NESA contest in Maine

After driving for nearly 20 hours round trip, Dr. Richards made it to and back safely from Maine. He drove one of three 15 passenger vans shuttling 32 (8 teams of 4)students to a livestock judging, quiz bowl, and oral presentation competition. The students took second place overall, falling behind Penn State by a mere 7 points. They took first place in livestock judging, and first place in oral presentation. If it weren't for that blasted quiz bowl (in which they did terrible), they would have taken first. On a positive note, no one has gotten that close to beating Penn State since who knows when.

They competed against big name schools like UCONN, UMASS, URI, UNH, Rutgers, and Penn State. You can read the article on the Delval homepage here.
I'm glad his team did well. Next year, they may even win. I'm also glad that he is home - Baby Cakes and I missed him.

Pennsylvania Farm Show

On January 13, we headed to Harrisburg, Pa and attended the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show. We were taken aback by how crowded the place was. I never knew so many people were that interested in farm shows. Farm Show lasts all week, but of course we only went on the day of the dairy show.

Really, where else would you see a statue like this


Or this...


Next year we will brave the cold and actually stand by the statue. :) (Thanks google for providing the images for me).

Farm Show was held from Jan 7-14 with activities ranging anywhere from an antique tractor pull to a celebrity cow milking contest; from dog demonstrations to a farm safety quiz bowl; from horseshoe pitching to Hershey's baking contests; from horseshoe pitching to mini pony pulling. If it has anything at all to do with agriculture in any way, or if you want to see varieties of any farm animal, farm show has it for you. You could probably go every day (of the farm show), all day, every year for the rest of your life and still not see everything. That takes some serious planning.

There are quite a large number of activities designed especially for children. Baby Cakes seems to like her sheep hat.



We stopped by the DVC information booth, and the barns to see....cows.


Bruce watched a bit of the dairy show while I found a quiet bathroom corner to feed Eliza.



I keep telling Bruce that dairy shows would be a lot more exciting if they taught the cows how to do tricks instead of just walking in a circle. He then informed me of how difficult it is to teach a cow to lead and walk in a circle. When a cow takes first place in showmanship - that is a trick. I was thinking more along the lines of jumping through hoops of fire, standing on their front two legs, and synchronized dancing.



We definitely had to see this years butter sculpture.


Yes, it is sculpted entirely out of Land of Lakes butter. Some close ups.


Seeing this not only amazes me, but makes me want to grab a giant slice of bread, a knife, and an extra large jar of jam. YUM!

And the Facts

• 1000 pounds of real dairy butter
• More than 10 days of sculpting
• Butter will be converted to energy in a local dairy farm's methane digester (not sure what the point of this is)
• 22nd annual butter sculpture

We went to almost every vendor's booth to snag up some free pens, pads of paper, and my favorite, magnets. We tried oodles of food samples mostly dips, salsas, cheeses, and BBQ flavorings including buffalo flavored pickled eggs. Yes, they were as nasty as they sound, maybe even more so. When eggs have a shelf life of up to 2 years after being opened, there are way too many preservatives - I can't imagine how pickled you would be after eating a large jar.

Cakesters and I had to take the classic farm picture.


It was surprisingly difficult or me to hold her while trying to get both of our heads in the picture. We spent $20.00 on food (and milkshakes), and $10.00 on parking. I'd say it was a day of fun.

Favorite Fat Rolls

Baby Cakes is not a chubby baby; she is very average with the normal fat rolls of typical babies. However, there is one fat roll that I am particularly fond of. For example, look at her arms.



Do you see it, the one right above the bend of her elbow.



Isn't it the perfect little love handle, and oh so pinchable. I love it, and I squeeze it everyday. It will be a sad day when those ones go away.

Here are just some fun pictures. That's my girl, trying to get every last bite.

6 months

Baby Cakes is growing up, and definitely takes the cake for the sweetest baby girl ever!! Her 6 month milestone was January 14th. That means that as of right now, she is 7 months (look for those pictures and updates soon)


She has slimmed down and slowed down with her growth.
Weight: 16 lbs, 7 oz - 47.5%ile
Height: 2"2.14" - 51.63%ile
Head Circumference: 44 cm - 82.5%ile. No wonder I have a hard time pulling her clothes on over her head. She is so smart that her head is big to hold all of her brains.
I guess Eliza's weight before every appointment. This one was my largest error at 3 ounces off. (2 months, I guessed right one. 4 months, I was 2 ounces off) I thought she would be 16 lbs, 10 oz.


Loves:

• When both mom and dad are home. When Bruce comes home from work and picks her up, she is full of smiles and giggles the rest of the night. As she looks around at us, her face is full of utter delight. She likes to be home with her parents






Getting her picture taken. If the camera is out, she looks at it and smiles. She's a total ham. Often times we have to take the same picture 2 or 3 times because she will throw her arms up in the air and throw her head back in excitement. These pictures sometimes make it look like she is throwing a fit, but really she is so excited. After the picture is taken, she wants to see it right away. If you put the camera down without showing her the picture, she whines.




• Bath time. No matter how tired or grumpy she is, her frown turns upside down and the excited squeals begin when you turn on the bath water. One evening, I was out doing some grocery shopping. Bruce had a long day and wanted to take a bath. He put Eliza in her bouncy chair in the hallway outside the bathroom. When he turned on the water to fill the tub, Eliza got so excited. When he got in instead of her, she threw a "fit" - tears and screaming. If Bruce didn't get the water so hot, she may have just gotten in with him. As it was, that was the shortest bath Bruce has ever had.
• Giving hugs and kisses. Her hugs are sweet - her kisses are sometimes painful. She hugs me around the neck every time I pick her up. She gives me dozens of kisses everyday. They would be super sweet if she didn't use my hair as a means to draw my face closer to her. She pulls on the hair at the nape of my neck. I usually have it braided or pulled back, but in all of her excitement to give me kisses, she usually pulls my hair out of the braid or pony tail. Sometimes she even has strands of hair wrapped around her fingers, and my face is caked with slobber when she is done. How do I teach her not to pull hair? I absolutely love her kisses though - they make me feel loved.
  
  
• Looking in the Mirror. She loves, loves, loves to look at herself in the mirror. Every morning after she gets dressed, she has to look in the mirror. When she sees herself, she reaches out towards herself while she squeals, smiles, and poses. It's so funny to watch her look at herself. She definitely knows she's a beauty.
• Doing Housework. She is completely fascinated with watching me clean, cook, or fold laundry. The problem is she wants to be at my side while doing it. In the past 3 months, I don't think I've made a single meal without her on my hip. She wants to watch every ingredient, every machine (blender, microwave, toaster, grill, etc), and every stroke of a spoon. She likes laundry. She prefers throwing it rather than folding it, and eating it instead of organizing them into piles. She is attracted to the laundry detergent bottle. Every time I open the laundry cupboard door, she lunges for the detergent. She simply has to touch it. Lucky for me that's all she does, touch the container. Finally, she is strangely obsessed with vacuuming. When I pull out the vacuum, she gets excited. She reaches for it and wants to "help" me. I'm sure she would crawl towards it if she knew how. The girl will cry if I vacuum without her. Maybe she will be an amazing house keeper - probably much better than myself.

• To sing: She sings all the songs in sacrament meeting, and most of the songs in primary. She sometimes sings with the ward choir albeit from the congregation. Her eyes light up when Bruce or I sing to her. She is instantly calmed when she hears music. She also loves to play the piano.
• Looking at mom (when others hold her) Being held by mom, being sung to by mom, being read to by mom, sitting on mom's lap, playing with (pulling) mom's hair, being around mom, touching mom, and playing with dad. She is both a Mommy's girl and a Daddy's girl. She sometimes can't decide who she wants. She is our utter delight - the apple of our eye.
  

The Cakester is so in tune with our feelings. One day I was feeling a little bummed. I felt particularly lonely that day. I thought about how much I missed my friends from both Utah and Illinois and I was missing my family. Eliza gave me extra sweet hugs, kisses, and smiles. She knew I needed extra love, and she cheered me right up. One Sunday, I was extremely ill with a stomach bug. Miraculously, she was perfectly content lying on the bed next to me and playing with daddy's pillows for an hour. She was okay with the fact that I had to feed her lying down and take my dear sweet time changing her diaper. And she took a three hour nap so I could sleep too. What an angel she was for the 5.5 hours Bruce was gone at church.

Eliza, you are my Baby Cakes. I can't believe you have been in our family for half a year. You make me so happy every day. I'm so unbelievably grateful to be your mother - I'm the luckiest mom in the world. I Love You!

There once was a girl

who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good, she was really, really good
And when she was bad (Cakester's is never bad), she was horrid.

My grandma used to sing that song to me. Now I get to sing it to Eliza.

Yum Yum Yummy Yum!

It seems like the day revolves around food. Eliza eats three meals of solid food a day from her high chair, and still nurses 5 sometimes 6 times a day. Trying to coordinate a new schedule with feeding times, trying new foods, and figuring out what to feed her is enough to drive me bonkers. After a couple of weeks, we seem to have it down pretty well. With all the changes in her diet, it might take baby cakes' digestive system a little while to adjust. In the meantime...

This girl likes to eat. When she sees me pull out her bowl and spoon, she gets super excited. If I put the bowl down to put food in it, she whines. She must think that she isn't going to get anything. Sometimes she folds her arms for the blessing on the food, sometimes she likes to say the blessing, and she almost always says amen afterwards.




She won't eat cereal (rice or oatmeal) on its own. I mix the oatmeal with a fruit of some kind, and the rice with a vegetable of some kind, and she gobbles them right down.

Her all time favorite food:

PEACHES!! She is pretty fond of bananas as well.

Some of her food I buy, mostly the meat dinners. Most of what I feed her, I puree myself

We are working on adding some more vegetables to her diet. Below she is eating green beans.



Foods she has eaten: pears, peaches, bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes, applesauce

Whenever baby cakes sees Bruce and I drinking water, she excitedly reaches (all limbs flying) for it and tries to drink some. She loves having her own sippy cup. She knows how to hold it herself.



This one you can kind of see her smile


She usually prefers to feed herself.


After she takes a bite, she usually says mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm while she gives me a closed mouth smile and swallows. If something looks new, she will study it first, then hesitantly open her mouth. Lucky for me, she is willing to give it at least one try. If she doesn't like something, she will either blow bubbles with it, take the spoon out of my hand and throw it on the floor, or turn her head away and refuse to open her mouth.


She has had crackers before, but I have since taken them away. She tends to bite off big pieces (with her razor sharp gums since she has no teeth yet), and swallow it. She has chocked a few times. I'm going to wait until she actually has teeth before I give her anymore.

If we eat it, she thinks she can. Sometimes she tries to eat things she shouldn't.






Somehow she managed to actually bite off a chunk of Bruce's apple when we weren't looking. When I heard her gagging, I looked inside of her mouth and saw a chunk of apple lodged in the back of her throat. The finger swipe was futile since she tends to clench her jaw shut whenever something enters her mouth. I resorted to the baby Heimlich and she eventually threw up dislodging the apple chunk. Afterwards she gave me a sly smile. We've learned that we can't hold her and eat something at the same time. No matter how vigilant we are, she is too speedy for us.

When she is finished eating, she pulls off her bib, wipes her face, and throws it on the floor. Sometimes she doesn't wait until she is finished eating to pull her bib off, and I have to put it back on her more than once.

She doesn't like her high chair tray. She must feel too restricted by it. For some reason, she really likes sitting up at the table, which is what I usually let her do.

Baby Cakes is a funny girl with a strong personality. We love her to pieces.

A Shout out to 2011 and a welcome to 2012

I realize that we almost have two months behind us in 2012 (which I can't believe), but as I mentioned before, I am a bit behind. (I did start this post halfway through January) In a way I am sad to see 2011 end - it was such an unbelievably good year to us. Our family was immensly blessed. Here's a recap of some of the amazing things that happened to us.

January - (3) Bruce successfully defended his PhD dissertation at the Univeristy
of Illinois, and was given clearance to graduate. :)
(7) Brittney quit her job as a junior high teacher and basketball and
volleyball coach
(11) Bruce depostied his dissertation with all corrections made and
officially FINISHED!
(11) Packed up our moving truck and cleaned out our townhouse.
(12) Left Illinois/ moved to Pennsylvania
(13) Arrived in Pennsylvania
(13) Nephew Ezra was born
(19) Dr. Bruce gave his 1st lecture as an associate professor

February - (5) moved out of DVC campus housing and into a place of our own.
(21) Visited Valley Forge

March (6) Went to Nephew Ezra's blessing in Richmond, Virginia
(14-17) Spring Break trip to Hershey, Pa and Gettysburg
() Sister Angeline and brother in law Dan were sealed in the Bountiful
temple by Elder L. Tom Perry
April
May (7) Sister Katie graduated with a bachelors degree from USU
(11) Bruce completed his first semester of teaching at DVC
(15) Took a trip back to Illinois so Bruce could walk at graduation. He
was hooded and officially awarded Dr. status
(28) Visited New York City with our friends from Illinois The Jacks

June (26) Bruce turned 31. We went to the Jersey beach to celebrate

July (3) Went to Philadelphia to see Liberty Bell with Blake, Suzanne, and
Ezra
(14) The greatest blessing of all. I became a mother. Eliza Ann
Richards was born.
(24) Neice, Lillie was born

August (3) Boarded a plane to Utah for Eliza to meet her grandparents
(7) Eliza received a name and a blessing
(?) My older brother finally found a full time job with benefits
(?) My sister started her first job as a Kindergarten teacher
(?) Brother in law started law school at BYU
(19) We celebreated 6 wonderful years of marriage
(28) Nephew, Nathan was born

September (17) I celebrated my 27th birthday - had a picknick at the park
(17) Ground breaking ceremony for the Philadelphia temple

October (30) I started teaching piano lessons

November (24) Celebrated Thanksgiving with friends in Harrisburg, Pa

December (15) Paid off our car! :)
(25) Celebrated Christmas with family in Utah

And multiple other blessings. Bruce found employment for the summer that was flexible enough to help with the new baby. My ward members brought me meals for two straight weeks after Eliza was born. This really took some planning since some ward members drove 30 minutes just to drop the meal off. Honestly, it was then that I finally felt welcome in the ward.
We were also able to visit some family members we haven't seen in a long time (my aunt in Maryland), and see new areas of the country.

Although I am sad to see a year of plenty end, I hope that 2012 will be just as good.

So far, Bruce has been asked and invited to visit some new places through the college - even better is all expenses are paid.
In February, he is traveling (by car) to Maine. In March, he is traveling (by plane) to Ireland and North Carolina, and (by car) to Virginia. We are thrilled for the new opportunities that await him at DVC.

3 cheers for 2011, and more for a hopeful 2012.