Welcome, Kaelah!

Sarah and Danny, the friends I lived with last summer, welcomed Kaelah Ann into their family today. Congratulations!

Here in Utah

So, I got here to Utah on Wednesday afternoon. I fell in love with Austin immediately. He is such a handsome little boy. I call him "Bugaboo." I got to baby-sit him on Thursday so that Meg and Justin could go out for her birthday. (She's 25 now!) Here is Austin making a silly face on her birthday. He has just discovered his tongue and loves to stick it out!

I had been told that he was a stickler for his bedtime routine, and that sure was right. I fed him, bathed him, lotioned him all over, and rocked him to sleep. He really loves bath time. He smiles and coos and kicks the water as hard and fast as he can.

Yesterday, Austin was extremely happy. Justin caught Austin just talking up a storm on video while he was having tummy time.

I'm a panther now!

I accepted a new job this morning at Memorial Parkway Elementary. I will be co-teaching 5th grade as a special education teacher. I am so excited to be working there and being so close to home. I am buying a bike this weekend so I can ride to work in the fall.

Megan's Blog

Megan has started a blog now, too. I added a link to the left. I found a really cute picture of Austin there that I didn't have yet. He is such a big boy. I get to meet him in one week!

Baby Riah

I went up to visit Donnette on Friday to help her with Alex and Moriah. I just loved it. Riah is such a sweet little girl. She doesn't fuss much and is very frustrated with her body. She punches herself in the eyes when she sneezes, her body convulses so much. I call her "Baby Girl" and I learned how to calm her down when she was hungry (or she thought she was), to the point where I got her to sleep. I have gotten really fast at diaper changes, and even though I left yesterday afternoon, my hands still smell like wipes.

I also got to see the tantrums of a 2-year-old. Alex had a couple of breakdowns while I was there. He loves his baby sister, but he is still adjusting to having to share his mommy time. He also got sick. Since I was the one to get thrown-up on, I was in charge of Alex during his illness. That included keeping him away from Mommy and the baby so they didn't get sick. I also slept in his room Sunday night. He was sick Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon. He was feeling so badly that he even asked to go to bed Monday night! Alex woke up Tuesday before any of us, and Donnette found him in the kitchen eating an Oreo. We are sooo glad he got over that bug fast. And although Alex was feeling so yucky, it really helped us bond. He is such a cute, smart, nice boy. By the way, I am no longer "Shant Annie" to him. I am "Aunt Shannon."