Utah Part 1

I recently took a trip to Utah and stayed with my awesome friend, Brooke. She and I met when I was living in Florida. She was a nanny there at the time and she and I hit it off. Well there were three of us that would hang out (Shout out to you Elissa!), but when our third Musketeer moved away we had to fend for ourselves. We spent a lot of our time taking pictures, watching movies, and being all around ridiculously silly.

It had been a really long time since I had seen Brooke and it was so nice of her to let Mo and I crash with her. She instantly loved Morgan and kept telling me that she made her want kids. It was nice to have another friend FINALLY meet my daughter.

I tried my best to catch up with other friends while I was there too. One being my friend, Tami. She and I met when I lived in Utah, several years ago, when we were both working at the same call center together. Sometimes it makes me laugh that we have stayed good friends because on the outside we don't necessarily have many things in common, but I love Tami and I love how different we are. She had two little boys and is pregnant with her third. Poor Tami. She wanted a daughter really badly, but I think her husband is totally excited about having all boys.

After grabbing some lunch, Tami asked if Brooke and I wanted to bring Morgan over to this inflatable gym. They have bounce houses, slides, and all kinds of inflatable activities. So we headed on over to the Kangaroo Zoo.

Tami, it was so good to see you and your boys. Thanks for inviting us to play with you guys. Hopefully we will get to see you guys again soon.

To be continued...

Almost 30-Yikes

Earlier this month I entered into the last year of my twenties. High school me is telling me that I am OLD, but the present me disagrees. I don't feel old so even though I willl accept how old I am I think I will live by the saying "you are only as old as you feel". So I guess I am about 26ish. :)

I enjoy celebrating my birthday, and I hope that no matter how old my birth certificate tells me I am, I will continue to do so. I might even adopt my mother's mantra that the whole month of February is my birthday!

Kevin and I went on a date to play mini golf (my choice) and then we enjoyed some In and Out burgers. This may sound underwhelming to some of you, BUT it was actually almost exactly what we did on our first date. Plus, we never really get out without the tot and it was SO NICE to be able to enjoy a night by ourselves. A big THANK YOU to my wonderful mother-in-law for watching Morgan for us.

A shower for P.

Sometimes  I make up nicknames for my friends and for some reason they usually sound like a wannabe rappers name. I recently attended a baby shower for my friend that I lovingly call P. Lemmie. She is expecting a little boy on March 1st and she makes a beautiful pregnant lady. Don't ya think?

This isn't everyone we came to the shower. Unfortunately, we only thought to do a group shot after the shower was over and we were just sitting around gabbing and of course we had to do the "silly shot". Kudos to P. MAN that is one scary face! :)

Just for fun I thought I would throw in a picture of us at my baby shower.

(P. trying to stick her stomach out to look like mine)

P. Lemmie,

I am so excited for you and M! I know you are going to be amazing parents. I can see how much love you already have for this little boy and I can't help but think how lucky he is :) I wanted to say thank you for being my friend when I didn't feel like I had many. I can't tell you how much it helped to know that you were just down the street to go jogging with or just watch a movie. I'm sad that I don't live close anymore and we can't take our kiddos on daily walks to the park, but I will try to come and visit you as much as I can.

Love,

H. Shizzle :)

She's at that age

At least that is what everyone tells me when I explain the mischief that my little girl is now getting in to. Now that is she walking, she thinks nothing is off limits to her and that EVERYTHING is there just for her to eat, rip, throw, climb into, climb on top of, etc...

This afternoon I was smelling something coming from Morgan's room. When I went to investigate I found Morgan covered in vick's baby vapor rub! She rubbed it all over her hands and feet and of course on her face.  The fact that I was smelling it down the hall lets you know how much it was.  Off she went to the bath tub. Only problem is, that stuff apparently doesn't come off easily. Kevin said he had to throw in some dawn soap to finally do the job.

A couple of weeks ago I saw Morgan looking through her books in her room so I went to do something in the living room. The next thing I know Morgan comes walking up to me and when I looked at her I was a little surprised to see something white all over her face. I could tell by the smell that it was Desitin. Again, off she went to the bath tub. (I have the feeling we will be having a lot of those impromptu baths)

When we moved into this condo the kitchen already had some baby proofing done so we haven't really had to do anything. The only thing is, is that there are some drawers that Morgan can get into. I haven't really worried about it because one drawer is full of table cloths and place mats and the one above is ziploc bags and saran wrap. Well, she has recently discovered she can open both of those drawers and has fun throwing everything out and climbing inside. I actually, don't mind the bottom drawer because having her entertained while I do some chores is worth folding the table cloths up later.

Here are some pictures of Morgan in action.

She also doesn't want to stay seated at church. She thinks she should be able to run around and scream and laugh. It doesn't help that she can see that some parents let their kids go out into the hall and play. I may seem strict, but I don't want her to think she can fuss enough and we will let her play in the hall. SO...she either can look at her books, eat snacks and play with some quiet toys and sit in the chapel or she can go outside of the church and sit on my lap the whole time. Today was the first time I really tried to enforce that and after a very angry tantrum, she finally calmed down and we were able to finish sacrament meeting sitting in our chairs. I know this will be a weekly struggle for a while, but as everyone says, "she's at that age."

For Mom

My mother and sister-in-law (Hi Dana!)  made Morgan this dress and sent it to her around her birthday. I had been meaning to get her picture in it for a while now and I finally got around to it today.

Nice face huh? She was super distracted outside...looking around at anything and everything. She wouldn't even look up at me. I could tell she didn't like her feet touching the grass so I went to my car and grabbed a blanket for her to sit on. Needless to say this wasn't our best photo shoot ever, but at least my mom can see how cute she looks in her dress.

Back at home I managed to get a smile. :)

Thanks guys for the dress turned out really cute and it fits her perfectly!

Just like us

Even though babies seem to live an extraordinary life, they are still just regular people like you and me.

They have the occasional bad hair day.

They help sort the laundry.

They sometimes get themselves in situations they don't know how to get out of.

They enjoy a good nap.

They dress up for church.

They like to cut loose and have a good time.

They eat blueberry pancakes.

And they like to ride horses in their bedrooms?

Ok so maybe they are pretty special. :)

Welcome 2011

Yes, welcome 2011 with open arms! My husband and I constantly talk about how rough last year was for us, and we are both optimistic that this year will be much better.

For a few years now on New Year's Eve Kevin and I will write out some family goals that we want to achieve together. Those usually include financial goals as well as spiritual ones that we work towards as a family. We also write out a few personal "resolutions" that we hope to keep throughout the year. Some of mine this year are:
1) Finally lose the baby weight!
2)Be a better wife/mother
3)Learn and new skill or hobby
4) Run a mile in 9 minutes or less (in high school I could do it in under 7...sheesh)
5)See my family at least twice this year
6)Try a new healthy recipe once a month
7)Share my testimony with a friend

After going to bed at 11:30. (I couldn't even make it to midnight!) We woke up in the morning and celebrated the first day of the new year by going to Big Bear and playing in the snow. We literally drove up the mountain, stopped on the side of the road, got out, and played in the snow. We were not the only ones to do this. We saw several families with the same idea. We just found a spot that no one had claimed yet. It was fun to see how Morgan reacted to everything. At first she was all for it, but then she didn't like the new cold, wet ground.

It was a fun day and a great start to 2011. Happy New Year everyone. I hope this year brings nothing but great things. :)