The Last 5 Weeks

Getting Q used to the Moby for the trip to Utah

Decorating cookies at the church, Thanksgiving Missionary activity
 Kenan, Pei, Shakira, Scott, and Jenny

Lounging at home

At Patriots Point during the Charleston military newcomers tour.
Pei, Jenny, Quincy, and Elisa in front of the decommission air craft carrier, Yorktown.

Meeting Santa! December 14th

1st Christmas toy, thanks Pei!

Dear Quincy: A Few More Things

Dear Quincy,                                                                                                         December 22, 2012

I adore you! You are so sweet! You make me smile!
Here are a few more things about you:

• You have the cutest little button nose
• You have a very round face with very round cheeks
• You have a long tongue like mommy
• You can roll your tongue, unlike daddy
• You drool and drool and drool
• You like to buzz your tongue and lips together which make you drool and drool and drool more. 
• You are very wiggly. I will lean in to kiss you on the cheek or head and you"ll wiggle leaving me chasing you with puckered lips.  
• Thursday you went to bed at 9:30 and didn't wake me up until 8:15 Friday morning. Surprisingly you were still happy I would think you would have been crying because you were so hungry!
• You are starting to hold things, you'll put your hand around the play bar or handle of your seat, or grab a toy pull and keep holding while it retracts. You are growing up!
• You rolled over for the first time Dec. 20th (however you haven't done it again yet)

Thank you for being mine! Daddy and I are so lucky to have you in our family! Always remember I love you!

Love,

Mommy

YW + mom + SC

What to you get when you add the 3 on mutual night? (At least for this last week.) Organizing and gathering simple items and taking them to the car for mutual by 5:00 so that when your baby wakes up at 5:30 you can hurry and nurse her and meet her other needs. By 6:00 you have to be out of the door to start picking up YW, drop them off at the church so you have space for one more girl, who, thankfully, lives close to the church, just a mile away. Get back to the church after 7:00, late, with people waiting for you to start because they don't know what to do. Complete a pizza making activity, clean up, and take the YW home. Thankfully my baby is a good baby and was good during mutual, fell asleep on the way taking the girls home, but cired the whole 20 minute to our house after dropping off the other girls. Poor baby. I really do love you. I made it home at 9:30 with Quincy with needs once again. Whew! Starting to stress from 5 and mutual from 6:00-9:30. What a night!

Quincy Videos in December

Here is my little Quincy when I went in to get her in the morning of Dec, 12th. Love the smiles and baby talk. So fun, So cute!

Another of today, Dec, 22, babbling and learning to play with a toy. (Well  in the video she is just moving her arm, but she was playing before.) She is in another transition stage of more smiles, laughs, talking  moving, and getting stronger and more alert all the way around.

Caroling

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, I love the music, decorations,  lights, and special spirit of the year.  I love that be decorate with lights as we celebrate the birth of Christ, The Light of the World. I love that it is a time to get together with family and am so excited to see mine.

My favorite Christmas tradition growing up is one Scott would think is silly and that has kind of withered as my family has gotten older the  little kids needing a watchful eye has prevented the relaxing evenings of singing carols around the piano. Sometimes it was a chore preparing for Uncle Lonnie's parties for his employees. Why he always asked us to do the musical program I don't know, but it was fun. I also know I could count on a card with $5 in it after the event. We practiced and practiced for my perfectionist father, I would get tired or felt like I couldn't breath, maybe cried, and possibly left the room-i don't remember. For the program I remember pretending to fall asleep on my dad's lap as he sang "Little Toy Trains." The chore taught us all a love for singing. So, when Uncle Lonnie became smart and stopped asking my family to sing for his work Christmas parties, we continued to gather around the piano every year. Many songs we have down to an art, and know who signs what when, others songs we change up each year. We sang "Song of Peace," "Angel's we have Heard on High," "Pine Cones and Hollie Berries/ It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas," any many more. I have missed the nights that quickly turn late from caroling around the piano.

This year I was asked to sing with a group for the RS Christmas party. Although extremely busy and unsure how it would work with Quincy I couldn't say no. Singing Christmas songs is always wonderful. My mom called while at the church practicing, I said hello, told her I was busy and would call her back. When I rejoined the group to continue singing I couldn't. I just cried remember my families tradition, remembering my  dad singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and missing the Christmas concert for the first time since he has been in the choir, and missing my family.

I am grateful for Christmas, I am grateful for music, I am grateful for family, and I am grateful for Christ, the reason for the season.

3 Months

Dear Quincy.

I love you. Today you are 3 months and 4 days old. You have the sweetest little personality and are my little angel. Here are a few things about you:

• You have the prettiest blue eyes
• You like to stick your tongue out like your dad and I guess it means you are a Sorenson (is that right Mom Richens?)
• You don’t like to cry very much, that is unless you are on your tummy.
• When you wake up you don’t cry you baby talk really loud like your trying to get my attention, It kind of goes like this: ahhhHHHHH! OoOO, aaahhHHHHH! Then when I come into your room and lean over your crib you get the biggest grin ever. It makes me feel your love and my heart melt.
• You like attention. Your baby talk gets not so happy and a little loud, like when you wake up, if no one is around letting you be theists rod the show.
• You like basketball (meaning the light and motion of the TV) daddy is trying to teach you all about it and I tell you it’s just basketball you don’t have to stare with your watching eyes.
• If you aren’t swaddled you like to sleep with your arms up above your head and your legs spread out.

Ever since you were born all our family in Utah has been anxious for Christmas to come so they can meet you. They say they are excited to see me and your dad, but I know the truth- they want you. If it was us without you every phone call or Skype wouldn't include the phrase “I can’t wait until you come out here, “or “I can hardly wait for Christmas.” You are truly love and will be forever and ever.

Thank you for being mine and being so good.  I have been blessed with you and your easy going personality so that I can also serve the YW. Thanks for your help.

I love you,

Mom

Projects

Here are my projects I made at Super Saturday. Simple, but always requiring more effort then I originally planed on. Christmas tree trio, hair bows, and an activity bag  for when Q gets bigger. It inspired me to finish the Christmas signs I started last year, unfortunately I couldn't solve the vinyl not sticking to the paint problem and when I sanded the paint down anything it touched it turned green.

Taking out the trash this morning I found treasures! Next the the trash bin was 2 awesome tables and 4 chairs, all they needed was a little love and paint. I was so excited, particularly because I only have 3 chairs with my kitchen table. Sad to say that when I went back with my car an hour later my treasure was gone. I'm going to be keeping an extra eye out from now on. Just goes to show one man's trash really is another man's treasure.

Young Women's

I finally starting to get the hang of Young Women s. Sheeze. It is quite a responsibility but the girls are wonderful and so loving. Wednesday was Young Women in Excellence, with a theme, Personal Progress: a Pattern for Life. One of my counselors found the idea online, with the whole program outlined, we just personalized it,  which made everything much easier as a new presidency.One of the parents who was previously in the presidency and has older girls that have gone through the program in the ward was impressed with the turn out of both YW and parents. Although it was a small group that made me happy.
I was able to get to know the girls better and hopefully inspire them to start working on personal progress. I hope they will someday find use for the gift of needles and multicolored threads, even if they have to wait until they need to sew the button on their baby's dress. Once the night was over a burden was lifted, and I felt a little more comfortable and like I can do this calling. and can truly be guided by the spirit in what I need to say and do. I love Young Womens, I love the church.

Happy Fall

I always thought that winter should start in November. November is cold, snowy and it feels like winter...in Utah.. Now I get it here is a picture outside my apartment today, December 3. Some trees are bare, others red or starting to turn yellow, and some still fully green.

Quincy Pei and I went on a walk this morning I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and got hot. It is a sunny 70 degrees in Charleston today! My house hasn't dropped below 70 degrees inside and I haven't turned the heat on. once. I love it. Hope you all enjoy fall for a few more weeks until Dec 21 rolls around.