Graduation

Harrison graduated with his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from BYU this weekend. WAHOO!!!! 

We went to commencement Thursday afternoon. We'd heard from a lot of different people that commencement wasn't really worth going to but we both really enjoyed it. It was really fun to have an event Harrison could attend with all our friends (almost all of whom also graduated this semester) and the speakers were amazing! I loved finding Harrison's name in the program and hearing President Worthen very officially pronounce all the students graduates. I love that BYU focuses on educating students to make them more capable of serving their families and communities. 

"Enter to learn; go forth to serve."

Way to go guys!

Friday we got to attend convocation for Harrison's college. All the graduates walk across the stage and shake the Dean's hand :) We had family from both sides attend. We're so grateful to live so close to so many people who love and support us. 

Poor Lydia had a stomach bug all day Friday. She made it through the whole ceremony and then threw up in the parking lot on our way to lunch. Thankfully is was just a 24 hr thing. She looks so sad in all the pictures  :( 

Good job, Dad! 

I have been bursting with pride all weekend for Harrison. I am so grateful for all the hard work he put in to earning this degree. And believe me, it was hard work. I know we'll always look back fondly on our time at BYU -for friendships we built, fun memories we made, and the love we developed for each other as we accomplished hard things together :)

Easter

Happy Easter! I have felt so overwhelmed with gratitude this weekend for all our blessings. Family has been the focal point of my gratitude as I've pondered about the the Savior. Being surrounded by the people we love most this weekend made the thought of forever families so tender for me as we celebrated the resurrection of Christ.

All the feelings I've been feeling about Easter really came together after I took this picture of Lydia yesterday.

I had been thinking all week about why we put more thought into what we wear for Easter. I really wanted to put Lydia in an outfit that was special, beautiful, and that reflected the reverence and gratitude I was feeling for this day. A couple weeks ago I was visiting Harrison's mom and she brought up some clothing she'd been saving for Lydia. Among the things she showed me was a beautiful hand crocheted blanket and sweater Harrison's Aunt Holly made for him when he was a baby. After picking a dress sent to us from Harrison's sister, Justine, and a bonnet my mom actually made for Lydia's blessing day, this sweater and blanket seemed to tie everything together. This picture has so many elements of love and family -Wedding dress lace, cousin hand-me-down dress, daddy's sweater, a timeless blanket, and a beautiful little girl in the middle of it all. Literally and figuratively clothed, surrounded, wrapped up in the love her family has for her.
I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing of family given to me by a loving Savior who lived a perfect life, atoned, died, and rose again for me. 

Oh sweet, the JOY this sentence gives. 

I know that my Redeemer lives.

7 months!

I feel like I've been telling people Lydia is 6 months old for forever. 6 months seems like a really iconic age. 7 months reeeeally snuck up on us. For some reason 7 months feels a lot older than 6 months. This month I feel like lydia has transitioned from an infant to a baby. She is so much more expressive, opinionated, and observant. This girl knows what she wants. She is also incredibly affectionate. She says "hi dad" when she wakes up and gives me kisses from sunup to sundown (seriously, she's given me at least 5 since i started typing this.) This month my favorite thing has been learning with Lydia. She notices small details -colors, shapes, hair, facial features, clothes, textures and she wants to touch, touch, TOUCH. or kiss it. hahaha I love to watch thoughts in her eyes as I point and talk.

You weigh: 19 lbs!

This month you've enjoyed: peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, swimming at the rec center, walks to the park, BYU basketball games with Mom and Dad, helping Mom babysit Tristan, singing/ story time at the library, playing with toys, a girls lunch date with Mom and Loren, a sewing day with Gram, going out to dinner to celebrate Dad's job interviews, a visit from Cyndi, being babysat by Cici while Mom and Dad went on a date, going to Nana's to bake bread.

What you are doing: eating more solid food (you LOVE peanut butter sandwiches, you'll also eat left overs, quesadillas, eggs, oatmeal -baby food is hit and miss), reaching for Mom and Dad, lifting your arms in anticipation to be held, shaking your head "no" when you don't want something (you taught yourself this one), saying "mmmmm" while you're eating, grabbing everything, you are FASCINATED with noses, babbling Dada, Nana, Baba (most consistently), bringing things to your mouth, playing with toys, playing peek-a-boo, using our hands as leverage to sit up and stand, kind of rolling over (you know how but you'd rather not), standing for long periods of time leaning against something, giggling when you see yourself in the mirror, smiling any time we take out our phones (to get your picture taken)

That belly...

Eating is messy business

Babysitting Tristan

Lunch with Loren

Walking to the park

BYU basketball game

Valentines #nailedit

Happy Valentines Day! Here is our Valentines selfie to celebrate :) This Valentines was one for the books! Harrison surprised me with a beautiful rose gold fossil watch. It matches my wedding ring and I LOVE it. He also brought home some beautiful orchids. I smile to myself every time I see them because they make me think of the singing flowers on Alice in Wonderland. They have little faces! 

I got Harrison a box of See's chocolates this year. When I went to the store to pick them out the guy told me excitedly, "The heart boxes are only $5.50!" I thought to myself, wow..that's a really great deal! (Usually you have to pay for the chocolate by weight) So I had him grab the box and we started picking out chocolate. A couple chocolates in I started looking at the prices of the pre-made boxes on the wall and realized he meant THE BOX was $5.50. Too embarrassed to say anything, I filled the box. Good thing Harrison reeally likes chocolate things :) 

For our parents this year I saw this adorable picture on pinterest. (picture below) I really wanted to recreate it with Lydia's hands on a canvas. Unfortunately...6 month olds don't really like to open their hands on demand. 

#nailedit

So picture this. Me. Lydia. Harrison. All on the floor in our kitchen. Lydia stripped down to her diaper, covered head to toe in paint we fully intended to keep on her hands. Lydia's crying because...paint and teething. Harrison and I look down at our failed pinterest creation, then to our crying Lydia, up to each other and laugh at the mess we'd made.
Sorry Mom and Dad. We tried :) 

Lydia spent the whole weekend teething and this face pretty much sums up how she felt about it. She lived off tylenol and teething tablets for 3 days and finally woke up back to herself this morning. It was so hard to watch her be in so much pain and unfortunately it feels like it was all for nothing because she didn't even cut a tooth! 

Even though it was hard to watch her be in so much pain, we did enjoy the extra cuddles. She fell asleep in our arms multiple times throughout the weekend, something she hasn't done for months. 

She tried so hard to be happy even though she was feeling miserable. What a trooper!

Sunday night we went to my parent's house for dinner. I had to snap a few pictures of Milo while we were there. Apparently he felt a little attention deprived. He was not shy about letting my mom know he needed some extra loves! 

On Monday we went with my Mom, Maya, Ezra, and Serena to the aquarium (my mom got to watch Aubrey's kids all weekend.) It felt like an indoor zoo! We had fun looking at all the fish, but mostly spending time together out of the house. We were all feeling cooped up after staying in while Lydia was under the weather all weekend.

When we got to the aquarium Maya declared she was going to be Harrison's buddy. She was SO excited he was there!

It was a crazy holiday weekend! 

A Super Weekend

We had a SUPER fun weekend. All the family time was so wonderful after a crazy week of work and testing. We definitely needed the together time :) Friday night we got to celebrate Sam's birthday with all our friends at a crazy place called GETOUT in provo. They lock you in a room and you have an hour to solve riddles to get out. We got to test out the new zombie room. It was intense to say the least. Harrison is officially a master riddle solver and I am considering becoming a Zombie distractor part time ;) We have loved living so close to all these wonderful people and are so lucky to call them friends! 

While we were waiting to go in they had puzzles you could solve, the intricate cube ones or the kind where you have to figure out how to untangle metal. They seriously gave me anxiety just looking at them. This box ended up being a mean trick! 

Sunday we drove up to Midway to watch the Super Bowl and celebrate Chinese New Year. Harrison let me take a nap with Lydia while he got our food assignment ready. He is always so attentive to my needs. I seriously almost lost my mind this week because he was so busy with all of his exams.  Weeks like this help me remember how much he does to help me at home. He is always the first to ask me what I need or how he can help. I am so grateful to be married to this incredible man! 

I took this picture of Lydia and Harrison before I left for work last night. Lydia's personality is showing more each day. She is developing her own opinion about food and play and learning how to express her opinion to us. I swear I didn't teach her how but she has figured out how to shake her head "no" when she doesn't want something. It is UNREAL.

I have to admit the next few months feel intimidating to me as a parent because Lydia cant use words or sign to express what she wants. I feel pressured (from myself) to balance between trying to let her make some decisions and to teaching her to communicate in positive ways. I'll be honest, I have no idea how to do that with a 6 month old. (nor did I ever think this would be something I'd need to think about with a 6 month old!) We're learning together. And she is so patient with me. Today I accidentally whacked her face with a rattle, she cried until I picked her up and she immediately gave me a big kiss. Children are so full of love and forgiveness!