Happy February from Marie!

It's kind of ironic that as I am typing this Marie is screaming in my arms. The reason I took these pictures was in celebration of the fact that she is finally starting to feel better. Anyway, Marie and I took a trip to the doctor's office yesterday. She has an ear infection. I am so glad to finally know what has been bothering her for the past, oh, I don't know, forever. I don't know why she didn't just tell me that her ear hurts (I wish). So I thought she was feeling better, but she sure doesn't seem to be right now, even though she is wrapped up in my arms with a full belly, tylenol in her system, and ear numbing drops in her ear. Well, at least we can take comfort in that fact that she looks so dang cute! P.S.S. She gave up the scream fest and she is asleep. Ah, bliss . . .

For Melissa . . . I've Been Tagged

A:The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What were you doing 10 years ago? January 31st 1998 I was a junior in high school kicking butt on the first ever girls water polo team at Royal High School.

5 things on my list today:
1. Take baby to the doctor. Check! Ear infection. Yuck.
2. Clean William's room. Check!
3. Call my friend April. That's next.
4. Take a nap. I hope!
5. Go to the store, by myself, when Brandon gets home. Grocery stores, a 2-year-old, and a baby don't mix.

5 snacks that I enjoy:
1. Apples
2. Cookies
3. Oranges
4. Popcorn
5. Diet Coke, is that a snack?

3 bad habits:
1. Diet Coke
2. Cookies
3. Geez, I don't know, why don't you tell me, or maybe not.

If I were suddenly a billionaire:
Brandon and I have actually talked about what we would do if we were to suddenly come across a plethora of money. Even though it will never happen, I still can't spill the beans. It's our little secret and it's really fun. I'll jus say, we don't plan on keeping much of it for ourselves.

5 places I've lived:
1. Cheyenne, WY 2. Simi Valley, CA 3. Rexburg, ID 4. Logan, UT 5. Clinton, UT

5 jobs I've had:
1. lifeguard/swim instructor
2. data entry clerk at Farmers Insurance Group
3. data entry clerk at Countrywide
4. Aural Skills tutor at USU
5. General Music Teacher and Choir Director at Thomas Edison Charter School

5 things people don't know about me:
1. In the Northridge Earthquake in 1994 the glass doors to my parents bathroom completely shattered. For years after that I was absolutely terrified every time that I took a shower. I was so worried that we would have an earthquake while I was showering.
2. During my 3rd grade year my teacher cut her hair. When she walked into class that day we all asked the usual question, "Did you cut your hair?", and she answered, "No, my head got caught in a lawnmower." Well, I believed her and was so baffled. How does ones head get caught in a lawnmower? I am too embarrassed to admit when it finally dawned on me that she was being sarcastic.
3. Speaking of sarcasm, I don't do sarcasm. Way too dangerous for my sensitive feelings.
4. In order to fall asleep at night I have to lie on my stomach and rub my feet together. I didn't even know that I did this until I was married and Brandon pointed it out. Anyway, this became a bit of a problem while I was pregnant, for obvious reasons. After having both my babies I was so excited that I could sleep on my stomach again.
5. My very first BFF and I were born three days apart in the same hospital room. We have remained very close, even though we haven't lived in the same city since 2nd grade. (I love you, Tiff!)

People I'm tagging: Ecca, Berly Badger, Dan the man, Shelley, Diana

God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again

President Gordon B. Hinckley
June 23, 1910-January 27, 2008

"In the Church we sing a stirring hymn, “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.” It is distinctive with us. As a people we sing some hymns that have come from other churches, and others sing some of ours. But only we can properly sing, “We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter days.”

It was written more than a century ago by a man of humble circumstances who lived in Sheffield, England. He worked in the steel mills and was discharged because he joined the Mormon Church. But there burned in his heart a great and fervent testimony; and out of an overflowing spirit of gratitude, he penned these moving lines. They have become a grateful expression of appreciation for millions over the earth. I have heard them sung in many different languages as a reverent prayer of thanksgiving for divine revelation.

How thankful we ought to be, how thankful we are, for a prophet to counsel us in words of divine wisdom as we walk our paths in these complex and difficult times. The solid assurance we carry in our hearts, the conviction that God will make His will known to His children through His recognized servants, is the real basis of our faith and activity. We either have a prophet or we have nothing; and having a prophet, we have everything."

Gordon B. Hinckley, “‘We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet’,” Ensign, Sep 1991, 2

JCPenney Photo Shoot

Anyone that has ever dealt with a 2-year-old will appreciate the work that it took to get these pictures at JCPenney. Oh my gosh, let me tell you, William was a classic 2-year-old. He did not want to be in the room with the photographer. I scanned their closet of props using toy after toy to try to coax him into the room AND get him to look at the camera. I asked the lady first thing if she had a car. All she pulled out was a little hot wheel. Which allowed for one picture of him with red puffy eyes.

Next we tried the teddy bear. He thought it was pretty cool to knock the teddy bear off the stool. The second shot is a cute picture, if you want to remember the back of his head for the rest of eternity.

Next try was a rubber ducky. Yeah right. We tried a wooden block number 2. Miracle! He held it up and smiled at the camera. The 2 was backwards, of course, the photographer didn't even save that picture, although I kind of wish she had. Anyway, at that point we gave up and decided to take some pictures of Marie, so I changed William into the outfit I had planned for his picture with Marie. It was then that I finally found THE perfect prop, a wagon. We put the wagon on the drop cloth, he sat in it, and the photographer started shooting. William was not in the outfit that I bought like 4 months ago, specifically for his 2-year-old pictures, but he was smiling! Haven't I said before, motherhood is all about rolling with the punches.



Compared to William, Marie was an angel, but we did have to stop and feed her in the middle of the session. Thank goodness the appointment after ours cancelled!

And this gorgeous picture was the ONLY one that we managed to get of them together. At this point William is looking at Marie and then he decides he doesn't really want to have anything to do with her or the photographer anymore and then Marie started crying, so we called it quits. How 'bout a shout out to the photographer for capturing this picture. You would never guess the chaos that surrounded this seemingly precious moment.

Moral of the story: How boring would life be if we didn't experience crazy times like these? I mean, can you imagine how dull this post would have been if our photo shoot had gone perfectly?

Entertaining and Exhausted

Marie got this mobile for Christmas. She loves it and is actually content to lay down underneath it, sometimes. She is quite the princess and thinks that she needs to be held pretty much whenever she is awake. Maybe this isn't as interesting to anybody else, but it is amazing to me. First, she is content (hallelujah!); second, William never paid attention to any of his hanging toys; and third, she is just so darn cute!




This was a day when William decided it was more fun to play with his toys then to take a nap. That night I was making our dinner while he ate his and I realized that it was a little too quite over at the table. I walked over to find William doing this. It took me about 5 minutes to get the camera ready because I had to change the batteries and he was still just bobbing away. I felt like I was torturing him by filming him rather than letting him out, but I had to capture this memory! Too funny.

Entertaining and Exhausted

Marie got this mobile for Christmas. She loves it and is actually content to lay down underneath it, sometimes. She is quite the princess and thinks that she needs to be held pretty much whenever she is awake. Maybe this isn't as interesting to anybody else, but it is amazing to me. First, she is content (hallelujah!); second, William never paid attention to any of his hanging toys; and third, she is just so darn cute!




This was a day when William decided it was more fun to play with his toys then to take a nap. That night I was making our dinner while he ate his and I realized that it was a little too quite over at the table. I walked over to find William doing this. It took me about 5 minutes to get the camera ready because I had to change the batteries and he was still just bobbing away. I felt like I was torturing him by filming him rather than letting him out, but I had to capture this memory! Too funny.

January Blah

I have not felt extremely motivated to blog lately. Perhaps the previous post explains the reason and should be more appropriately titled "Some months are better than others." Basically, I am a California girl at heart. I'm not gonna lie. I would rather be able to take my energetic boy outside all 12 months of the year, instead of having all 4 seasons (for any Californians reading this, that would be summer, fall, winter, spring). Ho . . . hum . . . so in an effort to boost my spirits I thought I would do just what I don't feel like doing . . . blog. Maybe some adorable pictures of my children will boost everybody's post-Christmas blues. Which begs the question . . . what is the use of snow after it has provided you with a White Christmas?