Time flies

I can't figure out how to move pictures. Does anyone know the secret? Also, why does it keep underlining and making it blue?

I can't believe Louise is already 3 and a half months old! Here's a quick catch up of the last couple months.

Louise sleeps like a dream (no pun intended...or maybe it was). From about a week and a half she has slept through the night. She loves to sleep on her tummy (don't worry, I'm super careful). Lately I've been trying to put her to bed a little earlier, like 9:30 or 10, and she goes down fine, wakes up at 6 to eat, and goes back to sleep until 9:30 or 10. If I put her down when we go to sleep around 11:30 she doesn't wake up in the night, but I like to have a few hours to get things done before bed. She's so good at sleeping at night, I feel like we cheated.

She's not very in to napping, though. She only naps for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. She'll fall asleep while I'm holding her, but as soon as I try to put her down she'll wake up. Aren't babies supposed to sleep for a few hours at a time?

I've been putting together a baby book for Louise. It's so fun. I hate scrapbooking, so I was quite excited to find one at Deseret Book that all you have to do is fill in the blanks and put the picture that it suggests on the space. I love it, and I think it'll be really easy to keep up and continue with our other children.

She spits up like crazy. It seems like everything I feed her comes back up over the course of the3 or 4 hours until I feed her again. I HAVE to do laundry every couple of days because every burp cloth, bib, blanket, and outfit (both ours and hers) are completely soaked. We go through 20 burp cloths and 10 bibs every 2 days. She's still gaining weight, so we're not that worried,but she's getting a little behind. At her 2 month checkup she was in the 55% for weight, at her 3 month she was about 45% for weight and 75% for height. The doctor suggested acidophilus, which we tried, but quickly ruled out. She did spit up a lot less, but she was super grumpy (which is highly uncommon for her) and didn't have a bowel movement for the entire 5 days we were giving it to her (which is also highly uncommon). I felt so bad for giving it to her for that long after I finally connected the grumpiness with the acidophilus. As soon as we stopped giving it to her she was her normal delightful self and had a gloriously poopy diaper (wow. I must be a mother). We talked to Andy Nuckles over the weekend and she said that her kids were the same, if not worse, and they gave them Zantac, which was very effective. We'll be trying that this week once we get the OK from Dr. Worwood. Any other suggestions from you moms and dads?

Louise is at such a fun stage. She smiles a lot now and makes the cutest sounds. She totally thinks she's talking to us. We can carry on "conversations" for at least 15 minutes, just talking and cooing at one another. She loves it, and I do too. She's always been extremely alert, and is just becoming more so with age. Justin has her so close to giggling. She loves to talk to her daddy.

A lady who is in the Fellowship in Napa with Justin is practicing infant massage and wants to teach us how to do it on Louise next time we go. We're pretty excited. I've never really heard anything about it, but Justin has and he says it's very beneficial for the child and the parent. Does anyone have any experience with infant massage?

We've figured out that Louise highly prefers showers to baths. Every time I would bathe her she'd start screaming the minute she touched the water. One blessed day we got the idea to try taking her in the shower with us and were elated when she shushed right up and looked like she was on cloud nine. She would smile at us and talk very happily. And now she doesn't even mind baths. Definitely prefers showers, but an occasional bath is OK.

Oh! I got a new haircut, and I love it! I finally got a pixie cut that I like. Every time I would go to the beautician and tell her I wanted a pixie cut, she'd always think she knew best and say "when I had this cut I wished I had left a little hair over my ears," or "when my hair was this short I wished it was a little longer in the back," so they'd always leave it longer in random places. Well, this time I told her that I didn't want it long anywhere, and I kept telling her to go shorter. I LOVE it. All of my curl is gone since having a baby, so it's super easy to do this short. I don't even have to dry it. I just have to be sure to wear makeup and some cute earrings to avoid looking masculine. Justin really likes it too, which is always a bonus.

Well, Napa. Napa, Napa, Napa. Justin and I both LOVED it (for completely different reasons, but loved it, all the same). Justin will have to write about his experience. I won't do it justice. I'm so excited to get to go back once a month for the next 14! If anyone wants to come one of these times, seriously, let us know. While Justin was in his class all day Louise and I cruised around Napa Valley and went exploring. I could very easily live in Napa if the rest of my family would move there, too. Even though it was winter and everything was dead, it was simply beautiful. There was rolling hill after rolling hill of burgundy grape...things (orchards, vineyards, fields?). And the towns are so charming. My favorite was St. Helena (pronounced ha-lee-na). I went to church there and fell in love with the little branch. I went in and within 2 minutes of being there the old lady I was sitting next to was walking Louise in the hall, chatting with her. They both loved it. I can't wait to go back. Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY pictures of Napa, so I'll have to be sure to take some good ones this next time.

Speaking of Justin, I can't believe how fortunate I was was to get him. He is one of the most Christlike people I've ever met. He is so incredibly sweet and loving to me and Louise, and he is the perfect father. I'm so grateful for how tender he is, and that he's not afraid to show his sensitive side, or be sentimental. I love him so much and can't imagine being married to anyone else. My heart is so full of love and gratitude for him.