Sleeping Beauty!!!

Linnea hit her 3 month mark a week ago- and obviously I don't have another child to compare to, but I think I have been blessed with such a good sleeper...she slept for 10 hours the other night, unfortunatly I think I have a built in alarm clock so I woke up numerous times expecting her to be awake:) ...most nights she only wakes up once and usually at 4 or 5 and then goes back to sleep...I can't believe how fast it's going...I just love this little girl!!

The Childs' ladies day

So I get asked alot from friends and family now that Linnea is born, what is life like...I thought about it a little bit because I usually just joke and say we do the same thing everyday...and...I kind of do...so this is what the Ladies of the Childs fam do...

6:30- wake up to say prayers with Derek (then of course go back to sleep)
7:30/8:00: try to sqeeze in a work out before Linnea wakes up for the day
8:00/9:00: Linnea will wake up and I feed her, change her and try to get some breakfast myself.
9:30-11:30: Play with the baby, clean my bedroom, LAUNDRY AND MORE LAUNDRY.
11:30-12:30 or 1:00: Feed Linnea, hopefully Linnea feels up to taking a nap. I try to clean the kitchen, get dinner started, depending on the day I'll clean the bathroom, dust and mop.
1:00- 3:00After nap...we do Tummy time YAY!!! Linnea's least favorite thing, on good days we head out for a stroller ride.
3:00-4:00: Linnea is usually tired, so we try to give her another nap (she's not that great taking naps, so i never know how she'll sleep) I get some studying in and finish organizing the house.
4:00-6:00: Derek gets home YAY!!! We switch off helping with Linnea so we both can do homework or get things done that we need to. This time changes on the two nights Derek goes to school, but thank goodness for spring break :)
6:00-9:30: We eat dinner and finally get to spend time together as a family...its fun to relax and let Derek get his time with the baby...I love to see them play together.
9:30-10:00: Tubby time!!! Linnea loves her bath it totally relaxes her and gets her ready for bed.
10:00-: Read a bedtime story and put Linnea to sleep.
3:00-5:30: Most nights somewhere in this time period Linnea wakes up saying "Feed me" and then will go back to bed till about 7:00 or someday 8 or 9 :) and then we start all over!!!

It may get somewhat repeditive, but Linnea is changing so much each day I love to watch her develop and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

Sisters of Light

Well last night I was able to attend the relief society birthday celebration for our stake! It was FANASTIC! Our stake women's choir dressed up in different clothes, like from different time periods and different countries, then they did a musical presentation full of narrations and different stories to show how amazing the women of the Lord are and what they can go through. A lot of sisters who narrated shared actual personal stories and I tell you what I'm never complaining about a trial again, because my trials seemed pretty simple compared to what some of them were going through at this time. One woman shared that she lost FIVE babies, got divorced after 16 years, and was left single with a special needs child and a child with a behavioral disorder. Then she explained how the Lord blessed her by meeting a great guy, who's wife had just passed away and his five kids, and she said she finally lived happily ever after. Another lady told how she and her husband were pregnant with their fourth baby and had just built a house. Six days after moving in they lost their jobs due to the economy and a year and a half later are still jobless and the bank is foreclosing on their home. It just amazed me how strong all those women are despite the difficult trials. It was exactly what I needed to hear at this time as Derek and I are getting ready to move and it's pretty unknown to us what could happen. It feels like this is going to be a big risk for us seeing as I will be back in school full time and Derek is going to take a second job and go to school- we can see the sacrifices that we will make and they are coming quickly. But, it really helped me and reminded me that the Lord will never abandon those that serve Him and do what is right. You and your families can make it through anything with His help!

Families are Forever

Blessing Day

Linnea with her Grandma Carter...of course chewing on her hands :)

Linnea was blessed on March 1st it was soooo fun to have everyone down for the special day. Our funny little baby made me laugh when Derek held her up for the congregation to see, I wish I had a picture. When she sleeps sometimes she sprawls her arms out to her sides like she is going to fly away, so when he held her up it looked like a baby Jesus or like the cross almost it caused some laughs. One unfortunate thing was my Grandma and Grandpa Carter had to leave before the blessing because my Grandma fell down the stairs in the middle of the night it was scary to hear about that, but as far as I know now she's doing better. Thanks for all the support from everyone!!!!

These are all the guys that blessed her...sorry you can't see my brother-in-law and my grandpa Spjut.The whole family both Childs and Carters....we had a full house the whole weekend

Her Grandma Childs made her beautiful blessing gown.

Bumbo...

This is Linnea's new Bumbo seat...it is soooo cute to watch her in it. It helps her learn to sit up alone. It's still a little bit big, but I think she likes it. I'm sure she'll like it better as she gets older :) She will sit in it and watch me do things around the house its fun. Linnea has found a new habit...she does it all day long and that is sucking on her fists...each day she tries harder and harder to get the entire fist into her mouth, but eventually she settles for a finger...I think I have a thumb sucker on my hands!!!!

UPSET....But I won!!!!!

Ok- So here is my venting post...My sweet little baby has acid reflux...and it's very uncomfortable for the poor little girl every time she eats. Our wonderful pediatrician let us use these samples of the perscription prevacid for about a month and it worked wonders for her, then we ran out so they called the prescription in to the pharmacy- about a week and a half ago I go to pick it up and the pharmacist tells me that the insurance company isnt' sure if they are going to pay for it because it's a pretty expensive medicine and they want to make sure that she really needs it. So I left pretty unhappy. The next day we went to the pediatrician and I called the insurance company, they told me that the authorization process takes about a week then at the end of that is when they decide if they want to pay for it. Our pediatrician told us he had been on the phone with them as well and they sent them to their ACCOUNTANT! The accountant explained to our doctor that she should try another medicine to see if that worked before they would consider paying for the prevacid! Our Dr. asked him if he would like to take care of the patient since he seemed to know more about medicine than he did. So, we were told we had to try another medicine. We did, Linnea hated the taste of it and tried to spit it out everytime I gave it to her, but what else could I do. So last night was the final straw, mother bear came out, I stayed up with my poor baby about all night because she was too uncomfortable to sleep and watched her tense up and scratch her poor little face trying to figure out how to fix her own discomfort...well our insurance company got a call from me bright and early. I couldn't believe that they would make a poor little girl wait for the right medicine while they decided if they would cover it. Well by the end of our conversation I was informed that they would cover it!!!! What a relief! The medicine takes almost two weeks to really get working but when it does it really helped her. Don't get me wrong I am so thankful for our insurance, but I was sooooooo angry that they acted as if they could care less that a little innocent baby had to be in pain all the time over a stupid payment....Well at least we have the good stuff now, but I am finding out quickly you don't mess with my kid :) I know I am tough :)

Opinions???

Ok- We're asking for some opinions or advice...As many of you know Derek and I are moving up north hopefully around May. We are having a hard time with some choices, should we rent or buy? We have found some townhomes that the monthly payment might be maybe $100 more than an apartments rent...and with a town home it's our own home and we gain equity, however we are concerned about the resale problem in a few years down the road when we do want to buy and actual house are we going to be stuck? I don't know. I would much rather put my money to good use and not just put it towards rent, but we are trying to decide if it is a wise choice to buy right now. We have been advised that buying is smart since the market is so down...I'm just worried for when it goes up again will people buy from us? Any advice from anyone would be appreciated!!!!! Hope everyone is doing just wonderful