eeny meany mynee mo

the latest and greatest

2012-02-12T14:42:00.001-08:00

late is now 9 months old!

he is so cute and cuddly right now. my dad said that holding him is like taking a magic potion that makes everything happy and good. i agree.

charlotte started dance in january…and loves it. this is her shape.

laten has his 2 bottom teeth…he got them a month or two ago.

charlotte is no longer taking naps. this is a mutual agreement. we decided a nap is now prolonging bedtime which is not good for anyone. this picture was a random nap…which sometimes happens.

sal the cat continues to go to great lengths to find all things possible to annoy me. like sitting in this basket of clean clothes.

chuck loves to put puzzles together

late and chuck playing

and now some awesomeness from our latest photo shoot:

i have been writing/not writing this post for a couple weeks now. ugh. billy and i are both alive too. i’m out for now.

charlotte goes to primary

2012-01-01T19:35:00.001-08:00

today was chuck’s first day to go to primary. she was SO excited.

these are the stellar photos i took of her before we left for church.

when we went to go get her from primary to go to sacrament meeting we couldn’t find her. so we walked into the chapel and there she was up front by the podium being a reverence reminder. melted my heart! can she really be old enough for primary. love her.

p.s.she loved primary

p.p.s.she said today…”next week i can get baptized!”

thank you 2011

2011-12-31T20:23:00.001-08:00

for this little bundle. the best thing that happened to us this year.

pic by jos

now on to 2012

happy new year!

our christmas in blurry pictures

2011-12-27T13:06:00.001-08:00

i love this time of year. and i loved having christmas on a sunday so we could go to church, slow down the day a bit and definitely remember our Savior.

charlotte was SUPER happy to be mary. she was later a cow for the church primary nativity and she liked that just as much.

went to go sit on santa’s lap…er…sit in his awesome car. chuck loved it.

christmas eve pj’s…laten was already fast asleep in his.

christmas morning was so fun. charlotte could not stop laughing as she ran down the stairs and dove into her pink castle that she had been asking for. she stayed in there for a while til we coaxed her out with more presents.

laten slept through the whole morning presents and woke up just in time for church…

trying to get a nice christmas picture in front of the tree…

chuck: “i can’t hold him!”

me: “yes you can!”

then:

late got his rocking chair from grandma and grandpa but was more interested in the toy ball hanging off of it.

charlotte could not believe that santa had not brought her the jewelry box she had been asking for. but was so excited to see that grandma and grandpa had got one for her.

it was a good christmas. loved hearing chuck shout out from the backseat of the car…”fancy lights on mommy’s side!” fancy lights on laten’s side!” she loved the lights, the music, the stories, the food, the presents…just about everything. can’t wait for next year!! until then, bye bye decorations. i left them up a day longer than usual.

merry christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:43:00.001-08:00

laten’s 6 month stats at 7 months

2011-12-13T12:13:00.001-08:00

laten just had his 6 month check-up:

weight: 18 pounds 15 ounces…55%

height: 27.75 inches…73%

head: 25%

this boy! melts my heart. i cannot get enough of him. love this chub-a-lub.

we did it! only took 6 months

2011-11-10T08:33:00.001-08:00

last night was the THIRD night laten has slept in his crib!!! i finally bit the bullet and took him out of his snug bassinet. i miss him being right next to my bed. BUT, he is doing great in the crib…not sleeping as soundly as when he was in the bassinet. like, he has the nerve to get up at 8 now! instead of me waking him up at 9 or so. i think the bassinet was his little cocoon. it had to be done. he lasted a whole month longer in the bassinet than charlotte…and she was much smaller than him. i love this little chunk-a-lunk.

his hair is coming in and it cracks me up!

halloween 2011…the circus comes to town

2011-10-31T21:14:00.001-07:00

the cutest clown in the world!

and the strongest man in the world…i wish i had a better picture of laten in his costume…but i don’t and now halloween is dead to me!

BUT, i really should have gotten a better picture with him and his tattoo and barbell and mustache. i love it!

happy halloween!

today

2011-10-07T16:37:00.001-07:00

this is how i feel today. billy, please get home soon.

in more exciting news…laten rolled over for the first time last night and then multiple times today. AND…he had his first taste of rice cereal. he liked it.

out.

i love her lots

2011-10-04T13:50:00.001-07:00

she is so big. i love all of these pictures that my sister took. i love it when 10 minutes of picture taking ends this way. i also love having sweet pictures of chuck to remind me that i love her when she is acting crazy.

laten’s 4 month stats

2011-09-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

here are late’s 4 month stats…even though he is almost 5 months:

height: 26.5 inches 83%

weight: 17.38 lbs. 77%

head: 16.5 in. 26%

this little boy is so sweet. i could not believe they wanted to give my sweet boy shots! and make him cry and scream! rude. but seriously, i love him so much.

a few random things about laten:

***he is not even thinking about rolling over. forget about it.

***he thinks it is hilarious when i take his clothes off and also put them back on. i laugh every time.

***oh! speaking of his laugh…best sound ever ever.

***he is still sleeping in the bassinet. i don’t want to put him in his crib, but he is getting too big for the bassinet.

***he sleeps 8:30 usually til 8 or so. today he slept til 9 and i had to wake him up!

***he is so chubby. his thighs! oh his thighs! huge! love them.

***loves his sister (totally cranks his neck to catch a glance of her)…and she loves him. it was so cute to see her so worried about him getting his shots.

***likes to eat and sleep…hence the chubbiness.

***his acid reflux is WAY better

***likes to sleep on his side

***he loves to shove his blanket in his mouth and suck on it. he’ll stick so much of it in his mouth that he will gag. it’s funny. and cute.

***he seriously loves his blanket.

i love this boy.

charlotte turns 3: a pink party

2011-09-09T22:33:00.001-07:00

well folks, she’s 3. i know!

chuck wanted a pink party. i’m not a huge fan of pink myself, but since i am such an awesome mom…a pink party she had.

we had her party a day before her actual birthday because we were going to lagoon on her birthday.

it was pretty low key. family, food, presents, cake. fun.

she loves to do this face when i say “smile”

trying to hold up 3 fingers

happy birthday charlotte!

the next day we opened a couple presents and headed to lagoon.

the only thing chuck asked for was a pink bunny, so i decided to make one for her. her reaction made all of my efforts worthwhile. she ran laps around the kitchen screaming and hugging the pink bunny. she loves it…and we love her!

look alike

2011-08-26T15:22:00.001-07:00

i love to compare pictures of chuck and late. they look soooo much alike. these are my favorite to compare so far:

laten at 3 months in his blessing attire (blessed 7/31/2011…just in case i never get around to posting about it). i die over his socks and shoes! and his outfit! plus those cheeks! love!

charlotte at 3 months in her blessing outfit

i love these pictures SO much and thank my lucky stars to have such a talented sister to take them!! thanks jos.

chuck and sal

2011-08-24T13:23:00.001-07:00

charlotte had a fun day in the sun and didn’t get a nap…or so i thought. i came downstairs to find this:

passed out on the floor for the first time ever.

and kitty was takin a nap too:

so i went back upstairs and then came down a few minutes later to find this:

so cute.

sal

2011-08-07T14:09:00.001-07:00

well, we have a kitty. her name is sal. she lived in our bushes for a couple weeks before we finally decided to take her to the vet and make her our kitty officially. she is super cute and very energetic!! she makes me laugh a lot because of all the dumb things she does. i feel bad because now chuck walks around the house saying “stupid cat, stupid cat”…i have no idea where she got that. haha.

pictures taken by my sister

laten’s 2 month stats

2011-07-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

weight: 13 pounds, 13 ounces…yowza! 67%

length: 24 inches 64%

head: 15.4 in 16%

late is such a chunk and i love it!

it’s gonna be a bright sun shiny day

2011-06-23T08:53:00.001-07:00

cuz this lil guy slept til 6:15 am. 6:15 people! not 2am, not 3, not 4…6:15!!! i know he might not do this continually…yet. but it seriously gives a girl hope, ya know?

in other news: laten’s cheeks are filling in quite nicely. seriously in love with this dude.

Laten at one month + birth story

2011-06-02T23:08:00.001-07:00

oh wow, one month? i can’t believe late is one month old already. he is just the cutest, softest, gruntiest little boy ever…and we love him so. he is turning into quite the eater and has a major double chin to prove it…we can really see his chunk potential and i love it! he is oh so different than chuck was as a baby…silly me, i thought they were all the same…just kidding…i just hoped they would be. chuck was an angel baby and laten is kind of a diva. however, in his defense he has acid reflux which really bothers him a lot. it’s so sad. i can’t imagine life without this lil guy!

so, late’s birth story is pretty calm and standard (unlike chuck’s). it was so much easier!

may 2nd-6am call the hospital to see what time to come in to be induced…they say to call back at 8.

8am call hospital again and they say to be there at 9. um, ok. this is when billy has to take chuck to my sister’s house and i lose it. jeez, it was seriously so emotional saying goodbye to my first born knowing that everything is going to be so different when i see her next. when billy left i really lost it. anyway.

9:30am get to hospital and check in

11am-start induction

2:30ish pm-have water broken

5:24pm-laten curtis smith was born!

laten…3 days old here

quite the birth story eh? guess i don’t have the energy to write the details which was pretty much just hangin out with billy and texting updates to my fam. watchin the breaking news of bin laden being killed. stuff like that.

when they told me i was at a 10 i was so surprised since it took like a week to get to a ten with chuck. and then when i only had to push for 7 minutes or so…surprised again. it was so wonderful to finally see this little boy and to feel his skin next to mine and to hear the beginnings of his grunts (he had to go to the transition area for like 4 hours because they were worried about the gruntiness). i was totally planning on sending him off to the nursury for a bit of a rest, but in the end i just couldn’t do it. i needed him close. we cut our hospital stay as short as they would let us.

we love you laten!

laten at one month.

Laten Curtis Smith…5.2.11

2011-05-05T09:19:00.001-07:00

welcome to the world little buddy.

we are all soooo in love with this furry guy!

i just love these two kiddos…

thanks to my awesomely talented sister for the pics!

things i care about and other things i really don’t care about

2011-04-29T14:03:00.001-07:00

i care about h&m opening at fashion place mall in the fall…bring it! can you believe it? this is good and bad. good because i love h&m…bad because everyone and their dog will have the same clothes.

i really don’t care about the royal wedding and hope i never have to hear about it again.
i care that the weather is not very warm right now and it makes me want to punch people.
i do not care if i ever make dinner again…hopefully this will change after baby is born.
i care about having my house spotless when we bring this baby home…so i better get cleanin.
i really don’t care if i ever have eggs again after the baby is born.

i care that i am being induced on monday!!! monday people! baby is coming! seriously so excited and anxious and simply cannot wait!!!!!!!

p.s.could these two BE any cuter?

picture taken through window and from far away…hence the graininess.

happy easter

2011-04-24T20:46:00.001-07:00

33 weeks and stuff

2011-03-23T19:31:00.001-07:00

alrighty, so i am 33 weeks along with baby #2. crazy, eh? can you believe that if i had him at the gestation that i had chuck that he would be here in 2 weeks? wowza. that will most likely not happen.

baby charlotte…born at 35 weeks.

just had ultrasound #3 for this baby and it got me super excited for him to come out! ahhh, can’t wait!

have gestational diabetes again. sucks. but i have stopped gaining weight, soooooooo it does have a good side. i might not pass up billy’s weight.

chuck is excited to meet “baby brother”. i hope this lasts. she gives my belly kisses all day long and says, “can’t wait to see you”. or, “i miss you”. how cute is that? i know.

i know this baby is going to kinda rock chuck’s world…but i’m hoping it rocks it in a good way. i try not to think about her not being the only one. it makes me a little sad for some reason.

family picture

this pregnancy has been pretty good. i realize i haven’t really posted much about this pregnancy…i don’t think i posted much about chuck’s pregnancy either. just how it goes. i’m not a lover of being pregnant. it’s not awful, i just don’t LOVE it. some people do.

i’ve been going to the doctor every week since i’ve been 30 weeks. it’s a pain, but i’m glad my doctor is cautious.

i haven’t bought one thing…wait…i did buy one thing for this little boy so far. but i have tons of clothes for him from my sister. thanks jos. need some newborn diapers and i’ll be good to go, right?

overall, i am just so excited to hold this baby boy and see what he looks like. it’s crazy to think that this will be happening soon!!

a big girl bed for chuck

2011-03-02T13:05:00.001-08:00

chuck has been in her big girl bed for a whole month now!! she has loved it from the get go! the only time she has gotten out was the very first night…when i promptly threatened to put her in her crib. worked like a charm.

she loves to shove all of her “friends” in the little shelf she has. i like to make it look cute and she likes to mess everything up. that’s okay.

i’m so glad she likes it. we both can’t wait for the amazing quilt my mom is making for it!!

a sad day

2011-02-10T20:04:00.001-08:00

jerry sloan, head coach for the utah jazz retired today. i vaguely remember a time when jerry wasn’t the coach, but for the majority of my life it’s been jerry. i even wanted to name our first born “sloan” for jerry. this did not fly with billy, but i was dead serious. i’m pretty sad about him leaving. i didn’t even think the jazz would exist beyond sloan. is it possible? anyway, he is a legend and will be missed greatly.

jerry and john. sigh.

i’ll miss this.

thanks jerry!

january is dead to me

2011-02-01T12:38:00.001-08:00

let’s get this over with february.

moving on…

these pictures make me laugh. billy and chuck made a tiny snowman while i was gone to the store.

when i got home i gathered some accessories for them.

i love that two fingers are shoved into each finger hole of the glove. i love how he squeezed tight leggings over her jeans to help her be warmer. i love the converse even though she does have snow boots. he is the best dad!!

i love that she loved this snowman.

yes, we used chocolate for the eyes and mouth. i seriously could not find anything else.

six things on saturday

2011-01-22T12:47:00.001-08:00

1::i am so over january. could it BE any longer?

2::my prell kitty is gone. she is actually not my cat, but my sister’s cat but i loved her. i lived with pirelli while living with my sister and her family in chicagoland for almost 2 years. i will miss her. she always cracked me up with her random bitings and swings of her paw as someone would walk by. i loved that she loved billy so much. she would always climb onto billy’s chest (especially when we were in chicago) and nuzzle her way up to his face. seriously so funny. and then after about 30 minutes or so just randomly bite him! funny. then he would toss her off. yes, she was a biter, but i still loved her. i will miss going to their house and seeing her sprawled on top of the red stripey chair. and i will miss chuck saying, “preeeellll, what ya doin?” or “prelly?”

this pic cracks me up. i was trying to get my sister sleeping in in the background while getting 3 year old sully, prell and myself. classic chicago days.

3::bought a treadmill. put it all together just to find out that one of the legs was shattered. it’s pretty much a sign that i shouldn’t exercise and just get more fat. that sucks. now we have to haul the big ol’ thing back to the store.

not my treadmill, and certainly not me.

4::billy and i have been watching the john adams series and it is awesome. so interesting! the characters and the acting is superb.

5::my sister and her family plus my parents have been in hawaii all week (jealous much?). when chuck and i go to pick up my parents mail and newspaper i tell her that grandma and grandpa aren’t there, that they are in hawaii. then she’ll say, “jos’s house?” in which i reply that she is also in hawaii. and now all chuck says is, “i go hawaii!!!” yeah, you and me both kid.

6::we miss billy around these parts. he has been working a ton lately, which we are grateful for, but we miss him. thanks for all you do billy!!

waiting for dad to get home

2011-01-21T13:41:00.001-08:00

christmas 2010

2011-01-03T12:46:00.001-08:00

this post has to be, so let’s get er done.

saw santa again. but i refused to pay the 20 bucks for a picture, so santa wouldn’t look at me. he was cute with chuck though.

opening christmas eve jammies that billy bought.

so cute.

santa came.

so blurry, but she was SO excited.

also blurry, but it’s once of my favorites.

opening presents with billy.

baby high chair from my parents. chuck thought it was perfect for herself.

cousin lola showed her what to do. chuck’s not sure about it.

loves her new dancing skirt from my parents. she has some awesome moves.

she kept taking this bag and saying, “i go shopping”. then she would come back with things she had collected around the house in her bag. funny.

this christmas season has been so fun. chuck is at the age where she is soooo excited for all the hoopla even though she still doesn’t fully grasp what is going on. it is really the most wonderful time of the year.

BUT, come the 26th…or the 27th…christmas is dead to me(not the spiritual part, just the decoration/music part..ya know?). i want all decorations down stat. i just love getting the tree up the first week in december and then getting it the heck outta here the day after christmas. i really enjoy it so much for the whole month it is up, and then christmas comes and i’m over it.

anyway, it has been great.

oh, and here is our christmas card this year. my sister took the pictures and designed the card. i love love it. i don’t have the digital version, so i took a picture of it.

snips and snails, and puppy dog tails!!

2010-12-20T13:55:00.001-08:00

we are having a boy! a mini billy? i can’t wait!!

bummed

2010-12-18T21:19:00.001-08:00

yes, i realize that my last post was a downer…this post isn’t too negative. anyway…

i’m bummed. this is the weekend of the motab’s christmas concert and i am not participating this year. remember this?

i was just remembering how magical the whole thing is and feeling bummed that i didn’t try out. i figured i would be 20 weeks pregnant and too big to move my butt around, but i think i could have handled it. oh well, too bad. this year’s guest performer is david archeletta. i think it would have been a whole different experience with him, but still good. being a part of these concerts is so fun and really amazing. i’m in for next year for sure…i don’t care how old i am…some of the dancers are as young as 16. here’s to next year.

randomness

2010-12-10T20:25:00.001-08:00

the weather is crap today. raining lots. i need the sun to shine soon or the doom and gloom is going to set in and that is not good for anybody.

i was going to post about how awful chuck has been lately…but it looks like she is making a turn for the better. thank goodness, because i was contemplating either giving her up for adoption or the baby in may or both. but now i’ll keep em’.

she looks so sweet here. hahahahahaha.

i’m over 18 weeks along with baby #2. we have our ultrasound scheduled in less than a week and a half. i’m excited and nervous.

we are in full christmas decor over here and some days i love it and some days i want to throw it all away. chuck will randomly go and give our christmas tree big hugs and if we’ve been gone she’ll say “i missed you christmas tree”. funny.

i want to toss all of chuck’s toys. i think it’s the toys in addition to the christmas decorations that is driving me crazy.

i feel like my emotions are way over the top this pregnancy go around. the other day i cried when i heard mariah carey’s “all i want for christmas is you” on the radio. which is super upbeat and fun and i was crying. don’t even get me started on listening to the mo tab sing each sunday. i lost it bad when they sang “i’ll be home for christmas” this past sunday. jeesh.

i haven’t really started any christmas shopping which is typically how i roll. procrastination station is where i live.

charlotte got her first haircut. i was a little traumatized for a few days and wondered what i had done. but i’m over it and now i think it’s cute.

this is the best picture i could find of chuck’s new hair.

chuck also sat on santa’s lap and didn’t cry, but she certainly didn’t want to linger and chat it up with santa…she just wanted her present.

i could not for the life of me get santa to look at me.

i have nothing to wear. i’m huge. not my belly so much as my butt and hips. my hips have expanded as if i was going to give birth tomorrow. since i was big pregnant with charlotte during the summer months all i have are skirts and shorts. zero pants. i need to purchase some pronto.

this post is lame and i probably should just delete it, but it’s all i got right now.

i’m thankful

2010-11-24T13:31:00.001-08:00

i’m thankful for my billy who works so hard and is THE best dad/playmate charlotte could ever hope for.

i’m thankful for charlotte, who brightens every day of my life with her sweet smiles and giggles and her mischievous ways.

i’m thankful for diet coke.

i’m thankful for online shopping and bargains.

i’m thankful for family who i know always have my back and loves me unconditionally.

i’m thankful for my magic blue vacuum cleaner.

i’m thankful for good books and good tv.

i’m thankful for genuine people.

i’m thankful for stretchy pants.

i’m thankful for sunshine.

i’m thankful for my washer and dryer.

i’m thankful for the heater.

i’m thankful for genuine friends.

i’m mostly thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the knowledge that i have of the gospel.

AND i’m so so so thankful for this:

happy thanksgiving!!!

making me happy today…

2010-11-11T19:32:00.001-08:00

these boots…on this little girl.

these are the best pictures of chuck i could get today…she was NOT in the mood. but, these boots? i get so happy when she wears them.

i kitty cat, meow

2010-10-31T14:13:00.001-07:00

i’m going to break my blogging strike (just made that up) so i can post pictures of charlotte in her kitty cat halloween costume. she kept saying, “i kitty cat, meow”. she loved it and would probably wear it every day.

prior to me cutting the ribbon shorter.

chuck with her kitty cat pumpkin.

happy halloween everybody!! can’t wait to take down all the halloween crap! wahoo.

charlotte’s 2 year stats

2010-09-28T14:30:00.001-07:00

weight: 26 pounds…46%

height: 35 inches…77%

head: still big….92%

just had charlotte’s 2 year appointment. i didn’t think she was that tall. a few things about charlotte at this time:

she is a major daddy’s girl. “daddy do it”. i hear this all the time when billy is home. she wants daddy to change her diaper, blow her nose, wipe her mouth, read her books. it’s funny.

i can pretty much understand 95% of what she says. she is talking so much…usually in three word sentences. not so sure other people can understand her.
she can count to ten in english and to five in spanish. i had no idea she could do either of these until one day she just started counting. billy and i laughed so hard when she started saying, “uno, dos, tres, patro(quatro), cinco”
she loves to color/draw. i find blank pieces of paper all over the house with little scribbles all over them.
she loves to play with other little kids.
she still loves dora (hence the counting)and occasionally max and ruby…which she calls, “RUBYMAC!”
a month or so before she turned two she started to want to go poop in the toilet. she would say”poo poo” and then i would ask if she wanted to go on the toilet and she said yes. she went in the toilet for almost a whole week. now nothing. i’m pretty sure i messed up somewhere. i have no idea what i’m doing in the potty training area. maybe i didn’t push her hard enough? or at all? BUT, i’m not worried about it at all. she’ll do it when she’s ready. and then by that time, maybe i will be ready too.
she has the best laugh and the softest skin. AND has still never had a haircut.

she puts herself in timeout and thinks it’s a blast. billy and i try our hardest to not laugh and be stern. it’s hard.
she has a very hard time listening to most things i ask her to do.
she loves to sing and dance.
she loves purses, which she stuffs full of all sorts of toys and trinkets.

we love this little girl so much and i smile everyday when i wake up to her yelling from her crib…unless it’s before 7am…then no smile. love ya charlotte!!

what do you want from me

2010-09-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

just ran across this video i took on my phone. chuck is just a baby...18 months. now she is freakin two years old!! anyway, both chuck and i are doing our best adam lambert impression. this video of chuck cracks me up and we both can watch it 50 times a day and not get sick of it.

the good and the bad

2010-09-18T21:39:00.001-07:00

chuck waking up at 6:30 am…bad

chuck not wanting to watch dora while i continue to sleep…bad

chuck whacking me and saying “wake up momma”…cute, but still bad

chuck crying/whining all morning…um, bad

going to nieces soccer games and having my brother take chuck home with him…good

chuck crying and spitting out her lunch…bad

billy coming home, chuck napping while i leave and aimlessly walk the isles of macy’s and tj maxx…good

realizing i have no money to buy stuff…bad

going home to awake and happy chuck…good

partaking in delish carne asada tacos…oh so good

chuck slamming the blinds in the restaurant over and over…bad

going on walk with billy and chuck…good

chuck down for the night…good

movie with billy…good

whoa, chuck was on one today. i love that kid.

a few things that i want to blog about super quick

2010-09-14T21:37:00.001-07:00

some things that happened in the smith family summer of 2010…

lots of popsicles in the backyard. charlotte inevitably had a meltdown when the last of her popsicle fell to the ground. happened every time.

see, lots of popsicles.

sunday family dinners at my parents house in the backyard. these are the best. chuck loves being around her cousins and has always been tagging along with the older kids right from the start.

the kids love to play on my parent’s chaise lounge cushion. here they are dragging chuck around and she loves it.

i will definitely miss backyard bbq’s when it gets cold.

the zoo. once. that’s all i need to go, thanks.

this is the best picture i could get at the zoo. it was too dang hot to get my camera out very much.

went camping to hannah, utah with all of the ballou’s…this deserves a post of it’s own that i will probably get around to in a month or so…but here is a preview:

we stayed in tents and everything.

billy and i celebrated 4 years of being married. wahoo! we went to park city for the day. it was so fun.

we were planning on doing a mid day lunch/dinner, but when we were walking by baja cantina we HAD to stop in for some flautas. love the flautas.

billy at baja cantina on our honeymoon.

billy at baja cantina august 2010

then we did the alpine slide and the alpine coaster. i loved the alpine coaster. fast and fun.

heading up the alpine coaster.

we ended our evening by going to see inception. it was very good. love ya babe!

there is more, but it will have to wait for another day or else it wouldn’t be super quick.

charlotte turns 2

2010-09-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

it was chuck’s birthday on sunday and we had a might fine(inside joke, hahaha)…i mean a mighty fine shindig.

charlotte waiting patiently for the guests to arrive…she was so excited

i had so much fun putting this party together for charlotte. she really knew what was going on and kept saying “happy birthday”. she was getting a little whiney before everyone showed up and i said “do you want everyone to come and bring presents?” and she said, “yeah” and i told her she had to be happy then. so then she walked around saying, “presents, happy”. that’s my girl!

it was a great evening spent with family and charlotte had a great time.

photo by my sister

i made this cake with all those dumb roses on it. it looked great for the first 30 minutes the roses were on…and then one by one they kept falling off. devastating! i would reattach a couple and then look at the cake 5 minutes later and 4 more had fallen off. so lame. anyway i finally just stuck a toothpick in the center of each rose so it would stay. it was pretty funny/really irritating.

blowing out her candles

eating her cupcake on her new bike

happy birthday charlotte!!!

lovin’ the rain

2010-08-11T13:28:00.001-07:00

last week we had a mid day summer rain storm. i love it when it rains in the summer. i made sure all the windows were open to let the fresh rain smell in and then chuck and i went to play in it. charlotte was a little worried at first due to the hail that started coming down. so, we watched the hail and then when that went away we played in the rain and the puddles. she had a blast!

hey-o bus-o

2010-07-13T12:45:00.001-07:00

well, we just got back(last week) from a trip to chicago. billy’s family was having a reunion which was very fun, but also a bit exhausting for all of us. main reason for this was probably the 1400 miles we drove each way. that’s right folks, we drove…with a 21 month old. awesome. chuck actually did very good in the car…but we did have help…thanks dora. BUT, due to the driving chuck was soooo tired the whole trip. i was tired too and the only pictures i took were at six flags. i’m pretty bummed i didn’t get pictures of charlotte with grandma helen. dang. next time. this trip chuck decided to add an “o” on to the end of her favorite words. “bus-o”, “drink-o”, “daddy-o”, “bink-o”. it’s pretty funny. well here are the only pictures i took from this trip. pathetic.

this girl kept saying, “look at my new best friend”. it was so cute. she had asked me when we were in line if charlotte could ride with her. so funny.

a picture of charlotte

2010-07-10T09:48:00.001-07:00

my sister joslyn just snapped this shot of chuck one night in my parents backyard. she surely knows what she is doing with a camera. seriously love this picture!!!!

this girl surprises me everyday

2010-07-09T12:22:00.001-07:00

two nights ago charlotte randomly woke up at 11:30pm. billy and i were still awake, but we were laying in bed. charlotte kept saying “out, out, out”. i went in and laid her down and told her to go back to sleep and then i went back to bed. she continued to say “out” and we decided to ignore her, but then she stopped and i figured she was trying to go back to sleep. and then we heard her say “OWWWWWT” and then we heard a der clunk!!!

yup, she fell/jumped out of the crib!!! i have always said that i didn’t think that charlotte would ever think to do this, but she did. she didn’t hurt herself. i saw no bumps or bruises. she just laid there stunned and crying. looking back on it now makes me laugh. once we heard the der clunk, billy and i both sprung out of bed and went running and then charlotte kept saying “bonk”. silly girl. i really don’t think she will try this again, but then again, i never thought she would do it in the first place.

ghetto jungle jim’s

2010-06-22T21:29:00.001-07:00

on billy’s day off last week we took charlotte to jungle jim’s, which is pretty much chuck e. cheese with rides. it was funny.

first ride she went on. i seriously thought the spaceship was going to fall right off. charlotte wasn’t too sure about this ride.

ride number 2. still not quite sure. oh, and by the way, don’t wear a skirt when trying to fit in children’s rides and still remain modest at the same time…

blurry, but as you can see she was very excited about the horsies.

me trying to arrange the skirt situation. decided to go with indian style. anyway, we both enjoyed this ride while it was going forward…chuck was laughing. then they thought it was a good idea to go backwards which we both did not enjoy.

as you can see, she was done with this ride. i managed to cover up my dislike for this ride better than charlotte.

she was pretty much talking about the balloons as soon as we walked in the door. she tried to go steal some from a party that was going on. and she was sooooo happy when she finally got her own.

it was fun.

feeling much better

2010-06-08T21:56:00.001-07:00

life is so much better without barf and diarrhea. ya know what i mean?

my house stinks

2010-06-01T21:38:00.001-07:00

chuck is sick. it sucks. she barfed yesterday. she barfed today. and has now moved on to diarrhea. it’s awful. i have scrubbed and steamed and my house still seems to smell. it’s gross. i feel very bad for her. please get better soon little chuck.

could she be more sad?

p.s. she was in her jammies til she barfed all over them…and me. sigh.

charlotte’s house

2010-05-12T20:17:00.001-07:00

we got this little house at a yard sale for 10 buckaroos. it is a complete eyesore…but it is totally worth it to get this reaction from charlotte.

seeing her house for the first time

billy and i were laughing and smiling just as much as she was. her reaction was so awesome!! i love this little girl so much.

the sewing bug

2010-04-22T20:39:00.001-07:00

a few weeks ago i caught the sewing bug. i made two dresses for chuck. one from an old t-shirt of mine and the other from one of billy’s old shirts. it was fun.

i forgot to take a before picture of this one, but it turned out pretty cute…definitely a play dress. i actually would make some changes to the tutorial i followed, but yah.

i really like how the next one turned out. here is the shirt before…

and here is the finished product…

charlotte did not love the belt, but she got over it.

easter 2010

2010-04-13T13:31:00.001-07:00

i love easter…and so does charlotte…

charlotte with her “nanny” (candy)

new sunglasses, wahoo!

very excited about this book

easter dress.

finding loot at grandma and grandpa’s…i love this pic of her gettin down and dirty, anything for “nanny”…and cuz, lola looking at her

worn out

the end.

thank you warm sunshine

2010-04-08T21:49:00.001-07:00

charlotte’s 18 month stats

2010-03-20T22:15:00.001-07:00

weight: 24.13 lbs…46%

length: 32.25 in…65%

head: 86%

charlotte at 18 months

2010-03-05T20:20:00.001-08:00

yup, 18 months…can ya believe it? me either.

only 6 more months til she is 2!! what in the world?

how bout 18 things about chuck…

1. she knows her animal sounds…cow, kitty cat, doggie, monkey, sheep, fish, (lion, bear and tiger…all sound the same…but she knows them none the less).

2. she is still a compulsive waver and waves at everyone she sees. she gets giddy when people actually acknowledge her and wave back.

3. she loves books and will just sit and thumb through every book on her shelf for a long time.

4. she went down the big huge twisty slide at the park the other day for the first time and absolutely loved it. I was kinda freakin out…she’s little. i don’t think she is afraid of too many things.

not charlotte, but this picture is funny, right?

5. she talks more and more every day and says new words all the time. last sunday, she was flippin through one of her books and said “duck” plain and clear. i looked down and sure enough a duck! so proud.

6. she thinks she is funny.

7. she hates to get dressed and to get her diaper changed. drives me crazy.

8. she loves to help with the laundry. she will take the stuff from the washer to the dryer (they are in different rooms) and this makes her day.

9. she loves to be thrown around, chased, and swung.

10. she knows where her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, head, belly button, and feet are.

charlotte, where are your ears?

11. she loves patty cake and does all of the motions by herself.

12. she loves to dance when music comes on.

13. she likes to carry her coat and shoes around the house. she would carry her blanket around if i let her.

14. she went into nursury for the first time last week and loved it. i missed her lots during relief society and sunday school.

15. she gets really excited when she sees someone she knows…ya know other than me and billy.

16. she hates to have her teeth brushed. this is so frustrating. i try to make it fun, but no dice. her lips are sealed shut and when i try to open them up she goes crazy. she is strong i tell ya.

17. she makes me laugh everyday.

18. she loves to play hide and seek with her dad. she would hang out in billy’s closet all day long.

this girl melts my heart and i can’t believe she is so big. i love love love her.

made my day

2010-03-04T20:16:00.001-08:00

so, today was not that great of a day. nothing really happened to make it a bad day, i was just grumpy and ornery. billy came home from work and i was grouchy. it did not help that i forgot to get the dang mozzerella cheese at the store 20 minutes earlier. billy said he would go get some and i asked if he would get some baking soda too. which he did. this is what he got…

i seriously laughed for a good 10 minutes. he bought the big one…i put my old one next to it so you could see the difference. he bought a 4 lb. box people!!! made my day, i tell ya.

thursdee musings

2010-02-25T21:17:00.001-08:00

don’t you wish that thursday was actually called thursdee? i do. sometimes. anyway, i kinda thought it was funny that i left that “josette chair” post up for so long without a new one. my mom said, “i wish you would just buy that chair so you can blog again.” funny. i haven’t bought the chair, but i did go into the pier 1 by my house to look at their pillows and i asked if they had the “josette” chair. they didn’t. bummer. i told the chick that “josette” is my name. she didn’t care. hmmm. i also bought a pillow to go on my bed and then returned it…bought a different pillow…only to return that one as well a few days later. in fact, i went on quite the pillow spree. i still need to return 4 pillows i bought at kohls. i hate returns. BUT, i ended up with some awesome pillows from macey’s that were a steal!

first pillow i returned. it’s not cute…and doesn’t work with my bedding.

charlotte has been cracking me up lately. she is talking more and more and i love it. i was watching my niece, lola, today and charlotte just kept saying her name “whoawa”. hilarious. she was very distraught when lola had to go into dance class without her. i cannot wait for charlotte to start dance and to wear leotards and tights!!

today i ventured to the dmv. it was awful. BUT, i now have a utah driver’s licence. i have been driving with an expired illinois driver’s license for over 5 months now!! hahaha, i laugh in the face of the law!! not. i just hate the dmv. i was there for almost 2 hours. the girl in line behind me was there with her mom getting her license for the first time. her mom was filling out her form and asked her how much she weighed. the girl said 86 pounds. i gasped. it was very entertaining when they were fighting over how much she weighed. the mom insisted that the girl weighed 96 pounds and the girl said 86. the mom wrote down 96 and said she had to weigh at least 100 pounds to get her driver’s license. so why wouldn’t she put down 100 pounds. funny. the girl had failed the test 4 times already. my new driver’s license picture is hideous.

this is getting long. this post is pathetic. i just started typing, but now i am done. enough of thursdee. time to clean the floors.

i need this chair, right?

2010-01-16T14:50:00.001-08:00

check it out…it is simply destiny that i have this chair.

i mean come on.

last year at this time

2010-01-10T14:46:00.001-08:00

charlotte had rsv. i was just looking at all of our pictures and came to these.

this one is from when she was at primary children’s. she was so sad…and so was i.

i love this little girl so much!

things i remember from this time:

my first ambulance ride.
sad babies with rsv everywhere and with no parents by their side. broke my heart to see the tiny baby that shared a room with us crying in the middle of the night with nobody there to help…unless you count me.
charlotte not eating.
charlotte not smiling.
charlotte sleeping non stop.
being grateful for my awesome family…always so concerned and supportive.
the sucking out of charlotte’s snot. you never want to witness this. if you think babies hate the big blue bulb for sucking out their snot this is one thousand times worse.
sleeping on a chair for 2 nights.
lugging the big ol oxygen tank everywhere around the house and to the doctor’s office when she came home from the hospital.

anyway, i was just remembering. gosh it seems like i’ve been talking a lot about sick charlotte…by the way, no more fever and she is feeling much better even if she did wake up at 6:00 this morning (not okay). i still have no idea why she had a fever for 3 days. is this normal? do kids just have fevers without other symptoms? lame.

movin’ to so cal

2010-01-07T19:12:00.001-08:00

not. question, do people get less sick when they live in a warmer climate? generally speaking? just wondering.

charlotte has a fever and has had one since yesterday morning. if it continues…i suppose i need to take her in to the doctor. she doesn’t really have any other symptoms except a fever. i hate fevers! she has already had roseola…but i think it’s possible to get this again. she had a fever on new year’s eve, but then it went away the next day. now 6 days later, it’s back. i don’t know what’s going on.

she woke up at 3:30 in the morning and did not go back to bed until 9:45 am. and even then she only took a 45 min. nap. she later took an almost 3 hour nap…bout time.

i wish they had a thermometer that told you what the heck was wrong with your kid when you took their temp.

anyway, i’m exhausted. and if she wakes up again tonight i’m droppin her off at my mom’s. just kidding, maybe.

just needed to vent.

she is already asleep for the night, i should probably get to bed too since i might be up at 3 again. healthy charlotte.

i feel bad for the little tike. fevers bite!

16 months old today

2010-01-05T20:45:00.001-08:00

the apple

2010-01-02T20:36:00.001-08:00

christmas 2009 highlights

2009-12-28T13:19:00.001-08:00

going to breakfast at bambara then crossing the street to head to ballet west’s nutcracker at the capital theater on christmas eve day…sidenote: we got a babysitter for the first time that wasn’t my mom or my sister. crazy huh?
trying to find the over enthused man at the nutcracker who was cheering so excitedly and shouting bravo and brava every 5 minutes. then finding him and watching him. so great and so funny.
making goodies. i didn’t make as many as i usually do, but i plan on making more before the year is up just cuz i wanna.
charlotte opening her new pj’s on christmas eve. billy came home with them one day and i thought he did a great job picking them out!
charlotte toting around her jammies
christmas morning. charlotte helped unwrap gifts and enjoyed her presents, but she got especially excited for her new doll and even more excited for the sippy cup that came with the doll.

going to my parent’s house for a delicious breakfast. so good!
opening presents with all of the cousins.
going home for a much needed nap for billy, josette and chuck.

charlotte was deliriously tired by the time we left in the afternoon.

going back to my parents house for a delicious christmas dinner…more yum.

christmas lowlights:

charlotte waking up christmas morning at 1:45am and not going back to bed til 5am. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!! she wasn’t crying at all…just talking and having a grand ol’ time in her crib.
chuck being tired most of christmas day…she was still in pretty good spirits though.

i’m officially done with christmas. decorations down! christmas post done! bye bye christmas. i love how every year i am so excited to see christmas come and to see it go!

15 month stats

2009-12-17T20:49:00.001-08:00

weight: 22 pounds 9 ounces…45%

height: 31 inches…65%

head: still very big

okay, i love charlotte at 15 months! i have loved her at all ages, but she is so so fun lately. she is loving the christmas season and is obsessed with santa. out of all the words that charlotte knows she says “santa” the most…even more than “dada”. when i ask her to say “mommy” she says, “santa”. it’s rad. she will say “jesus” when prompted to, but prefers to say “santa”. she loves the christmas tree and will snag an ornament here and there, but overall she is pretty good with not destroying the tree. she is diggin the holiday music…”santa claus is comin to town” and “feliz navidad” are two of her favorites.

billy and chuck with our christmas tree atop the car. it was cooold.

charlotte snaggin an ornament. p.s. see that santa in the background? she loves that santa and carries him all around the house. she also does a pretty good “ho ho ho”.

that’s all for now. i just had to retype this whole post due to me knockin the power cord out of the wall. DOH! sorry if it’s a bit choppy.

randomness at best

2009-12-15T20:42:00.001-08:00

just ate THE best orange and i wanted to document it because i seriously do not remember the last time i wasn’t disappointed with an orange that i peeled myself and ate. nothin’ better than a delish orange.

i’m making a stocking for charlotte. i think it’s cute (i will post pictures later). but, i may have just ruined the cuteness by trying to put her name on it…it’s not finished, but i’ll let you know. or even better, you can be the judge.

i just got our family picture framed and now i am trying to rearrange my “families are forever” wall. it is a wall with a bunch of pictures and stuff dealing with family…and now that i have made our family picture GINORMOUS i cannot stand to look at this wall…but i also can’t stop looking…it’s like a train wreck.

it needs somethin’ and i don’t know what.

billy’s mom and sister are coming to town and the house is a mess. i will be up all night tonight and tomorrow scrubbing the place down. i wish charlotte was a heavier sleeper so i could get the vacuum out without her waking up. for the love!

i am craving caramel popcorn.

that’s all i got.

search, ponder and post:getting my life back edition

2009-12-13T19:32:00.001-08:00

*i get my life back today! been spending lots o’ time at the conference center rehearsing and performing for the mo tab’s christmas concert with natalie cole. a few things about this so i don’t forget:

i loved every minute of it. loved dancing through the aisles of the conference center. loved hearing the choir. loved meeting lloyd newell! loved hearing natalie cole get better and better with each performance. she really is such an elegant lady and her voice grew on me with every song she sang. loved seeing her walk in and out in 6 inch stillettos…seriously not lyin! loved the stories that david mccullough told. loved loved loved the remix organ solo of good king wencelas and the nutcracker songs…seriously something straight from “GLEE”. loved seeing pres. uchdorf RIGHT in front of me while i was dancing and president monsen a little to the left. loved seeing uchdorf’s smiling face the whole time! loved the beautiful christmas decorations adorning the stage. loved watching mack wilberg work his magic. loved going through the underground tunnels from the conference center to the church office building to eat lunch. SO YUMMY! loved how the concert filled the whole conference center with the christmas spirit. loved hearing pres. monsen tell natalie cole he was proud of her. loved being on the stage when the choir sang “god be with you til we meet again” especially to natalie. loved watching miss cole get teary eyed as she most assuredly felt the spirit.

things i did not love: being away from chuck and billy. missing chuck sit on santa’s lap at the ward party.

p.s. on saturday morning i got a call from my mom saying i was in the deseret news!! funny stuff. here is the picture:

i know you might ask yourself, “where is she looking?” well, i was always taught to look to the third balcony and project way up there…so i did…not sure where these other chumps are looking. ha! except the guy in the hat…he’s lookin to the balcony too. ANYWAY…can i just tell you that it was so nerve racking to stand there knowing my big mug was on the jumbo tron because they of course would be getting a shot of natalie. i’ve never smiled so hard in my life!

giveaway

2009-11-23T12:53:00.001-08:00

my very talented and amazing sister is doing a give.a.way. she has started a new online shop with some very cute things to offer. she makes custom t-shirts that are to-die-for. so, so, so cute and very high quality. i seriously love them. go to her blog and enter to win one!!!

go check out the shop…boutique ballou

florida ‘09

2009-11-19T15:37:00.001-08:00

billy and i just got back from florida. yes, we left charlotte with my parents for 4 whole days…and five nights!! even writing this right now i can’t believe i survived!! i missed her so so much and was so worried she thought we had abandoned her. BUT, we had a blast and now that snow has graced utah i wish i was back in florida!! we went with some great friends from chicago who always keep me laughing.

we started our vacation with a trip to the beach. we went to cocoa beach and it was pretty windy, but still loads of fun.

we asked joe if we could bury him in the sand…he said no. the next thing we knew he was diggin himself a hole to lay in. so, we made him into a merman…much to his delight.

hahahaha!

mia with her imaginary friends!

it was windy!!

we went to sea world…i love sea world! it was billy’s first time, and he loved it too.

the dolphin show was my favorite.

i saw some guy who was wearing matching shirts with billy and i really wanted billy to go stand next to him. he didn’t want to (that’s weird) so i managed to snap this shot. i really love billy’s face.

our mock engagement picture (thanks for the idea brit)

shamu was fun too…but mostly due to natalie making me laugh hysterically!! i haven’t laughed that hard for a while. i hope you never erase those pictures from your camera nat!

we went to epcot…

mexico norway

italy

morocco

china

england

epcot was so awesome and fun!!! even getting completely drenched watching the amazing fireworks was great. billy and i were the only one’s in the whole park who didn’t buy a $7 poncho. it’s about our principles people!!

next up…magical kingdom…

we were greeted with a parade on arrival!!

we were sooo excited!

mia and nat in their awesome AND cute ponchos.

the castle was so neat at night. it kept changing colors and it was decked out with lights that looked like icicles. rad!

we had so much fun going to all of these fun places, but going with our peeps made it that much better. i wish i could go into more detail on all that we did, but seriously this post is already waaay too long…

pound it girrrl!

it was a great trip, but i was sooooo excited to come back to this little girl.

happy halloween

2009-10-31T19:31:00.001-07:00

search, ponder and post

2009-10-25T19:25:00.001-07:00

some things:

first, i had to scrape off my car this morning before church…what a downer… but, the sun is out so that makes me happy.
i get excited to get chuck dressed for church every sunday. she looked especially cute today and got loads and loads of compliments. i didn’t get any…shocker!

before church i vowed i would start eating really good and then after church i got home and ate a piece of leftover pizza and a mini 3 musketeers and a coke zero. it’s sad.
chuck is gonna be a ladybug for halloween due to the hand-me-down ladybug costume from my sister’s little girl. she will be cute, but it’s not my first choice…and this might be the last year i can be the sole decision maker for her halloween costume. oh well, it’s free. if it was up to billy, she wouldn’t have a costume at all. he doesn’t like halloween. what the? good thing it’s not up to him.
i am itching to do some decorating changes in my house, but i really shouldn’t spend the money.
my sister took some family pictures of us and they turned out really well(even if i do criticize myself in every photo)…she is so awesome. i am currently trying to decide which one i like better maybe you can help(as in the two or three of you that read this blog):

i just bought some new jeans that i needed very badly. BUT, i have a bad habit of buying them too big. now i am constantly pulling up my brand new jeans. frustrating. maybe i should go get them tailored?
in relief society today the teacher showed a clip of elder holland’s talk in april. i cried. it is just so good.
i love sundays.

happy birthday billy

2009-10-20T21:09:00.001-07:00

i must do a shout out to my amazing husband billy. he turned 32 today! i love this guy so so much! he is the best husband ever AND who knew that he would be such a wonderful, amazing, tender father? I DID!!!(not to toot my own horn or anything) happy birthday babe! i love ya!!

charlotte’s first birthday

2009-10-07T20:14:00.001-07:00

so here is the post on charlotte’s birthday…short n’ sweet version. i meant to post this a month ago. oops. i think i’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

charlotte’s amazing unwrapping skillz

the birthday girl

charlotte and her entourage

more unwrapping skillz…plus check out lola’s face…funny

getting ready for cake

the cake i made with my mom’s help

charlotte and her smash cake

she was pretty serious about eating the cake

playing with the pony that grandma and grandpa gave her…yeehaw!

it was a great day! i’m pretty sure she loved every minute of it.

search, ponder and post

2009-10-04T20:15:00.001-07:00

a few things…

i hate being sick, but i hate hate it when chuck is sick.

charlotte…not sick in this picture. just cute.

i love general conference weekend. so refreshing.
i made salsa with my mom with my very own tomatoes and it is yummo!

not my salsa…but it looks exactly like this…pretty much

vaccines for charlotte. this has been on my mind a lot. i just don’t know sometimes.
lovin’ the crisp air the past few days. and the awesome rain storms.
my wardrobe is in a bad way. i am very welcome to any and all of you to turn me in to clinton and stacey. do it! NOW!
on that note, i have several shirts that i wear a lot and they all have little teeny tiny holes in the exact same spot…lower front. what is the deal? is there a mouse eating my shirts? some of these shirts are somewhat newish…but none of these shirts are high quality…hmmm.
my hair is turning brown and i am sad. it happened all of a sudden. a few months after charlotte was born people began saying how dark my hair was getting. what the? i don’t know why i am kinda bummed…but i am. should i dye/highlight it?
i made pumpkin cream cheese bars today. it was ok. i should have used the full fat cream cheese or even the 1/3 fewer cal. cream cheese…not the fat free.

my parents and my sister’s family are in hawaii as i type this. lame. i mean, i’m so happy for them!
i didn’t think i was ready to let go of summer, but as soon as october hit i was ready for autumn. bring on soups, breads, candy corn, caramel apples, anything with pumpkin in it, sweaters, boots, halloween and thanksgiving.
charlotte is on the verge of walking. she will walk from billy to me and go back and forth taking 10-15 steps every time. she thinks this is a game we play called “walk to mom and dad”. should i post a video? it’s very cute.

okay, that’s enough for now. later.

12 month stats

2009-09-24T09:32:00.001-07:00

just for the record…

length: 29 inches, 60%

weight: 21 lb. 14oz. 50%

head: 46.5 cm 84%

lagoon 2009

2009-09-08T21:48:00.001-07:00

charlotte’s first year at lagoon…

she did a lot of this

and some of this

and more of this

BUT, the highlight would have to be…

THIS!

charlotte is gonna tear lagoon apart next year!

charlotte is one!

2009-09-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

it has been a whole year since charlotte has entered our lives. it is still so vivid that VERY early morning she came crying into the world covered in tons of guck and i declared, “oh, she is so beautiful”. and she is. i tried and tried to imagine what charlotte would look like, but i never imagined she would be so dang cute…but even better she has the best personality.

charlotte is the apple of my eye…and billy’s eye too. if you could just see billy with charlotte, it’s the best. she flat out adores him.

i am loving this new phase of her life. here are a smattering of things about charlotte:

she is in constant motion. never a still moment except when she is sleeping.

she tries to mimic what we say. the other day billy was singing that “boom boom boom” song by the black eyed peas and charlotte kept saying, “bo bo bo”. funny.
her new favorite thing is to crawl around with something in her mouth. puzzle piece, my keys, finger puppet…whatever she can find. she likes to go about her business with something hanging out of her mouth.
she is getting to be more cuddly and i love it!!
she loves to go out to restaurants so she can ham it up for everyone around us. she doesn’t let the poor people around her eat their meals. hehe
she still only has her two bottom teeth. i thought the uppers were coming a month ago, but not so much.
she is “talking” a lot lately, but my favorite is when she chews me out if i tell her “no” or i won’t let her do something. it’s funniness.
she loves to push around her buggy, but does not know how to turn it…maybe because my 10 lb. weights are in there?
when she likes something she is eating her leg gets movin up and down
she thinks her dad and i are hilarious…who wouldn’t?

i love every possible thing about this little girl. i feel so lucky to be her mom and to get to spend all day with her. what a blessing she has been to our little family.

happy birthday sweet charlotte simone, i love you!

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***starred photos by joslyn

stay tuned for party pics! i can’t wait, i love parties!

raddest bike ever

2009-09-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

clickety click above to go to their site

okay, i want this bike...and i want it for free!!! how rad is this bike?

billy + josette is three great years

2009-08-25T21:24:00.001-07:00

billy and i celebrated 3 years of marriage this past weekend. we decided we wanted to do something fun, so we booked a night in sun valley and sent charlotte packing to grandma and grandpa’s. oh man, this was hard for me. this was the first time i have been away from charlotte over night…it was weird to not go and check on her several times before i go to bed. i missed her sooooo much, but billy and i had tons of fun to boot!

first things first…billy made a “sun valley or bust” mix cd for our road trip. it was great. he has made an anniversary mix cd for all of our anniversaries so far. i love that he does this. there is one song that makes it onto the cd every year…i love this too.

anyway. on the way, we stopped in hailey, id. for some lunch at shorty’s.

billy admiring his root beer freeze…me to the left in the mirror

shorty’s is owned by bruce willis and demi moore…or maybe just bruce. anyway, we didn’t see him there even though they both have digs in hailey.

it was really great to be able to just do whatever we wanted for a couple days without being responsible for little charlotte.

we…

did the paddleboats…as you can see, billy thought they were lame

i, however enjoyed the paddleboats

we also…

went ice skating on the outdoor ice rink. this picture is too dark, oh well…that’s billy in case you couldn’t tell.

this is me racin’ away, good form, eh?

us together with the sun valley lodge in the background…so beautiful!

ice skating was so fun. we truly had a blast doing this. although, billy did fall and it looked like it hurt bad…i had to hold in my laughter…he was fine though.

we also…

swam in the sun valley inn swimming pool. it was great, we were the only one’s there!! but you will never have a picture of me in my swimming suit on this blog. moving along.

we also…

rented a couple cruiser bikes to tool around sun valley on. so fun. i really need to get one of these cruiser bikes and put a little seat on the back for charlotte.

self-timer shot that didn’t quite turn out.

billy on his cruiser. check out his biking footwear.

me on my cruiser

we were thinkin of maybe doing the trek to hailey (like 10 miles or so) but the bike rental dude said it was lame. i wanted to show billy the hemingway memorial anyway, so we went there.

i love sun valley so much. it is just a kind of magical place. i have so many memories of going to sun valley as a little kid and i am so glad i finally got to share sun valley with billy. we will be back for sure.

as we were cruisin around the sun valley resort on our bikes we stopped by the outdoor rink to watch. they were practicing for the skating show and we spotted:

this guy! no, i don’t know who he is but his outfit and hair were awesome!

but that’s not really who we spotted…we actually spotted

nancy kerrigan. can you tell? anyway, billy said she “was lookin good” i thought that was funny.

this is us in front of the sun valley inn where we stayed. i told billy we had to get a picture here because my parents have one in this same spot from their honeymoon. don’t mind the nasty bike helmet hair and i don’t know why i am standing in fifth position.

thanks for three of the best years of my life billy!

again with the standing up…seriously?

2009-08-17T10:17:00.001-07:00

okay, so chuck just figured out how to stand up in her crib on friday (she’s been trying to do this for a LONG time). i thought it was so cute, until i tried to put her down for a nap. now she stands up the second i put her down…it’s especially not cute when she stands up at say 3:00 in the morning crying. and then stays up for two hours just talking and standing up in her crib…oh, and dropping things out of the crib. anyway, this is a post to document when she accomplished this awesome milestone. as i type…she is shaking the crib and banging it into the wall and laughing. i’ve already been in there several times because her leg was stuck through the rails of the crib. radical. but she is dang cute…and i did laugh a bit when i found her with her leg caught…kinda funny (she wasn’t hurt). but definitely not funny in the middle of the night.

my 100…the lost pages edition

2009-08-12T20:02:00.001-07:00

i forgot i was doing this. anyway, here are some more random facts about me for your viewing pleasure:

81. i like wearing shoes in the house.

82. i love broadway musicals.

83. my all time favorite broadway musical is les miserables. i love the music and the story. it is the bomb diggity!

84. i have seen it four times. twice in salt lake, once in new york, and once in chicago. i would see les mis over and over again.

85. i like my house doors to be locked at all times.

86. i have never broken a bone, but i have sprained my ankle many many times.

87. i would pick cake over pie 10 out of 10 times.

88. i like staying up late and sleeping in.

89. i love going to the movies.

90. i laugh out loud hard at parts in movies that nobody else laughs at.

91. people have moved away from where i was sitting in the theater because of this…it’s a comedy people, c’mon!!!!

92. i don’t like writing with a pencil.

93. i love all things retro and vintage.

94. i wanted to name charlotte “simone”…which is my middle name, but billy vetoed it.

brand new charlotte at hospital…awww

95. so we agreed her middle name would be simone…just like mine.
96. i still want to have another daughter and name her simone.

97. i hope that charlotte wants to dance when she gets older.

98. i also hope i don’t push it on her even if she doesn’t.

99. there’s something about growing my own garden that makes me so happy. i love it.

veggies i picked out of our garden tonight

100. i despise pulling weeds, but i like dead-heading the flowers.

don’t worry, i’m not stopping at 100…i’m gonna keep going until i can’t think of anything to write. ‘til next time!

charlotte at 11 months

2009-08-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

today charlotte is 11 months old. what the? next month she will be ONE! i am loving this little chunk so much!!

she is doing so many new things everyday…i love it. a few things about charlotte before her major birthday post!

billy and i call her “chuck” sometimes. ya know, from charlotte…to charley…to chuck! i think people think it’s weird.
charlotte is crawling. she started to attempt to crawl a few weeks ago, and has finally(a few days ago) mastered the crawl…well mostly mastered.

kinda blurry, but you get the picture

she would much rather be standing up walking along the furniture. it’s dang cute.

she has two bottom teeth, but i think she might be getting her top ones soon.

she is soooo happy and gets very excited for things. like when her dad comes home from work…she goes nuts. like when she sees her cousins…goes nuts. like when she is in a shopping cart…NUTS! it’s funny.
speaking of funny…chuck makes me laugh everyday. she is hilarious.
she loves books. when she is fussy or sad, a book can always cheer her up. she loves to turn the pages and i love to watch her face as the next page is revealed.
she is a pretty good eater, but she refuses to put things in her mouth by herself. i will put little pieces of food on her high chair and she will pick them up one by one, drop them on the floor and then peer over the side to see her triumph! she will eat them if i put them in her mouth, but she has no interest in putting them in herself.
she has the greatest laugh!

she is a superb sleeper! good thing, cuz i am also a very good sleeper.
her hair is just starting to come in more. and she’s gonna be a blondie. cuteness!
she likes to pull on her hair. her face says, hey! look what i found!
she doesn’t have a problem going to strangers (like at church). but i love the way she looks for me and billy to make sure we are still there.
she has THE cutest little lips. i don’t know what it is about them…but they are to die for.

okay, i could go on and on…obviously. but i will stop for now. just know that she is the BEST. we love her so much and love that she is ours!

our first red tomato

2009-07-22T09:18:00.001-07:00

this is the first year billy and i have created a garden. we were pretty pumped to find a red tomato the other night among the many green ones. we couldn’t wait to eat it up right then and there and it was delish.

our tomato

truth be told…we didn’t really know what we were doing. but we are somewhat intelligent people and we just planted a few tomato plants and plopped in some bean, pepper, squash, and cucumber seeds and viola…a garden.

we go out there almost every night and look upon our awesome garden…it is thriving! our tomato plants are out of control and our squash plants are massive. ca-razy. who knew squash plants got so big? not me. next year i will definitely do things a bit different even though we have about a billion green tomatoes hangin’ off the vines and about a billion zucchini comin’ in…billy says we should do everything the same since it turned out so well. maybe.

newly planted garden

our garden a few weeks ago…it’s bigger now

the only bad part of the garden was having to take out the mass amount of weeds that were in this spot…i’m talkin years upon years of dead weeds and then this years thick live weeds. i only took out about a square foot of weeds and billy did the rest!!! yeah!!! it was totally worth it! more garden updates to come. i’m sure you are on the edge of your seat.

my hair

2009-07-14T08:39:00.001-07:00

oops, i never posted a picture of my hair after the haircut. whoopsy. anyway, here is a semi-decent shot of it…you get the picture. i did think i was pretty funny not showing an “after” shot. i meant to put one up a day later. whoops. so here is a shot that my friend took…thanks steph.

charlotte looking disgruntled due to my bad crouching skills

and here is one of the many shots i tried taking of myself after the haircut. this is why i never posted one…i couldn’t get the right angle.

right up the nose

i don’t love my new hair, but i’m not finding massively long hairs everywhere anymore, so it’s all good

independence day

2009-07-04T08:52:00.001-07:00

it has been one year since my grandma middlemas past away. i miss her. i have so many great memories of her and what a great grandma she was. she could always make me laugh…seriously, so funny. i love the fact that she held on to die on her birthday on the 4th of july. i just loved her birthday. it may have been the fact that on my grandma’s birthday we packed up lunch and headed out the door bright and early in the morning, blasting john philip sousa with our sights on lagoon.

what a great day to be born, the 4th of july. i love this holiday and i have always loved celebrating my grandma’s birthday on this day. she was the best kind of person. she loved unconditionally. i will never forget her and i will always be celebrating my grandma on the 4th of july.

i love this country and my freedom, and i am so grateful that my grandma is now truly free.

things are changin’

2009-06-18T15:16:00.001-07:00

by things, i mean thing. i cut my hair today. well, I didn’t…my hair lady, kim, did. lots of my hair is gone…and i feel weird. it does feel liberating…even though it’s not really THAT short…but it’s short fo sho!

i still haven’t made up my mind if i like it or not. i think i do…i just think i’m in shock…why am i so attached to my hair? i don’t even have great hair…hmmm. anyway, just thought i’d share that i cut my hair.

so, i just went looking for a “before” picture…and i can’t seem to find one. not that i want a ton of pictures of me hangin around, but i do want people to know that i existed after i die. anyway, got a little side tracked.

here is the one picture i did find of me and it was last thanksgiving so my hair was a little different…longer than this before i just chopped it all off WILLY NILLY!!

mmmmm, pumpkin pies

9 month stats

2009-06-11T21:02:00.001-07:00

9 months…3 months til one year…what the??

anyway…

weight: 20 lbs. 1 oz. 69 percentile

length: 27.5 in. - 42 percentile

head: still big…74 percentile

charlotte has grown up so much in the last little bit. she is clapping and waving and laughing her guts out. all i have to do is make a crazy face and she laughs. my favorite time to pull a face at her is during church. reverent, right? she rolls all over the place…no crawling yet. these days i do wonder if she will walk before she crawls??? love this girl!!

charlotte driving her car

search, ponder and post

2009-06-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

sundays get me thinking sometimes. today i was thinking (not necessarily during church):

1. the hymns make me cry. except the ones that nobody has heard of…i don’t even know why those ones are in there…and when we start to sing a hymn that i have NEVER EVER heard of i shut down…good attitude, eh? but today we sang because i have been given much. and i sat there and cried while i held little charlotte. church is good.

2. while i like the rain and it makes things green, i wish it would just do a great big huge downpour and then go away. i like the sun. the sun is good.

3. great big huge juniper bushes are not good. i wish i had taken a picture of billy climbing a ladder he had precariously placed against our huge bushes to try and trim them. the bushes nearly ate him up. it was funny and after a few almost falls and the hedger almost getting forever lost in the depths of these bushes, i told him to leave em.

4. i made two desserts today to take to my parent’s house for dinner. i’m not sure why…but it may have something to do with my weak willpower. i am weak. being weak is bad, but dessert is good.

5. charlotte is so DANG cute. you should see the people at church. they go crazy over charlotte. and i don’t blame them. she has THE cutest smile and laugh and does her crazy arms and legs dance when people say hi to her. charlotte is the best!

6. we have sacrament meeting last. this is bad. if we had it first charlotte would be ok…but by the third hour which is when our sacrament meeting is…she is DONE!! the only thing we can do to keep her quiet is to stand with her. that’s it. no toy or food or cool necklace will persuade her to be quiet. love that kid.

7. charlotte still takes 3 naps. what the? i have tried to eliminate the middle one and see if she will take a longer second nap…but this will not do for her. she is a sleepy baby. and tired charlotte=cranky charlotte. so, if she wants to take 6 naps and be happy that’s ok by me.

8. i am excited to go to chicago at the end of june, but i am not looking forward to the change in charlotte’s schedule. yes, i am one of those schedule moms and last time we went to chicago charlotte was rather cranky. BUT, i am looking forward to it nonetheless. going to chicago is fun.

9. i have been thinking about making my blog private. don’t know why. just thought one day…why not? it’s not like i am trying to gain a readership to my blog. i think only a few people read it…which is fine by me…and they will still be able to read it…but it won’t show up on google reader…don’t really care about that. hmmm, still thinkin about it.

well, i could go on and on, but i don’t wanna.

this girl

2009-06-01T08:13:00.001-07:00

well, i forgot to post this cute picture my sister took of charlotte. i love going over to joslyn’s house because she takes great pictures of charlotte every time we are there.

lately, charlotte has been cracking me up with things that she does. i love her personality already. although, she is not a fan of church. could be that it is at the same time as her morning nap, but still. it’s pretty funny cuz she is happy as a lark out in the foyer and then when we sit down on one of the pews she screams. so then, it’s back to the foyer where she is so happy. awesome. we sit on the back row. i guess she would rather be at home kickin’ it. one week a guy in our ward that is from haiti or somewhere turned around (after billy had taken charlotte out to the foyer) and said, “i was not loving the crying…but you took it away.” HA! funny. he was dead serious. charlotte is pretty much happy as long as she is not in relief society, sunday school, or sacrament meeting.

for spite

2009-05-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

typically, i like to make my house and yard look nice. last year, i planted pretty flowers in front and we got rid of all the weeds in the lawn and flowerbeds throughout the summer season. but, one day last year our neighbors…who never talk to us and are very old… pulled up beside me while i was watering in our front yard. they started the conversation with an innocent question or two about my pregnancy and then they came to what they really wanted to say…”by the way, do you think you could pull those weeds on the side of your house…or have your husband do it…they might catch on fire.” i just kinda smiled and said yeah. to be honest, i hadn’t even noticed these weeds because i never go by that side of the house. and, had i noticed them before they were so nicely pointed out to me…i would have picked them. but, lucky for my neighbors…i didn’t pick them…for spite.

a week ago or so i had the roundup out spraying some weeds in our backyard and my husband said, “you should go spray the weeds on the side of the house.”

hmmm, good idea, except i want to leave those there…for spite.

here are this year’s weeds. the dead brown ones are from last year. and no, they never did catch on fire.

sittin’ pretty

2009-05-01T14:15:00.001-07:00

charlotte sits all by herself and has been for a few weeks now. it’s so cute. thanks for the pic jos.

more my 100…

2009-04-27T15:18:00.001-07:00

61. i never paint my fingernails or toenails.

62. i got acrylic nails for my sister’s wedding in 1998 and i will NEVER get them again. i took them off the very next day. hated them.

63. i am not a fan of big bows/flowers on little baby heads.

not my baby.

64. i am very sarcastic.

65. my favorite color is orange and has been since i can remember.

66. i hate mayonnaise. nasty. i am a mustard gal.

67. i love to dance, but i don’t love to teach dance.

68. my accessory of choice would be shoes…are shoes an accessory? they are to me.

69. i wear the same earrings everyday. i switch it up every six months or so.

70. i like to drive fast.

71. i also like to be the first one off the line at a stoplight.

72. i don’t like cheesiness…and i’m not talking about the dairy product.

73. i love to hang out with my family.

74. i love online shopping.

75. and finding great deals.

76. my husband says i say “dill” when i’m trying to say “deal”…he’s right.

77. i know how to play the piano, but i’m pretty bad at it. especially when people try to sing along…i mess up a lot.

78. i hate trendy things.

79. i can wear my hair curly or straight…but it’s usually in a ponytail.

80. i would rather buy clothes for charlotte then for myself.

6 month…i mean 7 month stats

2009-04-04T08:50:00.001-07:00

yesterday we went in for charlotte’s 6 month appointment. but, since we had to get her 4 month shots late because she had rsv we took her in late for her 6 month appointment. so, these stats are pretty much 7 month stats since charlotte will be 7 months old tomorrow…

weight: 17 pounds 14 ounces…68th percentile

height: 26.5 inches…55th percentile

head: big…84th percentile

sleeping charlotte

sippy cup charlotte

disliking tummy time charlotte

hangin with dad deer in headlights charlotte

up the nose charlotte

watery eyes drooling charlotte

cute charlotte

we love all of our charlottes!! i tried to find a crying picture of charlotte, but i guess i don’t have one. except for when she was tiny. i guess the last thing i think when she is crying is to whip out the camera. but we love crying charlotte too.

baby boom II

2009-03-21T09:08:00.001-07:00

did you ever see the movie “baby boom” with diane keaton? it’s one of my favorites. anyway, a few weeks ago i decided i wanted to make charlotte’s baby food myself. so, i did. it was actually pretty fun and she seems to like it so far. i did some research on the best ways to make baby food and i think everything turned out great. if j.c. wiatt can do it, i sure can, right? (baby boom reference just in case you haven’t seen it 50 times like me).

charlotte with veggies and fruit before

getting ready for the freezer

charlotte with frozen baby food cubes

the end

this baby is 6 months old today

2009-03-05T17:35:00.001-08:00

and i couldn’t love her more!!

photo props to joslyn

my 100…continued

2009-02-20T13:53:00.001-08:00

41. i believe in stretching before and after exercise…and dancing

42. i love oldies music...but my husband has opened my eyes to many other genres of music that i also enjoy.

43. one of them is NOT country…i hate country music. what is with all that twangyness? come on people!!

44. i am the youngest of 4 kids in my family.

45. i enjoy going to church.

46. i would much rather give a talk in church than teach a lesson.

47. i once joined the church choir (which, if you knew me, i would NEVER do cuz i can’t sing) as a bet with my husband just to get out of teaching sunday school.

48. i am stubborn.

49. i have a degree in business management, but i don’t feel like i know a lot about business management…could have been i was too busy dancing…good thing i also have a degree in dance performance.

50. my husband is my best friend.

billy and i at the alpine slide

51. i like sports. i enjoy playing sports as well as watching sports.

52. i think i am better at sports than i really am.

53. i have seen every “saved by the bell” many times…except for the college years…that is where i draw the line.

54. i think i have seen every “seinfeld”, but occasionally one will come on that i have never seen and i get very excited.

55. i have a love/hate relationship with shopping…maybe one day i will expound on this.

56. i don’t mind cooking…but i despise going to the grocery store. this is a problem.

57. i wish i had a personal chef that cooked me healthy, yummy meals every day…duh, doesn’t everybody?

58. i get anxious if i am away from charlotte for more than like 3 hours.

59. i love being a mom.

60. i love to watch billy interact with charlotte…he’s the best dad.

billy holding charlotte, folding clothes…and watching tv

how awesome are those pants with that shirt?

oh, and the church socks.

a milestone for baby and one for mom

2009-02-15T12:53:00.001-08:00

this last thursday charlotte rolled over…well from her tummy to her back. we were thrilled. charlotte is so hilarious when we put her on her tummy…she won’t push up on her arms…she immediately takes her arms out to the side and face plants and starts pushing her butt up with her legs. i think she is trying to get somewhere but to no avail. so i really didn’t think she would ever roll over because she won’t just be on her tummy pushing up with her arms. but she did. whoop whoop. so, that’s charlotte’s milestone.

as for me…

i finally moved charlotte to her crib to sleep at night. she had been taking her naps in the crib, but still sleeping in her bassinet at night. she is 5.5 months old and she just got too big for the bassinet…or she would probably still be in there. she kept whacking the side of the bassinet with her arms making this loud thumping noise…it was awesome. i really liked having her right by my side…thus it is a milestone for me to finally move her to her crib. yea me.

and now for the fun part…pictures that don’t have anything to to with the post except for that they are of charlotte…

had to share this one cuz it makes me laugh. she no likey hats…plus, this one is too small for her big noggin.

also, check out this cute picture of charlotte taken by my sister joslyn.

the worst is…

2009-02-02T09:46:00.001-08:00

when you go to the grocery store for a quick trip and get all of the stuff you need loaded in your cart and you are making good time and you are on your way to the checkout and you realize that you FORGOT YOUR WALLET!!!!!!! and so you leave your full grocery cart in the middle of the isle and drive home…GET YOUR WALLET…and drive back to the store. luckily my cart was where i left it…though i didn’t really worry that it wouldn’t be there. but boy, i was hoppin mad that i forgot my wallet…just ask billy…though he found the whole situation rather humorous.

picture of charlotte at o’hare airport with my camera phone. just had to add a photo since i am mentally not capable of posting without a picture.

my 100…part two, chicago edition

2009-01-15T21:17:00.001-08:00

20. i lived in chicago for four years.

21. two of those years i lived with my sister and her family. we had a blast.

22. i interned and worked for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in their marketing department and got to take free dance classes.

hubbard street…they are freakin amazing

23. i miss dancing.

24. i miss chicago.

some of my chicago friends

25. but i missed utah more.

random picture from a typical ballou family gathering

25. i like to clean. (has nothing to do with chicago)

26. i once got depressed because of one of my chicago roommates’ constant stack of nasty, dirty dishes…i called it my “deep, dark dish depression”.

27. i can’t stand any food particles in any form inside my microwave.

28. i like to do laundry.

laundry room of my dreams…except in need of some pizazz

29. i met my husband in the singles branch at church…in chicago.

30. in chicago i was very social despite my anti-socialness.

31. i dreaded going to the singles branch, but i ended up having so much fun.

32. i never expected i would meet my husband in chicago.

33. i got pulled over on thanksgiving in a suburb of chicago (waukegan)…didn’t have my driver’s license, got 3 tickets, and had the car impounded…did i mention it was my sister’s car? luckily all three tickets were thrown out when i went to court. goodness…this story really is a post in and of itself.

34. i use to go running outside everyday (except sunday and sometimes saturday) when i lived in chicago.

35. i ran even in the winter when the temperature was negative wind chills.

36. i wonder where my motivation has gone…although i have a hunch my motivation moved to oregon

37. i am not willing to pay money to run any type of race.

38. when i worked in downtown chicago my commute took me about an hour and a half each way…sometimes two hours.

39. i HATE chicago traffic.

40. i only got my hair cut two times in chicago the four years i lived there. i would get my hair cut in utah almost every time i visited.

4 month stats

2009-01-13T12:07:00.001-08:00

charlotte is 4 months old. her official 4 month stats are:

weight: 12 pounds 15 ounces…32 percentile

length: 24 inches…43 percentile

head: big…50 percentile

she lost about half a pound during her rsv dealio…when we took her into the instacare she weighed 13 pounds 5 ounces then 4 days later at her 4 month appt/rsv check up she weighed the above stat. i like to say we put her on the rsv diet…which i don’t recommend.

here are 4 things about charlotte:

she is smiling a ton now and has just started to giggle. it is the cutest thing i have EVER seen/heard. i would post a video, but in order for me to get her to laugh i have to do this ridiculous laugh that is too scary to post.
she is such a good baby. never fussy unless she is hungry. she sleeps through the night, but she has been doing this for a month or two. she puts herself to sleep and wakes up so dang happy. i just love her.
if by chance she does get a little fussy, all i have to do is lay her on her changing table and she is instant smiles and gooing. we call it her “happy place”. i don’t know what it is, but she stares up at the shelves and all the stuff on them and she is just so happy.
she has the squishiest cheeks and i cannot stop kissing them all day long.

charlotte in her old man sweater with my dad

my 100…part one

2009-01-12T09:55:00.001-08:00

so, i’m gonna do my 100…despite not wanting to. i don’t like to do things that everyone else is doing. BUT, i’m gonna do it my way which means i will post my 100 in segments, and if i want to do more than 100, i will. it could take me like a year to get all 100 posted since i post about once a month, but i don’t care.

so, without further ado…here is 1-20…

i have had long hair since middle school. i cut it once in high school to just below my ears. long hair
i get sad when i have to cut my hair more than an inch at a time.
in college i didn’t go on one single date…oh wait…nope, not one. and i was okay with that.
i lived, breathed, ate, and dated dance in college…i pretty much danced my college career away. i loved every second of it. me dancing in 2003
i love to throw things away…i HATE leftovers. i waste a lot.
i pretty much knew i wanted to marry billy from the get go. i don’t think he even remembered my name until a month or so after we met.
i’m anti-social.
i didn’t go to one school dance in all of high school, and i pride myself on this fact.
my friends in high school once asked a guy to a dance for me without me knowing…he declined.
i loathe crowds. i refuse to go near a mall the whole month of december.
i majored in dance performance, but i did not make my middle school dance company, the first year of my high school dance company or the first year of my college dance company.
i despised my middle school dance teacher and my high school dance teacher.
i love chocolate cake and can eat it at any time of the day. our wedding cake was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
i can also down a diet coke at any time of the day.
i used to be loyal to straight coke until i got gestational diabetes and had to switch to diet…i don’t think i’ll ever go back.
if i was on “the biggest loser” i would want bob to be my trainer.
i think there is a major taste difference between diet coke and diet pepsi. i am very loyal to diet coke, but will drink diet pepsi in a pinch.
i would rather have a cat than a dog, but wish to remain petless.
i have promised my husband that he can have a dog someday.
i hope that day never comes.

my husband and misty…his mom’s dog

whoa, those came out a lot faster than expected and without much thought, hmmm…

2009 waits

2009-01-10T09:23:00.001-08:00

yup, i had good intentions for 2009, but i have NOT started any goals. nope. and i hope to regain some of my prior post christmas motivation soon. while 2009 did start out great at first, what with the utes winning the sugar bowl and such…it has quickly come to a crashing “great start” halt with a little something called rsv (really sucky virus). here’s the story…and once again, i wanted to write it down for me more so than for you…sorry bout that. you may read on if you wish.

jan 1: charlotte has slight cough

jan 2: cough is a bit worse while watching the utes kick alabama’s trash in the sugar bowl.

jan 3: charlotte is now coughing and wheezing and sleeping more than usual. i call the “on call” doctor, (which was not my doctor) because i am worried that charlotte can’t breathe and stuff. she asks the normal questions…fever? nope. eating? yup. she says that i should take charlotte in on monday to see my doctor…should be fine til then. i thought…ok, today is saturday…should be okay til monday.

jan 4: stayed home from church with charlotte. she ate in the morning…then back to sleep and then again at noon…right back to sleep. she is not wanting to smile or play or babble or anything. well it comes time for her to eat again and she is in deep sleep…nowhere near thinking about hunger. well, 7:00 rolls around and she is still sleeping and i can’t get her to open her eyes. she is breathing and all, but she just can’t wake up from sleepy land. i call my mom and sister crying. my sister says, duh, call the doctor. i call. luckily, it is my doctor that is on call and after talking with me he says to wait a couple more hours and see what she does and then if she won’t wake up or eat to go in. i throw charlotte in the bathtub to see if she will wake up. she opens her eyes (barely)for the couple of minutes she is in the bath. then i try to feed her. she gets down about 1.5 ounces. back to sleep…won’t open her eyes. i can’t wait for 2 more hours. i know that something isn’t right and i tell billy that we are going in to the instacare for kids.

luckily it wasn’t busy and they could see charlotte right away…it was about 9:00 pm. the pediatrician that was there was kinda freaked out by charlotte’s lethargy and lack of eating and then they checked her oxygen level…and it was low. they then proceeded to do the snot vacuum…which i never got used to even though they kept doing this to my little girl in the next couple days. they stuck a long skinny tube down her nostrils to suck out all the mucus and crap that she couldn’t get out. it was awful. the doctor then proceeded to tell me that he thought i needed to go to primary children’s hospital and fast. um, fast? yup, fast…meaning ambulance.

so, i rode with charlotte in the ambulance and billy followed behind. the ambulance guy talked my ear off, it was kinda funny. i called my mom on the way to the hospital and he wanted to talk to her too…i told him no.

so, we arrive at the er and they do the snot vacuum thing again. then x-rays of her chest. put her on oxygen. then iv in her head. she now had a fever and had to give her tylenol as well. they test her mucus stuff they got out of the snot vacuum…rsv positive. they want charlotte to stay over night. we wait in er til 3:30 am…then we were admitted to our room.

charlotte in the e.r. (phone picture)

charlotte had to stay in the hospital for two nights with lots of snot vacuuming and baby booger grabbing(new device they have for getting snot out of babies) and bulb syringing and then her doctor said she could go home on oxygen. she also went through two rsv roommates which made things interesting for me…poor little sick babies. a sick baby is just soooo sad.

charlotte was such a sad, sick baby. it was heartbreaking. her eyes were so sad. i didn’t sleep those nights in the hospital just worried and stuff.

hospital room (phone picture)

but, she is home now and doing sooooo much better. she smiles and is sorta getting back to the old charlotte.

here’s to a great 2009…minus the first weeks of january.

merry merry

2008-12-25T14:08:00.001-08:00

what a blessing

2008-12-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

charlotte was blessed this past sunday (dec. 7). it was such a beautiful day. billy gave a wonderful blessing to little charlotte and she slept through the whole thing...but this is no surprise...church seems to have a sleeping effect on charlotte...that's weird. it was so great to have my whole family there at church with us. we had two of billy's siblings and their families come as well...one all the way from idaho!! we definitely missed grandma helen!

billy and i with charlotte

my mom and dad with charlotte

i never got a great shot of charlotte on that day in all her dress glory, but luckily i had my sister take some pictures of her and they turned out so great!!! thanks jos...