I'm from Idaho

I went to a music store today and asked for a piano book of scales, chords, and arpeggios so I could feel more comfortable teaching piano lessons. Before the clerk left to find my request, he asked me where my accent is from.

I told him, "I'm from Idaho, and I didn't know I had an accent."
"You do. Compared to us New York and Philadelphia musicians, you do have an accent. It's actually pleasant so I wanted to know where you were from."
After I told him why we were here, he gave me a hearty, "Welcome to Pennsylvania."

Now that I think about it, I was asked where my accent was from when I first moved to Illinois and talked to a native Chicagoan. However, that person had to ask me where Idaho was, and made me feel like a foreigner.

In France, (when I participated in a study abroad program) my "accent" passed me off as British. Needless to say, I was treated much more cordially than my American counterparts.

So... I have an accent. An Idahoan accent! Way to go Idaho.

My daughter is bulimic

See those fingers!! They are the guilty party. Baby Cakes has developed a new habit. After she is finished eating, I will sit her up to burp her. The moment she is upright, those fingers are shoved in her mouth and stay there until she gags herself enough to spit up. I can't even get the first of it cleaned up before she is at it again.



After three times of gag and spit, she decides she's had enough for at least 5 minutes. The Cakester rarely spit up before this. Now she self-induces spit up after every meal. When I pull one hand out of her mouth, she quickly puts the other one in. How can I hold both hands down and clean up the mess?? If I keep pulling her hands out, she thinks it is a game. She'll start laughing and smiling. It's super cute, but still annoying with the gagging.



The fists, I don't mind. They do make her choke a little on her own spit, but she usually pulls them out of her mouth. The fingers however, remain there no matter how many times she gags herself. I usually hear her gagging herself when she wakes up from naps before I hear her cry. I don't know what is so pleasurable about gagging yourself, but she continues to do it time and time again. When she is tired, she tries to fit both her binky and her fists in her mouth. When it doesn't work, she gets frutrated. She'll go back and forth between them before deciding on her fingers.



I don't mind that she sucks on her hands or her fingers. They are always available for her. I just wish she would stop shoving them so deep in her throat. I don't want this habit to continue into her later years.


Stop gagging yourself cute Baby Cakes. Stop!

When your dad is a dairy farmer...

In which the maintenance man knows me by name

My neighbors probably think I have a crush on the maintenance man considering how many times he has visited our town house. It's not so. However, the maintenance man has fixed every small problem we've had this month.
1) Our front door wouldn't shut properly - he moved the latch down.
2) Our front door wouldn't unlock with a key from the outside - he lubricated the lock
3) Our heater wouldn't turn on - he lit the pilot light
4) I heard squirrels running through the vents. (I am not kidding! They were loud and sounded like they were going to jump out and start chasing me.) He dismantled the furnace vent and assured me it was impossible for squirrels to get in. He went outside to fix the screen that covers the vents. Turns out it was the neighbors vent whose screen had come off.
5) I got out of the shower to find water leaking from the living room ceiling and water running down the wall.

For this we had to remove all the contents from the messiest and most disorganized closet in the house so he could get to the bath tub pipes. He did something involving a piece of the pipe and a gasket. After about an hour, we are free to shower without flooding the downstairs. :)

These five visits don't include the additional two they made to change something in the utility closet to comply with new township rules. I realize that some of these I could have done myself, but one of the perks of renting is to just call maintenance when you have a problem. Hopefully we won't need to make any more maintenance calls for the rest of this month. Now, when I am walking around the property, the maintenance man recognizes me and waves.

Famous Dr. Bruce

Check out Dr. Bruce, the new face of Delaware Valley College. I'm so proud!

3 months old

What to say about my baby cakes besides the fact that she is absolutely adorable and so much fun to have around. I really wonder what I did to entertain myself before Eliza came around. She giggles, plays, smiles, and holds herself up really well. She can sit up on the ground with only my hand under her arm. She also likes to sit on the couch, and on the backseat of the car.


All buckled up and ready to go



Sometimes she will play herself to sleep, even if it is on the floor.



She loves to chew on her hands. She tries and tries to fit both of her fists in her mouth. At times, she shoves them so far in her mouth that I hear her gagging herself - I wish she would stop doing that. She likes to stick her pointer and middle finger down her throat, and after she gags pulls them out with some curdled milk that came up. She espcially enjoys doing that when she is on her dad's lap. Sometimes she chomps down on her fingers so hard that she pinches them and then starts to cry. I give her a hug, and seconds later she is back at it again - it must not bother her too much.

She likes to do everything we are doing. She refuses to let us eat dinner without her sitting on our laps. Then she tries to stick her hands in our food and grab our spoons. One time, she knocked my bowl of pasta salad completely off the table. It only took her a second. She's only 3 months old, but I might need to put her in a high chair.

The other morning, I put Eliza in her bouncy chair so I could take a shower. When I closed the curtain, she was playing. When I opened the curtain, I found...

I guess ~10 minutes is too long to shower.

Last Saturday, Bruce gave our ward members a tour of the DVC dairy and other farms. Eliza helped me hold up the sign.



We love her so much. She is so happy, and so are we! We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Big City traveler and the Solar Decathalon

At 2 and a half months of age, Eliza has traveled more than some adults I know. She flew 4.5 hours on a plane to Utah at 3 weeks old. A couple of weeks ago, she went to Washington D.C. and stayed in her first hotel - the Doubletree. Since then, she has been to all over Maryland. (We got lost going to my cousin's baseball game)

Here she is on the king size bed.



Our friends, Jason and Kara Wheeler took a whirlwind tour of the east coast, and stopped by to see us on Tuesday, September 27th. Unfortunately, their stay was mighty short. We did get in the essentials, Cities and Knights, and a run for Jason and Bruce, a walk for Kara, Eliza, and I. On Wednesday afternoon, they left for DC to attend the Solar Decathlon Thursday afternoon.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. (Taken from their website)
Bruce, Eliza, and I drove down later that evening through a severe thunderstorm, and met them at the solar decathlon.

We took a shuttle bus from our hotel to the metro station. We rode the metro to the Washington Mall, then got on another shuttle bus to take us to the Solar Decathlon at West Potomac Park. It actually wasn't as complicated as it sounds once we figured out how to obtain a metro ticket.

Here is Eliza on the metro


I don't know a whole lot about solar energy or architecture, but I do know that anyone who can make an entire house run on solar energy is a genius. I liked the New Zealand house the best.


It seems practical and very comfortable. The New Zealand and U of I house are the only houses I saw that I felt comfortable enough to live in. I especially liked the hidden sleeping room for an extra 5 people. Talk about a space saver. I liked the cultural adaptation New Zealand added to their house as well. If their climate is really as temperate as they claimed, I should have moved to New Zealand years ago. :)


Coming out of the University of Illinois house.

Although each house had the same goals and restrictions, I was amazed at the variety of designs I saw. Eliza on the other hand, didn't find the houses that amazing.


All the traveling and the bright sun wore her out. This is all she had to say about it.


Although, by the looks of it, something must have made an impression on her.


Overall, I thought the Solar Decathlon was pretty impressive. I regret that we didn't have time to see all of the houses. For as many people as they had in attendance, it's too bad the houses aren't open longer. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our friends from Illinois who now live in Utah.
Come again Kara and Jason. Eliza misses you already. (Also, thanks for the photo's I snagged from you. You're better at taking pictures than I am anyway.)


We made a quick stop over to the temple before we headed home.

Talkative

When Eliza gets tired, instead of crying she gets loud and silly. Her silliness makes me giggle every time. I love her face at the beginning of this video; it clearly shows her mannerisms that let me know she is ready for a nap. She went to sleep minutes after this video was taken.

Sometimes I wish I understood what Eliza is thinking and trying to say. With some of the looks that she gives and the way she "talks" all the time, makes me curious. However, I am willing to wait until that time comes - she already is growing up too fast.


Eliza's reaction to her dad telling her mom all about the Dairy Committee meeting, and future plans of the DVC dairy.


Another random picture. I think these crackers have been on our shelf a little too long.


Yup! Stuck to the wall. Too funny!

Musical Genius

The girl is a natural!! Baby cakes likes to sit on my lap while I play the piano. It's the stillest she ever sits - she doesn't move a muscle for 3 or 4 songs. She watches what I do. Then, I slide her a little closer to the keys. She puts her own hands on the keys. She moves her hands around, stretches out her fingers, and ends up playing some notes with her fists. She's not yet coordinated enough to play with just her fingers.



I love how intensely focused she is in this picture. After a while she gets frustrated because she can't push down all the keys she touches. It's okay Baby Cakes, you have plenty of time to learn.

Bed time

Baby Cakes loves going to bed!! She gets so excited every night I sing her the "Lets go to bed song" and we start our bed time routine.
Eliza goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 nearly every night. She sleeps about 8.5 to 9 hours straight. Although the past two nights, it has been 11 straight hours. IT IS HEAVENLY!! She is an angel.

Bed time is a special and spiritual bonding time for the two of us. Our routine is the same every night. At around 7:40, we do the hokey pokey while we change her diaper and put on her pajamas. She gets a big smile on her face, and really gets into the "shake it all about" mode. I feed her around 7:45 while we have family scripture study. We read a short story (some nights it's shorter than others). Then I look into her eyes, smile, and rock her while I sing two songs "I love to see the temple" and "I am a Child of God" in that order. Then, I tell her I love her, that I will come get her in the morning; I kiss her on the forehead then the cheek, and put her in her crib. She looks up at me and smiles, giggles, and starts talking. I pull her blanket just up to her chest where she likes it, offer her pink bink, stroke her cheek, say its night night time, and tell her I love her again. Bruce comes in to tell her he loves her, and gives her a kiss. Then I turn out the nightlight, shut the door, and go downstairs.

Sometimes she takes the binky and sometimes she doesn't. Most of the time she will fall asleep within 5 minutes if not sooner. Sometimes she will cry a little. When this happens, Bruce will go up and say I love you, then I will say I love you and offer her back her binky again. She will take it, give it two sucks, spit it out, and go right to sleep. Easy as pie!! I hope it stays that way.

She usually wakes up sometime between 5 and 6, normally 5:30. Then she stays awake until 7 and will doze again until 8. Sometimes she will wake up at 4, nurse and go back to sleep until 7; although that doesn't happen very often. I've tried putting her to bed later than 8 so she will sleep later in the morning, but Baby Cakes definitely wants to go to bed at 8, and she wakes up at the same time anyway. The past couple of nights though, she has slept until 6:30 or 7. I submit my will to the will of the child and bedtime becomes a piece of cake.

Now for the special, spiritual bonding moment. No matter how tired or grumpy Baby Cakes may be - she completely changes when I begin to sing the primary songs. While I sing, she will look at me with love and adoration. Her mouth and tongue begin to move as if she is trying to sing along or tell me something about what she remembers on the other side of the veil. She smiles, giggles, and squeals with delight. She smiles the biggest when I get to "a family is forever," and "to live with him someday." It's almost as if she knows what that will be like and wants that. It nearly brings tears to my eyes because I want that too. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ and temple ordinances, we can be together forever Baby Cakes, and that is definitely something to be happy about. I really can't describe the way she looks at me - it's so sweet. Bruce mentioned that he would be jealous if it didn't make him so happy.

In those few moments of singing to my baby girl and seeing how happy she is, the love of God comes pouring out. I feel the spirit so strongly as the truthfulness of what I am singing to her is made evident. It is a touching, spiritual, and tender moment of my day. I look forward to bed time almost as much as Baby Cakes, simply to feel that bonding love. I am so blessed that I get to experience that every night. We chose her name because I liked it, and we read on a website that it means "sent from God." Eliza is truly sent from God, and I am so blessed to be her mother.

I didn't want to video tape it because it is my special moment. Then, I decided that I wanted to keep this special moment in my memory forever. This is the best we could do - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Silly mom- silly girl!

I call this Eliza's theme song. It gets her laughing and smiling every time. Of course, she was much more animated right before Bruce turned on the camera. We try and try to capture her cuteness, but have come down to one conclusion. No lens of ours can truly capture Baby Cakes. Although her smiles and giggles are great, and her face is so beautiful, her real beauty and character lies in her personality. She does something new every day that keeps me laughing. These personality traits can't be captured on camera. Although there are no words to describe her, I'll do my best to document her personality.

1) I recently started watching another baby girl who is only 6 days older than Eliza. Baby E comes over for 8 hours a day 3 days a week so her mom, who is a nurse, could go back to work. She is on medication for acid reflux, so she naturally cries more than Eliza. Her crying is not excessive - just natural for a baby whose stomach is often uncomfortable. When Baby E begins to cry, Eliza will gaze in her direction with a look on her face that clearly says, "What is your problem?" It makes me laugh. Then I will look at Eliza and say, "Little Miss E is sad." Eliza will then give a half smile which shows how comical she finds the situation. When I pick Baby E up, Eliza gives her a look that says, "Hey, that's my mom. Don't take away her attention." There is a tiny bit of animosity in that look.
However, Eliza keeps right on playing and being the happy girl that she is.


Me and the girls

2) The first day Baby E came, I laid the girls on their backs side by side. Eliza didn't pay attention to Baby E at all. Baby E started hitting (you know how babies do that) Eliza in the chest. After 5 or 6 hits, Eliza hit Baby E back. This caused Baby E to cry. I told Eliza she shouldn't hit and she gave me a look that said, "she started it."

Eliza and Baby E.
Eliza is stronger than Baby E. Baby Cakes has a lot more control over her body and limbs than Baby E does. Since then, every time Baby E comes over, Eliza looks at her like, "you again." I'm sure it won't be long before either girl gets upset on the days they can't play with each other.

In her jogging suit

3) Eliza is content sitting propped up on the couch observing what goes on around her. She reminds me a lot of her dad when she does that.


sitting on the couch


Baby Cakes watching General Conference

4) Lately, she likes to turn her head to the side so she can make full eye contact with me while she is nursing. I will smile at her, she'll give a sigh of relief and contentment, laugh and coo for a little bit, then get back to the task at hand. Later she will slightly tilt her head, give me a half smile, lick her lips, and once again turn back to the task. When she is finished eating, she will smack her lips with a sigh of satisfaction and giggle at me. It is CUTE!!

5) We have to be careful now what we put in her reach while she is sitting on our laps. A couple of days ago, she tried to put her hand in Bruce's hot soup. When he moved it, she lunged and reached for it again. She wants to sit up at the dinner table with us, but it is getting more and more difficult to hold her while we eat. She tries grabbing our silverware too.

6)A couple of days ago she started playing peek-a-boo with her blanket when I put her down for a nap. She pulled her blanket up over her eyes, pulled it down again, saw me and squealed with delight as she coyly turned her head. She did it three times, and we both started laughing. Then she looked at me as if to say, "aren't I cute?" I responded, "yes! Now its time for sleep." She pulled her arms out did her little turtle face, then went to sleep. It was adorable!! Wish everyone could have seen it. She hasn't done it since.

Pulling the blanket up


Looking to see if I'm watching

It seems like she sometimes gets in these silly moods like when she flicked her toy away with a flick of her wrist, or when she yanked a fist full of coupons out of my coupon book. I'm still not sure how that happened, she did it in about a second. Sometimes she will be looking out the window and randomly start laughing. One time she took her binky out of her mouth and threw it across the room. I had to get out of the rocking chair to retrieve it. Sometimes I wonder if it is merely coincidence or if she does it on purpose because she wants to be silly!!

She will laugh, smile, and talk to Bruce and I for hours on end. She isn't to the point yet where she will do that for other people. She will occasionally sneak in a smile or two for others, but she mostly sits and stares at them with a serious expression on her face as if she is trying to figure out what to think about them.


I took this picture because she looks like a football players with shoulder pads in this shirt

Play time

Sorry for the long moment of silence and no action. She probably realized that I was filming her. She played like this for about 45 minutes while I made dinner.

Baby Cakes loves life and is full of energy. She has always been an active girl. I constantly felt her movements when I was pregnant. She likes to spend the majority of the day either playing or watching what I do. Sometimes she will try to help with the household chores, but she tends to throw the laundry instead of fold it.



Play time involves bouncing in the chair, looking out the window, going on walks, reading books, kicking her legs like crazy (she can move herself a little bit now by kicking), holding rattles (only for a little while), and hitting/grabbing rings I dangle in front of her. She also likes looking at the black and white animal flash cards we have, and doing anything that involves me and sitting up. Eliza prefers sitting up over laying down. It's probably because she can see more things that way. I am contemplating getting a Bumbo to save my arms from propping her up. I don't know if it is worth the investment though. I'll be on the lookout for a good deal on one.





Baby Cakes is simply a happy girl! She is not as serious as she may seem in the pictures. She must just be fascinated by the camera, but doesn't like to smile at it. It's probably because it covers my face and she is wondering why I look so silly with a silver thing in front of my face. Stay tuned for more videos if Blogger allows it.

Better late than never - Happy Birthday

I shot this video on September 19th, my mother in laws birthday. Why it took me this long to update it, I'm not sure. As usual, Eliza was talking up a storm. That is of course until I turned the camera on. She must not like being filmed like a circus animal - she doesn't perform on command. She will be doing something super cute or smiling really big until we get out the camera - then it goes away. She does this nearly every time. Oh Well!! My blog readers will just have to come visit in person to truly understand how cute this girl really is.

Grandma, Eliza was trying to say - Happy 50th Birthday!!

My birthday, September 17, was a special day for the Philadelphia area. President Henry B. Eyring came to Philadelphia for the temple ground breaking ceremony. Yes, ground has been broken for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania temple. We are super excited. That means we will only have to travel about 40 minutes or so to get to the temple instead of 3 or so hours (depending on traffic to DC - sometimes it takes 5 or 6 hours one direction.)


The Philadelphia temple


We watched the ground breaking via satellite at the church. The actual ground breaking was by invitation only, and we didn't get an invitation. The temple is scheduled to be finished sometime in 2013. Bruce and I have already had 3 or 4 missionary opportunities as we've talked about the temple coming here. I'm sure we will have many more.

After the dedication, Bruce and I had lunch at the Duck Deli, a local restaurant known for its great BBQ. I tried the North Carolina pulled pork, but wasn't a big fan of the BBQ flavor. I'll get something different next time. Then, we went to the DVC (Delaware Valley College - where Bruce teaches) football game. Eliza must not have thought that the game was too exciting - she slept through the entire game, about 3 hours. A 3 hour nap is almost unheard of for my baby cakes.

Bruce wanted to throw me a surprise picnic/BBQ at a local park. However, the day before my birthday he had to tell me about it simply because he needed some help getting the food together for it. He tried to enlist the help of others, but it kind of fell through. I'm not sure how many people he invited, but only 4 adults and 3 children came. Needless to say, we have a lot of hamburgers left in our freezer - a lot!!
Bruce did make me this awesome candy cake. It is rainbow chip, with rainbow chip frosting, and all my favorite candies. What a great guy!


Eliza didn't like the celebration as much as the rest of us, so we called it a night early before we got to play sand volleyball.
It was a great birthday anyway. All I wanted was to spend some time with my family, and that's what we did. Bruce gave me what I wanted for my birthday - video games that we could play together after Baby Cakes goes to bed. He gave me Harry Potter lego and Wheel of Fortune for the Wii. We've spent many a night challenging each other to Wheel of Fortune, and have many a nights ahead of us trying to figure out how to play Harry Potter. What fun! Thanks for the great birthday.