All Dressed Up...

This was on September 23, Syd's first day at church. We just went to the main meeting and then came home, but it was fun to see everyone again. These pictures were taken after church when she was being so good and lying on the floor. Isn't she a cutie!?!

What are you thinking little girl?

Showing off her bracelet that mommy made. A girl needs her accessories right? ;)

No Posts for Awhile...

I really have had good intentions for posting in the last week. Somehow none of it worked. This is about how it all went each time I got on:

11:00 pm or 12:00 am - Get online when Aaron goes to bed. Why did I wait this long? Who knows. (Probably had something to do with us watching season 3 of the Office each night to get caught up. Now we just need to see the first 2 episodes of season 4. Anyone know where I can find that?) Anyway, I got online, checked my email, and went to blog. When I got here though, I started looking at all of your blogs and seeing what you were up to. About halfway through the ever growing list to your right the Internet inevitably crashes and sends me to bed. Lesson learned, quit being so darn interested in your lives and become more self absorbed. I'll work on that. Please accept my apologies. ;)

I'll try to post some new pictures and things in chronological order so you can pretend that I actually posted them when I was planning on it...

Goodbye MDC Holdings...

I'm not going to say that I'm sorry to not be working anymore. I really enjoyed my co-workers and it was great getting a paycheck, but there's no chance on this Earth that I'd miss any part of Sydney's growing up or let someone else raise her for me. That's my job as her mother and one that I've always wanted.
I do have to admit though that I feel a little weird. I've been cleaning off my computer tonight so that Aaron can take it back to the office for me and I feel weird and a little naked. Deleting all these files and knowing that I won't have a computer always at my side is a little weird feeling since I've had it for 2 years. Aaron will bring his home at night so I'll still get to blog and everything, but it's a strange feeling knowing that one of the last pieces of normalcy that I had is leaving in about 6 hours. Also my work cell phone will go away, and my air card that gave me Internet access. I really need a laptop and high speed Internet at home. Also Macromedia Fireworks (software program).
Now you will all know why I won't be on IM or Google chat very much anymore (during the day at least), but I will try to continue blogging at night and keep up with email then. I'm feeling a little strange, like this is real, and not just a game or anything, so here's to growing up, moving on, and turning in my laptop. It's been real, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with at my last (paid) job before leaving the job market. Thank you to Michael, Michael (yes, I am sleep deprived, but no that's not a typo, there are two), Mary (even though you're gone), Ryan, Bunny, and especially Chris. You guys are all awesome and I wish you the very best (who knows if you will ever read this, but oh well!). Goodbye MDC after 2 years - the longest I've ever worked anywhere other than as a student! Now I really need to go feed my baby. I can't believe she's not screaming bloody murder since it's been nearly 6 hours since she ate. I think it's a record. Bye. :)

My Favorite Funny Video

It's called How to Get a Soccer Partner. :)

What to do on Friday Night...

Apparently the best thing to do on a Friday night is to go toilet paper someone else's house. However, this isn't your average prank pulled by a bunch of teenage boys. Picture this: Young Men's President agrees to take the teenage boys from church to toilet paper another church member's house. What the boys don't know, is that the family being toilet papered is in on it. So are about 10 other men from church, all of whom are waiting at the home to surprise the boys! They're hiding behind trees and they have big flashlights, and even a camcorder! I can't wait to see this. I wish I was the one taping it! I have to get a copy of the movie. I'll let you know how it goes!

A Bloody Murder Day...

I think Sydney discovered on Tuesday that she can scream whether she is hungry or not. This led to her screaming for about an hour on Tuesday and on Wednesday as well. Then on Thursday she didn't sleep from 10 AM to about 8:30 or 9 PM other than 2 naps that were about 30 minutes long. This means she was up for about 10 hours. Guess how happy she was? Not very. She screamed a lot of that time and fussed most of the rest of it. I've decided to call these days "Bloody Murder" days since she screams bloody murder during most of them.

The one thing that has helped today is this very interesting item that our neighbors gave us. It's a recliner/rocker. We don't really use the rocker part yet, but you can use it as a recliner and it vibrates. Hooray for this thing since it is the only place I've been able to put her down that she doesn't scream. You can read about it here - I'd never seen one and was rather intrigued (http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=product&pid=31327).

P.S. I am thinking now that Syd may have gas and a hurt tummy since she has screamed for so long. When not screaming she seemed pretty content earlier today, so I thought she was just tired, but I think it's a combination of a lot of things, not the least of which is the fact that she's been awake WAY longer than she's supposed to be. Let's hope a different formula and those gas drops will help.

New Discoveries

Here is a list of things I've recently learned:

1. Having a bottle fed baby is fantastic since Aaron can get up with her at night just like I can. :)
2. Cows have this incredible ability to turn green grass into white milk. In goes green, out comes white. Not sure how that happens. I do know that babies have a similar incredible ability to turn white liquid into green paste. Not sure how that works either, but the doctor seemed just as mystified by it as the rest of us, so I guess it's one of the mysteries of life that we can understand after we die.
3. The magnolia tree in my backyard had 2 blossoms on it before we left. They successfully bloomed, died, and disappeared before we got back. Drat.
4. I have not seen the beastie since we returned, although I have been in the garden. Maybe Syd scared him away. Hooray!
5. Enfamil formula cans explode when you open them in the middle of the night. Crap Crap Crap.
6. When returning formula to the store, to protect babies everywhere, stores cannot put the formula back on the shelves. Nor can they return it to the manufacturer. They must destroy it to keep babies safe.
7. Karen makes incredible Chicken Parmesan. Jordan is the queen of baked potatoes. I love you both.
8. It is a HUGE accomplishment to be showered before noon, particularly when Aaron is not home.
9. Girls have really high pitched voices around babies.
10. Formula poo smells so bad.

I Love the Sneeze!

First Movie

Milestones

Here are some fun milestones of Syd's for you to see. We're having loads of fun with her and she's keeping us busy!

Syd's first doctor appointment. This was in Arizona when she was 2 days old. The receptionist was shocked at how great I looked with a 2 day old baby. ;) Since I knew I'd never see this woman again, I didn't really feel the need to explain my situation to her, so she may still hate me. She had her second visit today (here in Colorado - did I mention I LOVE our pediatrician?) and now weighs 8 lbs 14 ounces! What can we say, she's our little Ziggy Pig!

This was Syd's second bath (the first was WAY too traumatic to take pictures of). Sydney peed on me about 1 minute after this picture was taken (right before we left our hotel room). Great job baby!

Faster Daddy, Faster! Syd's first driving lesson. Don't worry, I'm not a bad mom - the car was sitting in the Subway parking lot turned off, so we weren't being dangerous in any way!

First time sucking her thumb. Too cute, we had to get a picture.

To and From Phoenix

Ok, so we started off our trip in the White Mountains of Arizona, but had to go to the valley (Phoenix) for a business meeting that Aaron had. We loved seeing our friends Kevin & Michelle (from our BYU-Idaho days), hated the Phoeniz weather - who likes 112 degree days and 106 degree evenings? When it's 80 degrees when you get up in the morning, it's officially too warm!), and we Loved the beautiful scenery on the way to and from the valley. Here's a taste of what we got to see.

Beautiful Vistas

Amazing formations

Great company!

Saguaro Cacti! How fun are these? We nicknamed them all Senor Saguaro (if you don't understand, go read Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli.

We had a great time seeing everything, and were so glad when we left behind the triple digit temperatures. What were we thinking 2 years ago when we considered moving to Phoenix? I honestly don't think we could have made it. Plus I like the snow (I know, I'm weird).

Where Do Babies Come From?

We've figured out the answer to this question: Arizona! Well, for us anyway! Our little Sydney was born on Sunday (September 9, 2007) at 12:45 AM after a pretty long labor (she was induced on Saturday morning). She weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She's a big healthy girl. :) We went to see her in the hospital and met her birthmom and her family. It was an amazing experience. Here is our first family picture. She's about 15 hours old at this point.

We got to bring her home from the hospital (to our hotel room) on Monday afternoon. She's beautiful and wonderful, even if she does have her days and nights completely turned around. Here are some pictures of her that we just couldn't resist sharing!

Need I say more?

Peace. Isn't she a groovy baby? ;)

Her first bow. Aren't we glad she loves this car seat?

I love her forehead wrinkles.
The closest we've come to a smile so far!

Who can resist those cheeks?

For anyone who didn't know this was coming - don't feel bad, we didn't tell hardly anyone. For those of you wondering, yes this is why we couldn't come to Haylee's wedding last week and yes she knew that when she set the date. :) Hope this clears up a few things (such as why I didn't blog for like an entire month - what am I supposed to talk about when all I was doing was getting her stuff ready?) Prepare for lots of posts now though because you'll get to see her nursery, the COMPLETED crib bedding (I know, it's hard to believe that I could actually finish all that in 3 1/2 years, but what can I say...) and more. Thanks everyone for your love and support and we hope to see you soon!

All Our Bags Were Packed...

So we took off for Arizona on Saturday morning at 7:28 - only about 1 hour later than planned, but oh well! We were pretty much completely packed the night before, so I think we just had the slows!

I found it interesting how much the landscape changed as we went south. We had the mountatins of Colorado, and as I-25 turned East, we got more into the plains. Once in New Mexico I sort of expected it to become a baren desert (no offense Jordan), but I was surprised that there were areas with lots of trees, and then it would abruptly become very brown, dry, and flat. Not 2 minutes after I took this picture we were surrounded by trees again, it was really odd.

We stopped in Santa Fe and got gas and had our sandwiches. As we came off the interstate, we saw a gas station where unleaded was $3.19. We almost choked, so we went about 1/2 mile further and found that inside the city limits it was only $2.85. We had lunch and I jumped in the driver's seat (those of you who know me know that I am a serious narcoleptic, particularly when it comes to long meetings or car rides, so this was a big deal! I drove to the Arizona state line where we stopped for a bathroom break.

This turned out to be a fairly interesting experience since the water was yellow (even after flushing - ew!) and the soap smelled and looked just like the liquid part of a cherry cordial. Double ew. We had the nice lady in the welcome center fill our water bottles and they came back clear and clean. Whew.

We drove for awhile more and finally got up into the mountains near Snowflake, AZ. Then we settled in to wait for news...

Beastie Update

He's still there. And I hate him.
He's fast too. He hid in the zucchini plants and I ran inside to get a pellet gun our neighbor loaned us. By the time I got out there (hiding the gun from all the neighbors so they didn't think I'd gone postal) he was gone. Grrrr.

My Day...

For some reason I feel compelled to write about my day today, and because you chose to come look at my blog, you get to hear about it, so here it is:

6:15 - Woken up by Aaron who was feeling chatty before work
6:45 - Ate breakfast
7:00-8:00 - Planted my fall garden (lettuce, spinach, peas, and carrots)
8:00-9:00 - Sprayed outside for bugs - the house, patio, lawn, garden, rocks, etc.
9:00 - While spraying off the garden plants that had been lightly misted with the bug juice, I saw something dart out of the flowers and into my zucchini plant. It looked a little like a frog at first, so I sprayed the zucchini plant until I saw it run away. It was a mouse. Evil beastie.
9:05-9:55 - Did battle with the evil beastie. Lost. Crap.
10:00 - Discovered that the Magnolia tree has 2 beautiful white blossoms with pink tips. Hooray!
10:10 - 11:30 - Blogged and emailed.
11:30-1:00 - Worked on touching up the paint jobs from this weekend.
1:05-1:17 - Showered
1:17-1:27 - Got dressed and did makeup.
1:27-1:36 - Drove around Southlands Mall looking for LeSorelle Day Spa.
1:36 - 2:30 - Got a pedicure with Karen. Yay!
2:30-3:30 - Went to Walmart
3:30-5:00 - Hung out with Karen. I'm not really sure what we did, but it was fun!
5:00-8:00 - Made dinner, ate dinner, cleaned up dinner, did the dishes.
8:15 - I'm sitting here blogging, watching Harry Potter, and listening to the dryer buzzing. I should probably go get those clothes...

Thanks for reading guys! Hope your days are great! Glad to be back!

Labor Day

Our friends Dave and Nicole are moving here from DC and were here this weekend, so we got to spend some time with them on Monday. First we got to go see the house they contracted on (right around the corner from ours!). Then we packed up the car with lots of food and headed down to Castlewood Canyon State Park. It's only about 25 minutes from here and is really pretty. We'd never been before, so it was an adventure for all!

We had a fun picnic and took off on a 2 mile hike that was really fun - a perfect length actually! Here are some of the shots we got.

What a beautiful day!

We be hikers!

Aaron, Devony, Nicole, Dave

Goofing around

What a pretty canyon!

We had a great time and it totally inspired me. By the end I was ready to buy an annual pass and go run a mile (despite my inability to breathe in the high mountain air). We had a great time though!

After we got back from that, I made cookies (after sending Aaron to find eggs since he ate the last of them Monday morning) and we took off to a BBQ at our friend's house. It was great, despite the fact that the tiny microbursts we usually have turned into an enormous storm which found us all huddling under umbrellas or in the gazebo until we decided it wasn't going to stop raining and we'd better make a run for it. We all grabbed the food and took off for the house. We started right back up again inside and had tons of fun though! Obviously a great party since people didn't leave when they got wet! What fun. Let's always have Mondays off ok?

There is an Evil Beastie in my Garden...

Aaron's solution when I called to tell him was for me to get the shovel and chop off it's head. I told him I couldn't do it. I hate the beastie.

(P.S. This is not the actual beastie, mearly a picture I found on google)

Adventures in Painting

Well, we're getting there, one room at a time! On Friday I painted the upstairs hallway to match the kitchen and the rest of the house (or what color the rest of the house will be. ;) As you can see, it started out white and ended up tan. Hooray!




On Saturday we went over to Home Depot and grabbed a gallon of paint for the upstairs bathroom. Despite starting rather late in the day, we got it all done late that night! Let me tell you though, 8 o'clock church is really early when you've been up painting until super late 2 night in a row though! Here's the bathroom though. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Aaron picked out the color - you like?

Just noticed that the last pic was taken really crooked. I wonder who did that. Hmm. Sorry. Anyway, next we need to paint the guest bedroom and our bathroom, and then have someone paint the stairs and living room. Then we'll be ALL done painting our house! Amazing!

Dev's Family

While we were out in Idaho we also got to spend some great time with my family. We drove up on Thursday (can we talk about the terrible McDonald's they have in Wyoming? I actually filed a formal complaint!) and I spent all morning Friday shopping with my mom. It's always fun to go out and have some girl time, so that was great. Saturday night, Haylee was kind enough to plan one of her Bridal showers while we were there, so I could go. Her friend Camille threw it for her and it was really fun, with the traditional funny little shower games and everything. (Thus the picture of me dressed in a toilet paper wedding dress). Sunday her fiancee JC came out and we finally got to meet him. I even went for a ride on his motorcycle with him - a first for me! We drove back on Monday (only Burger King for us that day). We had a great time and loved seeing everyone!

Family Reunion

August 10-11 Aaron's mom's family had a big family reunion that we went back to Idaho for. We had a great time seeing everyone in both of our families and we enjoyed loads of great food and fun! Here are some pictures of everything that happened.

Vonda, Josie, and Martha (sisters) making a quilt. Lucky Marla won it - she deserved it too for all the work she and Steve did for the reunion. Thanks guys!

Poor Garthy (Aaron's brother) is all tuckered out from a long day of relatives.
Sarah taught a bunch of people how to knit. The less ambitious used the looms to make little baby hats for the Church humanitarian organization.
Ellen with the Snap N' Style doll that most looks like her. I think it's a pretty close match! Any of you with toddler and older girls that don't know about these fantastic dolls - ask me about them - they're amazing and wonderful!
All the Snap N' Style dolls all "dolled" up! Cute Emma dressed as a pirate - Argh! Cousins Maren, Tiffany, Shera, and Abby all put together fun activities for the nearly 20 kids under 4 that were there (as well as a few older ones). They made pirate hats, swords, eye patches, and spotting scopes.
All the kids gathered around the "Treasure Map" made by Pirate Captain Maren. Good job Maren!
We had a great time and loved being with Aaron's family at this fun time! Thanks again to Marla and Steve for planning and pulling it off, and to Martha and Paul for letting us take over their home and yard! We loved it all!