Our week

This week was rather busy, compared with the past few! Monday we had a planning meeting regarding an Easter egg hunt that our church is doing for the community the Saturday before Easter. This is an exciting opportunity, and we are praying for a good turnout.

Tuesday night, Sarah and I attended a baby shower for a woman from church. She is due in mid-March. Sarah will have a little friend in the nursery soon! We're excited! :)

Wednesday was church, as usual.

Thursday, Sarah and I and a friend headed north to visit a former co-worker and her 7 month-old son. I had a lot of fun catching up with the girls and spending time with Baby Nate. 7 months seems like a great age. He was playing with his feet and interacting a lot, and just being really social and cute. I'm enjoying Sarah through her different stages, but I'm looking forward to when she will be able to communicate more/better!

Friday, we had a potluck lunch at the church and then just hung out at home.

Today, we went bowling with the youth group. I have to say, I was impressed with Tim's bowling skills. This was the first time I had ever been bowling with him! I ended up winning our "warm-up" game with a score of 111. Tim got serious during the second game and just kept bowling strikes and spares. He won with a score somewhere around 165.

We have been playing with Sarah's bedtime a little bit. We are trying to put her to bed earlier, to eliminate the late-night fussing that seems to happen when she gets overly tired. The last two nights she was in bed by 7:00 or 7:30 and did well. Tonight was a little different. She skipped her nap this afternoon, so by 4:30 she was cranky but not able to sleep. So we did what many parents do in that situation - we took her for a drive! She was asleep within 10 minutes and slept for 3 hours. When she woke up, I did our nighttime routine, and then she laid down for the night. Hopefully she will still sleep in till 7:00 or 8:00 tomorrow!

Look how cute she is in the hat that her Great Grandma DeArmon made her!

Solvang Time Trials

I dressed Sarah as a boy yesterday, but her shirt clearly says "girl" on it, so it's okay. Right?

Anyway...

We were able to keep our plans yesterday and went to the Solvang Time Trials. This was stage 6 of the Tour of California bike race. I have to admit that before going, I had no idea what a time trial even was. For those of you who are in the same position as me: It was a 15-mile course that the bikers were riding. They had staggered start times, with the best riders starting later in the day. These guys were amazing - Levi Leipheimer won with a time of 30 minutes and 47 seconds. That's fast. :)

We were able to find a pretty nice place to stand and watch the riders. We were 200 meters from the finish line, just after a turn. It was a great photo spot because they had to slow down to get around the turn.

Here's Lance Armstrong (the whole reason we even went). I'm really proud of this picture:

I may have led you astray with Sarah's picture of the day from yesterday. The caption says that she is a big fan of Lance Armstrong. Truthfully, this is what she was doing when he rode past:

Earlybird

I have been feeling really good lately, and I have been trying to establish some sort of routine for myself that includes time for cleaning, exercising, Bible study, etc. It's difficult to find time for everything! Little Princess' schedule doesn't allow very well for my schedule! :) My thought last night was that I would get up at 7:00 this morning and get some exercise in before Sarah woke up at 8:00 (as she has been doing consistently for about a week). So what did Little Girl do? She woke up at 6:00. I guess we know who's setting the schedules around here!

Getting up at 6 really did allow me to accomplish quite a bit this morning though. She took a nap, and I was able to do my Bible reading, do some pilates, and dust and vacuum the living room and dining room. Woo-hoo!

Tim and I are excited about this Friday. We are going to attempt to see Lance Armstrong (and others, of course) in a time trial. The Tour of California is riding through Solvang (about 40 minutes south), so we are planning to go watch. They are riding through Paso Robles (about an hour north) tomorrow.

Uma, BumGenius, Hands and Feet

Tim and I had a conversation about names a few weeks ago. We were talking about families whose names all begin with the same letter...for instance, my cousin Jimmy is married to Janet and has children named Jenna, Jordan, Jamison, Justina, and Janson. I just stated that we would never be able to do that since his name starts with a T and mine with an R. He pointed out to me that we now have "R, S, and T". That is unfortunate for any future children! The next one's name will have to start with a Q or U!

Now for a product review: We have been using cloth diapers for a few weeks now, so I feel I am an expert. :) We chose the BumGenius one size diapers, and they have been working out great for us. The pros: We have only had leaks due to user error (whereas our Pampers seem to leak everytime she is in them). They are just as easy to use as disposables. They are environmentally friendly. After 3 months of use, they will be saving us money. The cons: They are big and take up lots of space in the diaper bag. I have to wash them every other day. That is my product review. I highly recommend these diapers to anyone who will listen. :) Of course, Sarah is only 1 month old...we'll see what I say a year from now!

Look at Sarah's little hand holding my thumb. This was taken when she was one week old:

Look at her cute little feet. This was taken last night:

1 month appointment

Check out how blue Sarah's eyes are in this picture. I wonder if they will stay this color.


Yesterday was Sarah's one month appointment. Girlfriend is definitely growing! She weighed 10 pounds, 5 ounces (which is the 81st percentile), measured 22.3 inches (88%), and had a head circumference of 39.4cm (92%). I don't know how Farley babies usually grow, but her size follows the DeArmon pattern...big! :)

I love our pediatrician. She is very personable, and she doesn't make me feel like any of my questions are stupid. She assured me that if Sarah wants to sleep through the night, it is okay to let her. Yay! I also asked her about the grunting and groaning that has been going on, and she said that's just how some babies sleep. This morning I put a hat on her head because she seemed a little cold, and that seemed to help a bit...along with keeping a pacifier in her mouth.

Well, it's time to wake Princess and feed her. I'm supposed to keep her on a feeding schedule during the day so that she learns daytime is for eating, and nighttime is for sleeping. I hope she's a quick learner. :)

28 days

While I was pregnant, I found a cool website with information about my baby's development week-by-week. That website continues to give updates after your baby is born, so I get an e-mail from them every week, telling me what's new with Sarah's development. This week, my e--mail informed me that Sarah is no longer a newborn! The official date for transitioning from newborn to infant is 28 days. That was Saturday. How sad! My baby's growing up!

Tomorrow, Sarah will celebrate her one month birthday. She and I have big plans. We're going to see the doctor, and then we're heading up to the hospital to visit my co-workers. Woo-hoo! I am anxious to find out how much the girl weighs. She has definitely put on the pounds this past month.

We are learning more about Sarah every day. I am glad to find out (based on the last 2 Sundays) that Sarah knows Sunday is nap day. She's a good kid. :) We're still trying to figure out exactly why she grunts and groans so much in her sleep during the early morning hours. She's asleep, but she's obviuosly not comfortable. This morning the grunting started around 7. I woke her and fed her, and she was fine for about an hour - then it started again. I picked her up, and it stopped while I was holding her. But about 5 minutes after I set her down, she started up again. Tim layed her on his chest and let her sleep there. She was perfectly content with that. Maybe she's just cold and can't get into a deep sleep. Her skin didn't feel cold though. Any ideas? We'll try bundling her up a little more tonight and see how she does.

Here are a few more picture for you:

This is a little bit of an awkward pose, but look at that smile! We're getting to see that more and more these days. :)

Sarah Jabbering

Here is a little clip of Sarah talking. She isn't very loud yet. We're working on that.

It is raining here this morning! I was hoping for a thunderstorm, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Ah, well I guess I will just enjoy the rain.

Well, Girlfriend decided her nap this morning was going to be very short, so now I must go entertain her. Later!

2 years ago today

Two years ago, at this time of day, I was very stressed out. My back was sore and I was just plain nervous. But...a few hours later, I walked down the aisle and was greeted by my best friend. We said "I do" and started our lives as husband and wife. It was a good day. :)

Now two years later, we're here in California enjoying the time with each other and getting to know our first little baby. It is amazing how time flies. Everybody warns you about it, and it really is true.

Happy anniversary Tim! I love you, and I'm still excited to spend the rest of my life with you. :)