Big Sister in Training

With the new baby on it's way we've been trying to get Teya excited about being a big sister and doing more "big girl" things. We've kind of let her be the baby for a little too long and as a result she has some pretty entrenched baby habits that we've been trying to break. The biggest one being her binky. I always said that when she turned two I would take away her binky, but her birthday came and went, and we still hadn't gotten rid of it. She was a super binky addict (as you can see for her double binky picture below), she had to have it at all times, in bed, in the car, at church, at friend's houses, in the store, playing at home, etc.. Whenever we forgot it she would have a major meltdown, so I was terrified of taking it away. Finally though we decided that enough was enough so I began operation "bye bye binky."

I wanted to kind of ease her into it, so I decided that she could still have it in bed only. The first day was hard, when she woke up I told her she had to leave her binky in bed because she was a big girl and big girls didn't need a binky. She cried when I made her leave it behind but I quickly distracted her with her favorite breakfast and the binky was forgotten. Throughout the day she would suddenly realize she didn't have it and say, "Hey! Where my binky go?" I would then remind her that it was in her bed because she was a big girl and that she could have it when she went night night. Most of the day was okay, but the hardest part was being in the car. She cried and cried and I almost caved in, but after that first car ride without it, she has been fine.

So far it's been about 2 weeks and she has been really good about not having her binky during the day. When I go to get her in the mornings, she pops her binky out of her mouth, throws it on her bed and says, "bye bye binky!" She also gets really excited for naps and bedtime because as soon as I say it's time for bed her eyes light up and she says, "Yay! my binky!!!" So it's kind of nice because it gives her something to look forward to. I have no idea how we'll get rid of it at night time, but for now I'm just happy that I don't have to be scorned in public anymore when people see my two year old daughter noshing on a binky.

Next up: Potty Training and moving into a big girl bed. Wish us luck!

Adventures With Daddy

With the weather getting warmer, Taber has started a new tradition where he takes Teya on daddy/daughter "adventures" as soon as he gets home from work. It's a great arrangement because it gives me a chance to cook dinner without a toddler hanging on my leg, and it gives Teya and Taber some very nice bonding time. Teya has learned the routine now and when she hears Taber's car pull into garage she gets all excited, grabs her shoes, and says, "bye mommy!"

Usually their adventures involve walks around the neighborhood, picking flowers,(dandilions and weeds) throwing rocks into the "waterfall" (fountain by the model home) climbing "moutains" (the giant dirt mound by the pool construction site) and best of all, looking for ants (she is obsessed with bugs!) She comes home and hands me her treasures (usually dandilions or small rocks) and enthusiastically proclaims, " Mommy I go on a venture!!!"

(The follwing pics aren't actually from her neighborhood adventures with Daddy, we took them at a local park today, but I thought they give a pretty good idea of her bonding time with Dad)

Feeding the ducks at the Discovery Center

Investigating a spider web

Posing at the waterfall

Daddy is so much fun!!

Epidural or Natural Delivery?

With D-day exactly 2 months from today I've been thinking more about how I want to do labor this time around. With Teya I had an epidural after I got to a 5, and believe me, I thought I was dying at that point! Problem was, the epidural slowed down my labor, I fell asleep, and by the time I was ready to push it had worn off. I asked for another one and they gave it to me but then my leg was numb for weeks afterward and I had to see a neurologist to figure out what was up.

Anyway, so I guess the epidural, though wonderful and a huge relief, still wasn't the greatest experience because I just hated not being able to walk, feel my legs, know if I was even pushing, etc...Also Teya was super groggy when she was born from being so drugged up.

So I've been considering doing it natural this time but still need to do a lot of research and don't really know all the pros and cons. Plus, I honestly don't know if I'm up for that, though I guess if I was born 150 years ago it wouldn't be an option, whether I thought I was up to it or not! If anyone has researched this subject, gone through a natural delivery, or has any advice to offer up I'd greatly appreciate any insights I can get. Knowledge is power right?

Blog Book

My friend Helen made a book of her blog and I thought it was so amazing that I decided to do one for myself. I can't believe how awesome it turned out! I'm so happy because I'm not that good at writing in my journal, but now I have a gorgeous photo journal of all the big events that have happened over the last 6 months. I plan on doing one every 6 months and hopefully someday we'll have a big 'This is your Life" Bookshelf full of blog books! If anyone else is interested the site I did it on is blurb.com. It slurps your blog into it's book creating program and then you just have to format the pictures and pages the way you want. It takes a little bit of time but it's well worth it! Here are some of the pages I did.

Mother's Day Weekend

I know sometimes people think of mother's day as getting a break from the kids, but I just wanted to have a mother's day where I got a break from cleaning, but still got to enjoy being with my sweet child, who is the whole reason I get to call myself a mother! So to celebrate on Saturday we took Teya to the zoo. She loves it there and it's so fun to see her find so much joy in her discovery of animals. We had a great time at the zoo and then on Sunday Taber took over all the menial tasks of motherhood (diapering, cleaning, cooking, doing dishes, etc..) and just let me play with Teya and have all the fun. It was a great day and I'm definitely coming out of the weekend feeling refreshed and excited about being a mom ; )

Another Utah Trip

Sorry I haven't blogged in forever again! We just got back from Utah last night after a wonderful week of visiting family. I got to go to Women's conference at BYU with my sisters which was AMAZING! Also got to go to Taber's sister's graduation from the U of U. We had a great trip and Teya did awesome on both flights. Still, that's definitely the last time I'm flying with her before the baby comes. I'm just getting too big and uncomfortable to handle that 4 1/2 hour flight with a toddler! Anyway, the posts below chronicle some of the highlights of our trip. Hope you enjoy!

Regan's graduation and hanging with the Riggs

The main reason for our trip to Utah was to see Taber's sister Regan graduate from the University of Utah. Obviously that's a pretty important event and we definitely wanted to be there to support her in her big accomplishment. The graduation was really great and Teya didn't do too bad at it either. At one point we did have to bust out her DVD player so she'd be quiet during the speakers, but for the most part she did all right.

Me, Taber and Teya standing with the graduate

Teya happily plugged in during the convocation

After the ceremony on Friday we all went out to lunch and then for the next few days just enjoyed hanging out with together in Salt Lake. We went to temple square, swam at the hotel, went to see Iron Man, ate at yummy restaurants and went out on late night ice cream runs. It was a really fun weekend and we'll definitely miss hanging out with family.

Teya, Taber and Brett at Temple Square

Teya with her beautiful aunt Regan
(you can tell where she gets her hair color from!)

Swimming with Grandma KarenMatching green with Great Grandma Louise

Temple Square

While we were in Salt Lake we took advantage of the opportunity to walk around temple square and enjoy the gorgeous flowers and the beauty of spring. We saw lots of couples getting married and Teya kept pointing at the brides and saying "Princess mommy! Princess!" At one point she also pointed to the temple and said, "I go in the castle okay mommy?" While we were there we got to see the Joseph Smith movie playing at the Legacy theater. I was a little nervous about bringing Teya to see a movie that isn't a cartoon or made for kids, but she actually sat through the whole thing so it worked out quite nicely.

Women's Conference

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was being able to attend Women's conference at BYU with my sisters. My youngest sister Liz wasn't able to come because of work, but me Rachel, Naomi and Sarah all got to attend and I must say it was quite amazing! Sheri Dew spoke at the opening session and talked about the power and the influence we have as women. It was so inspiring. We also went to classes about enjoying motherhood, eliminating distractions in our lives, stress busters, and the temple. I left feeling so uplifted, empowered, grateful, and motivated to be a better person and especially a better mother. It's definitely what I needed as I've been having a little anxiety lately about having another baby. Anyway, I love my sisters and am so glad that we got to spend the whole day together learning and laughing and just enjoying one another's company.

The Uda girls in order from youngest to oldest
Liz, Sarah, Naomi, me, and Rachel