Hooray folks! My blogger is working! I can once again post pictures and comments for your enjoyment.
Lets see . . . I believe I left off right before Sierra's birthday party. So for my first return blog I give you a birthday party montage. . .enjoy.
I needed to say a few more things today. First, I still have my cat, Bonnie. I took her to the vet and got some Urinary Tract Infection medicine for her. He didn't really diagnose her with UTI, but he prescribed the meds anyway. (I couldn't afford the pee test she would've had to take to be diagnosed.) Anyway, I am getting the couches cleaned tomorrow and I'll have to keep the cushions off the couch until I see improvements from Bonnie.
Also, I haven't posted a lot this week because Justin took Sierra for the week. I guess that just proves that Sierra is my life and other than facts about her I have nothing to say. I guess that's not the worst thing.
Okay, that's it for today.
I know she doesn't look to happy here, but that's because she was upset that I handed her back to the daycare provided when I was suppose to be picking her up. Anyway, that is Christine, she takes care of Sierra 8-5, monday-friday now. Sierra really likes her and has a lot of fun with the other kids.
I have never given up on a cat before...nor have I ever given one of my cats away, but I am on the verge of doing that right now! The past few weeks my cat, Bonnie, who I've had for a year now, has been peeing on my bed and couch. She pees right where I'll notice it. Cat urine has the most pungeant smell and that smell does not go away. . .even after cleaning 20 times! My entire couch is covered in cat urine! My bed has about four large cat urine spots on it. I'm calling the upholstery cleaners tomorrow and I'm driving Bonnie to the Humane Society. I'm not proud of the fact I'm giving up on a beloved family member, but I can't live this way. I actually have to sleep on my blow-up bed tonight, because my actual bed smells like urine.
Bonnie, I love you, but you're obviously not happy here, so you must GO.
On September 15th I had my last day of class for the Dental Assisting course I was taking. We had a potluck and I bought my instructor, Tiffani Sweeney some flowers. She was such a good person. I'm really glad to be done with the in-class part, but tomorrow I start interning at a dental office and I'm really nervous. I'm just afraid I'll draw a blank and not recall anything I learned and look stupid. Tomorrow is also Sierra's first day at daycare. I'm a bit emotional about that, so I'm not going to go into it right now.
Once again, Tony has proven to me that Sierra isn't the only baby in the house. Here you can see Tony curled up in Sierra's swing. I have no idea how he got in there.
Here we see Tony and Sierra laying together on the floor watching some Baby Einstien.
Today Sierra received two gifts from her dad, one was very practical and one was the exact opposite of practical... I'll let you guess which is which.
This past weekend my mother came to Idaho to visit Sierra and I. She landed here on friday and then we headed to Utah to see my sister and her son, Liam. We had a ton of fun together at the pool, park, church, and just hanging in the hotel room. The kids were absolutely adorable together and couldn't have gotten along better! They even took a bath together and loved it! After staying there a couple nights we headed back to Idaho. Mom and I took Sierra to the park for a picnic and she got to see geese and ducks for the first time, up close. She couldn't take her eyes off of them. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera on that trip, but I did the next day when mom and I went to the beach. It was very relaxing just wading in the water and laying out. Sierra stayed with a friend while we were at the beach. Once we picked her up things got a bit hectic...she had to go see the doctor, but everything turned out okay. Well, enjoy the pictures!
So, have I said how much I love my daughter? As if you couldn't tell by the fact that she's the only person I ever write about. Well, it seems that my love just grows daily. She's 10 months old right now and she's making all these changes and discovering all the things she can do. It's like having a new baby every day. Just a few days ago she started standing by herself without the help of a table or couch. All she needs to do now is take that first step and she'll be on her way! Of course, I really would like for her to keep crawling for just a little longer. She's so adorable when she does her crab-walk and when she crawls real fast. Also, she can't get into to as many things crawling as she could if she were walking. Maybe that's a little selfish, but after she learns to walk she'll probably never crawl again and I just want to soak in the cuteness just a little longer.
Here's a few videos of my "big girl" standing...
This weekend was my Reserve weekend and I had to take Sierra with me. My wonderful friend Jessica Baird watched her while I was at work. Jessica has 3 children, Navek, Isabelle, and Emerald. Sierra had a great time with them!
In other news...yesterday I took a few adorable pictures of Sierra eating her cheerios, playing her piano, and eating some McDonald's french fries. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
Jessica had some toys she didn't need anymore, so she gave them to me. This piano was one of them. Sierra loves it!
Sierra had her 9 month check-up yesterday. It turns out she may have allergies...what a surprise (j/k). The doctor said there was really no point in checking until the age of one because there are no medications that can be given to her until that time. So, we wait. Although he did prescribe a cough medicine for her, to help with the itchy eyes and coughing. Poor baby girl! I, of course, already knew I had allergies so I asked the doctor for a allergy shot and he gave me one. Unfortunately, you have to get that shot in the butt, and I'm here to tell everyone that that doesn't feel to good.
Here are Sierra's stats:
Weight = 18 lbs 5 oz
height = 27 inches
About two months ago all my friends would go on and on about how much Sierra resembled me. Now, whenever someone new meets her, they say how much she looks like her father. I suppose they are right, but for some silly reason I found great pleasure and delight when people said she looked like me. It's almost as if I've lost some war or something. Maybe this sounds stupid or maybe you can relate, I don't know. I sometimes wish my little girgle goo wouldn't change so much everyday. I know she has to grow and I love all the things she's learning, but sometimes I just want to bottle up how cute she is right here and now....even if she does look like her father. At least she's getting his beautiful tan skin, what a lucky duck!
So, what do you think? Who does she look like (and try to factor out skin color)?
I took Sierra to the park last night, when the sun was going down, so she could ride the swings. She loved them so much that every time I tried to take her out, or even attempted to stop the swing, she would cry.
She is just so gosh-darn adorable!
Sierra and I went to Walmart today to do some grocery shopping and I brought my camara along. She was in the best mood! 
Here she is trying on some glasses. What a cutie!
Little miss busy-body loves to stand now. On July 6th I caught her standing in her crib...of course I grabbed the camera! After that I called a few friends and her dad to tell them how incredibly strong my child is. Today she pulled herself up on the outside of the crib, also on her jumper and the rocking chair. 
Yesterday, she watched the water run for her bath. Look at her little booty! 
Today, I caught her in this shoe box. She had pulled all the toys out and gotten in. I think that's pretty smart. When I walked in the room she just looked at me and started laughing.
I've been home now for two weeks and things are going okay. I love being with my daughter again! My dad dropped her off here about a week and a half ago. When I went to go pick them up at the airport I was positive she wouldn't know who I was, but when she saw me she smiled so big and put her arms out to me. I knew that she knew I was her mommy and that made me feel sooooo good. My dad was such a sweetheart for flying Sierra all the way out here to me, the poor guy fell asleep on my couch as soon as he sat down after getting to my apartment.
Now I'm getting back into the swing of things around here. I forgot how much work, and how little sleep, there is to being a mom. Sometimes I wish Justin was here to help me...but only sometimes. Hopefully he'll take her off my hands every once in a while when he returns home, but a part of me doubts that.
(So all that crap above is just filler, here's how I really feel...)
Okay, to tell you the truth...this is really tough man! All I do all day long is clean, watch Sierra, take naps, and clean. I don't have any money to go out and it really doesn't matter anyway because I can never find a babysitter. My husband is divorcing me and everyday I get madder and madder at him. I can't seem to sleep at night and I always have to get up early with Sierra! Soon Justin WILL divorce me and I'll have no home, no money, no car and even more no life than I have now. Hopefully I can stay in school and still support me and Sierra, but I doubt it. I'll probably have to quit and work full time. Even then I will only be able to afford food and the babysitter...if I can ever find one. I'll have to move out of my apartment and find some crappy crap hole to live in and I'm just MAD!!!!!
GOODBYE MISSISSIPPI! Hope to never see you again! This has to be the worst state ever!
I'm finally heading back home today and I'm so excited to get back to the non-humid state of Idaho! I get to sleep in my own bed, make my own food (no more eating fast food everyday), pet my cat, play with my daughter, and go back to my normal schedule. Thank the Lord above, I'm going home!
I honestly don't understand how anyone would want to live in the state of Mississippi. It's horribly humid, making the hot days here even hotter. There's like nothing to do, ecspecially here in Biloxi where almost everything was ruined by hurricane Katrina. Yet, I was here about 5 years ago and there still was nothing to do. The beach sucks! The water is dirty and the beach is dirty...not to mention some of the people are dirty. All over the beach there are signs stating "do not enter the water!" but, what do the people here do, they go swimming in it. The other day I was sitting on the beach and some old, red, dirty underwear washed up to shore. A few minutes later the underwear got washed back into the water. A few minutes after that a lady put her, had to be 6 month old, into the water. The water was getting in the kids mouth....eeewwwww!!!!
Okay, enough about that, I can already see all the hate posts I'll be getting soon from the fine residents of Mississippi.
Even though I haven't enjoyed every second here, I have made a lot of good friends. I'm going to miss them all, and I know I'll only keep in touch with a few of them. Also, going home isn't going to be all that great. I have to go back to school, which means I have to search for a sitter for Sierra. Also, I have to start talking to lawyers about my upcoming divorce. Then, finally, I have to find a part time job, so when I'm divorced I can have enough money to support me and Sierra. So, life won't be perfect, but still, I'll be home.
Well, I'm still in Mississippi. I don't leave here until June 23, 2006. It's only been one month and so much has happened in my life. My daughter, Sierra, cut her first tooth last week. My poor parents had to endure a couple sleepless nights while Sierra was in pain. I guess after the tooth finally popped out, Sierra immediately went back to her happy self. I'm so grateful for my parents and how wonderful they are. It should've been me who had two sleepless nights, although I'm sure I'll endure many more in the years to come. Oh, also, Sierra clapped her hands and actually made noise last week too. I guess she was pretty proud of herself and excited to know she could make noise like that.
In other news, it looks as though I'm not going to be married much longer. I'm surprised at how well I'm dealing with this, not to say that it's been easy. I've been going in and out of deppressive states. I know this isn't something I should post in a blog, but I blog so in the future I can look back and see what was happening in my life at that time. I think, no I know, that if I didn't have a great faith in Heavonly Father and His plan for me, that I would be much more of a mess. I've been praying every night and, even though I feel I don't deserve it, He comforts me and sends His Spirit to be with me.
I feel like the future holds many exciting things for me and I guess I can be happy to have a second chance. Although I love my husband, I can't make him love me. He's a good father though and I know he loves Sierra. This is good, because now I feel that my only priority and reason for being is my daughter. I want to give her the best life ever!
PRAYER IS LIFE
Well, I don't have much to say, but "THIS SUCKS." I'm here in Mississippi and it's very humid and the bugs are all over the place! I don't really feel like blogging right now, but I'll just say a few things. I miss my daughter, although mom and dad are loving her to bits. I miss my husband, even though he loves Arizona and there's no humidity there. I go home June 15th. That's it.
Before I came to my parents house I was counting down the days, I was really excited to go back to Lebanon. Yet, like any vacation, as much fun as I'm having I can't wait to get home. It seems I'm getting less sleep here then I was at home. I thought, because my parents were here to help with Sierra, that I'd be getting more sleep, but I'm getting less sleep. That's okay though, soon they'll be left with Sierra and they'll be the ones getting up at all times of the night. She's so totally off her schedule...the schedule I worked so hard to get her on. I'll probably have to start all over with her when we return home in a couple months. Oh well.
We've been at my parents house now for 5 days and thinkgs are going okay. Sierra has been very good and her grandparents are just soaking her in! They love her so much and they love all the cute things that she does. She can now sit on her very own for a long time. Which is great because I don't have to hold her all the time and we don't have to torture her with a bunch of tummy time. I feel a little bad that Justin is missing out on all the new things Sierra is doing, but there's not much I can do about it, so I don't spend too much time worrying over it. On Tuesday Sierra sat in her high chair at the table and ate bananas for the first time. It was sweet seeing her sitting there like a big girl. Everyday it's something new and that is what keeps me going.
Yesterday Sierra and I went to Indiana by plane. This was Sierra's first time flying and she was soooo wonderful! We got to the airport at 0630 A.M. Pretty darn early! It was quite different then it usually is when one gets on a plane. This time I had Sierra in her carseat and stroller and it took 15 minutes to get through the metal detector. I had to take sierra out of the carseat, take the carseat off the stroller, fold the stroller, take off my shoes and put all our bags onto the convaer belt, then Sierra and I finally went through the metal detector. Fortunately it didn't go off. After that I had to put everything back the way it was. Once we got to the gate I had to fold up her stroller and carry it and the carseat and the diaper bag down to the plane. Don't ask me how I did that by myself. On the second flight 2 nice gentlemen helped me carry all the stuff to the plane. Once we were on the first flight it was smooth sailing. Sierra fell asleep for an hour and I got a little shut eye too. When she woke up she was just great. 
She ate and smiled and played with her toys. The second flight didn't go as smoothly. It was suppose to be an hour long, but it ended up being a four hour flight! When we started taxying Sierra massively crapped her diaper. I mean it was coming out the sides and top, it was a mess! Because we were taxying I wasn't allowed out of my seat. Fortunatly one of the flight attendants saw me struggling and let me take Sierra to the tiny bathroom to change her. There was poo everywhere! After that ordeal Sierra was fine. But the flight took forever! I was very glad when we finally landed in Indianapolis. What an adventure! Oh well, I got some cute pictures out of it.
SIERRA JUST SAID "MAMA"! She's said it before, but not to me and not in a way that I though she knew what she was saying, but she just woke up from a nap and was crying. I walked into the room to get her and she looked at me and said, clearly, "mama". It made me want to cry because I just felt that she finally recognized me and wanted me and needed me. Oh, now I'm crying! What a great reward! I'm so fulfilled right now!
Gina came to Layton, UT to visit me and our friend, Lindsey, while I was out there on Reserve weekend. We had a lovely chili dinner and our babies got to play together. To the side here is a wonderful picture of Liam (5 1/2 months) and Sierra (6 months) smiling together. After visiting with Gina and seeing Liam I'm very grateful that we had our children so close together. Now I can relate to her problems and her joys of motherhood. Sierra and Liam will grow together and be able to be good friends because of their close age (20 days apart). It's so funny how different they look. Liam is a beautiful porcelein white with bright blue eyes and fluffy white hair. Sierra is more tan, and getting darker by the week, with long, reddish-brown hair and navy blue eyes. She looks a lot like me, but she definately has her dads eye-brows,
nose and skin. Liam is the spitting image of Gina, except those blue eyes. He has the most plump and wonderful lips...the girls are going to go crazy for!
Well, I'm back in Idaho now. Home to an empty house because Justin has left for Arizone, where he'll be the next 6 months (possibly 9 months). He is at Luke AFB training to be a Weapons Director. He was really looking forward to the class (and I'm sure he was looking forward to some time off from being a husband and father). Sierra and I plan to visit him at least once a month, starting in July. On Sunday, the 16th of Apr., we're flying to Indiana. I have to leave Sierra there with my parents for 7 weeks. I'll be leaving for a TDY at Keesler AFB in Mississippi for 7 weeks. I'm sure Sierra will have fun with my mom and dad, but I'm really getting nervous about leaving her. I know I'm going to miss a lot of growing in that time. She may even start to crawl out there. There's not much I can do though, work is work and I have to go.
4/7/06
My goodness time sure does fly by! It seems just yesterday Sierra was a helpless, tiny girl that could barely open her eyes. She's exactly 6 months old now and I can't believe the rate at which she is growing! It seems impossible that she's grown 4 inches longer and 8 pounds heavier. But, I'm loving every day that I get the sastifaction of seeing her beautiful smile when I pick up or talk to her.
This week I'm in Utah working and Sierra has been staying with my good friend, Lindsey Eugster (Tross), durring the work day. I was really worried that she wouldn't behave for Lindsey, but she has been a doll all week long. She loves Lindsey's children! When they run and play around her she just giggles and laughs at them. It's been exciting watching her reaction to the 3 kids. It makes me want to have another child, soon, just so Sierra can be entertained.
Sierra has learned so much since birth, she is sitting up on her own, rolling over, reaching for things, grasping ahold of them. She's laughing so much and smiling all the time. She's really aware of her surroundings and just loves to watch people and things around her.
I will never forget this half year and the way Sierra has changed my life and my way of thinking. I love it when she smiles at me and coos and caws, the way she grabs my face or softly runs her fingers through my hair, her laugh that makes me fill with a tremendous amount of joy, her amazingly blue eyes and the way they tear up when she's upset. I love the way she entertains herself while I'm still sleeping and how she cocks her head to look at me when I enter her room in the morning, always greeting me with a BIG smile and maybe a few baby words. I love feeling her soft hair under my chin when she rests her head on my chest and rocking her to sleep when she just can't get there on her own. I think its sweet the way she stands on my lap, smiles, open mouthed, then leans forward to snuggle before doing it all over again. 
Sierra is a dream come true and a wonderful blessing. I thank Heavenly Father for every day that I have with her. I can't believe that I created such a wonderful little human being. She is perfect!
Happy Half Year Bir!
3/14/06
On monday, sierra rolled all the way over for the first time! She was on her stomach, getting pretty upset, and then she decided she'd had enough and she rolled onto her back. For a minute she looked confused, she was probably wondering how she ended up that way. She started crying and I picked her up. I was so excited for her and how much progress she's making. She's picking things up, trying to sit up, rolling over, and baby talking. I feel like my little girl is growing up too fast and she's only 5 1/2 months old!
I've also been trying to ween her into eating solid foods. She loves the baby-smashed-bananas. She's adorable when she eats them. She gets a little frustrated when we take too long to give her another bite. She gets down-right mad when we stop feeding her! It's just wonderful to watch something you love learn new things and grow. I love her soooooo much!
After sitting with Talisha, Sierra crawled over to the window, stood, and started