Brody, Karee & Ainsleigh Pack

Strollers ?? Opinions please

2009-05-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

With this new one on the way, i'm looking for a new stroller. I love my full size one, but it's just that - full size. I need a good umbrella stroller for the space, traveling, etc. I hate the cheap ones, they're no where near tall enough for me and I end up with an aching back or just carrying the child. My preferences (in order):
1. tall handles
2. shade
3. basket underneath
4. sit & ride seat for Ains
Has anyone ever seen an umbrella stroller with the seat on the back for older kids?

I want your opinions, experiences, etc. Thanks!!

Tulip Festival 2009

2009-04-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

While dad & Sandy were here we went to the tulip festival. We went Saturday morning as it has been really busy the past few Sat afternoons. I don't know that it got quite so busy this time, Saturday was a bit cold and rainy. We didn't stay long, which was probably better we had more shelving to do. The fields were gorgeous, but the wind blew right over them, so it was pretty cold walking around them. Ainsleigh had a lot of fun. She held a bird (though it mostly stood on my hand as I steadied her arm), we both got our faces painted - she had hers picked off within a few hours and then started working on mine, and then asked where they went :). She also liked the ducky races, the bouncy houses, and most of all her pony rides - that is always her favorite.

big helper

2009-04-28T08:20:00.001-07:00

Ainsleigh is really into helping lately, I try to allow and encourage it as much as possible, although sometimes that does take additional time and patience - I want her to enjoy helping. This past weekend my dad and stepmom came to visit and help us put up some shelving. Some of it needed to be painted before it went up - so Sandy and Ainsleigh painted it together - Ains really did a good job, she's getting so big it amazes me sometimes the things she can do. I guess when I paint her dresser i'll have to have her help me.

Easter egg hunt

2009-04-28T08:15:00.001-07:00

finding an egg - yeah!!

posing for the camera - if only I could get her to look at it, too.

I didn't get pictures of Ains in her Easter dress, maybe i'll dress her up the next nice day and take some. We decided to do an egg hunt at the house Sunday afternoon. It was cute to watch, she got so excited with EVERY egg she found. The hair is post nap, so that's part of why it's a little crazy - it's growing, but I think it will still be a loooong time before we have a bob again. She and I both miss pigtails so hopefully it grows fast.

Updates

2009-04-28T08:01:00.001-07:00

Wow, time is flying by. I am now 7 months along, I can't believe that means less than 2 months to go!! Auuggghhhh!! I feel like I still have so much to do. I am getting excited, just want to have all my ducks in a row. I am still working on doing stuff to decorate the house, then will get to work on stuff for the girls room. I actually have to do stuff for Ainsleigh and the baby is getting Ainsleigh's crib bedding and her current dresser when I finish painting one for A. In a few days I can say I'm due next month, which kind of makes me laugh because it's bit of a skew since i'm due at the very end of the month, but that's okay. At my appt last week I made all of my appts through the end, that felt kinda wierd. I am having another ultrasound in a few weeks to make sure the baby is growing okay since I am constantly measuring small. I did the whole time with Ains too, so no one is real concerned, just bettter safe. I probably just have another pip squeak. We'll have to wait and see, and no, we haven't settled on a name yet - still accepting suggestions.

free digital scrapbooking

2009-04-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

So, things have a changed a lot in the free digital scrapbooking world since I posted about this last. There are still a lot of freebies out there, but in my opinion you do have to look a little harder. The biggest change is that a lot of the sites that do a freebie each week or so now "retires" these kits at the end of each week. That means you only have that week to get them, then most of them go to dollar bins in their respective stores. For most of them, the collab kits are still free indefinetily. Big thanks to my sister-in-law Erin for letting me in on a bunch of these sites. I am working on revamping my link list on the side, I was working on editing it and accidentally deleted it completely. There's a list of places to check for the weekly freebie each week and there will be some other links as well. If you find any I should add, or discover some that aren't there anymore, etc - just let me know and I will try to update it accordingly. Happy scrapping.

Music on my blog??

2009-04-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, I ALWAYS look at blogs, and do generally everything with the computer muted, today I unmuted it and couldn't figure out where the music was coming from - apparently I have music attached to my blog??!! How long has it been there? Now I get to try to get it off in the next few days, and i'm not even sure how it got there! Have a good day everyone.

scrapbooking...

2009-04-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry, no updates on free downloading sites. The little bit of time i've spent on scrapbooking stuff has mostly been reloading all of already downloaded free stuff into my program. I got a virus in the fall, and still haven't caught up completely since then. I didn't lose anything, I was able to save it all and reload it, but I have to reload each free download kit seperately. Anyways, as we're getting pretty settled into the house I should have more time soon to update that sort of thing. Anyways, this past weekend scrappingsimply.com, as far as we know the cheapest place to print 12 x 12's, had a sale on printing. So I did my last touch ups to the few pages i've had a chance to do and get them printed. I thought I would show you the finished product. It will be very interesting to see the way things change as I do this more and more.

Celebration time!!

2009-04-01T07:47:00.001-07:00

Ainsleigh's birthday was a little spread out this year with the move. Her birthday was on a Tuesday and we moved the following Saturday. My family wanted to come for a party, but they're far enough away it has to be on a Saturday. So, we put her party off and had it after we were moved in and somewhat settled. I worked on her actual birthday, I think i'll ask for it off next year, so we took special treats for snack time at "school" - she picked them out, brownies and Capri Sun. She really liked that. While we were walking through the grocery store I kept telling her it was her birthday and she was 3. She would get excited over it being her birthday, singing to herself and repeating, "oh yeah, it's my birthday." But, she was not yet convinced that she was 3. She kept telling me, "no mommy, I be 3 in March." It took a few days to convince her, but now she agrees she is 3. With turning another year older she got to move up in classes at daycare/school. I was concerned this would be a really hard adjustment for her - one of her 1 year classroom teachers moved up to the 2's not long before she did, but this time it was all new and a much higher student to teacher ratio. But she has done awesome. It helps that she already knows many of the kids from the past two classes, and that her best friend McKenzie has her birthday just before Ains. I'm grateful it has been an easy transition for her and that she is almost always happy when I drop her off. Nothing makes you feel worse than when they cry every day as you drop them off.

Present from Papa & Nana Pack - Her first gift was from Papa & Nana Pack, it was a set of Hello Kitty scrubs that she demanded to put on immediately and wear to bed, but i'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of them - they're super cute. We let her open it the night before so we could both be there without her having to wait 2 days after. Now she thinks any package that comes to the house can potentially be a gift for her and she can't wait to open them.

The card she got from them was super cool and had this crown in it. She couldn't wait for me to cut it out for her - she loves anything at all princess like right now!

Party at our house. We had a family party Saturday the 21st with all of my immediate family and Rachel and Brady and boys. They had lots of fun, Ains loved having all of the other kids to play with. She is a little timid about tearing paper on gifts, so she asked the other kids to help her. It was such a mass of kids standing around it was hard to get good pictures of her opening gifts, but that's okay.

The cake was kind of funny. My original plan was to make an ice cream cake, lately she only eats the icing off of cake. Then a week or so before her birthday she asked if we could make cupcakes and they decorate them themselves. Great, no time necessary for me to decorate anything :). The morning of her party she decided she had to have a cake, that it wouldn't be a birthday without it. So I made a cake and very quickly decorated - it was very fitting of a 3 year old, it basically looked like she had iced & decorated it. But it still tasted good. She also said we needed to decorate the house for her birthday. I wish I had had balloons and streamers because I think she would have totally gotten into it. I included the top picture of me lighting the candles because this was in the middle of the song. As soon as I lit them the first time, even before we started singing she blew them out, so I lit them again and she got to blow them out twice!

Her birthday outfit was pretty cute - she wanted to wear her pink dress that desperately needed ironing, but was not allowed, and her princess pajama pants. They played dress up at some point during the day, and she kept this dress on through the rest of the party.

fun times with baby Lillian

2009-04-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Lillian came to play recently while Meredith helped me pack some things up. Ainsleigh always feels like Lillian needs whatever she does, and makes sure to put it on for her. Usually it's some of her dress up dresses, this day it was winter hats. Hopefully she'll take such good care of her new sister as well.

playgroup valentine's party

2009-02-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

We had a Valentine's party for playgroup. We made and decorated cookies and made valentine's. We had a great time, the kids really enjoyed it, we're even talking about doing one in March for St Patrick's day. I didn't get any great pictures, but here's a few of some of the kids decorating and eating their cookies. Oh, and if anyone needs a good sugar cookie recipe - this one is amazing. It has sour cream in it so the cookies are so soft - yum!!

names???

2009-02-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

We don't have a name picked out yet, have a list of possibilities. but i'm open to suggestions. We think Ainsleigh is a very cool name, and therefore our next one deserves a cool name as well. Who knows, maybe one of you lucky readers can come up with one we just fall in love with. Have a great day!!

New house

2009-02-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of February we bought a new house. We have been looking casually since December, seriously since the first of the year. We looked at quite a few houses, and found the one for us. We initially tried to stay in our ward boundaries, but that didn't work out, so we will be moving into the ward directly to the west of ours. We meet in the same ward and our playgroups meet together most of the time, so Ainsleigh and I are happy to not still have an easy connection to all of our friends in the Keizer ward - we have made some awesome friends there. And we'll still have our various parties together. Brody's sister Rachel and her family also just bought a house in Keizer - in the same ward!! They are in a different elementary school district, but it will be fun in the same ward, the kids will love seeing each other on a more regular basis. The house is new, we're buying it fromt the builders. We're excited about that. We like everything, the only thing we're planning to do is putting a closet organizer in the girls room, and maybe the understairs coat closet downstairs. So, here are some photos the builders took a little while ago to send to someone else. The refrigerator wasn't there yet, and there are only photos of the master bedroom, but we'll take more once we are moved in - empty rooms are kind of boring to look at anyways. It is a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath with lots of storage and an enormous master bedroom -so the office stuff will go in there. We are supposed to close somtime in March, latest rumor is the first week, but we'll see. We should be moving in very soon after closing. So right i'm busy trying to clean, clean out and start packing soon. My mom and stepdad, Ric, are coming this weekend so maybe they can help me get some things done. We are also doing the walk through and shopping for window coverings and some furniture. We saved up a little extra so we could get some new furniture for the new house as well - we're really excited.

living room from kitchen/dining area

kitchen & dining area - but there's a fridge now

linen closet in the laundry room - which is upstairs with all of the bedrooms!!

master bedroom

master closet

master bath - we LOVE this

driveway - at first I didn't like this, thinking I would've preferred more grass, but the more I think about it the more I like it - a place to ride bikes, play basketball and do all sorts of other things without having to be in the street. The house in in a cul de sac that will be fairly quiet, but is just off a busy for inside a neighborhood road where you wouldn't want kids playing.

backyard - yeah, enough space for a swingset!! And Ainsleigh's birthday is coming up - yippee!!

We're having a ....

2009-02-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

January in a nutshell

2009-02-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

January came and went really fast. We closed on the sale of our house in Florida on New Year's Eve (yeah!!), so a lot of time in January was spent looking at homes to buy here in Keizer. We came within hours of making an offer on one, but finally decided it was too expensive, made an offer on another but got outbid. Then things came around in February.

Play-doh has lately been one of Ainsleigh's favorite past times. She plays it nearly every day.

Ainsleigh loves the princess dresses she got for Christmas, and when baby Lillian came to visit us for a while one day Ainsleigh requested that she be dressed as a princess as well - they had fun, although i'm not sure Lillian was quite certain what to think of all the clothes.

Ainsleigh loves to have one of us with her when she watches shows, and daddy is still her favorite! I wish I could've gotten a good picture of both of them at the same time, but none the less - I still think these are adorable.

For our anniversary this year we went to Portland and watched the Jazz play the Blazers. We had a great time, and were very pleased with this picture, I think it's the best one of the two of us probably since our engagement pictures.

sledding fun in Utah

2009-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

While we were in Utah there was so much snow we couldn't pass up the opportunity to play in it. Brody and his dad got the 4-wheeler going and nearly everyone got a ride. It was lots of fun. The kids had a blast, Uncle Regan did some crazy stuff, and they even decided they wanted to help Papa shovel his driveway. Ainsleigh loved all of it, but spent more time eating snow than anything else I think. I was amazed she didn't lower her body temperature or something she ate so much. This was on Saturday, the day before we left, and after this we had lunch, went to Kangaroo Zoo and off to the bowling alley - it was one long day. Ainsleigh didn't get a nap, so when she fell asleep at around 8 on the way home from bowling we just let her go and put her down for the night.

Christmas in Utah

2009-02-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here's some of the pictures from Christmas in Utah with Brody's family. With all the grandkids together and playing together we had a lot of photo opportunities. Also, we did tons of fun things. Christmas, Chuck E Cheese's (chunky cheese's as Ains says), Kangaroo Zoo with all the jumping things & slides, and bowling. It was a crazy fun filled time. We also played in the snow, but I took so many pics of that I decided to do a seperate slideshow of them. Oh, and ignore the music, I couldn't easily figure out how to not have it and I didn't have time to really investigate.

a hair-erasing experience

2009-02-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

The day before we flew to Utah for Christmas, very shortly before we were leaving to drive up to Portland to stay the night, I was upstairs and Ains was downstairs watching a movie. I checked on her, and she wasn't there - so I came down and looked for her. I opened her door - and there she stood scissors in hand. First I was mad, and yanked the scissors away. After putting them in non-reachable place I walked back to her room and screamed realizing just how much she had cut off. Then I srarted to cry over it - hair has always been a big deal to me, don't know why. She was already crying for numerous reasons - she couldn't get the door open (her knob sticks sometimes) so she had an accident since she couldn't get out to get to the bathroom, then I yelled, screamed and worst of all started crying. We called my mom so she could talk to her and I just cried the whole time. Yes, I had expected a self-barbering at some point- but I expected short bangs, a lopsided bob, not quite what we got...

the hair all over the floor

These pictures really don't quite show the damage well. The entire top of her head had hair 1-2 inches long, and the back right side had an area about the size of her palm that was seriously buzz cut short. I just kept trying to get her to wear a hat, which of course was very unsuccessful! We got it cut the next afternoon into a pixie, and cut again last week into a very short pixie. It looks cute now that we've gotten used to it, but the planis still to grow it back into a bob. If I don't put a bunch of product in it, it lays down so flat she could be mistaken for a really cute little boy. Also, the bed head is like 100 times worse and she hates for me to do anything with it. Plus, I miss pig tails. I'm hoping by this summer it will be long enough to be a layered bob at least - we'll see. I'm not looking forward to the growing out process, but I don't want bed head like this forever.

December snow storm

2009-02-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

We got hit with a crazy storm in December. It hit on a Sunday and lasted almost 2 weeks. We hardly have more than 2 inches of snow on the ground in this area, and it maybe lasts 2 days - as you can see, it was a lot more this time. This was Monday, 8 days after it had started, and I think my car had only sat since Thursday or Friday! The first Monday the roads were like driving on an ice skating rink - like nothing i've ever experienced before. We left Tuesday the 23rd (day 10) and they got more for a few days while we were gone. Unfortunately for him, Joel came to visit in the middle of this and didn't really get to see anything as the entire area was completely crippled by the storm. Miraculously we made it out of the airport and by the time we were back the snow had nearly all melted. It was certainly a sight to see.

Halloween

2009-02-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween, after a slow morning we went to a playgroup party. Ainsleigh had a blast, but she wasn't very happy that we hadn't taken her costume with us when we got ready to do the group picture and she was the only one without it. After playgroup we came home for nap time, then we had to go to my work for something I needed to take care of. Once home from there (where she got candy and lots of attention so she was totally okay with it), we had a quick dinner and were off to trick or treat. We went out for around an hour, then she was ready to be home.... until Brock & Tate came by, then we went back out with them for at least another hour. It turned out good because as the kids were all getting worn out and we had been to just about every house in our neighborhood it started to rain. We were all so tired when we got back we left our porch light off, got ready and went to bed. Hopefully next year will be as much fun.

the playgroup gang: Isaac, Ains, Macy, Jacob, Maggie (beth for support), Brock, and Lillian

The little butterfly - once again in 3-4 layers of clothing for going out this year. I've managed to keep up the bug theme for 3 years, we'll see about next year, princess items are becoming very popular in this house.

the Pumpkin Patch

2009-02-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

In October we went to a nearby pumpkin patch - there was lots to do, but we had a hard time getting Ainsleigh into many of the things, so it was kind of race through and get home. We had fun, she mostly enjoyed picking her and daddy's pumpkins out.

In a teepee in the maze

With daddy at the top of a hay bail mountain.

Sept trip to Utah

2009-02-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ainsleigh in our hotel, day 2 Boise to Utah - very ready to get to Alpine and see everyone!

DIRRRTTTYYY GIRLZZZ!!!

Ains helping out in Papa Pack's berry patch - she mostly ran around after Coco, and one time they laid down under the berries so hidden and quiet we started yelling and yelling for her - finally she started giggling so we knew where she was, and where to look next time.

In September we went to Utah for about a week, mostly to learn how and do some food storage. We worked hard, had fun, and learned a lot. Because so much of our week was spent working we didn't take a lot of pictures. The day we got there we went to the farm to pick beans, Erin and Peyton came to visit for a while as we were getting ready to leave, and as you can see, they found a wonderful way to have fun. They thought it was just hilarious to throw the dirt up in the air and see where it went - we just kept laughing at them - especially they're little white eyes sticking out from such dirty faces.

2009-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

I think everyone already knows, but just in case...

This is how we let some people know about our new arrival. I was planning to post it on facebook, here, and e-mail. But I had to make sure some found out from us first, then just felt too yucky to purue it anymore, so it only made it on facebook. But, I still think it's a really cute picture. It makes me laugh that Ainsleigh's face looks kinda chubby, because she isn't at all, still the same little pipsqueak. Oh, I'm due June 26, yes we're finding out what it is. My ultrasound is scheduled for next Thursday, February 5th - hopefully we'll get full cooperation and let everyone know after that.

pumpkin carving

2009-01-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

We went to a pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins (at some point i'll have to post those picutres). Ainsleigh helped daddy pick out his big pumpkin because he is big and picked out a little one for herself because she is little. I don't think she liked hers near as much as daddy's during the carving process because she didn't understand why she couldn't open hers up like daddy's. I'll have to find a picture of the finished product of Brody's, it turned out pretty cool.

painting nails

2009-01-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

One of Ainsleigh's favorite past times is painting her finger & toe nails. Every once in a while she'll still let me do it, but most of the time it's "no mommy, I do it by myself". I usually give in, it's one of those things I really don't see what long term harm it does. I usually make her take off nearly all of her clothes so she doesn't get pain on them, but I still need to clean the floor in our bathroom of all of the paint that has gotten on it. I often tell her to only paint her nails, but it usually ends up on arms, legs, sometimes tummy, etc. Also, red is her favorite color so sometimes it looks like she's serisouly injured herself instead of painted her nails.

Baby Tag

2009-01-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm at work (shhhhhh) and don't have any pictures to post, so I thought I would do a cute post I saw on my sister in law's blog. I feel the same way she does, no one else may be interested in it - although I liked reading hers. But it's really a great way to think about what happened and maybe someday put it into a journal. Then i'll get to do it again with the next!
If you'd like to reminisce on this, you can do it too!

*Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant? At my in-laws house
*Who was with you? Brody
*How did you find out that you were pregnant? a test, but we were pretty sure by then, I was REALLY late, we waited until all of the stuff from my sister-in-law's wedding was over before finding out so we wouldn't feel we had to hide it.
*What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? Excited
* Who was the first person you told? My in-laws
*Did you plan to get pregnant? Yes, but we weren't expecting it quite so fast
*Was everybody happy for you? I think so
* Did you want to find out the sex? Yes, but I wouldn't have fought too hard if Brody didn't want to.
* Did anyone throw you a baby shower? Yes, the Matheson gang, people from work, and people from church.
* Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby? Yup.
* How much weight did you gain? 40 lbs!!
* Did you lose all of the weight that you gained? All but that last dang 5 lbs.
*Did you get a lot of stretch marks? Yes, but all really low so they're almost impossible to see when not pregnant.
*What did you crave the most? Nothing in particular, sweets a lot, and I really liked Eggo waffles the whole 1st trimester.
*Did you crave anything crazy? nope.
*Who or what got on your nerves the most? Everything - especially at work, I just wanted to tell everyone what I thought of them.
*Were you married at the time? Yes
*Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? There was an ultrasound that was misread and they thought Ainsleigh had dilated kidneys and not enough amniotic fluid, so I had to rush to the Dr.'s for another ultrasound, but in the end all was okay. Just a scare.
*Did your water break? with the Dr.'s help
*Who drove you to the hospital? Brody
* Did you go early or late? 9 days late
*Who was in the room with you when you gave birth? Brody and the medical staff
*Was it video taped? nope
* Did you have any drugs for the pain? Epidurals are the way to go
*Did you go Natural or have a c-section? natural in that sense
* What was your first reaction after giving birth? I just thought she was so dang cute - and I was amazed at the literally instant love for her.
*Did your Husband cry? Yes.
*What did you name the baby -Ainsleigh Sariah, it had been picked out for months. Brody picked out the name and spelling for the first name, I picked out the middle name.
*Did the baby(s) have any complications? She wouldn't cry or really take a deep breath, she made funny throaty sounds when she breathed, which I knew wasn't good but I hid my concern from Brody, and also somehow just knew she'd be okay. They said they needed to take her to special care nursery for oxygen, but ended up giving her an IV as well. In some ways it was nice because we got to sleep for a few hours after being up most of the night in labor.
*How old is your baby today? almost 3 (34 months but I stop counting months after 18)
*When is the next one(s) coming? the end of June
*If you could, would you do it all over again? Absolutely

Hanging out in mom's hat

2008-11-20T09:18:00.001-08:00

Ainsleigh thinks she's really cool when she wears my hats from work - so one morning she just decided she needed to wear it while she was eating breakfast. Who knows, but I thought she looked pretty cute.

haircuts and stuff

2008-11-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

When I got my hair trimmed a few months ago (yes, i'm sure i'm at least that far behind), Ainsleigh got hers done too. She did awesome sitting in the chair and stuff. The only kinda problem was she kept trying to look up and look at herself in the mirror while Brandi was trying to cut the back. It turned out to be a pretty good cut and is growing out really nicely. Also notice she's wearing a dress and her "dancing shoes" - i'll have to get a close up of those. I had pulled them out and set them in the garage in preparation for the winter church shoes. She saw them one day and that is all she would wear for nearly a week. They gave her blisters because they're way too big, so now she can only wear them with socks or tights and we usually try for every other day or less. She loves to wear dresses and will usually tell you she's beautiful, a princess or both when dressed up.

my little photographer

2008-11-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

Ainsleigh loves her play camera, and a few days I just couldn't resist taking pictures of her taking pictures of me. I would love to get her a "real" digital camera and see what she gets - so if anyone hears of a super deal, let me know.

Tagged

2008-11-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

So, trying to get back to blogging... I was tagged a while ago...

Eight favorite TV shows:
1. Prison Break
2. the Office
3. My name is Earl
4. What not to Wear
5. college football
the rest must be Ainsleigh's shows, I don't watch much
6. Berenstain Bears
7. Dora the Explorere
8. Caillou

Eight favorite restaurants:
1. Red Lobster
2. Olive Garden
3. the Cheesecake Factory
4. Applebee's
5. Chevy's
6. mexican - Mi Ranchito
7. anywhere I don't have to cook
8. anywhere just Brody & I go

Eight things I did yesterday:
1. played on the computer
2. played with Ainsleigh
3. took a nap
4. got a massage
5. ran an errand
6. helped pick up the living room
7. made dinner
8. sat on the couch

Eight things I love about Fall:
1. leaves changing color
2. crisp sunny days
3. wearing sweaters
4. crunching leaves
5. pumpkin patches
6. the fun & friendliness of Halloween
7. that it's okay to decorate with purple, orange, and black
8. that lawns don't have to be mowed anymore

Eight things I look forward to:
1. no more morning sickness
2. every day with Ainsleigh - seeing waht more she does/learns
3. selling our house in Florida
4. watching how Ainsleigh reacts to a new brother or sister
5. getting my car back
6. visiting family for the holidays
7. time off work for the holidays
8. spring time

Eight things on my wish list:
1. a happy healthy baby
2. to not have to work someday
3. to out right own a home
4. a clean and organized house
5. for #4 to be maintained by someone else
6. time to do all my projects (mostly by 4 &5 above)
7. to support my children in all they do
8. to get away with my husband at least a few times a year

Eight people I tag:
1. Lila
2. Erica
3. Emily
4. Meredith
5. Aleeta
6. Kimber
7. Anjuli
8. Chelsi

Cool free digital downloading sites..

2008-10-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

upadted 10/01/08
Okay, first of all know that I can't post "hot links", where you can go and immediately download stuff, thats just the rules. I will post the sites, and a few instructions on where to find stuff, what it's good for, etc. I will be updating this periodically, so you can look back at it. Also, I plan to put a link bar on the side to all of them. For some you can open and then save as a regular file, or you can downlaod as zip files and "unzip" later - I found that to be a lot faster. Some will only let you download as a zip file. Note - I found all of these by surfing the net, putting "free digital scrapbooking" or something similar into a search engine and see what it comes up with. Also, if you guys find good places, please leave a comment or e-mail me and i'll post it. I also hope to post some of my work, but my laptop is currently down so it will have to wait until that's fixed - hopefully by this weekend. Happy digi scrapping to all!

FONTS:
Having lots of fonts makes a big difference in your finished product. There are lots of sites to download from, but these two seem to have nearly everything covered:
http://www.dafonts.com/ has a lot of pay for fonts, so click on the free fonts first, then see what they have to offer
http://www.searchfreefonts.com/ lots of fonts, have to open the font to download it.
http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com/tutorial_font_installation.html this is a link to a tutorial on how to load your downloaded fonts into your computer for use, it is hot link which is okay because it's to a tutorial, not a download (yes, I actually read the terms of use - or at least skim it).

DIGITAL STUFF (KITS, EMBELLISHMENTS, PAPERS, ALPHAS):
http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ my absolute favorite, I love everything they have. Go to downloads from their home page. They also have super cute kits that you can buy, but i'm waiting until i've exhausted the bajillion free stuff online before I buy.
http://www.about.com/ nothing to download here, but a very comprehensive list under "free digital scrapbooking" of lots of sites, and specifies which ones you have to a member of their forum (free) before you can download - really helpful to know.
http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com/ lots of different stuff, not a lot of anything. Some cool papers, some good fonts. click on "featured freebies", then join and go to club members only - they have a cute download every month, and you can also download all the old ones that are still available.
http://www.digitalscrapbooking-free.com/ go to free downloads on side, and go from there, a lot of expired stuff (no longer downloadable), but some super cute current stuff, and you can often link to a link and find a treasure trove.
http://www.peppermintcreative.com/ only has one download at a time, but they are super cute. Have to join to download.
http://digifree.blogspot.com/ pages of links to free downloads - I found some amazing stuff linking from this page, but I doubt you'll like all of it, and some links to things you have to pay for, they're only giving you like one sheet of paper.
http://vicki20.blogspot.com/ My current second favorite site, tons of awesome stuff, and nothing expires. List on bottom of right sidebar is allmost all downloadable themes, and she does more at least weekly I think. Everything is coordinated kits with papers, embellishments and alphas to match.
http://sweetblossomdesigns.blogspot.com/ part of the creative team (ct) that works with Vicki 20 above, but has a bunch of her own cool stuff as well as add ons to vicki's.
http://www.rakscraps.com/ Have to join, have a huge download every month from the 15th - end of the month, kind of confusing to navigate, but worth it.
http://blogpartycentral.blogspot.com/ just found this today - HOLY COW!! There's 70 different designers collaborating together. So far only one theme (fall), but enought fall stuff to last a lifetime, and papers and ribbons and stuff that can be used for lots of other things.

One thing of note, most of the blogspot pages download from 4shared, it requires a wait time of 9-40 seconds, and you can't really go anywhere else on the web while waiting, but I work on "unziping" files while i'm waiting usually.

As I have more info and more time I will update this, but i'll also put links to the cool places on the bottom of the sidebar. Enjoy.

Where i've been....

2008-10-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Yeah, i'm finally posting. I actually started a post almost two months ago called, "why I haven't been blogging". As you've gathered, things haven't changed much. Some is my never ending quest to actually have a clean and organized house, but I always need a break from that battle. It used to be blogging only, but there's a new hobby in town. I've started digital scrapbooking, and I LOVE IT. I spend almost all of my free (not working on forementioned request, playing with Ains, cooking, working, sleeping or dealing with other responsibilities) working on it. It's become such a big part of my life, i've started talking to others about it and excitedly sharing when I find a cool new place to download stuff from. Because of that, i'm going to post a list of the cool places to download from along the right sidebar, but i'll also have a post explaining a little about each one. I will periodically update it, but it should always live in October to look at. Anyways, an update on us. We are busy as usual. I have been picking up a few extra days a month at work to offset our mortgage since we lost our renters last month. We are signing a contract today with a new realtor and really hope it sells soon. Brody has been traveling a lot lately for work, and as much as he enjoys it I think he'd like to be home more. My dad & Sandy were here last weekend to play and help with Ains while Brody was out of town, and my mom will be here this afternoon to visit and watch Ains while Brody and I go out of town for the weekend for a couples get away. We are trying to decide between the seafood festival in Tillamook and Astoria - Brody heard the festival was a rather redneck affair - anyone know anything? Ainsleigh is growing up so fast. She LOVES TO TALK AND SING, can't imagine where she got that from. Her vocabulary is huge now, and I can't believe the comprehension she has - especially in what she can say. She's not getting much bigger, but a little taller. We're well on our way to being daytime potty trained. She is pretending a lot more with her toys and is just a joy to be around. She seems to be losing her baby look and starting to look like a little girl. It's such a wierd thing having them grow up - such a mix of emotions of wanting them to experience new things and not wanting them to change. Well, I could actually get on blogger at work the other night, so maybe i'll try to stay updated there. I don't have any pictures to post now, but should soon. I need to see what new ones we have, and do some other stuff. I also need to just video her when she works out with me, seeing her do a jumping jack is hilarious. Hope this finds all doing well. Oh, and I have been keeping up with everyone else's blogs, i'm just too lazy to sign in and leave comments, something I really need to improve. Loves to all! :)

Oh Ikea

2008-08-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my mom, Emily, Brock, Tate, Ainsleigh and I went to Ikea. We had a lot of fun, although I still want to go someday all by myself to just look at whatever I want to for as long as I want to. We looked around, ate lunch (always plan to eat at Ikea when you go it's yummy), then let the kids play in the kids area for a while before finishing up and heading home. I didn't think about taking any pictures until they were almost done in the kids area, so I only got pictures of them with the snakes, and Brock and Ainsleigh trying out beds (in one bed with her new potty) while Emily was changing Tate. It was pretty funny to watch people as they saw lumps in the bed, then realized they were moving and started laughing and saying how cute htey were as they were trying out the beds, Ains even pretended to be asleep a lot of the time. Although the kids may have had more fun at a park or something, I think they still had a good time being together and running around some, and we moms had a great time. I just love truly kid friendly stores. Ainsleigh and Tate wore themselves out so much they crashed out on the way home. What a fun day.

Playgroup Group

2008-08-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

On the Hirtles last playgroup day we took a group picture - it turned out pretty cute, but we are missing some, I don't know if there's ever a day where everyone is there. I will also send this out in an e-mail today to the moms addresses I have, if you don't recieve it from me or someone else through a forward and would like it, leave you address in a comment and I will gladly email it to you.

Funny Faces on a DIRTY girl

2008-08-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

The day of the pig roast we spent a lot of time at Aleeta's parent's house (where we had it), and Ainsleigh just knows how to find dirt. She also ate watermelon and got all sticky to give the dirt something to stick to. Anyways she was SUPER DIRTY. We heard numerous comments of how no one had ever seen a child that dirty and such. We didn't get home until almost 10 that night, well beyond her 8-8:30 bedtime, so when I asked if she wanted a bath before bed and she said, "no mommy, night nights". I didn't force her to take one, just let her go to bed dirty and washed her sheets the next day (they were full of dirt). So, Sunday morning before church I took these pictures. They crack me up extra hard because of her funny face posing - she often poses by smiling, but she has never made funny faces with it before. By the way, these pictures actually wash out some of the dirt, so figure she was at least 1/3 dirtier than she looks in these :)

Tongan pig roast

2008-08-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Hirtles, a family in our ward moved to Spokane a week ago, so the weekend before they left we had a going away party. We had been talking about having a pig roast at least since we moved in almost a year and a half ago. Stephanie had always been very excited about having one, so we thought it would be perfect to do for their going away party. It took more time than initially expected, but I think now that we've done it we feel like we could do it again. We thought we would be able to call a butcher and order a pig, no such luck. So, a few weeks before it Aleeta and I went to a livestock auction to buy a pig (can't you just picture this - we were actually laughing at ourselves we thought it was so funny we were there doing it - we had no idea what we were doing). The boys got the pig ready and cooked it Saturday afternoon, then we had a great potluck dinner with lots of families all together to visit. We really had a good time. Brody did a great job of documenting the readying and cooking of the pig, but I don't know if anyone thought to take pictures of the actual party. Here are a few of the pictures, if you'd like to see all (beware some are kinda gruesome), you can go to the following site, note - you can also upload your own photos to this and download any that are there - maybe someone took some of the party!

http://gallery.me.com/chepack#100105

Matheson family reunion

2008-08-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

Aunt Erin doing Ainsleigh's hair - it was really cute (see pictures below), but only lasted about 1 1/2 hours - not worth the time it takes to do elaborate things like this in my opinion. But thanks for doing it Erin, it looked adorable while it lasted.

Ains & Papa Pack

Ainsleigh with "new papa", Elder Madsen. He was a missionary working at the camp, assigned to keep up with our area of the camp (it's enormous!!), check up on us and stuff. From the first time he stepped foot in our camp Ainsleigh was stuck to him like glue. At first she thoght it was my dad (he did look a little like him with his glasses and hat). I'm still not sure if she believed when I told her it wasn't Papa Jim, or just humored me thinking I was the crazy one. Either way, she absolutely loved Elder Madsen and I think she would'be stayed there with him instead of leaving with us.

Ainsleigh, Tayson, and Camden

We went to the "ropes course", where we got to do some different activities about team work, trust, etc., including a giant swing. It was a lot of fun, and even Ainsleigh and Camden got to do it, they just didn't get pulled up like Brody in the picture below.

Brody

Ainsleigh, Erin & Peyton watching as others swing

Ainsleigh swinging with Uncle Tyler cheering her on

Ainsleigh playing on a different part of the ropes course - the island teamwork one, but she just loved swinging.

Almost a month ago (yeah, i'm way behind on blogging - i'll explain in a few blogs) we went to Utah for a long weekend to attend Brody's mom's family reunion. We went to Heber Valley Camp, the churches girl's camp. It was great. We hadn't had a family reunion in 7 years. We got to see everyone in one place, and loved have the time to just visit with family. There were lots of activities, the cabins are really nice, and the scenery was gorgeous. Ainsleigh loved playing with all the kids and getting really dirty!

All tired out at after all the activities on the ropes course

Playing with Tayson & Camden at Papa & Nana Pack's house

Papa Pack got out the big bike and took them for a ride - they loved it!

Random Fun

2008-07-14T07:04:00.001-07:00

When we took Greg back to his truck, we wanted to show it to Ainsleigh. She had been very excited earlier in the day to see it, but was a little overwhelmed. We had to wake her up from her nap, and it was at a large truck stop with lots of truck and lots of noise - she didn't want me to put her down. It wasn't a big deal, except I know otherwise she would've loved it, she always want to see them and touch them whenever we see them. So, these are the only pictures we got of it becuase she was not so sure about the whole thing.

Playing in the water with Tate & Eliana at a friends BBQ.

The hospital I work at has a big blowout family party every summer with food, bouncy houses, horse rides, and other fun things. We didn't even make it to the face painting!! We went with the Hansens, Michael works at the hospital as well, and it was really nice to have other kids for Ainsleigh to be with the whole time. It was warm, so we rested in the shade fairly often. Brody had to work most of the day, but met us at the end, and we were literally the last ones there. The kids had a blast!!

Ainsleigh in the bouncy house:

climbing up one side of a different toy, she made it up no problem the first time, but all of the 5 or so times after that throughout the day she required help - she kept trying toonly climb on the red & yellow squares and she couldn't reach!!

Friend from Florida / Silver Creek Falls

2008-07-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

Our dear friend Greg Grantham from Florida got stuck in the Portland area without a load out over the 4th weekend. He is a long haul trucker. So, we got a great visit, lots of visiting, and catching up on nearly everyone from our ward in Florida. It was great. We loved having him here, Ainsleigh adored him, and we hope he'll come back and stay with us again soon, maybe even with some additional members of his family.

On Saturday we all went to Silver Creek Falls with the Hansen family - we had a great time. The hike in was steep, so instead of all of us backtracking Brody & Michael backtracked while Greg, Emily, Brock, Tate, Ainsleigh and I continued on. We thought it would be flatter, easier, and shorter. Overall it was not as steep, but more of a continuous climb, probably a little longer, but tons of fun none the less. We were tired after it, but I think we'd all go back again next weekend.

Ains & I

Brody & Ains - she was always trying to talk the Hansen boys, so it was hard to get a good picture

Greg, Brody & Ains

Greg

Some beautiful falls.

My only regret - we didn't get a big group picture - I've just got to remember those kinds of things.

4th of July

2008-07-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we weren't near as camera happy as we should have been on the 4th - this is the ONLY photo we took, how sad is that??!! None the less, we had a great day. I had taken call the night before and didn't get home until about 4 am, but did amazingly well throughout the day. We went to a flag raising ceremony and breakfast at the church - the program was good & not too long, the pancakes were hot and amazing (Ainsleigh ate like 5), and all of Ainsleigh's favorite friends were there (mostly other little kids, the 10-11 year old girls, and the Larimers) - so we were all in heaven - they played and we didn't have to worry every second where she was. Then we went to the park and played with the Hansen family, home for naps (mandatory for more than Ains that day), dinner, visiting and playing outside. And for the the finale of the day we went to the Goesch's home (thanks for the invite Sam), and watched fireworks over the river - it was a wonderful fun filled day.

Camrie's birthday bash

2008-06-30T14:59:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to Southern Oregon for my sister's birthday, my niece Camrie's birthday, and just because we hadn't visited in a while. The visit was nice, but it felt super fast. Ainsleigh loved seeing everyone, getting lots of attention, and playing with cousins.

Reading a book together - Camrie, Erica & Ainsleigh. It is a counting book, and they would take turns counting what was on the page, then naming everything else. Ainsleigh got it right most of the time 5 things and under, and wrong most of the time over 5, but no one would correct her, she's too little. If Camrie got it wrong, Erica would tell her, "try again". About 10 minutes after these pictures Ainsleigh was sitting by herself with this book, she counted, then said, "try again" and counted over again - we were cracking up.

For Camrie's birthday she wanted a water slide - this one belongs to their daycare provider. They get to play on it once a week at daycare, and Camrie goes crazy on it. Cayden went pretty wild that night, he would stand at the top and jump down onto it. They both really liked not having to share it with the other kids at daycare for a special evening. Ainsleigh kept saying she wanted to go on it, but as soon as she touched the ice cold water she'd say no. Another little girl, Elly, went on it a few times with her dad's help, but she was pretty cold too.

Camrie

Cayden

Elly

Singing Time

2008-06-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

One morning week before last Ainsleigh was very willing to sing for me, so I took advantage of that and caught it on video - be prepared it's almost 2 minutes long, but very cute. It's interesting to compare it to the last one, she pronounces things much better, like her "l" s in "follow follow me". I, of course think it's like the cutest thing in the world, so you should too.

backyard fun

2008-06-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

These were taken almost a month ago, but we were pretty excited to be able to play in the backyard, I was also trying to get some good pictures of her new hair do - now well over a month old. She likes the backyard a lot, but seems to prefer the front yard - probably because that ususally results in a trip to the park. In the video she's first watching an airplane go overhead, not just spacing out, and the yellow outfit is jammies for pajama day at daycare.

87 of 200

2008-06-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Here's what you do: copy the list, and then bold the things you have done
1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby’s diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run (only if whiffle ball counts)
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight (I think 75% should count for girls!!)
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (if minature golf counts)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something (if recipes count)
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

Mommy tag

2008-06-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well, i've been a pretty big slacker on blogging lately, so while i'm catching up - Erin tagged me (I think it was me - although she put Karee D. - my maiden name initial) well over a month ago for this, and I like to do them because I always love to read what other people put on them, so here goes... Well, it took me 3 days to finish this, but the answers are all still the same, I think,

1. What time does Ainsleigh wake up? usually 6:30 am (it's a killer sometimes if I worked the night before and didn't get to bed until after 12).

2. What time does Ainsleigh go to bed? Until last Saturday it was around 9-9:15pm, then Brody said lets try ealier, if she wakes up at 5 tomorrow i'll get up with her and we'll go back to 9. I had been trying to get her to sleep later because we could tell she wasn't getting enough sleep. The darkening shades only seemed to be getting her about 15 minutes more on average in the morning, so we tried the 8 o'clock thing. It's been a little later a few days, but so far it's working great and i've still got a little energy left after I put her down Yeah!!

3. How long have I been a mom? 2 years and almost 3 months - can't believe how fast time flies

4. How old was I when became a mom? 28 - never thought I would be that old, but love the fact that I am this old.

5. What's my favorite kid TV show? Probably Diego, I like to learn about the animals too, and the latin inspired tunes are pretty catchy. But anything Ainsleigh sings along with gets major bonus points.

6. What my least favorite kid TV show? That Ainsleigh watches - Barney we don't know where she learned to like him, there was a strict no Barney rule in our house, otherwise - Spongebob :(

7. Favorite chore? Is that honestly a question? I don't mind putting laundry in the washing machine, otherwise, it's just something I have to do.

8. Favorite meal to cook? I like to try new things, stuff with different spices and flavors

9. Meal cooked most often ? Grilled chicken with baked potato and a veggie

10. Ainsleigh's favorite meal? She likes a lot of things, pasta, pizza, any fruit, most veggies, bagels...

11. My favorite thing that Brody does with Ainsleigh? when she first started going to daycare they had a get home dance they did together - I rarely got to see it, but I loved that they shared that, I don't think they do that anymore, so it would probably be "playing cuddles" - especially when they're curled up together on the couch watching basketball.

12. My 5 things that make me a smile about being a mom...

a) bragging about my amazing two year old

b) hearing "thank you mommy ___________" for everything I do for her these days (change clothes, shoes, new diaper, juice, etc. it just melts your heart

c) watching Ainsleigh laugh while playing with other kids

d) picking her up from nursery and hearing "my mommy" about 18 times - nothing like your child runing straight for you with a bowl you over hug

e) seeing others get enjoyment out of love from Ainsleigh (Brody, grandparents, pseudo-grandparents and friends at church) she loves to love everyone

13. Where do I want to take Ainsleigh one day? ultimately, to the temple for her wedding there, until then - while she's young places that stretch the imagination, then when she's old enough to appreciate it - other cultures to see the world holds so many wonderful differences and appreciate what we have here.

14. When was the last time we went out without Ains? Last night to see Indiana Jones - it was good, but not as spectacular as expected.

15. 1 thing you said you'd never do as a mom? like Erin, allow her to fall from me not paying enough attention, bribing with treats, i'm sure there's more

16. Favorite past time with Ainsleigh? Anything outside - I think because it forces me to be just in the moment with her, not worrying about what I need to get done around the house, I also love that there's always new things for her to discover outside and I love to see that.

17. Favorite quality my mom has? That she would do just about anything for her children/grandchildren (or anyone she cares about) to make them happy or make their lives easier, and that she can shrug off the little stuff and just not worry about it.

18. Advice for new moms? Enjoy each stage of your childs growing up, you are the mom, you will know how to raise your child(ren), no one else needs to tell you how without asking, and especially a child learns plenty just while playing, so don't worry about whether or not every single toy etc is specially made for learning.

19. What was a scary or heartbreaking moment you had? When Ainsleigh fell down one of the ladders at teh playground a few weeks ago - I was standing right there, but she slipped and in an instant was on teh ground, she hit the ladder on teh way down then thudded on her head, did that silent thing for what seemed liek forever before letting out the biggest whail i've heard from her not during a fit. She ended up fine, just a little cut on her tongue, but I really thought she could've been knocked out she hit so hard. She hasn't even tried going up or down a ladder since then.

20. When was the last time Ainsleigh said "I love you"? Sometime this morning - I am now in the wonderful phase of hearing that and thank you a ton - which I love!!

Ice Cream Fit

2008-06-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight, at Rachel & Brady's house Ainsleigh didn't want to eat dinner. She had been a little off all day today. She was totally wired during sacrament meeting - you would have thought she had a pound and a half of candy for breakfast. She isn't the most reverent child, but is pretty good, especially with her quiet book. Today she didn't sit still for 1/2 a second - wiggling and moving constantly, she wouldn't even sit still enough to look at her quiet book - and she usually plays with that the entire meeting. Then she wouldn't take a nap this afternoon, and only kinda seemed tired. So by the time we got to Rachel & Brady's she was getting tired. She's usually a good eater, but wouldn't touch it. The discussion of cookies & ice cream came up to get Tayson & Camden to finish their dinners. She immediately wanted that, but didn't seem to even comprehend our rationale that she had to eat dinner to have dessert. So, we set her plate aside and went off to playing. When cookies and ice cream time came she was so excited. We told her she had to eat her dinner - howling crying ensued, so she went to the room. When she came out we asked if she wanted her dinner, she excitedly said yes, apparetnly thinking her dinner had now magically become ice cream & cookies since everyone else was eating that. Dinner plate in front - pushed away - request for ic & c - denied - howling crying - to the room. Back out when she's done crying. request - denied - crying - room - etc a few more times. She started happily going back to the room, staying there quietly for a minute or so, and coming back out with a request/question for ic & c. Then denied, no crying, just try the same manuever again - tais happened three times. Then she decided she wanted her corn - if she got to sit on the floor in the living room to eat it. We let her, she got 2 kernels and a chip in, then abandoned that and requested again - denied - etc. Something happened and she wanted me to pick her up, so I set my bowl down and did, we walked into the living room, while she's staring at me and looking around, finally she asks, "mommy, where you I ceam?" At this point we all just busted out laughing - she is so dang smart, she tried everything. We never did give in, she cried a few more times, and eventually just said she wanted to go home - although she cried for Tayson and Camden as soon as we put the car in reverse. We get to see more and more everyday of what an awesomely strong personality we have. It gets hard sometimes, but mostly we just know we got a little us. She'll be an amazing, independent, super intelligent young woman entirely too soon, so I just try to remember this is one of the stepping stones for getting there. I've also included a fit throwing photo i got Saturday, although this is becuase I wanted to take a picture before I showed it to her - go figure!! ps - hopefully the story is somewhat followable, it really was hilarious to watch - sometimes it was like you could see the wheels turning in her head.

Salem Riverfront Park & Carousel

2008-06-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

This picture totally cracks Brody and I up - it is Ainsleigh to a T, totally showing off her unique, fun, and very goofy personality. Notice the gloves, she found them at home just before we left and refused to take them off until she fell down one time and they got dirty. What a funny girl.

Riding on the carousel

Camden & Ains

Tayson & Ains - I think he has just Fuki slammed her

Ainsleigh running after Tayson trying to fuki slam him back

Tayson

Saturday we went to Salem Riverfront Park & Carousel. We met Brady, Rachel, Tayson and Camden there, played at the park, had a picnic lunch, then rode on the horsies on the carousel. We had a lot of fun. Ainsleigh always loves playing with her cousins. They played on the playground, chased each other around in the grass, and Aunt Rachel took them to see a big boat go by in the river. They all really enjoyed riding on the carousel, a big change from last year for Ainsleigh when she freaked about 3 seconds into it and made me take her off the horse and hold her. In fact, she went into a screaming fit about having to get off. She was getting pretty tired by then, but she's testing the waters big time to she what she can get out of screaming fits. Most of the time I hold my ground well and can often occupy her with other things, but it is trying at times to listen to the screams, or just how dang cute she is trying to work it other times.

azalea pictures

2008-06-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

To make a cool mother's day picture, and becuae the azaleas in our front yard were blooming such a beautiful color, oh, and because I had finally figured out how to do the black and white and color photo thing on the computer, I took (and played with) these pictures the week before mom's day. Ainsleigh looks way old in them, especially with here hair that way, but I think i'm going to cut it into a bob again this week. I love it long when she lets me do it - which is maybe 25% of the time, and that only stays in an average of 2 hours, so she looks like a mop head the rest of the time - therefore, a bob it is.

Trying on mommy's clothes

2008-05-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

One morning earlier this week Ainsleigh thought it would be really fun to put some of my clothes on. She's staring to put her own clothes on sometimes, mine are so much easier to get on, but the darn things just won't stay up.

Apparently these pajama pants resemble a blanket to her, she could curl up in them just right.

Cheese!!

Okay now, stay right here.

Look mom, no hands - uh oh!!

She thought this was so funny, she pulled them back up and let go about 10 times after this laughing hysterically each time. She get such a kick out of herself.

Tulip Festival 2008 with Papa & Grandma Sandy

2008-05-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

My dad and stepmom Sandy came to visit last weekend. We did some projects around the house, hung out, on Sunday Sandy and I tried out some new recipes, and the best part - Saturday we went to the Tulip Festival. There's so much for the kids to do, Ainsleigh hardly cared about the flowers, although I have to say they didn't impress me near as much this year as they did last year. The weather was not very cooperative for them, so the fields didn't look as good - but it's still really cool to see all the different varieties. Here are some of the super fun things we did out there...
Played with the duck races

Played in the straw area jungle gym thing. Ainsleigh kept stepping into the cracks between the hay and would get very concerned when her foot would sink in.

The famous horse swings - she went on them 4-5 different times, but we could never get her to actually look at the camera for a picture with her favorite thing.

Visited with the birds - she thought they were cool - like the mommy macaw on Diego. She also would say she wanted to hold one, but then would get too scared to.

Went on the jumpy toy in helicopter land - she like the car a lot.

And even for a horsey ride - this one gave the swing a run for it's money on being the favorite, she kept wanting to go back and do it again, so we tried to just stay out of the immediate area. Like any other time she's in or on something moving - she held on really tight. She wouldn't even think about letting go to wave at daddy for the camera. The whole time she just kept saying, "riding horsey."

We rode the cow train - she thought it was really exciting when we drove through mud puddles.

Posed for pictures with the fun things they had their.

This is my favorite picture - it's a keeper.

And took pictures with the family out in the flower fields.

with Papa & Grandma Sandy

our family

It was a really fun day, pretty tiring. We ate lunch before we left and she fell asleep in the car on the way home. No better way to tire yourself out than playing with family!

Tillamook Cheese Factory

2008-05-03T18:04:00.001-07:00

While we were at the coast my mom came and stayed with us, and we all went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I hadn't been there since I was probably elementary school age. Ainsleigh liked it, and the people working down in the factory saw her and started waving - she thought that was pretty cool. She really liked trying the cheese at the end and just kept asking for more. But, her favorite part by far was...

The ICE CREAM!!! Although she's had ice cream before, this was her first ice cream cone. She did pretty well. At first I got it in a dish, then she wanted a cone like everyone else. It was nice because I could just put a little bit in it at a time, making it much less messy. She thought she was pretty cool with a cone, I can't believe how big she's getting!! She really liked her green ice

cream.

Fun at the coast

2008-05-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

Although it was rather cold while we were there, we spent some time everyday at the beach. The first ones are at the beach we could walk to from our back door -awesome :), the last one is at Cannon Beach, we drove up there on Wednesday - it was a pretty nice day. Still chilly, but the sun was out and not too windy. Ainsleigh just loved playing in the sand. she would scoop it up and try to cover all the rocks up with it - that part was pretty funny. She didn't want to leave until she had put some sand from the beach on every rock.

Some pictures Brody took at Cannon Beach. Although you can't swim very much (because it's too cold), there's nothing like the Oregon Coast - I love all the rocks and just how different it is from other ocean scenery.

We were (obviously) trying to get her to say the whale thing, but she was concentrating really hard on playing in the sand. She did that same thing for about 30 minutes - don't you wish life was that simple for you? I know I do. I love to see how it's the simple things that bring such joy to children. Makes you look a little harder at what you have, and realize how blessed we truly are.

Ainsleigh stuff

2008-04-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

No, not any pictures, just some update stuff. I have some photos i'll post later this week, but Brody took our camera with him to Reno. We went to the coast for a few days last week and got some pictures there. When we got there Brody showed Ains the ocean and the waves. We thought she way saying "waves spash, waves spash". So Brody would repeat, "yeah, the waves go splash." She would say "no, waves spash." I started paying closer attention to what she was saying and realized she was signing whale. She was really saying "whales splash". I asked, are the whales making the waves, she said yes. I had to explain that on Dora the whales splash their tales to make waves to free baby humpback whale from being stuck on the rocks. Everyone (including me, of course), thought it was so cute, and so smart that she couls relate the two!! She loved being at the coast. Most days it was too cold to spend very long on the beach, but we would go for short times. The place we stayed at had an inside pool and spa, so we went swimming everyday - I think she would have lived in the pool if we let her. We also went to the Tillamook Creamery - they had big cow statues that she kept asking if she could ride, and she got her first ice cream cone (she's had ice cream before, just not on a cone) - and only a few drippies on the shirt. I thought it was funny she picked her ice cream by color - the green one. Chocolate chip mint, which I knew she would like, but I think she just liked the color, oh well, I was grateful - light green is a lot easier to get out than brown chocolate. Ains is growing taller all the time and beginning to look and act more like a little girl. She can say her abc's all the way through and count to ten no problem. She also started doing somersaults last week. She is still just a crack up and loves to be the center of attention and play with friends. Today as soon as we sang the closing song at stake conference she said, "yeah nerfwy." We ended up staying 30 mins after to play with and visit with anyone and everyone to avoid a huge meltdown over the fact that there was no nursery. I kept telling her and she would just say "no, nerfwy." Hope this find all doing well.

Spring PLEASE come!!

2008-04-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

This morning, April 20th, a month after the "official" start of Spring - it SNOWED!! I was in such shock I called Brody (he's working in Reno area for a few days), my mom and my dad, and took pictures. It snowed for around an hour. It took about 20-30 mins before it started sticking. We ended up with about 1/2" on the ground - these are taken a good 15-20 mins before it stopped snowing. It warmed back up enough to melt the snow mostly over the next 1-2 hours, and by the time we got out of stake conference at noon the sun was shining and it was like a nice February day. I'm getting pretty sick of waiting for Spring, and this did not go over well for me. The thing I hated the most about the weather in Florida was the lack of seasons (yes I could even handle the humidity better), so this cold weather going on forever is driving me insane. Hopefully it gets better soon, and I'll do a happy dance when it finally does. Happy winterish spring day to all.

Fun times with Zane

2008-04-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

This mornine while we were at the park, our friends from across the street came down and Ainsleigh and Zane played at the park, then rode around on his "bike" together for a while, then back to his house to play in the rocks. They had a great time, but we had to come home so all could have lunch and because Ainsleigh was just worn out exhausted. I think these pictures are just adorable, and i'm so glad to finally have a good one of the two of them, none of my others of them have turned out.

sun at last!!

2008-04-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

We had beautiful weather yesterday (even better today), so we HAD TO GO PLAY OUTSIDE). I was so excited to see blue skies, I took a picture of it. Also, everyone here has daffodils and tulips in their yards - it's a different flower choice than i'm used to, but it's gorgeous and adds tos of color. The yellow all around the house on the right is daffodils, i'll get more as we go on walks, etc. And my dad and Sandy are coming in a few weeks and we're going to the tulip festival - so i'll get some really cool shots there.

Here's some of Ainsleigh at the park, I just love the way the sun was making her hair glow - it's gotten VERY light. People are amazed when I tell them her hair was brown when she was born, or that mine was lighter than hers at that age - but not much - it just keep getting lighter and lighter.

singing

2008-04-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ainsleigh has started singing a lot - she just randomely breaks into song. Here are a few of her latest favorites - twinkle twinkle, abc song (though she usually does better than this, the confusion in the middle is pretty cute & funny), and do as i'm doing - she gets the beat right, but skips entire words, but that is probably her favorite song. It's a little long, but certainly worth the time (although I think everything is worth the time)!!

Michelle's mission call

2008-04-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Many of you knew our nanny, Michelle. she got her mission call - she is going to the Omaha, Nebraska mission. We're so excited for her!! Congratulations Michelle - you'll be awesome!!

digital vs traditional

2008-04-06T23:12:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to get motivated to start scrapbooking (i've got a lot of catching up to do) for various reasons...
1) to have a hobby to keep my hands & brain busy so I don't think about food so much
2) creative outlet
3) get my photos in a format others can actually look at

In doing this I emailed my mother in law with some questions about some products, long story short, she suggested I seriously consider digital scrapbooking for Ainsleigh's book (all of her photos are digital). So, i'm looking for some opinions and personal experience here...

digital pros:
1 - cheaper in teh long run
2 - not as messy
3 - looks easier overall
4 - I can change it a bunch if I want until I like the results

digital cons:
1 - requires sitting in front of a computer
2 - now what do I do with all the stuff I have (although I do have my mission, my entire life, our life, and brody's mision (second half only) to do)
3 - not sure if i'll like the way it looks not being actually 3-D
4 - will it really fulfill my creative outlet need?

Please let me know what you think, and refer anyone else who might have an opinion to share as well. I really want to do what's best, and am therefore, continuing to put it off. Thanks for sharing.

Dairy Queen

2008-04-06T23:04:00.001-07:00

We went to DQ one night while Erica, Shawn, and Cayden were at the church at roadshow practice. Cam really wanted to be with her mom, so we did something special since she was big and stayed with us.

Camrie was pleased with her choice - and always willing to smile for the camera.

The many faces of Ainsleigh...

"cheeeese"

Yum, I love "eye ceam"

"roar" face when she's scaring you

her favorite way to eat ice cream

happy to have a near brain freeze :)

This one requires some explaining - Camrie grabbed her reindeer before we left and wore them to DQ, at some point Ainsleigh got them from her and called them bunnytown ears and kept hopping everywhere - so this is them hopping back and forth at DQ by our table. Most people found it very amusing, but one older couple just glared at both of them - just what do you expect at 8pm at DQ?

Okay, funny side note - while walking into DQ Camrie and I were holding hands, swinging them and marching very flamboyantly. I looked up and saw a whole family watching us out the window - the dad gave me two thumbs up and I started cracking up. Then, when we walked in the whole family started clapping for us. Camrie didn't know what to do - i'm not sure if she was embaressed or confused. I just laughed, it takes a lot to embaress me.

Fun times with cousins

2008-04-06T22:46:00.001-07:00

Last week Ainsleigh and I headed to Southern Oregon Monday - Thursday to see family because I had a long string of days off. It was nice to see everyone, I even got to meet up with a few high school friends and their kids. Ainsleigh loved playing with her cousins, spending lots of time outside because the weather was gorgeous, and just getting lots of attention.

They loved playing in the dirt/bark at nana's house - and the gravel out by their driveway. Ainsleigh poured dirt over her head more than once, so I had to practically drown her in her bath that night pouring cup full after cup full of water over her head trying to get it all out!

Everyone seemed to want to ride Ainsleigh's bike except her, she liked pushing them or running behind them - whatever, as long as they were having fun. Though she did periodically remind them that it was her bike by demanding she have it back for a time.

Camrie and Ainsleigh in my car, notice the seatbelts, undoubtedly so they "can be safe" just like Dora says.

Camrie friend Abby came over, and they performed a short concert for us - since no one in the family plays the piano at this point, nana doesn't care that it's horribly out of tune and they just make it worse - great news for the grandkids.

We also went to Papa and Grandma Sandy's house which Ainsleigh loved - especially the backyard with dogs, and a swingset. She did warm up to the dogs, which was good, I was beginning to wonder how long that would take. We also watched Jordan play in a baseball game. He did a great job, and Ainsleigh really liked saying "go Jordan!!". It was super cute.

photo editing..

2008-03-27T14:24:00.001-07:00

Well, I had previously been trying to just past Brody's eyes from one photo to the other, then I got the bright (duh) idea of pasting his whole head. His head was slightly more cocked in one, so I had to do some painting, luckily the background is dark. I think it turned out okay, you might be able to tell in an 8x10, but otherwise I think we'll be okay. Tell me what you think. If I can get good at this, it will be a major breakthrough, as getting a good picture of the two of them is a virtual miracle - Brody closes his eyes 80% of the time, and Ainsleigh looks away, wriggles, or isn't smiling 75% - it doesn't not leave the odds in my favor. :)

Happy Easter

2008-03-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's a little late, but better late than never, right?!! We had a nice day. Brody and I both spoke in church, so Ainsleigh sat with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson. Normally this would be heaven for her, but for some reason she wanted to sit with us on the stand - I think she really just wanted to speak into the microphone, becuase we went up to say good morning to the bishop before the meeting started and all she wanted was to speak into the mic. The initial meltdown was decent sized, huge for her in this situation, then it was just periodically through the meeting saying, "mommy, I want mommy." Luckily, she didn't do it at all during my talk or I think I might have lost it. Overall, I think the talks went well. We were both a little unsure of how they would be recieved. After church we took some baskets to a family Brody home teaches, then home for Ainsleigh to search the house for hers. I didn't want to fight with candy during church, so I opted for afterwards. In the evening we had a family from church, Brad, Meredith and Lilian Coy over for dinner. Ainslegh enjoyed holding Lilian a lot, and got down to talk to her a few times, but overally I don't think she was mobile enough to hold her attention for very long. And, once we realized she might like to hold her was about the time Lilian was tired of being held and just wanted to wiggle. Overall we had a really nice day remembering our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and enjoying time with friends. Hope yours was good too.

I, of course, couldn't get a good picture of both of them at the same time, and I haven't figured out how to switch a head or something yet - i'll keep working on it, and if my results are decent i'll post them for you. So, I included the best picture of each.

Ainsleigh & mommy in their new Easter dresses :)

Ainsleigh holding Lilian

Having some good talking time. It's funny, Ainsleigh normally looks tiny - but next to Lilian she looks huge!!

meeting cousins

2008-03-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

My 1/2 sister Jamie was up during CA's spring break last week visiting her mom in Cottage Grove, so we got to meet up in Eugene. Ainsleigh had never met them (Brody still hasn't!!), but she warmed up to the kids right away. We met at this cool place called the Science Factory in Euguene - the kids had a ton of fun. Isn't the building crazy?!

Zack helping Ainsleigh put the balls into this cool machine - he must have lifted her up there 50 times

Zack & Ains

The whole gang around this interesting duck in front of the museum - Lindsay, Kaylee, Savannah, Zack and Ainsleigh.

follow ups, new stuff, random questions

2008-03-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I think I have a few new pictures, now many though... Just thought I was write a quick note...

Has anyone else been getting random comments on their blogs? I got one that is acting like it's giving me or scanning for a virus when I try to link to their site, then I got one from a mom something blog, a brasilian webcam blog that likes my ladybug videos, and one that just said warning and to click on it, but with the whole wierd clicking on the other, I just don't.

As for the the JELLO CATASTROPHE... No, I didn't freak out. I realized quickly it was mostly my own fault - I gave her a big heavy bowl full of jell-o, she probably spilled it trying to move it so she could get down, and then realized how much fun it could be. Unfortunately, when she was sick, we got in the habit of her eating on the couch because she basically lived there for 4 days. I spread a towel out on top of her (hence the one in the photo), and we get no spills on the couch. I just wasn't thinking that day of how big/heavy the bowl was, and totally forgot she had it because she was watching a Dora show so quietly (this is normal) while I was cleaning the kitchen. Yes, my couches are totally cleanable and it didn't stain. If they weren't very cleanable they would've been very stained from the puke fest a few weeks before. But, my little green machine (a carpet, etc cleaner), does amazing work. Without that, I might have freaked out due to the amount of scrubbing required. But, with it, I was able to make quick work of it. I just put her in the tub so she couldn't make any more messes.

We had a fun afternoon today, my 1/2 sister Jamie and her family were up from So Cal visiting her mom about 1 1/2 hours south of here, so we met in the middle at a children's museum in Eugene and then went to lunch. It was the first time for Ainsleigh meeting those cousins, but she immediately latched on and cried when we parted ways. It was great to see them, and nice to jsut play. The weather has been really rainy lately, so we haven't been able to go to the park, which Ainsleigh has requested almost on a daily basis for the last week. We tried to go an indoor park cooperative thing on Monday. It took about 30 mins to find the place, (I could never get good directions), then when I finally found it I found out it had been dissolved because everyone was going to a different place that I had already gotten directions to twice. At that point she and were both so frustrated I said to heck with and we just went to do the grocery shopping.

Not much else is new around here. I am constantly trying to figure out how to keep up with housework, I found a schedule on one of Erin's friends websites that I think I might modify to my 3 days a week home so I don't feel like i'm constantly behind or neglecting Ainsleigh to be able to do it. We'll see, housework has never been my strong point. After Ainsleigh being sick, me not being well, then her party, i've just been out of my routine and i'm in a bit of funk getting back into it - you know?? I have to give a talk on Sunday, and I think that's weighing on me. I always feel extra pressure when I talk on holidays - like it needs to be spectacular or something. But, I have been getting some good ideas popping in and out of my head, so hopefully by Sunday I can get them all on paper and organzied, and long enough. Anyways, i'm just grateful for everything I have. Sometimes I think I get so wrapped up in the everyday grind of life to take step back and look at all i've been given. Have a wonderful day!!

wadybug wadybug

2008-03-12T13:19:00.001-07:00

We discovered yesterday that we have a large population of ladybugs in our front lawn - Ainsleigh loves it. She likes to say hi to them, tell you when they are scared, and get me to hold them on my hands for her. I put one on her hand and it was fine until it started crawling, then she flung her hand around and it went flying. Better luck next time - in a few months.

looking at ladybugs on my hand/coat

can you see all 3 of them that close together?

clapping "yeah ladybugs!!!"

getting down to their level to talk :)

all dressed up with somewhere to go...

2008-03-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

NERFWY!! YEAH NERFWY!! (nursery)

This photo was just too cute to pass up. The dress has an adorable matching hat that she was loving wearing until we wanted to take a picture with it of course!

BIRTHDAY TIME - the cake

2008-03-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the birthday singing, yes it's the entire song. She appears a little confused at first, then begins loving all the attention once she realizes it's on her. And, as you can see, cousin Cayden was right there on the action!!

She definetily liked the cake. She saw it in the morning, and asked all day long to eat it. She kept telling me she was done, and then when i'd have the rag ready to wipe her off she was eating again.

eating cake is serious business

always time to pose for the camera

the "after" photo of the cake.

BIRTHDAY TIME - opening presents

2008-03-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

We were waiting for someone to come, so I got her to say some of her latest words she's learned from watching Dora - it is how to say hello in Russia, Tanzania, France, and in spanish.

Opening her first gift - a Little People barn - she loved it and kept going back over and over again to open and play with it.

Nana Loi got her a cradle for her babies - she likes to rock the babies (in a way that would make anything breathing quite ill).

BIRTHDAY TIME - random party photos

2008-03-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Eating lunch..

cousin Camrie

cousin Kennedy

walking to the park -- playing at the park

I just love having a park 2 blocks from our house.

BIRTHDAY TIME - photo ops with the family

2008-03-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Waiting for everyone to arrive...

Hanging out with mom.

with Grandma Sandy

with Papa Jim

with Nana Loi

We took the opportunity of Ainsleigh having on matched, not stained clothes and a great attitude to take pictures with some others.

BIRTHDAY TIME - cake decorating

2008-03-09T16:02:00.001-07:00

For my second attempt at decorating a cake, these didn't turn out too bad. I had to make decorator's frosting twice, because my Crisco was bad - good thing I tried it before starting to decorate - it was NASTY!! I had planned a "happy flower" theme all along, but first tried doing one with a star tip, it turned out terrible, so I scraped it off and started over. I included pictures with and without the smiley face because without it these are pretty nice looking flowers, i'd seen them before on someone's cake for a bridal shower.

Jello catastrophe

2008-03-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

I should've known better than to allow Ainsleigh to eat jell-o on the couch, a large bowl none the less, and even think about getting something else done. She was being so queit, I forgot she even had the jell-o until she came up to me and said "yook mommy." I actually laughed at her, and just told her she had to go take a bath, then I saw the couch!! I was just in shock. Jell-o will no longer be on the couch, or in large bowls, and I don't know what I would do without my Bissell little green machine. I know, it looks like a gore fest, but it's just cherry jell-o.

cocoa cereal

2008-03-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

One morning this week Ainsleigh ate "cocoa cereal" for breakfast. She didn't get it anywhere but on her, but look at how much she got it on her - I just laughed. How do you end up with cereal on your forehead?!

Latest Tag

2008-03-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

Lila tagged me on this one....

5 things on my to do list:
1. Go to Wal-Mart (again to get the things I forgot when I accidentaly left my list at home today) - but I got to go by myself - much faster
2. work on latest sewing project (s)
3. clean - dishes and folding laundry are a constant
4. workout (pretty much get to it 3 days/week - it keeps me sane and a much mom & wife)
5. start scrapbooking - guess I need to find the top of my table again

10 things I enjoy:
1. playing with Ainsleigh
2. time with Brody as just us
3. watching Brody & Ainsleigh play together
4. Spring/Fall weather
5. working out - yes I really DO enjoy it
6. sewing
7. finding/trying new recipes
8. running errands by myself
9. days where I feel like i've actually accomplished something
10. hiking

suddenly a billionaire....
Pay tithing, pay off all debt, buy a house in OR, furnish, decorate, and organize it with hired help, have a cool theater room, playroom, and workout room (in the smallest square footage possible), work as little as we want to, pay someone to do spring cleaning for me, get a full makeover by the "what not to wear team", travel A LOT, set up finances to last until age 100 living however we want to, donate a lot to humanitarian, missionary, and perpetual education fund, give money to whomever, whatever we feel deserves it.

5 jobs I have had:
1. "shop girl" at a heating & air conditioning company
2. medical records clerk
3. cashier at Nordstrom
4. Surgical Technologist
5. Registered Nurse in surgery

5 things most people don't know about me:
1. I was born by flashlight light
2. I used to rock climb a lot (and would love to do it again if anyone knows anyone around her who does)
3. I just turned 30 - and i'm really excited to be into a new era
4. I (an RM) married a "sister hater"
5. My first car was a 4 wheel drive truck

.... I tag : Rachel, Erin and Erica

Yuck!!

2008-02-29T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I think the stomach flu has hit our house. We've all been battling cold flu stuff off and on for a while, I think we just keep passing it around. Ainsleigh and Brody have both had bad coughs and congestion for a while, but there has been a stomach flu going around both at church and at daycare. I have been not so eagerly awaiting it, but expecting it none the less. This morning as I was doing the last few things to get myself ready to run errands - still had to get her ready, I heard the very distinct sound of puking. I ran out to the stairwell, and there she was, new robe on, and looking very distraught over what had happened. She threw up 3 more time in the next 2 minutes, in a way I knew wasn't just from coughing. So, we scrapped the plan for going out, and have hung out here today. Her newest obsession is Dora & Diego, i've got to get a video clip of some of the words & sayings from that. The rest of the morning was spent chilling on the couch wrapped up in blankets. She has still been drinking well, and only thrown up once since the first episode, so maybe we got a quick run through of it :). I couldn't resist a picture of her all curled up on the couch, and she was happy enough to say cheese for me, only after each picture was taken. She's been asleep for 3 1/2 hours now, so i'm sure that will help, and I sure have been able to get a lot more done around here. Well, I best be going i've got fold all the laundry i've been putting in while cleaning the house up. Have a great day everyone, hopefully mine remains the same.

new robe

2008-02-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

It's hard to find robes for little ones Ainsleigh's size, so I decided to make her one. She likes to cuddle in her towel after her baths, but she wiggles so much she's hardly covered up and gets cold. I didn't like the patterns I found on the internet, so I thought about it a lot until I came up with how to do one myself using a regular size bath towel and a hand towel. It is still really big, bigger than I thought it would end up, but she seems to like it and it will keep her warm. I suppose this way she can grow into it. I think she can walk in it and not trip over it, but just barely. As you can see, she's not just out of the bath in these photos, but I had just finished it (it's been an ongoing project for well over a month), and wanted to see how it fit.

cake decorating

2008-02-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

Last month for enrichment we decorated cakes - I learned a little, the person who was going to teach it couldn't make it because her child was sick. But, there were other who knew some things and some instructions, so I tried. The greatest thing I learned is that if you have cool tips, you can do some decent decorating without being a pro. I totally forgot I had taken these pictures until I went to copy some others from my camera. As you can see, I didn't think to take any pictures until it was cut, but I thought it turned out decently for my first time even doing it. I get to try again for Ainsleigh's birthday party next weekend, and it will be a bit harder, so we'll see. I'll for sure take pictures of that.

nothing new

2008-02-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I hadn't posted in a while, but i'm used to posting with new pictures, and I haven't taken too many lately. Ainsleigh continues to be a joy every day. She is counting and practicing her alphabet constantly. I'll try to catch it on video, it's pretty entertaining. She also actually jumped, both feet off at the same time, the bottom stair and then the couch on Wednesday!! She also loves marching, stomping her feet while saying, "stomp your feet", requesting that you do it as well. She learned these at "school", as well as "shake your body" - which she regularly does in her crib when I get her up in the morning. She loves school, or anywhere else that she gets to play with other kids. This morning at church she rather loudly said "yeah nerfwy!!" at the beginning of the opening, imtermediate, and closing songs in church. It was pretty hilarious. Not much else is new here. I'm doing the same old. I get to go to YW more with my lessened work schedule, and just overall feel like I have a lot more of a handle on being a wife, mother, and me. Brody continues to work quite a bit, do church stuff, and ski when he can. He's been playing church ball and enjoys that. The cold virus is making it's way through our famiy for what seems like the millionth time this winter and is hitting Brody hard, hopefully he can get over it quickly. Hope this finds everyone doing well. I'll try to some new/interesting photos this week, and if not before then Ainsleigh turns 2 in 1 1/2 weeks on March 3rd!!! We'll be having a family party the saturday after that (the 8th), and i'm sure i'll get some good pics there. Take care and keep in touch.

2008-02-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

The weather has been very nice here lately (i'm actually posting this on Sunday Feb 24th). We've really been enjoying it. It's been sunny and mostly in the mid-high 50's (still chilly, but plenty warm enough to be outside as long as you have a jacket on). I've tried to spend as much time outside as possible, Ainsleigh loves it, and you never know when it's going to start raining again.

She's on her bike more, but still can't seem to get pedaling down, I think seeing other kids riding their bikes will help as there are more in the neighborhood, maybe her cousins can teach her also.

Having fun at the park. She picked up on going down the slide by herself right away - it was so much fun to watch.

This is her going up the stairs and down the "little" slide - she does it very proficiently, this took all summer to get down last year.

I talked her into going down the big slide, and she loved it, she kept running around and climbing up and going down it again. But, I discovered filming this clip that she has to be caught at the bottom. She doesn't weight enough I guess. So, I caught her every time before and definetily after this!! She was fine, got a little mud on her pants, then jumped right back up and ran around to do it again, requesting that I follow and do it with her. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun.

Daddy's shorts

2008-02-11T22:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we had been folding clothes, and in the process of getting her ready for bed Ainsleigh was only in a diaper when she decided it would be great to put on daddy's shorts. We had a really hard time getting a good picture of it, she would move and they would fall down, and then often she would fall down, but you get the idea. She had both legs through one leg also, which didn't help the whole running with them on idea.

playgroup

2008-02-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

Macy, Eliana, Isaac, Jacob, Ainsleigh, Kenzie

A few weeks ago at playgroup I was trying to catch Ainsleigh and Jacob (jay-bob per Ainsleigh) doing ring around the rosy. As soon as I pulled out the camera they all started saying picture picture rather loudly and lined up for the shoot. Neither one is amazing of everyone, but it's totally cute just the same.

Dancing with daddy

2008-02-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

while I was at work last weekend, Brody and Ainsleigh were dancing in our bedroom, now she want music so we can dance almost anytime we're in the bedroom, it's pretty funny.

Snow Much Fun

2008-02-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

looking at our place from across the street, the snow on the cars is from less than 2 hours of snowing.

Ains all bundled up - isn't she just the cutest :)

neighbor frind Zane (Zank as Ainsleigh says it)

looking down the street.

January 29th it snowed here!! We went outside and played in it with Zane, the neighbor across the street. It was snowing really hard, we got a couple inches REALLY fast. Here's some pics and video from that night. It stuck well, and stayed all night, but was gone by the next afternoon.

Nana & Camrie's visit

2008-02-08T23:01:00.001-08:00

kissing is serious business for Ainsleigh!!

While Brody and I were in Seattle, Nana came and brought Camrie with her. Ainsleigh was beside herself with excitment. I had told her for a while that Nana was coming, but Camrie was a surprise. The girls had an absolute blast together. Ainsleigh was so enthralled she hardly even noticed Brody and I were gone. The girls played a ton, and ran around the house constantly. At the end of each day, they were really tired. Camrie left on Monday (they came Thursday afternoon), and Nana stayed until the following Sunday so Ainsleigh got time just with her as well.

Seattle Anniversary Trip

2008-02-08T22:53:00.001-08:00

Pike's fish market - a classic Seattle spot

These are the view from the space needle - talk about an amazing day weather wise, especially for Seattle!!

This shows our hotel from the Space needle - it's the one with big blocks of beige, green and dark brown on the side - i'll try to figure out a way to point to our room and upload a new pic with it.

At the Space Needle.

In the butterfly room at the Pacific Science Center - it was very cool!!

The view of the Space Needle from our hotel room balcony - our hotel was in the perfect spot for us!!

some construction on the opposite side of our hotel from the space needle, there was a lot of construction - building new condo buildings. I guess gas prices have made people want to move into the city.

A few weeks ago Brody and I went to Seattle for our 7th anniversary! We had a great time. My mom came to take care of Ainsleigh, and brought my 3 1/2 year old niece Camrie as a HUGE bonus for Ains. Brody and I walked nearly everywhere and went to Pike's Market, the Space Needle, the Seattle Center, to a U2 3D movie, to a nice restaurant for dinner, and to the greatest REI we've seen yet. It was wonderful to have some time for us, enjoy being together, and discover new places together.

We happened to be at the fish market the same time as a guy shooting video for last comic standing or one of those shows - it was pretty funny, he was pretty funny, don't know if you'll be able to get it from the video, but we thought it was cool.

Christmas Craze

2008-02-08T22:32:00.001-08:00

Here's a slide show of Christmas time in Southern Oregon. There's Ainsleigh with cousins, opening gifts at my mom's house, her "big gift" - a bike, and the craziness of all the cousins opening presents at once at my dad's house. The one of her in the chair is just a funny one, no one else fits in the chair- just teddy bears, Ains loved it because it was just her size!!

random funny photos

2008-02-08T22:17:00.002-08:00

These are just funny photos of Ainsleigh an dher love of winter hats. The red is jammies day at school (daycare), with her awesome striped hat. The other is her all bundled up at the park by our house.

singing

2008-02-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

Since mid December Ainsleigh has loved singing, she has gotten better, but it's hard (as you can tell from this video) to catch her, so i'll try this coming week. I'ts pretty funny, and sometimes I notice her singing to her babies and such. She is also loving to count (she can get to 6 really well), and singing the alphabet, it's a riot.

playing with Abby

2008-02-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas we went to Abby's to play (and so the moms could visit). The girls had fun, as always, and them playing with these giant bags was too cute to pass up.

chapstick fun

2008-02-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

On the way to the airport to leave Florida Ainsleigh was tired of being in the car, I gave her my chapstick to occupy her. She often uses some chapstick when I do, but I had no idea she would end up like this... All I could do was laugh at her, and clean her up once we stopped.

Brody's graduation

2008-02-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

The big event - Brody's graduation from University of Florida with a Bachelor's in Business, emphasis in finanace I think. The weather wasn't that great, it was supposed to get cold and rain. It kept threatening to rain, but didn't, and it didn't cool off so it was just warm and really humid (terrible on hair do's). Anyways, the day was wonderful despite the weather. I am so proud of Brody for all of his hard work, I don't know how he has done it working full time while going to school full time most of the time.

GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tagging

2008-02-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

I forgot to tag anyone at the bottom of the husband tag - I have enjoyed reading them from others, there's a lot you learn that you wouldn't otherwise. I tag anyone who wants to do it, and Erica, Katie, Michele A, Lila, Kimber, Aleta, Meredith, and Jessica.

PS I added a video I had forgotten about on the beach blog. Take a look.

A Day at the Beach

2008-02-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

While we were in Florida we spent a beautiful day at Jax beach. The weather was great. We walked on the beach, played in the water, and had lunch at Joe's crab shack right on the beach. Ainsleigh wasn't too sure at first about actually touching the water, she eventually would get her feet wet if you were holding her, but she loved to be carried out into it, probably better because there was a really strong undertow that day. She also played in the sand and even made soem friends while we were there. It was a really fun day.

I've been tagged

2008-02-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

Erin tagged me to answer these questions about my husband...

What is his name? Broderick "Brody" Dean Pack

How long have you been together? 7 1/2 years - we completed 7 married years yesterday!!

How long did you date? Just over 4 months.

How old is he? Just turned 29

Who eats more? Totally me, he has the typical Pack appetite, and I have a real one. Unfortunately, that shows with our weight, too - he's never weighed more than me, once we got within 3 pounds of each other!

Who said I love you first? I think he did, I was still afraid to be "committed", even though we basically already were.

Who is taller? Brody - about 6'

Who sings better? definetily me, Brody doesn't even sing out loud all the time, I have been known to sing in choirs sometimes, he'd rather die than do that.

Who is smarter? for everything but medical, probably Brody. He's more intelectual, and I think he does more everyday learning, like with politics. He also enjoys going to school WAY MORE than me.

Who does the laundry? It's probably split, I put more loads in, and switch them over more, but Brody does his work clothes most of the time and anything else that needs to be done, and he does a lot more folding than I do. Generally, we both put our own clothes away, and I take care of Ainsleigh's. He also does all of his own ironing, he's much better than I am at it.

Who pays bills? He does, initially it helped to have him keep track of how much money we have, now I think it's just easier for him to continue because he's much more organized than I am.

Who sleeps on the right side? Depends on if you're facing the bed or not, facing the bed, I am now, but we just switched sides when we moved to OR, generally it's just so that i'm closer to the door so I can get Ains if she wakes up.

Who mows the lawn? He does 99% of the time.

Who cooks dinner? Me - Brody doesn't enjoy cooking like I do, he doesn't have enough time to, and once he's home in the evenings Ains is basically attached to him.

Who drives? He does - always, I think I have driven 2-3 times in 7 years - because he was either sick or really really tired. I hate driving, and he doesn't like the way I drive and can't sleep anyways.

Who is more stubborn? He is - he'll argue until you see it his way, but if it matters enough to me i'll fight back until it drives him flat crazy. It's something he actually loves about me, that i'll fight back and put my foot down if it matters.

Who kissed who first? I did - I just couldn't wait any longer.

Who asked who out first? I don't know, we had a strange beginning of our relationship - we met on our mission and were friends (and only friends), when I came home he called me and we talked on the phone for 2 hours, then we talked more and more regularly for about a month until I moved back to Utah. By the time I moved we were basically already "together", even though nothing had really been stated, actually I was still saying we weren't going to date exclusively and I was going to date others and get into LDSSA activities and stuff - but it didn't happen. Our first date, I think, was homecoming to the U of U, I guess I kind of asked becuase I wanted to go to it, but it wasn't really asking, it was just assumed we were going together.

Who proposed? Brody - I knew he had the ring, I had gone with him to pick it up the day my nephew Cayden was born because we were both off work and halfway there being in Ogden. But I also knew he hadn't talked to my family yet and my dad was on the way to Utah driving and I didn't think he had any way to contact him. We weren't planning on getting engaged until around Thanksgiving, after he had met my stepmom and I had met his grandparents serving a mission in DC, plus we thought getting engaged in DC would be cool. So, we went to the temple for a date, he got a phone call when we got to the car and told me it was his mom discussing Christmas gifts for me, and we decided to drive around the neighborhood up by the capital in Salt Lake. He found a really great look out spot (it's actually the one that the guy goes to in Singles Ward to think), and said he was getting out to to look at the city. At first I wasn't going to get out, but he convinced me to. we looked out at the city, I got snow in my shoe, he got down on one knee and got it out, and I thought, "oh my gosh is he going to do it?!" But he didn't. A few minutes later I turned around and he was back on one knee - and that was that. He had actually had to make quite a few phone calls to get ahold of my dad, even calling my aunt he had never met, and the phone call was from my mom returning his message so he could get her permission.

Who has more friends? I think me, except while we lived in Florida - he had way more.

Who is more sensitive? Definetily me, but we're both pretty literal creatures - we tell it like it is and then get over it. It would cause problems for a lot of people, but it works quite well for us. If any of you are familiar with color personalities, he's red i'm yellow and neither of us have very much white or blue - the more sensitive personalities.

Who has more siblings? I guess he does, the oldest of five. I grew up with just one, but if you count all of mine even those i've gained over time I am the younges of 5 (one full sister, one half sister, one step sister and one step brother).

Who wears the pants? Brody does, no questions. We're actually a great pair at working together and doing what each is good at, but in the end if only one has to, he does.

All in all, Brody is the perfect person for me and I for him, no matter how difficult we may each seem to be to get along with, and i'm grateful for that every day of my life. We are a great pair.

Florida vacation

2008-01-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

Ainsleigh was putting lotion of after her bath and decided her bear needed some too (notice white spots on front paws), she was also very willing to smile for the camera, as soon as I brought it out to get the lotion shots she started saying "cheese".

Opening and playing with one of her early Chrismtas presents. She loved getting presents for like 2 weeks striaght!!

This is the position she was sleeping in when we got up the 1st morning there!! Isn't it hilarious?

The middle of December we went to Florida so Brody could walk at graduation from University of Florida. Brody's parents and youngest sister CieJae met us out there. We had a wonderful
time, had good weather, got to see Brody graduate, and spent some time with dear friends from there. More activities and photos in future posts.

Christmas tree pictures

2008-01-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

Cheesy grin :)

Look at those toofers!!

I thought it would be nice to get pictures of Ainsleigh in front of the tree in her Christmas dress - luckily I figures out how to make my camera take pictures continuosly at like 5/second, though it did make for some hilarious picture sequences. I ended up taking something like 200 pictures in about 15 minutes. As you can see, I never really got "the perfect photo", but by the end of this she had had enough.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-01-13T22:25:00.000-08:00

We finally decided to get a tree this year - the 1st one ever. It's fake, which will make up keep and take down extra nice. Ainsleigh likes it, she loves to play with the balls from the tree, turn the lights on (it's a footswitch she can even do), and take certain ornaments off the tree - they end up on the ground as you can see in the last picture. She really likes Minnie mouse, a bear, and this funny clown one that she always cradles like a baby. I also got a star for the top of the tree, probably one of my favorites i've ever seen, and it's gold - can you believe it??!!

Family Pictures

2008-01-13T21:44:00.001-08:00

We took advantage of everyone being together over Thanksgiving - here's a few of the favorites. Lila, a friend from our ward, took them, and she did a great job!!

Thanksgiving time

2008-01-07T13:36:00.001-08:00

Nana Loi, Cayden, Ains, and Camrie

Camrie & Ainsleigh on the horsey - all 3 loved riding it.

At OMSI doing this cool gadget that would make cups fly in the air, Ainsleigh thought it was awesome!!

OMSI in the kids playroom

C&C at the Antarctic exhibit

Camrie in the chemistry lab.

Cayden at OMSI, I don't know what exhibit, my mom and I had left by then with our tired Tater.

For Thanksigving Nana Loi, Shawn, Erica, Cayden and Camrie came. We had a great time. Ainesleigh LVOED having others to play with 24/7. We had a nice Thanksgiving day, went to OMSI, and just hung out a lot. I was supposed to learn how to do the whole turkey thing for Thanksgiving, but ended up waking up that morning with pink eye, so I spent a few hours at urgent care and missed the cleaning out, stuffing process. Oh well, I guess there's always next year.