Hazy Days

working out

2012-02-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

I want to like running, I really do. I want to feel like I am getting something out of it, I want to have the motivation to keep doing it until I am good at it. I want to work towards running longer and longer distances not working towards running at all.

I have for so long said "I am not a runner" and left it at that. I work out in other ways, I go to zumba classes twice a week, I walk with friends at the mall. But really I want to run.

I have a friend who invited me to come any night of the week with her to the little workout room at her apartment complex. She said she was working up to a 5K and I decided I would try again to like running. I started a couch to 5K training program and while I like to think I am in better shape than the average couch potato week one down and it felt good. I think I can do this.

Now I just need a run to work towards.

would be facebook updates

2012-02-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

I need to cut back on my mindless computer time so I temporarily turned off my facebook account to curb how much I use it. But while I am away I have had some thoughts rolling around in my head the past couple days that I would have posted on facebook so here are a few.

- Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread- would it be good with huckleberries instead?

- 11am and the third shirt of the day, Sophie seems fine today other than the throw up

- exercise buddy check :) I may start training to actually run a 5K

- bouncing around ideas for something new around here, we'll see

I am pretty glad that this week I have had a lot of in person social time to make up for facebook and maybe it's better this way. We'll see how long I keep this up, it's feeling pretty good now. (Although I feel like I really need an answer to the bread question before I cook it)

Sophie in January

2012-01-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

Where's your mouth?

Where's your ear?

Where's your pretty hair?

Where are your eyes?

Where is your nose?

Sophie got a paint set for Christmas- she really gets into it. Her pictures are actually pretty good.

Fairly often Sophie will bring me the camera and smile- she loves having pictures taken and then looking at them.

She also loves to have her nails painted, she even pretended to them herself. I guess she is also pretending to put on eye makeup but I have no idea where she would have gotten that from, because I never wear any.

If you aren't happy, change it!

2012-01-26T12:28:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to an Relief Society Meeting where we had Dr. Dave Adams come and talk to us about fighting stress, anxiety, and depression. I liked what he had to say and decided to share it on my blog in case someone out there who reads this wants to make a change.

Dr. Adams said that before he will prescribe meds for someone who feels like they have depression (or anytime someone talks to them about not feeling happy) he asks them to really work on these 6 things to see if they can make a difference. He said if you don't like the way your life is going or the way you are feeling than you can make the effort to change it.

1. Exercise: 30-40 mins a day of strenuous exercise (it should make you feel winded).
-he said that sometimes we will be on vacation somewhere like Hawaii and we see people on vacation out running and we say to ourselves that they must really love exercise, not everyone that exercises regularly loves it, many people do it consistently because they know that helps them feel better.

2. Church: studies show that active participation in any church or religion helps peoples mood.

3. Talk: don't socially isolate yourself, it helps to talk about things that are bothering you but it is even beneficial to talk about something as simple as the weather or as controversial as politics
- if you have trouble talking that is where Counselors come in, they are trained to draw people out of themselves

4. Keep your mind busy and your days productive: before you go to bed make a list of 5-10 things you want to accomplish the next day, even if it is supposed to be a relaxing day you can list things like read in a certain book or work on a certain hobby. Even if you only get a couple done you can recognize that you did get something done.

5. Mood follows your actions:
Common habits that contribute to depressed mood:
- staying up too late: too many people think they are night owls when they shouldn't be
- too much TV/video/texting/computer games: the more time you spend on these things the less you see your self and others as people not just things
- talking about others

Everyday you should be spending time in prayer, reading your scriptures, and serving others.

6. Mood follows your thoughts: try and keep a grateful heart, don't dwell on negative stuff, everyday can be good or bad depending on what you dwell on

A note about food: Dr. Adams said that his best advice concerning food and depression is to not overindulge. He said if you make brownies, telling yourself you will only have one, and then you do it helps your self esteem so much. If you overindulge you feel worse about yourself and it doesn't help you be healthy.

A note about light: Don't go home and sit in a dark room or a dark house, let the sun light in and enjoy the world around you.

If you don't like how you feel- change it, don't wait for something to make it better!

sorry no pics

2012-01-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

I thought I needed to update but seeing as our laptop (where we put all our pics) died the other day I have no pics for now. I hopefully will get them back later. Josh has been working night and day to get it back up, so far it's not all working but it is enough that we could move all our files to an external hard drive- which we still need to buy. It seems like the time for things breaking for us, my cell phone won't let me into my messaging any more, I can't check or write texts or get into my voice mails. Bummer for me because I would way rather text than call but Josh has plans to fix it after he gets the computer dealt with.

Sophie and I went to Oregon over MLK weekend to surprise my sister. We had a good time going to her baby shower, getting pedicures, and playing lots of games. I feel like between going to zumba with a friend and playing my mom's ABBA dance game I exercised more in three days than I usually do in a week, but it was so good for me.

Sophie is potty training this week, yesterday didn't go super well but so far today there has been big improvement. I really can't believe how fast she is growing up. Her words have improved so much, she talks a lot now. She also has figured out how to move my step stool around the house to get what she wants. It's frustrating but also so cute.

Christmas

2012-01-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve we had Josh's family over- we exchanged homemade gifts this year and I thought everyone did such a good job. His family is so creative.

Christmas morning the light reflected on our Nativity picture to give us a perfect reminder of the day.

We had such a good day. Sophie was slow at opening gifts but it's because she just enjoyed everything so much. She was so careful not to rip the paper of every gift. Her big gift was a play kitchen that she has played with every day since.
She got some finger puppets in her stocking and got a kick out of them.

She got this tutu from her cousin and aunt- she loves to dress up.

Sophie's dad was so thoughtful and gave Sophie batteries for Christmas so her music animals could all play again. She had run the batteries out of the bunny and duck a few times before we gave up replacing them but now she has her own batteries and is so happy to have them play music again for her. Along with the ones in the video she has two Christmas ones and often she will play them all at once and dance around to them.

Salt Lake Lights

2011-12-31T09:07:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we went to go see the lights in Temple Square in Salt Lake, it worked out great because it was the same time my brother was headed down to the airport to go home. We went down on Friday and went down to the square.

We didn't stay super long because it was getting pretty cold, but it was so good to get the chance to go, it had been a long time since I had been down there.

(I like this picture, even if the statue is cut off)

After the lights we stopped in Lehi at Porter's Place for dinner- it is a super fun hole in the wall place that serves non-alcholic mixed drinks that are called things like Rattlesnake Venom and The Lost Dutchman. It was my first time eating a whole meal there, usually we just order drinks and scones.
We stayed the night with my aunt and uncle in Orem and Saturday we went to IKEA before dropping Seth off at the airport. It was such a fun trip, I loved every minute of it. We were so lucky that the weather was so good for us to go this year.

Thanksgiving and Jackson, WY

2011-12-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have no pictures of Thanksgiving- we had a good time though. My parents came and that morning we did a 5K with members or both Josh and I's families. Then we did two dinners one with my family and one with his. It was a fun week with my family around and a friend from high school that spent the weekend with us.

The week after Thanksgiving Josh's family goes to Jackson, we went up for the last couple days of it. Josh's mom and sister were nice enough to watch Sophie while Josh and I explored a little it was fun to have that time to just hang.

Apparently, pictures on this counter are common for Josh's sibling so we took a couple of Sophie. Eventually, I won't be so behind on this blog, sorry for now I am running about a month behind.

Arizona Trip

2011-12-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since I posted- I am sorry, I just have been really busy. But in early November Sophie and I flew down to Arizona and met up with my dad to visit my grandpa. It was such a fun trip, I am so glad that we got the chance to go and that my dad was available to meet up with us.
Sophie liked to sit on the pouch with her grandpa and her great-grandpa to play with the two dogs. She loves dogs and it not scared at all. (I didn't get many pictures because I can't say the same about me and dogs).
We went to visit Tombstone, AZ and had a good time visiting the shops there. Soph was a good sport with all the driving we did.
My grandpa's wife is such a wonderful cook- they had so much good food for us.

Both my grandpa and his wife are wonderful at sewing (my grandpa has made us a couple of beautiful quilts) and when they heard I had been doing a little bit of sewing they decided that they would show me some tricks. We ended up making all these little shirts for her. The blue with the ballerinas are a set of pjs for her. Thank you grandpa for letting us come visit- we had a great time :)

ok, finally- Halloween

2011-11-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

Sophie was a dog for Halloween, it was a costume that my mom and sister picked for her. We went to lots of different Trick or Treat events but we enjoyed the ward trunk or treat best because it was fun for her to see the people she knew.

It didn't take her long to learn she had to hold out her bucket and smile and she could get some candy. She really was getting into it in the end. She ended up with so much candy. We went through and picked out everything we didn't think she could eat and that we didn't like and took it to a candy buy back. She got $1 (she had just under a pound), a toothbrush, and a free kids meal at Outback Steak House. I thought it was a pretty good trade. She was super excited about the toothbrush that lights up.
A week before Halloween we carved our pumpkins and they almost didn't make it to Halloween, I forget how fast they wither in this cold climate. Josh's is the reverse jack-o-lantern and mine is the starry sky. If you couldn't tell Sophie's is the colored one :)

We interrupt your regular scheduled programing...

2011-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

... for some random thoughts from me.

I am sorry I have been putting off blogging, I need to post about Halloween and my trip to Arizona but I have been putting it off, but I had a few little notes.

- I made a list of all the projects I need to get done before Christmas and I decided that I am crazy. It's not like I am really super into homemade gifts I just have tons of little things I will be working on probably until Christmas eve.

- Is it bad that I hope for snow just in the hopes it will make it warmer outside? I never thought I would ever hope for snow, I really picked the wrong climate to live in.

- Yesterday I walked through the Christmas section of Walmart and got so excited. It feels like the holidays are coming super fast this year but I am so excited about it all. I have a feeling that in January I will have a real crash with the reality of a long winter without any holidays left.

- For months Josh and I have been watching Gilmore Girls, all of them, we finished a few days before I left for Arizona. As much as I enjoyed the show and I thought I would be sad when we had finished but I wasn't, I have really enjoyed our evenings where we don't know what we will be doing. We have played lots more games and talked a lot. We still are watching a few shows but they are once a week type things.

Hopefully I will be motivated soon to catch up on blogging (I keep trying to get Josh to do it).

Fall

2011-11-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Fall came fast it seems, Sophie and I went to Rexburg for a day and came back to all the leaves off our tree. I am kind of sad we missed it but we have sure had fun playing in all our leaves.

It has been perfect place to practice her new skill- jumping.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

I know it looks like she is just listening to it but she was giving it a hug. We kept handing her little pumpkins and she would put them down and try to get a big one. It was so funny. We did come to a consensus on a good medium one. Later I will post pictures of our pumpkins after we decorated them

Crafty Chicka

2011-10-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sophie has been so crafty lately. This spider hat she made at library story time last week. She wore it around all day. It makes me smile so much.
We also made some play dough the other day and she was really getting into it.
She has also been coloring like crazy. She usually wants to color as soon as she is done eating all time. She is getting pretty good. She colors one area at a time, like she is trying to color in the lines. We have been having lots of fun.

Helping in the ktchen

2011-10-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sophie loves to help around the kitchen, I made her a little apron and we both put our aprons one when we cook. She helps pour and stir. Yesterday she even put the cookie dough in bunches and on the cookie sheet. She also helps to empty the dishwasher, she does the utensils and then helps with any pans or mixing bowls. Then of course we have to take a dancing break.

Zoo

2011-10-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last week Sophie and I tried to suck the last summer fun out of the year (good thing we did, it snowed yesterday) we went to the park four times and went to the zoo once. She loved the zoo. It was a pretty low key day there so we took our time just wandering around.

Her favorites were the goats because she could get right up to them. She even fed them! After feeding them we went into the area so she could pet them, I wish I had gotten pictures. She first when in and walked around to every goat and waved and said "hi." Then she went back and forth between 2 different ones petting their backs softly. When I told her it was time to go she went around to every goat again to say good bye. I am a little sad we only went once this summer before it closed but we will make sure to go back in the spring.

I've been slow with blogging of late

2011-09-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

It seems like my days are going so fast but with nothing much to report. We enjoyed having my family visit and we have been going to the park a lot to get it all in before the weather turns bad. Sophie is learning tons of new words lately but she does a lot of her communicating by pointing or taking our hands and putting them on what she wants. She loves it when we have people around that want to play with her.

1st thing in the morning

2011-09-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

we read

So Pretty!

2011-08-24T10:31:00.001-07:00

When we were in Oregon Sophie's grandma gave her some sunglasses and some bracelets. Along with her necklaces she already had she is all ready for dressing up and being pretty. She puts her things on and says "pretty."

The other day I came in to see Sophie when her dad was getting her ready for bed. She was putting bows in her hair and saying "pretty" with each one. It was so cute. She didn't want them taken out.

Children's Museum

2011-08-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

When we were in Oregon Sophie and I got the chance to go to the Children's Museum. She loved it, we had such a great day. She loved every room, she was super cute at the mini store and the music area. I hope to take her back next time we go.

Family Reunion- place

2011-08-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

So for a little reference the beautiful beach house we stayed at was as close to the beach as the ones in this picture.

Doesn't it look just like a dream? (Forgive me for playing around with edits the last couple posts, I was just trying out some simple editing but loved the way these came out)

And- Happy Anniversary yesterday was three years for my wonderful husband and I.

Family Reunion- people

2011-08-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

We just got back from my mom's family reunion at the beach in Oregon. We had such a great week and have so much to share I thought I would break the posts up a little bit. It was so fun to be with my family and Sophie loved all the attention.
We had Josh's younger brother with us and he and my brother did a great job of always entertaining Sophie.

We do a tradition of homemade exchange gifts and they brought lots of laughs this year. They were really clever.
My cousins kids were great fun for Sophie- they were wonderful about letting Sophie always play with them. When I showed Sophie this picture she kept pointing at them and holding out my hand to point at them and have me tell her their names.

silly girl

2011-07-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Recently, Sophie has taken to cooking while I cook. Josh said she has taken a little too much from me, you'll see what in the video.

She also like my shoes apparently.

I need to keep better tabs on what Sophie is doing all the time, she was playing on the floor and she brought me the camera and posed for these two shots for me.

Later when I was uploading pictures I came across three like this

yes, that is Sophie's foot in the foreground and mine in the background. Her first attempt at photography.

sometimes the music just takes over

2011-07-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July

2011-07-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

For the fourth of July we went to see a parade, had a bbq with Josh's family, and did fireworks with my grandparents and cousins. We had a good day and I think Sophie had a good day.

Primary Quotes- Sunbeam style

2011-06-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

So we used to teach the 8 year old class at church and recently we have been teaching the three turning four year old (sunbeams) class. Funny things were still said, just not as often- maybe we just couldn't understand what they were saying. But since last week was our last week doing that we figured we would share what we have collected.

"Attuna Bahtata... that's not quite right.." - C. trying to figure out Hakuna Matata

"nnnnnnnnnyes, that means yes in spanish." -T.
"how do you say no in spanish?" -us
"nnnnnnnnnno"

"See my tooths? They're sharp." -E.
"Sabre Tooth Tigers have tooths like I do." -E.

"Why do I have these?" -Josh asking about his glasses when teaching about eyes
"Well, if you would just eat more carrots." -C.

"If you didn't have bones you would flap around." -E.

We had them make door hangers for their moms for mothers day. I suggested to say something like "mom is sleeping" on it- they decided on better things.
"I love you mom." -Ce.
"Don't come in and don't throw a fit." -T.
"If mom is sleeping don't come in, and keep [sister] out."- C.
"Don't take my phone." -E.

"C, are my eyes sparkly?" -Ce.
"Woooowwww..." -C.
"My mom painted them." - Ce.
"So sparkly!" -C.

"How do you use a shield?" -another teacher
"If there is a dinosaur you can go like this" -C. (then put her arm up)

We felt really old after this one. We showed them a picture of an envelope.
"What's this?" -Josh
"An Email!" -T.

videos of Sophie

2011-06-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

So here are some things of Sophie that have made me so happy lately. The first one is her using the couch as a slide. The second video is Sophie and her cousin. Sorry the last one is sideways but if you listen closely you'll hear what she figured out.

sense of humor

2011-06-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

This girl really does have a sense of humor. She is such a tease. She will go up to us like she's going to kiss us and then at the last minute she turns her face. She takes her dad's slippers off and puts them just out of his reach. She hides things behind the bookcase where she thinks we can't see and she getting the whole tickling thing figured out. She makes us laugh all the time.

She also has this new thing where she thinks she is the boss of when we can leave somewhere. She will wait by the door for us to take her outside and if we are somewhere else and she wants to go home she will grab her diaper bag and head for the door. She is great at telling us how she feels even if she doesn't verbalize it all the time.

Oregon Trip

2011-06-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last week Sophie and went to Oregon. We were so lucky that my friend Casey was willing to take a week to visit the same time we wanted to surprise for his graduation. It was so fun to surprise him, he was really excited I think.

Sophie was an amazing traveler- she just hung out facing backwards in the backseat without almost a peep the whole ride there until we got to Portland. We even did it with only stopping twice for gas and once for lunch.

We got to do some really fun things, we took Sophie to the zoo with Aunt Krista and the kids she watches and we got to see the starlight parade that Seth marched in. Sophie was mesmerized by both.

She loved my parents dog PJ- and he loved her. He would scare her a little when he would run up to her but if she was in control they were the best of friends. She learned the word dog and got very good at petting nicely. She also used the word dog with other ones she was in contact with during the trip which makes me kind of sad that we don't really know many people around here that have dogs she could play with. PJ was the perfect size though.

Seth got his car running before his graduation which was his goal. This has been a long project and is not done yet but he's basically built it up from the frame and it run great. It was such a cool ride.

All in all we had a great time but were both glad to get home to Josh who did a wonderful job of holding down the fort (which was so wonderfully clean when we got home). Sophie just ran around looking at things for a bit when we got home.

I am amazed

2011-05-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Sophie Sophie Sophie- she seems to be growing up so fast. She is doing things that surprise us and make us smile all the time. Here are some examples.

Sophie and I like to play in the front yard while we wait for dad to get home. Yesterday she found an empty flower pot and began picking dandelions and putting them in the pot. Then she brought the pot over to me and took the flowers out to hand to me. She loves picking flowers and sharing them but the pot was totally new.

Lately she has been really good at going to bed at night, after scriptures and prayers we say goodnight and she walks into her bedroom, grabs her blanket, and waits by her crib. This morning she came and got me and walked into her room and did the same thing. I think she knew she was tired and went right down for a nap.

We try and read scriptures with Sophie everyday, we read from the illustrated Book of Mormon Stories and often during the day we will find her off in a corner looking through the book. I love it!

There is a little space between the couch and the corner of our front room, it's about a 2 x 3 foot space. We have some blankets that we keep there but apparently it is Sophie's space. She will take things there to hide them or play with them. Most often I find my boots over there. She thinks it is so funny to be just out of sight of us.

a while ago we had Easter... and since then and we have done some other things

2011-05-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more pictures of Sophie at Easter. She went on a little hunt at my grandparents and did so good. She was right on finding her eggs and finding her basket. On the Saturday before Easter we took Sophie to a hunt and also gave her a little one in our yard too. She was pretty cute.

Since Easter we have been pretty low key. We are still waiting for spring around here. We are having lots of rain. Sophie is getting great at walking around and we have been trying to mix up her days by doing some different things and going different places. Just love that girl.

Also, guess what I found in my shoes the next morning?

a message from Sophie

2011-05-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Q,VBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ J J JLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLKK.JJJJJJJJJJJJBGJJJJJNUYGYS Z C.D AZEQAQAARW1T BBzx v

Easter

2011-05-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

I'll write about Easter later, but for now enjoy the pictures.

Lovin the girl

2011-04-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

We are just having a fun time with this sweet girl, she posed for this picture after handing me the camera.
She waits for dad to come home from work.

She took my apron from the drawer and put it on and then played peek-a-boo by holding it up to her face.

most boring writer ever- and a point to this post

2011-04-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

When I read over my past blog posts I feel for everyone who reads my blog. I am not a good writer. I'm glad I didn't pursue my childhood dream of writing books because I don't think that would work out very well for me. I never quite know what to say- like take my last post, Sophie's birthday, I knew I needed to post something so I picked a couple pictures I liked and then had no idea what to say with them. Maybe I should have just said "Sophie turned 1" because in all actuality it doesn't really matter to very many people what we actually did on her birthday. So I'm sorry for always being such a boring author of this blog but unless I can convince Josh to ever submit input to this blog you will just have to bear with me and hopefully the pictures make up for it.

Anyway, I did have a reason for writing today. I just had such a relaxing day today. Sophie was sick and so Josh and I did a switch and church so he went to the first part and then came home and I went to the latter part where I taught my primary class of 4 year-olds, which actually went better than usual. I came home and Josh had done the dishes and folded the laundry. Then we just hung out, Josh and I took a nap, gave Sophie a bath, cuddled with her, and we ended off our night watching a Sesame Street video she got for her birthday. This seemed like one of her favorite parts, despite feeling awful she waved her arms around and tried to sing along. That girl loves to sing.

Someone had a birthday

2011-04-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Last week Sophie celebrated her 1st birthday. We had a great time. We celebrated a little the weekend before when we were with Sophie's Aunt Krista who shares a birthday with her. On Sophie's actual birthday we just had a good dinner and a cupcake. We took her out to a frozen yogurt place and she got a wonderful dairy-free pineapple sorbet and walked around the place like a little queen. She defiantly got spoiled from all her friends and family. We so enjoy having Sophie around. She makes us so happy.

Last night we took her out to Red Robin because both Sophie and I had free coupons for our birthdays. Sophie had her first time drinking from a straw and she did great. Also, she got a balloon on our way out and this morning she was reaching for it saying "ba-oon" it was soo soo cute.

crazy here

2011-04-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

sorry I have been slow with posting but we have been pretty crazy here. A couple weeks ago my mom, brother, and sister came to visit for their spring break and we had a great time. The over last weekend we went down to Utah for General Conference and to see the rest of my family. We had a great time going to a conference session and having a little birthday party for Sophie and her birthday sharing aunt, but it was still a little bit stressful of a weekend because our car died and rather than try and figure a way to get it home and get it fixed we sold it and found other ways home. So now we are down to one car but that's ok, spring is almost here so hopefully I won't get too antsy here at home.

Sophie's Swimming

2011-03-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the last day at Sophie's swimming class. She totally loved it and I had a great time taking her to it every week. I am so glad we live somewhere that we have opportunities to do things like this with Sophie. In her class we worked on floating, kicking, blowing bubbles, and getting in the water. I think she got best at kicking, I even think she got the concept that kicking moves you forward. We would put a toy in front of her and she would start kicking to get at it.

2011-03-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't been so great at posting on this blog lately, not sure why, but I think it's because our lives seem kind of slow. I tell the days of the week by what show I turn on while I am doing things around the house. I tell the passing of weeks by which member of Josh's family has a birthday that week. It is defiantly feeling like Hazy Days around here.

We are enjoying this sweet girl though. She loves her stuffed dog and she loves music. She can walk a few steps at a time and does great, she'll be walking so soon. She also talks quite a bit. The words we understand are "dad," "mama," "this," and "hey." She's also been into making roar sounds, which we will need to get a video of soon.

wish I was here

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

can I just make a huge copy and put it over my window to block out the awful snow that's coming down?

Random

2011-03-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

-I think that we have Sophie's first words. I say I think because she's been saying things that sound like dad and mom for awhile but we didn't think she knew what they meant because she would say them whenever. But the last few days Sophie has taken to saying "hey dad" (or "ey da") everytime she comes into a room where Josh is, but I never hear her say it when he's not around. Funny thing is according to my baby book "hey dad" were the first things I said too. I hope this means she will grow up with the same adoration for her dad as I had.

- Lately I've had a hard time getting anything done around here because Sophie likes to 'help'. As you can see from these pictures her helping really is just taking things out.

- I've been doing some sewing which is really fun for me, I've never really done much. I turned a men's shirt into a shirt for me that I wore yesterday and last night I made a circle skirt that I need to hem today. I love doing creative and crafty things but I'm not a perfectionist and so usually the results are things that would make my sister cringe, but I'm having fun.

- Sophie's hair is turning red! Big suprise there...

- I'm reading a great book "Getting the Pretty Back" by Molly Ringwald. Probably the first non-fiction book that I have ever reccomended. It basically just makes me feel good. I'm almost done and I started yesterday. I also just finished "The Mysterious Benidict Society" series and highly reccomend it, especially for those with kids who like to read. It is a great adventure story that is very kid friendly. The kids battle the bad guys with smarts not violence and the bad guys don't die, they just go to jail. When I was growing up my mom always read up books before bed and I'm sure this will be one I read to my kids.

- Love the weather today, it's been raining and it reminds me of Oregon.

Now I'd better get off and finish the homemade hot pockets I am making today (so excited!)

Sweet Sophie

2011-02-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

Love this girl- I can't believe she is almost a year old. She's been a real sport the past few days, I have been crazy busy and I have thrown her naps all off and she just dealt with it.

Sewing Project

2011-02-10T14:09:00.001-08:00

Here is the first thing I made with my new sewing machine. A dress for Sophie- we couldn't get a very good picture so I just included them all. If you click on the picture you can see it bigger.

excuse that the beginning is sideways

2011-02-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

yesterday was a good day

2011-02-06T08:53:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we decided to try Kiwi Loco for our date- we went in the afternoon when Sophie was in a good mood and the sun was shining. It was super good. As we were leaving we saw a Yoshi walking down the street and our curiosity was peaked. So we followed the arrow he was holding that led us to play'n trade games. Basically it was like a game stop but with super better deals. On top of the good prices all the playstation and game cube games were 50% off. Anyway- the exciting thing is- Josh got me DDR! Yay! anyway, we brought it home and played for quite awhile- even Josh got in on the dance action. Now I think I might need to go back soon and get another pad so we can play agaisnt each other. After we were worn out from that we had dinner and then played Ticket to Ride a couple times. I just thought I would tell you about our fun, low-key, day.

frogger- Sophie style

2011-02-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

The sweetest little girl that there ever was

2011-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

frustrations and joys of parenting

2011-01-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

Frustrations:

Sophie does not sleep through the night anymore. She has always done great for us but all of a sudden she wakes up at 2 and sometimes again at 5. I am so tired from lack of sleep. If anybody has any ideas on what to do for her... until we get it figured out I will just need to learn some patience.

Joys

Sophie now gives kisses. It is so sweet. She will open her mouth and go right for our mouths. It looks a little like she is eating our faces but it is totally cute.

Also Josh will sometimes squeeze her nose and make a honking noise, now she does it herself. You squeeze Sophie's nose and she will honk. One of these days I will try and get a video of it.

Home Tour: Front Room

2011-01-21T08:52:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would give my readers a tour of our house, one room at a time. Today is my front room.

The patterned wall is fabric. My sister and brother helped me put it up when we were moving in. I love it so so much. It is one of the things I am most proud of in my house. In the first picture you can also see my rocking chair that was a DI find, I had to repaint it but I love to sit in it by the window and soak up the sun. One of my other good find was the big painting in the 2nd pic that I got at Goodwill back when I was in high school. Our couch is a hand me down from my grandparents.
It's kind of dark so in the 3rd pic you can't read it but the sign says "hang your troubles here" it was a wedding gift from my brother. I love the thought of it and I hope that my house is always a place that people can hang their troubles at the door and not worry. The sled was a much longed for Christmas gift as a child (which doesn't make too much sense considering the lack of snow Oregon gets).

9 months

2011-01-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas at Home and New Years

2011-01-12T12:21:00.001-08:00

So the day after Christmas Josh came home so he could work- Sophie and I stayed a few days longer. On the 30th we headed home- we flew into Salt Lake and then caught a shuttle to come home. We got home at 2 in the morning new years eve. Sophie traveled well, as usual. After some glorious sleep we woke and had our Christmas with all the gifts we had left here.

Sophie enjoyed the walker that she got and Josh and I got pillows! I know that may not seem that wonderful but for us it was- we haven't ever had new pillows we were still sleeping on the ones we took from our parents houses when we left for college.

After our Christmas we went to Carsten's Bakery in Idaho Falls for a treat and then for new years went to Josh's brother's house and played games. Then New Years day we just hung out- nice and relaxing. I hated when Monday came and we were back to reality.

Krista's wedding and Christmas present

2011-01-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

For starters- this is the cute dress Sophie got to have for Krista's wedding- I am so in love with it and the headband. The whole bit.

Before Krista got married I thought long and hard about what to give her. I wanted it to be something personal but also something she would use. (She hasn't always appreciated past thoughtful, but not useful gifts.) So then I began to think about gifts I really liked getting when I got married and one thing I enjoyed was when I got gift cards to go out to eat. So I decided to make her and Ragan a date book- 52 date ideas. It was a big project but I enjoyed doing it. I came up with some fun things, such as, I gave them directions to a small town about 30 mins away in each direction but did not tell them the destination, then when they get there they are supposed to find a place to eat that isn't a chain restaurant and spend some time seeing the town. There is also a garage sale scavenger hunt and romantic versions of scrabble and twister. At the end I had a few gift cards of places to eat that are near their house.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

I know I am so behind with this- but here we go. Christmas at my parents house is typically not a quick affair- this year even more so. But it's good, I like it that way. Both Josh and my sister's new husband reacted the same way when we told them that we used to have to wait about a half hour between gifts to open the next one. They were appalled, but I liked it that way because then we got to open presents all day long. It also became a tradition in our house to wake up and do a service for someone before we even saw what Santa brought. I also loved this, it gives a whole different meaning to the day.
Anyway, this year we got up and did our service (we went and cleaned Krista and Ragan's apartment because they were still on their honeymoon and had very nicely let us stay there while they were gone) and we came home and had some breakfast. After that, we went to check out the stocking situation. (Except Sophie was already down for a nap so she had hers later)

Then Krista called and asked if we could wait to do gifts until they got there- so we didn't even start on our gifts until after 1pm. But that's ok- we hung out with my brother and parents and eventually Sophie did get up to see what Santa had brought her. She had fun with it.
She definitely enjoyed the presents that came in bags better because they were easier to get out. We had a nice day- I got a sewing machine from Josh (yay!) and I gave tickets to see Le Mis this summer to Josh. We also got some gift cards to go out to eat (which is one of my favorite things to do), so I'm excited about that too.

Pay it Forward

2011-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment. They must in turn post this (either on facebook or their blog) and send something they made to the first 5 people who comment on their's. The rules are that ...it must be handmade by you...and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011!

I put this out there with a disclaimer that I am not very good at homemade. But I think I am getting better.

First of Oregon Trip

2011-01-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

We went to Oregon for Christmas and Krista's wedding. I didn't have my camera the wedding day but I loved having my grandparents around for a few days and I did take a few pictures with them around. Krista's wedding went well and Congrats to her and Ragan. I'll post about Christmas soon.

Sophie tidbits.

2010-12-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

She likes mittens but not hats.
About when we got home from Oregon Sophie got two ear infections- one was pretty bad, she pulled at it in her sleep enough that it bled, alot. It was caked in her ear because I couldn't tell what was scab and what was dried blood. Anyway, she is feeling better now and we are so grateful.
We have this extra keyboard and Sophie loves to play with it. Doesn't she seem to know what she is doing?

Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

I have been really busy the past little while since we got home, working on a certain somebody's Christmas present. But Sophie and I went to Oregon for Thanksgiving and we had a great time. I learned that Sophie loves dogs and also that she is very particular with sleeping in a room alone (I ended up on the couch). Aunt Krista capitalized on Sophie's love of music by having a sing and dance along with her in the mornings. My family ran in a fun run Thanksgiving morning although for most of us (not my dad) it was a run/walk. Sophie was amazing on the flights, I was totally surprised but she didn't seem to have any problem traveling. We'll see how it goes in a couple of weeks when we drive to Oregon for Christmas.

Where did my baby go?

2010-11-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

I feel like all of a sudden my little Sophie baby is now my Sophie girl. She's almost 8 months old. She crawls and attempts to walk, she's got teeth and hair long enough to put a bow in (although she pulls them out), she waves and kisses. Every time I look at her I just can't believe how fast all these changes have happened.

5 minute Thankful list

2010-11-25T23:09:00.000-08:00

- Sophie, her health and strength, she scared us to death for a bit but is wonderful now- She makes me laugh and smile most of the time

- my husband, Josh is so patient with me, he is thoughtful and super cute. I can't help but smile when I am around him. Basically the best decision ever = marrying Josh

- my family that I come from, they are good to me and I love that I get along with my siblings so well, we have a great time (all of Sophie's grandparents are so good to her and us)

- my house, I have had ups and downs feelings with our house because of the snakes and other such business but I love our neighborhood, I love the space, and I love that it is ours

- Josh's job

- my friends that I have, I'm feeling sad in Idaho right now because I don't have very many friends there so especially thankful for Becca who always lets me invade her life for a little bit of friend time

- I am thankful for the gospel and the guidance it gives me, and the temple for the promises it gives me

You know I have a zillion more so I had to give myself a time limit or I could go forever. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Sophie and Dad's new enjoyment

2010-11-16T18:48:00.001-08:00

I love watching these two people hang out together!

Halloween

2010-11-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

I still can't get over these super cute Halloween pictures that were taken for Sophie by Jenika Sparks. I think this one is one of my favorites.
Our Halloween was pretty low-key but that was good for us. A couple days before we carved our pumpkins. Josh did a great job, as always. Sophie helped by eating some spiders.

She also colored a little on her pumpkin.

We ate mummies for dinner and had Halloween cake (chocolate-orange) for desert.

Then we got Sophie dressed up and took her down to the Trunk or Treat with Becca and Aiden. Sophie didn't come out with much, but we weren't really trying. Aiden, however did get a ton.
Sophie came back with two tiger tails for Josh and I.

On other recent developments, Sophie can get herself to sitting up. yay! We came in one morning to find her sitting like this in her crib.

so far today

2010-10-28T10:39:00.001-07:00

visiting teaching- fail
getting good walk in- success

getting baby down for nap on time- fail
having a patient girl while standing on multiple front steps- success

having a working dishwasher and clean dishes- fail
find sticky pumpkin mess on my newly mopped floor- success

deciding what to make for dinner- fail
eating way to much junk- success

Sophie's Hallloween Perfection

2010-10-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time feeling motivated to blog because it takes a super long time for the pictures to load, so here I'll put a few cute pictures up but you can seen some even better ones from her wonderful photo shoot that was done by Jenica Sparks in Rexburg (if you live in the area and need some pics done she was wonderful and it was really fun) anyway, click HERE to see her wonderful pictures of Sophie. You can also check out my date blog HERE for some pictures of Sophie on her first trip to the pumpkin patch.

2010-10-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Super Fun Date

I am starting something new- a date a week.

Yay for spending time with Josh and also for a way to get to know Idaho Falls.

Anyway, I wanted to share what I did with my fun day today. It was so fun, and all Josh's idea. We drove up during the first session of general conference and listened to it on the radio and drove home doing the same thing. You'll have to read my other blog if you want to know what we did.

datesinif.blogspot.com

letters from a housewife

2010-10-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear small and medium garden snakes,

You creep me out! I know that you guys are harmless but you are gross. You make is so I don't want to read on my front step or play in the grass with my daughter. My wonderful husband caught you today and took you way out into the field behind our house and past the canal, please stay away. If you don't I will have to take more extreme measures- like wishing you would get run over like that one the other day. I don't know what the old home owners thought of you, but please, find some home where there are some little boys that think you are fun.

Happy New Home Hunting,
The new resident

----

Dear toilet in upstairs bathroom,

Since we have moved in you have not flushed correctly, you are very slow. This may or may not surprise you but I do not have time for this. Sometimes it's just easier to go downstairs.

from the impatient user

----

Dear dinner plans,

Where did you go today? Everything I tried or planned on making for dinner went wrong. I know some of it was my fault, but it just reaffirmed my wish to never have to make dinner on Friday nights. I know dinner, you did work out eventually- we have a simple meal of noodles, but I was pretty hungry by the time you worked yourself out.

Missing you
the hungry cook

----

Dear extra-big snake,

Could you please get out of my woodpile? and slow a little so my husband can catch you and return to your dears friends who must be missing you. I would rather you find them, than them find you.

Please?
grossed out

----

Dear lady with the log,

I'm not sure a piece of wood that size is an appropriate toy for your dog. I doubt he likes carrying something that big in his mouth, it also can't be good for your throwing arm. Just worried about you and your dog.

from,
concerned neighbors

----

Dear friendly man at the supermarket,

First off, thank you for complimenting our cute baby, although she is girl. We do believe it is fine to ask us about her age and what kind of diapers are best, but it was a little too much to ask us if we needed debt reduction services. We appreciate you willingness to help us through college, but we are both already college graduates. How old do we look?

Hope those diapers work out,
College grads and baby girl

----

Dear Idaho Drivers,

Could you do me the favor of refraining from trying to pass in a construction, especially when my husband is driving the other direction. You nearly scared him to death. I am somewhat surprised my husband and car made it home unscathed. I would really like him to make it home safely from work everyday, if that's not too much to ask.

Thanks kindly,
worried wife

----

Dear construction workers,

Is it a company policy to ignore the close calls that cars have when driving by you or were all of you just in silent agreement to ignore the plight of my husband? We know you were just standing around anyway, it's not like you are getting much done.

again, from the worried wife

----

Dear NBC Thursdays,

Even though you are Hulu Fridays to us we still love you. The perfect start to our weekend. Office you are still funny, but you'll have to do something to keep up with Community and 30 Rock.

laughing out loud
big fans

----

Dear readers,

Although this blog is silly it was insipred by Heidi Bartle so really we can't take credit for it all.

Joandem

food!

2010-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

man- I have been trying to write this post for a week now. Everytime I try something happens like my camera battery is dead or the computer shuts off on me

Anyway, last week we started feeding Sophie rice cereal before bed each night. She loves it! These pics are from her first time.

Love this girl!

A couple things for my mom and Sophie's tech skills

2010-09-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

ok, my mom bought Sophie a bumbo (this cute little chair for Sophie to sit in) and Sophie loves it. I took this video of her playing with the chair.

Also my mom likes this smile of Sophie's and wanted a picture.

We had Sophie lying on the ground watching Sesame Street on Josh's computer. We left the room and thought Sophie was asleep. The movie stopped and a few minutes later it played again. We came in the room and this is what we saw. Sophie had restarted the movie.

She's loves sitting on daddy's lap while he plays computer or video games. When we watch a movie or he is playing games Josh will hand her a controller and she'll play with it. It looks just like she's knows how to use it.

today

2010-09-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

quick rundown of my day- good but busy
I wake up at 8:00 and call my mom real quick to ask her a question before she goes to work

8:20 I jump in the shower before Josh has to go to work

8:40 I feed my hungry daughter and wish Josh a good day at work, then I get dressed for the day and look up a recipe for my dinner trade tonight

9:00 leave the house to get gas and go shopping at Walmart, hopefully before Sophie is ready for her nap

10:00 still in Walmart with a squealing girl in the cart

10:20 home and put Sophie down for a nap

11:00 stop doing dishes and cleaning my kitchen to make pizza dough

12:00 wake up Sophie and find she has had a diaper explosion, take care of that

12:45 I feed Sophie and then run out the door

1:15 get to Gator Jack's in Rigby and realize I am early for my lunch date, take a breather in the car

1:30 lunch with a friend visiting from Utah

3:30 resurface and realize I need to get home to make dinner

4:00 actually leave Rigby

4:25 run in the house to put pizza dough in the oven, while rushing around getting the toppings ready

4:45 top the pizza and return to oven

4:50 feed Sophie

5:10 get in the car with Sophie and rush across town, I'm late- can't find my cell phone so I can't call

5:20 drop the pizza, grapes, and cookies off and make plans for tomorrow

5:30 quick stop at the dollar store

5:40 put Josh's pizza in the oven and worry that maybe I am sharing yucky food

5:55 typing this blog and waiting for Josh to get home

All the things I had hoped to do today:
laundry
clean up and repaint the bookcase that is sitting in our garage
wash down the pack and play we bought last week
blog about last week
have dinner ready earlier so I could visit when I took it over
clean my bedroom

oh well, it has been crazy but good day

some vids

2010-08-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

Fly on the wall

2010-08-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

If you were a fly on the wall of my house right now...

You would see groceries for our camping dinner around the house.

You could watch me hurry and clean my house for a last minute visit from an old roommate (and come up with something for dinner).

You would see Sophie cuddling with her Boston Teddy Bear from grandpa while she sleeps.

You would see pamphlets from different health insurance plans and the one we decided on today.

You could tell we haven't cleaned our office since we moved because our computer and printer are at our kitchen table.

You would notice a garage full of projects... bookcases and dressers that need to be painted.

Our House

2010-08-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our house. They are pics of Sophie's room, our living room, and our kitchen. They are the rooms that are the most updated rooms in our house. We love our house.

2 years!

2010-08-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this yesterday, our actual anniversary, but I ran out of time. Basically, I love my husband very much and all the time it just gets better. In two years we have both graduated from college, we have bought a house, and we had a baby. Pretty good if I say so myself. Last night we pulled out the letters we wrote to each other while we were engaged and cards from our wedding and things. I said at in one letter that how I felt about him kept surprising me by how much I could love him, and I am still surprised. I love him so much. Two down, forever to go!

What we have been up to?

2010-08-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

haha... defiantly not too much of this.

Josh blessed Sophie...

I graduated...
And Sophie rolled over... (she rolls over everywhere, even in her bouncy chair)
Also, we moved. I don't have pictures up yet but I will soon. I love our new house.

Ririe Days and a couple other projects

2010-07-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

So Ririe Days was Saturday- I feel a lot better. It is a big event that I helped plan. There was a craft fair, antique show, baseball tournament, golf scramble, 1/2 marathon, food vendors, and more. I only have a few pictures right now, the ones Josh took. So you get to see a couple pictures of the golf scramble that Josh and his brother played in and my crafts that I made for the craft fair. I made fuzzy flip flops, some date in a bag kits, some homemade science kits, and some dice games that my family likes to play. Josh and I also played in the baseball games with his family. I felt like we did great, even though we lost. I had lots of fun. Because we are moving from Ririe I am still deciding if I am going to help again next year, I guess we'll see.

Also last week I canned some cherries. They look beautiful.

Now that those projects are done I am working on our new house. This is the before picture of my ugly (but wonderful) kitchen. Already the wall paper is off and we are painting tomorrow. Next week my dad is going to come and put new flooring in. That's all the updating we are going to do right now on our house. The rest isn't too bad. The retro basement is really growing on me.

relief

2010-07-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have not been good lately about making posts with pictures and writing and this is another just writing one.

I feel relieved. It's like everything that was overwhelming me before is calmed down. Ririe Days is done which I ended up doing a lot for, I have just a couple days of classes left until I graduate, and my family is coming to visit soon. Yay!

Cute babe

2010-07-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Sophie the talker

2010-07-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

news

2010-07-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry I was so down in the last post- my life is nuts right now and I was just feeling overwhelmed.

Anyway- here is the recent news in our house (pictures will be posted when I get up the motivation to upload pictures)

1. We bought a house! It's in Idaho Falls and I'm pretty excited about it. The best part is the basement family room, it's the whole length of the house. There are so many possibilities. There is also a huge laundry room with a cement floor perfect for me to dance in. We have started moving some things but officially will move in in a couple weeks when my parents are here.

2. Sophie rolls over. She has been doing this for about a week and a half. She rolls from her front to her back and from her back to her side. She also scoots. When she is laying on her back she pushes her feet against the floor and pushes herself backwards. She also is trying very hard to sit up. When reclined (like against someone holding her) she can sit herself up and does it a lot.

3. graduation coming in 2 weeks- yay for finally being done. It'll be great, a little weird but great.

hopeless goals

2010-07-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't had much success with keeping recent pictures posted, or even updating people on the things happening in our life (like the house we just bought). Eventually I will have pictures of Sophie and pictures of our house. But for now I want to talk a little about my goals.

I have so many things I want to be working on. I want to exercise more, I want to lose weight, I want to cook healthier things, I want to keep my house cleaner, I want to find ways to save money, I want to have fun things to do with my family, I want to start Sophie's scrapbook. I want more time to go to the temple.

I feel a little hopeless right now about getting these things to happen. My problem is right now I feel like all I have time for is school work and taking care of Sophie. I am hoping desperately that at the end of this month when I am graduated and moved I have time for more of these things but I think I also need motivation.

I know I need to just set some goals that I can work on a little at a time, but I have a hard time finding enough time right now to clear the table for dinner- I feel like I can't do it. How do I work on becoming a better person when I am just trying to survive?

I'm going to miss this

2010-07-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Josh will be appalled that I am posting country music on our blog, but it came up as a recommendation for me on youtube. And I realized today I am going to miss this. I will miss this quirky house where Josh and I started our life together (we are moving to our new house this month). This place will always hold memories for me. I think I will miss being in school after I graduate this month, I like to learn. I like having the status of a college student, like I don't have to be grown up quite yet. I am always so afraid that I am letting Sophie grow up too fast without me drinking in everyday and every change. She is growing so fast and already she likes to cuddle less and I will miss these moments I have with her everyday.

Life is good and progression is great, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't just hang on to and enjoy all the moments of right now, because change is coming.

Happy 4th

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

Here is an interesting story that my dad found for me to share with our primary class today. Of course our crew of 7 and 8 year old boys were enthralled of course by the story. I thought it was pretty neat too. Thanks dad for looking it up and passing it on to me.
http://riverbendjournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/story-behind-national-anthem.html

Chatterbox

2010-07-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sophie, you talk to everyone. Anybody that you think might be listening you chat with this includes the mirror, the radio announcer, and people around that are talking on the phone. Even though you don't understand what it means one of your favorite sounds is exactly like 'yeah' so we get a kick out of asking you questions and getting that response. I guess you take after your momma in that respect. We love you so much Miss Chatterbox.
- Mom and Dad

a couple videos

2010-06-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

You should only watch the first couple seconds of each... after that it's just dorky me.

Here is June

2010-06-23T15:14:00.001-07:00

Pictures from May

2010-06-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am so behind, but I finally uploaded pictures from our camera. So here is Sophie in May, they are in backwards order again, sorry.

For the papa's

2010-06-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a quote I found a few years ago that has always reminded me of my dad:

"[my dad] taught me all I needed to know about faith and
hard work by the simple eloquence of his example." -Mario Cuomo

for those of you who know my dad you will understand the truth of that statement. He is ever patient and kind, he is always doing things for others and making friends. I don't know how he does it but he never seems to have an unkind word about anybody. Those of you that know him, also know, he is a hard worker. He always had some project going, whether it was for our family or for someone else. He got me my first job mowing lawns and worked along side me over the years I did lawn mowing for work. My dad has faith not only in people but in our Savior. I know that is the reason he has the ability to be so forgiving and loving of others. He know what it's all about. I love you daddy.

Now for my husband- I think I have bragged about him quite a bit on this blog so if you don't know him very well you sure have probably read lots of good things. He is a wonderful dad though. He was worried about being a dad but he really does a wonderful job. He is so patient with Sophie and takes wonderful care of her. I love my husband so much.

Last year I had to make a picture slide show about Josh and I's families. It had to have a theme. My theme was good examples, because we both have wonderful examples in our families and have been raised very well. Here is that video. The writing in it is about things we learned in our class but I think the song and pictures explain it well.

I am so proud of my daughter

2010-06-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

My baby is so good and is getting so big, so fast. Last week we went to Oregon for a visit. The day we were supposed to leave Sophie woke up with such a stuffy nose she could hardly breathe. I called the dr. and they said to come in so they could check for an ear infection. So we ran out the door, her not even dressed for the day and left Josh to finish packing. The dr. didn't find an infection so we hurried away and make it to the airport with just enough time. Despite being sick, Sophie was a great flier. She ate and slept most of the time and only cried once on the plane. She had a blowout and just as we finished cleaning her up we started descending. Which of course is no fun on the ears, but we had a very helpful flight attendant who held her and massaged her ears. After we got into Portland my whole family met us and we went to Panda Express and Ikea. I had never been to Ikea before and was super overwhelmed. I got some good home ideas. Anyway we had a great week, I love being with my family so much. We didn't do anything really major but showed off our baby and enjoyed our family time. We did have a bit of an adventure on National Doughnut Day trying to get some Voodoo Doughnuts. It was the Rose Festival and absolutly crazy downtown. Our flight home went so well, she slept. That's about it.

1st plane ride

Sophie and Daddy totally relaxing.

Anyway- reasons I am proud of my daughter. 1st of all, she travelled great, especially for being sick while we were away. 2nd, she, at 2 months old, sleeps through the night regularly. Also, she is getting pretty good at holding her head up by herself and I think she is going to be quite a mover. But mostly I just love her so much, she is so good most of the time and also pretty relaxed and happy. I just love all the time I get to spend with her.

See her tiny hands

Our neice really wanted to hold Sophie, this was our compromise.

I never can think of a creative title

2010-05-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

For Mothers Day we tried to take some family pictures... Sophie was in a very bad mood so we didn't really get any great ones, but thanks to his sister for coming down and taking them for us. I would like to be able to get professional ones done (maybe by Courtney while we are in Oregon) but I'll have to see. On the topic of Oregon. We are going to be there from the 3-8 of June. We'll be at my parents house, obviously. We don't have any plans really set yet so if you want to see us just call my cell or my parents house when we are there to see if we are around.

Also, on another note. Sophie slept pretty much all night last night, 11-6:30. It was super nice. She wasn't even too upset when she woke up. I mean 6:30 isn't my favorite but 7 and a half hours is nice whenever it happens to be.

Random memory

2010-05-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I was thinking about this and I wanted to record it but I don't have a consistent journal or anything so I figured I could keep it here.

When my sister and I were in middle school and high school, after everyone in my house was headed to bed I would go into Krista's room and we would talk. We would talk and talk late into the night. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I even wrote a poem about it in middle school (I wish I hadn't lost it). Some of my favorite memories with my sister come from those late night talks. I know that my mom knew about them but I don't remember her sending us to bed. I think she knew we needed it. Sometimes I kind of wish I could still sneak down the hall and sit on her bed while we talked about the things going on in our lives.

Favorite moment of the weekend

2010-05-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Josh and I came home from dinner at his parents with the plan to watch Avatar (finally) and so as we got home he turned it on while I fed Sophie. He burped her after and then kept holding her like that for about a hour and a half until I realized that we didn't change her after she ate like we usually do. Thinking back it had been about 5 hours since we had last changed her diaper (don't think I'm a bad mom please... we don't usually wait that long) and so I paused the movie and then set Josh back to Sophie's room to change her. After a few minutes of silence I wandered back there and saw Josh just cuddling in the chair with Sophie- he said he couldn't bear to wake her up. They sat there for about 15-20 minutes before she began to stir.

little things

2010-05-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

I was reading through a blog I kept before I got married and I found this from a couple years ago

sometimes I think we need to stop waiting for life to begin and just enjoy life and enjoy the moments. The ice cream when it's freezing, the friend who calls to say I was bored and you were the first person I thought of, the hyper laughing late at night, sitting on a swing in the snow listening to Jack Johnson. This is life. Life is not, when I get married, when I graduate, when something happens to me, because life is happening all the time it doesn't stop your just missing it. Your waiting for life to happen to you, but oh life is happening- feel it, breathe it, live it! Life is in the small things, nothing big can ever happen without the little things. And besides the little things are what can make and leave a smile on your face.

so here are my little things lately-
sitting in the sunshine so warm it makes me sweat
holding hands with my husband while we walk
the perfect song on the radio
the windows rolled down in the car
my daughter curled up on me, smiling
watching my husband with Sophie
capris and flip flops
dancing around the house
phone calls with my sister and emails from my dad
cute little girl clothes

today I've been feeling tired just thinking of everything I'm trying to keep up with right now, our lives are so crazy but I need to remember to just enjoy the little moments that make life. I can't live life when things calm down because they probably never will.

Life is good

2010-05-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

So I will have more pictures soon- as soon as I actually turn my computer on and stop just using Josh's all the time. But in the meantime here are some things going on here.

Sophie is sleeping great. Usually she does one 5 hour stretch at night, which is great. Last night though, I put her down at 10:30 and I didn't hear a sound from her again until 5am. I was in total shock. I don't think it'll be a regular thing but it sure felt nice. We passed the month mark and I can't believe it. It feels like she's been here forever, but also that she is so new. We really love having her here. Also, she is starting to smile now. She's getting pretty good actually. I think she just likes the reaction she gets from us when she does it.

I am walking a lot lately. I'm planning on doing a 5k in July and although I'm pretty sure I will just walk it I would like to be able to have 13 min miles. We'll see though... yesterday I did two miles at a 16min/mile pace, but it wasn't on very even ground and I was carrying Sophie.

Josh got a new calling at church but they haven't released either of us from primary yet so that is for sure interesting. We'll see how it goes.

I'm excited for my mom to come tomorrow, excited for memorial day weekend, and then excited for our trip to Oregon coming up. Life is so good right now.

...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!!!!

some pictures and how we came up with her name

2010-05-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a good week. I feel like we have come a long way. Sophie sleeps good at night and the last few nights has only woken up once during the night, and although I can always wish for sleeping in a little longer in the morning it has been so nice. Also, she likes to lay on her side. She can roll to her side but not any further so she's been doing that when we lay her down on a blanket or such. We love our Sophie girl.
I don't know if you can tell by this picture, but Sophie has a hold of Josh's pants.
She likes to sit like this- she does this with her arms pretty often.

Sophronia is the name of Joseph Smith's oldest sister. Josh and I had both read about it in his history. Ever since Josh first read it, he liked it. Sophie comes from greek roots and means wisdom. Sophronia means foresighted. Ruth is my middle name, which is a family name.

Also, it's official. We have a trip to Oregon planned. We bought plane tickets and everything. So we will be there June 3-8.

For all you Sophie fans out there...

2010-04-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

Pictures! I don't really have much to say but I think she's pretty cute. I love my little family.

You've had a birthday...

2010-04-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well I've had a birthday.

It came up on me fast and considering all the things that have been going on in our lives I didn't expect much. But it was a good day- well evening, since having Sophie scream for over an hour at the dr wasn't really making my day.

But my friend Kristen who just got to Rexburg for school went to Red Robin for dinner with me and my mother-in-law brought down brownies and ice cream for Josh and I to have after.

I was really excited about my gift from Josh- it was a picture we saw at an art show on campus. I love getting things for our house and I love have fun pictures to look at. It's a fun picture and I would have never thought of getting a piece of art that I just happened to see at a show. Eventually I may have a picture of it- if not you all will just have to come to my house and see it hanging up for yourselves.

wonder...

2010-04-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

wonderful!
We love having Sophie home... even if it's a lot harder than just visiting her. Also, I think my husband is doing a pretty great job at this dad stuff.

(Andrea- at some point I will take a picture of her on your quilt when she is awake... when that happens I will email it to you)

2010-04-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry no new pictures uploaded but I wanted to let everyone know Sophie is home now. I am so happy to have her, even if she was lots easier to take care of before she was home :) I'll have more pictures of my beautiful girl soon.

Some pictures of our weekend

2010-04-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Baby Sophie!

2010-04-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Sophie is here!
We went in the hospital in Rexburg 3 am. And spent all day in labor, the our little surprise baby came at 5:06 pm. Sophronia weighes 7lbs 2 oz and is 20 inches long. (Well we think on the inches, nobody really told us anything).
The next surprise was not as pleasant as finding out the gender. She was having trouble breathing when she came out and wasn't crying. They ended up taking her to Idaho Falls for a better NICU and Josh went with her, I waited impatiently to be released today.
Sophie has an infection in her lungs and mucus that is too thick to get out. But today they say she is doing better and things are looking good for her. We have been very blessed and so has she.

This was the first I saw of my baby, before they transfered her.

My view while they were getting her ready to go.Josh and Sophie when they got to Idaho Falls.

I made it there this afternoon.

Baby Sophie is the biggest baby in the NICU and they said that was good because she is stronger to fight the the infections and everything. So yay for good things.

a funny

2010-03-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

tonight Josh and I stopped to pick up a pizza for dinner and when Josh got back in the car with it he handed the pizza to me- just like usual. This time though, I couldn't get the pizza to my lap. There wasn't enough room between my big belly and the dashboard for it to go down onto my lap. I couldn't reach down to adjust the seat so we drove home with the pizza precariously balanced between my belly and the dash.

Apparently it's been a while since we've gotten pizza- but I thought it was funny.