She's in WHAT percentile?

Victoria had her 4 month wellness checkup this morning and all went well, except that she is going through a "unfamiliar faces and places make me hysterical" phase. Apparently most babies go through this at some point (usually between 6-9) months and the intensity ranges depending on how outgoing the baby is. I guess Victoria's pretty shy. The Doc said she rarely sees this phase in babies as young as Victoria and that she must be a smart baby and a thinker to know she's in unfamiliar places with new faces and knows how to be clingy to mom already (that was good to hear after Victoria and I have been struggling with this phase). I was a bit surprised to hear that she is in the 75th % for both height and weight! At 4 months and 1 week Victoria weighs in at 14 lbs 1 oz and is 25 inches long!

Below are a few snap shots from today.

Marry Me

Three years ago today, Shawn put this beauty on my finger, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him...I said yes and had just made the best decision of my life! How did he ask? Well, here's the story, according to me...

The plan was to go to dinner with Shawn's mom and sisters that night (who were in on the whole thing). Shawn had picked me up and we had just arrived at his house before going out to dinner.  Every one was ready to go (all part of the fake plan) when Shawn all of the sudden remembers he wants to show me this little slide show he put together on his new ipod. Shawn and I go down stairs where he hooks his ipod up to the TV. The song Pictures of You by The Cure (you can listen to the song on my playlist) begins to play as pictures, that Shawn and I had taken together throughout our year of dating, scroll across the screen. Of course my eyes started to fill with tears a little bit as the memories came flooding in, and then as the slide show was coming to an end I notice Shawn is a bit nervous for some reason, but I blow it off. The last picture on the slide show was a picture of my ring in it's box...this is when my heart started to pound, and I could hear Shawn's pounding next to me. I wasn't quite sure what to think. Was it just a picture to pose as the memory of us going ring shopping 8 months before? Nope, this was it, the real thing, the moment I had been waiting for...what do I do, what do I say, where do I look...Shawn was all of the sudden on one knee with the ring in his hand. He says a few things, probably about how much he loves me, and I'm the only one for him, but we are both too wrapped up in the moment for any words to sink in and remember what was said. I'm crying, Shawn lets a few tears drip, and he slides the ring on my finger. After a little while we walk upstairs and his mom starts snapping pictures and videos. Finally her oldest was getting married!

Shawn had made dinner reservations at Hamilton's in Logan (just for the two of us) and while eating dinner, our waitress brings out 2 dozen BEAUTIFUL red roses (all part of Shawn's game plan) with a card that read "To the Future Mrs. Atkinson". The night was Perfect!

Those Leg Exercises Are Working

Shawn likes to do what he calls "Ski Leg Exercises" with Victoria, and has been doing them with her ever since she was tiny (too funny)!  And now at 4 months, Victoria is a pro at standing... 

...And We're Back

I hate that it's been so long since I've posted, I totally feel out of the blogging loop! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Just thought I'd do a little recap of our 3 week Christmas vacation which we spent in Logan, Utah with Shawn's family...

Snowed In...In Vegas?

On December 16th we started our day at 3:30 am finished last minute packing and headed out the door to catch our flight. We had three different flights that day, Baltimore to Atlanta, Atlanta to Vegas, and then finally Vegas to Salt Lake (which makes for a LONG travel day)...but we only made it to Vegas. Victoria did GREAT on the first two flights, and I learned how to change poopy diapers on my lap while sitting on top of the toilet seat on an airplane (gross, I know...only one of the planes had tiny little changing tables in their bathrooms..and don't forget how bad those little bathrooms smell!) But really Victoria was no problem at all, people were even complimenting on what a good baby she was after the flights!...So we made it to Vegas, even on the plane, and it starts snowing...? Snowing in Vegas! What the? The Pilot talks to us and tells us he is sure we will be on our way soon, they just have to de-ice the plane. Well, it never snows in Vegas, so the guys didn't even know how to de-ice the plane...they tried, and ran out of the fluid they used to de-ice. We had already waited FOREVER for them to de-ice the plane and for the snow to let up a little. They had to go back to refill the de-icing truck, and we waited...on the plane, engines off, in stuffy, hot, smelly recycled air. Meanwhile the snow lets up and it's raining a little, we can actually see the strip from our window now. The pilot is still confident that we will make it to Salt Lake. The de-icing truck never showed back up, and our window of decent weather closed. The snow picked up and dumped on Vegas. The most snow they've had in 30 years. So AFTER 3 and half hours of sitting on the plane the pilot terminates the flight! Oh but don't worry, our flight wasn't the only one canceled...the airport was a MESS! Roads were closed, luggage everywhere, a mom even offered to pay me $100 for baby formula, because she didn't pack extra for her baby! To top it off, Delta wouldn't get our luggage off the plane. Thank goodness we had the car seat and stroller and Victoria's bag with us. After a couple of hours of trying to get a rental car(some places wanted over $300 for a vehicle) and figuring out what to do, I was about to burst into tears and have a breakdown...it would have been different if we didn't have a 3 month old with us (she was an angel the whole time)! We ended up spending the night with Shawn's old mission companion and his wife, who live 10 minutes from the airport in Vegas. Another blessing from Shawn serving his mission all those years ago! We were so grateful for the Mursets who provided us with everything (remember we had nothing), it was way better than any hotel stay! The next morning we hit the road in our rental and drove to Salt Lake where we met up with Shawn's parents and his brother and wife who had flown in that day. And by some miracle our luggage was there waiting for us. So finally we had made it to Logan, Utah. Just a side note, Delta is horrible, we've had nothing but trouble with them and the worst customer service...they don't even have pre-boarding for families with children (we asked every flight and were denied every time!)!

The rest of our trip was great and I will tell about the three weeks by the collages below!

         *click for larger view

All of Shawn's siblings and family got to meet Victoria for the first time. It was awsome seeing their faces light up every time they saw her. We had a blast playing family games of poker, attending family parties in Malad, and having babysitters (okay, that part made me a little anxious, but Shawn and I enjoyed a nice sushi dinner together)!
Christmas morning was so fun with a baby! Victoria was spoiled with tons of gifts and CUTE clothes! And once again Shawn out did himself by surprising me with THE beautiful Canon Rebel xsi! I was shocked...I thought I was getting a shirt from gap! But, as our luck would have it, the flash bulb went out while I was snapping some beautiful shots of our baby so we had to send back the camera...my new one will be here tomorrow!!! This camera takes amazing pictures, I can't believe the difference! I love it, and I love my husband for the fabulous surprise!
As most of you know, Shawn lives for Skiing! He got some good ski days in because a couple of huge snow storms! Thank goodness for that, or I would be hearing about it for the rest of the year!
My Sister was able to make it down to Logan in between snow storms, I was so happy her and the kids were able to come. Finally the cousins got to meet and have a cousin sleep over! It was so cute to watch them together! We were just missing Harlyn...who was born on Christmas morning to my brother and his wife, Jeana!
My parents and little brother came up from California to their second home (across from the Logan Temple) the day after Christmas and had planned to stay a few days, but because things were kind of rocky with my brother's baby girl they decided to go back. I was sad to have only had a day with them (I didn't even get a pic with my dad in it) but they needed to be home. My "little" brother Newt was kinda happy to cut the trip short though, he had plans with the girlfriend.

After saying our goodbyes and wishing safety to Shawn's dad as he left for Iraq (this is his 2nd time over there) we were on our way back home to Maryland...and we almost made it home without any trouble. But, as our luck goes, our luggage came off the plane smelling like fish, and Shawn kind of forgot where he parked the car. So after running up and down the parking lot at the airport, in freezing cold, pouring rain, we finally found the car, payed our ridiculously high parking bill and made it home!

What Kind of Name is Yukon Cornelious Anyway?

Tori LOVES watching Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, just like her dad! I, on the other hand, think claymation is kind of weird and never really have been a fan. Every year Shawn and I have debates over watching it (it's still his fav), but there is nothing cuter than walking in your front room and seeing your baby girl and her daddy watching Rudolph together! Tori will sit through the whole thing and even make excited shreeks during happy parts, like Rudolph leading the sleigh team! She loved the extra feature of Destiny's Child (claymation of course) singing Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer. The first time she watched it, being the protective mother that I am, I skipped over the Abominable Snowman parts because I thought they would be too scary for her (I know I'm a little over the top sometimes)! Although Rudolph's claymation version is not my favorite, I find it quite comical...especially when Shawn immitates the Abominable Snowman! Best line from the movie? "How do you like that? Even among misfits you're misfits!" -Yukon Cornelious. Best scene from the movie? When the Abominable Snowman discovers his teeth have been pulled out! ha ha