Leaving Once, Leaving Twice

Our tickets to leave Buffalo to go back to Utah for this trip were actually for early on a Tuesday morning. Although the airport is only about 10 minutes away, we dreaded the early morning wake-up so we switched our flight to early afternoon (thank you, Southwest!). However, when we got to the airport for our 12:45 PM flight, running a little bit late, we realized that we were actually very late because we had read the itinerary wrong and our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:15 PM. So long story short, we missed our flight.

Fortunately, we were able to book a flight for just a couple hours later although we would be arriving in Salt Lake City much later than we wanted to. So right as my mother-in-law was arriving home, we called her to come back and pick us up from the airport so we could kill a couple of hours. We did it by doing this:

I think that this was actually Lucy's first time on a swing by herself and she was loving it. If you're wondering why she is so stylin' in her purple number, it was because her mom thoughtfully packed away all her jackets and hoodies in the suitcase in anticipation of a stuffy plane ride and said suitcase was left at the airport waiting for the next flight. So her grandma graciously let her borrow her fancy wrap.

Brandon thought she needed a companion to swing with but Lucy did not take too kindly to the metal duck that Brandon found for her.

We finally did make it out of Buffalo and during our layover in Las Vegas, an exhausted Lucy ended up like this in my lap:
We got lots of really cute stares from people. And then we realized what the date was - April 13th. Happy Birthday little Lucy. Sorry we forgot about your first birthday all day long!

Stately Dayton Manor

This is the bed and breakfast that we stayed at while in Buffalo.
Just kidding - it is actually a bed, breakfast, lunch, & dinner because it is really my in-laws' house. Before accepting a position as chief of surgery at University of Buffalo back in 2003, Brandon's parents and the majority of both sides of their family lived in Utah. But with such a career opportunity, they (bravely if you ask me), packed up and moved away from it all just as grandkids were being born. I don't think that my father-in-law is quite ready to retire but we look forward to them moving back to Utah someday so we can be closer than a day's flight. We think it will happen eventually so I thought that I would document their lovely Buffalo home for memories. Their sons have nicknamed it the Stately Dayton Manor - I think it's an appropriate moniker.
This is the view into the living room from the front entry.

The very grand stairway just barely to the right.

Just a little bit more to the right is the dining room view from the entry.

Dining room view from the kitchen.

Taken from the entry, this is opposite from the dining room. I'm not sure what to call this room - parlor? Piano room?

Closer view of the living room which actually has huge vaulted ceilings that the picture doesn't show. You can actually see the living room from the second floor after you go up the staircase.

Another view of the living room as you approach the kitchen. You kinda get a sense of scale by the windows in this picture.

The office is just to the left of the living room.

And then the kitchen is to the right of the living room and opens to the dining room in front. That's my mother-in-law on the phone sitting at the kitchen table and I think that Lucy is on the floor playing with all those toys in the open cabinet.

I didn't even bother with all the bathrooms (2 on the first floor, 3 on the second floor, one in the basement) and bedrooms (5 huge ones on the second floor) and the gigantic basement. The funny thing is that it is only the two of them. But, they do quite a bit of hosting of events for the surgery residents from work and church stuff and family that comes to visit to see the church sites or Niagara Falls and such. I think that they definitely enjoy having the space to entertain and accommodate all their sons and their families. I've been out there four times since we have been married and we will be heading out there in just a week for another family vacation. More good memories to come!

In the Buff - April 9-13

Buffalo, New York that is. That is where these guys live:
Brandon's parents (this picture snagged from my MIL's blog - not the actual trip)

Brandon's brother and wife, Adrian and Natalie and their son Taylor
(Snagged this from their facebook because of course, I never take pictures...of anything it seems. So it is a little outdated...but I like to illustrate my posts with pictures of people)

It was actually a really short trip. We left on a Friday afternoon (meaning that we didn't actually get into Buffalo until late evening) and returned home on a Tuesday evening. So lose two days to travel and we were really only there from Saturday to Monday. And two days we spent in New York City.

Anyway, Lucy had flown twice before - to Boston around 3 months and to Japan about a month later. But it is a little different flying when your baby is much more mobile although Lucy wasn't quite walking at this point, but cruising proficiently. And although I was (and am) still nursing her, she doesn't nurse to sleep anymore unless we are lying in bed. But fortunately, she did some of this on the plane:
I had my Beco baby carrier (best carrier ever, if you ask me) and strapped her to my back when she was getting tired and fussy and just walked up and down the aisle of the plane until she fell asleep. As I was walking, I would get these comments from other passengers saying, "She's almost out," "Just a couple more laps," and thumbs up to accompany them. I think that they were just so grateful that they didn't have to deal with a screaming baby on the plane.

Second half of the plane ride and deep into what should have been her bedtime, she was a little less cooperative with sleeping...More interested in playing with the light, checking other passengers out, and playing with her dad's iPhone. After arriving late in the evening and getting into bed, Brandon and I left our little girl the next morning for two whole days while we took a quick flight to New York City. It was our first time leaving her overnight!

My mother-in-law was pretty sick (what we found out just a week or so later was the return of her cancer) but fortunately, it was the weekend so Brandon's dad was there to help as was Adrian and Natalie. Lucy's Saturday nap was spent crying herself to sleep in her grandfather's arms but he claimed that he loved it once she was asleep, just holding her while he watched television. She gravitated strongly towards her grandmother but once she met her Aunt Natalie, gravitated even more strongly towards her. Here she is with her Aunt and cousin on a Sunday afternoon walk:
For the overnight part, she woke up crying. I didn't pump much milk before I left, only bringing one bag since she was days away from being 12 months so I figured that she could just have cow's milk. But my mother-in-law was smart enough to have an extra bottle on hand (I only packed a sippy cup) and saved my breastmilk for what she anticipated might be a hard night. With mommy's milk in bottle in hand, she fell right back asleep.

When we arrived back from New York City, Lucy was already asleep but must have had a sixth sense that we had arrived cause she woke up crying. We later realized when we returned home to Salt Lake City that the reason she had been so fussy those few days in Buffalo was because a tooth had just broken through. It's nice to know that she missed us but also nice to know that she is capable of handling being without us for a few days. Hopefully, we can plan a real vacation without kids sometime close in the future.

Once back in Buffalo, we really only had one full day to spend with family. We visited Adrian and Natalie's house to play with Taylor (more blurry iPhone pictures - although I have to say, it can be hard to capture pictures of Taylor because he is such a ball of energy).
Then we went out to eat dinner with them and Brandon's dad (his mom being too sick to join us). I can't remember where we ate or what I ordered but I remember it was delish!

Lucy deals with traveling like a champ so hopefully, having a baby won't deter us from taking any trips. Brandon always claims that life hasn't changed that much - we just have a baby along for the ride.

Catching Up

I feel like I haven't posted on here in forever. I have events that I've been meaning to document since April but haven't gotten around to. But I also accidentally deleted a bunch of pictures from my camera so I haven't taken any new pictures while I am trying to figure out how to recover lost pictures from stupid camera. Note to self - buy a new, better camera one of these days.

Anyway, this upcoming stuff is kinda old hat but I mostly blog for me own personal record cause I seem to have a terrible memory since I became a mother. And it's fun to remember...

Happy Dada Day!

Since Lucy doesn't quite know how to say father, we'll leave it at Dada.

She sure loves this guy!

Even though this picture doesn't appropriately convey that feeling.

But we're a pretty lucky family to have him as wonderful husband and awesome dad.

Happy Father's Day to all the awesome dads!

Car Seat Envy

I don't get it.

Lately, Lucy has occasionally been fighting me when I try to put her in her car seat. Even though she is over 12 months now, she is still in a rear facing car seat because with how little she weighs, she hasn't yet outgrown it. Maybe this fighting is a sign of a fierce, independent spirit we might have - I will have to SQUASH that before she gets into her terrible twos and temper tantrums (totally kidding about that - I love an independent spirit!). But for some reason, as much as she fights about her own car seat, she certainly seems to love other people's car seats.

Case #1:
Cousin, Olive has the same exact brand car seat, but I guess because it is a different color and new, she's all for it. Or maybe she loves it because she can actually play in it and not be strapped in it.

Case #2:
I don't have any photos to document this but the other day at church during Sunday school class, Lucy took it upon herself to mosy on over to another couple with a 4 month old baby and make herself at home in the empty car seat on the ground and continue to just relax there, foot dangling off the end and smiling at everyone around her.

I try not to be a helicopter mom so Lucy may fall on the side of "free range" kid. But at least at church, I just can't seem to keep a hold of her so I just let her off to explore. Which means that she is off pulling herself up on everyone's knees, getting into every purse and diaper bag on the floor, stealing toys, snacks, bottles, and sippy cups away from other babies. I bring her own toys, books, snacks, and drinks to church but she's not interested. Why, when there is this plethora of new and exciting things that don't belong to you? I try to be sensitive that other people in church may get annoyed with her (cause I also try not to be one of those moms that thinks that her kid is the greatest and that everyone must love her) but I figure that they can pick up their purses and bags from off the floor and shoot me a dirty look. I have gotten some looks I can't read so maybe I should count those in the "annoyed" category.

But despite some of the looks, I'll take my social butterfly any day. The thing is, she would probably make more of a scene if I'm constantly trying to keep her in my lap. Thank goodness church is full of such gracious mothers and babies who are already learning to share with a slightly pushy, independent, social butterfly.

Lu and Ollie

We actually call Lucy "Lu" a lot but I'm not sure how Emily and Jared feel about calling Olive "Ollie". But I thought it was an aptly named post. Here are the two cousins with Olive's latest trick: sitting up.I guess Lucy feels the need to steal the spotlight since "little" Olive almost outweighs her and has a heck of a lot more hair.

Or maybe Olive just hasn't learned to be as much of a ham for the camera. But if she has any Sturgis genes in her, I'm sure this will come out eventually.

Lucy and Her Cabinet

Unlike most responsible parents who actually babyproof their homes, we keep moving things around the house to let Lucy "explore". That might just be an excuse for being too lazy to put locks on our cabinets. But it's pretty ingenious if you ask me - less work installing cabinet locks, more entertainment for little Lucy.


This cabinet under the sink used to be full of all our toxic cleaners but we moved them above the sink (so still very accessible - I'm very pragmatic like that) and all the cereal that it displaced under the sink (so Lucy can have a snack whenever she wants by dumping the cereal all over the floor). We also might have small leak under the sink that we have put a plastic container under to catch the water that Lucy will occasional get to and drink. But don't worry people, it's not water from the dishwasher or disposal, it's leaking from the tap. I know, we should win a parenting award. Hasn't anyone seen Babies though - the Namibian and Mongolian baby are practically eating dirt! So I think that Lucy will be okay.

(Evidence of the leak: the little water spots on the back of her onesie - so precious!)

Race for the Cure

Brandon and I recently found out that his mother's breast cancer has returned after a 3 year remission. However, it is now in her lungs, liver, spine, and brain. It's hard to find the right words to describe the feelings. Cancer affects us all in one way or another because I am sure that we all know someone who has battled it before. Sometimes, it just hits closer to home by affecting those most near and dear to us. It's easy to feel helpless because there is not much to do - love and support the ones affected and pray for a cure or a miracle. My brother-in-laws describe some of their feelings (quite more eloquently than myself) here and here.

I have watched my husband break down in tears several times since the news. Last night, he frantically searched the internet...for something. He found the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We thought it would be appropriate to participate in honor of his mother and also his grandmother who is a two-time breast cancer survivor. It's somewhat short notice but we'll be participating this Saturday, May 8th in Salt Lake City with Lucy and a group from his work. Anyone who wishes to join us can register here. Anyone who can't and would like to donate can do so here.