Pretty Perfect

This week was kind of a blur.  I think because Monday was the holiday that it kind of threw me off.  I remember that I cleaned my house.  There was an activity for Activity Days on Wednesday, but other than that the days kind of melted together.  My work projects are tapping out my free time, but I can’t complain.  Being busy is a blessing, and I will never complain about being busy.  Our weekend, however, I do remember.  And it was pretty perfect.

We have been spending a lot of time in “Zachland”.  It is Sloan’s equivalent of Christmas morning.  Although I despise the look of this contraption, it brings her so much joy.  How can I refuse?

Friday I had a dreaded dentist appointment.  Turns out pregnancy / giving birth can do a number on your teeth.  And my Diet Coke intake doesn’t help either, I am sure.  I had two small cavities [6 years strong cavity free until this fiasco] and my dentist wanted to take care of them ASAP.  So I asked my mom to meet us Friday morning and we drove down together to Dr. Wright’s office.  He is located right across from Temple Square.  So while I got drilled and filled – my Mom and Sloan walked around Temple Square.  Afterwards we decided to get some lunch at Plates and Palates in Bountiful – where Sloan tried her hand at a restaurant high chair for the first time.

Then we hit up Swig, did a little shoe shopping, and hit up Station Park.  I had intended to find a dress for my aunt and uncle’s temple sealing coming up…but ended up buying Sloan a bunch of nonsense attire.

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I’ve decided it’s a good thing I don’t do crack, because I can barely keep myself away from drinking soda and from buying baby clothes.  I have too much of an addictive personality.

Friday evening when Zach got home from work we drove down to Jordan Landing to stop at the Nike Outlet store.

 Zach took a bunch of my shorts to his “man weekend” in Cabo because he claims he has none of his own.  Side note:  as I type this I am looking at two pairs of his basketball shorts…so…

We had some sushi afterwards where Sloan accidentally had her first taste of miso soup.  Her little fingers are too fast for me these days.Processed with VSCOcam with a5 preset

Saturday was another one for the books.  I decided after Sloan was born that I was going to wait until she was 6 months old to do any long runs.  I have been nervous about my milk supply suffering due to heavy exercise, so I haven’t let myself run over 3 miles.  Once she hit her 6 month mark, I decided to get back into running and hit it hard.  I have some races I want to participate in, so I had better get my bum in gear.  I have a new routine where I put Sloan down to bed at 8:00 and then go for a long run on Monday, Wednesdays, and whenever I can on Saturdays.  Friday night Sloan slept like a champ and we woke up with big plans.  We ventured to the Gateway for some lunch and some shopping.  Sloan sported her first pair of shorties.  Honestly, I kind of get down in the dumps when we visit the Gateway.  That place is a ghost town.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves…besides Build a Bear.  Build a Bear is where it’s at, apparently.

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Afterwards I made Zach stop at Cutler’s for a sugar cookie, we ate dinner at Zach’s favorite – Applebee’s – and then we returned home.  Then I went on a long run as the sun set.  It feels good to be back doing a little more strenuous exercise.  Zach and I finished off our Saturday night with a Redbox, just the two of us, after Sloan zonked out.

Sunday Sloan I managed to make it through all three meetings of church.  I spent a good percentage in the Mother’s Room…but we freaking made it.  I honestly walked out of there feeling like I deserved a gold medal or something.  I settled for a cold one.  A Diet Coke, of course.  Sloan celebrated by taking a solid nap as soon as we got home.

After church we drove up to Ogden to eat dinner at the Hendo’s.  Frankie, Sloan’s adorable cousin, doted on her for over an hour.  She put Sloan in a stroller made for a doll and fed her “school lunch” AKA plastic food from Mimi’s toy room.  Sloan was in heaven.  I don’t know if it was because she finally was riding in a stroller her size or if it was the plastic sandwich components.  Either way, it made her whole day.  She needs a sibling in a bad way.  NOT R I G H T AWAY…but eventually.  We had the best dinner outside on Mimi and Papa’s deck.  Salmon, chicken kabobs, rice, fruit, a summer salad, corn on the cob.  It felt like summer and I didn’t want it to end.  We discovered Sloan is a little bit more like her mother when it comes to heat.  She is a fair weather fan.  I get sweaty and flushed too, baby girl.  I do too…I wish every weekend could be just like this one.

 

Our Mexi Memorial Weekend

Monday my parents and my brother came over for family night to our house.  Since Zach was still traveling home from Cabo, they decided to keep Sloan and I company.  We ordered pizza and Sloan was entertained by my brother and a red SOLO cup for a few hours.Tuesday was Sloan’s 6 month appointment.  She crushed it.

She is hitting all of her milestones and my doctor is pleased with her weight gain.  She is still teensy, but growing nonetheless.  The girl is finally starting to get some rolls to stick around…We were so glad to have Zach back from Mexico.  He came bearing gifts – a particularly lovely one for Sloan…At this age you never know how much babies retain or remember.  It was so sweet to see her love on her dad.  Her chubby little hand wouldn’t leave his face the entire time they were cuddled together.  All felt right in our little world again.

Sloan and I made our weekly trip down to Orem to observe all the progress on the Alder HQ mid week.  The cafeteria is complete – all that needs to be installed are all the major appliances, which will be delivered next week.  When Sloan and I arrived home, Zach was waiting for us with a Dollar Store score.  Sloan got to experience bubbles for the first time.  She was mesmerized for a whole 30 minutes.  I cringed when Family Dollar moved in a few blocks away, but I can’t hate on some cheap entertainment.

Meal prep went so well the last week I decided to try it again – which meant an intense grocery store run.  Sloan LOVES the grocery store.  She babbles at every single person that passes by.  Even the elderly man in the scooter cart who won’t give her the time of day.  Just when I think she is nothing like me – she goes and does something like this…

 

Maybe she is my baby.  You can’t stop her from socializing in a public place.

When the weekend came we didn’t have any plans other than spending time with family.  Friday, just the three of us went down town, did a little shopping, and ate at Taqueria 27.  The fish tacos were good, but the chips and guac won my vote.  Sloan drooled over everything, and nearly snatched a homemade churro from my hand for dessert.

IMG_5323-1Sunday we made dinner at home – chicken tacos like from Cafe Rio.  Zach said it had to be legit – so he added the scrap of chicken on top to seal the deal.  We do it and we do it right.Zach also took Sloan out for a Sunday walk that evening.  He kept going on and on about how comfortable his shorts were.  It wasn’t until he was walking out the door in this gorgeous ensemble that I realized they were MY cut-off shorts.  Mine.  He didn’t seem to mind one bit.
Monday was glorious.  Sloan decided to sleep in until 9:00 am.  I fed her when she woke up and Zach let me go on a long run on Legacy Trail.  I haven’t ran outside for a while since the weather has been gloomy, and I didn’t want to take Sloan out in the rain.  It was the perfect temperature and much needed.

Afterwards we did a bunch of chores, relaxed, and took a journey to Buy Buy Baby.  Zach has been saying since he got home that he wanted to buy a new toy for Sloan.  He said his requirements were, “it had to spin, light-up, and make noise.”  He picked it out, but let Sloan make the final decision.  Then we met my parents for an early dinner.  We planned to go to Lonestar for some fish tacos [because obviously two meals of Mexican food wasn’t enough?] but it turned out that Mexicans recognize Memorial Day, too…because they were closed.  So we went to the nearby Pizzeria Limone – it was my parents’ first time.

Sloan enjoyed ripping 135 napkins to shreds.  Not the most environmentally conscious activity, but she loves it.  

After dinner we stopped at The Store to get some more supplies for meal prep.  Also, a new discovery, The Store sells Cutler’s sugar cookies…so…that happened.

When we returned home Zach had his mind set on putting up Sloan’s toy.  We tried to get it up and running before her bedtime, but 36 pieces takes a little more time than we all anticipated.  8:00 came too soon and we had to put Sloan down to slumber.  Looks like first thing Tuesday morning, Zach’s Sloan Fun Zone will be open for rides.  Turns out this toy [more like an activity center] met all his requirements.   I am so grateful Zach came back safely to us.  It was fun to have some one on one girl time with Sloan, and I love having full reign over the Apple TV remote at night, but we were so ready for him to come home.  I wasn’t sure how Sloan would react to seeing her dad again after being apart for five days, but I’d say she missed him as much as I did.

Our Mexi Memorial Day was exactly what we needed.  Just time together.  I’d say that’s always pretty memorable.

So Simple

Monday night we had our Henderson Mother’s Day dinner at Ruth’s Chris.  Sloan came along with all the adults.  It was the first time we’ve ever taken her out to dinner with us where she did not behave herself.  The poor thing lost her mind 45 minutes into our dinner – which meant Zach and I took our steaks and sides to go and ate them later at our house.  As soon as we got home and we fed Sloan her oatmeal cereal, she was back in her groove.  She is smarter than I realize some times… Since Sloan has officially hit her 6 month mark, we decided to do a little bit of “sleep training”.  I say that wryly because Sloan has always been a good sleeper, until she hit 5 months.  Since then, she has decided to wake up 2, 3, and one night even 12 times.  I decided I wanted to see how she would react to me letting her cry it out.  I have never let Sloan cry for longer than a few seconds her entire life, so the thought of her screaming her guts out all night was already breaking my heart.  But, I had to do something.  12 times a night is not a matter of hunger, it’s a social thing.  Somebody just wanted to see her mom every 20-30 minutes that night.  So, we went for it.

13 minutes.  She cried for 13 minutes, and to be honest, she wasn’t even crying that entire time.  She would cry for a few minutes – look at the door and wait for me to come in – then cry – then look at the door.  When the 13 minutes were done and over, she went completely silent and fell fast asleep, for over 8 hours.  I couldn’t believe it.  If I would have done this a month ago I could have been sleeping [like a baby] for the last 4 weeks!  The second night of “sleep training” she cried for 2 minutes – then slept another 8.5 hours.  All my anxiety of endless nights of crying it out dissolved in two measly days.
It’s amazing how much happier she is in the morning now that she is getting more sleep.  Instead of crying to be fed, she does full-on productions when the sun comes up.  Singing to herself [and her hands] and waving her arms and legs all around her crib.  I can’t help but crack up when I hear her start up.

Tuesday Zach came home from work and had an activity all planned for Sloan.  She was going to skateboarding for her first time.  Since her legs are a little too short for her bouncer to actually touch the ground, he decided to stick a skateboard underneath her.  It made her tiny little mind explode.  She was squawking in delight for over 30 minutes…

We also had Sloan’s 6 month pictures this week.  Even though it was right smack dab in the middle of nap time, she handled them like a champ.  I can’t wait to see how they turn out.  I only snapped one iPhone pic the entire time – I was busy spotting her considering she is crushing this whole sitting-up thing.  She was exhausted afterwards.  Sitting up for an hour can really take it out of you…
It’s been hilarious to watch Sloan discover new things.  She has recently become infatuated with her reflection in the mirror and finally reacts to my iPhone when I try to take photos of us together.  Another night-time activity she has mastered is rolling over in her crib.  It scares me half to death, but she thinks it is amazing.
Tuesday night I decided to surprise Zach with a very early Fathers’ Day gift.  His friends had all left for Mexico for a guys trip and I decided last minute to buy him a ticket to join them.  He was totally shocked and I was so excited I could surprise him with something [because I am horrible at keeping surprises].

Wednesday I had Activity Days.  We made “healthy” green smoothies and talked about the Word of Wisdom.  I had myself a few good laughs during our discussion about what the girls deem a ‘healthy lifestyle’.  Also, hardly any of them knew the ins and outs of the Word of Wisdom, but almost all of them new a long list of illegal drugs.  At least the public school systems isn’t failing them.  Thank you, D.A.R.E…Wednesday night [because Zach was heading out of town last minute] my parents picked Sloan and I up and we drove up to Bear Lake.  My parents had some things they needed to do up at our cabin, so we decided to tag along.  We got in late, but it didn’t seem to phase Sloan.  We got her to bed and my parents and I stayed up way too late eating chips and dip.

The next morning Sloan was up bright and early, and we all decided to get up and going.  My dad had some work he had to do, which required the tractor, and Sloan and I observed all the manual labor from afar.  We were zero help.  She went down for an afternoon nap and I helped my parents in the yard while she slept.

When Sloan woke up she was elated to be outside.  She could have stared at the lake for hours.

The evening rolled around and these two party animals were out as soon as they sat down.  Sloan and I went on a walk and let grandma and grandpa sleep.

Meanwhile, in Mexico…

We got back from Bear Lake late Friday night and Sloan and I hit the sack early.

Saturday we made our way down to Lehi for a family friend’s shower.  Sloan and I spent the rest of Saturday afterwards doing absolutely nothing.  The weather was gloomy so we cuddled, ordered pizza, and watched a movie.  Girl’s Night.  I’m starting her young.

Sunday after church Sloan and I laid low, had a little FaceTime with Zach, and ate dinner just the two of us.  It was one of the simplest weekends I’ve had in a while.  It wasn’t fancy or filled with to-do’s.  It was just us, in our little routine.  Sometimes simple is refreshing.  We missed Zach, and can’t wait to have him back soon, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the past few days.

 

 

Mother’s Day 2015

This week was fantastic.  It started off solid with family night on Monday, planned by Zach.  He decided we were going to take Sloan to the pet store.  She has had a recent interest in animals [except when big dogs get too close] and I thought Zach’s idea was genius.  This way we can hold her off as long as possible, because eventually she will ask for a puppy for Christmas…and Zach and I are not pet people.

Her favorite were the fish tanks and the birds.
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Zach totally surprised me this week when he told me he wanted to start doing meal prep.  AKA for ME to do meal prep.  He got inspired by a friend of mine and decided he wanted to try it.  Again…for me to try it.  I never go into anything unprepared, so I did a little research and humored Zach’s plan.  Sloan was a great sous chef.  We made 18 total meals (9 days worth) for the two of us.  Mine were all lower calories versions – I replaced white rice with brown rice (or black beans), and white fish with red meat.  Some meals we made were:  Salmon Fresca [from Brio’s menu], tri tip with roasted potatoes, salmon with steamed vegetables, halibut with asparagus, grilled chicken with rice, salmon with sweet potatoes and broccoli…

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I have to admit – it was a full day of work.  I cooked a few different meals during each of Sloan’s nap times and then when Zach got home he grilled the salmon and the tri tip for me.  Afterwards I was totally exhausted.  Healthy meal prep is freaking hard work and I give it up to the people that do this each and every week!  Jury is still up on whether or not this will be a regular thing…Processed with VSCOcam with f1 preset

 

Since Sloan hit her 5 month mark, she hasn’t been sleeping as well.  It’s been a daily struggle for me.  Since she’s lower on the charts for weight, I haven’t felt comfortable letting her “cry it out”.  I decided I wouldn’t do any sleep training or make any adjustments until she had her 6 month appointment.  Naps have been a little harder, too.  She wouldn’t doze off unless I was near her.  She used to be able to be put down drowsy in her bed and fall asleep on her own, but she has gotten used to me nearby.  I can’t complain, I love to cuddle with her – and her little head on my shoulder makes the sleepless nights and zombie days all worth it.
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Tuesday, Sloan and I drove down to Orem to see the progress on the Alder headquarters.  Sloan was on cloud 9 watching all the new people.  I brought her new headphones and they worked like a charm!

The wood wall was going up in the cafeteria, the custom lights in the call center were being installed, and all the glass facades on the conference rooms and partner offices were installed.  Everything is starting to come together.Sloan on site

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Another fun project I have been involved with is helping with some more custom fabric.  Jonna of Fingers and Toes contacted me a few months ago about creating some custom fabric for her new line of baby bedding.  She sent me some of these photos from her phone – I can’t wait to see all the other patterns we created once she gets them all squared away.

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Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo, so once Sloan and I got back from Orem we picked up Cafe Rio [and some movie theater popcorn for her daddy-o for dessert].  It wasn’t super festive, but we can’t miss one of Zach’s favorite holidays!

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Friday Zach surprised me again.  This time, for Mother’s Day.  I have to start off by saying that Zach just gets me.  He knows I don’t like flowers or chocolates [ok, I do like chocolate, but you get what I mean] on commercialized holidays.  I would rather get nothing and just be together as a family.  So that’s exactly what he did, but on another level.  He booked a weekend up at the Montage in Deer Valley for the three of us to celebrate my first official Mother’s Day.  I am telling you, I don’t deserve him.

We left after Zach got home from work on Friday night and arrived just before Sloan’s bedtime.  She was stoked for some new scenery.
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We kept with her usual bedtime routine but she was totally spoiled with a bath – complete with bath pillow.Processed with VSCOcam with b3 preset

 

By the time she was all set for bed, Zach had gotten the two of us dinner from the pizza place at the hotel.  Sloan got to join us for our pizza party before it was time for her to go to bed.Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 preset

 

One of the glorious things about the Montage is that it is ideal with a new baby [or 6 month old, in our case].  Sloan had her own room, basically.  It was a nice walk-in closet, but who’s keeping track?  We spent the rest of the night, just the two of us, up late talking and laughing [quietly].

 

The whole next day was a dream.  Sloan slept really well, better than she had slept in weeks, which meant I was rested enough to feed her as soon as she got up at 7:00 am and then go to the hotel fitness center.  My exercise has been far and few between with my bout with sickness and sleepless nights.  It felt good to get to the gym bright and early.  I had the whole place to myself.Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 preset

And had my way with the free goodies, too…Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 preset

When I got back, Sloan and her dad were playing hard and she was already approaching her morning nap.Processed with VSCOcam with a5 preset

We put her down to sleep and ordered room service breakfast.  I went all out and ordered two Diet Cokes.

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By the time Sloan was up from her nap, I had showered and Zach and I were both in our swim suits.  We had big plans for Sloan before lunchtime.Processed with VSCOcam with g1 preset

 

We took her to the pool for her very first time. Processed with VSCOcam with a5 preset

 

I even ordered this hilarious “Fish Float” weeks ago for her and brought it along with us.  It was a huge hit.  We were the only ones at the spa and had the pool all to ourselves.  Her legs kicked 90 miles an hour and even though the water was a little chilly, she didn’t seem to mind one bit.
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She just did her thing.  Floating like a boss…IMG_4651

 

After our swim sesh we showered up again and left the resort for lunch and some shopping at the outlets.  Zach picked Wendy’s.  It was packed!  Sloan couldn’t stop staring at everyone [especially the children] all around her.  She even made friends with a two-year-old girl named Julia, to the point that her grandmother [who didn’t speak a word of English] came and swooped Sloan right up from me!  It was the first time I had ever had a stranger just come up and grab my baby.  I was a nervous wreck.  Sloan, however, still has zero Stranger Danger and never turns down an opportunity to be social.  She kept touching the woman’s face and babbling at her.  I was a hover mother and didn’t let her take Sloan more than 6″ away from my reach.IMG_4692

 

Tanger was kind of a bust for us again, but I did score at the Nike Outlet.  All of their winter stuff was on sale, so I grabbed a few goodies and even some Mother’s Day gifts!

 

We then made our way over to the St. Regis for our dinner reservation at my favorite over-priced restaurant.  We rode the funicular up to the J&G Grill.  It was snowing and the view was beautiful.

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Zach had the pork chop and I had the fish special.  It.  Blew.  My.  Mind.  The foam atop the fish was magic.  I still can’t wrap my head around it.Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 preset

 

These two (three if you count Sophie, she’s like our second child – we can’t go anywhere without her) were the perfect dinner dates.  The restaurant was completely empty when we arrived.  I guess the snowy weather scared everyone away from Park City for the weekend – or everyone was away for the holiday, but we had the place all to ourselves again.

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We made our way back to the Montage, played a no-rules game of pool…FullSizeRender

 

…and retired early to our room.  Sloan went down to bed and Zach and I watched a movie.  But not before he went down to the gift shop and got me loaded up on Diet Coke and a Twix bar for dessert.

I woke up the next morning for my first official Mother’s Day to a 6 month old baby.  It was Sloan’s half birthday on Sunday and we decided once we got home we would celebrate.  We got out of bed, checked out, and made the drive home.

We busted out the new walker Sloan had gotten for Christmas and some new toys.  Turns out she can’t escape her genetics, because her feet still can’t touch the floor.  She didn’t mind.  She was blown away by her new do-dads.  #shortpeopleproblems

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Sloan looks so much older now that she can sit up all by herself, unassisted.  It made Mother’s Day even more special to celebrate her 6 month mark with her.
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We spent Sunday dinner with the Fotheringhams and my aunt, uncles, and cousins.  Even my Grandma came for dinner.  I am lucky I got to spend Mother’s Day with my own mom.  She is my polar opposite in so many ways, but I think that’s why her and I love and respect each other so much.  Something I didn’t expect to appreciate was how much I love watching my parents be grandparents to my baby girl.  It is my favorite.FullSizeRenderMy mom and dad surprised me with an imprint of Sloan’s feet in a concrete paver to go in our back yard.  It was very thoughtful and I was totally shocked they managed to do it without me knowing.  They also got Sloan an Eric (stuffed turtle) that I have been searching for.  She loved on him all the way home.  Eric is a whole different story we don’t have time for.  Just another example of how sweet my parents are to Sloan.IMG_4812

Another thoughtful thing my parents gave me on my first Mother’s Day was a letter I wrote when I was 14 years old.  My parents have been cleaning out their basement and found a study guide in a random box of my belongings.  She almost threw it away, but decided to flip through it for some reason.  Inside the cover was a letter to my future children.  (I was a very sensitive 14-year-old, obviously).  It made my whole day.  I am so grateful my mom is a hoarder and saved this for almost fifteen years.  I can’t wait to read the whole thing to Sloan (and company) when they are old enough to appreciate it.FullSizeRender_1

My first Mother’s Day was more than I even could have expected.  This year I have a new and growing appreciation for all the women in my life, especially my own mom and mother-in-law.  Being a mom is the best gig I have ever had.  These past six months have been better than I could have imagined.  IMG_4732

Milestones

Babies grow so fast.  You hear people say that and when you don’t have kids of your own, and you think to yourself “sure, sure – they grow up so fast…yada yada yada”…

One of my biggest pet peeves before having a Sloan of my own was when moms would say [on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever] ‘I can’t believe my baby is ____ months old!’  I used to say to myself, and Zach has heard it a thousand times, how can they not believe it?!  I believe it, I have seen you post every single month and you are STILL shocked?  Rude, huh?  I know, totally rude.  Well I vowed I would never post on Facebook every month that I couldn’t believe how big Sloan had gotten.  I can believe it.  It’s so real that I get teary if I think about it too much.  Why?  Well, because this week Sloan decided she was just going to go for it.  Check off like 20 milestones in one single week.  She is sitting up on her own now – not with a straight back, but hey!  It’s sitting up unassisted.

Her and her dad have been practicing in the back yard.

She also rolled over from her back to her belly all by herself.  I’ve been coaching her how to do it and she just did it randomly Monday morning like it was no thang.  I screamed so loud [for joy] when she did it that she totally spazzed out.  Way to ruin a precious milestone, loud mouth mom! 

Zach worked tirelessly in our yard this week to spruce it up a bit.  New bark and some serious weed patrol was much needed.  Sloan enjoyed it from her bassinet on our many walks this week.

Tuesday Sloan and I visited my sister-in-law who recently had surgery.  We brought her lunch and hung out at her house.  Her youngest entertained Sloan with a little serenade on the ukulele.  The only song Charlie knows how to “play” is This Land is My Land and Sloan was hanging on her every note.

On our way home we stopped to get Mexican food for dinner.  Sloan is a Bumbo pro now and watches us eat dinner atop her green spongy throne – completely zoned in on every bite.

 The weather has been so nice – we spend almost every evening outside.  Babies love being outside.

Sloan still isn’t sleeping like her four month self.  I am waiting until our big 6 month appointment before trying anything new with her sleep schedule.  If I am being honest, I AM NOT READY to let her “cry it out” at night.  I figure if she is hungry, I need to feed her.  So we are doing that on the reg until my doc says I can sleep train her.  She still wakes up like this every single morning…[not in our bed, she sleeps in her own room] but as soon as I change her in the morning she is all smiles.

Wednesday after Sloan’s morning nap I was craving some outside time myself.  I still haven’t kicked this virus yet, so any reason to get a little Vitamin D is a good enough reason for me.  Sloan lounged in her makeshift shade and toy tent while I played us some music and sipped on a Diet Coke.  It was heavenly until our neighbors cat leapt over the fence to try and steal Sloan’s toys.  I am not a fan of cats in general, but a greedy toy grubbing cat is just the worst.

Later that afternoon Zach brought me a Jamba Juice home on his lunch break.  Sloan took an afternoon nap and I decided to put some work stuff on hold to take a hot bath.  A Jamba + a warm bath hit the spot and I felt totally recharged.  I am finally admitting that I am a bather.  Baths used to gross me out.  Then I got pregnant and I completely regret ever slamming a good, relaxing bath.

Thursday night my friends and I went out for ice cream at Leatherby’s in Taylorsville to celebrate my friend Brittney’s birthday.  Her GOLDEN birthday, actually.  28 years old on the 28th.  So we ate ourselves sick [Britt and I share an intolerance for lactose] with sundaes and french fries.  It was amazing.

Friday morning I felt really guilty about my french fry festival and decided to take Sloan on a long run on the Legacy Trail.  Sometimes I look at this girl and think, is this really my child?  How is she SO chill?  She barely made a peep on our run.

Some great progress has been made on the Alder Headquarters I am working on in Orem.  Bathrooms are nearly done…

Glass and steel railings were installed…

Lighting installation is underway…

And the parking lot got a serious face-lift…

Friday afternoon Zach left to go up to the cabin with his guy friends for a manly weekend.  The fight, shooting guns, eating steak.  Guy business.  Sloan and I were completely content to spend Friday night, just the two of us. We picked up a pizza to go from Arella, had a little spa sesh [she got her nails clipped and filed – I painted my toes], and she zonked out around 8:00 – which left me to my seventh season of SONS [Zach doesn’t watch it, so I have been saving it].

I also got news from my friend Megan that Sloan’s nursery was featured on Apartment Therapy!  A friend recommended I submit it, which I thought would be fun.  I have submitted rooms to this blog before, and never heard back.  I did it anyway, filled out the form, and then never heard back again.  Until Friday, like I said, when Megan texted me and told me she saw Sloan’s room on the site.  It was so fun to see the post.  I loved designing it, and it was kind of trippy to see it on there.

Saturday Sloan and I woke up early to attend two baptisms.  Afterwards we drove over to Taylorsville where my mom was participating in a giant yard sale at her church.  Sloan made the rounds with her grandma and then we drove over to my mom’s house…where [get this] there was another yard sale going on…

 Don’t ask me why there was a yard sale at my parents’ house AND the church.  I still find it pretty hilarious.

Sloan and I tried to help slang some gently used items for my aunt and cousins, but we mostly hung out inside my parent’s house – practicing our sitting up and eating all grandma and grandpa’s fruit snacks [my dad calls them FUN FRUITS and I love it].
  We did enjoy being out under the shade tent, however.

Saturday evening Sloan had a nice Amazon order show up.  Her new noise canceling headphones arrived, which I had her try on.  She is doing this face lately.  I call it her ‘special’ face…because, well…

  She slept great Saturday night.  She fell asleep for her late night feeding smiling.  Moments like this, as a new mom who constantly second-guesses herself, make me so happy.

Sunday we attended the baby blessing of my cousin’s baby – Parley Page.  She was blessed at their ward in Bountiful, ten minutes away from my house, and my mom joined us.

Zach’s arrival home was much anticipated.  We missed him.  Although a weekend with just the girls was great, seeing Sloan’s face when her dad came home was pretty great, too.

That night we had Sunday dinner at my parents’ house.  Hamburgers and hot dogs.  My grandpa joined us and loved on Sloan for a while.  She basically tried to rip his tattoos off his arm the entire time.  When she realized that wasn’t going to happen, she tried for every hair on his arm.   I’m glad to have the third member of our party back.  Life without our daily dose of Zach is just not as exciting.