@@Jade and daddy's first dance@@

Daddy is so afraid Jade would turn into a typical Asian girl who can't dance, just like mommy. So he's training her to be in tune with the rhythm at a very young age (3 weeks and 5 days). And Jade seems to respond well. Are you gonna be a party girl, Jade?

～蓝祺儿～ Jade's Chinese Name

蓝祺儿 is Jade's Chinese name. It means precious blue jade. It's pronounced as lan2 qi2 er.

There are two folds to this name. The jade part is easy. There are so many different Chinese characters that mean jade. I picked the word qi祺 because it means the best grade of jade, precious jade.

Also Lanqier is the name of one of my favorite Chinese princesses in the Qing dynasty. She's a free-style princess, which is very unusual in the dynasties. Princesses are supposed to be very boring because they have to follow a million different rules in the palace and be proper at all times. But princess Lanqier is very much free-style. She's super smart, incredibly beautiful (thanks to her gorgeous concubine mother), independent, good to her parents and kind and generous to her servants. Because of her many good attributes and uniqueness, she's most favored by her dad, the emperor, among the thousand other princesses.

I hope my baby girl will grow up to be like Princess Lanqier, smart and strong!

WE love you, baby girl!

Jade's 3 weeks old

Jade is 3 weeks old today! She's been such a joy in our life. Last night she slept from mid-night to 6:30am this morning!! We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's not just a one-time thing.

Here's some picture show and tell.

The 1st time getting her hair washed. She liked it all the way till the end.



We think she might have curly hair when it gets long :-)
Jade likes hanging out with daddy.
Loves daddy's shoulders.

Jade and mommy are buddies :-)
Here's some sleeping pictures. She's so gorgeous, even with her baby acne :-)

I caught half a smile here. She melts your heart when she puts on that big smile.
Mommy giving Jade a manicure and pedicure :-)
Tummy time. She can hold her head up for 20 seconds.

Where's Waldo? Here she is!!
Jade's first bottle. She was a little confused for a sec, but as soon as she got milk, she's happy. I pumped milk so John could feed her during the night and I can sleep in :-) What a sweet daddy :-)

**A little treat to brighten your day**

Have you seen a cuter 20-hour old baby?!!

Jade's 2 weeks' old

We took Jade in for week 2 check-up in Cedar City. The doctor was less than satisfactory, but Jade is more than healthy. Compared to her birth stats, she's gained 3 more ounces (8.13lbs, 50% on the growth chart), grown 2 more inches (22 inches, 97%), and daddy's already worried about her not being able to find a tall enough boyfriend :-)

We've been in New Harmony at John's parents' for a week now. Time flies. Jade's sleeping well during the day, but she tends to want to play at night. It usually takes us at least an hour to get her back to sleep after she eats. She eats every 3-4 hours and seems to be happy with mommy's milk.

Here's a few pictures for show-and-tell.

Mommy and auntie Megan gave me my first bath.
I love hanging out in my swing, practicing my kongfu and such...
But sometimes I need more attention from mommy and daddy.
Jade's first outing with Mark and Callie and first restaurant: Zupas! Daddy says he wishes that's his first restaurant :-)

First long car-ride: Provo to New Harmony. Jade did great. We only had to stop once to feed and change her.

First Massage by Daddy. Spoiled little princess.
Do you see the theme in my shirts? I love my daddy cuz he's the best!

~~Umm, I could get used to this, daddy~~
Grandpa Paul, I wanna eat!

The Graduate

Introducing the new graduate in our family: John Alfred Carr~~

According to John, this is IT for his school life. But we'll see. School could be stressful and stupid sometimes, with lots of loops to jump through, but it could also lead you to a key that'll open the door to a possibly better future.

But for now, we're so glad we're both done with school. Now the tuition money can go toward the diaper funds. The way Jade's using diapers, I'm not even sure John's tuition will cover the expense :-)

~Jade Li Carr~蓝祺儿

Jade Li Carr: Born at 5:33pm, August 5, 2010, 8 pounds 10 ounces, 20.5 inches, Timponogas Regional Hospital, Orem, Utah

Jade was one day overdue. My doctor was going out of town that weekend, so it was either switch doctors or have an induction. I went with the latter and it was a good decision. I went in to the hospital at 8am August 5. I got an epidural before the induction began, which is another great decision. Thank goodness for epidurals, I had a painless labor. After 10 minutes of pushing, the doctor told me Jade's head was turned to the side and offered me two solutions: keep pushing for another 2 hours or he could help with forceps. Not knowing anything about forceps, I agreed to it after confirming that it wouldn't cause harm to the baby. It turned out great. Jade is perfectly healthy and mommy didn't have to push for 2 hours.

Recovery was a little tough at the beginning. I lost a little too much blood and had to have 3 units of blood transfusion after a little fainting episode on the toilet. But all is well. I'm well on my way to recovery.

We were grateful for our doctor who was calm, experienced, and considerate. We're grateful for the guidance of the spirit in all our decision making process. We're grateful for mom, who was there the whole time taking care of us. I'm grateful for John, who's so loving and supportive the whole time. We're grateful for Jade, who chose to join our little family. She's just so perfect!