4 Truths

I am responding to the poll that is now closed on the right. Since I don't tell lies (I really try not to) I couldn't really lie on my blog. So I just mislead. If you chose the first choice, you were somewhat correct. I did shake President Thomas Monsons hand but not Thomas S. Monson. One of the members of our stake presidency in Pleasant Grove was named Thomas Monson. I did eat seafood (well, just a little shrimp) in Taiwan in 2006. Richard and I actually didn't kiss until we were engaged. Call us crazy but we became much better friends that way and I think our marriage is far better because of that. And when I was little, I did aspire to be a famous singer and I really liked Mariah Carey at that time. So there you have it. And you all thought I lied....

A Treat for the Grandmas

Our Baby is Growing Too Fast!!!!

Abigail sporting her cute jeans. Don't you just love babies in jeans??? Thanks to all of the friends and family who have given us hand-me downs!!!

Below: This is Daddy's favorite pose right now. She folds her arms (really her hands). She did this the other night when we were having family prayer and we told her to fold her arms. We would love to claim her as a genius but we know it is coincidence because she does it all the time!

Below: She loves playing with her toes and she doesn't like to have her PJ's on because it restricts her toe access.

Below: Wild Hair

Below: Abbi was watching TV in her tot rider. She loves American Idol.

Below: Here's Abbi staring at her Daddy.

It's taken me well over a week to come up with a new post because our little cute thing has been a "Little Grumplet" (as Richard likes to call her) lately because of her 2 new teeth. She was sucking on Richard's finger last Wednesday when she bit him and we realized she had a tooth on the bottom (which accounted for her disposition). The next day, she had another one. I guess it's better to get two over at once. She is now feeling much better as the teeth are above the gums (hopefully the won't go down again). Abigail becomes more and more fun to play with every day. She is such a spitfire and is so perfect for us. I really couldn't imagine a more perfect baby for our first child. I wouldn't classify her as an easy baby but she is absolutely amazing in our book. She is getting better and better at putting herself to sleep and she always seems to wake up from her evening nap right before Richard comes home. I think she really misses him during the day. (SO DO I). Abigail has been squealing a lot lately. She thinks its fun to test out her vocal chords. She sounds like a cat fight in my opinion and I cant help but laugh. Speaking of laughing--she has laughed the last two days. Once while I was eating her belly and the other time I was sweeping the floor in the kitchen. I would really love to understand what is going on in her brain!

A Theory

So, I've been working on this theory as to when, how, and why babies sleep through the night and I think I have come up with a solution--a very, very complex and intricate solution. Lately I figured out a few of the missing ingredients. I was getting ready to read my scriptures the other night and I thought of a question I needed to be answered--"How can I get my baby to sleep more at night?" Now I knew that there are no scriptures saying "Thou shalt do A, B,and C and your child will sleep" but I know that Heavenly Father loves us and He promises to answer our prayers and often the answers our found in His Word. So, I asked for help and went to the scriptures. In Proverbs I read the scripture about training your child and when they are old they will not depart from what you taught them. I pondered that scripture for a minute wondering how it applied and then the inspiration came that Abbie has to feel absolutely loved when we lay her down at night. I thought I was doing ok at this but I beefed up my expressions of love to her and she slept much better that night.
In addition to the principles we have implemented from Baby Wise (I strongly recommend getting a copy--you can get them for $5.00 (shipping included) on amazon.com) such as a routine of feeding, then keeping your baby awake and then help them fall asleep on their own, along with showing forth much love I have come up with another important discovery. I have looked back at the times that Abigail has slept really well--including the night she slept through the night. Each of those nights I was more relaxed and happier. Last night I had a feeling Abigail would sleep through the night again because I felt great. I went walking at the mall yesterday morning with my neighbor and I got in a good nap, I got caught up on some chores, I got in a few minutes of reading and playing the piano and had lots of fun with Abigail. I even had a few minutes to cuddle with Richard on the couch. The result of all these wonderful things lead to Abbie sleeping through t he night. Now, I know things will come up that will throw her off schedule and we'll still have some rough nights but I am pretty darn sure that if I focus on being happier and take a few minutes of each day to do something for me we wil all sleep better at night.
I would love to hear your comments on this. I hope this information might be helpful to someone.
Oh, and an odd coincidence we noticed with the two times that Abigail has slept through the night is that both times she laughed (and both times in the tub) before she went to sleep. Weird huh? I wish we could get her to laugh more often. There are few things better than hearing your baby laugh and sleep through the night.

Dear Life

So I was blog-hopping and saw someone had a "dear life" column which has the objective of writing messages to those people you may or may not be able to reach. I think it is a great idea... here goes:

Dear Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam,
Thank you for writing Baby Wise--the tips really do work when I stick my baby to a routine. Despite what some people think about routines, yours really works for my baby.
Sincerely,
More Rested

Dear Billy Ray Cyrus,
I'm glad you got rid of your mullet because you would probably have ruined your daughter's career if you hadn't.
Best Regards,
Glad to be out of the eighties

Dear Sonic Burger Employees:
Thank you for completely ruining my order every time I go through your drive through, even if I just order a #1.
Yours Truly,
Never Going Back Again

Dear Cranky Old Lady at Kmart:
Thank You for demanding that my husband help you put that box in your cart for you, even though he would have gladly offered to help you if you even attempted to move it an inch. oh, and thanks for not even thanking him.
Cordially,
Vowing Not to be an Old Cranky Lady Like You.

Commitments

On Richard's cousin Nora's page, she posts a weekly commitment that she makes to do something and then she reports on her progress. I decided last week to do this too but didn't get a post up. Last week I decided to memorize one chinese word a day seeing as I always get overwhelmed when I pull out my flash cards. I was successful in memorizing 7 new words--so if you ever want to know how to say sun, mountain, forrest, flower, neck, ankle, or bed in chinese, just ask.

This week, my goal is to start walking. I told the Relief Society President I was interested in walking at the mall and asked her to make an announcement to see if anyone else wants to go. So far, I have one taker--one of my neighbors down the street is going to go with me tomorrow and I'm excited to get out of the house, get some excercise, and get to know my neighbor more. Don't you love the Enrichment Group idea? Does anyone have any really cool enrichment groups that they belong to? I'm always looking for more ideas for our ward.

The Best Diet

So, I know you're not supposed to diet while nursing but I have no choice with my wired and picky little one. I am now down to no chocolate or sweets because they keep her from sleeping and no mexican or any onions because it keeps her from eating. So, with my three favorite "food groups" eliminated, what else is there to eat? Not eating chocolate or sweets really has dropped my weight quickly and I can fit into all my pre-pregnancy clothes. So if you want to loose some quick weight the healthy way, try eliminating sweets. The first week is torture and then it really isn't so bad. Just make sure you have fruit on hand to quench some of your sweet cravings.

Abigail has been playing in her booster seat the last few days. The picture below shows her new found friend--her tongue. She chews on it often.
She doesn't have any chub....

Here is her thick outdoor outfit.

This is Abbie wearing her 9 month clothes (yes, she just turned 3 months). She has a super long torso from her Dad and somewhat longer than average legs from her Mom.

Look at that pose. What a cutie! This is her Christmas dress fro Grandma Tregaskis.

Abbie enjoyed playing in wrapping paper on Christmas day.

Here's Abbie with her bear on Christmas morning. She actualy had a really good time and was pretty excited about all of her gifts---especially this bear.

Our Little Abigail - Entry 4—December 24, 2007

I can't believe how much Abigail has grown the last few weeks--not only physically but in what she is able to do. I weighed myself and then weighed her with me two days ago and she is now 14 pounds. She has been wearing 3-6 month clothes for a few weeks and even some 6-9 month outfits.
On Thursday, December 20th, Abigail rolled over on her own for the first time from her stomach to her back. She was pretty suprised and I was very excited. She now loves to sit up (with help of course) but she wuld surely do it on her own if she could. She thinks she should be crawling already and she is really trying. She does manage to scoot a little bit. She is just in a hurry to grow up.
We tried putting her in a walker toy and she actually likes it (for a few minutes that is). She is now very interested in toys and is grabbing them and sometimes putting them to her mouth but she still thinks her fingers taste better than toys. A few of her fingers are red from sucking on them so much.
Abigail has developed a flat head which we are trying to help her fix and she also has a bad case of cradle cap but these problems are starting to go away a little.
We're pretty excited to open presents with her tomorrow morning. I think she is going to have fun with her new toys.

A Christmas Suprise for Uncle Kyle

I'm oh so cute!

Me and my bear

Me and my chub
My Dolly

Our Christmas Letter—2007

This has been a great year for us—primarily due to our newest addition to the family. Abigail Maye was born at the end of September and is such a cute thing! We love her sweet and feisty spirit! We’ll get back to more details about her later.

Our year started off with Richard in school at UVSC and working at Western Standard Publishing. Richard is the CTO or Chief Technical Officer for the company. He has done a lot this year in helping his company do a project for the government. His boss repeatedly tells him he is so glad he hired Richard. Richard just finished taking his tests at school and we’re hoping he’ll be able to test out of a few more and actually be done. Prayers are appreciated in this area. Richard is still serving as an Elders Quorum instructor and together we put together the Ward Newsletter. This summer he built a trebuchet with his brothers and a friend. On their first attempt to launch it, the counterweight broke through the support, ruining the whole thing. They at least had fun working on it.

I started off the year working at Micron for Hoffman Construction as a buyer in the purchasing department. In February or so I began to feel really sick. We thought we might be miscarrying again but at about 6 weeks, we realized we were pregnant. At about 3 months I told the VP of the company that I was pregnant and within 2 weeks, I was let go. Interesting how those things happen huh? It really was a blessing to get away from the environment of that job. I wasn’t able to get another job—who is going to hire a pregnant woman? Oh well. I was able to do some odd jobs for a previous employer and we managed. Because I wasn’t working, I was called to be a part of Activity Days and I have loved being around all of those girls.

The only trip we took this year was to St. George in May for a vacation that we won. Our main project this year was building a pond & waterfall in our backyard. We were surprised at how easily we put it together. We started to buy goldfish to fill it and we figured a lot of them would die. We were wrong and we now have 22 goldfish with the longest at about 5 inches (they all started around an inch or so). They are now enjoying the winter inside our garage. Richard was also able to help his friend do a lot of projects on his house, which Richard was happy about. He loves to help people and build things.

There are several other great things that have happened this year. Well, this one actually started at the end of last year. Brett & Jenna moved into our ward last November & have become life-long friends. We have spent a lot of time with them this year and have loved every minute. We’re so grateful that they moved in and that we have become such great friends. Another great thing is last month, one of Richard’s friends got married and we are so happy for him. Also, my parents were able to visit over the Thanksgiving Holiday and we are so glad they were able to come and meet Abigail.

Speaking of Abigail, she is absolutely adorable and we love her so much. We can’t imagine life without her and it is amazing to see her change almost every day. She slept through the night on December 10th and we are so grateful for that. She also has started to laugh and talks up a storm. She loves her Daddy and he certainly loves her back.

This has been a wonderful year and we are so glad to have friends and family to share our news with. We’re so thankful for our little girl and that we are sealed together for Eternity. We are grateful for our home and for all of our modern conveniences. We are most grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and His atonement and what a far-reaching blessing that is. We wish you health and happiness for the upcoming year.

Love, Richard, Dedra, and Abigail

The Best Thing

So last night we decided to let Abigail sit up in the bathtub. While looking down at her rolls of flub and the little ducky floating around in the tub, she did the unthinkable--she laughed. It was so cute! It didn't last long but Richard and I agree that it was definitely a laugh. Now the question is: Was she laughing at how many rolls she has or the duck? Or maybe she was laughing at the water? Who knows with this one! :)

"Meditation" and other cute pictures

The Best Daddy

Abigail sure loves her Daddy and she knows when he's around, it's play time. Richard just finished everything for this semester of which we are very proud of him. He is trying to test out of some classes and we hope that will take care of all his coursework and enable him to be finished with school. Everyone's prayers would be greatly appreciated to help him to pass all of the challenge exams.

Guess What!?!?!

Our amazing little girl slept through the night! She slept for a little over 8 1/2 hours thanks to prayers, inspiration, and Baby Wise.

A Warm Surprise - Entry 3

So a few minutes ago I was sitting on the couch with Little Miss Abbie in my lap. She began to have some toots and then a few minutes later she really got down to business. With her, you never can tell when she is done so I was giving her a few minutes to get it all out when I noticed that my leg had become quite warm--a little too warm if you get my drift. I still don't know how that much fluid can be in one little girl! :)
This occurence of fluid leakage makes me think of that commercial where the people are wearing vinyl because of the bad pet hair problems and at the end, the woman says something to the effect of "Let's have kids!" If she only knew... :)

Our Little Abigail - Entry 2—November 30, 2007

I wasn't planning on doing another entry so quickly but when our kid is cute, I just have to tell everyone. So despite me being more tired than usual, what Abigail did this morning at 3 am was adorable. She woke up and started singing--quite loudly I might add. I guess for everyone reading this, it probably won't be funny but even at 3 am we laughed. I went to her room and turned on the lullabies and she sang a little longer and then fell asleep. Too bad I was too tired to think of recording it.

Abbie's visit with Gram and Grandpa

Abigail's Blessing

Abigail was blessed on November 18th by her Daddy. In the circle were Grandpa, Papa, Great Grandpa Tregaskis, Great Grandpa Allen, Great Uncle Chuck, Uncle Ron, Mom’s cousin Jed, Brett McGowan, and David Dougal. Hopefully I’m not forgetting anyone. I tried to take some notes to help me remember what was said. She was blessed to be converted early on in her youth. She was blessed with a missionary spirit. She was blessed to have power to stand with boldness, to find the good, to be a good friend, to have a love for the scriptures and to be patient with her parents. Lastly she was blessed to be able to find a righteous man who would take her to the temple. It was a beautiful blessing.

*If anyone was in attendance and remembers something else about her blessing, please comment. Also, please let me know if I left anyone out of the circle list.

Our Little Abigail - Entry 1—November 29, 2007

I’m finally writing about our precious little daughter and what a joy she is. She is constantly changing and growing and we are so proud of her.
On Monday, the 26th of November, Abigail weighed in at 11 lbs 8 oz and measured 23 inches, putting her in the 75th percentile in both categories. We figured she had grown a lot since her two-week appointment where she weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz and 20.5 inches but we didn’t realize she had grown that much. She has developed the most kissable chubby cheeks and adorable rolls on her thighs and around that mid section that Dad loves to blow on. On occasion, her neck is exposed and I love to eat that. She also now has a cute crease between her hands and her arms.

On Monday, Abbie got her first shots with an oral vaccine, and two shots in her right thigh and one in her left thigh. She cried hard after each shot but calmed down when she got all three and I was able to pick her up and hold her. She did very well until about 7 that night when she started feeling pain in her legs and had a tiny fever. Dad rushed to the store and was back within a few minutes with some Tylenol, which the doctor said she could use that night if needs be. She was soon feeling better and didn’t have any other reactions to the shots.

Abigail’s first real smile was directed at Dad when she was about 4 weeks old. She may have been smiling intentionally before that time but we weren’t certain. Every day since those first real smiles she has learned to “cheese it” even more and we’re loving every minute.
About the time of her first smile she started “talking.” At first, she made most of her sounds by sucking in air and making high pitched shrill noises. That has died down a little now that she has added the following (in order of occurrence) to her vast repertoire: Goo, Ma, Hey, Hi, and Da. Lately after she has napped and woken up, Abbie and I spend about 20 minutes playing on the floor. I will say one of her “words” and she sometimes repeats or just says what she wants. I’ve also started to sing to her at these times and she attempts to sing back. I think sometimes though because she can’t sing as loud as her mom.

Abigail has played in her bouncer since she was about two weeks old. She is so good to play in it every morning to allow Mom a shower. She really likes the vibrator on it but could care less about the music, which sounds like theme songs from corny 1980’s Nintendo games. She started noticing the toys about a month ago and began by swatting at the rattle, which was accessible to her right hand but she failed to bother with the bear shaped toy on the left side so I switched the two about two weeks ago. She now has a routine, which I think should give her the nickname of “Rocky” or “Stone Cold” or something. She uses her left hand to punch the rattle and then she slaps the bear right across the face. Don’t let her fool you because she’s a cute baby girl. Those punches and slaps are a pretty mighty blow. Trust me, I’ve gotten them in the face, across the cheek, and even in the eye. Just be wary if you’re ever holding her and she puts her hands up in the guard position. Oh, and she’s also an expert at using her fingernails as a lethal weapon. I do have to point out though that she occasionally takes a break from slapping the bear to grabbing it and shaking it with her hand.

Right before Thanksgiving Abigail noticed her butterfly mobile in her crib, probably because I finally started putting her right under it. She was so mesmerized by it. I have been able to turn it on 2-3 times for her and then she’ll sometimes put herself to sleep. When it stops though, she keeps staring at it, waiting for it to turn back on. I put a crib mirror in her crib about a month ago but she couldn’t really see it so I moved it a few days ago and she has started to stare at herself in it. Yesterday she was going down for a nap when I heard her punch the mirror. At times she has flailed her arms so hard that she has made herself cry when her own fists hit her face.

When Abigail was born, she seemed to have her schedule backwards in terms of sleeping. She slept most of the days and was awake much of the night (which is the way it was in the womb). Dad & I got more and more tired. On Halloween night, we had had all the sleepless nights we could handle. Abigail didn’t fall asleep that night until about 5 the next morning (I had a bit of chocolate that day which probably didn’t help). The next night we started using gas medicine and a bedtime lotion and offered many prayers. I believe she only woke up two or three times that night, allowing Dad and I to get more rest. She immediately began to sleep for about 5 hours straight after her 10:30 feeding and began to only wake up once. The night of Thanksgiving she slept 6 ½ hours straight (You gotta love turkey, with it’s L-Tryptophan). Last night she slept about 9 hours with waking up once in the night and then she fell back asleep while I was trying to feed her “breakfast” so I got to sleep in a whole hour.

Abigail is a really good eater and has been from day one. I’m just now figuring out how to tell that she needs to burp—thanks to an insight from my Mom. From about 3-4 weeks from birth we tried to “demand feed” her and boy was that a mistake. We learned how much this little one likes to eat (and be comforted by me) because she began to want to nurse every 5-10 minutes—hence the no sleep for Mom & Dad at this point. We got a book from a Sister in our ward called “Baby Wise.” A few hours after we started implementing some of it’s ideas, we began to see change for the positive in our Little Geunter. We’ve continued to use some of the principles from this book mixed with flexibility and inspiration to help Abigail eat and sleep better and she (as well as Dad & I) are much more happy.

She’ll probably be embarrassed when she is older but we have to cover all the bases. Abigail is a pretty good pooper. She has managed to squirt on Dad & I on several occasions. She sometimes gets constipated and then she has what Dad likes to call a “Poop Explosion” instead of a “blow out.” She successfully let many of the ward members in Sunday School last week hear how talented she is at blowing everything out at once. Dad was then congratulated on doing a wonderful job. Despite her apparent talents in this respect, she is even more expert at wetting on Dad & I. We only change her on a big vinyl mat because we have learned all too well how much liquid can come out of her. We can change her diaper and then go to pick her up only to find she managed to wet before we got the straps of her diaper in place. Or other times she prefers to “go” with the diaper off so she is able to create a lake underneath her, make Dad or I or sometimes both need a change of clothes, and even necessitate a bath—which she seems to like but hasn’t figured out that she can splash in the water yet.

For Halloween, Abbie was a pretty ballerina thanks to Grandma for some ballet slippers and the twins for borrowing their tutu. We visited Grandma and Papa as well as the McGowans. The best part of Thanksgiving for Abigail was probably seeing Gram and Grandpa for the first time. They flew in on the Saturday before and flew out he day after. Abbie loved taking naps on Gram and she spent a lot of time smiling and “goo-ing” at both of them. Gram and Grandpa seemed to have a good time and Gram even cried as we said goodbye at the airport. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Dad and I decorated the tree and house for Christmas while Abbie watched intently as we put up the lights.
Abigail is a very cuddly baby, unless she is fussy or gassy and then you have to watch for those flying fists. She often holds my fingers while she is eating. She loves to relax on Dad’s chest and watch TV with him. She is very animated and has a “plethora” of different facial expressions.

My Funny Pictures

Can anyone say Glamour Shots by Deb? (Napoleon Dynamite)

What am I doing in America? I thought I was going to Russia.

I thought I wouldn't have a bad hair day until I was at least a teenager...

Does this hood make my head look small?

Look How Cute I Am