Bragging

  I've got to boast about my little girl! I'm pretty sure we've been blessed with the most amazing child that's ever graced this earth. From the moment we brought her home, she was EASY! She started on a night schedule right away, only up 3 times in the night. Now she's only up once most nights (She's only 6 weeks old), and Saturday she slept through the night!! During the day, (if she's not eating) she's absolutely calm. I can set her in her swing, or on the couch or the floor and she's happy. She's very aware of her surroundings. She recognizes my voice. Her eyes get wide and she gets very still while I talk to her. She usually only cries when she's hungry or needs a diaper change. I'm in awe of her absolute perfection!! I remember the boys being up every hour or two hours at night, crying all the time, and of course as they got older, their stubborness. I told Mom how amazing Maggie is, and she just laughed. She said, "Nyla, Maggie is NORMAL! The boys were NOT normal!"
    Even though that's probably the truth, this 'normal' is such a dramatic change for me, and I can really truly appreciate it. I've been loving every second of having a girl! I'm even happy at 4 in the morning! If I had had her first, we would probably have 5 or 6 kids!! Thank goodness she's the last one!

What day is it?

Four weeks have gone by since Maggie joined the family, and I'm finding myself wondering where the time went! Our trip to MN was a whirlwind. It took two days to drive there. Our first night was spent in Spearfish, SD with my aunt Peggy. I always love driving into Spearfish! That place feels more like home to me than any other place I've been. The air is so fresh and clean (a nice break from SLC!), the Black Hills are as enchanting as ever, and the memories of weeks spent with my cousin Summer come flooding back.
   When we pulled into the drive, Aunt Peg was outside watering her flowers. I know she looks a lot like my mom, but I guess I never realized how much until Max started yelling from the backseat, "GRANDMA!! SAVE ME!!!" He was a little desperate to get out of his carseat. Aunt Peg was tickled about being Grandma. And she got to be tickled all night, because he never realized that she wasn't really Grandma! He spent the evening cuddling and talking with her. :) I wonder what he'd do if he saw them both at the same time!
   The next day was a little harder drive for the kids, being the second day spent in car seats. But we made it to my sister's house safe and sound, and only a little bit road-crazy. We had a good time! The kids played themselves out all day and only took a second to fall asleep at night. My siblings and I stayed up until the wee hours (almost) every night laughing and talking. The wedding went off without a hitch! And the boys, despite extreme humidity and sunburns and fevers, had a blast. Our first night away from my sister and Alaina was hard on Connor! He asked me with tears threatening to fall, "Can I go home to Aunt Joce's house?" Aw, it broke my heart!
   We stayed a night in the Twin Cities before heading down to Iowa to see Rob's side of the family. We spent the afternoon at the Mall of America. Not shopping! We went to Nickelodeon Universe for the boy's first time in an amusement park. This one is dedicated mostly to toddlers, which was fantastic! Max is still a little too young to enjoy most of the rides, but Connor went nuts! He went on every ride he could, and loved every one!! He's going to be my roller coaster buddy! They got to meet Dora the Explorer and Diego, and a couple Backyardigans too! Max was scared to death of the larger than life characters, but Connor once again was thrilled. There were hugs and high fives and crazy dances. Here are a few pictures of the day..
                               Meeting Diego

                                     Max is a little unsure...

                                             Dancing with Diego!

                     Riding a roller coaster

                     Max on the same roller coaster, BEFORE it started!

                       And during. He wouldn't look up. Poor guy.

                                 Meeting the Backyardigans.

                  The ferris wheel. One of the only rides Max enjoyed!

Overall it was a fun day!

The next day we drove a few hours down to Sioux City, IA. We spent the evening with Rob's parents, and the next night had a BBQ at his sister's. The boys had another fun time with cousins! I wish we were close enough to spend more time with them! Now that we are home, they hardly know what to do with themselves! And it takes them a lot longer to fall asleep at night. :(

My camera died as the boys were on the ferris wheel. I haven't been able to find my battery charger for it. It was either lost in MN or left at the hospital. So I haven't been able to take as many pictures of Maggie as I'd like. But I finally bought another charger yesterday. I have some catching up to do! Here are a couple though, for now.

        With Uncle Brett, the handsome groom.

 Okay, so this isn't really a picture of Maggie, but I think it's a gorgeous picture of my mom HOLDING Maggie! :)

       And a couple from the wedding. We were busy wrangling children, so it was hard to get very many. Hopefully I can share some of the professional ones when they come out!

           Brett and Amber Barry

                             Max and Lynelle

       
        It was a successful, fun trip! But I am glad to be home. I want some time to adore my new baby, and plan for the next whirlwind - Thanksgiving! All of my siblings are going to be here for the holiday, and there are still lots of things I want to finish on the house before that!! Can't wait til then!