Jacob and Becca

The Sharps got a pet!!!

2011-07-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

No. We didn’t get a dog or anything, although I’m sure Jacob would be ecstatic if I would consent. But for now, we’re just sticking with fish.

Not being a pet lover, I can get on board with fish. They swim around. You have to feed them and clean their tank. But, they aren’t scary looking. They are quiet. They don’t shed. They won’t jump up on me and scare me. All good points.

After Alexia spent a weekend at her cousin’s house, we saw how much she loved watching their Beta fish. So, we thought we could get some fish. GOLDfish. I know, the goldfish are the bottom-feeders of the fish world, but we were just starting out. If they die, it’s only 38 cents lost…We got a big 10-gallon tank, and decorations, and rocks, and plants, and three little goldfish. Didn’t name them yet. Then, they all died, and we got three more. Then they slowly died. Three more. Died. See a pattern yet?

The first time a fish died, I was worried about how Lexi would handle it. Would it crush her? Would she understand? I was pleasantly surprised at her reaction. She actually got to the point where she was EXCITED when a fish would die, because then she could help flush it down the toilet! I thank “Finding Nemo” for this. After all, she learned from that show that “all drains lead to the ocean.” I think she figures she’s doing these fish a favor! After 9 goldfish deaths, we found out that we were getting feeder fish – you know, fish bred and raised for the sole purpose of ending up as food for bigger fish. Feeder fish are not well cared for and have a high mortality rate. We decided to get another type of fish and settled on three little Tetras, and we have had no more deaths. Amazing! They did so well we got three more Tetras and then a few weeks later we got 3 Guppies. All are doing well.

Sidenote: As we were looking at which fish to get, Jacob pointed out the water-crabs to me, and thought someday we’d get one of those. He even pointed out to me how cool it is to watch them eat – watch them grab their food with their long, thin legs, and feed themselves with them. Hello!!! Have you MET me yet? Anything that even remotely resembles a spider – not on my list of fish to get. On the way home from Walmart, Jacob starts talking about other fish. Basically, any fish that Jacob thinks is “cool” is going to be one I’m afraid of. Fish that crawl on the bottom of the tank – not an option. Too much like a spider. Fish with big black googly eyes – not happening. Eels – uh…no.

Then, Jacob says “Someday, we’ll graduate to getting rats. They’re great pets.” Um…why on earth would we want a RAT?!? We had hamsters and gerbils in the house when we grew up, and I just remember what a pain they are to clean and take care of. (I don’t think I did any of the cleaning up…but it SEEMED like a pain.) So, Jacob says that Rats are so much better as pets than gerbils or hamsters. They’re cleaner, they don’t run around much, and they’ll even spend time just sitting on your shoulder! Why on EARTH would I want a RAT to sit on my shoulder?!? That’s fun…WHY?

Sounds like I have a long way to go before I’ll be comfortable with Jacob-type animals. Goldfish, I can get on board with. Tetras – okay. Heck, I could even go for a frog (water) or a turtle someday. But, for now…that might be all I can handle.

Baby steps…

Growing up

2011-07-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well, our little ones are getting older. Time is passing, and since I see my kids every day, I’m not noticing. But, I realize I haven’t updated this blog in months, and should probably update some pictures. After all, Cameron is going to be 1 this week, and Alexia will be 3 next month. So crazy.

Alexia is such a great big sister. She likes helping her brother do things. She likes feeding him, and loves to give him hugs and kisses morning and night. She LOVES to play with friends, especially her cousins. She really likes to be outside – especially when slides, swings or WATER are involved. She is keeping Jacob and me on our toes for sure. She’s getting past her two-year-old tantrum stage, slowly. She definitely still throws tantrums, and she whines with the best of them, but she’s getting better for sure. She does cute things every day that just make me smile. I love to see the way her little mind works, and watch the wheels spinning in her head, trying to understand the world around her. She is great at singing the ABC’s and Twinkle all the time. And she also loves singing Teach Me To Walk In the Light. She’ll love Primary in January, I’m sure!

Cameron is doing great! He’s not walking just yet, but seems close. He’s been cruising furniture for months! He is very social. He loves people. He is a lot less shy than his sister, and he loves smiling at strangers, and playing peek-a-boo with people. He loves to be tickled and teased. He’s doing well with sleeping through the night finally. It only took about 11 months. But he’s doing great now. Sleeps almost 12 hours at night, and still has two naps. So, I’m counting my blessings.

Here are some of Cameron and Lexi’s cutest pictures of the last few months. I’ll put more of the last four months of pictures, as well as their birthdays after they happen. Thanks everyone for being interested, and for reminding me to update this blog!

Halloween

2010-11-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

**Pre-warning: This is the last of 6 CURRENT POSTS. So, if you haven’t been on for a few days, make sure and scroll down so you can see all the current pictures we have posted!!!**

For Halloween this year, we decided to do the Wizard of Oz. We wanted to find something that we could do all in the same theme. I had NO IDEA how common of a theme this is!!! (I swear!!!)

We dressed up for Jacob’s work party at Squire, and actually won the grand prize for the contest! We got a $50 gift card for it! That made it worth all the headache of making the costumes and wearing them that day.

Poor Jacob couldn’t even sit down anywhere. Couldn’t really help with a screaming baby, or a tantrum-throwing Lexi. And, his back was killing him that evening from having to be so stiff. But, it sure looked awesome!!!

And I wish Lexi would have co-operated with the photo-taking. She was supposed to be holding her basket with her little dog in it, but I ended up holding it while she scowled at the camera. Never underestimate the power of a good nap (which she missed that day!)

I love this shot of Tin Man and Dorothy in the dark. So cute!

- Rebecca

Cameron's Blessing

2010-11-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

We blessed Cameron on September 5th. Both of our families came, and it was wonderful to have them all here!

My friend/neighbor Melanie made Cameron’s blessing outfit. She’s such an amazing seamstress! She made the button down shirt, and the cute vest, bowtie, and pleated pants. Amazing! He looked so great that day!

We got a half-smile out of him, at least!

After the blessing, our families came over for a luncheon. It was wonderful to have everyone here! Thank you family for coming!!!

Other Photos

2010-11-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

I realize that between last year’s Halloween post and now, Alexia has grown quite a bit. From one year old to two years old! So, before I post pictures about her birthday party, I thought I’d post a few extra pictures, just so you can see her growing up!

Lexi loves her bath time. She’d play in there for hours if I’d let her!

Lexi LOVES eating popcorn, especially on her daddy’s lap!

Lexi decided to color black permanent marker on her cheeks the night before Cameron’s blessing. Thank goodness it came off!

Any time Lexi wants to pose for a picture now, she squints her eyes. That’s common, right?

Gotta love that smile!

I sure do love my two little ones!

- Rebecca

Lexi is 2!

2010-11-12T11:12:00.001-08:00

Right after Cameron was born, I had to figure out how to plan a birthday party for Lexi! She turned two at the beginning of August!

We had a water party with my family. It was a joint birthday party with her cousin, Ariana, and Lexi LOVED it! She’s such a water girl! Then, on her actual birthday, we had Jacob’s family over for a small party and cake. Pictures follow:
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Lexi played in the pool for such a long time – just kept going down the slide over and over and over.
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The real hit of the day was the water slides. Jacob slid Lexi down the water slide over and over, and she just giggled and giggled. It was adorable! Her diaper was sagging down to her knees afterwards (we forgot to bring a swim diaper…oops!)
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Present time! These were her favorites – books with colors, opposites, numbers, etc. She LOVES them! (Thanks, Joe and Shauntell!!!)
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My mom gave Lexi this cute pink shirt for her birthday. Isn’t my two-year-old cute?
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Jacob’s mom made this awesome Elmo cake for Lexi. She was so excited!
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Jacob and I splurged and gave Lexi this Jump-o-lene for her birthday. We blew it up for her (took a lot of hot air!) and she played in it, laughing for a long time! Great idea for a present!

Now that Lexi is two, we just have to figure out how to deal with her tantrums, and typical two-year-old behavior. Gotta love it!

Cameron Album

2010-11-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I updated, and I know many of you have been asking me to post pictures of Cameron on here. I’m way behind on Lexi pictures too, so in the next few days, we’ll try to get some updates on here, and best of all – PICTURES!!!

Cameron is now 3 ½ months old, and doing great! He’s a great eater, and sleeps okay. Still wakes up twice a night, but for the most part, he’s a good baby. We’re so enjoying having him around. Lexi is a great big sister (most of the time!)

Here we are at the hospital – now a family of four!!!

Here’s Cameron shortly after he was born.
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1 month old
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2 months old
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3 months old – wasn’t in the mood to smile that day.

Isn’t he such a cutie, though? One of my friends told me yesterday that I make cute babies, and I just have to agree with her. What a handsome kid!

Cameron Jacob Sharp

2010-07-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2010
8:33 am
7 pounds 3 ounces
19 inches
10 fingers
10 toes
red hair?

Highlights

2010-06-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Alright, my mommy and daddy are busy. So, I figured I’d just take things into my own hands update you all. After all, I’m getting so cute, and everyone needs to see pictures of me and hear all about what I’ve been doing! I even have a few pictures to share! Beware, this post will be long, since mommy hasn’t posted in a long time!!!
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First, I better start last fall, when mommy made me this cute dress all by herself! Isn’t it great?!? We got some family pictures taken in it, and I think mommy is really talented. I loved my dress. (Too bad it doesn’t fit me anymore).
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Last fall, we also took some family pictures in the canyon. So, this was our little family back then. Soon, we’ll be a family of four instead of three!!!

Mommy bought me this cute snow-suit after the first big snow last year. And then, there was only one chance to play in the snow afterwards! I wasn’t quite sure about playing in it, but I’m sure I’ll be better next year. Hope it still fits!

This picture was taken on Easter, in a dress my grandma bought me. And mommy made my white flowers in my hair. I felt like a little princess all day! (I wore the dress on the week AFTER Easter, since it fell on conference weekend). Easter was so fun! I got to do an Easter-egg hunt, and up until a month ago, I used the word “egg” to refer to candy, since I thought they came together! It was fun going to church all dressed up.

Oh, and since we’re talking about church, I’m loving my nursery class on Sundays. It took me a little while to get used to it. At first, I hated it when mommy and daddy would leave me. I’d scream and scream until the teachers would go and get them. Then, they’d stay with me. Eventually, mom and dad decided to just come with me to nursery. I finally started having fun there, and realizing how great it is! I get snacks, and coloring time, and singing time, and everything! Now, I LOVE nursery, and mommy and daddy can leave me there just fine. I’m making friends, and learning new songs ( my FAVORITE is the wise-man, foolish-man song – I make mommy and daddy sing it to me EVERY naptime and bedtime ).

I’ve been sleeping in a toddler bed for a few months now. I like it a lot. It’s nice to be able to get out of bed myself. Especially in the mornings. I usually wake up really happy in the mornings, and I just play by myself in my room until Mommy comes and gets me. She really appreciates it, since she likes to get as much sleep as she can. She’s not sleeping well lately, since she’s so uncomfy. So, I try to help her by playing by myself for a little while so she can get some extra sleep.

I’m getting so big these days. I love to be outside, and I often will go stand by the door, and beg mommy to go out. I’ll say “uh died,” which means “outside.” Or, I’ll just bring mommy my “soos,” (shoes) and hope she gets the idea. I love going on walks, and I LOVE going to the park and going “wee” on the swings. I also really like bikes, and I point them out to my mommy and daddy whenever I see one. Maybe I’ll get one soon when I’m big enough to ride one!

I LOVE to read. I used to hand mommy or daddy a book, and just keep pointing at the front cover over and over until they’d read it to me. Now, I love to just sit on the couch and read books to myself. Mommy and Daddy think I’m so cute. It’s not all gibberish. I’m getting more and more words in my vocabulary all the time!

I love when daddy makes popcorn, and we sit and watch movies. Some days he just makes popcorn as a snack, and I love eating it! The day this picture was taken, I had not fallen asleep during nap-time, and I must have been so tired! The popcorn never made it into my mouth…

Before

After

Mommy and Daddy went on a Retreat together with Daddy’s work. They got to stay at the Homestead Resort in Heber. They left me with Grandma Sharp for a day or so, and I definitely had fun with her. Mommy and Daddy got to play paint-ball while they were there, and here are the before and after pictures of their game. They got pretty bruised and hurt during the game, but they said they had a great time!!!

Mommy and Daddy are getting ready for our new baby. Mommy is getting pretty tired lately. She can’t really hold me for very long, and I get really frustrated with it sometimes. So, I love when daddy comes home and can play with me, and obey my “up” requests, and hold me. He has a lot more energy than mommy and he’s so good at playing games with me. I’m trying to be better at playing by myself a bit, and letting her relax. I’m excited to get a new brother. I love babies, ever since mommy has been talking about my brother. I have two new little cousins, and there are lots of babies in my ward. Every time I see a baby, I get really excited, and point them out to my parents. I am good at being really gentle and soft when I am around them. I’m gonna be such a good big sister! I can’t wait to meet my baby brother in the next 2 ½ weeks. (Mommy is hoping he’ll come sooner.).

Those are all the pictures mommy let me have for now. I’ll tell mommy and daddy to post pictures of my new brother when he comes so you can see him.

Update

2010-06-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

The baby is due July 13 and we are both excited for our new family member. Everything is going well. Becca is getting nervous, but excited for the big day.

My (Jacob's) birthday is January 13 so July 13 is my half birthday. Happy half birthday to me!

We turned the AC off a couple of days ago because the rain had cooled things down a bit. We forgot to turn it back on last night so in the middle of the night Becca was miserable because she was so hot. I went down and turned on the AC and noticed that the temperature was at 72 degrees. We normally have it set at 73 degrees during the night so it wasn't hotter than normal, but I guess that is just one of those things about pregnant women.

We have not yet decided on a first name. Joseph, my oldest brother, has my Dad's name as his middle name, Jeff has my grandpa's name, I have my great grandpa's name, and Jonothan has my great great grandpa's name. We have decided to follow the same tradition so our first son will will be named ______ Jacob Sharp. We will fill in the blank when we know what to put there.

3D Ultrasound Pictures

2010-06-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

At Becca's last doctor visit, the doctor told her she was measuring small and ordered an ultrasound as a precaution. It turns out the baby is measuring fine, he is just low, but we got some nice 3D ultrasound pictures!

Still here...

2010-04-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Becca here. I just realized today that I have not posted pictures since Halloween! That's almost four months ago!!! What's my problem?!? Well, part of the reason is that we're trying to save money, and we cancelled our cable and internet. You wouldn't believe how much time I save not having internet all the time. It's awesome!!! Occasionally I get wireless connection, (that's how I'm blogging today), but mostly we just rely on our 10 free NetZero hours a month (good for emailing, and minimal internet usage). Gotta love saving money!!!

I'll post pictures and an actual update soon. Until then, I thought I'd just let you all know we're still alive. Jacob has been in busy season with work lately. But, we're so grateful he has a job, and happy for all the hours he's getting. Alexia is 20 months now, and has such a cute personality. It's so fun to watch her grow up and learn new things. And, we're getting excited for our little boy coming in July! No name ideas yet, but we've got time, right? :)

That's all for now! Hopefully I won't go another six months before I post again!!!

It's a Boy!

2010-03-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Of course we would have been happy with either a boy or a girl, but this will be the first grandson on my (Jacob's) side of the family.

Alexia shares her thoughts

2010-02-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

Interview with Lexi

Alexia

2010-01-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2009-11-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Now that it's one day away from Thanksgiving, I figured I better post Halloween pictures before it's too late!

Lexi was a lady bug this year. So, we went from one bug (bee) last year, to another this year! But, babies make the cutest bugs, don't you think?

We went to Jacob's work on the 30th, and trick-or-treated around the cubicles. Lexi wasn't sure about it at first. But, once she realized people were GIVING her candy...well, she loved it. Got really excited and strutted around the office like she owned the place.

Halloween night was our ward trunk-or-treat. Lexi wanted to play in the dirt piles more than she wanted to hold my hand and go around and get candy. But, we still hit all the cars. (After all, the more candy Lexi got, the more Jacob and I would get to share!)

Here's Lexi with her neighbor-friend, Halle. They're only four days apart in age, so they're really fun to watch together. Always getting into mischief...

Jacob and I had fun dressing up as Popeye and Olive Oil. Made our costumes just from things we found, and from a crazy D.I. trip the day before (it was packed!!!)

Here's my studly Popeye! Gotta love him! "He's the sweetest, most humble man on the face of this earth!" (those of you who've seen the movie will appreciate that line...)

Fall Family Fun!!!

2009-10-21T13:09:00.001-07:00

I’m overdue for an update, I know. Here’s a recap of stuff. Beware – long post:

Most everyone was able to come to Lexi’s birthday party back in August. Even Jacob’s grandparents came, so it was a full house! Lexi loved all her presents – got really excited about some of them. When it was time to eat her adorable cake her Grandma Sharp made her, she wasn’t so sure about it. She kept getting frosting on her fingers, and wiping it all over her onesie. So funny. But, she did finally eat some of it, so that’s good.

I love this picture of Lexi. She was playing with balloons with her daddy, and got really excited when she saw me coming down the stairs.

Isn't that the cutest cake ever? Jacob's mom made it to look like Lexi's pink doggy that she sleeps with. Too bad Lexi had to mess it up!

Lexi started walking four days after her birthday. Her motivation was…an oreo! She got the hang of walking SO FAST! She toddled for a while, and now she’s been practically running all over the place! It amazes me how fast she can get into things now! She's even doing really well on the stairs. No major falls yet!!! (Keep your fingers crossed...)

Remember several months back when we were having such a rough time getting Lexi to sleep? She wasn't sleeping through the night well. She wasn't napping well. And I'm grateful to say that both of those things are pretty well resolved. She sleeps at least 10-11 hours a night. She naps once during the day, and it's usually a 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap. She usually doesn't cry for a long time before she falls asleep either, which is great!

I stopped nursing Lexi over a month ago. Lexi only had a hard time with it for about a week. Then, she was fine. It's so great to have my body back to normal! (Well, mostly anyway).

Other news - I ran a 5K last month. All my running partners are in the picture below. My three brothers, and mom, and two sisters-in-law ran with me. (Melissa, Shauntell, Joe, Sam, Mom Partridge, me and Will) I wrote all about my 5K on my personal blog sharpbecca.blogspot.com. I fully planned on keeping the running up afterwards. I’d like to run a 10K in the Spring. However, it’s too dark in the mornings and evenings when Jacob is home to watch Lexi. So, I’ve been thinking of getting a treadmill, so I can run during her naps. I really don’t want to give up this running thing. It wasn’t helping me lose any weight, but I was feeling so much more energy, and I loved it! So, I need to get back into it.

Jacob and I have lots of projects we've been working on. Two weeks ago, Jacob laid our patio. What a process! (Digging up the ground, spreading and compressing gravel, then sand, then the bricks). It looks so good! We have a bit more to do on the other side, but at least most is done. We'll be building shelves in our garage. Trying to sell two broken cars. Trying to kill our weeds, and get our grass to grow.

This summer, we’ve taken lots of family pictures. Some with Jacob’s family, some with mine. So, here are a few of the ones we took with our camera. The real ones are better.

The two loves of my life (above) ...aren't they so cute?

And for FHE on Monday, we went to a pumpkin patch down in Santaquin with our neighbors. It was so much fun! It was dark, and windy, and such a fun adventure picking out some pumpkins, and having a hay ride! We’ll definitely do that again!

I think that catches us up!

MIA

2009-09-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. It's been a busy couple of months. Lexi's birthday went well. We'll be posting pictures and such from that soon. Also, Lexi has been fine-tuning a new talent that we may post a video of soon.

Forgive us for our slackage...

A Handful of Firsts

2009-08-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

First of all, Happy Birthday to my sweet Lexi! It's her First Birthday today! I can't believe how fast it's gone. I'm sure I'll do a birthday post once we have pictures from tonight's party and such. But, until then...it's been a busy summer, and Lexi has had a lot of OTHER firsts. (Beware...lots of pictures to follow):

Lexi's first Fireworks! On the 4th of July, we got together with some neighbor friends for dinner and fireworks. We had a ball! We didn't get any pictures of the fireworks, but Lexi definitely liked them. She wasn't scared of the noise at all. She actually really likes loud noises. But, even though the fireworks were awesome, she seemed to be most interested in her glow-stick bracelet and necklace she was given that night. Whatever works, right?

First time swimming - for Jacob's Squire work party, we got to go to the Scera pool. We brought Alexia's floaty-thing, of course. Got her all dressed up, and took her in the shallow water. She LOVED it! She wasn't scared of the water at all. She kept trying to drink it, and seemed to be perfectly relaxed with us! It was so fun to take her swimming for the first time!

She was pointing at one of the water-squirter things. Someday when she's bigger, I'm sure she'll have a ball getting water dumped on her head.

Water is starting to get cold...

I love this shot. Such a mischevious little grin...

In mid-July, we had our Partridge side family campout, and we went up to Mantua Reservoir - up by Brigham City. Lexi got to go walking in the edge of the reservoir, and loved it. She got in her floaty again. But, mostly, she loved playing in the sand. She only ate a handful of sand once - then she learned she didn't like it so much. She played and played in the sand forever!!! So fun!

She only ate sand once. She realized it's not all it's cracked up to be, and she didn't eat any more!!!

We've gotten to take Alexia camping twice so far this summer. It's hard to take a little one camping. Nap schedules get off. The nights were colder than we expected. Bugs eat us alive. But, Lexi seemed to have fun. She loves being outdoors, especially with her daddy.

No! Don't take the tent down with me inside!!!

Walking practice. (Now, she's walking one-handed, and occasionally a step or two falling into the couch. I bet she'll walk any day now!)

One more first we got to do this summer was Lexi's first bikeride. We bought a bike trailer, so we can go on rides with Jacob towing her, and me riding beside. We took her around the block a couple of times, and rode to the church and back another time. She loves this thing!

Well, that's all (for now) folks!!!

Don't Get Mad. Get a Camera!

2009-07-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

(Two posts today, since I'm so behind...)

Someone once told me this fabulous advice. When your kid makes a mess. Don't get mad. Get a Camera and take a picture! So, I'm trying to learn that lesson early, before the messes get worse, as I'm sure they will. Here are a few messes Lexi has made, and continues to make:

She can't leave her books alone. Every day or two, I try to put all of her books in a nice neat row next to her nightstand. She must not like them looking straight, because she bee-lines it to them every time she sees them put away, and she throws them all over the floor (gently). So, I finally took a picture of her playing with her books. So far, we've only had one ripped cover. Not too bad for an entire year!!!

Lexi's favorite place to play is my bathroom cupboard. She loves getting out my hairsprays, lotions, nail polishes, make-up, etc. I actually use this to my advantage. If I am not lucky enough to get a shower in while she's napping, I can set her in the bathroom while I shower, and she just plays with my cupboard and takes everything out of my drawers. (This was at the beginning of her play, so she hasn't gotten everything out yet). Gotta love it!

Lexi had a good nap, and had woken up happy. Started playing by herself in her crib, which is a good thing. Tells me she has napped long enough. I was on the computer for some reason, so I let her keep playing for a few minutes. I realized it was a little too quiet. (Any time Lexi is playing silently, I know she's into something she shouldn't be. Or has eaten something she shouldn't.) So, I walked into her room, and lo and behold, there she is, quietly pulling all of the diaper disposal bags out of the box! So, I grabbed a camera!

(I know what you're thinking. Plastic is dangerous for children. Suffocating hazard. So, although this was cute and funny to laugh about now, I did make sure and put the bags somewhere other than the top of her changing table, so she can't reach them. Just so nobody thinks I'm a terrible mother...)

We've Arrived! Sort of...

2009-07-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

Well, after being in our house for almost two years, we have finally arrived...We finally have green on our yard! It's been a full two-year project. Jacob dug all of the trenches all by himself. Just him and a pick axe and a shovel. Since he'd just work on it here and there after work or for a bit on Saturdays, it took a while to do it. We had our yard trenched early on. Then went through several months with hills and trenches all over the yard.

Then, last fall, Jacob got all of the sprinkler parts, and laid all of the pipe himself. I helped a tiny bit. I mean TINY. Then, Jacob covered all the trenches up - I helped another tiny bit. Then, this spring, we pulled a KAZILLION weeds, and raked TWO KAZILLION rocks. Jacob got the sprinkler heads on, and the system programmed.

Then, some awesome neighbors, and one awesome sibling came over and helped us spread our top soil. And we seeded in May. Here are some pictures of the top soil party.

Since May, we've just been waiting patiently for our grass seed to grow. Right now, the lawn is green! Wahoo! Unfortunately, it's probably more weeds than grass. We've heard conflicting advice on when to do the weed and feed stuff. Some people say not to do the weed and feed yet, but to do some weed-be-gone stuff. However, we also hear that in the heat of the summer, it can burn the grass. So, we don't know what to do yet. Eventually, the winter cold will kill the weeds and the grass will flourish. Hopefully.

Here's a peek. Pretend it's all grass...

Not too shabby, eh?

Lexi Update

2009-07-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well, since Alexia is almost a year old now, I figure I better update things from her 9th, 10th and 11th months before she turns a year old! Shame on me for being such a slacker. And sorry this post is SO LONG!!!

Here she is at nine months. Notice the slobber all over her onesie.

At her 9 month appointment, Lexi was under the 3rd percentile for weight AND height. I promised the doctor that I WAS feeding her, and he wasn't worried. She's just a tiny one, which I love. It's so cute how tiny she is, but how chubby her cheeks are! (I'll be interested to see how her 12 month appointment goes, because it seems like she's grown a lot lately).

She's lost her fascination with the camera, so it's harder to get her to smile at the camera like she used to. But, sometimes the candid shots are cuter anyway. At nine months, Lexi had officially said her first word (dada - she said it on Mother's Day). She began rocking back and forth while on her bum, and she'd scoot herself in a circle on the floor. She loved practicing her sounds like "tuh tuh," or "th th th" or "yuh yuh."

Then, she hit 10 months in June. Here she is with daddy:

In June, she learned to crawl. It started out as a tummy/army crawl. She'd get down on her belly, and use her feet to scoot forward a few inches at a time. Then, she learned to crawl using one knee and one foot, which is how she still does it.

Even knowing how to crawl, her favorite thing was walking around using daddy's hands. He'd go really quick around the room, and she'd pump her legs as fast as they could go, round and round the room.

Now, Lexi is 11 months. I can't believe we have just less than three weeks until she hits her 1st birthday!

Lexi is an expert at cruising furniture. She pulls herself up really well now, and can almost go anywhere. She's also amazing at staircases now. Wherever we go, she looks for the stairs. She goes up, and then claps for herself when she gets to the top. I thought it'd take her a while to learn, because for two days straight, she only crawled up one step. But, then, one day, she just decided to go up the whole flight!!! So, we now have to take the gate with us when we're downstairs, so we can keep her down there, and not go up and down all day long. (she doesn't know how to go down yet, so I still need to follow her up).

She cut her top two teeth a couple of weeks ago, so now she has 4 teeth. Two top and two bottom. If I can get her to smile really big, I'll post a picture of that.

She loves adult food. Now we feed her anything we can. (Still minimal milk, and no citrus, PB or honey or eggs). But, she loves mommy and daddy food. She begs every time we're eating. So, for dinner every night, she tries whatever we're eating, and if she doesn't like it, then I just give her homemade veggie or fruit baby food, or finger foods. But, we're slowly transitioning to the table food thing, and it's so fun!!!

Update Coming!

2009-07-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for all your stellar advice and help with the nap-standing issue. It's still a problem, but it seems to be getting better. I'm doing better at not going into her room. And I KNOW she's not stuck anymore. She can get down on her own. It also helps if I make sure she's well fed before she naps. That way, I don't sit and wonder if she's crying 'cause she's hungry. As long as I know she's not hungry or messy, then I let her just cry, cause I know she's tired.

So, thanks for the help.

It's been way too long since I posted pictures and updates. We have had a busy summer, and I have several things to write about. So, I'll get on that pronto!!!

Happy Daddy's Day!

2009-06-22T12:49:00.001-07:00

In honor of Father's Day yesterday, I just have to give a shout out to my sweet Jacob, and the WONDERFUL husband and father he is. I am SO LUCKY to have him! He's a very hard worker, and I'm so grateful that I don't have to work outside the home because of the job he has, and how dedicated he is to providing for Alexia and me. And then, even after a long day's work, I appreciate how much he helps me with "Lexi chores" (diaper changes, baths, naptime routines, feeding, etc.) when he gets home.

But one of my favorite things about Jacob is how good he is with Alexia, and kids in general. He's basically a kid himself. I love watching him PLAY with her. He is the best at making animal noises, so when we sing Lexi's favorite song "Old McDonald,"she loves it when he makes up the animal sounds. He reads to her, and he makes up all the different voices in the story, and she's seemed to like his voice ever since he'd read to her or talk to her in the womb. He gets down on the floor with her, and teases her, and chases her, and tickles her, and invents games for her, and sings made-up songs to her, and tosses her in the air, and bounces her around the room on his shoulders. Alexia LOVES her daddy, and who wouldn't, with a daddy like that?

Thank you, Bear for all you do for us. Thanks for being such a good Daddy to Alexia. She couldn't ask for a better one! We love you!

Conundrum

2009-06-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, all you moms out there...I need help. Alexia is getting more and more mobile, and while it's way cute, it's also making nap time so much harder. She can pull herself on anything now, and when I put her down for a nap, she cries for a minute, then figures out how to pull herself up to standing and holding onto the bars. I don't think she can fall asleep standing up, so I usually go in there, and put her back down. I don't pick her up, or sing another song, or anything. Just set her down.

The problem is, she keeps doing it over and over. No matter how tired she is. Just now, she did it four times before she just barely finally fell asleep! So, we try to go down for a nap at 10, and here it is, 50 minutes later, and she's just now sleeping. The first time she stood up, I went in soon. Then, I waited longer and longer each time until I went in. I don't want her to get used to the idea of me coming in, and that all she has to do to get my attention is stand up. But, I don't want to leave her screaming standing up in there, because she'll never go to sleep that way!

Need advice!!!

I can do lots of new things!

2009-06-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

Slackers!!!

2009-05-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted! I even have a 9 month update all written out, and ready to post. It has all the fun doctor's office stats from her 9 month check-up, and a fun list of things about Alexia that are going on. But, I haven't gotten on Jacob's computer to get the stupid pictures off the camera yet! And wouldn't it just be AWFUL to post something without a picture? (Like I'm doing now) Heaven forbid...

Now that Alexia is almost TEN months old, I may just wait another week, and we'll post two months at the same time.

Sorry for the slacker-y-ness-icity-whatever.

Easter

2009-04-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have to do two posts today, since I had so much to catch up on, so don't miss the one below this one...

Check out this cute Easter dress that my mom-in-law made. So adorable!!! You can't see the fabric, but it's got little pink and white daisies on it. I love it! Doesn't she look like a little angel?!?

This yellow dress was another one that my mom-in-law gave her, and I thought it was so cute! Doesn't she look great in yellow?

For Easter, since we couldn't really give Alexia any candy yet, or do an easter egg hunt, we ended up giving her a whole bag of 12 empty plastic easter eggs. She's loving them! She sucks on them, and holds them, and pulls them apart, and tries to put them back together! What a great gift for a dollar!!!

Alexia broke her first tooth last week, and she's working on her 2nd! They're the two bottom teeth. Finally, something to show for all of this ornery behavior, and passing out (she passed out again on Sunday). But, her little tooth is just so cute! I love it!!! I wish I had a good picture of them. They're just so tiny, and I can barely even get her to let me look, let alone let a CAMERA look! But, I think you might be able to see the one tooth in this picture.

Okay, you'd have to have REALLY good eyesight to see it...it's tiny. But aren’t those the cutest pinch-able cheeks ever?

8 Month Pictures

2009-04-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted in a bit, and I have lots to write about. So, I’m gonna put in a couple of posts today. By the way, the night after I wrote the last post about Lexi sleeping well finally, it all fell apart. Sometimes she still has good nights, but most nights, she wakes up 2-3 times still. I don’t get it!!! Oh well. It’ll get better.

We took some pictures for Alexia's 8 month day (April 3rd). Decided to take some family pictures too. So, we set up a sheet, and Jacob set the timer, and here's what we got. Pretty good I think! I'm sad that Lexi has seemed to lose her fascination with the camera, so she is harder to get to smile these days. (Before, all we'd have to do is hold up a camera, and she's smile her face off!). Now, it takes a bit more work. But, that's okay. She's still cute, even when not smiling.

No idea what she's smiling at in this picture. Is she trying to fly up to the light?

"I can't wait until this photo shoot is over, so I can go play with my toys that are waiting for me on the floor."

It was really hard to get Alexia to look up at the camera when Jacob or I wasn't behind the camera flirting with her. So, we feel pretty successful that she was at least looking up in this one.

Alexia definitely loves her daddy!!!

Off the subject, here's a bragging moment: Lately, I’ve been making my own homemade baby food for Alexia. I went to a class a couple of weeks ago, and learned how. So far, I’ve made squash, apples, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and pears. Lexi loves them! And they’re really easy! I’ve just been freezing them in ice cube trays, then putting them in ziplock bags. They can keep for up to 6 months in the freezer! So, I’m way excited!

I still need to get some green veggies done, but it's a good start! I feel so domestic!

Sleeping Like a Baby...Finally!!!

2009-03-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

I posted a while back about how awful Alexia's sleeping habits were, and wondering if it was ever gonna get better. Thank you for all of your words of wisdom and well wishing. We finally seem to be in a good pattern now. It's not perfect. I know a lot of babies Lexi's age are sleeping way longer than she is. But, we have an awesome nighttime routine and she goes to bed around 10 every night. And....drumroll please....she wakes up only once. Count it. ONCE. She usually wakes up around 5ish. But, her morning feeding time can vary anywhere from 4:30 or so, until around 6. Totally depends on her. (The two nights she slept until 7:30, I thought I had died and gone to heaven!)

Then, after I feed her, she goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. Wakes up happy and all is right with the world! It's so wonderful! We've been praying for SO LONG that she'll get better at night time sleep and stop waking up so much, and it's finally happened! I get a REM cycle most every night now. And I just have to remember to recognize this as a wonderful blessing! She's still not awesome at naps. Some days it's two naps, and she's super ornery by bedtime. Other days it's three tiny naps. I think we're probably in the transition point where her body would really be okay with two longer naps. But, she's so used to taking short 30-40 minute naps, that she still needs three of them... But, I think I've said this before...I'd trade good daytime naps for good nighttime sleep any day of the week! So, I'm liking how things are progressing.

Sorry no pictures in this post. I need to take some more, especially since Alexia is sporting this adorable little pop belly, and I can't get enough of her chubby cheeks. They're the only two spots on her that are chubby. So cute. I'll get some pictures on here soon.

Other Lexi stuff: Jacob has lately been spending time with Lexi on the floor at night, practicing crawling with her. She doesn't get the leg bending thing. But, she'll get it eventually. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but I'm VERY grateful to not have to worry about that yet. She's doing awesome at eating her baby food. She LOVES her fruits, and she's starting to like eating bread pieces, and cheerios. Alexia is also starting to get more vocal these days, and it's so much fun. Such a joy she is!!!

Becca's New Blog

2009-03-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

I created my own personal blog just this week. It’s gonna be a soap-box, random-thought-type blog. I figured that our family blog is more for family updates and pictures and such. So, I created another one that’ll just be for my random thoughts about stuff. Check it out at your own risk! I’m still fiddling with it. I’m gonna change the background, I’ll probably change the title several times until I find something I love, and I still don’t have a profile or anything fun on there. But, my first two posts are on there, so if you want to check it out, feel free. It’s at sharpbecca.blogspot.com. (Someone already took beccasharp and rebeccasharp. I know! The nerve!!!)

New Skill

2009-03-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Alexia can now sit all by her onesie! She’s been sitting on the couch by me for a while just fine. She’ll sit in the corner and play with toys while I sit by her. But, on the floor, she hasn’t been sitting at all. Can’t hold herself there. Maybe it's her long torso, and short legs. But, all of a sudden, it happened. She never even did the tri-pod step. (Using her hands out in front of her to balance) She just started sitting up. We had borrowed a Bumbo from a friend about two weeks ago (a nifty little rubber-ish seat that helps babies sit up – useful for baby food feedings even). Lexi sat in it once for about 45 minutes or so, but after that, she didn’t want to have much to do with it. Before that, we've been practicing sitting, where I’ll have her sit on the ground with me sitting behind her, with my legs on either side of her. She'd play there, and have my legs to lean on. But, just in the middle of last week, she started sitting on her own – minimal falls. She can sit for more than 15 minutes at a time, with no falls! Now, she’s a pro!

It used to be that if I needed to leave her on the floor and run downstairs or something, I’d just have to lay her down on her back, and she didn’t like that so much. She likes to be upright. So she’s loving the fact that she can sit on her own now, because she doesn’t need us anymore to be upright and playing. (Of course, she does fall sideways sometimes, and needs us to rescue her. But, even when she falls, she’s rarely cried.)

Her latest favorite thing is for us to put her on the floor in front of her basket of toys. She then proceeds to take every toy out (some she plays with, others she just takes out). When all the toys are out, we put them back in and start over!

She looks way too tiny to be sitting all by herself! Pretty soon she'll be crawling! No. We're not ready for that yet. Not NEARLY ready.

She loves getting her picture taken! Here she is doing her latest intense grunt-smile. Love it!!!

"Whatever you do, keep breathing!"

2009-03-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Alexia is seven months old, and we took some new pictures of her last week. They turned out way cute. I haven't posted pictures in a while though, so these pictures are from the last month or so.

It's a good thing she's cute, cause she's sure been a handful this past week. I think she's teething. For one thing, she has been playing with her tongue a lot lately. Also, she's been slobbering more than usual. She's always slobbered a lot, but lately it's seemed to be more. She's also had a small cold lately - congestion, and snot running everywhere. But most of all, she has been really ornery. Crying when I try to nurse her (very unusual). Crying during her baby food feedings (which she usually loves). Or just crying for no reason.

It was one of these "crying for no reason" sessions, that a big event happened. Since Alexia was born, she's been a breath holder. She'll be crying, and just hold her breath for a few seconds. I found out that Jacob was a breath-holder when he was little as well. And my brothers kids were all breath-holders. So, I figured it was in Alexia's genetics. My sister-in-law, Tessa, taught me a trick to just blow in the direction of Alexia's nose when she holds her breath, and that gets her to breathe. So, it's been working so far.

But, on Friday, Alexia got really frustrated with me when I took something away from her and started cleaning the slobber off her hands and chin. She started screaming really loud, and then she didn't take a breath for a while. I watched as her face turned blue, her lips turned blue, and I tried blowing in her nose, and that didn't help. Then, all of a sudden, her body went completly limp, and her head rolled back. She passed out!!! She immediately came-to, and screamed her guts out. I know that passing out is a risk for breath-holders, but I didn't think it'd start this early! She's only seven months old!!! It scared the heck out of me! Looking back, Alexia was only holding her breath for maybe 15 seconds or so. But, it was sure long enough to shake me up.

Hopefully the entire teething process won't be so dramatic...

Isn't she cute?

Six Months Already?!?

2009-02-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

Has the time gone by that fast? Is my little newborn already six months old? Crazy! We went to her six month appointment last week, and I just can't believe that she's that big. Another six months, and we'll be putting her in front of a big birthday cake in nothing but a diaper, and seeing what happens. I can't wait. Then again, I CAN wait. I'm not ready for her to get big yet. I still enjoy that she wants to be held all the time. I still love when she occasionally falls asleep on my lap. I love when she lets me hold her near my shoulder, and she puts one arm over my shoulder, and one around my neck - mini hug. I love when she reaches her arms up from the ground waiting to be picked up. I love that she gets excited when I hand her a toy she wants. I am still too lazy to baby-proof the house, and I'm nowhere near ready for her to crawl or walk. So, for now, I'll just enjoy her being little.

She's still only 12 lbs. 5 oz. She's gained less than four pounds since her birth! But, she's growing taller, I guess. She's just under the 3rd percentile for weight, and the 10th for height. But, the doctor isn't worried yet. She's healthy, and I promise I'm feeding her. Jake and I just have small jeans in our family. (I know what you're thinking. And I agree. I wish THOSE kind of jeans were small too. But unfortunately, mine are huge, thanks to my hips and backside).

On another note, we had a breakthrough last week. We had three nights in a ROW that Alexia only woke up once. She went to bed at 10, and didn't wake up until after 5. It was amazing! Up until last week, she's been waking up faithfully in the 1:00 hour, in the 3:00 hour, the 6:00 hour, and up around 8:30. It was just getting to the point where I wasn't gonna be able to handle it anymore. I'm always sick, thanks to the lack of REM cycles in my sleep. And I've been praying that I'd find a way to get her to sleep longer. We had tried EVERYTHING! But, one thing I read last Monday suggested that in the nighttime routine, to feed the baby first, THEN do the bath, story, songs, whatever. The article said that if the baby gets used to having food right before nighttime sleep, she'll associate sleep with food, and when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she won't be able to put herself BACK to sleep without more food, creating a viciuos night waking habit. So, I tried changing the order of night stuff. I fed her around 9:20 instead of 9:30, and then had Jacob put her jammies on, sing a song to her, and pray with her and put her down. She went down without a tear, and didn't wake until 5:15 that first night. I told Jacob he's officially hired as the putter-Alexia-down-to-bedder-...whatever...person. Same thing on Wednesday night. Same thing Thursday night, except that night, she didn't wake up until 5:50. It was HEAVEN! Three nights of REM cycles in a row! So, I was a happy camper.

I was hoping that was the magical fix, and she was cured of her awful night waking habit. But, no such luck. The next three nights, the night waking came back with a vengeance. Friday and Saturday nights, she was up at 2 or 3, and I let her cry herself back to sleep, and fed her when she woke up again. But last night, she woke up at 2, then 3, then 4 (I fed her at 4), then she woke again at 5:45, then 6:45 (I fed her at the 6:45 waking), and again at 8, then 9. No idea where that came from. I'm guessing it'll just take a while for her body to learn how to fall asleep on her own. Naps are still a nightmare. So, I'm trying to be patient. Wondering what I did wrong from the beginning. Six month old babies are supposed to be sleeping through the night, right? And I'm pretty good about having naptime routines set. Once she's down for a nap, I rarely go back in her room while she's crying. So, I don't get why she hasn't learned yet to go to sleep quickly.

Oh well...I guess this will be one thing I'll be able to be grateful for once she gets older. I'll miss all the baby stuff, but I'll be SO grateful for a good night's sleep!!!

The Nine Blurps of Christmas

2009-01-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

I got this wonderful idea from Julianne, a friend from my old Dentrix and Wymount days. So, I'm stealing her idea and doing some BLURPING - (a technical term that means I'm about to catch you all up on what I've missed writing about in the last little while.)

It's gonna be a long one, so I apologize. Get comfy. Here goes:

Blurp #1
Alexia has been getting awesome at Tummy Time. (She's starting to be able to support herself sitting, but not quite, so we don't have pictures of that.) But, she's getting good push-up muscles on her tummy, so that's improvement! She used to not let us put her on her tummy at all, and now she's okay with it! At least for a few minutes...when she's happy...in the morning. Okay, maybe not the greatest at the tummy stuff yet. She just likes to be upright. But, I love how cute she is on her tummy. Notice her shiny hands - slobber everywhere!!!

Blurp #2
We're not big fans of the JCPenny Photo place. We got some great photos taken there a couple months ago, but they kept pressuring us to buy more pictures than the ones we wanted, and we thought "Hey, we have a camera. We have a finger to push the button! Why don't we take some of our own?!?" So, we took some Christmas pictures of Alexia, and they turned out pretty cute. Here's just a couple:

Blurp #3
At our Ward Christmas party, I KNEW Alexia would scream her head off when sitting on Santa's lap. But, I figured - every kid needs that screaming-their-head-off-on-santa's-lap picture for posterity. So, even though she needed a nap, we took her to the party anyway. And lo and behold, she didn't cry! Her first Santa meet was a success!

Blurp #4
Alexia's first Christmas went great! We were up in Brigham City with my parents for Christmas, and Alexia didn't scream her head off then either! She rather enjoyed eating the wrapping paper, and probably would've rather we didn't take it so fast to throw it away and hand her the present inside. But, she loved her teething rings her grandma Partridge gave her, and proceeded to slobber all over them immediately!

Blurp #5
On the 28th, we celebrated Christmas at the Sharp's. Alexia got a cute sheep piggy bank (that I'm sure she'll enjoy someday), and a cute pink onesie from Moab, a book, and another new teether! She loves ANYTHING we let her slobber on, so she loves the teething rings! We hadn't taken many pictures until Jake's brother Jeff got out this monstrous remote control Jeep Crawler thingy, and Jon started showing off and climbing all over stuff. Once he started crawling on me and up to Alexia, she got a bit scared. But, once she got over the fear, she proceeded to try sucking on the edge of it. Everything goes in her mouth! Even huge $800 toy jeeps!

Blurp #6
Alexia's new favorite game is the drop-the-toy-and-make-a-pile-and-wait-for-someone-to-pick-it-up-for-me game. She loves to sit on someone's lap, or sit in her bouncer, and have a huge pile of toys to play with. She then proceeds to drop them one at a time on the floor. (Or throw them, if the desire overtakes her). She then watches the toy pile get bigger and bigger. Then, she complains when they're all gone. So, we pick them all up and start over again. It keeps her entertained for a while at least! I can get cooking done and occasional cleaning, as long as I notice when the toys run out and pick them all up for her.

Blurp #7
We noticed how interested Alexia has been lately in our food, and so we thought we might start feeding her rice cereal soon. We thought we'd get her familiarized with baby spoons first, so she doesn't protest when we put said foreign object in her mouth. So, we gave her a bunch of brightly colored spoons for Christmas, and Jacob then proceeded to take over 20 pictures of her playing with them. I mercifully only posted three of them. (Watch the evolution of the spoon's position. She finally figured out which end goes in her mouth!!!)

Blurp #8
Every time I eat these days, Alexia just stares at my food. No matter what she's playing with, or what game she's involved in, if there's food in the room, and someone is eating it, she just stares at them and the food the whole time they eat. We'll have to teach her eventually that staring isn't polite. But for now, it's cute!

Blurp #9
Lately, we've been giving Alexia tiny finger tastes of things we eat. On Christmas Eve, we let her taste the sweet and sour meatball sauce. She loved that! We let her taste a tiny bit of taco salad drippings on a place (no meat in the taste, of course...just sauce). She LOVES it! So, we determined that she's ready for rice cereal. Everyone seems to have advice on when to start it. Some people are adamant that we should wait until 6 months. Others think we're behind because we've waited until 5 months. So, we asked the baby bible - the pediatrician. They gave us the go-ahead. So, on Tuesday, we gave her the first taste of rice cereal. Poor kid. She gets tiny tastes of good flavored food, and we finally determine we can feed her, and all she gets is this bland rice mush. But, she seemed to enjoy it! She kept grabbing the spoons, wanting to be the one to put it in her mouth. I'm sure that more of it ended up on her bib than in her mouth, but hey, it's a start!!!

Happy New Year everyone!

All Smiles

2008-11-19T15:42:00.001-08:00

Okay, I promised a while ago that I'd post some cute smiley pictures of Alexia. She actually started smiling really early, but it took us a while to get her to smile for the camera. When she first started smiling, it was too fast to get a camera and capture it. Then, she started smiling a lot, and would hold it for a few seconds, so we finally got some good shots. It's just taken me ages to post them!

Lexi was really happy one day after a nap, and she just kept smiling and squealing at me. So, I ran and grabbed the camera, thinking the smiling would stop by the time I got back. But, I must have been quick, because here's what was greeting me when I got back.

Here's another great one. Looks like she's almost laughing in this picture. Maybe it's not an actual giggle, but definitely a squeal of delight!

This one has got to be a favorite of mine. I LOVE this one! I have no idea how I got her to smile so big! And don't you just love her chubby-pinchable cheeks? I'm proud to say, she gets them from me. Everyone says how much Alexia looks like her daddy. But, I think I can claim those chubby cheeks!!!

This last one is Jacob's favorite. He took it when we were with my family at a cabin for an overnighter. Don't you just love how mischevious she looks? Like she's giggling at some secret he told her. She definitely loves her daddy!

My Baby Bumble Bee

2008-11-11T13:52:00.001-08:00

I know it's November, but I finally have my Halloween pictures on the computer, so I can finally show everyone the costumes we used! Halloween is Jacob's 2nd favorite holiday, so we had to do something fun. We got creative (mostly Jacob's creative juices) and decided on Alexia and me being a daisy and a bumblebee. Figured it would be a cute theme. Jacob spent a whole afternoon making the ingenious cardboard daisy to fit around my face.

We went to Jake's work trick-or-treat, and here's the photo.

Cute, huh? I have to say we were pretty cute together. People got a kick out of it. Jacob was dressed as Moroni (golden plates and everything!) But, we didn't get a picture of him. Shame on us!!!

I found Alexia's base of her costume at Walmart, and then dressed it up a bit. Jake and I made wings for the back, and sewed them on. We made the little antennas to put on top, and she was the cutest bumblebee ever! She didn't much like us putting the costume ON her, but once she got it on, I think she realized just how cute she was, and she enjoyed it!!! Now we need a good idea for next year!!!

Election Thoughts

2008-11-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Oh, I’m such a slacker! I still have cute pictures of Alexia to post, but I’ve been caught up in other stuff lately that I haven’t had a chance. I also need to get some pictures of Halloween posted on here. Will do!

But, the election and other stuff has been occupying my brain as of late, and I wanted to post about it. First of all, I’m not shouting for joy that Obama was elected…I was definitely rooting the other way. However, Glenn Beck, a talk-show host made a good point about it. If we go around hating Obama, bad-talking him, and criticizing everything that he does in the next 4 or 8 years, then we are no better than all of the Bush-haters that have gone around blaming him for everything wrong in the country. I got so fed-up with the Bush bashing sessions and criticisms, because although he may have made mistakes, I still respect the guy a ton and hey, he was the president of the United States. Have some respect! So, I'm trying to remember that although I may not agree with him all the time, he’ll still be the president of our country. He will still deserve our respect and need our prayers.

Next, I’m saddened by all of the protests and nasty things people have said about the church regarding our involvement in getting Proposition 8 passed. We have every right as a church to get involved and try and spread the word about something we believe in! I cringed when one of the spokespeople for the protests started criticizing “Thomas Monson” and blaming him personally for the passage of the proposition. It actually made me cry hearing him talked about in such a disrespectful way. I know that protesters have rights of speech and can protest when they want to, but it’s hard to see them specifically targeting the church and the temple in California.

So, let’s all keep President Monson in our prayers and pray that things can be resolved quickly and without too much negativity towards the church.

That’s all I have to say about that.

Daily Affirmation

2008-10-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Alexia is not a fan of naps. I don’t get it. I love a good afternoon nap. But, when it comes to that magical time of day when she’s crying for no good reason, and I know she’s fed, clean and I know she’s tired, she will not cooperate with my best efforts at putting her down for a nap. I usually try putting her in her bassinet after a sleepy feeding, but she always knows I’m putting her down, so she wakes up. At which point, I bundle her up and hold her for a few minutes, so she can fall asleep in my arms, and I can put her in her bassinet after she’s asleep. Sometimes that works. Most of the time, however, she wakes up when I put her down anyway, and she screams bloody murder for several minutes. This is the time of day when I have to exercise extreme will power and not get her. I have such a hard time listening to her cry because I imagine she’s saying “mommy, why did you leave me?” Or, “why don’t you love me?” Or other self-destructive thoughts. So, my new technique is to chant to myself quietly “I’m a good mother, I’m a good mother, I’m a good mother,” while I listen to her cry herself to sleep. I’m sure I must be doing something wrong. I’m sure all you experienced mothers know better ways of putting babies down for naps. I’ve even read books that say that if you put babies down for naps at precisely the right time (when they’re tired, but not over-tired), then they should fall asleep without tears. Apparently, this author has never met my baby. I’ve tried putting her down at the first sign of a yawn. I’ve tried putting her in her bassinet “awake, but drowsy.” Sorry, it doesn’t work for her. The only thing that works is if she’s asleep when I put her in, and by some miracle she doesn’t notice I’m setting her down. Otherwise, there are going to be tears. Sometimes only 2-3 minutes of weak crying – those are the good days! Sometimes 15 minutes of screaming. So, until I figure out a better system, I’m stuck chanting happy thoughts of motherhood to myself all afternoon. Or, I call Jacob at work and have him remind me what a good mother I am. That helps too.

Mommyhood is hard!!! Who knew?

When I do finally get her to go to sleep, she looks just like an angel!!! Makes the struggle more worth it!!!

Alexia's Blessing

2008-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

After three weeks, we finally got Alexia's blessing pictures downloaded and compressed. Took us long enough!!!

Her blessing went so well! My worst fear was that she'd either scream through the entire blessing, or poop all over her new dress that we paid $40 for. But, neither happened. All I did was make sure she was fed, and prayed for the best. She was an absolute angel during the blessing! She didn't cry or anything. Just stared at everyone in the circle. And, my brother Joe said that she was also staring just outside the circle, as if looking at someone else that was there (maybe one of her grandpa's that's passed on!!!). So, it was very special. She was wonderful through it, and Jacob did a great job blessing her. Here are a couple of pictures from the day.

Jake was helping me get her dress on in the morning, and as soon as I put her headband on, (that her wonderful Aunt Missy made) she just looked so cute! I had to run and grab the camera right that second to take a picture. Such an angel!

It was wonderful to have both our families there. Everyone from our immediate families was there, so that was wonderful. We missed our grandpas that couldn't make it! (Living and otherwise...)

I love this picture. It's a good family shot. Too bad we couldn't get Alexia to look at the camera. Even having three people behind the camera cooing at her and trying to get her attention, it still didn't work. But, all in all, it was a great day!

Doctor's Appointment

2008-10-13T13:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have to write a quick note about Lexi's two month appopintment. To say it was rough would be a major understatement. She screamed the entire time - even before the shots. But, I got her home okay, and she napped for a long time after we got home. I woke her up for a feeding, and she started screaming bloody murder. I didn't know what was wrong - thought I made a big mistake waking her up. Maybe she just needed to nap longer. Then, I noticed big red marks on her legs where her shots were. She wouldn't even eat well. She'd suck for a minute, then start screaming and it'd take 3-4 minutes to calm her down, until it'd start all over again. I finally realized she was in pain from the shots. And having never done the shot thing with kids before, I didn't know that I needed to massage her legs where the shots were, so the medicine would spread out and not all pool where they gave the shot. No thanks to the nurses at the pediatrician's office for not warning me - I'm a new mom, I don't know this stuff! Sheesh!

I started sobbing myself, feeling so bad I couldn't do anything to help her. I called a merciful neighbor who brought over some Tylenol, and after giving her some, I held her while Jake had to massage her sore spots. She was bawling, I was bawling. I felt so helpless! I couldn't explain to her what was happening or why she was in pain, and I couldn't make it stop fast enough!!! Finally, she fell asleep, took a short nap, and woke up feeling much better, and happier. Such a relief!!!

But while she slept, I was reminded of how I called my mom the night I was in labor with Lexi. I called her sobbing around 4 am, just needing my mommy. She sobbed through the pain with me, and ended up going through a night of agony wondering how I was doing, when they were going to give me the epidural, etc. FINALLY, now that I went through Alexia's pain with her, I understand a small bit of how my mom felt, and how all parents must feel when their children are in pain, and they can't do anything to stop it. This was just Alexia's first set of shots. I'm sure it'll be so much harder when I see her go through more of life's trials. But, it did give me a taste of how much parents can love their children and hate to see them go through pain.

Kind of reminds me Heavenly Father having to watch his son, Jesus Christ suffer through the atonement. I know that my love for Alexia is imperfect, and nothing near Heavenly Father's ability to love, but it does give me a new perspective, realizing how much Heavenly Father loves each of us and hates to see us in pain.

So, there you go. Those are my thoughts precipitated by Alexia getting her two month shots. I'm sure the 4 month shots will be even more fun...

Two Months Old!!!

2008-10-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how time flies! It seems like we JUST posted pictures of Alexia's birth and two week picture. Now she's over two months old, and I'm getting bugged by everyone to get updated pictures on here. I've been called to repentance! Hopefully now that we have more of a routine down, I'll be better at putting stuff on here.

We've been trying to catch Alexia in a grin - she smiles all the time. It's just hard to get her holding still and smiling, and it's hard to get her to smile for the camera. But, here are some of the shots we have anyway... (forgive me, I'm new at this blog thing. Jacob usually does it, so this layout may not be too aesthetically pleasing)

Isn't she an angel? Always so cute when she's sleeping...

Of course, she's way cute awake, too!!!

I love these next two -

I love that look of wonder in the first one, and that mischevious look in the second.

Check out these smile ones. I promise, her smile is way more pronounced in person, but with a camera, this is the best we could do...

And by the way, she LOVES her daddy. Every day when he comes home from work, I bring her down to greet him. (Unless she's in the middle of a feeding or something). Anyway, as soon as he catches her eye, she gets this huge grin on her face, and she's happy and smiley for several minutes. It's adorable. I love these three pictures of Jacob and Lexi...

Jacob is SUCH a great daddy! For a long time, he knew how to change her diapers better and bathe her better than me! But, I've since caught up, and I think it's a toss up!

Oh, that fateful day when Jacob decided to teach Lexi about bouncing. She loves to stand up. She's always had a rather strong neck - we don't ever have to hold it. And with her strong legs, she likes to stand. To calm her down in the evening, Jacob started jumping her up and down on his knee, and she loved it. Now, she's addicted to the adrenaline or something. It never fails to calm her down, so we end up bouncing quite a bit. And it's a great workout for the arms!!!

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of both of them. I love how Alexia is just mesmerized by her daddy. I'm so glad I have such a wonderful hubby who's involved and loves to play with his daughter. I'm sure it'll get even better as she starts crawling and moving around more. Then, the kid in Jake will come out to play!!!

Okay, gotta post one last one. So cute!!! She used to not like the shoulder hold - but now sometimes it's all I can do to calm her down. Especially when she goes to the doctor's office...but that's another whole story for a different post.

2008-09-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

For anyone waiting for more pictures, we will post some soon. The past few weeks have been very busy for both of us. Alexia has begun smiling, but she seems a bit camera shy because as soon as we bring out the camera she seems to loose interest in smiling. We have a couple of good pictures though, and hope to post them soon.

Still Kicking at Two Weeks!!!

2008-08-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Alexia is two weeks old, and we're still happy and healthy. Becca insisted that we have a picture on the blog with me in it. What does she think I am, the father? Sheesh!

Happy Birthday Alexia!

2008-08-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well, here she is, just hours after her birth.
Alexia Rebecca Sharp
Born: August 3, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Weight: 8 lbs 12 oz.
Length: 20 inches.

No that is not a typo, she was really 8 lbs, 12 oz. I don't mean to say that she is the biggest baby I have ever heard of or anything, but we were quite surprised that she was so big. Even the doctor was expecting her to be in the 6-7 pound range.

Of course we both fell in love with the little lard bucket right off the bat. I was quite proud that she was definitely the cutest baby in the nursery. I know because I checked when I accompanied her for her first bath.

We found out quick that she definitely did not have underdeveloped lungs. She was very helpful in letting us know how healthy she was. But she also has the cute cries like "Mwuuuu" or "Gnuuu" and even the defined "Waaauuuu"

I have been told that she gets the I'm-going-to-cry-so-hard-that-I-hold-my-breath-until-my-face-is-blue-cry from her daddy.

We told both families that we would accept visitors at 8:00. We expected the grandparents to be there right at 8:00, but we didn't expect to be the night's main attraction. My (Jacob) whole family was eating dinner at my mom's house and so they all just jumped in the cars and came over. Add to that a few from Becca's family, and you have a full house. The rest of Becca's family thoughtfully decided to stagger their visits throughout the next couple of days.

After three long days in the hospital and sleeping in a chair, it was finally time for Alexia to come home. We broke out her outfit that Becca picked out to bring her home in and found that it was almost already too small. At least she got to wear the little booties for 10 minutes before kicking them off, 'cause there's no way she will fit into them any more.

Boy, my girls sure clean up nice. The outfit change seems to have been too much for baby Lexi.

At home we quickly found out that we were going to have to change her clothes about as often as her diapers--at least until we learned to not move the diaper from under her until about a minute after we opened it.

We also learned that to save her face from her fingernails, we had to put one of the socks--already outgrown I might add--on her hands. She doesn't mind having one sock on, but if we put both hands in socks, she quickly takes them off.

Thank goodness for Grandmas who stay overnight to hold the screaming baby while we recovered from the hospital sleep deprivation. I don't know what we would have done without them.

So, finally, the beautiful mommy gets to hold her beautiful daughter. Her tummy is getting smaller and smaller and the baby has begun to put on some weight. We are all healthy and happy.

One final picture, because she is so cute and comfortable in her daddy's arms.

The Great Belly!

2008-07-26T11:40:00.001-07:00

Let's take a journey with Becca through pictures, shall we?

Before...

About 20 Weeks

About 28 weeks

It's poppin' time!

Nursury Pictures

2008-07-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

For the one or two of you who are interested...

If I haven't convinced you yet that Becca has gone crazy with her pregnancy, think about this. She spent hours and hours and hours fixing up the nursury. I mean all you really need is a crib and a few boxes to store clothes in, right? The shadow boxes were hand painted only after hours of agonizing over the perfect arrangements and colors. I believe one or two of them didn't meet the standard and had to be repainted - numerous times.

Becca also hand made the curtains. Later we found some that were very similar at Wal Mart for less than we spent on the fabric. But our curtains have a little space on the end so that they can overlap. Beat that Wal-Mart!

Getting ready for baby

2008-07-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Becca is nearing the end of her pregnancy--and feeling it. Although she is still having fun. In fact, the "great belly!" has become very useful as a place to stop spills from hitting the floor, or as a shelf used to hold her book up while reading!

The nursury is nearing completion. Becca spent hours planning out the paint to go on the wall before actually starting. She made a "scale model" of the wall in order to plan it out. As you can see, the time seems to have paid off.

Yesterday as she was planning which outfit to bring to the hospital, she agonized over what color to wear. The first outfit she wanted to bring would have clashed with the baby's outfit. A different outfit would not look good with her pained toenails ... women! I guess that is why she never asked my opinion as to what clothes to bring because I would have picked the ones closest to my hand.

Of course we are getting very excited for the baby to come. She is due on July 31 (Though if she would come on July 25 or June 1 that would fit better with my schedule:) We have chosen the name Alexia Rebecca Sharp, which will be her name unless she doesn't look like an Alexia or Ali or Lexi.

Thanks for visiting!

2008-07-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks for visiting our blog. We have not yet created any posts, but hope to start blogging soon. Come back another time!