This year Christmas seemed to sneak up on us. Next year I am getting all my shopping done at least a week before Christmas. Just in case you were wondering, I didn't send a Christmas card this year. I'm sure you are all very disapointed, that is if you even noticed. Santa was good to us this year...Whitney got a trike and the girls got a huge dog to share, and our stockings were stuffed full of goodies! We hope you all had a happy and safe Christmas!
My sister-in-law Connie took these glamour shots(Thanks Connie!) Brooke was really sleepy, she didn't mind being naked and moved into different positions!
We finally agreed on a name for our sweet baby girl. Brooke is a name that both Brig and I really like and we hope that she'll like it too. Marie is my middle name. I thought that at least one of my girls should get it. Brooke is still as sweet as can be. She has began to wake up for longer amounts of time, but she still sleeps about 20 hours a day. Her awake times are luckily during the day. I do have to make sure to burp her all the way or she gets hiccups that will keep her up at night. At her two week check-up she was average in her weight and the size of her head, and long for her age. Brooke weights 8.3lbs(45th percentile), and has grown about an inch since birth(88th percentile). We feel so blessed to have her here healthy and happy! 
Well she's here and doing great! I started having real contractions today at about noon. We hesitated going to the hospital because I didn't want to be sent home, but about 2:15 my 
contractions got really strong and close together, so we figured it was time to go. I got to the hospital at 3pm and was dilated to 7cm. The nurses rushed around to get me all checked in and an epidural in me asap. After less then 10 minutes of pushing, our little bundle of joy arrived at 4:48pm. She weighs 7.14 lbs and is 20 inches long. She's got lots of light brown hair, 10 fingers, 10 toes, and is cuddly cute as can be!
Today I went into the Dr. again and he had some pretty good news for me. I am dilated to 2cm and 70% effaced. He said that he thought I would have the baby this weekend or at least by the beginning of next week, based on how much I had progressed from last visit. He also said to make an apt. for next week, but he doubted that I would still be pregnant by then. So we'll see. I don't know how some ladies make it to their due date and beyond without going crazy...I am ready to have this baby!!!
Yesterday I went into the Dr. to see how the baby was progressing toward being born. The Dr. said that I was only about 1cm dilated and that the baby still had a lot of moving down to do. The news was a little disappointing since at this time in my last pregnancy I was at 2cm and Whitney was born 4 days later. Maybe I'll make it til December after all. He also said that if I did go all the way to 40 weeks that the baby would be between 8-9 lbs...ouch!! But luckily he said that he would induce me if I wanted at 39 weeks, I hope I go on my own before then.
All my questions were answered by the end of the day while I was feeling really good about myself and the effort I had put into every thing. My garage sale had been super successful. I made over 200 dollars on stuff that I never wanted to see again(especially after our recent move)!! It was mostly little things too. My most expensive item was a stroller that I sold for 50 bucks. So instead of donating the left over stuff, I am planning to have another garage sale in the spring after I accumulate more junk :) and not while I'm 8 months pregnant.
Last week I went to visit my family in Las Cruces, NM for the last time before I have the baby in about 5-6 weeks. Any of you who have been on a plane with a lap baby would know that it's not easy and especially not easy while you're pregnant and taking up most of the tiny space yourself! Whitney was an angel on the plane. Not to brag, but she was really good for me and I greatly appreciate it. While I was in NM I got to see my family that lives there a lot which was good. My mom and I shopped around for baby stuff, but mostly looked since I didn't have a lot of extra room in my suitcase to carry things back with me. I had a great time, thanks Mom, Dad and Brig for letting me visit!
Maybe I shouldn't let her play in her crib for so long (5 minutes) after she wakes up.
1. Whitney is now officially walking, and now trying to run. At her 18 month check-up she was average for her head size and height, but in the fifth percentile for her weight. She eats so much that it’s hard to believe. She has insisted on using a spoon by herself from about 14 months old, so now she's a pro at eating using her own spoon and she rarely spills.
2. Whitney is starting to talk a lot more. She has learned some new words recently for example: more, ball, blanky and baby. There are so many more it is hard to think of them all. It seems like her vocabulary has thripled in the last month.
3. Her hair is starting to grow...finally. The other day I put a clip in it, but she kept taking it out, but then wanted it back in again and again.
4. I think Whitney is almost ready to be potty trained. She tells me when her diaper is wet or poopy(or when she's about to poop) and leads me into her room so I can change her. She's scared of the big potty, so I'll have to get one her size. Any advice from those of you who have potty trained already?
5. At our new house we have an inground trampoline and Whitney loves to "Jump Jump" on it. I was able to get a video of it:
There were so many other people taking pics that I didn't think about taking any myself. Hopefully I can get some more pics from other members of the family.
In mid-July we all met at a Cabin in the Mountains of Heber. AZ. The cabin was huge so all 13 adults and 14 grandkids fit comfortably. My sister-in-law Joyce was in charge of coordinating everything. We had an S.O.S. theme (Sowards on Survival) where we all planned survival classes to teach to everyone. Grandma had crafts or activities for the kids to do each day. We were each in charge of a dinner and a breakfast too. We made Steak and twice baked potatoes for dinner and waffles, eggs and bacon for breakfast. There was a volleyball court, a hammock, and swing set and a zip line. We had a great time!
DUNN REUNION:
At the end of July and the beginning of August we went to Lake Powell in southern Utah. We stayed on 2 house boats for four nights and 5 days. There were 20 adults and 7 kids, so it was a little cozy, yet comfortable. I took it upon myself to plan and buy the food for everyone’s dinners. I had fun planning it, but doing it was a little more stressful then I thought it would be. During the day, someone would drive the house boats further into the lake while others went out on the ski-boat and jet-skis. At night we would dock the boats together and enjoy company with the family on the other boat. Whitney loved the water and enjoyed swimming, but didn’t like her life jacket too much. We had fun and are glad we went.
We found out today that we're having a GIRL! We are soooo excited for Whitney to have a little sister to play with. The ultrasound went great and she looks healthy and she is growing right along with her due date(eventhough I look further along). Hopefully we can come up with a name before she's a week old :)
I don't know what it is about dressing up, but it seems like little girls just love to do it. Anything will work...even bibs! Whitney wore these accessories for hours and just loved it.
Yeah!! My website is finally finished, www.slingpea.com! The site is for the baby slings that I make here at home and sell to help with the family income. My brothers Sam and Ben have been helping me get a website on the web for about a year now, and it is finally finished. Ben edited the pictures and made them look good and Sam put the site together and made it all work. Thanks Connie for providing friends as models and for taking the pictures too. I am so pleased with how it turned out... it looks sooooo professional. Check it out, I know you'll be impressed. Feel free to tell your friends to get me some business:) Thank you so much for all your work Sam and Ben!! Love you.
On Sunday we had some friends over after church to grill burgers and eat ice cream cake. We also watched a movie and played Karaoke Sing Star on the PS3. Turning 29 is a little depressing, but at least I'll get to do it again next year!
In the middle of May we got a new roof put on our house. It had leaked all winter and our landlords finally decided to fix the problem before to much of the ceiling was ruined. It was really loud and hard to get Whitney to sleep. Luckily, it was all over in a few days and now we are leak free!
This is a picture of one of the roses from our yard. They are really pretty and they smell so good, but very thorny and very painful to pick.
Whitney has a new fascination with hats. The little kids I babysit wear hats when we go to the park, so now when Whitney sees a hat she wants to wear it. Now I bring a hat for her when I babysit so she can wear it while we're at the park.
Whitney loves to brush her teeth. She's really good about letting me have a turn first, and then she gets her turn after I'm through. She loves when we brush our teeth together and enjoys looking in the mirror at herself.
So now I got some new flowers and planted them this afternoon with high hopes! I got Stock, Marigold and Zinnia flowers. The lady at Home Depot said these flowers are low maintanance and need lots of sun...exactly what I need! I guess I'll have to wait 
and see.
e was better I took her to the Dr.. He said that she had the Rotavirus and all I could do was try to get as many liquids down her as possible and keep her comfortable, and also to watch for dehydration. For the next week she was a little zombie. She wouldn't move or get any expression on her face or even 'talk' like usual. I was worried because she wouldn't eat anything solid. She's so skinny already it was sad to see her loose even a pound and a few ounces. She'd drink some milk, but not a lot. She did like Pedialyte okay but I don't see how because I tasted it and it was like drinking salt water!! Brig got it too, but it only last a couple days...Hopefully I won't get it. I feel sorry for any of you that have had or will have your kids get this virus, it's really awful for the child and the one who has to clean it up! 
I don't think a lot of you know this, but Whitney lost her Lambie at Sam's Club at the beginning of March. She loved Lambie so much that it went everywhere with her and she'd even sleep cuddling it. For the next few days after Lambie was lost I called to see if they had found it or if it had been turned in. No luck. Today(3 weeks later), 
Whitney and I went shopping at Sam's Club and I thought I should go ahead and ask if Lambie had been found, even though I wasn't counting on it. When the lady pulled Lambie out of the lost and found box and Whitney started squeaking and reaching for it, I got tears in my eyes. I was so happy when I saw how happy it made Whitney!!
This weekend I was able to get together with a couple of my BYU roommates. We all haven't been together for at least four years so this girls night out was extra special. Jenny lives around here and Courtney came into town from Texas for a wedding. We went to eat at Red Robin, which was one of our favorite places to eat while we were living together. All three of us have a baby now, Colby, Jackson and Whitney. Whintey loved waving at the two little guys and squealing too. Jackson slept through the entire evening and Colby was all smiles until he fell asleep on the way to eat. It was fun to see them together. We had a great time reminiscing about our college days and all the crazy things that happened between then and now. 
This morning Whitney and I made breakfast for our Valentine. We made heart shaped pancakes and eggy-toast in a heart shape. It was "breakfast in bed"...literally. I brought the tray into the bedroom and placed it on 
the bed, then I reached to get Whitney off of Brig's lap and tipped the tray by putting my knee on the bed. Anyway, it was a disaster...the juice spilt on the tray and then spilt on the bed. I was really sad that my "breakfast in bed" idea didn't turn out like I had planned :( Later that night we went to eat Indian Food and then watched a chic flick. Also Brig got me some tulips, my favorite!
the cake. I guess I was glad that cake wasn't all over her and the floor! We taught her to blow out a candle for the big day, but she wasn't quite able to blow the flame out on her cake. Maybe the candle was too far away because she blew at it and it flickered, but didn't go out. Now she blows at everything and when she sees a match box or a candle she starts blowing. She got some great toys and I hope they will keep her busy. By the end of the night Whitney was so tired!! She went right to sleep and slept all night...even after eating chocolate cake, icing, ice cream, and cheetos!
Brigham turned 31 today. We celebrated by going out to eat at Red Robin and then came back home to eat cake and open presents. After the cake and presents we played karaoke SingStar. 
