ScrappingSimply.com

Hi everyone, this is just a shameless plug for Rex's scrapbook printing business. He has this amazing lady - Chari Pack - who is helping him make their site look awesome. Rex is great at the technical stuff, but not so worried about the frilling details. That is where the amazing Chari comes in, she is great at layouts and making things look trendy and scrappy. Anyway, the site is still in the process of getting updated, but I think it looks great thus far. Check it out if you get a chance! They print 12 X 12 prints for $1.99 everyday. And, you can have them shipped right to your house or you can pick them up at any Allen's Camera. If you don't digitally scrap yet (I must confess, I don't yet), they can also scan (or you can scan) your already done paper pages and then print them on photo paper (real photo paper - not ink jet printing) great for grannies and other family members and sibling's books. Check it out: Scrapbook Printing

Long Shot

Hello everybodee! (okay, a little too much 'monster at the end of this book') Well, last Saturday, Rex, me, Brett and Nikki went to the disappointing Real Salt Lake soccer game. The game was fun and intense, in a beautiful stadium, but we lost. Then, to top it all off, the big wigs presented the Western Conference Championship trophy to the New York Red Bulls on our field! Needless to say, there weren't too many fans who stuck around to see it.

Well, we took a couple of pictures of the group both in the stadium and then out of the stadium. I then put my camera in the pocket of my hoodie (along with some gloves, my camera case, my wallet, etc.) We then made the 10 mile, uphill both ways hike to our car - okay, so it was only about 5 blocks, and it was down hill, but it did take a bit of time. Anyway, then we drove to get dinner, which is when I realized my camera was gone. Well, Rex was in no mood to go back and Brett and Nikki needed to get back to their babysitter and kids, so we came home. I have been thinking and praying (not a significant loss, I know, but hey it was worth a shot), calling the lost and found at the stadium and posting KSL lost and found ads all week! At first I thought I might have lost it in the stadium parking lot as we were trying to walk with a mob of people. Then I had a thought that I had felt it in my pocket, just to make sure it was there, after we got past the mob. My next thought was, it had to have fallen out when I got into the car. I have tried to get to Salt Lake all week just to check, but naps and tutoring and such got in the way. Well, Megan came down today to watch the BYU vs. U of U football game, so I asked her to take a long shot for me. I told her exactly where the car was parked and drumroll please . . . she found it! And the best part - it still works, no worse for the wear! I am thrilled to say the least and Rex is dumbfounded (now he must think of a Christmas gift - a camera would have been easy).

Tagged!

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL? No one seriously! I dated a few people a couple of times but hung out with a group most of the time.
2.WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE? Astrovan or Ford Ranger
3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY? Absolutely
4. WERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL? Well, let's just say I could have been (well, still could be)called Molly Mormon - I liked good, clean, silly, laughing fun, but not the usual party scene.
5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT? Nope
6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR? Orchestra in Junior High . . . would have liked to have been in Choir - too many politics.
7. WERE YOU A NERD? Oh, YES! At least I had a group of nerd friends. We had fun, too.
8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMs? Nope
9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED? No, refer back to question #4
10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG? Did we have a fight song?
11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS? Mdm. Nielson (French teacher) Mr. Francom (AP Biology) most of my seminary teachers . . .
12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH? Usually in the hallway near our lockers [where else can you play mini-ping-pong, slap hands and card games (refer back to questions # 7)]
13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME? I'm not telling you... we're online you know.
14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS? Red, gray and white?
15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHO? Yep - as a junior I went with Brytt Cloward - we went to Les Miserables at Capital Theatre! Couldn't forget that. Funny story about how I got asked . . . Then, as a senior, I kind of went with Aric Hawkins - he had already graduated and I was helping Lindy set up for the dance (none of us had dates), so Aric helped us set up, brought me a rose and we danced a few dances together.
16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU? I think I have a selective memory, so from what I remember, I would like to do it again ;)
17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION? I remember it being such a big deal, where now it doesn't seem as big. I remember my family came - mom, dad, Matt, Tom, Megan, cousins - Tyler and Golden.
18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY? Lagoon, of course!
19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS? Thanks to Lindy, yes! NHS, FHA, Thoreau Society - those are all I can remember.
20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN? Yes, but now I am smaller than I was in High School - Thank you, Jess Brereton!
21. WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE? Junior year - Matt Richey. He said I was just a nice person. We went to Magleby's and Matt got me a grape from the restaurant's decorations - I think I still have it somewhere . . . Senior Prom - Corey Granger. We also went to Magleby's - I remember the huge shrimp plate. The girls paid for a limo because one of the girls couldn't go to Prom without a limo . . . We had fun dancing - Corey was great at two-step!
22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION? Already did - I had to show off my beautiful daughter!
23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL? Yep, Burger Barn/Jerry's Dairy! You couldn't claim residency in our little town without working there. I still remember their ice cream - nothing like it, nowadays!

I tag - Julie, Lindy and Becca

Two fun stories . . .

Okay, yesterday Maleah and I went to visit Papa and Poppy (aka grand mama, mom). When we got on the street I told Maleah who we were going to visit. Maleah said, "No, Daddy!" I said, "No, Papa and Poppy" (it went back and forth like this for a while), then Maleah said, "Actually, go to Daddy" She has picked up on my saying actually when I change my mind of things that we are going to do or if she mis-labels something I will use it to correct her (I have realized that I say it quite a bit more than previously realized). So silly!

Second story - Last night Maleah walked up to me with her hand pulled into her sleeve and said, "Wa hand go?" Then she popped her hand through her sleeve and wiggled her fingers. Then she pulled her hand in her sleeve again and said, "Wa hand go?" again. She did this like six or seven times. Of course, when I pulled out the camera, she was less interested, so sorry about the long video, but I had to capture it!

Bad Mommy!

Background: I was emptying the car, so I was going in and out of the house. One time I came in and I could hear Maleah kind of moaning. I knew she had been playing with Murphy, the cat, so I figured he was doing something she wasn't too impressed with. The next time I came to the kitchen door, I could hear her say, "I need a tishoo" and this is what I saw . . .

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Bad mommy, I know! She had had sneezes like this for a couple of days, and we kept telling her to, "wait, don't touch, Mom and Dad will get a tissue." She is such a sweetheart!

Okay, one more post for today. There is an amazing lady that used to be in my mom's ward who had some seriouse problems with infertility and other woman issues. She and her husband adopted an adorable little baby girl (I think she is 3 now). Well, after so many woman problems, the doctors decided to give her a hysterectomy (sp?). She has been in the hospital since her hysterectomy on September 30, 2008. She ended up with a perferated bowel and serious infections throughout her body because of it. Anyway, it is a miracle that she is alive, but she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Question is . . . why am I so interested in this? I am not sure, but I think about her all the time and want her to recover fully and preferrably quickly. Random, I know, but if anyone reading this can offer any prayers in her behalf, I would appreciate it. Her name is Heather Beacher (sp?) and her husband has a blog telling her story. heathersrecoveryprogress.blogspot.com if you are interested. :)

What Fun!

So, I haven't blogged in a while, and decided that there must be something going on right now that I should be documenting. As I unloaded the baby bottles from the dishwasher, I thought of it! Weaning Maleah off the bottle . . . Not her idea of fun. I have been thinking about getting rid of her bottles for months, but I couldn't stand her sad, pleading face when I refused to get her a "milkie baba". We are finally making progress. I have noticed with other things as well, that Maleah really thinks through things, and if I give her an option of "this or that" or nothing, she will eventually give in if I tell her to tell me when wants it or is ready. I think she is finally accepting that I am getting rid of her bottles and she needs to be a big girl and drink out of a sippy cup. YAY!
And now for a cute story . . . Maleah and Rex were watching football in the basement on Sunday when I called them up for dinner. Maleah was not excited about coming upstairs, so Rex turned out all the lights, hoping that she would see the lights upstairs and want to go. She came to the stairs - just as he had planned - stepped onto the first step, stood up and turned the light on! This is the only place in the house that she can reach the switch without help. It is now her favorite place to play!
**Updated** I forgot I had video of this!

My sweet girl!

Okay, so all of my posts could have that title - very unoriginal, but really, Maleah is my sweet girl. Yesterday, I was at my mom's helping her with some bookshelves. We were both fairly busy with our hands, so Maleah was just kind of doing her own thing - favorite thing at Grandma MB's is to play with the magnetic letters on Grandma's fridge. Anyway, after who knows how long, we noticed Maleah kept singing, "happy day". My mom and I were both trying to sing any songs that we could think of that said happy day. Last night when I put Maleah to bed, I started her lullaby CD (one of my favorite things - "A Child's Prayer"). I started singing the first song to her and she started singing it with me! The song is "I am Like a Star". Well, in it there is a line - "happy things each day". That is what she has been singing! The video clip is not that great, but I was trying to do it alone today - I will get a better one with Rex later, but wanted something up now.

Here, Spider, Spider!

***Jenn, do not read the following post***

Okay, so if you know me at all, you know I love spiders. There are certain species I love to kill, but none the less, I love them. Well, today I looked at Maleah's diaper bag to make sure it was fully stocked for Grandma's house, and noticed some wispy spider webs around the little side, bottle holder, pocket thing. I have seen quite few baby spidees lately, so I figured one had made itself a little home and I would pinch him before he made himself too comfy. Well, I used a pen to pull out the webs, expecting to find the baby somewhere in the webs, no luck! Then I stretched opened the pocket (elastic around the top is not so helpful when looking for spiders) and took a peek inside to find a GINORMOUS SPIDEE! I quickly smashed the pocket as best I could from the outside, hoping to squash him, then I got my (absolutely, adorable, PINK) rubber gloves and reached in to make sure he was gone . . . phew! No more fully intact spidee. I did however get each of his pieces out of the pocket. His longest legs are more then a half an inch long!!!!! Yikes! Maleah doesn't get to play in her diaper bag anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just to clarify, I still love spiders, just not when those yucky ones invade my space.

Ft. Lauderdale

Yay for the beach!

Maleah loved the sand, sun and waves!

Books, books, books!

Since Maleah was about 7 months old, she has had her favorite books. First was That's Not My Princess, a touchy feely book. Since then - Are You My Mother?; Llama, Llama Red Pajama; Ten Little Ladybugs; Mommy Mine; I Love You As Much; Monster at the End of This Book; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (with ASL signs), etc. Well, tonight I was putting her to bed and we read Dr. Seuss' ABC boardbook. We have read it a couple of other times. Before we finished it, she pulled the book out of my hands and started flipping through the pages. She pointed at the doughnuts and duckdog and said some Maleah talk. I said, "I see doughnuts and a duckdog, that page must be 'D'" Then she said, "D, D, D" Then she turned to some other pages and said more Maleah talk and looked at me as if for a response. OOOO! The beginnings of early literacy - remembering repeating phrases! She is such a cutie.

Bedtime fun!

(This picture is really from her birthday - 7:00 AM, but is shows her in her crib) I really have had good intentions to keep up this blog. I really need to use it like a journal (but I am horrible at journal keeping as well). Tonight was one of the funnest nights putting Maleah to bed, so I have to share. To start off - Maleah didn't get a good afternoon nap today, so she was a bit grumpy at dinner and didn't want to go to bed. I asked Rex if he could do it and he said, "yes". Usually she goes down easier for him than me - not tonight. She screamed for about 10 minutes (longer than usual), so I decided to go get her. Her scream was not her usual, "I don't want to sleep" cry. It was pretty moany. She was happy to see me, but still crying. I got her out and sat in her rocking chair with her. She calmed down and eventually started playing peek-a-boo with me using her blanket. She is getting pretty advanced these days - pulling the blanket slowly down, so she can peek or pulling the blanket to the side, so one eye peeks out and she blinks it slowly waiting for you to see her. So Adorable!!! Well, we had a little tickle time. She has never really been a real laugher, so when you do get a real laugh out of her it is precious. Her laugh is absolutely addicting! We have been working on identifying face parts - eye, nose, chin, cheeks, etc. So we played this game for a while. She loves to carefully touch her eyelashes and mine. (side note - when she sees me putting on mascara on in the mirror, she pulls herself up and "puts on mascara" with her finger) Anyway, this game turned into a kissing game and Megan can attest that Maleah's kisses are intense. Once she has her mind set on kissing your lips, she will not let anything stop her and you can see her determination in her eyes. So fun. Well, she kept going back to touching my eyelashes and then giving kisses, so I showed her butterfly kisses. She is hooked! She giggles, when I butterfly kiss her on her nose and moves my head back and forth so she can get kisses from both eyes. When I finally put her back in her crib, she still wasn't completely happy, but a quick butterfly kiss on her nose helped quite a bit! I absolutely love being Maleah's mom!

First Real Blog Post!

Okay, so I finally have something to say. YAY! I ran . . . okay,walked/jogged my first 5K! It was so much fun. It was for the Art City Days in Springville. I did it in 40:58. Not a world record, but it felt good. It was raining and freezing cold. Maleah was not really happy about being out in the elements at first, but eventually she fell asleep. Salem Days Fun Run, here we come!

Convert - finally!

I love to read all my friends' and families' blogs, but didn't dare start my own. Well, today is the day. I did it. It is created. I will keep it updated (okay, that may be a resolution fated for failure, but it is worth a try!)