My happy place

When I was pregnant, sometimes I would just walk in to korrali's room, rock in Our Chair and look at all her clothes and be happy in the excitement of her upcoming arrival. I would imagine holding her little body and feel its warmth in my soul.
When she was brand new and I was struggling so hard to move through health issues and painful process, I would sometimes hold her after nursing, enjoying her physical warmth and her mewing noises, and be overwhelmed with the enjoyment of my child.
Now, she is three months old, old enough to be able to self soothe; she can and does fall asleep in her swing from an awake state. But once in a while, I will nurse her then let her drift into a full-bellied, contented in every way, floppy relaxed state of napping. Then, I sit here, immersed in my own happy bliss, loving her warmth, her breath, and the knowledge that my warmth and my breath soothe her just as she does for me.
My happy place is filled with the love god has for his children, and the beauty that is being worthwhile and amazing just for being warm, letting your heart beat, and having breath.

Swimming!

When my wonderful Mom Henderson came to visit she brought us a cache of garage-sale baby clothes. Among them was a washable swim diaper and a bathing suit just Korrali's size.

We decided to go swimming, just to see if our water baby enjoyed colder water too, a couple days ago. We climbed in and discovered she enjoys it to a point - the point at which her legs meet her body. Then she stops enjoying it. It's possible she was also getting hungry, but the "uhh-uhh-uhhh" gasping when the water reached her bum was pretty clearly saying "way colder than bath water mommy!"
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of her in her swim gear or in the pool. So, instead, here's a consolation picture where she is almost as wet. The wide-eyed look on her face is due to the intense flash experience... right after I told her I didn't think it would flash her.

WHAT?! You Lied to me!

This was accomplished in 10 minutes. You should've seen the onesie when I forgot the bib for an hour; I changed her just before the puddle soaked down to her belly button. Most days she lives in a bib now because it can't be comfortable to sit around with a onesie that wet.

Baby Blessing

This last weekend was a whirlwind of fun - the Henderson family all came to town and Dad Quillen joined us as well. My cousin got married on Saturday, and we joined them to celebrate their wedding and reception (Korrali stayed up way past her bed time, but she was loved on by just about everyone so it was worth it I think.) The wedding was a beautiful Catholic Mass, and their reception was a wonderful celebration. It was great to see so much family I haven't seen in years and years.
Then, we slept for a few hours (somewhere between 4 and 5.5 for me.. in smaller increments of course.) and got up for pictures, lunch, and Korrali's blessing in church on Sunday.

Family! I admit, I am partial to the expression on Korrali's face.

What cute kids.  We are so blessed to have cousins close by!

I was so tired, I forgot to bring the beautiful blanket Grandma Quillen made especially for her blessing to church, so I will make up for it in Family Home Evening by playing her blessing for her while we wrap her in her blessing quilt and tell her all about why she got blessed and how much her Grandma Quillen loves her.
We DID manage to get to church on time (barely) to get seats for everyone before her blessing, and I managed to give my talk before she needed to be fed again, AND managed to feel the spirit very strongly in the lesson I gave in Sunday School for a few minutes before I realized that the completion of my notes was actually a dream....
Needless to say, I was very very grateful for Katie who invited those of us who were still here to dinner on Sunday night, where we took more pictures. We have yet to take single pictures of Korrali in her dress and  blanket but those are coming soon.

Three generations of Quillen.

We are so happy everyone came out and hope everyone has as many good memories as we do!

Grandma time!

Grandma Quillen came to visit us the other week. It was so fun to have her. Of course, she didn't come to see us, but to see Korrali. Ok, she came to see us too. But it was so fun to see how much Korrali already loves her grandma. Here are some pictures at Katie's house when Mom was talking to Korrali, and Korali was just smiling away, laughing with Grandma. This photo is when grandma got Korrali to laugh, just as grandma was throwing her head back to laugh as well (and cry).  We got one pretty adorable girl.

More July 4th fun

So we had a fun 4th of July weekend. First off, I went fishing with a new friend Jason. I caught two fish, the first one named Gus and the second one named Bill (pictured). 

I also caught a bass, however as I was pulling him up out of the water, he thrashed and broke the fishing line swam away. I also happened to be fishing 10 feet away from a poisonous snake. But that's just how I roll. I'm so adventurous. 

After that, we had a lazy day. We went to watch fireworks later that night , and of course we brought Korrali. Lianna was afraid how she would handle the fireworks, but I knew that she would be just fine. It turns out that she absolutely love them. She was attended the whole time. After that, we went home. The fireworks that we saw were quite spectacular. I'm so grateful for this wonderful country. And I'm so glad that I don't speak with a British accent.

Happy 4th of July

And Thank You, to all the men and women who still stand and fight for freedom from tyranny and trust in God.

Two Months and...

She is still alive so we must be doing something right.

I don't know how you other amazing moms manage to do everything... but I know these markers seem to fly right by us. And, while I do record things on our calendar, I've been so grateful for JD's keeping somewhat more up on the picture posting here. At any rate, Korrali was two months old a couple weeks ago .. and I DO want to do a record here. So get ready for an eyeful.

Let's back up first:

One Month: 

At around one month she slept in her crib

See? Proof.

Hardly ever cried

Wasn't scheduled with feeding yet - solely breast feeding at that age meant feeding on demand even if that demand was shortly after the previous demand.

Slept through the night (around 9 to 6 every night with possibly one feeding around 1 but mostly not)

Loved her cousins, especially Ali, who also loved her.

Weight: 8 lb 12 oz (three days after she weighed 8 lb 4 oz)

Height: 21 1/4 in

She also got thrush and overcame it, and became exceedingly adept at spitting things out.

And, sometime between then and now, she began to really really love cuddling...

Family. Isn't it about.. (nap)time?

Now, she changes on a daily basis. It seems that as soon as I answer one question, for example "How is she sleeping?" She will change to the opposite behavior. 

She had her two month check up a week late, but her massive growth spurt (around her one month check up she was gaining close to a pound a week) has ended.

Two Months:

She no longer sleeps in her crib for any length of time, so we use the swing

She has been known, on occasion to sleep from 10 to 5 then again from 5 to 7. She has also been known, on other occasions, to decide 3 am is a good time to sleep, but 5 am is still mealtime.

She is a little colicky and is bothered by acid reflux

Is starting to eat at more scheduled times 2-2 1/2 hours apart.

She learned to enjoy books, and learning ASL

Her eyes ARE open, they are just looking at the pictures.

Her wonderful Aunt Betsy and Uncle Andrew visited and helped teach her (and me) some simple signs

She still loves her cousins, especially Ali, upon whose lap she can lie very contentedly, and she will complain when someone else tries to move her away. She has also learned to LOVE her Grandma Quillen, and when she was here visiting would choose stay up late nights just to spend time with her. (Seriously, the nights Grandma was here to watch her, she would choose to stay happily awake. The nights she wasn't, she went right to bed.)

I think Grandma Quillen enjoyed her too.

At her checkup, her numbers came to:

Weight: 10lb 9oz

Height: 22 1/2 in

Plus, she got her shots. She did great, really, maybe a little sleepier from the Tylenol, but otherwise fine. Which was a relief, because the previous Thursday and Friday she screamed and screamed for hours.. that is, until Daddy came home and she got to be a nudist baby. 

Seriously, all Daddy has to do is nudify her and talk to her for smiles? Not fair.

There are a million things she does that I wish I could get on camera, but they are too fleeting. That and she has learned not to like the camera flash, OR video so she stops her cute things and scowls unless I sneak up on her. Little (adorable) stinker.