6 months...really?

6 MONTHS OLD?!?

I really can't believe my baby is 6 months old! In some ways the time has flown and in others it has crawled. What a ride! The adjustments have been many and I am still making them every day. Evelyn is sitting up very well. She has even started scooting, but usually moves backwards and then gets mad that the object of her efforts is growing ever further out of reach.

I can't believe how fast life changes. In 2009 I completed my bachelors degree. In 2010 I was traveling the world. 2011 brought marriage to the greatest man I have ever met, and 2012 brought our sweet Evelyn Marie into our lives. I wonder what 2013 has in store for us. I would like to think it will hold a masters degree for me, but that is probably wishful thinking...fingers crossed for 2014 on that one!

Kevin and I are both in classes and working this semester. YIKES! Kevin has Evelyn in the mornings on MWF while I go to class and/or teach Music 101. Then I have her the rest of the day and work remotely from home while she naps so Kevin can go to school and work. I think she likes having Kevin all to herself all morning. It has been pretty crazy so far, and will only get more so, but I think we can do it!  This is the last semester of classes for me, and the last semester of Kevin's bachelors degree. Hopefully by this time next year he will be settled into his masters degree or a new job.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS: I often go overboard with resolutions then get discouraged when I can't stick to them all. This year I tried to be more realistic. Kevin and I only made one resolution for this year as a couple. Read at least one full chapter of the Book of Mormon together every night before bed. So far so good! I also made a resolution for myself to make our family's food as healthy as Evelyn's baby food by the time she is eating what we are.

...speaking of baby food. Evelyn started solids last month. I make most of her foods (at least the normal foods) because it is fresher and more economical. She LOVES trying new things! She hasn't refused anything yet. Her favorites are avocado, oatmeal, prunes, and sweet potatoes.

 Excited for breakfast!

I used to do a lot of housework while Evelyn napped, but now I find the need to do homework then so I can focus and so she doesn't eat my textbooks. (She has a thing for print books. She kept going after mine while I was reading it so I gave her an old one to keep her occupied. Before I realized what was going on almost half the page was missing...no bits of paper survived!) This semester I need to do chores with my little buddy. This week she helped me with the laundry.

                               

 I sure hope Kevin's socks passed the taste test!   :)

Finals Mayhem!

Most of you who will actually read this, know that I am working on my master's thesis. By "working on it" I mean sort of starting. My committee chair, Jeremy Grimshaw, let me know that picking a topic is the hardest part right up until you hit editing. He encouraged me to "swim" in the literature out there and find something that has been under studied and study it.

During my "swim" I found an original opera manuscript in the vaults at BYU that dates back to the early 1800's. No one can read it since the alphabet used has not been seen much since the mid 1800's. The parts are also in disarray and the full score is missing. I have studied paleography and could transliterate and translate the document as well as lining up the parts to create a full, usable score of an opera that hasn't been performed in over a century. I was so excited about my find! Unfortunately, the head of the department thought it was more appropriate for a dissertation than a thesis. After more swimming I settled on:

A Melting Pot of Style: Stylistic eclecticism in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos.

When it comes to Ariadne auf Naxos (a comic opera) everyone has something to say. When scholars mention it, even just in passing, they either call it a neoclassical opera or refute those who do. Few do any more than label it and move on, and none show how they reached their conclusion. I am super excited to become a Strauss expert during the next year while I address an issue that has been under-studied in my field. Nerdy? YOU BET! I am thirteen pages in and only have 70-90 more!

For finals all I had to do was submit my prospectus for approval. The mayhem kicked in here:

1500 pages of grading for my reading pleasure! This is the first group turned in

...about 1000 pages.

I pulled an all-nighter Monday night with Kevin to help him with a beastly paper that had a super strange prompt. Tuesday, Evelyn started acting sick. Wednesday, I realized she must be teething (drooling, crying, gnawing on everything, and loving the cold teether). So Thursday and Friday we lived on the couch snuggling and my grading took a hiatus. She is so precious. I love our snuggle time, but will be glad when she isn't hurting anymore!

Other highlights of the week:

 At 5 months and 1 week Evelyn figured how to sit up...mostly, and now refuses to lay down. One word. Adorable.

She was so excited to be sitting up that she kept grinning at students 

we passed on campus, and cried when I buckled her in reclining.

By Friday she was sitting almost vertical, but yesterday she developed a 

serious lean that usually ends with her on her face :)

We made it through the week with hard work and impeccable nutrition.

Cold cereal made up 2 meals a day, and a crock pot supper the other. 

Not ideal...but it sure made life easier!

Finally the weekend arrived. We finished Kevin's grad school application and got a chance to relax. We are SO excited for the break!

Kevin and Evelyn taking a much needed siesta.