Tagged!

All you ever needed to know about my Husband:


What is his name? Branden Gerald Allen
How long have you been together? Total: 3 1/2, married 2 1/2 years
How long did you date? About five months before we got engaged. The funny thing is that I thought Branden was the kind of guy who would never settle down and get married. I thought we were dating "just for fun"
How old is he? 27 next month
Who eats more? He does, especially nachos, Dr. Pepper and sour patch kids.
Who said I love you first? He did but he said it like this, "Um... I think I might be, sort of, a little bit, maybe, kind of falling in love with you?" So I didn't think he needed a decent response until he gave it a better shot.
Who is taller? He is, by just the right amount. I don't have to hurt my neck kissing him but I can still wear heels.
Who can sing better? That would probably be a tie for bad singing skills.
Who is smarter? That depends. I am smarter at book smarts but he is much better at remembering useless facts about music, pop culture and sports. Ask him anything.
Who does the laundry? Mostly me, especially now that I am doing a load of poopy baby clothes every other day, but he still helps out.
Who pays the bills? Me.
Who sleeps in the right side? If you are facing the bed, then it is me. I am on the side closest to the bathroom out of necessity.
Who mows the lawn? I do because it is one of my favorite things but Branden hates when I do because he thinks all the neighbors think that he is a horrible husband. Especially when I was pregnant.
Who cooks dinner? I guess I do, but that is not saying much.
Who drives? If we are together he does.
Who is more stubborn? We argue about who is more stubborn, and no one has given in yet, so that probably means we are both very stubborn.
Who kissed who first? He asked to kiss me, but I said "no" and then immediately kissed him anyway.
Who asked who out first? Probably he asked me but we "hung out" a lot before that.
Who proposed? He did, and it was much more impressive than the first "i love you."
Who has more friends? We basically have all of the same friends, which is wonderful.
Who is more sensitive? Definitely me. Especially during the whole pregnancy and postpartum period. Branden thought I should be put on medication.
Who has more siblings? He has four and I have three but mine are much taller.
Who wears the pants? We both wear pants.

I tag... Chelsea, Dixie, Annie and Melinda

Do Thumb Suckers Suck?

Marina's new favorite fascination is her thumb. She is not super coordinated, so she will spend a good ten minutes working to get her thumb into her mouth. Once it is there she goes to town sucking like crazy. Instead of balling up her hand into a fist, she spreads her other fingers out and explores her face while she is sucking on her thumb. Now, this probably makes me an awful mom, but I love love love to watch her do this. It is way too cute.


However, my grandmother and several others have warned me not to let Marina get into the habit of sucking her thumb. I kind of like the thumb sucking because she doesn't need me to get her a binki as often, but I guess thumb sucking is a harder habit to break. This is yet another issue that I am clueless on as a mom. What do you think? Let me know if you are pro or con and if you have any tips. Thanks!

Blessings

Our beautiful baby girl was blessed last Sunday, January 6th (her two month birthday!). Branden did a wonderful job with the blessing. He was very nervous the night before because of the mishap that happened last time he spoke in church. I won't mention what he said- it is probably best to keep our blog "clean"- but he was speaking on the Resurrection. . . (think of words that rhyme). . . Anyway, it was a wonderful experience to hear my husband use the priesthood to bless our little girl. I am so glad that he is righteous and worthy to do these kinds of things for our family. I am a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful husband.

After the blessing we enjoyed cramming all of our family into our small house for brunch. Thanks to everyone who attended or helped out. We love you all, and we especially love our tiny angel. We are so blessed to have an eternal family thanks to the blessings of the temple and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Marina Mae wore the blessing dress that my grandma gave to my mom for my blessing. I love it because it is simple and looked absolutely beautiful on her.


The pic on the right is me in the same blessing dress. I was clearly not as happy a baby as Marina. I am pouting in all of my blessing pictures. (Also, as you can see from this scanned image from my old scrapbook, a crafting-challenged twelve year old should not be allowed to make her own scrapbook!)


This is a four generation picture: (R to L) my grandma Marilyn, my mom Laura, me, and my lovely little girl. Marina and I have both been blessed with awesome grandmothers!

Speaking of blessings, Marina is now sleeping through the night. She slept nine and a half hours last night without waking up to eat!