Tiffany & Co.

Marilee Ann Waite Packer

2011-12-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

Nana Mar's funeral was yesterday. It was a good day. The funeral was perfect. I think it made her happy. My mother in law loved music and there was plenty of that. The speakers were great. I'm so proud of my husband and his words. Right before he spoke, he said "I'm about to speak at my mother's funeral" with a shaky, surreal, voice. I whispered, "speak from your heart". And he did. When he was done, Jane went up at sang "I am a Child of God" in the microphone a capella. Nana would have loved that. A lot of people cried. The whole funeral was touching. I especially loved what the bishop had to say about her. He worked with her for the past five years. He knew her strengths and limitations and put them beautifully. He didn't have the baggage that most of her close acquaintances had, and just served her and showed much love and patience. I feel at peace, because I know she is at peace. My husband is not quite there. I hope I can help him as he heals from this unexpected death. More importantly, I know the Lord loves him and is giving constant comfort to him. It was so good for him to see all the love and support from people at the funeral. That helped so much. If you couldn't be there, thank you for your words of support however they came. After the delicious ham lunch, he felt a little relief. When we got home, we put the girls down and took a much needed 2 hour nap. That felt good. And so the healing begins.

10 Years Ago Today...

2011-12-19T08:08:00.001-08:00

I love you more than anything "Sweathart". Let's do forever...

October Highlights

2011-11-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

Again, life is busier than ever! I can't remember the last time I took a nap...and I'm a huge napper! Since we decided to take our town home off the market, lots has happened. I decided to "embrace my town home" by reviving my three bedrooms upstairs. I am happy to say that all of my remodeling has been paid in cash. I used the money from my garage sale this summer, I have sold and bought quite a few things on KSL classifieds (Just discovered it! I'm in love!), and have taken a lot of my nicer stuff and sold it on eBay or on consignment. Being on the Dave Ramsey Diet is teaching me so much. The main valuable lesson I've learned is...NEVER pay full price for anything. And I have done lots of DIY projects. I can honestly say, I like my home again. Because I practically have no budget, its happening slower than I'd like, but I'm also learning patience.

Within days of taking our home of the market, Phillip was called as Elders Quorum President. Moving, I guess, was not what the Lord had in mind for us. Although Phillip feels inadequate and we see less and less of him, I love what this calling is doing for our family. I see the blessings daily. On top of that, we are keeping the "Gazelle Momentum" (for you Dave Ramsey people, you know what that is), and Phillip is working an extra 30 hours every week at Costco. I love and admire all his hard work. We miss him, but are proud to call him our daddy/husband.

Waffle Shoppe has taken an unexpected but AWESOME turn. Catering! We catered 2 weddings and one shower in October. I absolutely LOVE catering. It's what I want to do now! It's a perfect job for a stay at home mom. I just wish we had more events booked...so spread the word. We have a great product and it has been a huge hit at these events. If you want to book or have questions...go to our website thewaffleshoppe.com...we can't wait to help you!

Here are some picture Highlights from October:

We made and mailed our birthday card for the Sprout. It aired at 7:30am on her birthday. We barley missed it. A good friend of ours saw it and told me. Oh, well.

Horrible picture, but this was such a fun family night. We went miniature golfing at Cherry Hill. Phillip's old stomping ground. I got a detailed report on how things have changed or stayed the same. Sadly the Swiss chairlift near the end wasn't working, but everything else was fun. Nice to enjoy a final warm day of fall.

First Hair cut!
Sorry stylist...your ten minute window has expired. Get me out of this chair and stop round brushing my hair. No movie, balloon or sucker will change my mind.

As for Jane, she loves getting primped. She takes after her mom and Grandpa Keith. She got the most adorable short A-line cut. (Still trying to fix the damage from her cutting her own hair this summer).

For FHE we painted pumpkins, at Jane's request. It was lots of fun. We never ended out carving them because they were so cute.

Paisley says Cheese and poses for pictures with this adorable scrunched face. I love it.
She could be crying or whining, but if you point a camera (iphone) at her, she'll give you this cheesy grin.
We have been to Home Depot a lot lately with all the changes I've made to our garage and upstairs. The girls have been real troopers. I keep dum dums in my diaper bag permanently now.
When Jane's Ariel costume arrived in the mail, I was so excited for her to see it. She's been talking about being Ariel for a while now. She wanted red hair, flippers, and the purple seashells. After her nap, I showed her the package the postman brought. She opened it up and got all grumpy. Do any other kids get ANS out there? (After Nap Syndrome). I made her try it on and she just cried. I took her picture and she refused to smile. I was mad, so mad. After all I spent what little budget we have on clothes for this perfect, glamorous, and requested Ariel costume. I decided to ignore her...for two hours. Every time she tried to get my attention or ask for something I let her know that she hurt my feelings and i have no desire to be around her until she apologizes and is nice. After two hours, she came up to me and said, "Thank you for the Ariel costume Mom"...with a big smile. Yay! She made a good choice! My spoiled little brat of a daughter, is no longer a brat.

Jane's Joy School went to Wheeler Farm. Jane LOVES going to school and wishes it were everyday. Two more years sweetheart.
While I was catering a wedding, Phillip took the girls to the Pumpkin Patch.

My sister Hayley (my business partner), went on a dreamy vacation to the Dominican Republic with her husband and I was left to cater our second ever wedding. Luckily we both have amazing friends that helped out. They volunteered their time to help me. How cool is that? It was tons of fun and everything went smoothly. I wish Hayley was there, she'd be proud. With just two more catering gigs, I will have paid off my half of the business. I am so excited about that. I want to start contributing to our debt elimination plan.
The girls got a bunk bed! They love it. I love it! Great space saving solution. If you notice, Paisley for the time being is sleeping in the pack and play. She's kind of trouble and not quite ready for a big girl bed. Perhaps in a month or two we'll try the bottom bunk with a side rail. Jane LOVES the top. No problems at all!
I'll spare you the gory dead deer picture, but Phillip got a deer! His brothers helped out and it made for a good story, and steak.
The perfect pumpkin for Paisley.
Thanks to Belle Butler's hand me downs, Jane has another pair of ice cream jammies in her size so they can be twinsies. She loves to match Paisley. Paisley has no clue and could care less. Posing for this picture was torture.

This picture still makes me laugh. I turned the bath water on and called downstairs for Paisley to come up and take a bath. She loves baths. I saw her making her way up the stairs and I quickly went to my room to get in my PJ's. I came back to the stairs to greet Paisley at the top and she wasn't there. She wasn't in her room, the office, or hall. Then I looked in the bathroom and sure enough I saw a little head peaking out of the bath tub. Sure enough, she was sitting in the water ready to take her bath. Jacket, corduroys, leather shoes and all. The straight face kills me too. It's as if she's saying, "what? what's wrong?"
We made Frankenstein Pudding for our Joy School Birthday treat.
Jane's Birthday was on Sunday this year. We had a great time with family that night celebrating our so excited to be 4, 4 year old.

One of the activities for Janes birthday was to decorate the 20+ milk cartons we've been saving to make a line of ghosts outside along our walkway. So much fun and so easy!
At Ariel's request, Phillip was King Triton and Paisley was Arie's friend aka a pink mermaid.

The morning after Janes birthday (Her birthday is Oct 30) I woke up to this...Jane playing her new V.Reader in the reading tent Phillip and I made for her birthday. So cute!

Life has been crazy! So what else is new? September Highlights

2011-10-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Life is busy. I actually like it that way. When I go a whole day or even a week without watching my DVR, it makes me happy. And that is how it's been lately. Here are some pictures from September...
I love this snapshot of what I see in my rear view mirror everyday. I love it! They are either talking, giggling, mimicking each other, or singing (Paisley bops her head to the music).

(No comments on the front facing 16 month old. We are both happier this way and I have full confidence in my Britax.)

Jane's first day of JOY SCHOOL! She is one of the oldest in the class of six. I love this class this year (and last year), they are so well behaved and excited to learn. The moms that rotate are wonderful, I feel lucky to know them.
We painted our garage! Not a necessity but it definitely looks better. It took ALL day. It needed a coat of primer and luckily one coat of paint. I'm glad that's over with. It looks great.
Jane wanted to help, how could I say no?! Here she is in all her glory for a whole 5 minutes! Three year old's don't have much of an attention span.
Yep, we got every nook and cranny. It was a great way to spend a Labor Day together. The girls were surprisingly good the whole time. They wandered around all our garage junk that was poured onto our driveway. It kept them very busy. Paisley took two good naps. Jane has always been good at entertaining herself (what a blessing!). But I do have to say, it would have been much faster without the girls...but not much of a memory.
Paisley sat in this Little Tikes car for 30 minutes, beeping the horn, steering the wheel, and talking on the phone. I wonder where she saw that example?
Here is my hotty husband doing something I wish he'd do more often...play with power tools. He was so kind to make me a TON of shelves in the garage. I'll show you a pic of that later.
My family and I went on a trip to California. We had a great time. I am, afterall, a California girl...that's right, born in Santa Ana. My Aunt and Uncle live in Yorba Linda and I love to visit them. We stayed in a beach house (right next to the beach), went to Legoland, and Disneyland. I'll post pics of that later. But the last few days of the trip we spent at Lake Arrowhead in my Aunts Cottage. On our way up we stopped in Riverside, CA. That is where my Grandma and Grandpa Tintle are buried. It's a military cemetary. Being there is so peaceful, patriotic, and beautiful. It felt very reverent and I felt close to my grandparents while there. I sure do love and miss them.
Family picture...My mom, sister Lindsey, me, Dad and brother Darren. We missed Jason and Hayley and wished they were there too.
My Aunt and Uncle took us on a tour of Lake Arrowhead in their pantoon boat. I've done this several times, but I never tire of looking at famous people's gorgeous cabins right on the lake. They are something else. We parked the boat in the middle and went for a swim. The water was freezing at first, but you quickly got used to it (NOTHING like Lake Powell). Paisley fell asleep on grandpa because of the gentle rock of the boat (and it was nap time). Nice.

I love Lake Arrowhead. Wonderful memories have been made there.
Since being back from vacation, I have had a lot of projects to continue. Finish organizing the garage. Go through all of my junk. Sell it on ebay and KSL. But still have fun with the girls. When I'm feeling like a neglectful mom I say "hop in the car girls and let's go grab a cheeseburger (Jane says...but with no pickles and no onions...picky).
We frequent the germ infested McDonalds Playland often. Build that immune system, right?!
Jane is such a good sister to Paisley. Pais can be hard and in the way sometimes, but she shows a great amount of kindness and patience. I truly believe that first borns are pretty special and are able to handle a lot.
I love this picture of Paisley. She now poses for the camera with this cheesy, scrunched, grin. I love it. She makes me laugh. Just today she did it again, but now she can say "cheese"...so cute.

Lake Powell

2011-09-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate enough to spend 3 nights in Lake Powell on a house boat with my husbands side of the family (No kids, except TJ and Kallie's baby). It was dreamy and I NEED to go back. Here are some random snapshots of the trip...including the family talent show. Interesting talents.

Awwww.....
Tyson (friend of the family) got burnt the first afternoon, poor guy.
Mom, doesn't she look fab?!!!
Willey and his friend Laura.
Justin, my Brother in law. Excellent surfer.

My Sister in law, Mandy

Tom, my Father in law, aka Captain.
Couldn't do this in front of Mom.

Mom's talent......hmmmm......
Justin's talent...he's good at telling people what to do (just kidding...good leader).

Singing the Mormon Rap

Talent Show
Willey, expert surfer.
I didn't get any pics of Phillip surfing, oops. He gave it a good try.
Chillin with Lynn, my mother in law. Enjoying the (slow) ride and view.

Kallie and Sullivan

Willey is fabulous boat chauffeur.
This is the deck we spent the night on...under the stars.

Birthday Duo

2011-08-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

These pictures are adorable! Better late, than never.

Did I mention...

2011-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

We seriously made the BIGGEST mistake. When we were packing for New York (yes, back in May, I know it's August and I'm just finishing blogging about the trip and it's August), I said to Phillip, "should we bring our nice camera?" (Canon Rebel), and he said, "why would we need that if we have cameras on our iphones? You want to lug that thing around New York?" So that is why our pictures are horrible quality. I wish I wish I wish I had brought my nice camera. It's the city to do that in. Who cares if I look like a tourist. Oh, well, lesson learned. So sorry about the crappy pictures (not to mention that taking pictures eats up your battery so after half a day we were looking everywhere for a plug to recharge...annoying).

New York Day 6

2011-08-30T14:19:00.001-07:00

This is Cafe Lola. It was in the movie "You've Got Mail". It was delightful. The atmosphere was fun and the food...the belgian waffle was the most scrumptious Belgian waffle I have ever had (Waffle Shoppe makes the best homestyle waffles, this place makes the best Belgian Waffles). No joke.

After Cafe Lola, we decided to split up. Phillip went to go wait in the stand by line for Book of Mormon Musical tickets, and I casually made my way back to Time Square. I walked by the most beautiful Brownstone neighborhoods imagining what it would be like to live there.
I would LOVE to see what is behind this door!
Then I stopped by Magnolia Bakery. As you can tell I love food...and so does New York.
A frequent customer told me to get the Banana Pudding and I'm glad she did. It was amazing. Way better than the cupcake. In fact, I think it had vanilla cupcakes throughout.
Yum!
In the late afternoon, we saw Mary Poppins. We were pretty much at the very tip top of the theater in the last row in the back corner. Kind of sucked, but the musical was great. I got chills during "Let's go fly a kite". It's coming to SLC and I think it's a must. The stage is incredible and it's quite different from the movie.

One last meal on the back porch of our B&B. Shake Shack and Coke. So Sad to go

Goodbye adorable 414 hotel

Goodbye blanket ofSkyscrapers

Goodbye new to us restraunts

Goodbye to the Theater District

Goodbye chocolate cupcakes at Amy's Bread

Goodbye beautiful and HUGE Central Park

Goodbye oh so many amazing Museums

Goodbye City that NEVER sleeps

We love you! Hopefully we'll see you again soon someday!

We decided to save on a taxi and take the subway to the airport. Kind of fun. We caught our late night flight anxious to see our babies.

New York Day 5

2011-08-30T13:16:00.001-07:00

We started out the day by going to the Today Show near Rockerfeller Plaza. Honestly, overrated.

Grand Central Station...I'm married to a civil engineer...it was a must. He goes crazy for rail.
Then we had a "Tiffany" afternoon and went to SoHo...shopping mecca. We ran into the Jonathan Adler store...LOVE his design!
Right outside the store, there were a bunch of weird looking people walking...they were dressed all crazy and futuristic. We found out that Will Smith was around the corner filming Men in Black III and these were a bunch of the extras in the movie.
I bought a pair of darling shoes at Miz Mooz...my absolute favorite brand of shoe right now. They are THE BOMB!!!
We went to Little Italy and ate the most authentic and "real" ceaser salad and pizza. It was amazing, not just saying.
We stopped by DASH. The boutique clothing store the Kardashian Sisters own. Yes, I watch the show. It's a guilty pleasure. There were two body guards in the front of the store and only 13 people were aloud to be inside at a time. Crazy.

I was watching the Food Network one night and saw this Showdown with Bobby Flay in NYC. He was up against the "Dessert Truck" owners and had to make a bread pudding. I am a huge sucker for Bread Pudding. This was a chocolate bread pudding. The sauce was so rich and creamy. The secret ingredient is bacon...who would have known. The Dessert Truck one...and won me over...so we went on a crazy subway ride to find this little shop.

Later that night we went to Yankee Stadium to watch a B-ball game. It was a nice new stadium and a relaxing evening.

On the long and croweded subway ride back to our B&B I made friends with a lady with the cutest scarf. I complimented her on it and right as I was leaving, she forced it on me. New Yorkers can be so nice!

New York Day 4

2011-08-30T12:23:00.001-07:00

We started off the day by visiting the Statue of Liberty. The wait to get on the Ferry took a long time. The security was very extensive too. This picture is us pulling up to Lady Liberty. It's really quite a site. It represents freedom and really makes you appreciate our country and the freedoms we enjoy every day. It's something I have seen in pictures my whole life, but in person it brings on a whole new meaning.

After visiting the island with the Statue of Liberty, we hopped on the ferry again and visited Ellis Island. I loved the history here. This grand hall I am standing in was the great room all immigrants passed through before they were excepted to live in America. This place was busy, crowded, and a place of nervousness and hope for new comers.
The picture below is not much to look at, but it's Ground Zero. It's in the heart of the Financial District on the south part of the island. They are in the middle of construction to rebuild this part of Manhattan. It's actually huge and will have 8 or something huge buildings and skyscrappers in the near future.

This is a 911 museum. I am reading the time line of what happened that morning. It really takes you back. You ask anyone my age or older and they can tell you where they were when the events were happening and the feeling that day. I was at Utah State living with my Aunt Sallie and Uncle Mike. After I got out of the shower, my Uncle knocked on the bathroom door and said "Come look at this". It was after the first plane hit. I remember his face. It was somber. I was in such shock, not really understanding what was really happening. Then the second plane hit. What was going on? I still got ready and went to class. When I walked in the classroom, my teacher had the TV on and said that was all we'd be doing and we were free to leave. I stayed a while watching and talking with my classmates. I was supposed to meet Phillip, who I was dating at the time, at the Student Center after class and grab some breakfast. Because I didn't have a cell phone (most college students didn't at the time), I hoped he'd still meet me because all I wanted was to be with him. We, along with so many other students just sat in amazement and what was happing on the TV, looking for an explanation. Then there were rumors of a plane down in Pennsylvania, and did that have to do with it? Then there was a plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Again, what was happening???

As I was reading the timeline at the museum I relived the moments. It was the first time ever for a president to ground all planes, it took an hour. Although a horrific thing for our country to go through, it sure did make us a little bit more united for a time.

This is a piece of artwork made from many of the items honoring those on 911 that was hanging on the fence near ground zero.

After a very emotional day, we had tickets to go see "Spiderman"...the most expensive Broadway show ever created. We had the privilege of seeing it on opening night after a 40 day break to fix a bunch of technical problems they were having. We were greeted by the directors before the show started and sat just 5 rows from the front. The play was amazing, despite whatever the rumors are. The music is fabulous and the special effects were awesome. The characters fly over your head all around the audience. There is not a bad seat for the show.

For dessert we went to the South East corner of Central Park to the famous Serendipity 3. Famous people like Jackie O and Andy Warhol came often for the delicious eats. I of course had a famous Frozen Hot Chocolate. I loved the atmosphere, it's hard to describe. I think my friend Lisa said it best "It looks like a Polly Pocket house". This is the famous fireplace from the movie. What I appreciate about the movie now that I have been to New York is the "realness" of it. The locations the movie took place (Bloomingdales, Serendipity 3, Rockerfeller Plaza Ice Skating Rink, Waldorf Hotel, etc.) was all realistically close in proximity to each other.

New York Highlights Day 3

2011-07-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

We started the day out by jogging about 6-7 miles around central park. Our GPS died after 4 miles so I don't know exactly. That was a memory and a great way to see Central Park. We passed the "boat house", the statue of "Alice in Wonderland", and were two of thousands of people running/walking/biking. We started on the middle of the west side, and circled all the way to the top NW corner following the main jogging path. Such a memory. I could have gone longer because we were at sea level and the air was so nice, but we were anxious to get going.

Phillip is standing by one of many Picassos
You can see every brush stroke by Van Gough's "Starry Night"!

This is Matisse... I would love this for my living room

Blurry picture because it was taken with my camera phone, but I'm standing in front of a painting I've loved for a long time...Water Lillies by Monet. The room had a huge bench that was pack with people, yet you could hear a pin drop. It was almost reverent.

We went to the museum of modern art called the "MODA". It was incredible! We could only spend one hour here, but I could have spent half a day. We saw originals from some of my favorite artists...Van Gough, Matisse, Monet, and Picasso. I'm so giddy happy you can tell by my smile.

We went to the Late Show with David Letterman. I was dissapointed. I would have rather explored the city more. The guest was Chaz Bono, weird. By this point, I was sick of being on TV shows and feeling liked used cattle. It takes up too much time. The only thing cool about it was that it is the Ed Sullivan theater where the Beatles played.

I was super hungry so we found a great little Italian place to eat in the Theater District. You can't really go wrong with restaurants with New York, they are all delicious. After dinner, we went to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". Daniel Radcliffe was amazing. You would have no clue he is British. He put some serious energy and soul into his part. Jon Laraquette was okay, I was just excited to see "Dan" from Night Court. Great music, so-so story, amazing costumes and set.

Afterward we weren't tired yet, so we explored the city at night time and walked several blocks to the Empire State Building. We rode the Metro a ton, so it was night to see the city on foot. The Empire SB is open to like 2am or something so it was the perfect thing to do after a show.

The Empire State Building was a highlight for me. We really enjoyed the audio tour and the art deco details everywhere. It is such a landmark full of history and class. Being on the top and looking out at the city was breathtaking. It was very quiet at the top, almost a reverence filled the air. Very romantic. Such a memory for me and Phillip. If you go to New York, you must go, and I suggest at night.

New York Highlights Day 2

2011-07-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

Tuesday morning we walked a few blocks from our B&B to the Nate Berkus Show. Because I love design so much and I love Nate so much, it was awesome. His studio was beautiful in person, from the floors, to the moldings, to the lighting. Nate was even more beautiful in person. Our episode had a few police women makeovers, the stylist guy from the Rachael Zoe Project, and Gillian Michaels (I even got a free workout DVD!). It was a fun filled hour being behind the scenes.

After being on Nate, we walked over to the famous Carnegie Deli. This is the "sandwich" Phillip ordered. It had pastrami and corned beef on it. I don't care for either of those meats, but I seriously couldn't eat enough of it. It was delicious! This place is not over rated. We even got to meet the owner outside and take a picture with him. He was a true New Yorker...the accent, the jokes, and "rude".

After Lunch we got back on the double decker bus and took a tour of Brooklyn. Here is a picture of the famous Brownstones (the stoops that lead up to beautiful apartments), the Brooklyn Bridge, and the New york City scape from across the island. Brooklyn seemed to me like a great place to live, not as pretentious, and more family friendly but with so much history.

To catch a second wind, we went back to our hotel and took a quick power nap before we saw the next show "Newsical the Musical". It was off broadway and we loved it and laughed our heads up. The show consisted of four extremely talented people and one pianist. The did skit after skit poking fun of the last years headlines. Some amazing impersonations were done: Obama, Christina Agulera, Celine Dion, Sarah Palin and daughter, and the list goes one. Hilarious! Then we ended the night going to the Shake Shack to grab a bite to eat. It is like In-n-Out on Steroids. This is a picture of Amy's Bread...the chocolate/white icing cupcakes were to DIE for! I think I got one every day. Hey, we walked a lot, so I justified the calories.

33!

2011-07-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Phillip!

To make 33 not so bad, here are 33 things I love about you...

1. You are adventurous.

2. You are great at mountain biking, running long distances, and being a good sport.

3. You have the biggest, most dramatic facial expressions.

4. You love me with everything you got.

5. You are crazy about your girls.

6. You find joy in the small miles stones and accomplishments of your girls.

7. You have great integrity.

8. You aren't afraid of asking for directions.

9. I love to play geeky games with you.

10. You like to read instructions.

11. Even though it might take a while to get something done, I know it's done very well.

12. You make me feel intelligent, even though you are the one that really is.

13. You love my family, especially my brothers.

14. You love your family, especially your brothers.

15. You can carry a good conversation about sports.

16. You like Coke just as much as I do.

17. You apologize when you are wrong.

18. You help me.

19. You are handsome.

20. You have nice shoulders, hairy chest, lips to kiss (the best I know) and legs.

21. You make the most beautiful babies.

22. You are a hard worker.

23. You are kind and don't speak ill of others.

24. You were a great missionary and loved your mission.

25. You love the gospel and are so curious.

26. You are open minded.

27. You can fix the computer or printer every time I have a problem.

28. You are fun and love to have fun with your family.

29. You care, almost too much.

30. You worry, almost too much.

31. I love it when I actually make you laugh, which is hard to do.

32. You always eat the food I make and never complain.

33. You want to see the world.

That was easy! I could keep going. I love you Phillip! Happy Birthday old man!

Oops...Happy Birthday!

2011-07-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

I was just driving home from the gym and glancing back at my darling little Paisley, thinking "Boy you are looking older all of the sudden...oh crap, it's your birthday today!". I admit, I totally forgot. I just called Phillip and asked him, "Do you know what today is?" pause, pause, pause. Then he just started laughing, a guilty laugh. We both forgot. I even made plans to go out with some girlfriends tonight. Oops. I think the reason I forgot is because I've been so focused on a birthday party for Phillip and Paisley on July 13th. Lot's of my family will be in town then so I moved her birthday in my mind 'till next week, so I'm not that awful of a mom.

Happy Birthday to our little Paisley! We seriously love you so much and can't imagine our family without you.

The top picture was taken one year ago and the bottom picture was taken just yesterday, one year later.

New York Highlights Day 1

2011-07-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

{Bed and Breakfast 414}

When we arrived in NYC we hopped on my first taxi ride ever and it brought us to our hotel. We got out of the car and this is what we saw. Adorable. You can't beat the price for staying in the heart of the theater district. We loved it. Cute and very clean. 5-10 minute walk to time square and most theaters.

{Double Decker Sight Seeing Tour Bus}

Since we arrived early Monday morning, we wanted to aquaint ourselves with this concrete jungle by taking a tour of all the bouroughs. It was nice to sit back and get our barrings. We went from Midtown, to downtown (financial district) up and around Central Park then back to the time square and saw everything inbetween. These buses are everywhere in NYC, you can hop on and hop off as you like. We loved it.

{TKTS}

The TKTS ticket office is in the middle of time square. It's a great way to get day of discounted tickets to musicals and plays. We came here everyday.

{Rockefeller Plaza}

Had to see where the Today Show and Saturday Night Live is taped.

{View From the Top of the Rock}

To the North...Central Park.

To the South...Empire State Building.

Beautiful...

{Pricilla Queen of the Desert}

First Broadway Show we saw. Entertaining. Great music. Cool Bus.

{Amy's Bread}

Ended the night by getting the most delicious piece of chocolate cake with white sugar frosting at a bakery around the corner from our B&B. Dangerous. We went here a lot!

New York

2011-06-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

In May, Phillip and I went to New York for a trip of a life time. Come back soon to see some highlights!

I am grateful for...

2011-06-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

My dog Ralphie. He's seriously the coolest dog. My parents adopted him about 12 years ago and he has been such a blessing in our lives. He's a mut...part Eskimo part Cocker Spaniel. Recently my Dad put him down because he was getting so old (we think 17 years). His hearing and sight was really bad and he couldn't control his bladder. That is one of the most difficult things for me to experience. He was in my care for his last 24 hours and I am grateful for that. This is me and the girls taking him on his last walk (awful). I cried all day. My girls loved him too. He was good to them. I'm so grateful to him and hopefully one day he'll know that.
I am so grateful for Stockton, Darren and Heather's new baby boy. He's here and healthy! Long awaited miracle baby. I just can't wait to hold him. He lives in Mosow, Idaho.
I am soooo grateful for my dear friend Lisa. She is the one who got me to do Ragnar. She's amazing! We work out pretty much every day together. She has 100% confidence in me and is one of the funniest people I know. I love you Leese!
I am so grateful for my little Paisley. If you know her, she seriously is the cutest thing you've ever seen. Her chill and kick back personality is needed in our family. She only cries if you take something away from her and don't replace it with something, or when she's super hungry. Otherwise, she's perfect. Seriously. Stay that way Pais.
I'm grateful for the "Coolest Daddy" in the world...Phillip. He loves his girls. He's crazy about his family. You know they are number one in his life. Jane wanted to make him a crown for Father's day that said " U R the Coolest Daddy Ever" and I couldn't agree more. I'm also grateful for Jane. She is so smart and sweet. She can give me a run for it, but I'm constantly amazed by her. She is teaching me so much. She sings all day long. I especially love it when she sings primary songs, it melts me.

Wasatch Back Ragnar

2011-06-23T07:53:00.001-07:00

Last year, I was pregnant.

This year, I did it!!!

Runner 3, 3 legs, 18.5 miles, 30+ hours, one of the funnest and hardest things I've ever done!

Phillip was Runner 5...I am so proud of him!

Waffle Shoppe June 11, 2011

2011-06-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

It was our second Saturday at the Provo Farmer's Market and boy did it go a lot smoother. We worked out most of the bugs from last week. Better set up, no electrical problems, easier ways to pour the batter, more efficient way to keep the syrup frothy, etc.

I did miss my dad and mom this week, they were on vacation. My dad kept our spirits high last week by being the funniest cashier/sample man on the planet. And my mom ran about five different emergency errands for us. Next time you help, it will be fun, I promise.

Our husbands were by our side this time. They put up with me bossing them around (I make a good chief). Jake, (Hayley's husband) makes in with all the Spanish speaking vendors and trades our waffles for delicious and authentic good eats. Hayley and I are learning so much about running a small biz. It's so emotional. Up and down. But some serious fun! I love working with my sister! If only my other sister could live by us....perhaps this summer she can help us out once or twice when she visits.

I wish it was closer to Salt Lake (next year...cross fingers), so my friends could stop by. Luckily Hayley's friends and family have shown some awesome support.

Come try us out! We'd love to see you! You'll love the Waffle Shoppe.

Waffle Shoppe

2011-06-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

This is why I have been so incredibly busy lately....

My sister Hayley and I braved a new and quaint little business selling the most delicious waffles and syrup. Thanks to her graphic art skills and impecable taste, we have branded ourselves well I believe. Our stand is located at the Provo Farmers Market (Provo Center Street and 500 W). We are open from 8:30am - 1:00pm. If you are in the area, please stop by and give us a try! If you "like" us on Facebook, you get a free drink.

Here is a link if you'd like to see some pictures of our first day (last Saturday June 4) at the Provo Farmer's Market. Hope to see you soon!

These two...

2011-06-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Paisley continues to be a perfect little angel. Jane is an energetic, opinionated, teacher of patience. Jane got the "happy kid, excited for everything award" at Preschool Celebration today. Boy I love these two....

I figured it out

2011-05-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

So, as you have noticed, I haven't blogged much lately. I have figured out why (besides the fact that I'm a mom of two extremely busy little ladies). The computer is in Jane's room. The best time for me to blog is while Jane's sleeping. So you see it doesn't work. If I'm on the computer while she's awake, I feel completely guilty and neglectful. I was looking at a book I made of Jane's first year. I was so diligent and writing everything down. I have done absoluetely nothing for Paisley, poor thing. I don't even blog much about her. What to do??? I have this idea of making a book using iphoto or shutterfly of every year about my whole family...I just hope I do it. Gone are the days for me of scrapbooking. I'm just not into it anymore, not to mention all my supplies are in the garage buried deep in boxes. I'm feeling over whelmed and like I'm not doing enough right now for my families posterity.

On a brighter note, I just spent an amazing week in New York with my husband. I am running like crazy. I'm actually to the point where 3 miles is easy and not enough. I do a big run every Saturday between 6-9 miles (until now I have never ran more than 4 miles total!). Phillip and I even took a 6-7 mile run all around Central Park. Memorable. I have so many moments throughout the day where I look at my little family and think how blessed I am and "I really like them" (of course I love them). I am down about 17 pounds since the beginning of the year. I write in a journal. I love my church calling. I have great friends and family who encourage me.

On the frustrating side, my house isn't selling and we can't lower the price much more. It's been for sale for 1 1/2 years. I have felt in limbo for so long now. For those of you who really know me, I love design. I love to decorate. But I have felt so constricted of that. My husband isn't loving his job, and there isn't much movement in his field right now. So if we did sell our house, where would we move to? How much could we afford? So frustrating. Although I feel down about that, I am constantly reminding myself that Heavenly Father is watching out for us. He's got a plan for us and we just need to be patient.

Thanks for listening to my ups and downs. It's good to be real.

March Madness

2011-04-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for...

McDonalds cheesburgers and playland

My parent's Condo in St. George

Jimmer!!! and my husband liking college basketball and putting up with a bunch of Cougar Fans

Two very happy children (The terrible 3's are starting to fade)

No more Minnesota

He's Home!

2011-04-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

For the last 2 months Phillip and I have seen each other a total of 6 days. Yep. When he finished up the Core project there wasn't any road design to work on in SLC so they sent him to Minnesota. Thanks to our iPhones (best purchase ever!) we could send videos and facetime when we missed each other. Jane especially missed her daddy and is glad to have him back (knock on wood).

Involving Jane

2011-01-26T07:37:00.001-08:00

I seem to always hear a little squeaky voice that says "Can I help?". So just about every project at our house, I have Jane in mind. This girl LOVES to be involved. Here are just a few pics of Jane being our #1 helper:

Making the Gingerbread House with Daddy.

Sprinkling the chocolate dipped Oreos for Christmas Neighbor Gifts. She is a good sprinkler.

Didn't they turn out cute? Delicious too!

Helped put on the Christmas Tree ornaments...they were all in a big clump near the bottom. We couldn't move them all season, it was too cute.

My favorite...feeding Paisley, although it lasts maybe one minute before she is on to the next activity.

Jane loves to paint. I taped off the chevron lines on this 4.99 Ikea table runner, and her paint with gold fabric paint. She was very serious while painting, yet loving it. She was very proud of what she did. (She painted the entire thing and never got bored). I think it turned out great!

Pretty cool, huh!?!

I wish I had a picture of this story, but I don't. Last week Phillip went ice fishing with his brothers and brought back one big, beautiful rainbow trout. Phillip showed Jane the fish in the ziploc bag before he went to work and told her they were going to eat it for dinner. Well, lunch time came and Jane ran to the fridge, got the fish in the ziploc bag, hopped up to her chair and started prying the bag open saying "Let's eat fish!". She was so excited. I smiled and said, "go ahead". She got the fish out of the bag, opened her mouth and almost took a bite (with the raw fish eyes staring right at her). I stopped her and started laughing. I told her that she has to wait for daddy to come home and they'll cook it together. That night, she was right by his side as he skinned the fish, chopped off the head, took out the bones, and cooked it. She kept saying, "Yum, fish is delicious". She is definitely her father's child...not afraid of anything.

I can't get enough of these two...I just had to share more...

2011-01-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

These aren't the best pictures...but if you were there you would understand how sweet they are. Jane was saying Paisley's name and telling her to smile. Paisley loves it when Jane talks to her.

Pais didn't want to smile...she was way more interested in what was going on. Jane on the other hand loved the "photo shoot", enjoying every minute of it.

I like the concept of this picture, but it didn't exactly turn out. Perhaps someone out there would have better luck. Still so sweet.

Yeah! Paisley is smiling!

Jane {3} Paisley {6mo}

2011-01-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

These are the faces I get to wake up to

every morning.

I'm a lucky girl.

New Year's Promises

2011-01-01T15:25:00.001-08:00

1. I know it's cliche...Lose 25 lbs. by my birthday (April 13)...so let it be written, so let it be done

2. Finish the Book of Mormon

3. Be on time or 5 minutes early (this was on last years list too)

4. Learn Photoshop...make 2011 Christmas Card using my skills

5. Re-upholster one piece of furniture

6. Write weekly in a journal on the computer, focusing on gratitude, my girls, and my relationships.

Here is a tip if you are setting your own resolutions: Make it measurable. Be specific. Don't just say "lose weight," or "read more." Also, make one in each of these areas...personal, spiritual, technology (almost a must), physical, friends and family. Also, don't give up. New Year's Resolutions is just a fancy way to set good, realistic goals and to jump start you into doing something wonderful.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Twenty Ten!

November

2010-12-06T12:09:00.001-08:00

The kids were getting a kick out of this statue at Buca Di Beppo (I think us adults maybe more).

Pais is so good at chillin'.

Thanksgiving was at my mom's house this year. It was lovely. Everyone, except Heather and Darren, was there. It was a treat to spend lots of time with Lindsey and Mark (they live in TX). Jane LOVES her cousins. My absolute favorite Thanksgiving food tradition is the Cranberry Sprite slushy. This year we did a few new things...we cooked the dressing outside of the turkey and I will always do it that way now...it was the perfect moist and crunchy consistency. Also, Linds made the most delicious white chocolate raspberry bread pudding for dessert. She needs to repent.

Pais is getting so close to rolling over, but hasn't quite yet. She is seriously the happiest baby ever! Always smiling. So easy too.

We have been busy this month coloring on walls, ourself, and even my parents dog Ralphie. 3 is fun but tough.

Happy Birthday/Halloween Jane!

2010-11-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Jane is 3! We had such a great day filled with good food, pumpkin carving, tons of family, new toys, and to top it off, Trick-or-treating.

October

2010-11-01T09:54:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun October. We started it out by going to Bryce Canyon. We stayed at Ruby's Inn which was half of the fun.
Phillip was asked to go on stage and boy did he do a good job at entertaining us.
Had to get the picture with the real cowboys. Jane LOVED the Cowboy show.
We are just beginning our walk along the rim from one view point to the other (1 mile apart).
It began to rain, so me and the girls caught some zzzzz's while Phillip kept exploring. He never lets wether get in the way like I do.
I loved this tree.
Some really nice Englanders offered to take our picture...so nice.
Jane got tired of walking and Phillip was happy to help.
Breathtaking in person, pictures don't do it justice.
Jane took a field trip to Wheeler Farm.
I love the hair shot.
She was fascinated with all the ducks.
We took an FHE trip to Pack's Pumpkin Patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins.
Oh the fun times when you are small.
Jane was like "what is this?". I told her it was a potty and she was skeptical.
On our way to Joy School.
I love this little smile of Pais.
Jane is so excited for her first day of Joy School.

September

2010-10-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

It was fun going to watch Daddy ref the Bountiful High Football game.

Jane is just like her cousins, she loves trains
I just love this cute little outfit from H&M. I wish we had one here.
For family night we went out to dinner at Moochies (famous for their Philley Cheesestake and Meatball sandwiches, but I liked the brownie best), then to Temple Square after to see the new temple exhibit.
We took Nana Mer out to dinner for her birthday. All of us girls LOVE the Olive Garden
A rare picture of the four of us.

Utah State Fair

2010-10-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Green Witch

2010-09-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

If you ask Jane what she is going to be for halloween, she'll say "A Green Witch". When I saw this costume at Costco I snagged it up so I don't have to think about it anymore. Although it's not creative, if you ask her what her witch name is, she'll say "Elphaba". She is obsessed with the song Defying Gravity from Wicked, and she wants a Gravity party for her birthday (Oct. 30). I love how Jane is always singing and very moved by music.

Jane and June with their "babies".

Blessing Day

2010-08-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

I love this picture above. It shows four generations... my Granny, my mom, me, and my two daughters. Pretty special.

I love this profile of Paisley...she has the cutest nose.

Here is the star of the show, sound asleep. I decided to put her in the same blessing dress as Jane. I'm glad I did. She looked like an angel.

She wears a bib because it would be a shame to get spit up all over that raw silk...Miss P. suffers from Acid Reflux, poor thing. It's been a long day, lots of attention, lots of people holding her, no decent sleep...binki to the rescue! She cried a little during the blessing, so thanks to Grandpa Keith for trying to hold that binki in. So stubborn.

My little family on our back porch.

I made this banner for the luncheon after, but because of the wind, I didn't put it up. I think I'll hang it in her room for a bit. No, I don't have a Cricket (I wish). I did it the old school way...print and cut out each letter by hand. Totally worth it.

It was pretty special to have both my daughters wear the same shoes I wore when I was blessed.

Something old: My shoes when I was blessed

Something new: The rockstar bow clippy that stayed in her hair the entire time!

Something borrowed: The dress and bracelet, from Jane

Something blue: her eyes and the blue dots on the bib

Miss P

2010-08-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Park City- Alpine Slides

2010-08-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Lagoon- August 11, 2010

2010-08-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Paisley Pics

2010-08-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2010-08-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hold on, where did my nursing pad go?

There it is.

(sorry if that grosses anyone out...I thought it was hilarious. Phillip saw it peaking out of her shirt then ran and got the camera.)

Bountiful Handcart Days

2010-08-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Two weeks after I had Paisley, and boy did it feel good to get out in the fresh air. Jane now can't stop talking about the parade and the shark slide.

Movie Date

2010-08-17T15:45:00.001-07:00

July 16th, Phillip took Jane on a date (Double date--with Eric and Bailey). They saw Toy Story 3 and enjoyed a huge thing of buttery popcorn together.

This pic shows how little Miss P was (and her long piano fingers).

Pregnant Pics

2010-08-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

I know I'm behind, but here are some pregnant pics of me. That last month was tough and I have had no motivation until now to update the blog. So here is for posterity sake...July 3, 5 days before...fireworks at Eaglewood with my pregnant sister-in-law Annie
August 24, two weeks before
July 4, 4 days before

Girls

2010-08-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Baby Bedding

2010-08-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely flattered...

A few people have asked me to post pictures of the baby bedding I made...but more close up. I am MORE than happy to help anyone tackle the same project. It was fun and I like to help spread the "sew it yourself" DIY love.

I used Amy Butler Fabric. The mobile is from Blah Blah. And the darling blanket is a one of a kind, hand made from my talented and darling sister, Hayley (you can't see, but the other side is this golden yellow soft chenille type fabric. I catch Paisley staring at the cute images on the blanket all the time). Thanks Hay!

So Cute!

2010-08-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is a great book...we read it a ton to get Jane ready to be a Big Sister. Totally worked!

I absolutely love these pictures:

The picture above was taken the night I went into labor. Phillip months ago decided to make a countdown calendar for the baby to arrive. Every night Jane put a sticker as saw that baby sister was getting closer and closer to coming. The BIG heart sticker marked the due date and she was so excited we were there! It was a great way to help her get excited and to kind of understand what was going to happen. Phillip was amazing to to this and think of it on his own. It's been one month since baby sister has been home and she has shown not signs of jealousy, just love and adoration for Paisley. So Cute!

Paisley, minutes after being born.
Phillip's first time holding his daughter. You can't tell, but his eyes are watery and his smile is huge. So sweet.

First Picture together. From what I saw upside down, she's pretty cute.

Phillip's Birthday

2010-08-10T11:24:00.001-07:00

It wasn't even a week after I had Paisley that Phillip turned 32.

Not the greatest birthday...sorry sweetheart.

We did make it over to the pool where Phillip and Jane had a blast.

It felt good to be outside in the fresh air, chilling by the pool with my family.

Jane loves the water. She is so brave. She runs and jumps in the pool, no problem.

Swimming lessons and Phillip have done a great job to make her confident in the water.

"The End"

(I had to)

Details

2010-07-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any details because I've taken my hubby's advice and focused on recovering from the c-section, sleeping/resting whenever I can, nursing Paisley, and giving Jane all the attention and love she needs with these new changes. Also, I just weaned myself off of percocet, so I'm feeling a little less loopy.

Here are the details, it's long, but now it's documented...

Tuesday, July 6

6:00pm: Make dinner for a girlfriend that had a baby. Begin to pack it up.

6:12pm: I feel what I think is my first contraction.

6:15pm: Phillip gets home and I tell him about the contraction. He gets an excited and worried look at the same time. I tell him I "think" it was one, but let's not get our hopes up.

6:30-8:30pm: Take dinner over to our friends house, stay a while and chit the chat about babies, etc. I try to ignore the contractions. I think I was in denial. No way was I going to have this baby on it's due date...yea right.

8:55pm: Try to find a Redbox to return a movie...heaven forbid we get charged an extra dollar.

9:30pm: I was craving a Butterfinger Blizzard, so I make Phillip take me to DQ. As I sit in the restaurant, I feel the contractions a little harder, yet I still question what they are.

10:15pm: Get home, get Jane to bed, make a blog post about the girl's room makeover, lay down.

11:00pm: Phillip has had it with my denial, gets out a piece of paper and pen, starts to time and write down the contractions. At first they were 6 minutes apart and only lasted 20-25 seconds. He looks online about contractions...has a checklist of questions to ask me how I'm feeling. I was a yes/maybe on all of them.

Wednesday July 7

12:00am: Continue to chart the contractions. Now they are 5 minutes apart, lasting 45-60 seconds. Phillip wants to go to the hospital but I am STILL in denial. This is not the way I imagined it. I wanted this to happen in the middle of the day, not during the middle of the night. I didn't want to burden anyone (my mom) by waking them up and asking them to take Jane. You have to think about those things with a second child.

12:30am: Contractions get more intense, it's all starting to sink in that this is going to happen. Scary. Phillip is way nervous too. I've never seen him use the bathroom so much. I start to get panicky. I whip out the cleaners and start to clean the bathroom. No way do I want to come home to a dirty bathroom. Phillip thinks I'm crazy. He helps me do a quick cleaning job on the bathroom so I would go and lay down.

1:00am: I'm laying down, Phillip continues to chart down the contractions, I get one so bad that my body shakes immensely and I start sobbing. Phillip and I get up out of bed as soon as it's over, and without consoling each other, we start to get ready to go to the hospital in a panic. I quietly go into Jane's room and pack her a bag. She is sleeping so peacefully, sawing logs, and has no clue what is happening.

1:30am: Headed to the hospital. I constantly tell Phillip to obey the speed limit. The last thing I want is to be pulled over. Phillip thinks that would be cool. Phillip has called my mom and she meets us as the hospital (luckily it's a good half way point between us both) to take my Jane.

2:00am: Check in. Put on my darling hospital gown my sister-in-law gave me. Feeling pretty cool, excited, and of course, nervous. The hospital is quiet. Phillip and I decide to walk the halls for a while. Dilated only to a 2...hoping the walking will help. With each contraction getting stronger and stronger I lean on him every time. Being alone and together through this was so peaceful and special. It makes me appreciate and love him even more.

4:30am: I've had it with the pain and ask for an epidural. As great as they are after, they seriously suck getting them. Again, I'm grateful to have Phillip by my side, holding my hand. I did scold him a few times for rubbing my back through my contractions because that is the last thing I needed at the time, so sorry sweetheart.

5:00am: I held out as long as I could, and now I'm confined to a bed. Phillip and I get a little nap in.

7:00am: Dilated to a 3. This is going really slow.

9:00am: Dilated to a 4.

10:00am: Dilated to a 5. This is as far as I got with Jane.

11:00am: Dilated to a 7. Yeah, VBAC looking good! Baby's heart rate is perfect.

12:00pm: Dilated to a 7 still. Baby hasn't really dropped. Hmmm....

12:05pm: Contractions are coming quicker, more intense, and I'm feeling some major pain on my side. I have the nurse and Phillip flip me over to my other side. It helps a little.

12:20pm: Feeling major pain in my other side. Flip me over again.

12:40pm: The pain isn't going away, it's getting worse. Doesn't an epidural take away all pain? I sob because it hurts so much.

12:45pm: Nurse decides it's back labor and call's the anesthesiologist. He comes in and ups the epidural dose. Much better. I love him. Tells Phillip to call him, the second I get uncomfortable. He doesn't want to see me crying because of pain again. That's his job.

1:00pm: My doctor comes in to check me. Still dilated to a 7 and the baby hasn't dropped. Starts to notice the baby's heart rate to drop. Great, Jane all over again.

1:15pm: My doctor tells Phillip and I she'd like to do a c-section. I'm disappointed the VBAC didn't work, but everyone reminds me I tried my best and it's for the best.

1:45pm: After getting prepped for surgery, they wheel me into the OR. I'm shaking. I get tears. This is all so weird. I get excited to know we get to meet our little girl within minutes.

2:01pm: She's born! I hear her cry a ton. Such a cute cry. I'm told she looks good and is very pink. The anesthesiologist moves the curtain a little for me as I look across the room and see her for the first time. So cute! It's all a little blurry for me though. The nurses are working on her to get the fluid out of her lungs. Phillip gets teary and whispers the sweetest things to me. He stays with me for a minute, then I tell him to go and be with the baby. They take her to the NICU to work a little harder on clearing out her lungs. Phillip follows.

2:40pm: After I get stitched up and the curtain comes down, my doctor talks to me right away. She tells me I had two tares in my uterus. An elliptical tare above my previous incision in which she could see the babies shoulder through (later on, Phillip tells me that is the hole in which she reached in and grabbed the baby), and another tare below. Her guess is that those tare's happened during that last hour of laboring, which caused the babies heart rate to go down. She is so glad we did a c-section or it would have been very scary. My doctor also talks to me briefly about child #3 and the risks. I have a hard time processing it all. Phillip gets back from the NICU and tells me the baby is doing well. I brake the news to him about my uterus and he said that he could tell during the surgery that something was wrong. We are thankful everything is okay.

2:45pm: I get wheeled back to my room. They bring the baby in saying she is very hungry. I try to nurse, but she doesn't suck. I feel so nauseated that I want to through up. I tell the nurses to give her a bottle. I seriously don't feel good. I go up to my new room where I am completely out of it. I throw up a few times and just want to sleep. I get bombarded by nurses and more information. Can't they see how out of it I am? They try a few things to get my nausea and pain taken care of. Nothing seems to work.

From here on everything seems to be a blur. My nausea went away 24 hours later. I tried nursing again on day 3 and so far it is going well (10 days into it now). We had lots of family and friends visit which really boosted my spirits. Phillip and I feel so loved. Thank you! Having Paisley in our hospital room this time was a new experience and I am grateful for the bonding time we got early on. I am totally in love with her. She is a good baby and a special little spirit. I feel privileged to be her mother. Jane has had a blast with my mom, cousins, and Nana Mer while I was in the hospital. While home, Phillip has made her feel special by taking her swimming (twice), the park, and to movies. Jane loves baby sister and gets excited to be around her. I even think Paisley gets excited to hear Jane's squeaky voice. I love my little family. I am blessed with two beautiful girls and a handsome and helpful husband. Life is good to me.

And Her Name Is...

2010-07-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my talented sister Hayley for making this darling, and official, name plate.

After much debate, and seeing her, I think Paisley is perfect for our little girl. It's feminine, unique, and the alliteration with our last name is adorable. The only tricky part is retraining Jane to say "Baby Paisley" instead of "Baby Olive". As many of you know, that was the name for a long time.

Her middle name, Kay, is after my Grandma Kay, who I had (have) a special bond with, love and miss.

SHE IS HERE!!!

2010-07-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone this is Phillip. I am excited to show some pictures of the newest addition to our family. She was born at 2:01 pm yesterday: 8 lbs 3 oz, 20 inches long, and lots of hair. Her and Tiffany are doing great. They are both so beautiful, I'm a lucky man.
Jane is gong to be the best big sister ever... she is very excited and helpful!
What is her name...well that news will be coming soon so click back often.

Nested

2010-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've been nesting like a mad women these past two weeks. It all started with my mom and sister two Mondays ago coming and helping me paint Jane's bathroom. Weird place to start I know, but boy was I sick of that pea soup green on the walls. I wanted a nice, fresh, white bathroom instead. I'll post pictures of the bathroom when it's complete. Here are some of the quick and temporary changes we've made so I feel a little more ready. We have taken our house off the market for the time being, but plan on putting it back on pretty soon so I didn't want to change much. Are you ever really ready for a baby?

Jane's Room:

I moved Jane into the old guest room where she now has a "Big Girl Bed" (Queen size and loving it). I didn't want to repaint that room and I also need to work with the black and white...so I added pale pink to the mix and now it screams GIRL. I made this room into Jane's room for under $100. Yeah! Phillip painted an old lingerie chest from sage green to white and I went to Anthropologie and got 5 different pink knobs. I used an old pink quilt that was past down to me for the bedding. Went to Ikea and bought 9 white Ribba matted frames and framed pictures from a Barbie calendar I got at Costco last year. Lastly, bought a pink Ikea lamp. It all kind of came together and we love it.

Baby's Room:

Again, I didn't want to change the wall color and all the furniture needed to stay. I made the bumper, yes, piping and all. My sisters and mom made the bed skirt...which I love. I found the little ottoman at a garage sale and Phillip covered it with some new fabric. The curtains are simple and a fun deep corally/red. The retro clock was my granny's, I saw it collecting dust in her garage for years and now I'm putting it to good use. Big splurges are the knitted bluebird mobile over the crib and the "I am a child of God" print. I have bought 3 big square frames that I plan on painting coral and putting some pictures of the girls in...these will hang on the wall above the crib. The overall feel for the room is traditional modern. It's kind of bare (considering 1/3 of our house is in storage right now), but I kind of like it that way. This room also has to store a few of Jane's toys which she plays with everyday (the kitchen and vanity). It feels fresh and I love the little changes from Jane's old nursery. Now our little girl will have an exciting nursery to come home too.

Father's Day

2010-06-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so do you see this T-Rex? It goes everywhere my nephew Rex goes. I snapped this picture at the Ragnar of him wearing it. Well....

Somehow, one of his cousins got a hold of it, on Father's Day at the park, and threw it up a tree. It wrapped around a branch real good, so there was no shaking it down. Luckily we distracted Rex, so he had no idea what was going on. He came over and asked "Uncle Phillip, what are you doing?" My sister Lindsey replied, "Rex, your mom is calling you". And off he went. We got that T-Rex down quick...and it made for a good laugh.
The newleywed couples (I think you are a newleywed until you have kids, no matter how long you have been married).
My brother Jason, getting some help opening his F-Day gift.

My dad getting some help opening his F-day gift.
Go Dodgers! (My dad...born and raised in Long Beach, California. A Dodger Dog sounds good all of the sudden).
I just can't get Jane to take a decent picture these days....this is the best I got. Still, so cute!

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay

2010-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of my family! All twelve finished 3 legs each, totaling 189.7 miles from Logan to Park City. My husband especially amazes me...running last minute leg changes that was much harder than what he was planning on with a positive attitude.

Van 1:

Lindsey (My sister who ran the most miles, very prepared)

Uncle Mike (filled in at the last minute- did fabulous!)

Heather (My cousin-aka "lightning"- small yet super fast runner)

Emily (My cousin- Aunt Sallie and Uncle Mikes daughter, so nervous yet did amazing)

Jason (My big brother- organizer and only one who has done the Ragnar before)

Steve (Heather's husband- super fast up hills, had very difficult legs)

Van 2 (Keith, my dad, the driver):

Aunt Sallie (age 48 and is my Hero!)

Kyle (Hayley's bro-in-law, acted like it was easy, I'm jealous)

Phillip (Coolest husband in world, belongs to me)

Jill (Hayley's sis-in-law, married to Kyle, ran the "Ragnar"...hardest leg of the race, did excellent)

Darren (My brother, prepared for hills, got sick but kept going, I'm so proud of him)

Hayley (My sister, I think people underestimated her legs, they were hard!!! But she is young and in shape)

Thanks to Jason for organizing our team, the "Nutter Butter Runners". Thanks to my awesome dad for being one of the drivers. Thanks to the Lindsey and the girls that decorated the coolest cars in the world. Thanks to the 3 volunteers from our family. Thanks to Annie for letting everyone crash at her place. Especially, thanks to all the runners in my family that totally inspire me.

I am happy to say I was at the finish line...37 weeks pregnant, watching 4 kids (with Aunt Heather's help, thank goodness), allergies flaring, swollen, and completely emotional watching the Nutter Butter Runners cross that finish line together. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. I love you all...I am sooooo proud of you! Ragnar 2011, I'm there! (If you'll take me).

My reason/excuse for not running. I think it's a good one.

Non-nesting

2010-06-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

So I guess my way of nesting is different than others. I am doing the exact opposite than most other girls and completely contrary to what people think I would do and that is...nothing. Yep, I have done nothing, and I have no desire. This poor little girl. No exciting nursery to come home too. I was at my 37 week check up yesterday and the doctor had to remind me it's time to get out the car seat, wipe the dust off the swing, and pack my hospital bag. My only response was, oh yea, I need to do that, I guess. What is my problem? All I want to do is put my feet up these days (totally swollen btw).

Last Friday as I was doing the dishes (completely bent over with my arms resting on the front of the sink with my bum sticking out...pretty picture huh?), I looked out the window into my cute little garden and noticed a big, fat, sick looking bird sitting on the edge of our planter box. I looked really close through the window to see if it was alive and it blinked. Instinctively I knew right away what was going on. She is pregnant! I kept checking on her all day long. She was so bloated and just sat there. Every now and again her husband (or so I'd like to think) would bring her a worm to eat. So sweet. I felt a connection. I knew what she was feeling. The funny thing is that she wasn't "nesting" either. She just decided to chill too. Yeah! I'm glad I'm not alone in this non-nesting thing.

You'll be missed 24!

2010-05-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have distinct memories of Phillip and I living in our Gateway apartment, newly married, 8 years ago, getting hooked on the show "24". Phillip came home and said he read an article saying that "24 is the most unwatched, but should be watched, show on television" at the time. So we decided to give it a try. After one episode, like I said, we were hooked. For over 8 years now we have been dedicated "24" fans, and Monday uncommonly being our favorite night of the week. The only dissapoitment was in 2007 when the writers strike happened and delayed the show for a while (I think a year and a half)...but then it came back, in all it's glory with Jack Bauer never ceasing to amaze us. I also have to admit that it was getting a little predicatable, but thanks to the fast pace and so many twists, I happily kept intune. I am proud to say I have always and will always be a "24" girl. In reading about the finale, I hear there is much talk about a movie...wich is fabulous and better be true...we can't wait! Phillip and I agree we'd be there opening night, with t-shirts on. Mine saying "CTU" or "I {heart} Bauer" and Phillip's saying "Guns don't kill terrorists, Jack Bauer does". Thanks "24" for ending on a high note...the finale was wonderful. Thanks Keifer Sutherland...you play a good good guy for a change. Thanks to the writers and producers of the show...and especially for creating so many loved, and not loved, characters (and bringing back some good old actors, Sean Austin, Ricky Schroder, Freddy Prince...). Now Phillip and I need a new show to replace "24", hold on, I don't think anything can replace it. Oh well. (If you've never given it a try, come and borrow the first season from us...you'll LOVE it, and want to borrow the others.)

See you at the movies!!!

Wannabe Designer

2010-05-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Boy do I wish I had money to redecorate....my whole house!!!

As long as we are living on one income...that's not going to happen.

It is seriously in every fiber of me to love and crave design. I'm not crazy about antiques, but a little "one of a kind" can really make a room.

While out today I came across this European Furniture sale on an abandoned corner. I found the following benches that literally gave me chills. Just recently I have been wanting to scrap my dining room chairs and start new (but keep my farmhouse table). Here is my inspiration (designer-Sarah Richardson) and here are the benches I found...

They are supposedly from Hungary and made in the 1800's...and they cost $375 each. After looking online, that is a great deal. But even that is a lot of money to me right now. I did end out however, buying a little ottoman that I can't wait to recover for the nursery. It cost me $20. I don't know how to bargain (it makes me super uncomfortable), but perhaps I should try next time.

Here is one more find...grain sacks. They used it to recover these antique chairs $350 each. They had piles of them...I can see using them to make a pillow or two. $35 for each grain sack, and they are huge. Stools $30...the bright orange totally speaks to me.

Anyone in the Draper area...across from Old Navy, in the next two days, should stop buy.

Car Seat Canopy

2010-05-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

I think these are a brilliant idea! When I first saw them, a little over a year ago, I knew it was easy enough I could make one. Now there are so many tutorials on line. I read a few, then combined them to make the perfect one for me. So (Sew) easy! Yet, I have to admit that I am a complete perfectionist and wanted to do it just right the first time therefore it took me 5 hours. Next time I bet I could do it in less than 2.

For the bows I went to You Tube and watched a tutorial...believe it or not, there is a trick to the perfect bow.

I can't decide what my favorite part about the canopy is...the rick rack edge, or the gold buttons.

The fabric is by a favorite designer...Amy Butler. It is inspiring me to do the nursery in these coral and gold colors. We'll see.

Grandma Packer

2010-04-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

Sadly, our dear, sweet, Grandma Packer passed away today.

I have so many wonderful things to say about her. She truly is a jewel and extremely special.

These are the most recent pictures of her...the top two are at our Packer Family Holiday party in December 2009, and the last is on March 17, 2010 when we took dinner over.

It's just been in the past few weeks that Phillip and I have talked and finally came to terms that if Grandma were to pass away soon, it would be okay. We would be okay. We've been so selfish for so many years, wanting her to hang on, even though Grandpa has been missing her for some time now and awaiting her arrival. That says a lot about a person doesn't it. She has been in a lot of pain for quite a while, but just hasn't been ready to go.

Family is everything to her...not material things, not status, but family. She lived so humbly...never even had her driver's licence. So content in her little Kaysville home that Grandpa built her.

So many times I find myself in situations asking myself, what would grandma do? She seemed to handle everything perfectly... so non judgemental. Loved and excepted everyone.

She let us live with her for 6 months (five years ago) before we moved to our town home. It was good timing for both of us, because she was alone and battling cancer at the time, therefore we helped each other out. I look back at those months and cherish them.

Phillip always said that she made him feel like he was her favorite (but I have a feeling she made all her grand children feel that way...I say that because she made me feel that way too.) Every birthday was remembered.

She's an angel. Christlike. A perfect example.

We love you Grandma and think the world of you. We miss you already. We honor what a beautiful, good, and full life you have lived. Thank you for loving us.

Phillip and I with Grandma at the Packer Holiday Party
Grandma Vi Packer with most of her Great Grandchildren
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Eating Green in the Pink kitchen.

Fun Afternoon

2010-04-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at mom is a hard job (I could go into that, but I won't), but it definitely has it's perks. I get to spend more time with my mom, who has lots of energy and gets me out of the house. We met for lunch a few weeks ago and ran a few errands in the Draper area and I fell in love with this random, old, ice cream truck. I feel a Jane photo shoot coming on now that the trees are blossoming. I can imagine her in a something brown or pastel pink and a funky old chair. Anyone have one I can borrow? Anyway...if you want to know the location of this truck...I will tell you, but it might cost you.

This pic of Jane is way too close and seeing food in her mouth isn't the most attractive, but boy does she love cheeseburgers. She just dug right in and it made me laugh. Lately so many people have been telling me how she looks so much like Phillip (couldn't agree more), but boy does she have her mom's appetite and good taste for food. Side note...she LOVES Italian...fettucine noodles, and salad. (And yes...those are animal style fries in the background...I had a weak moment.)

The Girls

2010-04-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

My little "present" opening up a present....When I put the tulle in Jane's hair I told her she is going to look like a present today, and she does.

Grandma Trish gave both the girls darling little spring outfits for Easter. Here is Jane attempting to be independent...

No mom, no help.

I put on.
I do it.
Silence. Struggle. Struggle.
Help!

The picture below of June (Jane's cousin) has a hilarious story behind it (the black speck on her chin is evidence of the crime). Click here to read it. June's mom, my sister-in-law Annie, who is an amazing journalist, wrote about it on her blog and had me laughing like crazy. Want to laugh today...take a minute to read.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny came! He brought lots of chocolate, a new Dora toothbrush, Velcro ball toss game, Princess Frog DVD, and a Bunny Bank. He even left some money in plastic eggs (Jane is obsessed with pennies- that'll one day change, dang it).

We had two Easter Egg Hunts: one at our house and one at Grandma and Grandpa Tintle's with our cousins, aunts, and uncles.
After our Easter Egg hunt at our house...the Easter Bunny decided to make the second hunt not so difficult.
Determined.
The face below is actually an excited one...she's saying "Mom, look, der it is!"
I wonder where the last egg is??? Found it!

March 2010

2010-04-03T08:47:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA KEITH!

Rex, June, and Harry...3 of Jane's cousins

Wrapping Grandpa Keith's Birthday Present.

Jane is seriously the best helper. She always wants to help me and gets so excited when she can. I hope this comes in handy when the baby comes.

CRYSTAL HOT SPRINGS

Honeyville, Ut

The place was pretty ghetto, but I put my brave face on and enjoyed being in 94 degree water while snowing.

DISNEY ON ICE

Jane was on the edge of her seat during the whole show...Cars, Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell, and Lion King (Okay, got a little bored through Lion King because she's not familiar with it. But she asked for some popcorn and that kept her entertained and VERY happy.) This night was gladly all about Jane.

Before the show I prepped Jane who we were going to see...Ariel and Tinkerbell...then she'd always follow that by saying "and Rella, and White, and...." naming every princess. I sadly said that she won't be seeing Rella, her favorite...but low and behold, who was at the pre-show? You guessed it...Rella! Two feet away from Jane. In the flesh. Jane was mesmerized. Good job Disney.

Jane takes her art...coloring, painting, etc. very seriously. Put a crayon or a paintbrush in this girls hands and she is entertained for a while. Tries to stay in the lines too.

WARD EASTER EGG HUNT

The hunt took literally three minutes then the kids played at the park for an hour. It was cold and windy. Soon after this picture was taken...we put on coats and hats.

Pregnant Me...side shot. Yuck. Just had to add this for posterity sake. My three B's are huge (Belly, Boobs, and Butt...sorry if that offends anyone). Doesn't help standing by my skinny friend Jody (who has lost 100 lbs. in one year! Amazing and motivating).

So Cold. But cute hat eh?

HAPPY EASTER!

(One week early because of General Conference)

When you have a girl...the Easter dress thing is very important.

Phillip had the hardest time getting Jane to smile here...he just gave up.

DANCE CLASS

She'd go everyday if she could.

Watching her made Phillip and I get watery eyed.

3 Things I'm In Love With

2010-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

1. My Neti Pot- I have a sinus infection coming on and I swear by this method to prevent or help it. Haven't tried one? You must. Don't be afraid.

2. $1.99 Strawberry Banana Smoothie from McD's- Beat's a $5 Jamba Juice...and YES they are delicious. It's the only thing that sounds good to me these days and it feels so good on my throat. Go grab one today!

3. Bubble Baths- ahhhhhhh

Once I get feeling a little better, I will post a baby bump pic. I'm literally the size of a soccer ball right now. Can you believe I have 3 more months to go? I mean that in a good way. Time flys...

It's a...

2010-02-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Last night we invited a few close friends and family over to a "Baby Sex Reveal" (thanks Melissa P. for the idea that I totally copied). It was so much fun. Here's how it went....

Tuesday 8:30am - Phillip and I go to the 21 week ultra sound. Find out that the baby is totally healthy, yeah! When the technician went near the bum and legs, she told us to look away (we told her our "reveal" plan.) It took her a while to be confident about the sex because "it" wasn't cooperating and had it's legs crossed. She had me clean up, left the room, then came back and said she wanted to try it again. This time she was much more confident, got a good picture, then put the correct "It's a..." in an envelope and sealed it up for us to open that night.

9:15 - I get some blood work done...no fun.

9:45 - Meet with my OB...Love her!

10:15 - Phillip takes me to a quick, but delicious breakfast at Denny's (I love Moons Over My Hammy) where we speculate what the baby will be.

11:15 - Pick up Jane at my girlfriend's house and take her home for lunch, wondering the whole time what will be in store for us....Get a text from my realtor saying someone wants to see the house from 4:30-5:30pm. Ughhh....well, I have to clean the house anyway for my little get together tonight.

12:00-2:00 - Decide to boycott cleaning because I'm just so dang tired (I'm having thyroid issues which my doctor believe adds to my tiredness, along with being pregnant). Jane and I snuggle in my bed, she watches Aladdin and I sleep.

2:00 - Get up, refreshed and ready to clean, bake (cupcakes), and get things ready for the evening. Put Jane down for a nap.

4:25 - Five minutes early!....the people arrive to see my house. With dishes in the sink (from making frosting), I quickly grab Jane from a peaceful sleep and put her in the car. I drive around for 45 minutes waiting for the people to leave.

5:30 - Mad dash at getting things ready for the reveal. I have this thing with baking from scratch (tastes so much better to me), but decide to use a box cake mix. I pre planned making two sets of cupcakes, boy ones and girl ones. I think the box cupcakes actually turn out better than the homemade batch. Whatever. Theory corrected.

6:30 - Phillip comes home, with the envelope. He has had it all day long so I wouldn't peak or hold it up to a light or something. I give him 50 million orders of last minute details I need help with. As always, he's a good helper, but moves a lot slower than I do (or maybe me asking him to "get Jane ready" is a huge task in itself...she is two after all.)

7:00 - Friends and Family arrive. Cast their vote. Get Jane on video what she wants it to be and 3/3 times she says brother. But I don't think she really gets it. 10 vote girl, 9 vote boy. This is a darling picture of Jane and June hugging...cousins...5 weeks apart.

7:30 - I can't wait anymore...we have to open the envelope already! I'm sick of calling this baby an "it". I need to start planning the nursery. I need to solidify a name. I NEED to know.

7:38 - 11 hours after the ultra sound...we have Jane and Phillip open the envelope.

7:45 - 9:00 - Eat cupcakes, mingle, send texts, check out the ultra sound pictures, lots of hugs and talk about all the pros of having two girls. Jane is overwhelmed by the whole thing and gets a little upset saying she wanted a brother. I quickly change her mind.

10:00 - Phillip and I finally get to talk quietly about our feelings about having another girl. We both wanted a boy, not going to lie. But we are definitely more and more excited about having a girl. They are so special. We feel so honored that Heavenly Father trusts us and has confidence in us to raise righteous daughters. I hope as a mom I will always be there for them, help build them up and give them the self esteem needed to be good. I am also glad I'll always have little shopping partners, for the rest of my life. This is going to be fun. Yeah for girls!

Alice Lane

2010-02-21T08:38:00.000-08:00

Go HERE to enter into a $100 giveaway to an AMAZING furnishing boutique...Alice Lane. You'll love the new blog.

8th Anniversary- December 19th 2009

2010-02-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

So I bet you are wondering what we won?

$100...because everyone that plays a game gets a prize, whether they win or loose.

It was sooooo much fun for us to be on TV...although we've been kicking ourselves we didn't take the $1800 dollars. At that point in the game it was a 50/50...50% we could roll one more time and get more money, 50% we would loose it all, so we took the roll for more money. I just wanted the car and was caught up in the moment not thinking straight. Phillip (being the math guy that he is) knew we'd never win the car because rolling all six numbers in six rolls you have a 1.5% chance of winning...that's it! Lame game. Should have taken the money dang it. Oh well, it was fun and definitely the most memorable anniversary.

Here are some other pictures from our 8th Anniversary...after being on the show, we were hungry, so we went to a great steak house called Del Friscos...so far it's the nicest restraunt we have ever been to and the food was divine.

After Dinner we relaxed at the newest hotel on the strip...the Vdara. The rooms were modern and big.

The next day, we woke up and walked over to the Bellagio...connected to our hotel. We ate a delicious breakfast (creme filled raspberry french toast to die for) and walked around the shops. And yes, my hubby treated me to a pair of Tiffany & Co. earings. Thanks Sweartheart! Gotta love that little blue bag.

Where was Jane the whole time? My sweet Father and Mother in law in St. George took Jane happily for the weekend. Thanks a whole bunch! We needed that and enjoyed every minute.

Let's Make a Deal!

2010-02-10T06:51:00.001-08:00

On December 19 (our 8th Anniversary) Phillip and I were on the TV game show "Let's Make a Deal", which is filmed at the Tropicana hotel in Las Vegas. We went with my brother Darren and Sister in law, Heather (the skier and kitty...look right behind Wayne Brady, the host). We were lucky to be picked as a couple to play a game. The show aired yesterday, Feb 9, so click on the red "Let's Make a Deal" below to watch....

TIP: We play the second game of the show...so fast forward to 5.25 seconds. And sorry, you have to watch a little advertisement first.

Let's Make a Deal

I know we are dramatic, but it makes for good TV right?

Mental note for next time I'm on national TV...do NOT wear white pants.

My next post will be about our "winnings".

Enjoy!

Kid Table

2010-01-31T22:39:00.001-08:00

So it's not nearly as creative crazy as the inspiration table (in the previous post), but I think the table turned out darling and Jane loves it. The chair organizers are my favorite part. They were easy to make and are a great storage place for all of Jane's coloring books. Painting it red was a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm so glad I did. When I pass by the table throughout the day, it makes me happy. Want to "get happy"? Fix up a piece of furniture. "Little Green Notebook" (link is in my blog favorites) has wonderful ideas to get you going...I find that blog very inspirational.

Next project...read. I need to catch up with the rest of the bookies and read. My only problem is that I struggle reading while pregnant...it's a focus thing. Wish me luck.

2010-01-27T20:04:00.001-08:00

When one project finishes...

...another begins.

I actually really like using my cell phone holder that I knitted. If you can tell, my purse is pretty huge (and can do some serious expanding too), so having a quick to get to spot for my phone is coming in handy. Thanks to my Klutz book for teaching me how.

Next project is this sad IKEA table. I bought it five years ago so I could use it for my nephews when they came over to visit. Now it's Jane's art table and boy does it get lots of use. It's starting to look pathetic, dirty, and gross because the unfinished wood soaks up any crayon or marker that comes it's way. I mentioned sprucing this up to my friend Kimi and boy did she give me some inspiration by connecting me to this link IKEA LATT TABLE.

It's almost finished and SO STINKIN' CUTE!!! I just have a few finishing touches to make then I'll post a pic of the final product.

A Picture a Day

2010-01-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

This year will be an eventful one for us...perhaps our LONG search for a family car will be at a close soon...new baby in July... possibly a new house if we sell our townhome (still love it)...Jane is becoming "big girl"... Phillip training for the Wasatch Back...and so on. So I have decided to hop on the Project Life train by taking a picture a day and documenting our life for the year of 2010. Project Life (formerly known as Project 365) is an amazing program developed by Becky Higgins. I am sooooooo excited about this I just had to share. Taking a picture a day has been fun and creative for me. So far I have pictures of Jane (of course), food I am experimenting and making, my cupboards I am organizing, outings with friends...it's so easy and fun. Now I just need to either order the binder to put it all in or decide to go digital and make a book that way...I can't decide...I'm glad they have both options.

So get excited and do this with me! It'll be fun and you'll be glad you did.

Click here to get more information on Project Life.

Jane Scarf

2010-01-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

So I have a new hobby...knitting. I'm completely lost in it and it feels wonderful! It all started with wanting to make those knit wash clothes you get as gifts. Last October, while living in Las Vegas, I joined the knitting/crocheting church group and was taught by an ever so patient (and talented) friend. I spent hours practicing and practicing, starting over and over again. Now I have finally reached a point where I am ready to actually make something. But where do I start? Without my friend there to help me, I turned to something you might laugh at....a Klutz book. That's right, I went to Roberts Craft Store, used a 40% coupon and bought the book so I could begin a project and learn new technique. That book rocks! I have already learned how to make a coin purse, a cell phone holder (attaches to your purse), and a scarf. The scarf is what I'm most proud of because I decided to go in search for some cool yarn (instead of the yarn that comes in the kit).

I came across this yarn...

...it spoke to me...use me, use me...wouldn't I look so cute as a scarf for Jane...so I did.

A few days later and...voila!..it's done and I'm in love.

And now for the model herself...

It's Here!

2010-01-19T09:04:00.000-08:00

While living in Las Vegas for three months, I had a huge "to do" list of things I wanted to accomplish. One of those items was to publish a book about our Europe trip we took in May 2007. I had intentions to make it and surprise Phillip for his birthday in 2008, but I got three pages into it and lost motivation. Vegas was the perfect time to finally sit down and complete the book. We took WAY too many pictures for me to scrapbook and that is why I decided to digitally put them together. I tried a few different book publishers online (Shutterfly, MyPublisher, and Costco...all of which are wonderful), but I just found it tedious to upload every stinkin' picture. Perhaps that's why I lost motivation. Then I thought to myself, HELLO, you own a Mac, which comes with iPhoto, which you can publish books with, WITHOUT uploading. Yeah! Problem solved...I'm back in the wagon! So after many many days laboring over this book, making sure I was 99.9% factual and correct with dates and information, I completed it one week before my 8th wedding anniversary (Dec. 19, 2009). Perfect gift for the occasion...if I got it on time. For some reason the address was messed up and it never arrived. So I thought, it'll be a perfect gift to give Phillip for Christmas, but it still didn't arrive. I'm thinking with the move from LV to SLC, it got lost and was never forwarded. So the other day I contacted Apple services and they responded immediately trying to track it down for me. Without any luck, they were so nice to print a new one (at no cost) and overnight it FedEx (at no cost). Talk about great service!

So, it's Here! The doorbell rang at 8:00am this morning, I quickly flew down the stairs, opened the door, and there it was on my front porch. I couldn't wait any longer to give it to Phillip (although it would have made a good V-day gift), so I made him late for work and gave it to him right away. He was shocked and completely elated. That trip means so much to him (us) ...Phillip talks about it frequently. It was one of those things we DO NOT regret, and feel we got it right. It was a last hurrah before we had Jane (I was 18 weeks pregnant when we went), and we'd recommend it to everyone. Here are some pictures of the book...or you are welcome to see it in person because I know you are all dying to read all 48 pages. (I really just did it for us and our posterity).

The program was easy...drag and click.

It allowed me to create and insert maps throughout.

Just in case you were wondering...I made the 13X10" hardcover album.

I'm impressed with the quality of the book.

Next on my "to do" list...learn how to take better photos.

As Big as a Lemon

2010-01-07T11:18:00.001-08:00

...my baby that is.

Yep, I'm expecting!

As of today, I am 14 weeks.

Due July 7th.

Now that the first trimester is officially over and I am feeling much better, I'm really getting excited for #2.

I'm excited also for Jane to be a big sister, although she doesn't get it right now.

Jane and baby#2 will be 2 3/4 years apart. Sounds good to me.

Phillip and I feel so blessed.

It's possible baby #2 could be born on my sister's birthday (July 1) or Phillip's birthday (July 13), or on my twin brother in laws' birthday (July 4th). No matter what, being a July baby rocks (Phillip has always said that).

We just pray that everything will go smooth (as smooth as can be) and we deliver a healthy baby.

Stay tuned in a couple weeks to find out the sex of the baby. I'm one of those that will definitely find out.

Cast your vote on the right.

Grandpa Bucky

2009-12-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

My dad just called, my Grandpa Bucky just past away. As of a few days ago, we knew it was coming soon. I am so sad. I love my Grandpa Bucky so much! I'm glad my dad and my two aunts got to say goodbye. About 6 weeks ago I got to visit him twice at his care center in Fullerton CA. For an hour on a Saturday, then I had the strongest feeling I needed to go back, so I went again on Sunday, this time for 2 1/2 hours. I'm so glad I got to have that special time with him. I am so glad I got to spend my whole life so far knowing him. Without even aspiring, we was the coolest Grandpa. He was quiet, but fun. Smart, but not cocky. Talented, but humble. He lived his life to help my Grandma Kay and his 3 kids. Family was priority to him. He was a hardworker, always fixing or building things. He was a Marine. He made the best peanut brittle in the world. For all of his grandkids he was so generous, especially around our birthday and christmas. He was a game player... cards, dominos, cribbage, or just making them up for us kids. When we'd visit him in Long Beach, he'd always have the hot tub ready for us. After a long day at Disneyland, he and Grandma would be there at the end to ride the train with us. He loved good music and has the biggest 8 track collection I know of. When he'd come to visit us in Utah during the holidays, he'd always be shoveling the snow in his Member's Only jacket. He drove a cadillac (to make my Grandma happy). He'd get mad at me for watching too much TV (and I did). He's a Jersey Boy. He helped me understand the phrase "there's always room for dessert". He'd always have an Odules with his spaghetti. He'd take me to Dodger games and shell peanuts together. My Grandma and him would always talk to me on the phone together. I know he enjoyed being a grandpa.

When I was with him 6 weeks ago, I got to help feed him. I looked down at his tray and on a little card it said what he liked to eat for each meal. I noticed that for breakfast it said "cold cereal with bananas". The bananas had to be IN the cereal. Because of my grandpa, I love that too. I love a lot of things because of my grandpa.

Although my grandpa never totally believed in an eternal family and that we will all be together again one day, I do. I know he is with the person he loved most of all right now, my grandma. I know I will be with them again one day. I miss those two. My reunion with them will be an exciting one.

It's difficult to sum up a grandpa you love so much, and I know I could write so much more. But I think that is all I have in me right now because I can't stop crying. I love you Grandpa Bucky!

Leaving Las Vegas

2009-12-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

This is harder than I thought....leaving Las Vegas. Last night I went to "game night" with the girls in my ward. There I was laughing and having a great time with 20 incredible women, knowing that I'll probably never see them again. I was very honest with them and let them know I was moving...although I was tempted to quietly slip away because I HATE goodbyes. I respect these girls and I just had to express my love for them. They totally embraced me and invited me to some fun activities, knowing I'd only be here for a short time. I'm grateful for them. They taught me a lot. I will miss them.

This morning was Jane's last time at the gym. The caretakers there have really taken a liking to Jane and was sad to see her go. They are so sweet. Everyday Jane would say "slide down mama", which means, "let's go to the gym because I have so much fun there". I'll miss that.

Well, my apartment is in shambles with boxes everywhere. I still have so much packing to do. It's amazing how much stuff we fit into this small apartment. Last night Phillip was having a tough time packing...he isn't ready to move. He feel's a little betrayed. Luckily I have a fabulous Saturday planned to cheer him up. It's our 8th wedding anniversary and it's my year to plan. I got us tickets to be on the game show "Let's Make a Deal" which is filmed here in Las Vegas with Wayne Brady as the host. I have a wonderful steak dinner planned at Del Frisco's then spend the night at the Vdara. Sunday will be dedicated to packing again, so hopefully we can mentally get away from all this craziness for a day. You are probably thinking, "What are they doing with Jane?" Well, Grandma and Grandpa Packer are so kind to take her while we have fun and pack. Plus it'll be good to get Jane out of this apartment...she's a little confused with what's going on.

I leave Monday morning to head back to Utah. I have a busy three days in Salt Lake before Christmas... full of get togethers and appointements. Phillip is leaving Wednesday with a full Uhaul and meeting me at our townhome in North Salt Lake that night. That's why I'm so anxious to get everything packed by Sunday evening. I'm sure I'm not the only one busy this holiday season...so I wish you all the best as the holidays wrap up!

Liar

2009-12-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

So my child has made a liar out of me. She is not potty trained in one day, dang it. I spoke too soon. I give up. I am so sick of cleaning up accidents, spending half the day on the potty with rare results, and rewarding her for being dry when she isn't minutes later. I'm so confused because I only did this because she basically told me to. As for right now I'm done. Perhaps after this crazy move I'll give it a go again. For now, back to diapers. I'm so disappointed.

Shocker!

2009-12-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

This may come as a shock, because it did to us, but we are moving back to Utah within the next week. Phillip's boss told him they were having to make huge budget cuts on the project in Las Vegas and because Phillip is "an expensive" employee, they have to let him go early. Luckily, his office in Salt Lake the same afternoon got a HUGE project (expanding I-15 from Lehi to Orem), and really need his help. So it is a huge blessing we are not out of a job and there is much work for Phillip to do.

When we received this news, we were both so confused. There are so many pros to moving back (I really missed being by family), but there are lots of cons too. The main one is we feel incomplete, because we don't get to finish what we started. We've been in Las Vegas for 3 months now and I'm really going to miss a few things...being close to our St. George and So. Cal family, the gym I go to (Jane LOVES the playroom), our ward...I have met some pretty incredible girls, and I'll really miss the new adventures we had planned. I feel good about the 3 months we've lived here, it's been a good experience for all of us. I know that Heavenly Father is sending us back to Utah for a reason and like always, we are always in His hands. I trust Him.

Our plans are to move Dec. 23...right before Christmas. We might have to move it back a week for Phillip to finish what he is working on right now, but it's for sure, we will be Utahns again soon.

I hope your Holidays are wonderful this year. I'm excited to see many of you! Merry Christmas!

In One Day

2009-12-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

Jane has given me practically every sign possible that she is ready to be potty trained and be a big girl. I was a little frightened because part of being potty trained means that "accidents" were part of the process and we'd have to find a public restroom when out and about, gross! Let's admit it, diapers are so much easier, but we have to train these animals to be human sometime. While I was doing my visiting teaching this week, I mentioned how scared I was for this big step and how I really don't know how to go about it. Luckily, my girlfriend shared with me a fabulous book called "Toddler Wise"...I was familiar with "Baby Wise". I took it home, read the chapter on "Potty Training Made Easy," and decided we were going to do this in ONE DAY, like the book suggests. So on Saturday, December 12, Phillip had to work a full day and took our only car. Which left me home alone with a two year old to work my magic. I first used her baby to demonstrate what to do....put big girl underwear on, drink from the sippy cup, ask her if she was dry (of course the pretend baby was), reward her with an M&M, then go to the potty. Then I did the same thing with Jane. Jane LOVED IT!!! But she didn't go potty. I thought that perhaps if I get some more juice in her, she'd have to go. So I decided to give her some breakfast. I sat her in her high chair, and one minute later I hear dripping sounds. I look over and sure enough Jane was having her first accident. Jane had the most confused look on her face. She didn't really understand what was going on. But she did understand that she was wet (not dry) and didn't like that feeling. Phillip was so sweet to clean and disinfect everything before going to work while I deal with Jane. We put some fresh new underwear on (boy was I tempted to give up and put on a diaper) and try this again. We reinacted with the doll again and I asked her every 15 minutes if she was dry. She'd check with her fingers, say "YES!" and I would reward her with an M&M. It worked beautifully. I love how the book focuses on rewarding staying dry and clean, not just going pee pee in the potty. She had one more accident on a much smaller scale that morning. Since then, she has been dry. Church, naps, fireside, and even nighttime and she's been dry. I keep asking her if she needs to go potty, because I think she forgets, perhaps I just need to trust that she'll tell me when it's time. And for the record (sorry to gross you out), she's gone poo poo in the potty several times so that's not going to be a battle, thank goodness. I know we have more accidents in the future, but I'm so glad we've gotten over this training hump and we are well on our way. Yeah Jane!

Pee Pee in the Potty!

2009-11-21T10:01:00.001-08:00

I'll spare you all the details...but today was the first day I witnessed Jane going pee pee in the potty! Yeah! I'm so proud of her. She kept saying "I did it!". Today, I think we'll celebrate by picking out some big girl underwear. My baby is growing up....

New Moon

2009-11-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

And I thought I knew how to throw a party!

I went to an amazing New Moon party last night. I sadly didn't take my camera so that is why I write this in detail. The girls from the ward invited me and of course I said yes. I was told that Bajio was going to cater and they were asking $10 from every girl...alright. I was also told that it was held at the Red Rock Hotel in Summerlin...okay. Party started at 6:30 so I was fashionably late at 7:00pm. This is my first time stepping into this hotel and I was blown away by how cool it was. I made my way up to the 17th floor, walked down a very long hallway and was greeted at the door by a dozen black and gold balloons. When I walked in it was kind of quiet...I said "Are you guys taking a quiz?"...sure enough they were. I was instantly handed a New Moon quiz paper and pen, after being complimented on my "Team Edward" shirt (I noticed many girl's wearing neutral "Team Switerland" tshirts). There must have been at least 30-35 women in this suite. After the quiz (which I didn't do too bad, considering it's been over three years since I've read the book), I helped myself to some delicious mexican food served on official Twilight plates. That is when I took in the details of this amazing party. If you know me I notice and appreciate details. First, the decor. The ceiling was covered with gold and black balloons with red strings...had to be over 50 balloons. There were black frames everywhere with quotes from the movie. The wall art was covered with New Moon art. There were a dozen tall stemmed roses in the middle of the dessert table which served as the focal point of the room. Take in mind this suite had that dark, sexy feeling many hotels here in Vegas have and just so happen to have black, red, and gold as there interior colors, so it all looked SO put together. The music in the background was the Twilight soundtrack. Now for the snacks and desserts. Everything was New Moon related of course. Beautiful pedistals, apothicary jars, and gold chargers displayed all the yummies we could eat now and clear plastic bags to bring some to the movie later. All treats were, again, red, black, and gold. Here are a few I remember....red vine licorice (wrapped in different "blood type" bag...mine was A+), hot tamales, red and black m&m's thoughtfully swirrled in a glass jar, oreos (christmas bag, just used the red filled), oreo truffle balls, red grapes in ice cold water (yum), hershey and recesses in gold wrappers, and red velvet cupcakes. That's not even half the food, There were even more clever homemade goodies with clever names that I can't remember because I was so busy having fun and chatting. Around 8:30pm girls started trickling down to the theater (attached to the hotel...how convenient) to wait in line. I stayed back another hour to enjoy the suite and us girls that didn't get tickets to the movie because it was sold out two months ago. Then we got a phone call saying that two girls standing in line were bailing the movie, so I quickly snagged one of their tickets. I packed up my goody bag, grabbed some bottled water from the bath tub filled with ice, and made my way to the theater. Yeah, I got a ticket! It was 9:30pm and I got in line with the group just as they were letting us in the theater. Everyone ran to get great seats. It was hilarious. While waiting for the movie to start we played several rounds of Catch Phrase (yes, we were one of those loud obnoxious groups) and got to spend a lot of time getting to know the girls in my ward better. These girls are so nice and conversations were so fun and uplifting. When 12:05am came, I was so ready and surprisingly very awake. I REALLY enjoyed the movie... more than Twilight, which is interesting because I didn't care for the book. After the movie, all the girls were headed back up to the suite to party hard once again and distect the movie, but I headed for my car, exhausted. It was 2:40am and I was ready to go home. I did it, I gave it my all, and had an absolute blast! I hope I never get too old to do these things. It's so rejuvinating to my soul. I have learned so much from my new Vegas friends...and one is how to throw a premier party. Well worth the $10.

Flapper Girl

2009-11-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Many people asked me if Jane was going to be Cinderella for Halloween this year and I say that would be too obvious, and afterall, she is Cinderella every day. So I changed it up and Jane was a flapper girl, complete with gloves (that were too big but she didn't care). I also thought this could double as a "dress up" later. Jane was so sick of me saying "smile for the camera" the day before at Disneyland, so I couldn't get one photo of her with a true Jane smile, instead a very non enthusiastic "cheese" with a straight face.

We trick-or-treated in my Aunt Susan's (where we stayed) neighborhood in Yorba Linda. After watching the kids for the first time what to do, Jane was a pro after the first house. She said "trick-or-treat" in her darling little squeaky voice and went for the candy. So many people let her take two handfuls (and we are talking GOOD, BIG size candy in California). I told Jane to grab yellow (peanut M&M's for mom) and she mostly did. Aren't I awful? After a while Phillip and I noticed Jane's pumpkin getting very heavy and offered many times to help her lighten the load, but she refused. Notice the picture of her on Phillips shoulders with the candy pumpkin behind her, refusing to let us get near it. She had such a "I worked hard for this and it's all mine" attitude. Jane was lucky to get a ride on Uncle Mike's golf cart while Phillip and I tried to catch up the whole time. Afterwards, we got back to the house, spread out the candy like we should and joined in with Michael (my cousin who is a fifth grader) and his friends and began trading. She had fun with this. We had a great Halloween with our first time true trick-or-treater.