Yesterday Avery pulled up for the first time. Once she did it she just kept doing it over and over. Now she is trying to pull up on everything. It kind of made me laugh because she pulled up on the exact same toy that Maddy pulled up on for the first time.
She eventually fell and took the toy with her.
My sister, brother-in-law and nephew on his blessing day.
Nana, Papa, Stacy and Jace.
I saw this on another blog and thought it would be a fun challenge. The following is a list of 100 random things about me.
1. I'm the oldest of 7 children.
2. I've never had a broken bone.
3. I love the smell after a big rainstorm.
4. I thrive when organized.
5. I'm out of sorts when things around me are messy.
6. I love the smell of lilac bushes-reminds me of my childhood.
7. Of all the boys I've kissed Steve was the only one that didn't kiss me on a first date-he held out until the third. :)
8. I love walking into our mud room and seeing my little boys dirty shoes on the floor-it reminds me how much I love being a mother.
9. I hate seeing real fights in person-it is scary to me.
10. I fear the dentist more than then gynecologist(never had major dental work just hate it.)
11. All of my socks are white.
12. I've never had a manicure or pedicure.
13. I can pop about every joint on my body.
14. I've never had my own room.
15. When I was little I liked the smell of skunks.
16. I used to collect stickers.
17. I got married when I was barely 20.
18. I had my first child when I was almost 30.
19. I played softball, basketball and track in high school and didn't excel at any of them.
20. I am shy when it comes to meeting new people.
21. I won a Reflections contest when I was young.
22. I have never been out of the country unless you count Ensenada and Hawaii.
23. I had to watch "Little House on the Prairie" everyday when growing up-I couldn't bear to miss one episode.
24. I grew up in a small town.
25. I have never had room mates-except sisters and hubby.
26. I never had a grade lower than a B in school.
27. I hate being put on the spot.
28. I used to bite my nails.
29. I have never lived outside of Utah.
30. I loved sleeping on the tramp in the summer growing up.
31. I'm very indecisive.
32. I love completely using things up-like lotion, ketsup, etc.
33. I hate wasting anything.
34. I'm starting to really like photography.
35. When I was little I used to try to fly off my porch which was only about a 1 foot drop.
36. I'm scared of public bathrooms.
37. I love watching people at public events.
38. I blow dry my hair only about once a week because it takes too long because it is so thick.
39. I used to have 20/20 vision-not any more.
40. I get frequent headaches.
41. I love sleeping.
42. I'm very stubborn.
43. I'm a people pleaser by nature.
44. I usually fall asleep watching movies-sometimes even in the theatre.
45. I love a great sale.
46. I have rough pregnancies.
47. I dislike being bothered by door to door salesman and telephone solicitors.
48. I have only one filling in my mouth.
49. I watch lots of reality tv.
50. I love blogging.
51. I have only visited 6 states(Idaho, California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii.)
52. All of my siblings live in Utah except one.
53. I'm a perfectionist.
54. I love most music.
55. I'm afraid of failing, getting in trouble and disappointing people.
56. I'm allergic to mushrooms.
57. I've lived in Utah my whole life and have never been skiing.
58. I don't wear perfume or "smelly" lotions because they give me headaches.
59. I've never tried smoking, illegal drugs or any alcoholic beverage.
60. I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar.
61. I admire creative people-I have to really work at anything creative.
62. I worked at Lowe's for 10 years(8 of them in management.)
63. I have exercise induced asthma.
64. I am really uncomfortable with confrontation.
65. I check my planner at least once a day-I always feel like I'm forgetting to do something.
66. I could probably never live on an island-I feel trapped just knowing I couldn't drive away if I wanted to.
67. I go crazy if my check book is even a penny off when I balance it.
68. I've had a secret crush on Luke Perry since the beginning of 90210.
69. I have a lazy eye-which always ruins pictures-I'm not photogenic at all!
70. I love movies about dancing.
71. I don't like to cook-but I'm trying to like it.
72. I love and participated in gymnastics growing up.
73. I run from change.
74. I love lots of sauce on my food(pasta sauce, ketsup, dressing, sour cream, etc.)
75. I'm horrible at expressing my feelings-I keep them all bottled up-it drives Steve crazy.
76. I keep my house doors locked all the time-even during the day when I'm home.
77. When I was young I had problems sleeping and would go into my parents room at night and tell them I couldn't sleep and would end up sleeping on their bedroom floor. I was so worried about sleeping that I actually took NyQuil to girls camp.
78. I don't like taking medicine unless I absolutely have to.
79. I've never had a brand new car.
80. I find it pretty easy to relate to and understand most people.
81. I like getting the mail every day-I keep thinking someday there is going to be something really exciting in the mail.
82. I dislike bananas but love them in deserts.
83. I'm very intrigued by dreams and what they mean.
84. I love dressing my kids.
85. I don't like grocery shopping-I try to go only every two weeks.
86. I played the clarinet for 4 years and the piano for longer than that but don't play either anymore.
87. I feel guilty when I pay for bottled water.
88. I think sun tanning is boring.
89. I was once fired from a job.
90. I like watching shows like "forensic files" and then I'm always freaked out for a while and wish I didn't watch them.
91. I think babies feet are sooo cute.
92. I love to eat food!
93. My sisters and I once had a yard sale-where everything was handmade out of mud by us.
94. I don't like movies with vulgar language.
95. I love my family more than anything.
96. I love watching "Entertainment Tonight."
97. I used to love New Kids On The Block-but wasn't as obsessed as my friends.
98. My ideal day would be taking a nap on a perfect day in a beautiful meadow somewhere with no distractions.
99. Used to think it was the end of the world if I had to work on the night of a high school dance.
100. I can't believe I made it to 100.
Now that's one long list...I challenge anyone that's up for it to make a list about them self.
First to all the readers out there...I know I don't know some of you but I love getting comments and feedback on my blog. So don't hesitate to leave comments(just try and be nice)-I promise I won't think your some kind of crazy stalker. I also know there are family members reading that don't leave comments. There are a lot of blogs that I read(who I don't know) just because they are fun. I think part of what makes blogging so fun is receiving feedback and leaving feedback. I also enjoy blog-hopping once in a while to find new and interesting blogs. So to all of you that come and read and then sneak away I would love to hear from you...
So I have been using Google "Reader" for a while now and it really saves a lot of time as far as "blog stalking" goes. May be most of you all already know about it but just in case some of you don't I will let you in on the secret. I used to sit and check every ones blog probably every day-sometimes multiple times a day to see if they had a new post. It became very time consuming and somewhat disappointing. Then my sister told me that her friend somehow was notified when people updated their blogs. So I told her to find out how and let me know. Anyway it is called "Google Reader" and it does the blog stalking for you. It is really easy to use. When you first log into your blog(if you are using Google Blogger) your dashboard screen comes up. There is a link on the right side called "My account"(right under your "update profile" link.) Once you click on this a new screen(on the right) all your Google options come up, including Blogger, Gmail, and of course "Reader." Click on "Reader" then on the next screen on the left you can click on "add subscriptions" and input all the blog addresses(I just copy them right out of my browser instead of typing them in.) you want it to track. Then make sure you click on the "update" option(if you click on "all" it will just show all your subscriptions and not just the ones that are updated) and then whenever they update their blog it will list their blog name and how many posts they have that you haven't marked as read. Then you can just click on the link and read their posts or click on their actual blog link(which I like to do) and open up a window to their blog. It is so great! It takes a few minutes to input them all(depending on how many you have) but it is so worth it because it will save you so much time. You can always add more as well. I have also found some other blogs that I like to check that aren't listed under my "Friends & Family" sidebar(because I don't know them) that I have also added to my "Reader" acct. I don't even think you have to have a Google blog-you just have to have a Gmail acct.-you can also access "Reader" from your Gmail screen. The only exceptions that I know of that it doesn't track are private blogs and blogs that don't have a regular blog formats. Anyway just thought I would pass this info. on to any blog newbies like myself or anyone else that didn't already know. If anyone else has any blog "secrets" I would love it if you post them in the comments of this post.
For the past 4 Sundays Steve has got up with the kids and let me sleep in. I've been sleeping until about 8:45-when Maddy finally comes looking for me. Steve has also made us french toast on all of these Sundays. Any of you that know him very well know this is major-he never cooks, and he can find a way to get almost anyone to cook for him. I keep asking him if something is wrong or if he wants something. He claims he is just trying to be nice and let me sleep. I think he's finally realized after nearly 12 years that everybody will be happier if I get my much needed beauty rest. Well this past Sunday started sweet like the 3 previous Sundays but turned sour pretty quickly...
Ok, so admit it girls...we've all done it...taken a little drive by an old boyfriend or crush's house. Well I admit it, I've done it and one particular time was well, quite disastrous and embarrassing to say the least! The part that is probably the most embarrassing is that I was in college when this happened(you would think I would've outgrown "drive by's" by then.) I had been studying late at the library when on my way home(I still lived at home) I decided to take a "drive by" a guy's house that I had recently stopped dating. We mutually decided to stop dating for reasons that are better kept to myself. Anyway you look at it, he was just bad luck for me! On one of our dates we took a drive up the canyon. Well normally we wouldn't have had any problems but it was early spring and extremely muddy. Well we managed to get his truck stuck in the mud. I know what your thinking...he probably did it on purpose so he could make some kind of a move or something. But we were seriously stuck. We ended up walking down the canyon in the mud and rain to his house. This took us a couple hours. Not to mention that I was wearing shorts and sandals and we didn't get to his house until after 10pm. We caught a lot of flack from his sister who passed us walking home and his truck stayed there for about a month until it was dry enough to have it pulled out. Anyway back to my drive by story(sorry kind of got off on a tangent.) After finally ending a round of "on and off" dating I guess I still wasn't completely over him and took my little "drive by." This is where the story gets a little muddy. I don't remember if I chickened out or if the road was too muddy to continue on but for some reason a few houses away from his house I decided to turn my car around. Well since it was late at night and my night vision isn't the best I turned right into a ditch. That's right I was stuck in a ditch a few houses away from his(If your reading this and you know who I'm talking about please keep it to yourself-you never know who might end up reading this that might know people and on and on) house. My front left tire was in the ditch and the back end of my car was completely off the ground. I tried getting out but just dug myself deeper. It just keeps getting better. This was back before everyone carried cell phones including myself so I had to go to my friends house around the corner and use her phone to call my dad(I'm pretty sure I woke him up) to come rescue me. He came with his truck and chains and pulled me out. I was so embarrassed. I don't even remember what I told my dad-probably that I had been at my friends house(where I had used the phone) and had just taken a wrong turn. To top it off as I was waiting on the corner(between my friends house and my car) for my dad a truck full of guys stopped and asked if I needed a ride somewhere. I thanked them and let them know my ride(left out the dad part) was on his way. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse the parents of THE boy came out of their house to see what was going on. Needless to say that was the last time I drove by his house. Moral of the story, don't drive by an old flame's house unless you are willing to take the risk of getting caught.
This is probably my favorite thing in our house even though it sucks up a lot of money and my husbands time...Doesn't it make you want to go scuba diving?
This is my favorite picture of Maddy when he was a baby. The more I look at it the more I realize how much Avery looks like him.
This is one of my favorite pictures of Steve. It was Maddy's first shower. I'm probably going to be in trouble with Steve when he sees this. All I can say is hot! hot! hot!
4/22/07-Avery 12 days old.
This picture is very humbling to me. It is a reminder to me what a miracle Avery is. Just prior to her delivery and while they were resuscitating her I remember instinctively numbing myself and putting up a wall. I think it was my way of preparing myself to be able to cope if she didn't survive or had major long term disabilities. It was so surreal that I kept hoping that it was a nightmare and I would wake up soon. More on her delivery here. You can also read about her 3 month NICU stay here, here, and here..
This is one of Maddy and Avery's first pictures together.
I just love, love, love this picture! Of course my ever so talented sister Jamie made the tutu and the headband. I took the picture in our living room and then played with the lighting to black out the background in Photoshop.
Avery found her shadow the other day and it was the funniest thing. She would bear crawl as fast as she could following it until she got to the wall. She would then try and grab it. After no luck she would roll away from the wall and start over again. She was going so fast she was panting like she was getting a cardio workout. I must say it was quite entertaining to watch.
I was raised in a small town and I guess you could say we got pretty creative when it came to playing and having fun. I don't remember exactly how old I was but I was young enough to still believe in things that aren't real or even possible. My younger sister had this old orange rusty trike. My neighborhood friend convinced the two of us that we could all take apart this trike and turn it into an enormous airplane. We talked and dreamed about this every day. I think I even literally dreamed about it at night. We talked for hours about what the airplane was going to look like and where we were going to take it and who we would take with us. I TRULY believed this was going to happen. The inside was going to be painted like an enormous rainbow(I can still picture it so vividly.) We were going to leave our families(we debated taking them or not) for a long vacation and fly it to California to meet the guys from the "Dukes of Hazard." We loved that show and had a huge crushes on the boys. The airplane was going to be like a house on wheels and have beds and everything. We were sooooo excited! We gathered up the necessary tools you need to make a airplane like a hammer and nails(if only it were that simple.) We banged away on that thing for several days and never even really got it fully apart. When I think about it I can't believe how convinced I was that our plan was going to work. I was even a little sad that we were going to be leaving our families behind-it felt like we were going to be running away. Sometimes I wish we could be more naive and not so sceptical of life in general as we grow up-but then again I guess that's what life is all about-growing up and learning and everything that comes in between.
Maddy loves to help me clean. He's with me the whole time I'm cleaning the bathrooms and waits until he can flush the toilet after I clean it. He loves to dust with my feather duster and we have to take turns dusting because he is too impatient to wait until I'm done. He likes to sweep and scoop up the dirt with the dust pan. He also likes to help me unload the dishwasher-he gets to put away the tupperware. A few days ago I actually took the cushions off the couch to vacuum underneath them. He insisted that "Maddy clean it." So I let him vacuum while I wiped down the cushions. He did a pretty good job! We found a few of his missing toys as well so he was excited about that.
Today Avery is one. I can't believe how much can happen in just one year. One year ago today at this time I was 5 1/2 months pregnant and by 6:05pm Avery was born. She has grown and progressed beyond any one's expectations and I am truly blessed for our little "miracle."
Avery loving playing with the paper from her present. She got a cute little dress from her cousins in California.
Avery full of giggles wearing the dress we got her for her birthday.
I think Avery looks like such a "little girl" in this picture.Avery is such a blessing to our family. She is so spunky and such a little fighter. She loves to laugh and giggle and follow her big brother around the house. She is also turning into quite the little Daddy's girl. She just lights up when he is around. Here are some dates and milestones I want to remember about Avery's first year.
Weight/Length:
Birth=1 lb. 9 oz.(710 grams), 13 in.
1 mo.=1 lb. 9 oz.
1 1/2 mo.=2 lbs, 13 3/4 in.
2 mo.=2 lbs. 11.4 oz., 14.5 in.
2 1/2 mo.=3 lbs. 6.1 oz.
3 mo.=4 lbs. 8 oz., 16.5 in.
3 1/2 mo.=6 lbs.
4 mo.=7 lbs., 18 3/4 in., head 33 cm.
6 mo.=11 lbs, 21 1/2 in.
7 mo.=11.6 lbs.
8 mo. 1 wk.=13 lbs.
9 mo.=15 lbs., 25 in., head 40.5 cm.
9 1/2 mo.=15.4 lbs.
10 1/2 mo.=16.2 lbs.
11 1/2 mo.=16.2 lbs.
12 mo.=17.2 lbs., 26 1/2 in., head 41 cm.
Milestones:
5 mo.=sleeping 8 hrs. at night
5 mo.=brings hands to mouth
6 mo.=rolling belly to back, smiling
6 mo.=sleeping 12 hrs. at night
6 1/2 mo.=batting at objects
6 1/2 mo.=Pirate for Halloween
7 mo.=rolling back to belly
8 mo.=pushing up on arms, pivoting
9 mo.=sitting without support
9 mo.=started solids
9 mo.=laughs and squeals
9 1/2 mo.=on all fours, rocking, scoots backwards
9 1/2 mo.=grasping and manipulating objects.
10 1/2 mo.=gets in and out of sitting
11 1/2 months=crawling(3/30/08)
12 months=clapping(4/7/08)
Steve went and picked out flowers and goodies and had them delivered to the house. It's hard to tell in the picture but they are a greenish-yellow color. They are really pretty(yellow is my favorite color of flowers.) 
Maddy is always excited when Avery wakes up in the morning or wakes up from her naps. As soon as he hears her he says "Avery's awake" and rushes into her room(sometimes sooner than I want him too.) They start giggling back and forth and playing peek-a-boo under her crib bumper. It is really cute.
Lately he has been trying to get her out himself. I keep explaining that he's too little but he tries anyway.
While growing up my Dad would take turns taking out each of us girls on Daddy/Daughter Dates. We usually got to pick where we wanted to go. I would usually choose to go to "The Malt Shop" in my hometown of Ephraim, Utah, which I later worked at for 6 years. I would always get a bubble gum ice cream cone, on a sugar cone of course. We all loved bubble gum ice cream and sometimes my mom would buy one of the big tubs from the owner so we could have it at home to. I don't know why I liked it so much because the gum in it is pretty disgusting and dissolves in your mouth. The date that I probably remember the most was going to the "Bowling Alley." There were a lot of arcade games and air hockey tables. This particular time my dad gave me a whole roll of quarters to play games with. Anyone that knows my dad knows this is a big deal because he is quite the penny pincher(luv ya dad.) We also played air hockey together which was fun as well but I was always afraid the puck was going to fly off the table and hit me. It was so much fun!
Thomas S. Monson
Gordan B. Hinckley June 23, 1910-January 27, 2008
I just adored this man! He always had such a sparkle in his eye and such an endearing sense of humor. He was such a compassionate and loving man. He had such a love for all people and traveled the world to be among the people of the church. He was such a great ambassador and dedicated nearly his entire life to the church. He had a way of saying things that made everything so simple. He was so strong and healthy and did more at 97 than most half his age. I have so much love and respect for President Hinckley. I will truly miss this man and his cute little "cane" wave.
I was busy blogging yesterday(go figure) and I guess Maddy got a little too bored. He came running in the room pointing at his hair saying "Mommy, look, so cute!" I looked at his hair and there were big globs of something slimy looking(kind of like snot) all over in it. I had no idea what it was because he didn't have anything in his hands. I asked him what it was and he said "gel." I told him to show me and he ran into Avery's room and grabbed the very slimy tube of A&D diaper rash ointment. His hair looked so disgusting and I didn't have time to bathe him so I tried to rinse it out in the sink with soap. Well that didn't work at all so I just styled it like I would if he had real gel in it. It was just extra shiny and a bit greasy. We went to Wal Mart and I actually got comments from 3 different people that his hair was so cute. I just kind of smiled and said thanks. I bathed him last night and still couldn't get it all out. When he got up today his hair was still perfectly styled and in place. Anyway, thought it was pretty funny. You never know, he just might be on to a new kind of hair product...
Here is a closer view of his masterpiece...
My sister sent me this story a while ago and I just barely read it(thanks Jen.) It is a true story. It gave me chills and really hit home. I think you will understand why after you read it...
"THE SMELL OF RAIN"We are in the process of having our basement finished. I absolutely love how it is turning out and everything is coming together. There is going to be a theatre/family room/wet bar/game area, which is going to be fabulous, designated gym equipped with built in speakers and ipod dock and of course workout equipment(I will no longer have an excuse for not working out), 2 bedrooms(one of which we will probably use as our office and the other a guest bedroom), and of course a bathroom. Although I am so excited about it I feel like all I do is dust, dust, dust. I kept up with the housework for a while but then I got tired of dusting and cleaning the floors nearly every day. So I kind of gave up a little and let my house go. Being introduced to the blog world didn't help in the housework department either(although I do love it.) Our basement is nearly finished and I'm trying to get back on track with my housework. Here are a few shots of the early stages of the basement. I will post finished basement pictures hopefully in about two weeks(knock on wood).
