What I wish I hadn't passed on to my child

Eczema

I've struggled with eczema my whole life. I remember during junior high and high school having eczema so bad on my arms that I wore long-sleeved shirts all year long. It was itchy, weepy, and just sad. I was so self-conscious and thought that people thought I was diseased.

Poor baby eel has inherited my eczema. She has had a rash for about 3 weeks. I tried everything to clear it up. I switched our laundry soap to the special kind with no perfumes or dyes. I stopped using soap in her bath. I switched to a new lotion with no perfume. It made it a little better, but it still wasn't gone.

So, yesterday I took her to the doctor to get his opinion. After waiting for about an hour, he finally showed up and told me it was eczema. No duh. So, he printed off an info sheet about it and told me to start using cortizone cream and to give her daily baths. And, to use a thick cream on her skin 2-3 times a day.

Well, after 24 hours of doing this, her eczema has cleared up considerably. I hope it continues to do so. Poor baby.

On a completely different note, I've been thinking about opening up an independent bookstore. Not seriously of course, because this is a bad time to open a business and I don't have the money to do it. But, I wish that we had a good independent bookstore in Utah County. One that had awesome author signings and events. One that had a great staff that knows your name and what kind of books you like.

I'm so weird that I even know the building I'd put my bookstore in.

This is a really bad picture because I pulled it off google maps. But, there is a little house on the corner of 500 West and 100 South in Provo. It's an old house, but it looks so cute and cozy. I would name it Green Gables Books. Of course I would have to hire someone else to run the money and the business aspect of it. All I care about is buying and selling books. I am no salesman, but I can certainly push books.

Ah, to dream big. Anyway, hope you all have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!

3 Months Old!

Oh how I love my cute baby. She is growing up to be such a sweet sunny angel, and I love spending time with her. Here are some developments of late

• She is now over 10 pounds. She's getting cute fat rolls on her arms and legs.
• She loves to stand up with me supporting her. I don't know why, but she gets a real kick out of it and puffs up her chest.
• She sleeps through the night most nights now. And sleeps in her crib! Yay! We have reclaimed the bed.
• She is so close to laughing. Every once in awhile while we are playing she'll get this huge grin on her face. And, she's good at shrieking. So, the laughing will come soon.
• She has no interest in rolling over. Which is fine with me. The longer she can remain immobile, the better. I'm not in the mood to baby proof everything.

And, in non-baby related news, I met Shannon Hale last week! She is pretty much my favorite author ever, and it was so exciting to meet her. She's pregnant with twins, so I'm pretty sure that was her last public appearance for awhile. Not that I blame her at all. But, she was so nice and fun to talk to. I got my entire Books of Bayern series signed as well as Austenland. They will be treasured.

2 Months Old

This upcoming week in my last week of maternity leave. I'm trying to make the most of it by doing everything I can think of with baby eel during the day. We go shopping, play on the floor, and take lots of naps. :")

Baby eel's blessing is on May 3. I sent out a bunch of announcements/invitations. If you didn't get one, I apologize, but you are still definitely invited to her blessing.  It will be at 9 am at our church in Payson.

Here are some pictures I took this week of baby eel.  Once the weather gets a little nice and I lose a little more weight we're going to have some family pictures taken. Woohoo!

6 Weeks Old

Baby eel is getting so big. She's starting to get too big for her 3 month outfits. Which is actually okay with me, because all her really cute stuff is 3-6 months... :")

I've started going to yard sales again this summer. We don't have a stroller for her yet, so that's top on my list of things we need.  I see them every Summer, sometimes there are really nice ones for a really cheap price. Once we get a stroller, I think Daniel and I will go on walks with baby eel and Tonks. It will be so much fun!

I think I've lost almost all the weight from the baby, but I still feel a little... "squishy." I've never had an issue with my weight, so this is new territory for me. I guess this means I'll have to start exercising.

And last random topic of the night... I got a new calling. I'm the assistant Primary Pianist. Best calling ever. Basically I can just show up and play. Baby eel can sit in her carseat next to the piano, and I'll feel like I'm contributing to the ward again.

Here are some pictures of baby eel this week.

Week 5

Baby eel is getting sweeter by the day. I love to get out my camera and take pictures of her whenever I can. I'll be so sad to go back to work in three weeks.

I'm still not having any luck getting her to nap in her bassinet. Let me show you what I mean.

Not even joking. How do you combat that?

Good thing she has her sweet moments.

Daddy has hair!

She's definitely worth the trouble.

Good Morning!

I think Abigail is cutest in the morning.  This morning she was being especially cute with smiles and coos. I tried to record it, but of course by the time I got my computer ready, she wasn't as cute.  But, here is a short clip for your enjoyment.

4 Weeks Old!

Abigail is four weeks old today. I can't believe I've been a mom for a whole month. And that I only have 4 weeks of maternity leave left.. so sad.

Abigail is getting so close to smiling. She is so cute in the morning when she first wakes up. She's all stretchy and makes all sorts of cute coo's. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture above, but that is a smile/coo.

We got our birth announcements in the mail yesterday. I'm excited to send them out this week.

I brought Abigail by the office yesterday, and she was such a sweetheart. It's nice to have a cute, easy baby to take places. Then people actually want to hold her.  It was fun to see everyone at work. Part of me is a little excited to go back and be in the thick of things again. Unfortunately, I know that won't last.

Hope you have a wonderful April Fool's Day. If you haven't already, you should check out Google's main page today. It's really funny.