Brady - Gretchen - Lucy Girl - Baby Ruby

Wintertime

2012-01-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

A few pictures of what we've been doing this winter. We were lucky enough to be able to have Grandma Cathy come be with us before and spend Christmas with us. It was really fun. Ruby has such a personality, she always makes scrunchy faces and I finally got one on camera! After that we headed down to Arizona to surprise Brady's family, the park pictures were all taken there. Lucy had a great time visiting with her cousins she doesn't get to see very often. We also celebrated Ruby's first birthday. She had a great time, was very interested in the candle on her cake and, yeah, got a litttle too close! Not a huge deal though, luckily! The girls were really cute on Christmas, we got Ruby a little piano because that girl can dance! She hears music a mile away and she really knows how to move, it's hilarious. We gave Lucy my dollhouse from when I was 8, I cleaned it all up and it still looks new, she loves it. Enjoy!

Halloween Babies

2011-11-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

The girls loved Halloween. Why wouldn't they, free candy and dressing up! Lucy especially was into it this year, it was the first time she's really starting to get it. It was super cute to watch her say "trick or treat" run around to the doors. We trick or treated at this nursing home, we've gone every year, and it's really sweet. Lucy is always so cute, this year, she told all the people, I have to get one for Rhubarb. So she would get one for herself, then get another one and put it in Ruby's bucket. So sweet. We also had a chance to go to Cornbellys which is a really fun place for kids that is right up the street from us. They have pumpkins, rides, big bouncy pillows, haybale mazes, and more. The girls had a great time. Lucy is also swinging and playing outside in our backyard. She loves it, she could swing out there all day! Pumpkin carving was really fun, she wanted a cat on hers! She wasn't afraid of the slime and guts either.

I love NY

2011-09-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

I got to visit NY this summer. I try to go every summer and I've been lucky enough to be able to go again this year! I took Ruby with me and we had all kinds of adventures. We had a great time with Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Mark. It was the first time that Grandpa Mark had been able to meet Ruby so it was extra special. She also got to meet Great Grandma Barbara. She loved her right away, smiling and laughing at her. Here are a few pictures from the trip!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-08-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma! We love and appreciate you! Hope you have a great day :)

For Grandma!

2011-07-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos of the girls! Enjoy!

Family Pictures

2011-07-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to have our family pictures taken. It was long overdue! Ruby is 7 months old, I can't even believe it!

Ruby's Newborns

2011-01-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

So blessed to have this beautiful baby in our lives now. Gorgeous pictures courtesy of Tracy Layne. Love her!

Summertime

2010-08-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

We started out the summer by spending some time at our friend's cabin. Lucy had her first experience on a 4 wheeler. I'd say she's a natural!

Throwing rocks into the river, what could be more fun?!

About 2 days after that Lucy and I headed out to New York to visit my family. Here she is with Great Grandma Barbra. I'd say she loved her instantly :)

Sitting at the counter in the house I grew up in. My mom keeps these tiny glasses around just for when the grandkids come. They are perfect for her little hands. She enjoyed OJ every morning just like this. She was in heaven.

My older brother and his wife Dorothy got sealed in the Palmyra Temple and I was lucky enough to be there for it.

Lucy loved all my mom's flowers.

She got to eat out on the picnic table, it was so beautiful there.

Every day was spent like this!

If you know me you know that Mark's Pizza is the best pizza ever and it's only in NY! I had to get my fill of it for the next year while I was there and of course I had to introduce Lucy to it. She loved it, but if she hadn't, I don't think she would really be my daughter.

She loved getting a bath in the sink by Grandpa Mark.

On the porch

Her first experience with a snake! She wasn't even scared!

Cupcakes with Grandma

Feeding the ducks

Relaxin in the hammock. This sums up our time there, it was so relaxing, we had the best time ever.

A few days after we got home from NY, literally, like a week and half, we headed to California to spend some time with Brady's family. Lucy got quite familiar with the pool and otter pops.

We went to the Exploratorium. It was so cool, Lucy loved it!

On the way home, we got stuck in traffic and I turned around and apparently Lucy was keeping herself entertained by doing this.

San Fran

The next day we headed to the beach.

By the end, Lucy was pretty tired!

Sunday Lucy in CA

About 2 weeks after we got back from CA, we headed to Lake Powell with some friends!

These boys actually got this whole thing OUT of the water at one point, it was quite a sight to see.

The gorgeous view that we enjoyed every day while staying on this gorgeous houseboat.

I think houseboat is a bit of an understatement....

Good friends

While we were enjoying Lake Powell, my wonderful sister was kind enough to watch Lucy for us. Lucy had the best time with her cousins!

Hamming it up with cousin Katie

Play Doh with cousin Jack

Towel babies

Lucy would do just about anything for a popsicle...

I love this picture of my little doll

This summer has been crazy fun! We're going to get the most of out the last days of it that we can!

Sunday Lucy in CA.

Tracy Layne Photography

2010-08-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

My first post in FOR-EV-ER and it's a good one! Check out this giveaway by Tracy, she is an amazing photographer, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!

Tracy Layne Photography Giveaway!

Give It a Love

2010-05-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

We took Lucy to see the tulips a few weeks ago. She will snuggle up to almost anything that you tell her to "give a love", so was the case with the tulips. I love the picture of her on the bench because I think it's the first time in her life that she has looked chubby. She's never been a chubby, rolly baby so it's extra cute.

Lucy. As of Late.

2010-02-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

The Valentines Day Lucy. Too bad we were all too sick to take her anywhere and show off her stellar outfit.

This next stretch is the many new faces of Lucy. She has this new trick that she learned from Nana. It's called Chinaman. You say "Lucy, do Chinaman" and she bares all her teeth and chomps them together. It works especially well if you're trying to get her to eat something we figured out, which is exactly what is going on here.....

Daily happenings around our house. We try everything we can think of to keep this little girl entertained. Yes, she would sit all day and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but we try to keep that to a minimum, soo in return, we end up doing things like this...

We love her and she definitely keeps us on our toes!

The Cruise...

2010-02-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

Enough said. I've never had so much fun IN.MY.LIFE. Enjoy a few pictures. (and I do mean only a FEW because I think I must have put around 100 on Facebook.....)

I'm ready for another one.

I Apologize

2010-01-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! I am officially a T E R R I B L E blogger. I think it might be due to that ticker on the side of my blog. Can anyone else see it? Well I can and it slaps me in the face every time I see it as it counts down to our cruise. Im writhing in anticipation. So, for now, my blog sits abandoned. I promise to try to remember it soon......

The 1 year old LUCY!

2009-12-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Lucy's 1st birthday last Saturday, the 28th. Really?! 1 year?! Where have I been this whole time, I can't believe she is a toddler already! Take a look at the fun festivities :)

Sweet Lucy Girl

Some decorations!

Patiently waiting for her cake. We stripped her down to her diaper and bib, hoping that she would dive 2 fists first into her cake. Instead, we got this.....

Some dainty little girlness :)

She would only "dive" in with one tiny finger at a time! It finally got going once Brady crammed her fist into it and she got a real taste of the deliciousness that the cake had to offer.

She was SUPER happy after all that sugar!

Thanks to all who came to celebrate with us! We had such a good time!

While I'm at blogging, which I have been a major slacker lately, I'll do Lucy's 1 year appt.

We took Lucy in for her 1 year appt on Monday. Again, seriously, 1 year?! Everyone told me I would feel like this but I still can't believe it, pick my jaw up off the floor. I have a beautiful, smart, fun, growing, 1 year old girl. Crazy.

At 1 year, Lucy is

Walking (since 10 mo actually!)

Talking....a little, Hi is her new favorite word. We've also heard her utter "uh oh", "oh wow" and "hey" and of course lots of Mama and Dada

Climbing! Up and down her little tikes play gym that has taken up residence in her room thanks to Grandma Cathy for her birthday. She LOVES that thing. She also climbs up legs, bodies, toys, couches, anything she can get her little legs on!

Going down the slide by herself, so cute!

Signing a lot! She does.....more, all done, eat, please, drink,

Getting to know her face, she knows where her nose and ears are!

Sitting front facing in her carseat, barely! She is JUST 20.5 lbs in the 38%, still our little petite one :)

Finally wearing some 12mo clothes. Shes still in 6-9 jammies and onesies with some 12mo mixed in there. Shes still long though, 29in, 85%, definitely 12mo pants, even though they fall off her belly.

Waving bye bye

Very friendly, she says hi and plays with EVERYONE when we go out.

Still going to people very well, not too much apprehension for strangers yet!

Very very cuddly. Just in the last little while this has come about and let me tell you, I LOVE it. She is super snuggly and it is the sweetest thing ever.

Getting a little picky, her new favorite food is clementines. She is still a good eater but she has to feel it now and smash it in her fingers before she tries it.

Starting to love playing with other kids, finally! It's so nice.

Powering up any and every set of stairs she can set her sights on. Going down is another story.

Sleeping like a champ. 12 1/2 to 13 to sometimes longer at night and 2 naps 1 hour to 1 1/2

Has 8 teeth, 4 top and 4 bottom, and the Dr said she is close to breaking her molars, eeeekkkk!

We love her so much and can't believe she is so big already!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Grandma Cathy

2009-11-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

We just had the most amazing visit with my Mom. It just breaks my heart that we have to live so far away. We are always thinking about you and are already looking forward to when we get to see you again Grandma Cathy. We love you!

Halloween with The Lucy

2009-11-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! My first one!

Cousin Lilly as the Cowardly Lion, Cousin Emma as Dorothy and ME as the Wicked Witch!
(No, we didn't plan this!)
and Cousin Alice was even Glinda the Good Witch!

I'm so intrigued with sweet Beckham's costume :)

Adorable Macey and I

My first time with any candy, can you tell? I won't let go! Look at my friend Hallie as the cutest piggy ever!

(Tara you looked freakin awesome!)

Last week, Mom and I got to go to a ward party (even though it wasn't our ward!) I dressed up as a Deal or No Deal model with some of my friends.

A little bit scandelous, perfect!

Yes, I got to wear makeup and curl my hair! This is me and Howie, sorry Hallie, but he's all mine :)

Mom took me trick or treating at the nursing home in Bountiful. It was really fun! I walked the whole way and even picked out my own candy! I was very cooperative and let her take some pictures of me outside the home with all the pretty leaves.

I LOVE candy now ever since I got my first taste of a Dum Dum. Mom is pretty scared because I can even suck through the wrappers. I collected quite a bit and can't wait to taste it :)

I totally underestimated Halloween with Lucy! It was SO fun! I had so much fun dressing her up, making her costume and showing her off :) She even kept her little hat on which totally threw me for a loop, I thought for SURE she would yank it off, but I'm so glad she didn't! Already looking forward to next year!

Day 3 Universal Studios

2009-10-26T10:08:00.001-07:00

Day 3 was Universal Studios. I was totally looking forward to this day! Unfortunately it was the worst weather day. It was raining most of the day, but we had to go because we didn't have any days to spare! Despite the rain, it was a fun day. It started off a BIT rocky. First of all, we didn't plan to go to Universal that day but because of the rain, we decided a rainy day would be better there than Sea World in the rain. So because of the change of plans, we get a total late start. Then, we had looked it up earlier in the week and for some reason were under the impression that it was MUCH closer than it was so that put us back even farther. THEN we get there and park way far away without realizing it. So, Brady and his brother go to move the cars to the closer parking lot, which should have only taken like 5 minutes. A few minutes later, his brother shows up, but no Brady. Poor Brady had gotten lost :( At this point it is like 1:45 and we JUST found out that the park CLOSES AT 5! Who does that?! So, everyone else goes in so that they can get the most out of what little time we have left but Lucy and I waited for Brady because 1. I wanted to be with him and 2. He had my ticket into the park. So, a half hour later, Brady shows up and we get into the park. It's 2:15 and we have less than 3 hours to experience the entire park. SOOO we get there and call and call and call his family to see where they are but no one answered because they were on rides and in shows and stuff so we decided to go around ourselves.

Lucy and I hiding while waiting for Brady right outside the bathroom where there was shelter from the rain. Don't you love my sweet umbrella I bought?!

We were unaware that this Sudio Tour is THE THING to do at Universal. Since we didn't know, we went into Shrek 4D and the last tour left like 5 minutes before we got out of that show.

Luckily, everyone else in Brady's family got on it so we got to hear all about it, so we can atleast pretend that we went on it :)

We tried to save her, but Jaws was too strong....look closely, she has an ENTIRE baby carrot in her mouth.

This Simpsons ride was AWESOME. and I hate the Simpsons.

This Shrek 4D this was pretty cool (not as cool as the tour would've been...) but it was fun. It was like LOUD and SHAKY and Lucy still managed to be like this when we got out....

I'm pretty sure Brady could take on the Hulk

Day 2 San Diego Zoo

2009-10-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

I swear ever since I have been alive I have been DYING to go to this zooLucy and her cousins

Koalas

and of course, Lucy NEEDED her own koala....she didn't let go of that thing practically the entire time we were there

Pandas, so cool! This zoo is HUGE!

Lucy got to pet a "real" elephant

Big cats

This zoo seriously was so awesome. Brady and I didn't know that it closed at 5 (why would they close then?!) so we just kept going around while the rest of the group waited for us in the parking lot (we didn't know!). But as a result of our ignorance, we got to see the entire zoo except for one small area. It was a lot of walking but I like to think that my calves are reaping the benefits :)

Driving home on the freeway this was a nice surprise! It was super dark but we seized the opportunity and snapped a few pictures.

The Beach and Disneyland Day 1

2009-10-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

We got there late Saturday night but first thing on Sunday it was the beach for us! It was only about a 1/2 hour away and so beautiful!

It was Lucy's first time at the beach or in the ocean.

She loved it! Except it was a little cold.

But Daddy took care of that, wrapping her up in a nice big towel.

Aunt BJ did her hair in pigtails for the first time! To die for cute.

Waiting in line and riding "Alice in Wonderland"

Toad and Peter Pan

Lucy was totally fixated on all the rides, she just looked around and loved them!

How cute is this?!

After a long day in her stroller, she likes to relax

Be STRONG Lucy!

She was such an ANGEL. More to come!

Lucy Knievel

2009-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last Days of Summer

2009-09-27T13:59:00.001-07:00

Potty Training

2009-09-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

I guess we have to start somewhere!

and she strikes again!

This was her when I caught her, she knows she's done something wrong!

This little girl sure keeps me on my toes! She is hilarious!

Lookit that face, you just have to love her!

The 9 month old Lucy

2009-09-05T14:23:00.001-07:00

At 9 months Lucy loves to:

pretend she knows how to walk
be a body climber
give kisses
smile her little hillbilly smile (she's got 3 teeth...)
eat turkey
snuggle

read her books
have her hair in a mowhawk
eat yogurt
dance with mommy and daddy
laugh hysterically when you surprise her
climb under the shower curtain while mom or dad is in there and get all wet
play with this unsightly (and annoying) singing toy mom got her
follow mom or dad from room to room
be tossed in the air
sleep 12 1/2 or 13 hours at night
eat waffles
chew on or bite...everything!
be super curious
pose like a model while helping do the laundry
clap her little hands
stand solo without holding onto anything (daredevil!)
jabber
be a little petite :) at 18lbs 11oz and 28in long
play in mommy's closet
eat grapes

She is getting so big! We cannot get enough of this little angel, she bring so much joy, we LOVE her!

About Time

2009-08-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

I guess it's about time I do another post. I have been such a slacker lately! Maybe it's because I spend all my time chasing/looking for Lucy as she crawls around the house getting into one adventure after another...she's been crawling for quite some time now. it is hilarious because she always seems to have one thing in each hand as she crawls and she totes them along with her! I can't get enough of this little girl!

we broke down and got her a highchair (which i LOVE!). it is the best thing ever and she loves to feed herself while sitting in her throne.

we went down to Spanish Fork to visit my sisters and Lucy tried on these cowgirl boots...enough said

did i mention teething in her many adventures? yes, those are gnawing marks, that little beaver. she cut her 3rd tooth. u would think it would be one of her 2 top front teeth..well apparently Lucy does things on her own terms because its one of her canines...

and lastly, pulling up and standing solo! on everything. she is getting quite adventurous.

A day with Lucy

2009-08-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Most days Lucy and I just play together. Thus after many many many peek-a-boo sessions, she has finally gotten it down herself. She is so cute.

Can't Wait

2009-07-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

So excited.

Go Ed. We'll overlook your mankini and 3 pack of ribbed tank tops for now.

NY Girl

2009-07-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Our trip to NY certainly started off very exciting. Our plane left at 7 in the morning. When I woke up at 5:15 to get ready and be off to the airport I went in to find Lucy crying in her crib, and to my surprise when I picked her up she was burnig up! She has never had a fever before so she felt super hot to me. I took her temp and it was 100.8. I was hysterical because I didn't know what to do given this was her first encounter with any sort of real sickness. I called her pediatrition (who was NOT too happy to be woken up that early) and gave her some tylenol and we were off, a little late, but still we ended up making the flight just fine.

This is actually a picture of her on our return flight, on the way there she was so lethargic because of her fever that she practically slept on me the whole time. It was so strange to see her like that because anyone that knows her knows that she is not a super cuddler. Needless to say, ever since that flight she must have realized that she does like to cuddle because she has turned into a cuddle monster. It is so cute.

We went to visit Grandma Cathy.

and Grandpa Mark.

After Lucy was feeling a little better, her fever topped at 101 but had broken by the next morning, Grandma gave her a bath in the sink. Cutest thing ever.

(look at that face!)

She was in heaven!

She met and played with Aunt Anne.

and was so sweet with Great-Grandma Barbara.

My little sister Rebecca had the best time molding Lucy's face into smiles like this one. It was hilarious.

and she met my favorite person ever, my cousin Erin.
She introduced Lucy to Michael.

After that we were on the road again to go visit my sister Erica. She lives in CT which is like

5 1/2 hr drive. Lucy did pretty well in the car considering all the changes we were throwing at her!

This pic is pretty blurry but it is Lucy and Erica!

She got to meet and play with her cousin Peter who is only 2 mo older than she is. It was so fun being pregnant at the same time as my sister and these two babes had such a fun time playing together!

More Lucy and Peter

She also got to play with my brother Adam and his wife Dorothy. She couldnt get enough of them, they were always getting her to laugh.

Lucy in her carseat.

We spent a lot of time in here, she got pretty familiar with her beads. She did so well. With the time zone changes, the different places and houses she slept in, the different noises and smells, the airplane rides, layovers, delayed flights, weird people wanting to play with her, all the new family she met and being sick in the beginning.

She was an angel.

Unsure

2009-07-24T11:26:00.001-07:00

She's looking quite mischevious. I'm not sure how to deal with a baby girl that can move around.....but it sure is adorable.

Off

2009-07-07T21:04:00.001-07:00

Lucy and I are are off to NY in the morning to visit with my family. My dad has never even met her so we are so excited! Here is a little post of recent happenings because it is going to be a long time (2 weeks!) before we get back and I can post again.

The 4th of July Lucy!

Swimming with Daddy

The night before we left we went to Stake Lagoon Day. It was Lucy's first time, she did great and Macey didn't even mind when Lucy kept pulling her hair during the boat ride.

Chillin

Family Pictures

2009-07-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

A litte while ago Katherine took some family pictures of us. I was really excited to have her do this because I have TONS of pictures of Brady and Lucy, or just Lucy, but I can count on one hand the number I have of me and baby girl. It's sad. I have been meaning to post these for quite some time, so here they are! Thank you again Katherine, we love them!

Goin Back to Cali

2009-06-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

Brady, Lucy and I just got back from our Cali vacation! It was awesome. Brady's little brother graduated from High school so we went back to see that and stayed for a week and a half. We were definitly in need a Cali vacation, we hadn't been back there in a year and a half! Lucy was really good in the car, considering its a 9 1/2 hour drive! She slept a little bit but mostly was just awake and playing with her toys. Little angel. I took a lot of pictures....

We got to go visit Aunt Robyn and Uncle Jake (my oldest brother) and cousins, Nick, Carly and Annelise. They live a little less than an hour away from Brady's parents. We love to be able to see them whenever we go to Cali and this one was especially fun because they had never met Lucy!

Lucy and cousin Nick

Lucy and cousin Carly

Sweet little Annelise

Everyone (too bad it's a little blurry!)

Brady's brother got graduation ballons and Lucy was obsessed with them! Such a little grabber.

I love this one cause she's peering at me like, this is MY balloon

While we were there Lucy was teething the whole time! By the time we left she had 2 very noticable teeth. I guess she found a way to ease the pain because she would not stop making this face:

and drooling. It was hilarious.

Having fun with Great-Grandma Cooley :)

Note to self: Carrots are a great teething tool. She left little bite marks in em!

Brady's sister also came for the graduation. Lucy had so much fun playing with her girls.

Lucy and Lilly. Apparently Lucy thinks she is much bigger than she actually is. Haha.

We were able to take Lucy to the park for the first time! She loved loved loved it! There is only so much a little girl like her can do at the park but she did it all! It was so much fun.

She had such a good time in the swing.

Baby and Daddy, super cute.

She had this look on her face most of the time while we were swinging :)

Takin a crack at the slide

Another thing for her to play in!

Baby and Mommy

Brady's mom has some beautiful flowers. I couldn't resist taking Lucy out there for some pictures.

One of the last days we were there we were able to drive up to Tahoe. It's about 2 1/2 hrs from Brady's house. It was a little chilly but still so worth it! We had lunch on the beach, rode on some bike trails and were able to walk through these cool old historic houses.

Oh yeah, we found these on a playground there and couldn't resist the photo op!

So strong!!

These houses were really cool

Lilly is so cute! She is like a photographer's dream come true. You tell her how to pose and she just does it. Oh so cute.

One final picture.

Our trip was aweome but we are glad to be home :)

Good Morning

2009-06-15T11:15:00.001-07:00

Ill blog about Cali later, but for now, this is how I found Lucy this morning. She was completly content, just playing with her toys. Crazy girl.

(apparently she is a master at flashing those gang signs, I didn't teach her that.....)

Lucy's 6 Month Milestones

2009-06-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Lucy had her 6 month appt. It is so crazy, I cannot believe how fast time was gone! She is growing bigger and bigger every day, I cannot keep up! She now weighs 16 lbs 6oz and is 26in long!

She has been doing so many new things, here are a few.

Eating (everything!) sitting in a highchair and flashing gang signs

Grabbing, eating, playing and doing just about anything with her feet

She has been doing this for a long time, like since 2 months but this is the first picture I have of her doing it, we call them her crunches. Head up, legs in the air and....hold!

Look how cute I am sitting up!!

(This was her Memorial Day outfit)

Plus, she just learned how to do this:

And, if you didn't think there could be any more,

she has a little tooth! I little tiny one poking through, it is the cutest thing ever.

Crafty

2009-05-28T18:27:00.001-07:00

So I think this might officially be my favorite wipe case so far.

Catch Up

2009-05-28T18:12:00.001-07:00

I have so much blogging to catch up! Ill start with this last Saturday. I was able to get together with my freshman year (only year!) college roommates for dinner. It was so awesome. I havn't seen these girls almost since Brady and I got married. One is pregnant and expecting a boy in September and the other 2 just returned from missions not too long ago. There were a few others who were not able to come on Saturday but I'll take what I can get, I LOVE these girls!! Yes, my hair is really darker than normal because about 3 hours before this picture was taken I was in the middle of a hair catastrophe!! It's a long story, if you haven't heard it and want to know about the workings of a serious miracle, ask me!

It is back to normal now :)

Girls, we need to get together more often!!

Taste Testing

2009-05-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

So this afternoon for lunch I thought I would be a nice mom and give Lucy fruit for the first real time. Up until now she has been getting used to all her veggies, and she is loving them!So, while she was gobbling up her green beans like a champ, I kept telling her I had a treat for her. Applesauce. Boy was I wrong. This is what I got, I could not stop laughing (I hope that's not mean!).

St George

2009-05-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

We just had the most fantastic weekend in St. George! Thanks to everyone who let us stay at their house, who fed us and made the whole weekend fabulous. Here are some of the highlights, there are a lot of pictures so buckle up.

Lucy girl playing with her friends!

Macey!

Haven!

Beckham!

Hallie!

All dressed up ready for the pool! (little did I know that less than 10 minutes later the carrots that she is being fed would be all over both of us and pool time would be over......)

After a seriously delicious dutch oven dinner, the boys tore it up with a wicked game of horseshoes, too bad none of them knew how to play very well so the games ended up taking like an hour. haha.

Tracy was cool enough to know about this little place so we decided to go out to lunch there.

the girls!

They also have these there. You think, oh it's just a regular cupcake. WRONG. They are the most amazing cupcakes ever. Here is the progression.

First you start off with your cupcake like this.

They are so good you must eat them with a fork so you can share them.
Then after only mere seconds they have evolved into this.

And less than a minute later ravenous wolves (ok, it was us) have gotten to them

and this is all that is left. Yum!

I jus chillin.

Lucy had her first adventures in the pool. She took to it a little bit
but was much more comfortable in the bathwater temp hot tub.

She loved swimming with Daddy!

We couldn't resist having Lucy take some pictures for her modeling portfolio. On Thursday night we got to see this guy at Tuachan.

I was so mad I forgot my camera!

I think he has got to be the most hilarious guy EVER.

Seeing him live was definitly worth it!

And lastly, who could ever have a bad weekend when you get to

get ready for the day in this bathroom?!

and this is only PART of it!

In case you were wondering, this is the CLOSET that Lucy took some naps in,

I think it is bigger than her room at home.

What a seriously amazing weekend. Much needed vacation, relaxation and of course

SUN!

I'm ready to go back right now.

Lucy's Loot

2009-04-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

We went shopping to Old Navy for our date night last weekend. It was awesome. We got a cart and went around throwing whatever we thought was cute in there. I should have posted a picture but Lucy ended up with:

2 pairs of CUTE jeans for this winter

1 adorable swimsuit

1 short sleeve hoodie

3 little shirts

1 pair brown pants

1 pair cute shoes

1 white onesie
1 pair shorts

1 summer dress

That's all I can remember without going in her room and bothering her while she sleeps. Oh and I got a pair of flip flops! I think it's hilarious that Brady and I never even discussed whether or not the money would be for us or Lucy, it was just a given, all for Lucy! It's crazy how that happens.

The cashier didn't think our coupon was real, she looked at it, looked back at me and said, uh I've never seen a coupon for $75 dollars off, where did you get this? It was funny. But it worked and I even had a little gift card so we ended up paying $21 for all those goodies. A-mazing.

Also, Lucy has a new trick, check it out.

I'm such a big girl, I drink my prune juice all by myself and it makes my tummy feel better.

The Benefits

2009-04-23T21:00:00.001-07:00

I guess playing video games does pay off. That's what Brady said shortly after being able to click on the fast bouncy ball that went across the screen once every 5 mintues in the Old Navy weekly online ad. If you are fast enough to click then your coupon for

75 dollars off 100 dollar purchase

pops up and you print it out. It was amazing. My husband is amazing. I had been sitting at the computer for a few minutes waiting for the ball when Lucy needed to get burritoed to go to sleep. I proceeded to instruct Brady on what to do if the ball came while I took the minute it takes to put Lucy down. Next thing I hear is, "Uh I got it". Unbelieveable. We printed it out and wa lah! A M A Z I N G coupon.

Every week Old Navy does their online ad where you literally have to hunt the ad for coupons. They are hidden all over, and every week it's different places and different coupons. I got on there at 7:00 and there were about 1500 of the 75 off 100 coupons left. That is in comparison to around 50,000 of their other coupons left. It updates you as the coupons get taken because they go like wildfire! By 7:20, all of the 75 off 100 coupons were gone!

I never thought we would really get one, well, slap me on the wrist for underestimating my incredible husband.

And, I'm gonna have to go with Brady on this one, finally the benefits of video games have shown themselves...

I can't wait to go shopping.

It wasn't me

2009-04-17T14:40:00.001-07:00

I promise I didn't get into your jewelry Mommy............

Hollywood Debut

2009-04-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

We started giving Lucy rice cereal about a week ago. Here is her first try at it, I'd say she did pretty well, except she seems to love the camera more than the food......

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T08:02:00.001-07:00

Love,

Lucy

Lucy's Top 4 @ 4 Months

2009-04-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

This is such a cute idea for a post that I had to steal it. Lucy went in for her 4 month appt on Friday. PS I know it is spring but this 0-3 month coat just now fits her, at 4 months, and of course, as soon as it turns nice out. But it is so cute that I just had to get some pictures in it.

Weight: 14lbs 10oz

Height: 25 1/2 in

and the doctor said, which was a little bit weird to hear about a baby, that she is very proportional, her weight is nicely distributed for her height. That's good but it was funny to hear about a baby!

Top 4 Favorite Activities

1. Being Changed

2. Standing Up (with Mommy and Daddy's help)

3. Sucking on her hands (she can put her whole fist in her mouth!)

4. Seeing Daddy when he comes home

Top 4 New Skills

1. Taking a big girl bath (no more being crammed in this thing)

2. Batting at her toys

3. Squealing really loud

4. Laughing

Top 4 Things that Annoy Lucy

1. Missing her naps

2. Watching Mommy and Daddy eat (she wants some too!)

3. Big Crowds

4. Not eating on time

Baby Blues

2009-04-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Oh Lucy. You are so cute.

Donations?

2009-04-01T13:32:00.001-07:00

Does anyone have any plain spare ones of these that they don't want anymore?
Right off the top of my head I can think of 11 pregnant girls that I know plus 5 more in my family!! Thats A LOT and I love to transform these plain cases into ones like this......

and give them as gifts! Let me know :) Thanks!

Bumbo

2009-03-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

I love Lucy in this thing. It is so wonderful and I'm glad that she loves it! Soon she can sit in it while we feed her rice cereal and other delicious things.....

Spring

2009-03-20T11:49:00.001-07:00

I LOVE it! Today is so beautiful. We have gone on a walk for 3 days in a row. I can't get enough. Today is the first official day of Spring. Bye Bye Winter....well for a few days atleast!

Official

2009-03-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

It is. By having made and put one of these in my babies hair and actually thinking it looks really cute, I have officially been assimilated into a part of Utah culture. Sad day, but CUTE baby!

Happy Baby

2009-03-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

I can rarely get pictures of Lucy smiling. I think it's because she gets pretty scared every time that big black piece of camera is in her face. The time when she smiles the most is when she is being changed. She just LOVES it. So, with the assistance of my cute Brady, I took some pictures while he changed her to see if I could capture the love. Here are a few.
Love her.

Doing the Nasty

2009-03-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

just got a little nicer with this cute wipe holder......Fun Saturday project! Also, here are some pics of Lucy in her casualy Saturday attire...

I love this onesie, it's so cute. It says Saturday on it so she only wears it on Saturdays and when she does wear it we ask her, "Hey Lucy, what day is it?" and she always gets the answer right.

In case you were wondering.....

2009-03-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

this is what happens when your front loading wash machine door BURSTS open in the middle of a cycle, spilling its entire contents of water and clothing on the floor.

Twice.

Yes, this is the THIRD round of towelsand No, we do not currently have any clean towels
and this is what Brady came up with to dry out the carpet completly. There is a space heater under there and it is drying out the carpet as I type.....

I Was Screaming

2009-03-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

So I'm gonna go with the whole "if I can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" policy for this one...........

Lucy and the Hat

2009-02-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Poor Lucy has cradle cap. :( I really want to take care of it and the best way we were told was to seriously SLATHER her little noggin in baby oil and keep a hat on her then after a few days toothbrush it off. Well, we've been doing this on and off for almost a week now and it's getting much much better. I'm glad. She's been in a hat for pretty much that whole time.

Luckily she looks freakin adorable in it.

Take a look.

Ticker

2009-02-26T09:11:00.001-08:00

Anyone know what is up with this ticker? ->
If Lucy is 2 months and 4 weeks....am I crazy or doesn't that equal 3 months......???

Baby Legs

2009-02-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

The other night we had a learn to make baby legs/American Idol party. I have to say it was so fun! These things are ADORABLE and so easy to make!! Thanks for coming everyone and I hope you enjoy your baby legs! Heres Lucy and her homemade baby legs.

Look closely, Catherine painted her toenails!

I cannot get enough of these things, I want to put her in them everyday! If anyone sees cute knee high socks anywhere let me know so I can keep making her more...... :)

Go Lucy!

2009-02-15T06:48:00.001-08:00

So Lucy and I were just hanging out the other day and she did this!! I love being a mother.

For Mom

2009-02-13T20:31:00.001-08:00

This post is especially for my grandparents and Mom and Dad so they can see more of our beautiful Lucy :)

Finally

2009-02-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

So Lucy has been sleeping through the night for 2 weeks now but last night she seriously pulled a fast one and slept from 10:30 till 7. Hooray. Babywise = so worth it.

2 Months

2009-02-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

Lucy had her 2 month appt. today. I was so excited to go to find out how much she weighs now. She is growing big, she weighs 11 lbs 11 oz now and definitly is getting Brady's height because shes 24in long! Everything was great and I can even start to eat a little dairy and see how she takes it! Take a look at one of her newest accomplishments...

She can sit up all by herself! Ha I guess Brady might be helping a little bit...and I just can't get enough of her in these pajamas. We smashed her in them when she was a week old and they were tight then so I decided that they would be even cuter and even tighter now so I somehow got her in them again just long enough to take these pictures then changed them cause I she was busting out of them. But so cute!

But she really can do this, wow!

And this is just cute.

No Dairy!

2009-01-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

Yea that's right. Poor little Lucy is having a really tough time. She wakes up in the middle of the night in pain cause she can't get the gas bubbles out. It's so sad. We give her gas relief drops and they help but not enough. She works and works and works it out and she has had a blow out the last 3 mornings. Anyway, last night was especially bad so this morning I called her pediatrition and after a series of questions and answers I was told to cut out all dairy for 2 weeks and see if that makes a difference. So, here goes nothin. But seriously, look at this face! How could I not do whatever I needed to make her feel better....

Anyone with good dairy free recipes? Let me know!

Contortionist

2009-01-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

I find this hilarious, Lucy does this almost every time we wake her up. She gets in atleast 2 or 3 of these before she's really ready to eat.

Plus, look at this mad face! Sad but a little hilarious too! I hope that doesn't make me a bad mother.

Lucy's Blessing

2009-01-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

This is a little late but we blessed Lucy earlier this month, on the 4th. It was really amazing. Brady did an incredible job. She was really good, she didn't cry at all! Afterwards we had friends and family over to our house to celebrate. Here are some pictures of the day.

Here is Lucy in her blessing dress. It is the same dress that I wore along with my 3 other sisters and Lucy's cousin Kaitlyn. I love it.

Here we are happy and enjoying the company.

Then we passed her off so Grandma George could hold her. She looks like she's fightin' somethin fierce and guess what, she was.....

Grandma had to pass her back because Lucy had a HUGE blowout, so bad we had to give her a bath! So then she ended up in this outfit :) It was so funny!

Babywise

2009-01-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

I guess it's time for a new post. I can't believe I have even found the time to post one! I am loving being a mother but it feels like by the time I feed Lucy, change her and she is ready to go back to sleep I only have and hour (maybe 2 if she eats fast and I'm lucky!) until she's ready to do it all over again. That is assuming she sleeps through her whole nap. I'm not complaining because generally she really is great baby, we have been blessed, but it's definitly a change, a good one :) Anyway, I have been doing Babywise with Lucy. I absolutly LOVE the schedule that it keeps her on, I have NO IDEA how anyone could do it without one. I would go insane. She has recently started to cry bloody murder sometimes and we are working on helping her learn to put herself to sleep so that she will sleep through the night. We are doing it but it is not easy. Please, anyone out there that has gone though this, I need reinforcements and support. Any advice or support.....Thanks. Here is a pic of Lucy.
Sometimes she gets in her PJ's and waits for Brady in our big bed. Haha. It is adorable!

Lucy's Photoshoot

2008-12-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

So my cute neighbor Dana called me up the other day and asked if she could take some pictures of Lucy. I was excited and of course I said yes. She was just wanting to get some experience and get her name out there because she wants to start her own photography business. I think she has talent and you can check it out at http://www.danawillisphoto.blogspot.com/. Anyway, here are some pictures of Lucy's big day.

Christmas!

2008-12-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is the first year since we have been married that we aren't going anywhere for Christmas. We usually switch off years with the other's family but this year because we were blessed with an early present, we are staying here. It actually works out really well because Brady's brother is coming home from his mission a few days after Christmas so his family will be here anyway and a lot of my family is here because of school and work and my Mom is here too because of Lucy. Anyway, I was so so SO excited because we finally got to get a tree! A REAL tree too :) I always grew up with them so I'm hooked. Here it is, a little sucker, but I just LOVE it!

Also, Lucy had her 2 week appointment on Friday. She is doing great! and getting chubby cause she gained a pound! :) So cute, Brady can not wait for her little cheeks to keep chubbing up. Here's a pic. Her hair is so fun to play with, in this one, Brady gave her a part and made her look like a little school boy. It was hilarious. Plus, I think she looks kind of mischevious......

Some labor and the 1st Week at Home

2008-12-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Lucy is doing great! She is sleeping so I thought I'd seize the opportunity to blog about how labor and the hospital was and how she's doing. It's a long one so buckle up :) Thanksgiving came and we were able to enjoy it. Brady's family came and they have a long standing tradition of going shopping on black Friday. Naturally, I wanted to go, 9 monthes 2 days pregnant and everything. I had been feeling great and so I decided to go. We left around midnight and went to South Towne Mall then Target, Kohls and WalMart. I wasn't in pain or anything at all the whole time. I finally get home and roll into bad at about 9:00am. 11:00 I get up because I feel like I have to go to the bathroom and sure enough on my way to the bathroom my water breaks. Long story short, and a few calls later we are being admitted to the hospital and it's about 12:30. I only started to feel real contractions after my water had broken and we were on our way to the hospital. They were not very regular so they started me on petocin and I began enjoying contractions. After I felt like I had suficiantly experienced all contractions had to offer I admitted that I was ready for my epidural. Too bad, there was a C section going on so I had to wait another half hour before I was able to get it. I was really nervous about it but now I will admit it is about the greatest thing ever. That was at about 5:00. They checked me then and I was only a 2. We were expecting to have her sometime in the middle of the night. We were proven wrong. When they checked me at 7:30 I had dialated to a 7 and by 8:00 I was fully dialated and they wanted me to rest and descend for an hour. 9:00 comes and I start pushing with the nurse. She says we will probably push for a half hour before she calls my doc to come in. Luckily, 10 minutes later she is on the phone with the doc and he is on his way. Waiting, waiting, waiting. He gets there and after only a few more pushes and some major encouragement by Brady (who was incredible during the whole thing) she arrived at 9:55. Woah, it was pretty quick. She was healthy and no major problems. What a blessing and a miracle. The rest of the time in the hospital as great and we came home Sunday night. Her first week home has been a lot of adjusting but in a good way. She is sleeping and nursing really well and with the help of my Mom even the nights haven't been too too bad :) Brady can't get enough of his new little girl. She doesn't do too much yet but we still can't resist taking so many pictures of her. Here are a few. Enjoy!

Lucy Arisa

2008-12-02T08:01:00.001-08:00

Lucy is here! She was born Friday night at 9:55. 8 big pounds and 20.5 inches. Everything went really smoothly and Brady, she and I are all doing well. I promise to post more later with some pictures I just don't know how long she's gonna sleep right now...... :)

40 Weeks

2008-11-26T11:01:00.001-08:00

This is what I want to be doing on Friday :) Yes, it's true, my baby counter on the side over there says 40 weeks. Today is my due date and yes, I'm still pregnant. Baby has decided that she will decide the date, not my counter. Ill have to talk to her about that when she gets around to being ready. Haha. I'm actually pretty relieved that she is not here yet. I would be very grateful if she were to let me enjoy the next few days with family and the whole Thanksgiving fun and shopping. I feel really good. My Dr. says that if she doesn't come before then he wants to try to induce on Monday or Tuesday of next week. We will know if that will happen on Sunday night if we get a call from the hospital. Pretty short notice!! So that's all that's going on. Thanks everyone for calling and checking up on me! We will let you all know as soon as she makes her debut!

38 1/2 Weeks

2008-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well, 39 on Wednesday and woah! Getting really close :) I'm still feeling good, not terribly uncomfortable or anything. Plus suprisingly I have been sleeping really well! which I am taking full advantage of because I know it won't be that way for very much longer. Baby is getting huge inside I swear she's gonna come out 5 years old for how much she sqirms and kicks. Brady is really excited and I am really nervous...but I'm sure things will go fine. Finally, a pic.

Nesting?

2008-11-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

So I'm pretty sure I'm to that stage because all of the sudden having the desire to clean out and organize under your sink just doesn't seem natural.....

Girls Night!

2008-11-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Or IN!! So a few of our husbands have been trying to get the word out and get together with whoever else thats a guy that wants to go to the new James Bond movie. They are planning to go on the 17th. Im not sure what time but if your hubby wants to go have him contact Ryan Sorenson so that they can all arrange when to get tickets. Anyway, since they can't have ALL the fun!, we were thinking that while they are at the movie we should have a girls night! We can go out or stay in or go out to dinner then come back and do something, I don't know. So, comment if you are in and if you have any ideas!! Spread the word, we love everyone and everyone is invited, even if your hubby doesn't want to go to James Bond! :)

Photo Tag

2008-11-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

The Rules: Go to your picture files. Pick the 4th file, and the 4th picture in it.
Tell a little about the picture. Tag 4 friends or family.

My pic:

I laughed so hard when this ended up being the picture. This was taken Christmas 2006 and that little cutie is my nephew Jack, 2 months at the time but he just celebrated his 2 year birthday! This Christmas was Brady's first real one at my house since we had been married and this HUGE Crunch bar was one of the family gifts that he got to open. It was soo funny when he opened it cause seriously, isn't it the LAST thing you expect? I mean where/who/how do you even get a Crunch bar like this?! Apparently my Dad did some business with a guy who had connections at Nestle and I guess they give these out for certain events or something, anyway, my Dad is awesome and ended up with this one. We put the babies next to it just to give a little size comparison. My dad ended up having to cut this thing with a table saw, its not the kind of candy bar you can break in half and make a s'more out of I guess, even though we were tempted. Where would you get the graham crackers for that??...
Here's one more:

I Tag: Anyone who wants to do this, it's pretty fun!

Our Halloween Adventures

2008-11-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

So this Halloween for us was sort of an uplanned final harrah before baby comes. We ended up going to 6 parties with 5 different costumes!! I am officially done with Halloween for probably about a year, oh wait that's perfect since it won't come again for a year haha. Luckily we were able to figure out the vast majority of our costumes from things we already had. I made things, we put things together, we dreamed up all sorts of creative solutions and it was a blast. It started out with our ward party on the 18th which we were in charge of, and took off from there. For that party I dont have any pictures but we were a 50's housewife and the milkman. Then on the 24th we went to Michelle and Zacc's awesome murder mystery party where I was a whore that ran a brothel and Brady was one sexxxxy spray tanned indian chief.

Then the next night on the 25th we went with Nate and Monique to a party with their friends where we did the milkman again and here are the pictures of that. We won the best couple prize it was really funny.

2 days later we teamed up with the Darlings and invited the whole neighborhood to cram into our house for a party! For that one we dressed up as Juno and Bleeker and have to say it was probably one of our favorites, I mean c'mon who can pass up shorts like Bleekers?

That party was soo so fun thanks everyone for coming!! After that we had a little break, until Thursday that is haha. On the 30th we went to the Griffiths for another murder mystery which was blast! I was a gypsy fortune teller and Brady was a frankenstein like monster who was a ballerina/musical theater junkie. I just want to say that I couldn't love this guy any more I swear he is always up for a good time and I just love how he is confident enough to dress up like this.....

Then on actual Halloween, which by the time it came I could swear it has already passed, we went to the Putmuns for their last minute murder mystery with some of their friends . For that one I was a french maid and Brady was a jazz muscian.

That's about the sexiest french maid costume I could pull off being 9 months pregnant. Haha. We had soo much fun this year for Halloween I just couldn't believe how fast it went!! The only downside of being so busy was that all of the sudden I'm due in 3 1/2 weeks and Im can't believe it! Ahhh! I have some 35 week maternity pics to post so Ill do that soon, even though they're a little late. Well, I hope everyone else had a fun Halloween season, we sure did! Thanks everyone! :)

Baby Shower!

2008-10-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

So I have been blessed with such wonderful friends. They were gracious enough to throw me an incredible baby shower on Wednesday night. I don't have very many pictures so if you were there and took any I would really appreciate them! I got some really great stuff and it was ALL needed so THANK YOU!!
Big and Pregnant and getting closer....and bigger....

Castle of Craziness

2008-10-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

On friday night we got hooked up with some sweet VIP passes to Castle of Chaos (thanks Darlings!) and I have to say I was a little on edge because Ive never been to a haunted house and this one is rated one of the scariest or something like that but Im not gonna like, little dissappointed with the haunted house but a still a blast to go to with some friends! But only if you get VIP passes cause the lines were huge and LONG! but we didn't have to wait :) Scariest part of the night, a creepy guy jumping out from behind a car in the parking lot! So funny.

Toybox

2008-10-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

I have been diligently working on baby's nursery but still do not feel ready to post pictures yet. Sorry, it's coming soon for those who haven't snuck in to peek yet! One of the things that I felt compelled to complete before posting pics was her toybox. I found this thing at DI and yes, I talked the guy down from $20 to $10 haha. This is what it looked like when I got it.

and after 2 paint jobs and a couple of hours it now looks like this and I love it!

You can see a little of my paint job in the background :)

Tagged!

2008-10-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks Gina! I know you tagged me forever ago and Im just getting around to it but here they are...unspectacular quirks :)

-Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
-Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
-Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

1. I am so so cheap! Im not sure if that is a quirk or not but seriously I am! Sometimes I find myself at DI thinking "I don't want to pay 2.50 for THAT..." and I'm at DI....... That might sound bad and it's not out of control but I'm really a bargin hunter and a digger, that's why I like Ross so much and Ross likes me. Garage sales and KSL are heaven sent.

2. I'm not very organized. I would like to think I am but when I man up and admit it, I really am not that interested in organization. As long as I have a general idea of where things are I am satisfied and when I go to look for something I usually have 3 spots to look and if it's not in any of those places, then I start to think...I need to be more organized.

3. I love all the Back to the Future movies. Thanks Dad! Im pretty sure that qualifies and quirky.

4. I can't stand it when people use too many words to explain something just because they think it makes them sound smarter or something. Im not talking about when people use "like" too much Im talking about when someone says something like "It generally is right about the same way as comparitively to what it looks like when you see something that is similar to blah blah blah just spit it out!"

5. Brady always used to get annoyed with me when we were dating because when we would hold hands I would subconsiously move my hands over his and if I found any sort of bump or cut or anything I would unknowingly concentrate my attention on it with my fingers. He would then call my attention to what I was doing and how he didn't like it and so I would stop. I always felt stupid and now try harder not to do that. haha.

6. It doesn't bother me if my socks don't match.

Alright, I know that last one is kinda lame, well they all really are but oh well!

Im tagging: Shelly, Sami, BJ, Malerie, Tiffany, and Erin

Fall

2008-09-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

This might be the time of year when I miss NY the most. It is so beautiful there in the fall and sorry Utah but you just can't compare. Everyone here thinks the leaves change and its great but they have no idea what they are really missing. 2 months of beautiful comfortable temps, cute sweaters with no need of a jacket, scarves and cute hats without the rest of the bulky winter attire. Here we are only offered about a week of "fall" that is disguised as the week between when the temp goes from 90 to 50. Oh well, we have to take what we can get. Atleast we still get apple cider! Yumm. And pumpkins. I was so excited about fall this year for some reason, maybe because it signifies the closing in on my due date for baby, but for whatever reason I just couldn't wait. I already put up my fall decorations and set out candy corn for lucky visitors :) It just needs to cool down a little during the day for it to feel more like it!

Baby Bump Watch

2008-09-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was planning on having Brady take a pic for my 30 week post anyway, then I heard on the radio that they were having a baby bump contest and decided it would be fun to enter. Since I have a baby bump and all. Voting starts tomorrow and if you want to it would be fun and you can vote at http://www.971zht.com/pages/babywatch/ Im #137. :) Anyway, things are still going well and I will finally admit that cravings are a part of pregnancy....haha I haven't really been craving anything specific but things sound really really good and I can't get them off my mind unless I have them. Its really hard to have any sort of self discipline! Rough times haha. I will post pics of the baby room but I still have to put up curtains and do a few more finishing touches. I got all the painting done though which is nice because I am sooo tired again! I have no energy and its rough I feel like it takes so much self convincing to do anything! Oh well Brady is wonderful and supportive and understanding so it's all good. I can't believe Im almost 8 months, crazy but good! We are getting really excited for baby girl to make her debut.

Peaches

2008-09-04T11:44:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a wonderful trip to St. George. We were lucky enough to go with the Laynes and the Coonradts. Tracy's parents were gracious enough to let us all crash at their house and it was soo nice. It felt just like being at home, perfect for vacation! When we go to Cali to visit Brady's family it is like a true vacation. No work, no school, no time schedule or responsibilies just pure relaxation and chill. That was how this vacation was and it was exactly what we needed. We have tried to go on several vacations this summer and for one reason or another they have all been cancelled. When this opportunity arose we jumped on it! Brady has been working hard all summer and definitly deserved a break, which this trip definitly provided. Not only were we able to relax, swim and play but Tracy's parents have peach trees and yes, they are in season! Oh my goodness it was incredible. Think of anything you could eat that has peaches and is delicious and we probably ate it. Peach pie. Waffles with peaches on them. Peach cobbler..or slobber as Tracy says haha :) Peaches Peaches Peaches. Not only that but we were sent home with almost a whole 5 gallon bucket full! Unbelievable and delicious. The only downside of the whole weekend...Brady and I got burned swimming on the last day.....the car ride home was a little rough but lots of aloe and a few days later we are recovering. Thank you Jon and Tracy for a great weekend!

25 Weeks

2008-08-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

This week I'm 25 weeks and everything is still going well. I started to paint the nursery and things are beginning to seem more real. I've been feeling a lot of movement and finally Brady can feel it when he puts his hand on my belly (that is growing!). Its really exciting. Everyone keeps asking but I dont have any cravings still. I wonder if that is just a big myth that women make up to eat more of what they want while they are pregnant haha. We will see.
This huge budda came out of nowhere!

An Update

2008-08-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

I realized I should post a quick update about Brady's progress. He had a Dr. appt last Friday and things went well. The doc said that Brady was improving dramatically, the blood was draining really well from his eye and that he was happy with the improvements. But, this was the first time that he had been able since the accident to get a really good picture of Brady's retina. Unfortuantly it showed that there is a dent there that will almost certainly be permanent and affect Brady's vision. Right now he is seeing about 20/70 which is an incredible improvement from the 20/200 that he was seeing the day after it happened. We were told that it should continue to improve but will probably not return to perfect - he sees 20/10 in his other eye. He has been able to return to work but it is difficult for him due to the fact that his vision is still impaired. Although he was told he could return to normal activities, it is still delicate and he is taking it a little easy. The other thing is his pupil. After the accident we were given drops to put in that paralyzed the muscles in his eye and cause his pupil to react to light. His pupil is still big and the doc said the effects of the drop can last up to a month! and that his pupil will go down a little but will be bigger than his other one permanently because the muscles were damaged. So, overall he is doing much much better but it's taking some time and that is taking a little toll on him. We appreciate everyone's continued love, prayers and support. Thank you, it has made a world of difference.

Balls

2008-07-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Tennisballs. Eyeballs. Proceed with caution and never mix the two together. It has seemed inappropriate until now to blog at a time like this but I feel ready now. In case you haven't heard what happened, Ill give a little recap. Brady was playing a friendly game of tennis last Wednesday night when he was suddenly caught of gaurd inbetween matches and took a tennis ball straight in the eye. Not above, not below, directly in his eye. From that second on our night went something like this. Brady: "I can't see anything" (hand covering eye). Ok, well, let's get you some ice and it's time to leave. Ice. Driving home, (ring, ring) Me: "Katherine (Jenkins), Umm Brady got hit pretty hard in the eye, should we just keep ice on it or what?" Katherine "Is it bleeding, look at it" Me: (pulling over, looking at Brady's eye for the first time) "UMMMMM OH MY GOSH CAN WE COME OVER...." If you didn't know, Bradys has the most beautiful green eyes. I fell in love with them almost instantly when we met. But Wednesday night, when I looked at his right eye it was completly brown. The white of his eye was red. It was scary to say the least. We rushed over the Katherine's and she looked at it. Flashlight checking his eyes. Katherine after examining: "Um you need to go to the ER right now, your pupil is fixed, and uh it should NEVER do that.." Since I was a shaking disaster by this time, Katherine was gracious enough to drive us to the ER at 11:30 at night. We got there, they got us in and started to examine Brady further. On top of everything, while they were checking the pressure in his eye, he blacked out. It was then a big rush of the dr. trying to bring Brady back, calling for help, me freaking out cause I don't know what's going on, and them wheeling him away to hook him up to monitor his vital signs. For the next 2 hours I proceeded to stay by his side trying to keep the poor guy awake while we waited for the results and the doctor's diagnosis. Finally he came back and explained the the color change was due to Hyphema, bleeding in the eye. That was also the cause of a lot of the blurriness that Brady was experiencing. The passing out was a combo of the pain, the pushing on his eye and the stress of the situation. Finally, he also had some corneal abrasions. They made an emergency appt with the opthomologist for the next morning, gave us some drops to put in his eye and sent us home. The next day Brady received a blessing and we went in to see the doc. He does a much more thorough anaylsis of Brady and concludes that the impact was strong enough to have caused some damage to his retina. This was very scary for us because your retina, there's basically no fixin it, unless your body says yea, we can fix this. At that point, the doc was fairly optamistic about the whole situation but couldn't give us any concrete answers. He said there was still inflamation of the retina and blood in the eye, we would have to give it a few days, see you on Monday. We were very concerned. But luckily we are blessed with wonderful friends and family that are very supportive. A lot of praying and fasting later we began to feel much better about the situation. When we went in on Monday the doctor said that there was no bad news. The cloudiness in Brady's retina seemed to have gone and that the general condition of his eye seemed to be improving. The blurriness he was still experiencing was due to the blood still in his eye. That just takes time to go away. So even with that positive news, we are still praying for everything to go smoothly from here on out in relation to his eye and his recovery. There is still a chance that thing's could not work out as hoped but we feel really optimistic about the situation. Brady has been wonderful through this whole thing, I just can't even imagine how scary it must have been for him and still is to have something as delicate and important as your eye be put in jeopardy. I want to say thank you to everyone for all the continuing love and support and prayers and faith we have received though this scary time. We go in again on Friday morning for another doctor appt. Until then, we just have faith things will continue to move forward and his eye will continue to heal.

and the verdict is......

2008-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

It's a girl!!!! Still. Haha, we went at 16 weeks to see if we could find out early what we were having and they said it was a girl then. So we have been tentatively telling people it is a girl but we didn't tell the ultrasound tech just to see if she made the same diagnosis. A test of sorts. So I'm 21 weeks now and yes, still a girl :) That is great we are soo soo excited, especially Brady, go figure! These are pics of my 16 week ultrasound cause they are much much better than the ones we got today.

So crazy, I can't believe that's in me. It was so funny when we were there having the ultrasound cause she was freakin out in my belly, even the tech was like, ummmm she certainly is a big stretcher and woah! she's having a party in there and so on. So, if that's any sign of what we have coming, we are in for trouble! Im pretty sure it was all the Mountain Dew I drank last night/this morning trying to stay awake through the entire Dark Knight.....ooops sorry baby.

20 Weeks!

2008-07-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

This week I am 20 weeks. Halfway through is what everyone keeps telling me. (only halfway?!! just kidding) We are going in on the 18th to find out for sure what we are having. I went in at 16 weeks and they said we were having a girl so we will see! I've been feeling better, which has been nice. I think everyone would agree that a little less throw up is always good! Other than that and the almost regular headache things are going well. No real cravings yet.....haha. Here is my 20 week belly shot.....
Getting there!

and the obvious decision is.....

2008-07-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

NOT HIM! EWE Jesse
C'mon give me a break!!! If the looks alone aren't obvious enough who to choose (I know that sounds shallow but...) if you watched the show you would have seen what an incredible guy Jason was!!
Yay Jason
Or even better yet, can you believe she got rid of THIS guy?! I think that they drugged her so their ratings would go up. There is NO other explanation for this kind of horror.

Crib and Changing Table!

2008-07-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

I should have posted about what a great time I had in NY but for some reason completly lacked the motivation to do so so here is a new post. Even before we were pregnant I would look on KSL for cribs and changing tables. If you know me you know that I get like everything we own on KSL. I love love love it! So anyway, I've been looking forever knowing that you usually only get one shot if you find what you want and then you have to jump on it when you find it cause they usually go fast. So a few days ago I found this matching crib/changing table set that I just loved! The only thing was that it was a little more expensive than I had originally intended to spend so I basically declared that I loved it to myself then wrote it off because of the price. 2 days later I was talking to Brady and he said, that's fine! If he will negotiate that would be nice but if not then it's fine. Needless to say the guy wouldn't negotiate. Even though I had the go-ahead from Brady I still felt that it was too expensive so I told the guy we didnt want it and told myself that if it was still there in 2 more days than we would get it. 2 days is a long time in the life of a KSL ad and I was fully expecting it to have been eaten by wolves and for my search to continue. Well, it was still there! and after almost a week of debating with myself I took it as a sign and we picked it up this morning :) Plus as a serious bonus, they are unassembled and BRAND NEW in the box!! Here they are.

Vegas!

2008-06-06T17:55:00.001-07:00

Okay so I know I'm such a slow poster. Brace yourself, this is a looong one. We went to Vegas last Thursday and Friday and it was soo fun! We went down with Katie and Stephenson and unfortunatly if you want to see any pics of the 4 of us together you should check out her blog cause picture taking is not my forte....anyway, here are some pics!

After laying out at the pool for a bit, we went in a got ready to go out. Thursday night we walked all around the strip. We went in this mall full of stores we couldn't afford

Even the toy store was too expensive! Haha I wish I had gotten a pic of the 500 dollar stuffed Rhino they had. But, we did have fun on the keyboard..

Also, Brady was fortunate enough to make friends with this nice lego man.....

awwww give him a hug!.......

Oooops! Looks like the lego man had to take it a little too far.......

Poor Brady has to hide his face now from the scary lego man....

After that we went and walked around some of the casinos and ate at this delicious mexican resturant inside the Venitian. It was right on the water where they do the gondola rides. We went in a little early that night because we were all tired from the trip. But, no complaints here cause our hotel room was SOOO nice. I wish I could've picked it up and implanted it in our house. Oh we were loving it. Friday was basically a non stop party. First we all ate breakfast at this little resturant in the casino which had french toast to DIE for! Then Brady and I played tennis while Katie and Stephenson went to their friends sealing. Then we went to the pool and laid out and waited for them to get back. When we were sufficiently full of second hand smoke, nasty girls in tiny bikinis and drunk guys who think taking their cell phones in the pool won't hurt them, we went in to get ready for the night life! We started by going to the Shark Reef which was really cool.

We were pretty sure this baby was DEAD unitl we bothered it and bothered it and poked and tapped and pretty much anything else you can think of until it finally moved its eye.

Here are just some more fish pictues, the underbelly of something weird, a giant fish, little shark....

and here is the winner of the dumbest looking fish award. Brady and I got one look at this monster and could not stop laughing. It just floats around with no purpose and practically swims right into things, it was hilarious.

Then we both got to pet this sting ray, it was slimy.

After the Shark Reef we went to Tournament of the Kings! WOOO HOOO!

We sat in the Russian section and has the sexiest/NASTIEST czar we had to cheer for. Oh boy I wish we could've gotten a pic of him. What a catch...not. It was a little dirty there but I would have to say that overall it gets rousing HAZAAA! (with both hands in the air). Haha. They served us these dinners

With no utensils. But, the BEST part was that the waitress would come out with these things STACKED on top of each other, like 10 in one arm and then just kinda slap them down in front of you. It was hilarious.

If you think the night was over, you would be wrong.

After that.....we went over the the Wynn and walked around some more, looking for a good gelato place cause it is our new guilty pleasure. We found one and got some. We were there for a little while. On our way there though, we were driving down the strip and all of the sudden we got this ingenious idea to roll down our windows and bother the people on the sidewalk. We would shout and duck, throw ice, try to high five the bikers. A little immature I suppose but oh sooo much fun. I guess the Tournament of the Kings just got us all riled up. So finally after a very fun filled night we decided to retire to our wonderful hotel rooms. Brady and I were just getting ready to relax when I went looking in my purse for my Blackberry. Mind you I have only had this sexy little thing for maybe 2 weeks. I love it. I had to put it in my purse cause my dress had no pockets. So Im searching for it, slowly at first then frantically dumping out my purse and it is NOWHERE to be found! I couldn't believe it. I could only remember bringing it out once that night, but could remember thousands of places it could have fallen out. I was hysterical. Asking Brady if he had seen it, where was it, he's looking. The next thing I know I'm alone in the room. I look for a few minutes more and then decide to go down and find Brady. I get in the elevator and go to the lobby and as the doors open Brady is standing there, Blackberry in hand. LUCKY LUCKY me, of all the places it could have been, it had fallen out in Katie and Stephenson's car.....unbelieveable. We were so relieved. Sorry this was so long, but Vegas wasn't even the end of our fun filled weekend. We then headed up to St. George on Saturday morning and met up with 3 more couples. That is a whole other post. This one has taken so long that it might take me few days to recover and post about that.....

Baby Time

2008-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

So I finally get to post about something really exciting! We've been waiting till the end of the first trimester but now that it's over and Im 13 weeks we are telling everyone that we're gonna have a baby :)

We found out 2 days before Brady's birthday which was March 31st if that gives you guys any idea how long we've been keeping this secret. I originally wanted to do something cute to tell Brady but he was kind of expecting it so he was there when I took the test, we left and came back 3 minutes later and looked together. It was so exciting and such a great moment to share together. We've been to the doctor twice and have already heard the heartbeat. That was pretty incredible. Im due to November 26 which Im pretty sure is the day before Thanksgiving. Also, I loved! Katie Rammel's blog when she was pregnant and posted pictures every few weeks of her growing belly so Im totally stealing that idea. Here's my first one.

13 weeks

American Idol Tonight

2008-05-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

I know she got voted off but she's my favorite. Anyway, A.I. is at my house tonight, 270 Caleb at 8:00. Everyone is invited! Just show up :)

Getting Excited

2008-04-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

My mom is coming! I am so excited I haven't seen her since Christmas and I only get to see her a couple times a year. So sad this is the only picture I could find of us and it's from my senior prom! She is going to be here for about 2 weeks so sorry if I am out of commision and Brady is a bachelor for a little while haha. I might be missing a few AI nights and Im sad about that but dont worry, Syesha isn't going anywhere! Anyway, shes comes tomorrow and is staying awhile so if I'm not hanging out as much that is why :)

Long Overdue

2008-04-04T18:33:00.001-07:00

So I haven't posted for awhile....sorry guys! Here are a few updates!

This is Brady's birthday cake! His birthday was on Monday and it was a ton of fun (thanks Dobsons!) I couldn't wait to make him this cheesecake because I found the little springform pan to make it in back in November and have kept it a secret since then. I made him a cheesecake the first year we were married for his birthday and it was way to HUGE for the two of us to eat so when I found the little pan I was really excited. It is so cute I think and only like 2 inches high and maybe 4 across :) I don't know if you can tell from the picture how small it is. His mom sent him this:

It was this giant card that he unfolded and the candy was numbered so that when you put it all together it reads a cute message and the names of the candy bars are part of the message. Cute!

Anyway, he had a great birthday and thanks everyone for celebrating with us!

Next, ever since we moved here I have been dying to do something about the mirrors in our bathrooms. I hate hate hate how they are just huge and stuck to the wall. I really dont like they way they look. So I decided to frame them but have been putting it off because I needed the right kind of saw. My sister in law finally got one so I jumped on that and my mirrors were framed and sexy within just a short time! Here is the before picture:

and here are some afters, I think it makes such a big difference and i LOVE it!

Ill try to post more often! Enjoy :)

Easter Goodies

2008-03-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

The last 2 years Brady and I haven't really done anything to celebrate Easter that much. Last year we each got one Cadbury egg and he and I took turns hiding each others egg. It was fun. This year it seems like I had been hearing so much more about Easter so I kinda got more in the mood. I felt like we should still do our "tradition" of hiding a cadbury egg but on top of that I felt like Brady deserved an Easter basket full of goodies. I went and got him some candy and then this afternoon I realized that I didn't have an actual basket for him so he ended up looking for this.......our laundry basket, full of Easter candy....it's a basket...right? He took a hint from me and this was mine....

(He hid a peep for me, that's why it's shy one) Id say our easter was success, we will be sufficiently candied forever now

Vinyl Vixens

2008-03-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

It seems like it has been taking forever but I finally feel like I am getting somewhere with my vinyl buisiness. I have been working on putting together a catalog for a while now and I have
even started our blog. I try to create and upload more designs on the blog every day so keep checking back for more. We are going to have a party here soon (I promise!) and it should be fun! We've got these magnet boards that we custom make according to what colors and designs you want and for a good price!, I make big clocks, you can have vinyl put on glass, tile, wood, mirrors, whatever you want, Ill do it for you :) We have tons of designs, fonts and colors. If you see anything that's on there now that you want let me know! Check it out at http://www.vinylvixens.blogspot.com/

Fat Sunday

2008-03-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Johnny Carinos Watch Out

Ours
So Johnny Carinos has these italian nachos that are to die for. They are like a mess of delicious everything that you should feel bad about eating but you just dont because they are so good. Anyway, once you have them the craving just keeps coming back so, since today was Sunday, we were craving them but we weren't going to go out so we decided to recreate them. With the help of Ty and Elise we were able to bring them to life and perform a miracle in our own kitchen. Haha they were so good. I wouldnt normally blog about this but as Ty was pulling them out of the oven he said while pointing to them "YOU NEED TO BLOG ABOUT THIS!" so consequently, here's my blog, I dedicate it to you Ty.

Oh yea, and you can see that we had a good time becauese yes, we ate them all.......oops....haha

Credenza!

2008-03-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

The first picture is before, and the second two are after.
Ive been looking for one of these for so long! I went to go get us a filing cabinent and while I was there I found this! It was a display model so it was like half price, even better. I had to con the sales lady into marking it sold so that no one else would take it while I went to get Brady to show him and make sure the meausrements were all good. I was convinced that our TV wouldnt look good on one because it isn't a flat screen but I think it ended up looking great! Im so happy with it and now our TV doesn't look like something straight out of a bachelor pad.....haha....

TMTH

2008-03-04T21:07:00.001-08:00

I just want to say that this boy is TMTH