Chuchi Mommy

Bath time

2012-02-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I ever did this with Noah but I used to bath Kayla in the sink all the time. It is so much easier than bending over the bathtub. We also really like taking showers together. She has always loved baths but she used to be SO afraid of the shower, even if she wasn't IN the shower if she heard it turn on she would just BAWL. Now she really loved taking showers with me and will even run over and start trying to take her clothes off if she sees me going in.

Pure JOY!

Summer Fun

2012-02-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

I don't like blogging about Summer in February....it makes me sad, no matter HOW warm this winter has been!

Noah LOVES cars. He is just so happy when his grandma will let him sit in her car and pretend to drive. (He also runs like this to see his grandma and grandpa too!)

Wrestle time with grandpa. Kayla and Noah are really into wrestling with whoever will let them. Kayla is one tough chick!....as evidence from all the bruises on her face..poor thing.....not from wrestling, probably from falling.

Yum!

Hypocrite/Catching up

2012-02-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

So I was recently making fun of a friend for catching up on her blogging. She hadn't blogged for like a year and then blogged it all at once. I told her I couldn't keep up with her feast/famine blog approach.

I'm not sure if I realized it then but I have not blogged...I mean really blogged anything of any significance since AUGUST!!!!! It is FEBRUARY. ohhhh boy. Here comes the Feast.

Please enjoy the following catch up posts.....and please try not to make fun of me!...even if I am a hypocrite!

Ever wonder what a 4 year old dreams about?

2012-01-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Noah, "Last night when I was sleeping at grandma's I had a dream."
Me, "Oh ya?"
Noah, "And in my dream I jumped inside the cows belly and it made a hole in the cows belly. And I was inside the cows belly."
Me, "And what were you doing in the cows belly?"
Noah, "I was looking for food."
Me, "What kind of food did you find?"
Noah, "Grass."
Me, "Oh ya? Do cows eat grass?"
Noah, "Yes and carrots. And the carrots are magical and make the cow fly up into the sky when he eats the carrots."
Me, "Wow!,"
Noah, "And then I jumped out of the cow so fast and I said "Hi cow. Lmnopqrstuvwx."

Poor cow.

And thanks to my wonderful dear mother and father and Sam and everyone else who contributed to the watching and caring of my stinking (imaginative)...sick children!!! Stories and pictures from our wonderful adventuresome crazy trip to Nicaragua coming soon!

Other Max

2012-01-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

This morning I was sitting in my comfy rocking chair with Noah and Kayla in my lap cuddling. I was thinking how great it felt to have my "BIG" boy and my little girl. A few months back I was getting pretty baby hungry, right around when my brother and his wife (Jeff and Carlie) had their little Max. WELL for whatever reason that feeling has kinda gone away, and this morning I was thinking that maybe it was good just to have my two little ones for now and that we didn't need to have another baby anytime soon.....

When SUDDENLY out of the blue Noah looks at me and asks "is there another baby growing in your belly?"
"No!" I tell him quite shocked. "Do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?"
"Yes!" he answers quite enthusiastically.
"What do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?"
"A Brother." He says.
"Oh ya and what should we name him?
"Other Max."
I thought this was pretty funny, so I asked him if he had any other names in mind.
"How about Jenny." he says.
"That is kind of a girl name don't you think?
"Ya. How about Cole? That's a boy name!"
Which is cute because Cole is the name of his babysitters son.

So anyways....this conversation kinda freaked me out, especially with the timing and all..... Perhaps "other Max/Jenny/Cole" is getting anxious up there. ha ha!

Making a new fashion statement...or at least making an attempt.

2011-12-28T21:18:00.001-07:00

My last purse came from D.I...and the one before that I had since pretty much high school....so getting a new purse is a pretty big deal for me.....

You can check out my new oh so fancy photo purse, and also our new Barrus Photo blog here.

Kayla plays the piano

2011-11-06T21:45:00.001-07:00

Since before Kayla was even born her sweet Grandma Laura has thought that Kayla will be an amazing piano player. The funny thing is that when she was born with these long fingers we thought "Hey! Maybe its true." And now...I am totally convinced. Watch how she plays the piano in this video. Most kids just pound the keys but she is really making "music!" She moves up and down the keyboard and really seems to feel the music. ha ha! Now we tell Grandma Laura (Abu) that she needs to buy us a piano! ;)
p.s. I am also totally in love with the very end when she freaks out and grabs the piano.

Kayla's 1 Year Birthday Party

2011-10-14T20:44:00.001-06:00

Kayla's party was SO much fun because as you can see from her pictures she REALLY enjoyed herself. Jona kept teasing me that 1 yr birthday party's are for their parents because the kids just don't care...but I have to say my little social butterfly DID care. She was so cute opening her presents. We started a new tradition (well maybe it will become a tradition) of Kayla sitting on the laps of whoever is giving her the present. (Mostly so that I wouldn't be in every single picture but also for increased attention span.) I absolutely cherish these pictures because I have pictures of her with a lot of our family and friends. I have to say that although this tradition worked well for Kayla I don't see it working so well for....say Jona's birthday which is coming up. ha ha! Anyways she was so hilarious; cherishing every present, every card, dancing when her presents played music and just generally smiling up a storm and being her adorable self. She even did a little cupcake smashing. So yes, she did enjoy it....but so did I! he he he....I even got her to wear the ridiculously cute tutu the WHOLE time. ;) So all in all it was a fabulous party and we were so happy to have so much of our family (especially Jona's parents and grandma who are usually so far away) and friends there with us.
I know...there are 5 thousand pictures but I had a hard time weeding through all these amazingly cute shots.

More Kayla 1 year photo shoot.

2011-10-03T20:51:00.000-06:00

These pictures were actually taken the same day as the cake smash pictures. After such a successful cake smashing session these extra pictures were just "icing on the cake." JUST kidding.

Isn't she amazingly beautiful? I wonder a lot if people think her and her brother are adopted. I do think that she looks like me but it's a little hard to see underneath those dark brown eyes and amazingly tan skin. It's so crazy to me that her and her brother look SO much a like with their daddy and I looking so different. It will be interesting to see how the other kids turn out (yes, now that she is a year old I can think about the possibility of having more children. ha ha....again the benefits of pregnancy/labor amnesia.)

This is my dear sweet mother with little Kayla. She was such a help to me during this session (and of course always.) She is a great babysitter and helper. Noah and Kayla just LOVE their Grandma and bomb-pa (Grandpa.) Or actually what Noah says is Bomb-pa Steve.

Cake Smash

2011-09-28T22:23:00.004-06:00

Better late than never.....

I decided that I absolutely needed a cake smashing picture of Kayla for her 1 year birthday. Honestly, this was like a huge deal for me. (Don't laugh at me.) A lot of planning went into this. I think I planned more for her cake smash picture than I did for her actual party.

I made her tutu. I'm actually pretty proud of it. It's very fluffy and colorful. My inspiration was from a friends quncinera, (thank you Laura and Paula Rodriguez!)
I did a little research on Smash cakes and decided HEY I could do that myself. How hard can it be?
I went shopping. Turns out there's a lot of paraphernalia involved in cake making....probably not my best "investment" as I don't really see myself making too many more cakes in my near future. (But I'm getting ahead of myserf.)
I then very sneakily recruited my sister-in-law, and at 9:00 one night we decided to MAKE THE CAKE!
WOW, so much fun.....and SO much work.
Ok....the bullets are not really making sense anymore.

Look how cute we are! I have to say, It turned out exactly how I wanted, and that is pretty amazing for our first fondant cake. Supposedly it can be a little tricky, but it all went so smoothly for us. It really helped having two brains I think. Oh and we pretty much followed this website step by step makeitandloveit.com (the cake series.) Funny anecdote: the lady said to put crisco up to your wrists before you mix the fondant all up.Yeah, I for some reason (perhaps that reason being how LATE it was) thought it said up to your elbow. Luckily I had the sense to question that reasoning just a little bit. I mean come ON, what kind of crazy fondant mixing was this going to be?....and so I put the Crisco just about mid-way up my arm. Awesome.

And this is the final result. I guess I didn't really think the whole "smash cake/fondant" thing through. The fondant was too hard for her to "smash," mostly she just peeled the little circles off and ate them. Finally....I smashed it for her. ;)

And some more favorites...

The End.

Join our mission for emergency preparedness

2011-09-18T22:52:00.000-06:00

Our family has made it a goal to be ready with our emergency preparedness supplies by this Friday. The prophet as well as many other church leaders has been asking us for a long long (super long) time to have an emergency supply. A 72 hour kit as well as a 1 year supply of food (I think, does that sound right on time?) PLUS now with all these disasters happening all over the world our state (Utah) as well as many others I am sure, are recommending a 72 hour kit.

It is time to get our acts together people!!

We need to be prepared for whatever happens! Please if you have not listened to the prophet up until now....listen to ME! ha ha ha.

And look, I have some links for you to help you be prepared because I'm nice like that....and you know.....I don't want to have to share my preparedness with you. JUST kidding. ;)

(p.s. most of these links are courtesy of my dear mother. Thank you mom.)

The Be Ready Utah website
http://beready.utah.gov/beready/family/get-a-kit.html

More info on what to put in your 72 hour kit
http://lds.about.com/od/preparednessfoodstorage/a/72hour_kit.htm

If you want to purchase a kit here are a few links to kits you can buy online.
http://pinterest.com/jen_sue_g/emergency-preparedness/

Church info on family home storage
http://providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html

A few more things to note:

Keep your kit by a door so you can grab it easily. Have a backpack for each person with a change of clothes, and possibly shoes. You may need to leave your house in a hurry.

You should have a family picture in your kit so that if you can't find a family member, you can show what they look like.

In your family plan of where to meet, you can include instructions for each of you to send a group text to the rest of your family that you are okay. If the cell lines are still working, they will be busy so a text will go through better that a phone call.

Money: Our friend that was involved with Katrina clean up said you must have small bills on hand because you won't be getting change back, maybe for quite a while.

Extra pair of prescription glasses.

You can get solar powered batteries now that aren't too expensive.

If you have a garden buy your seeds now for the next year, that way you will have them in case you are not able to buy them later.

Just Keep Swimming

2011-08-05T21:28:00.001-06:00

Kayla and Noah are big fans of the water so seven peaks is like heaven for them, and pretty much for us as well. We have really been loving our super cheap season passes this year. I realize its a little into the "season" already but if anybody wants some great fun for a low price visit their website at http://www.sevenpeaks.com and it talks about the passes. Ours also goes to trafalga in Lehi as well as some other sporting events like the Bees (which we have not even used. Sad It just goes to show how little we get out if we can't even use our FREE passes. Unfortunately with children the night pretty much ends at 8:00 weekend or not. I mean....here I am on a Friday night BLOGGING. It's sad. ;) ...but shhhhhh

More Family Pictures

2011-07-14T22:12:00.000-06:00

This summer we've been having a lot of fun getting together as a family for Sunday dinners and such. I had to bust out the camera for this one....mainly because I was in love with Kayla's little pig-tails. I had just started doing her hair like this and its just so dang adorable. Noah, of course, is adorable too...just ask him.

Kayla and Scoot are best buds....except I'm thinking she may have developed an allergy because the past 2 times she "cuddled" with him she got hives. As Kayla likes to say "uhhhh ohhhh." (It's the only thing she knows how to say and she says it over and over.)

BBQ at the Gamboa's

2011-07-03T21:03:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago we had the whole family over for a BBQ. As you can see, we had a typical "Barrus-Gamboa" silly time...and took a lot of pictures!

When Noah had his sling

2011-06-28T21:04:00.002-06:00

Noah broke his collar bone back in April. Silly boy was climbing over our banister. I saw the whole thing happen, but I was too far away to do anything besides watch him fall. It was (obviously) very traumatizing to the poor kid because even though he healed miraculously fast he STILL talks about it. "I broke my collar bone for two weeks!" He says all the time. (I'm not exactly sure what the two weeks thing is all about...except for that was about how long we actually got him to wear the sling for. And even during those two weeks it was silly because he was just moving it all around.) We DID go to the doctor and they did do x-rays.....good thing because if we hadn't I wouldn't have believed it myself.

Here he is playing at the park with his grandma maybe a week after it happened.

Noah Preschool Graduation

2011-05-26T16:30:00.003-06:00

My son is all growed up and graduating preschool. (Well 3 yr old preschool.)

I absolutely LOVE going to his school programs. He had a Christmas Program as well and its just so great to see the kids singing and everything. Noah was so cute he was actually nervous. He kept saying "I'm ok. I'm ok" before it started. He is such a big boy. It was also very funny to see him with the sticks, I don't have it in the movie but before the song started he was bossing the other kids around saying "when I do this...you do this OK?!" HA such a bossy boy. We love him. A LOT.

If any of you are looking for a preschool I would definitively recommend The Red Brick School House. His teacher is Mrs. Jamie and she is so much fun and he really likes her a lot. Also, it's hard to find 3 yr old preschool and I know she still has spots left for this fall and maybe some spots left in her 4 yr old preschool as well. It's in Sandy so that's the only bad thing for us because its a little far away from our house. If you want her info just send me a message and I will forward it to you.

Mothers Day Blues

2011-05-08T14:55:00.002-06:00

I have never been very good at Birthdays or Mothers Days or really any Holiday with any kind of expectation of a relaxing wonderful time. When I was little my friends and family had a theme song for me.

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to CRY if I want to CRY if I want to."
Because I did.
Every time.
And I'm not going to lie...there's been some crying today....or at least some exasperated screaming.
It all started at 3:00 AM. Yes, my lovely mothers day began at 3 o'clock in the morning, HOW GRAND! Kayla wanted to wish my a happy mothers day...for and hour and a half. I really am not sure what is wrong with her. She's been like this for like a month now. It has correlated with her getting her first tooth. (Look mom I spelled tooth right!) So naturally I am blaming it on the alleged "teething." ha ha. Although my mother has made the suggestion that maybe she just doesn't like sleeping with her earings. Its uncomfortable I agree. I have also thought that maybe it is her eczema, a growth spurt, extra energy or perhaps she just wants to drive me crazy. I'm just not sure.
So anyways that was a little awful.
Then came church. Hmmmmmm church with a three year old and 8 month old is.....so. much. fun.
Sorry I know....I just have such a hard time with the two of them while my dear lucky husband gets to sit on the peaceful stand. (Yes....perhaps I am the lucky one but I'm not really feeling that way today ok? :)
SOOOOO anyways to make a long story short I was (am) really feeling sorry for myself because I can't help thinking that today is MOTHERS DAY isn't that the ONE day of the year I get to PRETEND I'm not a mother?" No? That's not what it's about? ok ok ok...MAYBE it's about loving being a mother. Which I DO love. I just maybe wish it was a job with some time off.
p.s. my children are both sleeping right now so I will gratefully take that as my mothers day present. Thank you children. Mommy loves you.
p.s.s isn't that just the most fantastic music video you have EVER seen? ha ha.

Where are you Jesus?

2011-04-26T21:00:00.000-06:00

I'm not exactly sure if it is normal, but Noah has a LOT of conversations with himself. Mostly reincarnations of past conversations him and I have had (usually one's we've had a LOT) such as:

Noah:   Can I have some candy?
Noah (as me): Yes, after dinner.
Noah: After Dinner?
Noah (as me):   Yes after dinner.
Noah:   Okkkaaayy.

Its pretty strange. But today's conversation really blew my mind.

Noah:    Jesus? Where are you Jesus?
Noah (as Jesus):    I'm in the Sky.
Noah:    Jesus, are you here? Do you want to play with me?
Noah: (as Jesus):    I can't I'm in the sky.

He's in the sky! ;)

Easter Eggs-Creative Dying and Eating

2011-04-23T08:29:00.000-06:00

Before Noah came along I was pretty much the only person in my family interested in dying eggs. I didn't let that stop me. Every year I would buy one of those PAAS egg decorating kits (you know the ones.) and proceed to beg and bribe my family into decorating with me. The only year I was successful in getting Jona to join in on the fun was the year we were dating (I wonder why.)

This year I have decide to (maybe) branch out and get a little more creative in the egg-dying department. Here are some ideas I have come across.

Paper-Napkin Decoupage Eggs

Here's how.

Silhouette Easter Eggs

from lepapierstudioblog

Insanely-crazy-hard eggs....I mean Easter Surprise Eggs

if you dare....notmartha.org

I think this is the grand-prize winner for me. It looks like something I can easily do with Noah, my Easter egg dying partner.

Melted Crayon Eggs

So then the next problem is what to do with all these Hard-boiled eggs.

Here are some ideas:

These are super fancy.

Beet pickled pink eggs

Sooooo strange.

Fried Sausage Wrapped Hard Boiled Eggs

Oh and WOW if your getting really desperate apparently you can put them (hard-boiled) in COOKIES!

Amazing Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies

My favorite thing to do with hard-boiled eggs is Albondigas. A Mexican recipe that is yum yum.

Its kinda like porcupine meatballs and I will show you how to make them....later. ;)

Mt. Everest

2011-04-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

Our Seven month old can climb stairs.
What have I done to deserve this?

I think that with the first child every milestone is like a small miracle...but with subsequent children we know better. Every milestone means more heartache...emotionally, physically and financially. I was pretty excited that she could do this, mostly because of how excited she gets and how cute it is to watch her pink little tooshie race up those stairs...but then she fell down, it was pretty scary...I won't go into details because it will freak you out but the most important thing is that she was ok about 30 second after it happened.

She is one tough cookie.

Note: These picture were taken before the mighty tumble, I have since gotten much stricter about putting up the gate. (I know...I don't exactly get a gold star of parenting for allowing her to climb the stairs in the first place...but even still isn't she a champion? We are proud of her but not looking forward to her walking (and running) around.

Happy Spring!

2011-04-19T16:38:00.003-06:00

We are so happy that spring is "here" that we (and when I say we I actually mean my dear sweet mother) went out and bought these *adorable* (warm weather) outfits....and then we made the kids go outside in the not so very spring-like weather and SMILE!

and it was a SWEET Success.

Can I just say that I have a LOT more patience when photographing other people's children?

Photographing your own children

not

fun.

But totally worth it.

Oh the cute things he says

2011-03-06T21:30:00.004-07:00

Noah has really started chatting lately. He says the absolute funniest things not just sometimes but most of the time. Here are a few of the funniest ones that I can remember.

-while *trying* to get me to let him play with my makeup;
"I want to be pretty like you mommy!"
"But you are handsome like daddy."
"I don't want to be handsome like daddy. I want to be pretty like you."
(I still wouldn't let him play with my makeup.)

-while at my parents house (I) was trying to bother my little brother Sam;
"Hey Noah does Sam have muscles?" I asked him.
"No."
"What about Papi? Does he have muscles?"
"Yes, big ones."
Sorry Sam. Don't worry when I asked him later if I had muscles he very matter of factly informed me that NO I do not.

-after "stapling" a very lovely abstract picture Noah told me what it was a picture of;
"Its a cow house. And a dog house. And a Jesus house. And a Noah's house. And we all live there together....forever."

-today I put this fluffy pink dress on Kayla and Noah took one look at her and told me;
"Kayla's a princess."
awwwwwwwIt is moments like this that I wish I would take my camera home from work because this cute picture could have been REALLY cute if I had used a real camera instead of a phone. ha ha. But I am not dissing the phone....because at least I have a picture.

-while on vacation in Vegas after watching me use the hotel key Noah told me;
"I can't open the door I need money to open it."

-while getting ready to go to preschool he told me;
"I can't go to school today. Cole will shoot me.
This one really freaked me out until I asked him
"Who's Cole??"
"My friend."
Great.

He has since become very obsessed with shooting imaginary dinosaurs in our house. He's always running around saying "Mom watch out! There's a dinosaur, DON'T WORRY! I will shoot it!" which is followed by some pretty crazy-scary toddler gun action.
I am no longer afraid of the dinosaurs in our house.

Part of me longs for the "quiet" Noah days where he didn't actually say anything and I didn't have to answer all his thousands of questions of "why not." (Almost every statement I make question, statement or otherwise is followed by a "why not" from Noah.
"Noah....please don't do that..."
"Why not?"
and
"Lets go get in the car to go to school!"
"Why not?"
"Look its raining!"
"Why not?")
Its a little confusing....and annoying. BUT I love him. He makes me laugh, every day. And he loves making me happy. Every time I laugh at him he likes to do the same thing over and over again. He is my little ham, my little pleaser, my wild child, my athlete, and my sunshine.

Facebook has killed my blog

2011-02-16T21:50:00.003-07:00

Ok so it started out innocent enough. I got a "semi-smart phone" (I call it that because its not really smart in that it is not super download-appable....totally not a word but you get my point right?...so its like the "cheap plan" where you get like oh I don't know what they call it, a certain amount of megs or rams or somethings of internetness...I know you are all super amazed with my technology lingo...but anyways I only get a certain amount of web time each month, which turns out to be exactly enough time to mindlessly read though all of my "friends" Facebook ramblings. Which I really enjoy (most of the time.) And I don't really feel guilty because I'm feeding Kayla (and there's only so much "gazing fondly into each others eyes" that you can do when your attached at the breast a combined total of 3 hours each day.) But then people started downloading links and videos and all kinds of tempting things that my '4 megs of internetness' couldn't handle and so.....I started looking at Facebook on my computer, and I started trying desperately to think of silly clever little anecdotes to send out into the Facebook world and checking back to see if anyone else thought I was funny. Its a sickness...and its killing my blog. Now I don't have anything clever left to share with my blog followers (assuming there still are any left that haven't been sucked into the world of Facebook.) I say all this in the past tense as if I have been cured...but alas I have not, but maybe I'll try to give my blog a little bit of the spotlight back.....maybe.

Our little Kayla 4 Months old and full of loveliness

2011-01-15T18:15:00.005-07:00

Kayla is 4 months old now and growing fast! Every time we have taken her to the doctor she has been in the 80-90% on height and weight. She is just so chubby and cute....and I can't get enough of that sweetness. Needless to say she gets a LOT of kisses from Jona and I and of course Noah. Noah is so fantastic with her, he isn't really jealous at all, actually he is very fond of her. He gets very excited when she wakes up and wants me to put her in his room with him so he can have 'Kayla-Noah time,' where he lays down with her and talks and tickles her. They are so cute together! She is a very very good baby...actually quite angelic. She hardly ever gets upset and is very easy to please. (Not quite sure where she came from, just kidding.) She sleeps like a champ and even sleeps 8-11 hours at night...sometimes. ;) (But usually she will wake up to eat somewhere in there.) We just love her so much!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:05:00.002-07:00

Swimming

2010-12-12T20:45:00.004-07:00

Noah LOVES to go swimming. We had a chance to go swimming with my dads parents and sister's family last weekend. My great grandfather passed away, and since the funeral was in Aurora we decided to stay overnight in Richfield (the closest -almost- big city.) We were sad to loose our great-grandfather but happy that we could get together and celebrate his great life and spend time with our family. We love our family!!!

Some Noah Cuteness

2010-11-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

More Kayla Blessing Pics

2010-11-27T13:31:00.002-07:00

So I have this picture of my when I was a baby in a little tiny chair just like this ones, so that is why I did a pic of Noah and now of Kayla in this chair....but it was just too hard to pick just one of Kayla. She has so much personality! I wanted just a serious one like Noah's and mine, but she is just so much fun! She is always smiling...it was almost harder to get the serious one than the smiling one.

Twins??

2010-11-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Noah

Kayla

Does anyone else find this odd?

How could two people who are sooo different create two children (born 2 1/2 years apart) that look SOOO the same? It's like we used the same mold or something.

Halloween for thanksgiving.

2010-11-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who was more excited to be dressing up....Kayla or Jona. (The things I put those two through.)

Sam got asked to Bingham ball and we decided to answer her with carving pumpkins. Mine is the one on the left, Carlie's in the middle and Sam's on the end. We wrote Y E S on the botton with a marker. (We are so very clever. ;)

Mommy-Baby Daddy-Baby

2010-11-23T15:50:00.003-07:00

I am very late on posting these, (as well as about a hundred other posts hopefully soon to come) but I haven't had a computer lately. My brother has been so kind to give me his.....but I still haven't found a converter to hook it up to my mac screen.

Aren't these pics just so lovely? We love our little Kayla Sue...even if she is a chubbster now! ;) ha ha.

p.s. the problem with being a photographer is figuring out WHAT to do with all your millions of fantastic pictures. I just don't know where to put these in my house! I can't choose just one!....I know...I know poor me. ;) ha ha.

Deal Pickle

2010-11-14T14:38:00.003-07:00

When my brother first told me he was working for a website company called "Deal Pickle" I didn't get it. I always thought it was just the "Dill pickle" until suddenly one day the light bulb turned on, and it was like "DING, ohhh it's the 'deal pickle' like a 'good deal pickle' ha ha ha ha" I was so excited that I was finally in on the whole...whats the word? I dunno, but there's a word for that...alteration or something? I dunno but ANYWAYS I was so excited I had to call him...or maybe I texted him, and I was like 'I GET IT!!!!'

And so now I am proud (and sooo excited ;) to announce the grand errr ummm opening? of the DEAL PICKLE!!! WAHOO http://dealpickle.com

Its a website that has LOTS of great deals everyday, as apposed to things like Groupon and city deals that has only 1 deal a day. Check it out! ;)

If your looking for a gluten free piece of the world

2010-11-14T14:29:00.002-07:00

My aunt (well she's not really my aunt, she is my dads cousin so I don't know what that makes her to me) just started a gluten free recipe blog and it looks yummy!...I think I may even use some of her recipes and use normal flour instead of "featherlight flour"....at least until I figure out what that might be, because her recipes look yummy!

Out of the mouths of babes

2010-11-07T13:37:00.002-07:00

I woke up one day and suddenly Noah was TALKING....having whole entire conversations with me, and it was around this point when I realized that kids really do not think the same as us...he has such a very twisted sense of reality...that I just have to laugh...almost every time he opens his mouth.
But before I share some Noah quotes I have to tell you what one of my little six year old students said in primary today. I was telling them the story about Jesus and the five loafs of bread and the two fish, and what a miracle it was how he made enough for everyone to eat the bread and fish when little Isabella says in her sweet little matter-of-fact voice, "I really don't like fish." and I just had to laugh-right out loud-in the middle of class.

And now for some Noah gems.

"Here you go mom," he said, handing me a chunk of his poo as I was feeding Kayla.

"I cut it mom," as I was cleaning up his poo from another day. I later discovered the play-do scissors. oh joy.
(Yes...my child is STILL not potty trained.....yes I started potty training him more than a year ago. Don't judge me. ;)

A week or two ago, when we had our first snow-storm our poor beautiful huge willow tree lost one of its main branches (which basically means that 1/3 of our tree broke off.) When I discovered this I was very distraught. That tree is basically my favorite thing about this house, so I was really freaking out (I scared Jona to death when I first saw it and dramatically exclaimed "ohhhh noo!") Noah, seeing me very upset put his little arm on me and said "Don't worry, be happy, Papi fix it."

Another day when I was freaking out...I forget why, Noah came over and looked me in the eye with those sweet penetrating brown eyes and said "calm down mommy."

(I just realized I'm telling all the stories when Noah shows his sweet innocence and knowledge beyond his years....and not the silly crazy stories I had originally intended...but these are the ones that come to mind. Don't worry he says plenty of insane things too...I just can't think of any right now.)

Four Generations

2010-11-04T15:26:00.003-06:00

Look at all these Brassaw/Barrus/Gamboa ladies! Aren't we a lovely bunch? Can you believe how much we look alike?......well at least until we threw some latino blood into the mix. ha ha.

Why?

2010-09-22T19:36:00.001-06:00

Why oh why did Noah have to reach the peak of the "why" stage right at the
exact time our family of three became a family of four? Isn't it
enough that I have turned into cow? Do I honestly have to be peered at
and asked over and over by my almost three year old "why" I am doing
that and "why" does she have to eat like that and "why" can't I help
him right that very instant. Every single thing I ever tell him to do
he asks me "why." There are not answers to all his questions!
What do you say to a kid who asks "why don't we sit on the table?" I
DON'T know! We just don't! It makes mommy upset! And how do you
explain that we don't eat candy for breakfast lunch and dinner because
its "bad" for us. This is not a concept his little mind can
comprehend. So he just keeps asking, over and over and over. "but
why?" "but why?" "but why?" For the love of all things sweet and
beautiful in this world could he please just stop asking why? Today I
came up with a new rule. I only answer his questions once (a
day)....or at least only once an hour.

Kayla's first photo shoot

2010-09-09T14:03:00.006-06:00

SUNSHINE AND HAPPINESS!! -This is what I say to Kayla every time she wakes up (or more often than not...when I WAKE her up because I need to feed her...the girl is SUCH a "dormilonchas" (spanish for "sleepy-head") She almost always gives me a huge grin as she is waking up and its just so sweet. I love to snuggle up to her and rub her smooth skin and soft hair against my cheek. I am just so blessed to have her in my life. She is so perfect, so healthy and so beautiful. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for sending her down to me from heaven.
Here are the pictures from her first model shoot-just 4 days old. (We like to start 'em early at Barrus. ha ha) No but seriously I really really wanted these totally folded up pictures with her feet up by her face, and they don't really do that after the first week or two usually. I was WAY stressed out, because (this being my job) I really wanted perfect ones of her. I know I shouldn't stress out but we all do it. And LOOK, they're perfect, she pretty much slept through the entire thing...so the torturing was kept to a minimum (she doesn't know what we do to her while she sleeps...right? ;)

This last one is my favorite. Doesn't she look just like an angel? Last night she went 5 1/2 hours between a feeding. It was heavenly. I am so lucky to be getting so much sleep between having her be such a good sleeper and having my in-laws here to watch Noah and her while I nap. YEAH! It makes such a difference.

Kayla has arrived!

2010-09-02T16:40:00.009-06:00

She is here and she is the most beautiful thing ever! I'm not sure where she came from because she is an ANGEL! ;) (ha ha) She (knock on wood) like never ever cries! She is so easy to soothe and eats every three hours and even sometimes graces us with the sweet pleasure of going 4 hours in the night between feedings. She is always always smiling even when she is awake. If you do not believe me check out the second to last picture from the hospital when she was only one day old. And she eats like a champ (when I can keep her awake.) She just saw the doctor yesterday to do a bilirubin test and instead of being under her birth weight like most babies she has already gained 2 ounces. We are so happy to have her in our lives!

Born: August 29th 2010
Time: 9:00 P.M.
Weight: 7 lbs 5 oz
Length: 19.6 inches

Here are some pictures of Noah at my moms house on the 29th while I was in labor. My mom bought him his own little baby doll. His favorite part? Pushing her around in the stroller!

First family picture. Only about an hour old. We did it! It was hard but so worth it. I am so glad I was able to do it naturally. I felt sooo much better after than I did with Noah, I had only very minimal tearing (probably because of the forceps and horrible previous tear reopening from Noah.) There were not any complications and I was just amazed at how my body just knew what to do. Especially during the pushing stage, the contractions changed almost the instant the doctor told me I was complete. They were much more bearable and so powerful, my body just pushed during each contraction, rested and pushed so perfectly. Perhaps this was so miraculous to me because with Noah the pushing part was so so awful and I didn't know what I was doing at all, pushing and pushing (practically hyperventilating) for over and hour, being told I was doing it "all wrong," when the doctor finally showed up and then having the drama of forceps and everything. So this time was just amazing and honestly for anyone who is afraid of the alleged "ring of fire," it was nothing, at least for me, I promise. That part was not painful. (And the reward right after is so wonderful! So its the best part!) Transition stage contractions are definitively painful and super super intense though so I would NOT have been able to do it without hypnobabies, all my practice and especially my doula, Angie Rosier. I really really could NOT have done it without her. She helped me so much. I would recommend her to anyone. She also had an apprentice there (I don't remember her name...;) She was very sweet and it was nice having her there too. ('TWO for the price of one.' says Jona. Ha ha.) Perhaps she says this to everyone but at the end, (when I was practically shouting with joy "I did it, I did it!") my doula said that it was one of her favorite births in five years. Everything just went so awesome, we had the best staff and everyone and everything just worked together so well. It is true I am so grateful to the University of Utah hospital and how they let me do what I wanted/needed to do. My doctor was great and she loved working with my doula so much that she asked for her card at the end! I won't go into great details because one of the other benefits of hiring Angie as your Doula is that she will write you your birth story. So, we shall all wait, excitedly for that. ;0)

Kayla with her great grandma (Jonas Grandma)

...with Jona's mom.

proud proud grandparents! (Jona's mom and dad)
We are so happy to have them here from Mexico, helping us for the month. WOW I don't know how I would do it without them! Cooking and cleaning and laundry and David is even making us some laundry and mudroom cabinets. WOW I can never thank them enough!

My mommy and Kayla!

Hello stranger! ;) At first she looked just like Noah to me, but she has already changed so much and now I just don't know who she looks like!

Doesn't my dad look so happy?!

Carlie and Jeff (my brother)

Noah came to visit her the next day. I am so mad we didn't video tape it because it was so precious! He came strolling in with his baby, and two roses, one for me and one for Kayla. He was just so wide eyed, confused, nervous and sweet.

Such a good big brother!

First COMPLETE family picture!

And, of course....a little hospital photo shoot in her going home outfit. Can you even believe how sweet she is! She is smiling don't you think!?

The end.

Run Jona run!!

2010-08-24T12:49:00.003-06:00

July 24th Jona ran a marathon. (I am not sure why...it seems like complete madness to me...BUT I am very proud of him!) It was very fun to go and see him run across the finish line. I think that although during the actual event he was perhaps also wondering why he was doing this...overall...I think he loves it. He loves training and making goals and working hard and the whole atmosphere of marathons is very neat, with everyone cheering each other on. He ran a marathon last year also and he said there was even a band there on the sidelines playing for them. He was very lucky this year because our friend Debbie Kroll came and ran with him for the last leg of the race...I can't remember how long, I think like 10 miles or more. She even (eww ;) ha ha) massaged his legs when he got a cramp. She seriously saved the day!

GOOOOOO Jona! (or as Noah calls him PAPI!)

Check out my beautiful new quilt

2010-08-24T12:00:00.003-06:00

Carlie my dear sweet sister-in-law designed and sewed me the most fantastically beautiful quilt for little Kayla. I love it so much! I still can't believe she made it....or that she gave it to me! I am so excited to wrap my little one all up in it.

....now if we can just convince her to come out and try it...;)

Check out this link for pictures

http://thebarrusblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/cherry-blossom-quilt_23.html

Swimming in Idaho

2010-08-24T11:49:00.004-06:00

We all went up to Idaho to visit Jeff and Carlie at their new house. It was a while ago...I think in July or maybe June?...so this post should have gotten posted a LONG time ago. Seems I might be doing a lot of blog post catching up lately because GUESS WHAT? Kayla is STILL not here. I know, I shouldn't complain, I'm not even due for another six days but NOAH CAME A WEEK EARLY...and I just don't think I can wait any longer!

Ok rampage over.

The little dude that my mom is carrying is Carlie's little Nephew, Carter, she was watching him while his parents went on a an anniversary trip. He's a cutie.

Ryan is here!

2010-08-20T12:33:00.002-06:00

(And no, that is not the baby...as far as we know its still a SHE) It's my BROTHER! He came home from his mission in Mozambique Africa on Tuesday. Its been a pretty busy month for us. So many days that we've been saying "Baby Kayla...do not come on:

August 13th: because Jona drove down to pick up his family in Las Vegas. They flew in from Mexico to Las Vegas because it was a LOT cheaper. (Craziness I know.)

August 14th: because that was my birthday, and I'm not quite that selfless of a mother that I am willing to share my birthday. It was GREAT! We drove down to Payson lake (the driving part was not so fun, my poor car had a hard time driving the kayaks up the mountain and we actually had to turn on the HEAT to keep in from over-heating.) But other than that it was such a lovely day. We caught 8 fish (they were YUMMY YUMMY!)

August 17th: RYAN CAME HOME!

and now my mother is also putting a ban on:

August 20th: because that is Ryan's homecoming...but ya know what...I'm pretty much ready for her to come WHENEVER she feels like it...the sooner the better, sorry! ;) I still love you Ryan. ;) Or I guess I should say, I still love you MOM, because I'm pretty sure Ryan could care less.

Noah was a professional sign holder. His sign said "Welcome home Ryan (I'm Noah!)...but then he peed. It was the first time he has had an accident in a public place, and it was like a waterfall. He just kept peeing and peeing. Poor kid. Poor Airport. Poor mommy who had to clean him up.

Can you see the bag in the background? Well, after he peed we stuck it over the pee to discourage people from walking and slipping (ahhh) on the pee because it was pretty much in a main walkway. The bag had a fairly opposite effect, however, as people kept trying to come and move it out of the walkway. We did tell someone it had happened but nobody ever came over to clean it up (I know...my mess I should have cleaning it up right? But I couldn't miss RYAN! I had to see him make his grand entrance down the elevator.

"Your so fat Jenny!" is what Ryan said to me at this moment. "Thank you, I know." ;)

Baby Bump

2010-07-29T11:55:00.003-06:00

I have to say I was a little less excited to get Maternity pics then I was with Noah. Its kind of a strange tradition...well not even really a tradition (not very many people get maternity pics.) Still...I feel like its something I wanted to record and since I'm having a girl this time it is probably actually something she will appreciate having when she is older (pics of herself in her mommas belly.) Since my dad is not much of a maternity photographer I just had him do a few of the pictures with Noah and me and then the rest I had Hillary take, and I must say that for her first time taking Maternity pictures....she did an awesome job.

This is the shot I was most excited about. Noah is going to be a big brother, I am so excited! He is going to be SUCH a good big brother. I was excited for this moment before I was even pregnant. I just think its such a sweet thing. He is so cute about the whole baby thing. As I mentioned in the previous post he is very good about "sharing" with his little sister already. The poor thing has had to see a LOT of new (and old things) that are "for the baby" lately and he has been very mature about it. ;) "Mine?" he asks? "No" I say, "That is for the baby" "Baby?" "Yup," and then he goes around pointing to said item 5,ooo times saying "baby, baby baby."...and only occasionally asking if it is his again. Luckily, with a lot of the items he doesn't remember that is used to be his, thank goodness. Oh and now when we ask him what his baby sisters name is he actually remembers and says "Kayla."
This is him showing how wonderfully he can share....ha ha ha. Look at that face!
This was one of the hardest shoots I have ever done with Noah, he was just WILD. At one point he ran into the other camera room and comes back with this umbrella. This is a Noah original pose (and I think my dads favorite picture from the whole shoot.) ;)
One more month to go! (Actually I'm hoping she comes early but SHHHH don't tell Jona I told you because he wants me to be "lovingly patient and remember that she will come when it is the best time for her and for me....which is part of our Hypnobabies course.)

Baby Sister

2010-07-19T20:12:00.004-06:00

Noah is so CUTE! I wasn't sure at first, but now I think he really does understand that there is a BABY in my belly. (Well...mostly.) Here are some of the cute stories as of late.

Noah really really REALLY likes his blankie. He is NOT into sharing his blankie, but one day he sat down next to me, lifted my shirt and stuck his blankie on my belly "shhhhh Kayla sleeping." he told me. And my heart melted. He is such a stinker...but then there are these moments...

Today we got our first package of infant formula in the mail. Two cans of Similac! Ha ha, Noah was VERY excited! We told them they were for the baby so he came over and started "pouring" them onto my belly. Then Jona started asking him how he is going to take care of baby and Noah showed us how he is going to cradle her and give her her binkie. So he started giving my belly an imaginary binkie.

Were pretty convinced he is going to be the best big brother in all the world....some of the time. ;)

Say cheese

2010-07-07T06:33:00.004-06:00

These are some of Noah's 2 1/2 ;) year old pictures. There are lots more that I may post some time if I can ever choose which ones I like best (there are so many!) I just cannot believe what a photogenic little man he is. (I mean yes, granted he's been my little model since 2 weeks out of the womb ;) but STILL this kid is in love with the camera!) My dad and I took these at a new place we just started to go to down in Lehi. The way we were getting him to smile most of the time (and to do all the cute poses) was to tell him how CUTE he was and HANDSOME and basically just whistling and wooo-woooing. I have taken a lot of two year old pictures and I have never (really) tried this tactic before, and I don't really think it would work on other little two year olds...Noah is just so full of himself! ;) Lacking in self-esteem this kid is NOT!

I also recently took Carlie's (my sister in law) brothers family down to the same place and took some really awesome shots. I really really like this new place for pictures and thought I would share a few with you all. If you want to see more of this awesomeness that we have decided to call Urban Funk (ha ha) visit the GALLERY.

Say what?

2010-05-25T20:43:00.002-06:00

I spend a pretty good portions of my day trying to figure out what Noah is trying to tell me. Its actually gotten worse instead of better as his vocabulary improves because HE knows what he is trying to say and just can't understand why I can't...understand! Today in the bathtub he was very adamant about wanting the "emat. emat. emat." Now, when trying to figure out what Noah may want, context is very important. I do a lot of guesswork about what we are doing and what he usually wants during said activity such as
"ru ru ru"
while eating strawberries means...."oh syrup"
"yes want uru"
its a beautiful moment for both of us when we understand eachother.
or
"naki. naki. naki!"
after a big spill means napkin.
But sometimes he wants something SO out of context that I am just completely lost. (Such as today in the bathtub....I never did figure out what 'emat' was. We did however go on a little wild goose chase after the bath because I was truly curious what he was after. We got distracted at the fridge and ended up eating turkey instead though....oh well must not have been that important.) This morning was quite interesting though when he was very upset because (and this took pretty much all of my detective skills to figure out) he wanted the blender unplugged. Impressive that I should figure that out......and that he should CARE that the blender was plugged in but heres the deal. We have a strange toaster. This toaster makes a lot of noise when plugged in, even when not turned on, so I always unplug it after using it. I guess Noah decided the blender, which plugs into the same socket, should get unplugged too.
I'm pretty sure the blender was appreciative of his concern.

This is my toaster! Doesn't it look like something from the future? Besides making a lot of noise it does an amazing job of toasting bread, plus it doesn't freak out when you want to put the bread in for a little while longer or (heaven forbid) toast a piece of bread right after you finished toasting another piece of bread.

Noah on film..last year

2010-05-21T21:33:00.005-06:00

I haven't been able to upload any of my cute Noah videos because we lost the cord to our video camera for the longest time...but I found it! And so now I present you with a variety of Noah clips. I'll have to do this is segments since I have so many that need to be uploaded.

Poor little Noah, he was so tired. This was the only time he ever fell asleep while eating so I am so glad I caught it on film. (This is one of my all time favorite videos of him)

Dancing to Cri-Cri (spanish music.)

Noah used to do this hilarious "angry face" that he doesn't do anymore. It all started with doing "ojitos" which is a very common Mexican thing to teach your children to do. Its basically like blinking a lot of times at someone. Noah wasn't so great at it in the begining and he would crinkle his nose all up instead of blinking his eyes....and the "angry face" was born. Then he started just making these hillarious faces and clenching his arm muscles and everything. It was crazy....I miss the angry face! ;)

Prego

2010-05-21T20:49:00.004-06:00

So, the truth behind this picture....
First of all, it all started because I thought my hair looked good. AND because I felt the need to document the whole, prego with a camera around my neck all day look look, because its graduation season and we are super busy at Barrus Photo. I walk around all day, camera around neck and mostly make fun of myself for not being as mobile (or at least not wanting to be as mobil as I usually am taking senior photos.) I started naming poses and telling seniors "this is pose A" or "pose B" etc..(when they are sitting poses) so that I won't have stand up and sit down as much. Maybe being a photographer doesn't seem like a particularly physically tasking job, but it is! Espcially with seniors. A typical senior session lasts for about an hour, includes 3 outfits plus cap and gown and involves at least 40-60 poses indoor and outdoor on a variety of backgrounds, sitting standing...even jumping! (Don't worry I don't do the jumping part....anymore.) Its hard work! But still fun. So anyways I wanted to have a pic of me, my belly, and my camera. Now I realize that its more than just a little chessy, all posed by my Barrus Photo window, but I have to say I LOVE that window. That window and I are very bonded. Plus I took the picture myself, with my dads camera on a tripod. Its a little blurry because I haven't really mastered the art of self-portrait yet, but I am still proud.
Second of all (in regards to the truth of this picture) it caused a pretty huge emotional breakdown. I pretty much freaked out at my husband when the first thing he told me about this picture is that my face looked chubby. I will not lie, I cried my brains out, were talking some serious prego-lady-all-out-bawling. In his defense he did not mean it as I took it and certainly did not mean to offend me. (How was the poor man to know of my vain attempt to record a good hair day) ;) Needless to say, he now adds the words "beautiful" or "sexy" when referring to any part of my body. So now I'm "chubby-sexy" ha ha.

When will I learn?

2010-04-26T21:00:00.002-06:00

I used to be able to leave Noah alone, I mean, not for terribly long amounts of time. But, like, I could take a shower or blow dry my hair or go put a load of laundry in. Simple important things like that, but lately its become apparent that Noah can only be trusted in ANY room of the house for more than 2 minutes without getting into trouble. Yesterday he came down stairs with his face, hair and hands completely covered in destine (diaper rash cream.) He "surprised" me and held his hands out in front of his face like claws and make a loud growl. It was so hilarious that I couldn't punish him, I could only laugh. He looked like a little Indian with war paint. SO cute! But alas, I have no pictures because Jona has the camera for his work and my Barrus Photo camera lives at work. I am thinking it would be a good idea to get a phone with a fairly nice camera so I would always have one with me. I am missing out on once in a life time shots! Earlier this week I came downstairs from taking a shower (usually I lock him in my room with me when I take a shower...but he was playing so nice downstairs....) and he had taken two HUGE containers of oats and spread them all over the kitchen and living room. FUN. I wasn't very happy about this one. Still, it would have been good to have a picture! Also, he pooed IN his room, on the carpet earlier this week. That was a fun one. I swear, I spend 1/2 my life cleaning up after that kid! It could be my new occupational label "Two year old mess crew"...except for theres no crew, its just me and my dear house against the little hooligan. Will we survive?

This explains everything

2010-04-19T21:56:00.005-06:00

If ever there was proof that my husband and I just do not think in the same way it is this:
(probably the strangest thing I have ever seen)

To see the test go to this link.

My mother has drawn it to my attention that the lady (while a silhouette) is naked. So don't visit this link if that would bother you.
So apparently if she (the lady in the test) is moving to your right (as it is so very obvious to me that she is doing. ;) ha ha) the right side of your brain is working. If she is moving to the left, the left side of your brain is working. For Jona, she moves to the left. Now I cannot understand this. It just seems impossible to me, and so obvious that she MUST be moving to the right. ;) Yesterday Jona felt the opposite, (that she couldn't possibly be moving to the right) but now he says he can see both ways (which supposedly means he has an IQ of 160 or better.) I don't know if I should be jealous, or just more demanding of his understanding. If he can see which way she spins for me, he should be able to see why I see things the way I see them, right? (Just kidding) So I did a little research and the characteristics for Right Brained people are: Random, Intuitive, Holistic, Synthesizing, Subjective, and Look at wholes. Left Brained people are: Logical, Sequential, Rational, Analytical, Objective, and Look at parts. Its amazing how this really pegs Jona and I and some of the dificulties we run into when trying to agree on things. So I am dying to know....which way does she spin for you??

Its a girl!!!

2010-04-08T20:58:00.003-06:00

Jona and I just went to the ultrasound on Wednesday and found out the big news! It was so different than with Noah, because with him they were like "100% boy" (arrow included and everything. ha ha), but with her it was so anticlimactic because the ultrasound lady was like "oh, well, looks like it might be a girl...." And it took her a pretty long time to finally conclude that yes it was indeed a girl. Our little baby girl was moving all over the place and showing us lots of cute little poses like crossing her legs all dainty and lady like, and holding both hands up above her head and peeking through. It was so much fun to SEE her in there! Wow, I am growing a person. ;)

If you want to be cool

2010-03-21T21:42:00.004-06:00

Alright, so...I've always known styles change, but I used to be in the loop! Well, I mean...sorta. I'm not exactly a fashionista but I knew what was in. Well, a couple of days ago at a church activity I was watching everybody dance (we always dance at our activities cause we go to the Spanish ward) and I was noticing all these SKINNY jeans! Ok, so its not the first time I noticed the things, but I mean, EVERYONE under the age of, oh 20, was wearing them! So I had a little chat with some of my young buddies.
Me: So whats the deal? Does everybody wear skinny jeans at your school now?
"The girls": oh ya.
Me: Nobody wears like..ya know..flares or whatever (cause thats what I still wear) anymore?
"The girls": Nooooooo, well if your a nerd.
"One of the girls": I would DIE if I ever wore jeans that weren't skinny jeans.

She would DIE! ;)

So I guess I'm a nerd. Or maybe since I'm over 20 its ok. I don't think any of my friends wear skinny jeans. (do you!?) So I've been thinking a lot about the whole fashion thing (and the being "old" thing, and I guess no longer being "cool" thing) and I'm ok with it. Actually....(hold your breath) I think the skinny jeans are kinda ugly. ha ha. Its probably just because during my highschool years it was cool to wear flares. Will they always look cool to me? I guess it doesn't matter because in about 5 years they'll be back in style...right?

BUT the thing that is "cool" that I DO want right now is a head wrap! AND I know somebody who makes them. She is Hillary's (the absolutely most fashionable friend I have) mom. Her website is cuddlesandkissescrochet.blogspot.com

Love

2010-03-19T21:11:00.002-06:00

Just the fact that I was able to capture this on our little point and shoot (that takes the picture like 20 seconds after you push the button) is a miracle. Perhaps I am a little spoiled, but I like being able to take a picture instantly. All complaining aside....isn't this gorgeous? My boys are so lovely together. Noah just emulates his father. Everything 'papi' does Noah wants to do. Jona can get the kid to eat or do pretty much anything just by doing it himself (this definitively does not work for me ;) And in turn Jona just loves his little son. He is so proud of everything he does. They often sit together like this. Before I took the picture Jona was singing to Noah, which is so sweet. I love when Jona sings to Noah, and so does Noah. He always says 'otra, otra.' (another, another.) I love my boys so very very much and feel so blessed to have them, they are my everything.

Naoh skis! (and plays a killer game of pool.)

2010-03-02T16:14:00.007-07:00

This past weekend we went on a little vacation with my family up to the Brighton Challets. We stayed at a little cabin within walking distance of the Brighton Ski resort. It was so beautiful, I loved looking out the window to the long and skinny pines covered with snow. I admit, it was a moment when I actually had, yes, positive feelings towards winter. But I admit I may not have felt that way if I didn't smell a little spring in the air down in the valley before we headed up. (YEA! SPRING I CAN'T WAIT! Especially for my little garden.) But back to the snow for a moment....NOAH skied!!! My little baby is a natural. ;) he he.This child is very loved by his family. All six of us (minus sam..who I suppose stayed in the cabin to text his "almost" girlfriend..inside joke.) anyways, all six of us got all bundled up to watch this kid ski. I'm sure we looked so funny to everyone. My dad with his huge professional camera, and Carlie with her camera, and everyone cheering and laughing and generally getting VERY excited about Noah's first ski experience.This is how it started out...so hilarious!

Then somebody got the idea to launch him down the hill and have somebody else catch him. He was ecstatic! Laughing and laughing, and he never fell down once!If you check out Carlie's blog you can see a video she took of this kid in action...and hopefully I can get some more videos posted soon.Everybody was making fun of my hat, cause it had a 'B' on it. They said it was a 'Barbie' hat. :(...but it wasn't! ha haFamily family...Noah was worn out by this point.

Uncle Jeff.Carlie's brother and family came up for an evening of fun...here are all the ladies.Noah found Jeff's snowboard helmet and took it for a spin on his sweet ride.

POOOL POOOOL! Noah's favorite activity of all time. My parents have a pool table at their house too, and he spends every moment running around asking people, "pool!" "pool!"....or rather demanding people to come play with him!
All his practice is paying off though! Look at this kids form, he's a professional. (Just kidding.)

I must scream it to the world!

2010-02-21T19:40:00.002-07:00

Luigi: I must scream it to the world, my excitement from the top of someplace very high.

Who better to announce the wonderful news than Luigi, my favorite character from Noah's favorite show CARS.

I'm pregnant! I'm 13 weeks along and doing great! We are so excited, our new little member is due to join the family August 30th. Whenever we ask Noah he tells us its going to be "Niña" (a girl.) He also loves pointing to the baby, which he thinks is located somewhere closer to my lungs than uterus...but at least he knows its in there somewhere.

Noah 2 yr photo shoot

2010-01-30T13:06:00.003-07:00

Oh what a ham! I kid you not when I tell you that I set up these props and the kid posed himself, foot up like that and all. Perhaps it is a sign of using your child as a model one too many times?

Happy Birthday NOAH!

2009-12-23T18:50:00.008-07:00

Our little Dude is TWO!!! Such a big boy!!! He's got the candle blowing DOWN.

We went to Jumping Jacks. (9 adults and 2 kids ha ha) Jona kept teasing me if we went there for Noah or for me. (I had a lot of fun.) ;)...but so did Noah.

I know...my cake decorating skills are top notch. ;)

"CARS mom!" (Noah's favorite.)

Getting ready to blow em out. (This is serious business)

Noah was pretty fierce about the present opening this year...Christmas should be exciting!

And Em and Jonathan...cause I didn't get pics of them jumping.

All in a days work

2009-12-15T22:10:00.005-07:00

Last night my (poor) mother and I ran all around town looking for this silly hat. Its not exactly what I wanted but it works...isn't my little man...er men adorable??? ;) So then in the morning we had our picture taken and thanks to Hillary (she did my makeup) and my Dad (he took the picture) it turned out FANTASTIC! I am seriously so pleased. So then I spent the next couple of hours swapping heads (that's right....I swapped two out of the three heads in the picture, which means I picked my favorite heads for everyone) that's what happens when you are a retoucher...it has to be perfect. (can you guess which head didn't get swapped?) And then I designed the Christmas Card and had them printed. So I pretty much threw this thing together in two days. ACK! Not recommended. (EEK hopefully no clients are reading this and wanting me to do same day service for them too....) Anyways, I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Season with lots of *lights lights!* (Noah's favorite) and family and love all that goodness.

Comencement ceremonies

2009-12-07T22:54:00.003-07:00

Today was day one (well not exactly day one per say, but a umm...you could call it new beginnings...isn't that like a Young Women thing? New Beginnings? Well this is not a Young Women thing...this is a Young Pooper thing.) Actually...you could call today the commencement ceremonies of OPERATION POOP SQUAD. NOT operation potty training because that would just not adequedely describe the sweet sweet...sweet movement that our family is undertaking. I am getting ahead of myself, lets start at the begining.
Today I awoke with a new found determination to get Noah out of diapers. Perhaps it was because diapers are so dang expensive. Lets do some calculations. Today I bought (at Winco by the way which turns out that (yippie) might just be as cheap as they boast) 112 diapers for $34.98. Thats about 30 cents a diaper. Noah goes through about 4 diapers a day. Thats $1.24 a day!!! Okay so maybe thats not soooo outrageous, but still! I think our money could go to better use than poop containment. Where was I? Oh yes potty training. So today I told Noah that he could 'pee-pee for candy.' This is something I tell him a lot. More often than not he 'sits for candy' without a whole lot of pee-pee going on. Today the kid sat for almost a half an hour (right after eating) and nothing. I swear the kid would have sat another half an hour but I told him it was okay, that he could take a break. I also decided that it would be a good idea to let him run around naked so that when he did need to go (FIVE seconds later) him and I would both be able to tell. Good idea right? Yes, except for the fact that I stepped out of the room (for FIVE seconds) and when I returned I saw my lovely cute boy cleaning up a little piddle of pee with a tissue. He looked SO surpised! Like 'holey cow mom where did this come from?' So maybe the whole nude thing WAS a good idea, he's learning about his bodily functions. So we cleaned up the pee and let him stay naked for round two. Round two happened when, once again I left the room. I came back to discover poo...everywhere. Well practically everywhere. We are making progress though, because you know what? He wiped his little but and stuck the wipe in his potty. Wooo hoooo Noah!

You know...

2009-12-03T21:48:00.002-07:00

You know your attempting suicide (err I mean potty training) when:

(Now, were just getting into this, little Noah and I, so we don't have a ton of experience and I'm sure there will be MANY posts to follow with much more insight and silliness...but I just wanted to share these little 'readiness' tips with you.)

#1. Your child applauds your bowel movements. (Poo poo YEA Mommy!!!)

#2. Your child and his potty are friends. (open close open close....hey why don't we bring the potty into the living room!)

#3. When you run out of toilet paper and your child runs down stairs to get a tissue for your bum-bum.

#4. Your child knows the word bum-bum and uses it often.

#5. Your child says 'eeewie eewie' when you change his diaper. (complete with hand waving.)

And the number one way to tell you are ready? When you've completely lost your mind.

Hey people teach DOGS to do this...I can teach a two year old right?....right? HELP!!!! ;)

Your not my (facebook) friend anymore!

2009-11-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

I was over at the babysitters picking up Noah when I heard some neighbor girls get in a fight. Suddenly one ran up to her house and just before slamming the door shut she shouted "I'm taking you off my friend list!" The other retaliated with "Well fine I'll take you off mine!," to which she responded "Well I'm taking you off my DAD'S list too!" And then she slammed the door.

NOooooo not the friend list! ;)

Monkeys and Tigers and Candy, OH MY!

2009-11-17T21:25:00.005-07:00

Halloween 2009

This was Noah's first Halloween where he knew what was going on, and let me tell you...he is a FAN! We took him trick-or-treating to a few houses in my parents neighborhood. At first he wasn't too keen on the idea of putting the candy IN the bucket, "I'll take that thank you very much." But it didn't take long for him to realize that he was getting much more candy than he could hold on to. He was soon running from house to house, an 'I can't quite believe it' grin plastered to his face.The Heiders came trick-or-treating to my parents house and we had to get pictures!

And to end the fun night...we played airplanes.
I'm so lucky to have such a silly family!

Icky Pumpkin Guts

2009-10-30T22:03:00.004-06:00

So Emily and I have this kind of unwritten agreement to carve pumpkins together every year...you see we don't really have any family members that quite enjoy this creative tradition as much as we do (or at least I don't.) But this year we had KIDS, which just really made the whole experience a million times more fantastic.

"Hmmm interesting texture...."

"This is great! I get to make a mess?"

More blissfull joy...

Not sure who was having more fun with this...Noah or me...

And so, Emily's goal was to get Benjamin into the pumpkin.

Pretty sure Emily and I were having more fun with this one.. ;)

We almost got a smile out of him.

Its a pirate (cause I know you were wondering.)

Emily for sure wins the carving contest this year. ;)

And this is my old roomate from Utah State, she stopped by with her boyfriend, too bad we couldn't convince them of the joys of pumpkin carving.

River Oaks Ninth Branch

2009-10-29T21:18:00.006-06:00

Our little hispanic family.

Cooking with Cacti

2009-10-22T18:31:00.004-06:00

I am about to share my Mexican cactus eating secrets! (Your mouths are watering, I know.) No, but seriously I LOVE these things, cooked the way I am about to show you, Nopales are one of my favorite foods. PLUS I did a little "googleing" and found out that Cactus leafs (nopales) are full of lovely fiber, vitamin A, C and K (not sure what vitamin K is....) riboflavin, vitamin B6, minerals, potassium etc etc.... calcium and may help in the treatment of diabetes! And so without further ado, I bring you my recipe:

Nopales de Ana Laura

(She's my sister in law with all the cactus growing in her yard, she taught me how to cook these.)This is what they look like when you first buy them....careful they're poky! (You can now buy these as Smiths Market Place!!!)

So then you take a knife and shave off all the spines. It helps if you run it under water while cutting them off. Usually you need to cut all around the outside and chop off the bottoms.

Put some oil in a pan and fry up 1 chopped onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic and 2 whole morita chiles. (Just snap off the stems)

The morita chiles look like this. I don't know if you can buy them at Smiths (I will check for you, but if not you can get them at Anayas (a Mexican market) or from me! ;) Once you buy them they last for a LONG time because they are dried.

After the onions cook for a while, add the chopped up nopales (3 cactus leafs). At first they will look bright green like these.

You know they are done when they change color (to a dark green) like these. After that all you have to do is mix in a little less than one cube of chicken bouillon and you are done!

PROVECHO!
(that means bon appetite in Spanish)

You can also eat the prickly pear fruit of the cactus. They are very yummy.

Just chop of the ends, peal off the thick skin and EAT! It's sweet like a fruit, but with lots and lots of seeds. Most of the people in Mexico just swallow the seeds but I like to suck the fruit and spit out as many seeds as I can. ;)

Also....I canned my tomatoes...and I am very proud of myself (its my first canning experience.) Here is a picture of my babies.

Artsy Fartsy Plants

2009-10-19T20:46:00.004-06:00

I took these in Mexico, some in my mother-in-laws yard and some in my sister-in-laws yard. Oh how wonderful would it be to have a lime tree in my yard here in Utah? A girl can dream.

By the way...they sell Nopales at SMITHS now! I was so excited! I got to the cash register and the lady looked at me strangely and asked, "um what are these?" "I guess we call them cactus leafs in Utah?" I think I was possibly the first person to buy them. YUM!
Click here for more info on Nopales.

Veracruz family pictures

2009-10-11T21:08:00.006-06:00

This is Jona's sister Mary and her family. I took their pictures while we were visiting them in Veracruz.

I love these guys! They are such a wonderful family, we have so much fun every time we go down to visit them (it helps that they live right by the BEACH!) No but seriously they are so generous and funny and loving and...what can I say, we love them and wish we lived closer, or at least had a million dollars and could visit them all the time.

If you want to see more go to my web album.

Jona is a Citizen!

2009-10-04T21:26:00.006-06:00

Ok...I am very very behind in my blogging. This happened in June.

We had to wait for a LONG time before the ceremony started, it was so sad because I told everyone to arrive an hour early and we ended up being like 2 hours early. My grandparents were so early they were the very FIRST ones there!

Noah and Benson had a lot of fun jumping around.

Noah with his uncle Jeff

When we got there we called Jona so he would know where we were sitting, because he went in at a different time with all the other new citizens.

The ceremony and oath taking were very nice. We found out later that the judge who presided was the SAME judge who presided (or whatever word you use) at the naturalization of our Aunts Ema and Andrea who were adopted from Chile...wow!

WE were lucky to have a lot of family come to be with us on this exciting day!

Congratulations Papi!

And finally......sorry I know this is totally disrespectful and childish...but I couldn't help it. The moment we saw this picture we couldn't help adding our own little potty humor captions. I know....were so immature.

My new camera kicks butt

2009-08-20T22:30:00.002-06:00

The Canon 5D Mark ll Alright...so technically its not really "mine," I suppose it belongs to Barrus Photography. Lucky for me Barrus let me "borrow" it today. Actually what happened was I was over at good 'ol Wheeler Farm, a bit early and waiting for my Engagement couple to show up and so I decided to venture out of my realm of comfort. I've been meaning to break out of my "portraiture" shell for quite some time and try something more "fine arty" or whatever it is that you call this, so this is what I came up with. Let me know what ya'll think. Oh and I forgot to mention my lens...which would be very sad (my lens that it and yes, I am personifying my lens) if I did not mention its glory as well. Infact, heaven forbid, I just may possibly be more in love with my lens than my camera. It has just made my life so much easier, I cannot believe I have gone this long with a fixed focus lens. It is almost like trying to walk without legs, its like I didn't even know what I was missing until I was all like...holy cow! Legs are AWESOME! So anyways my lens is (excuse me I have to go read its label...and no I am not kidding. I'm not so very camera technical lingo-lango savy) the...drum roll please......70-200mm 1:4 Its a beauty. I highly recomend it to each and every person who has a whole lot more money than I do, cause I could totally never afford it. ;)

Bring on the smores

2009-08-17T21:52:00.007-06:00

Currant Creek

Noah and Benson (Carlie's nephew) spent a lot of time trading off pushing eachother on the little "bike," Noah had a much better time pushing than riding, silly boy!This is my brother Jeff and his wife Carlie Sue. Her family is the Highs and they are the one we went camping with!We were very happy to have our little tent for eating...not to block the sun...but to block all the RAIN!! (the High's motor home was also a very very blessed sactuary. It even had a TV! Now thats camping in comfort! :)Yes, this is HAIL! on my BIRTHDAY! I'm pretty sure its the first time ever to have hailed on my birthday. Pretty crazy. (This is Erica and Kimbal Carlie's brother.)

Noah's favorite thing about camping? Getting to "drive" grandpa's car.

And his second favorite thing...playing in the water.

Jona practicing his Tai Chi....just kidding! (Incase you really don't know what he's doing he's throwing a killer football pass to my dad. :)...of course.

Vamos a la playa!

2009-08-05T23:05:00.004-06:00

My silly little brother Sam is always saying these little phrases in Spanish, usually the most bizarre things...and one of his favorite things to shout out randomly is "Vamos a la playa" which means, "Lets go to the beach!" Unfortunatally little Sam didn't come on this particular excusion to "the beach" as I have started calling the Daybreak Lake, but don't worry, we are frequent beach visitors so he has gone lots of times. If you have not visited the increadible man-made lake at Daybreak you must get over there ASAP. (speaking of As soon as possible...how does one pronounce that....Ae. S. Ae. Pee. or A sap?...just a question.)
Also, I would really really like to know where the water comes from that fills the lake. Because, while Kayaking I have seen some like "gysers" in the lake where the water bubbles up and I am just super curious to know if they are pipping in this water and from where.
Anyways......here are some lovely pictures of my dear sweet booger, his grandma...and ME! Scary.

The mysterious apperance of freckle

2009-07-29T21:37:00.005-06:00

Yes, freckle, as in singular, as in yep he's only got one.
Noah has enjoyed a freckle-free 19 months until suddenly, and without any warning whatsoever my mother declares that he has a freckle, on his nose. I had a friend once who had a freckle on the end of her nose, it was pretty defined, actually more like a kind of "junior mole" and I cannot tell you how distraught she was about this single freckle. It was as if she was cursed to walk around with a pimple on the end of her nose. If tattoo removal joints started offering freckle removal she would for sure be first in line. Luckily I'm pretty sure Noah's new freckle will not cause any need for permanent psychiatric help. Infact, by the time he is old enough to even know what a freckle is a whole bunch more will have likely sprouted. By the time he is forty he could be like his grandpa, who is just one giant freckle with very sparse specks of unfreckled skin. Kind of like a zebra. Speaking of zebras, I don't know what all this contraversy about "white stripes or black stripes" is all about. From all the zebras I have seen (and oh...I have seen a LOT....like possibly two at Hogal zoo) they are WHITE with black stripes, its obvious people. And though it is not quite as obvious with my dad, I can assure you that he is white with brown freckles, not brown with white freckles. And so, with that all cleared up, I would just like to say "lets have at it freckles, hit my kid with all you've got because I, for one, am a freckle lover."

p.s. Noah's freckle picture was taken today at the "beach" (the daybreak lake....more pictures to follow) and so if your having a hard time seeing the freckle, and think you might even see more than one...its just sand.

I had to share....

2009-07-21T22:28:00.004-06:00

I know, I know, I have been neglecting all of you friends and family who live only to view photos of Noah and read my fascinating thoughts on life. I am sorry to say that this post will most likely not appease your hunger for Noah pics....it may, however...hopefully make you laugh as hard as I did.
My husband has possibly broken his tail bone, his coccyx as it is apparently medically know. (I so totally am going to teach that word to Noah as soon as I figure out how to pronounce it, because I really think that will notably expand his potty word vocabulary...as soon as he gets to the potty mouth stage that is.)
His possibly coccyx breakage was, I am convinced, punishment for using his brute strength against me, picking me up and jumping us both into a lake. He thought it would be nice to go swimming, I however did not. And so as punishment he landed on a concrete slab and hurt his tooshie.
He has been a little concerned about his bum, and so I decided to do a little googleing. I found out that there is pretty much nothing you can do for a broken behind. I did however find out some VERY helpful hints for prevention. It reads:

Most coccyx injuries are accidental (such as a slip on ice) and therefore cannot be entirely avoided.
Wear proper protective padding when participating in contact sports that can potentially lead to coccyx injuries.

I don't really know why I thought that was so funny. I just cannot imagine an instance when protective padding of the BUTTOX would be appropriate.

My hopes and dreams...shattered.

2009-06-17T23:29:00.002-06:00

I was so excited! I found a special kid-proof latch for the fridge and dishwasher. It was magical. Noah went to accomplish one of his 999 fridge opening exercises and *POOF*, it did not budge. He looked around, surprised, and began to whine (it as at this point he probably thought his life was over.) Not easily deterred he made a mad-dash for his second favorite kitchen pastime, the dishwasher. It too would not open. He was pretty unhappy for all of ten minutes until he forgot all about it and found something else to wreck.
Now, some mothers may be wondering why I didn't just train him that "No, this was Mommy's fridge and Mommy's dishwasher and he was not allowed to play with them." To which I must reply...I tried. His memory is slightly better than an ostrich and, upon returning to the fridge Noah, without fail, would selectively forget that it was Mommy's, and selectively remember that it had fun ice inside. But let me tell you, simply having that latch on it which made it completely inaccessible was very memorable and I no longer had to keep reminding him. It was glorious...and actually the fridge latch still is; the dishwasher latch however has gone the way of all the earth. The only scenario I can come up with is that the dishwashers heat melted the gluey latch stuff....and like I said, all my hopes and dreams shattered. ;( Oh well....maybe one day I can find a kid-proof latch that is also dishwasher steam-proof as well.

Noah went poopie in the potty!

2009-06-15T21:02:00.001-06:00

Yea!!!! (That's all) ;)

American Idol here I come!!!!

2009-06-07T21:44:00.002-06:00

If musical talent is hereditary, the poor kid doesn't stand a chance.

I don't care if its cliche and biased, I have to say it, 'my kid is so cute!!!' We were at a ward activity and he just went and grabbed the microphone. He just started "singing" along to the Mexican music that was playing, belting out these sweet "ooooo oooo ahhh's" like he knew exactly what he was doing. He's such a ham, and he always wants to do whatever the grownups are doing.

Hanging these donouts was all I had to do with this eating contest. I don't think somebody could pay me to stuff a dounout down my face as fast as the kids in our branch! (Lets just say there was more than one trip to the trash can after this one.)

Our Mexican dish of Tacos de chicaron y nopales. Which...belive it or not, is basically pork rine (pig skin) and cactus tacos. YUM! No but seriously, the nopales pica de gallo thing Ruth made was seriously delicious (nopales are the cactus') I made the salsa! I'd advising staying away from the chicharones, however, they taste ok...but come on! Pig skin! That just shouldn't be edible....right?

Noah VS the Spray Bottle

2009-05-17T20:26:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I think I act more like a mean big sister than a mother....but come on...would YOU stop your kid if he was being this funny?

Love...TRUE love is what brings these pictures to you....today.

2009-05-16T13:09:00.006-06:00

These are Jeff and Carlie's Engagement and Bridal pictures that I shot. Ahhh to be young and in love. ;) Just kidding.

Zempoala Ruins in Veracruz Mexico

2009-05-01T21:08:00.006-06:00

We had a sweet little guide leading us around, telling us the stories of all the pyramids and the people who lived here....but....I was a little distracted taking pictures, so I didn't get a lot out of her speech. SO if you want to beef up your knowledge of the Toltec and Totanac people visit this site (which is actually in English so that should be helpful for most of my readers. ;)

Zempoala Archaeological Ruins

Oh, and by the way, if you are a Mexican Citizen be sure to visit on Sundays...its Mexican's get in free day! The dude at the entrance took one look at me and said 20 pesos! I felt like getting all "oh no you didn't" on him and saying something like "Just 'cause I'm white dude, doesn't mean I'm not Mexican!" But alas...he was right, I'm not. But COME ON! Couldn't he at least ask to see my drivers license or something?

Baby girls are so fun to photograph!

2009-04-30T09:33:00.007-06:00

You can order your own 'over the top' custom bow at www.lilyboodesigns.blogspot.com
Lily Boo Designs also does hats!

The Potato Chef

2009-04-26T21:55:00.004-06:00

Noah is a little chef, and for some reason he likes to cook in the living room. The lighting is perhaps better there. He is always carrying off my pots and pans and putting them on the coffee table. One day he found the potatoes in the pantry. I have long ago decided that (almost) no matter what Noah wants to play with, is better than him screaming and stepping on my toes. Cleaning in our house is a slow process, which usually consists of me letting Noah busy himself by making a mess of something while I try to clean up his last mess without him "helping." Anyways, when I finally went into the living room to see what he was doing with all the potatoes I just had to grab the camera. I was so proud of my son and his little potato soup.

The most beautiful wedding dress in all the land

2009-04-26T17:46:00.004-06:00

When I threw Carlie (my new sister in law) a bridal shower we designed her the most fabulous toilet-paper dress you can imagine. Were are thinking of starting a new line. We will call it 'T.P. designs" and our logo will be "Never drip-dry again!" (sorry for the potty humor.)

(Note the beautiful bouquets.)

Happy Easter, Happy Birthday

2009-04-19T21:38:00.004-06:00

Noah's favorite part of Easter was opening the eggs.
A Milestone..Noah's first taste of peeps. He seems surprised by their taste.
Rubber Duckie I love you!
Making the world a more beautiful place...one egg at a time. (This is Carlie! Jeff's fiance. They are getting married this Friday!)
Oh Lolly Lolly Lolly....Lolly POP!
Happy Birthday to my Dad and brother Jeff, 22 and 23 respectively. Right Dad? Why wish to be 45 when you can wish to be 22?
Ahhhh....young love.

Debbie's Ducks

2009-04-16T21:38:00.006-06:00

Perhaps you've heard of Debbie's Dolphins (her swim school) but have you heard of Debbie's DUCKS!?! If I remember the story correctly she acquired these ducks when one of her sons was asked or answered to a school dance sometime last year. (If you don't know what I'm talking about you probably don't live in Utah. We are a very creative breed. To properly ask someone to a dance, such as prom, you must personally attack their house with thousands of paper hearts...goldfish...or any number of insane things....preferably in insane quantities...complete with cute little rhymes like "Of all the fish in the deep blue sea, I choose you!" or "Somebunny wants to go to prom with them. If you carrot all, you'll say yes." It's a beautiful thing. Anyone who has not dug through a jumbo bag of candy looking for their date has just not lived.)

Of course...I could be wrong about the whole dance thing....maybe that was a chick? Who knows where the ducks came from but aren't they cute!

I pledge allegiance to the flag....

2009-04-06T23:06:00.004-06:00

I was browsing through my Grandpa's website, and I found this little gem. I vaguely remember my aunt Ema doing this for a reflections contest, or photography class or something....obviously I was pretty little so I could have dreamed this up...I do remember feeling a little strange wrapped up in a flag (for the record...I am fully clothed under the flag...from what I can remember, JUST kidding;). Perhaps the average viewer cannot tell, but my expression, to the probable chagrin of my grandpa is not all "hello I am pensively (and seriously) thinking of our great country while simultaneously pondering the sorrow of our journey." (Sorry Grandpa; You still love me right??) What I was actually thinking...I think...was something more akin to "Don't smile...don't smile....ahhhh this is killing me. I'm wrapped in a flag...HA!)

More Photos from Mexico

2009-03-29T22:42:00.005-06:00

My sister in law Jessica (the one with the photos of Noah feeding Elias the doughnut) took these pictures while we were down in Mexico. I especially love them because there are lots with me and NOAH! (I'm usually the one behind the camera, so its nice to have some with me in them.

My beautiful niece Fernanda.

Noah's obsession with my hair. He likes rubbing it in his face, especially when he is tired. He is so strange. ;)

GOAL!!!!!

Giddyup Mommy!

Let me help you cousin.

King of the beach.

Noah in training.

Easter Identity Thieves

2009-03-28T21:09:00.004-06:00

An email with these pictures was just forwarded to me. Normally I don't get too excited about "chain mails" or whatever you call them, but this one made me giggle.

Beware of Identity Theft This Easter...

Spanish Word of the Day-"Desafortunadamente"

2009-03-26T22:23:00.002-06:00

This word is 8 syllables long!!! De-sa-for-tu-na-da-men-te. Does that not just seem excessive to you? Anyways...it means unfortunately. Not so very useful but definitally fun.

When you wash THE blankie

2009-03-24T21:26:00.002-06:00

I have read a lot of books that said my baby would 'choose his own' comfort object. I thought this was pretty silly. How was he supposed to choose his own. I happily thought that I could choose a special bankie for him. There was even one I liked the best, soft and blue and beautifull...this would be his blankie.
This was not his blankie.
Noah choose another blankie, one I didn't really like that much. How do you know when your child has chosen his blankie? Take last night for example.
Said blankie was started to smell, and so I decided it was time for a washing. Never wash THE blankie in the evening. It will not be ready for bedtime.
Being the naive mother that I was, I put Noah to bed with another blankie without thinking anything of it. He went down fairly easily.
11:00 he woke up...screaming. I tried everything to quiet him. He was seriously wailing so I thought maybe it was his teethe. I gave him teething tablets and then later tylenol but nothing seemed to be working. I finally gave in and put him to sleep with a bottle.
5:00 he woke up again really really screaming now. I tried to give him his binkie, but he didn't even want it. This was really odd. And then it dawned on me...THE blankie. I honestly hadn't realized how attached he was to it until last night but the moment I gave it to him he was obsolutely fine. It was like magic. THE blankie could be puke brown and I would still worship the ground it....lays on.

The many faces of Noah

2009-03-22T18:08:00.005-06:00

When I got done with this I couldn't help thinking "Brady Bunch" ha ha. Oh my son is so hilarious, he makes everyone of these faces (and more) on daily basis.

Noah loves to be upside down.

"Hello" Noah loves phones, I think it might have to do something with Pa Pa who is always on the phone!

"Peek-a-boo!"

"I'm completely innocent. I promise"

"Ummmmm?" Were not sure what this is. Something between "icky icky" and just him showing off. He actually does this all the time. Silly boy.

Noah loves his blankie.
"Noah signing more." This is a very useful sign for Noah and he uses it over and over. At first he just thought it meant cookie, but now he's figured out that it can get him pretty much anything he wants!

"Fishy face!" He started doing this one day after I fed him something that was "lick your lips good!"

The making of a baby book

2009-03-15T23:26:00.002-06:00

So, I'm not a huge fan of the baby book that I have been writing in for the past year for Noah. I'm thinking I should just make my own "first year book" and put in all his barrus photo pics and also write things about his firsts and stuff. This is the first page I have come up with of his announcement that I sent out. Let me know if any of you have any advice on this adventure. Also, if your looking for free brushes for photoshop (I used those to do the feet and square boxes in the background of this page) go to myphotoshopbrushes.com.

My Mexican Family

2009-03-11T21:32:00.003-06:00

Here they are! The long awaited family pictures from our trip to Mexico this January.

This is my Mexican family! Aren't we beautiful? Jenny, Noah, Jona, Ana Laura, Pepe, Elias, Abuela (her name is actually Herminia, but we always call her Abuela) Jessica, and on top Mexican Mommy Laura and Mexican Daddy David. We took this picture at a Hacienda in Mexico (Which is like a huge house out in the middle of nowhere.) I set us all up, set the camera's exposure up and everything and then Lupita, a family friend snaped a few shots of us. This one was the best....I won't tell you how many head swaps we did. ;)

Jessica and the cousins. Somebody gave Noah a dounut right before the pictures and we were like...oh no, but it actually turned out fabulous. A little for Noah.

A little for the cousin.....

And...picture perfect!

Such adorable Abuelitos.

And here we are in our true form.

Twilight Inspired Video by my cousin

2009-03-02T13:50:00.003-07:00

Well..second cousin I guess..or once removed? I dunno, but I claim her! This is SWEET!

Little Miss Blue Eyes

2009-02-26T20:04:00.003-07:00

Oh to have this babies blue eyes...soooo gorgeous! She was so sweet to photograph, and her mom and I had a lot of fun.

Mexico through Jenny's lens

2009-02-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to capture the beauty of Mexico because I feel like a lot of us think of Mexico as this poor dirty place, but there is so much beauty there!!! Here are some of my favorite pics from our last trip down there.
This, I think, is my favorite picture. It is just so fabulous with my little traffic dude in the middle. There is a lot of green in Mexico, I think it must be their favorite color. Pretty much all the taxi's are green (as also depicted in this great photo ;), their bridges are green, many curbs are green, and many people's uniforms are green. Pretty much any job in Mexico requires a uniform. Its great, ever gardeners have uniforms...and you guessed it! They're green!

Oh how I adore the Mexican garbage 'posts' as I like to call them. It took me a long time to figure out why they have their garbage cans like this, little medal baskets on poles. Luckily I was recently enlightened. Apparently it is to keep the stray dogs out of the trash. Its pretty crazy to me though, because I don't understand how they fit all their garbage in that little basket. Its about a tenth of the size of our honking American garbage cans.Mr. Handsome strutting his stuff down a Mexican street...also note lovely garbage "post" in background.Spanish word of the day: "Güera" This is what all the vendors would call the "blonde" people like me. I used to get so mad! "I am not blonde!" I would tell Jona, but he would just laugh, because to the Mexicans I was very 'bonde.'

Say it with your hands

2009-02-21T22:10:00.004-07:00

I have been signing a few words to Noah for months now and the only one he would ever do was "all done," but then suddenly, out of the blue, clear as a bell, he signed "more" to me, as if he had known all along what it was and just suddenly acquired a need for it. He was pretty excited when he figured out he could get a lot of cookies with his new trick. You can not say 'no' to this:

There's a baby in there!

2009-02-20T18:46:00.005-07:00

Or rather...there was a baby in there. I just took his newborn pictures today, so I figured I better put up the maternity pics. This is my beautiful wonderful friend Emily and inside her belly is Benjamin he was just born last Thursday NINE pounds! WOW! P.S. She was very sweet to let me take this picture. I just had to try the whole "pregnant lady wrap," and poor Emily had to endure the torture. I seriously think it turned out nice though.

Stop the presses!

2009-02-17T22:56:00.004-07:00

Noah is finally getting his first tooth! YEA!! He is not going to be a toothless old man (well....maybe he will be a toothless old man...but at least he will not be a toothless teenager.) And so, to celebrate this fantastic milestone I am making a poll. Please participate and let us know when your child first got a tooth so we can find out if Noah qualifies for the Genius Book of world records for the oldest toothless baby. (Just kidding.)

I found the Lyrics!

2009-02-11T21:26:00.004-07:00

I am not the only one who has had trouble understanding the crazy legs bug. I decided to do some googleing and I found the lyrics!!!!
"Sort Sort Sort my shapes,
Circles, hearts and squares,
My legs can bend, lets play again,
Shapes are everywhere."
Personally...I don't think it is a HUGE improvement on the crazy lyrics I first came up with....but at least now I won't wonder why in the heck the female bug is saying "my wife's in bed, lets play again." Because that seriously bothered me.

What is it saying?!

2009-02-10T21:09:00.004-07:00

I need toy translation help. Noah has this little crazy legs learning bugs vtech toy that sings this song over and over, and I have no idea what it is saying! You would think that after 1,350,695,00, times of Noah pushing it around and hearing it sing it's little song that I would know what it is saying. So far I have come up with.
"short short short my shapes,
freckles, rice, and squares,
my wife's in bed & I play again,
shapes are everywhere."
As fantastic as that rhyme sounds....I'm somehow thinking that is is probably a little off.
Before I gave birth I told everyone that I would NOT tolerate toys that make noise and sing and all that crap, I have a very very low tolerance for repetitive noise. I have since decided that repetitive singing (no matter how ridiculously annoying...not to mention incomprehensible)....is much better than repetitive crying. Which is why Mrs. crazy legs is welcome (and indeed embraced) in my home. But I really really would like to figure out what the heck she's singing!