An Early Appearance

Bria has been joined by her nineteenth cousin! Baby Abby decided to make an early appearance yesterday afternoon. My sister Lindsay still had five weeks to go before her due date, but I think Abby couldn't stand to wait any longer to join in on the fun. We are all so happy that Abby and Lindsay are both doing well. Sam, Bria, and I went to visit them last night. Abby is so cute and so tiny! Bria looked like a sumo wrestler compared to her. It's amazing how much they grow in five short months-- although Bria did start at about 3 pounds bigger than Abby.
Congratulations Lindsay and Jason! We can't wait to get to know this little one.

ABCs

My sister Lindsay tagged me, and Sam's watching a scary movie, so here I go:

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: Sam
C-Cake or Pie: CAKE by a longshot
D-Day: Saturday
E-Essential Item: Chapstick
F-Favorite Color: Green
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: Worms
H-Hometown: Greenwood Village, CO
I-Indulgences: Ice cream
J-January or July: July, definitely
K-Kids: 1-- Bria
L-Life is incomplete without: My family
M-Marriage Date: September 2, 2005
N-Number of Siblings: 4. Amy, Lindsay, Scott, Whitney
O-Oranges or Apples: Orange-- it's unfortunate their season is so short
P-Phobias or Fears: Snakes are my biggest fear (sam says it's irrational. whatever.) But I am also totally paranoid and terrified of someone breaking into apartment and killing us all. Wow. I'm dramatic.
Q-Quote: I don't know. I'm not really a quote-y person I guess.
R-Reason to Smile: Bria
S-Season: Spring
T-Tag: Whomever
U-Unknown fact about me: I had surgery on my gums when I was about 9 because my top lip was too connected to the gums above my front teeth.
V-Vacation destination of choice: A warm (NOT HOT) beach.
W-Worst Habit: Finishing Sam's sentences and being way off of what he was going to say
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds
Y-your favorite food: Homemade Ice cream
Z-Zodiac Sign: Aries

This will count as the Five Months post

I think it's time for some more pictures. Bria will be five months old on Thursday, so here is an update on her, so far. Bria is definitely ready for solid foods. She always grabs at our food, and when I jokingly held a spoon up to her mouth the other day, she opened wide for it. I let her have a lick of my apple last week, and she loved it. At first she made a sour face, but then she kept grabbing for it. I think I am going to wait a couple more weeks before I give her rice cereal though, just so she's closer to the 6 month mark.
Bria is starting to understand that she can move her body to get to toys she wants. When I put her down, she immediately rolls over. Then she uses her arms to push herself in the direction of her toys. She pretty much just pivots on her tummy, but I think it's pretty impressive.
She can sit pretty well now. I can't leave her alone on the floor sitting, because she falls over backwards after a couple minutes, but she's getting so close. And, she won't recline in her bouncer anymore. I have to always make sure she's strapped in because she sits up in her bouncer, and last time I left her unstrapped, she rolled over in it. Yes, all the way over. It was really funny, even though she was pretty upset.
We went to the Provo Farmer's Market this week for the first time. I'm just sad we haven't gone before now! It was so great. The produce was so fresh, so big, and so cheap! We have been enjoying a lot of fresh salsa, fresh tortillas, and fresh peaches the past couple days. We also enjoyed the little farmer girl who offered us each a bite of her turnip and then look disappointed when we turned it down.

I spiked her hair up after a bath, and then it stayed that way until I washed it again:
Out on a walk. Please note how her cheeks hang as low as her chin. I love it:
Sitting up in her bouncer:
She's a Sox fan, obviously:

Best Picture of the Year

We are excited to announce (no, not another baby!) that The Adventures of Food Boy will be released on DVD on October 7th. You can pre-order your copy of the movie on the Food Boy website (just click on Buy DVD).

Pass the news along to anyone who would enjoy the film!

Giving In -- A Vampire Tale

When Breaking Dawn came out last month, I finally gave in to see what all the fuss was about. I actually read Twilight last August after my friend Allison told me about the books. I thought it was a fun page-turned, but I didn't feel compelled to keep reading the other books. I felt the writing was low-quality, and Bella drove me nuts with her overly-dramatic teenage passions. For Christmas, my sister-in-law Rachel gave me New Moon. I decided to read it since I was really stressed at work and needed an escape. I read the first few chapters, but wasn't really that into it. Then, Breaking Dawn came out, and I felt interested in the hype. I decided to pick up and read the rest of the books. I finished the second book of the saga while Sam and I were in Colorado and then immediately started reading Eclipse. I was officially hooked. I actually had to set the book aside for a day because it was getting a little too intense. Once I finished, I borrowed Breaking Dawn from a friend on Thursday night and just finished this afternoon. Over all, I liked the the books. I enjoyed the last three much more than I thought I would, after my initial reaction to Twilight. I think New Moon was my favorite of the books, as it seemed to propel me into an obsession for reading the last two. However, I do have some other, deeper thoughts on the books. (spoiler alert-- if you haven't finished the books, don't keep reading.)
Firstly, Bella and Edward's relationship is totally unhealthy. Until Bella becomes a vampire (which I really didn't think was going to happen, might I add!) there is this very lustful addiction between the two of them. If my 18-year-old daughter were in a relationship like that, I would react much more strongly than Charlie did. While Bella and Edward are "meant to be together forever," I think Bella's relationship with Jacob is much more realistic and much more healthy. I'm glad things worked out the way they did in the books, but in real life (sans vampires and werewolves), a Jacob-like relationship is much more healthy and likely to last.
The writing improved with each book-- kind of. By Breaking Dawn, I felt like Stephenie Meyer's writing skills had definitely gotten better. There was more showing than telling (as opposed to Twilight) and Bella had also matured. The story was better, and it wasn't as cheap of a thrill. However, I found numerous occasions where Bella would say things like "I knew we were on the same page." Or, "Edward didn't have to be able to read my mind to know what I was thinking." but I didn't know what was going on. Maybe I'm a little slow when it comes to figuring things out, but this seemed to be a little bit of sloppy writing. The books are very plot-driven, so it isn't as important to work out the cohesion of the writing-- as long as Edward's rippling pectorals are nearby.
Speaking of which, one review of the books I read said that Stephenie Meyer did leave a lot to the imagination. I agree. She gave just enough detail that you could make your own mental image. There weren't so many things to bog down your picture or confuse your preconceived notions. This is a definite strength of Meyer's writing. (Although, I have to admit, it took me up to Eclipse before I finally felt comfortable with Edward having copper-colored hair. I still imagine it as black. Also, Alice has long hair in my imagination. Not short spiky hair.)
Lastly, and this is just a critique of the publisher, I'm sure editing a manuscript like these four books is a monstrous project, and after editing, copyediting, and proofreading, I'm sure everyone is ready to just call it a night. But, I found numerous errors of missing words from sentences. Probably six to eight in each Breaking Dawn and Eclipse. But when a book is going to be a New York Times bestseller, I think meticulous proofreading is in order.
OK, those are my thoughts. I am going to miss it, I think. I thought Breaking Dawn was a fine end of the saga (although I'm curious about the leaked book that is now indefinitely on hold). And now, I suppose, I must get back to real-life of changing diapers and washing dishes. Sigh.

New Additions

Last week was a great week for both the McPhie family and Mangum family.

On September 2, my brother, Scott, and his wife, Rachel, added another boy to their clan. Cameron:


Then on September 4, Sam's brother Matt and his wife, Jen, added a girl to their family.
Mallory:


We are so excited to meet our new niece and nephew (and hope it will be soon!). We are also looking forward to meeting two more nieces within the next five months. For those keeping track, yes, that is a baby born to every married McPhie (four) within seven months. Also, three new babies for the Mangums within nine months. That means Bria will have five cousins her age. Lucky girl!

Four Month Update and Colorado

Today we took Bria in for her four-month update. She now weighs 16.2 pounds and is in the 90th percentile for both weight and head circumference and the 80th percentile for height. The doctor said everything looks good, and we agree! We couldn't have a happier baby. She did have to get four shots, but she did really well. Since I was so brave, Sam took me out for ice cream after.

Here are some Colorado shots.
This is the house I lived in from 6 months - 11 years old.

This house I lived in from 11 years - 18 years old (with a one year hiatus spent in London)

This is my high school

Here is Sam at the film festival

And Sam at Illegal Pete's-- a burrito place in Boulder that Sam has been raving about since I met him.

Also, one highlight of the trip was after a CU Boulder parade we happened upon. We saw two little old ladies walking home all decked out. I bet they were 80 years old, and they were wearing identical outfits of white sneakers, white polyester shorts (that started just under the chest and went to their knees), yellow CU t-shirts (tucked-in), and pom-pons in CU colors. It was fantastic. I tried to take a picture, but right as it took, a man walked in front of the camera and I just got a picture of his pants. Sam and I were laughing so hard. It was an amazing sight (the ladies-- not the pants).

Because I forgot to post yesterday.

Three years (and one day)
Two college degrees
Four apartments
Nine Jobs
Two cars
and one baby later