Published!

In between motherhood, I have been working on getting some manuscripts ready for publication. I am happy to say that I have one article accepted for publication in the Journal of Family Psychology and another (my thesis) has just been submitted to the journal Fathering. And I will be attending the APA conference this summer in San Diego to present some research. It feels good to have these things off my plate. But I do enjoy this whole research thing. I have a good opportunity to continue research with my chair, Ramon, on projects he has and also analyzing my data more. No doubt it is a lot of work, but it is very rewarding.

Major findings from my thesis submitted to Fathering:

• Recreational activities that fathers do at home with their families are related to greater levels of family coheion, family adaptability and overall family functioning than activities out of the home such as tvacations, camp outs, or other big family events. This is true from a father and youth perspective
• Satisfaction with these everday activities is the single greatest predictor of family cohesion, family adaptability, and overall family functioning from both a father and youth perspective
• In other words, DAD MATTERS!!!! Also, not only is it the level, or amount, of everday activities that fathers participate in that predicts greater levels of family functioning, but also the quality of the interactions.

5 Months

Hallie turns 5 months tomorrow! My goodness how time flies! Hallie is starting to be able to do so many fun things. She likes to hold her own bottle, she loves to sing songs, she is still a great sleeper. One of my favorite things is when she wakes up and I come in to get her--she is always so excited and kicks and smiles and is so dang cute. She loves people and will easily go to anyone. She is eating solid foods and she loves bananas. She is very easy going--she'll sleep anywhere, will eat cold food as well as warm. (Traveling has been so easy with her.) She is very calm and hardly cries; when she wants something she grunts for it. She has found her feet and loves to hold onto them. She is getting stronger all the time. She loves to look in the mirror; she always stomps her feet and squeals with delight when she sees herself. We are just enjoying our little girl!

Beth Annie Comes to Visit

We spent some great time in Chapel Hill walking around UNC.

We ate dinner at The Top of the Hill.

And on this night Bethany caught her very first firefly!

We enjoyed time at Carolina Beach.

We all took a nap listening to the beautiful waves

and then ended the day right with Ritas.

We enjoyed the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte.

This place was amazing!
The had tons of stuff to do in the great outdoors.

 We enjoyed 2 rafting trips and some kayaking.

There was just not enough time to do everything...

biking, hiking, rockwalls, geo caching, etc.

Although not pictured, we went to the massive Farmers Market, we ate yummy food on the 4th of July and enjoyed the fireworks with you. We had a great time with you Bethany and were so sad to see you leave. You are such a great friend to us and a good example of doing what is right. We could just sit around at home just hanging out and laughing with you all the time. Who knows where we will be next summer...maybe another visit will be in order?

Ben is Married!

Ashton, Hallie and I flew to AZ for my little brother's wedding. He married Liberty Thompson in the Mesa temple on June 25th. It was a beautiful day...hot, but beautiful. Ashton stayed a few days and then flew back for work and Hallie and I stayed a bit longer. It was great to catch up with family and friends. One of our favorite things to do in AZ is get an agua from the agua shop--oh so yummy. And boy is it hot in AZ, but it is so nice and dry. It is blazing here in NC with this humidity.

Anyway, we are so happy for Ben. He and Liberty are so in love and they are so dang cute, always holding hands and hugging when they think no one is looking.Oh to be newly wed again!

1st Solids

At 4 months our doctor told us we can start giving Hallie solids in the evening before her last bottle for the day. We started her off on just rice cereal and needless to say, she wasn't crazy about it. But now we mix it in with a fruit or veggie and she is doing awesome! She loves everything that she has tried so far--pears, carrots, greenbeans, peaches, bananas--all but yucky, plain, rice cereal!