Shasta's 8 Months

This post is way overdue considering Shasta hit 8 months on Christmas day, but here it is anyway. I've been holding off because I never did a size comparison with her cow, Bree, but now it seems pointless since she's been 8 months for nearly 3 weeks. Shasta doesn't have another appointment again until the end of January so I don't know her stats, but here are some new things she started doing this last month.

By 8 Months:

Finally sitting on her own!

In her super cute Christmas dress!

Caught onto the concept of eating from a spoon. Feeding her is SO much easier now that she actually opens her mouth intentionally.

Feeding her left handed while trying to take a picture is not the easiest thing to do!

She thinks it's funny to fake cough!

I decided to combine her 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes. All of her warmer clothes are 6-9 month sizes and although they're pretty big on her I didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of clothes for her.

She's ready to be switched to size 2 diapers, but I haven't ordered any since we have so many size 1's. I'm hoping to keep her in size 1 for the rest of the month just to run through some of the supply we already have.

Took a trip to Boise for the Potato Bowl. (We hung out in the hotel room while Nick and his family went to the game). Shasta and I had been to Oregon and Arizona, but Nick and Wedge didn't come with us so this was our first family vacation.

Shasta (left) and her cousin Meili (right) on our way home from Boise.

Shasta and Me in the hotel room before everyone left for the game.

Shoshone Falls in Idaho (we stopped on our way home to give the girls a break from the car).

She had her first Christmas in Arizona.

Christmas day after church. I love this picture because of Wedge. Shasta's always trying to eat him and lately he just takes it!

Opening her first Christmas present. Church was at 10:45am so we waited until after to do presents.

Wedge was so helpful. He loves opening presents!

She did pretty good opening gifts for only being 8 months old and never having done it before.

But for the most part she was only interested in getting the paper off so she could eat it.

Thursday the 29th we had Christmas at our house.

Sunday on New Years Day we had Christmas in Bountiful with Nick's family.

Sat in the shopping cart without a car seat. For the most part I still prefer to bring the car seat into the store because she's really wobbly when the cart is moving, but it was still fun to see her sitting in the shopping cart like a big girl!

Shopping cart cover courtesy of my sister Kiley. It was really nice that it strapped her in like she was wearing a backpack so she didn't wobble as much.

She learned the sign for puppy (patting her leg)

Started eating bread.

Started trying to feed herself, but she has a hard time actually getting the food out of her fingers and into her mouth.

Loves playing peek-a-boo.

Loves playing with her toes.

Loves playing with toys.

Slams her hand on the floor when she's excited. It looks like she's a wrestling referee calling a pin!

Makes a frog noise in the back of her throat when she's tired.

New Floor

The last day of November we had a new floor put in to replace the laminate wood floor that was water damaged in places. These were the best Before pictures I could find and all the After pictures were from my phone so they're smaller.

Before

Wood in the kitchen.

After

Vinyl Tile in the Kitchen.

Before

Wood in the Dining Area.

After

Vinyl Tile in the Dining Area.

Before

Carpet in the Hallway/Reverent Room. Also wood at the base of the stairs, in front of the garage and into the half bathroom.

After

My favorite part. We cut back the carpet and added a hallway. No more tracked on carpet with snowy, dirty shoes!

Before

Carpet in the Reverent Room and wood in the Entry Way.

After

The new shape of the carpet in the Reverent Room.

We love our new floor! It's so fun to have a fresh new look to our house and have that added feeling of wanting to take pride in our home. I was worried that cutting back the carpet would make the room feel smaller, but it did the opposite. The part I'm most happy about is we can stick to the rule of no shoes on the carpet. Before it was pretty much impossible because it was too hard to take our shoes off between each trip to and from the garage while hauling in groceries. Now we don't have that problem!

Shasta's 7 Months!

There isn't a 7 month appointment so this month doesn't come with a lot of updates. Instead this month is full of cute things that Shasta's started doing. Every new thing she does is my new favorite. I love watching her learn and grow and discover things around her.

By 7 months:

• Was Dwight for Halloween.

• She loves playing with my hair. She's always trying to run her fingers through it. She also loves playing with her own hair. I'm always finding her hands in her hair!
• Went to Arizona. Got to see Grammy Tammy and Papa again. Plus she was the first cousin to meet new baby Ian who was only two weeks old. It's funny that my sister Sally was the first sibling to meet Shasta and I was the first sibling to meet Ian and we only had to travel 800 miles to do it!

• She's discovered the mirror and loves it!
• Sucked on a carrot for the first time. She was crying in the car on the way to Arizona and the carrot was the only thing that would make her happy.

• Had her first haircut; just a trim on one side. She's rubbed most of the hair off on the back and right side so the left side needed evened out so it didn't look so silly.

• Crosses her legs while laying on the floor. Super cute!


• Doesn't typically cry when she wakes up. She's currently laying in her crib talking to herself after just waking from a nap.
• Started using a sippy cup.

• Started eating baby food. She makes less faces with the vegetables, but eats more of the fruit.
• Stayed in her first hotel room, twice. Once on the way to Arizona and once on the way back.


• Has mastered reaching for things, but doesn't have the best control of her hands. If it's just out of reach she'll figure out a way to get to it, mostly rolling, but she pushes on her toes to help extend her reach.

• Has also mastered holding toys.

• Knows her name.

• Nick is really good at getting her to fall asleep. She also seems to be less wiggly when he holds her. Take this next picture for example. She completely chill sitting with her dad like that!

• She has the BEST smile! It seriously melts my heart! She smiles with her eyes and has a dimple in her left cheek. (Sorry the pictures are blurry. She's always moving!)




• 7 month comparison with her cow, Bree.



• She loves her tongue. She's always sticking it out. I think the credit is owed to her best friend being a puppy!




• She's recently discovered her thumb. She chews more than sucks on it, but it's in her mouth a lot and I'm okay with that. It's too cute to make her stop!

• Started bathing in the bathtub. Up to this point I've always bathed her in the kitchen sink. She's small enough to fit and the sink is really deep so it worked well for us. It was so convenient to feed her and stick her right in the bath without having to carry her upstairs in the process. I wanted to wait to start bathing her in the tub until she was sitting up on her own, but after two months straight of practicing I've decided she's going to crawl and possibly walk before she sits on her own! I started bathing her in the bathtub after staying in a hotel where there wasn't any other place to bathe her. And she LOVES bathtime. I scrub her down and then let her flip to her belly and play with toys for a little bit.


• Still in size 1 diapers.
• Still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but we've put bigger sizes on her occassionally. All of her winter clothes are in bigger sizes since they were planned for her to be born two months later.

Halloween Costumes!

It's finally time for the big reveal. We couldn't say what Shasta was for Halloween because her cousin was having a Halloween Birthday Party the weekend after and we wanted her costume to be a surprise for the family. They had to think about it for a minute, but they got it on the first guess! And they all loved it!

So, without further ado...

Shasta, aka Dwight K. Schrute

Also known as the Dwight and Angela love child.

For those that don't know who Dwight is, this is him. Pretty great look-alike eh?!

She's the best!



And Wedge was a butterfly.



He was too embarrassed to look at the camera.

Nick and Shasta, aka Jim and Dwight.



Aren't they great?!



The inspiration behind Nick's costume. This is Jim from The Office.



And my favorite Office moment!



The story behind the costume choice for Shasta: I was watching The Office one night while Shasta was sitting in my lap. I was playing with her hair like I always do and parted it down the middle. It was scary how much she resembled Dwight and that's when I decided she should be him for Halloween. When Nick came home from work I showed him and he loved the idea. From then on we never even considered any other idea.

And yes, I cross-dressed my child and puppy. I figured if Shasta was going as a boy then Wedge needed to go as a girl. I bought his little butterfly costume before we owned him because we were planning on getting  girl dog. Since we still had it I figured I might as well put it on him. He was mad at me for it, but the trick-or-treaters loved it and I always think it's fun to dress him up for Halloween!

30 Reasons To Be Thankful

I decided rather than do a post each day this month of something I'm thankful for, it would be easier to do one post of 30 things I'm thankful for instead. I personally find these posts kind of boring to read (no offense to those who do them) so absolutely no hard feelings if you don't read mine, but my list is hopefully a little entertaining and creative to keep you interested. I tried to think a little outside the Obvious Box.

In no particular order, I'm thankful for:

1. Whoever came up with the "someone called and wants it's something back" bit. It never gets old.
2. Every time a puppy is on tv because it's so funny to watch Wedge try to figure out how to get to him. It includes growling at the tv, running in his room to see if the dog is outside, and occasionally running downstairs to try to find him.
3. 10 for $10 items at the grocery store.
4. Unicorns. They're so fluffy I could die!!!
5. The color brown. Brown's my favorite!
6. The few times I drive down Main Street and don't hit a single red light.
7. Hairspray that tames my fly-away hairs.
8. Fingernail clippers. Otherwise I'd have to bite my nails and that just isn't sanitary.
9. A retractable leash so I don't have to go outside with Wedge in the winter time when it's freezing cold and snowing so he can do his business.
10. Cameras on roller coasters designed to capture that heart stopping moment when you wonder what in the world possessed you to get on the ride.
11. A closet full of clothes that hang on hangers.
12. No longer living at home with my parents because it means I can walk around the house in my socks!
13. Cute little kids running a lemonade stand.
14. Summer, Spring, and Fall... and Arizona Winters!
15. Fanny Packs... anyone know where I can get one?
16. Pajamas with pockets because I never know when I'll need to hold something while I sleep. Really I'm thankful for comedians that come up with funny bits like that.
17. The kick stand on gas nozzles at the gas station so I don't have to stand there and hold it.
18. Every time someone walks into a glass door. Twice in one movie (ie: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) is a movie worth owning.
19. Obvious warning labels such as the blow drier, "Warning, do not use in water". Um, duh. I think if you're so pressed for time you need to dry your hair while in the shower, it's time to cut some things from your life.
20. Drive thru food places when I'm not in the mood to cook and don't want to lug the baby into a restaurant.
21. Avoiding the Pinterest vortex so far....
22. Motion censored paper towel dispensers, sinks, and toilets in public restrooms... now if only they'd put in motion censored doors for not only entering the restroom, but for each individual stall...! Okay, maybe that wouldn't be a good idea.
23. Clever tv shows that put a random pineapple in every episode for me to race against my husband to find first.
24. Disneyland. After all, it's the happiest place on earth.
25. Flannel sheets in the winter time.
26. Not being able to scrape all the Brownie batter out of the bowl so there's some to lick up!
27. The clean tear that comes from perforated toilet paper.
28. The deadbolt on the front door that makes me feel a little safer when I'm home alone.
29. Advancements in technology. I don't have to store VHS tapes or records, my tv is flat and my computer sits on my lap and can be stored in my backpack.
30. Easy squeeze jelly so peanut butter doesn't get inside the bottle.

So there you have it. I'm very thankful for the obvious stuff, but it's the little things that are so easily overlooked and yet make such a difference in my life.