Playing catchup

Since I haven't posted in so long, I feel like I have a million things to catch you up on! We've been very busy with the baby and I've been very busy with my calling, so the few times Shaelyn lets me have a moment to get on the computer have been dedicated to working on stuff for my calling, trying to get our taxes together, or emailing - no time for blogging! Shame on me! Therefore, we're going to go back in time a little bit to let you know what we've been up to.

On March 9th, Shaelyn and I drove down to Atlanta for a wedding. My best high school girlfriend (when I lived in Atlanta) was getting married and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see her. Originally Michael was going to come with me, but he had to be out of town for a business trip, so I braved it alone! It's a 5 hour drive for us to Atlanta, but with stops for feeding and diaper changes, it took about 6 1/2 hours one way. Shaelyn was GREAT on the way down. If she wasn't sleeping, she was happily playing with Ellie, her elephant. She did great at the wedding ceremony - no crying what-so-ever. Then we got in the car to drive from the church to the reception. It was only a 15 minute drive, but it was the longest drive of my life! Shaelyn had a total meltdown. It got so bad that she started choking on her own spit, and I started freaking out. I pulled over in a Publix (a grocery store for those of you unfamiliar) parking lot and got her out of her car seat. She immediately stopped screaming. I changed her diaper and tried to feed her, but she wasn't hungry. She just didn't want to be in her car seat anymore! I started to get very anxious because it was the first time that I felt VERY far from home. I realized I couldn't just drive up the street and get her home and to all things familiar and comfortable. I got very upset and called my mom. She stayed on the phone with me through the whole meltdown (mine and Shaelyn's). We couldn't stay in that parking lot forever, so I put Shaelyn back in her carseat and she and I cried all the rest of the way to the reception place (about 7 more minutes in the car). Shaelyn had calmed herself down by the time we found a parking place. This was the most stressed I had ever been as a mom! But my mom pointed out that we both learned a valuable lesson - Shaelyn learned how to calm herself, and I learned that she isn't going to explode when she cries (although I certainly thought she was).

We had a blast at the reception. My friend was gorgeous and it was fun to see some of my old high school buddies. They had rented out a large dance hall and had a d.j. who played music louder than any club or stake dance I have ever been to. I was really worked about Shaelyn's ears, but she slept through most of it! What a trooper! We did get to slow dance together to a couple of songs before she nodded off. And I got a couple of pictures of Shaelyn with my friend Meredith.

Then we headed off to the hotel. The picture above was taken right before she left, after I had changed Shaelyn out of her scratchy (but adorable) crinoline dress and into her p.j.s. As you can see she was very happy as we were leaving, yet she still cried all the way to the hotel. At least this time I was a little better prepared! I was worried about how she was going to get to sleep, since she sleeps every night in her swing, but she fell right asleep on the bed almost as soon as I put her down on it. I didn't realize how much I had packed until I had to bring it all upstairs to our room. Luckily, we had Shaelyn's stroller to carry it all on. It was only a one night trip and look at how much I brought! I know, ridiculous! But only one bag is mine - the rest are all for Shaelyn! Our hotel room was on the 5th floor. Shaelyn has never been higher than a 3rd floor before, so I took a picture so she can remember how high up she was. I was so proud of her for falling asleep on her own and sleeping the whole night! It made me feel better about the drive home since I actually got some rest! We checked out at noon and headed back on the road.

On the way home, Shaelyn had one more meltdown, right when we were about 1/2 hour away from home. Poor girl - she cried for about 20 minutes and then fell asleep. Other than that, she was really good on the way home too. We took our time, had two very leisurely feedings and diaper changes, and sang songs all the way.

While we were driving on I-85 (both there and back), I noticed there were construction crews building what I can only take to be a sidewalk along the median of the interstate. It stretches on for MILES! It will be on one side of the median for about 5 miles or so, then switch to the other side, and go back to the original side. On Saturday, driving back, there were actually construction crews out there pouring cement and plotting where the "sidewalk" should be. I was so perplexed, I had to take a picture of it. Please, if someone could let me know what this thing is, I would greatly appreciate it!

Other than the trip, we've been staying home watching Shaelyn grow. She is now 3 1/2 months old and is almost 13 pounds! We can't believe she is getting so big! She is now finally starting to wear her 3-6 month clothes! And it's getting warm here, so lately she's just been wearing short-sleeved onesies and no pants. I love seeing her chubby little legs and bare feet sticking out. I can't wait to see her in a swim suit!

Lately Shaelyn has had some more "firsts". Just this week she "found" her feet - she hasn't stuck them in her mouth yet, but she has grabbed her feet and toes and admired them for long periods of time. She also played with her bear for the first time. I took several photos of this. She has also found the high part of her voice and has been using that more frequently. She has mastered the sound "g" and likes to use this sound in the back of her throat accompanied by gargles. I'm very impressed. She has decided that she likes mornings best (which is such a shame. It's when she's the most cute and Michael's at work missing it all.). Her favorite part of the day is getting her diaper changed (hilarious!). She is the most animated during them and it's when we have our longest "talks". Michael and I took a video of Shaelyn on the changing table talking it up. She had been talking for a while before we got the genius idea to video it (duh!), so there is a part in the video where she's a little annoyed, but you can hear her "g" and the higher range of her voice. I have no idea why she likes diaper changes so much. But I love that she loves them, because they also make them MY favorite part of the day too. Who would have ever thought that?

And finally, Shaelyn has mastered standing! Ok, not really, but her legs are strong enough now that we can prop her up and she can stand for a few minutes on her own, as shown below:

She LOVES standing and flaps her arms like a bird and makes silly faces every time she does. If she's ever cranky, we just let her stand on our lap and magically all is well. This makes for great commentary at restaurants since we let her stand on the table until the food arrives. People can't believe that such a little baby is standing so well!

Enjoy the videos!