Baby Lucy is growing...

A lot has happened since January...John and I are trying to decide what medical specialty to pursue.  John has enjoyed third year of medical school immensely.  He likes the rotations being in the hospital.  Granted there are some rotations which have bad hours and crazy schedules, but it is good he gets to experience everything.
I have just been enjoying this stage of Lucy's life.  Each stage has been fun, but since six months she is so much more active.  At about eight and a half months she started crawling.  At first, Lucy would expend a lot more energy moving horizontally, but she eventually made progress moving forward and now is extremely fast.  She can do the stairs in our apartment very quickly and doesn't realize that stopping and trying to sit equals falling.  Lately, she has been trying to stand up on about everything and walk around an entire room.  Lucy no longer enjoys sitting still.

Lucy LOVES her bookshelf.  I let her pull out all the books and she thinks she is very sneaky.  However, usually in the evening I will re-shelf the bookshelf (not sure why I do this because she just pulls them out the next morning).  Lucy also loves cards.  She loves to bend, fold, chew, tear and throw cards.  All in all she is an extremely happy baby with A LOT of energy, but I love that about her.

Lucy has come to enjoy eating as well...for about the first ten minutes.  After that, she gets bored and I have to entertain while trying to feed.  It is a process, but slowly feeding times are getting shorter.  Her favorite food is yogurt.  Our favorite activities together are running and reading.  Lucy is getting extremely fast at flipping the pages and can go through several board books in fifteen minutes.

Thankfully, spring has finally arrived in Morgantown and we are looking forward to days at the park, swimming, outdoor runs and picnics with dad!

Christmas in Utah! (a little belated)

Christmas was a delight in Utah.  Johnny had three entire weeks off of med school so this was our longest stay yet.  It was such a comfort to have Johnny flying with me to help with Lucy.  The first couple days were spent with my family.  Johnny's parents are still serving as the mission President in Ukraine, the L'viv mission.  My parents gave us an early Christmas present of tickets to the play 'Elf' and babysitting of the grandchildren.  We got to go watch the play with all of my siblings, it was a great treat. 
Since John and I don't get to visit Utah much, about twice yearly, we packed our days full of events.  I had my traditional 'Kneaders' breakfast with the Murray girls.  An outing with my two best buds, Mandy and Aubri.  John was in paradise skiing, especially with his brothers.  He and Pete had a couple of great powder days back-country skiing.  John and I had the chance to spend an afternoon skiing together at Alta- thanks to Pete for watching Lucy.  We also did a babysitting swap and were able to go ski at Alta after 3 with Pete, Gena, James, Lindsay, Paul, Kristene and some of the kiddos.  After Christmas was spent with the Lattin clan.  We ate a delicious dinner and had a white elephant gift exchange.  There was a girls lunch to Paradise bakery and lots of games in the evenings.  For New Year's Eve, John and I ventured up to Boise, Idaho, to see the Boettchers.  Amy and I went running together.   We had a morning of Monopoly, hiking, bowling, going to the movies, and eating lots of delicious food.  Amy created an array of appetizers for our New Year's Eve feast.  I got to see little Matthew since it has been over a year since our last meeting.
My sisters and I had a girls night of waxing, pedicures and eating Cafe Rio and lots of icecream.  Lucy had so much fun with her cousin Esther, who is only 10 weeks older.  As always it was sad to say goodbye, but it is true what they say babies thrive on a schedule.  Lucy had been waking about every three hours towards the end of our Utah trip and was ready for her own crib.  Luckily, there were no delays on the trip home and we made it safely back to the 10 degree Morgantown weather. 

Halloween and Turkey Day!

Little Lucy girl was an adorable strawberry for Halloween.  Johnny and I had high hopes of being a family of fruit, but in the end I was a gypsy and John was his typical skier:)  We had a ward 'trunk or treat.'  Lucy was still too small to enjoy the ward carnival, but Johnny and I had a lot of fun decorating and eating sugar cookies.

 On Halloween, we had about five trick or treaters come to our apartment.  Then off to a Halloween party where Lucy did a little trick or treating of her own.

We were so happy to hear that John was going to have Thanksgiving day off and Friday.  John began the day by playing football in the turkey bowl.  I baked a pumpkin pie and fudge for our Thanksgiving feast with friends.  John made a delicious apple pie as well.  We went on a family run to make sure we had plenty of room for our Thanksgiving feast.  Then, off to a good family in our ward, the Mahr's for dinner. 
Friday I did a little shopping and found a couple good deals.  We spent the afternoon decorating the Christmas tree and listening to Josh Grobin's Christmas album.  Saturday we took a day trip to Canaan Valley and hiked to Blackwater Falls.  It was cold and snowy, but luckily Johnny had purchased an incredible warm snowsuit for Lulu.  We ended the day by stopping off at the 'Purple Violin,' a listening to some incredible live bluegrass music while eating cranberry cheesecake.

Lucy's travels

I have been extremely bad at keeping up our blog the last few months.  I will try to re-cap what has been going on.

University of Virginia football stadium

Labor Day weekend, we took Lucy on her first road trip to Charlottsville, Virginia.  It was a four hour drive and she slept the whole way like a champ.  The game was extremely hot and muggy and Lucy was very uncomfortable so we walked around the stadium a couple of times. Then, a lightening warning was issued and the game was delayed about 2 hours.
After the rain, the weather was perfect.  Lucy was snuggled in the Baby Bjourn and was very content.  After seven hours of BYU football (due to the delay) the Cougars ended up losing a game which should have been easily won.

Monticello

The next day, Sunday, was spent touring the home of Thomas Jefferson.  John Hill, one of Johnny's good friends, accompanied us.  Monticello is comprised of lush green gardens and a very intriguing home.  Besides the intense humidity, it was a great day for sight-seeing.  Later in the afternoon, we attended church and ran into a good friend of mine, Jenni.  All in all, a successful trip.


In September I had the opportunity to go home for about 2 1/2 weeks to visit my family in Utah.  Johnny had to stay in West Virginia and keep doing rotations at the hospital.  It was Lucy's first time flying and she did wonderfully.  She mostly slept, but cried a little with the air pressure change.  We had a three hour lay-over in Chicago, which made our travel time almost 7 hours.  Upon arriving to Salt Lake, Lizzy, my sis, picked us up.  Traveling is really hard on children.  There is a two hour time difference between West Virginia so Lucy fell asleep about 6pm and woke up the next morning with a terrible cold. 
Besides her little cold, everyone was excited to meet Ms. Lucy.  My mom was the only one in my family to have met her, so needless to say everyone wanted to hold her. 
We were able to attend my cousins wedding dinner and ceremony the following day.  It was wonderful seeing all my extended family.  Lucy had the chance to meet several of my friends with quite a few lunch dates.
I had made a list of the delicious restaurants I wanted to visit while in Utah.  Zupas was on the list, so I ate there with my Murray girlfriends.  I also had to get Nielson's Frozen yogurt with Aubri.  And of course Cafe Rio was a stop that I needed to make.  Sarah, my sister was recently spin certified, so I had a private spin class with her and Lizzy.

One weekend we headed up to the cabin.  Lucy had her first encounter with snow.  We took she and Esther on a little hike, it was pretty cold, but very beautiful.  Lucy and Esther were bundled and warm.  I miss seeing the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the fresh, dry, air. 

Lucy and Esther are 10 weeks apart.  It was the first time they met and I think are going to be best friends.  Luckily, for me, I have a sister I adore so our girls with hopefully be just as close.

Lucy, Esther, Sarah, mom, dad and I arrived at the cabin first and played cards.  Once, the rest of the family arrived we ate delicious shish-ca-bobs (spelling), played more games, told stories and laughed a lot.  The cabin was a little chilly, but I had Lucy in about 13 layers of clothing to the point she woke up sweating.  I have been told the paranoia of being a parent wears off with each child.  Poor Lucy has been my little guinea pig. 





Lucy got to meet her great-grandparents in Ogden.  It was a delightful afternoon of just talking and watching our little girls play.

The last weekend in Utah was spend down in St. George.  Lucy and I were so excited to see John because it had been two whole weeks without him.  He rode down with Taylor and Lizzie.  My sister Sarah drove me down.  The following morning at 4am, we caught the buses up Snow Canyon.  The wind at the top of the canyon was biting.  We stood around bonfires waiting for the beginning of the race to happen.  John and Ben took off running about 7 minute miles.  I just wanted to finish the race (since my training was not the best due to just having had a baby). 

I started running 10 minute miles and gradually increased to a 9 minute pace.  Lucy was about 11 weeks old when I ran the race.  Overall, the weather could not have been better, my body cooperated, and it was pretty fun.  My favorite part of running is the race atmosphere.  Runners are so positive and enthusiastic and motivational to other runners.  The idea of seeing Lucy at the finish line kept me going.  I ran it in 4:05 and Johnny did it almost an hour faster with a pace of 3:15.  One day we will qualify for the Boston Marathon, but it felt good just to complete another marathon.  Another great thing about running marathons is the amount of delicious food awaiting you at the finish line.  Also, food is much more satisfying after running such a long and exhausting race.  Cafe Rio had never tasted so good.

Babies are a blessing!

Well, so much has happened since my last post.  The little baby girl in my belly arrived, about a week late.  I had to be induced. 

Sunday morning I went into Ruby Memorial Hospital and by 4:56 am on June 10th our sweet Lucy Snow was born!

It was about 20 hours of labor.  Johnny and I got to watch several matches of the French Open and I ate A LOT of Jell-O.   Our little Lucy was 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long.  It took a while to come up with the name, but in the end John let me choose.  He is still very determined to name one of our daughters Alaska.

John was there the whole way and is actually on OB/GYN rotation now. 

I was overwhelmed with relief and joy and see our precious girl, especially because I was on oxygen right at the very end when her heart rate kept dropping.  Labor is a very tiring process as most mothers know, but definitely worth the end result.                                                                                             

   

John's parents arrived June 3rd, thinking Lucy would have already arrived.  Luckily, they were able to see her before heading off to L'viv, Ukraine to head up a new mission. 

She looked so much like John as a newborn.  Marmee said several people made the mistake of thinking Johnny was a girl.  She has grown so fast, now at two months she is looking more and more like a Squires (at least to me)

newborn photo

8 weeks

The first couple weeks of being a mother were challenging.  But, once Lucy and I got on a schedule life got a whole lot easier.  I love how each little body is sent to earth with a unique Spirit and everyday I discover a little bit more about Lucy's personality.

We had the wonderful opportunity to bless Lucy this past weekend on August 11th.  Johnny's four best friends traveled to Morgantown for the blessing.  Saturday was full of running, playing tennis, the driving range and floating at Cheat lake.  We topped off the day with a large meal at Morgantown Brewing Company.

Sunday was perfect.  I dressed Lucy in the same blessing dress I was blessed in 27 years earlier.  Marmee gave her perfect blessing shoes and Gena gave her a blessing bracelet.  Lucy was all dolled up for her big day.  It was a very special moment.

Mike Lemon, John Hill, Johnny, Taylor Jones, Mike Barber

I am excited to start this new chapter of our life as parents.  So far Johnny and I have been paranoid

just about every little thing.  Lucy is a very adventurous little girl and goes with us just about everywhere.  From hiking to running to camping to the Mon County Fair.  Johnny is just starting his third year of med school so we have two years left in Morgantown and so many more places to take Lulu!

The last few months...

Where to start....sorry it has been a while.  I am almost 34 weeks pregnant.  Johnny and I can't believe we are so close to becoming parents.  We are feeling very excited and slightly nervous.  Currently, we are having a difficult time deciding on names, but we do have six weeks to figure it out:)
To pass the time while Johnny is diligently studying, I have been taking a cake decorating class.

We started with decorating cookies and slowly moved up to cakes.  I chose to put a hamburger on one of my cakes which my teacher thought funny.  I can't wait until our little girl is here to make her birthday cakes.

Our ward here in Morgantown is extremely fun!  We get together quite often because few of us has family out east.  Our last event was an 80's dance party.  We all learned the 'Footloose' dance and performed it.  And of course dressed up 80's!  I had most of my attire except for the crimper, I had to borrow that from a co-worker.  John successfully cut off a pair of jeans and wore his favorite hooded shirt.

Lastly, my amazing husband is finishing up his second year of medical school.
At the end of second year WVU does a 'white coat ceremony.'   It entails several professional speakers, robing the med students in their white coats, and a delicious luncheon.  It is a ceremony to celebrate moving on from class to the clinical portion of becoming a doctor.  Johnny has a couple more tests during his second year, but will be moving onto rotations in the hospital. 

I am so glad to be married to my Johnny!  He is going to be an excellent doctor.  He has really good med school friends as well.

Danny and John

Brock and John

Rita's Water Ice and more...

Well if you didn't already know I have a big love of ice cream.  There is a new ice cream place which has recently opened here in Morgantown called Rita's.  They make a delicious concoction called a gelati.  It is composed of three layers-custard, smoothie, custard.  It is honestly one of the most satisfying tastes to my taste buds.  With the grand opening they gave away one free Rita's, a week, for an entire year.  Therefore, my friend Summer and I arrived at Rita's, located inside a gas station, at 7am to wait for the 10am opening.   Around 9am we were joined by our friends Mollie and Havalah.  They were numbers 9 and 10 in line.  Summer and I realized quit quickly we didn't need to arrive quite so early, but had a great time talking and entertaining ourselves.

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A much more exciting note, John's parents were called as mission Presidents for a brand new mission in L'viv, Ukraine.  It is located on the western part of Ukraine right next to Poland and the language is Ukrainian.  We are so excited for their upcoming adventure. 
I am about 28 weeks into my pregnancy!  Johnny and I are so excited to meet this little girl and are still having a very difficult time picking out a name, but luckily we still have a little time to decide.