September 28, 2008

The Sunday Paper

This morning I was in the office, I could hear Nick finishing getting ready in our bathroom, and Allie was in the living room watching Lion King. (We really need to get some church videos for her. Any recommendations for a 2 year old?) We were all just killing time until our home teacher came. I was startled to hear the front door close. I thought, "What the heck?! Did he just let himself in? Wasn't the door locked? Where is Allie?!" I ran into the living room to find Allie letting herself back IN the door. BACK IN THE DOOR! Meaning she'd already been outside! How did I not hear the door open?! I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Mommy, I get paper. See!" and she showed me two newspapers she had picked up from the driveway. HOLY COW!! So I told her to show me what she did. She said, "I put shoes on. Alock door (as she is standing on her toes unlocking the door). I get paper (as she is pointing toward the driveway). I come in a show Mommy." If only you could have seen her acting it out and listen to how she said it. She said it like she was going through a long list and she dragged out the last word of each sentence: on, door, paper, and Mommy. She just looked at me like, "what? I was just getting the paper for you." Needless to say Nick and I will be shopping for another lock for our door tomorrow. I'm so grateful that's all she did! I was telling Nick thankgoodness she didn't go to the park, or in the street, or to the neighbors! I only heard the door shut when she came back IN. I went through a little I'm-a-terrible-mother freakout for a while and then decided to calm down and just make sure I check on Allie more frequently. She wants so badly to be helpful, so I really couldn't get upset with her. We did have a little chat about not going outside without Mommy or Daddy.


I love her face.
"See, I was just
getting the paper.
Chill out Mom."
Check out her
killer platform
shoes she trotted
out in with her PJ's.

Sunday Craft Night

We stayed home tonight instead of visiting with family like we usually do on Sunday nights for several reasons: Allie is fighting a cold, my mom is in Alaska, gas prices, and it was nice to just be together as our little family. After a game of Candyland that ended prematurely with Allie throwing the little men and cards everywhere, we had to get creative. I love toll painting, and hopefully someday will have time to do more of it, so I dug through my craft box and this is what we made!


We painted pumpkins
and made them into
magnets for our
fridge! Can you tell
which one is Allie's?

Nick was such a
good sport! He
was so creative
with his pumpkins!
I can't wait for him
to do our real
pumpkins this
year!


Mine didn't turn
out too bad either!
We had a lot of
fun doing it as
a family!



This is currently
the face Allie makes
when you tell her
to say "cheese".



Allie painted a
pumpkin, a
plate...






on paper and on
the table...



and ALLLL over her
body. This picture
doesn't come near
to showing how much
of her body was
covered. Apparently
I took the plastic bag
off too early...



She even took off
her shoes to paint
the bottom of her
feet! We love our
Allie Mae!



HALLOWEEN IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!

September 26, 2008

Ideas??

Any ideas why even though I changed the text color to brown it is still showing up a gray color? Ideas?? Anyone?? Anyone??

September 13, 2008

Amputee Walk

Today my brother-in-law, Tyler, hosted the first annual Amputee Walk at Tempe Town Lake. He is full of ideas on how to raise awareness for amputees and how to bring amputees together for a sort of support group. He is an amputee himself and has really turned his situation into a positive one. He works for an prosthetic company and I feel really brings a lot to the table since he can so closely relate with his clients. His is such a motivated person that is always trying to think of the next big idea! So he put together this Amputee Walk and I think it turned out awesome! He had a great turn out, great raffle prizes, and awesome speakers. Nick and I had a lot of fun walking with his wife Kristina and their two girls. Kristina is quite the wife and mother! I could learn a thing or two from her! The Healing Field is set up at Tempe Town Lake right now and it is truly amazing. They have a flag for every victim that died on 9/11/01. Each flag has a picture on it of the victim, their name, age, and whether they were on a flight that crashed or the business they worked for in the WTCs. There were stuffed animals on the poles of the flags that honored children who had died. These children were on the flights that crashed in PA and into the WTCs. They had all the flags for the police and firefighters that were killed along the perimeter and all the civilians on the inside. It was put together this way so it would look as if the police and firefighters were surrounding the civilians and protecting them. It was so moving. It made it so real to see the pictures of the victims and see how many flags were waving in the wind honoring the dead. I felt like it really brought it all full circle to have the walk there today. Some service men and women come home from the war that was set out to avenge the enemy that did that horrific act on 9/11/01 as amputees, and people like Tyler are there to support and help them make the most of their life. I love that he helps people see that life does not have to end with an amputation. You are such a good example to us Tyler and Kristi! Thanks for letting us be a part of the walk! We are looking forward to next year!


Nick pulled the wagon
the whole 5K!














Allie and Emma
had fun riding
together for
part of the way!




Sometimes Kristi
pushed the stroller
when it looked like
this...




and sometimes it
looked like this!





The girls couldn't
decide if they'd
rather ride or walk...
so they did a little
of both.



This was our view
for the last leg of
the walk. They had
2,996 flags total.












Tyler stood in front
of this flag that listed
all the victims who died
on 9/11. It is the only
thing to be signed by
all the senators in all
50 states. A man
explained the flag in detail
and it was very interesting.



This is the logo on the
back of the shirts that
everyone got.

Such a Ham

This girl never fails to crack us up. These pics wouldn't post on the last one, but I had to throw them somewhere.




She came out of
our room the
other day wearing
Nick's socks.






She loves calling
Grandma before
church. She picks
up the phone and
says, "I call
Grandma!" and
starts randomly
dialing.



Thanks for always
talking to her Mom!

We Are Alive!

It has been forever since I posted last...but we are alive! We have been super busy though! Last weekend our whole Primary Presidency was released so I am currently callingless...is that even a word? I absolutely loved my time serving in the Primary, but the new Presidency called are fabulous women and will do an amazing job. This will free up a lot of my time so hopefully I will use it wisely. I have only been to Relief Society twice since Nick and I have been married, and before that it was the Relief Society in my singles ward at BYU, so I'm actually a little excited to go tomorrow! I have been in Primary ever since we got married so it will be a change to actually go to Sunday school with Nick and then to Relief Society. The next couple of posts will tell you some other things we have been up to, but here are a few random things! Today I went to a baby shower for one of my good friends, Joy. It was so good to see her! It was also fun to sit and talk with other girls that I haven't seen in months! Why on earth do we let it go that long without seeing each other?! Natalie and Nicole...we are counting down until Thanksgiving when we get to see you girls! Stacey and Rachael, are you coming? Please can we plan an all out girls day for when everyone is in town?! I miss how easy it used to be to get together! Anyways, here's what we've been up to...(warning: there are A LOT of pictures)

Allie had twins!
I wrap up her Starbucks
bears up and then
she carries them
around. She has them
take naps, drink out of
sippys, talks to them,
etc.

Allie put on mascara
and got sad when
Mommy took a
picture.





We made invites
for my soon-to-be
sister-in-law's
bridal shower.




Allie ran to the
pool with her
cousins!





Allie let Emma
check it out
before she got
too close.






She ate otter-pops
with cousin Shayla.





Allie fell asleep many
times with Daddy on
the couch.




She splished and
splashed in her
froggy pool.






























We celebrated August
birthdays! Left to
right:Eric, Lynsey,
Erin, Cami, and
Grandma!



We ate delicious
gluten-free desserts
and desserts with
gluten at the
August birthdays!




Allie brushed her
teeth hippie style!






Nick put up the fan
for the patio we
bought when we
moved in.





And Allie helped!

Allie Has a Big Girl Bed!

Allie figured out how to jump out of her crib, so we traded it in for a big girl bed! We are all still adjusting though. She did so well at falling asleep in her crib until she starting crawling out. Now it is really hard to get her to stay in her bed and fall asleep. After one night of her jumping out before I could even walk out of her room (like 20 times!) I thought we'd better trade it in before she broke her neck! Any suggestions at keeping her in bed?? I can't belive how big she is getting! She will be 2 next month! Where did the time go?!





BEFORE:








AFTER:











Oh my goodness
I love this little
girl!!


This is the cake I
am going to attempt
to make for her
birthday. I planned
ahead this year and
bought the pan well
in advance. We will
not have a repeat of
last years cake pan
not arriving in time!
She loves Cinderella,
but Ariel is also one
of her favorites. So
I splurged and bought
this cake pan too!
Maybe this one can be
for next year!

I'm Back in School!

School started again! (Here's the "first-day-back-to-school picture you wanted Mom!) I can't believe I am already through the first 3 weeks of my third semester of Nursing School. So far so good! I am really enjoying this semester so far. Fingers are crossed that I will continue to love it. I have the best group of girls. We, unlike a lot of people in our class, just roll with the punches and don't stress the little things. We know when to take things seriously and when to not stress out and laugh. And you know what? It is working fabulously! We are doing really well in our classes and loving our time in nursing school. Some days we are sad it is going by so fast! I'm doing my clinicals at Banner Baywood on the medical/surgical floor for the first half of the semester and am reminded why I don't want to work med/surg. Thankgoodness there are people out there that want to do it, because we definitely need them, but I am so not one of them. It is Labor and Delivery all the way for me. I have been in L&D department almost 4 years now and I absolutely love it! My externship at Banner Gateway is going really well. I am learning a lot and have to fight off tears everytime one of my patients has a baby. So cheesy I know, but until you are in a room where new life is brought into the world you have no idea the emotions that go into it. I feel so blessed to be a part of it all. I will graduate in May of 2009, so I keep telling myself that I have less than a year left of school before I will have my RN. Woo-hoo!! I am so grateful to my aunt Emily, my grandma, and my amazing sister-in-law Kristi for watching Allie. It is hard enough to leave her, but it makes me feel better knowing she is playing with cousins and being spoiled by grandparents. Thank you so much ladies! I owe you big time!


I love these girls!
I keep saying we have
way too much fun to
be nursing students.


As you can see it was
a little windy this day.
But never fear, Sharla
is a master at ratting
her hair and spraying it
stiff. The wind blew it
up and then it would fall
back perfectly untouched.

I had a Birthday!

I turned the big 2-3 on the 5th of this month! It was an all out birthday weekend. Friday was my actual birthday and my amazing husband treated me to a breakfast in bed of gluten-free waffles, eggs, bacon, lil' smokies, and of course, my favorite, a cold glass of milk. Nice job honey! He also gave me a Sarah McLauchlin CD I've been wanting and $$ for clothes. He could not have done a better job this year! I love you Nick!! My nursing girls treated me and Shaela (who had a birthday the week before) to Applebee's and then we went back to Jaime's for a party. Allie absolutely loved the princess theme. All the party favors had princesses on them! Can I just say that I love the fact that I am married with a child and going to college, and that we can still have parties where we wear crowns, watch Enchanted, and eat cake with pink frosting and sprinkles. Please tell me I will never be too old for these things. I felt like I was in junior high again at a birthday laughing with my friends and trying on my birthday outfits! They gave me some really cute clothes! Why has it taken me this long to figure out that it's ok to dress girly...and that it can be fun?! I know this sounds ridiculous to a lot of you, but those who have known me for a long time can atest to the jean and T-shirt phase that I have been in for...my whole life! Saturday we had a birthday BBQ at my in-laws and played wiffleball in the backyard. We always have a fun time when we're all together! Also, my sister-in-law Kristi announced she is pregnant!! This will be their third and we are really excited for them! Congrats Kristi and Tyler! Congrats to the big sisters Emma and Hailey, too! Sunday we celebrated with my family. My mom bought my sinfully delicious birthday cake at the Cheesecake Factory. They have a Godiva gluten free cheesecake and it is to die for! How on earth is it gluten-free and amazingly good?! (Even the family who don't have to eat gluten-free agreed it was to die for. That is how you really know it's good.) It is the richest cheesecake I have ever had and therefore impossible to eat a slice in one sitting. Thanks Mom for the perfect cake and shopping $$!

Allie got lots
of love from
Grandma and
Rick.




I love it when
all the family
gets together!
Here's just a
small group
of them.

I'm sure poor
Snowball hates
it when we all
get together.
She is so good with
the kids, so she is
always surrounded
by them.

I'm telling you this
cheesecake is heaven
sent! We all looked
like we were in
diabetic comas after
eating it though.


My cute friend
Jess made this
way good gluten-
free cake and it
was inhaled.
Thanks Jess!

Anytime Cami walked
away Allie would yell
for her to come back
and sit by her. They
are so fun to watch!
All tuckered out
after entertaining
so many people!