DONE… almost

9,926 words
34 pages
34 footnotes
27 sources cited
3 months of research
2 weeks of writing
1st draft of my dissertation… submitted!

15 years of cello lessons
5 cello teachers
3 university programs
7 solo recitals
(heaven knows how many millions of hours of practicing)
1 doctoral lecture recital… completed!

All thats left to do is complete any revisions to my dissertation that my graduate committee sees necessary, and then defend it (what ever that entails?) on April 28.

I think I just might graduate this semester.

And then I insist that you all call me Doctor Morris.
Or Jamilyn Morris, D.M.A.

So… this is happening.

My final DMA lecture recital- the one where I have to show the culmination of my 9+ years of post-high school cello study and aptitude in regurgitating information in an educational format- the one where I have to give a 30 minute scholarly lecture basically condensing my dissertation for my graduate committee, colleagues, professors, students, family and friends- the one where I have to remember how to play the cello reeeeaallly awesome after that good ol' pregnancy carpal tunnel and lazy "new mom" excuse for not practicing for the past six months- is happening in less than 18 days.

Reality hit me today.

Cue the freak out.

5 Months Old

Our sweet little lady is 5 months old! She loves oatmeal, apples, and carrots but hates avocado and bananas.  She is taking a break from being the awesome sleeper that she has been since about 3 weeks old.  Instead of sleeping a good 8-10 hours a night, we get to visit her every 3 hours or so to help her get back to sleep. Nathan is so helpful with her and has developed a particular talent for helping her get back to sleep in the middle of the night. Clementine is working hard on being weaned from her swaddle now that she can roll over onto her face all swaddled up, and I think that is the biggest part of the problem. She loves the sound of her own voice and "talks" all the time, especially when she is getting sleepy.  She also squeals and blows razzberries.  She thinks it's pretty funny when ever I say nonsense syllables like ma ma ma ma or da da da da.  She also loves "flying" and being tickled and kicking her strong little legs.  She's getting good at sitting up, and can balance in a sitting position for a few seconds all on her own.  She loves books and loves to be read to.  She grabs on to the pages and can turn them when she's done looking.  She is becoming better friends with Samson.  She likes petting his soft fur but sometimes grabs onto it in her strong fists.  Samson is so patient with her and curious about everything she does.  She loves swinging in the hammock and playing peek-a-boo. She loves looking out the window and smiles so big whenever she sees herself in the mirror.   When she wakes up, she always greets us with a big happy smile.  She is easy going and content.  She loves to play and roll around on the floor.  She's not very cuddly, but she's snuggly when she first wakes up and I love it.  Her soft hair is getting longer and darker.  It can lay flat now, but still goes crazy sometimes.  She's getting chubbier, especially her little thighs, and she is growing soooo fast.  I love belonging to this sweet baby girl.  

Real Parenthood

I feel like Nathan and I have been inducted into real parenthood this week.  Because we have both been majorly pooped on within the past few days.  Once while Clementine and I were enjoying a relaxing night time bath together. And twice in a row while Nathan was changing her diaper before bed.  Two posh Pampers wasted.  :)

You know that you seriously love your baby when you are sitting in her poopy water and you still think that she is the cutest baby in the world.  Never thought that I would feel that way.  Ever.

In other Clementine news, she is on her third day of experimenting with rice cereal!  She had her 4 month birthday and well-baby check up on Monday.  She is still tall and thin like the Daddy- 66% for height and 17% for weight.  Although Dr. Witt isn't worried about her weight, he wants us to get going on the solid food to see if we can chunk her up a bit.  I was worried that she wouldn't be ready yet- everything that I have read (yes, I still read obsessively about baby needs) says that you should definitely wait until they are 6 months old before starting solids.  But the verdict is in- she loves it!  She smiles and opens her little mouth for each bite.  And it's darling, even with rice cereal dripping down her chin.  

Once Upon A Time...

… there was this nasty moment in Morris family life where the wife caught pink eye at the family Christmas party…

… she used some over-the-counter eye drops to help it feel better, and when it cleared up, she thought she threw away the bottle.  But she threw away the wrong stuff.  Then, a few weeks later, the husband had allergy eyes, and used the over-the-counter stuff that should have been in the trash can to help him feel better.  And then this happened...

And it was awful.  He tried his best to stay far away from the sweet baby, so that her cute little eyes would be spared, but he couldn't help himself.  After giving her sweet cuddles and kisses before bed one night, she woke up the next morning like this...

Poor thing, huh?  After 5 days of wrangling drops into her eyes every morning and night, I think the curse of the pink eye might finally be gone for good.  I sprayed Clorox disinfectant spray over every door knob and surface in the house.  I cleaned all the bedding in hot water and aired out the bedrooms.  

PINK EYE BE GONE!  … AND PLEASE NEVER RETURN! 

Happy 2014!

I feel like I better write my New Year post before January is over!

2013 was an awesome year! I spent almost all of it growing a human, and then figuring out how to keep that little human alive and happy.  I didn't get much done as far as school goes.  I didn't exercise much at all.  I even gained an awesome 36 pounds.  But I DID read a ton of books and articles about natural childbirth and parenthood.  I tried to overcome my selfish and whiney pregnant tendencies.  And I birthed a darling healthy baby without any compromising pain medications.  And that's one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.  

2014 feels completely different than 2013.  Clementine has completely changed everything.  Life isn't about me anymore- it is all about taking care of her and keeping her healthy and happy.  She is a big ol' life lesson in putting someone else's needs before my own.  I'm learning patience and creativity and how to SLOW DOWN my pace.  It's really good for me.  

This year, some exciting things are going to happen.  I am going to FINALLY finish my lecture recital and dissertation and finish my DMA degree at the U once and for all.  After 10 years of post-highschool education, it's going to be reeeeeally nice to be finished.  

Nathan is also going to graduate from Ameritech College in August and start a real life nursing job.  That's going to be awesome too.  One stepping stone closer to becoming a Woman's Health Nurse Practitioner. Yesssss.  

And we're going to pay off a huge chunk of our student loans.  One stepping stone closer to saving up a downpayment for a house.  Woot.  

This year, Clementine will learn to roll all the way over, crawl, walk, eat solid food, and probably even talk a little.  By the end of the year, she won't be a baby any more, she'll be a little toddler!  What??  This is a huge year for her!  

On New Year's Eve, we filled out these little resolution worksheets and we have them hanging on the fridge.  My word for 2014 is SELF-DISCIPLINE!  I need to be disciplined with my time, especially!  Time is an easy thing to waste, but I have too much to get done and too much of it is flying by too fast to twiddle my thumbs. 

 I'm excited for a great new year.  Bring it on, 2014!  

3 Years Married, Christmas 2013, and Clementine's Blessing

On December 18th, Nathan and I celebrated our third year of marriage.  And what an awesome year it was!  Not long after our 2nd anniversary, we found out that our little baby was on her way, and we spent the rest of the year getting ready and getting excited for her to come.  And then she DID come and she changed our little family forever.  Without a doubt, I fell more in love with Nathan this past year.  He loved me through some of my sickest, fattest, most emotional and hardest times.  I am such a lucky wife! 

To celebrate, we dropped Clementine off to hang out with the Walkers and their cats while we went out to dinner at Tucanos.  Then we spent some time walking around temple square, enjoying the lights.  It was nice being just the two of us, but I kept feeling like we were forgetting something.  Being a mom has turned me anxious! While we were on temple square, we snuck up to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building's Harmony room where we had our wedding dinner.  We quickly snapped this photo, and I think the caterer cleaning up the room thought we were crazy.  But it was a fun memory.  

We picked up Clementine and stayed the night at the beautiful Haxton Manor.  She slept like a little champ, and the inn keeper even commented on what a good baby she is.  

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful blanket of snow- just like on the first morning of our honeymoon.

Fast forward to Christmas.  I had so much fun this year getting ready for Christmas with Clementine.  I loved reading Christmas books to her every night, and singing Christmas songs to her throughout the day. Even though she's still really small, I think she could tell there was something special about what was going on.  

Our Christmas Eve elves, Jingle and Jangle (idea credit to Adam and Andrea) brought us each new Christmas jammies, a new bedtime story for Clementine, a movie and some popcorn.  But by the time we opened Jingle and Jangle's box, we were all toooo tired to stay awake through a movie.  We'll do better next year…

On Christmas morning, Clementine let us sleep later than usual- thanks baby!  We woke up and listened to the last episode of The Christmas Chronicles while Clementine ate breakfast.  And then we opened Samson's presents, our presents and Clementine's presents.  Here we are with our spoils.  

Clementine definitely came away with the biggest pile this year.  I couldn't even help myself.  

Fast forward to January 5th.  The day Clementine was blessed in church.  I'm mad at myself for not taking more pictures of the day.  I didn't even take a picture of her in her dress!  But this is a picture of her in the dress the day we bought it- about three weeks before her actual blessing day.  And on the real day, we changed out the black sash for a white one.  

This picture IS of her on her blessing day, but without the dress on.  I just love what her hair is doing these days.  It's so soft, but it sticks straight up all over the top of her head.  

These darling little girly shoes and socks were given to Clementine by Grandpa Blake and Grandma Laurie for Christmas to be used on her blessing day.  What a sweet sweet gift!  

Nathan did a great job on the blessing.  He called her "little Lady" and "Sweet Clementine" throughout the blessing, just like we call her at home.  She was blessed with many great gifts and blessings, but what keeps standing out to me is how much she is going to be like her Grandma Gae.  And that fills my heart with joy! 

After the blessing we had a little hot chocolate party to celebrate and visit with friends and family.  Thanks everyone for coming and sharing your delicious treats!  I was touched by all the love and support I felt from everyone who came.  We are lucky to be surrounded by so many loved ones.  They say it takes a village to raise a child.  I think Clementine's village is a pretty great one.