I don't know what the subject should be...

I can't believe 3 months has passed since my last post! I feel like I've been so busy, which is funny because I thought that I when I went down to working only 2 days a week I would have so much free time and get so much done. Ha! Little did I know how much time a baby takes during my day. But I am learning that it really doesn't matter if my house is super clean or the laundry is done. I am learning to enjoy taking time during each day to spend time with Juliet and to really enjoy this stage in her life.

During the rest of December, we of course, had Christmas celebrations. We went to the Christmas party for my office. We went to Tuscany restaurant in Holladay and it was fantastic. We had a great meal and also a retirement celebration for one of our front office girls, Deb. We were so sad to see her retire, but very happy for her. We miss you Deb!

This is normal, right?

Chase took me to see The Nutcracker. I was so excited! I was just kidding around when I asked him to take me after we saw the commercial for it on TV assuming he would never go, but he surprised me and took me. We had a great time and spent an evening without the baby (which of course, was hard for me!)

Christmas Eve was spent at Shauna's house with a yummy dinner, followed by Christmas morning presents and breakfast at the MIL's. Juliet received a few great gifts that she is learning to love, especially her white bunny, and we had a fun time watching the rest of the kids open their gifts. Juliet also turned 3 months on Christmas.

Just a little nap before partying all night!

Kyle pulled the kids on sleds with the quad.

Christmas dress

Christmas Sunday

Santa!

The next day, my parents, brother Scott, his gf Sarah, and my nephew Avery came to visit for a week. We spent the week sledding, rode the new Frontrunner train to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square, and saw the movie Le Miserable. We shared Christmas presents where Juliet was spoiled just a bit!

New Years Eve was spent with friends Nick & Tessa and Dave & Elaina. We went to dinner, played games, and set off fireworks at midnight. We had a great time.

Toward the end of January, we took a trip to Washington, D.C. We were able to stay couple nights with the Lemmon family that recently moved from our neighborhood to Fredericksburg, VA. It snowed overnight and caused a long commute into our nation's capitol. 

Juliet's first plane ride

The view of the Lemmon's back yard

Our first day was spent touring the Capitol Building. We had a private tour with a BYU student intern from Senator Mike Lee's office. It was great because he was able to personalize the tour for us and he was great company. 

The very center of Washington, D.C.

Utah's Brigham Young statue

The Capitol by day...

...and by night.

Then we went to Museum of Natural History. We found a great parking spot right out front of the building, that we later found out was a handicap spot! We were so lucky we didn't get a ticket, especially since we were there for an hour over the limit! The museum was absolutely incredible! We could have spent all day there! 

After we left there, we went over to the Air and Space Museum. Chase loved it and wished we had more time there too. 

Ya, he's pretty incredible...

I see you!

We drove around the city trying to find a place to park to go see the monuments in The National Mall, but ended up driving in circles, ending up at Arlington Cemetery, and then on the freeway, so we just decided to call it a night. 

The next day we went to George Washington's Mt. Vernon estate. What a beautiful place! It was a great tour especially because there was only a handful of people there with us, which was the case for most of our trip. The weather was in the 30's, about 20 degrees colder than the week before, so no one really wanted to be outside touring around. It made for a very good trip. The cold didn't really bother us since we were coming from about 5 degrees in UT that week!

I turned 4 months today!

 After we toured Mt. Vernon, it was snowing again, so we decided to get an early start on our drive down south to my childhood friend Deidre's house in Suffolk, a 3 hour drive. The snow didn't hinder us much and it was a pretty smooth drive all the way down. The next day, we all went to Williamsburg and had a great time touring that cute little town. They had wheelwrights, blacksmiths, silversmiths, an apothecary, a shoe maker, and a few others. Deidre's little boys were in heaven, and so was my big boy, for that matter! (Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it yet.)

 The next day, Chase and I went to tour Jamestown. There was one location that had rebuilt what their Indian Village looked like and the other was the original location and fort of Jamestown. They had a museum there that displayed over a million artifacts archeologists had uncovered. It was absolutely fascinating! 

Indian huts

Ships that brought them to Jamestown

Our first attempt at a high chair...

Model of the fort

John Smith

Pocahontas

Glass blowing - so amazing!

The last day, we drove back up to D.C. and spent the morning at the National Archives building where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are displayed and then headed over to Arlington National Cemetery where we were able to see the changing of the guards ceremony. 

After that, we headed back to the airport and flew home. Juliet did pretty good on the plane rides, especially after we figured out to give her a bottle on ascent and descent to help equalize the pressure in her ears. She did great touring around the city. We had a lot of fun and learned so much about the founding of our country.

At Juliet's 4 month appointment with the pediatrician, she weighed 12 lbs 9oz and was 25in long. She has reduced in the percentile of both, which isn't a big deal, but I think it is because my milk volume has reduced. We have now started supplementing with formula to help her feel full. We are lucky she has taken to it well and will eat it just as well. We tried cereal first while trying to increase my supply, because we didn't want to give her formula, but it wasn't quite enough. The cereal made for some good pictures though!

I hosted a baby shower for a neighbor earlier this month. It went really well and we had a great time with good food! She just had her baby last week and all went well. Congratulations Janett!

On Valentine's Day, after work, Juliet and I flew to Phoenix for the weekend. We had a great weekend visiting with the family and attending the Hayward Family sealing. What a special time to spend in the temple with my family. We had a fun dinner with family and friends Friday and Saturday night. Sunday after church, we went to Beth and James' for dinner and took pictures of the babies in matching outfits. (I don't have many pictures from that weekend yet..) Monday, we went to dinner with my parents, brother Scott, and Uncle Roger and then to see the movie “Warm Bodies” with my brother, for the 2^nd time! Juliet and I flew back home that night. 

Waiting at the airport

I got to wake up to this!

She wasn't feeling so well - ended up with a cold

Chillin with Uncle Scott

Checking out the super exciting bolo tie museum at PHX airport...

Flying back home

Today, Juliet turned 5 months!

Yesterday, I received horrible news that my sister's father in law, the one we just spent the previous weekend with, had passed away. This afternoon, we received news that Chase's grandmother had passed away. It really makes you think about life here on earth and how precious it is. It brings me peace and comfort to know that these wonderful parents are in a better place, with those they love, and out of the pains of this world and that we will see them again some day. Until we meet again...