Chris Alicia Eve & Layla

4th of July 2011

2012-01-20T09:21:00.000-08:00

I love that I have to specify that I am writing about 2011, since it is already 2012. Wow, right?

I don't have much to say about this Independence day. We were in Stockton with my family and we had a good time with the fireworks and stuff. Eve is very afraid of any kind of fire or heat though, which is a good thing that I hope lasts, so it took her a few tries to warm up to the sparklers. PS: Love her rockin the diaper.

My AWESOME sisters!!! (Andrea and Rashelle)

Bath Paint

2012-01-02T20:18:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest. You get shaving cream and food coloring and mix them together to create bathtub paint. I was a little worried at first that it might die our bath tub, but so far no mishaps; with the bath tub. We do have a porcelain tub though(I think) so everything just washes away.

I have done this several times now and Eve LOVES it every time. It is great for a boring day when she is being a bit of work. Normally when I do it I put like one or two drops of coloring in and then mix and the colors are good and nothing gets died. But one day I thought "I think I am going to try more food coloring, maybe it will make the colors richer." So I did and the colors looked the same and nothing got died...... then I got Eve out to dry her off and she was red and blue everywhere! It looked like she had been beaten! It was really funny and I was nervous to change her cloths in front of anyone for a few days.

Layla is still too little to play in the tub, and she can't sit up in there either because she just slips and falls over, but she still likes to be in there. The chunky girl.

These kids are so much fun. They are growing to much too, go figure. Eve is so busy and a little toddler! She likes to be independent with some things. I can't feed her, and if I tell her what to do all day long she gets very frustrated. I have learned that she needs some time to herself to do what she wants. As long as she is not making trouble!

She always climbs into the oven in her kitchen set she got from Santa.

Don't ask me why she likes to get in Layla's car seat so much but she does. We have a winter cover thing and she likes to get cozy in there with her binky and blanket and just sit there. (Please disregard the cluttered closet. It is our only closet in out whole apt and so it if full to the brim)

She is getting smarter and smarter too. Her vocabulary is growing fast, and I am having a lot of fun learning what she has to say. The things she says aren't even that funny, it is just funny to hear her say normal things, at least to us.

She calls Layla, Wawa.

She likes to say "No." Really? Surprising right.

When friends come to our house she gets possessive and is always saying "No, no mine!" We work through it though and she is doing ok with sharing. I can tell she doesn't want to, but when we tell her to, she will do it.

Sometimes I hear her jibber jabber in her sleep.

When Layla cries she says to her "Your ok, your ok, your ok" Hahaha my favorite!

Well actually my favorite is when she says "I love you" She only says it at night but it is so rewarding to hear.

She is the sweetest girl.She says thank you, please, and she is so funny about saying sorry. If she bumps into you or anything she says "Sorry" Haha it is hilarious.

The last thing she likes to do is name us all. Picture her confused and trying to name us in the right order in her cute little voice; "Mommy, daddy, daddy, Eve, dad, mommy, Wawa. Daddy, Mommy, Eve, Wawa"

(She is eating a red Christmas Oreo in this pic)

Eve also still loves to wear shoes. Our shoes, her shoes, any shoes she can find. Lately her favorite pair to wear are some water boots someone gave us.

Layla is adorable. She is already 6 months old, what!!! She has still never rolled over from her back to her front. She can sit up though and is trying to crawl, but still can't move, haha. She laughs, not a lot, but she is smiling constantly. She is so happy, as long as she is fed! She loves to eat and we can't get her to sleep through the night because of it, which is no fun for us. She found her tongue and feet a while ago and still likes to experiment with them. And she is getting better at controlling her arms and grabbing toys and hair and such. Eve is never mean to Layla except when Layla grabs her hair, haha.

We started feeding Layla baby food and she really is not catching on/ liking it. We need to be more diligent about feeding her more and then maybe she will get better. I feel like she just can't figure out what were doing. I did get some pictures when she first had rice cereal.

Then Eve wanted a picture too.

They are both so cute and it is so fun to watch them grow and learn, which is the best part of being a mom.

Stockton Days

2012-01-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

Cotton Candy

Dunking Tank

Bike Rides

Sunny Days

Karaoke

Dancing

Food

All my favorite things I remember about Stockton Days growing up. I used to go every year and last summer we happened to be visiting right at the time of Stockton Days. I think Eve liked it as much as I did. They had a lot of fun things this year though, or I guess last year. There was this fun bounce house and they had and a few other big blow up toys too, and who doesn't love playing in those? Eve also LOVES playing with her cousins, the kids in the back ground.

Rashelle, Andrea, and I were going to do Karaoke but they wouldn't let anyone do duets, yeah lame! There was no way we were going to have enough courage to get up there one at a time. I was really sad though I thought it would have been a lot of fun to humiliate myself, haha, I mean that is what i would have ended up doing.

Obviously Eve liked the cotton candy too, and her and Abby were sticky messes afterward.

Even though this is the most mild winter in my memory, I still miss the warm summer so much. I also am worried I am turning into a ghost, which you will see in up coming posts.

Old Friends

2011-12-29T16:21:00.000-08:00

It is always a good time to get together and catch up. It seems like everytime I come to Utah I have a million things to do, but it is so fun to see some friends from college again.

Oregon

2011-11-29T14:28:00.001-08:00

I guess 5 months after a trip is an appropriate time to write about it. I mean that is when everything is fresh in your mind right? I think I have been putting it off because there are so many pictures and so much to write about. I have to admit I am not a fan of uploading pictures, it takes forever. But anyway it was a big trip for us. There were 14 adults, 11 kids, 5 cars, one with a trailer behind it traveling 14 hours together! maybe for some of you that is not a long trip but for us it was. Especially Eve.

I am making it sound like it was a bad trip, which it was NOT! We had a lot of fun. Chris and I have actually been wanting to go to Oregon for a long time. When Chris and I first met we both happened to go on a trip together with a bunch of friends. (I remember walking out to get in the car and seeing Chris walk around the corner with his bags and I was excited. This was like the 3rd time we had ever seen each other) We were all going to Grouse Creek, which was a coincidence in it's self. I used to go there a lot as a child with my good friend Kenzie and then for this trip we randomly went there because we had a place to stay. Anyway on our way to Grouse Creek, Chris was like we should just got to the Oregon Coast instead and everyone wanted to except me, because I was supposed to go camping with my family when we got back so I didn't have time. So ever since Chris gave me crap about that. I will have to tell the rest of the Grouse Creek story another time because that was a fun trip too.

Chris and I really like Oregon. I honestly wouldn't mind living there one day.... maybe. While we were there we rented a house on the Siuslaw River, and was 15 min from the town Florence Oregon which was right on the coast. The river was very interesting to see at the different tides. It seriously rose and fell like 10 or more feet every day. The first day there we went to Mo's. It was supposed to be a good seafood place. I am not a fan of sea food, not at all, so I actually didn't like it at all. But it is always good to be with family, so it was still fun. After dinner we walked around Old Town. Which is a small part of Florence that is historical and had a lot of shops and stuff.

I can't really remember the order we did things since it hasn't been very long since we went. But we went to these tide pools that were fun. I wish I had some kind of baby carrier because we had to lug Layla down this big hill and over all these big rocks in her huge car seat. She was only like a month and half when we went though so maybe the car seat was good.

There were a lot of sea life in the tide pools that were cool to see. All the older kids LOVED it. I honestly didn't know any of the things I was looking at though, except all the star fish. Which I was surprised to learn were very colorful. If you look closely there are purple star fishes all around us and then there is the orange one right in front. I can't remember if there were other colors, but they were bright.

Chris found a hermit crab, and he was actually holding it! Yuck. Yes I know I sound like a wimp, but he tried to get me to hold it and I was not having it. It was cool though when he first showed me, the crab was in his shell and then he jumped out and started to make a break for it.

Here is everybody again, except Dave who is taking the pic, and two random people looking at the sea lions behind us. The sea lions, who I wonder why differ from seals, were just lounging on other rocks that were not accessible to us. But they were fun to see.

I loved the scenery there. The mountains with all the trees and then the cliffs on the coast were so beautiful. Really I forget how much Utah is a desert and how North Dakota doesn't really have that many trees! Also Andrea is standing next to Chris in this picture. We realized after I took it that it looks like me next to him, haha.

I love my family!!!!! And I miss the summer.

At lunch after the tide pools Eve decided to help Jason push Abby around.

This is on our way up to the Heceta Head Light House. It was only like 1/4 mile walk but it seemed like forever. I was so tired when we made it, but Layla was only like 6 or 7 weeks when we went so that is my excuse.

When we did make it up there, we had to wait our turn to go on the tour of the light house and this is what Eve ended up entertaining herself with. Playing in the dirt, just what I love ;-)

This is Chris's favorite picture (and not just because I am in it) he loved the view up there. He still talks about it.

Inside the light house it was a lot smaller than I though it would be. The tour was interesting, I liked learning about light houses but I can't really remember much about what the tour guide said. He was good though and I would love to see more someday.

I love old architecture and history. I just wish I had loved it when I was in school.

The 4 of us outside the light house.

And the whole fam again. (The light house is right in front of us)

On the "hike" down.

We went to the beach a few times but unfortunately they were way to cold to do anything but sit next to the tall grass because it would block the wind. The cute kiddos had fun playing in the sand too, Chris included.

The beaches we kind of fun though since they were empty because it was so windy and chilly. Then poor Eve fell in a puddle of water; she was mad and freezing after that.

So we gave her a sucker and she fell asleep on the way home :-)

The rest of the time we just hung around the house and had fun together. The house we stayed at had a lot of great decks with lots of seating. So we spent a lot of time out there, which I loved. And I am not sure what Chris is doing, hes a goof ball.

We also had a bbq and played lots of games, and the kids loved playing in the yard. My sisters and I are always good just talking though.

We really had a good time with everyone. On the way home Chris and I decided to drive home along the coast with Rashelle and Jason which was so so beautiful and fun to see but I will never do it again with kids. The trip home ended up being 22 hours long. And that is driving time, it is not including the time we stopped, slept, and ate. It was long!. We also drove through the Sierra mountains on the way home and that road was windy and slow, we were in it for 4 hours. I was so sick when we made it out. It was funny too because Chris and I kept thinking we were out and then there was another range to go through.

It was great though because we drove through the redwood forest and I have never seen those trees before. If you look close in the pic you can see the end of the trunk of the tree and then there is another one behind it. They were big though!

We also stayed in Reno Nevada on the way home and man that town is kind of dumpy. No offence. We went to McDonalds in the morning and we had a crazy lady ask us for a ride to the airport, a hooker walk in, and a man talking under his breath at a table alone about how he hated someone. Yikes. We probably got a bad bunch of people all at once but it was pretty funny.

Family Pictures

2011-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here are our most recent family pictures, and I must say I have some beautiful children and a smokin husband!!!!! Although Layla is so much bigger now so they are kind of out of date, but you can't really help that with babies, they just grow too fast!

It was pretty funny to look through all the pictures because as I got closer to the end I could noticeably see the kids get more and more upset, then Chris and I get a little irritated, then Eve sad because she got in trouble, and then Chris and I just giving up and laughing at the situation. We ditched the kiddos after that
though and took some picture alone.

We got a lot of good pictures and I am so excited to actually get a family picture up in out living room now!!!! :-)

Pinterest Anyone??

2011-10-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have visited the blogging world because I have been preoccupied/a little obsessed with Pinterest. Wow do I have a million projects to do now, and I can't wait to do everyone of them! The best part is there are a lot of things I want to do but don't have the money for it right now, so I can't. But in years to come, when I hopefully will have the money, I will be able to find it easily. I get so many ideas from pinterest too. Right now I am working on making an ottoman from a coffee table, super easy. I found a site giving tips for spray painting furniture and already have the piece in mind for a do-over. I got my costume ideas from it, I have tons of new ideas for when we move into a home, and I could just go on and on......Ahhhh I LOVE it.
Anyway, we have been up to the same old stuff here. I lost my camera for a week or so (it was in the wrong electronic basket) and so I wasn't able to get pictures of us when we went to Turtle River to have hobo dinners and smores.It was a lot of fun! We went with our friends the Guissons, and they were great. Even when our kids were crying for like most of the time. The dinners were wonderful though, I have only ever had potatoes carrots, and hamburger in a hobo dinner, but they had squash and green bell peppers as well and it was good! Being out there made me excited for when we will be able to go camping for real again too. I would also love to go backpacking someday with Chris, here's hoping.
Then here are some cute pictures of the gang. Chris was laying with Layla and Eve wanted to join in.

And this is how I found Chris and Layla when I went to tell them that dinner was ready, poor Chris he almost never gets enough sleep, since we stay up so late and then he gets up so early for school. Which by the way he is doing amazing in!!! I am so proud of him, he works hard and it is really paying off!

This is what Eve found herself doing today while I fed Layla. Haha she actually would get all the way in and close the door, then sit there till I would come and find her. She sat in there for a few minuets while I finished feeding Layla too, just waiting and waiting till I came. What a cute dork.Oh and did you notice how she had to pull every pan out? There were more all over the kitchen floor, they just aren't in the picture.

She puts my shoes on all the time and it is so cute! It is also so amazing how much she is learning from watching me, and kind of scary too, haha. She mimics me a lot. She likes to "put" on makeup and she uses the right brush with the right makeup. She also like to feed Layla. We started feeding her a bottle and Eve tried to hold it for her, even though she really can't, it's cute. She is also learning so many new words and I can tell she is really understanding us a lot more too. Which is nice!

These videos show how she mimics me. (I can't remember why there are two but the second one is just a few seconds after the first one finishes.) She says "gotta go" a lot, which is what I say, although I don't think she says it in this one.

Little Things

2011-09-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well so much is going on here. Everyday something exciting, or funny, or cute happens and I think to myself I need to write this down but I never get around to it and then I forget and it is sad. So I feel like if I say here that I want to be better at getting all the adorable little things down as well as the big things then it might happen. Maybe other people can help remind me, hint hint.

Anyway Layla is getting so big. She really smiles now, and has been for a while. When she looks at me she smiles, she also always smiles at daddy. The second she hears his voice she gets excited, it's so awesome. I don't really remember that with Eve. They both have been so different, and I am so different with them. I think I know how to interact with Layla much better then I did with Eve. I remember getting together with my sisters and they would play with there babies and I would watch them to try and figure out how to do it with Eve. Now the second time around it is going much better. I feel bad for Eve because I was so boring with her, haha. Layla is also so BIG too. She is such a chunk, it is so funny and everytime I pick her up I just laugh at how big she is, it is adorable. This pic is when she was 2 months old and she is now 3 months. I am also kicking my self because I can't remember how much she weighed and I lost, or rather Eve lost, the paper it was written on. But I weighed her yesterday and she weighed 14 lb and 5 oz.

She also stinks. Although I have to say I think I am not a fan of the baby smell...... let me explain. Nothing smells better than a just bathed baby, that I love. But I notice when ever anyone would pick up either of my babies and say they smelled so good I had just thought, this baby needs a bath she stinks. I really don't like the sticky milk from behind the ears smell. And I know when I say it that way you think, well no likes that, but people do. To sum up with Layla though, she still mainly sleeps and eats. I am trying to get her to grasp things and play with them but were not there yet. We are also still working on sleeping through the night. I mean she is actually doing really good. Most nights she eats at 9, falls asleep around 11, and then sleeps till 6 am. So I am happy with that for now, but she doesn't do that every night so yeah, still waiting.

Eve is just so many things. She is crazy for the most part though, haha. She says no to EVERYTHING. I will say, do you want some candy and she will reply, no, then walk over to get some. Same story with everything else. I will ask for a kiss and she will say, no, and then give me one? Yeah she is just a stinker. The other day we had the funniest conversation;

Me: Eve can you say hungry?

Eve: Honge

Me: Did you know that when you want food you say hungry?

Eve: Honge

Me: Ok so when you want some food can you say Hungry?

Eve: NO!

Anywho I feel like I can't convey how much she says no, but I am sure you get the picture. She also loves to help out. She has learned to climb up onto the kitchen chairs and get into things on the counter top while I am cooking. And she loves to help throw garbage away. The other day I found her throwing dirty cloths away, so I guess there were garbage? Haha. I am trying to teach her to put her dirty dishes in the sink, but she confuses the sink with the garbage sometimes so were still working on it. Some day we will get to potty training to. Chris really wants to do it but he doesn't realize that I am mainly the one doing it and I don't want to yet, so were not. She really likes stickers too. She found these one day and then I found her in the kitchen with them all over her and the floor, so funny. Also the next day I kept finding them on her feet and under her arms and stuff.

This is an example of her helping me in the kitchen.

One thing that I am excited about is she likes to watch movies and cartoons now. And yes we watch them and yes I use a movie to babysit Eve while I am cooking dinner. Sometimes she will climb onto the arm of the couch like this and watch the movie.

And sometimes she pulls Layla's car seat over and sits in it and then falls asleep. Oh I just laugh at her all day.

This is one of my favorite things to do, dress them alike. And this is coming from a twin who was dressed alike her whole life and hated it. But I look back and it wasn't that big of a deal so now these two will have to endure it too :-) Haha chunky Layla.

Layla's Blessing

2011-09-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

We blessed Layla the beginning of September and it was great. For one we were actually on time for church, a shocker for us! And it was just a special day for Layla, and it was wonderful to be a part of it.

We took Layla to church in her dress and I also took some extra cloths too put her in so we could change her after. Well right after I changed her she pooed all over her cloths. Seriously an everyday occurrence for her, and that is not an exaggeration. I try to get them all cleaned right after she has a blow out but she has ruined a ton of her cloths already. Anyway she got her cloths all messy and I didn't have anything to put her in so we had to run home real quick and bring Eve because she still won't go to nursery :-( It turned out to be pretty eventful, but a good day.

Oh and I also bought a new dress. I was so excited too because I have been looking for a dress for like 6 months, but could never find one that fit and was modest enough. So I am sitting there wearing the dress for the first time and I flip my hair back and feel the very large tag still attached, oops. And don't worry it is not attached by a flimsy piece of plastic, no I have to have scissors to get it off. So I tuck it under my dress and hope not to many people noticed. Eve loves to "hold" Layla lately, although of course she is too small to do it herself but doesn't understand that. She tries to pick her up all the time and take her from Chris and I. It is so funny she will just walk up to me and put her little arms around her and pull.

Then she wanted to get a pic too. And she actually loves this picture, when she sees it she starts to jibber jabber and puts her face right up to the computer to see it properly. What an adorable dork.

One More

2011-09-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

This one wouldn't load onto the other post. I don't know why, but here it is :-)

Layla's Newborn Pictures

2011-09-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here they are, and they are so adorable, well she is so adorable, haha. She is 10 or so days old in these pics and I can't believe how much she has grown. She is already 3 months old, and she is a chunky little thing now too. But anywho I love these pictures.

In this picture she is in this little bread box we have. You can't see the other end of the box but there isn't much more to it and she completely fit in it, and stayed asleep the whole time too :-)

ZOO

2011-09-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

Eons ago we went to the zoo with my family. It was such a nice warm day...... I already miss those, it has been in the 50s here lately :-( Anywho it was a lot of fun. Eve likes animals a lot so I was excited for her to see a bunch of different kinds, but she didn't really care much, haha. What she did care about was the Carousel. My sister Rashelle has a season pass and it allows you to go on the carousel as many times a you want. We went like 2 or 3 times and Eve cried so hard when we left.

Once Chris realized he didn't have to pay to go on the carousel, he went too :-) What a surprise.

As we were getting in strollers Chris decided he was too tired to walk and so he hoped in our flimsy umbrella stroller and tried to have Erin push him. Haha it wouldn't even move, and I am pretty sure he bent it a little.

This is little Kaylee asleep in her stroller. In order to get her to sleep Mikey had to cover it up with blankets and Kaylee's little tiny feet were hanging out the bottom. Haha so cute! The peacocks were funny. There were a couple behind a gate and then there was this one across the sidewalk in another animals area. Well one of the females behind the gate started making a noise and so both the males (the one behind the gate and the one in the other animals area) fanned out there..... feathers? Anyway it was really cool to see them shake out their fan thing, haha

We stopped by the gorilla (or some kind of monkey) wall to see how we all measured up. Abby and Eve loved standing there together, with their binky's in, getting all the attention. They are both so adorable!!!!

Soon it was time to go for the adults and the children. Here is poor Abby sleeping so soundly. Haha she was just watching people walk by and then next thing we knew she was out. I wish I could do that and then just sleep while someone pushes me to the car ;-)

Swimming

2011-08-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

I love swimming! Unfortunately we didn't get to go enough this summer, actually I think this is the only time..... lame! I am already day dreaming about next summer when Layla is older and we can do more, also when I might look better in a swimsuit, haha.

Anyway we did go out in Tooele with my sisters and Eve loved the big slide, what a surprise right? Haha. Here I am doing a back flip off the diving board..... yes I do know I am cool, haha jk. I think I actually swallowed a ton of water when I landed. It was great to be with my sisters so much while we were in Utah too, I can't wait till we can get together again.

Hot Dog Roast

2011-08-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

One day with Grandma and Grandpa LeCates we all went up the canyon to roast some hot dogs and marshmellows! Yummy, I had forgotten how much I love smores...... s-more what? Hahaha, jk.

Eve was a fan of the smores too, it took a min but I think it is safe to say she will eat them again.

It was a good time. I do miss the mountains while we are here in North Dakota. Going on a hike in the fall is amazing. Although it might be hard to hike with these two kiddos so I guess for now it's ok.

Eyes

2011-08-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Chris and I are trying to teach Eve about praying. She can fold her arms and say amen, but that's it so far. So the other night I said to Eve "close your eyes" and then I closed mine, and the next thing I know she is poking me in the eye saying "eyes, eyes." She then moves to Chris and pokes him in the eye and says "eye", haha and then to Layla, who didn't think it was as funny.
Although she wasn't quite getting what I was saying about praying, I was so excited to learn that she knows what eyes are. Even though now every night we have to keep her from poking our eyes out, haha. I have been happily surprised with Eve lately though. It is amazing how much she learns just by watching us. Everyday when I do her hair she brushes her teeth and one day she grabbed the toothpaste and tooth brush and "put" the toothpaste on the tooth brush. Haha she didn't realize that there was a lid on the toothpaste and she really didn't get any on, but still it was cool to see her do that on her own when I have never actuall taught her how. Haha oh man she is just so funny!

Eve & Layla

2011-08-15T15:20:00.001-07:00

Doesn't that sound so cute together, "Eve and Layla?" When I was pregnant and we hadn't decided on a name I would always think we should name her Layla because it just sounds so perfect together. Haha well anyway I have so much to say about these two they are both just so cute, and growing so much.

Eve is always so nice to Layla, she may be mean to us, and not happy about how things have changed but she sure does love Layla.

Giving her a hug and kiss, which she does all the time.

And then getting a little too over zealous..... haha that is how it is all the time. But I am sure when Layla gets older and can play with Eve, she will be in seventh heaven.

Here they are in the tub together, which i thought would be easier, but it wasn't. I couldn't really let go of Layla because she would slip to low to the water and so I pretty much just bathed them separately anyway. But Eve probably liked it so we will have to try again.

Eve is just such a character now days. She is still a bit crazy from all the commotion going on these past couple months, but then again it might just be because she is getting older and cares more about what happens. She is getting so good at talking too. She can repeat about anything we ask her too and remember what that word goes to. She also says "What is that" a lot and it is so funny. I really can't wait till she starts putting sentences together and we can know what she is thinking. It's funny when she is trying to tell us something and we can't understand it and so she keeps repeating herself and then just finally gives up. Cute girl.

It is also so so funny when she gets a brain freeze. Haha that sounds like we give her ice cream all the time but it has only happened twice, haha. Anyway she will put her hand on her head and say owie owie.

Layla is also growing so much. She is almost two months old! In this picture she is only like a week old or so but she has grown so much. She is so chunky, and when her head is leaning down her cheeks sag forward, it is hilarious. She is also smiling now. Not all the time but every now and then and it is awesome when she does. It also surprises me when she does or when she can hold her head up on her own or when she acts like a baby instead of a newborn because she really can't be that old. The time is just going so fast, as usual, but still I forget that she gets older everyday.

She still grunts ALL the time too, but she is throwing in some coo's and cute noises as well so it's still fun. I just wish she wouldn't grunt so much while she sleeps so I could get some more rest, haha.

Rainstorms

2011-08-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

Long long ago in a far away land called Grand Forks there was a ginormous rainstorm......

This isn't really a fairy tell but it did happen a long time ago, haha. It was really crazy though, it was when my mom was visiting and she took Eve outside to play in the rain. They were seriously not outside for more than 5 min and they both came in completely soaked from head to toe. The sidewalk, as you can kind of see in the picture was like a small river, and this picture was taken like 10 min after it started raining.

Then here is Eve the next day in our backyard playing in the lake it left behind. I think it was like a few days before the grass was dry again too.

I like the rain though, it makes it smell so so good outside, and makes the grass and trees green which is pretty, but yikes the storms in Grand Forks kind of scare me. I know I am over reacting when I say this but seriously I cannot handle the thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Don't get me wrong there were only like 3 or 4 of them, but that was still enough to make me terrified anytime it even gets cloudy. Annoying right? I guess it really isn't that big of a deal, so everyone says, but it only takes one time for it to be a big deal and so I am still scared..... :-( Hopefully one day I will be able to get used to it!

It's About Time

2011-07-28T16:36:00.001-07:00

Well it's about time I talk about Layla, I mean she is already a month old, amazing right? I am just so busy and any time I get a chance that I'm not being pulled somewhere, I just want to relax and maybe catch up on some lost sleep. Even though that doesn't happen often, haha. Really though two kids is a whole new ball game. When it was just Eve I could sleep all day whenever she did, but with Layla I can't because Eve is awake. Don't get me wrong though I do love it!

So Layla was born June 21, 2011. Which I just had to look up on facebook because I couldn't remember, that is how scatter-brained I am. Anyway Eve and Layla's labor and deliveries were identical, it is crazy. Layla's was a bit easier though, which I can't complain about. They both were about 6 hours long, Eve started at 8 pm and I had her at 2:30 am and Layla started at 8 am and I had her at 2 pm. The epidural with Layla was better, which is why it was easier, and so when I thought it might be time I was like, no I should be feeling more than this so I will just continue to lay here and wait. Then the nurse came in and was like, oh wow we need to call the doctor she is already crowning. It all was very easy after that, thankfully, 5 min later she had arrived and was 6 lb 5.7 oz and 19 3/4 in long. Eve was 6 lb 5 oz and 19 1/2 in long so you see what I mean about identical.

I know in this picture it says 6 5.6, but it wasn't done calculating her weight when Chris had taken the picture so she really was 5.7 oz.

Our hospital stay was really great. I loved the nurse who was there during my delivery and the hospital is remodeling their rooms and we got the new rooms so we were very comfortable. I also took full advantage of the nursery this time and I am still kicking myself for not using it with Eve because it was amazing!

When Eve came to see us for the first time it did not go so well! First of all she would not have anything to do with me :-( and she didn't seem to fond of Layla. She is smiling in the picture but that is the only one, haha. She has grown to really love her though and she is pretty good with her too. She really likes to give her a "hug" and it is so cute when she does.

I just love this picture, she is so precious in it. She has grown so much since too.

Since we have come home things have been going good. I feel like I am in limbo though because I have almost never been alone with the two of them. My mom was with us while I had the baby and then we all drove to Utah together. Then I have had a lot of other family members around while we visit to help. It has been really really nice, and I really don't know how I am so busy with all this help. I just hope that when we go home and I am all alone with them everyday I will be able to do it!

I do love them both so much though and it is so so fun to be a mom of two :-)

Catching Up

2011-06-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well as much as I hate to "catch up" on my blog and combine everything into one post, I feel it is inevitable at this point. There are a million and one things I want to write about and a million and one things stopping me from doing it, so I guess this is the only way.

A few weeks ago Andrea, my mom, and my grandma came up to visit and watch Eve while I had Layla. It was so fun to have visitors and to be able to see my family without having to travel forever and live out of a suitcase. We tried to play as much as you can when you have a nine month pregnant woman and a then a newborn and we had a lot of fun.
This is the day before I went to the hospital, and the last pregnancy picture taken of me. Something I am very happy about!!

Silly Eve :-)We decided to go out to dinner before I had Layla and this is what happens when your husband tells you he will watch your little girl at the restaurant; a soaking wet toddler, stares from strangers, and water all over the floor, table, and your cloths. We did a lot of other things together like go to the parks, we went and saw Green Lantern, shopping (of coarse), and Chris and my grandma went golfing, which Chris has now become obsessed with.

This is Eve's new favorite thing to do. Push things. Haha she will even get behind us and push on our legs to push us, it is so funny. A bit of a hassle when we go to the store and she just cries because she wants to push the cart. So cute though, she obviously can't reach the top so she has to bend over and push the bottom rail.

Eve is just growing so much intellectually. She can say a bunch of words and usually uses them the right way. The cutest word she can say is ball. No matter how mad I am at her and how ornery she has been, the second she sees a ball and runs to it saying in her high little voice, Ball, I forget everything and have to give her a big kiss! She is also so good to us. She learns very fast what she can and can't do and at least 50% of the time will listen to us, without us intervening, when we tell her not to do something. Maybe that is not good for an 18 month old but I feel pretty good about it.

Here we all went to the park one night and got a few pictures.

My grandma and Andrea left a couple Sundays ago and my mom has been chillin at our house with us since. I have to say too that I am afraid for her to leave now. I don't know how I am going to do it with two kids by myself after being used to having a live-in nanny. She has been so wonderful and helps SO much. It has also been fun having her meet all my friends up here and the absolute best part is she has watched the kids a few times while Chris and I went to a movie and to the driving range and biking and yeah it has been amazing!

The 4th of July was pretty fun. I really wanted to have Eve see the fireworks but we never made it. Her bed time is 8 and we all couldn't make it to 10 with her awake so hopefully while we are in Utah over the 24 we can see them. We had a BBQ with some friends and went to the super lame parade they had here in town, very disappointing. But all in all the summer up here has been pretty good. It is beautiful, very green, but way too many mosquito's. Poor Eve, I thought she was getting some kind of rash or the chicken pox or something and we came to find out they were mosquito bites. Yuck! We all have had our fair share of them too.

And one more thing. Chris pulled a very nice perfectly working wonderful fan out of the dumpster, no idea why it was in the dumpster, but we love it. We also go a window ac unit for free from some friends. It is amazing how blessed we are, even with the little things. When we have no money for fans or airconditioners we are still able to get them so we can be comfortable. It was also so funny when Chris came walking into the house with it. I was like no way that is going to work it was in the dumpster for a reason, but low and behold, it did :-)

Hello Goodbye

2011-06-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Goodbye 3 doors to walk through to get to the front door. Hello wonderful park right outside.

Goodbye kitchen table in the living room. Hello tiny kitchen containing the washer and dryer.
Hello washer and dryer in apartment!!!!!!!! :-)

Goodbye stale air that takes a week to air out after cooking.

Hello hard wood staircase that my children could crack there head open on.

Well I could go on and on but I won't. As you can guess though we spent the last couple weeks moving to a new to us, not so better apartment. Although we like it a lot more. We are still getting settled and trying to hurry because our new little girl will be arriving within a week or so, yikes, still so much to do. We can't wait though!

So before we moved we decided to sell our couch and get a more comfortable one. After like a week and a half of going to the same furniture stores we found one, but we couldn't get it into our old apartment. Since we still had like a month before the move this is what we sat on in the mean time. Yes, it was not very comfortable, but so funny and trashy to see everyday. Also me trying to get out of the round chair, very amusing.

Mothers Day

2011-05-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

This Mothers Day was a lot of fun! I liked having the day be all about me, and I felt very special. Chris and everyone made me feel like I am the most amazing person in the world, which is not true, but it still felt great to hear! I don't always remember how special motherhood is. There is a video of Jeffrey R Holland where he refers to motherhood as an eternal partnership with god. Wow, that is so amazing and I am so grateful that I have been given the responsibility. I am so grateful for all the help I receive to be better than I really am, and for the joy it brings me.

For my mothers day gift Chris kept asking what I wanted and was determined to get me something, but I couldn't think of anything I wanted. I did tell him that I love it when he surprises me with things, but that it was ok if we waited to get something at a later time.

Well later that evening we were feeding the missionaries and I needed Chris's help to be ready on time, but he kept insisting that he go get the brake light he had been ranting about fixing for a week. I wasn't very happy about that because he wouldn't be able to fix it till the next day anyhow, so he didn't need to get the light right then. But off he went and off I went to the kitchen, a little more than peeved.

Well after dinner, when we were all alone, I come to find out he didn't go get the brake light. He went and got a necklace to surprise me with. What a sweetie!! I was very surprised and I love the necklace.

On actual Mothers Day we went to a friends house and had BBQ pizza, very yummy, and we had a wonderful time!

Thank you Chris, friends, and family for such a wonderful day!

Salt Lake, St. George, and California

2011-05-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Back in April, Eve and I traveled to Utah to see Andrea come home from her mission to Alaska. We were soooooooo excited, and the trip did not disappoint!

We went to the airport Wednesday morning to see her and it was so exciting! I was very excited to have Andrea meet Eve because she never had before. I was pretty much expecting her to have no problem with it because she never really cares to meet new people, but this was not the case. I think she was afraid of Andrea. At first she was just confused but soon after she decided that I was the ONLY person she wanted to be around. If I even left the room she would start screaming. Ugh, it did make things a bit tense for me but she settled down a little by the end of the trip, and I still had a blast anyway.

The day after Andrea got home we all headed off to St George for a few nights. All of my sisters, my parents and my Aunt Maryann got to go. We drove down together with walkie-talkies (however you spell that) that we had fun playing 20 questions with, it was pretty funny but you would probably have to be there to think so. When we got there we went shopping and to lunch and then swimming later that night. I seriously LOVE St Geroge, I don't know what it is about that town but I just love being there.

Eve LOVED swimming. Haha we have taken her before but it had been a while and I am sure she had forgotten about it. She kept dunking her face in the water like she was trying to drink it or something. No fear of water, a good thing for us because I love swimming too!

My sister Rashelle brought her little girl, Abby, who is only 2 months younger than Eve and so we always had these two together. Surprisingly they were pretty good too and didn't fight a ton, which was nice.
My sister Amanda was only able to go to St George with us because she has a new baby with her and the trip to California would have been a little much. So that night in St George the six of us went out and had a dance party in the garage. Haha it was hilarious! Andrea, Mikey, Rachael, and I were trying to teach Rashelle and Amanda some line dances and it was just so funny. It was so awesome to be with all of them again though. They are all my best friends and we don't get to be together enough. The weather was AWESOME! It was fun to dress Eve in her cute summer outfits for once and then actually spend some time outside.

The front yard of our condo was fenced in so it was perfect for these two to run around.

Just taking a good nap on the way to Californ-i-a.

The next day was BEACH DAY and it was so much fun. My aunt, that we were visiting in California, knew some people that were holding a beach clinic.... thing. I am not sure exactly what you would call it but Mikey, Rachael, Rashelle, Andrea, and I were able to go sailing and paddle boarding. Sailing was pretty darn cool. They took us out on this little sail boat that only fits like 4 or 5 people. It was so relaxing, and the water was beautiful to be out on. I would love to go again some day with Chris.

Paddle boarding was fun too, although it made me so tired and soar. What you do is stand on a surf board and then paddle yourself around like your in a canoe. You have to keep your balance though or you will fall in while you are still wearing your cloths like Rachael, Andrea and I did. Haha, lets also not forget I was 6 months pregnant while doing this and when I fell in and the mean lady kept yelling at me to climb back on, when there was no way I could get my big belly on there, she got a piece of my mind. But another thing I want to do again someday.

All soaked when we were done.

After I had my fun in the water it was time for Eve's turn. We took her down by the water and tried our hardest to keep her from running into the freezing water that didn't seem to faze her one bit. It was so crazy you would think she would get one toe wet and run away but nope, like I said no fear of the water. Although once she fell in and most of her body got wet she finally did get cold enough and was done.
On Sunday we all went on a walk around the park that surrounds my aunts neighborhood and it was beautiful.

Yes that is me in a jazzy chair. Hahaha it is my aunts and she got a car ride back to the house after our walk, so I took the opportunity to rest my feet and drive it back :-)

Later that night the six of us went to LA to be on The Price is Right. We stayed in a hotel across the street so we, and by that I mean Rachael and Rashelle, could wait in line all night to make sure we made it on the show. It was an early and long day but a very fun experience.

Since Rachael and Rashelle waited in line so long we got seats in the second row and so when the show aired on May 4 you got to see us a lot. Which turned out to be kind of embarrassing because I looked like a dork haha, but yeah it was a lot of fun. Another thing I want to do again with Chris.
After the Price is Right we headed back to good old Utah, and then Eve and I only had a couple days till we flew back home. Before though I was able to go to the temple with a few of my sisters and parents. Chris and I don't have a temple closer than 5 hours away and we don't get to go very often, so it was so wonderful to be in the temple again. Yet again another thing I am looking forward to doing with Chris again.

Eve and I made it home safely and it was so nice to be back, but what a FUN trip it was.

Red River

2011-05-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

The Red river runs through the town of Grand Forks and it floods every year in the spring. So a few weeks ago Chris and I went down to the river to check out how much it had risen and I was surprised. Although it did get higher than this. Here is this statue in the summer time. It shows how high the river has gotten in past years. The highest it ever got was in 1997, which was before they built the dike system and the whole town was under water. Luckily now we have the dike system so when the river floods it doesn't really mean much for the town other than the bridges close down. Which is why I don't understand why people make such a big deal about the "flooding," but whatever.

Here it is in the spring (the statue is in the background). The platform we were standing on in the summer is completely under water! Also, a week after we were here taking pictures, which apparently was illegal (oops!), this whole area was under water too.

Pretty crazy, but kinda cool. Haha and there is your lesson on the Red River.

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Easter was a lot of fun for us this year, but everything is much more fun with Eve around :-) We got together with a bunch of our friends and had all of our kids go egg hunting. We gave Eve a basket and let her loose. She walked up to the first egg, picked it up, and dropped the basket. Then, she walked around shaking it until it opened up and candy fell out. So, she sat down and started eating the jelly beans out of the grass. That is pretty much how the rest of the egg hunt went. Along with Chris and I following her and trying to get her to put the eggs in the basket for later.
Later: not a concept she quite understands.
This picture is from one of our friends who is learning photography and doing a dang good job at it too! I stole it off of Facebook ;-) Thanks McKenzie!

Can you guess what is in her mouth?
Playing at the park before the hunt.

And enjoying the rewards after.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Books, Books, Books

2011-04-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Eve has discovered the world of reading :-) She just looks at books and books all day long. I myself can read just about every book we have without even looking at the pages, and apparently Eve can read them upside down.

Oompa Loompa

2011-03-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Don't tell Willy Wonka but we stole an Oompa Loompa from the Chocolate Factory :-)We are currently teaching her Karatie too, haha.

And this one is just for fun. I was able to french braid her hair one day and I have no idea how I did it because I haven't been able to since.

Pregnancy # Dos

2011-03-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well the second time around is a little bit different, just like they say, haha. But, I still pretty much feel like every other pregnant woman; Big, out of breath, and tired of peeing my pants every time I sneeze! Haha maybe too much info but you all know what I am talking about.
I also feel like this picture makes me look a LOT smaller than I really am. I think I may be angled the wrong way and we are not getting the whole picture. I am definitely bigger than appears, but still doing good. The little girlie is an acrobat! Eve never kicked and moved as much as this little one. I feel like she is never asleep in there, which is a little scary. Hopefully she will be so tired when she comes out that she will sleep all the time...... hopefully.
Oh anyway here you all are, a picture I could finally come to terms with. After 3 days of taking pictures I pretty much just gave up, haha. I am like 26 week here, so like 5ish months. Her due date is June 28. We have a list of names we will choose from when she arrives, so nothing picked out yet. Chris doesn't want to decide now and call her that all the time and then when she comes not be able to change it if he wanted to. (What happened with Eve) So we will see :-)

Weather

2011-03-22T15:20:00.001-07:00

We are finally starting to get some calmer weather up here and so the snow is melting :-)...... But then it just turns into very big puddles.And don't be fooled it still looks like this in most areas, and that is better than it was two weeks ago. I am still looking forward to greener pastures though. Grandma Cranney bought Eve a belated birthday present and we picked out this cute swimsuit and sandals. In a few weeks we will be in sunny California and this outfit will be ready for the outdoors!

Oh and on a side note, apparently we have about a foot of snow on its way in the next couple of days. Just keep dreaming, just keep dreaming, just keep dreaming, dreaming, dreaming...... (Dora's swimming tune on Finding Nemo)

New Camera

2011-03-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

Yay, we finally got a new camera. I am really not a camera buff, but I think this this one is a LOT better than our old one. It's still a point and shoot, but its not from the stone ages, haha. Very exciting! The main thing I hated about our old camera is that it took FOREVER to turn on and actually take a picture. So when Eve was doing something funny by the time I got the camera she was done. This new one is much faster though, and I really like it!
I came into Eve's room the other night to find this. I don't even know how she got in there. She is such a stinker, always making messes and finding new ways to get into things.
This is just too funny. Oh how much fun you can have with a balloon. And no, it did not pop on her, thankfully!

"The Room"

2011-03-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

I read this on a friends blog. Her brother read it for his mission farewell talk and it is an amazing story!

The Room
By Joshua Harris

"Finally He turned and looked at me from accros the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again......."

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in a room. There were no distinguishing features in this room save the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was the one that read "Girls I Have Liked". I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one.

And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalogue system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match.

A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed"

The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read", "Lies I Have Told", "Comfort I Have Given", "Jokes I Have Laughed At." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've Yelled At My Brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done In My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath At My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my 20 years to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "Songs I Have Listened To", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts", I felt a chill run down my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test it's size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at it's detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded.

An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: "No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In an insane frenzy I yanked the file out. It's size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to it's slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title --- "People I Have Shared The Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on it's handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that the hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him. No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one?

Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

"No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine.

It was written with his blood.

He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished"

I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on it's door. There were still cards to be written.

Your Back....

2011-03-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

How do I feel about Tums? When I was little I would steal them from my parents room and eat them like they were candy!! Haha and then I remember when I found out that they were used as some sort of medicine I freaked out because I thought I was going to die of an overdose. Ahahaha.
When I was pregnant with Eve I experienced heart burn for the first time, and it took me like 2 weeks to figure out what was happening. Then from then on I ate tums at least twice a day until she came. Well sad to say it's back, which inevitably means that Tums are my new best friend again.
Um no, actually not. I would prefer it if I had another best friend...... Like Welches Fruit Snacks!!!! Yum, becoming addicted to those little bags.

Walking & Talking

2011-02-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

After months and months of Chris and I trying to get Eve to walk she finally did! :-) Although Elder Laughny was the one to finally get her to do it by using his name tag as incentive. Haha silly girl you can see it is the first thing she grabs when she gets to him. It is so fun to see her walk though, even though she still has to be bribed. But soon she will be a pro!
The other video is of her talking. She has been doing this for a while now and it cracks me up every time I hear her.
Sorry for the darkness, there is no light on the camera and our apt is dark.

Update

2011-02-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am never writing in here anymore, and when I do it is just about Eve. Oh wait that's because I it's true.
What can I say about Chris and I...... We are just doing the regular everyday stuff. Chris goes to school, I take care of Eve and go to work, fun fun. Although we did go to dinner last week without Eve, which is considered a date, and it was great! I don't think we have done that in months. Since I stay home all the time, I'm pregnant, and I am on a bad schedule I will admit that my dressing up has gone considerably down hill. But I got all dressed up, curled my hair, put on some jewelry, and felt so good about myself. And I am glad to report that it has given me new desire to feel that good everyday. Even though I am still a little grungy some days...... All in all we are happy and healthy and doing the regular which is going great.
Well now on to my regular pictures and talk about Eve. She likes to climb into the cupboards now and play with the things inside, or just pose for a picture. I can't say it enough, she is hilarious!

She is continuing her climbing days by climbing into any and every toy basket there is. Then she will just sit there on top of the toy and play with the ones she can pull from underneath her. I probably have 10 pictures of her sitting in toy baskets, haha I can't help myself.

We also have started doing piggy tails. They are kind of hard to get in but she looks adorable in them. I am sure you noticed her hair in her eyes too, I can't decide what to do. It's getting so long but I'm not sure I want to cut it.....

Little Monkeys

2011-01-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

Why is climbing so much fun? How can a 1 year old, who refuses to even try walking, climb to the top of the couch all by herself. Don't forget that her shoulders barley reach the top of the cushions. What a silly girl. She just loves to climb all over everything.
I guess she gets that trait from me though. My family tells me that when Andrea and I were little, and still in our cribs, one of us would climb out of our crib and into the others, then sit there and speak our own language to each other. Oh I wish they could have gotten a video of this because it sounds so funny to me. Then when my mom would walk into our room we would hurry back to our own crib and pretend to be asleep.
Kids are the funniest thing in the world. I don't even know how many times a day I am laughing because of Eve.

Big Helper

2011-01-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

So happy to help put away groceries. What a good little girly!!

1 Year Old

2011-01-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

My little girl is 1 year old, it is amazing!! (Her birthday is January 8) I remember always thinking, 'I wonder what she will be like when she is one year old, I feel like that day will never come.' Haha I also spent her whole birthday saying "a year ago at this exact time I was doing this...." I really just can't believe that time is actually here!
We went to Ihop to celebrate and then gave Eve a piece of chocolate cake that she liked to play with a bit more than eat.

Before

AfterShe just kills me and I want to kiss and hug her all day, but unfortunately it just makes her mad when I hold her in my lap for to long. Surprise surprise. Here are some things that she does like though.

She LOVES LOVES kitties!! The second she sees one her face lights up and she gets very excited and chases it everywhere.
Playing in the bathroom. Ugh this one irritates me, she loves the toilet. Why? I don't know. She also likes toilet paper, and to stand up to the tub and try to get in. ( I don't actually let her play on the toilet but I am always trying to keep her from it )
She loves to play "I'm going to get you."
Her favorite foods are lasagna and refried beans and rice. At least I think.
She likes me to read books to her and will actually sit still in my lap while I read them. (My favorite part)
She loves her blanket, and gets excited when I put her in her crib and she gets to sleep with it.
She can say mum-ma, da da, uh oh, and thats about it. She jibber jabbers all day long and gets pretty loud! We can also tell that she is trying to repeat what we are saying but she is definitely not speaking English.
She loves water, especially if it is cold.
She likes to walk around furniture and holding our hands or a walker. If she is not holding something than she has no interest in it. But she does get excited when she walks.

Oh what a beautiful little girl!

11 Step Program

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

I straight up copy and pasted this from a cousins friends blog, so don't give me any credit. Just have a good laugh!

11 Step Program for Those Thinking of Having Children

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing the children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10 PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with the radio turned to static ( or some other obnoxious sound ) playing loudly. Eat cold food with one hand for dinner.
2. AT 10 PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1 AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work ( Work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look Cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed, then rub them on the clean walls.
4. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
5. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seams.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag mad of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - All morning

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the backseat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a preschool aged child. ( A full grown goat is an excellent choice ). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your weeks groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplating having children.

Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Get a bow of soggy cheerios attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine month old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Barney, Disney, The Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least 5 years. ( I know, you're thinking what's Noggin?, Exactly the point. )

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. ( Important: no more than 4 second delay between each "mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required ). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next 4 years. You are now ready to take a trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt sleeve, or elbow while playing the mommy tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in check; anyone who is a parent will say 'it's all worth it!'
Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you will need when you become a parent!

Holidays

2011-01-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Each year Christmas is a new experience for us. Last year It was mine and Chris's first Christmas after being married and this year it was Eve's first Christmas ever! We got to go to Utah during the season and we had a really good time. The weather was better than it is here in Grand Forks so that was kind of nice, but cold is cold whether it is 30 degrees or -30 degrees. So I am definitely ready for a fun vacation somewhere warm!!!!!! Haha there is hoping. Eve really didn't know what to do with the presents. We would help her open them and she was really excited to see some new toys and stuff but I am pretty sure she still had no idea what was going on. It was fun though and it does make Christmas more exciting to have her around.

Now getting home was an adventure all in it's self, and everything turned out for the better too. We were supposed to fly out on the 30, which was a Thursday. We packed, got to the airport, got on the plane, sat there for 45 min, got to the runway and then we hear the captains voice come overhead. He said that we were going to go back to the gate because there was bad weather in Fargo and they were not sure we would be able to fly out. Humm, we get back and see them taking our luggage off the plane so obviously it had been canceled. They scheduled us for a flight the next day and so we repeated the process and were almost to the airport again when we decided to call and make sure it was still on schedule because the weather in salt Lake was not looking good. It was canceled again and the next available flight was not until Sunday! I should clarify though because I am making this sound like it is a bad thing and it most definitely was not. I was supposed to work on New Years and the whole weekend, which is why we were coming home so early. But since all our flights kept getting canceled we got to stay at my parents and play with all my siblings.

I haven't celebrated New Years in forever, there never seems much to do since it is so cold and we don't drink haha. But we had a blast this year. We just played games and then lit off bottle rockets in the front yard, which my mom was not to happy about but since it was my dads idea she had to go along with it. It was funny because my dad is on the Stockton fire department and he was wearing his jacket that say "Stockton Fire" In big letters on the back of it while he was lighting them off. Oh it was fun, in my dads words "It was a pretty rockin party!"

Utah Trip

2010-12-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

Clear back in November I visited Utah for Rachael's wedding. Eve and I made the trip all by our selves and I am definitely not itching to do that again. The plane rides were a bit of a hassle to say the least, and she even fell asleep on the long one (we had layovers). But it was fun to go see everyone and be there for my sisters wedding. Unfortunately it has been so long since I went that I don't remember much about it. I guess the pictures can speak for themselves. I do remember this though, the decorating. Oh man we spent forever on this, but it turned out AMAZING. Can you believe this is a church gym! I wish I could have gotten a picture of the other side though, it had the gazebo all lit up with lights and the cake inside. With all the lights up on the ceiling and the gazebo and everything it just looked so beautiful!

I was lucky enough on the trip to Salt Lake to have a seat empty next to me on both planes. Haha I remember I was so worried about what I was going to do with Eve to keep her busy that when she fell asleep I had nothing to do and I was pretty bored.

I just love her chunky legs!

Deviousness

2010-11-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Our sweet innocent little girl is starting to become a mischievous toddler. I was in the bathroom today and Eve came in and saw the toilet paper roll for the first time ever. She went right for it of course, but luckily I was there so I grabbed her and headed for the kitchen to make dinner. After about 5 min I realize that she is not in her usual spot, at my feet trying to get me to hold her, and I can't hear her playing in the living room...... hummm where is she? I start making the rounds and find her back in the bathroom playing with......... Tons of toilet paper!! Haha I forget that she can remember things now, It used to be out of sight out of mind but not anymore. PS: I don't even want to know how much toilet paper she actually ate.

Eve has also had her first poney tail :-) Haha I think she looks kind of dorky but it is still really fun and now everyone will know she is a girl!

Busy Busy Tired Tired Tired

2010-11-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

Does that sound gloomy or what? It is the truth though. I have started my new CNA job which I like, other than I am up all night. It is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be working graveyards and then coming home to Eve. And not because I am tired while I take care of Eve, but because I can only sleep at like 3 hour intervals and then going to work and trying to stay awake all night is brutal!!!!!! Plus when you add on the fact that I am still teaching water aerobics and I am 8 weeks pregnant........ What, you say you didn't know?? Well for those who haven't heard yet, I AM :-)

We will have another one of these little hooligans on about June 28 2011, YEA!

Ah we may be crazy, but at least were crazy together :-) Oh and to finish my cry for sympathy above, I am really really tired and busy!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yes I know Halloween is over and yes I have already bought some Christmas ornaments, but here are some fun pictures anyway. These are the pumpkins we carved, which I am pretty proud of. I mean these compared to last years pumpkin.... big difference! I did the "Trick or Treat" and Chris did the Skull. He would have carved the teeth out too, but have you used those pumpkin carving kits? Yeah we broke both of those tine tiny saws they give you within 10 min so he didn't have a small enough knife.

This is what Eve and her little friend Samantha were having fun doing while we were carving the pumpkins :-) Haha I could not stop laughing at them and the messes they made!

And alas here is Eve in her costume. I am very disappointed with the pictures we got of her. First of all I was not anticipating it getting dark so fast and apparently our camera is not equipped to handle dark situations. Like every picture she was looking at the camera had red eye and then when I tried to edit it out it just turned them gray, then they are all blurry and hard to see. Humm o well what can we do.... These are the best ones, which is not saying a lot. Luckily she is so cute that she makes up for the crappy pictures.

Church And Diapers

2010-10-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today Chris took Eve to priesthood so I could enjoy RS, and it was great..... until he shows up about to throw up because she had a messy diaper! Um I think I may be to nice to him when it comes to the poppy diapers. Anyway we had to leave after that because I had already changed her diaper once while we were at church, which is when she peed on the changing pad cover that I now have to wash, and I had no more. I could not stop laughing when he pulled me out of RS for that though. Then it was even funnier because as he is telling me this I am looking around to find her and I come to find she is under a table and Chris couldn't get her out because he couldn't be near her........ It wasn't even that bad!
This is one of her funny positions she gets into. Probably only to me though :-)

Question

2010-10-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

Who needs their mom in order to get themselves a snack??.................. I don't :-)
Sincerely
Eve

Night-Time Highlights

2010-10-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

I love that our, or maybe just my, highlight of the night is to go into Eves room and watch her sleep. As creepy and Lame as that sounds. But really she is always positioned in the funniest way and she looks soo sweet all calm and quiet with her eyes closed....... ahhhhh. Every night I go in there and then walk right out to tell Chris to come in and see the way she has situated herself this time, then we always have a big laugh about it.
PS: Our lives are really not that lame as to not have anything else cooler than that happening but we are so engrossed in her that she trumps everything :-)

Slump

2010-10-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Oh geeze am I in a slump with this blog or what? Maybe after catching up on some things today I can just keep on going.
Well anyway just some good news to share.
1: I got a new I-pod!!!!!! Yea! :-) For those of you who don't know, my last one was stolen.... WHAT! I know. No good dirty rotten thieves! The good part though is it was stolen while I was at the gym and so they bought me a new one. Amazing right! I am so happy to have one again because I use it everyday and I was feeling lost without one, haha.
2: I got a job at the same gym, teaching water aerobics! Aghhh! That is kind of what I am thinking right now because I am not all that experienced in water aerobics, or teaching for that matter. But they did give me some training and I feel confident that I can do a good job. I am also very excited to learn how to teach classes like this because hopefully I can do it for a long time. It is so great because I get to workout, I get a free gym pass, and some spending cash on top of it :-) Whats not to love?

Ahhh The Weather

2010-10-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

What was the first thing everyone said to us when we said we were moving to North Dakota? Lets be honest what was the first thing we thought when we decided to move to North Dakota?...... IT'S LIKE COLD ALL YEAR LONG!
Well this year that is not the case and we have definitely been pleasantly surprised! There have been a few chiller days but the past week here in Grand Forks has been in the high 70's and some days low 80's. Wow, I mean wow. Not that I really know what it is normally like but I hear it is not like this and we were not expecting this either. The landscape has been absolutely beautiful too!! I wanted to get a picture of an average street here with all the colored leaves but unfortunately my laziness won out and most of the leaves have fallen, sad. Every morning I walked outside though I was in utter disbelief as to how pretty it was. Maybe next year we can hope for weather just as good and I can get some great pictures!
We went to Turtle River one evening with some friends and roasted hot dogs and marsh mellows over the fire. Juts to live it up ;-)

All in all, we still love it here!

Trouble Trouble

2010-10-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

I need to remember that when a child is being quiet it doesn't necessarily mean they are being good. In Eve's case it actually means she is eating something I don't want her to. Oh man that girl just puts everything in her mouth (as probably most babies do) except actual food. I have to fight her to eat real food but paper...... 'just load me up mom.' :-) It also always seems to be some receipt that I need or something important that she gets her little fingers on. What a character though.

Lately she thinks it's really fun to pull her lips back around her gums..... She does it ALL the time and it is pretty funny. If you do it back to her then she will do it again and again and so on.

Oh man she is just too cute! It is impossible for me to put her to bed when I walk into her room and find her like this. Which she probably has learned because she is always standing on there. It also helps the situation that when ever I am holding her next to her crib and it is bed time, nap time, or just the middle of the night she ALWAYS cuddles with me. A win win for both of us!! Sometime I just pick her up while she is sleeping and let her lay on my shoulder just for fun too. I always try to freeze those moments into my mind and never forget, hopefully I wont.

What In The World

2010-09-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

It is already the Last week of September!! Does everyone realize that???? I Really do not know where the time goes, and I have no idea what I do all day!! It is like I drop Chris off at school clean the house and before I know it it's 6:30 and I have to go pick him up....
Well anyway I am getting excited for Halloween :-) I really do like this holiday, mainly because I love to dress up! Seriously what could be more fun as a an adult then to act like a kid and wear a costume?? Um nothing! I am in the process of making Evie's costume right now and it is going to be sooooo adorable, be excited for some pictures to come in the future!!
These are just some amusing pictures of Eve. I was making dinner one night and saw Eve trying to "study" with Chris.

Here she is standing, still amazing to me!! She is getting so good at it too. She can stand only using one hand and can pull herself up to about anything including walls. One day I was watching Modern Family and she pulled herself up and watched like half of it like this with me. (PS: Modern Family, love it!!)

I also have to tell you that she can give me kisses now!!!! Only when she wants to though I can never get her to do it by asking. They are also the worst kisses in the world, she just sticks her open mouth against your face! Haha but I LOVE it when she does it :-)

Oh and last thing she is just getting teeth out the wazoo...... haha not really. But she is getting a lot of teeth. She has two you can see and has like a couple red spots on her gums that I am pretty sure are about to spring some other ones. She also is like sick with a snotty nose every other week.... everyone says they get sick when they teeth but I was not sure how that could happen so I was like whatever but I guess it is true. I would put a picture up but I can barley get a glimpse of them myself never mind actually take a picture of them. She gets SO mad when I try to make her show them to me so I can only see them when she laughs or something like that.

So Fun With A Little One

2010-09-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Every parent out there knows what church is like with babies, but of course I am just learning. It is not all that bad though, of course I always seem to be zoned out of the lesson trying to entertain Eve and make sure she doesn't start screaming because she is tired and hasn't had a morning nap....... ahhhhh so fun, haha.
No really though she is actually very entertaining herself. Last week we were sitting on the first row of the gym floor so like a foot in front of us the carpet started. Whenever we put Eve on the floor to crawl around she would just push and push her legs on the slippery floor (she was wearing tights) and go no where. Finally she would be able to pull herself to the carpet, but there was like a little lip to get onto it and so she could only get half her body onto it. Hahaha so funny. It is also funny when we try to distract her or stop her from going somewhere we don't want her to go. It used to be easy, you could just turn her the other direction and she would forget about where she was originally going. Now she doesn't forget! So yesterday Chris stuck his leg out and then we put the diaper bag by his foot so there was like a wall. But she would just climb over them and then get half way and become high centered, oh my gosh the funniest thing I have ever seen!!!!
Speaking of church, I was called to cub scouts a couple weeks ago and it has been great. Interesting to be around boys for a little while, the are very foreign to me!!! I honestly don't know how to talk to them, haha but they do a pretty good job at talking the whole time themselves! When I get home every week it is a very amusing sight though. Eve is always just sitting on the floor in a dirty diaper (I leave with her fully dressed) and it is like a half an hour passed her bedtime. And every week Chris says "well I just assume you want to put her to bed and I couldn't find her pajamas......." Haha ok, whatever! Although he is improving, when I got home from the women's conference Saturday he had put her to bed, I was definitely pleasantly surprised! So I walked into her room to check on her, she was still just awake playing in there, and so I picked her up and noticed that she was not in any pajamas and her onesie was not even snapped up..... haha he will get it someday.

Alerus Center

2010-09-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

We went to our first University of North Dakota football game last Saturday and guess what?? It was inside...... haha weird huh. Since it gets so cold up here they decided that they should have and indoor football stadium, The Alerus Center. It was actually pretty cool though because the "weather" was perfect ;-)
It is terrible though because I can't even remember who UND played.... they slaughtered them though. We even left after the third quarter and hit end of the game traffic because everyone knew it was over haha. It was also Eve's first ever sporting event to attend. This picture was intended to show how into the game she was. She sat on Chris's lap like that and stared at the game for like 15 min!! Believe me she never just sits on you lap and looks at the same thing for longer than 2 minuets so I was in awe.

CJ, Lisa, Piper, and Lance came to the game with us (the other people in the picture, CJ and Lance are in school with Chris and Lisa, CJ's wife, and I do a lot together. So much fun!) It was a fun day we all went to the parade earlier that morning too. This town is seriously awesome, everyone loves to get way into the games and stuff. I am excited to see what it is like when hockey starts. (A big sport here in North Dakota)

Homemade Photos

2010-09-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

I made a tutu for Eve ages ago and have been wanting to get some pictures of her since. With the rapidly declining weather here in Grand Forks that left me yesterday as my last for sure day with good weather, and it still was a little too chilly. But I am really proud of myself and ended up being really happy it was a Sunday because I had to get everything she was wearing from around the house, and I don't think I could have done better if I were to have gone and gotten something new. I made her headband out of some tights and super glue and got some of my necklaces to go with it. Loved it!
We went up to campus and took these, it is just so so pretty up there. Unfortunately we only had our old crappy camera and I think Eve was a little to cold to smile a whole bunch but I am still very happy with what we came away with. Haha I know a lot of these are like the same picture but I like them all anyway :-)

Catch Up

2010-09-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't blogged forever, which is pretty much true. Everyday I think, ok today is the day. I am going to blog and I want to blog about this and this and so on. But now I am so behind and have forgotten all the small things, which is a shame, that all I can do is recap and just move on. Really though all I have to talk about is Eve, what do you expect she is 100% of my day.
She is growing and developing SO MUCH! She can crawl, very well and she is FAST! It definitely makes vacuuming a lot more interesting because she is just working her little bum off to try and catch the vacuum and it is so so funny. When I finish and turn off the vacuum you can hear her heavy breathing from trying to keep up. It is also pretty funny because she can't really crawl and cry at the same time so when I leave the room she will cry, then crawl, then stop look up at me and cry so more, and then crawl some more to get to me.
This is her crawling to me to get the camera.
This just amazes me because she really can't be old enough to be able to pull her self up to things and stand up can she? Well apparently she is. She mostly does it in her crib when she doesn't want to go down for a nap. She just stands at the edge of the crib and cries, haha it is actually really cute. Oh she also likes to pull the bumper pads down and stare through the slats in the crib till she sees me come into her room. Silly little girl, she knows everything to do to make me just pick her up and hug her for hours.
I got this chair at a garage sale, 15 bucks. It is actually pretty comfortable too and just the perfect height for Eve to pull herself up on. I think these pictures tell the story all by them selves. I went into check on her one afternoon, after she had been not to happy about taking a nap, and found her like this. I guess she had been sitting up waiting for me to come in and got tired enough to just fall forward and fall asleep. Oh jeez she just kills me.

So since she has become so mobile changing her, dressing her, and bathing her have become somewhat of an issue. As in she absolutely hates it when I try to make her lay down and be still for me to do those things. This is very typical after a bath, before I can even get her diaper and cloths ready she is already up and getting into things. Haha Chris likes to mimic Eve and it's pretty funny when he does because she just stares at him like, why are you doing that..

When I came home from shopping I couldn't carry Eve and the new laundry basket so I just put her in it and carried her in, she loved it.

Well things for us are great. Chris hasn't really had any complaints about school, which is good because who can really enjoy studying 24/7. And that's what he does all the time, but he is good at studying hard during the day and then coming home in the evening to be with us. Which leaves me with nothing to complain about either :-) Really we are still loving it up here. Also today in the mail we got this magazine that had a million things and activities that the town has to offer in the winter time so I am actually looking forward to it... well only just a little but still better than before. Which is a good thing because it is already starting to get a bit chilly.

Our Big Adventure

2010-08-26T10:55:00.001-07:00

No I have not dropped off the face of the earth, even though I did drop off the face of Utah, hahahaha. Moving is a ton of work I have been SO busy, but things are settling down and I can finally blog about the move :-)
Here we are leaving Stockton UT at 2 pm fresh, packed, and ready for a 2 day drive. Of course Eve had to get sick the day before we left and it was a mess to try and get her to the doctor but we did it. He said that she had pink eye and like a head cold that should go away on it's own. It was so sad, she really wasn't feeling good. Although I think it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because she just slept pretty much the entire ride!!

I wanted to get a picture of all the "Welcome To..." signs but I thought we had already passed Wyoming's sign and we hadn't and then when we saw it, it was too late. No problem though because I just found one on the Internet haha so I now I can pretend I got it.

We first got to Wyoming (duh) and really, no offence, but not that great of a state. Every town we came to Chris was like lets not get our hopes up and expect Grand Forks to be like this town..... um yikes because if that was the case then things were looking down.

Here we are in Casper, I think, we stayed at the Super 8 and they messed up our reservation and then had only one room left with only one bed. Yeah so I slept on the floor with Eve and I don't even think you can call it sleep. Eve kept us all up because she couldn't breath very well from her runny nose, so sad! Our first tourist stop was at Devils Tower. I am not sure what to call it other than a rock in the middle of no where. Why did we stop to see it then? My amazingly helpful dad wanted to and with all the work he put into getting us moved he defiantly deserved to see what he wanted and more! It was cool though and now I can say I have been there so...... yeah. Don't mind the awkward looking picture it was the best one believe it or not.

My parents

Leaving devils tower, I wanted to show how crammed our car was and how tired Eve was. The second we got her into the car seat and started driving she was asleep!
Welcome to South Dakota, a whole lot of nothing with corn fields and another famous rock :-)

Have I mentioned yet that Sterges was going on the week that we moved? Does anyone know what Sterges is? I didn't, apparently it is the biggest biker rally ever!! I would believe it too, not that I have anything to go on other than this week but there were bikes EVERYWHERE! They were really cool though and sometimes funny to see, hahaha.

In the little town before Mount Rushmore. The pictures of all the bikes don't even do it justice though, really I can't even explain how many bikers there were. I really wanted to get a t-shirt or something for Sterges but I couldn't really find one and didn't really have a chance.

Mount Rushmore, this is what I was most excited for. I had a lot of people tell me how cool it was and I would have to agree with them. Although Chris had been there before and he said they changed the tourist part a lot and that it was cooler before so I don't know but I enjoyed it still. They had a lot of stuff on how they built it and why they chose the presidents they did and everything but we were kind of in a hurry so we had to rush. I am sure that sometime within the next 3 years we will have a chance to go back and do some more learning though. Hehe so cute.

This is just so funny and pretty much sums up how she was feeling and what she was like the whole time, poor girl.This pillar says North Dakota, I thought it was important to get a picture of our new home state.

Also couldn't forget about Andrea :Another picture showing how crammed our car was.

North Dakota we have finally arrived!!

We had an appointment to sign our lease and stuff at 1, which was 12 our regular time so we were in a rush yet again Friday morning. But we were pleasantly surprised as Chris would say when we got to Fargo and then to Grand Forks. Remember when I said that Chris kept saying we can expect Grand Forks to be like this town and then like this town and so on. Well he was wrong because it is SOOOOO much better. I LOVE it!!! It is small and has everything I need so I don't have to go farther than 10 min to get it. Something every mother would appreciate I think.

Really though the people are very nice, sometimes too nice but that is better than too mean right? We like the ward, which didn't surprise me, going to church is like going home no matter where you go. And we have already made some friends so everything is so great here! It just hasn't gotten cold yet so we will see how it goes... ;-)

On Sunday we went sight seeing a little. We went to the Red River and then went and explored the campus which is sooo beautiful! Everything is so green, I love it.

This statue thing is showing the water level from other years, apparently they frequently have flooding issues from this river. Thankfully we are about as far away from it as you can get.

Just walking around East Grand Forks, which is in Minnesota. Like a forth of the town is in Minnesota and they call that part East Grand Forks.

On University of North Dakota's campus, Chris's new home for 3 year. I told you it was pretty.

Well everyone we made it and were happy to be here :-)

Relaxing?

2010-08-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well my two weeks of relaxing before we move and start law school kind of turned into two weeks of driving everywhere to see people before we move to law school. Hahaha but it was still fun to see some people I haven't ween in years and will again not see for years. Really though it was :-)
This is at my parents with Eve's cute cousins. Erin was "reading" her this book and she loved it, haha she laid there like that not moving for like 5 min.
Ah best friends! It looks like Abby is unhappy and actually I think at this point with Eve starting to crawl on her she was but thy were doing so good playing with each other, it was cute! Eve really liked to suck on Abby's feet, so funny!

This is at our going away bbq our friends from Logan threw us. It was pretty fun and earlier that day we went to Porpucine Dam which was so much fun! I seriously love swimming especially in an actual lake. Chris on the other hand CANNOT handle cold water. He is a fine swimmer and all but when he gets into cold water he freaks out!!!! Literally! It did make it a lot more funny though, haha. So we just swam across the lake jumped off the cliff once and then swam back and had to leave. Totally worth it to me though!

Evie is getting pretty good at this and in the picture it looks like Dave's hand is holding her up but its not, I just snapped the picture before he had moved it. Eve and I can do this too but she is getting a little heavy for my little arms to hold.

Now this was the funniest thing, I was seriously jumping on this tramp not 10 min before our friend Travis ran and took one jump on it and the whole thing busted! Like 5 springs flew across the yard and I was laughing for 10 min, hahaha. I guess it was pretty old......

This is at my parents and Evie was laughing so hard at Brooke and Erin running past her on the tramp, we really are going to miss cousins!

Liesel's Home :-)

2010-08-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

Chris's sister Liesel came home from her mission to Ecuador in the beginning of August, about two weeks before we left for North Dakota so that was some good timing, haha. (I am sooo behind on things that this is the first chance I have had to blog!) Anyway it was great to see her. Chris and I were married while she was gone and so I barely know her and so I was very excited to spend some time with her before we left. She was funny though because she was having a hard time getting back into speaking english all the time. Something I could not understand but funny all the same haha.
Anywho she also brought us these dolls and I LOVE them. I am not sure what they are exactly whenever Chris describes them he says they are like the equivalent of the Russian doll things where they fit inside each other..... anyway Liesel said they are like a birth scene thing. Really I am not sure but they are fun and I really like the colors.

Happy 22 :-)

2010-08-09T11:20:00.001-07:00

Last Monday was a monumental occasion......... mine and Andrea's BIRTHDAY :-) Haha. I Was looking through old pictures and was sad that Andrea was not around to look at them with me.... so I went through all our pictures, picked my favorite (pretty sure they are Andreas favorites too), scanned them all onto the computer because our old computer with all the copies on it crashed, and then uploaded them to blogger. What a feat!!

This may be too many pictures but I liked a lot of them and I decided that I wanted to show us growing up. Although I don't have many from our childhood or high school. For some reason we never wanted to be associated with each other to much, even though we were ALWAYS together. So we don't have a lot of pictures with just the two of us till college, and then we have a million.

We are 3 months old here, I don't know who is who in all the baby pics.

Our first birthday :-) Haha I guess this was our old truck, don't ask me where our car seats are......Guessing about 2

My mom made these dresses, all my sisters had ones too that were similar. My dad hated them, still does. Every time he sees the pictures he says "You know I hated those dresses"

I think were around 10 here I am sitting on Andrea's lap.

Christmas, I remember we LOVED those bears.

The first day of school, probably sometime in elementary. My mom made those outfits for us she always liked to have us matching......We were always really dorky together

This was at Alkatraz, I don't know why we were pretending to choke each other. I do remember being really sick this day though.

Our sophomore year of high school and I am so sad because I looked EVERYWHERE for pictures of us in cheer and I could only find these ones. This was on the 4th of July working at the booth.

This was at nationals our junior year. We spent everyday at Disney World except the day we competed.

I don't know what year this was, junior or senior, but it is the only picture at an actual game.

Our Senior year we got these pictures taken and I know somewhere there are more but like I said I couldn't find them. I just wish we had a picture of us in our uniforms... o well.

Ahh graduation :-)

Shortly after we went up to Heber to stay in a cabin and stopped at Provo Falls.

This is our 18th birthday. My mom worked really hard to throw us a surprise birthday party at our neighbors and then none of our friends even came..... sad but story of my life.

Family pictures at Snowbird, look how long our hair is!

The rest of these are from college, I tried to put them in order but I am not sure how good of a job I did.

I don't know what you would call this, haha. It was at a roommate party and some how we came up with this.Twin sandwich at the belt party :-) (our roommate came up with that one year and now we say it all the time)

Huntington Beach

Unfortunately I couldn't find a normal looking picture of us this Halloween but these are probably the best costumes we have used. Andrea was Starbright and I was a Smurf :-)

This is the first and last time Andrea got me to go snowboarding with her. She is pretty good and so she was trying to teach me and was not doing a very good job. Then I fell on my butt HARD and it still hurts to this day when I sit in a car for a long time.

Just playing around.

At a Marti-Graw's party

We LOVE country dancing! One spring break we went on a cruise with a billion people from Utah State and one night everyone went up on the deck and country swing danced. It was seriously one of the funnest times of my college life :-) Haha. These are from that night

Andrea

In Mexico still on the Cruise.

At Flaming Gorge one year, we always went with our aunt and uncle and they said we could go until we got married and I think this was last trip I went on.

Hahahahahaha same trip, but it is amazing how alike we look. I am on right Andrea on the left.

Just driving somewhere.

At the Beach House

We got into rollerblading one year. Haha Andrea more than I but it was still really fun. Utah Sates campus is pretty flat so it was perfect to blade on :-)

We were moving this TV from the basement and it looks heaver than you think, we almost dropped it multiple times. Although I think we are being a bit theatrical here.

Halloween, we never found costumes and we were having a party so we just went to Walmart to get matching shirts so we could dress up as twins. We thought it was clever :-)

Camping 2008 we got into a hitting war....

And then finally made a truce.

Our family staycation at Lagoon :-)

Same trip at This Is The Place Monument.Andrea bought a tramp from a coworker for 50 bucks, best investment ever :-) Haha even though we already had a tramp at the Beach House, but two is even better! I am on the left Andrea on the right.

At snowbird :-)

This was our last camping trip before Andrea Left and the most resent picture I could find. I don't know why we didn't get a picture of her leaving when we were at the MTC.

The End, if you made it through this you are amazing :-)

Happy Birthday

She Looks Like Chris

2010-08-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to do this since Evie was born but haven't had the pics or had a scanner until now.
Here is Chris, Andrea and I when we were babies (I do not know which one I am). Chris I would say is about 3/4 months old, and I am guessing Andrea and I are being blessed so I would say 2 months for us. Evie is 10 days and then about 3 months here so a good in between I think. Anywho I don't know about you but I think she looks like Chris. Which is what everyone said when they first saw her. Haha um excuse me I am the one who made her... No I am just kidding she is so beautiful I wouldn't change a thing.

I heard someone say, and I can't remember who it was so if your reading this you can claim it. But they said the first baby always looks like the dad so he gets hooked and wants more and then the others look like the mom. Hmm well we will see :-)

WarCraft

2010-08-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

Chris LOVES warcraft, and as lame as that makes hims sound I guess I should admit I don't mind playing it either....... haha. I used to play the first one they came out with way back when, but the third one was just to hard. Then Chris was like just try playing it while I am at work and Eve is asleep and you might like it..... well it wasn't that bad. Anyway I don't play that often, mainly when Chris wants me to play with him. He likes to play with other people a lot and when we were at my parents house he got all my brother-in-laws to play a 4 way game with him, I am pretty sue he was in heaven, haha. Here they all are, Troy is kind of hard to see he is on the couch.

Bath Video

2010-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

This video would not load on the post before so I just did a new one for it.

In The Sink

2010-08-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

My mom helped me give Evie a bath since I have been sick for so long and she did it in the sink. Evie thought it was very interesting to sit up like she was and play with the water comming out of the faucet. Hahah this picture is hillarious because everytime I bath her she just tries to eat the wash cloth the whole time. (Notice the washrag comming out of her mouth)

Camping

2010-08-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

We had our last camping trip in the mountains the other weekend, well last trip for a few years :-( I will be honest though camping with a baby is really not all that fun for me, but Evie liked it and I did like being in the mountains. All my sisters were there too, except Andrea, and I love hanging out with my sisters so that was really fun. We made hobo dinners one night and none of us really had any idea what order to put the food in and we were just laughing and making mistakes everywhere. Hahaha it was funny.
Like I said earlier though I had gotten sick and taking care of a baby in a dirty place with no where to put her except in your arms was just to much, so we had to leave early.
Here are some of the good time though :-)

Troy came up with a carved stick from when he went camping with his family and Chirs apparently thought that was really cool so he made one too. Although he didn't carve the stick, he cut down a live branch off of a tree and peeled off the bark. He was called tree killer for the rest of the night, hahaha.He called it his Jafar Staff, from Aladan, but we accidentally left it up there. Not that we would have anywhere to put it down here but I felt bad because he worked hard on it....... well he worked on it. Haha

We Are Outa There

2010-08-02T21:54:00.001-07:00

We are officially out of Ogden, YES :-) Have to say not my favorite place to live. The apt we lived in was nice and the area we were in was a good neighborhood but there is absolutely NOTHING in Ogden. We were really bored a lot. Just so the glass is not half empty though we did have some good friends there and got to know some really good people.

Any who the move was very tiring and l-o-n-g long. Seriously everyday for the whole week before we moved that is all I did was pack and clean. Oh and take care of the little one, probably what slowed the process so much, haha. Here she is being a little helper

Now we get 2 weeks of doing nothing and relaxing until we make another big move to North Dakota. Yikes I am kind of dreading the move, but I am excited to get there.

Oh and also don't worry that I just had to get sick right after all the work so now I can't really relax all that well..... lame.

Smith Family Reunion

2010-08-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Chris's family reunion was a couple weekends ago. They do like a 3 day event and have a bunch of activities and swimming and food. We only went to a dinner thursday night with ALL the Smiths, lots and lots of people. And then Friday spent the day at aunt Michelle's house where they have a great pool and big yard to play in. Remember how I said I love to swim? Well I sure do and I had a ton of fun swimming. Haha Chris is a lot of fun to play with in the pool. I was also able to show off my backflip into the pool, I am so cool right........... hahaha not really.
One of Chris's nieces Hailey, was so cute with Evie. She got her lauging for like 15 min strait. Then after wanted to go everywhere Eve did, although we left like 20 min later. She was an adorable little girl though!

Forever And Ever

2010-07-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Ahhh what wonderful words........ Well these pictures have been a LONG time coming! I mean first of all, we didn't even take pictures at the temple in a wedding gown and all until we had been married for a year. Then it took forever to actually take the pictures, and then my parents had the disk at there house for like weeks and I am just soooo excited to finally have them in mypossession! Haha. So pretty much get ready for a LOT of pictures :-)

Hahaha this one is just funny :-)

Chris and I have always liked to kiss each other's eye's............... kind of dorky I know but I thought it might be cute to get a picture of it, and I was right :-)

This one is Chris's favorite because he says he looks hard core in it..........he is silly ;-)

I Don't Like This

2010-07-16T12:10:00.001-07:00

Well we are putting Eve to bed at 8pm now and teaching her to fall asleep on her own. And what does that mean?? She cries a lot, and a lot, and a lot.
It is so sad whenever I go in to give her back her binky and lay her down she is like shaking because she is crying so hard......:-(
The good news is she fell asleep last night pretty fast and while I wasn't in there! Hopefully she keeps it up and we all won't have to go through this much longer!!

St. Geezie

2010-07-08T23:26:00.002-07:00

The family vacation this year was to St. George. I love it there, definitely hot, but I could get used to that....... Grandma Burns has had a condo there for years and so I have been going there like 3 times a year since I was little. So fun, plus swimming, Dixi rock, being with my family.....what more to say. This year we also got to go to Tuacahn and see Tarzan, that was SO COOL. I really like going to plays especially out door ones and this outdoor stage was amazing. There was actually no back to the stage, the red rocks kind of encircled it and so they existed as the back. Which means the characters were swinging all over the place. I would have loved to get some pictures, but no cameras allowed. At the end though I did get a picture of one of the monkeys. Ahhh swimming....... I could swim everyday for the rest of my life and never be sick of it!Abby and Eve, super cute :-)Haha cute Erin So pooped from a long days swim.Hahaha this is my adorable nephew Ryan and he is a handful. I traded Amanda for like 30 min, she took care of Eve and I watched Ryan. Well I pretty much just ran after him the whole time. He also thought it was fun to put the rocks on the sidewalk, so I would say "no no put them back." Then he did and I would say "good job", pretty soon he would just pick them up, drop them, and then look to me and wait for me to say good job. Hahahahaha it was pretty funny.It's amazing how they can learn so fast. I mean I dought he has ever actually used an I-pod but he still knew what to do with the headphone.My mom taking care of the little girls, not really a difficult thing for her considering she raised two sets of twins. Finally Dixi Rock. There is not one trip to St George where I have not gone to Dixi Rock.

So I saw this hole and I was like "hey Brooke and Erin why don't you guys climb in there??" So they did and it was really cute........
And then Chris decided her wanted to be cute or something...... or maybe just funny, and so he climbed in it. It was funny though, we were all cracking up!!
All wedged in there.

It was a great trip, would have been a million time better if Andrea were there but I guess it was ok that she wasn't.
And also I should say thank you to Troy's aunt for letting us stay in her amazingly nice and very comfortable house. It was great and they are very very nice people!!!! Thanks!!!

Backyard Swimming

2010-07-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

Aren't summers wonderful??
Little girls are wonderful too!!!! :-)

6th Month Check-up

2010-07-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

What is going on? Eve is already 6 months old!!!!! Wow. She is so funny now, and interested in EVERYTHING. If there is anything in her reach she will grab it. We already went to her well baby check-up and she is very healthy. She weighs 15.3 pounds, which surprised me a lot because I was sure she was like 16 or something, and that is in the 40th%. She is 25 in long, not much more than it was last time and in the 25th%. And she still has a small head, it' in like the 20th%.

She is a pro at sitting now and can scoot if she really wants to go somewhere. The other day she got up on her hands and knees too so it won't be long before she is crawling. Trying to grab the camera :-)

She likes to sleep on her side and always rolls on to it, but then falls to her stomach and wakes up and gets mad...... kind of anoying.

Doesn't she have the most beautiflu eyes? I swear they just get bigger and bigger. They also get bigger when she is sad and wants something..... hahaha.

The 4th

2010-07-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day! A week ago....... We spent the holiday with Chris's family and pretty much all we did was light the lame Utah fireworks. Maybe in North Dakota they will have better ones. Chris's siblings had a good time trying to make it more exciting though.

Yes that is Chris in a parka (is that the right word for a winter coat??), yes it is July, and yes it's from the 70's. Melissa trying to make it more interesting by lighting some weeds on fire to use as a lighter.........

The best picture of a firework I could get, yes I am terrible at photography.

Look at me, I'm sitting

2010-06-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

"Yey I can sit up now," well kind of......
Today was a major break through. Normally when I sit her up she just dive bombs to her face, but today whenever she would start to fall she would stop herself. Amazing huh!! She still does fall eventually but she is learning so fast. Wow, I really am amazed at how old and developed she is becoming. Trying to get the bear she just lost.

This is when she tries to sit up from her back, hehehehe it is so hilarious when she does that. Which is all the time.

Also, today she learned that if she shakes a toy it makes noise. I am going to have to get a video of her trying to shake it, now that is funny :-)

Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat

2010-06-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

This is Evie when I sing Taylor Swift and Colbie Caillat to her.

I think it's safe to say that they are her favorite and that she likes country :-) Sorry Chris....

She fell asleep earlier today while eating, which she actually does a lot, but she just looked so adorable it had to get a shot of it.

Rollie Pollie

2010-06-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

I thought that once Evie learned to roll or crawl or walk, do anything onther than lay on her back, she would not get so bored and want me to play with her 24/7.... well it's true. Except now she just rolls onto her stomach plays for a minute and then cries because she can't roll back. I guess it never ends, but I guess thats ok too :-)

Just some cute pictures of her in her new exciting position!

This is her watching her TV (the news), hahahaha she seriously loves to watch it. I don't know why, I haven't ever turned on a cartoon or anything for her. I think she likes to watch the lights and stufff..... maybe. Anywho it was funny because I had the news on and I was getting her a bottle ready and she was crying. Then all of the sudden she stopped...... it scared me so I turned around to see her and she was just staring at the TV. So funny!

NO!

2010-06-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

Chris and I have been feeding Evie solids and she is doing wonderful. She opens her mouth wide and everything now so it is awesome. She also can hold her own bottle and that is nice for when I can't be standing right there to hold it.
Anyway so we were feeding her some squash the other night and she was doing good, loving it as usual and then she just stopped. I asked
"Are you done?" (In the cutest tone possible) "You don't want any more?"................... Then seriously she said "No."
Yes I know it was a fluke, but Chris and I jumped, stared at each other, and then busted up laughing. Oh it was so cute and very surprising to hear.

Swimming

2010-06-18T00:14:00.001-07:00

We took Evie swimming for the first time at snowbird. I am not going to say she liked it and I'm not going to say she didn't because I don't think she even knew it was any different form a bath. But it was still fun, apart from when Chris got sunscreen in my eyes and then thought I was joking when I said I couldn't see and left me standing there looking like a idiot, haha. Maybe I got some in his eye's too though......

Rashelle my sister, my nieces, Eve and I.

This was after I dunked her into the water, haha that was funny. Just look at her face.

Chris likes to throw her in the air all the time, it is really cute and I love this picture.

5 Months

2010-06-17T23:38:00.001-07:00

Yep she is 5 months. She had discovered her feet, her ears, and sometimes just stares at her hands. So cute and so funny, Chris and I are laughing at her everyday. She also is very good at standing if you help her from falling over, can almost sit up, and still loves to chew on everything except now she is great at holding stuff in her hands so it's easier.

North Dakota

2010-06-17T23:37:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that we re moving to North Dakota? I can't remember but I thought I would officially announce that we are moving in August..... sad and exhilarating at the same time.
Chris got into Law School at the University of North Dakota and so it is going to be an adventure. It is really funny because of all the places we applied to this is the one school that we both really did not want to go to, but the lord had other plans and so we go.
I have never lived outside of Utah and as a grown Mormon I think it will definitely be different. I have heard all about how your ward becomes your family though and I am definitely looking forward to that. There is only one ward where we are moving so hopefully we will meet some great people. Really though I will miss my family soooo much, but we will come back someday and be happy for the experience.
I do have to say that moving states without being able to visit first is very difficult! I cannot find an apartment for the life of me and looking for jobs is no different. I probably should try harder though and the time is winding down so yeah.... anyway fun times :-)

Baby Blessing

2010-06-17T23:36:00.001-07:00

We finally blessed Eve, at 5 months old, but it was still so great. A lot of family came to see the event which actually surprised me but was very nice of them and made me happy. Chris was nervous, but he did a good job and then afterward we had lunch out on our lawn with everyone. Love summers! Anywho it was a very fun and spiritual experience to see my man bless our little girl :-) I am defiantly excited for the next one to come around and to do it again. My mom made her dress. It is the same one she was wearing when we were sealed and it matches my wedding dress :-) Cheesy but I liked it.

Snowbird

2010-06-17T22:56:00.001-07:00

My family has been going to Snowbird since my mom was in High School, and I LOVE it. My all time favorite smells are up there like the smell of the stairwell going to the pool, and the fresh smell of the trees and mountains and rivers. Sounds lame I know but I am serious I just walk around taking deep breaths all the time because I know I won't be back for another year.

Here we are going on a walk enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Eve in my sisters stroller because I forgot ours, which was a big hassle.
I think everyone who knows Chris, knows he likes Risk. When we were at my moms he snuck it into the car and then somehow got me, my mom and Rashelle to play with him. But we didn't get to finish though because we spent 99% of our time taking care of kids.

This year we all got to ride the Tram (it is a big box thing that takes you up the mountain, like the chair lifts) I can barely remember going on it one time when I was really little so that was a lot of fun.Chris and Eve on the TramAs you can see in the background there is a lot of snow, something we didn't think about before we left and yes it was VERY COLD! But what a beautiful view!

Oh and if you are wondering what that soar on Chris's forehead is, it's from him slamming into the pool's wall while trying to get across without taking a breath of air. So hilarious!!!!!

This was my favorite thing about the trip though. We went to the park with all the little ones to help them get some of their energy out and Chris disappeared for a little while. Next thing I know Brooke comes around the playground and says Chris has a surprise for you..... humm cool. This was the surprise. If you can't tell what it is, it's a big C encompassing a little A. He is so sweet!

Well until next year, farewell. (Snowbird hehe)

Salem Tri

2010-06-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well it's over and I did terrible, I really didn't think it was going to be that BAD. When I did the other triathlons I did ok and I didn't think they were that difficult. So when it came time to train for this one I thought, oh it doesn't matter I don't want to go running they aren't hard anyway....... Well when you do absolutely no training, they are!! I haven't even looked at my time and if I do there is no way I am putting it on here so I guess you'll never know.
It was pretty funny though because the reason I was able to do this tri is because my aunt Maryann wasn't able to, so she let me do it for her. The people that throw these huge events though are really big into making sure the person who signs up is the person who runs it. Well she is a bit older than me and therefor in a different heat. Not that big of a deal though because I was just planning on going in my heat anyway. But as I am getting ready I hear them announce "if you go in the wrong heat you will be automatically disqualified"..... crap right. I ran to find Maryann to ask her what to do (she is a lot more experienced with tri's than I am) and she told me to go tell them
"I think I may be in the wrong heat..."
"It looks like you are in the 50-54 year olds"
"Yeah well does it look like I am 50 years old? I mean I have people mistake me for a Junior High student so I really don't think I am that old...."
It was funny, although I have no idea how I would know if they had me in the wrong heat. They probably knew I was lying but they changed it and it all worked out. This is me swimming....... we think. Obviously it is hard to tell who is who but even if it is not me I am going to pretend that it is :-) After the swim having no idea what is to come. Mt tan line or should I say burn line, where the girl traced over the numbers like 10 times.... I don't know why.

SO MUCH

2010-06-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Ear infection, teething, crying, not eating, hungry, switching to bottle, crying, crying, crying, cooking, cleaning, laundry, getting ready for vacation, getting ready for blessing, getting ready for triathlon, crying, crying, crying, screaming crying.
Aghhhhhh, what happened she seriously used to NEVER cry and these past few days have driven me insane!!!!!

Abby And Eve

2010-06-01T18:10:00.001-07:00

This is my sister Rashelle's little girl, Abby, can you believe how much hair she has! She is 2 months younger than Evie and it is so amazing how much they grow in just a few months. Abby was the first baby I saw that was younger than Eve and I was SHOCKED! I swore Evie was never that small, but Abby was actually a few ounces bigger than Eve was, it was amazing. Well I will have to get an up to date picture next week while we are at Snowbird :-) Yeah I am soo excited. My family has gone up there every year since I was born and I can't wait for next week to go!

Saturday.......Yikes

2010-06-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

My first triathalon, post baby, is on Saturday and I have probably trained about zero days for it. Yikes huh! I just kept thinking that it wouldn't be that big of a deal and I would just go easy on it, but then I remembered what it was like to do them when I was actually in shape..... And I think I might be in trouble.
Good news is though that today I went swimming for the first time in like a year and I was able to swim a half a mile without taking any breaks and with considerable ease :-) I was so so so excited and proud of myself.

Smiles

2010-05-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Right now Chris and I are reading a book series called Mistborn. We were in the middle of the second book when the due date at the library was up, so I thought we would just have to wait to finish the series. Instead Chris convinced me to get the third book and try to figure out what we missed. It's not hard for me to admit though that I have lost interest. I don't know what is going on or how all the main characters made the huge changes that they did.
Well we normally always read out loud to each other, but now it's just Chris reading to me while I do other things so I'm not bored. Haha although I am pretty sure he knows I am not following along anymore because whenever he comments about the book I have no idea what he is talking about.
Anyway he absolutely LOVES to read about fighting seans and if there is no fighting going on in the chapter he has a tendency to fall asleep. Good thing this book starts off with a huge battle right from page one though, and he was so excited about that. Haha sounds silly that I would talk about all that just to say how excited he was about the book today but it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen.
He would read a few sentences and then look up at me and say "Wow, did you hear that?" Then read a few more and look up and say "oh wow, that was cool huh?" And again, read a few more and look up and say "oh man he is so hard core!" Hahaha he also had the biggest grin on his face. I loved it! He is seriously like a little boy who is sooooooo much fun to play with.

Later this afternoon we were playing kanasta (I have no idea how to spell that) and Evie was just in her swing chewing away on a teething ring when she just started giggling out of no where??? That has never happened before and it was awesome!! I mean she will laugh if you play with her and stuff but she has never just laughed out of no where. And then she proceeded to laugh strait for a half an hour. Of course we started playing with her after that though and she was absolutely so cute!

Jenny Jump Up

2010-05-23T15:20:00.001-07:00

Ahhahahahaha, I think she looks so cute and funny here. This is what she does in her jenny jump up, suck on the edge, just like with everything else. If you don't pay VERY CLOSE attention though she gets her neck against it and can choke!!! Holy cow that was terrifying when I found that out. But anyway I just love her and she is so adorable.

Rice Cereal

2010-05-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

Evie had her first taste of "real food" haha, if you don't count the times Chris lost his mind and let her suck on candy. Yeah I know... anyway it was fun and she didn't seem to have any problems with eating from a spoon. Granted a lot of it did end up on the bib :-)

I will admit though that I am not a fan... it really is such a hassel and much more of a mess! I sound terrible though and I swear I'm not that lazy. But feeding her with a spoon or nursing her..... we all know which one is eaiser. Oh well, the older they get the harder it is. They don't say that for nothing.

Mmmm Hungry

2010-05-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

Evie wants to eat everything and it's the funniest thing. Today in church we had the hardest time keeping quiet becaues we were laughing so hard at her trying to eat a red bear.

Everythime she gets anything in her hand, her mouth opens wide and it goes strait to her mouth. Actually most of the time she doesn't even need something in her hand, just her hand is enough. Ah she is sooo adorable though. These are just some pictures I like and wanted to put up.

Evie looks a little funnie in this picture but I realized there are no pictures of her and I on here, so here it is.

A Full Year!

2010-05-13T19:55:00.001-07:00

Wow that is how long Chris and I have been married..... I seriously cannot believe it!! I know everyone says it but I do not know where the time went. The weirdest thing is it's like I wasn't even alive before Eve was born, I can hardly remember anything before then. It was a great yeah though, the best and I am soooo excited to keep going forever.
Chris and I went to the temple on our anniversary too and that was AMAZING. I actually pretty much forgot that it was our anniversary because all I could think about was that we were going to the temple :-) I love the Temple, it is so beautiful and so wonderful to feel the spirit so strong there. We did get some pictures afterwards with me in a wedding dress and all but I will have to put those up later because we aren't quite done getting them.
Afterwards we went to PF Changs for dinner and I was so thirsty and hungry that I thought I was going to die, a bit of an exaggeration but I was thirsty. I had Chris drop me off in front of the door so I could get a table and some water while he parked the car. When the waiter came up I didn't even give him a chance to greet me before I told him what we wanted and to get some water, hahahaha it was funny. When we finished dinner we went to Anniversary Inn, after making about 100 u-turns because we couldn't find it, and it was pretty cool. Every room has a theme like, ours looked like a garden and they have some that like a forest and so on. I also really liked it because they brought breakfast to our room in the morning and they had movies we could watch.
It was defiantly very relaxing, Chris's parents watched Evie so we had some time all alone and it was great! I love Chris so much and I really am so happy to be spending many many many more anniversaries together :-)

I Remember

2010-05-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

I remember you holding me and telling me that I was getting to big for it, but that it didn't matter. I remember missing the end of school so you Andrea and I could go see a movie. I remember going to the store and you teling me I could pick any goodie in the store I wanted, and always getting gelly filled donuts. I remember reading scriptures and saying prayers. I remember you teaching me about the gosple and how much you love it. I remember you helping my testimony grow. I remember going camping. I remember you sewing all the time and helping you all the time with it. I remember you making me skirts and dresses and shirts for me. I remember playing card games and watching movies. I remember that christmas we did puzzles and watched friends all week. I remember you comming to all my games I cheered at and then riding home with you afterward. I remember going to St George and going swimming. I remember you doing anything I needed, no matter how much of an inconvience it was for you. I remember you always being able to talk to you. I remember you loving me no matter what :-)

I totally stole this from my sister, thanks and sorry Amanda, and I know mothers day was almost a week ago. But I thought it was so cute and had to make one of my own.
I love you mom.

Laughing

2010-05-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this video! Evie really doesn't laugh that much, yet, and this is the longest she ever has. It is so adorable, I even had time to find the camera and tape it before she stopped thinking it was funny. I also love Chris in it. He is the best father, he plays with Evie all the time and she absolutely loves it when he does.

How?

2010-05-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

How do you put the cutest girl in the entire world to bed when every time you lay her down or try to give her, her binky she smiles and laughs????
I knew she was just laughing because she was so so tired but I couldn't help it! I seriously don't know what to do with the cutest baby in the world. I just want to squeeze her and hug her all the time, which makes it pretty hard to put her to bed. Hmmmm.....

It Wont Be Like This For Long

2010-05-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

So I have talked about Marley and Me before but Chris just got it for me for mothers day (haha he always gives me my gifts for whatever occasion early because he can't wait any longer to give them, I love it and think it's so cute) and we watched it this afternoon and like I've said before I love it. It is so cool to see their whole lives play out and everything. I said to Chris
"Man we are just so young, someday were going to have like 5 kids and our youngest will be like 12 and we'll look back and think about this apartment and when we just had Evie"
I remember when we brought her home from the hospital and she was so fragile and slept all the time and I always though I can't wait till she is more alert and sturdier. Now I think oh I wish she would cuddle with me more. I am also always thinking I can't wait till she can crawl, walk, talk, go shopping ;-) I have a feeling when these things happen I will look back and wish she would just sit still, haha. Anyway it made me think about this song that I have heard before but never really related to until now. It is called "It Wont Be Like This For Long" by Darius Rucker.
The first verse is my favorite, probably because it is the only part I have experienced so far, but youtube it it's great!
I also though about this book my cousin Kara posted and I though it related.
It is called "Let Me Hold You Longer"
By Karen Kingsbury

"Long ago you came to me, a miracle of firsts:
First smiles and teeth and baby steps, a sunbeam on the burst.
But on day you will move away, and leave me to your past.
And I will be left thinking of a lifetime of your lasts.....

The last time that I held a bottle to your baby lips.
The last time that I lifted you and held you on my hip.
The last night when you woke up crying, needing to be walked.
When last you crawled up with your blanket, wanting to be rocked.

The last time when you ran to me, still small enough to hold.
The last time that you said you'd marry me when you grew old.
Precious, simple moments and bright flashes from your past-
Would I have held on longer I'd have known they were your last?

Our last adventure to the park, your final midday nap.
The last time when you wore your favorite faded baseball cap.
Your last few hours of kindergarten, those last days of first grade
Your last bat in little league, last colored picture made.

I never said goodbye to all your yesterdays long passed.
So what about tomorrow- will I recognize your lasts?

The last time that you catch a frog, in that old backyard pond.
The last time that you run barefoot across our fresh cut lawn.
Silly, scattered images will represent your past.
I keep taking pictures, never quite sure of your lasts....

The last time that I comb your hair, or stop a pillow fight.
The last time that I pray with you and tuck you in at night.
The last time when we cuddle with a book, just me and you.
The last time you jump in our bed and sleep between us two.

The last piano lesson, last vacation to the lake.
Your last few weeks of middle school, last soccer goal you make.
I look ahead and dream of days that haven't come to pass.
But as I do, I sometimes miss today's sweet, precious lasts...

The last time that I help you with a math or spelling test.
The last time when I shout that yes, your room is still a mess.
The last time that you need me for a ride from here to there.
The last time that you spend the night with your old tattered bear.

My life keeps moving faster, stealing precious days that pass.
I want to hold on longer- want to recognize your lasts.....

For come some bright fall morning, you'll be going far away
College life will beckon in a brilliant sort of way.
One last hug, one last goodbye, one quick and hurried kiss.
One last time to understand just how much you'll be missed.
I'll watch you leave and think how fat our time together passed.

Let me hold on longer, to every precious last."

Thanks Kara I love it!
PS:Angie I can't look at your blog anymore so please email me an invite, alicranney@yahoo.com

4 Month Check Up

2010-05-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yes that means Evie is 4 months old. Wow huh? We went to the doctors today and I was discouraged to find that she had to get more shots, it was the saddest thing ever! She just started screaming and she never really cries that much so it just broke my heart. She is doing good though, defiantly a bit irritable, but she is sleeping now and I hope will be better in the morning.

She weighs 13.2 lb, is 24.5 in long, and as cite as can be. It is amazing how developed she is becoming too, she is actually playing with toys and stuff. She laughs now but not very much and I can almost never get her to. Rashelle, my sister, on the other hand can get her to laugh just by looking at her... I don't get it. Today though she was upset and Chris picked her up and started bouncing her and she made the biggest cutest giggle ever. Oh I loved it! She also loves to stand, of course with the help of someone else though, haha.

First Time Mom

2010-04-26T22:15:00.001-07:00

So as we all know I am trying to put Eve in her room now days and it is going great! Seriously I have the best baby in the entire world! Well tonight I was watching a movie and Eve fell asleep before I could get her into her crib so I just left her alone until the movie was over and then I was going to move her.
The movie gets over and I pick her up and man is she out, doesn't even realize that she is being moved and doesn't flinch a bit. Take her to her room, lay her in her crib and still nothing, she really is out!! So I am just standing over her watching how beautiful she is and all, and I am thinking. Does her breathing look shallow...... I hope she is ok...... I wonder why she didn't wake up just a tinsey bit when I moved her..... maybe shes not ok....... shes probably fine....... crap I don't know if she is, I am scared. Well finally come to the conclusion that I need to wake her up and see if she is ok.............
Well she was and yes then she wouldn't go back to sleep....... oops!

Do I Like It Or Not

2010-04-25T10:37:00.001-07:00

Well I finally put Eve in her crib and I am not sure I actually like it yet. The first night I couldn't even do anything because I was checking on her all the time, and I am still pretty nervous about her being all alone in there. It's so sad! But it is getting better and better every night, last night I only checked on her like 4 times so an improvement. I do have to admit that it is nice when she is in her room because it does gives us some alone, almost worry free time :-) It's also nice because I can seem to get so much done while she is sleeping in there.
So do I really like it then?........ Yes, it's hard but better then her waking up every two hours because I am being too loud. Plus I am sure sooner or later I will get over it all.

Chris Alicia Eve & Layla

4th of July 2011

Bath Paint

Stockton Days

Old Friends

Oregon

Family Pictures

Pinterest Anyone??

Little Things

Layla's Blessing

One More

Layla's Newborn Pictures

ZOO

Swimming

Hot Dog Roast

Eyes

Eve & Layla

Rainstorms

It's About Time

Catching Up

Hello Goodbye

Mothers Day

Salt Lake, St. George, and California

Red River

Happy Easter

Books, Books, Books

Oompa Loompa

Pregnancy # Dos

Weather

New Camera

"The Room"

Your Back....

Walking & Talking

Update

Little Monkeys

Big Helper

1 Year Old

11 Step Program

Holidays

Utah Trip

Deviousness

Busy Busy Tired Tired Tired

Happy Halloween

Church And Diapers

Question

Night-Time Highlights

Slump

Ahhh The Weather

Trouble Trouble

What In The World

So Fun With A Little One

Alerus Center

Homemade Photos

Catch Up

Our Big Adventure

Relaxing?

Liesel's Home :-)

Happy 22 :-)

She Looks Like Chris

WarCraft

Bath Video

In The Sink

Camping

We Are Outa There

Smith Family Reunion

Forever And Ever

I Don't Like This

St. Geezie

Backyard Swimming

6th Month Check-up

**The 4th**

Look at me, I'm sitting

Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat

Rollie Pollie

NO!

Swimming

5 Months

North Dakota

Baby Blessing

Snowbird

The 4th