Heepy Birfday to Me!

I turned 27 on the 26th. Man, that was a lot cooler last year when I turned 26 on the 26th. Oh well, I guess that's a one-time cool thing. So, as often happens when my birthday comes around I start thinking about everything that's happened in the last year.

Boy, it was a doozy of a year:
Last year we bought a house - moved in on my birthday last year, had a baby, bought a car, broke that car, bought another car, survived spring semester of Jonathan's school, working our way through summer semester, realized school was sucking all our money away and got the government to cover some of the cost, and have kept off the 20 pounds that I lost when Gwen was born. I don't know how I've managed to keep that weight off so don't ask.

What new and exciting things will happen this year? Maybe I'll be pregnant again on my birthday. We're thinking about having the kids two years apart and Gwen's almost one. I'm hoping to change something with my job. I've been less and less happy here in the cardiac ICU over the past few months. Part of it is that we have a really high turn over rate - most nurses use this job as a stepping stone for going to graduate school - and I haven't really been able to bond with my co-workers as well as I'd like. I've also been here for almost two years and nothing's different - except the people. I applied for a charge nurse position - that's like being the shift leader. It'd mean a raise and extra responsibility. If I don't get it I'll move on to something else entirely different in nursing but still stick with IHC so I don't lose my pay scale, benefits, senority, or anything. I'm seriously thinking about Labor and Delivery or going back to the InstaCare. It'd be awesome to work somewhere where good things happen every day and what's better than a baby?

Okay edit update: right after I first posted this I was searching the job listings for IHC and the InstaCare that I worked at for 5 years and loved is hiring full-time nurses. I applied and am pretty sure they'll offer me the job. They loved me and I only left to fulfill an requirement for the hospital paying for my nursing school. I'll let you know what happens with it.

I have pictures from my birthday day and I'll post them as soon as I figure out how to keep Gwen occupied long enough to upload them on the computer. That's getting harder to do these days - not uploading pictures, but keeping Gwen busy.

Here's the promised pics:
This is what I woke up to. Gwen let me sleep in until 7:00 am!
But she was so cute and happy I couldn't be grumpy about being up early.
We got ready for the day.
Had our favorite breakfast - frozen waffles and fruit. Sent Jonathan off to school, played downstairs and later took a nap until he got home from class. We watched some TV while Jonathan baked a cake and then went to the store for ice cream. Got tacos from Del Taco and went to the Park Park.
Played with Mason, Kim, Linda, Sam, Dianne, Charlotte, Grandma and Grandpa Rail, Grandma and Grandpa Buckholts, Megan, and Laura at the park.
Mason helped Gwen go down the slides.

We all had cake and ice cream. We played until it started to drizzle and Gwen was worn out.

After getting Gwen in bed I took Boot out on a quick walk then came home and went to bed. It was a good day.

Bigger By the Day

Gwen is getting so big these days. All four of her 1-year-old molars came in practically overnight this week. She didn't complain at all, which was different from the two weeks of misery she went through for her last two teeth on the bottom. She's "talking" all the time now. She'd been a pretty quiet baby up until about a month ago. Now we can't get her to hush up. She has running commentary that reflects her mood or whether she's up to trouble or not. She increases in volume and rate when she gets a naughty idea. "Ba da baba umda DA DA!!!" she'll squeal as she heads over to eat the dog's food. You only really have to worry if she's being quiet. That means that she's succeeded in her plan and is probably busy unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper or playing in the dog's water dish.
Here's a close up of Gwen. She's quicker than she used to be and it's getting harder to get a good picture of her.
Last week I was grocery shopping with Gwen and she started to laugh in the middle of an aisle. There was no one around, so I couldn't figure out what was making her laugh. She was looking up high and perched on top of the shelves was a big stuffed grey elephant. I took it down and she giggled and hugged it. She's usually not too interested in stuffed animals. It was only $19 so I had to get it for her. She LOVES her big elephant. She wrestles with it and snuggles on it. It's so cute.
Worn out after wrestling, asleep on the living room floor.

"Wassup?!?!?"

Gwen's newest "trick" is to almost constantly have her tongue hanging out of her mouth. We figure it's her way to experience the world better. This way she has a better chance of tasting her surroundings as she explores. I found her licking the dishwasher the other day and our DVD player has what suspiciously looks like a tongue print on it. It's pretty cute to see her crawling on the floor with it waggling around.

3rd and 4th of July

Our celebration for the 4th of July last two days this year. On the 3rd of July we went to Taylorsville Dayzz (yes the two z's are there on purpose). There were booths set up with different companies giving stuff away, having drawings, or hawking their wares. I got a free back massage and spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out ways to sneak back for another one because it felt so good. I may have to break down and pay for a real one someday. Jonathan picked up a silly hat that looks like the Statue of Liberty's crown. Gwen took a nap and missed all the fun for a while but woke up in time to try her first sno cone, which she didn't like because it was too cold.

We met my parents and my niece, Samantha, there for the Utah Symphony's free concert in the park. We sat on a blanket and Gwen "sang" along to the music and crawled all over her cousin and us. Sam jumped around and danced. We all ate too much cotton candy and enjoyed the music in our sugar-induced high. As a finale they did the 1812 Overture with real canons. Gwen wasn't scared at all.

After the concert we went back to Grandma's house for fireworks. We had made sure not to get any of the loud annoying ones. Gwen thought they were pretty neat and babbled about them. The last one we did had loud pops at the end and Gwen didn't like that as much. She held onto Grandma and complained "mama".

We got up early the morning of the 4th because we were having a breakfast with my mom's siblings and their kids at the gazebo at our condos. We helped set everything up and had a yummy breakfast and got to see my cousins that I hadn't seen since last year. After breakfast, Gwen and her cousins went swimming at the pool. Gwen amazed all my sisters with her increasing water skills. Everyone was pretty worn out after swimming so we all went to our homes. Gwen and I took a much needed nap while Jonathan had the afternoon to himself.

Gwen's first time on the big swings the morning of the 4th.

I had to go to work that night, so my celebration ended with my nap. Jonathan took Gwen and went with my parents up to Layton to see the fireworks and listen to the concert in the park up there. Gwen had more fun with her cousins but fell asleep in the middle of the big fireworks. I guess I didn't need to be worried about her being scared of them after all. It was a fun celebration and I'm grateful for the time I had to spend with my family. I'm so thankful for this nation and all the freedoms that we enjoy and take for granted.

Gwen's Busy Morning

This morning Gwen woke up at 6:00 - earlier than usual for her. Since I was feeling pretty rested, I got up with her and started cleaning her room. It really needed it. I needed to put away the clothes she had outgrown and sort throught all the clutter that had piled up over the last few months. After cleaning, Jonathan woke up and we all got ready for the day. Gwen took a shower with her daddy - you can't keep her out so sometimes she gets a couple showers a day. Then we all went downstairs for breakfast. It was nearly 9:00 by then.
Gwen didn't make it through breakfast:
So I carried her upstairs:
She snuggled down in her "stink bug" position:
She stayed asleep for two hours and woke up ready to play. Have I mentioned lately that I love this little girl?