Heartbeat.

Baby's got one!

We all got to hear it. What a sweet sound. Sol was squirming all over the place but as soon as the doctor came in he sat on Dave's lap, still as could be. What a good boy.

On another note... (pun intended)
Does this song not totally rock!? And I LOVE the video. It's so happy and sunny and warm and fun. All good things to take you away from a cloudy cold January day.



How can you not dance to it?! Watching this video totally makes me wish I was there in the street with the drummer guys, shaking my pregnant booty.

Happy Monday!

Haiti: What can YOU do?

I'm astonished at the devastation in Haiti. I don't think I've personally witnessed such an incredible tragedy in my life time. The the amount of those who died is mind boggling. My dear friend Jean Marie sent me this email about what more we can do outside of a cash donation. I thought I'd pass it on to you.

Dear friends,

You know the need-you've seen the photos and most of us have already responded with a donation. Good.

Now, HOPE+ wants you to do something more than just give money.

We want three things 1) your time, 2) your friends and 3) your ideas.

1st Your Time - Below are some ways to take action right now, to help - both immediately and long term:

Drop the Debt Petition - Sponsored by ONE for immediate cancellation of Haiti's $1 billion debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans.

'Micro projects' - Led by The Extraordinaries, you can to help sort and tag disaster photos, match the missing to sorted images and search the image database for missing persons.

Volunteer in Your Community - Check out All For Good, search for the key word "Haiti" along with your zip code and find volunteer opportunities in your community.

These may seem like small things, but small things add up, and so much is needed in so many ways.

2nd Your Friends - In the next 24 hours, reach out to 10 of your friends and ask them to get involved with HOPE+, sign up and do what they can to help Haitian relief efforts. Click here to tell your friends about HOPE+ right now.

3rd Your Ideas - What special project do you think we as HOPE+ should do? You've seen other ideas and projects online, check out our blog and give us your best ideas.

HOPE+ is brand new and this is our first big opportunity to do something new and different. Even if it is a small project, what is something special that we could do? Once we hear from you, we'll turn your ideas into action and results on the ground in Haiti.

HOPE+ is about more than just giving money, it's about giving you the resources to get involved in a personal way, along with your friends and to turn the best ideas out there into real action.

Haiti needs YOUR action now.

This is what HOPE+ was made for, but we can't do it without you. I hope you'll step up to join us right now to take action. The real long term impact of this disaster is yet to be seen, and our fellow global citizens in Haiti urgently need our help.

Please do something NOW.

Thanks,
The HOPE+ Team

Also, see how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is sending aid in all forms here:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-aid-continues-to-arrive-in-haiti

Your baby can read!

Let me preface this post by saying, I really hope this doesn't come off as self-righteous.

You've seen those comercials, right? Where the 9 month old is reading words like "ambidextrous" and "antidisestablishmentarianism". Your baby can read by watching these videos! It kind of makes me sad for the poor kid that is expected to be reading before he can wipe himself. Most kids learn to read, why push it on them at such an early age....

I had kind of a surreal moment today as Sol and I were looking at books. This is easily one of Sol's favorite books. Its full of colorful fish and sea creatures. He loves to look at it and read it over and over. His favorite page is where the fish swim round and round. We all have to say it, "Round and Round" over and over.

The last page of the book says "Hello Mom! Hello Little Fish! Kiss Kiss Kiss, Horray for Fish!"

Tonight as we turned to this page Sol recited the whole thing by himself!

Its the first time he's ever 'read' or rather recited words on a page. I was thrilled, not that my baby could 'read' rather that he was learning to comprehend and remember a story.

I don't tell this story to brag (well maybe a little cause I'm his mom) but point out that there may be a little more to teaching your kids to read than planting them in front of the tv while they watch several hours of flash cards. Just a thought.

Solomon continued...

New phrases to add to his vocabulary:

"Okay...Lets see" and

"Oh No! Watch Out! Watch Out"

Usually heard as he plays with trains and cars. He's so big. And he loves it.

Solomon

I haven't written about Sol much in the last few months so I thought some of you may appreciate a post on our little sunshine. He is a delight!

• He is a very happy and pleasant child. He loves people, loves to talk, loves to tease. He's a lot like his parents that way.
• Sol LOVES Ella. He always greets her every morning with a "Hi Ella! Hello!" and tells her "night night" before he goes to bed. He gives her loves, throws her ball for her, and occasionally try's out some karate moves on her. When I tell him that's not nice he's quick to give her loves.
  
• Sol loves books (finally!). He's starting reading to himself explaining what everything on the page is.
  
• Sol has a pretty big vocabulary and its increasing daily. He constantly asks "Whats that?" and usually remembers the answer.
• He loves cars, trucks, trains, tractors, anything with a motor really. He can make all the sound effects quite well.
• Sol loves to say his alphabet and count to 10. He has to have help from mom and dad but we don't mind. Its amazing to see how quickly he is still developing.
  
• Sol is very loving. He loves to give hugs and kisses and cuddles.
• He loves his uncle Mike. He loves to sit on his lap and watch football and videos of Mike's cat on his phone. Whenever Sol sees anything red or with the University of Utah logo on it he says "Mike?" One time he even saw a picture of Jesus and asked "Mike?".
  
• On the other hand he saw a picture of a wanted criminal on the news and asked "Daddy? Daddy?" I didn't really see the resemblance...sorry hun.
• Sol still loves his 'baby' (blue stuffed elephant) and takes him everywhere. I have to sneak baby away to wash him as often as I can. When we recently traveled to Connecticut and Oregon baby didn't leave his side as we traveled through 7 airports. (yuck) He badly needed a washing then.
• Sol loves his Daddy. He's tries to be just like him and I can get Sol to do about anything if I tell him Daddy would do it. He gets so excited to see him at night. It makes my heart so happy.

I know its kind of a 'brag about my kid' post but hey, I'm his mom. And like my dad once told me, "Everyone needs a mother" to praise and adore them their whole lives through.

Camera Gods, how have I offended thee???

So you know my cute little red camera that I finally got after like 6 months with no camera? Well I can't find it...I won't say its lost, but its location is unknown. Ug! In fact I couldn't find it right before Christmas so no Christmas pics. :( I feel like I should be learning some lesson like "Don't be so materialistic" or "write in your journal more" or "Don't take so many dang pictures!" But I refuse to learn it. A camera is kind of essential in my book.

In other news:

We had a great Christmas at home. Dave's parents joined us, which was so fun. Opening presents took 2 hours cause Sol wanted to sit and play with everything. It was kind of funny.

We had a great New Years too! We've been able to have lots of family around just hanging out. Its been great to have company and to just chill.

Finally, I'm pregnant! I'm really happy and excited about it. However I'm not happy or excited about being dog sick most days. :( I've definitely been more sick that I was with Sol. Were getting through it though. The due date is August 4th so that makes me 9 weeks. 31 to go! Woohoo!

{Insert cute picture of Sol wearing an "I'm the big brother" tee here}

Hopefully we'll find the camera soon! Hopefully its not gone forever.

oh and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!