Ye Old iPhone pics

Finally got around to moving the phone pictures onto the computer, so I figure I might as well take advantage of blogging about some of our recent impromptu-don't-have-the-camera-on-hand-so-quick-grab-the-phone pictures....

Along with everything that comes with being a second year Medical Student, Brandon has also been working his tail off for the last 8 months on research. Last week, he was able to present his research at the Academic Surgical Congress in Las Vegas and got to stay at the swanky Wynn hotel. Since his trip was only a mere 24 hours, we didn't think it would be worth it for me to join...but in hindsight, next time: I'll go too :) Between class, studying for exams, studying for the upcoming Boards, research, preparing his presentation, spending time with me and Tenley, Church, he and Tenley were able to get some much needed quality time together....nap time:

I had a meeting for my job, so Brandon was in charge of putting Tenley down for her nap...when I got home, that was the sight I had. Loved it. They took turns snoring....precious.

Here are some pictures we took when we went to Temple Square for Family Night back in December. Tenley is absolutely obsessed with "Lights!"...needless to say, this was pure heaven.

While we were in AZ, my mom treated us to a night out on the town and she kept Tenley for us! Honestly, if you know my mom, you know her middle name is, "I'll watch the kids and you guys go enjoy yourselves!" She is the best. She even gave us a gift card to Claim Jumper....Brandon ate like a King.

Here is Miss T. Clause at Church on Christmas. We were in my sister's ward in AZ, so nobody knew who we were, but having a cute little Clause in your company is an easy way to have everyone come up to you after Church and ask if you are "new in the ward." Sorry folks, this cute little girl belongs to UT.

We have been trying to schedule actual "Saturday Family Time" so I'm trying to get creative and come up with fun/free things we can do as a family. Feel free to share any ideas you might have...

Here we are at the library, where Tenley was able to score a free book AND a library card. She loves books, and the cutest thing is when she is reading to herself in her carseat. We can just hear her in the backseat talking away and making animal noises as the flips the pages.

Another favorite of hers? Swings. Living with a playground 25 ft away from your front door has its pros and cons. Pro: you don't have to walk far to find a park. Con: every time you walk out to the car/get the mail/neighbor's house, you have to hold onto your one year old's hand as she pulls and tugs toward the swings crying, "Siwah, Siwah".

Here she is doing her favorite past-time. A personal favorite of hers is when you pretend like she is going to swing and push you over when she comes toward you. I'm sure I look awesome as I utilize my best acting skills and sound effects as she "knocks me over"

Recent favorite past-time: studying with Daddy. Everytime Brandon is sitting at the table studying, Tenley MUST be sitting in his chair with him. As long as she has a highlighter, book, pen and her Daddy's lap...she's content. Mommy = loves it. Daddy = can't get anything done.

And, lastly...a random picture caught on the phone. Still not quite sure what she is doing, but during random times of the day...we will find her laying on the floor just putting her feet in the air. So content.

Love is the Balm

Being a mother has opened up chambers of my heart I didn't realize existed. What a blessing it is to now not only spend Valentine's Day with my best friend, but also our sweet little girl.

I remember a favorite talk from back in the EFY days, the speaker titled his message, "Love is the Balm", referring to the Balm of Gilead. How true that is.

Lucky to not only have my little family of 3 to love, but also the family and many friends we get to love.

Two Posts in One Hour. Pinch Myself.

Just realized that after submitting that big long blog post, I didn't do my proverbial "Tenley Update". Here she is with her Nana, whom she LOVES. While we were at my mom's house, every morning we would wake up, Tenley would point to the door and say, "Na". She immediately wanted to begin her day off with this lovely lady. Can't blame the kid.

Our little stone-faced child :)

Some honorable mentions of Tenley:

She WALKS like a normal 14 month old! In fact she runs!

She loves to play in her crib. When I put her down for bed at night, she will sometimes play for an hour and a half before finally falling asleep. I have started to put her in her crib by about 7:15PM just to ensure she's going to bed around 8PM.

She LOVES these blankets, and every time she sees someone else with one of these blankets, she tries to go grab it, find the corner of the blanket, and put it in her mouth (*her trademark)

She loves balloons, in fact, she is so trained to know that grocery stores give out free balloons, that when I put her in the grocery cart, she immediately starts to look up and ask for her, "Ladle, ladle" (note: she says that for balloon AND blanket, because she sees us using the "L" in those words. The reason I know this is because I once asked her if she wanted a Lollipop and she responded with, "Ladle, Ladle"...guess she's learning her sounds)

She literally belly-laughs with her Daddy, it is adorable, but sometimes disheartening when I spend ALL day trying to get her to belly laugh, and then within .04 seconds of Brandon walking in the door he has her rolling. It's endearing, I tell ya.

She and Brandon have this game when we eat dinner where Brandon will look away and then look at her and snort/growl/bark-ish. Well Brandon has been pulling some LONG days lately (LOVE YOU babe), so we haven't seen him as much as we would all like. I have a family picture of us above the dishwasher, and the other night Tenley would look at the picture and then look away, and then look at the picture again and snort/growl/bark-ish. So cute, but so sad huh?

We have been teaching Tenley about Jesus, and lately before her morning nap we will sit and read out of her very own little Book of Mormon. Well now, it is her favorite book (even though there are only those 5 pictures in the very front of the book!) and every time she is running around I need her to come sit and read to wind down before naps/bed, I just say "Let's read your Book of Mormon" and she immediately walks over to the rocking chair. I have to put the book up high where she can't reach it, because if I don't she will carry it around all day and tempt to rip those fine little tissue-paper-like pages. Our little scriptorian. :)

That's all I can think of for now, I gotta save up for my next blog-post in 2 months from now!

First year sharing Christmas with Palm Trees

Might as well start the new year off with a post, eh? Let's not notice that it's already February. That's still the New Year to me, folks! And, to make it even better, I am going to blog about Christmas 2011. How's that for New Year's blogging?

Rewind to Christmas 2010. Erica = had a newborn which happened to be the same timing as my Mom's 60th birthday (December 29), and well, let's just say I didn't really feel like venturing out a TON for the first 3 months of Tenley's life. (read: not at all, in fact I hibernated better than most bears do). So, my mom's 60th birthday ended up being kind of a flop because we all had these great plans to spend the New Year with her and then if you remember the crazy snowstorm of 2010, you will remember that everyone was snowed in.

So, in 2011 we took it into our own hands to make sure our Mom had the best redo "60th birthday" present ever. By August of 2011, we were making plans to get the entire family down to Arizona for Christmas and to surprise our Mom (she moved to AZ last year...and after spending Christmas down there, can't blame the lady!). And if you know my family, you know that is literally NO small feat. Even by December 21, we were a little worried we weren't all going to actually be in the same zip code for Christmas.

Brandon, Tenley and I flew into Arizona the Wednesday before Christmas, hoping to snatch up some quality time with my best friend/oldest sister Rebecca . We had so much fun stealing some one-on-one time with her family before the rest of the crew came in. By Friday afternoon, we were all waiting outside of her house for the big surprise. Brandon and I were in charge of getting all of the grandkids out to the cul-de-sac so that my mom was in her house alone. We got the older grandkids involved so that we could make sure every single kid replied with a "yes" when we excitedly exclaimed, 'Hey guys, do you want to go outside and play red-light-green-light?' That was their cue. The older kids were so awesome about getting everyone outside. I was the last one to leave my mom in her house. I say, "Mom, I'll be outside with the rest of the crew." And of course, she says, "Okay I am going to print some recipes out in my office." Office= the huge front window of her house. So I hurried outside and made sure nobody parked anywhere or came CLOSE to that window! Once we were all gathered together, we rang the doorbell and Rebecca's family was there to sing, "We wish you a merry Chrismtas", and then Rachelle's family chimed in, "We wish you a merry Christmas", and then the Wilkinsons, "We wish you a merry Christmas"...and for the surprise sisters, Lindsay "And a happy new year" and then Krista's family. Here was my mom's reaction:

Makes me want to cry again just thinking about it.

Needless to say, she had NO clue. Which was a relief to me because I really thought I had blown it at least 2x while we were there.

Mom: "Oh look I found these pacifiers of Jack's under my bed."

Me: "Oh I bet he will be excited when he sees those!"....."Because I will put them in my bag and bring them back to UT with me!"

We had so much fun together as a family, we played ultimate frisbee, went on jogs, walked to the park, ate, watched movies, and just spent time together...all 21 of us.

For our Mom's "60th" party, we gave her the gift of family pictures. Our photographer was honestly AMAZING, she has even sent us all CDs with the pictures on them, and she wrote us all thank you cards. If any of you three readers of mine live in Arizona, check her out: Amy Hill

Here are some pictures from the photoshoot. I will try to get some more up when Brandon is home so he can walk me through the "how to upload pictures on a Mac" phase. Noted: Brandon gave ME the ultimate surprise for Christmas and bought me a MacBook! That might explain my sudden burst of blogging/Facebooking/emailing....because I actually have a computer now. Hooray.

Here are the adults. I wish I had the picture of this, but I need to write it down to document how hilarious my sister Rachelle is. Our nephews are all boy, so they were pretty excited when they found a DEAD butterfly to play with. At the same time, Rachelle was remarking on how she didn't have a guy in the picture with her. So, she grabbed the butterfly and placed it on her shoulder. We are thinking that butterfly was DEFINITELY a male. :) Maybe you had to be there....it was funny.

Our Christmas card picture that I never got around to sending to anyone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WILKINSONS

The posterity

I love this picture. My mom = just one of the girls

My beautiful Seesters

I LOVE these sisters/momma of mine

**note: if you think the outfit I'm wearing is my go-to outfit for any family picture I take,

then you would be right.

Arizona was literally magical and we loved drinking up every second we could with each other,. Having Tenley be around all 10 of her cousins was priceless. Though I would say, for the record, it literally broke my heart to not get to have my Dad witness all of the love. Divorce = no fun. So maybe in 2013 I will be blogging about our big surprise to my Dad/Eva's house for Christmas! (I'm safe to say that because I'm pretty sure my Dad doesn't even know my blog address :)

Another month has come and gone. Honestly, I know people always say when you start your family, time just rushes by...but I am ONE of those people now! I feel like Tenley might as well be graduated from sixth grade already.

Our awesome friend, Noelle was so kind to do our family photoshoot for Christmas cards this year. Turns out, with the gift-giving season upon us, we had to make a cut somewhere...and well, Christmas cards got the cut. I'm making progress on a homemade e-card for everyone :) But I figure I might as well capture these moments of having the computer to myself + a napping baby.

This baby girl eats more than any other 1+ child I know. Honestly...I'm not just saying that, I have had STRANGERS comment on what a good eater she is. She'll normally sit in her highchair for a good 30 minutes, continually shoveling food into her mouth. If there's a lull in the food supply, she constantly squeaks, "Mo, Mo Mo" (equivalent = more). She eats 3 square meals a day, 2 snacks...so if I do the math right...that means she sits in her highchair for an estimated 3+ hours a day. She has MANY favorite foods right now: brocolli, peas, CHEESE (like 1 LB every 2 weeks, folks...I promise I am sticking strictly to the "recommended" Food Pyramid for a 1 Year old)...she also loves frozen strawberries, raisins, toast, eggs, yogurt, chicken, beans, PBJ sandwiches, graham crackers, tortillas, rice, cookies;) Not even kidding, we haven't found a food she won't eat. Hallelujah. that might explain her healthy 1 year stats:

20.6 Lbs

She loves to sing....and dance...and jump. She is ALWAYS jumping. In fact, we don't think she will take more than 5 steps of walking because when we start to cheer for her for taking some steps she starts to jump and then falls over! She and I will sing duets in the car when we're driving. I'll start off a song, and then stop, say "you're turn" and then she will start to sing. Melts my heart right to a puddle, I say.

We have had a couple of late nights with her during December, and we our good friend was holding her, then 30 minutes I look over and she has Tenley asleep! Then the week later, our Bishop's wife had her on her lap during a Christmas program, and we looked back to see how Tenley was, and she was fast asleep! Honestly...we don't want to be annoying, but we have World's Best Baby. The only reason I say that on this blog is because I keep this as a journal-ish, and I want Tenley to know that we brag about how amazing she is and how she has raised the bar for all of her siblings :)

Last year of our life = the best.

Almost One

Our little Jazzerciser.

Can't believe she's going to be one this month. Although, with some of the new words/actions/phrases she has started, it's easier to believe. Sometimes I feel like she should be 2 by now.

Some of her favorite things to do:

Jump: Brandon has brilliantly created a "Jenny Jumper" contraption on our wall, so that little T can have the freedom to jump sans doorjams (our apartments has ZERO doorjams). With or without Jenny Jumper, our little girl is jumping all day long. When I go in to get her from her nap, she stands holding onto the crib and jumps. And...she catches AIR. Seriously. Cutest thing ever.

Clap: Not sure if it's her nervous gesture or what, but anytime she meets someone new, once she is done burying her head into our shoulder (bashful little thing), she immediately prepares her hands for applause. It's the most dainty little thing. My personal favorite: even when she is getting her diaper changed (which she now PROTESTS, wha??), if I start singing, "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" she will immediately wrap-up the tantrum and start clapping. So cute.

Singing: this little girl loves music. Every night I sing her the same 3 songs in the exact order (I'm a woman of repetition, I know)...now it is more of a duet. Whenever I sing, she hums right along with me. Usually on the same key the entire time, but I love the music we sing together.

"Da" = Daddy. And I know she really means it, because the only time she says it is when Brandon walks in the front door, or when I bring her in bed with us in the morning.

"Mah" = More. As in, feed me ASAP. This child is a disposal. She honestly needs a conveyor belt into her mouth. If we are not giving her a constant stream of food, she is ANGRY. (Favorite food: peas...the real ones. I microwave those suckers and she eats at least 2 cup fulls for dinner)

Can you tell this little girl has added a new chamber to our hearts? Love her.

Another thing

I can't let this mass-blog update go without a mention of Fall...which means Football Season. Which means 3 flag-football teams for this guy. Brandon just got his birthday gift in the mail last night....his reaction made me think we had another baby or something....

Too Fast

Where have the last 9 1/2 months gone? Anybody have any idea? I keep having this vision of Tenley being 18 years old, and wondering why her Mother only blogged about her 5 times in her first year of life. Not sure how I am going to answer to that one....Brandon's mom just gave him a photo album of him when he was a baby, and I loved reading through it. And since this is my only sort of "baby journal" I have been keeping, I feel more of an urgency to capture this sweet little baby girl of ours. I remember reading through my Mom's journals when I was younger, and she would write certain things that we had done as a family. I remember thinking I wish I knew more about what she thought as a Mom of 5 young girls, and the challenges she had.

I want Tenley to look back at these and know what I thought about, what I worried about, what she loved, what we loved to do together. Every night as I'm rocking her before she goes to bed, I say a silent prayer for her. I know what it was like to have to be a girl growing up in the world we live in now. When Tenley was given her baby blessing, she was blessed that she would always know that she was a Daughter of God and that would be the only validation she would ever need. If she knows she is loved by her Heavenly Father then no other person in this world would need to give her validation. I pray for her every night that Brandon and I can raise her in this world and help her remember where she came from.

The most defining trait of Tenley Marie is how completely calm and content she is. Even complete strangers have come up to us at the store before and said, "she is just so easy-going isn't she?!" And yes, yes she is. I never dread taking her anywhere, even if she has to sit in a high-chair for an hour while I catch up with family or friends. She just sits and plays, claps her cute little hands together, and squeaks away. I have a friend who is trying to convince her boyfriend that babies aren't ALL that bad. She asked me if she could borrow Tenley for a week, because she just knew if he got his hands on Tenley he would feel differently about babies. I always have to remind myself, as well as my friends who haven't had children yet, that Tenley is raising the bar for ALL babies....and that babies aren't really this easy-going most of the time :) I always tell Tenley that she is certainly raising the expectations for all of her siblings.

Another thing Brandon and I have loved seeing is how completely endearing her personality is. We live in a very close-knit apartment complex, and Brandon and I can hardly ever step foot outside without having someone ask, 'Let me see Tenley!' We have deemed Tenley as the Honorary Court Baby because all of the little kids LOVE holding her/playing with her/making her laugh. It has been so fun to see how much Tenley's face lights up anytime she sees a little kid around because I think she has just come to expect that all little kids want to come up to her and play peek-a-boo.

She is so content and relaxed, that she could really give a hoot on whether or not she crawls. Everytime I put her on her knees and hands, she gives me a pathetic little cry and then proceeds to roll onto her back. However, she will accept all hands/fingers to assist her in walking wherever she goes.

I wasn't quite sure it was possible to love someone the way that Brandon and I love Tenley, but wow. I can only capture that love by saying that my heart is in a constant state of near-explosion. I know this time with my first little baby is so fast, and I already feel like it's over! I am loving this time I have to cuddle, play, teach, love, and laugh with my sweet little firstborn baby girl.

all dressed up for a Costume party

Her makeshift "Jenny Jumper" that Brandon bolted onto our cinderblock, since there aren't any doorjams in our little 2-bedroom apartment :) Pioneer Day Festivities with my Dad and stepmom
Days of '47 Parade
Nana rocking T to sleep
Tenley's little buddy Rylee
Tenley's older cousins who are the BEST babysitters
Cousin Kordin came to visit us...Tenley can't wait to meet the rest of his family!
Relay for Life at the Gallivan Center--Brandon and I were the Entertainment Chairs this year

Baby in a Basket
This little girl has him wrapped around his little finger!
Cousins and BFFs
Cousins and BFFs, Take 2
Mommas and their Babies


My High School besties and I went and walked around Temple Square with the kiddos

Beautiful Temple Square!

Brandon's 29th Birthday Brouhaha!

Update

Well, I have the computer today for 8 WHOLE HOURS, and since Tenley has been napping for ONE WHOLE HOUR, I thought I might as well take advantage of how the stars have aligned for a new blogpost.

So many pictures, so little to say....which ends up perfect for me and the long-distant Aunts:

Tenley with her Grandparents and her bff cousin, Mckynlee

Our 4th of July family picture. Brandon was on a walk with his sister, and I knew that if I waited any longer we would be dipping into T's bedtime = not-so-happy a camper. So here is our happy family on the 4th of July. You can see Tenley looking out in the distance for her Daddy

We did a mini-photoshoot with Tiffany and Mike. I LOVE this picture.

And the 2 little Squishies....we like to refer to them as Best Friends. But you wouldn't know it yet, judging by how they like to clobber each other and make each other cry. One day we'll be having cousin-slumber parties.

And another one. These girls are DELICIOUS.

And in other news, thanks to some prodding by friends, family and most especially our Pediatrician...I had Tenley do the "cry-it-out" method last week for bedtime. It should really be renamed to be, "Mommy cries it out in her bedroom in the fetal position". I will tell you what, WORST 4 nights of my life...but now, the little joy just lays in her crib wide awake and snoozes into dreamland without a peep. Miracle.

One year down, add-two-skip-a-few years more to go....

Brandon is currently at school taking his Comprehensive Final...all 150 questions. And I am sitting here staring at a hamper full of clean clothes that need to be folded, listening to my baby talk herself to sleep in her room. To say that my stresses are much different than Brandon's stresses would be an understatement. But I thought I would at least utilize this nice quiet time to give Brandon some air-time on this so-called journal.

Amazing how quickly a year can go...it seems like just yesterday I was posting about this . That could also be because it was only like 4 posts ago on the blog ;). I remember how anxious we were for Brandon to finally start school. To finally be one step closer on the path to fulfilling his dream of being a Doctor. It's crazy how that one year of waiting we had when we didn't get any acceptance letters seemed to draaaag on forever. And now, he's already got one full year of Medical School under his belt.

At first, I would hear people say, "Oh, you're going

to be having a baby in the middle of your husband's first year of Medical School?", or "Good luck with a newborn and a student in Medical school!" But now, as I look back, I can honestly say...we did it...HE did it. ...I did it. And, it was the best year of our lives to date. Much of that can be attributed to a somewhat flexible-ish first year of Medical School classes...but MOST of it is attributed to Brandon and his commitment FIRST to being a husband and a father. Many people have asked me, "So, how has the first year been with a baby and a husband who is always gone?" And I always respond, "The first year with the baby is deeply gratifying, and my husband seems to be home at all of the crucial moments." Sure, he studies hard and he works extra hard...but he has made some sacrifices which have made a significant difference to us. We wake up in the morning and have an ample amount of what he likes to call, "Family Snuggle Time". This is when I bring Tenley into bed with us and we lay and talk and sing with her. Then, he studies while I do stay-at-home-mom duties like a) exercise, b) sleep-train, c) brush my hair, d) breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not a saleswoman anymore. Then we eat lunch and we drop him off at school. Four hours pass by, and Daddy comes home! (and that is exactly what

we say when he walks in the door!) I welcome my student through the door with a sigh of relief that he is here to entertain Tenley while I work on

cooking the dinner. They play, and then we eat dinner, snuggle some more, and he studies at home. HOME. Yes, I lucked out with a man who would prefer to study at home than in a cubicle. So, Tenley goes to bed, and I make like a library and do my quiet duties (like watch TV or check my Facebook :). I know the demands of Medical School will become MUCH harder once he gets into Rotations/Residency/Boards, etc....but for now, we sure like our little life. And I would be an ungrateful wife, friend, study date, baby Momma if I didn't document a little bit about how his small sacrifice to spend time with his girls makes a significant difference in mine and Tenley's life.

Oh, and guess what: he is rocking those Med School exams!

We love you!