And Now We Are FOUR

Christmas, Travels, Birthdays, etc.

2012-01-31T18:10:00.000-08:00

So sorry it has taken me so long to update. December was a whirlwind of travels to Arizona for a funeral, back to Nevada to pack and then 2 days (one way) of travel to Texas to see my family for Christmas. We were exhausted but really enjoyed seeing family! The kids LOVE Papa and Juju and all the cousins, aunts and uncles. While we were in Corpus Christi we went to the beach, fishing, saw the USS Lexington, toured Corpus, and lots of relaxing. On the way we stopped in Lubbock to see my aunts, uncles and cousins and get some sleep! When we arrived in Corpus, we got to see my aunts and uncle and grandma (my dad's family) and my Nana (my mom's mom) and loved getting to visit with everyone!

Once we were back to Nevada we tried to get settled back in while celebrating all the January birthdays in our house (mine, Jeremy's and Reagan's). I also took (almost) a month to put away Christmas decor- it HAS NEVER taken me that long!!! Sheesh! The main reason it took so long is because I have been feeling lousy for about 2 months and that is because we are expecting baby #3. We don't know gender yet but I have been so sick so no matter what it is (boy or girl), I know its healthy! I usually start my day throwing up and then taking my medicine and eating breakfast so I know it all won't come back up and I then wasted a pill!

Blogger isn't liking the pictures I am trying to upload so hopefully I can get those uploaded in the next post but for now know that we are alive and kicking :)

Random thoughts and pictures

2011-12-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

I am up before my kids this morning because my aunt just called to tell me my grandpa passed away. I am sad, of course, but more relieved because now his mind and body are one again. He is no longer in pain or suffering. He is back with my grandma and my mom. What a great reunion. Still, it is sad for those of us he left. We will miss him but have wonderful memories. I am grateful he was able to meet my children (even though he wouldnt remember them) and that I have a few pictures of them with him. Love you grandpa!!

Moving on to a lil more positive...I have found some random pictures of the kids that I never got around to posting and today seems like a good day as any :)

These are some adventures the kids had been up to in the past few months that I never got around to posting...sorry! Have a great day everyone.

Halloween

2011-11-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

So sorry for the lack of posts. Life has been busy and thats not really an excuse- just an explanation. We are in Idaho this week for Thanksgiving and I FINALLY got Halloween pictures (and a few other random shots) put into the computer so wanted to post real quick before Thanksgiving arrived (tomorrow) and then I was 2 holidays behind! :) In other news, we have tiles our backsplash in the kitchen and are building a wall in our garage for our food storage :) It is looking great and I am so excited to have it done! I am also very excited to eventually park our cars in the garage! Sigh

Hunter was Buzz Lightyear again and Reagan was Jessie from Toy Story. We went trick or treating for about 30 minutes. Reagan loved it and got the hang of it very quickly! Hunter loved the fact that he could pick out candy from the bowls and didn't have to get what was given...he was quite the charmer with a couple houses.

Whirlwind!!

2011-09-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry no pictures but a quick update. We are all moved in, still unpacking. Cameras are nowhere to be found...we are trying to sell our car (2005 Ford Escape, if you are interested :)), unpack a few boxes each day and do some minor (sometimes major) repairs on the house. Sigh. The condo is almost done with all the construction in the bathroom(s). We are slowly unpacking things and our garage is filling up with wood working projects we want to do/finish (dressers, beds refinishing, laundry pedestal construction, etc). The kids seem to be adjusting just fine to the fact that they are now in separate rooms for sleeping and we have had 0 falls down the stairs so far :). Hope you all are doing well and hopefully we can find our camera and start posting pictures!

Before and After

2011-08-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well, our new house is done! :) We have been moving boxes over all week and Aubrie has been here helping a ton so it has gone smoothly and we are a little more than half way done :) Yay! i will post before and after pictures of each of the main rooms that needed the most work- kitchen, downstairs bath and both upstairs bathrooms, and the linen closet at the top of the stairs :) Enjoy:

Downstairs Bathroom:

Laundry Room:

(sorry the after picture is so bad- my flash wasnt cooperating

Upstairs Bathroom: (sorry the shot is different- dont know where the other went)

Master Bathroom: mirrors will be hung this week

Kitchen: can you believe it?!

New House

2011-06-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well we signed papers yesterday and should be getting keys by Friday! Here are the pictures of the house- I also posted them on facebook if you frequent that site as well :) Enjoy! We are beyond excited to grow into a house instead of growing out of one (our current condo) and not have pressure to move up in the world...we can stay in this house for the next 20+ years if we want to :) Yay!! To recap for you: the house has 4 bedrooms, a loft, den, 3 car garge, 3 bathroom. :) It has a side atrium/patio (that doesnt attach to the backyard-stupid builders), a family room and a living room at the front of the house. :) I was trying to label all the pictures but blogger is being lame and wont let me!

Houses and more

2011-06-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

We are currently waiting to close on a house by June 28th and once thats done, I will post pictures of it. I just dont want to jinx it right now :) The house is in a great area- with great schools, access to a splash park, a regular park, mountains half a block away, and a jogging trail around the community. We will know 2 different families when we move- one was in my branch back in NM (Hi Tammy!) when I was in HS and the other is a grown daughter of a family in our current ward. The house has plenty of room to grow into, instead of out of (like our current abode) and we are very excited for our kids to have a backyard they can play in! I am hopeful Reagan's fascination with rocks will diminish when she gets used to grass-seeing as she has doesnt have access to grass on a daily basis.

The previous owners of "our" house took the kitchen cabinets, countertops, sink and all appliances with them. They also took some light fixtures and ALL the cabinets and sinks from the 3 (count em- 3) bathrooms. So we are having a contractor come in after we close and design our dream kitchen for us (well, within reason- I dont want to pay interest on small things we can do later since Jeremy is pretty handy). We are excited to go pick out countertops and cabinets and sinks and fixtures for all the rooms that currently lack sinks and the cabinets that hold up those sinks.

Among other news- we are starting to slowly pack and go through things while I have time (2 month until we move) and I know it will take double the time now since I have 2 kids who want to "help" and I didnt have that the last time we moved. We will be having guests come this summer from Jeremys side (brother and fam and his mom) and maybe even Aubs (my sis) after we move :). I am still waiting for my bathroom to finish being fixed..its so close but I guess I did say that I will be happy as long as its done before July...3 weeks and counting...keep you posted.

As for kids news: Hunter is no longer on the weight charts-skinny boy! He will need to gain some weight by October-wish us luck since he is so finicky and likes things one day then decides he doesnt the next...sigh. He is talking up a storm and LOVES to read! He requests the "Olivia" books at bedtime- I love her too so its not a problem. He loves to swim (even though we dont do it very often) and loves the park and visiting his friends. He loves nursery at church and usually after sacrament is done he thinks it's time to go.
Reagan is quite the funny lady! She is starting to bob her head to music and wiggle her body- too cute! Her hair is out of control and she will not sit still long enough for me to do anything with it, usually...but it is getting long enough to do pigtails and they are ADORABLE- will try to get a picture of it soon. She has a few words including: mama, dada, down, hello (lello), ow, mmmmoo (for cow) and knows the signs for please, more and thank you (but she rarely uses thank you-little turkey!). She is almost running and loves to climb everything! She has fallen off our kitchen chair once, as well as the stool in the bathroom (not a huge deal if we had carpet anywhere but the bedrooms). She LOVES playing in the dogs food and water bowls and is starting to get put in timeout- and knows what happens when we get to 3...She is great at sharing with her brother, he is still a little too dramatic for my liking when she looks at his toys...

We sure do love them and they are really fun and keep me busy! Enjoy some random pictures from the past month-ish and a picture of the front of our soon to be new house...

Easter 2011

2011-04-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

This year is the first year we actually documented Easter...lazy mommy for the last 2 for Hunter and 1 for Reagan... we took some eggs to a local park (since our glorious "rock yard" would be a lil difficult for Reagan to traverse...) and while the kids played, the "Easter Bunny" hid the eggs. Truthfully, in years past we hadn't done baskets/eggs because I didnt want to have to keep them from year to year...but figured this year they both could walk and would be able to figure out the egg hunt concept...which went over really well! Hunter wanted to eat the candy inside the eggs instead of hunt for them but after the first explanation he took off and found a ton of eggs! Reagan was just happy to mosey around and pick up eggs if she happened upon them. Toward the end she started catching on and picked up a little speed. :) I got after shots and could not get either of them to actually look at me! Too funny! On Sunday, Hunter learned all about the Resurrection of Christ in Nursery! We even talked about it all day Sunday and Monday! We hope your Easters were just as wonderful as ours and that you were able to enjoy the deeper meaning of Easter as well!

Snow Day

2011-04-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Back in Feb. we headed up to Mt. Charleston to scope out some wicked winter camping locations for the annual BS winter camping trip and also introduce Reagan to NV snow (shes already seen snow in Idaho and NM). We thought it would be so fun to play in the snow for a little while, do a little sledding down a hill or two and maybe build a snowman...BOY, were we wrong! You would think we were kidnappers and the two little children with us were the victims! Hunter didnt want to do anything except whine and Reagan did not enjoy the outing...so after an hour drive up and 20 minutes in the snow we packed up and headed home! We did build a snowman and Hunter flipped out (of course) when we couldnt take it with us. The highlight of the trip was when we were in the car for 5 minutes and they both were asleep! Oh well- at least we got some pictures to document the torture our children have to endure with us as parents :) Enjoy...

Reagan's 1st bday

2011-03-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here are the (I'm sure) long awaited pictures from Reagan's birthday. We had a good dinner at home, no guests- just family and presents from parents and grandparents! Thank you! :)

We are alive and kicking

2011-03-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

So sorry for the lack of posts lately...and this post will be a "lame" one since I will not be posting pictures...But to keep you on the edge of you seat, I will tell you what posts will be coming up soon (with pictures)...Reagans first birthday, bathroom remodeling updates (although nothing has happened since the end of Jan...I keep telling everyone who asks that the bathroom will be done by July-that way, if it's done before July, I will be pleasantly surprised), Snow day at Mt. Charleston and any other pictures I may come across that I have forgotten about. :)

Quick recap of the past few months-sans pictures... We got to go visit my parents in NM and see Wicked! LOVED IT!!! I knew I would but I just have to say it. We got to see it with my parents so that was even better! While in Santa Fe, mom and I went to a few French patisseries and ate authentic breakfasts and lunches! YUM!!! It was a great relaxing trip and even though we didnt stay long, it was awesome!

Our household has yet to be healthy...currently Hunter has an ear infection, sinus infection and pink eye...my eyes have been itching all day since I have to give him eye drops, etc...I really hope it dies with him being the only one we need to worry about! I have been wiping, sanitizing, etc. all week!

Jeremy and I are toying with the idea of buying another house in Vegas since our condo is now filled but our family is not...plus being closer to his work would be awesome as well! We dont really know if this is where we should remain but at the moment we are saving and working like it is, until we get the feeling it isnt (or is)...then we will go from there.

Thats all for now and I wanted to leave you with my favorite song from Wicked but cant seem to do it so go to youtube and look up for good :) You will love it!

family photos

2011-01-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

We have arrived back in NV from our glorious trip to and from ID. I dont have many pictures from Christmas (if any?) and cant find the camera right now anyway so I will just upload our family pictures that were taken back in Oct! :) The reason I have waited so long is because they were gifts to many family members and I didnt want them seeing them before Christmas :)

Welcome to Our Mess!

2010-12-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

Hello All!!
As I put in my last post about our water damaged bathroom- here is an update (so you feel like you are right here with us- right in the middle of the action!!!) so settle in cause I got pictures for you!

After waiting a week for the unit above's insurance to do ANYTHING, we finally called ours and filed a claim to get SOMETHING going! They sent out a restoration team/ cleanup crew to take care of the mold that was for sure growing in the walls/ceiling and it is now Wed. night and we have our house torn apart...in more ways than one...whew!!
Quick recap for ya all:
Monday: call Allstate, make a claim, start the whole process and a mold/cleanup crew arrives.
Tues: Mold crew works all day demoing our bathroom

Wed: Reagan wakes up covered in poo....as well as the bed/blankets and her fox. Mold crew arrives and continues working and then our adjuster arrives to do a walkthrough/estimate...(by the way: $2000+ of repairs- NOT including what the mold crew has already done...) and what blog post would be complete without pictures for you all to enjoy?

Water dripping from our ceiling into our tub

Water stains in our bedroom- over our bed

So far they havent had to touch our tile- but the ceiling is gone...

Oh- yeah and the back wall behind our toilet

same wall continued on (there used to be a vanity and huge mirror right there)

thats where the sink used to be...

Thats the bathroom door-all taped up and "contained" for mold kill or whatever

and this is our closet which is now taped up as well, the doors are next to our bed and the mirror is behind our bed...

ahhh bliss!

And since we all need a pick me up- here is a video of Reagan being silly and Hunter waving at us!

Thanksgiving and the like

2010-12-03T11:02:00.000-08:00

We got to travel to NM for the first time in 3 years for Thanksgiving this year! Weather was great going-the only downside was Jeremy and I had to be in separate cars because we were taking "Lil Blue" over to my dad since it was soon to be his new truck! We had great fun and awesome food, visiting family and shopping on Black Friday (our first time ever!) Hunter loved spending time with Papa, Juju, Aubrie and Nana. It was a great vacation!

Jeremy has been gone all week for work and I have gotten to deal with water damage in our master bathroom- apparently the upstairs unit flooded and we got it as well..still waiting on word from ANYONE about when we can get it fixed!!! LAME!! Sigh- thankfully thats the 3rd thing that has happened in the last month so I think we are good for a bit..you know- since things usually happen in 3s...and I am hoping they do so Murphy can move on to someone else!

As for kiddo update: Hunter is THISCLOSE to being potty trained- he has woken up dry for the past 2 weeks, did AWESOME in NM with no accidents except for a tiny bit right as we were pulling into my parents driveway, and is usually telling me when he needs to go to the bathroom. Reagan is crawling everywhere-and she can book it! She also loves to climb into the drawer underneath our stove and into the tub-although the tub is a bit more challenging since her legs get stuck and she usually head dives into the tub. Hunter is singing songs now- ABCs, Wiggle Wiggle, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Twinkle Little Star are among the faves. Reagan can walk with the push car toy but only does it if she is in a good mood-or if her brother wants to help her. She will do anything for that boy! :) They both are adorable and sweet and I cannot believe how fast it is going! Hope your Thanksgivings were wonderful as well! Now lets move onto Christmas (cause let's be honest- I probably wont post until then...)

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone! We had so much fun this year since Hunter started to understand the concept of trick-or-treating. :) We went to our church's "trunk or treat" and all dressed up- can you guess who we are?

Here are some other pictures of Hunter sharing his food with Reagan...sigh- and she was dressed in a brand new outfit!

And some videos....the first one is kinda long-sorry! But I think its funny!!

Pictures

2010-09-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Over the summer we went to Idaho and visited with family. :) It was great! Here are a few pictures from our summer adventures...and of course the kids.. :)

giveaways

2010-09-16T09:53:00.001-07:00

check it out.... you can win tons of cool different things depending on the blog..

http://www.seeitloveitwinit.blogspot.com/

9/11

2010-09-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick link that I found on my blog-hopping. The author says it better and has some great pictures from her trip to NYC from the Ground Zero Museum. Next time I am in NYC, I am checking this out for sure! Anyway, to the 12 of you who read this blog: enjoy the link below and always remember 9/11

Remember

Houston, we have a crawler!

2010-08-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well folks- Reagan is now a crawler..she has been scooting around for awhile but now she is actually crawling! It is insane to think how fast she is growing. Last night she was crawling over her daddy and is starting to pull herself up in her crib...we have lowered her mattress now since I have caught her standing up in said crib once already! I will try to get a video of it soon. And as soon as my camera has newer batteries in it, I will upload some pictures :)

In other news--- I am starting to work out to lose the baby fat and (hopefully) get back to my pre-pre-pre baby weight...but it may be gone forever and I am ok with that if I actually do SOMETHING to try and retrieve it :D. And starting on Sept 1 (tomorrow) Hunter will start the potty training. :) We go to pick out underwear tomorrow or tonight...depending on time.

Happy 4th!

2010-07-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were able to travel (successfully) to Eagar, AZ to visit my family while Jeremy was in Utah at Boy Scout Camp. This was my first road trip traveling by myself...they were both EXTREMELY well behaved on the trip going and coming! While in Arizona, we had some meltdowns with teething, being around new family and such but altogether, we survived. :) Here are some pictures from the trip (all compliments of my aunts' cameras! Thanks Terri and Violet!)

New look

2010-06-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

Blogger has changed things up a bit so I am having fun playing around with all the different options they have now...besides...my background has been up here forever- time for a change. :) Pictures to come.

Tada!!!

2010-06-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yay! I am soooo excited...found our pictures!! Woohoo! Anyway, here are some new ones I just took recently. My grandma was in town to meet lil Reagan and get reacquainted with Hunter...he sure loves his great grandma.

See how proud he is of his grandma

I love this shot of them

We have also started to introduce rice cereal to Reagan- she is doing better with it but I still think it's a little early...she keeps pushing it out of her mouth so I may hold off and try again in a week or two. Reagan is now 26 inches long and weighs 14 lbs. She is rolling over both ways and is starting to push herself up onto her knees with her bum in the air. She is almost 5 months! She sure is a cutie!

Look at those eyes! Sigh- I am in love!

As for Hunter- he is getting more verbal (thank goodness) and knows all his letters (and some of the sounds too when asked what they say), numbers 0-10, colors, basic shapes (including heart, star and diamond), most animals names and their sounds (tiger, duck, cat, dog, etc.), knows most family members names when asked (although he gets Mags and Stacey combined) and has "friends" that he asks to see daily. He loves the park and loves to swing. He LOVES books (yay) and is becoming quite the little boy...

He loves the camera! Look at that grin!

And by the way, I have entered both my kids in the Parents Magazine cover contest...I wish I had the link to send you there to vote for them...but we will see :)
Oh and here is the long awaited befores and after of my hair :)

Distraught!

2010-06-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

So, bad news...basically the pictures we have taken for the past....10 months have disappeared off our computer and they arent in our backups...SOB! I am sooo incredibly irate at the moment...the pictures include (and not limited to) Reagan's birth, baby shower, first 3 months, Hunter's 2nd birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, our family photo shoot we did in November in Idaho, all of Jeremy's scouting pictures, my cousin's senior shots I took, our San Diego trip...and those are only the ones I know we are missing! *Sniffle*...and it isnt even like our computer crashed...the pictures just disappeared one day...who knows where they went! Needless to say, I am a little disgruntled at technology at the moment (especially because I backed up stuff and the pictures are STILL MISSING!). Thats all for now.

Yellow

2010-06-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Sorry it has been so long- time gets away from me and I have been really busy with church things at the moment...but here is a short video of Hunter- we were playing Candy Land one night for FHE and the way he says "yellow" is our FAVORITE! So we got a video of it...please also know that he doesnt normally throw things...:) Enjoy!

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

We had a great Mother's Day- Jeremy made his homemade eggrolls and fried rice and I wanted to try a Thai beef salad also so we found a recipe for that and Jeremy made that for me as well. We had our friend Dora over for dinner and enjoyed the evening visiting and discussing the wonders of food :) SOOOOOOO good! Unfortunately, I didnt take any pictures because I was too busy eating it all :) But just imagine a delicious spread before you ok? :) In other news--I am chopping off my hair today...I will post before and afters when I get home :)

Blessing/ Nana's birthday

2010-05-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we were able to have my entire family plus my nana here for Reagan's blessing. :) We had a fun filled weekend full of eating at Serendipity

taking in Donny and Marie, hanging out on the strip, swimming at the Paris hotel,

blessing Reagan

and celebrating my nana's birthday. :) We had a lot of fun and missed seeing Jeremy's family but hopefully we can see them soon.

Reagan is now 3. 5 months old and is smiling and laughing (sometimes) She enjoys sitting in her bumbo chair and chillin' while Mommy makes dinner or Hunter is playing nearby. :)

He did it!!

2010-04-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we made the trek to SLC for Jeremy's half marathon! We left on Thursday and actually made really good time getting there (coming back to Vegas was a TOTALLY different story-12 hours!!) and we were able to see both sides of our families! My sisters threw a baby shower for Mags and Nate and Jeremy's parents came down to see Jeremy and Adam run their half marathons (and to see the grandkids! Of course!!) All in all we had fun and most importantly- Jeremy survived the run! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO! Love you babe!

Look at that runner! :)

And of course the lil girl! :) Sorry- no pics of Hunter that weekend....:(

2 is a big number

2010-04-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

2 seems to be a constant in my life...Reagan is currently 2.5 months.. Hunter just turned 2 on Sat (pics to follow), and I am a mom to 2 children! Wow-look at us all growing up! :D We had both of their dr appts. today- which included 2 kids having a series of shots- Regan had 4 and 1 oral and Hunter had 1.....and I did it all by myself! Whew!! Not going to do that again for a long time...sigh!

We had a party for Hunter this past weekend (in between conference sessions) at the local park with his nursery/park buddies. It was a success- more effort than is really necessary at 2 years of age...but it was fun..and we got a total of 2 pictures during the whole event....one of the cake and one of Hunter with the cake and a friend :).

I got a good video of Hunter talking- as much as he does...but still am editing that so stay tuned :) But until then- here are a few recent pics of the kiddos...

love this picture of him- he looks so BIG!!!

And here is dear Ree-Ree smiling at the camera. :D

Look at me go!!

2010-03-18T15:19:00.001-07:00

You like the new background? I made it using photoshop- what can I say? I am talented :D Hehehehe...its really not that hard but it sure is impressive huh! :)

More pictures

2010-03-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more of Reagan...shes smiling now! And Hunter loves it! She normally smiles at him-which I LOVE!!!

Hunter got some bubble bath/soaps from Grandma (Juju)- he loves it!

And the rest for tonight

Some pics

2010-03-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

There have been a few complaints that I dont post enough pictures and I would just like to say sory so this post will have some :D Still working on the videos of Hunter talking and such! He is such a sweetie with Reagan! Anyway, enjoy!

And now we are 1...

2010-02-24T18:23:00.000-08:00

month old....:D Reagan had her appt today and she is free of RSV! And she got her first shot! By the way- she now weighs 9 lbs. 2 oz! Last week she weighed 8 lbs even...holy formula! :) And yes, we are no longer tormenting ourselves with the nursing...gave that up last week when we found out we would need craniosacral therapy for our darling's recessed chin....and I had thrush so trying to feed the baracuda baby was EXCRUCIATING!!!!! And we also have spent more in the past month on doctors' visits, etc. than we would have spent on 3 months of formula (that's before including the cost of her sessions of therapy). Congrats to those mothers who can nurse their little ones- I/we dont think I am one of them. Maybe next time--maybe. Pictures and videos to come soon! And more updates

Introducing....

2010-02-17T14:01:00.000-08:00

our baby girl! To save on postage and printing, I am posting our birth announcement here on the blog- so if you dont get one and wanted one for some reason, feel free to print it off from here. :) We will be sending out announcements-but mainly to those of our family/friends who do not use email, the internet and such.

Updates and a few pics

2010-02-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

Well Reagan is home now and adjusting...she has had a rough few weeks of life...this past week we were at doctors offices every day! Turns out, she somehow caught RSV...thankfully we caught it early and she didnt have to be admitted to the hospital. We also learned she was tongue-tied which is why she wasnt latching correctly for nursing...apparently Hunter was/is tongue-tied as well so thats why he never latched either...we are very tired and Jeremy gets to go back to work on VERY LITTLE SLEEP!!! Poor guy. Anyway, for those of you who have one kid so far...we were told having 2 is not double the work, its triple or quadruple--very accurate!!! *yawn!*

Reagan Nicholle Dodds

2010-01-24T21:34:00.000-08:00

Laurel is still in the Hospital with Reagan and I am running off of three hours of sleep but I wanted to post a couple of pics for family and friends.

She was born on Jan 24 4AM and weighted in at 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches

Still waiting

2010-01-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well, the baby shower came and went with no little girl making an appearance. We were a little worried that we would have to reschedule. :) Anyway, here are some long awaited pregnancy pictures and some of the baby shower, Hunter's room (soon to be the kids' room), and maybe even a video of Hunter talking..if I can get it loaded. Dont know why the pictures are all at the top...sorry folks!

Just breathe

2010-01-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

I have just now gotten Hunter down for his nap...we usually have a pretty good schedule going:
8:30-wake up, breakfast, diaper/clothes change
play until about 12:30: lunch
1:00-nap for 1.5-2 hours
3:00-wake up and play some more until Dad gets home and Mom can finish doing dinner.
6:00-dinner
8:30-sippy cup/book and then to bed

Not bad huh?? Well apparently, someone has stolen the normal/caring/adorable/sweet child we have raised thus far and replaced him with a grouchy/ moody/ tantrum throwing/ unrecognizable toddler...this second child usually appears when it's time to eat...i have no idea why! And with me being so pregnant and exhausted all the time- I have very little patience for a child who doesnt want to eat and who will throw the food...so he gets one chance and then I remove him from his seat, place him in his room and let him have his tantrum there until he comes to find me and shows me he is hungry...however, this is throwing my schedule out of whack and I dont like it! Who knew I was this structured? (You are probably thinking, "I did!!!") So now it is 1:26 and I am exhausted from trying to figure out what he wanted in the first place and then practically force feeding him the rest of lunch because he was falling asleep in his chair! Sheesh! I think I am going to go lie down for a few.

4 weeks and counting

2009-12-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we hope everyone had a great Christmas and is getting ready for a great new year! We went to Idaho and visited my family (and a quick stop in Blackfoot and Pocatello to see Jeremy's family for a lil bit). We stayed at my sister's house and had a blast! Lincoln and Hunter got along a little better than they did here...not sure why. Maybe they were a little more used to each other this time around. Unfortunately, I didnt use either camera I took so if I get any sent to me, then I will post them. :)

Moving on- we are now 4-5 weeks away from our new little girl's arrival. Are we ready? Um....no. Are we close? Um....no. Well, we have gotten a toddler bed to put Hunter into, but it isnt cleaned or set up. I was hoping we could stain it/paint it before he uses it but I dont think that will happen. We have gotten most of the storage/business stuff put into storage to make room for another bed and baby...but the room is far from feeling set up...we still have a wall to clear off and set up some more storage for the new little one.
I am gaining weight and feeling SUPER huge but I know I dont look it. My feet are starting to swell and sleep has been non-existent for awhile... we are slowly getting more names added to our list...so far none of them SCREAM at us but if we both like a name, it goes on the list...I think so far we have 4 names....and thats not even full names, folks... nope! Maybe 2 have first and middles....we are taking a baby name book to the hospital, that is for sure!!!
As for pictures of my prego belly...I will take some soon and post them...life just keeps happening and trying to be semi-cute for cyberland is just not at the top of my list...

new post just because

2009-12-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

its a little lame that I havent updated since my rant so here is a random posting that isnt as negative....hopefully it will put smiles on your dear faces..:)
Jeremy is gone this week but thankfully I have a family that loves me and offered to come down to visit and help. Even though they werent able to make it, the thought really means so much and makes my day when I think about it. Right now I am typing and perusing blogs while listening to Hunter babble himself to sleep in the next room...he cracks me up! Every now and then between his giggles and high-pitched squeals he yells "MAMA!!!MAMA!!!" and then I hear his crib rock back and forth, for I am sure he is bouncing on the mattress, not at all tired and attempting to win more play time/story time with me...I will be strong!! He sure is a cutie! He has so much character, even though everyone we know says he is "so mellow." He is beginning to speak more and even though it is baby babble, I like to think I can translate what he says (it helps that he points to things as he says them). Some of his newest "words" are dight (light), ig (pig), baba (apple), ar (car), and coag (goat).
**Side note: just heard paper ripping and wondered what was going on in his room---had to rescue our wrapping paper that was propped up against the wall- apparently too close to his crib. **

Anyway, even though our car isnt done yet, this week has started out pretty good :) (or I am determined to remain positive about the things I cannot control--whichever).

Venting

2009-12-03T14:03:00.000-08:00

Warning: not a warm fuzzy post- more like a hormonal rage/vent post- so beware....
Jeremy is gone this week and while I love that he has a job and gets overtime, etc. this week has been really difficult on me and Hunter...I have felt like a single parent (and have been one) and can say that I am truly grateful for the wonderful hubby I do have and who is fantastic.
Let me start by pointing out all the bad/negative things that have gone wrong this week (and/or have carried over from last week), but I will put the highlight of the bad thing in blue so you can see that I know there is a positive even though I am venting
In no particular order:
1. Our car is still in the shop- will not be ready until mid week next week. Quite the overhaul must be done to get said car in working condition again...Ford is paying the entire bill-all $2600 of it!
2. Since car is in the shop, I get to drive around in our truck-which is a stick shift (my least favorite thing to drive), has no power steering (very difficult to maneuver with a prego belly and screaming child) and is VERY CRAMPED when our family of 3 is in it (I get to ride in the middle of a HUGE car seat, Jeremy and put my legs up into my belly so Jeremy can shift-you are SOOO jealous, I can tell!)...at least I have a second vehicle so I am not completely stranded in my depths of despair.
3. Another negative of car being in shop: Hunter and I do not get to go with Jeremy next week when he returns to his work related travel. The truck is not reliable enough for a 4-5 hour drive and as much fun as it would be to have BOTH vehicles fail on us, I guess I will take being a single mom for another week over being stranded on the side of a highway with no way of getting anywhere. Plus side: more bonus money since we wont have to pay for all of us eating out...
4.We have our ward Christmas party on Saturday and I am singing but have been battling a cold/mucus so my voice is questionable. Plus we havent practiced yet...good news is I know all the songs we are singing.
5. Hunter knocked over one of our lamps today so there is shattered glass in my entire front living space (that means our living room, dining room and even kitchen-how the glass got around a corner I have no idea). I cannot move the entertainment stand to clean under and behind it, there is glass all over our throw pillows (that Hunter threw on the floor-maybe to cushion to blow of the lamp?), any toy, blanket, article or clothing that has strayed out of Hunter's room, and there is even some glass that bounced up from the impact of hitting our floor and landed conveniently on half of my couch (where Hunter was sitting). Highlight: I had to clean anyway-just didnt know I got to sweep, vacuum and mop the entire area! Another highlight-neither Gidget or Hunter got glass on them.

Hey not bad-this week has another day to have something else go wrong- cant wait for tomorrow!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello again!!! Let me recap our crazy/awesome/busy/wonderful week for you:
Monday before Thanksgiving (BT): I have activity days, shopping, laundry, packing, etc. to get done before we leave on "Tuesday." I also get a last minute call for a fountain rental so Jeremy needed to get that out of storage for me.
TuesBT: Have car loaded to drop off fountain at Lake Las Vegas. Go outside to start car-it doesnt start. Jeremy comes home, we tow car to mechanic and finish getting everything else ready to go so we can still leave on "Tuesday." Check out car rental prices, Jeremy takes fountain to LLV, I repack everything Hunter has moved around, etc. Get a call from mechanic at 5 PM (3 hours after we were supposed to leave) and get news that our crankshaft sensor is out but part wont be in until tomorrow-and will cost $450! Car should be fixed by 10 AM Wed.
Wed BT: Car not fixed by 10, or 12...debating what to do about our glorious Thanksgiving plans..all packed up and no car to pack. Decide to rent a car and head out anyway...this was going to be the last time we would see most people/family for awhile since babies are getting older and more difficult to travel with, etc. Packed up and headed off by 2:00-wooo hoooo....(singing "On the Road Again"). Arrive in Blackfoot at 1:30 AM (mt time) Thursday (only took us 10.5 hours-a miracle!!!)
Thanksgiving: cook, visit, shower, eat, clean up, eat, visit, etc. with family! Joyous time with everyone-so worth the drama of getting there!
Friday: take family photos in Idaho Falls, visit with family, play games, see my sister Rachey for a few, have grand time!
Sat: visit, eat, have fun, etc!
Sun: drive back home to get Jeremy unpacked/repacked for his work trip this week- leaving at home a sick Hunter and pregnant wife...sigh! Some guys have all the luck! (COMPLETELY KIDDING!!!!) I only have family pictures since thats the only time my camera was used...Diane has some really cute ones of Hunter though so I will get those and post em when I can. :)
Hope all your Thanksgivings were less adventurous than ours!

So far

2009-11-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow we head out to Idaho for Thanksgiving! I am sooo excited! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will make good time. Anyway, purpose of this post is to quickly update you on our last few weeks, etc. Jeremy has had 2 cousins have their babies in the past lil while and it has been great seeing new pics of Cameron and Allyson. We will miss not seeing the entire Cherry clan at Grandma and Grandpa's this week but hopefully we will see everyone soon!
As for us: Jeremy is training for a half marathon in April and is getting friends and family on board as well! I am very proud of him and the training he has been doing for this! I am obviously not training since I am pregnant and will have had a baby a few months earlier-plus I am not a huge fan of running...maybe after baby #2. Hunter is getting bigger and bigger and is still charming us everyday! How we love that lil guy! Baby girl is right on track and I even gained 12 lbs. in the past month! Woohoo! My doctor was very proud. :) The due date is still Feb. 1st and I am hoping she is on time, or even late! I really want her born in Feb-not January (and I know my mom would appreciate that as well!). That is really all for us for the moment-Happy Thanksgiving to you all and have a great week!

Photo session giveaway

2009-11-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

If you live in vegas and want to be entered for a free photo session- head over to http://www.photographybylynette.blogspot.com/ for your free session chance! You get an entry to say how you know her ( you would know here through me...kinda :D) and then blog about it and you get another entry! Go for it! Free pics? Gotta love it!

Halloween and then some

2009-11-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

It has been over a month since I have posted and I am very, very sorry it has taken me this long... (sheepish grin). Time has flown by and things seem to get busier and busier. For example: my week started off with NOTHING going on except grocery shopping-then it turned into a whirlwind of activity and busy-ness! But I love it, even though I am thoroughly exhausted by nap time :D.
Ok, into the updates:
About the middle of the month, Hunter and I took a plane to Lubbock, TX to visit my grandpa and aunts, uncles, and cousins. Most of them hadn't met Hunter yet and I had to fly before my third trimester (can you believe I am already there??) We had a great time and everyone enjoyed getting to know Hunter. I dont have pictures because my camera was used once the entire time- to take senior pictures of my cousin Sharon:

isnt she beautiful?!
We returned from TX and had a mad dash to our garage sale on Halloween! We were able to get rid of half a storage unit and even made over $200! Sweet!!! I still have teacher stuff for sale so if you know of anyone who teaches elementary-give my info and I can get rid of the rest of my stuff!
Halloween was a blast! It was a long day after our garage sale ending at 4:30 and our ward's trunk or treat starting at 5:30...plus a party after that (not to mention Hunter was having some teething/fever/diaper issues all night). It was fun but BOY were we exhausted! Hunter was Eeyore (thanks to a co-worker of Jeremy's that let us borrow a costume).

(even though we toyed with the idea of Tigger-Eeyore just looked sooo much cuter!)

Thank goodness daylight savings saved us- kinda. I wonder what age kids realize they get to stay asleep...sigh. Anyway, we are still cleaning out the rest of our house and putting all the business stuff into our (now) empty storage unit to make room for the baby girl....yes thats right folks-no names yet...we are working on it though...just cant agree. :D

Hope you all are doing well and I will try to get better at this posting stuff :D Sigh.

Baby and Baby updates

2009-09-30T12:59:00.001-07:00

So it has been forever since I have included something about Hunter/pregnancy (meaning pictures)...so here are a few of Hunter that I think are quite humorous and really show off the lil character he is becoming!

Loves those splash parks! *gotta be honest- I love them too!!!

Our lil computer nerd in training-ignore the train-wreck that is the desk...we are working on it!

Reading a book to himself in his comfy bumbo!

So polite...covers his mouth when he coughs/sneezes! Yes! Thought this was be harder to teach but he has got it down!!

And a prego pic of me...I am currently 22 weeks pregnant-according to lilypie.com :) And I am wearing maternity pants..just for your info.

Stupid, stupid

2009-09-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Can't believe I am still awake but felt like I had to let you all know- I am falling in love with digital scrapbooking stuff! I have been downloading kits, templates, papers, embelishments, etc. and reading up on how to actually make pages for the past........um......embarrassing.......almost 3 hours!!! I have already made 1 page....ADDICTED!!!!! So those of you who know how to do all this cool stuff- u should send me links to your favorite places...oh and by the way-I'm too lazy to actually sign up for an account to get free stuff...so any site that requires me to register or log in is too much work for me! I say that and yet its midnight....NIGHT!

New news

2009-09-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all! So this has been put off for far too long and I don't even have pictures to make it worth your while- so sorry dear readers! Anyway, wanted to let you all know that we are having a baby girl on Feb. 1...well she is due on Feb. 1.
**Imagine ultrasound pic of a baby girl here**

We are very excited and are doing major overhauls here in our tiny condo to prepare for said baby. We will be having a huge garage sale, downsizing on our lot of stuff and hopefully move more stuff into our storage unit without having to upgrade (read: pay more money). We are in the process of going through Hunter's clothes and pulling anything out that is gender neutral (lots of pants, onesies, and shorts) and have started hunting around for a toddler bed, etc. I no longer and able to sleep on either side cause my stomach cramps up and I cant sleep on my back because I get nauseous! So-basically I am not sleeping...ah well-good training for the future. The nausea is starting to fade and I am eating more and not throwing up as much! Sweet!
Jeremy and I are starting to go over girls names-he has vetoed my favorite one...Im waiting to see what his favorite is so I can do the same! (Just kidding hun!) We had boy names picked out...starting back at square one with girls names. Any ideas? :)

Never Forget

2009-09-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

8 years ago was 9/11/01. Jeremy and I were talking about it last night and I thought I would do a post so you all will be reminded too (if you forgot!). I remember a play that was put on at Ricks called "Hole in the Sky" and remembered how powerful it was! While the play only covered what happened in NYC, it still included a little bit about the pentagon and the plane that crashed in the field.
I will never forget my roommate Doch trying to get a hold of her family in maryland while we got ready for class in a daze. I called my parents and talked with them briefly and then headed to class where our lectures and discussions were put off to discuss the more important current event and how it would mold us as a nation and how we would let this act of terrorism define us. I still think about the families of the victims and how they feel about the incident after all this time. When politicians, lawmakers, etc. try to make 9/11 a smaller, less meaningful day than a day of mourning. Let us not forget today and the impact it has on our country and our history!
*Photos taken from Google...no clue who took them,etc...just needed some pics**

ta da!

2009-09-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Ok so this is the first time I have actually gotten a picture of my shopping so I am going to post it for you all so you can be impressed ok? :)

Now, I am not sure if you can see it or not but there are 6 boxes of poptarts, 10 cans of spaghetti sauce, 18eggs, 2 gallons of milk, 2 bags of chips, 2 gatorades (thats all I wanted to buy), 2 lbs. of carrots, 6 tomatoe pastes, 1 box of cheese its (that hunter must have put in the cart cause I do not remember picking that up), 2 containers of sour cream, a bunch of bananas (minus one that I had on the way home)and a huge seedless watermelon. There are also 2 quarts of Breyers ice cream in the freezer cause they melted on the way home...anyway!!!
Total spent: 30.50
Total saved: 60.38
Impressive, no? :)

Back to School....

2009-08-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

So this may tick off some ppl but today is the first day of school here in Clark County! Can I tell you how excited I am that it isnt the first day of school for me?? Instead of stressing over others kids and figuring out what is wrong with them, I get to stress over my little bundle of joy and play all day, read ABC books and listen to him babble (thats right-no other words except for "dada" allllll day-Jeremy loves it). this is the L.I.F.E! How did I ever not want to do this....I think teaching for 4 years made me realize I would take my brats over other's brats any day of the week! :) To all my teacher friends out there- I am sorry your summers are over- I hope they were amazing! Have a great school year. I am always willing to lend a helping hand. :) Really!

Videos from San Diego

2009-08-17T10:32:00.001-07:00

Sorry it has taken me forever to get these on here...things have been a little hectic lately!
Anyway, the first one you will need to turn your volume up because the sound is kinda sketchy..

Money, money, money

2009-08-05T15:02:00.001-07:00

Does anyone get the song from Mamma, Mia! in their heads from the title of this post? No? Just me? Actually I get a different song about money from Cabaret in my head but anyway!...

Well everyone, Jeremy and I have been trying to do a paper/pencil method of actually tracking our finances....I hate it! We arent lousy with our money-we just always have had the philosophy of "we dont have money so dont spend it unless you really really need to!" But now that we are trying to budget where the money goes so we can further our savings, etc. it has become an annoyance more than anything else...but I digress!
The purpose of this post was to let you know 2 things:
1) With the aforementioned budget I was able to spend $70 on groceries and save $80! No pictures to show you all how amazing it was but just be impressed.
2) We are blessed with our additional business that helps with our financial stressors...I get to go withdraw a hefty amount of muu-laa from our business account and put it into our very eager personal account! And the best part is-its already been taxed so we get to keep it all-minus tithing!

There, There, There and Back Again....again

2009-07-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so since my last post, we have had Aubs here to visit, up to Manti for Mags/Nate sealing, down to Yuma, AZ for Jeremy's work and onto San Diego, CA for a conference for Jeremy! We are now back in our cozy home and looking forward to a long stay at home...not many more travel plans for us...at least, not that I know of. :) This summer has flown by for us but we have loved it all!

Manti:
Manti was great- we had a blast seeing friends and family, introducing Hunter to those who had yet to meet him and eating TONS of great food.

Yuma:
Not much happened there...we ate tons of great Mexican food and hung out in the hotel most days while Jeremy was working.
San Diego:
Ok, here is where the post gets good...I actually have pictures of this place. Boy SD is gorgeous! I
know everyone says that but it is true! We were there a lil over a week and if we had more money (and no condo that isn't worth beans) I could totally move there!
Beee-U-ti-ful weather, beaches, and yummy food! We went to the zoo, a beach, Coronado Island, the temple (smaller than I thought it was), tons of restaurants, the downtown area (including Little Italy-with AMAZING Italian food and gelato), and walked a ton!! Got my exercise for the year. :D Here are a few pictures to enjoy and I will also get some video of Hunter's fun times on here soon. (these pictures are in no particular order)

We stayed at the El Primero Hotel (very historic and awesome!)

We saw a sea lion show- Hunter LOVED IT!!

And of course the king of beasts!! Very cool!

Hunter's first time at a petting zoo

He liked the toys better than the animals

We saw pandas (world famous even), and koalas (love them!)

day at the zoo

baby bird-loves his gelato

hat the waitress gave him-heehee

day at the beach

night at the beach (watching the "sunset" but couldnt even see the sun through all the pollution)

Belated Father's Day

2009-07-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is belated but things have been pretty hectic around here... so quick recap of the day. We went to church, I taught RS, came home, went to Candice and Brian's for dinner (THANKS Brian! YUM!), came home, called our dads with well wishes and called it a night! Jeremy got his gift a lil early since I never know the actual date of Father's Day... he got the exclusive membership to......Glenn Beck!! Since we have canceled cable, Jeremy goes without his Glenn fix so I gave in and got him the Insider membership for the year....he is really enjoying it and gets to catch up on all his old episodes, etc. that he has missed the last month or so. :)
In closing- I want to tell everyone how great a dad and hubby this man is to his family! He loves us. He is never too tired to play with Hunter and loves taking him with us to run errands-even is Aubs offers to watch him. He is an incredible provider for our family, making it possible for me to stay home and raise Hunter (yay). He includes me in his plans, and vice versa. We still communicate every day with how each other is and even though the heat of Vegas almost kills him on a daily basis-he still leaves the A/C equipped car with me so I am not stranded at home. :) LOVE YOU HUN!

The Journey Home

2009-06-12T13:37:00.001-07:00

After we said goodbye to my parents, we flew to SLC to pick up Hunter from Jeremy's parents. We hung out with Brionna, Adam, Nate and Mags for the evening and then stayed the night at Mags/Nate. We got up the next day and headed to Provo to see my sis Aubs (she really wanted to see Hunter- we were just an added bonus) for a lil while. When we got to St. George, Hunter had decided he had had enough driving...so had Gidget but she was much more passive about the whole thing. We stopped at Cafe Rio to get some early dinner (Shout out to Cafe Rio!) and headed to Tabernacle Park to have a picnic and let Gidget and Hunter get some wiggles out...
The park had a fountain that a lot of kids were playing in.....of course Hunter saw water and was sooooo excited...

That is...until the fountains came on over his head

Poor guy! But sooo funny!!!

And some of my other favorite shots. :)

Part 4

2009-06-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay... life has been happening whether I get on board or not...between chocolate events (3 in 4 days), camping for Jeremy/scouts, keeping up with Hunter and planning the rest of our summer (which is rapidly filling up!!!-July is pretty much shot!), there hasnt been a lot of time to update the dear blog. But, have no fear, I am back.

I know you are all anxiously awaiting to hear the rest of our cruise story...and here you go!
Aftet Ketchikan and "glacier cruising" we headed south towards Victoria, Canada. I was really excited for this lil stop because it has been YEARS since I have been there and was really excited to get reacquainted with the cool castle, the downtown area, the fun buildings, etc.

Unfortunately, this was all we were able to see of dear Victoria...apparently, the wind was 30 knots (whatever that means) and we couldnt dock for fear we would destroy the dock or
something...I am not really sure but we were very bummed-especially since we felt we missed out on the glaciers the day before! So much for our fearless captain! Sheesh!

So we headed on down to Seattle. The next day we got off the ship and took a tour of Seattle....everytime I have been there it has been beautiful!!! Sunny, warm, perfect! Thats the next place I vote we move to!!! We got to do all the touristy things... the Space Needle, Pike Public Market (the first sanitary open air market-meaning they didnt allow live horses in...but pigs were ok), Chinatown and of course the sports complexes (pics are coming Lukey!).

View from our ship

Look at that-not a cloud in the sky! So rare for Seattle! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

View of downtown and Mt. Rainier

My fav. place to visit!!! Sooo much yummy food, interesting ppl, and just a great atmosphere! And asparagus is CHEAP!!!

So are the flowers! And they are incredible!

On to the sports complex- this is for my brother-in-law...fav. team is the Seahawks..sorry the pic is so lame...it was through a window on a moving bus...

And one of THE coolest libraries I have ever seen!

Part 3

2009-06-05T10:51:00.001-07:00

PS- Click on the pics to see them in better detail :)

(Gotta get these done while Hunter is napping--happy reading)
We spent the next day going to Tracey Arm Fjord to do some scenic cruising and see some amazing glaciers...unfortunately there was an ice field that prevented us from going in more than a mile or two...Jeremy was really
bummed. More than the rest of us. Can you believe how blue that ice looks? It was incredible!!

Then we went to Ketchikan the next day-again, hoping to see some wildlife....got on a last minute tour to try and see anything...bears, whales, moose, etc.

We only got to see eagles...bald eagles (which was cool-but we saw a TON of those)

Again, beautiful scenery-Jeremy and I are discussing the possibility of moving there...I just need to get over the INSANE winters (and lack of sunlight)

We saw many totems and learned all about the different ones...they can make you a totem pole for your yard and it only costs a mere $5,000/foot.....pish....chunk change! Hahahaha

Wouldnt you know it, I was able to see a polar bear! Even get close enough to hug him....too bad he wasnt real! (Or maybe, thank goodness he wasnt real)

Alaska (Part 2)

2009-06-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

While in Juneau, we took a tour of the city, saw the governor's mansion, did not get to see Sarah Palin, saw a glacier, a temperate rainforest, no wildlife, and opted to not ride a tram for $27/each. We learned a lot while there and had a great time...back to the ship for journey to our second port:
Skagway (tiny town-800 ppl-ish)
While in Skagway, we took an excursion to Haines, Alaska to ride some 4x4 mules and see amazing coutryside...(by the way...I expected to see a lot of native Alaskans on our tours as our guides...I think we had 1 or 2 who were actually from Alaska...the others were from Virginia, Utah, Seattle, either there for the summer working or moved there recently...huh.) Anyway, on the pictures.

Rained the whole day- we were SOAKED!!!!

Amazing views.....

tons of waterfalls

standin' in the rain

Mom getting ready to do some driving

After our driving in the rain, we got some yummy food and nice hot drinks to thaw us out. :) Sweet!!

Then on to the thriving metropolis of Skagway to do some shopping/sightseeing

Alaksa here we come! (Part 1)

2009-06-05T09:56:00.001-07:00

For our 5th anniversary, Jeremy and I went on an Alaska cruise. The first set of parents who volunteered to watch Hunter got to, and the other set got the invite to come along with us. :) Jeremy's parents watched Hunter, my parents came with us. :) It was really fun having them with us and getting to spend time with them...we hadnt seen them since Thanksgiving so I was really glad they could go. We got to Seattle on Friday and caught our ship on Sat. What follows are tons of pictures with a lil explanation. :)

Mt. Rainier (sorry it's soo far away-thats the best my camera can do)

On the way to Juneau- we were looking for wildlife (we spent the entire cruise looking for wildlife...sigh)

Juneau, Alaska

View of Juneau from Alaska's temperate rainforest

High tide from Juneau

Jeremy at the gi-normous waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier

ICEBERGS!!!! Lots of em!

Mendenhall Glacier- the only glacier we were able to see...still very impressive

More icebergs

**Sorry about the order...my computer/blogger site puts them in random order once I get them uploaded...

Annnnnnd Action.....

2009-06-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome back folks! Today on "And Now We Are Three" Laurel is updating the blog from her family's recent travels and updates on the family...let's join her:

Hey guys! Ok, so for those that dont know...we have had a crazy and wonderful past few weeks. We surprised Jeremy's mom in Utah for their 30th anniversary and went to Rodizio Grill in SLC....oh wow!!! One of our new favorite places to eat...Brazillian steakhouse with grilled pineapple and all the meat you can imagine! YUMMY! We got to spend time with Jeremy's side of the family and catch up on everyone's lives..we even got to take some updated family pics! Fun times! And the babies even cooperated for the most part...

After a great weekend, Hunter, Gidget and I went up to Idaho with my in-laws for a week. They were watching our lil ones while Jeremy and I were on cruise so I went up a week early to help with the new place and such...not abandoning him in one swoop. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of SLC or of Idaho but we had fun! I got to go to Rexburg for a day and reminsce about college days with my old roomie Sanka :) (Hey lady!) and visit my sister Rachey and lil nephew Linc....cute kid! We ate at Craigo's and had a great time...boy has Rexburg changed...then back down to SLC to meet up with Jeremy and fly to Seattle for our cruise to Alaska!!!! Tune in tomorrow for the week of fun (including more pictures)....

*This is finally on here...adorable Sunday outfit that Hunter got from Grandma W. :)

And his first time on some swings :) How adorable is he!!!???

New Look

2009-05-14T11:56:00.001-07:00

Among all the other things I have to get done before we go on our cruise, choosing a new background for our blog was, apparently, high on the priority list! :) Hahaha. I am not LOVING the new look but needed something different so you all could at least think I am checking this-even if I'm not posting...finally got batteries but since I am packing for everything- they are packed so Hunter can't get to them. :) I promise...eventually we will get back into the swing of things. :)

Wedding video

2009-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Woo hooo! :) Let me know what you think?

Update on Hunter: he is now 30 in. long and 21 lbs....lost a lil because he is sooo active now and walking! Thats right- he is walking..not all the time but definitely more than he was a few days ago....CRAZINESS!!!!! He is teething with his canines now as well....oh joy for the sleepless nights (again). Got a few pictures before the camera died (again...lame rechargeable batteries). So those will be in the next post, folks!

Gaaaahhh!!!

2009-04-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my mom yesterday (Hi Mom!) and we were talking about the joys of spring...beautiful weather, great days, love it, love it!

Well, tonight while I was on facebook, finding long lost roomies and such....I was reminded of one of the downfalls to spring (and summer even more so in Vegas)...
Creepy crawlers that invade my habitat!!!!
That's right folks...it has begun...time to replace all the roach traps and spray the outside of our condo to put up that invisible shield that tells all bugs: "Enter at Own Risk-Owner Reserves Right to Kill on Sight!" (And I'll do it too....or at least shriek and have Jeremy do it!)

Anyway, I was sooooooo heroic tonight! I killed (Jeremy should be proud-I dont deal well with things that crunch.....or spiders) a spider on my wall and a june bug thing on my floor!!! In the course of 2 minutes....and I didnt even wake up Hunter! POINTS for me!!!

Some of you may ask where my knight in shining armor was instead of protecting me...leaving me poor and defenseless with 1 can of bug spray (not nearly enough since the buggies come out at night) and a wide assortment of shoes to squash the bugs....well- he is in AZ working on his ground truthing stuff...but let it be known that in dire circumstances (aka: husband is out of town), I can rise up and kill a few measly buggies...BUT- if they start hanging out more than a few at a time...I'll lose it!

To tide you over

2009-04-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Until we get batteries for our camera (and figure out the deal with the rechargeable ones), here are a few pictures taken by my friend Nicki on her iPhone! These were taken the end of Feb. so sorry they are a lil old..but still cute! :)

He just poses for the camera-silly kid!

This is his infamous camera face that he has now outgrown- so sad!

Little cheeser!!!

Grocery Smarts Class

2009-04-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the late notice but in case anyone in Vegas is reading this and I havent talked with you- PLEASE come tonight at my house- 7:oo PM. We are going to learn about saving money on groceries!! Wooo hooo! People in Utah- you can do this too...I dont know of any other states as of right now. I will post more information after the class! Thanks Lynette for letting me crash yours- you can come to mine if you want :). Heehee

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T17:23:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Unfortunately, our camera has no batteries to take pics of the cutest kid in his most adorable church outfit ever...but when I do get the camera working-hold on to you hats!! Love you all!

I dont get it...

2009-04-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

So I know I will probably get a lot of flack for this post but I just gotta vent....I do not understand the fascination with Beyonce's song "Single Ladies." To me the video looks like a car accident..you just cant look away but you so desperately want to...whenever I see bits of the video (I must confess, I cant watch the entire video all the way through) I find that I feel my face fall into a glazed over you-must-be-kidding-me-what-the-heck-is-this-nonsense type of look...I dont want to try and find a link to it but go over to youtube and search for it...let me know why ppl would want to watch that over and over (or once all the way through for that matter). It's right up there with Napoleon Dynamite and Rat Race.

**Disclaimer: The above views on Napoleon Dynamite and Rat Race reflect Laurel's views only and not those of her husband. **

We are home!

2009-04-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well folks, settle in because this is going to be a long post!!! I have been away from my computer and high-speed internet for a week!! Hunter has had a busy few weeks. I took him over to meet my great aunt Betty (my grandpa's sister) and he had a blast!

Hunter and I then left on an adventure to go to Houston to visit my grandma and family out there. They had yet to meet Hunter and we thought the best time to go was for Hunter's first birthday!! We flew by ourselves and survived and Jeremy joined us on Thursday in time for Hunters party. I dont have video of that up and running yet because our video camera is less user-friendly than we realized when we bought it...but we do have some good pictures!
Before Jeremy got here we went to a place called The Chocolate Bar (theoriginalchocolatebar.com). SOOOOO great! I got a lot of ideas for when I finally convince Jeremy to let me do chocolates, etc.

The night of Hunter's birthday Jeremy and I got to go to the Theatre Under the Stars (www.tuts.com) to see Les Miserables!!! My aunt Lynda works there so we also got to go backstage afterward. My camera flash is lame in such a big place but I was able to get some decent pictures of the barricade, wedding table, and costumes. It was AWESOME!!! Jeremy and I didnt remember all of it, so it was like seeing it for the first time (plus, it wasnt on a turntable this time so it was different anyway). LOVED IT!

We went to the Science Museum the next day to check out the life of Ghengis Khan and took in some dinosaurs as well...it was a great day!!

Thanks Grandma for EVERYTHING-especially all of the gifts for Hunter and his great birthday!!! We love you and miss you all!
On the way home, we were trying to wear our Hunter so he would sleep on the long flight back-since he is almost walking by himself but not quite brave enough to try, he often uses anything else to walk with:

The wheelchair did the trick and he slept for most of the flight (he would have slept for the whole flight except the attendants kept coming over the LOUD speaker and waking him up!!!)
When we got home, we were able to zip over to the strip to pick up my mom and nana so they could see Hunter for a brief minute or two (boy was he cranky!!!). Then later this week, my uncle and aunt are coming out from Lubbock for a visit....April is flying by and we are loving it all!!!

Apparently....

2009-03-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Apparently our baby boy has transformed into other creatures in his short life...

1- A ROCK STAR

2- KING KONG

3-A DOG

And then back into a baby boy learning to walk:

Oh how we love this little impersonator! :)

First Haircut

2009-03-11T11:31:00.001-07:00

After much persuasion from Jeremy-we decided to cut Hunter's hair last night. I have been boycotting this idea for awhile now because I love his long hair. Occasionally, Hunter even gets little adorable curls in the aforementioned long hair...plus it's his BABY hair...so soft and fine...and I knew that as soon as we cut it, it would never be as soft again...sad day. Jeremy's arguments for wanting to cut it were that people kept calling Hunter a girl (true-he is called a girl on a semi-regular basis by passersby-even when dressed in BOY clothes), the hair in back would get matted whenever Hunter took a nap, rolled around on the floor, sat in his car seat, etc. (again-true, and you couldn't see the cute curls when it was all matted), and it would stick out from the sides of his head like he had just stuck his finger in a socket.
Anyway, last night I gave in and Jeremy got everything ready! We put Hunter in the highchair so he couldn't get away (if only that helped us).
Before:

About 30 minutes into it:

Final product:

Look at all that hair!!! sniff, sniff.

Out of Practice

2009-03-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

On Friday we loaded up the car with our chocolate fountain, food, etc. for our event in Cedar City. We also were taking Hunter with us so we had all of his sleeping gear, etc. among the packing. Our event went really well and as we were packing up the car it starts to snow-apparently we didn't even think about it possibly snowing...I mean, after all, it's March! In Vegas it has been BEAUTIFUL!!! We have hardly needed to wear long sleeves, much less plan for snow (or any moisture). So we head over to our hotel for the night. The next morning we are getting ready to leave and Jeremy has to go take care of the car....you know, scrape off the snow so it's driveable...

Poor guy used a trash can from the hotel room because we didn't bring ANYTHING in regards to snow. As the title portrays-we are out of practice when it comes to the snow...Oh by the way...Total snow experiences for Hunter thus far: 2.

Update

2009-02-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

Let's see...this will be a boring post since not much has happened here in Sin City..well at least, not to us. :) Hunter is almost 11 months and is cruising around everywhere....I have to close all the doors (3) so he won't smash fingers or get into Gidget's food. He does enjoy pulling all her toys out of her kennel and dragging them around the house. Why is it that baby toys hold no enjoyment for babies? He would much rather pull the laundry out of baskets while pushing the baskets around the house (reminds me of the "shopping cart" dance move) while I follow after him and pick it all up. He is fun and has a few new tricks- he can clap, semi-wave, put his hands on his head, make monter noises and click his tongue. He cracks us up constantly!! He also is learning to crawl under our bed and around/under the dining table.

Jeremy is traveling a lot with work and for scouts. He seems to enjoy it and gets paid extra when he travels! I won't complain. :) I am still in my choir and am working on a Requiem concert...it is keeping me busy-especially when we have rehearsals on Thursdays, Sundays, and Saturdays when it gets close to a concert. Whew.
In more entertaining news, we are doing taxes and getting ready to go on a cruise for our 5th anniversary to Alaska! Woo hoo! We are really excited and can hardly wait! Hope you all are doing well!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T12:33:00.001-08:00

We had a great Valentine's Day! Jeremy bought me white tulips that were incredible! He also got me a box of dark chocolate with carmels, etc.

Yum! He even made dinner for us! My favorite-steak! With mashed potatoes and asparagus! Soooo good!

We then dropped off Hunter at a teacher friend's house so they could all watch Hunter and we headed off to a movie. Second one since Hunter has been born. We opted to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop...

not Kevin James' best movie but very clean and cute. We expected more hilarity like in Hitch...but it was a good choice. We even got popcorn and a soda...not doing that again! Sheesh! Anyway, hope your V-days were great!

Poor guy

2009-02-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

After our wonderful weekend with Brian and Alia, we drove to Blythe, CA...oh boy! Talk about a SMALL town! They do have a Kmart and a Starbucks...and some GREAT Mexican food places. I had ceviche for the first time ever and LOVED it...have been craving it ever since. We were staying in the Hampton Inn there and Hunter was working on his walking skills...they still need to be perfected.

Poor thing! He hit his head on the edge of the coffee table and it swelled within 10 seconds! He was a trooper though and was more upset with the cold ice we kept trying to put on the bump instead of the actual injury! What a man!

Arizona for work and play

2009-02-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

Hunter and I tagged along for Jeremy's quarterly ground truthing adventure. We went to Yuma and got to visit with a family from his mission-the Earls (hi guys!). They made us dinner and got to meet Hunter (they met me too). They are so fun! I also got to check out the wall on the border and visit a Walmart that doesn't speak English...I felt like a foreigner in my own country! We also introduced Hunter to sand dunes- the same sand dunes that Star Wars filmed on.

Hunter enjoyed the sand but couldnt quite "grasp" the concept! Observe:

After the dunes, we were introduced to Felicity, CA..."the center of the world." We didnt have the time to pay for a tour to find out why it was the center of the world- and I also wasn't going to pay a buck for Hunter to be carried around on the tour...so we just took some pictures around the place...

After a fun filled week in Yuma, we headed to Tucson to visit Brian and Alia! Only one border patrol checkpoint. While there, we tried to check out the Gem Show but Tuscon conspired against us (since we are not actual jewelers) and wouldnt let us in to see any of said gems (there was a public area but we couldnt find it in our alloted time). But we did get to check out downtown Tucson- never before seen by 3 of the 4 of us. Brian and Alia had a roadshow with their glorious youth that we got to see- impressive. We also played a game of Cornerstone (I think thats the name)-basically like Jenga but a few more rules/colors.

And Hunter decided that their house would be the place for him to stand on his own for the first time and also practice some walking around the room.

He also has become quite the little charmer when cameras are turned his way (and let's be honest-when isnt a camera turned his way).

Thanks Brian and Alia for letting us crash your weekend! We had a blast!!

Little Helper

2009-01-29T12:56:00.001-08:00

Here is a video of Hunter "helping" with the movies...dont mind my gasp at the end...it's normal! :)

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

2009-01-26T12:30:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Jeremy's birthday! We had some friends over for homemade pizza and lemon meringue pie (one of Jeremy's faves). I have decided that I will stick with store bought pizza dough- its just easier. :) Anyway, our friends Brian and Candice gave us a coupon for a free night of babysitting so we can go out on a date! Woo hoo! We have been out on dates since Hunter has been born but he usually tags along- and we have seen one movie in the theaters since his birth. Wow.
So now Jeremy is 29 years old and I thought I would post 29 reasons why I love him (oh how cute!!!)
1. He makes me laugh
2. He can pick me up
3. He is patient with people that I get irritated with
4. He is a wonderful dad
5. He changes poopy diapers without complaint
6. He doesn't watch sports
7. We agree on how to raise our children
8. We have the same views on most things
9. He lets me sleep in on the weekends while he takes care of Hunter
10. He is a wonderful member of our church
11. He likes to be outside
12. He can sing Happy Birthday in the worst way possible (just ask my family)
13. He has a great sense of humor
14. He doesnt yell
15. He is bad with dates too so I dont get in trouble when I forget things
16. He is SO patient when I don't finish things I start (crafts, cleaning, etc.)
17. He helps me with things I dont finish
18. He is a great cook
19. He is a good cleaner (and super speedy at it)
20. He likes to be involved with decorating the house (hey, he lives here too)
21. Hunter loves him
22. He likes animals
23. He is SOO smart!
24. He can fix anything
25. He likes to build things and develop his talents
26. He teaches me (how to cook, etc.)
27. He respects women
28. He can laugh about being "almost arrested" (and he almost was guys-not like when I was almost arrested)
29. He chose to marry me! :)

LOVE YOU BABE!

It's About Time!

2009-01-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well folks, time has gotten away from me-clearly! Quick update on the lives of us...Hunter is 9 months old. He was 28 inches long and 20lbs 10 oz. at his last appointment on Jan. 3. He is crawling like a wild child now-super fast! I will try to get a video of him soon. He babbles all the time and is now clicking his tongue on a regular basis. He can clap our hands and gives open mouth kisses to anyone who wants one (even those who don't). His only "trick" thus far is being able to put his arms up on command. Observe:

He is also "cruising" along the couch and whatever else he can pull up to. He has smashed his fingers in our entertainment stand drawers so many times I have lost count (even after we took the knobs off so he couldn't open them) and loved pulling our dvd player open (before we got a cover for it). He loves to let Gidget kiss him (GROSS!) and enjoys closing and opening her door. One of his new favorite toys is our computer mouse-he will pull it down off the pad and click the buttons, opening several programs in the process. Tech savvy already! He enjoys sitting in carts and making noise as well:

As for the rest of us: I am now 27. My birthday was the 15th and Jeremy will be turning 29...We are getting older and older and still feel young. We are now part of the "old" group in our young marrieds group...sigh. Who knew?! Jeremy is enjoying work and travels a fair amount-if it is longer than a few days Hunter and I tag along and love it! I am keeping busy with chocolate stuff and Pampered Chef. I am as busy with outside things as I want to be. We are doing well and I will try to be better at this posting stuff :).

Hunter, Hunter, Hunter

2008-12-29T11:45:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures of what Hunter has been up to lately....

Chilling in...I mean, UNDER the excersaucer

Helping Daddy babyproof the house

And of course, keeping clean!

Christmas!

2008-12-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas was awesome! Hunter had no idea what was going on but we got some adorable pictures of him in his Christmas pjs from Grandma Dolores (Thanks Grandma)!! Observe:

Some of Jeremy's loot included 2 Xbox games, a foldable carpenter's square, The Dark Knight, Iron Man and some socks. My loot included new Pampered Chef cookware/gadgets, a digital piano (from the siblings in-law), the simplified hymns book (so I can learn), some jewelry, and the entire "Liken" series from my mom. We also got our Kitchenaid mixer from Jeremy's parents. Hunter got lots of books and some noisy toys. We got to cook for our Christmas dinner and had ham, potatoes (sweet and mashed), green beans, rolls (that refused to rise...) and PIE (of course). Cherry-cranberry and a pear pie from the Sampsons. It was a great day here in Vegas-hope yours was just as great!

Christmas Adam

2008-12-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

So this is for my dear friend Kate L. who introduced me to Christmas Adam..I think it is hilarious. We have Christmas Eve (the 24th) so shouldn't we be fair and include Adam (as in Adam and Eve) in the Christmas days as well... anyway I goodsearched (NOT GOOGLED) christmas adam and found this website...a whole place devoted to buying christmas adam memorabilia! Heeheehee!

http://www.cafepress.com/funnycrazytees.208140134

It's Beginning...

2008-12-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

...to look a lot like Christmas!

Forgive me for not updating lately..things have gotten busier and crazier than ever. I am in a choir that had our Christmas Concert yesterday...no biggie-except that we have 3 rehearsals the week preceding the concert: Tues, Thurs. from 7-10 and Sat (dress rehearsal) for 4 hours. Normally this isn't a huge deal because Jeremy watches Hunter...except for this last week when Jeremy was in Yuma for work...I was a single parent! How people do it is amazing to me! I was completely exhausted everyday and wasn't sleeping well at night (Hunter is sick, teething and wasn't sleeping through the night),

*This is how we relax when Hunter isn't feeling so hot..notice the tiny teeth*

and I didn't even have to go to work the next day! Thank goodness!
Anyway, on to more entertaining items :). We have now decorated for Christmas-

our tree is up,
presents are on the couch(too many temptations for Baby if they are under the tree),

our Nativity is out,

our Christmas village is set up and lights will be installed shortly on our patio. Hunter even helped decorate the tree.

We are still missing one box that must be in storage---it has my stocking in it. Our ornaments look pretty sparse as well so the rest are in said box.
Hunter is crawling around and getting into everything-of course. He is constantly pulling himself up by our couch, dining chairs, walls, etc. I am just waiting for him to try to use the Christmas tree...sigh. He has 2 teeth on the bottom that are super sharp! He is also sick this week and has a crusty nose-not to be confused Rudolph's shiny one... although his is just as red, I am sure. He has gotten to meet the big guy in red (SANTA!?!! I know him!!!) and didn't even cry...this year.

I don't know his current weight, etc. until he is 9 months old...that's our next scheduled vaccination. He is drooling an insane amount and you can see the top two teeth forming in his gums. It's a little strange looking.
We are staying put this year for Christmas and are very excited...there are even rumors of snow but in the past 4 years we have lived here, we have NEVER had a white Christmas. We shall see.

7 things

2008-12-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Lauren tagged me so here we go....
Seven things about me that are new to you. Let's see how well I can do!

1. I didn't change my major when I was in college-I probably should have (at least once).
2. I have been to 27 of the 50 states.
3. I have been to 2 other countries.
4. I have lived in 2 Las Vegas-es :)
5. I share my birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr.
6. I want to be a singing voice for Disney.
7. I hate soggy bread items (bread pudding, stuffing, etc.)

Sheesh

2008-11-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

So, these videos became obsolete the day after i took them....this was Friday (last week) and then on Saturday, he decided to start CRAWLING instead of just scooting...notice the laundry baskets and trash can (it's clean) that are now a better barricade than the wall of pillows...we stopped at 3 high and started looking for a sturdier solution...although, he loves to pull the laundry baskets over and pull the folded laundry out...

I'm so popular!

2008-11-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

I feel so loved when I am tagged...even though I don't continue it on...

8 things I am obsessed with right now:
1. sewing
2. making dvd containers
3. cleaning my house (once again!)
4. getting Christmas gifts for family by Thanksgiving
5. Hunter
6. my hubby
7. figuring out Vista...(btw--its on our Mac...how cool!!!)
8. getting paid for chocolate

8 words or phrases that I often use:
1. Seriously?!?!?
2. Mmmk...
3. Excuse me
4. I'm tired
5. No
6. What are you doing? (Used often when I am driving)
7. Hi baby!
8. Whatever

8 shows that I love to watch right now:
1. The Big Bang Theory (nerds at their best!)
2. The Office
3. The Unit
4. Jon & Kate Plus 8
5. 7th Heaven (it is sucking me in...)
6. The Cosby Show
7.Criminal Minds
8. Bones

8 things I did yesterday:
1. church
2. ate pizza
3. baked a cherry pie
4. ate cherry pie
5. went to choir practice
6. took a nap
7. watched TV
8. played with Hunter

8 Favorite places to eat:
1. Claim Jumper
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Olive Garden
4. Taco Bell
5. Arby's
6. Mimi's Cafe
7. friends' houses
8. P.F. Chang's

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas
3. selling our condo
4. moving somewhere new
5. finishing organizing my house
6. Lauren's baby being born
7. Getting more familiar with Vista/Mac
8. Hunter walking...mixed feelings

8 things that are on my wish list:
1. make money from condo
2. move sometime soon
3. buy a house
4. have an organized home
5. become a better homemaker
6. not be so critical
7. develop my talents more
8. stay better in touch with people

8 people I tag:
You're off the hook

Why we love him

2008-11-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is more for the grandparents than anyone but enjoy! He didn't have anything in his mouth...he is just pulling faces a lot nowadays....silly boy!

7 months and still alive!

2008-11-04T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hunter is now 7 months old and Jeremy and I are both in awe of the little critter! He is on the brink of actually crawling-legs are up under and he is wiggling his bum in the air, even using one leg or the other to move a little. He has been scooting for a few months now, using his toes to edge himself closer to the DVDs..oh how he loves those. He can army crawl over the pillow blockades we make for him-so we now make them 2 pillows high, instead of just one. He knows which ones are easier to crawl over and sure is persistent! I know it will only get worse but I am amazed at his processing skills, even at this age!He has added many new things to his diet (and boy have they taken their toll-yuck!) including: peas-which he has mastered, rice cereal, oatmeal, formula of course, apple juice (keeps him regular), some applesauce, and we will be starting green beans and fruits soon. We have been slow to introduce him to new foods because he had surgery a little over a week ago and it was recommended we don't start anything new to his tummy- so we could pinpoint what his crankiness was in relation to (surgery only, instead of new foods, vaccines, etc.).He is sitting up on his own and refuses to lay still for a diaper change now. Thank goodness for toys that make noise (for now). He loves baths and is particularly interested in dear old Gidget. He loves to pull on her skin and she just lays there and takes it! Good dog! Hunter is also "talking" a lot and loves to wave at himself in the mirror. He is able to pull himself up to standing and will stand for minutes at a time! He seems to prefer standing to sitting right now.
We are truly blessed for having an easy going baby-Heavenly Father knew I needed an easy one the first time around! Let's hope he continues to bless me with them!

Call for Help

2008-11-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know, I am in a choir that is part of the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society. It is a non-profit choir and is constantly needing donations, fundraisers, etc. Anyway, this is a plea before you all start your crazed Christmas shopping. If you go to goodshop.com, you can enter the name of your charity that you want to help out (Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society) and then do your online shopping from the links off of that page. They have tons of different stores and a percentage (I don't know how much) goes to your charity. There is also a search engine called goodsearch.com and if you go there to search for things (instead of Google, etc.) then the charity gets a penny per search. So if you could all spread the word for my poor choir that needs money! I would truly appreciate it. Especially since if you are shopping online ANYWAY, then shouldnt they donate some money to us? :) Thanks!!!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T13:57:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of our little hunter...Hunter the Lion. (I am so punny!). Our ward had a tri-ward trunk of treat and so we decided to go hand out candy to all the young and old whipper-snappers who were in costumes and not (lazy teenagers). We were going to be: the cowardly lion, scarecrow and Dorothy from Wizard of Oz but alas, no CHEAP Dorothy's costume existed...and I wasn't about to pay $40 for something I would only wear once. Oh well. Maybe next year. Hope you all had a fabulous Halloween and everyone was safe. :)

4 more days!

2008-10-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

Only 4 more days until the new leader of the country is chosen. Jeremy and I voted last night so we are set! I was watching Oprah this morning and she voted yesterday as well (I always knew we were close). Apparently, this was the first time she ever voted electronically...anyone else not voted electronically either? Vegas must be ahead of the times then...that's the only way I ever have voted.
Anyway, on our way home we checked our mail and had a STACK of fliers all on why we shouldn't vote for Dina Titus, or John McCain, Obama, Jon Porter, etc...and that's when it hit me...after Nov. 4th we will no longer have to listen to all the smear campaigns for everyone, no longer get annoying calls from the Democratic or Republican parties wanting to tell us how excited they are over in their offices and why we should come down and have a looksy, have Michelle Obama call on behalf of husband or Sarah Palin call to make sure we enjoyed our chat with a volunteer on their side... No longer will shows be canceled because of a 30 minute commercial all about the wonders that are Barack Obama, and maybe (just maybe) we can watch news that will be slightly more informative on other things that have been happening in the world instead of our own popularity contest. Although I have enjoyed watching SNL on Thursdays...good ol' skits about all the candidates.
Sorry for the tirade. But after Nov. 4th it will all be over...for another 2 years...didn't you know that was the trend now? Announcing your candidacy 2 years before the current presidency is up! Oh how I loathe politics. Happy voting!

Wooo hooo!

2008-10-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time in coming but we have FINALLY! gotten our house to a clean level. Things are put away, kitchen sink is empty, couch is cleared off (mostly), laundry is almost done, bathrooms are clean (for now), beds are made, TVs are dusted, dining table is cleared off and looks marvelous! There are still a few areas which need to be reorganized and decluttered, but for the most part, our house looks good! :) Yay! I would post pics but can't find our camera. :)

Craft: Checkbook Holder.....Check!

2008-10-21T12:29:00.003-07:00

Tada!! This one is a new craft that I saw over the weekend and did in under an hour! Wooo hooo!

St.Bernard....I Mean Camelback Mtn.

2008-10-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Jeremy will probably not speak to me when he reads this but I was going through our pictures today and weeding out things. (LOVE iPhoto) Anyway, I came across a picture of Camel Rock in NM and it made me remember when Jeremy, my mom and I were in AZ a few years ago visiting Mags. We were looking out the window and Jeremy was telling us all about Camelback Mountain...Mom and I were so confused and couldn't see what he was pointing at. This is what he was pointing at:

But we were looking for something that looked like this:
We decided that our camel rock looked more like a camel than his mountain so now (fondly) Camelback Moutain has been renamed St. Bernard Mountain...it looks just like a St. Bernard-don't you think?? :) Love you Jeremy!

Splashing!

2008-10-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Here's Hunter enjoying a bath...so is Mom!

Scooting

2008-10-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hunter is going and going!!! This little clip doesn't truly capture him but it's a good start!

Free handbag anyone?

2008-10-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

Check it out..even though I don't get to carry a purse as often anymore, I still wanted to sign up. This link is giving away a free handbag every hour for the first 24 hours...FOR FREE!!! Check it out! :)

www.handbagplanet.com

Crazy 8s Tag

2008-10-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Andrea....here ya go.

8 Favorite Shows:

1. The Office

2. Chuck

3. Big Bang Theory

4. Burn Notice

5. Monk

6. Jon & Kate Plus 8

7. What Not To Wear

8. Heroes

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Claim Jumper

2. Cheesecake Factory

3. Olive Garden

4. Baja Fresh

5. Cold Stone (not a restaurant but still)

6. PF Changs

7. Red Robin

8. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1. Made cookies w/ Candice

2. Fed Hunter

3. Changed diapers

4. Talked to my mom

5. Dropped Jeremy @ the airport

6. Dropped Uncle Greg @ his truck

7. Got Hunter's birth certificate

8. Had dinner w/ Brian & Candice

8 Things Looking Forward To:

1. Selling our condo and breaking even (at least)

2. Buying a house

3. Getting organized

4. Seeing family for Thanksgiving/ Christmas

5. Moving out of Vegas

6. One day owning a bedroom set

7. Getting more crafty

8. Not going back to work (we hope)

8 Things I Love About Fall:

1. Colors

2. Cooler weather

3. Fun clothes (the best colors for fashion are in the fall)

4. Halloween

5. Thanksgiving

6. Smells of fall

7. Fun recipes

8. Spud harvest (in Idaho)

8 Wishlist Items:

1. Moving out of Vegas

2. Buying a house (w/ a yard and garage!)

3. Being organized

4. Go on another cruise

5. Lose baby weight

6. More motivation to exercise

7. Travel to Greece

8. Go back to NYC (to get those pics we missed)

8 People to Tag:

I dont believe in tagging. :)

And it starts...

2008-10-05T11:23:00.001-07:00

I cant' believe I am posting this on here (don't you judge me all you perfect mothers!) but it has dawned on Jeremy and I that are little one is getting more mobile...like I mentioned in the 6 month post..Hunter is rolling and rolling and swirling in circles.

Well, a few days ago I was working on the computer and Hunter fell asleep on our bed. No biggie. My grandma called and while I stepped into the bathroom to grab a tissue (stupid cold), I hear some grumblings. Hunter normally grumbles when he starts to wake up so I peeked around the corner of the door to check on him...Hunter is NO WHERE on the bed. Then I heard a LOUD scream/cry and rush to the other side of the bed. Lo and behold-there is my little red faced, screaming child ON THE FLOOR!!! My grandma hears him and says I can call her back (Thanks Grandma D). I did a few once overs and he is fine but I am still a little confused with how he pushed himself off the bed (in the middle of his nap, even)! Hunter really is fine and from everyone I have told- it apparently happens to everyone. Sigh. It still doesn't help me feel better. :S

6 months today!

2008-10-03T19:19:00.001-07:00

Today Hunter is 6 months old! I can't believe is so old already!! He is scooting around in circles and rolling all over!! He is sitting up on laps for minutes at a time (until he gets excited and throws himself back). Sitting on the floor is still a lil tricky for long periods of time (he slumps a tad to the right...). I dont know his current weight, etc. because we haven't had his 6 month checkup....stay tuned. :)

Peas anyone?

2008-09-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Hunter and his first introduction to peas...enjoy!