I was just reflecting on what this year has brought to us, and I'm so grateful! This has been a long year of change, but it has been wonderful changes. Morgan got a new job. We moved to a different city. We bought a house. We have a beautiful addition to our family. It has been a very wonderful year. I can only hope that the next year will bring us as many blessings.

These are just a few pictures of our adorable Baby Girl. It looks like in one of her pictures, she is flashing a gang sign. Her shirt says "adorable", and that wraps up every ounce of our Baby Girl. She is absolutely adorable!

Baby Girl got a beautiful Christmas Dress as a present from Great Grandpa and Grandma Frame. It fits her perfectly. We took a couple of pictures of her before Church yesterday. She gave us some pretty funny faces. Look at her chubby arms. There are rolls upon rolls upon rolls. It almost looks painful. She needs to gain some height to stretch out some of that fat. She's such a cutie!

With the Holidays, Morgan has had some time off. He has gotten to spend more time with Baby Girl. She loves her daddy. They have a lot of fun together. Here are some pictures taken on Friday of them playing together. Morgan played his guitar for her and she loved it! He sang a song to her with her name in it! They were watching television together too. They are so stinking cute together.

On Friday, Morgan came home early from work. I was nursing Baby Girl on the couch, when Morgan walked in the door. As soon as she heard his voice, she pulled away, turned her head toward him and smiled as big as she could! She definitely knows her daddy and loves him very much!

What a wonderful Christmas! We have a very spoiled Baby Girl! She got a ton of fun presents! Morgan and I actually woke up before Baby Girl and opened presents. She slept until 7:30! Santa brought her a mobile to go over her crib. Here is a picture of Morgan helping her open her present. And another picture of her 'playing' with her present! I have loved it. It helps her fall right asleep in her crib. It's a big help!

Baby Girl has 3 sets of Grandparents and they all spoil her to death! A very big THANK YOU for the presents. Here is a picture of Baby Girl with all 3 of the presents. Grandpa and Grandma Frame gave her a high chair. Grandpa and Grandma James gave her this bouncy chair. Grandpa and Grandma Leyland gave her this play gym. THANK YOU!

It is Baby Girl's First Christmas! I know she's excited. I've been telling her about it for a month now. She's got to be excited. We had these Baby's First Christmas pajamas from my cousin (thanks Stacie!). So Baby Girl wore them last night to get ready for Christmas Eve. It's kind of big, but that's okay! We also put this silly hat on her and took a picture before she went to bed last night. Doesn't she look excited?!

Then today, Baby Girl is wearing a cute onesie that says "What Santa doesn't bring me. . . Grandma will". This is so appropriate for our spoiled little baby! Once again, we slapped the silly hat on her to take a picture. It kind of looks like she's pouting. Don't her cheeks look huge?!

I'm pretty sure our Baby Girl is going to be a Hand Sucker. Not necessarily a thumb sucker, but a hand sucker. If that's genetic, we can blame Morgan. She's never really liked her pacifier. She'll take it sometimes, and other times she'll push it out of her mouth with her tongue. I always try to give it to her, but it only works about half the time. Now that she's discovered her hands, she always has her hands in her mouth. I used to think it was so adorable (and I still do), but now I'm worried that she's developing a bad habit. She normally sucks on the side of her hand. As you can see from the picture, her fingers are extended, but her thumb is tucked into her hand. She sucks on her thumb knuckle.  Her hands have gotten so red and raw from her sucking on them. I was starting to worry that it was hurting, so I put some socks on her hands to see if that would help. The other picture is of her sock covered hand while she was in her crib. It worked, she would bring her hand to her face and get really confused. She didn't like it very much and got pretty fussy. Then I felt bad for confusing her. Her hands look a lot better today, but she still sucks on them.

Let me just say that all of this snow is my Christmas wish come true! I love when it snows. It is finally looking like Christmas! It might be easier for me when it snows, because I don't have to go anywhere. I get to stay in my warm home and watch the cold snow from inside. It's starting to get really cold too, which makes me more hesitant to take Baby Girl outside. Last night, we journeyed to the mall and to the store to buy a snow shovel. It was a whopping 17 degrees. We bundled Baby Girl up. We put this "Future Aggie" hat on her to keep her warm! This was a wonderful gift from the Wardles (thank you!). Morgan and I are both Aggies, so hopefully Baby Girl will be too! We snapped this picture right before we left. I had to put the hat back on her 3 times because she kept wiggling out of it. I don't think she likes hats too much. She was still really cute in it.

Earlier in the day, I found this moose hat that I had forgotten about. We posted a picture of Baby Girl wearing this hat on September 26. (You can go to Archives at the top of this page and find the entry if you want to see it again!) She was tiny then. The hat fits her a lot better now than it did then. She hates wearing it! Maybe she knows how silly the hat is! We tried getting her to smile, but she just gave us a look that said "Hurry up and take your picture before I start crying!" She's adorable in it, even if she hates it!

Ever since Baby Girl was a newborn, Morgan has been kissing her cheeks. Then he pushes her lips up to his cheek and tells her "Thank You" for kissing him. She loves this! This got her to smile when she was first learning how to smile. Now she starts 'talking' when she 'kisses' you, or when you touch her lips. There have been several times when it sounds like she is repeating the same sounds and syllables that we say to her. That's exactly what happened last night when we filmed this! If you listen carefully, after she 'kisses' Morgan's cheek, it sounds like she says "Thank You". I'm afraid that she'll think the name of a kiss is thank you! Oh, well. It's adorable! I'm so glad we were able to get it on film. At least we're teaching her good manners! Hopefully, she'll be a very polite little girl.

What a wonderful weekend! I always love the weekend, because Morgan gets to stay home with me! It started to feel a lot more like Christmas. First of all, Saturday morning, we went to Morgan's work party. Yes, that's right - it started at 7:00 on a Saturday morning. It was actually really cool. Instead of paying for a real fancy dinner, the company held the party at Costco before the store opened. They had hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls waiting for us as we walked in the door. Then Santa and Mrs. Claus welcomed us. Morgan's company gave us a gift card for Costco - so we could walk around and spend the money they gave us. They also had a breakfast burrito bar and a crepe bar. It was delicious! So, we spent the morning, shopping Costco. Throughout the store they had games that you could play, like putting a golf ball, basketball shoot etc. We already have all of our Christmas shopping done, so we got to spend the money on us! It was really fun! We mostly bought baby wipes and food storage items. Nothing too exciting, but stuff we could really use. Plus, we still have about $30 left on the card, so we'll have to go back and see what else we can buy. 

After the party, we came home to relax. It finally started to snow. It was so pretty, big huge flakes falling from the sky. It was a perfect day to just stay at home. Morgan decided to start a fire in our fireplace. It was so nice and cozy. It felt like winter, finally! While he did this, I made a gingerbread house! It took a lot of time, but it's a fun holiday activity! I really enjoyed it! Morgan helped with the 'snow' on my gingerbread house!

Saturday night, we went to our Church Christmas Party. It was nice to talk to some of our neighbors and get to know them a little bit better. We had the famous ham and funeral potato meal, which is the best!  I was hoping Santa would make an appearance, but he must have had a previous engagement.

Then, on Sunday, we spent the day relaxing. It was a pretty day. We had blue skies, but it was freezing cold. Baby Girl was so good at church. She ate during Sunday School, then was awake all through Relief Society. She was as happy as could be! I put her on a blanket on the floor and held a toy above her. She was entertained by that the entire time. We got a couple of cute pictures of her after church. It was her nap time so she was tired. Her face looks tired, but still adorable. During Baby Girl's nap time, Morgan and I popped popcorn, drank hot chocolate, and played games together. We played a game of Stratego. I am NOT good at this game. I have no strategy. Morgan completely destroyed me on this! Then we played Scattergories. I think Morgan and I tied at this game. It was a wonderful weekend!

What!?! Baby Girl is ONLY three months old? How much longer of this do I have? Unlike Jen, Fatherhood has left me dazed and confused, instead of learning life's most precious lessons, I'm left with only a dumb look on my face, an open jaw, and a grunt that only cavemen understand.  In my long long long long time of being a father I only have questions like:

1. How can something so little produce so much poop?
2. When will Daddy's next doctor appointment be so that he can get snipped?
3. Eating 8 times a day every 3 hours...really?
4. What color will your poop be today?
5. Would she like me more if I was lactating?
6. Where is the nearest bar?
7. You're not hungry, you're not messy, you're not sleepy, so why are you still crying?
8. God, are you really there?

I really do enjoy being a father and Jen does a wonderful job of helping me along the way and seems to have the answers to all my deep deep questions. If it were not for my wonderful wife there would be no possible way I could raise such an adorable, intelligent, little girl.

Today Baby Girl is 3 months old. Time is going so fast and she is growing so big! I was thinking about what I’ve learned about motherhood in the short amount of time that I’ve been a mother.

• I can’t even describe how much I love my baby. Every day, the love seems to grow.
• I am so proud of EVERY little thing that she does. For example: she’s discovered sucking on her hands. I think it’s the cutest thing ever that she has learned to bring her chubby little hand to her mouth and suck on it. Every baby does this, but it’s even cuter when she does it.
• My emotions are tied very closely to hers. When she is happy and smiley, my heart soars. When she cries because something hurts, it breaks my heart.
• I would do ANYTHING for my Baby Girl. If she needs me to hold her and rock her through the entire night, I would gladly do it.
• Parenthood has strengthened my marriage. Even though my conversations with Morgan now consist of Baby Girl’s eating and pooping schedule. It’s remarkable how an adorable little girl can turn a man into a father. Watching Morgan with our Baby Girl makes me love him even more.

These are just a few things that I’ve been thinking about. Being a mother has brought the greatest amount of joy into my life!

Our Baby Girl has discovered sitting up and she LOVES it. She's still very wobbly, and needs something to support her, but she loves to be upright. When she's laying down, she tries to lunge her head up to try and sit up. She doesn't like me craddling her in my arms anymore. She needs to be upright, looking at the world. My baby girl is growing up. [Sidenote: her jacket is size 6 months, and her pants are 6-9 months. What a chunker!]

Baby Girl is such a good sleeper. She's slept the last 3 days until 7:00 in the morning. She's done this for a couple of weeks now, but every other night or so - she would wake up earlier. These are a couple of cute pictures that I took while she was taking a nap yesterday. She fell asleep after her bath yesterday, before we could get her dressed. I wrapped the blanket around her to keep her warm, but she fought her arms free. (She always does that!)

Baby Girl has discovered something new. Her hands. Her motor skills have developed enough to allow her to bring her fists to her face. A few days ago, I heard a very loud sucking noise. When I looked at Baby Girl, she was sucking on her fist. It's so funny to watch her have fun with this new thing! In addition to sucking on her fist, she has started rubbing her eyes when she is tired. She usually just gets slobber all over her face, but its still cute.

So finally I have come to terms with Jen's Christmas decorations and music. We have sufficiently celebrated Thanksgiving and mourned its passage, so now it is time to move on and start to celebrate Christmas. I have taken some pictures of the decorations my wife has put up, she does such a great job I don't know how she finds the time to do it.

Last night we went and visited my brother and Paige, it is fun to see them. They were on their way to the symphony, and because it was Beethoven's Requiem, they were all dressed in black. It looked like lots of fun. I must admit it was unusual to see my brother all dressed up (with a tie I might add!), and not in his normal uniform of a 15+ year old tee-shirt with camping stains, well worn shoes, and pants full of holes. Paige is doing an excellent job at domesticating him, keep up the good work.

Baby Girl was very temperamental last night as well, she would be fine, scream bloody murder, and then be fine again. We think it is probably gas that was giving her grief. She has been so good lately that we've forgotten about how she used to act when she had gas. We were finally able to get her under control at a McDonald's and she fell asleep for most of the car ride home.

Last night, we traveled to Temple Square to look at the Christmas lights. I think half of the state of Utah also had those same plans. We were shuffled around the cold temple grounds, surrounded by mobs of people. It was a pretty cold evening, but we bundled up warm. We dressed Baby Girl up warm, then strapped her in a carrier on my stomach. I wrapped my coat around her. She was plenty warm, and slept most of the time. She kept me warm too.

In addition to the lights, we looked at several Nativity scenes that they had on the grounds. They also had beautiful lanterns and luminaries with lights shining through, showing Christmas designs. We went in one of the visitors centers to keep warm, and there was a choir singing lovely Christmas music. It felt like Christmas. Overall, we had a nice night together.

Yesterday, Baby Girl and I were playing with our new camera. I stumbled upon this cool setting on our camera called Color Accent. I didn't realize it would take those type of pictures, but we got some cute ones.

I think Baby Girl is going through another growth spurt. The past two days, she's been a little extra fussy. She's been sleeping more. And she's been eating more frequently than normal. Thursday night, she only slept 5 hours before she needed to eat again. Last night, however, she slept through the whole night. She's starting to 'talk' so much now. It's so cute to hear her use her little voice. Morgan keeps trying to get her to say "daddy". I think he's determined that that is going to be her first word. Whenever he tries to get her to say 'daddy', I say 'noooo'. And a few times, she's copied my 'ooooo' noise.

So, as my wife said, Santa visited our house early this year with a Cannon PowerShot Camera. After using our Kodak for a few years we finally just got fed up with grainy, blurry, or overexposed pictures and got this camera -- which Santa found for a killer price on Amazon.com. Also, I must admit, that by purchasing this camera I had hopes of becoming the latest tennis sensation, so far that has not happened, but then I guess Rome wasn't built in a day either(it was built in like a week though right? Maybe two?).

Now that I've played with it a little it does take some great pictures; however, some pictures have yielded a little graininess that I'm not too thrilled about. It's image stabilizing functionality is incredible, you can literally shake it up and down and the picture comes out crystal clear. Colors also seem to come out better that our other camera. The rechargeable battery and compact size make it a great portable piece of equipment and the display on the back is quite large and much higher resolution than the Kodak. It has a lot of picture formatting functions built right into the camera that make it fun to play around with; however, Photoshop will always be my old stand by when it comes to picture formatting. Also the video recording is soooo much better than our Kodak it's not even funny. We will have to post a video of Baby Girl doing something cute one of these days so that you can see the difference.

I do think the Kodak has more intuitive buttons and on-screen menus, but maybe that's because I've had it for a number of years.  The Cannon seems to depend a lot more on the on-screen menu, and less on physical buttons, which makes things a little more complicated and longer to get to.  Also the Cannon does not have a panoramic (take three pictures and it stitches them together) function which the Kodak does -- this is one of my favorite functions on the Kodak and something it did failry well.

So anyway I guess that's my little blurb on our new camera, I can't wait to take outdoor daytime pictures in the spring and summer time (right now it's dark when I leave for work and dark when I get back) with this because I think they will turn out great. Pictures taken of Baby Girl will also be much better from now on!

Santa came early this year. He came yesterday, delivering presents on a big brown truck labeled UPS. Actually, for our family present, we decided to get a new camera. We ordered it online on Black Friday for a pretty good price. So, today, I decided to try out our new camera. I placed Baby Girl on our Love Sac (the most common background for most of her photoshoots) and started clicking away. I got a ton of cute pictures, so I posted a couple of them. I'm still learning how to use all the settings of our new camera, but so far, I'm fairly impressed.

I'm sorry that this blog is a tribute to our only, very spoiled, baby. And if you get tired of reading about how adorable she is, then you might have to stop reading our blog. She is so stinking adorable. Yesterday, we weighed Baby Girl. And the Heavyweight weighs in just 2 ounces shy of 14 pounds. Yes, that's right. She's gained about 2 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I read in my Child Development book that most babies double their birth weight by the time they are 5 months old. She's more than doubled her birth weight, and she's not even 3 months old. I am so glad that she is growing so well. I don't have to worry about her gaining weight. It means that she is healthy and growing.

Baby Girl is getting excited for Christmas! I keep telling her that she "better not cry" because "Santa Claus is coming to town!" I wish there was snow on the ground. It doesn't quite feel like December when the temperatures are reaching the 50s. It has been pretty mild so far. I've been reading Christmas stories to Baby Girl. She was looking at my Nativity (well, she was probably looking at the lights that shine behind my Nativity), so I told her about Joseph and Mary and how Jesus was a Baby, just like she is. It'll be fun to tell her all about Christmas next year and the year after, when she can actually understand it a little more.