Quick Update

Here are some more pictures of our little one. She is growing up really fast.


She is starting to eat different kinds of food (sweet potato, squash, carrots, etc.) and loves to play. We recently spent some time painting Laura's parent's house and Lilia enjoyed the time she got to spend with grandma. She was really good during the road trip. We've been spoiled by a well behaved child. I included some pictures in case any of you care to evaluate my work.


I got a job and will be starting work sometime next week. It's not the best paying job but it is better than none at all. It's an IT job for the county of Riverside. The position lasts for 6 months but the department heads made it sound like if I do well then I may be hired permanently. I also started classes Thursday and it's going to be a long quarter. Between work, school and family I'm going to be pretty busy.

Well, got to get ready for church. We love you all and hope you are doing well. Thanks for the posts and helping us keep in touch.

Vivian's 1st Birthday party

Here is the birthday girl she was a little tired but still pulled through and seemed to have a good time I know she'll have many more to come

Lilia Pictures

Here are some of the latest photos. Nothing too interesting but she's just fun to look at.

Lilia August 2009

Gillian's 4th Birthday Party and family pics

I thought it would be fun to compare some generations. From left to right Dad, Me, Lilia.

Cute Babies

These are some of the cutest little ladies around. I forgot that we took these pictures when we were there last. I love Vivian's hair. She just had her pigtails taken out and has the cutest hair-do.

Lilia's First Supper

Well, earlier this week we went in for Lilia's 4 month appointment and shots. She did great for the shots, only crying a little bit after the very last one! But, we did find out that she isn't gaining weight like she ought to. At two months she weighed 9 lbs 12 oz and was in the 25th percentile. At 4 months, they said she weighed 10 lbs 12 oz - only 1 lb gained in 2 months. She dropped to the 5th percentile, and the doctor was very concerned. He told us we needed to start supplementing with formula. At first we were both concerned but also doubtful - we had needed to find a place that would accept my out of state insurance, and the place felt pretty ghetto. Anyway, after much deliberation (including talking to her old Dr. in Utah) we decided to give her formula to replace two full meals at night when I'm the lowest in milk supply. Things have been going ok so far. We bought a scale off craigslist and when we weigh her here she's about 12 lbs. So I don't know if they just messed up at the Dr.'s office, or if she has gained over a pound in less than a week, but either way we're pretty happy about it - it puts her back in the 25th percentile!

We figured that we may as well start working on her with solids. The sooner she can master eating solids, the sooner we can add some more calories to her diet. Anyway, so I've been reading up on giving solids, what to start with, how to start out, etc. Almost everything I read and everyone I spoke with told me not to expect much the first time - no more than a teaspoon or two and most of that to end up spit out onto the bib. She's been staring at our food, watching us eat, opening her mouth and making chewing motions when we have food, etc. for several weeks now, but I was just sure she'd spit everything out.

Boy was I wrong! She did screw her face all up and was kinda wierded out at first, but by the end was actually taking food in - I was very impressed. Tonight was her second night and she ate a full tablespoon of cereal (minus the inevitable drops onto the bib)! I can hardly believe she not only is eating so much, but that she likes it so well. When I didn't get to her mouth fast enough with the next spoonful tonight, she would bend her head down and lick the stuff that had fallen to her bib. Hilarious!

She's doing very well - is a very happy girl, loves to laugh, grab for toys, babble all the time, and generally only cries when she's sleepy. We are very lucky parents!

The pictures below are of the first solids experience for Lilia. At the very bottom if you click on the picture in the box, it is a link to Adam's picasa web album to see the rest of the pictures and a short video.

Lilia's First Solids

Reupholstery

I wanted to show everyone what a great job mom did on this reupholster job. This chair was always comfortable but it was also very unattractive. The new look looks great in our apartment and we couldn't be happier. Thanks again.


We love you.

We Finally Bought a Crib

We got it for a good price (a little more than the price range we were seeing on craigslist). It's solid wood but not too heavy. The color looks great with the futon, which is nice since they are in the same room. It takes up more space than the play yard did but the difference is small. The mattress we got from mom and dad seems a little small but I thought they just used a standard size on these things. I think its safe to use but I want to be careful just the same.

This was fun for me and I just wanted to share.

We love you.

Dante's progress

Dante had his four month well-baby doctor visit earlier this week. He's doing really well and every time the doctor sees him he always says, "Wow, he's so strong!"

All of Dante's percentages increased from last visit. Here are his current stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 13 oz., 15% (up from 9%)
Height: 23 3/8", 10% (up from under 3%)
Head: 16", 20% (up from 15%)

The biggest increase was his height. He was still in the "under 3%" category at his 2 month visit.

Spring break

I love the idea of getting the ball rolling early. Being a planner myself, I love the early planning. :)

We have several issues with the proposed plan. Firstly, our spring break is a different week. It is the week before.

Secondly, we are working over the next year or year and a half to get our family financially back on solid ground. With a few month of unemployment this year and a new addition to the family we can't realistically plan any traveling for a while.

That doesn't mean the rest of the family shouldn't travel, though! If it works for everyone else, go camping! Have fun! :)

We do like camping and we'd love to go camping again in the future (if the family so chooses).

That's our "two cents".

Sarah and Stephen

Spring Break Vacation

Mom had mentioned a great idea to me. She thought it would be fun to have the whole family meet in Hurricane, UT and spend a few days camping or hiking or just having fun. Sean and Connie may have access to some property there that could same us all a lot of money on hotels, etc. I'm not even sure if they have access to the property or not.

My Spring Break starts Sunday, March 28th and I don't have to be back for school until April 6th. I'm not sure what my work schedule is going to look like or if I'll be able to get any time off at all but I think it's a good idea.

What do you all think? I really just wanted to get the ball rolling (even if very slowly).


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camera

Stephen,

Here is the link for that camera. I want to order is asap, we are leaving for the beach on July 9th so I'd like to have it for the trip. I wanted you to take a look though first, since we had talked about it.

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-SP-565UZ-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B001CCJO1Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245097435&sr=8-3

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!
~Jen

PS. Adam and Laura,

I am sorry nobody was there to help you move in! We are so glad you go there safely though and hope you get settled in and it feels like home soon.

Take care!

Poppyseed Chicken

8-10 chicken breasts
1 pint sour cream (I use non or lowfat)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use 99% fat free)
3 sticks of butter
3 stacks of Ritz crackers (the tall package stacks in the box) You can actually get low fat Ritz now too
3 T poppyseeds

Cook the chicken in a big pot of water. I like to put lots of seasoning in the water so it infuses into the chicken - usually things like a bay leaf, some garlic and onion powder, poultry seasoning and definitely some salt- whatever sounds good to you. While that cooks, combine the sour cream and soup. In another bowl, melt the butter. Smash all the crackers (if you leave them in the package and just hit them pretty good with a rolling pin it works well - just be careful the package doesn't explode and you get cracker every where - not that this has ever happened to me or anything). Combine the melted butter, crackers, and poppyseeds. Once the chicken is cooked all the way through strain it and let it cool. (If you like the sauce to be a little thinner, you can save some of the cooking water to add to the soup mixture - start with 1/4 c and probably no more than 1/2 c though.) Then you can either shred it or cube it and add it to the soup/sour cream mixture. Taste the mixture - you'll probably want to add more seasoning. I put some more garlic and onion, salt to taste, cayenne pepper, poultry seasoning - whatever suits my fancy. In a 9X13 pan spread a layer of the crumb mixture (a little less than half), all the chicken with the sauce, and then top with the rest of the cracker stuff. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (til heated through).