Mexico for New Years!

First of all, you must know that we did a short little hike in 20-degree temps here at home on New Year's Eve so we could really appreciate the warmth of Mexico the next day! Ha ha!

Well, we were crazy and we flew to Mexico with a 4-month-old baby (Cora) to meet up with Mike's family for a very nice and warm vacation at an all-inclusive resort near Playa del Carmen. Overall the trip was a mixed bag for us: fun and relaxing but stressful at the same time since we had Cora with us.

The plane ride . . . well, it went a little better than expected but still about how we expected: Cora was not inclined to fall asleep in our arms but she eventually did while laying across my lap (as you can see in the picture below).

Grand Palladium White Sands Resort was a great place! Even despite the mishaps with rooms: Marty and Drew got a room with only one bed, and Christine and Jeremy's room had some plumbing issues. We lucked out and didn't have much trouble with our room so it was really nice.

Caught in a major downpour on our way to mini golf.

First time playing in the pool.

We enjoyed the food quite a bit and in this order: the a la carte restaurants were the best, the buffet was good, the free room service was fine. We went to the Brazilian, Thai, steakhouse, and Mexican a la carte restaurants. The steakhouse and the Mexican restaurants were our favorites food-wise. Dinners at the a la carte restaurants were hard with Cora because she was just so tired by the end of the day and just kind of cried the whole time while the wait-staff took their time serving us dinner. So . . . after the first two nights of trying to do dinner as a whole group, we decided it was probably best to split up and take shifts going to dinner and caring for Cora.

We went to the buffet for breakfast everyday, and it was good! We had freshly-made, custom omelettes, various smoothies to enjoy, and myriad other breakfast goodies. And then later on we discovered the yummy mixed drinks they make at lunch time.

Grandpa Marty has some super powers to get Cora to fall asleep in his arms.

Mike, Cora, and I left the resort only one day to go snorkeling with everyone at Akumal, and we are so glad we did despite Cora shortening our stay there. Mike and I were able to snorkel together for an hour, and while we were out we saw a stingray and two turtles! It was amazing. Shortly, after we came in to the beach to Cora and Mike's family, Cora woke up and was inconsolable - we think she was too hot. So we left early to get her back to our air conditioned room at the resort and a good nap. Thankfully, Mike's family had already been out snorkeling before all that went down.

All the other days we filled our time with hanging out on the beach, snorkeling just off the beach, lounging by the pool, swimming in the pool, and playing mini golf, soccer, ping pong, and badminton. I totally stomped Mike at badminton! :) I also spent a fair amount of time sitting in our room reading while Cora napped - which was actually very relaxing for me.

Had to document our fun time playing badminton - and me stomping Mike at it.

See the sweat beading up on Cora's nose? Poor hot girl.

Hanging out in the tent at Akumal, shortly before the big break down.

One of the days, Marty, Christine, Jeremy and their kids all went to the Xplor park to do all their high-adventure activities. They said it was a lot of fun, but definitely was not baby-friendly.

Cora did pretty well overall. She got a bit of a heat rash for the first few days (I mean, it was 65 degrees warmer in Mexico than it was back home). She slept well in the pack-n-play in our hotel room with us, so long as we covered up the sides of it so she couldn't see us. In fact, one night she was so tired that she slept the whole night through! We took her into the pool for the first time on this trip. She squealed and arched her back pretty big when we first put her in the water, but then she took it a little better later on since we very slowly inched her into the water.

Last morning on the beach before flying home.

Getting home was the biggest adventure of all. First of all, our plane was delayed an hour due to some unclaimed baggage on the plane so they had to find it and take it off the plane. Cora was not as agreeable on this flight since it was later in the day and she was more tired than the other flight, so . . . basically I ended up being the human pacifier since she won't take a regular pacifier. While we were gone, we supposedly had two feet of snow dumped back home. So when we landed, Mike was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a fleece jacket to go get the car in . . . so we clothed him with my knee socks and some makeshift gloves so he could dig out the car and drive back to get Cora and me. Then we also noticed the low-tire-pressure dash light on and worried about that the whole drive home. Then when we finally did get home, we discovered a 3-foot berm of snow from the snowplows blocking our driveway. So we high-stepped it through the snow up to our house with Cora so I could put her to bed and help Mike dig out the berm. But . . . Cora had a massive blowout so she was screaming bloody murder while I changed her and then still screamed after when I put her to bed. I still helped with digging out the berm even though Cora was still screaming. Once done, I fed her and put her to bed and she fell asleep after that.

Home sweet home. 

(This post was backdated to January 8, 2017, but it was written on March 22, 2017.)

Very White Christmas in Boise!

This year, Mike, Cora, and I went to my mom's house in Boise for Christmas. The drive there was definitely not what we are used to since we had to stop twice on the way to feed Cora in the car in gas station parking lots. We were there December 22 through December 26. We even got a little treat while we were there: my mom babysat Cora while Mike and I went to a movie at a local movie theater! We saw the new Star Wars movie - Rogue One - or something like that. We enjoyed it thoroughly!

We certainly had a white Christmas - Boise got a ton of snow! More so than usual by far. Consequently, Mike got a couple good workouts shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. 

Christmas Eve was the traditional: dinner, white elephant gift exchange, games, and playing Jill and Mike's homemade chimes. And Christmas day was also the traditional: yummy day at Jill and Mike's house, but! In addition to that, we got the privilege of joining in for the double missionary skype call! Both Jen and Parker called in at the same time and were able to see and talk to each other as well as all of us. 

We love to tease mom about her quite-large table centerpieces. :) 

Chandler, Jill, Alec, Andrew, and Amy on Christmas Eve night

Mike and Mom with Cora and Copper, the dog

Skyping with Jen and Parker! That's me, Cora, and Chandler

(This post was backdated to December 27, 2016, but it was written on March 22, 2017.)

Cora: 4 Months Old

Another month has flown by and so Cora is four months old today! This past month she has started to grab at stuff, which means it then usually ends up in her mouth. Plastic rings, her birdies, mommy’s and daddy’s fingers, mommy’s hair, and daddy’s arm hair are her favorite things to grab. We love when she smiles because her whole face smiles. She is a much more efficient eater now, which might be the key to her phenomenal weight gain (at least for her)! She’s now 12 pounds 1 ounce - according to our backpacking scale. :) We think we’re even beginning to hear her tiny giggles every now and then. We celebrated and hosted her first Thanksgiving at our house and the turkey was bigger than her! 

(This post was backdated to December 22, 2016, but it was written on February 19, 2017.)

First Time Hosting Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Mike, Cora, and I hosted Mike's dad and sister and her family this year. Having the basement finished for this event was fantastic! Our dinner was actually on Friday since Mike's sister, Christine, and her family spent actual Thanksgiving day with her husband's family. 

So consequently, our Thanksgiving Day for the four of us (Marty, Mike, Cora, and me) looked a lot like this: sitting on the couch and binge-watching football games. 

And then Friday, while Marty and Christine and her family went Black Friday shopping in the morning and early afternoon, Mike and I worked on the turkey, cranberry sauce, and rolls. We made the pumpkin pies earlier in the week. Then all the shoppers came home and made their dishes: Marty made the mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, Christine and her family made the salad and some more desserts. 

This was my first ever turkey to cook! I think it turned out pretty good, although it might have been cooked a little too long. And the gravy from the drippings turned was much too salty... I guess I should have considered that I brined the turkey when I was adding the salt to the gravy... Ha ha! Oh well. Live and learn. I used the Our Best Bites recipe for the turkey, except I didn't inject it but I did everything else. Mike's family were gracious guinea pigs to eat my first turkey and gravy. 

And since it seemed to be all the rage this year for Thanksgiving activities, we also filmed a Thanksgiving "mannequin" video. Ha ha! But some lost their poses..... 

(This post was backdated to November 27, 2016, but it was written on February 19, 2017.)

Cora: 3 Months Old

Cora is three months old today! In the past month, her smiling has really taken off. In fact, you can catch her best smiles right after she’s fed and she’s on the changing table getting her britches changed. The other facial expression she’s mastering: her getting-sad-and-jutting-out-her-lower-lip expression. A couple weeks ago, she suddenly started cooing and talking, with which we are both absolutely enamored. Cora has discovered the self-soothing-wonder of sucking her thumb! Almost every time we check on her while she’s sleeping, she has her thumb in her mouth and her other arm draped over her face. She has also taken up the habit of stroking my chest while nursing. Her dad will frequently try to “reset” her arm by placing it back down by her side, but then she just immediately moves it back up and recommences the stroking. And, amazingly, she recently went on her first camping trip and took to it without a hitch! We continue to watch her weight. Thankfully she is still gaining a little bit of weight each month, but she’s still losing ground in her percentile - she’s now in the 7th percentile whereas last month she was in the 15th. I’m beginning to think she has her dad’s metabolism! 

First Family Camping Trip!

We took Cora on her first camping trip this past weekend! It also happened to be her first snow and her first road trip. But we went south to the Saint George and Hurricane area where it was a little warmer. I was a bundle of nerves leading up to this first road trip and camping trip with Cora! But we packed up the car with all the necessary and unnecessary stuff to make the trip successful and as comfortable as possible. The road trip was definitely different from what we are used to: we had to stop every two hours to feed Cora and we'd end up sitting there for an hour or so since that's how long it takes to feed her. 

The first night of camping ended up being a bust because there was a bunch of wind up on Gooseberry Mesa where we hoped to camp, and it seemed to be everywhere else. So we checked into a local Best Western Hotel in Laverkin and went to dinner at Costa Vida. Cora did not take to the crib in the hotel very well at all, but in the end she slept okay.

The next morning we drove up to the Guacamole trails area where Mike went mountain biking first in the very frigid morning temperatures, and then after I finished feeding Cora, she and I went for a little hike on the same trail that Mike was riding.

We actually found that the Guacamole area had some pretty decent, at-large camping sites so we braved it and set up camp there for our second night. Then we drove down to the Jem trailhead where I went for a little ride, while Mike stayed back at the car with Cora. Our camping night wasn't too bad.... we made tin foil dinners over a fire, bundled Cora up, and hung out for as long as we could stand the cold. Then we all went to bed. We had Cora in her down bunting inside a little Big Bird sleeping bag that I used to sleep in as a baby/child with another sleeping bag partially folded over her. She woke up twice during the night to be fed and did not like having her diaper changed in the cold of the middle of the night.... when it was 29 degrees!

Here is our little camper in our little campsite! This morning we met up with our friends, Katie and Lloyd, and they mountain biked with Mike on the Jem trail while Cora and I hung back at the car for a bit and then hiked on the Jem trail for a bit too. Then that afternoon, I rode with Katie and Lloyd on the Bearclaw Poppy trail while Mike hung out with Cora. After that we headed home! Overall, it was a pretty good experience, I think. :)

(This post was backdated to November 6, 2016, but it was written on January 22, 2017.)

Cora's Blessing Day

Cora had a wonderful blessing day with many friends and family, but not all that wanted to come could make it and we missed them sorely.

Cora wore an heirloom blessing dress that my dad bought for my sister, Teri, back in 1959. Then all of my other sisters, plus myself and Teri's two daughters were also blessed in that blessing dress. So it has a special meaning to all of us in our family.

Mike and I invited some family and a couple close friends to join Mike in the blessing circle. Mike and I were pretty nervous that Cora would cry during the blessing and so we did everything we could to time her feedings right to prevent her from crying, but alas, we weren't so lucky. She started to cry some during the blessing for which Mike paused the blessing and stuck a pacifier in her mouth to help her quiet down. Thankfully, her cries were pretty quiet and did not overtake the blessing she was being given.

Afterwards, we had all of our family and friends that attended the blessing over to our house for a little luncheon and snacks. Cora snoozed in her car seat in the middle of all the visitors and conversations without even stirring.

(This post was backdated to November 6, 2016, but it was written on January 22, 2017.)