Catching Up to 7 Months!

December 11th marked 7 months for this little lady. What fun she is! Her 7th month was a busy one, there was Thanksgiving, followed by a sudden week-long trip to Arizona for my Grandpa Williams' funeral. All the while we would spend our days out at our new house trying to get it fixed up, then drive back every night to Erik's parents' house, where we were living. It was a lot of driving and a lot to do in just one short month, and she was just a trooper. By 7 months Our little Soleil was a confident sitter and LOVED the reach it gave her, she can seem to get ahold of anything! She was loving solid food, and would eat any kind we gave her, and lots of it. She loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa Thurman so much, and just lit up with smiles every time Grandpa walked in the door from work, and every morning when Grandma woke up.




Ladybug was so patient with all the back-and-forth driving to work on the house, and Daddy always being gone at the house. She has been just an angel, but definitely has been working on her dramatic side too! She has a very loud, piercing scream, and she lets it fly with very little provocation :) Most of the time, it just makes us laugh at how indignant she would be at things we would do, like walk out of a room without her, even if we were coming right back ha ha ha.

Half a Year For Our Baby Girl.

On November 11th our sweet little Soleil turned 6 months old, time flies so fast! At her checkup she weighed 16 lbs 4 oz-- about 50% for weight; and was about 24 inches long-- 75% for height.
How we love this little girl. At 6 months she was doing well with practicing standing, and she could just about sit up unsupported, but wasn't quite there yet. She has even more sounds to babble with-- da-da, ma-ma, as well as ba-ba. Ma-ma quickly became her "mad" sound, just like with Noelle.
Her favorite things to do were play with toys and put anything within reach in her mouth, which is a lot! She clearly inherited my "Go-go-gadget" arms, cause nothing ever seems to be far enough away to be out of her reach.

A Day To Give Thanks!

And boy did we have a lot to be grateful for! We had just closed on our house :) Thanksgiving this year was a busy busy day for us. We started out with lunch at my Aunt and Uncle's house, then dinner at Erik's parents, then second dinner and desserts at my sister's house ha ha ha. We were stuffed. But it was a great day spent with family and we loved it.

Going Waaaaaay Back to..... Halloween!

We had so much fun with Halloween this year! We went to a trunk-or-treat at Camp Williams with our friends the Westwoods, we trick-or-treated at Walmart, and then we capped off the evening with dinner and trick-or-treating at my mom's house. Noelle LOVED trick-or-treating! Ever since she ate her last piece of candy, she has been asking me when we will go again :) This year Noelle wanted to be a unicorn, and I couldn't resist turning our little ladybug into a ladybug! The girls were just so cute.

With the Westwoods, Natalie, Jossy, and Sammi, at Camp Williams. The trunk-or-treat line was sooooo long, but there were other fun things to do there too.

Unicorn Power!

Little Ladybug!

Cousins! And me :)

Sailing On

I've had this song running through my head off and on for many weeks now. I loved Saturday's Warrior when I was a kid. I've fallen back in love with this song. It seems to well describe my life right now. And it also reminds me of some of the best things my dad ever did for me. Happy memories :)

Barnyard Boo!

Our first year going to Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point. We loved it! It was perfect for little kids, they had all the normal stuff that the farm there usually has, but also a bunch of fun little games for the kids to play to earn treats, right up our alley! We went with our friends, the Wilburs, then afterwards went to their house for some yummy taco soup and pumpkin carving. It was tons of fun and nice to have something to do to keep my mind off of Erik being out of town.

Hula-hooping is hard.

Katy and Julian. It was a cold evening. Actually, that night ended up being the first freeze (that I am aware of) of the season.

Yep. Cold.

Face Painting! These are supposed to be spooky eyes ha ha ha. It's what Noelle picked!

Riding Tater the horse. Noelle is in LOVE with horses right now. She asks to go to the farm and ride one every day :)

They're Married!!

My dear twin sister Krysta is finally married! And she couldn't have picked a better guy! Heber and Krysta Tapia were married on Oct. 7 in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. And everything was perfect, except for the weather. But really, you can't have EVERYTHING be perfect on your wedding day.
Their reception was so much fun, good food, family and friends, and good music and dancing! It was a party! We were all so happy for this exciting day, and I am so happy to get to share the joys of marriage with my sister now ha ha.

The happy couple

Noelle and Addie dancing. Noelle literally danced all night. If we ever took her away from the dance floor she would say "Let me dance!." At about midnight she finally laid down on the floor and said "I'm tired."

The 3 Gau nieces with their Tia Krysta

Felicidades to the Happy Couple :D

5 Months Down!

This baby girl just keeps growing, and keeps lighting up our lives! She is our sweet, smiley girl, we love her so much! With every month that passes I just become ever more grateful to be her mother. What a blessing our little Soleil is!
I realized that I forgot to put up her 4 month stats, so those first. At her 4-month checkup she weighed 14 lbs. 9 oz, which put her in about the 75% for weight, and she was 24 in long which put her about 90% for height. We love our chunky girl!
Soleil is so bright and sunny, she just has an openness about her, she is always alert and interested in what you are doing. She will smile at anyone and just instantly melt their heart, people always want to hold her :)
She is so close to being able to sit on her own, and she loves it. Every time I lay her down she tries to curl herself up into a sitting position, you can practically hear her saying "no, no I'm so tired of looking at the ceiling!" She is also now quite adept at rolling from her tummy to her back; no more tummy time for this girlie.
Our little ladybug is getting better at sleeping at night. She still wakes up twice, during her night, to eat. But it is on a pretty consistent schedule. But I am very excited to start her on solid foods tomorrow and see how that helps at night :)
Things we love about our Ladybug:

• Of course, her ready smile and cute, cute, CUTE laughter!
• She grabs EVERYTHING that comes within her reach and tastes it. Funny now, but I'm sure I won't love it as much when she can move around.
• Today she figured out how to say "ba-ba-ba" and didn't stop saying it until I put her to sleep :) She would just talk to me like she had finally figured it out and had so much to tell me!
• She loves to lay on my chest and roll off while I catch her.
  
• She loves when I pretend to eat her belly and toes hee hee.
• She still loves to hold my hand in the car.
• She is willing to rock from side to side on her back like nobody's business, and loves to reach far up over her head to look at and get things, but she will NOT stay on her tummy.
• She is absolutely engaging. Her little hazel eyes captivate you and her bright happy smile thrills you.
• When she is just chillin she blows bubbles, razzberries, and makes a little "pfff" sound. She also makes that sound when she is sizing something up. It is one of my favorite things she does.
  

My girlies reading in bed :)

Love that hair! She is too cute :D she had a piggy tail in the day before and this is what it looked like after sleeping on it all night.

I was loving the wedding. She wasn't :)

Havin' A Sleepover With Anya!

This weekend we had my niece Anya over to stay Sunday night so my brother and his wife could have a nice night to themselves :) These girls have so much fun together, it was such a blast! Anya is only 9 months younger than Noelle; it is fun to see a friendship blooming that will last forever.

Soleil Turns 4 Months

And she is still just as happy and smiley as ever! How we love our baby girl! She is just a joy to have around, and I love being a mommy to my two sweet girlies. Soleil is growing just like a healthy baby should, and making progress in the sleep department, although she's still not quite where I would like her to be. She usually wakes up to eat twice during the time that I am asleep. But that's much better than 3 or 4 times! She is doing great with tummy time; even though she still hates it, she can hold her head up well and even push up on her arms. she rolls from side to side on her back, it is exciting to see her get closer to rolling all the way over.

She is so good at grabbing things! She is lightning fast and is great at putting everything in her mouth. Though this toy just happened to be lined up perfectly, no grabbing effort required :)

She is getting stronger and stronger and will be able to sit unsupported soon. She so much prefers to be able to be up and looking about at the world. When she accomplishes sitting life will be much more entertaining for her I think!

Love that hair! She looks like she belongs in the cast of Jersey Shore heh heh.

Things we love about Soleil:

• Her beautiful smile :) She is so happy and smiles all the time!
• Her cute cute little sounds and noises. We love to hear her "talk"
• She loves to watch Noelle play
• She loves to watch Mommy cook
• Her favorite way to sleep is snuggled up next to her Daddy
• How her little legs just kick all the time...
• ...Unless she is bringing her feet up and grabbing her toes, which happens a lot too!
• How she "grumbles" when she is getting tired, bored, or upset. It is just too cute.
• She always wants to hold my hand when we are in the car. It's a bit of a stretch, but we work it out :)
• She loves to be (gently) tossed all about and bounced all around.
  
• How much joy and happiness she brings to our little family!
  

A video of our girlies. If you aren't family, this will prob be a bit lengthy, but I love it :) (For fun, reference back to the "Noelle 'talks'" post in May, 2009. They are almost exactly the same age)

3 Months Already!!

At the parade :) I love this picture. It looks like she's dancing at her own little private party in her stroller.

We had a little photo shoot at Grandma's house with our new camera!!

My goodness where has the time gone?! Our sweet little ladybug turned 3 months old on Thursday. She is such a joy to have in our family! It is so fun to watch her grow and change :) She is still quite big; she is very long for a 3 month old! With her size (she is wearing 6 month clothing) and her hair she looks like she should be crawling around already! She's not quite to that yet ;) But she does love to "talk" to anyone who will listen. She also loves blowing raspberries still, and she is starting to use her little abdominal muscles to try and sit up. She hates being on her tummy, but has started making little side-to-side roll-y movements when she is laying down. She loves to kick her legs like crazy, just like Noelle did. Today she actually was scooting herself around a bit from the intensity of the kicking :) She is still as smiley and happy as can be, we love her so dearly. She also still wants to eat every 3 hours, night or day :( This makes for one tired mommy, but she is just so cute I can't really be upset about it. She loves watching all the things Noelle does, and she also loves watching mommy cook or bake in the kitchen. She also loves to buddy up with her daddy and look out at the world from the height of his arms. She really is our little sunshine!

Heartbreak

Yesterday a friend of mine on facebook posted a link to a blog. It was about a family whose baby girl was in the final stages of liver failure. She was diagnosed with liver failure at 3 months, and just turned 7 months. She'd been fighting for 4 long months. Her skin was completely discolored from so little liver function. Her belly was huge and distended from swelling and an enlarged liver. But in the before pics, she reminded me a lot of Soleil.
When I went to bed last night, the latest news was that there might be a donor match for her. I prayed so hard all night. I knew that Heavenly Father had a plan for her, but I just wanted so badly for that plan to be the healing of this sweet baby girl. However, this afternoon I found out that she passed away overnight. This family is completely unknown to me; I am a complete stranger to them. But I think my heart broke into a million pieces for them. It just feels absolutely devastating. Sometimes matters of the heart just make no logical sense I guess.
I think part of the reason is that I know I will be losing loved ones soon. My Grandpa Williams was just diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and is not expected to survive to Christmas. My Grandpa Gau's health has been failing steadily for a couple years, and it seems like his time is not far away either. I have never lost someone I was very close to before. Both of these men are enormously important to me. I am not ready for either of them to be gone.
I think another reason is that this little baby girl reminds me a lot of Soleil. Just in her smile and the little personality that seems to radiate through her pictures. She just is adorable. And, of course, there's the fact that, as a mother, I think I would die if I ever lost one of my children. I can't imagine it.
I have read several stories recently that have been similar to this. But this one in particular has quite shaken me up. Oh my heart is breaking for this family. If you have time, and a lot of tissues, here is the link to their blog. Start in May and go from there.

I Just Wanted To Say...

That I LOVE being a mother! I have never experienced anything so fulfilling. There are things I used to do, sans children, that I miss sometimes. But I can easily do without those things because I get to be a mother to my sweet angels. I truly think my girls are angels. Their little souls just shine so brightly in their faces every day, like little rays of heaven on this earth. It makes it very easy to forget the frustrations that also come from being a parent :) I'm sure every mom feels this way, but I feel so blessed every day to have the privilege of being mommy to these angels from heaven entrusted to my care. Anyway, I just wanted to say.

Statistics

Yesterday we had Soleil's two-month checkup. Everything went well; she is nice and healthy. She has been dealing with some constipation issues lately, and her doc gave me some good tips to help deal with that without having to use laxatives or suppositories. Other than that she is doing great! She had her first round of immunizations too. Man I really don't like having to watch my little ones get poked. It is just so hard knowing that they have no faculties for dealing with it, and they do not understand at all why they are suddenly in such pain. Fortunately, they forget pretty soon :) Her legs did start to ache at the injection sites a few hours later so we've been giving her some pain meds, but she has been handling everything just fine. And now for the fun part:
Weight and Height Stats!!

Soleil weighs 12 lbs 6 oz and is 24 inches long. That puts her in the 90th percentile for weight, and the 95th for height!! Man, I knew she was bigger than Noelle was for sure, but I didn't know she was that big :) At this same age Noelle was about the 6th percentile for weight and the 24th for height. We are loving our chunky little girl though. As a breastfeeding mother, it was always very stressful to me that Noelle was so small. I was so worried that I wasn't feeding her enough, or that I wasn't making enough milk for her. So I am loving being able to just relax and enjoy Leilei's sweet personality instead of stressing all the time about nutrition. We love her so much! She is just the perfect little addition to our happy family :)

Two Months!

Today is my sweet little Leilei's 2-month birthday! :) In some ways it seems like it's been much longer than that, but in other ways it doesn't feel possible that my tiny little baby (who is not so tiny anymore) is already two months old! Soleil is such a happy addition to our family! She is still so smiley, it melts me every day. She is so fun to play with, and Noelle loves talking to her and coming up with ways to entertain her. Noelle also loves listing everyone in our family, and every time she gets to Soleil she nearly yells LADYBUG!
We are having so much fun as Leilei becomes more and more awake and alert. She is doing really well with holding her head up and figuring out that her hands belong to her :) She loves to look all around, and I absolutely love her little baby coos and the cute sounds she makes. Her hair just keeps getting longer, and is clearly growing in blonde :) On her eyes we are still undecided. I think they may go hazel, how pretty would that be! She has such a lovely tan complexion that I thought would fade, but it keeps hanging around. Of course, we think that we have made one of the loveliest beings on the planet lol.
I'm finally feeling human again and am loving that she is getting into a better sleep schedule. Erik is still having to work a lot, so us 3 girls just spend our days having as much fun as we can find!

More Summer Fun!

Can I just say that we are absolutely loving being close to family and friends? It is so very wonderful. I feel like we haven't been doing a whole lot this summer, but looking back at pictures I realize how untrue that is, and how blessed we are to have so many wonderful people to spend time with! We have been swimming lots and lots with family and friends, we have been to the zoo and to a parade. We have had barbeques and celebrated the 4th of July. We have done lots!

At the American Fork Steel Days parade. Noelle always has so much fun playing with her cousin Anya, even if the sun is beating down!

All ready for 4th of July fireworks! This year was fun finally getting to be with family! We had a BBQ with my family, then lit off fireworks in the streets with a bunch of neighbors. On our drive home, it was so beautiful to see all the fireworks in the air, and from the freeway we could see several cities doing their shows. Sandy city was doing theirs right by our house, so we pulled over to the side of the road, got out of the car, and watched their show too! It was really good. I had been kinda bummed that we didn't get to see a big fireworks show this year, since Noelle loved them so much last year, so it was the absolute perfect way to end our evening :)

Cute patriotic little girlies

All the Gau cousins having a good time :) So fun to have these little girls!

At the Hogle Zoo with friend Felicity. These girls always have such a good time together! Again, we are so blessed to have so many friends and family to spend time with!

Riding the carousel with Tia Krysta :)

Lots of swimming! I have been really bad at getting pics of all of the people we have gone swimming with, but here are just a couple.