Beach Babes

New Highchair! :)

2012-02-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Mike and I have been shopping around for some highchairs for awhile now and we finally found one that we LOVE. It's gender neutral with one of my favorite designs and it's super easy to set up and clean. Plus, we got it for a very good price. Score!

It came today and Chloe didn't know quite what to think.

Then she realized it meant food, so she got a little excited.

Gorgeous, right?

We are very happy with our purchase.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T22:40:00.001-08:00

Our Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

I love these two.

Continuing on, we decided to celebrate Love Day on the eleventh because Mike had school and work all day on the fourteenth. For the morning celebration, I made breakfast and we played with our adorable girl.

I don't normally let her hang out in her diaper, but all the little rolls on her tummy and legs were too hard to resist. :)

Mike and his little Valentine. :)

Sometimes Daddy forgets to get a new diaper after he's already opened up the messy one...so he has to dash into her room and grab a new one, meanwhile leaving her on the floor, kicking around and on the verge of getting her business all over the carpet.

But she thinks it's funny, so whatever. :)

Plus, he's changing a diaper...I won't complain!

After Chloe had a nap, food and a clean bum, we headed out to go shopping! First we went down to the Distribution Center to get some more G's and I am loving the Chemise top. It's my favorite and I want a hundred of them. After that, we headed to Fashion Place Mall and got my ring inspected and cleaned and just look around. Chloe was adorable and sweet through all of it and we got many a compliment on her cuteness. Well deserved, my dear baby!

When we got tired of window shopping we went to Fresh Market to pick up some more baby food for Chloe. She'll be trying bananas tomorrow. :)

We grabbed some Cafe Rio, put the baby to bed and then dragged Mike back to Fresh Market to buy...

BREAKING DAWN PART 1! :)

We had a romantic dinner with candles and my gorgeous yellow roses and then decided that it was movie time...but only after I made Mike take some lovey pictures with me. :)

Mike's dad put up a projector and it's awesome. The Beach Family Theatre! Aw, yeah! :)

Chloe had a rough night and ended up being with us until midnight. She might be teething and she could only be soothed if we were cuddling her...which is not normal, since she usually goes to bed with no problems. Our poor baby. Eventually she nodded off so we could put her down for the night. She whimpered a lot, but that is what the Wubbanub is for. :)

We had a great day and I loved spending it with my little family.

It was the best Love Day yet. :)

As a bonus...Chloe being hilarious.

You're welcome.

Also, notice how I do nothing to stop Chloe from beating herself.

I'm an awesome mom.

I love my hubby. :)

2012-02-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Mike surprised me with these beautiful flowers and some delicious M&Ms on Friday.

I love my man. :)

Week in SF

2012-02-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

As I previously mentioned, Chloe and I have been staying with my mom/Jamie & Chris for the week and so far it has been a blast. Obviously the downside is that Mike isn't with us, but it is still great to be with my family.

On Tuesday, I babysat so Chris and Jamie could go out for a pre-Valentine's date. Hunter, Skyla and Jagger were so good and full of energy, like always. :) They even went to bed without a fuss. That is impressive, my friends, because they were hyper and excited to be partying with Aunt Jess. Oh yeah!

On Wednesday, Chloe had her Welcome, Baby! appointment with Nurse Jennifer.

I won't lie, a lot of it was just a repeat of the doctor's appointment on Monday, but Jennifer always has a lot of helpful tips and handouts for me, which I LOVE. It helps me know what I should be doing to help Chloe get better as she grows. :)

C & I ended up staying until Thursday night because Gary had Bronchitis and didn't want to get Chloe sick. On the drive home, I forgot my phone charger and had to turn back at Center Street in Provo and go get it. Awesome.

Anyways, it was VERY good to see Mike. We missed him so much and we are grateful he was okay with us staying down with mi madre.

Adios!

9 Month Checkup

2012-02-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

Chloe had her checkup on Monday the sixth and her Welcome, Baby! appointment on Wednesday, so I packed a bag for us to stay over at my mom's again.

She did SO WELL. Dr. Later (his name is probably due to the fact that no matter what time your appointment is, you'll see him much later) said that she is a perfect little nine-month-old albeit being a little behind on her fine motor skills.

STATS:

Weight: 16 lbs. 1 oz. (15th percentile)
Length: 27 inches (26th percentile)
Head Circ.: 17.5 inches (68th percentile)

She did SO well! She was happy and having a blast in front of the mirror. She has been sitting up successfully since Feb. 2, and I am so proud of her. Dr. Later said that if he didn't know she was two months early and had clubbed feet, he would think she was perfect (other than the slight lag in fine motor skills)! I definitely agree. She IS perfect. :)

She loves staring at herself. I love to as well, so it works out.

After the appointment, we came home and had tons of fun.

Then Chloe went to bed and it was time for my favorite guilty pleasure: The Bachelor was on, and many sweets were consumed by Mom, Jamie and myself.

A good day. :)

Superbowl Sunday

2012-02-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

Mike and Chloe came down to my mom's on Sunday to watch the Superbowl. My family watches it every year and it's hilarious...especially with Jen. She is really into football and whether something goes right or wrong, she lets you know. :)

Anyway, it was nice to be with family and just lounge around and watch the hilarious commercials. My favorite was a toss up between the Doritos one with the dog and the tax one with the little boy who had to go to the bathroom. SO funny.

After dinner and catching up with everyone, we headed home.

It was nice to be around my family. I miss them every day.

Changin' it up...a LITTLE.

2012-02-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

My roots have been AWFUL for awhile now and I desperately needed them done. I set up an appointment with Katie on Saturday morning (Feb. 4). I didn't want to do anything drastic, but I needed a bit of a change, so I had her do the normal highlights and then put in some red. :)

Blue steel, baby.

Ta-da! I LOVE it! Such a fun color for Valentine's Day. :)

Thanks again, Katie! :)

Gillian's Baby Shower

2012-02-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

I feel like I haven't blogged in a year. It seems like nothing major has happened but I have a zillion pictures...so then I get freaked out that I am missing lots of stuff I should be posting about.

Oh, the stressful life of a so-so blogger. :)

Anyway, Chloe is just getting cuter and cuter and I take so many pictures of her it's insane. I can't express how much I love her. She's the BEST.

And she sleeps a lot, which is super adorable.

On February 3, I packed up and headed down to Utah County for the weekend. I had a bunch of different things going on in SF, so I figured I would just stay with Mom so I didn't have to drive back and forth from T-ville.

I brought Chloe with me and we met Mike at The Pizza Factory in Lindon. It was awesome to be out as a little family. I LOVE mine. :)

Afterward, Mike took Chloe home and I went to a baby shower for Gillian Mohlman.

She is seriously SUCH an adorable pregnant woman. It isn't fair. Every time she posts an updated belly picture on Facebook I can't believe she can look so good while being in the late stages of pregnancy. I want to know her secret. :)

Her shower theme was adorable and I got her some baby clothes. We played a few games and I was terrible at them...but hey, I got Bingo after a few other people and still got a prize! 10 points for Gryffindor!

Another high point was seeing lots of old friends. I hadn't seen some of the girls since high school and it's crazy to see them married off and having babies! Then again, I'm married with a baby, so I guess it's equally crazy for all of us. :)

SO much fun!

Afterward I headed to Mom's and pretty much went straight to bed. It was a great day. :)

Jazz vs. Jimmer

2012-02-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

Mike and I went to the Jazz game on Saturday and it was so much fun! Before we headed to dinner, we went to The Oxford Shop and got Mike a couple of pairs of new Sunday shoes. They look AMAZING! After that, we went to JC Penney and Mike got Chloe two dresses and some pajamas. He is such an adorable dad...he kept pointing things out and saying, "Wouldn't she look so cute in that?" I love my baby daddy. :)

Ken took us all out to Sizzler and the food was amazing, as always. I love going to dinner with my family. We are always the loudest and craziest people in the room. :)

After dinner, we headed to the game and it was AWESOME. It was definitely not a Jazz vs. Kings game, but a Jazz vs. Jimmer game! Every time Jimmer had the ball, the crowd went WILD. It was hard to tell if it was cheering or booing...but we decided it was mostly booing, because we were in Ute territory.

Jamie had a bit too much cotton candy. :)

The energy in the arena was insane. It was so much fun to yell and scream and cheer for whoever had the ball. There was a group of little boys behind us who kept chanting, "C-J-My-Uhls" for C.J. Miles. It was hilarious, because their voices were so beyond high! :)

I've never cared about Jimmer either way, but the reaction to him was too funny to ignore. There were chants of "Jimmer sucks" competing with "We want Jimmer!" I've decided to like him, since I think it's rude to tell someone they suck.

Ken is a hardcore BYU/Jimmer fan, so most of the angry yells when Jimmer didn't get the ball were coming from him. :)

After the game, Mike and I decided to take further advantage of our night out and went to Baskin Robbins. It was DELISH. We don't have ice cream a lot, so I underestimated how rich all the goodness would be. And I've also decided that bananas need to ALWAYS be in ice cream.

Look at this insane amount of fatty goodness!

We got home and Mike played some games with Nate and Jessica & I talked about LOTS of stuff.

It was SUCH a fun day! We love going out on dates and it doesn't happen as often as it should.

I think my resolution should be to change that. :)

'Till We Meet Again

2012-01-30T19:37:00.000-08:00

My Aunt Diane passed away a week ago. It hasn't hit me yet, but death doesn't usually break into my emotions until a couple of weeks--or months--afterward. Diane was my dad's sister and I have a ton of awesome memories of her. She was always so happy to see me and whenever I would go to her house after school, we would talk for hours.

Our families had a falling out after my grandpa and my dad died, but I am so grateful for the many happy memories I can hang onto. I'm sure Diane is much happier now, especially since she's no longer sick and she gets to be with her parents, sister and brother.

* * *

Diane Nielsen of Spanish Fork, UT was born October 16, 1961 and passed away January 24, 2012 at the age of 50 at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, UT surrounded by family.

Diane grew up and spent her life in Spanish Fork, UT. She graduated from Spanish Fork High School. For most of her life she was deeply involved in the health care industry being able to complete her CNA license and help care for troubled youth, and the elderly.
She loved to read on her down time, take long walks through her neighborhood, and spend time with her children and grandchildren. Her grandchildren were her greatest pride and her family was always the most important aspect of her life.
Over the last decade of her life she struggled with illness that kept her from work, but despite her difficult situation she did her best to overcome it and live her life to its fullest. She strongly believed in staying true to yourself and finding courage in desperate situations.
Diane is predeceased by her father William A. Nielsen, mother Jane Diamond Nielsen, brother Jeffrey C. Nielsen (wife Janice Nielsen) and sister Teresa Nielsen. She is survived by her two children son Cody V. Nielsen (wife Cara Nielsen) and Alyse Neibaur (husband Shawn Neibaur) and her sister Patricia Wilson along with 3 beautiful grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Her family would like to give great thanks to the staff at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center who helped her remain comfortable and gave support to her family who waited with her until her last moments. We would also like to thank the Neibaur family (Dale and Teresa) for being so supportive in our time of need.
Graveside services will be held on Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:00 Noon at Spanish Fork City Cemetery, 420 South 400 East, Spanish Fork, Utah. Family and friends may visit at Walker Funeral Home, 187 S. Main Street, Spanish Fork from 10:45-11:45 a.m. prior to services at the cemetery.

* * *

The viewing was on Friday morning at the Walker Family Mortuary and while it was heartbreaking, it was peaceful. Diane looked beautiful and I really enjoyed the video tribute of her life. Mike wasn't able to make it down for the viewing, but he met us all at the cemetery for the internment service.

It was very sweet and heartfelt and there were memories and last words spoken. I felt like I needed to get up and say something, and by the time I got to the mic I was a blubbering mess. I basically said what I've written above, but a lot less articulately.

After the services, we went to my mom's house to have lunch with the family.

Mike wasn't able to stay long because he had to get back to work, but I was so glad he was there to support me. He only met Diane once, a year ago, but even though he didn't really know her, he was there for me. I love my man.

Chloe and Uncle Cory.

After Mike left, I stayed at the house with Chloe for awhile and actually fell asleep for awhile. We left around five-thirty and then I realized that I had no gas in the car and my debit card was missing. I called Mike and he came to rescue us in Provo. He filled up my car and then we went to In & Out, parked next to each other with the windows rolled down and had a dinner drive-in date. :)

When we got home, Nate & Jessica arrived and we played Just Dance 3 and Wipeout on the Kinect.

It was a very emotional day for me and I'm sure the moments will continue for me. After all, the Nielsens should have their own commission from all the graves in the Spanish Fork Cemetery.

Luckily we have the Gospel, and I know I will see all my family members again.

Until next time,

Lunch with Grandma

2012-01-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

On January 25, Mom and I decided that a lunch date was long overdue. She works in South Jordan, only like, ten miles away from where I am, so it was a no brainer that we have frequent lunches. :) It took me forever to find the place, and while it was an extremely frustrating situation, I eventually found the Village Inn and got to spend at least a half an hour with my Dear Motha. :)

I am having serious Nielsen withdrawals. It was SO good to see my Mom! Chloe was ornery because she missed her nap, but she got to snuggle with her grandma for awhile, so it was definitely worth it. :)

My mom is amazing. She is my best friend and any time I get to spend with her is awesome.

Chloe & I will be setting up another lunch with you soon, mama, so keep your calendar open! :)

Chloe Catch Up

2012-01-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been crazy. There are some days where I am going nonstop and others where Chloe and I are in our pajamas all day, watching Gossip Girl.

In some news, Chloe's shoes struck again and rubbed her skin off all the way around her foot. In all honesty, the shoes don't bother me at all except when they hurt her. It's so frustrating, because she has to have them on 24/7, but having them on is just making her wound worse. Ugh.

We dealt with that for awhile, but now it's completely healed up and all is well.

I missed her appointment because they never called to remind me (I asked them to and it just didn't happen) and so the next time for Dr. Faux to see her isn't until the end of February. We are now alternating the days when she has shoes on and when she gets to have them off.

***

The ward is nice here. We definitely miss our Spanish Fork ward, but the people are nice. There are some other families who have had their married kids move in with them, but the other day a ward member saw Mike taking out the garbage and yelled, "Hey Mike, are you still married?"

The answer is yes, by the way. :)

Chloe on her first day in the new ward:

Later, Chloe was exhausted from all the people in Church telling her how cute she was. :)

Boomer was cleaning out his closet and he found Mike's teddy bear from when he was a baby. The hilarious thing is that the bear is a girl! Lol

A bit embarrassing, but awesome as well.

Chloe has starting eating solids and is doing SO well! So far she loves squash and sweet potatoes, she tolerates carrots and green beans, and HATES peas (but I make her eat them anyway). We don't have a highchair yet, so we just put her in her bouncer and hope she doesn't start bouncing when the spoon is going in her mouth. :)

Mike had the idea to put try out the jumper, and Chloe loves it! We have to put a wooden block underneath her so her legs don't dangle, but other than that it's perfect. She literally jumps and jumps until she passes out.

Jamie took some pictures of Chloe when we were down for her Welcome, Baby! appointment and I love them. How adorable is she? Oh my gosh, I LOVE HER.

Until next time,

8 months already?

2012-01-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

Chloe girl had her Welcome, Baby! appointment on January 10 and she is doing really well. The visit wore her out, but she did great with all of the sitting up and rolling tests, although her lazy eye is coming back. :(

8 Month Stats:

-15 lbs. 8 oz

-Length: 25 1/2 inches

-Head circ.: 43 cm.

Some of the goals we are going to work on before the appointment next month are:

-Get her eye checked out

-Practice kneeling

-Playing with blocks

-G, B, D sounds

Jamie let Chloe and I hang out for most of the day and it was so nice to be home. I loved growing up there and I miss it every day. Someday, when Mom sells the house, I will have a breakdown. Seriously, I will cry my eyes out.

After dinner, Mike and I went to our apt. in SF to clean it out. We were there for a few hours while Jamie watched the baby and it looked so bare and sad with nothing in it. Oh man, I miss that crazy place. Anyway, it was a good day and I'm glad my baby is growing strong and that we're onto a new chapter with a new place to live.

The Big Move

2012-01-19T16:44:00.000-08:00

Where to begin.

On January fourth, I began packing. Not a ton of stuff; just the things that I knew we wouldn't need over the next 48 hours. Then, when Mike came home, we started packing for real. I knew we had a lot of stuff after three years and a baby...but it wasn't the amount of stuff, it was figuring out exactly how to pack all of it.

Chloe was a little exhausted after working so hard. ;)

Then we decided to watch Star Trek. Not a good plan, since we both fell asleep and it was only by some miracle that I woke up at four a.m. in full-panic mode. We started throwing stuff together and then it was time to feed the baby. Apparently I was a little tired.

It took FOREVER for the U-Haul guy to give us our truck, so we were running about an hour later than we wanted to be. Chris came over to help Mike with the big furniture, and then Jamie stopped by to pick him up and Hunter was a big helper as well. :)

Kelly was able to stop by and help out for awhile too. It was nice to have people come by to help, thanks everyone!

We worked hard all day. Seriously. All. Day.

Things eventually started truckin' along. Bwha.

For our last Spanish Fork hurrah, Mike brought home food from The Pizza Factory. In a way, it's a good thing we're moving away...because we'll eat wonderful, fattening food a lot less now.

I miss this place. SO MUCH. I won't miss our neighbor getting drunk with her two ex-husbands and teenagers or all the cops coming over all the time to stop our other neighbors from stabbing strangers, but I will miss our awesome landlord, Rolf, and the fact that it was SF. I love my town and that I lived so close to my family. Ugh, I'm going to miss them.

Yes, we decided to bring up the ol' Neon. I think it's pretty much on its last legs, but Mike is too much in love with it to let it go.

Jamie watched Chloe so we could get the packing done without having to pause for feedings, etc. Thanks SO MUCH, Jame, we appreciate it so much! It took us all day, but eventually we got everything loaded up and headed to Taylorsville. Mike left before I did so I could stop by and get the baby, and after I talked to Mom for awhile, I headed up after him.

We have so much stuff everywhere, but it will get done...eventually. :)

The next two pictures are of our bedroom:

Our living room/kitchen:

Well, we're in.

Now the real work begins.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, some of my posts are officially out of order. Anyway, our New Year's Eve wasn't all fun and games. In fact, the only game we played was clean-up-your-future-living-space. Nate & Jessica came down and Dani was around somewhere, and we moved stuff into the storage unit, came back to the house and repeated the process.

We are moving into 200 less square feet, but there are pros to this whole thing. Cheaper rent and Chloe gets to see her Beach grandparents more often. :)

I think these two could be twins. Look at their expressions!

The newlyweds. Gross. ;)

Grandpa & Chloe

Mike was having a hard time breathing during the whole weekend and at around ten o'clock on New Year's, he started sounding terrible. We had to take him to the emergency room to get some breathing treatments and medications.

They put his IV in and I almost passed out. He is unbelievable...he said, in a super calm voice, "Hold on, let me calm down because I'm a bit keyed up." Then he took one deep breath and he didn't even flinch when they stuck the needle in his hand! Ugh, egh guh!

He looks way too relaxed, right?

We got back after midnight with the diagnosis that he has acute bronchitis and a flare up of his cold-induced asthma. He's got a buttload of medication, oh joy.

We left the next morning...we're getting closer to moving in!

Encore Party

2012-01-18T22:29:00.000-08:00

On January 3, we had an Encore party at the Russell house. It was nice to get away from all the packing and cleaning and just hang out with old friends.

It's crazy how old we are getting! Many of us are married or engaged and in a month or so, there will be a total of three babies, all girls. They should be singers...no pressure, Chloe. :)

I love my girl and her ginormous bow.

Bonding with Mady. :)

Ze babies.

~Encore 2007~

We missed you, Brandyn & Liz! (Brent was there too, but he escaped before the peektures.)

Mr. Lunt is a stud, that's all.

Brooklyn and itty bitty Reagan.

Me & Jena

It was SUCH a fun night! Lots of singing, laughing, eating and just catching up. I'm grateful to have such good friends and I love that my family was able to come with me. :)

Dinner with the Yaksich's

2012-01-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

On January 2, we went over to the Yaksich's for dinner. Hence the title.

Abraham Yaksich is Mike's manager at Marketexture and the two get along famously. Abraham's wife, Jolene, was really nice and their three kids were really cute. :)

Chloe was loud and crazy as usual. I love her so much.

We had an AMAZING meatloaf with potatoes and green beans. Seriously, SO good! After we cleaned up, we sat down and played Ticket to Ride. It was so funny; almost every time it was Abraham's turn, Mike would say, "It's your turn, Abraham." Love it. Mike ended up winning (surprise, surprise) and then they gave us a tour of the house. It's awesome! They have redone so many things and it looks great. I'm super jealous. :)

Thanks again, Abraham & Jolene! We had a blast. :)

Dec. 29

2012-01-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

We went to get Chloe's casts off FOR GOOD. It was SUCH a great feeling to know that they were a-comin' off! Of course, I say that knowing there is a slight chance that she might need them again...but I am trying to be positive. :)

We started off the day playing, because that's Chloe's favorite thing to do. And of course, playing requires looking adorable. Check.

I love this picture because it looks like she got caught! Lol

We headed over to Provo around 8:30 and arrived just in time. We were taken back rather quickly and Chloe was in a very good mood.

Dazzlin'.

They took off her casts and she was, once again, terrified of the saw. She did a lot better than last time, but she still panicked. Poor little girl. As soon as the sawing was done, she was all smiles and trying to roll off the table. :)

Dr. Faux came in to check on her foot and he said that he has never seen such a perfect correction! :) He said that one more month with shoes and she should be done with everything! SO EXCITING!

Ouch! :(

After the appointment, we went home to get the bar that goes to her shoes and then back to Provo to pick up new shoes. After getting home from that, I checked the shoes again and noticed that they gave me the wrong ones, so I had to go back to Provo AGAIN. Wow. Talk about frustrating. I rewarded myself with a McDonald's chicken sandwich for lunch, because at the rate all this was happening, I didn't have time to make anything. :)

After we finally got home for real, Mom came to visit "her baby." It is going to be so hard to leave Spanish Fork because we won't see my family as often...I am really really really going to miss them.

For the rest of the day, we just hung out and enjoyed a Christmas movie or two. I am not ready to take down our tree yet...I love it too much.

Chloe has been enjoying her shoes because they help her to stay over once she rolls. She is constantly holding them straight above her and then throwing them down onto the ground. Apparently this is a fun new game. :)

She also gets too distracted by the shiny bar to practice sitting up properly, but it's so adorable that I don't care. :)

Our new tradition

2012-01-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

This year, through my seester, I ordered a family picture ornament. I thought it was important because 1) Chloe is with us now and 2) we all look awesome. :) It didn't arrive until a few days after Christmas, but Mike and I have decided to get one every year, and eventually we will have a literal family tree! I'm super clever, I know.

Anyways, we LOVE IT and I think this will be a fun way to reminisce about our little family every holiday season and to watch us grow. :)

The 26th

2011-12-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

We went to Mike's parents' on the day after Christmas to celebrate with them. The Christmas tree is in what will be our bedroom, just a fun fact. :)

It was really fun. We had breakfast and opened gifts. Gary got me the second book in The Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Prince. I am SO excited to read that after The Clockwork Angel! We also got some neat camping stuff and Jessica gave me some awesome blocks with our last name on it! LOVE them so much and I will post a picture soon. :) Also, she gave us TimTams. If you don't know what they are, you need to find some at Smith's and eat them. Now.

Aunt Jessica also gave Chloe the CUTEST outfit ever...I love it so much! It's incredibly fuzzy and adorable. The best kind of baby clothes. :)

After gifts, we went down to Mapleton to visit Mike's aunt and uncle. It was fun to meet some of his cousins in real life, and not just from blogs. :) We were able to chat and Cheryl gave us an AWESOME Campbell's cookbook and a book full of Church pictures for lessons, etc. Thanks so much!

We went back up to Taylorsville, had a wonderful dinner and then played some games. Firstly, Split the Ward and then Ticket to Ride. It was REALLY fun...so much laughing and yelling! :)
Thanks so much to everyone for the gifts and the company, we loved it!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas was wonderful, as it always is. The kids woke everyone up at six, including Chloe--who was just glancing all around, wondering what was going on. :)

Oh, the anticipation! :)

It was great to see how excited all the kids were! They were laughing, squealing and there were plenty of excited exclamations. :) Even Chloe was happy to be awake!

Uncle Mike helping Jagger open a present.

Chloe was a little terrified of the paper, but she got over it. :)

This gift from Mike was something I had no clue about. It's my favorite thing he got me!

RED BOOTS!!!

I have a really hard time finding good shoes because of my feet, and I have this pair in black. They are so comfortable and they don't have heels...the perfect combination!

Mike also got me The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I have been dying to read it for awhile now...she also wrote The Mortal Instruments: City of Glass, etc. Check them out, they are awesome. :)

I got Mike a movie and some new jeans.

And his FAVORITE game ever, The Construction Game!

Chloe got some rather darling clothes, and while she might not appreciate them now, she will when she looks back at pictures and realizes how well-dressed she was. :)

Total chaos! 'Twas great!

Toward the end, Baby Girl was pretty tired. Christmas is a whole lotta overwhelming for a seven month old. :)

After all the gifts were opened and we had Mom's AMAZING pancakes, we all got ready to go to Church. The program was good and Gavin enjoyed playing with Chloe...even if she did steal his mom away for awhile. :)

We came home from Church and lounged for pretty much the whole day. Played with presents, read books, ate lunch and dinner, and lounged some more. It was nice to just have a day to relax, especially since Mike has been working his butt off at Honey-Baked Ham and Marketexture.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve Party

2011-12-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

First of all, our biggest present was having Chloe be here this year to celebrate her first Christmas. :)

I love Christmas so much. This year, it was Mom's turn to have everyone over and it was so much fun!

We had dinner at around six and out of nowhere, my aunt and uncle and cousins showed up! Tom, Gayle, Jenna & Kory and DJ. It was so good to see them! :)

After a delectable dinner, we all headed into the living room for the Christmas Eve Program. Elisha planned everything and it was awesome! The games were the Marshmallow Relay and the Cookie Game. The cookie game was where you put a cookie on your forehead and you had to get it in your mouth using ONLY the muscles in your face. Mike won. Bwha.

Kaylee hid under the table and was stealing fallen marshmallows for awhile before anyone noticed. Sneaky little thing. :)

I went up against Mike, and Jake was trying to pump me up.

I actually kicked Mike's butt. It was awesome. :)

Four generations. :)

We watched the Nativity after ice cream and games, and then Jamie and I sang Mary, Did You Know?

After the kids received their Christmas pajamas, they got ready for bed and the adults stayed up and played Werewolf. I love that game. :)

No one got to bed until around three in the morning, but it was well worth it. :)

TOMORROW! :D

My Best Friend

2011-12-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

My adorable, awesome dog, Killer, passed away on December 17.

She had congestive heart failure, a recurring respiratory infection and some of the discs in her spine had fused together. She has been staying with Kelly and Jen and so they took her to the vet and had her put down.

I remember joking with friends for years about how all you have to do to cry on demand is to poke yourself in the eye and say that your dog died.

But you know what?

I'm devastated.

She was the best. I remember she was so tiny when dad brought her back with him after a run to the store in Ophir. We were camping for hunting season and there were free puppies. Killer looked just like our dog at the time, Tip, but obviously much tinier. Jake put her in his hat and she actually had room to walk around. Dad fell in love and so did we.

For awhile, I tried to get everyone to call her Lady. I was eight and convinced it was the best name for her, because we couldn't decide. For the longest time, she was Puppy.

Until we found out that Cory had been training her to respond to "Killer." He told us a few days before he left for his mission, so she became Killer.

It wasn't so fun when she would bark and chase after little kids, because obviously we'd yell her name, and I'm sure they heard, "Kill her!"

I used to read to her all the time and she wouldn't even squirm. She'd just sit on her haunches in my lap and listen. When I'd bring home kittens (no idea why, I don't like cats), she would protect them like they were her own. I would come home from school and she would be sleeping on the porch with a kitten sleeping on her back. It was adorable.

Killer was a special dog, and was almost killed a number of times, but knew we needed her. She was run over by a station wagon right outside our house, attacked by a stray pitbull--she only survived because my dad killed it--and fell out of my dad's truck going 75 mph on the freeway.

She was a tough little pup who thought she was much bigger than she was. :)

I could go on and on with cute stories.

My point is, I love her and I miss her.

But now my dad has his dog back. :)

Mrs. Jennifer Hawkley

2011-12-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

One of my girls, Jenny, got married on Tuesday and I am SO happy for her! I was able to attend the sealing and it was the sweetest thing I have ever seen...they didn't look away from each other once, and both of them were beaming! The sealer (also Jenny's grandpa) was both funny and reverent. :)

Waiting for the newlyweds to make their appearance.

Best friends! :)

Mr. & Mrs. Gavin Hawkley

After much cheering and picture-taking, we waited for Alishia to finish the videography and then headed to the luncheon. The food was amazing and I couldn't get over how gorgeous Jenny was. Seriously, Gavin is one lucky man! :)

I love Jenny's mom. She rules.

Our table was, of course, the best. Our hilarity knows no bounds.

Mckell and I in the girls' bathroom. Why not?

After the luncheon, I headed to Mom's to pick up Chloe, but instead watched Jamie's kids so she could run some errands. Also I got dinner. Win.

I got home when Mike did, around 7:25, when I double-checked Jenny's announcement and realized that it had started at SIX, not SEVEN! We booked it over to Salem and I am so glad we did. I was planning on going over at eight, and I would have missed the whole thing!

Jenny dancing with her daddy. :)

Chloe dancing with her daddy. :)

SO FREAKING CUTE.

Aunt Amy.

They were way too sweet with each other.

My cute family. :)

AJA

I am SO happy for Jenny & Gavin...they are adorable together.

Congratulations, you guys! Marriage is hard work but it will always be worth it. :)

Dancing and Wrapping

2011-12-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Mike, Chloe and I went to Savannah and Brooklyn's Christmas dance performance. It was in a little reception venue in Payson and they did great! No lies, Savannah has RHYTHM. :)

After seeing them dance, we went over to Mom's and while Mike and Chloe watched the game upstairs, Mom, Jamie and I wrapped presents until late.

I definitely appreciate the fact that I can wrap things right in front of Chloe and have her not know what's going on. It rules and I will treasure it. :)

Only a few days left until Christmas!

Annual Christmas Movie

2011-12-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

Every year since before I can remember, we have watched a Christmas movie as a family on the Sunday before Christmas. This year we watched Christmas in Connecticut, a very cheesy but cute movie made in the early 90's.

We missed Jake & Megan but it was still really fun and crazy with all the kids running around. :) It's only going to get crazier, and I LOVE it! :)

Movin' time

2011-12-21T15:40:00.000-08:00

I haven't really mentioned why we're moving on my blog.

Well, the biggest reason is that we'll save a lot of money if we move as opposed to staying here in Spanish Fork, although we wish we could stay. We have loved being in SF. Our ward is our favorite by far and we feel very much a part of it. I love it here because it's where I grew up and I've got most of my family really close by. I go over to Jamie's/Mom's all the time.

I am really going to miss it. Words can't express.

But you move on when you're this young. Mike is going to the U for his master's program and so we are moving up to the Salt Lake Valley a little sooner than we planned.

I constantly feel the need to explain our decision or defend it, but I'm done with that.

We're moving in with Mike's parents. We've been going through their two living rooms in the basement--VERY full of storage stuff--and cleaning them out so we can live in them. We've only been able to go up a few times and it's been a lot of work.

Below is a picture of what will be our living room/kitchen area.

The room with the stove will be our bedroom. Both rooms are a lot bigger than they seem in these pictures, just FYI.

In addition to saving money, we will be helping Gary with Kathy. Her Alzheimer's is getting worse and so part of us living there will be to help her out. It's going to be a big change in every aspect, but I just have to keep telling myself that it won't be forever. We'll be able to save up money to pay off debt and eventually save up for a home.

So there you have it. We're moving in a few weeks and while I really don't want to, we believe this is a good decision. Like I said, it won't be forever and we would both LOVE to come back to Spanish. At least we don't have to worry about packing through the holidays. That is definitely a plus.

TRIO Christmas Party

2011-12-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Mike is a tutor at UVU for TRIO and they had their Christmas Party on the sixteenth. It was held in the mansion Alumni Center and it was gorgeous! They had it all decked out and it was fun to get out of the house, dress up a little and show off our adorable baby...who got too hot in her adorable green coat and headband and so is pictured in just a onesie. I promise I dress my child appropriately, I promise.

See? Cute clothes are on the armchair! :)

I love her face. Even when it judges me.

I know, a million pictures of me and Chloe...Mike loves to take pictures of his girls. :)

After dinner and a big picture of all the TRIO employees, staff and family, we all sat down to do the White Elephant gift exchange. Mike picked silly putty. No surprise there. Chloe fell asleep on my lap...I LOVE my little girl! She's so sweet.

Merry Christmas UVU! Thanks for Christmas Break so I can hang out with my husband. :)

MoTab Christmas Concert

2011-12-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

Alishia & Tyler invited Mike and I to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert on Dec. 15. It was so nice to spend an evening out of the house with friends.

Before we headed up to Temple Square, we stopped for dinner at Cafe Zupa's.

We have never been there before, and it was ahmazing. Seriously. It was really good food for the price and it didn't leave us feeling like we ate something super greasy and unhealthy, like a lot of fast food places. Loved it.

The Russells

After almost getting in two car wrecks and getting lost all around Salt Lake, we finally found parking a few blocks away from the Conference Center. We didn't have time to see the lights before the concert, but we got there just in time to find our seats and get situated.

The concert was awesome. The choir was, as always, phenomenal and the two special guests were Jane Seymour and a baritone named Nathan Gunn. Both were spectacular and we really enjoyed it. Since seeing it, we all decided that my mom is the American version of Jane Seymour: classy, beautiful and a good storyteller. Right?

After the concert we went and looked at the lights and wandered around.

After a little while, we ran into some friends from our Snow College days, Thomas & Melinda. We love these two so much and it was so great to see them and be able to catch up. :)

I loved seeing a lot of different friends, including an old friend, Daniel Howell, from junior high/high school. It's awesome to see people you haven't seen in a long time...I'm a little enthusiastic when I do, so sorry if anyone's ears burst from my high-pitched frequency. :)

We had such a fun time with the Russells. The whole night was great...thanks again for hanging out with us! We love our friends. :)

Crazy, Stupid, Love

2011-12-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Mike & I rented this movie on Dec. 14 and we liked it. If we ever buy it, we'll use ClearPlay, but overall it was a very realistic, cute movie with a very good message.

It was nice to snuggle up to Mike and just be together. Plus, we both think Steve Carell is hilarious, so that is always a plus.

And now a couple of cute pics. :)

Follow-up to Surgery

2011-12-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

Chloe had her appointment to check up on her surgeries and change casts on Dec. 13.

When Brian, one of the doctors, took off her casts, she FREAKED. It was so sad, because she looked terrified and just screamed because the saw was so loud. Poor girl.

Then, once the casts were off, the right cast was caked with blood. My poor baby! :(

Ouch!

As soon as those casts were off and her feet were cleaned, she was a happy little girl again. She kept kicking her feet all over the place and laughing to herself. She is the CUTEST! Dr. Faux checked out her feet and said that she is right on schedule, so we are SO happy! The surgeries were a success and that is all that matters. :)

When Chip came in to help Brian recast, Chloe was such a little flirt! She kept grinning at him and then she would look away and giggle. Mike and I are in trouble. :)

Because of how tiny she is, they decided to do both casts in plaster, so we didn't get Christmas-colored ones. It's okay, though, because Brian gave us some green coban to wrap around them like candy canes! Woot.

She gets these casts off on Dec. 29 and then she goes back into the shoes. Although I don't know how long they'll stay on, because she is a squirmy little chick. :)

Babysitting some children

2011-12-18T12:36:00.001-08:00

On Dec. 12, Jamie had to take Skyla to the doctor and so Chloe and I went to watch the boys! Skyla was having severe pains in her legs and couldn't walk, but luckily they found out it was just a viral infection that was on the downhill slope.

I love babysitting Hunter & Jagger...they are such sweet boys and are always so concerned if Chloe is the slightest bit sad! So cute. :)

We're glad Skyla is better and loved seeing cousins. :)

SCERA/Red Lobster Date

2011-12-16T21:14:00.000-08:00

Oh, how we love the Annual Nielsen Christmas Dinner...we look forward to it every year. Seriously, it's the best. I won't lie--it was strange to need to get a babysitter for the first time. :) Thanks to Stan & Katie for helping us out!

Red Lobster was, as always, delectable. I could barely finish half of my meal...it was so filling and wonderful! I loved being with all my sibs/in-laws and Mom & Ken. My family is so awesome and we always have a grande ol' time together. :)

The gang. :)

After dinner, we went to the SCERA theatre to see The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. At first I was so confused, because I'd never even heard about it, but it had a good Christmas message. I also got to see Mady, one of my friends from high school, so that was fun. :)

Most of us parked right out front, because we rule.

Mom, thank you SO MUCH for taking us all out! Mike & I are already counting down until next year. :)

After waking up exhausted after a night filled with hilarity and food, I went to teach the YW one last time before we move. They are sad to see us go, but hey, you do what you have to do. I have LOVED our ward here in Spanish Fork. Everyone there has been amazing and we really are sad to go.

After Church...and yes, I took this picture because my side ponytail was rockin'.

Joy School Christmas Party

2011-12-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 8, I went over to Jamie's to help with the Joy School Christmas Party. The kids are all so cute and it was fun to watch them do all the activities!

Like making snowflakes...

And playing Pin the Nose on Rudolph...

...all whilst Chloe dozed in the other room...

The kids colored pictures of Santa, had a gift exchange, and made Reindeer Food.

Chloe and I stayed for the day and it was fun to hang out with my seester and her kids.

Thanks for having us!

Psych!

2011-12-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 7, Nurse Jennifer came to make sure Chloe is doing well. We love Nurse Jennifer, and luckily I can bring Chloe down to my mom's in SF so we don't have to change nurses when we move to SLC. :)

So far, so good. Chloe is happy, healthy and exactly where she should be! I love her so much. I'm constantly overwhelmed with my love for her. She's awesome.

After Nurse Jennifer left, Amy came over for a Psych! marathon. It's seriously the funniest show ever. I love it. We watched a bunch of episodes before she left, and it was so fun to have her over. I feel like I haven't seen her in ages...thanks for coming, Amy! "You know that's right!" :)

P.S. I can't find the pics of Amy & Chloe anywhere...I have searched and searched, and they are nowhere to be found! :(

I LOVE decorating for Christmas!

2011-12-16T11:12:00.000-08:00

I won't lie, I almost didn't decorate this year.

We are moving to Taylorsville soon, and I didn't know that I wanted to set up all this stuff because it was more I would need to pack later.

Well, my inner Grinch was crushed about two weeks ago when Chloe was sad and wouldn't stop crying unless she watched me walk all around the room. At this point, I figured I should do some decorating to distract her. It worked and I am SO glad I did it! :)

I love our tree. Sure, the decorations are scanty and not super professional-looking, but it's our tree and I love it. The horse in the stocking is what my mom gave me last year for Chloe. We obviously didn't know she was a little girl then, so Mom got a stocking with a B on it for Beach Baby. :)

Oh, and we've since added presents that are actually wrapped under the tree.

This Christmas calendar has been in my family ever since I can remember. I was always so excited to see the star move across the days, because it obviously meant Christmas was coming! My mom gave all the kids a bunch of her old decorations and I am so glad I have this one! So many memories. :)

The Merry Christmas sign is also from my mom.

As is this WW sign. :)

I am SO excited for Christmas! I love everything about this season. People are kinder, the weather is crisp, the colors are bright and the world is much more peaceful.

Merry Christmas soon!

Jenny's Bridal Shower/Movie Night

2011-12-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

Jenny is getting married in just a couple of weeks and I am SO excited for her! I met her fiance, Gavin, at Alishia's wedding and they seem like a perfect fit. :)

Her bridal shower was this past Saturday and it was so much fun! I love getting together with all m'girls and with all the marriage and love that has been happening lately, I see them a lot more than I used to.

Mckell & Jenny

Alishia & Jenny

I got Jenny certain Santa-themed items, and I have very hilarious pictures of her and said items, but out of respect for my sweet, shy friend, I won't post them. You're welcome, Jenny. :)

Ze girls

Gavin & Jenny

We did the game where she has to answer correctly or else eat gum...except we used marshmallows. :) It was crazy, because most of the time the answers Jenny gave were verbatim to what Gavin had said. These two are definitely made for each other.

Congrats, Jenny!

Two more weeks! :D
After the bridal shower, a bunch of us went to the dollar theatre to see The Help. I LOVED IT. It was heartbreaking and hilarious and I will definitely own it someday. :) Since Michelle drove with me (in Mike's Jeep, with a brand new clutch...LOTS of dying going on!), after the movie we picked up some pizzas and went back to my place because, as usual, our boys were hanging out. :) The four of us played Super Mario Bros on the Wii. It was so funny--four people trying to pass the same level is NOT the best plan! Michelle kept killing everyone. Thanks for that, buddy. ;)
All in all, SUCH a fun day! I love my friends. :)

Recovering nicely :)

2011-12-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

For the first two days after she was home, Chloe was a bit achy and we had to give her some medicine and make sure her feet were elevated. I think the meds helped her sleep because otherwise she would have easily kicked the ice pack off her feet.

The process of bedtime:

Chloe is doing SO WELL. Constantly smiling and being as crazy as always! :) She was a little achy today, but she took a nap and seems to be doing better. It doesn't help that she is constantly banging her casts together. She thinks it's hilarious.

She has a follow-up appointment next week, so here's to hoping everything heals exactly how it should. :)

Chloe's Second Surgery

2011-12-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

We waited for three weeks before Chloe's second surgery was finally approved through Central Utah Surgical Center, and it eventually got scheduled for Dec. 2 at 7:30 a.m. We had to get there an hour early, which meant waking up my sweet girl at 5:45 a.m.

Apparently she was super excited to get this over with. :)

That is, until after we picked up Grandma and arrived in the waiting room of the surgical center. Then she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

I filled out all the paperwork and we waited for a little while longer. Luckily Chloe isn't normally awake until 7:30 or 8:00, so she was happy and not yet hungry.

We went back to get a super awesome hospital gown for ze tiny girl.

And once we received it, we were led to a bathroom to change her. A BATHROOM. There wasn't even a Koala changing table! In the words of Mom: "Are you kidding me?"

After a nurse finally got a tag on my girl's ticklish foot, we were free to start a-changin'.

On the floor of a hospital bathroom.

Just imagine the types of nasty bodily fluids that have seen that floor.

Bleach better work.

Her gown was a little big...

Mostly Chloe licked her grandma's shirt. Whatev.

For those of you who don't know, Chloe had to have two surgeries on her right foot. One was to elongate the tendon, and another was an Achilles tendon release. As you can see in the picture below, her foot was starting to tighten and move inward again, so Dr. Faux is repeating the Achilles release and adding the elongation of the tendon.

We were both a little tired...and nervous.

But soon Grandma had us laughing.

We waited in the Toy Room for awhile, trying to keep Chloe happy. She was starting to realize she was hungry, so we had to keep her busy or else she would get a bit whiny.

My sleepy girl. :)

Grandpa Ken came to see her before she went in for the surgery, and she was sure glad to see him! :)

Mike had school, but he was able to make it shortly after they took Chloe back. The nurses kept saying how adorable she was; apparently she smiled and talked all the way to the operating room. That's my girl!

The surgery was only about 45 minutes, and since Dr. Faux casted both feet to keep the left forming correctly as well, it took just over an hour before we could go back and see her.

I won't lie.

It was awful seeing her try to come out of the anesthesia. She kept trying to cry but she was so exhausted she couldn't...but luckily her daddy was there to make her feel better.

These photos make me so grateful to have such a wonderful, supportive and loving husband. This man loves this little girl more than anyone knows. She's his world.

Daddy had to leave sooner than he wanted to, so I took over as the comforter. As soon as he walked out the door, she started crying and fussing. Her cry was the most heartbreaking sound I have ever heard. This girl loves her daddy.

Look how sad she is. :(

Luckily the nurse came soon and gave her some medication and then Chloe was sleeping peacefully...in all sorts of crazy positions! :)

The nurse was able to take out the IV when Chloe was sleeping, so she wouldn't know what was happening. She started to wake up and cry, but then she got a look on her face that said, "Wait, never mind" and she went back to sleep. :)

Ken left shortly after Mike, so it was just us girls. I wanted to make sure that she got some good rest before we left, so I snuggled her for awhile and then, at about 11:00 a.m., we started packing up.

My girl is SUCH a trooper!

She smiled groggily on the drive home and was patient with us as we stopped to grab lunch before heading to the pharmacy.

She is so adorable. As soon as she was home, fed, and changed, she played on the floor and kept banging her casts together. Apparently her medicine works! :)

Thanks so much to everyone who has been so supportive of my little girl. We've received a lot of love and we are so grateful for it!

Especially for my mom, Ken, and my super mega foxy hott husband, Mike, who postponed a lot of things so they could sit in an uncomfortable waiting room with me and assure me that everything was going to be fine. :)

As of now, Baby Girl is still banging her casts together constantly. Her right foot (the one they operated on) is in a fiberglass cast, while her left foot is in plaster. In just over a week, she'll be recast and we are hoping for some hot pink ones.
Oh yeah.

Do me a solid.

2011-12-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

We started to try out solids on Baby Girl on November 27. She didn't love it, she didn't hate it...mostly she just gave us confused and/or angry expressions.

Needless to say, we are going to wait a couple more weeks before we reintroduce that delicacy babies know as rice cereal. :)

More additions

2011-12-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

I mod-podged the letters in Chloe's name like, five months ago and I just barely got around to putting them up in her room. Ironic, really, because our little family will be relocating to Salt Lake in the next couple of months or so. :)

Anyway, I love how they look in her room. They tie in all the other colors in the room and it's nice not to have such a blank space on the wall anymore.

Love.

Breaking Dawn...H yes I saw it.

2011-12-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

On November 26, Mike watched Chloe while I went out to have a girls' day. I know, I'm super lucky to have such an awesome man. I sure love him.

Anyway, firstly I went to The Pizza Factory with Mom, Jamie, Megan, Jake, and Kaylee. And it was GOOD. Mmm mmm good.

Afterward, Mom, Jamie, and I went to see Breaking Dawn: Part 1.

We. Loved. It.

I give the Twilight series a hard time, because the books are poorly written and Kristen Stewart's only facial expression is the one in the poster above, but I really enjoyed the movie.

Mom and I both have the books, so we knew exactly what was happening.

Jamie has seen the movies, and kept demanding what happened next. Bwhaha, you just have to wait until the next movie/read the books. :)

The ending of the movie affected me more than I thought it would. I know it's totally different, but I kept flashing back to my high-risk pregnancy and almost dying and almost losing my baby girl. It was emotional, to say the least, but it was done very well. Still a graphic birth scene, but it could have been much worse.

Thanks for taking us, Mom! You're the beyest!

And now we wait until next November for Part 2...

Rather rude to make us wait so long.

Crafty Girls' Night

2011-12-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving, Mike and Chloe stayed up at his parents' and I went back down to Utah County to spend some time with the girls in my family.

We went to lunch at Sizzler and then we headed to Cracker Barrell and Wal-Mart. They had already gone shopping for most of the morning, so there wasn't much left by the time I joined them.

Once we were done, we went to Mom's and took over babysitting all the kids while the boys went to have some man time. Mike wasn't able to go--he got really sick with a fever, etc. and couldn't go.

The fun began as soon as the wooden Elf letters were placed upon the table.

Jen went a little crazy in the end, which entertained everyone. My favorite thing she said was, "I TOTALLY LOVE IT!" So hilarious. :)

We all followed Elisha's lead, although I got a little too impatient and decided to just go for it. After Elisha put on the big jingle bell and wire around the candy cane, here is the end result:

It was seriously so much fun. I love my family so much and I'm glad my brothers married such awesome women. Bring on the Christmas merriment! :)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

November 24

Mike had Boomer come down the night before Thanksgiving so they could hang out a bit before going up to Taylorsville. On Turkey Day morning, they went and played in a Turkey Bowl with Kyle and some of his friends/family.

We got up to Mike's parents' house around two o'clock. Dinner was awesome, and afterward we watched Joseph Smith: Plates of Gold. At first I didn't love it, because the actor who played Joseph Smith, but after awhile it grew on me.

After the movie, we were all entertained by Chloe's effortless hilarity.

It was a great Thanksgiving and it was nice to spend it with Mike's family.

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Shop 'til you drop. Seriously.

2011-11-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

On November 23, Chloe and I went with Mom & Jamie to go shopping!

Chloe was very enthusiastic about this.

I was glad to go to the mall, because I had to get Chloe a few more items since she's grown out of a lot of her onesies, etc. Mom was awesome and got me a Christmas present (an ADORABLE purple blouse from Forever 21) and then we headed to the Provo Mall...

...where Chloe tried on boots! :)

My little one ended up loving these boots of pink amazingness:

I have the EXACT same pair, except in black. She obviously won't fit into them for awhile, but it will be worth the wait! :)

Jamie got boots for Skyla that are black and have a heel. Apparently she has been wearing nothing but those heels since she got them. :)

I won't lie; shopping isn't my favorite. I usually like to go in, find my stuff as soon as I can, and go home. But it's a lot more fun when there are other people, so thanks for letting me come, Mom & Jamie!

Chloe and I loved the girls' day. :)

Proud to be an American

2011-11-29T20:48:00.000-08:00

On November 20, we had Kyle & Michelle over for dinner and a movie.

Dinner was delish--chicken alfredo with Michelle's amazing homemade bread. After the boys finished playing football on the Xbox (or rather, after we forced them to quit), we watched Captain America.

Everyone had seen it except for me, and I really liked it!

Thanks again for coming over, you guys.

You're fun. :)

A Warburton Wedding

2011-11-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

The next day, November 19, Jamie & I got up, got ready, and headed to the Bountiful temple. The weather had cleared up a lot but there was still lots of gorgeous snow on the ground. Loved it.

We got to the temple at 10:00 and waited for Mike and his family, because he had my recommend. They finally got there and we went into the sealing room.

Nate & Jessica's sealing was awesome. Their sealer spoke a lot about the Endowment and its meanings and symbols, and of course about the commitment they were making. I love going to sealings with Mike, because it reminds both of us of our wedding day, and of all the important covenants we made.

Mike's Aunt Cheryl and I helped Jess get ready before she made her grand entrance, and after I played awesome-seester-in-law, I switched to seester's-photography-assistant. :)

Poor Chloe was freezing, but she was such a good sport! Daddy took off her adorable headband, because he thinks she hates them...which she probably does, but since when does a girl put comfort before beauty? ;)

Ze Beach girls

Although Jessica is no longer a Beach...it's just you and me now, Dani.

I LOVE the pictures Jamie took...I think they are amazing! All the pictures from Jessica's wedding day are taken by Jamie, but I edited a few because I can...and because Jame said I could. :)

How perfect are these two together?

Answer: TOTALLY perfect!

After the peekture taking, Jamie dropped me off at the luncheon. It was in this gorgeous little place called the Wight House and the food was fantastic! :)

Boomer and Dani.

Newlyweds! :)

Of course I broke out the Nikon and pretended to be cool. Or actually, I was cool. Your choice. :)

One of Jessica's best friends, Tania, wore the exact same dress as me, but in a maroon-purple. If you mix the two of us together, we were the exact purple Jessica wanted! Lol

Of course, the car was decorated and many things placed inside that I will not post about, but overall I thought the boys did a good job. :)

Happy Honeymooning, Mr. & Mrs. Nate Warburton!

And because I can, a cute picture of Chloe eating her daddy's finger on the drive home. :)

The Reception & Fungal Balls

2011-11-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

*All photos courtesy of Jamie K. Photography*

Mike's sister has had something going on with her wedding pretty much all of November. No joke, our weekends have been dedicated to the Beach-Warburton wedding.

On November 18 they held their wedding reception. Since Jamie was the photographer, we rode up together later so Mike could go up early and help his dad.

When we got there, the reception looked great and Jessica & Nate arrived a few minutes later.

Baby girl had just woken up.

Almost immediately, I went in to help Jessica get ready. Jamie followed and took a bunch of awesome getting-ready pictures.

'Twas my job to lace up the dress and curl and crazy hairs. I'm awesome.

After that, it was time to party! Or, in all actuality, wander around and wonder what stranger was holding my baby. Because let's be honest--I know Mike has introduced me to lots of people in his family's ward, but that was three years ago at our Open House...and remembering names was literally the last thing on my mind.

My cute family:

Michelle & Kyle drove all the way up and it was nice to see them/make plans to watch Captain America. H yes.

Father-Daughter dance. When this happened, I broke out in tears because all I could think about was how much it sucked that Dad never got to dance at my wedding. I was a bit emotional, but then I watched my hilarious little girl's face and I was fine. :)

They had a cake war, which I appreciated, and then it was a-time for family pics!

I love these two. SO much.

Normally I would say something like, "Congrats Jess & Nate, blah blah blah..." but alas, I cannot, for they are not yet married...but here's a cute picture of us anyway. :)

After the reception was cleaned up and Chloe was fed, changed and ready for her daddy to take her home, Jamie and I left to go to J's place. It was in Draper and because we had to be to the temple early for pictures, we figured it would be easier than Jamie having to make a detour in Taylorsville to get me.

First off, J's townhouse is AMAZING. Seriously I loved it.

Jamie thought she'd get to bed early, but honestly, who was she kidding? We all stayed up until way late talking and laughing ridiculously and of course, discussing Fungal Balls. Look it up, I dare you.

Thanks so much for letting us stay with you, J's, it was so much fun! Also, the Cloud is everything you said it would be. :)

November 17

2011-11-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

Today I babysat the Jagger man.

In the morning, Skyla had her Joy School field trip and Jamie wanted it to just be the two of them, so I watched Jagger. Later that afternoon, Jamie and Mom went to Hunter's school because

Hunter won the Reflections contest!

He did 3-D art where he melted crayons with a hairdryer down a poster board. Very cool.

I watched Jagger and Skyla so Hunter could have his moment. :)

Congrats little man! You rule.

Nov. 16 Funeral

2011-11-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

Recently an old friend, Kyson Holt, passed away.

I don't know the precise story, but he decided to take his life.

When things like this happen, many people's first thought is, "I never would have expected that of so-and-so." I have to admit that was my first thought.

Kyson and I grew up in the same ward and I'll admit, we didn't get along too well for a long time. Eventually we became the kind of friends who you say hello to, but you don't necessarily call up to hang out. That never bothered either of us. Different people, different friends, just different.

When I heard what happened, I immediately felt terrible for his family.

I don't know what it's like to lose a brother, but I know what it's like to lose a father to suicide.

Chris, Jamie and I went to his funeral and it was beautiful and heartbreaking.

Seeing his family so devastated--people I've known my entire life--was awful. It brought back a lot of sad memories, but as I looked around, I was so grateful to see how many people had come to show the Holts their support.

It was a rough day, and even as I remembered my dad's funeral, I was grateful for the fact that it will get easier for Kyson's family. It will still suck. It will still hurt.

But time will make each day feel a little less like the end.

Rest in peace, Kyson.

So many people love you and always will.

6 Months

2011-11-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

My baby turned six months old on November 7. I took a few quick pictures of her six-monthness and I think she is SOOO adorable!

On Nov. 14, she had her doctor's checkup and she is growing so well! At first I was frustrated, because we waited for over an hour, but I still really like Dr. Later, so it's all good.

She finally made the percentile list, although she is on the very, very bottom. :)

Weight: 12.7 lbs., second percentile

Head circumference: 16.6 inches, 38th percentile

Length: 23.2 inches, 0.6 percentile

Once I find a Bumbo chair for ze babykins, I can start feeding her rice cereal. Isn't that crazy? I can't believe she is getting so big. When did that happen?

I am so in love with this girl. Every night, Mike and I tiptoe into her room and watch her sleep for a few minutes...not in a creepy Edward way, but a loving, I'm-your-parent way. I still can't believe she's mine.

I LOVE you, Chloe!

You're so freakin' cute!

Endowments/Open House

2011-11-21T14:15:00.000-08:00

We did two things on November 11th.

First and foremost, we wished my dear mother a WONDERFUL birthday, because she is the beyest! :D

And second, we drove up to Logan for Jessica's Endowments/Open house.

We got there and Chloe was ready to hit the sack, but Daddy wouldn't put her to bed. He often ignores me and cuddles with her far past her bedtime...but I'm okay with it. :)

Jessica let us stay with her in her apartment that Nate will soon be moving into and the next morning, we headed to the Logan temple. Mike and I haven't been to the temple in a long time, and it was nice to go back and feel the peace and calm inside the House of the Lord.

Now she's legit! :)

Mike and I met Nate's parents, Larry & Barbara, in the Celestial Room and they are super nice people! I'm a big fan of theirs. Good job, Nate, your parents rule. :)

After the Endowments, we went to a place called the Beehive Grill and it was SUPERB. The atmosphere warm and comfy and we could watch the snow fall outside without feeling cold. So nice.

Delish.

Boomer can apparently fall asleep anywhere. Anywhere.

After lunch, Jessica and I went shopping and she got Nate a wedding gift, and then we headed back to the apartment. Her betrothed was running late, so I offered to go with her to the Open House to help her get ready. On the way, we literally almost died--we almost jack-knifed between two cars when Jessica was trying to pass. It was terrifying.I honestly thought I wouldn't see Chloe grow up. Yikes.

We got there early enough for Jess to get ready and she was officially "done" about ten minutes after the reception was supposed to start. Not bad, actually.

Chloe's rocking an unintentional mini dress.

The Open House looked great and the turnout was really good. We just hung around and chatted with people, which was nice. Overall it was a very fun night, albeit a little stressful. :)

After cleaning up, we went back to Jessica's and played Kinect for awhile. Then Nate left and we all called it a night. :)

We drove home the next morning, and I officially love Honeyville. It's an adorable little place about thirty minutes from Logan. Tiny and cute. :) All three of us took long naps when we got home.

It was a very eventful weekend. :)

Welcome, Baby!

2011-11-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

On Nov. 9, Nurse Jen from Welcome, Baby! came and examined Chloe and her development.

So far, so good! She is doing great and has gained almost two pounds in the past month, now weighing in at just over TWELVE pounds! :)

So far she is right on track with other four-month-olds, so all is well!

I just love her. :)

Baby's Feet

2011-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Chloe got an infection on her right foot from her shoe being too snug. I noticed it at Aubrey's baby shower; two water blisters right on top of each other. We cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and kept her shoes and socks off, but the next morning we found that they'd burst.

At this point, I noticed that her right foot was turning in again. I called the doctor and I got an appointment for November 8.

Chloe didn't mind.

Waiting patiently for Dr. Faux.

She got X-rays taken and her right foot is definitely not forming the way it should. Look at her poor little toes!

Left foot: perfection.

Chloe needs surgery on her right foot and has to go under anesthesia. :(

Her original surgery was scheduled for two days after the appointment, but was canceled due to insurance problems. Now we are just waiting to see when the surgery will happen. I don't know how long the surgery will be, but I will deal with it when it comes.

I'm just grateful they can correct this so my little girl can have a wonderful, non-crazy-foot life. :)

November 6

2011-11-16T16:03:00.000-08:00

My dad's birthday is always a day with mixed emotion for me. I miss him so much, but I know I'll see him again and that makes me happy. There are always days that are worse than others, and surprisingly, his birthday this year wasn't one of them. I was just happy for all the memories I have of him.

I'm not made of stone, so it was still not the best day ever. Then again, I have amazing friends who I can always count on to help me feel better. One of my best friends in the world, Mr. Saucy Scott Savage, has a very sweet blog and he wrote a post about me.

It was exactly what I needed. I needed a few laughs and a few tears. So thanks, Saucy, for helping me when I needed it.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE

Once upon a time, there was a lovely, optimistic, humorous and intelligent girl. She was also blonde. Yes, this actually is a true story. She's still alive. You could facebook stalk her or read her blog.

This gal is not the love of my life. For the sake of writing about her, we'll just say she's Sassy. So Sassy and I met when I was in 8th grade at an LDS Multi-Stake youth dance. I asked her to dance, and she said sure and we had a lovely time. She being cute, and I being awkward, and 6 months/1 grade younger, enjoyed this thoroughly. Over time we became better and better friends. I'd go see her shows because she was a talented singer, and we did all kinds of fun stuff. One year, this dear friend of mine, who went to a different high school, and I got to talking about the drama involved with High School Proms. She had heard through the grapevine that someone was going to ask her, and he didn't, and then someone else, who she liked, and HE didn't. So with my Sassy friend rather upset, I decided that if she didn't get asked I'd take her on a date. She said that sounded like a good plan and was way cheerful about it. So the day rolled around and she had no prom date. I couldn't drive at this point, so I tried to get anyone I knew who could go with me to drive. I had the will. I had the wallet. But it didn't seem like it would pan out. So I then talked to my mom about the situation. She said, "Well, why don't you just ask her to prom?" Well. I mean. You know. I could, right? So mom and I talked about it, and she suggested I ask if she had a dress and was willing to drive that we go for it. I said it was a deal, so I called Sassy and our conversation went a little like this:

"Hey Sassy!"

"Hey Scotty! How are you?"

"I'm doing well. So, I wanted to talk about our date today. If you want to say no, we can do something else, but I want to pitch it to you."

"Ok, What's up?"
"I couldn't find anyone to double with, but if you have a dress and are able to drive, would you like to go to prom with me?"

She gladly accepted. She was even at the mall getting jewlery, and so she pulled it all together really quickly. She looked fantastic, and we went to Tucanos (because it is amazing), and we got lost, and listened to weird al, and did all kinds of fun stuff.We never actually made it to the dance, but she and I danced in the pretty place that was NEAR the dance. She loved driving, and gloated about it a fair amount. She even ran a red light. She's kind of a reckless person. Ok, so not really, but she did spend the rest of the drive home being really worried about how she could have killed me. Easily one of the top-5 dates I've been on without the love of my life.

So that was all well and good. It seemed to me as though fate had aligned well for me, and that due to my excellence and our friendship she'd start having things go her way. Again, I was 16, and put a lot more significance into things than maybe I should.

However, a couple weeks later, tragedy struck. This sweet belle lost the most important man in her life, her Dad, later that month. My heart ached for her. I had called her the night it happened to see if she wanted to go hang out, and she told me about her loss. I didn't know what to do. I just went upstairs, and then just broke down and cried. It was so sad, and so unjust. It wasn't even me suffering. Through that week, as she later told me, people kept prying and asking and trying to figure things out as if they somehow deserved to know intimately the pain of this girl. As if by them knowing they could help her. Sometimes it seems like the sweethearts always get picked on the most. She resented that, and was glad I never asked. I was just there. To this day, all I know is that she's happy that he looks down on her, and she thinks about him every day.

Well this girl has continued to go on and to conquer. As I stated before, we never fell in love. We maybe crushed some (I mean, I am me after all) and we became wonderful friends, but she has done more wonderful things. She found love at a JuCo, and has a beautiful little girl. She's seemingly faced opposition every step of the way, but she is optimistic, and she pushes through. She's been a hugely positive example to me of being a good friend and rolling with the punches. So, my tribute today is to a friend who I call "Sassy."

-Scotty

Aubrey's Baby Shower

2011-11-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

I went to Aubrey Wright's baby shower after Alishia's luncheon, and it was so much fun!

It was definitely good to see some old friends and celebrate babyness.

I hope I have a boy someday...Aubrey got LOTS of cute stuff for her little man. :)

I got her wash cloths and the BEST baby lotion ever: Johnson & Johnson's Bed Time. Love it.

Kaitie, Ashley, Malyce, Sydney, Michelle, Aubrey, Cassie, Chloe, me.

We designed onesies for Aubrey and it was so much fun! Everyone was really creative and did a great job. These are the two I did:

A BYU bum paw.

And a quote from one of the funniest shows ever. Guess, I dare you.

Aubrey has had her baby by now and, from what I hear, is doing great!

Congratulations Aubrey!

Babies are AWESOME!

Alle is MARRIED! :D

2011-11-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

One of my very best friends in the ENTIRE world, Miss Alishia Lee, became Mrs. Alishia Russell on November 5. Mike and I attended her sealing and it was wonderful. It was great to see how excited they were to finally be married forever. :)

After the sealing, we waited in the lobby and then went outside for pictures. It was FREEZING. Chloe was bundled so much and her little nose was so red!

She was a little traumatized by the whole experience.

The luncheon was at the Hampton House in American Fork and it was so good! We sat at the "friend" table and I passed Chloe around several times. She loves Cheryl. :)

A.Dorable.

Mckell came late, so Mike sat on the stairs so she could sit with us.

Mr. & Mrs. Tyler Russell. :)

After the luncheon, I took Mike to school and then I went to Aubrey Leavitt Wright's baby shower (a separate post to come). Afterward I picked up Mike and we headed over to the reception. It was in the Wilkinson Center in the Skyroom, and it was GORGEOUS. Plus, there were crepes! I've never had them before, and I can now say that I love them. :)

Mom and Ken stopped by and I found out that Ken is friends with Alishia's brother-in-law. Crazy.

There wasn't a line, so the bridesmaids and the unofficial bridesmaids (me and Cheryl) sat at one table and it is pretty clear how Amy felt about this:

I was so grateful that Mike was able to spend the day with me and Chloe. It was an all-day date, and we loved it. :)

Awesome cake much?

Congrats Alishia and Tyler!

Marriage RULES!

Best friends forever. :D

Lunch with Daddy

2011-11-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

After Chloe and I left from Alishia's on the fourth, I called Mike to see what he was doing. We were in Orem and it just so happened that he could have lunch with us! :)

We went to IHOP together before Mike had to go to work and it was so nice to see him.

Chloe had fun sitting up in the booth by Daddy.

At this point, I think she really wished she had teeth. Look at her eye those hash browns!

I loved hanging out with my honey...he's so busy with school and his TWO jobs that any time we get is awesome. :)

Bachelorette Partay!

2011-11-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

Firstly, pictures from Alishia's bridal shower that I didn't have at the time:

And now onto the bachelorette celebration!

On Nov. 3, Chloe and I went to Alishia's apartment early to hang out and catch up. It was nice to just have some one-on-one time. Around nine, Jessica showed up and the three of us went to Los Hermanos to meet Cheryl, Jenny and Amy.

Because we ended up going so late, there was hardly anyone else in the restaurant. That let us have some rather, um, interesting conversations. :)

We ended up staying a half hour after it closed--but no one said anything, so we had no idea!

After dinner we went back to Alishia's and watched 27 Dresses. We all spread out to sleep and Chloe was SO sad. She cried for a few hours--Jenny and I stayed with her while the others went to get pedicure stuff--and didn't sleep very well. Poor girl.

We left the next morning and made sure to wish Alishia luck with her last day as a single girl. I can't believe she is getting MARRIED! :D

Croup scare!

2011-11-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Chloe hasn't been feeling great lately, and on Nov. 1, I noticed that she was really not feeling well. The Welcome, Baby nurse had given me a thick booklet about babies and sicknesses, and her symptoms seemed to be pointing toward Croup.

By the way, adorable pictures alert. You've been warned.

Croup has that awful seal bark, and so I called the doctor and he said to go to Timpanogos hospital ASAP to check it out. Where she was premature, they didn't want to take any chances.

Mike was able to come with me (it was at 7:00 p.m.), so I read his homework to him in the car.

We got there pretty quick and then the nurses checked her out. She was definitely sick with something, but they didn't think it was Croup.

After finding out that Chloe has gained almost TWO pounds, the doctor came in and checked her. Apparently what we thought could be Croup was just a vigorous respiratory infection! *phew*

We talked about how to heal her up and then brought her home. Mike turned it into a date night and we stopped by and got some Jamba Juice. H yes.

We LOVE our little girl and are so glad she's okay!

Oct. 30-31

2011-11-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

I used to think that I had to always have super creative blog titles. I care a lot less about that now that I am SO far behind!

On Oct. 30 I finished editing the pictures of Katie's family pictures and I finally got over to her house to drop them off. I hope she likes them, because I do!

On Halloween, I went with Jamie, Mom and the kids to go trick-or-treating. They looked so cute and it was a lot of fun to go around my home ward and see lots of old friends. :)

Batman, Robin and Aurora. :)

Jagger had quite the time in the stroller.

Grandpa Ken.

Happy Halloween!

Cornbelly's

2011-11-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

After family pictures, we went to Cornbelly's with Jamie and the kids. It was so much fun! It wasn't too cold and they had a lot of activities for kids that they didn't have last year.

Mike & I haven't been since we were first married and it was so fun to go back. :)

Hunter and Skyla loved having Uncle Mike to horse around with. :)

I got to cuddle with Chloe...look at her little red nose!

Mike was so excited when he saw this life-size Lincoln Logs cabin. He was all over that.

I love her and her chunky face.

Skyla was overjoyed--literally, I've never seen her happier--to see this big sparkly horse hooked up to Cinderella's carriage. Hunter was all about being Prince Charming...I love these two. :)

Our song came on ("Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith) and Mike was too busy serenading me to smile for the picture. I love it.

We stopped at McDonald's for a quick dinner and Chloe zonked out.

Jamie dropped us off and then Kyle & Michelle came over to play some games. It was such a fun, eventful day and I'm so grateful we got to spend it with such great people. :)

Nielsen Family Pics 2011

2011-11-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

The day after our Halloween party, we went down to John Wollenzien's farm to do our family pictures. It was freezing at first, but luckily it warmed up pretty quickly.

Ken took our big family pictures and Jamie took the rest. I love them. :)

Thanks so much, Jamie!

Check out her stuff on her blog: Jamie K. Photography.

2011 Halloween Party

2011-11-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween Party was SO MUCH FUN.

Jamie and I had a little too much fun researching all the spooky food to make...

Such as bandaids.

Spider Oreos.

Big mouths.

Ghost Poop. :)

Beer (emphasis on Root)

Mummy Juice

Monster cupcakes.

Witch cookies.

Quite awesome. We played a lot of fun games, including "Guess How Many" with candy corn and a candy corn relay with the kids.

Chloe and her grandma. :)

Just being a nerd.

The fabulous costumes:

Hugh Hefner and his bunny :)

Retired model, Hef, baby bunny

We played two games throughout the night. One was "Body Tag." Everyone had three pieces of paper with the same word on it. Example: Jake had the word "twilight" and he kept trying to get people to say it. If they did, they had to give Jake one of their papers and if Jake had the most papers in the end, he would win.

Another game--and by far the funniest--was "Tempt the Fates." I filled a jar with all sorts of dares. Anyone could take a dare and they would get a prize if they did it. The prizes went in order of difficulty. For example, Kelly received the card that said, "Follow Jen for five minutes on your knees. Do not speak to her, etc." It was hilarious--Jen had no idea what was going on! In the end, Kelly received a $10 gift card to the Pizza Factory.

Some other hilarious moments:

Chris screaming, "EDWARD!!" for thirty seconds straight.

Chris going up to Megan and shimmying like crazy.

Mom explaining cars to Jake, and acting like she was right. :)

Ken holding an ice cube in his hand until it melted, while Mom kept asking, "What are you doing? What is going on?"

I had to laugh maniacally after everything I said for five minutes.

Mike stood in the middle of all of us and screamed, "I'm alive!"

Scarecrow relay!

Donut on a string. :)

Costume contest winners:

Savannah won "Best Costume Child (Girl)" but I don't have a picture.

Handing out prizes.

This party was SO MUCH FUN! Jamie and I worked our butts off and it really worked out!

Happy Halloween!

Oct. 27

2011-11-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Mike put in his letter of resignation to MiraCell two weeks ago and has been avidly searching for another job ever since. He got a lot of interviews and a few second interviews, until he had two jobs that he really wanted. The first was a book-keeper at a doctor's office in Spanish Fork, and another was with a company called Marketexture, in Orem where he would study under the senior accountant. He got the job at the doctor's office, but a few days later (TODAY) Marketexture called and wanted to hire him. He accepted with Marketexture, where he will be able to get internship credit next semester and he has better hours and better pay! We are SO blessed! :)

Later today, Mom called and invited us to the Pizza Factory. Mike was at school, but Chloe and I were definitely available. :) Jamie brought her kids and we all had a delightful lunch! Afterward I went to Jamie's and we decorated for the Halloween party tomorrow. It has been a lot of preparation and work, but it has also been really fun!

Oct. 22-23

2011-11-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

After we got home from the cabin on Oct. 22, Jessica came down to get ready for her bridals. Jamie picked us up and we went to the ampitheatre behind the state hospital in Provo. Jamie got some REALLY good shots in the orchard and up in front of the ampitheatre, although they closed the actual stone area before we got there. We went to a pond close by and got some awesome shots as well. Jamie showed me the finished photoshoot a few days later, and the pictures turned out SO GOOD! I don't have any, obviously, so you'll just have to take my word for it and watch for a post on. Jamie's blog.

The next day, Mike's parents and Boomer came down for dinner. I enjoy having them come, because we get their company but we can still put Chloe to bed on time. :) We had barbeque chicken (one of Gary's original recipes) and then sat around and chatted. It was nice to have them come down and Chloe loved seeing them too. :)

Chloe at the Cabin

2011-11-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Chloe and I went up to the cabin. Unfortunately, Mike had to stay home for work and school, and we sure missed him!

Chloe loved the cabin. She got to play with her cousins and enjoy some mountain scenery. It was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything. I loved not having access to TV or the internet. Sometimes you just need to get away from everything electronic (except cameras, of course).

I LOVE HER.

While Chloe took a nap, a bunch of us went on a photo hike. Brooklyn and Savannah wanted to submit a photo to the Reflections contest at their school, so Jen supervised their use of her camera. :)

Hunter taking a picture of the sky.

I LOVE our cabin. My dad and brothers have worked their butts off to get it built and I think it's gorgeous. I'm so grateful it's still in our family so we can make even more memories here. I think we all feel really close to Dad when we're at the cabin. It's his place, after all. :)

Chris and Kelly burned some old couches so we could bring in some new ones, and it was crazy how high the flames got!

How cute is her coat?! Right?

I seriously can't handle my love for this little chick. She is awesome.

We watched "Fast Five" on Thursday night and on Friday, the boys decided to put up the ceiling fan. It made all the girls and kids a bit nervous.

I didn't get a picture of just the fan, but it's gorgeous and the guys did a great job setting it up.

They finished just in time to see the sun set. :)

Chloe enjoyed watching.

It was so cold at night that I had to put my girl in fuzzy pajamas, bundle her in a blanket, velcro her in and then add another fuzzy blanket on top of that. And of course, a pink beanie was a must.

Cozy warm. :)

On Friday night, I woke up around five and was FREEZING. Chloe was talking and so I decided to snuggle with her so she could keep me warm. It was so great...I love snuggling with my baby!

It was such a fun weekend and I'm so glad that I got to go. The four-wheeler rides were fun as was hanging out with my family. Hopefully Mike will be able to come next time.

Thanks Kelly & Jen for inviting us, and Chris & Jamie for giving us a ride. :)

Amy's Homecoming

2011-10-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Mike and I headed over to Amy's mom's house early so I could meet with the other girls and practice our song. We sang "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee" at her Farewell, so it was only fitting to sing it again at her homecoming. :)

Mom came and sat with us, holding Chloe. When Mike went to change ze girl, I watched him walk out and Chloe's little jean dress was SOAKED. I told Mom to look at her polka dot dress and she was like, "Are you serious?" Chloe soaked her, too. :) Mike brought her back a few minutes later; luckily I had re-stocked our travel wipes and brought an extra outfit. Gotta be prepared, right?

Amy's talk went really well. She claims that she sucks at public speaking, but I think she did great! She had a lot of great stories to share and the Spirit was strong.

Our song went GREAT. I felt so good about it! You singers know how amazing it is when your voice does everything exactly right...as strange as this sounds, I felt so gratified.

Afterward I got to talk to a lot of friends I haven't seen in awhile, including Ben Davies and April Kimball. There was a get-together at Amy's afterward and we stayed for awhile. Afterward, we went home, took a nap, and then had Kyle & Michelle over. We watched "Megamind" and it was hilarious. I love that movie. :)

It was an awesome Sunday. Mike always points out that I am way more awesome after we've hung out with people. I'll keep that in mind, in case my awesomeness dwindles again.

Alishia's bridal shower

2011-10-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

On the fifteenth, Alishia had her bridal shower. It was so much fun! Chloe slept for most of the time, but it was great. Everyone had mini crowns while Alishia had a big one, because the theme was Disney princesses. :)

Amy and I tie-dyed some lingerie and gave her some other lovely items (bwha) and Lish got lots of fun stuff! Cheryl wrote some of her reactions down after she'd received some presents and then read them as things Lish would say on her wedding night. The funniest one?

"I can't believe this is mine now."

We also played a game where we put a name of a princess on everyone's back and had to go around and figure out what princess we were. I was rebellious, rich, and had a very interesting pet.

Guess right and you're awesome.

Anyway, Tyler (the fiance) came at the end and told Alishia why he loved her. It was so cute and I am so excited for her to get married! She has always been an awesome friend of mine and I know that Tyler makes her so happy. :)

Congratulations, Alle! I love you sista friend! :)

P.S. I forgot my camera, so hence no pics.

I love me some friends.

2011-10-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

The same weekend I took the photos for the Gurleys, Mike and I decided to change it up and actually hang out with people.

Saturday night we went over to Kyle & Michelle's and had dinner, watched a movie and played games. It was SO much fun. We went to Kyle's parents' house and it was gorgeous. Seriously. So much of that house is what I want in my future one. *sigh*

After awhile, the Chloe girl went to sleep and some more friends showed up, including Kyle's brother Trevor and his girlfriend and Alan & Kelsey Bushman (so weird to say that, but woot that they got married!). I know them all from high school and it was fun to introduce them to Mike.

After playing a game of Clue, we all went upstairs and took turns playing Just Dance. It was so much fun, even if half the time the sensor wouldn't record anyone's points.

We didn't get home until around 1:00 a.m. but it was worth it. :)

Gurley Photoshoot

2011-10-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Katie, did my hair in exchange for pictures. Um, DEAL!

We went to the farm where she keeps her horse and it was gorgeous. The fields were amazing and the mountains? Wow.

I love this family. They are so fun and little Hailee is ADORABLE!

Here's a sneak peek. I'll be done editing all of them in a few days and hopefully they'll pass the test. :)

Chloe's first LOL

2011-10-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I'm geeky because of the title.

But anyway...

CHLOE LAUGHED TODAY!!!

It wasn't a half-hearted giggle either; it was a huge, happy laugh! The best part is that I was singing along to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" (I know, it's not even Halloween) and she would laugh every time I sang her the chorus. At first I was in shock, and then she started cooing and flailing so I would keep going, and I did. And she thought I was the epitome of hilarity. :)

Apparently the season to be jolly is starting early at the Beach house!

Chick is SO excited for Christmas, I know it!

Her first adorable laugh is proof. :)

5 Months

2011-10-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

My adorable little girl is five months old!

Nurse Jennifer from Welcome, Baby! came and visited Chloe this past week. I love when she comes, because I get to find out all sorts of ways to help ze bebe grow and develop even better. Plus, she gets weighed and measured, so that is definitely a bonus.

Five month stats:

-10 lbs. 2 oz. Up TWO FULL POUNDS from last month!

-22 1/2 inches.

-She is constantly hooting like an owl or just talking. Nonstop. I don't know where she gets it...

-She loves sticking her tongue out at her daddy. :)

-Smiles, smiles, SMILES! :D

-We have a consistent routine. I love it, especially because she still takes three long naps a day. Lol

-ROCKS at tummy time. Her neck is super strong!

She is doing so well and Mike and I are so grateful. We know that things could have easily gone south at any time from my sixth month of pregnancy to right now. Heavenly Father has definitely kept us in His line of sight and we are so blessed that He cares so much about us.

Every day when my Chloe smiles at me, I am so full of love I could break into tears at any moment. I love my daughter so much and I love that she is gaining weight and staying healthy.

We are SO blessed!