The Pearsons

Hey... remember us??

2012-02-11T19:33:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since we last posted. Yep we're still alive!
I got a virus on my laptop and haven't been able to do much online (I just used Tyler's work laptop every now and then). There's a lot I want to document on here, though, to catch up on things. I'll get down to business sooner or later.

I've been reminiscing lately because it was around this time of year (7 years ago) that Tyler and I met. Here are some pictures of us through the (early) years...

Now how did she ↓ ...

... score him ↑?

Talmage is here

2011-12-16T16:33:00.003-07:00

Talmage Joseph was born Dec. 4th at 10:30 am (on the dot). He born was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 1/2 inches long and with lots of dark hair too.
He seems to be such a content boy and really likes cuddles! He makes lots of funny grunting noises and enjoys his pacifier. At this point he can sleep through Danica's loud playing and seems to like her voice.
He was the perfect early Christmas present.

Here are some pictures at the hospital and then at 1 week old. (I can't believe he'll already be 2 weeks on Sunday... time flies!)

Proud Big Sister!!

Proud Parents!!

~~~

Below is Talmage at a week old.

The hospital gave us a giant stocking to put him in and take a picture,
so I thought... why not?

Danica actually took this picture.

But, before I could get things all situated, Talmage decided he was done.

In case you were wondering...

2011-11-26T19:56:00.001-07:00

Nope, I haven't had this baby yet. I guess that's all fine and dandy since I haven't reached my due date. I'm (mentally) ssssuuuper ready to have him though (except for the fact that my doctor isn't in town right now).

Even though I've been having a million Braxton Hicks contractions, as of last Monday, there had been no ripening.... or whatever the term is. I go in again on Monday, so I'm hoping to hear different then.

I've been way uncomfortable with really achy hips. In the last few days I've been getting really light headed too. I don't remember that happening as often with Danica as it has this time around. Then again, I'm a lot bigger this time around too.

And they say when you're pregnant the baby sucks away your brain cells... well this baby is either going to be SUPER smart or I really am this dumb....yikes. (Ok, maybe no comments about that.)

My due date is Dec 1st, so like 4 more days to go! We can't wait to meet little Talmage Joseph (oh yeah, that's his name... I don't think I ever mentioned his name on here)

Speaking of Christmas...

2011-11-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

Right now I feel like complaining a little bit about something that's been on my mind recently... and since it's my blog I can :)

It's been bugging me lately, all the reactions I've overheard or read about people starting to celebrate Christmas. Everyone has their opinions and I hear about it every year actually.

Here's my opinion.... Don't worry about what others are doing.

As for me, I usually tell myself to wait until after Thanksgiving, like I hear a lot of people agree one should do, and what my parents had us do when we were younger, but every year I start listening to Christmas music sometime in November. I love the feelings I get that come with the spirit of Christmas. I love drawing nearer to my Savior and being reminded of Christ's life. I feel like once Christmas is over the feelings somehow seem to fade quickly, but I think if I celebrate a little earlier those feelings will last a little longer.

I still celebrate Thanksgiving during the month of November. In fact, you may have noticed that on my sidebar is a list of things I'm thankful for and I've been writing a new one each day. Also, I usually spend the week of Thanksgiving celebrating a little more by thinking about why we celebrate, watching the TV version of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, and eating LOTS of food. :) I love that Thanksgiving is probably one of the least commercialized (big) holidays we celebrate; that most of us celebrate by being thankful and with family.

I can understand frustrations about seeing holiday decorations up really early in the stores, though. I happen to find it exciting and annoying at the same time. But what someone does inside their home is a different story to me. I say, if they want to enjoy the season longer, just let them... even if they happen to decide to not remember Thanksgiving the same way you might. At the same time, those who are enjoying the season earlier should be considerate of those who are not.

I guess it's a little silly for me on one hand to be annoyed and complain about this and then on the other hand tell people to deal with their annoyances and not complain to other people... but yeah. I guess my hope is that we can all be more understanding of both points of view and eliminate the complaints.

Merry Christmas to me

2011-11-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you this site I came across. I've heard mixed reviews about it, but decided to give it a try.

It's Shiekh Shoes and they sell discounted shoes.

I just ordered some pairs last week and the total came to $65 (this was after using a 15% off coupon and free shipping by typing in "loyalty" at checkout). These shoes should be coming in the next little bit, but they will stay in the box and go under our tree... as I will be getting them for Christmas.

These are the shoes I got... some are not what I may normally see myself picking out, but now I'm pretty excited to get them.

tan heels red heels grey heels

taupe knee high boots black ankle boots

They have lots of cute shoes, in my opinion.
If you feel like checking them out, click here... SHIEKH SHOES

All our Halloween fun

2011-11-04T12:50:00.002-06:00

This year was all about celebrating things for the first time!

We went to Cornbelly's this year for the first time and happened to meet up with my sister Anna there. It was actually pretty fun and we'll have to go again when Dani's a little older and the weather is still a little warmer. It was FREEZING by the time we left.

I forgot to bring my camera, but luckily my sister used her phone to snap some pics.

They had some tire swings shaped like different animals and things and a tractor ride.

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday, the 29, and Monday the 31st.

Saturday we went to our ward's trunk or treat. It was the first one we've been to and we were pretty excited. We decorated our car with things we had already in our house. It was fun to have my sister and her family join us as well.

we added dry ice to the cauldron on the right

my sister's kids

Tinkerbell and a bum

I dressed up as Juno.

Saturday evening we went to our friends, the Gilberts, for a Halloween party!
It was a lot of fun, there was yummy food and Tyler won the Best Costume award!

On Halloween, we went to Tyler's work were they have an annual Halloween trick-or-treating for the employees' children. Danica loved it!. Dani and I dressed up like Tinkerbell and Juno again.

Tyler works in the Tax Department with all women
so he and his co workers dressed up as a polygamist family.

On Monday we passed out candy for the first time ever. Dani actually went out trick-or-treating and we had lots of trick-or-treaters!

Tyler passing out the candy

Here were some of the things we had going on around our house leading up to Halloween

I didn't take a picture of it, but I traced Dani's hands and feet

and made spiders and ghosts like this and hung them on the wall and ceiling.

image

We also made some mummy English muffin pizzas

We made some new decorations this year. When I say we, I mean Tyler.

I got the idea, but Tyler definitely executed and made it great!

When buying these birdhouses, I wasn't sure how the idea would turn out or if I could convince Tyler they might look cool, but we both really ended up liking them.

Our snake wreath

I have to share...

2011-10-27T10:01:00.000-06:00

I bought a bunch of hair clips/accessories for Danica for way cheap and just got them in the mail yesterday.
I got all of this for just $27 including shipping. (pics below)
I recommend checking out this site if you have any girls, nieces, or enjoy things like this for yourself.
(Perfect for Christmas presents too)
The website is

http://www.haloheaven.com/closeouts.html

That's a link to their closeout section, but they have tons of other categories on the left

This worked when I checked out... not sure if it's still going on, but if you buy more than $20, shipping is free and use the code SPOOKY at checkout for an additional 15% off.

A dozen assorted dragonfly hair clips A dozen assorted carnations

tutus

brimmed infant beanies

A dozen assorted lilies

Crocheted toddler beanies

Large peonies

2 dozen assorted mini roses

A dozen assorted butterfly clips

I plan on taking off the backs of the flowers and making a back out of felt with a couple slits in it (like a pig nose) so that I can make it into a hair clip, broach, or slip it onto a headband or necklace... making it more versatile so I can use them too.
I'll probably take the peonies apart too and make each of them into 1 large flower and 1 smaller flower.

Silk Plum Giveway

2011-10-27T09:26:00.000-06:00

Silk Plum is having a giveaway and I'd really like to win... check out her cute shop!
HERE

Winners - Win It Forward

2011-10-24T09:38:00.001-06:00

Here are the winners from the Win It Forward post!
*Shannon
*Katie
*Brittany

If you guys are up for the challenge still, let me know. I'll figure out what I'll be creating for you in the near future.

Oh, and the plan is to take a picture of my prego belly today... but then again, I've been saying that for weeks.

Win It Forward

2011-10-18T10:57:00.001-06:00

I feel like I've done this before (remind me if I have), but after seeing this on a friends blog I thought it sounded fun.

My friend is doing this for me, so now I am going to pass on my good fortune. As she (my gift giver Liz) stated that this good fortune included some of her favorite things, they are mine too and include: handmade goods, creativity, and gift-giving.

Here are the tagging instructions: The first 3 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done by February 2012 {this is because I'm a busy and an expecting mom, you understand ;) }
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something unusual.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. OR, since I know there are some people who read my blog who don't have a blog of their own, you can win if you are willing to make something for three random people. The first 3 people to leave a comment telling me they will win it forward get a fabulous homemade gift by me! Oh, and if you have a blog, be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

Bragging Rights

2011-09-28T12:38:00.000-06:00

This post is all about Danica...

Danica has been saying the funniest things lately and doing things to make us very proud! She does the funniest things everyday and we're realizing we need to record these things more.

Lately...

☼ Today in Dani's bath she was playing with a plastic twisty straw and waved it at me. This was our conversation:
D- Transform! Transform! Transform!
M- What did you transform me into?
D- A pumpkin! This is my new wand.
M- Oh yeah?
D- (no response to that, but talking about the straw still) These are my scissors. I cut (she proceeds to "cut" the side of the tub). Oh no!! Need new ones... these ones are toooo sharp!

☼We got a jigsaw puzzle for Dani this weekend... one that has the numbers 1-20. It was a little tough because the pieces are cut going through the numbers... not around each number, but today she did the 20 piece puzzle all by herself!

☼A conversation between Tyler and Danica:
T- Hey, Dani, what should I have to eat?
D- A HOTDOG!
T- No, I don't want a hotdog. I'm going to have Rice-a-Roni.
D- Ooooh yes! I LOVE Rice Ponies!

☼The other day Dani and I woke up and the first thing she wanted to do was fold some crocheted potholders. She just kept saying, "That so pretty!!"
I have yet to show her how fun it is to fold the all the laundry!

☼A request from Dani -
"I need marshmallows! Please, please, please? I need marshmallows in my hand in the family room... pleeeeaaase?"
How could I resist?
When we sat on the couch Dani sat as close as she possibly could to me and said, "I like you, mommy"

☼Today I took Dani trick-or-treating around our house. She had a little bucket and would knock on every door... our front door, back door, bathroom door, pantry door, and refrigerator door. I would open the door and Dani would say, "Trick or treat!" I'd hand her a treat (a small toy of hers), she'd say, "Thank you!" and then walk to the next door.

☼We've been working on good manners for a while now, or as Dani tells me she has "good madders." She's really good at saying please and thank you and covering her mouth when she sneezes or coughs, but I love it and it makes for a very proud mommy when I see her using good manners with someone other than Tyler and me... without us asking.

☼ Dani is a huge cuddle bug. My mom used to call me her "hug-a-bunch" and Dani's the same way. When ever someone is coming over to visit she asks if she can give them a big hug and a big kiss. Everyday she tells me she's going to do this to Tyler when he gets home from work, but for some reason she says she wants to give him a big hug and kiss on his legs... and she does.

☼ Dani is such a happy and easygoing girl. She's very caring and is always telling us we're so beautiful and asking if we're happy.

☼ Last week Dani had a babysitter, my friend Nancy, whom she calls Fancy (as in Fancy Nancy). When Nancy was saying goodbye she picked up Dani for a hug. Dani put her hands on Nancy's cheeks, squeezed them and said, "You're so cute! You're so cute!"

☼ Danica gets so excited to sing Happy Birthday to us. She wraps up one of her toys in a blanket and has me open it. On my birthday I had Dani sing Happy Birthday to me on my phone. Ever since then she's been singing Happy Birthday like this, "Happy Birthday, to you. Happy Birthday, to you. Happy Birthday, Mommy. Happy Birthday, Mommy's phone! Hahahaha"

I would like to win this...

2011-09-26T12:37:00.004-06:00

Jame is having a giveaway on her blog for the pattern for this purse. I really want to win!
Enter here, if you'd like to win too... or if you want to win and give me the pattern! :)
http://www.readjame.com/

Yay for Fall and craziness!

2011-09-23T11:57:00.002-06:00

HAPPY FALL!

image

I get so excited this time of year!!

I love the season and approaching holidays

I'm really excited for these too...

image image

Oh, and I had more crazy dreams. I'll spare you all the details... let's just say it involved my old seminary class resolving a long time feud with that cast of Jersery Shore (though, never seeing the show, I have no clue what they look like) and then Gandolf the White approving.
Oh... and having our baby (who was perfectly healthy) at 30 weeks and then laughing at every little thing nonstop.

I think my nighttime craziness is rubbing off on Tyler. Last night, as I was rolling over, I noticed Tyler stick his hand straight in the air, snap his fingers, and then he rolled over too. Haha, I can't stop laughing about it. Even though it woke him up, he has no clue why he snapped.

So, that crazy dream...

2011-09-16T08:29:00.000-06:00

Don't know if you care about my crazy dreams, but I wanted to record it, cause I thought it was funny.

(let's see if I can remember it all)

Well, it started off with my aunt and uncle receiving day passes to Disneyland from my parents, as some sort of thank you. My aunt and uncle took the tickets, but, for some reason, when they got there the tickets didn't work so they decided to sneak onto a boat going to Salt Lake City instead. (I want to know what boat goes from Anaheim to SLC!) When they got to Salt Lake, they decided to work on Temple square as monasteries (no idea why they were called that), which were doctors that dressed up like birds (think Disney's Robin Hood... when he dresses up like a bird) and stood on 3 legged stilts. They got paid $3 an hour.

Then the scene changed and I was at my elementary school field with a bunch of other people surrounding this weird clown guy. The clown would say a riddle and once he finished until the time someone answered correctly, we all became zombie-like. Then the person who answered correctly could leave.
Well, the time came when I knew the answer to a riddle first.
The clown asked, "Who is the most feeble?"
Aha! I answered, "babies, blondes, mothers, and wives of doctors!" (????)
And I was right, so I got to go home.

I started heading home and my friend Sarah asked for a ride home too. The whole time I was driving Sarah home, her baby sister, Krista, (who is now like 10 or something) was sitting on my steering wheel. Krista was see through, so I could drive, but it was super distracting and there was a ton of traffic. I kept getting honked at and Krista kept wiping Spaghettios all over my face.

Then I woke up.

Dani, Dani, Dani the Explorer!

2011-09-12T14:43:00.001-06:00

Dani's been on a Dora the Explorer kick lately.

I thought that maybe she had been watching it too much when Dani started quoting the show and pretending she's going to places like the Big, Tall Mountain.

image

Then, I was pretty sure after she started holding out her hand (like Dora and Boots above) and saying "Dani, no swiping, Dani no swiping, Dani no swiping!..... ahh man!"

Tyler and I even have a song from Dora stuck in our head all the time.
♪ ♫"...arriba, up. abajo, down..."♪ ♫
(It's from an episode Danica calls, "Just Boots")

And now I'm convinced after calling Dani "Dora" today!! Granted, they had just been calling Dora's name on the tv a moment before. But yikes.

Umm, I think it's time to say adios to Dora.

2011-09-09T10:17:00.000-06:00

I've figured out what we're getting Dani for Christmas!....

A big, nice, expensive present for US!

One that will come in a big box with lots of packing inside.
...cause that's what makes her happy.

28 weeks! 84 days... 12 weeks!!

2011-09-07T21:52:00.000-06:00

That just popped into my head and made me a little nervous (and I promise it actually makes sense... unlike a lot of things I think (oh I should share a crazy dream I had a little while ago, sometime). ).

I looked at the little ticker on the right and realized I'm 28 weeks pregnant tomorrow (and I still haven't taken any belly pics)! Then I saw I'd have 84 days left... well that number didn't look so bad. Then I thought, wait... 28 weeks? That means I have 12 weeks left!!

That's a little scary. 12 weeks does not seem long at all especially when I think how fast these next seasons go!
It always seems to speed by with all the holidays, fun weather changes (I can say "fun" now because I'm not experiencing the snow yet), crafts to make, and making sure Danica enjoys the spirit of it all.

Yikes. Another baby..... another kid.

I often wonder how my mom had 6 kids (and did daycare) and stayed sane and cool through it all. I know moms do it all the time and I should be able to too. But yeah.

I was just thinking that maybe part of the reason having a second child seems so daunting (besides actually having to ~~juggle~~ take care of two kids) is I think about all the things we had to teach Dani in these two years of her life and it makes me glad she's at the stage she is now. I feel the pressure of having to "start all over" with another kid. But at the same time I think about how much we really enjoyed all those big and small moments Danica learned something new.

It'll be tough, but it'll be worth it.
And there will be different enjoyable moments when I see our kids learning and interacting together.

I just told Tyler I should take a picture of my growing belly. He laughed and said, "You've probably said that once a week for the last 5 weeks." Oops. I guess I'd better get on that!

Ippy Cider

2011-09-01T17:07:00.000-06:00

(that's Dani's version of the Itsy Bitsy Spider)

I've got pictures of our place, but first I want to say...

Thank you so much for all the sweet comments for my birthday! I'm glad I have friends and family like you. I had no idea my wonderful husband did that and all of it made my day(s) :)

Anyway... much awaited (for some of you) are the pictures of our new home. Forever ago, Tyler actually took pictures of our empty place and he did a really good job (so there are a ton!).

Maybe someday you'll see it all put together... but hey, we don't even have it all put together yet! We weren't digging our last decor and decided to start all over here, but that takes money, so our walls are still bare.

Anyway, I finally took a moment to put all the pictures together
...and here they are (the pics were being all funky)...

walking in our front door turn left and you see a little bathroom

our front door and bathroom door

a peekaboo window into our kitchen

the kitchen

the backdoor... we use this more than our front door
(sometimes it feels like out front door)

looking at our (actual) front door from the kitchen
... the peekaboo window on the right is our stairwell into our basement

let's go into the basement

once you're downstairs you see a door and it leads to our laundry room/ bathroom

a view of the unfinished laundry room from the unfinished bathroom, the unfinished bathroom

the basement room
the hallway is where we just were (so that wall is shared with the laundry room)

more views of the basement (and Harry Potter's old room)

let's go back upstairs

follow that walkway and we'll go upstairs again

view down from the top of the stairs

nursery & nursery looking at door and closet

hallway- looking at our linen closet, dani's room just to the left of that, the bathroom at the right, the nursery (out of view) to your left, and the hallway to the master at your right

upstairs bathroom

Danica's room

same view of our hallway, with the linen closet open, the hallway to the master

the master

my closet....it's a walk-in!
... I think it would normally be a master bath, but right now I'm enjoying the closet space

Tyler's closet

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!

2011-08-30T14:56:00.003-06:00

For those who don't know, today is Emily's Birthday.

I thought I would take the time to make my triennial post and wish my lovely wife a Happy Birthday. Those who follow our blog know how creative Emily is, but some of you may not know how wonderful she is. She is a great wife and a loving mother. She's caring and always willing to help others. She is very in tune with the feelings of others and always looking for ways to serve. I am one lucky guy.

Emily, I love you!

Everyone, take a minute and wish Emily happy birthday!

Repurposed heels

2011-08-22T18:02:00.002-06:00

I was looking through pictures and I had forgotten I had made these shoes....
well, repurposed, that is, with mod podge and fabric.

I decided I wanted to do it again because it was fun and simple (and CHEAP... these shoes cost me $1.50 at Goodwill), so I thought, why not share the idea with other people cause they might want to do it themselves too.
I did not think of the idea on my own and found it on a blog a long time ago. I don't remember which one I found it on, but here's one that explains the same idea.

Basically, you just measure the fabric around the shape of the shoe (draping it over the top) and giving yourself some extra fabric to work with.
After I cut out the fabric it looked something like this

Then I cut a slit in the fabric that went from where the heel of the shoe was to about an 1" before the toe starts. So it looked something like this

I made sure the fabric fit still and then, using a sponge paint brush, applied some mod podge on the shoe in sections. I started at the toe section, worked up one side, then the other side, then I did the heel... making sure the fabric stayed flat. It was a pretty quick process.

I had to cut some slits in the fabric to work around curves in the shoe (like this)

(the red lines are the slits... haha)

I didn't cut the fabric at the bottom of shoe until it was all dry. When it was all dry, I used an exacto knife to get a clean cut.

The last step I did was put mod podge on all the fabric... this part I think is optional and probably wont do it the next time. It made the outside of the shoe stiff (not too bad though) and left brush strokes on the shoe (though you can only see them in the right light).
The part I definitely wont do next time is cover the fabric that hung over on the inside of shoe with mod podge....that really hurt my foot, since it got so stiff. I made these shoes to wear to a wedding and thought standing in those shoes all day might actually cut my feet so I added ribbon along the inside of the shoe to cover that fabric and that totally helped. I just added the ribbon with hot glue.

This might sound like a lot, but the process was actually pretty simple. I'll let you know how the next shoes go, if you're interested.

Modesty in style?

2011-08-17T14:40:00.006-06:00

I just a read a post on down east's blog that showcased these pictures

I got the pictures from them and they got the pictures via People.com

I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving how
modest and lady-like Kate Middleton is dressing.

Look at those hemlines and sleeves!
I enjoy being pregnant, but I'm excited to have my old body back because
I have bags of dresses I've been meaning to alter and some will hopefully look something simliar to these.

I've never been one to wear dresses/skirts if it wasn't a special occasion
or I wasn't going to church, but things may change.
(I may also "need" to buy some nude heels)
I'm actually really digging the top right dress.

How I told Tyler I was pregnant

2011-08-15T10:02:00.003-06:00

I realized recently that we never posted how I told Tyler I was pregnant. Well, at 24 weeks, I guess now's as good a time as any.

Tyler and I had been trying to have a baby so I already had some pregnancy tests on hand. I would normally take the test with Tyler at home with me, but I was pretty sure I was taking a test a little early, and for some reason decided to take it anyway... just in case.

Tyler believes I just like to pee on things (since I had taken preg. tests at random times... well, times I thought I might be experiencing a sign of pregnancy) though I try to convince him that's not true and it's still disappointing seeing a negative sign on a test... even when you're not actually hoping for a positive.

Anyway... I had just found out I was pregnant on my own, so I figured I'd play this to my advantage.

I texted Tyler and asked if he wanted to go to Red Robin that night for dinner... thinking this is one of his favorite places to eat, so he probably wont say no. Well Tyler said yes, even though he had just finished eating a big lunch at JCW's (a burger place), because he thought, Emily never asks to eat out at places, so even though I'm stuffed we'll go out because she wants to.

Happy Tyler said yes, I stopped by Red Robin earlier in the day and gave them this....

A decorated baby bottle.

I talked to the greeter, made sure she'd be there when we came back in, gave her the bottle, and asked if they could fill it up with whatever drink my husband orders.

Well, we arrive there and the greeter is not the same chick that I talked to earlier that day, so after we're seated I told Tyler I needed to change Dani's diaper, but while he wasn't looking, I found the previous greeter, explained my situation again, and she let our server know.... phew!

Alright, it was just time for us to wait for our drinks and for me to keep talking to Tyler so he wouldn't notice I hadn't taken off Dani's coat yet.

Luckily Tyler's back was to our server (and the 5 other workers that were watching our table) when he brought out our drinks. I waited silently and anxiously (so did all the employees) for Tyler's response.

He just looked at me and gave me a weird look. He thought I was just being dorky ol' Emily.
I had to tell him... "I'm pregnant." That's when it registered with him. Then I took off Dani's jacket and showed him this....

......

Tyler was then really happy!

.... that diminished briefly when he realized the drink in the baby bottle was actually my rootbeer and not the water he ordered. oops.

A Pinkalicious 2nd Bday Party

2011-08-08T13:55:00.003-06:00

It was Dani's 2nd birthday on August 2nd

and we celebrated with a Pinkalicious party on the 6th.

Pinkalicious is a book that Dani has me read her like 5 times a day,

so we thought this would be a perfect theme for her.

Basically, the story is about a girl who loves pink,
eats too many pink cupcakes, and wakes up pink all over.

She is diagnosed with Pinkititus and the cure is to eat green foods.

It's a really cute story that Dani can basically recite.

The decorations were based from the pictures in the book.
Here's some pictures from the party....

Gender Reveal Pics

2011-07-29T13:12:00.002-06:00

Life has been a little crazy in the last week or so... an almost 2 year old thrown into the mix of anything makes things a little crazy anyway, but, between Tyler and me, any free time has been spent working on planning two parties (well, one of them, Dani's bday party, I haven't even started on... and it's next Saturday), 15 minute talks for sacrament meeting in a couple days, a Visiting Teaching lesson, a Home Teaching lesson, several meetings for both of our callings, following up on things discussed in those meetings, planning and organizing an upcoming RS Retreat, meeting with the Elders Quorum Presidency, going on family visits as part of the Elders Quorum Presidency,... oh and going golfing and eating lots of marshmallows.

So, I probably don't need to say that our Gender Reveal party was kind of thrown together quickly.... even though we had been planning to have it for a couple weeks. Luckily I have my awesome cricket to make some things look cool.
We invited some friends and family over to surprise them with the news we're having a boy. Since people didn't know what we were having, we decorated in pinks and blues.
Here are some pictures:

pink and blue mobile and tissue paper balls

a clothesline hanging above the pink and blue punches, a station set up for you to fill out.....

once the baby is born we'll give a little prize for the people that guessed the closest

hanging in our little peek-a-boo window from the kitchen to the living room

a shot of the mostly eaten food

the food was kind of random... it was all my cravings.
grapes, cherries, peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, chicken nuggets,

pasta (remember this post), chili and cream cheese dip, and marshmallows

People who thought we were having a girl picked the pink cupcakes
L to R: Dylan, Marie, Reagan, Eileen, Becky, Drew, and Nicki

Aunt Ann also thought we were having a girl

I guess most people thought we were having a boy
Top Row, L to R: Brett, Jordan
Bottom Row, L to R: Kyle, Candice, Larry, Brent,
(sorry I forget her name... she was Krisia friend, a little help anyone?), Krisia, and Natalie

the cupcakes

Blue filling!
Surprise... it's a boy!

just kidding

2011-07-27T21:52:00.001-06:00

Wait... did I type "top" boy names?....
I think those names might actually be on our personal list of "worse names ever"

Yep, we're still clueless.

Boy names

2011-07-26T15:36:00.001-06:00

Well after much deliberation, we agreed on choosing a more unique name for our boy. We also would really like him to have a nickname.

These are our top 3 choices (in no order):

*Bartholomew - Barty for short
*Octavius - Gus Gus for short... like from Cinderella (Dani's been watching that movie like no other)
*Woodrow - Woody for short

What do you think?

It's a...

2011-07-24T18:15:00.002-06:00

.... BOY!!

Yep, the Pearson name will live on. Haha, and I guess we could stop now since we'll have the ideal American family. But who knows.
We had a gender reveal party this weekend and we were able to see lots of family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came! We'll have pictures up soon.

So...any ideas for names???? We're at a complete loss.

Catching Up

2011-07-14T15:57:00.005-06:00

Not sure when blogger changed their format (since we didn't have internet for so long), but it's tripping me out. Change is fun though.
Still no pictures of our house. I know, I know.... I'll get on that. It's been a little busy here.

Some going-ons:

-Tyler and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary in June. It's flown by and has been an AWESOME 5 years. I wish I took more pictures of the weekend, but this is what we did.
*Tyler took off Friday and we took Danica to the Discovery Museum at the Gateway. She loved it! (lots of pics below) *We then spent about $30 on chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. So worth it. (I just finished the last of it yesterday). *Dani ran around at the splash pad at the Gateway, had a blast, and got soaking wet *We then met with Tyler's Aunt Ann for lunch. She's Elder Bruce D. Porter's secretary so we ate at the Nauvoo Cafe and took our food outside. Showing Dani the Salt Lake Temple and eating lunch in view of it was really neat. *We finished the day off with a little bit of shopping in American Fork

-Saturday we dropped Dani off at Brent and Marie's place (thanks again guys!!) and headed up to the Hale Center Theater in West Valley. Tyler bought us tickets to the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was SUUUUPPPPPER good! We were cracking up. And it was awesome to see a couple people I know (Dave Tinney and Debra Weed) performing that night. *We then ate dinner at Olive Garden... and, let me tell you, I am pregnant... If I wasn't really sure before, I am now. So....We originally went to Chili's because Tyler was hankering for a burger and I was craving pasta. We thought their menu was diverse enough to have both. Well they don't have pasta and my pregnant belly was set on pasta. I started crying right there in the restaurant. I felt so stupid, but I couldn't stop crying. Tyler felt bad and suggested we go to Olive Garden. I felt bad for making him feel bad and cried some more. Frustrated I was crying over this, I let out a grunt/sigh thing. It was louder than I meant it to be. Oops. We just started laughing. Well my laugh made my crying worse. It turned into some weird... sob...thing... When our waitor came back Tyler told him we were going to go somewhere else. I just stared at my lap and then the floor as we walked out. I did see the people in the booth right next to us just staring at us as we walked out. They had probably been staring at our table since that stuffed-up pig noise came out of me.

-Another fun thing happened on our anniversary. Most of you probably know there are traditional gifts you can give that correspond to each anniversary year. Since we didn't have the internet, my sister Eileen found the gift for a 5th anniversary is wood. Well, I think she actually may have been mistaken on a couple of those letters. No, the gift is not "wood," in fact, it's "poop." That's the gift Dani gave me anyway. I was ready to toss some cookies when someone woke up from their nap and started playing with their poop! I came in to find her wiping it on her clothes, blankets, crib, legs, and arms! I got her out, wiped her down, and asked her what she was doing with her poop. Her response was "beans." BEANS?? Sick! I sure hope she wasn't eating it! She must have noticed the look on my face because she chuckled as she said, "Nooooo.... clothes." So I asked her if she was wiping it on her clothes and she said yes. So sick. It was definitely time for a bath and more laundry. Oh, and Dani got a bath too. :) Happy Anniversary.

And in more recent news,
*Tyler and I both got callings. Tyler was called as the Elders Quorum Secretary and I was called as the RS Meetings Coordinator.
*I am 20 weeks pregnant today. Half way there! We find out the gender on Monday! I'll be sure to take a belly pic soon. I was so good with taking belly pics with Dani... not so much this time. I'm also a lot bigger this time around than I was with Danica.... I guess that's sort of to be expected... that's what I tell myself.
*Dani will be 2 years old at the beginning of August! My how quickly time goes by! She's learning so many new things each day.

Here are a bunch of pictures of our Sweetie Pie when we took her to the Discovery Museum and the splash pad at the Gateway

FYI

2011-06-18T23:44:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that we're alive... we just don't have internet yet.... and wont for another month or two.
But we've been in our house for 2 weeks now (I totally typed "apartment" just then, instead of house) and really enjoy it in Eagle Mountain. We still have boxes to unpack and still live out of duffel bags, but our neighbors are awesome! Everyone has been so welcoming and Dani LOVES having all the kids around. We haven't explored much in the city yet because my allergies and asthma have been crazy bad, but they seem to be getting better now.
I'll update more when I can.

Home Sweet Home

2011-05-26T11:24:00.001-06:00

We closed on our first home yesterday!!!!! WOOHOO!

We're really excited and will start moving in slowly during the next few days.
Then Saturday we'll have a yard sale.
On Monday, the plan is to do most, if not all, of the cleaning of the apartment we're in now.

It will be a little sad leaving Provo, as we've lived here for 7 years, but we're ready for this next chapter and excited to start something new.

Sorry no pictures yet. We'll work on that.

More Yay

2011-05-14T12:10:00.002-06:00

Tyler and I put in an offer on a home and it was ACCEPTED Wednesday!
We're so excited! It was such a quick process for us.... Meeting with a loan agent on Monday, viewing homes on Tuesday, and having our offer accepted on a place on Wednesday. Still a lot to have happen before we close.
We'll be moving into a townhome in Eagle Mountain in the beginning of June. Yikes... so much to get done! :)

Yay!

2011-05-06T16:44:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited Danica went potty in her potty chair today, for the very first time! Who knows if it'll take off now or still be a while, but she got to pick out a balloon today.

Let the strange dreams begin!

2011-04-26T10:36:00.005-06:00

I always have weird dreams when I'm pregnant.
I won't bore you with all the crazy details, but let me just say that it involved me being sick at the hospital with blood sugar levels at 1 (!!!), being loopy and sliding off the hospital bed (like down a slide) over and over, and having to donate a lung to my 8 week old fetus!.... I'm pretty sure our baby doesn't even have lungs formed yet.
Weird.

La Dee Da Dee Dum... What's the name of that song?

2011-04-07T16:08:00.004-06:00

I tried to take a nap when Danica did, but instead I couldn't get a song out my head.
It was the song in the video below.
I can't guarantee the song wont get stuck in your head too, once you listen to it.

Don't you love the old school Sesame Street?

-White Christmas?!

-No!!

Real quick...

2011-04-04T10:35:00.002-06:00

For those of you who asked about my challenge linked on the right, I've update that blog (with an explanation).

Well....

2011-04-02T21:48:00.002-06:00

Did you get tricked?....
You did if you thought you were being tricked.

Yep, I'm PREGNANT!! :)

Can anyone say....

2011-04-01T08:32:00.001-06:00

Pearson - Party of 4!

image

How we met....

2011-03-28T22:10:00.003-06:00

I thought I'd share the story about how we met.....

SHORT VERSION - We met in our Single's Ward in Provo, UT.

LONGER VERSION -
(names have been changed to protect the innocent...or guilty, depending how you look at it)

Once upon a time (2004) in a strange land called Provo, a boy (Tyler) and a girl (Emily) moved to an apartment complex called Centennial (into two separate apartments, that is). They began attending the same Single's Ward. Although the boy had been a home teacher to a couple of the girl's roommates, the boy and the girl somehow didn't meet for almost a year. (Unless you count the time the girl sat by the boy in Sacrament meeting and said "hi.".... but she doesn't remember that happening, but then again she doesn't remember a lot of things.)

During that year, the boy started dating Hildagard and the girl started reciprocating flirtation behavior with Archibald. After a while the girl's roommate, Aretha, decided she was interested in Archibald, and the girl decided she wasn't, so she went on an awkward walk with Archibald to tell him that she, the girl, wasn't really interested in anything serious with him. A little while later the girl started dating Biff.

In the meantime, the boy ditched Hildagard and started dating Bertha. The girl dumped Biff and finally met the boy....As was mentioned the boy was a home teacher to a couple of the girl's roommates. After one home teaching visit, while the boy sat chatting with the girl's roommates, the girl came out to do the dishes. Her roommate Ivana, mentioned that the girl had just broke up with her boyfriend and the boy asked about it. The girl, probably talking way too much, told much of her break up story. (what a great first conversation) The boy said he didn't mind though because, hey it got them together.

A little while later (February 2005) Aretha became interested in the boy so she invited him to choir and game nights. The boy started coming to things. Soon the girl and boy took notice of each other and started liking each other. (Aretha started dating someone else and the boy decided to dump Bertha.)

Somehow, during this time, the girl let slip to Aretha that she might now sort of be interested in Archibald while at the same time liking the boy. Archibald and the boy started vying for the girl's attention. Really Archibald was trying to get her to notice him more, while the boy was getting the girl to notice him. The girl ~~liked~~ survived the attention. All along she knew she'd pick the boy over Archibald, and finally did (June 2005).

Archibald found out that he had lost when one day he walked into the girl's apartment and saw her holding hands with the boy. To make things more complicated...shortly thereafter another roommate, Darla, started liking Archibald and Archibald started liking Aretha, now that she was single again. Confused?... Much to Archibald's dismay, Aretha wasn't interested in him anymore and Archibald wasn't interested in Darla. Darla, having lost interest in Archibald started dating her future husband, Herb.

So.... the boy and girl started dating, had lots of fun, got engaged (March 2006), and were married (June 2006)!! They had a baby girl (August 2009) and are living happily ever after (at least they were happy at the time of this post).

(rolling through the end credits.....)

Darla married Herb and now have a baby girl.

Aretha married Walter and now have a baby boy.

Archibald was recently engaged and seems very happy.

Who cares about Hildagard, Bertha, or Biff?

Dating/Engaged:

Wedding:

Marriage:

Tyler's Bday

2011-03-22T12:02:00.001-06:00

Tyler turned 28 on March 4th!
Somehow I took like no pictures that day. This was around the time that Danica and I were really sick... and I think I just spaced it. That's also the reason why I didn't make some cool cake for Tyler... didn't want to spread the germs.
We celebrated his birthday on the 5th by going to Chili's with some friends and family. ("Tyler - party of 17") Then we had more friends over for cupcakes and ice cream. Over the course of the night we probably had 30 people in our small apartment.
Although I decorated with streamers and banners... this is the only decoration I took a picture of.

Tyler made these awesome cupcakes

They were chocolate with a cream cheese frosting and a homemade oreo-marshmellow center. They were sooo yummy!

..... See what I mean? (that's a whole cupcake in his mouth)

This picture is random, cute, and taken on Tyler's bday.

Danica gathered a couple stuffed animals and her baby and read to them on the stairs.

....Getting to know all about you

2011-03-14T11:24:00.010-06:00

I liked the idea on a friend's blog of sharing random things about her and her husband, because well, while a lot of you know one or both of us, there are some things you probably don't really know... unless you're a family member or an old roommate or something.

Today I thought I'd tell you about our pet peeves/things that bug us (in no particular order)...

*Note : Maybe pet peeves weren't the best thing to start off with, when getting to know us. This list is long and makes us sound like really negative people, or like we think we're better than others. But I'm sure (I hope anyway) a lot of you can relate. It was sort of therapeutic to type out and I sort of couldn't stop once I started. :)

Emily - nails on a chalk board or even just chalk.... or thinking about either of them. (Yep just typing this is making me all squeamish. I have to flick my fingers or scratch my legs to make me feel better... strange, I know!)

Both - when people don't use blinkers

Both - when people park bad... and don't fix it.

Both - when drivers do something stupid and are definitely at fault, and then when you honk at them, they honk back at you.

Both - when people don't yield to pedestrians

Both - when drivers ride your tail

Both - when drivers don't pay attention to the lights... especially the left turn light... and make you miss the light

Both - maybe I should have just said bad drivers

Both - overly affectionate couples... especially at church. If this is you, STOP IT (Tyler added that last part)

Tyler - when students take up class asking ridiculous questions

Tyler - when some random guy calls him "dude", "bro", "man", or similar word

Tyler - when someone interrupts your story and finishes your sentence wrong (ok, ok.... maybe I'm the only one who does that to him. I'm working on it!)

Tyler - when people wear too much perfume/cologne

Emily - intentional misspellings in texts, emails, or facebook statuses ("lite" kwik" "R" for are)

Emily - when people have bad sickness etiquette

Tyler - when people leave their shopping carts in the middle of the aisle or randomly stop in your way (you wouldn't drive your car like that, would you?)

Tyler - people who go the wrong way in a parking lot

Both - when someone with a full cart of groceries gets in the "10 items or less" checkout

Emily - when you have an itch on the bottom of your foot, but you can't scratch it because you have shoes on.

Emily - when people say they have a scratch when they should be saying "itch." Right-I have an itch. To make it better I will scratch it. Wrong-I have a scratch. To make it better I will scratch it...

Emily - not clipping you nails over a trash can

Emily - when you pull a string from your shirt and it doesn't break... it just becomes longer

Tyler - skinny/woman's jeans on men

Emily - when people pull their food out of the microwave early and don't clear the timer

Emily - when people don't RSVP

Tyler - guys who wear wifebeaters (and nothing else for a shirt) in public

Tyler - people who use the self checkout lanes and don't know what they're doing so they slow everyone down

Tyler - when people send a text when a call is what is needed

Emily - how commercials are so much louder than TV shows

Emily - not letting things go the first time someone says stop

Tyler - manpris.... when guys wear really long shorts that hit mid calf

Emily - using the toilet paper down to the last few squares without getting a new roll

Tyler - when commission based employees won't back off (really any employee won't leave me alone. If I need help I'll ask)

Emily - when people say "you and I" when it should be "you and me"

Both - people trying to enter the elevator when the people inside haven't left yet

Emily - people who try to talk to you when you're going to the bathroom

Tyler - girls wearing their pjs to the store or school. Is life so busy you can't put on real pants?

and some more...

2011-03-10T20:39:00.001-07:00

random that is...

Do you say

Ding Dong Ditch

Door Bell Ditch

something else?

more random...

2011-03-02T17:35:00.005-07:00

I've had a bad cold for a week or two and it's kept me up at night. I have a hard time falling back asleep too, so I've spent some nights thinking about random things. The other night I was thinking about how "Hollywood", as I'm sure you're aware too, has come out with a lot of, but not limited to, unoriginal ideas for movies in the last little bit. It seems there have been a lot of remakes.
I was wondering if they would ever remake (a good version of) The Wizard of Oz.... based on the 1939 musical. ???
Well it made me start to think about who I would pick to play the main roles in the movie. I think it would be cool if it were still a musical too.

Alright now....
Think about the stars in the original movie....

Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, Lion, Glinda, Wicked Witch, Wizard

My still-uncertain picks would be:

Dorothy -

Anne Hathaway, Lea Michele, Reese Witherspoon, or Zooey Deschanel

Scarecrow -

Jim Carrey or Adrien Brody (can he sing?)

Tinman -

Ewan MacGregor or Hugh Jackman

Cowardly Lion -

Jack Black

Glinda -

Kristen Chenoweth or Gwyneth Paltrow

Wicked Witch -

Meryl Streep

Wizard -

Bill Murray

Ok, so I know I'm not the best at picking out a cast and it sure would make for a pricey budget to hire all these actors... but it's fun pretending!

Who would you pick as the stars for a remake?

yellow or green?

2011-02-28T17:38:00.002-07:00

Random question for you guys....

Would you say a tennis ball is yellow or green?

Oh Dani Girl

2011-02-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the other day how Tyler and I met 6 years ago around this time. Crazy. Crazy to think that this Dani-nugget of joy is all ours (well, yes, we share her with her grandparents) and that back then I never realized how happy we were really going to end up being.

Here's our nugget of joy:

what Dani brought home from her first day of Nursery

(she was so proud and wouldn't let go of it! it's now hanging on our fridge)

Dani's first bubble bath

Silly girl

CHEEKS!

She was pulling the rocking chair all over the room. She stopped by the shoe rack and put on Dad's snow gloves and started rocking the empty chair. Maybe I should be worried...? But I just find it cute

Trying to wearing her doll's clothes

and finishing her meal by eating the ranch with her spoon...

I'm telling you, this girl LOVES ranch!

Ok, Danica used to not be so into watching things on TV, but lately she's been OBSESSED with this Disneyland DVD her Grandpa Seavers made her. She says, "song" all. day. long. - meaning she wants to watch the Disney Sing Along Songs. It's pretty funny.

I have a couple videos of Danica... you can catch a glimspe of how much she loves the Sing Along

"C'mon mom! I told you a million times already. Stop teasing me"

She usually is more excited, but you get the idea

♥ur v♥lentine's d♥y!

2011-02-16T22:01:00.006-07:00

We had a low key Valentine's Day...
here's some pics on what was going on around our house.

ideas for decorations found here:

vase, conversation heart garland, Love is all you need, yarn pom poms, felt heart, felt wreath, valentine subway art, paper heart garland

can a bubble bath hurt a dog? ccan milk?

2011-02-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

Someone stumbled onto our blog by searching:

"can a bubble bath hurt a dog? ccan milk?"

Interesting... I hope they found the right answer.

Though I'm almost positive they didn't find it here.

18 months

2011-02-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

I've been busy posting on my other blog and therefore this one has become a little neglected. But, I figured I should give you all a little update on our 18 month old.
What?? I have an 18 month old?
Well, tomorrow I will. Danica turns 18 months old on February 2nd. She'll celebrate by having a bubble bath! I haven't given her a bubble bath yet... I know it's silly, but I wanted to give her one on a special occasion.
Mom and Dad will celebrate this Sunday when Danica goes to Nursery! I'm almost positive Danica will do just fine in Nursery and I'm so excited to be able to listen to the lessons.

Danica has grown so much and learned so much in such a short amount of time, it's crazy to me. I love this girl and all her personality.

she wanted to wear a hood, but that sweater doesn't have one, so she made her own

A few of Dani's favorite things -
Ranch dressing. This girl LOVES ranch dressing. She'll dip anything in it...including her hands and then she proceeds to lick it all off. I don't mind because it gets her to eat more. She's all about dipping her foods in something
Taking pictures. She got a toy camera for Christmas and ever since she's seen me take pictures (for my other blog) she's been wanting to too. She'll press the button on her camera and she even does great poses!
Dancing. I love to watch Danica dance and she loves dancing to Safety Dance from the Glee Soundtrack. I'll have to take a video of her dancing... it's so cute, but it sort of resembles the Goombas swaying in the elevator in the Super Mario Bro. movie, but at warp speed.
Going for walks/being outside. I know every kid loves this and Danica is no exception. She gets super excited and will gather her shoes and our shoes and everything else we need to go outside.
And... reading, playing pretend, jumping on and playing with Dad, singing, her play kitchen, sitting inside cabinets, closing and opening doors over and over, people watching.

I told her to pose and here are her poses

Danica says (in her own cute baby talk) -
•dad • mom •baby •danica •pop pop •dog •woof •meow •moo •quack quack •blub blub blub (fish) •tweet (this one totally doesn't sound like tweet... it sounds more like she's gargling) •ssss (snake) •ooh ooh ooh (gorilla) •an elephant noise (no idea what the onomatopoeia would be for that) •bzzzz •ribbit •vrrooom •circle •star •triangle •square •heart •A •C •O •X •Y •Z •butterfly •pillow •necklace •ring •uh oh •man oh man! (oops... that's my fault) •ranch •milk •one •snow •shoe •boots •sock •pants •shirt •hat •hair •eyes •ears •nose •toes •teeth •elbow •knee •diaper •blanket •bath •bathroom •outside •sit •remote •book •hi •yes •no •bye bye •mmmm •boom •bottle •hot •brrrr (cold) •coat •button •zipper •zip zip zip (when we use the zipper) •cheese •water •cup •drink •spoon •bread •hot dog •music •church •Jesus •wallet •light •ball •bow •flower •that •wet •bubble •block •thank you •minnie •kyle •natalie •drew ... I'm sure there's more.
She's actually been repeating EVERYTHING we say... usually just the last word we say in a sentence.
And she understands just about everything we say, even if she doesn't say those words yet.

instead of falling asleep, Dani found the wipes

Danica sleeps -
From about 7 or 7:30 until 8 or 8:30... so 13 hours. She's a really good sleeper and always has been. We're really worried about how our next kid will be. Her naps are getting shorter, which isn't so fun... but I can't really complain if she sleeps so well at night.

"cheeeeese"

Danica is very social and cuddly. She's very good at giving hugs (with a tight squeeze and grunt) and kisses. And when she gets hurt, our kisses make it all better. She loves to take our hands and help us do something or grab our hand and pull us where she wants us to go.
Every time I greet her in her crib she says, "hhhiiiiii!"
Every time she closes a door she says, "bye bye"
She's really good at following directions and loves to throw things in the trash for us, if we ask her.
Unfortunately she also loves throwing her food on the floor. (I'm sooo waiting for that phase to be over.)
I also found out that Danica freaks out when I build her a cool fort and won't go under it. It has to be a pretty lame fort... like a blanket hanging over our kitchen counter. I'm sure one day that'll change.
Anytime I say, "No, Danica, don't touch that please!" She'll say, "hot hot hot".... I usually have to explain that it's not hot, and why I don't want her to touch it.

We're very proud parents and Danica is such a smarty. She seriously is learning new things every day!

Comment on Crocheting

2011-01-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

I was writing a response to my last post in the comment section... but it turned into a really long comment, so I just decided to make a little post instead. Here's my reply to the comments so far on the post below:

I learned how to crochet from a roommate like 6 years ago. She had me take it one little step at a time... making a REALLY long chain, pulling it apart, and doing it again and again until I got the hang of it. Then she taught me the actual stitch and how to continue stitching lines.
I didn't really start to crochet again until like last year and, though I thought I had forgotten how to do it, it all came back to me. Like riding a bike. So, you might be surprised what you remember, if you've learned once before.
The more "advanced" stitching techniques I learned online. I was looking at tutorials online and had no idea what they were talking about. I didn't understand all the lingo so I googled them. But I found the most helpful instructions on youtube! I could actually see all the steps they were doing, pause or rewind it, and watch it all again. So awesome.
I also got a book from my mother-in-law that tells me all my need-to-knows about crocheting.

For those nearby, I would love to show you what I know about crocheting. I can't guarantee I'm the best teacher... and hopefully I'm not doing anything wrong! But if you're interested in getting together sometime let me know. I can organize a time to teach a little class thing.

Crocheting bug

2011-01-21T22:43:00.001-07:00

I've caught a crocheting bug!
It's just what I've been wanting to do in my free time. Lately all I've made are flowers and I'm having so much fun! (I have a how-to book entirely on crocheting flowers... so I'll be busy for a while)
I made this headband for Danica today and I had to share because I thought she looked so cute and so much older in it (sniff sniff). She would NOT hold still long enough for a picture and she only let me take a picture of her when she was lying on the floor... haha! (...so not the best pictures).

(the flower at the top of her head is a little bit bigger than the side flower)

Anybody else like to crochet?

Friends

2011-01-17T23:21:00.002-07:00

Today was a good day! I feel so thankful for the friends that I have.
I have some awesome friends and today I am especially thankful for a few.

Natalie is such a genuinely sweet person! She is so caring and considerate. She brought us dinner tonight (so yummy!). She is very sensitive and is always thinking of others. I just love her so much!

Today I went shopping with Jill and Monique (and Danica). It was so much fun to just chat and shop for a few hours. I haven't spent an afternoon just hanging out with friends in a really long time! It was very much needed and these girls are just so chill and easy to talk with. (I love people like that!)
I originally planned to just window shop with them, but, alas, I couldn't resist!
I love to shop. I got a bunch of jewelry :)

I wanted to share my finds because I'm pretty proud I only spent $30 on all this!

Ugh

2011-01-16T21:11:00.006-07:00

Some of you know that I had been feeling sick off and on since the beginning of December. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. I went to see my doctor a couple times and took different medications to ease the pain and nausea. We thought that it could have been a possible yeast infection, multiple UTI's, or multiple kidney stones. We weren't sure what was going on exactly, but my doctor (well, my old doctor, as Tyler calls her... I'm switching doctors now) was pretty sure it was a UTI, so she gave me a prescription last week.

Last Saturday (my 4th "episode"), I started feeling really sick again. This was the worst case yet. I was sick in bed from 8am until 8:30pm.... with fevers, back pains, nausea, vomiting... the works. I eventually started feeling better so I thought the antibiotic was finally working.

Then Thursday rolled around and the back pain and such came back. I called my doctor's office made an appointment for a couple hours later. Unfortunately, I totally forgot Tyler had taken my car to work so I had to walk the 7 blocks in pain, while pushing Danica in our double stroller in the ice and snow.... not fun. (I really should have called a friend for a ride). My doctor gave me a prescription for a stronger antibiotic. I then told her that I thought it was something more than a UTI because it had been going on for over a month and asked if there was a better way to just figure out what was wrong. She sent me to the hospital (luckily not a long walk) to get a CT scan.

I got the CT scan and Tyler met me at the hospital, leaving work early, and we headed home together. After many phone calls and waiting around we finally found out that I was experiencing all this pain and sickness because I had a kindey stone! Again! (I had 2 while I was pregnant).

This stone was 3.8 millimeters and was obstructed. Basically it was really close to the bladder opening, but couldn't make it through. Because of this being a problem for over a month, my kidney was backed up with a lot of fluid and was having a hard time working and so I ended up with some gallstones too. Blah.

Tyler took Friday off work and after many more phone calls we got an appointment with a urologist at a clinic close to the hospital. For the hour we were in the waiting room, I noticed I was the only patient probably under 70 years old. I'm a broken-down 25 year old! But, on the bright side, I was also the only patient that didn't need assistance to walk around. After talking with the urologist, he was luckily able to schedule a surgery to get the kidney stone removed that day.
So off to surgery I went.

The procedure went very well. They did a urital basket extraction. As I understand, they basically stuck a tube up, caught the kidney stone with a little basket device, and pulled it out. We're going to have tests done to see what caused the kidney stone and see if I need to change my diet. Tyler and Danica hung out in the waiting room... Dani missed her nap, but she was a perfect angel.

I feel very good now recovering. I'm supposed to take it easy... which isn't too hard to do because I've been very tired and it's the weekend so Tyler's been around. I have to urinate like every 15 minutes (too much information...???) probably because of all the fluid buildup and also because I've been downing liquids like no other. I was also told I need to get up and walk around so I don't get phenomena. Tyler's been a HUGE help. He always is.

I'm so glad we finally figured out what was wrong with me! I already feel a whole lot better and am not in much pain at all.
(Can you believe this was the quick and shortened version?)

On another note, if you've been following my other blog I finally updated that too. I put a link in the top right of my blog... or you can click HERE

Party time!

2011-01-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

...I mean potty time!

Danica has been showing possible signs she's ready for potty training!

I was wondering if I could get some free advice from you guys.

What has worked for you or someone you know?

image

November and December update...finally

2011-01-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I have a million pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas and in between. Posting all of them would make for a really long (not to mention boring) post. So I'll just post a few of my favorites...
Since pictures speak 1000 words I'll let them do (most of) the talking.

Thanksgiving in CA with my family

bundling up for a walk in Grandma's gloves

Dani loved my sister's Christmas scene

Happy

Sad

Tyler rock climbing

Thanksgiving at my sister Anna's

Family pics

First time playing in the snow

building a snowman with Dad

Hugging the snowman

Attempting a snow angel

Our gingerbread houses

Emily's

Tyler's

Back views

Christmas lights on Temple Square

Dani just woke up

Christmas in CO with Tyler's family

opening up stockings

Dani LOVED seeing Frosty on the front lawn with PopPop

Do not repeat

2011-01-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, for those that were interested... I've created a blog to document my personal challenge I mentioned in my previous post.

http://repeatnot.blogspot.com/

Yikes!

Challenge

2010-12-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Tyler told me today I have too many clothes.
Say what?
Can a girl have too many clothes?

Well, this may end up being a mistake, but I decided to take on a personal challenge. I do feel very blessed and don't want this explanation to come across the wrong way... I've been fortunate enough to have a wonderful friend who recently gave me a bunch of clothes. I've also bought a lot of clothes in the last little bit. And although I went through my old clothes and gave a lot away not too long ago, I'm finding my closet is pretty full; full of clothes I'm still not wearing much. Not because I don't like them, but because I get into clothes-moods and wear the same bunch of tops over and over. I just can't seem to give up on some of those other clothes yet and give them away.

So... my challenge, starting the beginning of the year, is to wear a different top every day without repeating a top until I've worn all of them once. (If needed, I can repeat pants, accessories, shoes, cardigans, jackets, coats, socks, and underwear... it's mainly just the tops that can't be repeated.)

I'm taking on this challenge to hopefully find out what clothes I actually like and would wear. If I find I'm not digging them, then I should just give them away.

I've decided to do this with my church attire too... this one might prove to be a little more difficult because I have a million skirts (from way back when) that will need to be worn with a plain top... and I only have so many of those. I may have to adjust the rules with those outfits...? But for sure the skirt/dress will change each Sunday.

In order to keep me accountable, I've decided to take pictures and document them somehow. I'll let you know how I document, if you're actually interested... maybe on a separate blog. Even if I don't post every day I'll still be taking pictures every day. Yikes! What am I getting myself into?

Memories

2010-12-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

Christmastime always gets me thinking of tons of fun memories from my childhood and with my family.
After seeing my friend's post I thought it'd be great to follow suit and post this:

Answer about Emily, or Tyler, or Danica, or all 3 of us:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

redecorating surprise

2010-12-16T11:29:00.001-07:00

Well, a couple times Tyler has told me that I should post about the redecorating surprise I did in our front room while he was gone in Orlando for a work convention back in October. I told him that he should post about it so I didn't sound like I was saying "Oh! Look at all I did. I'm so cool!" But he hasn't posted about it, obviously. And for the last few days I've been looking at our blog thinking I should post about something... but what?

Well here you have it. The Redecoration... Look at all I did! I'm so cool!

(It actually wasn't a lot since I couldn't spend very much money and had only a couple days to do it.... granted I did stay up most of the nights working too... so it was more like a few "days" to do it)

The reason I decided to redecorate was because we bought some new couches!!

You may have noticed these curtains before.

With the new chocolate brown couches and the old olive green curtains
the room seemed very dark.

Replacing the green with some robin's egg blue lightened things up a bit.

Here are the new accessories:

(sorry for all the bad pics. I did it quickly during Dani's nap)

super easy fabric balls - made out of scrap fabric and a little hot glue

Danica's had some fun with these balls... as you can tell

These are hanging along our stairs

made with scrapbook paper and basic crocheting skills

On one of our cinderblock walls hang these frames

made out of cardboard mats (pack of 3 at $ Store),

covered in scrapbook paper, and fun doodads, and hung up with that blue tacky tape (or whatever it's called)

the berries were found online and cut out with my cricut

(I LOVE my cricut!!)

also made with my cricut....

I got this idea from my sister Anna.

The empty picture in the middle will eventually be one like this

(The Oakland, CA Temple, where we got married)

I also made these

The backs of the pillows are all slip covers made with the same blue and white fabric as the big pillow. I was actually proud of myself for figuring out how to do the slip cover on my own... a whole lot easier than I thought it would be too. That fabric is left over from curtains I originally made. Though they kept me up 'til the wee hours of morning, they, sadly, looked horrible! So they're now sitting in a drawer upstairs.

Even so, I enjoyed doing this redecoration. I love to craft and it's always fun to see something you made come together.

And now that I think about it, I have serveral things to post, but it's all about finding the time to do it. So I guess... stay tuned.

Happy late Halloween

2010-11-14T00:03:00.002-07:00

The Friday before Halloween, Tyler's work hosted a treat-or-treat party for the employee's families. I didn't take any pictures that day.
That night Tyler and I hosted a Halloween party with his sister Candice and her boyfriend Kyle. We had good food, a jello eating contest, donut eating contest, and a photo booth.
Saturday night we had our ward Halloween party. I won 3rd place for best costume (I never win anything) and Danica had lots of fun playing with the million balloons.
Tyler was Matt Foley, an SNL character, I was Giselle from the movie Enchanted (by the way... that dress took FOREVER to make... Thursday night I was up until 6am finishing those ruffles), and Danica was a princess too. She was too cute!

Here are the pics....

Kyle and Candice

It was really close between Kyle and Tyler

Kyle probably would have won,

but he had a heckler and had a hard time swallowing after that

so Tyler won (again)

The girls taking their time during the contest

At our Ward Halloween Party

Hermione, Giselle, Elastigirl
My Visiting Teaching buddies

Help please!

2010-11-09T12:05:00.002-07:00

last Christmas

We're planning on taking an 11 hour trip soon and I'm so worried about how it will be with a 15 month old!
We took a 3 1/2 hour trip a little bit ago and she basically cried the whole time. I had to sit in the back seat with her, but I get car sick when I do that.

Do you have any suggestions to make the trip easier.... anything ....
something you've heard of or done yourself??

update

2010-11-04T15:35:00.005-06:00

No Halloween pictures yet... I'm waiting for those pictures still (from someone else's camera)

In the meantime, I thought I should update on Danica... I haven't done that in a while and she's 15 months now...I can't believe how time flies.

Before I get into the update, I've got to tell you about a great find I got at DI. I wanted to get Danica some books and find some sort of stand for a project I'm working on (more on that later).
I came across this book...

pic found here

I was way excited to see that... especially for the $4 price tag!!!!

I definitely recommend this book

Anyway... updating...

I realize not everyone may be interested in reading about Danica's updates, so we'll do pictures first, cause those are more fun.

Wearing the wig I wore for Halloween

Eating pasta

She definitely needed a bath after that!

She's been doing that with her tongue a lot lately

Just being her cute, happy self

Well, Danica is 15 months old now and she's as happy as can be... now that she's not teething that is.

Her stats at her 15 month appointment were:

weight: 20.1 lbs - 11.53%

head: 17.5 cm - 13.64%

height: 31 3/6" - 74.49 %

Recently she's been:

•walking backwards •saying "mo, mo, mo, mo" -as more... when she wants more food •sleeping from 7pm to 8 or 9am and taking a 1-2 hour nap during the day •getting hurt a lot... I'd like to think that it's because she's had a growth spurt and her balance is all off and that's also why she keeps running into our counter •shaking her head yes or no in response •properly putting on her puppet and finger puppets •saying cheese and smiling when we take her picture •turning on and off the TV •saying "yeah."....She'll get all excited like she's thinking "finally!yes!I thought she'd never ask!" and she'll run over to go do that thing. •holding our hand... I LOVE it

Dani loves:

•singing and dancing... it's so fun to dance with her and we do it everyday... plus, she doesn't think mom's dance moves are strange...yet! •spinning... haha, I started spinning one day while dancing and she followed suit and wouldn't stop. she's a spinning monster now... she'll get so dizzy and falls down everytime •baths... well, playing in the bathtub... and she'll cry if you don't let her turn into a prune •getting scared •shoes (still) •peek-a-boo •sitting on the couch or in a chair next to mom or dad... I'm sure she feels so big! •going for walks... inside and outside the stroller •opening and closing doors •getting into my facewash drawer •...getting into anything, really, that is not a toy •playing the piano •taking her socks and shoes off •stuffed animals and her baby doll ---hugs and kisses all around •other kids •helping us take in the trash cans •unlocking our front door or car door with the key (she thinks she's actually doing it. I tell her "good job" and she gets a huge grin every time) •pulling the throw pillows off the couch •pointing at objects saying "da?"... I think she's saying "that?" and wants me to tell her what "that" is •telling me stories that are apparently funny because amidst her baby gibberish she'll giggle... so cute •pushing the carts at the Laundromat •getting into my purse and especially pulling everything out of my wallet •sitting on mom or dad's lap while they're trying to work on something •pulling things out of the fridge the millisecond it's open... especially the ranch, maple syrup, or hot sauce •dogs •giving hugs and kisses

She enhales:

•B, bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S •cheese puffs •cheese (from our cheese ball) and crackers

Danica hates:

•getting her diaper changed, mostly when she's tired... she'll cry and cry - sorry neighbors! •the mailman... I think it's his funny hat •teething.... who wouldn't though

She says:

•hi •dad •more •bottle •bath •yeah •cheese

... she used to say mom, but doesn't anymore... what's up with that?

-Animal sounds: •dog •snake •cow •cat •horse

-ASL: •food •more •please •milk

-other words I think she's said, but not quite sure: •cracker •diaper •yes •water

Danica gets lots of compliments on her:

•walking skills •beautiful eyes/eyelashes •sociability

I can't believe how much Danica has learned and how much she learns each day. She understands just about anything... she'll retrieve things, point to what we ask, follow commands, and waves hi and bye

Had to share

2010-10-24T22:36:00.000-06:00

Our Sunday School class got moved into a different room a few weeks back and for some reason they moved our group... the group that has the oldest kids in the ward... into the Nursery room. So it's really hard to keep the kids from playing with the toys during our lesson. In the room they have one of those big plastic houses (big enough for kids to walk in) and Danica and a little boy were playing with that. The boy was standing outside the house by the window and Danica walks inside. She opens the shutters, leans through the window, and kisses the boy! It cracked us up! Danica's first kiss was cute. Haha.
We're very affectionate at home and give kisses to Danica all the time so she was just showin' some love too!

Vanity

2010-10-12T12:31:00.007-06:00

Lately I've gone through a phase of buying purses.
In the last little bit I've bought 4 purses.

Although I'm a ~~cheap~~ frugal shopper,
after buying these purses I think I might be hooked.

(the colors aren't accurate... especially the purple purse... it's actually a dark plum)

I wanted to post about this because I'm vain!
And also because I got this amazing deal.

See the teal purse? I didn't keep the receipt, but it was originally marked around $88. They were having a purse sale and this one was marked down to $8 and some change. On top of that, I had an old gift card with about $6 left on it... so I paid around $2 for the purse!

Oh! Also, this last weekend I bought a pair of shoes from Goodwill.

(these shoes are actually a dark red)

I thought it was a steal of a deal marked at $2.99,
but that weekend all yellow tags were 50% off.

So with tax I paid $1.41.

Awesome!

And by the way, Danica likes her accessories too...

Off to see the Wizard

2010-10-05T13:24:00.004-06:00

Before I get to my main reason for posting, I just wanted to remind you that I am planning a get together where I'll be teaching you how to make The 20 Minute Skirt (see post below for more details). If you're interested in coming to that you'll want to bring the following supplies:
*1 yard of fabric
*enough elastic to fit around your waist once
*sewing machine - if you have one

I recently helped plan an activity for my ward Relief Society. It was Wizard of Oz themed.
(A summary of the activity is below the pictures)

I thought it was a fun activity and everyone worked so hard to pull it all together.
Here are some pictures of the activity to give you an idea of what it looked like.

Kansas

Part of the Yellow Brick Road

The Rainbow

Lollipops for the Lollipop Guild

Following the Yellow Brick Road

The Emerald City (the Wizard was behind that curtain)

Cake pops - from the Wizard

Some of the people who helped plan the activity

To briefly summarize the activity - The Wizard invited the girls to spend a day in Oz, but when they arrived they found they were in Kansas instead. Glinda told us that although we did well with our Visiting Teaching the previous month, the Wizard wants us to learn some things before we can visit him in Oz. So we all stayed in Kansas and ate pulled pork sandwiches, salad, and corn.
When dinner was over, Glinda started telling us what we could do to get to the Emerald City, but before she could finish explaining, a tornado hit and the girls followed Glinda out of Kansas. We walked over a rainbow and followed the yellow brick, where we were welcomed by the lollipop guild. We were then taught how we could be better Visiting Teachers by using our minds, hearts, and having courage. We continued following the yellow brick road into the Emerald City. To end, the Wizard, behind the curtain, bore his testimony of Visiting Teaching.

Let's start at the very beginning...

2010-09-27T21:44:00.005-06:00

well I guess the very end (of the list)

For those interested in making the 20 Minute Skirt

- - - or even those who just need bonding and a little girl time

I've come up with a date and time for us to get together.

DATE: October 23rd

TIME: 11:00 am.... is that too early??

WHERE: My place.... if you don't know where I live, let me know

Also, let me know if this does/doesn't work for you

(especially those who have shown interest)

If you don't want to make the skirt, but just want to learn or just want to spend some time with some other women....
feel free to join in as well!

20 minute skirt

Crafting

2010-09-21T14:31:00.001-06:00

I eventually plan on making all the items I listed in my last post, but after reading your comments and checking out the poll results, I decided I'm going to start with the last item and work my way up to the first. It seemed like people were more interested in the ones at the bottom of the list.

So I'll start with the 20 minute skirt.

When I make it I'll post a how-to, but I was wondering if anyone was wanting to get together to make it?

If you are interested, let me know your availability.

20 minute skirt

It's so together!! ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

2010-09-08T13:55:00.003-06:00

mmmmmm....

image

Ok, that picture has nothing to do with the post, but doesn't it look so yummy?!

I'm hungry.

Alright.... so the real reason for posting....

Remember how I have a million bookmarked pages of crafts in my TO DO folder?

Well I felt like tackling something new.
I have lots of options, but what to start with?

If you had the choice of making something similar to one of these,

which one would you start off with?

stretchy lace bracelet

ruffle necklace

fabric bead necklace

the perfect summer necklace

lace trimmed tee

even though it says "T-short"

20 minute skirt

You can leave a comment or vote in the poll at the right.

Also, if you're interested in making one of these, let me know.

We can work on it together or I can post how I did it.

2010-09-06T19:18:00.001-06:00

FYI... I love hearing the comments you all have, but if I believe I don't know who you are, I'm probably going to delete it.
But if I do know you and it's your first time commenting and (especially if) your profile is private... let me know who you are so I don't delete it. :)

Ok, with that out of the way... here are some random pictures taken on my phone. I noticed my phone was pretty full of pics so I cleaned things up a bit. Here are some of my favs. (I don't have the best camera phone)

10-2-09 neener neener neener

4-4-10 Easter

4-19-10 On a walk

5-19-10 Tyler called my name then turned around with chocolate all over his face

6-5-10 At my cousin's wedding

6-23-10 Waiting for daddy to come home

6-23-10 On the front lawn

7-28-10 lunchtime

7-29-10 She woke up from her nap with crazy hair

8-20-10 Dani put the headband on by herself and was really proud

8-2-10 Picnic at the park on her 1st b-day

10-2-09 Just being cute

11-27-09 After shopping on Black Friday. She didn't fuss once... what a trooper

Trying to take pictures, but she wanted to eat me instead

She loved that monkey

Danica was falling asleep on my lap. I tried pulling things away from her face,

but she kept pulling them back. She looked very cozy

My Bday

2010-08-31T11:38:00.002-06:00

My birthday was Monday, but we celebrated it on Saturday. That morning we bought a jogging stroller (found on craigslist... it's super old-school, but I don't care). We chilled the rest of the morning and then that afternoon we went to Pizza Pie Cafe (an all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, and salad bar) with some family. Then we came back to our apartment and had cake and ice cream.

Tyler made me this cake

I thought it was really yummy (even though Tyler didn't).

It's a 4 layer chocolate cake with one layer of homemade butter cream frosting (it's the best frosting I've ever had) and two layers of strawberry filling.

As of yesterday I'm 25. I don't feel any different, but I had a nice relaxing birthday. Every time I talked to Tyler he wished me a happy birthday.
Danica was really good too. She took two really good naps and was extra cuddly giving me dozens of hugs. I loved it! It was her birthday present for me. :) I also went clothes/shoe shopping yesterday, which was nice.
Lately I've been super craving hamburgers, so last night Tyler went and got me Applebee's burger and fries while I put Dani to bed. I have an awesome husband. He'll do anything for me... any day of the year, but he always makes me feel extra special around my birthday!

She's had a birthday. Shout hurray!!

2010-08-09T12:02:00.004-06:00

Our little Danica turned 1!

I can't believe how quickly time has flown by.

Think she's grown a little?

This is her when we brought her home from the hospital and then on her first bday

On the left is a onesie she wears now, and on the right is the onesie we took her home from the hospital in. (And she was swimming in the onesie on the right)

We had two birthday parties for her (what a lucky duck!). My parents were in town for one and Tyler's parents were in town for the other.
Here's (lots of) pictures from both.

I made Danica a skirt to wear at her birthday party

(you can barely see it in the picture above)

I think it's cute :)

I also altered this shirt (that I got from the dollar store). It was fun.

Anyway,

back to the parties....

Dani's personal monkey cake

The eyes were marshmallows, so she couldn't eat those... hence the missing eyes

But she dug into the rest

The cupcakes were for everyone else.

Miss Danica's stuffed monkey

(she's loved this thing ever since she could hold it!)

That's where the theme started

...and we call her our "little monkey"

We also had banana splits, cookies, and cocoa rice krispie treats

Danica's hair is long enough for pigtails!

We thought they made her look so much older!

What a cutie!

You can kind of see her teeth in this one.

She has 4, with 2 more coming in right now.

Dani's learned to walk!

These are pictures on Danica's actual birthday,

August 2

Such a sweetheart and ball of energy!!!

I have lots of videos that I will post in the near future...

Dani's waking up from her nap now, so I gotsta go! :)

Long time no blog

2010-07-24T10:51:00.004-06:00

Well it's been a while... do you remember us?

We had a lot of computer problems this last month - hence the no blogging.
Here's a little recap of what's been happening lately...

We celebrated our 4th anniversary

It's tradition for us to take our pictures in the little photo booths at the mall... but at both malls they were out of order. We were bummed, but we improvised...

We had more plans in the mix, but because I was a little sick,

we took it pretty easy. We had a fun day

We spent the 4th of July in CO at Tyler's parent's house.

It was fun and relaxing.

Danica slept through the fireworks

Teething...that was fun....not!

Danica has 3 more teeth coming through right now.

It's tough, but she looks so cute and much older with teeth.

We've been a little busy lately with my parents in town this last week, going out of town, taking care of a sick baby with a temp of 101, planning a birthday party, and working on our church callings.
On top of that, Tyler's been busy working.... oh and also winning three prizes at the last 3 work parties!

California Love

2010-06-30T22:04:00.001-06:00

At the end of May/beginning of June we spent
a little vacation in CA visiting my family.

We went to a wedding, baby shower, and mission farewell. We also saw the play Wicked, spent some time trying to find my mom's twin brothers' graves, visited with friends, became parents to a 10 month old,
and ate a whole heck of a lot !

Our days were packed with fun and I loved seeing most of my family and all my nieces and nephews together! I love going to my hometown.

I never seem to remember to take pictures. But here are the ones I did take.

Some of the nieces and a nephew

...this is the best one we could take. haha

And what's behind curtain #1? ......

The DOGS! Danica loved watching Ella and Sisco

A visit/dinner with Sarah, Jacob, and Nick

Bet you didn't know a bowl could be so fascinating!

Wicked!

I've had Wicked songs stuck in my head ever since we saw the play!

(Well, actually I've been doing better lately...until we went to Walmart today. In the baking aisle a girl was singing, "Wonderful. They call me Wonderful..." Singing is a term used very loosely here. It was awful! I thought she was just speaking at first. It made me laugh, but my ears still hurt!)

The AWESOME stage. I loved the play!

Tyler got us private balcony seats. So cool!

Hi mom!

I'm not tired!

Is that drool running down my chin??

Such a lady... pinky up and all!

Dani turned 10 months old on June 2nd!

What a crazy, happy girl!

This girl is learning more and more each day!

Words she says in her Danica language:

*Dad *Mom *Baby *Bottle *More (in ASL) *Hi *Bye Bye

*(and for the first time last Wed.) Peek-a-boo

Danica is understanding a lot more too:

*She knows the word "no"....luckily that word isn't on the list above *She'll hold whatever up to her ear (or the back of her head) when you say, "Do you want to talk on the phone?" *She knows where to look when we say "outside." *She waves hi *She turns off the lights when asked, "Do you want to turn off the lights?" *She does the spider movements for "Itsy Bitsy Spider" *She loves to copy us

Dani's got talent:

*She's started singing (I'm pretty sure that's what she's doing... it's different than her talking) *She'll pull herself onto ANYTHING and start walking all around *She can stand on her own for a few seconds *She took 3 steps on Tuesday (granted it was basically her falling to the ground, but she's on her way) *She eats all sorts of food and loves to do it by herself! Earlier this month she even had the garlic sirloin at Tucanos and loved it!

Danica laughs at the most random things:
*dropping a pencil (or similar) on our coffee table *Tyler fake hurting himself *The beginning of my workout video... I think it's because she knows what's coming and thinks, "haha! mom think she's going to look like them?... she looks so silly!"

Danica loves:

*Babies/kids. She gets super excited and screams. She scares my neighbor's daughter and makes her cry... it's sad. *Shoes (still) *To watch... she's a people watcher and she loves watching the cars drive by *To be outside *Baths...she gets so excited when I turn the water on. She even tried to lift her little bath tub into the big tub the other day.*To be a social butterfly *To smile :)

There's a whole lot more I could share... it's just fun to see her learning more and more and being proud of herself for understanding... but I'll stop here!

2,102,400 minutes

2010-06-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

I feel like I should be singing the title of this post

1460 days

208 weeks

126,144,000 seconds

3 years, 11 months, 30 days

since

June 30, 2006

1 day

until

Our 4 year anniversary!

Yay!!

Oh the comments

2010-06-26T21:45:00.000-06:00

I love receiving them... I think we all do.

It gets us excited to check our blogs,

but I'm so bad with comments/commenting.

I don't know the proper etiquette.

Do I comment on your blog or on mine?

Do I write back in one comment or to all indiviually? Doesn't it matter?

Well, I want to be better about it from here on out.

I've decided to comment back on each post

(as far back as the ones that are showing on my blog page right now).

So if you've commented on my posts in the last few months,

I tried to comment back. For each of these posts,

I commented to all in one comment.

Don't know what I'll do in the future.

What do you guys think? What do you do?

What a man, what a man, what a man, what a man...

2010-06-24T22:08:00.005-06:00

....what a mighty good man!

(So...I'm a little late)

Tyler is a great man and a wonderful husband.
And he happens to be a fantastic dad too!

I hope he had a wonderful father's day! He's such a good dad to Danica.

She grins ear to ear when she sees him. Plus her first word was Dad!

She loves him so much and so do I.

I couldn't have asked for a better father for our children!

8*2*09

8*11*09

9*27*09

10*11*09

3*4*10

4*2*10

6*5*10

Happy Father's Day!!!

I saw this on a friend's blog and I believe it's from the book,
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

"A man is to me a higher and a completer being than a gentleman.... I take it that 'gentleman' is a term that only describes a person in his relation to others; but when we speak of him as 'a man', we consider him not merely with regard to his fellow-men, but in relation to himself, -to life - to time - to eternity."

Has anybody seen him?

2010-06-15T14:36:00.001-06:00

He looks a little something like this

It's what I see when looking at the inside of my eye lids

It's A Good Night's Sleep and he's MIA!

Danica's been teething for the last week. Though she's been a little clingy and tired she's been perfect during the day.

At night and naptime, that's another story. The poor girl is in pain. We can't leave the room without her screaming like no other. It's sad and frustrating and exhausting. We've been giving her Tylenol, but she's still clingy. So...

It takes the Squirminator forever to fall asleep and it has to be in our arms. And you know how that goes... she falls asleep and as soon as you put her down she's awake and screams.
It's been a rough few nights with about 3 hours averaging in sleep for us each night. Her two naps a day have been about 20-40 minutes. Not so much fun.

I went to Danica's pediatrician yesterday because we thought she might also have an ear infection. Luckily, no ear infection! He recommended Orajel for her gums (blogger's telling me "gums" is mispelled...interesting). I'm beginning to love that stuff. It basically numbs your gum....and we know this because Tyler tried it on himself. Haha.

She slept pretty well last night (I only woke up with her twice!) and though it was tough to get her to fall asleep for her nap today, she's now been sleeping for about 45 minutes...knock on wood.

I wish teething wasn't so rough, but it's pretty exciting too. Her bottom left tooth has cut through and we can see that her bottom right tooth will any time. Her top gums are pretty swollen too, but we don't feel anything (that is when she actually allows us to stick our fingers in to feel).

No one mourns the wicked

2010-05-26T10:11:00.002-06:00

For Mother's day I was surprised with a pair of binoculars.

When Tyler handed them to me I thought maybe we were going bird watching or something.

Next he handed me a paper with just a date and time written on it.

Hmmm...

Then he handed me a paper that looked similar to this!

YIPPPPPEEEEE!!

I'm probably the only one in the world that hasn't seen this musical yet. And I'm WAY excited.

I've known all the music for years, so I'll probably have a hard time not singing along.

I told Tyler I'd do my best not to.

Tyler's the best husband (yes he is) and he knows me too well.

Tyler made me a pen too.

It started out looking something similar to this:

He worked his wood working magic...

and now it looks like this:

I love it! It's also a gel roller, so it's perfectly easy to write with.

What a handy man!

I was going to have that be the end of the post, until this happened...

$5.99 are you out of your mind?

2010-05-18T11:14:00.007-06:00

Any one remember what commercial my post title is from? It's bugging me that I can't figure it out.

I couldn't find anything on Google either.

Thanks for all your comments on my previous post! You're all so sweet. I needed to vent a little and I think I'm a little less stressed about it all. So thanks!

Now that Danica's on her way to 10 months old (holy cow!) I thought it would be a nice time to talk about her 9 month bday. Well Dani turned 9 months old on May 2nd and we spent the afternoon with Tyler's family. His parents came into town to visit Tyler's grandma and aunt and uncle's family.

No little photo shoot this month,

but here's 2 pics of Dani on the 2nd.

She was so tired, she just lounged in my arms.

(Yes, unfortunately she goes through a lot of wardrobe changes some days)

On Cinco De Mayo we went to a Cinco De Mustache party. You may remember the one we went to last year (it's fun to look back and see myself pregnant... I stretched out the shirt I wore to that party with my big belly. The buttons still don't fit right on that shirt and there are open spaces between them. Kind of sad)

We left a little early this year and couldn't party hardy cause we had a baby to put to bed.

More people came after we left and they did the pinata and watched Nacho Libre

I also have some random pictures of Danica lately

I came into Danica's room one afternoon when she had just woken up from her nap to find her sitting in the corner of her crib, foot through the bars, just cracking up.

Danica put her bear in her basketball hoop and then just crawled away.

Danica's faster than the speed of light. She crawls to and onto everything.
She's a curious girl!

She dumped all her toys out and the preceded to crawl in her toy basket.

She got a little stuck and thought it was funny.

Yep, Danica pulls herself up to everything now. She's so fast and fearless too.

While I was babysitting, I went to check on my supposed-to-be-sleeping nephew. When I came back downstairs my niece had finished dressing Danica by wrapping her sweater around her shoulders. Haha.

Dani loves playing a game when she's eating in her highchair. She'll tilt her head to the sides and stay there until you do it too. It cracks her up.

I have a MILLION pictures of Danica sleeping in crazy positions. Maybe one day I'll post them all together. This girl moves like no other in her sleep. It's so funny to peek in on her. Every 10 minutes it's a new position. Here are a couple that happened recently.

She sleeps sideways, upside-down, feet through bars, feet on bars....

(right now she's sleeping with her head in the corner and her bum in the air)

If you can imagine it, it's probably old news to her.

Well, our little baby it getting so big so quickly. In August she'll be a year. Oh my! She's getting quite the personality. She even laughed when she tooted yesterday.
Still no teeth yet, but her gums are pretty swollen. The doc said she'll be getting some soon. Exciting, but not so much fun! Danica's been crawling for a couple months now. She's really good at it and can go from crawling to sitting to pulling herself on something really well now.

Danica gets into everything!! She loves to open and close all doors and cupboards. We haven't baby proofed yet, so it's always a challenge to try to distract her and get her interested in something else.

Every time we leave the room Danica will turn the light off for us. Danica claps when we say "yay" and she'll wave "hi." Especially when she sees herself in the mirror (which she loves to do). Danica also gives kisses on her own and on command now. Sure they're open mouthed kisses (sometimes with a little tongue!) but they're cute.

Danica's first word was Dad. She says it all the time!! Think of Sylvester the Cat, "Sufferin' succotash," and all that slobber and that's how Dani says it half the time. She keeps saying it until she runs out of breath and her face turns red. She also says mom, but very rarely. Sometimes it sounds like she says bottle when prompted. She also does this new thing with her tongue when she says "la la la la" She sticks it out of her mouth and curls it up.

Danica loves phones. She loves to watch you talk and she loves it when she can participate. If I hold up her phone and say, "Hello? Is this Danica?" She starts laughing.

Danica's obsessions: (besides getting into everything, of course) shoes, feet, and hair. So, if you have ANY of those, she's coming after you. When my hair is in a ponytail, she'll push my face away so she can get at it. She pulls and laughs. Oh boy... I'm pretty sure Daddy taught her that one.

Dani is a social butterfly and loves kids. She screams and squeals and laughs at them.
She's also a WIGGLEWORM. She loves moving (I think that's an understatement). She'll move until she's out of breath and has to relax and catch it again.

Danica LOVES books too. She's getting pretty good at flipping through the pages.

And don't let her fool you, she knows when you are hiding something and she knows how to get around your barricades. It becomes an obstacle course for her.

Danica takes off like a rocket when she's eyes something! I'll notice her going for something and say "Where ya goin'?" she'll pause, turn to me, smile with a little chuckle (like she's thinking oh, try to stop me!), and she takes off again.

Danica is getting the hang of peek-a-boo. She'll grab blankets, the shower curtain, the drapes, etc. to pull over her face. I'll say "Where did Danica go?" She'll pull them down and then it's "peek-a-boo!"

Dani's sure learning fast and it seems like it something new every day. Yesterday I was teaching her "more" in sign language and how to give hugs. Don't know if she's understood "more" yet, but I think she's starting to understand hugs. I was showing her hugs with me and with her stuffed animal and she was doing them to both of us. It's so dang cute!
She loves getting into things she's not supposed to have. She enjoys playing with things that aren't toys way more than her regular toys. She prefers playing with water bottles, spoons, tupperware, vents, shoes, shoe horns, buckles, hoodie strings, and lots more.

She loves pulling out her hair bow/flower two seconds after I put it in. Which is perfect timing (not) because her hair is starting to grow in more and become more unruly. We don't need a headband in to try to keep it all tamed... we'll let the food she puts in there keep it slicked down instead.

Well, it doesn't matter what she does, we love her and we love having her around!

Blogged-Out

2010-05-06T13:05:00.004-06:00

Anyone else getting a little Blogged-out? Or is it just me? I've been debating closing ours, but this is a good way for me to keep some sort of journal with easy access to pictures. I feel like it takes too much time away from spending time with my family and that my posts have just gotten more boring. But, on the other hand, I think Grandmas enjoy reading about/looking at Danica.... I don't know. Just thinking...

The weekend

2010-04-28T21:54:00.005-06:00

This last weekend it was just Dani and me. Tyler left Thursday morning for a work convention in Las Vegas. After he had a long, hard few days, and a fun show, he came home Sunday night.
It was not so much fun spending a lot of time with out him, (it was a little crazy... and a little emotional for me) but I was able to catch up on quite a few things.
I finally finished some crafts I had started, worked on some that still need to be finished, and started a brand new one.
Also, last Saturday I planned a get-together to teach the rosettes, so I made another necklace.

Now what?....Now onto tackling another one off the list again.

Anything you guys are interested in making?
.... there's a good chance it might be one of my 130+ crafts on my To Do list.

Forgotten pictures

2010-04-22T14:06:00.002-06:00

So I found these pictures on Tyler's camera. They're from an Easter Egg hunt we were invited to the Friday before Easter.
But before I do that I want to show ~~off~~ you a necklace I made last weekend and wore to church on Sunday. It was really fun to make and I like the way it turned out.

(Ignore the bad quality... it was taken with our webcam)

This Saturday

1PM

My place

If you want to make those rosettes, I'll teach you

(check out the post below)

Now onto the Easter pics...

The Pearsons

Hey... remember us??

Talmage is here

In case you were wondering...

Speaking of Christmas...

Merry Christmas to me

All our Halloween fun

I have to share...

Silk Plum Giveway

Winners - Win It Forward

Win It Forward

Bragging Rights

I would like to win this...

Jame is having a giveaway on her blog for the pattern for this purse. I really want to win! Enter here, if you'd like to win too... or if you want to win and give me the pattern! :) http://www.readjame.com/

Yay for Fall and craziness!

So, that crazy dream...

Dani, Dani, Dani the Explorer!

28 weeks! 84 days... 12 weeks!!

Ippy Cider

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!

Repurposed heels

Modesty in style?

How I told Tyler I was pregnant

A Pinkalicious 2nd Bday Party

Gender Reveal Pics

just kidding

Boy names

It's a...

Catching Up

FYI

Home Sweet Home

More Yay

Yay!

Let the strange dreams begin!

La Dee Da Dee Dum... What's the name of that song?

Real quick...

Well....

Can anyone say....

How we met....

Tyler's Bday

....Getting to know all about you

and some more...

more random...

yellow or green?

Oh Dani Girl

♥ur v♥lentine's d♥y!

can a bubble bath hurt a dog? ccan milk?

18 months

Comment on Crocheting

Crocheting bug

Friends

Ugh

Party time!

November and December update...finally

Do not repeat

Challenge

Memories

redecorating surprise

Happy late Halloween

Help please!

update

Had to share

Vanity

Off to see the Wizard

Let's start at the very beginning...

Crafting

It's so together!! ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

My Bday

She's had a birthday. Shout hurray!!

Long time no blog

California Love

2,102,400 minutes

Oh the comments

What a man, what a man, what a man, what a man...

Has anybody seen him?

No one mourns the wicked

$5.99 are you out of your mind?

Blogged-Out

The weekend

Forgotten pictures

Jame is having a giveaway on her blog for the pattern for this purse. I really want to win!
Enter here, if you'd like to win too... or if you want to win and give me the pattern! :)
http://www.readjame.com/