Pepper is getting really good at grabbing things and it is so fun to see her reach for toys and be more active with her surroundings. Many of the things she grabs go straight to her mouth or get crushed with her death grip. She's a strong little lady and loves doing the Super Baby flight pose. Here she is, asleep, but still grasping her little toy. ha!
We've been pretty lucky this last month to see T.J.'s Dad twice! He's a pilot and had lay overs in Salt Lake. We got treated to yummy lunches and had fun hanging out with G. Pepper likes him because he feeds her chocolate malts! (He got in big trouble for that one!)
We also got to hang out with T.J.'s Mom when she came for Women's Conference. It was so good to see her and have her watch Pepper for a while so I could get some work done. I wish she lived closer! We took lots of pictures on her camera, but none on ours! Dang! But, it was good times.
Yesterday we went up to Sandy to hang out with Lance and Karen and their families. We went on a hike and the kids had a blast climbing and getting dirty. Pepper was the calm one of the bunch and stayed relatively clean. :) We had so much fun hanging out and talking afterwards and I am starting to realize just how blessed we are to have family close and the time for us to move draws nearer.
Pepper liked looking around at everything (she LOVES being in new places and usually refuses to sleep so she won't miss a thing!), but after a while was ready for a nap.
A few of Pepper's favorite things these days are: 1) Daddy. She always gives him big smiles when he comes home and loves to play with him... okay, so "play" is a relative word at this point, but you get the point. She has him wrapped around her little finger already.
2) Tummy time! Okay, maybe she doesn't LOVE it, but she is getting so good at it. She's so strong and holds her head, chest, and legs in the air for a long time, but rarely uses her arms. We keep trying to tell her that those things on the side of her body will help her, but she prefers super baby pose, I guess. The other day she actually did use her arms and she plopped right over onto her back. It scared her so bad she started crying... and we started laughing!
3) Smiling. She is getting so smiley and almost has her laugh. She gives little chuckle-like things, which are so adorable, and is talking up a storm! I love it.
In other news, we're both busy and enjoying the Spring weather, when it chooses to grace us with its presence. I defended my thesis on the 16th of April and am just finishing up some revisions and will graduate in August! I am working for a research project on campus this summer, but it is super flexible, I can work from home a lot, and when I go in I can take Pepper. I really couldn't ask for a better situation, but will still be glad to finally really be done with school and work at the end of the summer.
T.J. did awesome this last semester with a crazy busy schedule of 18 credits, volunteering, work, more volunteering, and a newborn baby. He loves his business strategy major and is excited to be using his skills helping out the emergency room at UVRMC. (More on this at a later date.) He is just writing his personal statement for med school applications and will send in his application June 1st! It is crazy to think that the time for applying is finally here. He is still working in his research lab and reading up anything he can find on health policy.
