Magdalyn 4 Months

Magdalyn had her four month check up today. She now weighs 13 lbs 8 oz and is 24.61 inches tall. Still taller than she is big, but both are 40% and 60% so she is pretty average. Her head however remains in the 4%. She has a very cute, petite little noggin. Kalianna at this same age was taller and weighed less. Several people have commented these last couple weeks on how much Magdalyn is starting to fill out. You should see her thighs! They are super cute and chunky!

She hasn't changed too much since last month. She is still super sweet and easy-going. She loves to be around lots of people. She will happily play on her blanket and observe while everyone moves around her. She is starting to become very interested in toys. Now that she can hold them. Especially the ones that make fun noises. She also loves being sung to. Kalianna will sing to her when she is sad, and it is so sweet! Whenever Mommy or Kalianna sings to her, she calms right down and is super happy again.

Bear Lake

Last weekend we went to Bear Lake with Matt's family. His parents have a timeshare so we all met up there Friday night and stayed until Sunday evening. His aunt Becky and her family and their grandparents joined us. The lake is really high this year, so unfortunately we couldn't go to the beach. But the condos had a really nice pool, which the girls loved! We had a nice relaxing weekend of hanging out, playing games, and watching movies.

Playing by and in the pool

Playing with aunt Miranda

Playing games outside

I asked Matt to take some pictures of his family...this is what I got

I gave him another chance

Swinging in Grandpa's sling

Summer Fun!

I've been trying to play catch-up lately, so I decided to just combine my last several posts. Get ready for a lot of pictures!

I love summer time! I love that the girls and I have been able to have play dates with friends, and go visit places together. We have spent a lot of the summer in Kalianna's pool in the backyard, and at tumbling. But here are a couple other places we've been.

Pedicures with Mommy:

Grandma's house, eating popsicles with her cousins:

Gateway Discovery with her cousins:

Wheeler Farm with some old roommates and their kids:

Tumbling

Almost since Kalianna learned to walk, she has been jumping and somersaulting and climbing on everything. She is very active and has no fear! Matt and I kept saying how we needed to find her a tumbling class or something. We knew she would excel in an environment like that. So after she turned two, and things calmed down with Magdalyn, I started looking around. I found this place called My Gym that offers a tumbling class for 2-3 year olds and they had a free two week trial. I figured why not give it a try - it's free.

I took Kalianna to her first class at the beginning of the summer and I knew we would be signing up in the first ten minutes. We walked into the gym, Kalianna took one look at all the mats, bars and trampolines and she squealed and started jumping up and down. She ran for the gate and was ready to go! Once we got her shoes off and entered the gym, she was all grins and giggles as she ran from one thing to the next, trying everything out. Climbing up and over and through and bouncing off one thing after another. Class started and she had a hard time with the structure at first. She did not want to sit on the mat and warm up when she still had things to explore! But after that first class, she has gotten the hang of everything and she does fantastic! The teachers who work there are amazing with the little kids and the classes are absolutely perfect for the short attention span of a 2-year-old.

The most awesome part is during the summer they have unlimited classes. So I can bring Kalianna almost every single day of the week and we only pay the small fee for the one class she is officially signed up for. They also have free play several days during the week, where she can go and just play for an hour. So technically I can bring her twice a day for the price of a one day a week class. They also rearrange the gym every week, so the kids get to explore something new each time they come. It has been such a fun thing for us to do this summer! It gets us out of the house, Kalianna gets exercise, and she is learning and making friends at the same time. Matt was able to come with us to free play last Monday since he had work off, so I was finally able to get some pictures! I didn't get everything, but I got enough to give you an idea of how much fun she has.

The ball pit. Kalianna loves to stand on the edge and jump in, then bury herself in the balls.

Climbing. They climb up this ladder built into the wall and touch the tape at the top. Kali did this on her first try. The girl amazes me with her athleticism!

Monkey bars. Still trying to master these. Her arms aren't quite long enough yet to do them without help.

The unparalleled bars. She uses the padding to climb up one of the sides, then she grabs the top bar and swings for a minute before dropping onto the mat. She saw a couple older kids doing it once at free play and immediately joined in.

The ladder walk. She loves this! Having to climb up one box, walk across a ladder a couple feet off the ground, then jump down on the other side. I think she is a monkey. I really do.

The trampoline. Another favorite almost since she could walk. And thanks to Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas present last year, she seriously flies on these things.

Sledding down the ramp. They have all kinds of "rides" they set up for the kids each week.

Magdalyn 3 Months

It has been a crazy couple of weeks, so I know I am totally behind on this! Magdalyn is the calmest, happiest baby I have ever met! And I am not the only one who thinks so. It's not just a case of proud-mommy syndrome (which I do have). People at church ask me all the time if she has ever cried. The other moms at tumbling talk about her frequently (or so I have been told) and many of them have said, "I would have another baby if I could be guaranteed one like her." On July 15th, when she was exactly 3 months, I was at a book signing boutique all day. I was there all the next day too and Magdalyn spent both days with me. The other authors could not believe what a content little baby she was. She was perfectly happy laying on her blanket and playing for hours at a time. Everyone wanted to hold and snuggle her (she loves to snuggle!) and I had several offers to be my new babysitter.

Magdalyn loves to look around and take everything in. If we are watching a movie, she has to be facing the TV, just because she can tell something is going on. Bath time is one of her favorite things in the world! She kicks and splashes and goes crazy as soon as she gets in water. She also loves to watch her mobile. She enjoys being on her feet, you can tell she can't wait until she can run and play like her sister. It is very easy to get her to smile. With Kalianna, you had to work to earn her smiles. But Magdalyn loves to show off her gummy grin. She is such a sweet little girl! I honestly can't believe she was only born 3 short months ago. I can't imagine our family without her!

Binky Fairy

It's official. We are now a binky-free house! A couple weeks ago Kalianna got a visit from the Binky Fairy. We got the idea from a friend of mine, and we really liked it. First I spent the day scouring the house for spare binkies. I threw away all of Magdalyn's while Kalianna was napping. Maggie doesn't take them, so I wanted them out of the house. I knew Kalianna had five. I found four of them. I searched and searched and couldn't find the last one. So I figured we had left it at my parents and would dispose of it later. We spent all day talking about the Binky Fairy and how she would leave Kali a present for her binkies.

Finally after dinner, the moment had arrived. We got a pink gift bag out and put it on Kalianna's bed. She said good bye to each of her binkies with one final suck, then spit them into the bag and said bye-bye. Then I took the girls out to run errands and when we got home, there was a cute stuffed elephant in place of her binkies. Kali was ecstatic! She loves elephants! She hugged him and played with him all evening. Then came the dreaded bedtime. She asked for her binkies and when I reminded her that the binkies went bye-bye and now she had elephant instead, she cried. A lot. Poor thing! But she did hug her elephant and went to bed snuggling him. She woke up a couple times that first night, unable to get herself back to sleep without the binky. So I went in and sang to her and she fell asleep again.

She did so great the next couple days! She rarely asked for them and when I reminded her of the binky fairy, she would hug her elephant and be happy again. Then we walked to a neighborhood dinner. That last little binky had been hiding under the stroller and, of course, Kalianna was the first to see it. She was thrilled! Darn that last binky! So...the Binky Fairy came again that night. This time bringing Kalianna a stuffed cat and some M&Ms. She was thrilled all over again! This time she realized the binky was leaving for good. So there were a lot less tears. Now she had an elephant, a cat, and chocolate!

There are still some days I wish she had her binky. Especially at nap and night times. But I really am glad it's gone! No more trying to find it and no more hassle. She hasn't asked for it in awhile now. She still has some restless nights, but most of the time she is just moving and making noise in her sleep. So not having it doesn't keep her up, it keeps me up. But she has been doing better and better. My little girl is growing up!

Book Signing Boutique

Last weekend I was invited to participate in a yard sale/boutique/book signing event. I only had five copies of my book left and I didn't have time to order more. I wasn't sure if it would be worth it and almost didn't participate. But then I decided why not? Every time I have done a book signing with other authors, it has turned into a great experience! Even if I don't sell a single book, I get to meet other authors and always end up learning something new. It doesn't matter how many books I sell. Even selling one copy to someone who might not normally hear about it is worth it to me! So I found people to watch Kalianna for me all day Friday and Saturday, then I got up Friday morning and headed to the boutique. I was looking at my map, unsure of where to go next, when I was met by flashing lights in my mirror. Awesome. I've never been pulled over in my life! Of course it would be on my way to a book signing, when I was already running late. I was apparently speeding in a school zone. School shouldn't even be going in July! Whatever. I ended up with my first ticket ever. Way lame! I felt totally stupid. I don't ever speed! Especially in a school zone. And what a bad way to start my day! Oh well. I got there and set up and enjoyed visiting with the other authors. Magdalyn came with me, since she needs me every 3 hours to survive. She did so good! Maggie is seriously the happiest baby I have ever seen! She is so chill, people kept asking if she ever cries. Everyone absolutely loved her and it was fun having some one-on-one time with her. It started to get really hot late in the afternoon, even under our tent, so we closed shop a tiny bit early.

Then the next day we did it all again. I sold all five of my books in those two days, making just enough to pay off my speeding ticket. But I learned so much from the other authors, I don't even care! I made some great new friends who taught me so much already! And we had a blast visiting and sharing our experiences with each other for two days. I would do the whole thing all over again in a heartbeat!

The other authors who were there were Cindy C Bennett, Sherry Gammon, Anna del C Dye, A.M. Hooper, and Mandi Slack. The only problem with doing a book signing with so many other authors is now I want to read each of their books. That's a lot more to buy!

After hearing some of the experiences other authors have had with publishing houses, I am so happy I self-published! Sometimes I wonder if it is worth all the work, and then I talk to a "traditionally" published author. Nine times out of ten, they are unhappy with their publisher and wish they were in my shoes.

So after talking with these other authors, I went home and wrote this:

I'll huff and I'll puff...

Maybe it's because the 3 little pigs is my daughter's favorite story right now, but I spent the weekend with several other authors (some self-published and some published through big publishing houses) and now I can't get thoughts of the big bad wolf out of my head. Let's face it. We, as authors, are all just like these little piggies. We just want to make our own way in this world, set up houses for ourselves, and live happily ever after. But the big bad wolf of publishing doesn't want that. They want to knock down our work, watch us run away squealing, and then gobble us up.

Take pig number one for example. This pig is a little naive and possibly unaware of the wolf's intentions. The wolf takes advantage of this pig any chance he gets. This piggy is like many authors out there who sign a contract with the first publishing house who will take them, thrilled to be getting published at all. Saying, "Hey! A straw house--sounds awesome! It won't take long to put up, nor much work on my part. Now I can go play!" Then they read the fine print. They are locked in with this publishing house for life, unable to submit work anywhere else. They make almost nothing from royalties, while their publisher racks in the dough. And they don't even have a marketing package with their contract, so their book isn't being promoted the way it should be. The first rainfall hits and they realize their house was cool in theory, but now they are left with nothing more than a mushy pile of straw.

Pig number two has done his homework. He knows sticks are thicker and stronger than straw, but he maybe doesn't know how to make his house completely secure. He has a lawyer read over his contract and doesn't sign until he feels good about the deal he is getting, but he still doesn't have rights to his own book. He can't sell or promote his own work without first clearing it with his publisher and they get to make changes to his story that maybe he doesn't want in there. It only takes an extra blow or two, and his house gets knocked down, just like his brother's.

Then there is little piggy number three. He spends a lot more of his own money, and he has to work three times harder than the first two pigs, but once his house of brick is complete, he is able to relax by the fireplace and turn up his music to block out the sound of a wolf howling at his door. All the other pigs called him crazy when he said he was going to self-publish. "Why do all that extra work? If you build a simpler home, you can spend the rest of the day playing with us! Besides, do you know how much bricks cost?!" But it always ends the same. The third little pig is the happiest, and he always ends up helping the other pigs out when their houses come tumbling down.