olivejuice

My New Life

2010-05-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned NieNie before, on this blog or my other one... plus, she has thousands of followers already so you've probably heard of her. I just came across this video. I love the way it was done. If you haven't checked out her blog before, do it now. Even before she had her accident, I knew I wanted to be a mother the way she is.

Hey Folks, long time no see.

2010-04-30T09:12:00.001-07:00

This morning was so weird. Every once in a while it happens, I can't wake up. In my dream I'm trying so hard to open my eyes and I just can't! It goes on for an hour at least. Do you ever get that where you actually can't wake up? Lucky I have Trent cause he took care of Ila til it was time for her nap and he had to leave for work. Now, Ila has an especially fun day ahead of her since I feel bad for neglecting her.
Remember how I talked about Ila playing in our bed to give us time to wake up? Well... I took way too much advantage of that this morning and now I feel bad. She was whining and crying for my attention and probably thought I was ignoring her, but really I couldn't wake up! Trent eventually gave in. (We have this little thing we do where we see who will give in first when it comes to getting out of bed to take care of Ila... is that bad? we don't let it go on too long... and if Trent has to get up for work of course I take care of her, that's why I don't have a job... and mostly it's only on weekends... and... stop judging me... leave me alone... I feel bad now. Hey, you know what? She woke up at 5:42 this morning. What do you want from me?)

On a lighter note...
Ila's crawling. and has been, for at least a month. That's how long it's been folks, since we talked last I mean. I'm sorry. She also climbs the stairs.
She wants to walk too. She pulls her self to standing on everything, tries to balance with only one hand, then just plops her butt back down when she's ready. Sometimes I picture myself doing that and it seems like it would really hurt!
She has officially entered the stage of I-want-whatever-you-are-eating-and-I-will-scream-at-you-until-you-share.
Yesterday, she started waving her hand and clicking her tongue, not at the same time, just... you know what I mean. Geesh.
Boy, I am on one today.
She is still the happiest baby around. She smiles and will go to anybody that will have her. She still eats anything I give her. She's tried many things that don't come in baby food jars, some good: asparagus, watermelon, strawberries (crap, are babies not supposed to have strawberries?) pretty much anything I stick in one of those socks she can suck on. (I don't give Ila anything out of a baby food jar that's sweet... I don't want her to know that's an option. I think she would eat well anyway but I'm not taking chances.) And, some not so good (these pretty much make my above gameplan irrelevant): cotton candy, various muffins, angel food cake, frosting, whipcream.
Ila has a top tooth now, that dang thing gave her a runny nose for, like, a month and she still seems to have it, I think it's because the other one is coming in soon. Which is why you aren't getting a picture today, I haven't take many cause I don't wanna photoshop out the snot.
I update my photography blog pretty well, sometimes with pictures of Ila so add that one to your reader if you haven't already. www.cheriehoganphotography.com
That's all, folks.

Disneyland

2010-03-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Way, way, way back at the beginning of March, we packed up, and headed to southern California. We spent a day at Balboa Island, and 2 days at Disneyland. We had so much fun! If you look closely at these images, you will see the only 2 photos I was in the whole time.

As is tradition, while on Balboa island, we took a stroll and looked at all the tiny multi million dollar homes, checked out the shops, and got Balboa bars, my favorite part!

Disneyland was awesome! It wasn't busy at all, plus we had perfect weather. It's my favorite place ever and for years I've looked forward to the opportunity to take Trent there, then, not only did he come but so did Ila! Ila LOVED the Merry-go-round! We rode a few times in a row and the whole time she had a giant smile on her face.

The first day Ila did great, we had to force her to take naps by blindfolding her... if you've never tried blindfolding your baby when they need to sleep but there are a million things going on around them so they can't, try it. It works great for Ila. Anyways, the second day, she was so pooped! She seriously just sat slumped over in her stroller and we didn't hear a peep out of her all day. Except for when she saw the goats and sheep, she loved petting them! Well, no, she loved ripping their hair (fur?) out. Oh wait, I found another one I'm in! We had to attend this Star Wars show 3 times because my brothers wanted to be picked to go to Jedi training and take on Darth Vadar and red face horn head guy. Obviously I don't watch StarWars too much. Below is Kash with his Jedi Master (I think they call him that?) about to face Darth Vader on the left. And Kash saves the day!! And I've almost forgot to mention the best part of our trip! While everyone was lined up on the sides of Main Street waiting for the parade to start, my little brother Cooper, who's 2, walked out into the road, whipped it out and started peeing. We were laughing so hard!

So who wants to go back with us??

My little Monster

2010-03-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the first time I've ever referred to my baby as a Little Monster.
Every morning she wakes Trent and I up talking in her crib. One of us goes and gets her, puts her in our bed with the other one then goes and makes a bottle. She drinks her bottle then will whisper to herself or crawl all over us for up to a half hour so we can take time to wake up... I know, we're lucky.
Yesterday started off like any other day, but once I got up, if I put Ila down for a second she would start screaming at me... loud, angry screams. Never crying. Just ugly screams at the top of her lungs. It would startle me every time, she was just mad. She didn't want to eat, she didn't really want to play, if I gave her a toy, she would scream at her toy. I noticed she was drooling a lot too, so I thought maybe she was teething. I gave her Tylenol, but it didn't really seem to help. Finally, she seemed to be getting tired, so I laid her down like normal, and of course she screamed at me. And she kept screaming. I went back in (not a single tear on her face) and picked her up and rocked her to sleep, grateful for the silence.
Once she woke up, the rest of the day seemed to follow about the same pattern. Unless we were outside, she was not a very happy camper.
When Trent was home, it was his turn. He called me in because sure enough, he'd discover another tooth. So there was a reason for the madness.
By 6 o'clock, we were glad to put her in bed, even though she usually doesn't go down til 7:30 or 8.
This morning was the same as all mornings, although she woke up at 5. After she had her bottle, she laid herself down across my rib cage and we stared at each other. She would play with my hair, or lovingly stroke my face and neck. I was so happy to have my little princess back.
Since we got out of bed, today is following the same pattern as yesterday. Angry screams. I'm blaming it on the tooth.
I put her down for a nap and came across this blog. I felt sick. My eyes welled up a little and I got to stop reading cause I heard my baby. I'm glad she's awake now and sitting in my lap as I finish typing this even though the yelling at me will resume shortly. She's healthy, and (normally) happy, and that's all that matters.

6 month update

2010-03-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

Ila is now almost 7 months old! Here are her stats for her 6 month check up:

Weight 15 lbs 10 oz 25-50%

Height: 27 3/4 inches 97%!!

Head: don't remember cause who cares except that it was in the 50%, so, perfect!

Ila continues to be the perfect baby, since she has now been in our lives nearly 7 months, these are the things we know about her:

she sleeps through the night, and if she does wake up puts herself back to sleep.
Will eat anything. Even if she makes a funny face at first, she's willing to keep eating until she gets used to it.
Will go to anybody... will smile at everybody.
Is sitting up and is this close to crawling! She gets onto her hands and knees from her butt and I can just see the wheels turning, trying to figure out how to coordinate her limbs so that they will work together and get her places.
Also, she quite possibly could be a genius. When it was time for shots at her appointment, I'm not even kidding you, she recognized the shot lady!! She's only ever seen her at her 4 month and 2 month appointment when it was time for shots. When she walked in, Ila looked at me with a trembling chin, and wouldn't let me put her down, she held onto me like a little monkey! When I set her down, she wouldn't lay back, she was doing the pilates move and started to do her "you hurt my feelings" cry. It was so sad! While she got the shots, she just continued to cry that same cry, right until I picked her up, she buried her little face in my shoulder and held me tight and stopped crying.
She's a little actress. She loves fake coughing, fake stretching, fake falling over, and of course fake crying. Anything for a little attention.
She loves anything that isn't a toy i.e. remote controls, cell phones, paper, (oh does she love paper!) cords, etc.
She love love loves her sippy cup, from the first time she tried it!
She loves facial hair, if you rub her hand against your facial hair she laughs so hard!

There is just about a million things I Could say about our sweet girl but you're probably already bored. Here is a small sampling of the gazillion pictures I've taken of her as of late: (I took these the other morning in my bed)

6 months new

2010-03-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Ila's 6 months old now, actually she's about 6 1/2 months but as you know, I haven't gotten around to blogging lately. Anyway, we just got back from California (we went to Disneyland... yay!) and I gotta post about that too so hopefully you'll hear more from me soon. For right now, here is a sneak peek of Ila's 6 month photoshoot. We started taking pictures for about 10 minutes then she face planted on the tile so we took a break. Then the last 2 weeks she's had a runny nose and I didn't wanna have to photoshop out a red nose and rosy cheeks, and snot. So we'll being finishing those up once it's over. Enjoy.

Ila's new pacifier

2010-02-25T10:19:00.001-08:00

This morning, I had Ila in the bath. She had been splashing in the water for a couple minutes faced away from me, I said, "Come on baby, time to get out." She turned her face toward me and this is what I found:

(Trent went and got the camera... I didn't leave her alone in there) She still didn't spit it out for a couple minutes after I had her out. She's such a funny girl!

Family Pictures

2010-02-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

On Ila's 5 month birthday, we went and took some family pictures. With the tripod, we only got one with all 3 of us in it that actually turned out, and we aren't even looking at the camera! Enjoy...

He doesn't get older... he just gets better lookin!

I would not be able to keep a straight face...

2010-01-27T10:16:00.001-08:00

I will blog again... eventually

Bob Loblaw

2010-01-13T08:49:00.000-08:00

Well... things have finally settled down for me so I can get back to updating this thing! Here's what's been going on:

We went to Utah for Christmas, and though I did do a few photo sessions while I was there, I really didn't take many pictures of us! But that's how it always is, right?

While in Utah, I shot my first wedding! It was such a great experience for me and I still can't figure out why Meggan wanted me to do it over a more experienced photographer but we got tons of great pictures, which I hope she loves!

This year marks the first that Trent and I have ever stayed up until midnight on New Years Eve! I know, sad. And originally we were gonna uphold that tradition, but then we went to my dads for some New Years Eve feast of king crab and steak. We had so much fun playing games that the time just got away and before we knew it, it was midnight! I don't know if it was staying up until midnight or what but this is the first year I've ever felt driven to set some goals for the new year.

Trent's truck has been broken down sorta, well, it's been running crappy so he's been using my car for work and I'm going stir crazy! I told him if I don't have my car back soon, I'm gonna be "part of the crew, part of the ship"... like on Pirates of the Carribean.

In case you don't facebook with me and you haven't heard, the photography website is officially up! http://www.cheriehoganphotography.com/. Please check it out! And leave some love cause I feel like I'm talking to nobody! I've been so busy doing free sessions, I decided to start charging a little... so for now my sessions are only $75. This includes 1 to 2 hours shooting, clothing change if you want, on location or at your house, the time I spend editing, and your 25 best high res images on a disc. However you will get more than 25 images, each image will be edited in color, black and white, and a number of vintage processes. If you know anybody that may be interested, please send them my way. This is a great deal for the price! Also, I will be offering free sessions from time to time, so watch for those. I go to Utah every 6 weeks or so and will be available then! *End Shameless Plug*

Christmas Eve was very eventful for us. On this day, for the first time, Ila blew raspberries, laughed, played with her feet, and SAT UP on her own! It was very eventful , I don't know what was in her bottle that day! Since then, she occasionally sits up on her own but still doesn't have the balance quite down so I have to be there in case she falls over. We also have a heck of a time getting her to laugh, she maybe has done the actual giggle 2 or 3 times since, which is surprising since she is such a happy baby! And she loves blowing the raspberries as I'm putting her spoon full of food in her mouth, she loves to tease me. The first thing she tried besides rice cereal was green beans and she loved them! She has also tried squash, peas and sweet potatoes and although they have been well received, nothing gets her as excited as those green beans! I'm gonna wait probably another month or so before she gets anything sweet cause i DO NOT want a picky eater, I just can't deal with that!

And for the grand finale and cause posts are so boring without a picture, please enjoy this one:

I took some photos of her sitting up, i was bummed cause this one didn't get her whole body (I had to work fast) but I loved her sweet innocent face in it!

2010-01-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

This is my sister in law and Trent's brother Shane and their little boy Jaxon. We got lots of good ones, and I'm not just talkin about these 2:

Oh yes, this one is much better.

Look for your disc in the mail! :)

Gettin there

2010-01-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

You can look for your disc in the mail this week...

Doesn't this one make you wanna go lay in the grass?

LOVE this one...

My photoblog is almost finished then this one can be all about

us again. :)

What I've been working on...

2010-01-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

For those of you that are waiting to get your pictures back from me... here's a little teaser...

He Wolf/She wolf

2009-12-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted a Youtube video in a while and I thought this was pretty funny!

My Baby is all grown up. Part 1: Rice Cereal

2009-12-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

We tried rice cereal on her 4 month birthday and let's just say... she liked it.

Of course the first couple bites were very shocking for her.

Sometime we got this: The "okay-I'll-put-it-in-my-mouth-but-I-don't-know-what-you-want-me-to-do-with-it-now" face.

But eventually, she was licking the spoon clean.

And even taking it from me to make sure she got every. last. drop.

This is the "Oh-dear,-did-I-just-eat-all-that?-Where-are-my-manners?" face.

Too cute...

It's been 4 months? Are you kidding me?!

2009-12-17T15:53:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how quickly she's growing up! Ila turned 4 months old yesterday and had her 4 month check-up. She is 25 1/4 inches long and 12 lbs. 13 oz, which puts her in the 75-90th and 25 precentile. Her head is in the 50th. She loves standing on your lap and jumping up and down. She has found her voice and has no problem letting you know when she wants to be held! She is sleeping through the night for about 8 hours straight, and I'm loving it! (I think I figured out the secret to getting a baby to do this, although I don't know how big of a secret it is but what I tried worked after 2 nights, so if you are interested, let me know and I will tell you what I did. side note: I feed my baby formula at night, I know it sticks with them better and I don't know if that has a huge impact on what I tried) Look at her sweet little hands... I'm really lucky she's a good sleeper cause I get migraines when I have interrupted sleep. In the beginning I was getting headaches every other day, at least! Ila started rolling over a week ago. I feel like she will be sitting up on her own soon and crawling and walking pretty early also. But, I have no other baby to compare her to so who knows? The big news: the doctor told me to go ahead with the rice cereal, and that's a post on its own! She has started grabbing everything and putting it into her mouth, and my favorite... she LOVES kisses! She will lean in for them all the time over and over and over. We just love this little girl so much.

If you wanna laugh...

2009-12-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Might I recommend http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/? Now, we all know that only the classiest people shop at Walmart. (myself included) For example:
1. This father son duo, classy indeed.
2. We are actually trying to sell our car, and though we did write "Babe Magnet" on it next to "For Sale", we have never considered marketing it in this manner, sheer genius.3. I'm not really sure what to say...4. Yes, classy, classy, classy.5. Wow... I even do hair and I know I would never be able to concoct such a masterpiece.6. And my personal favorite: I applaud you, as a fellow mother myself, I could never multitask this well. Impressive. Yes, that is a child hanging off her neck, and yes, she is breastfeeding it.

Being a Single Mom is hard

2009-12-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend Trent went to Laughlin with my dad and brother for a desert truck race. He had fun and I'm glad he got to go but holy cow, it made me realize how nice it is having a husband. I had a photoshoot scheduled for 10:00 Saturday morning. Thanks to Ila's growth spurt she has gone through since the cold (and after the diarrhea... can't this girl give me a break?) she has been eating about double the norm. Which means she has been waking up 3 times a night again. Which is fine, but I was planning on her being my alarm clock Saturday and I didn't take into account that she would probably sleep in since she was up more in the night. So we both woke up at 9:00 which meant I had a 1/2 hour to get her fed, changed and dressed. Get myself showered and ready. Get my camera gear ready to go. and get that dang diaper bag packed (I HATE packing the diaper bag). And all this assuming she would let me do it. I hurried and switched out memory cards since my one in the camera was full and I didn't have time to load them on the computer. Angie called and offered to watch Ila during the session so I pushed back the session to 10:30 to get me enough time to drop her off. As I pulled off the exit, it seems like one side of the car is lower and more bumpy. I was driving with the spare on since one tire got a bolt in it earlier in the week and we were waiting for a new one to come in, but it was really bumpy. So I hurried and pulled in a gas station to give the spare more air. I pumped in 75 cents and tried putting air in, I hear the air going in but nothing is happening. I call Trent, I am doing it right apparently. I put in another 75 cents, time runs out again, tire is still flat. I ask the gas station guy to help me, he is busy on his blue tooth and doesn't want to but finally consents. He says it's my tire and is nice enough to let the rest of the air out of so that I am now officially driving on the rim. I drive it on the rim over to Discount tires across the street and Angie meets me there to take me to her house and switch cars. I fly down to the place I'm meeting up for the session, we finally find each other after a mix up and settle down to take some pictures. Remember how I switched out memory cards? Well, I click to take a picture and I get the message "Memory Card error...." I try again, and again, and again. I pull it out, is it in wrong? Nope. Okay, sorry folks, guess we will be doing this another day...
SO the moral of this story is... I want to offer Sheena a public apology for giving you the run around Saturday. I really felt so bad! and I hope I didn't ruin your day. I'm really excited for our rescheduled session Saturday. Same place, same original time sound good?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

2009-12-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

One night last week we got the house nice and festive. We went and got a tree. We hung the lights. We listened to Josh Groban "Noel". Ila wore her "My First Christmas" jammies. We ate Dreyers peppermint ice cream. And we watched elf. Then we all went to bed with visions of Sugar Plums dancing in our heads. I l.o.v.e. Christmas.

Thanksgiving slash my birthday

2009-12-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

This was another year for the 4th time in my life (I think) that Thanksgiving has stolen my birthday. I didn't hate it as much this time and maybe its cause I've matured or something...

I really had such a great birthday. Trent knew exactly what I wanted with out me even having to tell him (directly I mean, I may have dropped a few hints i.e. "Boy, that 50 mm lens sure is what I need" "look at that bokeh from that 50 mm lens... amazing""I sure would love a 50 mm lens f/1.8" etc.).

We spent my birthday slash Thanksgiving day up in Logan and went and saw Blindside. Trent and I are now looking into adopting a black child from the projects. If you haven't seen it, you better, right now, I'm not kidding... GO! Why are you still reading this? It was one of my most favorite movies I have ever seen. I think what made the movie was the way the actor portrayed him, he did such an amazing job. Sometimes you just need a movie like that to truly humble you.

Oh and I saw New Moon, of course it was better than the first one cause I mean come on, it couldn't have been worse. The "running" was much better. But I still can't get past the horrific acting. I'm pretty sure every scene lasted about 5 minutes longer than it should have because of all the pauses and stuttering, you know what I'm talking about.

We had Coldstone ice cream cupcakes to celebrate the big 2-4 and they were so good!

This is Ila's signature face. She always has her eyebrows raised, she looks like a little monkey.

Oh i just love to kiss those cheeks! Okay thats enough pictures. I guess I'll do one more.

Newborn session

2009-12-06T22:23:00.001-08:00

My first newborn session! I was so excited to get them edited and we got a lot of great shots! Sofia is only 11 days old and I couldn't believe how much smaller she was than Ila, especially her head! These 2 have such great lookin kids!

Gotta catch up...

2009-12-03T15:34:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Thanksgiving and I had such a great birthday, which happened to fall on the same day this year! Before I can catch you all up on that though, I have to get to my obligations:
Iv'e done lots of photo sessions and have lots to edit, its been tricky with Ila being sick.
First, an old friend from high school. I got to take pics of her and her husband and little Gwendolyn!

Second, Meggan + Remy. While photographing Meggan's family Saturday, she informed me she needed some engagements pics and stat. She and Remy have decided to be married THIS MONTH! After just getting engaged days ago! Busy, busy!

Now I'm a little more caught up! Oh yes, I am starting a photography blog, I know a lot of you don't care about these photo sessions so I will get that up and running asap. Also, I have 1-2 spots left for sessions in Las Vegas for December and 3-4 left for January. I will be in Utah the week of Christmas and have a few spots for then. Remember, people these are free sessions if you want em! Although, I don't promise you will love the pics since I'm not a professional, you are helping me learn!! And, I will only be doing a couple more family sessions so grab them while you can!

Deja Vu

2009-12-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

Last night, it was back to the emergency room with Ila.

Since Saturday, she has had horrible diarrhea, we can't keep a diaper on her cause not only has her butt bled but we go through about 50 a day since as soon as we put it on she goes again. Finally, yesterday, I took her to the doctor since it was lasting so long. She wasn't dehydrated and the doctor just said to call if she was. She actually seemed a lot better, she wasn't going nearly as much and I thought we were almost through this. Then in the afternoon, she kept making sounds like she was gonna throw up, little gagging sounds. I couldn't tell if she had learned something new or if she really was going to. She is just so sweet and so strong, when she isn't feeling well, she doesn't complain, so I couldn't tell. And now I feel so bad cause I was kinda jostling around playing with her and she was giving me this look, like, "I hate this... I'm gonna puke." She must have been so nauseous. She finally threw up more than I have ever seen in my life. It just kept coming. She was so worn out afterward we wrapped her up in a blanket and she went right to sleep. A few minutes later she woke up dry heaving till she was purple and eventually some bile came out. I immediately called the doctor and since Ila wouldn't let us put a bottle in her mouth to drink, we were instructed to get her to Pediatric ER.

She continued to choke on bile a couple more times while trying to throw up. The nurse came in and tried to give her medicine for the nauseau, but she couldn't keep it down and they decided she needed an IV to get it in her and some fluids. By the end of the night, she had experienced 3 attempts at getting a catheter in, her blood getting drawn, an IV, a nasal swab, and the very worst: being held down. She is so strong, and such a good baby, and that is what upset her the most. Each procedure took forever to get her calmed down again because she was so angry and hungry since she wasn't allowed to eat. She was just so worn out, she would just sit there and wimper in our arms after. The doctor gave us the option of admitting her or going home, and we decided to go home.

I'm so thankful to my parents for meeting us at the hospital cause they really helped to liven things up for me and get my mind off it. I'm so grateful for the priesthood and Trent and my dad being able to give Ila a blessing. When we were in the hospital for jaundice, the doctor was "very surprised" by how quickly her jaundice levels dropped after being under the bili lights for just 24 hours. And again last night, the doctor was very surprised by the fact that Ila ate as much as she did as soon as she was allowed to have a bottle. I know that in both of these circumstances, Ila has stayed so strong and recovered so quickly because of the blessings she has received from Trent. I can't imagine how much more scared I would be, or what would happen if she wasn't able to receive them.

Today, we are still waiting for her to recover, but she hasn't thrown up. The doctor has prescribed Benadryl for her nausea and that has helped, but maybe cause she has slept so much today! I hate the way she acts on it, she's not herself.

We still don't know what it is, all the tests have come back negative for whatever they were testing for. We hope that whatever this bacteria or virus is that she has caught will be gone by this weekend, please pray for her. Being a parent is the best thing in the world, especially being one to such a great baby, but it's also so hard!

In the meantime, I am keeping the christmas music going cause nothing lifts your spirits like this time of year! Trent and I are so grateful for our blessings, it's funny how in times of trial you think of all the these you do have and how blessed you are. It sure makes the trials easier.

Karlee Girl

2009-11-19T15:22:00.001-08:00

Here's a little sneak peak for you Chelsea! :)

Whatda think?

I couldn't help posting a few more...

2009-11-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

I don't know which way I liked it best... I'm thinking the bottom right.

2009-11-17T17:30:00.001-08:00

Tara and I went and took some fun pictures today...

The Boys

2009-11-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

We took these a few weeks ago and are lucky any turned out since we estimated what time the sun would be going down wrong... they are so photogenic!

I hope that after seeing these you don't change your mind about wanting me to take your pictures for some reason!

My Precious

2009-11-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

I'm excited about the response that I've gotten about taking your pictures! Keep 'em comin!

I wanna take some pictures.

2009-11-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

I've decided I like photography and I want to pursue it further. Well, I decided that a while ago. So, Can I take your picture to help me learn? Either if you live here in Vegas or in Utah, send me an email (or leave a comment). Come on, FREE PICTURES with edited images on a disc! You'd be crazy not to volunteer you/your kids/your whole family/a bride you know/an engaged couple you know/a newborn/something else with a face? Remember, it's time to send out those Christmas Cards with your picture!

2009-11-11T11:12:00.001-08:00

The taping of "Lets Make A Deal" that Trent and I attended, aired yesterday! And you can see Trent in all his toothfairy glory quite a few times since we had such great seats! Follow this link and skip to these seconds to see us: (Trust me, you'll be glad you did, Trent is up to his usual shananigans! Even though I'm sitting right next to him, he got a lot more airtime!)
10:45-11:30
17:23-18:12 (Watch Trent's face, especially after she wins the cash... priceless)(and I don't know why I look so pissed)
30:20-31:30
and my personal favorite 31:50-32:20 I think
We really had so much fun and would love to do it again if anybody wants to go!

2009-11-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

I just loved this picture of her crying...

this last week I've put her on a schedule and she is technically sleeping through the night. From 8pm-ish to 2am-ish then til 6-am ish. What a little angel.

Beauty Tips

2009-11-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness,
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, even more then things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed:
never throw out anyone.
By, Audrey Hepburn

What have I done?

2009-11-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

One week ago, I decided to start weaning Ila off her pacifier. I read that now is the best time and after 3 months old it becomes a habit. Well, it was easy... too easy. She didn't miss it at all, she continued to be the sweet little well behaved baby that she is. Everytime she got fussy I fed her and she never seemed to miss the pacifier. Until the dark clouds of Tuesday rolled in. She started acting like she couldn't live without it. She didn't want a bottle, she was fussy and kept sticking her fist in her mouth. And, she got better and better at finding her thumb!!!! I said, "H No you don't!" and stuck her pacifier into her mouth. Last night it got really bad, she woke up for her 1:00 am feeding and while I was making her bottle, she was so starving she kept knocking her pacifier out of her mouth and her thumb would go straight in! I will not have a thumbsucker and the pacifier is the lesser of 2 evils so she wins. Now, how do I deal with the fact that she has found her thumb?
First, I camp outside her crib all night to rip it out of her mouth anytime she sticks it in. I am willing to do this, I did it for awhile last night. I just need to know how long babies usually have this need to suck on something, when does it start to go away? 4 months? 6 months? please somebody tell me.
Second, would it hinder her small motor skills development and/or be considered child abuse to perhaps, tape her thumbs down? Cause I think that sounds like a great idea.
Third, have you had a baby that occasionally put their thumb in their mouth but didn't make a habit of it?
I'm scared.

Blessing Day

2009-11-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Trent blessed Ila on Sunday, he did such a great job. He said so many important things pertaining to the gospel and I'm so grateful for such a spiritual husband. Trent's parents and my parents came down from Utah for it and it was good spending time with everyone! Everyone seems to be a lot more anxious to come down now that Ila is around, we have seen family more in the last 3 months than we have the last year!

Unfortunately, in the picture, you can't see the intricate detail of the dress or the booties that went with it. I can't believe the time that was put into making this dress and that someone would go to so much trouble making it for us. We will have it forever. My mom brought down my blessing dress with her and I plan on putting Ila in it to take a picture cause I love it!

11 weeks

2009-11-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2009-11-02T10:45:00.000-08:00

Trent the Toothfairy.

Things to Love

2009-10-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

That burning smell when you turn on the heater after not using it for months, it makes me think of Christmas... it's so interesting how your sense of smell is so strongly linked to memory.

All Hallows Eve

Overcast days that make you wanna cuddle up on the couch and watch TV, I feel the same joy on these days of fall that I do when all of sudden there is a 75 degree day in February and you know summer is coming!

Longtime friends

White furniture... Don't you agree?I'm dreaming of a house with dark wood floors and white furniture like this.

Designer Fabric that makes me want to make things.

10 weeks old...

2009-10-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ila had her 2 month check up yesterday. She is 10 lbs 6 oz and 23 1/2 inches long. Tall and skinny girl, just like my doctor predicted in the ultrasounds! She had to get her heal pricked (AGAIN!) and get 2 shots and some oral medication. She didn't even flinch for the heal prick. She LOVED the oral medicine and didn't mind the 1st shot at all. But the 2nd shot made her cry, only for about 30 seconds though and she has been fine ever since! Today I noticed that you can't even tell where she got the first shot but where they gave her the second shot is red and swollen so maybe she was flexing her leg when they did it and that's why it hurt.

We are so lucky to have such a good baby. I wouldn't change anything about her because she is so well behaved. She loves smiling and will lay and look around by herself long enough for me to get ready or clean. When she wakes up she doesn't cry... she just talks to let me know she's awake. She only likes to be held like a baby if she is tired or eating, otherwise she likes to be sitting up facing out so she can look around. She likes to stand up also and can hold all her body weight well. She sleeps well at night, from about 8 pm to 8 am give or take (which means sometimes her and I sleep in til 9 or 9:30!), usually waking up to eat twice.

I am still really concerned about her getting swine flu, which is becoming way too common. I asked her doctor if she were to get it, if she could get medication and she said she is too young, she has to be 6 months. And she may or may not survive without it! The doctor also said that washing your hands often, means you are better off than the people who are actually getting the vaccine! I thought that was interesting. I know quite a few people who have had it and I'm not taking any chances, including my next door neighbor and little brother. Anyway, I'm a handwashing freak!

Ila is being blessed this weekend and we are excited to see family that is coming for it! Someone knitted her an amazing blessing dress, booties, and bonnet and I'm so excited for her to be in it on that special day.

Zonk!

2009-10-26T12:15:00.001-07:00

Trent and I went to Let's Make a Deal on Saturday, hoping to be contestants. I dressed up as a mummy and Trent as the toothfairy! It was so much fun and a really long process. After waiting in line, filling out paperwork, meeting with the producers and actually filming, it was about 5 hours! It was so much fun though and we will do it again with anybody that wants to! We should be on camera a lot, we had really good seats and Wayne picked someone behind us (3 seperate times!) and in front of us but not us! and those others didn't even have costumes on!! We had the cutest old people sitting next to us! They kept saying things like, "We're sitting next to the winners!" I just love old people.

I don't know what date it airs yet but as soon as I find out, I will post about it (if anybody cares to watch it?)

Trent will be the Toothfairy for halloween so I will post pictures then!

I'm really learning

2009-10-22T14:40:00.001-07:00

If you think you may want to learn how to crochet or knit... check out this blog and this blog. Then you will really want to learn.

Cotton Candy Clouds

2009-10-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

The original title of this post was "Suck it" but then I decided that may be a little harsh. I always see people post their recent grocery trips and all the savings they received on their blogs. Now it's my turn.

I got all this for... ready? $4.98. I'm not kidding!

Okay okay so technically the pizzas and dressing were free. How you ask? The dressing is what $150.00 quarterly pays for (+ a balloon animal for the baby). My HOA had an activity last Saturday called "Red Apple Days" and Smiths was there and gave out a free bag of apples, bananas, oranges and a coupon for a free litehouse dressing... pretty expensive groceries if you ask me.

And the CPK pizzas? Even easier. You just call them up and let them know that throwing an entire chicken into a grinder and hoping the bones get "filtered out" isn't working out too well cause my husband just nearly broke his tooth off when he bit into his slice of barbecue chicken pizza thin and crispy crust. Then they send you 3 coupons for free CPK pizzas (valued up to $7.40) So, Original total $29.56, new total $4.98 for the ice cream (that was on sale... not too shabby!) that is 85% off!

Anyway, jokes on me cause I bought (not really bought, more like chose?) another Barbecue chicken pizza.

2009-10-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Ugh, this blog is so boring to look at. It will get better. Sorry.

Pride

2009-10-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I see the way other people are living their lives, I compare mine. I wonder if that's the way I should have done it. I see the things of the world and in the media and I think, I'm happy with my life and here's why:
I'm proud.
I'm proud I chose to get married cause otherwise I wouldn't be progressing.
I'm proud I have a large family cause it has given me patience.
I'm proud I am American even if sometimes I wanna move, things are best here.
I'm proud I have never been drunk or smoked a cigarette or done anything else to alter my state of mind.
I'm proud that I decided to put off school and give up a job and money to stay home and raise my baby.
I'm proud of how good looking my husband is.
I'm proud that I sometimes share too much information and am not embarrased by it.
I'm proud that I don't spend too much time worrying about what other people think of me.
I'm proud that I got a breast reduction even though I was told my future husband may be turned off by the scars.
I'm proud that even though my scars ARE horrible, my husband doesn't mind them one bit.
I'm proud that my husband is the only man to have seen them (if you catch my drift)
I'm proud of my in-laws and their selfless decision to have 6 children.
I'm proud to be a Republican, and I'm proud that I believe in taking care of yourself and not thinking others should do it.
I'm proud of the way my priorities have changed around so quickly after having a child.
I'm proud that my husband, brother, stepdad and so many other men in the world have served and are now serving missions for my church.
I'm proud I have learned/am learning how to cook.
I'm proud I have my own opinion.
I'm proud I have had opportunities to travel and see and live in different places and meet different people.
I'm proud that I usually don't buy things if I feel I can learn to make it myself.
I'm proud of my positive attitude.
I'm proud my husband has so much drive to succeed and supports my need and desire to be in the home.
I'm proud that I can find something in common with anybody.
I'm proud my grandparents chose to be baptized so many years ago or I wouldn't be able to be proud to be a Mormon.
I'm proud my parents are happily raising another child even though they weren't planning on it.