LucyMae in the month of June!

VIEW THE SLIDE-SHOW BELOW AS WELL!!!

Well it has been an interesting month and a half since LucyMae joined our family. Amidst all the late-night/early-morning feedings, lack of sleep and getting used to being a full-time mom, we have managed to squeeze in some fun adventures and activities anyway!

When LucyMae was only 2 weeks and 2 days old I left her with her first baby-sitter (Sam's sister Bonnie) while I played in a string quartet for a wedding gig. Although it was hard to leave her for the first time, I think it is good to break her into the idea of baby-sitters early. Plus, anything I can do to earn a little extra money for us at this point is more than welcome! So, I have been blessed to be able to play several gigs already during the month of June, and have a few for July....and LucyMae is getting really good at being okay with babysitters.

And when she was only 3 weeks and 3 days old I took LucyMae with me to Suzuki String Camp. I wanted to go observe some of my old students who were attending. Not only was it really fun to see my students play SO well in their classes, but it was fun to see LucyMae's reaction as she heard Suzuki pieces that she has heard hundreds of times in my belly. There certainly was a sense of recognition....her ears and eyes would perk up whenever the violins were singing away. She's getting started on her training early! And it was fun for my students and their parents to get to see little LucyMae....the reason for losing their teacher....sort of!

I have been having SO MUCH FUN being a mom. It has been really nice to live so close to lots of family and friends, with siblings that just can't get enough of LucyMae. In the first few weeks when I was still recovering we were blessed to have TONS of visitors come to "ooh and aahh" at our beautiful little miracle and tell us we did a good job, bring us wonderful dinners, and offer every kind of assistance imaginable. I have been especially grateful for the closeness of family when I need a little more sleep in the morning, and I have been able to call one of my sisters to come over and watch her for a little bit. Or when I wanted to try running for the first time in like 5 months, I was able to go with peace of mind that she was in good, loving hands. And when I finally felt good enough to get on a bike, Sam and I were actually able to go together because my siblings simply can't get enough of her!

Sam has been working his little rear-end off to support our family. I appreciate him so much! He is working in the infectious disease department at ARUP in Research Park. Although I don't totally understand everything he does, basically he tests blood/urine/skin/etc. samples that get sent in to determine if they are infected or not....kind of scary the things he is handling, but they are so careful and well protected that I don't really have to worry. During training he has been working four 10-hour days, so we have been loving the 3-day weekends!

We've made visits to all the great-Granparents this month! You can see the pictures in the slide-show. I was pretty proud of us for making it to all four sets of great-Grandparents...esp. since 1/2 of them are in Logan.

On June 11th we all celebrated my brother Howie's birthday with a barbeque and cake and ice-cream at my dad's house. We also celebrated a great Father's Day with Chels' family at Kevan's house. We had a great dinner, at which I refrained from eating the broccoli because it makes LucyMae very gassy! As does asparagus I think...but I LOVE it too much. Sam got a new pair of Chacos and a speedometer/computer for his bike! He is thoroughly enjoying both of them. Tenille was about ready to pop at that gathering, but was feeling much better by the next Sunday. She went into labor early in the morning on the 19th. And after 29 hours of labor she started pushing....but the baby was in distress so the doctors decided to do a C-section. It went very well, and mom and baby were fine! Clark Paul Cundick was born on June 20th. LucyMae's closest cousin!

We have also been able to spend some time down in Orem with Sam's family. LucyMae has so many loving aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They can't get enough of holding her and watching her funny faces!

We also made it up to Sam's cabin for a day. Although the horses weren't up there yet, we went on a beautiful walk/hike, and just enjoyed being up in the mountains. For Chels' 28th, and LucyMae's one month birthday, on the 25th, we went out to dinner at Tucanos. And Sam got me a bike trainer and an ice-cream maker for my birthday. I am loving both of them! I also got to have a fun lunch with my good friends, Andrea Denzer and Laura Ball, at Andrea's house. Andrea has a daughter named Lucy who is about 8 months old. She and LucyMae are going to be great friends someday. And since Lucy is so much bigger than LucyMae, maybe she'll get kicked in the shins by LucyMae just like Andrea got kicked by Chelsia in elementary school....good times!

And the highlight of the month was our weekend up at Bear Lake. My mom and her new husband, Don, bought a beautiful cabin on the East side of the lake last year. We enjoyed fun times with family, as well as great waterskiing, 4-wheeling, and fun in the sun! Bear Lake is definitely one of my FAVORITE places on this earth!

Other than the doings and goings-on of this past month I have had so many new thoughts and emotions. Spending every minute of every day with the purpose of helping my own child to thrive and grow really puts a whole new spin on the way I see the world. It is a heck of a lot easier to have an eternal perspective when I am constantly thinking about the awesome responsibility of raising a child/children to know, understand, and love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am filled with excitement and happiness, as well as some self-doubt and nervousness. Life holds so many adventures and surprises for us...and whenever change is on the horizon or happening I get doubtful and nervous about whether I am taking the right path. But if I stay close to the spirit I am always comforted and guided. I am so GRATEFUL for the opportunity and privilege of being a mother to LucyMae. I love watching Sam as her father. He is such a natural with kids....but the amazing part is that he is a natural with a baby too. There are so many guys/dads that don't really enjoy their kids or their role as a father until their children are at least a year old and can interact a bit more. But Sam LOVES taking care of LucyMae and is in just as much awe as I am of every little face and movement she makes. I LOVE NEWBORNS!!! I love kids at all ages...but I really love newborns! Especially when they are actually MINE! I want to remember every moment...so I need to do better at recording things as they happen, because pregnancy did not do good things for my memory. So here's to hoping that my next post is sooner rather than later!