Still Pictures Can't Do This Justice

Syrah really found what I was doing funny. This is the first time that she has laughed out loud in response to something other than being tickled. It was so cute that I had to record it for all of you. * Pause web-music before playing video. Go to very bottom of the blog, find music player and click on pause. Now enjoy!

Happy Birthday

Syrah is 6 months today! I can't believe how much she has grown. Before we know it, we will be celebrating her 1st birthday!

* Pause web-music before playing video. Go to very bottom of the blog, find music player and click on pause. Now enjoy!

Bounce Bounce

The video says everything. Enjoy! * Pause web-music before playing video. Go to very bottom of the blog, find music player and click on pause. Now enjoy!

The not so hidden Easter egg hunt!

This was Syrah's first Easter and boy did she like her basket! After letting her play, we did the 1st ever, Wood family tradition ... The Not So Hidden Easter Egg Hunt! She had a lot of fun. See for yourself. * Pause web-music before playing video. Go to very bottom of the blog, find music player and click on pause. Now enjoy!

Syrah Cotton-tail (well, sort of. We call her bunny butt when she wears these PJs).

Baby Blessing

On March 29th, Syrah had her baby blessing. It was very beautiful. We had many Church members come up to Tony and thank him for his blessing; saying that it was very moving and thoughtful. By far, that day was the strongest we have felt the Spirit since getting married. Below is her blessing:

Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you with the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, to present you with this child, to give her a name and blessing. The name which she shall be known upon this earth and upon the records of the church is Syrah Jolene Wood.

Syrah, at this time, we bless you so that you will have a great life upon this earth. That you shall walk upon it with the strength and conviction that Heavenly Father has for you. That you may do so with the spirit that radiates from you, so that everyone that comes is contact with you will feel it.

We bless you with health, and beauty, both inside and outside. We also bless you with the ability to find a husband that is worth of you; so that you can love and cherish that moment with him, and the life that you have together. We bless you with the will and strength to uphold the principles of the gospel and to strive for a temple marriage.

We also pray and bless you that you will have the gift of foresight so that everything that you do before you do it, you know exactly what the choices will be and that you will be happy with the very choices that you make. We bless you with a strong mind and strong spirit. These things we say in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

For those who do not know about our LDS traditions: The ward Bishop invited Tony and those involved to the front of the congregation. All those involved hold the authority through the Priesthood. With Syrah in Tony's arms, the men stood in a circle around her. While Tony named and blessed her, the congregation silently prayed with him. His blessing to Syrah was as the Holy Ghost inspired him.

Most babies are blessed within the first few weeks of being born and blessed on the 1st Sunday of the month. We did not bless Syrah at that time because we were waiting to see if Derek could make it up. Sadly he was unable and then my parent went on vacation for 3 weeks. After that, time went so quickly and we lost track of it.

But what is important is that she has been blessed.

April days!

Well, I think it is about time for an update. Sabrina - I am doing ok. I have now been back at work for 3 months and it is still working out. It has been a challenge being gone from Tony and Syrah for so long, but I try and make the best of the time I have with them before bed. My job itself it good. I could not ask for anything more (except the opportunity to work part-time). I have been accepted into a pretty competitive mentorship program that will last until Sryah's 1st birthday. This program will help give me a deeper look into Costco's operations and give insight into any future career goals/paths I would like to take. My mentor is the Assistant Vice President of in the International Division. I was paired up perfectly with her. I look forward to meeting with her one-on-one to learn about her job and other department functions. The International Division is responsible for starting our warehouses, ordering products, and managing the expatriates in Japan, Korea, England, Mexico, Scotland, Taiwan, Australia. We will have to see where this goes for me. Tony - He has been under a great deal of stress as of late. His job just went through a round of lay-offs in his specific department. Thankfully, he still has his job. We are pretty sure that he is safe, but we never know what can happen in a couple of months or years. Unfortunately, two of the people that were laid off were friends of his. These people helped make work fun for Tony and everyone else and now they are leaving. With all the uncertainty and anxiety in at work, Tony is staying strong. He is the perfect daddy! Tony has been getting the urge to write his book lately. This has been a goal for him since Junior High/High School. Some of the ideas that come from his mind are very captivating. I know that once he gets his book written and possibly published, it will be a great read! I know Syrah will love his bedtime stories as well; Tony really knows how to get the imagination working. Syrah - She has been the one with the most going on! It is amazing how big she is getting. She is almost 6 months now and WOW! She is sitting up so well, eating baby food and being an extremely happy baby. She has started to hold her own bottle and grab the spoon when its dinner time. It is pretty cute because we can tell that she loves doing things with us. She has also become very mobile by rolling all over the place. She doesn't stay in one spot for very long. Below are the photos taken in the past month. She has been busy learning about the world around her! First day she played outside. The weather was perfect!

She loves seeing and touching animals! We thought the bunny was fitting for Easter :)

Syrah is sitting on Great Grandma's lap with her cousin Noah. That day we found out that Amanda is having a baby. Since then, we are excited because she is having a girl! Now Syrah will have someone to grow up with and have a strong friendship with.

FOOD!!!!! She really likes baby oatmeal and other baby foods.

"I knew I had feet!"

I am sorry

Hello, I am sorry that there hasn't been an update in a while. We are dealing with a couple of things and I have not had the time to get any postings out. With that in mind, I am trying to find a little bit of time here and there to work on Syrah's next video and get a massive amount of postings with pictures. Syrah is growing up so quickly that I can't keep up with the blog. Since my last post, she is now eating solids, sitting up, reaching for everything around her, and completely rolling over both sides. She stands up holding onto our hands extremely well, in fact, she gets upset when you try and sit her down. She has learned that when we try and sit her down, she pushes her hips out so that her bottom won't make contact to you lap. Syrah is just a happy baby right now. As for Tony and I, we are doing ok. Things in our life could be changing soon, maybe for the better … but maybe for the worse. We will just have to see how things play out over the next few weeks/month.

YUMMY!!!!!!

I think Syrah might be ready to start solid foods. She was very interested in what we were eating and she decided that she wanted to try. The only problem was that she really couldn't reach the food so she settled for something else :)

Dress up!

Daddy took us out to eat for Valentines day! Syrah really loves her dress because she can lift the first layer over her face.

Su-Seuss Crew

As we came together as one happy family to spend time together watching a TV show called America's Best Dance Crew, we never thought Syrah's fascination would amount to anything ... until we noticed a change in her behavior (as evidenced below). Evidence 1: b-girl style and attitude Hot pink hooded jump suite with one leg rolled up and flat tennies.

Evidence 2: Hanging out with the boyz ... with attitude as well ... ... and looking worried that she go caught! Watch out Quest Crew, Jabbawockeez and Beat Freaks! Syrah's crew, Su-Seuss, will battle with you any time! So bring it!

Just Because

She is so STINKING cute!

Believe It or Not ...

SYRAH IS BALDING :(

Saturday Night Game Night

This last weekend, we went to the Strickland's home to hang out. While the guys played Settlers of Catan, the girls talked in the living room. Syrah was interested in what Daddy was doing ... she quickly got bored. So she went to hang out with her friend Levi.

Sitting Up

Looks like she still needs some help with this.

Getting up: "I can do this ..."

Sitting up: "Go me! I did it ..."

Oops! Too far! "So that is what my feet look like ..."

Back up: "I like this position more than the last one ..."

"Yeah, I like this position."

Poodles Everywhere

Golly! Isn't Syrah a Dolly in her Hip pink poodle dress! She can be a Paper Shaker at the Passion Pit with her girlfriends while sitting in her Rag Top that her Big Daddy gave her. Doesn't that just Razz Your Berries? 1950s Slang Revealed Dolly - Cute girl Hip - Something cool Paper Shaker - Pom Pom girl or CheerleaderPassion Pit - Drive in theater Rag Top - Convertible car Big Daddy - Older person (in this case Abuelo) Razz Your Berries - Excite you

The Syraptor

* Pause web-music before playing video. Go to very bottom of the blog, find music player and click on pause. Now enjoy! Well, I just completed my first month back at work full time. It has been difficult to say the least. Even though we have wonderful people taking care of Syrah, it is still hard for me to not feel guilty. I am her mother and I should be the one taking care of her. Syrah is doing well with her childcare schedule. On Mondays, she is with Abuela (my mother), Tuesdays & Thursdays is Julia (a friend) and Wednesday is with Auntie Amanda. Due to a couple of factors, I am working 9/80 (9 hours a day for 9 days). This gives me every other Friday off and since Tony works 4/10, he has every Friday off. So, as you may guess, Friday is a very special day in our family because Syrah gets to stay home with Daddy or Mommy … or both! Since I am working 9 hours a day, commuting up to 4 hours round trip, eating a quick dinner and spending as much time with Syrah as possible before bedtime, blogging is on the back burner L BUT, when I can find a couple of minuets (even though it cuts into my sleep time) I am working on my next post; which brings me to today! A couple of weekends ago, the three of us were sick. Luckily Syrah only had a tummy bug that caused more dirty diaper than usual and Tony was out from work a day or two. I on the other hand had ended up with a sinus infection and was out of work for 3 – 4 days. With the help of strong antibiotics, my health has improved. While we were all home sick, we took some cute videos of Syrah. Who know we have the cutest little monster in our family!

Massive Picture Update

Below are some random pictures of Syrah. Sorry it has taken me so long to get more pictures on the blog. Enjoy and stay tuned!

Little Sumo ... Syrah Yamamoto

She practicing to live the island life in Puerto Rico.

Super Smile!

One too many drinks.

"Daddy, read me another book!"

She is bringing back 80's neon.

Hola! Te gusta me bigote? (Do you like my mustache)

The all new, 2009 fashion trend ... light socket hair.

"Seriously, who picks these styles?"

No doubt about it, she has BLUE eyes.

Bedtime with Daddy.

OOPS! Caught on camera!

Cyborg Syrah! "I'll be back"