18 Months

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This little munchkin is officially a nursery-bound 18 month old with growing feet!  So, maybe we celebrated with a little retail therapy.    

I have been wanting to buy her pink cowboy boots for a long time and found the perfect pair at Target, but then when we went, I found this pair which were also totes adorbs.  You can see we went with the more sophisticated pair.  We also bought the little Nome some sneakers.  Hylan quickly discovered that she loves them because they increase her speed significantly.

I tell you, this summer continues to be splendid.  I hate that everyone is talking about "back to school."  The funny thing is that I keep thinking, "oh, how great, that doesn't apply to me (snicker snicker), but then I realize for the last 6 years I've been teaching fitness classes at a University, so it DOES apply to me, but in a different way.  My back to school shopping is a few new yoga pants and tops.  HA HA.

Anyway, here are some highlights from the last few weeks.

The aforementioned Highland Splash Pad that I didn't have pictures of before:

 in. out. in. out.

 ahh, not in my face

 sun bathing rock like Ariel's

I love this fun water, Dad!

One night Naomi didn't want to go to bed and this is what the sleepy head looked like after I took out her piggy tails!  :)

Last Friday we had an impromptu family date night that ended up being spontaneously fun!  We ate at Shoots (one of my faves!), and played arcade games at the Beach Resort like Deal or No Deal, and capped it off with a Dole Whip float!  Um, yeshhhhhh pwease! 

The next day we investigated the Alpine Splash Pad.  It was fun because it felt remote and serene.  Nomie modeled her new babingsuit (yes, I meant to spell it that way).

I mean, that's precious.

Ha ha, I have so many shoe videos, but I had to round out her obsession with girly heels with her new found admiration for sneakers.  She was walking around in these until I got out my camera.  Still cute, though.

Nomie highlights:

• Still loves shoes
• Has discovered fruit snacks and will never refuse them :)
• She sleeps and eats quite well (unless she is teething, then all bets are off)
• Speaking of teething, she now has the top central and lateral incisors, and the bottom central incsiors (her first two) with the lateral incisors finally pushing through.  Sheesh, we still have a long way to go.
• Loves playing outside (chalk, bubbles, pools, splash pads)
• Now has separation anxiety (taking her to basketball is starting to be difficult, leaving her in Nursery is also becoming difficult, she even sheds a few tears when I leave her with Grandma. I'm hoping she breaks out of this when I start teaching again and she gets used to other company when Hylan and I are gone--it's only a couple hours). 
• She doesn't talk (except Momma, Dadda) but she is increasing her signs every day!
• She loves her new sign language pop-up book and asks for it every day by doing the sign for book.
• She loves to help Swiffer the floors.  She'd help with the vacuum too, but that one doesn't work out as well.
• She will usually sit and let me do her hair.
• She mostly hates getting her diaper changed (unless she really needs it or she is feeling really calm).
• Every morning she will grab her Betsy (blanket doll) and Minnie Mouse to take with her out of the crib.
• I bought her telephone cord bracelets that she adores and rarely takes off. ($2.00 at Target for 10. Perfect size for her. They were mislabeled hair ties. Score for us.)
• She still watches parts of Frozen and Tangled nearly every day.  

What a life!  I love my family!  And I am still loving this summer!

July, Best Month of the Year!

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Oh, how I love July.  The nation's birthday.  My birthday.  Utah's "birthday."  Hot, hot, sun (air conditioning!).  Ice cream.  Swimming.  Water fun.  Flowers blooming.  BBQs.  Love it all.  I don't think there is a month when I am happier than in July.

We had an incredible 4th of July spent in Nomie's Waterpark Adventureland.

We had cousins over.  We played outside in the "pool," threw water balloons at each other, colored the concrete with chalk.  We ate shrimp, chicken, salmon, watermelon, pasta salad, veggies, chips, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream cones.  We watched Tangled and The Lego Movie (and I think Nomie sneaked in some more Frozen).  "Everything is awesome!"

We were treated to the best neighborhood fireworks show I have ever witnessed.  It actually was so much, so close, so often, so big, so long, that even some of the older kids got bored.  I loved every second!  And that's why there are no more pictures because I had too much fun in the moment!

And then there was my birthday.  I turned 25 again, in case you're wondering.  It's weird how the lines in my face keep getting deeper even though I'm so young.  Hmmm...

We celebrated all week by using my birthday coupons.  To date, we've used: Rodizio, Tucanos, Dairy Queen (S'mores Blizzard!), and Noodles and Company.  We've also gotten our Pretzel Pub Chicken/Pretzel Burger fix at Wendy's.  May it never go away, we say!

Anyway, Hylan made this awesome frame and promise for my present:

Since my birthday was on a Thursday, Hylan treated me more on the Saturday after: Breakfast at Kneaders, massage at Massage Envy, pedicure at the local place, and a new Minnie Mouse t-shirt from Kohl's!  That was the day we also went to Tucanos and Dairy Queen and Naomi got to experience the Riverwoods splash pad for the first time.  

 see, I was there!

omigosh that belly! :)

In the last week and a half, we've also gone to the Highland Splash pad  twice (waterfall, river, water fountain!).  It's super nifty, so I say check it out if you're in driving distance.

And of course, no summer is complete without bubbles and chalk!  :)

And super awesome crazy baby hairdos. 

Today's triceratops do. She's currently watching Tangled, so I can crank out this blog post. What, not Frozen?  Daddy switched it out.

Too much fun!  July, don't end! :)  Can't wait for Pioneer Day!!  Happy July Everyone!  :o) 

Consequences of Traveling So Much

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Okay, so it has been a while.

See, what ha-happened was...a lot of traveling.

And then after all that traveling, a lot of sickness!  Baby girl had "hand foot mouth," then I was sick with a fever and sore throat for over a week.  Then after we started feeling better, baby got sick again (fever, throwing up).

I realized yesterday that this week I hadn't been out of the house, except to take the trash out a few times, since Sunday afternoon. So, we got out of the house to go to the grocery store.  And baby was whiny the whole time.

After that, I put the groceries away and started to prep dinner while she whined and whined until this happened:

 
I mean.

Poor girl.

She had had no rhythm or routine since Sunday, so I was not necessarily encouraging a second nap, since she was keeping us up at night.  I guess she took the matter into her own hands.  

Oh, yeah, plus she is getting at least 4 teeth!  And she is NOT happy about it.

Is this normal?  She cut her first two around 8 months, the next two a couple months later.  And then nothing for at least five months.  Now at least four are coming in that I can see/feel.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are more.

I don't think being sick twice in a few weeks and getting multiple teeth makes for a happy girl.  But I sure look forward to my happy, joy-loving and joy-giving girl to return soon.

I have great intentions to blog about our Disney trip and then my epic East Coast jaunt with Naomi.  And also Thanksgiving 2013.  But for now, we're trying to fully recover and make some time to do something fun.

Like this quick visit to the zoo last Saturday.

Hylan has been working crazy hours including Saturdays, so we squeezed this excursion in before the second illness struck Nomie.  Too bad all the big kitties were sleeping (and so was Naomi most of the time). I really like  Hogle Zoo though.  Cute, small, easy to navigate, nestled in a sweet little Utah spot.  

Now, I have to put "Frozen" on for the 13th time this week (how many total does that make since it came out?).  Yup.  That's what got us through some long nights and whiny mornings.  No other movie will satisfy! Olaf makes everyone happy!  

And hopefully, Naomi will like food again.  *sigh.  She was such a great eater before.  

Easter Week

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Spring has sprung!  The flowers are blooming.  The sleeves are getting shorter. The park is getting busier. The grass is getting mowed.  The grill is being used.  Ahhh...the hope of a fun summer!

 Just living the dream around these parts.  I don't have much to say, but here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Visiting Daddy at work

 Kingo commandeered Naomi's chair while she was sleeping!

Easter Sunday = cute baby dresses!  And beautiful family pictures.  Omigosh, I loved looking at everyone's pics on the Facebook.

 Rosy Pink Daughter

So giddy to get a Minnie Bunny.

Daddy picked out the Minnie bunny and we hid it for a month to give to Nome on Easter Sunday.  We didn't do anything else, so I'm glad I "okayed" that purchase.  ;)

Selfie Sunday

 The closest thing we got to a family picture on Easter Sunday before church.

 yup, not so perfect that I needed to iron a tablecloth

My giddy moment was getting to use a pink table cloth (thanks to my Grandma Nome!) and pink plates for the first time in my life!  Those daffodils are from our flower beds!  The yellow candies are worth a special mention: Lemoncello Almonds. We bought them from Costco and they were the favorite!

We entertained a small crowd: Grandma and Grandpa Harper and cousins: Brandon and Brianna, whilst Naomi slept.  We ate the typical fair: Cafe Parisian Salad, Black Forest Ham, Funeral Potatoes, Peas and Carrots, Dinner Rolls, Strawberries, Lemon Ricotta Cookies (You really need to make these cookies. They are too delicious).  It wasn't a difficult meal to make, but plenty satisfying and very much appreciated by all! 

BTW, The hard boiled eggs were made into egg salad for my lunch today instead of deviled eggs or pickled beet eggs for dinner.

And here's a pic from today:  

Those piggies are crying for some clip-on Minnie ears!

Nomie decided to corner herself.  She's sitting on a foam roller (bless those weapons of myofascial release!) next to a collapsed play tunnel.

So, there you have it, a few highlights from last week.  Now I'm gearing up for the end of another semester, a trip to the happiest place in the western U.S., and a summer of freedom.  I LOVE my job, but it's nice to have a break too.

Happiness to everyone!

#becauseofHim 

March Update

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Once upon a time, Princess Naomi had a green piggy bank that was very hungry.  So, Princess Naomi decided to feed him with money she received during birthday/holidays mostly from her grandparents and also loose change that King Daddy gave to her.

Well, green piggy got very full and had tummy ache.  So, King Daddy asked Princess Naomi and Queen Mommy to come to the office so that green piggy could have a detox procedure done...

Okay, this story is getting dumb.  

And then we took Naomi to make her first deposit at one of the Chase branches Hylan covers.

  

 Ready to empty Piggy's belly.

This is very official.

Oh, money.

 I did it, Daddy.  Thanks for my new bank account.  

Naomi's first deposit grand total: $46.08.  I include that detail because I feel like that will buy a candy bar when Naomi is 18.  Guess, we'll have to keep on saving.  ;)

--

So, one day, March 13th to be exact, I realized that Naomi's hair is getting long.  

And it was time... 

 For the back piggy tails!  

Pippi Longstocking in due time.

--

Then there was that awesome green holiday I like to call, St. Patty's Day.  And since I'm in a much happier emotional state this year, I decided to go all out!  Well, cooking all day, that is.

I made Irish Soda Bread.  Of course.  We love that stuff.  I used this recipe this time and it's my favorite, a slightly sweet biscuit taste.  Hylan loved it too.

I also made a Turkey Shepherd's Pie with mashed sweet potatoes but didn't take a picture.  It was actually very tasty and I enjoyed eating it as leftovers the rest of the week.  I didn't use a recipe, but made it with the traditional flavors (ground turkey, onion, flour, chicken stock, s&p, thyme,Worcestershire, tomato paste, peas, carrots, corn, and mashed the sweet potatoes with butter, milk, and salt, and added an egg yolk). 

And dessert had to be special too.  This year:

 Pistachio Cream Pie

Truth be told, I didn't love the dessert at first.  Everything in our meal had an element of sweetness, so by the time dessert rolled around, my taste buds were overloaded with too much sweet.

But the next day, that pie was pretty darn good.  It has a layer of chocolate on the bottom sprinkled with pistachios, a layer of pistachio pudding sprinkled with pistachios, pistachio cream sprinkled with pistachios (cool whip and pistachio pudding--easy recipe, folks), and then cool whip on top, with more pistachios as garnish.  

And my little elf baby became a leprechaun for the day.

Speaking of the leprechaun, she finally learned how to walk and her little pitter patters are so very cute.

Funny story:

I was talking to someone in Relief Society (our women's meeting at church) and she asked if Naomi was walking.  I told her, "well she stands and walks around holding on to furniture and sometimes if she gets distracted, she will take a step or hold her stance for a while, but no, not really walking yet."  Well, then a little later in the meeting, Naomi stands up and takes about 3 steps (witnessed by the lady I was talking to about it).  It was awesome!

Then, later after church, Hylan and I took a walk around our neighborhood and started talking to some of our neighbors.  The same lady was there and asked, "so, has Naomi walked some more today?"  And then I was like, "oh, yeah, Hylan I forgot to tell you Naomi took her first real unassisted steps all by her self today."  Ooops.  How did I forget?

Anyway, that was back in early March.

And since I have your attention and since my whole world revolves around my baby, I'll just add that her favorite foods are: bananas! mandarin oranges, Gerber cheese crunchies, scrambled eggs! and cheerios.  But writing that makes it seem like she doesn't like anything else.  Well, this baby will eat pretty much everything if she's hungry and if we're patient in letting her explore new foods.  Sometimes, she just needs a lid or a spoon for distraction, or to see the food in its whole form (hello, gourmet ravioli).

On the subject of food, sometimes I think, man, this girl eats so healthy, I should eat like her.  And then I think, wait, I do eat like her.  Wait, she eats like me!  Ha ha.  And...why do you think she wears so much pink? It's cute how baby girls often reflect the style of their moms until they become more independent.  Did that tangent make sense?  I'm too tired to edit my writing.  Are you still reading my lazy writing?  ha.

I think I've failed at trying to teach Nome sign language, probably because I forget...but she is a charmer with her hello and goodbye waves.  I think we walk around just brightening people's days and that is awesome! And she can still learn, unless the words come sooner.  :)  Dadda, Momma, and Nanna she seems to say and understand.

I'm sure other significant and insignificant stuff occurred in March, but by now you are bored, so until next time.

The rest of February

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Time for some updating.  

So, Valentine's Day happened.  And it was sweet.  I feel like there was more to it, but now I can't remember if we did anything on the actual day/weekend.  

But on the Wednesday before, this was waiting for me at home:

 Oh, just 100 roses, no big deal.

Flowers and a baby, a very big deal.  :)

And then the roses got color blocked so they could be enjoyed longer.

Then my parents came in to town and I have no pictures to show for it, except for this little Walmart excursion.

During that time, Hylan and my Dad had their birthdays on February 26th, but alas, I have no pictures to document that experience either.  Hmmm...well, we celebrated together with my sister's family on the Sunday before and ate a traditional roast beef and mashed potatoes, etc. with strawberry cheesecake for dessert (Hylan's fave).  Oh, and Hylan bought himself a spiffy new hard shell briefcase.  We don't have to try to hard at gift-giving anymore (hey, what do you want?..okay go buy it because I'll pick out the wrong thing). It's practical, anyway.

Oh, now I remember.  Hylan, Naomi, and I went to Tucanos for Hylan's actual birthday during lunch.  What a perfect place to take a baby to eat!  Naomi feasted on mandarin oranges, beets, peas, fried banana, cheese bread, garbanzo beans, marinated mozzarella balls, and more.  She enjoyed it as much as we did.  

And that was February, folks.  A good one, I'd say.  

Anniversary, chapter 7

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You know, I used to think being sick was annoying.  It is.  But now I'm more inclined to think that being sick and child-less was a luxury!  

When I left full-time employment at BYU, I also left several weeks worth of sick days on the table.  Too bad there are no sick days for the moms.  

So, that's been my week so far, sick and tired and hauled up indoors.

Last Saturday, however, was pretty much our first real outing as a family (not counting grocery store trips or visits to my sister's).  It was our 7th wedding anniversary, so we made a small trip up to City Creek in SLC.      

It was a grey, overcast sort of day, so we bought Naomi two hats at Gymboree to protect her from the elements.  Here she is with Hylan in the baby bjorn, our little pink smurf!

This was the outfit she was wearing and I think it just became my new favorite. Pink corduroy overalls?!  I die, I die!

Also, we splurged on some Godiva chocolates.  Hylan got a key lime pie bon bon and I had a dark chocolate covered strawberry.  I thought it was a mistake when the lady said, "that will be $9.31."  What?  I mean, it was good chocolate, but not nine dollars good.  Lesson learned.  Ha ha.

We didn't spend too much time walking around, but we did enjoy spending the most time at the Disney store and randomly met up with some friends there, just proving that great minds think alike!  

After City Creek, we hit up IKEA and had a romantic dinner of Swedish Meatballs and Lingonberry Juice.  It was free dinner with purchase day, and we just happened to pick up some bookshelves that would work perfectly as benches for our basement.  Later, I saw this blog (via IKEA on twitter, via pinterest), and was like, hey we totally had that idea too.  We are geniuses.  

from the link above

As you can see pictured below, our basement is still a work in progress, but the idea is that this space will be for dining and entertaining and this bench seating will reduce the need for extra chairs.  Maybe I'll take better pictures as it gets more finished.  We do plan on adding cushioned seating like from the pic above.

Maybe next time I'll turn on a light to take a picture too.

Anyway, I get a pass on poor photography because I'm still sick and frankly, I don't want to go back downstairs to take another picture.  But then again, it's not like I try to take awesome pictures anyway, because I just use my phone so I can quickly upload them.  And besides, my window of free time is getting shorter and shorter as right now my baby is sleeping.  I should probably use this time to shower, but oh well, I'm blogging, and who cares?

So, that was pretty much our super fantastic awesome 7th wedding anniversary day.  Oh, I did forget the best part was that Hylan took over baby duties in the morning and made french toast for breakfast all before I left for a massage at Massage Envy to work out some tension in my neck.  That was a really nice way to start the day.  I love Hylan.  I wish he didn't have to be gone so much working!  He's a great daddy. 

Here are some more cute baby pics, bath time and smiles.  

Naomi loves bath time but not the part when she is taken out and it's cold and then I shmear lotion all over her, which she likes, except the part about it making her feel more cold.  Clean, sweet-smelling babies are so yummy!

I just love her Easter dress so much, that she got to wear it again this past Sunday.  She was all smiles at first, but only made it halfway through Sunday School, and then she was done.  Poor baby has some acid reflux issues, and is super cranky when she doesn't get her sleep, so I brought her home to settle her down.  Gosh, what would I do if we hadn't found an awesome swing at Kid to Kid for cheap!  Puts her right to sleep!

And here is a random pic from two weeks ago during General Conference. Bubba Kingo (yup, he has his own theme song too--I made it up) decided to sun himself in the window, all whilst guarding the Ensign!  Ha ha.  He's so funny.  And his fur sparkles like diamonds.  He might be a vampire cat.  Have you seen the teeth on cats?  Total vampires.  Except, I think he's just a milk drinking vampire (not that we ever feed him milk or ice cream, because it's not good for him, but he just might like licking our bowls if we let him).

I'm just hoping I feel better soon so I can get back on track exercising (I was doing so well keeping up the habit, alternating yoga and strength days, grr. Stupid sick germs derailed me the past four days.)  

And now that we finally have a proper stroller, I can start walking strolling outside if the weather cooperates.   

Such a great deal at Target and fits/matches her car seat, but there were none in any Utah store...until a shipment arrived on Monday and Orem got a few in. Good luck finding this guy because they are never in stock in Utah, but you can order one online in Cocoa brown.

The End.