harper

birthday month

2012-01-30T07:56:00.000-08:00

It was Derek's birthday on the 3rd, but sadly we didn't take a single picture. It was a good day though. We went to dinner in the evening and then had a little surprise party afterwards with his friends from school.

We did, however, take pictures of Lily's birthday that was on 28th.

Birthday Eve asleep in her bed

Lily no longer likes to wear pants to bed because she gets too hot.

opening presents

We made her a doll bed and doll crib.

We had strawberry and whipped cream waffles for breakfast

I made a lemon cake and just put pink food coloring in the frosting. Of course she requested a pink cake.

Do the banners look familiar?

It was a really good day. I think she had fun. Thanks to everyone that made is special for her!

Randomness.

2012-01-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

Dad's do

Ready for the New Year's Eve party

I found Lily's bunny here the other day.

Working out with Mom, HAD to wear a sports bra too.

Who doesn't want to wear their swim suit over their clothes, oh and let's not forget the socks over the pants
(do you like the shadow in the picture? I'm awesome, I know.)

bucket head

She made this bed for her and her baby

Christmas

2012-01-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

This was the first year we didn't go home for Christmas. It was nice not having to travel and everything, but then Christmas ended and we were here...still...alone...missing family.We spent Christmas Eve with Devin and Claire and her family. They were nice to let us come hang out and eat their goodies. Then what do ya know, Santa came. Lily was so tired from our NY trip that she could hardly get excited about the whole thing, but we still had a good time.

Thanks Maris for the cute hat!

New York for the holiday

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

We went to NYC from the 22nd to the 24th. It was soooo much fun! Derek's brother and his wife went with us which made it even more fun that normal. We saw tons of stuff this trip which was great, but man we were tired when it was all over!

December

2012-01-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

December was busy busy busy, mostly in a good way. We visited our friends up in Bethlehem, we decorated, we ate good food, I planted bulbs, I made tons of stuff, Lily and I made a paper chain, we spent a couple days in NYC (pictures to come)...I could go on and on. Derek and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, hooray! It was a super month, the only bad thing is it all went by way too fast this year.

Lily has been really into dancing these days...

November

2011-12-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving with some friends this year. It was a very good time with good company and good food. Lily was exhausted by the end of the evening, it was all very lovely.

I made a set of stockings out of a quilt I made. I didn't like them so I made a new set.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to a tree farm to get our Christmas tree cut down. Lily got to see Santa, and it was a good time had by all.

October

2011-12-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

Sadly I am the Halloween scrooge, but you'll be proud to know I DID dress lily up this year. Big step for me. She was a cute little cow and this is the only picture I can find right now.

August/September

2011-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures from the end of the summer. Lily and I went to Utah for almost the whole month of September, but again I took zero pictures!

July

2011-12-28T20:13:00.001-08:00

Two of my sisters came to visit which was sooooooo much fun. We went to DC for part of the trip because my sister had a conference up there and then spent the rest of the time here. I feel like I have more pictures of the trip somewhere, but right now this is all I can find. It was seriously like a billion degrees while they were here and the AC went out in the Volvo. Awesome.

June I think

2011-12-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

One of my very favorite people came to visit with her two kids. It was sooooooooo hot here and our car doesn't have AC. Not cool. We had so much fun though, I love her

April/May 2011

2011-12-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was beautiful! We had the beach pretty much to ourselves...gotta love off-season. We camped at the beach and in a couple hotels because of crazy weather on our way down there. We had such a good time!

We spent almost the whole month of May in Idaho, but sadly these are the only pictures we took while we were there. LAME! But - Maris did take some family pictures for us while we were there, hooray!

ca-noe

2011-04-26T18:25:00.001-07:00

(lunch after the lake today)

Easters

2011-04-26T17:59:00.001-07:00

This is the shirt I freezer paper stenciled for D

(also pictured - our new canoe!)

Have I mentioned Derek loves volvos? We have 2 of them. I'm speechless.

Don't get too excited

2011-04-26T17:43:00.001-07:00

This doesn't mean I'm going to officially catch up or keep up. I just thought I put up some pictures taken in the last couple months. I'm a slacker, I'll admit it. I don't know, maybe I'm over blogging. Until I figure it out...

These two pictures were taken at D's white coat ceremony. Hoorah!

I did it!!!

2011-01-31T12:03:00.000-08:00

After my sad performance last week I had to try again and ta da! This is the first batch of bread that's turned out since we lived in Houston almost two years ago. This is a proud moment for me.

You had a birthday, shout hurray!

2011-01-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

We laid out her little birthday gifts the night before and decorated for her special day. (I made a banner for her, that's another post.) Too bad she woke up with a cold. Poor thing. But she was still super excited. (I'm training her to love her birthday like me. Very important. We've been celebrating for weeks, lets me honest.) We got her some clothes, books and most importantly, some fake food for her new kitchen. (Thanks so much to everyone who sent and brought gifts by, we have the best family and friends, who are way too generous!)
We enjoyed some delicious whole wheat waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Oh they were so good, like usual. We even put candles in the waffle and it worked!

She put the bunnies in that chair and gave them food to eat. She was so proud.
Can you tell she's mouth breathing in the pictures? So sad.

Are you ready for this?

2011-01-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

January.
It has been a busy but good month.
Lily and I flew back in to town on January 6th after a canceled flight the day before and a very long plane ride across the country late at night. I have to say, it was good to be home. Normally when we leave town Lily adapts really well and sleeps good while we're away, but this trip was different. I felt more tired when we got home than when we left. I think I'm still trying to recover. She learned out to get out of her bed while we were home for Christmas which was NOT a treat, but it's been better since we got back. Oh she can still get out of crib, but she's been nice enough not too for a few weeks now.
Santa finally visited when we got back to town. Lily's favorite surprise was her new kitchen that she LOVES.
I have to say, Lily gets more and more fun. I loved the newborn stage and thought I never wanted it to end. I loved weeks and months after that, I loved all of the stages! But she's really starting to talk now and it is so much fun!! She is seriously so funny. Her hair is finally growing a bit, huge step. She's a treat, she really is.
She turned 2 yesterday!! So weird! But that's another post.

So weird, Lily found a pull up and wants to put it on over her pants all the time.

She finally has enough hair for a little ponytale.

her and her daddy hanging out.

December

2011-01-29T17:44:00.000-08:00

Lily and I left December 4th to go home for the holidays. Derek had tons of finals and there was no use in us staying there because we wouldn't have ever seen him. (He met us in ID on the 21st.) We flew into SLC and stayed there for a few days with my sister. Then we headed to Declo for a few days to see Derek's family and then to Boise to be with my family, then to Portland for a day, then back to Boise, then back to Declo, then back to SLC. It was crazy. We had such a good time with our families as always! December 22nd was our 4 year anniversary and we got to spend it in Portland. Sadly we only took one single picture and that was at a look-out point on the way there. And I just found a sweet picture Derek took while I was sleeping apparently. Awesome. Oh I did get one of the Christmas tree in the square too, but that's it. I'm ashamed. Christmas was a treat. Speaking of treats, I ate way too many of them! All I can say is...oink. I did TONS of sewing while I was there, tons. We also celebrated Derek's birthday while we were there which was a treat. For once we weren't on a plane all day for his day.

(We were so bad about taking any pictures, the only reason we have any with D's family is because they emailed them to us. Wish we had some of my family too, next year we have to be better about taking some!)

Lily and me on the plane to UT

november

2011-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

November is a blur. It came and went so fast it doesn't even seem like it happened. One of our really nice friends invited us to the Please Touch Museum for kids. We had so much fun. I think I had as much fun as Lily did. They have a child size grocery store, water room, car room and more. They also have a carousal which Lily loved, of course.
Thanksgiving was great. We had it with several of our friends. The food and company was great.

October

2011-01-29T16:46:00.001-08:00

Not much really happened in October that I can think of. I was a horrible mom and didn't dress Lily up for Halloween. I'm like the scrooge of Halloween. I'm determined to be better next year.
We did go to the Smith Playhouse a couple times. It's this awesome outdoor playground. It's huge and so fun. Nothing else noteworthy that I can think of.

Lily's word for October was "running"

guilt prone

2011-01-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

I would definitely describe myself as guilt prone. I'm really good at making myself feel guilty for EVERYTHING.

For example, I find myself putting this blog off because I feel guilty not starting from where I left off, but I just can't get pumped about doing that.
My friends keep telling me to just start from now, but that doesn't seem right.

So, here I am, driven by guilt to just buck up and do at least a quick recap.

Once upon a time back in October, I was training for a race. That race is the reason I stopped blogging really. Every spare moment was spent running. The big day was November 7th. It was up in Lancaster County - amish country. It was the most amazing course, all through amish farms. It was so pretty and such perfect weather.

My crazy friend took pictures the whole way. (and I'm very thankful)

Remember this?

2011-01-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

Remember when we lived in Houston and I made this bread?

Well, tonight I made this

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't made bread that turned out probably since that bread I made in Houston. Too much flour, too little flour, not enough mixing, blah blah blah.

Since we've been back.

2010-10-13T18:08:00.001-07:00

It definitely took some major adjusting coming back home after a summer of pure fun with very little work or stress. Lily (okay me too) got used to being entertained pretty much every waking hour. Having cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents so close really spoiled us. But after a few weeks back at home we finally got back in the swing of things and we've been having lots of fun together. Derek had to get back to the grind - school, studying, the boring stuff, so lily and I have been trying to keep ourselves busy, and Derek tries to come along as much as possible.

Of course this is where I found lily the other day.
In the dirtiest place in the house.

She's grown very attached to her blankies.

We've been to the beach a couple times since we've been back. It's been so much fun.

This is one of Lily's favorite friends.

We've been to the orchards to pick peaches.

Here are some random shots -

She loves beets! Which makes me very happy.

Can't you tell she's getting bigger?!

The three of us road our bikes to the park the other day.

The highlight was having my good friend and her two little kiddies come visit us for 5 days. I couldn't ask for a better friend. She's so wise and so hilarious! We had so much fun with them and can't wait for another visit!

The end for now. Sorry for so many pictures!

I think we're finally back in business

2010-10-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that our computer has basically been broken since we got back into town. Well, super news... I think we've finally got things going again so I'm hoping to be better about posting. Here are a few pictures that were on our other camera from this summer.

One of my 8 friends that I grew up with got married while we were in Boise in August. So I lucked out and got to spend several days before and after hanging out with my friends who were in town for the wedding and our 10 year class reunion. It was soooo much fun seeing them again!!(It's lame but somehow I don't have any pictures of my class reunion, but if I can get a friend to email some I'll post them then.)

Most of the following pictures were taken the day we left Boise.

It's scary how good Lily is at walking in high heels.

I had so much fun with my family all summer. I really think it was one of the best summers I've ever had. Lily and I went through some major withdrawals. We miss you guys! xoxox

Will I ever be able to catch up?

2010-08-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

Welp, we went to Idaho for the summer and I must say it was one of the best summers I've ever had. Lots of fun was had, and I'm not gonna lie, it was hard to leave everyone. (but it's nice being back home too.) I think Lily is disappointed it's just she and I all day again...no more cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and pets to entertain her all day long. It's going to be rough.
We were planning on staying with my parents all summer but my sister's friend needed someone to house sit and watch her dog while she was away for 3 months...so, we had our own place and a 65 pound bull dog to take care of.
This is him.

Lily has gotten bigger. Not big, but bigger. And even sassier than before and even more hilarious. I guess these posts to come will mostly just be pictures of our summer. There's not really much to say except we played pretty much all day every day.

May

I'll have to post more of each month when my sister sends me a cd of all the pictures she took while we were there.

June

July

August

August back here

At Devin's wedding. (Thanks Maris)

For those of you who care, there will be more to come...soon hopefully.

It's impossible for me to stay indoors.

2010-04-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

My house is a disaster. My bathroom is not only a mess, but it's actually dirty. That's gross. But, for some reason I can't bring myself to stay inside these days, not even long enough to do the chores I usually do without fail. It's becoming a problem really. But not a big enough problem for me to stop going out. Maybe in the next few days the bathroom with be disgusting enough for me to take serious measures. We'll see.

I feel like a lot has been going on, but unfortunately I haven't been taking any pictures of the recent happenings. A couple of Saturdays ago two of my friends and I took a day trip up to New York, CHILDLESS. It was tons of fun. Like a loser, I didn't even pull my camera out once. We kind of counted on Sarah to take all the pictures, and hopefully one day she'll send them all to me. We did the touristy climb up the Empire State building to peer over it's edge. It was definitely worth doing at least once. It was amazing. You really can't fathom how HUGE New York City is until you've seen it yourself, it's incredible really. We walked around a ton, visited Central Park, ate some delicious mexican food, and stopped at not only one, but two bake shops. The first was for cookies, the second for cupcakes. The cupcakes definitely trumped all. They were sinfully delicious! It really was such a good day.

Lily and I have been out on lots of walks, we've been to a few parks, and we've been doing a lot of squirrel, bird and dog watching. We even went to the zoo the other day with friends, (something I never do, don't ask why). It really is amazing seeing the giraffes and lions and everything. One of the mama monkeys had just had a little baby too. It was soooo cute seeing her carry it around with her everywhere. Lily loved it all too, but mostly I think she loved running around with our friends that we went with. We actually took our camera, but realized we were out of batteries when we got there. Lame.

Today we went to this orchard/park place with some friends. Lily loved running around acting like she was invincible. She really is fearless, which is good AND bad. We had so much fun that when D got home from school we took him to check it out too. We got a few treats from the cute market and played out on the playground for a while with Lilypants. They had a bunch of turkeys and chickens too and two little lambs that Lily adored. Again, we should have taken our camera, but didn't.

The latest news is we're moving home for the summer. We're starting to get really excited to be near our families again, a luxury we rarely get to enjoy. Anyway, now that I've rambled on FOREVER I'll end. Here are a few pictures of Lily for those who are dying to see her.

It's a bad sign, she's already in the love the phone.

This is her laying in the sun coming in through the window.

This girl LOVES avacados, but yesterday she didn't want to eat the little bits I cut up for her, she wanted to eat it straight. So I had to cut the skin off part of it and she dug in.

Easter

2010-04-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice Easter.
We took a walk in the morning to see all the spring blossoms and to play a little at the park.
The weather has been sooooo nice.
We watched conference and some friends invited us over for crepes. I ate way too much.
Wasn't conference so good? I loved it.

she LOVED the slide

she DIDN'T love the teeter-totter and she still hated the swing

she loves to eat rocks.

This was at our friends' place.

spring has arrived

2010-04-05T05:42:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned the cherry blossoms are out? Pictures just don't do them justice.
They are amazing.

We came in the living room...

2010-04-05T05:33:00.000-07:00

to find this

Lily had found my bag somewhere and had successfully spilled the puffs everywhere. When I walked in she knew she had done something wrong so she quickly did everything cute she knew how. Elephant noise, fish face and a big grin. It was hilarious.
Thank goodness for vacuums.

too fast

2010-03-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

I'm having a moment where I sit and watch lily and think "where did the time go?" She seems like such a big girl now compared to what she was just over a year ago. Honestly, I have really tried to savor the moments along the way because I knew they'd be long gone before I knew it, but it still went much too fast.
I must say that I love that sweet baby girl more than words can define.
what's not to love.

worst tent attempt ever.

2010-03-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I decided to make a little tent with Lily in her room. I must say it was the weakest tent ever, but she appreciated it. She got her dog and a book and plopped herself down beside me under the "tent". I tried reading, but of course she only pays attention to that for 5 seconds and then wants to just walk around with as many things as she can carry at one time. She would walk out of the tent then back in and sit for a minute then do it all over again. It was a treat.

Placemats...finally

2010-03-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

So they may not be completely done, but I finally put them on my table anyway. I was planning on doing some applique maybe, but haven't felt inspired so for now they are being left 'as is'.

Monday

2010-03-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today is monday. The guests have left, derek is in school, and it's raining outside...still. To be honest I'm feeling very lonely today. Maybe I just need some sunshine.

A few days ago we went outside and played a bit,
these are a few of the pictures we took.

kicking the ball

This is what she does with her fingers to knock.

They're a perfect pair.

Her in the pan of course - with all the things she put in there with her.

This is Lily carrying around her new doggy.
She LOVES it and always has it with her. (thanks nana)

This is one of her favorite things to do...pull ALL of her books off the shelf.
Unfortunately she hasn't learned to put them back yet.

Some more outside pictures.

This week

2010-03-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a good week. Monday and Tuesday brought amazing weather, then the rest of the week was cloudy and rainy. I wish I would have taken pictures while we were outside in the beginning part of the week, but I just have inside pictures like usual.

Two of my friends took me to lunch at CPK for a late birthday get-together on Thursday. It was so much fun. The food was delicious and the company was great. Next time we plan on doing a dinner date instead so the kiddies can stay home with the dads. Don't get me wrong I LOVE LOVE LOVE Lily, but she is SO busy these days. She managed to spill a full glass of water all over the table, write on my clothes and hers with crayon, got cheerios everywhere, and continually tried to get on the table. It was fun though, even with my busy little sassypants. She really is hilarious.

I've never put shoes on Lily because I've heard they shouldn't wear shoes (at least hard bottomed shoes) until they learn how to walk, but Lily found these in her room the other day and has INSISTED she wear them every second since. I have a video of her wearing them, but no pictures yet so I'll work on that. She does look rediculously cute in them, it's true.

She LOVES standing in this chair and looking out the window. She acts like she's a big girl and moves around and lays her head back and laughs at herself. She's so funny

She wants to get INTO everything lately, literally. She loves getting in the magazine bin, the stove drawer, the 9 x 13 glass baking pan, and the silver fry pan. She fits in them all cuz she's tiny and she thinks she's awesome everytime. I wish I had pictures of her getting in the kitchen pans, that is funny.

More eating pictures. In the lower one she was taking a little break. Laying her head down on her tray.

This is tonight before bath time -

and a kiss for dad!
The end

Wait, just remembered I did take a couple pictures from our walk on Tuesday with our friends...

and this is one more I just found that was from dinner at our friends' place the other night. The picture looks awful, but aren't they cute hanging out on the couch together?!

Dear Tosha,

2010-03-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures of Lilypants you've been requesting since I got home.

Here she is doing one of her favorite things...
standing and rocking on the chair in the sunroom. Don't worry, we ARE supervising.

This is our attempt to save her clothes while she's eating.

For some reason she kept making this face when Derek was taking her picture.

She loves wearing the oven mitt around

We took Lily to the park the other day to get out of the house. Derek is on spring break this week and we've been boring and have been feeling a little stir crazy. Too bad it's still cold here.

Needless to say, she did NOT like the swing. She wanted out the whole time

She didn't mind as long as we did it together.
home again, home again

Here you can see we're putting her to work early.

Birthday celebrations

2010-03-05T07:06:00.001-08:00

It was my birthday on the 24th.
Most of you know my birthday is a VERY BIG DEAL TO ME.
A bunch of my friends got together in Houston at Crave Cupcake to celebrate while I was there. It was so much fun and everyone was so thoughtful! Seriously. We had such a good time talking and laughing and eating delicious cupcakes and steamed caramel milk. Again, I don't have a picture, but I had to at least mention it because they made it so special.

THEN, when I got home, I got together with some friends to celebrate AGAIN! We went to a VERY DELICIOUS dessert shop and spent the evening together. It was a blast and the company was great! These girls really make me laugh. I got the most delicious crepe filled with homemade ice cream and topped with fresh strawberries. Wow. It was a great night! I really am so lucky to have such good friends in so many places! Lucky for you, I did take ONE picture that night.

I'm back

2010-03-05T06:48:00.000-08:00

I went on a little trip to Houston to see some friends and take advantage of some Southwest points I had. I left the 16th of February and came home on my birthday, the 24th. It was sooooo much fun and so nice to see my friends. The bad news is I left my camera at home so I have ZERO pictures. BUT, a couple of my friends did take a hand full of photos and one emailed me with a few today. I'm sure I'll be receiving more from my other friend soon.
It was such a nice trip. I say "trip" because my friend kindly pointed out that it's not a "vacation" once you have kids. ha. I must say this time she was right. Lily was all off her schedule and not sleeping and was kind of grouchy. It probably seemed extra hard because I didn't have Derek around to help me at all. But still, it was a good "trip". The weather was pretty nice, I even got to go running outside in the sunshine one day. My friends were all SO thoughtful and generous. I could go on and on about how good they were to me, but I'll spare you the details. It was just such a treat to see everyone!!

These are my cute friends that both had kids right after we left TX.
The one of the left had one and the one on the right had THREE! Yes, triplets, she's amazing!!!
It was SO fun to see both of them and spend some time with them!

Us and the babes

And this is what Lily was doing the whole time we were there...
getting into everything, literally.

I'll have to post more pictures when I get more emailed. Thanks to all of you in Houston that made my trip so great! I miss and love you all!

my latest projects

2010-02-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

well, at least my latest FINISHED projects...

a rattle and diaper/wipes case for my sweet sister-in-law
who is going to have a baby any day.

(the pink rattle is Lily's)

another snow day and a fat lip

2010-02-12T04:31:00.000-08:00

Thursday was another snow day. Staying in again wasn't quite as fun as the first couple times. I had cleaning to do, Derek had a lot of studying to do and Lily got a fat lip. She LOVES playing on the mattress we put down in the sunroom - the mattress we've been sleeping on since Derek's surgery. She knows to get off of the mattress she has to turn around and go feet first, but yesterday she got ahead of herself and went face first onto the hardwood floor. Her tooth must have gone into her lip making it swell up and it made her gum bleed at the base of the tooth. I'm just glad her tooth didn't get knocked out or something. Poor little gal. She was so sad. But she did finally recover. (It's her top right lip, can you see it?)

even more snow

2010-02-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

Well it started snowing again yesterday and it's still snowing. There's so much snow that the trees in our yard are starting to fall over.

The good:
Derek didn't have school today, everything is canceled and shut down, again.
I felt no obligation to actually shower and get ready today.
We got to take a nap.
The snow is very magical.
I did what any mother/wife would do on a snow day - I made cookies.

The bad:
My sewing club had to be canceled tonight.
Actually, that's the only bad thing I can think of.

Pretty soon the volvo will be completely buried.

Isn't she the sweetest?

Derek and I are perfect for each other,
we both like flat cookies with not a lot of chocolate chips

Can you tell Lily was playing in the kitchen?

More of the gal

2010-02-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

camcorder

2010-02-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

We took some pictures with our camcorder when we went outside a few minutes ago. They are really stinky, we should have taken the regular camera out, but you get the idea. THERE IS SO MUCH SNOW!!

today

2010-02-06T10:17:00.001-08:00

Welp, the city has pretty much shut down.
Today is a true snow day. It has been snowing and blowing all night and all day today.
It continues.
Lily is amazed by it all. Every time we're by a window she insists on looking out.
We're going to take her out after her nap and make a makeshift sled or something.
At least for a minute. Every kid needs to experience the snow first hand, right?
I LOVE weather like this. It even inspired me to organize my sewing room.
It has been a really good day.

last night

2010-02-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

We are having some major snow.
Last night some friends came over for garden stew and chatting.
Stephanie and I went outside to enjoy the snow for a bit.
It was amazing, it felt like being home.
Pink sky. Strange quiet. Tons of white.
So fun.

Lovely. Sporting my sweet headband, scarf, and jammie pants tucked into my boots. Nice.

the lily girl

2010-02-03T14:13:00.001-08:00

holding on to daddy while mom uses the scary vacuum.

laying her head down on her own shoulder

lily has mastered the art of making this face.

this is her newest game. she throws her foot up on the ledge
of the bathtub and waits for you to push it off. It's hilarious.

the scar

2010-02-03T14:11:00.001-08:00

Surprise!

2010-01-31T17:03:00.000-08:00

Surprise! Derek got really sick this weekend and now he doesn't have his appendix any more! (Is appendix spelled the same when speaking about the organ?) Yesterday morning he woke up in a lot of pain and it continued to get worse and worse as the day went on. He started feeling nauseous and chilled and the pain got so bad we finally took him to the emergency room. They did some tests and decided to do surgery for an appendicitis. He went under last night and stayed at the hospital today until about 20 minutes ago when I was able to go and get him and bring him home.
It was lonely in bed without him last night. Lily was looking all over for him when she woke up this morning.
Can I just say I have some really really great friends here! So many people came to my rescue this weekend. They were so nice to watch Lily and bring me dinner. I am so so so thankful for everyone! Everyone was SO willing to help. Thank you!!! I really feel so blessed.
Derek is doing well. He's sore, but good. He's tough. I'm really glad he's home!
I'll keep you posted.

birthday evening

2010-01-29T05:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I wish I had some more exciting pictures of the latter part of Lily's birthday, but I just don't. Mostly she was ready for bed and grumpy, I hadn't straightened my hair and we were all ready for the gal to go to sleep. We had a pretty good day though, she really is so funny. Oh and some exciting news - she stood up on her own for at least 15 seconds. A very good birthday surprise!

birthday morning

2010-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Birthday morning was a treat.
The birthday girl slept till 8.
Then she came and laid in bed with us for a little while.
Then we took her into the living room where a balloon was waiting for her. She LOVES balloons!
We blew some bubbles played with some balloons and toys and then had some breakfast.
Derek had to go to school, lame.
I had to drive him this morning because he missed his train
Now lily is napping.

Birthday afternoon will commence shortly.

Happy Birthday Eve Lilypants!

2010-01-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

thanks for the birthday jammies grandma and grandpa H!

project #3

2010-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

I finished it today! Here's the belt -

It goes to show

2010-01-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

One evening last week was especially busy. I had started making bread earlier in the day and needed to finish it that evening. While at the same time I was also making dinner AND trying to get lily fed and into bed for the night. I'm not going to lie, making bread is a big job for me by itself, so throw two other things in the mix and this is what you get...

I started a fire in the kitchen. Thankfully it wasn't serious, but it was hilarious. I accidentally left one of the stove burners on and had set my oven mitt on it. I went into the dining room to check on my mixing bread and when I returned to the kitchen, the mitt and burner were on fire. I, to my surprise, calmly said, "oh there's a fire," and proceded in blowing on it - real smart I know, but for some reason that was my first reaction. Luckily Derek swooped in the put the mitt under water. What a boy scout. And that was that. My first kitchen fire ever. And for the record, my bread DID NOT turn out. Shame.

Last week

2010-01-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

I DID do a project last week, but I had to wait for my friend to get it in the mail before I could post a picture. She got it today. Happy birthday!...too bad her birthday was back in November! This week my project is a belt. I don't know if I'll finish it by this weekend, but I'm going to try. This week has been a little busy even without a project so I'm getting a late start. Anyway, blah blah...here's the apron.

Dear Christine

2010-01-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

I wore the apron you made me today and I thought of you. I love the apron, have I mentioned that yet? Oh how I love it. And lily has really been enjoying the cute birds you sent as well. Lily and I have decided we both really like you. I've noticed you have been delinquent in your blogging. Is everything okay? I hope you guys are doing well. I wish you were closer so we could hang out every day at least. Tell Ryan hi.

xoxox
Talane

Monday dose of the girl

2010-01-18T06:20:00.000-08:00

a new week

2010-01-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

I'm not gonna lie, I'm glad to be starting a new week. I'm glad last week is over.
I won't be posting the project for last week until my friend receives it in the next couple days.
I don't want to spoil the surprise.

a little tip:
on Wednesday this week Cloth and Bobbin is having a 20% off sale on all black and white fabric with a coupon. (you can pick up a coupon book there)

This week my project is...mmm, I actually don't know yet, but I will decide today.

Dear Toni,

I didn't ship your package this weekend like I intended. So sorry, but I will be shipping it out today. I really hope you like it. I so wish you were here so we could work on our projects together. Will you come visit soon?

Love me.
xoxoxo

project #1

2010-01-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

My friend and I decided we HAD to start doing at least one project each week, and then we would put it on our blogs at the end of the week to prove we had really done something. This is a great idea, something to get me back in my creative groove. This week my project was an apron for my cute friends' birthday. She had a little dinner at Cosi last night in celebration, (a celebration of her birthday of course not the apron I made her), and there it was gifted. She liked it. I was glad. So toni...here is project #1:

towels and clothes

2010-01-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

Lily, for some reason, loves to play with and push around an article of clothing or towel she can find. It keeps her entertained for quite some time.

a series for Alfalfa

2010-01-11T05:58:00.001-08:00

mouth full of blueberries, her new favorite food.

Dear Missy,

You make me laugh at least 20 times a day. I love you for this and for many many many other reasons. I am so lucky.

I love you,

Love me.

a great start

2010-01-06T07:24:00.001-08:00

This morning I got up and put on a t-shirt and scrubs.

no big deal.

An hour and a half later Derek left for school.
Bye hon.

After tidying up I went to get in the shower during Lily's nap.
And this is what I found.

I had put my shirt on backwards, unbeknown to me.

Thanks D, for going all morning without telling me my shirt was on wrong.
love you.

(He had to know, right? Do you think he was laughing at me all morning?)

whoa

2010-01-04T09:44:00.001-08:00

I can't help but think about this time last year. I'm in shock that Lily was born almost a WHOLE YEAR ago. So weird.
Just a thought.

His day of birth

2010-01-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

There were waffles with stawberries and whipped cream, sausage,
and a few hours at church.

Lily was there

There was a lot of clapping

Derek's efforts in getting a picture of lily. He only succeeded in getting this photo of me. Great.

Lily got in touch with herself in the mirror...

late night snacks: his choice of dessert, bean dip, and Martinelli's Sparkling Deliciousness.

documentation that we were both there, together.

Why drink out of a glass when you can have it straight from the bottle?
It was a lovely birthday.
Ended with love note on pillow and sweet goodnights.

The End.

Dearest Husband of mine,

2010-01-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is your birthday. This is VERY exciting! I'm so looking forward to making your birthday dinner and your favorite dessert, (well, one of them.) One might think that a Sunday birthday is boring, but I am SO looking forward to spending a no-study, no-cleaning, no-errand running, no-nonsense day with you. I hope you know I adore you and think you're the very best honeybuns a girl could ask for. You are the butter on bread. You're the #1 treat! You put up with me with such patience and grace. Yes, grace. I hope you have such a good day! So glad you were born. Even gladder you're mine, all mine. I love you cupcake.

forever yours with love,

your wifey

true love

2010-01-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

On the 22nd of December it was our anniversary. Three whole years we've been together. It doesn't sound like very long when you say it, but it feels like it's been forever. In a good way of course! It's crazy to think about everything that has happened in the last few years. It's been a wild and crazy and very good ride. Can't wait for more to come! xoxoxo

home again.

2010-01-02T18:03:00.001-08:00

Well, the holidays were lovely for us. We had a great time in Idaho, (and utah) seeing our families. We had sooooooo much fun with everyone, and Lily loved all the attention. We were very delinquent picture takers though, so we only have a few. I'm ashamed. Hopefully d's mom will send us the ones they took while we were there. (You too, Tosh and Telese) It's good be home, but sad to be apart from everyone again. I feel like we'll never see them again. I know that's not true, but it feels that way. Thanks to everyone for making it such a great vacation and Christmas for us!

eat it up

2009-12-04T10:30:00.001-08:00

I did it again

2009-12-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

I cut bangs.

Today was...

2009-12-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

a good day.

Lily actually took two naps, like she's supposed to.
I exercised, like I'm supposed to.
I got some laundry done.
I did my usual morning cleaning.
I showered
I started working on some of my HM christmas gifts.
Lilypants and I went to the store.
Some of our nice friends invited us for dinner right before I started cooking. THANK YOU!
We had a great time with them.
Lily went right to sleep when we got home. It was past her bedtime.
Now I'm going to bed before 9:30.

I love December.

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut. Can't wait!

we're thankful for apple pie...

2009-11-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

...and that I didn't completely mess it up.

It's important to know that my mother makes the best pie in the world. It's a lot to live up to. This was my first apple pie. It was not as good as Elaine's, but it wasn't a complete failure either...luckily. My oven cooks things weird so the crust got a little darker than I wanted. I forgot to put tin foil in the bottom of the oven and now there is a huge sticky mess in there from the oozing apple pie. Derek volunteered to clean that up. Thanks D.

I love pie.

Especially when I don't have to make it.

we are thankful...

2009-11-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

...we only live 2 hours from Washington D.C.

We left for Washington on Monday morning and stayed until Wednesday morning. We of course didn't get to see everything we wanted to in such a small amount of time, but we did get to see the main stuff. All I cared about was seeing Abe. He was amazing, just like I knew he would be. The city is so neat and beautiful. We went with one of D's friends from school and his wife and two kids. They were great, we had a really good time with them. Lily did so well. She's the sweetest baby ever, I'm pretty sure.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

have I mentioned how lucky I am that lily is mine? this is her newest trick.

she LOVED the museum of natural history. especially the huge ELEPHANT
this is her pointing at the dinosaur.

the butterfly exhibit. it was really neat.

aren't they so cute?

did i mention it was cold and rainy?

kind of blurry, but you get the idea. isn't abe amazing?

this was our little sleeping mummy

one of the highlights was visiting the temple. it was kind of weird though because we went on monday so it was closed and empty. the visitors center is amazing there. especially at this time of year. it was full of beautifully decorated Christmas trees.

these are our friends' kids, they were so cute and hilarious.
if you couldn't tell, they really liked lily.

and this is how lily (and we) felt at the end of the trip.

THE END.

until next time

2009-11-22T19:03:00.001-08:00

Here is a small fix until we get back from Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

Hey Mom...

2009-11-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

...look what I can do!

love letter to you

2009-11-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

To whom it may concern:

It was a good weekend. Lily was mostly well behaved. Mostly. I got out of the house for a while on Saturday. This was much needed. Thank you to Aimee for a 30% coupon to the Gap. Lily and I enjoyed small fruits from that gift. Church was great. We like our new ward and we're meeting new people. Lily wore her new dress. She was the cutest ever. We had some friends over for dinner last night and we had a great time with them. Today is Monday and I have a lot of laundry to do. Today begins with breaking some of Lily's bad habits. Wish me luck.

With love,

Me

she's a star.

2009-11-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

Lily is learning to play the piano.

stinker

2009-11-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Lily has been kind of a stinker pants lately. I don't know if it's because of not feeling well, or if it's a phase, or if it's the new her and I should just get used to it. She wants me to hold her ALL OF THE TIME.
I finally decided to take her to the Dr today even though she doesn't have a fever anymore. I figured something had to be wrong because she's just not being herself. I will tell you this - the dr was really mean to me, AND she's not sick...but probably cutting teeth. That would explain the fussiness, clinginess, runny nose, bad sleeping and even the fever. We'll see if she sprouts new teeth in the coming days.
If not, lets all hope her stinky behavior is just a phase.
For my sake.

Here are a couple pictures of her under the computer desk trying to get me to pick her up.

gone

2009-11-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

The last moments of autumn are blowing away today.

good morning

2009-11-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Mom and Tosh,

We are talking on the phone to each other while I post this. Here are a few pictures of lily per your request. I wish we were there with you guys, or better yet, I wish you guys were here with us. I would let you straighten up my house that somehow is a wreck. It is very unlike me to let things get messy, but this week is just one of those weeks. Help me.

With love,

T and L

who did I marry?

2009-11-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

Nearly every night the husband has a little night time snack. It's always the same.

Which wouldn't be so bad...except this is what it is.
Vanilla yogurt and pickles.
He's weird.

real sick

2009-11-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

After Wednesday Lily seemed to be just fine. Her runny nose was gone and she was happy and busy as could be. Then Saturday evening the runny nose was back and you could tell she wasn't feeling good at all. She was up pretty much all night and then yesterday she was soooo sick. Poor little girl. She was so weak she could hardly move. She just laid on us all day long. She had a fever and was just completely exhausted. A sick baby has to be the saddest thing in the world. She was so helpless. We put her to bed around 6:15 like usual and she slept till this morning. She is luckily feeling much better today. She still has a little fever, but she's much more herself. I'm just glad the worst is over. Her being sick breaks my heart.

bathing beauty

2009-11-06T05:19:00.000-08:00

Lily is getting some hairs.

sicky face

2009-11-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

Lily has been a little sick.
Runny nose and sneezing. Yesterday we spent the day in our jammies resting...kind of.

she got the cheerios bag open

halloween treats

2009-10-31T16:45:00.001-07:00

Our nice friends invited us for for Halloween dinner.
It was very delicious!
Lily dressed up as an 80's....uh....
(okay okay, I know you're disappointed we didn't get her a halloween costume, but I threw this on so at least you could get a little taste of the halloween spirit.)

Happy Halloween!

it's the easy life...

just relaxing in her chair.

saturday mornings are special

2009-10-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

because dad is home.
enough said.

friday night delight

2009-10-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

We hit the town on Friday.
This is us.

lucky dog

2009-10-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today lily took a huge morning nap.

Dear Nap Fairy,
Thank you for putting Lily to sleep for 2 hours and 10 minutes this morning. She has been a stinky napper lately for some reason. Today I REALLY needed her to sleep. I hope you have more nap dust for tomorrow.
Love me

When she woke up we met some friends on a cute little avenue to browse around a quilting shop. It was a real treat. I didn't get anything - its just too hard to decide. I'll probably have to go back 3 or 4 more times before I'm ready to pick something. I miss my favorite quilting shop in Rupert, ID, The Gathering Place.

Dear Gathering Place,
Could you maybe lower your prices so I could afford to buy some of your truly fantastic fabrics? Pretty please? I miss you.
Love me

I have a confession. I'm embarrassed to admit to this, but I have to. I might have listened to some Christmas music today. I had to. It's all cold and cloudy outside and the house gets so lonely and quiet when Derek's gone all day. Jingle bells is the perfect solution. Maybe not that song per say, but you know what I'm saying. It's true, Christmas music really livens the spirit.

Dear Santa,
For Christmas this year I want a lot of stuff. But most of all I want a Christmas tree. Could you talk Derek into getting one? We have a perfect spot here in our apartment. Keep me posted.
Thanks,
Love me

I'm going to bed happy.

signing off on her nine monther

2009-10-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

good night baby girl.

can you see the bruise on her forehead?
I swear every time she falls or anything she always hits that spot...
it's like a permanent bruise these days.

9 months and rain

2009-10-28T06:07:00.001-07:00

Today Lily is 9 MONTHS OLD! I know every parent says this, but I seriously cannot believe how fast the time has gone. She is getting to be such a big girl. Tiny but big. If that makes sense. I'm trying to think of things she likes doing right now....

She loves clapping.
She points at everything now, it's hilarious, she's always pointing in some direction.
She loves when I come get her out of bed still...she smiles and slaps the crib rail over and over till I get to her.
She is getting much more adventurous...just a couple weeks ago she would only crawl around and play where I was. Now she is wandering all over the place. She's not scared to leave my side anymore.
She still loves pulling her self up on everything.
She loves paper (what child doesn't?) and she loves pulling all of the LOUD pots and pans out of my cupboards.
She loves my phone and loves when I put it on speaker phone so she can hear someone talking. She's always puzzled about who that is.
She hates getting her diaper or clothes changed because she doesn't want to sit still for that long.
She loves toast with butter, she's definitely my daughter.
She's beginning to be a little defiant already - hurrying and sticking something in her mouth when she knows I'm coming to take it away from her, crawling faster and giggling when I'm trying to catch her, and standing up in her high chair any chance she gets even though she knows that means big trouble! She is very sassy already, I have to admit. (she doesn't get that from me.)
She LOVES LOVES LOVES her daddy. When I hear d coming up the stairs to our front door I pick her up and say "who's coming Lily? Who is it?" She holds very still and waits for her dad to come through the door and smiles so big when she sees him. If she's on the ground playing when he comes she crawls to him as fast as her little body will take her, and expects him to pick her up immediately.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of things she loves, but I don't want to bore you too much. Lily is so sweet and funny, we're so thankful she's ours!

We love you Lily

I just took a few pictures quick this morning,
I'll try to post some more later today.

I'm seeing a lot of the back of Lily these days as you can tell.
This is her helping her daddy take his clothes out of the drawer.

her trying to hit the baby on the box of diapers with the belt.

crawling over my leg, bonking her head lightly in the process...
she then sat up and fake cried for about 3 seconds and then went back to playing.
She's so dramatic.

P.S. It is raining a ton here, kind of wish it was snow.

autumn here

2009-10-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

It is soooooooooo beautiful here.
I love the fall.
Today Lily and I went to a really pretty park with our friends.

Dear Lily

2009-10-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

I really love you. You make me happy every day. I'm so glad I've got you. You're the sweetest baby girl.

Love mama

It's getting very cold here. Lily is gearing up for it.

a recent project

2009-10-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

I finished these little shoesies for Lily tonight.
D didn't get home from school today until 8:45 pm.
I've had some time on my hands.

i still need to put some velcro on the straps.
this was my first attempt, hopefully they actually fit her.
a second try might be in order.
they're even reversable.

Thanks rebecca for the pattern!!!

sugar

2009-10-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Baby girl wanted to cuddle with me all afternoon. I'm so lucky.

caught

2009-10-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Well this is our little visitor that our landlord caught (in a live trap - a very friendly trap) this morning. I like squirrels, a lot, but lets hope no more come crawling in again.

Farewell fur ball.

good morning

2009-10-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Oh I love this face in the morning.

story time

2009-10-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

Monday is a very special day, it's the day we get to go to "story time".
Story time at the library was lovely again today. Lily probably could have stayed and hung out there all day. She was so cute.

This is when we got home.

weekend visitors part 3

2009-10-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's not the weekend anymore, but today while D was at school we got a little visitor in our bedroom ceiling. Somehow a squirrel got in. I was in my room straightening up and heard some loud scurrying above me. I looked up just in time to see what was making such a ruckus. (For some reason, unknown to us, the bedroom ceiling is different than any other room in our house. It has those weird office tiles and an awful fluorescent light. Weird.)

weekend visitors part 2

2009-10-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

This last weekend our friends, Joseph and Kallan, came to visit us from Houston. Joseph had some work meetings here during the week then Kallan flew out on Thursday to join him. They stayed with us till this morning. We ate good food, saw some sites and stayed up way too late. We had so much fun with them!
They are always hilarious!

Dear Kallan and Joseph,

We are so glad you came! Please come again, please? Thank you for making us laugh, for treating us and for just being big treats! You guys are the best! Talk to you soon!

Love,

T, D & L

weekend visitors part 1

2009-10-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Jamie, and her baby girl, Madison, came to visit me. It was so fun having her here, we always have lots to talk about. I hope she wasn't too bored, (I'm kind of boring) and I hope she comes back another time. I miss you Jamie and love your guts!

the tooth fairy

2009-10-05T16:26:00.001-07:00

Lily is getting a tooth, and she is being surprisingly well behaved in spite of it.

She woke up prematurely from her morning nap and was in a daze for quite a while after. I still needed to get myself ready for our story time class so I laid her on the rug with her paci, put a blanket by her and let her watch Return To Me. She pulled the blanket on top of her and laid there still and quiet for at least 20 minutes until we strolled over to the library for a story.

Today she wanted mom to hold her...a lot. Any complaints from me?

Nope.

P.S. Story time was a treat,
just as I imagined it would be.

Lily LOVED it and loved seeing all the other kids.

She stood (holding onto my legs of course) and shook her little bum up and down during the songs. It was darling, I must admit.
She smiled and laughed,
and crawled around in pursuit of anything she could get her hands on.

P.S. #2 She loves sucking on carrots.

dinner tonight

2009-10-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Marinated roasted vegetables over garlic couscous and cucumber salad.

lily loved the veggies too

2009-10-05T09:42:00.000-07:00