Snow Day

I knew this discovery of Olivia's would happen eventually, and when it happened this afternoon I thought it was pretty funny so I decided to document it. Since getting up this morning Liv kept crawling over to our sliding glass door and staring out at the snow. She was so mesmerized I scooped up a bowl of the snow so she could "play" with it. She ended up eating some of it and dumping the rest on my floor.



Apparently the bowl of snow was not enough to satisfy her curiosity. So after her nap she took matters into her own hands.

So now she is mad at me because I won't let her crawl out the doggy door and play in the snow. My brother once used the doggy door to sneak out at night and meet up with his friends, maybe Liv is getting pointers from him!

Today

I thought I would post a blog about mine and Livi's day today. We certainly didn't do anything very fun, but I thought I post some of the pics because I think they're kinda cute.

She started her day by sitting in the toy bin and then proceeded to empty the toy bin one item at a time until everything was out of the bin and on my floor. We haven't yet figured how to get her to pick them up and put them in the bin : )

I started to do some cleaning so I turned some music on. She loves when I turn the ipod on. She immediately stops what she is doing and she has to get right in front of the little stereo thing and "sing" along. She also drums/pounds along to the music. In this picture she's jammin' out to some Fergie.

After some singing and dancing she "helped" me change the sheets.

And do the laundry.

Enjoying the finished product.

We certainly didn't have the most exciting day, but I'm glad I get to stay home and see that cute smile each day. Is it obvious that its the end of the month and I'm short on pictures to send to Livi's birth mom : )

Are You Kidding Me?

See I told you I'd blog more now that I'm home. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to title this post so I just decided to title it how I was feeling when this happened.

Yesterday three teenagers (who shall remain nameless) were hanging out at my house after school. While they were there I was unpacking my box o' crap that was a result of my cleaning out my desk at work. As I was unpacking I unloaded the picture of me with Vice President Dick Cheney.

I showed the picture to said teenagers and no one knew who it was! One said teenager said "is that some church guy?" and another said "no, I think its the governor or something." Hence the remark from me "are you freaking kidding me!"



Anybody know the name of a good private school? Geez, I think its awful you can get through the public school system without even being able to identify the Vice President of the United States of America. I fairly confident that had you shown me a picture of Al Gore in high school I would have been able to identify him.

I'm fairly confident that he looks the same in this picture as he does in all other media pictures and videos of him, you'll have to tell me if you think differently. I apologize for the weird picture, I was taking a picture of a picture in the frame.

Retirement

Yesterday I worked the my last day at my job. I'm actually really pretty sad about it. I have worked at this job for the past five years and with a lot of people and in the political area for the past ten years. I'm never really good at articulating how I feel, but leaving my job seems very similar to graduation high school - you know its good to be moving on, but at the same time you are saying goodbye to a lot of good friends and great memories. Some people think I'm crazy for quitting, but most people have been really supportive.

I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of nervous about being a stay at home mom. I'm so used to having the mom identity as well as my professional identity and I'm worried that I won't know what to do with myself when my only job is mom.

I'm happy that I will be able to stay home with Olivia and I feel so lucky that we are in a position to make it happen (especially in this economy.) I so grateful for Dallas' willingness to work so very hard and support our family.

Hopefully I won't go too crazy and hopefully now I'll have more to blog and pick up some other hobbies.

I Have the Best Neighbor Ever

Ok, I know some of you out there are thinking that you have pretty good neighbors, but they can't beat my neighbor/friend Lindsey Cook.

For the past month or so Lindsey has been watching Olivia on Mondays while I work. So in addition to her 3 year old (I think she's 3) and her 13 month old she's been watching my 9 month old.

So two weeks ago I arrive at her home to pick up Olivia and Lindsey hands me all of her stuff as well as dinner! She had made dinner for her family and a second batch for our family! I always feel like I should be the one bringing her dinner for doing us such a huge favor. She also gave Olivia a darling hair bow ribbon holder thingy with a bunch of hair bows on it.

I always feel so guilty imposing on people and I know I'm never generous or thoughtful enough. So I'm not sure if Lindsey even reads this blog, but I just wanted to give her a shout out and thank her for being such a great neighbor and friend.

9 Months

Well, since my slacker Mom won't update our blog, I decided to take matters into my own hands and post my 9 month stats.

Length - 27.75 (56th percentile)

Weight - 19.3 lbs (55th percentile)

My favorite things right now are Sesame Street, fruit puffs, power cords, and eating paper. I now have four teeth and love to splash around in the tub (I cry and cry whenever my mom takes me out). Stayed tuned for more of my updates, I really like to pound on the keyboard, but its hard to get my mom and dad to let me do it. Happy New Year everybody!

Martha's Competition?

Ok so Martha Stewart's job is secure, but I am kina proud at my latest attempt of being crafty. Every year a bunch of my family members and I attend the craft fair at the Washington Heights Baptist Church at the beginning of November. We saw these really cute stars up there this year and as I was about to buy one (for $38 I think) my sister said we could make them. She is the crafty one in the family so I knew she could, but I wasn't positive I could, but I let her talk me into it anyway.

So, the Saturday after Thanksgiving my sister and I went and bought our stars at Real Deals and then went to Robert's to get our scrapbook paper and glitter. The reason I don't like to do crafts is because if it doesn't look perfect then I get frustrated and give up. This project was pretty easy and not too time consuming. Here are some pictures of how it turned out. I still need to buy some ribbon to tie on the top and hang down.

Close up pic (so you can see the glitter)

Halley (my sis) had to give me lots of help and ended up doing some of it for me, but I'm still sorta proud of myself. I want to make another one after the first of the year that I can have up anytime of year. I also think a 4th of July one would be darling.

Tis the Season

Ok, I'm the worlds worst blogger. Here is a new post to appease all of you who have been bugging me about getting a new one up.

I put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but it wasn't until tonight that I got around to decorating it. Dallas was working late again so I didn't have his help, but Olivia did decide to "help." It took about twice as long to decorate the tree this year, but it was a lot more fun!

She immediately found the candy canes and wasn't really concerned that they still had wrappers on them. She had her candy cane in her hand the rest of the night and I can't believe I'm posting this, but I even think the dog got a few licks of her candy cane, yuck!

Last night was our ward Christmas party. I was fun to catch up with people in the ward that I never get to talk to because I'm in YW rather than Relief Society. It had been a crazy day so I thought about bagging the party because Dallas wouldn't be able to go, but I really wanted a picture of Livi on Santa's lap. She has no idea what Christmas is, but since its her first I had to have a picture of her on Santa's lap. Unfortunately I couldn't get her to look at the camera.

Dallas and I have our shopping pretty much done and we've tried not to go overboard on stuff for Olivia (especially since she will be more attracted to the paper and bows than the toys), but its been hard. We've resolved that if we are tempted to buy her more things for Christmas that we will buy two of whatever it is we want to buy and donate the second item to those in need. Hopefully that will keep us from buying too much and if not, at least we will be helping families that are having a hard time providing a Christmas for their kids.

Well there it is, a new blog post. I wish all our friends and family a happy holiday season!

Vegas Baby!

Ok, my stupid tag has been up way too long. I've been wanting to do a post about our Vegas trip last weekend since Tuesday, but I've been without a computer all week.

Playing with Dryden. I can tell we are going to have to have many talks about sharing!

Last weekend we took a road trip to Vegas. Our good friends Rory and Harmony Preece and their kiddos live in Carlsbad, New Mexico, but were in Vegas for a few days last week. Since Vegas is a much closer drive than Carlsbad we decided to hit the road and go hang out with them for the weekend.

We had such a fun trip. I was worried about how Olivia would be on such a long drive, but she did great! She did better in the car than I did - Dallas' refusal to drive over 75 mph made me want to cry!

Watching the Dolphins at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas.

We didn't really do anything besides sit around and visit, it was good to catch up with everybody. The weather was wonderful too. We were able to go to the "zoo" at the Mirage hotel the first day and sit out at the pool the second day. Vegas is a lot different when travelling with a baby. I didn't even put a quarter in the slot machines. I am kinda bummed that I didn't make it to Sephora, but its probably for the best with the holidays fast approaching.

Watching the dolphins with daddy. There was a cute 9 week old baby dolphin!

I also got a great new cookie recipe from Rory's mom so come to my house for some tasty cookies. Thanks for a fun weekend Preece family!

TAG

Ok, I've been tagged a bunch of times by a bunch of people so I'm finally getting around to posting my answers. Sorry if you get bored reading so much about me.

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. 30 Rock
2. The Office
3. 24 (except last season, I'm hoping the new season is good)
4. Project Runway
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. Seinfeld
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm
8. Good Things Utah (I know its kinda lame, but I get quite a few good recipes from this show)

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Changed the clocks for daylight savings time.
2. Gave Olivia a bath.
3. Went to church
4. Cleaned up all the mud the dogs tracked in because it had been raining all night and day. Major pain in the butt.
5. Attended my cousin Kadee's 21st birthday dinner. Happy Birthday Kadee!
6. Ate lots of leftover Halloween candy
7. Did two loads of laundry.
8. Thought about blogging, but decided against it.

8 Things I look forward to
1. The election being over. Go Obama!
2. Going to Vegas this weekend.
3. Olivia's first Christmas.
4. Getting my hair done in a few weeks (I have way too many gray hairs)
5. Adopting another baby.
6. Beating Dallas when we play board games.
7. Going to Cancun in March.
8. Not having to buy formula anymore!!!!!!!

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Ruth's Chris
2. Maddox
3. PF Changs
4. Red Rock
5. Hires
6. The Pie
7. Mikado for Sushi
8. Five Guys

8 Things on my wish list
1. Tickets to the Coldplay concert this month.
2. A finished basement.
3. A king size bed - I like to spread out and am unable to do so on our queen.
4. Enough money to go on a really elaborate vacation each year.
5. To be a size 2.
6. A personal chef.
7. A creative knack. I would love to be able to decorate and do cute crafts.
8. More patience.

Now I tag: Halley, Chelsea, Jen, Carlee, Harmony, Melissa, Liv, and Angie.


Well here are 7 weird facts about me:

1. Ok, I think I have mild OCD. All the light switches that share a plate have to be all lined up in the same direction before I leave the house or go to bed at night. Am I explaining that right? There is one plate where it just won't work and I'm ok with it so I'm not totally crazy right?

2. All my DVDs are alphabetized.

3. I have to paint my toenails before any trip I go on or before any major event. If I don't it totally drives me crazy. I don't know why I do this and I think I'm crazy, but along with doing laundry and packing to get ready to go on a trip I have to paint my toenails. The really weird thing is that I've started painting Olivia's too! We are going to Vegas this weekend and painting our toes is on my to do list. I know, its really strange.

4. I have to do all the dishes, pick up all the stuff lying around and put everything away before going to bed each night.

5. I get scared really easily. I hate watching scary movies because I get way too irrationally freaked out! When I'm walking to my car at night or I'm home alone or I'm the only one in a public restroom (don't ask, it is associated with a scary movie) those scary things come to mind and I can't stop thinking about them.

6. In tune with my OCD behavior, I love lists and schedules and organization. Having a to do list when I'm really busy is so helpful and I if I'm busy I can't even function unless my house or desk is perfectly organized.

7. I listen to talk radio more than music. How boring is that, but for some reason I listen to ksl and npr all the time and I hardly ever listen to music.

Temple Day

We feel so loved. Last Saturday we were sealed to Olivia in the Bountiful Temple and on Sunday Dallas blessed her. It was such a fun and busy weekend. I was so exhausted from the weekend that I'm finally caught up on everything and have some time to blog.

It was so nice of everyone to come to support us on our big day, we are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family and it was so special to be at the temple with everyone. The temple process was pretty similar to getting married, but without having to get ready to look so fancy and of course there was a baby there.

I wasn't too emotional, but I did tear up when they brought Olivia into the room and I saw how beautiful she looked. I loved the little dress I bought for her. It was so neat to be in the temple with her. She was a really good kid during the sealing, she made some happy squealing sounds, but overall was really good.

I felt kinda funny leaving the temple in our white clothes for some pictures, but it will be nice to have those pictures to show Olivia when she's older. Thanks to everyone who came to support us, we feel so very loved.

The blessing on Sunday went really well, I think Dallas was a little intimidated that the entire stake presidency was there attending our ward that day. He did a great job and I'm so glad he holds the priesthood and bring those blessings into our family. Olivia was silent during her blessing too! I couldn't believe we lucked out, both the sealing time and blessing were right during naptime so I was prepared for some crankiness. We are so lucky to have such a happy baby.

Dallas and I tried to count after everyone had left our house on Sunday and we figured we had about 42 people crammed in our house. Sorry we had you crammed in there everyone! I wish we had our basement finished and could spread out a little more.

We are so glad to have our family be made "official" and we thank everyone who has helped us become so. Hopefully we'll be going through this process again soon!

Things were so crazy on Sunday that I forgot to take pictures of Olivia in her blessing dress. This is a picture from after I had changed her into normal clothes and was trying to get her to take a nap with Ryan.

Halloween Costumes

Yesterday our friends the Thatcher's hosted a great Halloween party. I personally think my costume is the best, but Dallas wasn't a fan. Thanks for a fun night Thatcher Family!

Court Date

Yesterday Olivia officially became ours!! I wasn't sure what to expect, but everything seemed pretty standard and went pretty smoothly. Olivia was so loud during the whole thing. She wasn't sad, but she was squealing, and laughing and shouting. Our case was third on the docket and I was worried that the judge would stop the first two proceedings to ask me to try and keep her quiet.

Our hearing only lasted about 15 minutes. I was really surprised because the judge didn't ask us a single thing about Olivia and how we feel about her. He asked Dallas to describe his feelings for me and vice versa. There was an adoption before ours so I'd heard him ask this question of the other couple, so I thought I was prepared to answer it, but when it was my turn to talk about my feelings for Dallas I was nervous and choked up so I kinda just mumbled something sweet and short. The whole proceeding was recorded and they will give us a DVD of our hearing.

I'm so glad Olivia is officially ours. People kept asking us if we were excited for court, its nice that it is done and that everything is squared away, but she has been 100% part of our family since day one and nothing can ever change that. Thanks to everyone to came to court with us to support us and a special thank you to Bruce Richards for representing us pro bono, we couldn't have done this without you!

Pumpkins

On Thursday Olivia and I went to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. I grabbed my camera at the last minute and I'm glad I did, I love how these pictures turned out. Halley might have to make a couple of Halloween scrapbook pages because we still need to take pictures of her in her costume. I couldn't get Olivia to stop trying to eat the straw, silly girl. She actually didn't care too much about the pumpkins, but did love the dirt in the wagon.

And speaking of pumpkins, Liv is working very hard on her Jack O' Lantern smile. I blogged about her first tooth about a week a half and ago and tonight I noticed that the one right next to it is coming in too! It's still too early to get a good picture of the toothy smile, but by Halloween she should have the cutest dang Jack O' Lantern smile around!

Livi makes us so happy!

Olivia's Saturday morning. We love her to pieces!

Livi's Dad