Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Davis Family Reunion: Duck Creek

After the baby blessing we packed up the car and drove to Duck Creek for the Davis Family Reunion.  We stayed at the Pinewoods Resort.
 The first day we went hiking and site seeing at Bryce Canyon.  For FHE the whole Davis family met at the pavilion for dancing.
On Tuesday we went hiking to a waterfall near Cedar Breaks.  The last day of the reunion we went to my cousin Rachel's animal farm in Cedar City where Kensie went on a horse ride.  Afterwards, we saw Paul and Lindsay's new house in Cedar City!
It wasn't easy being away from home with a six week old baby but it was so nice to see my family and do something 'normal'.  I love it whenever we get to spend time with family.

Tate's Baby Blessing

Niel blessed Tate in church on Sunday, June 23rd 2013. 
It was so special to have most of my family there.  We had a luncheon before church and ate lots of yummy food.  
I love my sweet Tate.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Family

In June, we had lots of family visit for Tate's baby blessing!  Grandma Schurig was our first visitor who came several days before the blessing.  Tate loved his grandma Schurig and quickly bonded with her.  We kept calling her the baby whisperer because she was able to get him asleep and calmed down during his fussy time, something we were hardly capable of!  While Grandma Schurig was here we took a field trip to the Las Vegas temple and walked around the grounds.    
My parents came Friday before the blessing.  Kensie was so excited to see her grandma and grandpa. 
 The Bowers and Child family arrived on Saturday. We had a pool and pizza party that evening.  I loved having my family at our house!  They hadn't been to our home before since they live so far away in Washington.
 Sunday, my brother Paul and his family came.  It was kinda surreal to have all of my family at my house in Vegas!  It was so much fun!  I wish we didn't live so far away from each other.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Tate: 3 Months

13 lbs. 12 oz.
Tate is the sweetest little baby.  I call him 'Sweet Tate'.  I love his chubby cheeks and could kiss them all day.  He has the cutest and biggest smiles and coos.

He discovered his hands and loves sucking on them.

His dark hair is falling out and strawberry blonde hair is growing in.

He doesn't like having a dirty diaper and will let you know about it.  This is funny to me since Kensie didn't seem to mind much as a baby.

He sticks his little tongue out when he smiles and interacts.

He doesn't like going in the car and cries a lot.  This is so bizarre to me after having Kensie who loved going for car rides.

He is content to lay on the floor, in the bouncer, in the swing, etc.  Even when he is hungry or tired his cries aren't very loud or demanding (complete opposite of Kensie).  He is so patient to wait while I help his big sister with her many demands.

He still gets fussy at night.  Usually around 7 p.m. or so until 8:30 or 9 p.m.  It's his 'witching hour'.  He won't fall asleep (even after nursing) and only wants to be held.  Otherwise he just cries.  I finally get him to calm down and go to sleep between 8 & 9 p.m.

After his feeding between 9:15-10:15 p.m. he will usually conk out for the night.  He still wakes up once a night, usually between 3-5 a.m., eats, and goes back to sleep.  Sometimes he'll still wake up twice.  Then he usually wakes between 7:15 and 8 a.m.

He loves watching his big sister and already seems to adore her.  He gives her big smiles and puts up with a lot from her.  He gets poked, prodded, bear hugged, etc. and is such a good sport about it.  Sometimes he looks at me with a look of, "help! save me from my big sister!"

He got his first cold/cough when he was 11 weeks old and slept horribly day and night.

He fits best in 6-9 month clothes and is chubby as ever.



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Father's Day

Father's Day 2013

I don't think there is another dad in the universe who has genes as strong as Niel's.  Somehow he managed to have two children who look just like him.  It's a good thing he is good looking!    
We made him a german chocolate cake for Father's Day.  He also got some crossfit gear for his gym in the garage.
Kensie absolutely adores her dad and has always been a daddy's girl.  She says, "I love my daddy SO much!" and "he is my best friend."  I'm crossing my fingers Tate will stay a momma's boy!

Swimsuit season

I'm wrapping up the last month or so of my busy season.  Things have already slowed down a lot in the last couple of weeks.  It was interesting having a baby in the middle of it all.  I'm not going to lie, there were times in that first month of having Tate when tears were shed because I wished I hadn't tried to do it another year with a newborn.  Luckily, Cara Kopp did all of my home parties after I had Tate.  Sarah Dodson and Brittany Peterson also helped me (and a few babysitters!).  Business was quite a bit busier this year, but not as busy as I anticipated it to be.  I'm not sure how much of that had to do with me having a newborn and not being able to dedicate as much time to the business or if it had more to do with competition.   My online sales increased a lot this year because of some giveaways and online advertising I did.  I've also had a lot more shoppers come to the house this year.  My home parties weren't quite as busy.  

In some ways it was nice to be in busy season while I had a newborn.  It was good to still do something 'normal' and something other than changing diapers, feeding, and taking care of kids.  Since we were home most of the time anyways, it was convenient for customers to come to the house.  It was also nice to have the social interaction when ladies came over to try on suits.  It was easier when Tate was in the sleepy newborn stage and slept most of the time.  I would put on a movie for Kensie while the customers came and Tate would either nap or come in the Bjorn with me.  But other days weren't so easy.  Tate would need to eat or be put down for a nap while Kensie would go around pulling swim bottoms off of the racks.  Probably some customers thought I was a total nut-job mom.

When I'm really busy I get a lot of mom guilt.  I worry that my kids (especialy Tate) will grow too fast and I won't enjoy them enough while they are small.  I also hate turning on the tv or ipad for Kensie.  Yes, there are days when I tell Niel I'm not going to keep going with the business because it is too much work and stresses me out too much.  But for the most part I really enjoy having my swimsuit business.      
One of my favorite things is unpacking the first shipments of swimsuits at the beginning of the season!

I carried a lot more inventory this year and re-vamped the casita.  Niel installed more clothing racks and  I put an office in the casita so that all the business transactions/shipping could be handled there.
I'll be doing closeout sales in the coming weeks to make way for the 2014 collection.  MAGIC convention is coming up in a few weeks and I can't wait to get a peak of the 2014 swim trends!