so cute that she likes to hold Kyle's and my hands...as we change a diaper, feed her a bottle, or just lay our hand on her chest :)

the last "trick" with her hands is sticking her fingers in her mouth too. her favorite is her thumb - but she puts it on the side of her mouth next to her tongue, not in the middle...it's really cute!

...and sometimes she sticks her long fingers all the way in and kind of gags herself...right after she does it, she makes this "yucky" face! but she doesn't learn, she just keeps doing it over and over...she's so funny :)

i know that milestones like these will come quickly since she is changing and developing so fast! it's been fun and makes us look forward to what lies ahead!!

catching up - part 1

ok, so here goes an attempt at a "brief" summary (part 1) in pictures of the last 2 months (out of 4) of Sierra's life!



mid-November we went to Dallas because I was a bridesmaid in a good friend's wedding...and while we were there, the Frazier side of the family threw a Sip 'N See shower for Sierra. Family and friends stopped by for some yummy food and to meet the star of the show! we were blessed with some really cool gifts!



she was so content in the arms of her Great Grandmother Denny - even in the middle of the loud party, Grandmother put Sierra to sleep in her arms...it was very sweet!



then Grana (Great Nana) got there and almost had to pry Sierra out of Great Grandmother's arms for a turn to hold her! she was being fought over - what a popluar little girl!

Then we celebrated Thanksgiving in Austin with the Yang side of the family. We decided to all run/walk (you can probably guess who did the running and who did the walking!) the Turkey Trot. It was a lot of fun, followed by a yummy turkey meal at Mel and Matt's house...Sierra was a trooper for the long day, even staying for the end of the UT game that night!







enjoying a visit from Tia Meli during the week of Thanksgiving!!!



Nope, this is not outside - although all the warm clothes may fool you. This is in our living room! During the winter (well, on days that are cold outside), it is freezing in our downstairs...all while the upstairs is nice and toasty. I was tired of keeping Sierra upstairs all the time, so we bundled up to spend the day downstairs!



We celebrated an early Christmas with my side of the family in Kingwood the weekend before Christmas. You can tell how warm it was by the short sleeves all of the guys are wearing. Crazy enough though it did snow in Houston another day! It was a short weekend but we all had a lot of fun :)



Sierra is so fun now that we can get her to smile and giggle...still not full on laugh yet, but she's close! Her Papa (my dad) can always get some smiles out of her...he sure is silly!

Trying hard to keep her happy and smiling during our long photo shoot.

...once again, the star of the show...isn't she precious! She's wearing a tutu that her Abuela (my mom) made her for Christmas :)

She sure does LOVE her Daddy! And he loves her too! So sweet!

These next few are a little older, but just some favorites :)

alright... catching up part 2 (Christmas weekend with the Fraziers is coming soon!)

Momness

How I know that I am a mom now... (besides the obvious)

* It's often the afternoon before I realize that I'm still in my pijamas
* A shower every other day is a treat
* Classical music or white noise is in the background of every conversation
* I speak more in a baby voice than an adult one
* My biceps are growing (ok, so not noticeably but I'm sure they have to be!)
* Words like "blow out", "paci", "pump" and "poopie" are becoming part of my regular vocabulary
* Spit up and poop stains on my clothes
* I often sing my sentences instead of speaking them

...and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything!!!

who couldn't love this sweet little peanut?!?!!!