Graduation!!!

 James was able to participate in commencement this month. He successfully defended his thesis a week before.  We are SO proud of him! James is almost done, just another round of revisions. But, before I write about graduation, I need to write about the weekend he defended his thesis.

We spent a lot of time in the car, like this:

We loaded up the car and drove to Logan for the defense. We watched the first portion of the defense, James presented a power point about his project.  He did a great job and Mina only contributed a little bit.

Several hours later we finally hit the road for Vernal. Mina did surprisingly well considering she hadn't really napped and she didn't eat a whole lot. By the time we got settled in at the motel it was, oh, 3 HOURS past her bed time. She was very chipper:



maybe a little TOO chipper





The next day we had breakfast with James' parents and then we went to James' cousin's sealing.  It was lovely.  The temple is so interesting because it was formerly the Tabernacle. I was glad we were able to attend and support Jared and Kendra. After the luncheon we packed up and headed home.

Mina entertained herself by taking self portraits.

I had to put a stop to these when I realized this had happened:

I dropped my phone in a parking lot in Vernal.  Ouch.  Luckily it still works!

A week after our Logan/Vernal adventure, we went back to Logan for commencement exercises.  James' parents, my parents plus James' sister and her family joined in the fun.  We were glad to reach another milestone and James is grateful to be another step closer to finishing his thesis. Finally.

the hooding gauntlet

I'm fairly certain James is behind the girl with long hair

Afterwards we had delicious Tandoori Oven and Aggie Ice Cream.  

Congratulations, James!

Mina faces

Mina loves to look at herself.  She doesn't seem to care if it is a mirror or my phone.  She usually calms down pretty fast if I let her look at herself on my phone.

8 Months Old!

It is really hard to believe that Mina is already 8 months old, every month seems to pass faster and faster!

Height: 25 inches
Weight: 15.8 pounds
Diaper: Size 2 and holding steady!
Clothes: She wears mainly 6 month sized clothes now, there are still a few 3-6 month cardigans and pajamas in rotation. We are sad to say goodbye to few pairs of pajamas that are too small, especially her leopard print pajamas from Christmas!
Sleep: Her bedtime ranges from 7:30-8:00 most nights.  There have been a few times that she has gone to bed closer to 7:00 but that usually only happens if she didn't get a good afternoon nap.  Mina usually wakes up around 8:00.  There are usually one or two feedings during those 12 or so hours.  She usually takes 2-3 naps a day.

Noises: "Ma ma ma" and "da da da" are pretty common but not really directed at anyone in particular.  She also jabbers a lot and screams to get attention.
Teeth: Mina finally cut her first tooth, bottom left side.  We've tried to take a picture of it but she hasn't cooperated yet.
Skills: Mina has become a rolling machine lately! She pivots and then scoots on her back to her desired destination.  It's pretty funny to watch her move.  Mina has also started to pull herself up by grabbing on her crib.  She hasn't figured out how to pull herself into a sitting position though.  I think as soon as she can do that, we are going to have to break out the baby proofing supplies!

I made Mina's romper out of leftover fabric from one of my dresses.  I wore it to Jordan and Lindsey's reception.

Easter! Hair! Pictures! More pictures than your blog has room for!

I realized after I uploaded a bunch of pictures from my phone that I probably should have divided this into a couple of different posts rather than cram it all into one. Meh.
First up, Mina isn't crawling yet, but she is on the move.

Notice her position on the rug, not the awkward arching of her back but her location.

She would arch her back, scoot along her head and then roll over.

Obviously it didn't hurt because she was so happy her arms were just blurs.
She has been experimenting with balancing.  She balanced long enough that I was able to take a picture with my phone. 

Her hair is growing in, slowly but surely.  It is surprisingly blonde!  I tried putting a baby clip in but it just looked weird. 

We celebrated Easter with James' side of the family.  We alternate Sunday dinners and they wound up with it this year.  I put a basket together for Mina.  I put her outfit in the basket along with banana puffs, tights, socks, baby toothpaste and a gum cleaner. I figure she won't remember it so it doesn't matter that the contents were kind of lame.  Oh well!

Mina lasted a few minutes in Relief Society/Priesthood and we wound up in the Mother's Room.

She fell asleep after a little while.

But after a short nap she was ready to hear her Grandparents speak in Sacrament Meeting!

After church we took some pictures of Mina outside on the grass.  We didn't take any with my camera beforehand because its a challenge enough to be on time to church at 9 o'clock.  Luckily Mina's dress wasn't really wrinkled even though she took a few naps in it.

 Mina wouldn't put her arms down, we think she doesn't like how the grass feels!

 Oops.

 Mina and her funny Dad!

 We had fun throwing Mina in the air.  She liked it too!

 This one is great of Mina, not so great of me.  Oh well!

 Fun with Dad!

 And last up, two funny pictures of Mina.  I took them on Monday when we were playing in her room.

 I don't know what this face is called, she does it quite a bit.  It's really funny!

And Mina's cute smile!