Months 4 and 5

November 14, 2011
Hey Baby!

Today is your 5 month birthday.  WOOT!  WOOT!

I'm sorry that I didn't write a letter for you last month.  I don't have an excuse.  Though I slacked off on a blog post, but I want you to know that you can count on me!  I will always be there for you. (Except for that one time that I am going to pick you up from school really, really late/not going to be there when you get home from school and you'll freak out that you can't get into the house so you'll hide in the backyard.  Don't worry, you'll be okay.  The experience has to happen to every kid at least once. You can use it to give me a good guilt trip later in life.)

*14 weeks*

Last month your sleep schedule was all wonky!  You woke up every hour!  I am happy to tell you that you are back on track and sleeping much better now, and only waking up three times a night.  The only thing I would change would be your 4 A.M. wake up.  It is at this horrible hour that you decide to chat away like it ain't no thang!  I usually solve the issue with a boob and a bink.  You really wake up at 6 (so does your sister - dang daylight savings time change).  You know I'm not a morning person, so they fact that I don't get out of bed cranky tells you how much I love my girls. 

*15 weeks*

We've moved you into your crib to sleep at night.  Aslynn likes sharing her room with her sister.  She loves you so much and you love her!  No one else can make you laugh like she can.

*16 weeks*

When you get really tired, all it takes to put you to sleep is a blanket touching your face. With the blanket, you calm right down, close your eyes and go straight to sleep. 

*17 weeks in Vegas*

You are rolling around like crazy!  Nothing can keep you in one spot. You just roll and wiggle around to get where you want to go to get what you want to get.  This new found ability has really limited where I can put you down.  You've figured out how to get out of/tip over the bumbo and you really don't like being strapped down in your bouncer.  I forgot how terrifying it is to have a mobile baby.  I don't know what I am going to do when you start to crawl.

*18 weeks*

I wish I had your ab muscles; you've got great abs.  You can lift the top head of your body off the floor and hold it there. 

*19 weeks*

You love your Johnny Jump-up that hangs in the door frame.  You bounce and spin for at least 15 minutes (which is a LONG time in baby time).


You've got quite a grip!  You like to grab my face or the hairs on the back of my neck.  It hurts like the dickens.  In the future I think we might have a serious issue with you pinching your friends.

You like to give kisses.  It melts my heart when you grab my face and give me a big, wet, baby kiss on my cheek; the kiss only lasts a second but makes me smile for a long time.

You love to grab your daddy's chin and try to hold on while he shakes his head back and forth.  The feel of his beard stubble makes you laugh.

You have mastered the art of crying.  You know exactly how to do it and what pitches to hit in order to get people running to pick you up.

*20 weeks*

Your hair is going blond. Scattered all over your head are hairs that are at least twice as long as the rest of your hair.  These long flyaways are so adorable and unique.  I am going to miss them when they fall out.

Your new favorite toy is the wipes container.  There is just something about blue, crackly, plastic that really makes you happy. 

*21 weeks*

You know those boobs I was bragging about a couple months ago?  Well, they aren't doing their job.  At your 4 month well-check appointment the doctor told me you're not gaining weight.  You dropped to the 25% in weight and 50% in height.  He suggested we supplement and/or start you on rice cereal.  You get two small bottles a day now.  We gave you rice cereal too.  You liked it. Hopefully you'll bulk up!

You think you are ready for "real food." You watch what we are eating like a hawk, stick out your tongue and move your mouth like you are chewing.  I don't think you are ready.  People keep trying to feed you things and I keep having to tell them not to. You reach for whatever is going into someones mouth.  I do let you have drinks out of my water bottle so now you know how to drink out of a straw!

You love to take showers! You don't even mind the water splashing in your face.

I think I am your favorite person.  You just look at me and smile. Most likely though, you are just copying me.  I smile at you all the time.  You make me so happy!

*5 months*

I love you baby girl!

Mom

Halloween 2011

*At the Trunk-or-Treat - Ella Vella is cranky and Z is chowing down on a sucker (her favorite) before we even get in the car.*

Last month Aslynn was REALLY spoiled by Aunt Stefanie.  Stefanie took her to Disneyland to the Bippity Boppity Boutique - a salon where Fairy Godmothers-in-training make each little girl look like a real princess by doing her hair, make up and complete the outfit with a princes dress.  Apparently you need to be three years old in order to get your hair done, so Aslynn just got a princess Aurora dress, but that was more than enough for her!  She loved gallivanting around the park in her beautiful dress with her favorite aunt. The dress also served as Z's Halloween costume.  

I got the idea for Eleanor's costume from Pinterest (if you haven't heard of Pintrest, you are missing out!).  I know how to sew a little bit, but in order to make the ghost costume myself I would finally have to take the sewing machine (that my mom gave me over six years ago) out of the box and set it up.  Doesn't that sound like a lot of work?  Instead I enlisted the help of my dear sister in-law Michelle.  All I did was buy the white onesie and cut out the black felt; Michelle did everything else, including all the sewing involved. Isn't she the best?  Eleanor was the cutest ghost of all time!

We attended a couple of Halloween parties as well as the ward's Trunk-or-Treat.  The next block of pictures are from Z's preschool party.

 *Frosting cookies.  AKA: Eating the frosting off the knife, leaving the cookie naked.*

 *Making a spider web.*

*Blue sucker mouth.*

Even though Halloween is our least favorite holiday, Luke and I agreed that this year was fun.  Holidays are so much better since we've had kids.  We love to watch them (okay, just Aslynn so far) get excited and have tons of fun.

 *Going to Uncle Jared's party.  The Belle dress that Eleanor is wearing was Aslynn's first Halloween costume. It was really big on the little Mecham girl.*

These are the outfits that the girls wore during the day on Halloween.

The Mechams in Idaho

Remember this post? Well, since we were already in Vegas (Allegiant flies from Vegas to Idaho Falls for cheap), Luke surprised me and got us plane tickets so we could spend the weekend in Idaho with our friends the Campbells. 

*Sleeping on the plane on the way there.*

We had a lot of fun visiting Rexburg and BYU-Idaho.  We were able to catch up with some of our favorite professors and walk around the crazy-big campus and gawk at all the changes.  I miss BYU-I so much.

 *This is where Luke and I sat every week for Devotional.*

 *View from a sky bridge.  Yeah, they have those now!  When I went to school there, I had to walk uphill in the snow!  Students nowadays don't even have to go outside to get to a different building.*

 *This is the inside of the new building.  We don't know what it is called; we call it the "Conference Center."

 *Indoor track.  Drool!*

 *I liked this painting.*

 *The Taylor Quad is all ripped up!*

 *Blurry picture of the inside, but you get the idea.*

For lunch we ate at Craigos (or the Pizza Pie Cafe as it is now called).

The rest of the weekend we spent in Pocatello, just hanging out with our dear friends, the Campbells.  We miss them so much! We met Jenny and Logan at the first married student ward social Luke and I attended (also the first one Jenny and Logan attended).  We sat down at their table, started talking about how Logan ran over a duck (long story) and have been friends ever since.  We even followed them to a new apartment complex and lived next door to one another for two years. 

The Campbells have two girls and so do we!  Emma and Aslynn played and had sleepovers while we were in Pocatello.  I am sure when they both learn how to share better they will be BFF.  Despite the little fights they had, Aslynn still talks about her "friend Emma."  Abby is a little too old to play with Eleanor, but when they both grow up, I am sure they will be friends too.

 *Hiding and watching a movie on an I-Touch.*

On Sunday we boarded out plane only to get kicked off thirty minutes later because the plane was getting the "Blue Screen of Death" - and yes, the pilot told us that is what was happening. They finally flew in a new pane from Vegas so we could get home.  We spent over six extra hours in the Idaho Falls airport by the time all was said and done.  Aslynn passed the time by making friends with anyone who looked close to her age, running around, going down in the elevator and then up the escalator - until the posse broke the elevator and then it was jut and down the escalators.  Eleanor was super good and didn't cry at all.  I think I may have offended some people by nursing her though.  I don't know what their problem was; we were camped out in a semi-secluded spot and I made sure I was completely covered the whole time.

*Watching a movie.  Wait for the plane.*

By the time we got to Vegas and picked up our car it was 12:45 A.M. on Monday. Luke had to work that day so I drove us home so he could sleep. We got home at 4 A.M.

Even though getting home from Idaho was kind of a hassle, the whole trip was tons of fun!

The Mechams in Vegas

In October Luke had a work conference in Vegas. Instead of having him go by himself and miss him like crazy for three days, we decided to pack up the whole family and make it a mini-vacation.

Luke's work got us this amazing corner hotel suite at the Vdara hotel, complete with living room, full kitchen, dining room, two bathrooms, bedroom and even a washer and dryer! We've never stayed in a suite before and I am almost positive we won't be able to again...unless we win the lottery (that we don't play, darn it).

During the day when Luke was at the conference, the girls and I walked the strip and hung out at the hotel.  When Luke was done for the day we played in the pool, walked the strip some more and visited the sites of Vegas. 

Aslynn's favorite parts were the fish tanks at the Rainforest Cafe, the lions at the MGM Grand and the gondolas at the Venetian. 

My favorite part was the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3. 

Luke's favorite part was the LED Louis Vuitton wall that lit up and looked pretty.  He was also very interested in CityCenter because parts of it are LEED certified (Luke loves him some green building).

We had a fun time in Vegas!  I was pleasantly surprised at all the things we could see and do - expecially since we're LDS, we have two young kids and I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

 *Chocolate fountain in the Bellagio - white, milk and dark chocolate.*

 *Our hotel was right behind/connected to the Bellagio.*

 *It is really hard to get a good picture of Z...and sometimes Luke.*

 *M&M Factory*

 *Rainforest Cafe*

 *This sign made us laugh.  It's for a building.*

 *This pumpkin was made entirely out of roses. I was impressed!*

 *Sharing a frozen hot chocolate.*

 *Sister snuggles.*

 *Playing at the pool!*

 *We call these the "water tornadoes."

 *They were even in the floor.*

 *I am a pro at accidentally getting awkward pictures of random people.*

 *These are frozen pillars that help cool the building.  They drop down into the ground under the pool of water at night to refreeze and then melt during the day (or at least that is what we heard from a man who works there; it's Vegas so you never really know who to trust).*

 *Strolling the Strip wears a girl out.  She didn't sleep for very long though because we had played in the pool before this and I swear, she must have drank half of the pool.  She had to pee every five minutes.  Do you know how hard it is to find an easy-to-get-to bathroom on the strip?! Let me tell you, there was a lot of carrying Aslynn and running and "Hold it!  Hold it!" going on.*

*View from our room.*