Paint!

This year I decided to be creative and to make most of my Christmas presents. I also wanted to incorporate Lydia into the gifts since she's the first grandchild and, well, I like her. So I ended up using a lot of paint and handprints and footprints. I realized in the middle of my crafting that I choose the wrong age to have her do a hand print because she's old enough to move her hands and play by herself, and too young to understand how to help or hold still when I need her too. Needless to say, after a lot of laughter, paint, and washing, I completed all of the crafts. This picture doesn't even begin to show the amount of paint we had all over us. It was on the carpet, chairs, tables, and our clothes. Lydia decided to suck her hand with paint on it so she had a mouth coated in green (how festive!). She still has green on one of her toenails that I can't seem to get off. Lydi was curious about the whole experience and especially loved when I painted her hands with a paint brush (believe me just dipping her hands in paint did not work, I tried). I don't think I'll use a 9 month old for this again, and word to the wise for moms, I would shoot for younger or older ages for this project, unless you don't mind paint EVERYWHERE. :)

Winter + Christmas= Wonderful

I just love having snow at Christmas time. It makes everything so much better. I don't think I could live in Hawaii and have a green Christmas because I need the snow and ice to add the magic of the season. Here you can see our deck with Christmas lights and snow and ice sickles.
So Christmasy!

And here is the view of our little cute Christmas tree and the outside lights with ice sickles once again. There's just something about bundling up at Christmas time and staying warm together with the lights, happiness, and joy! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Lights/Christmas Concert

Every year, of course, Temple Square lights are a must. This year we were able to go to a Kurt Bestor Christmas concert as well. These pictures represent our lovely evening.

Putting my photography skills to work (btw, I don't have any photography skills)

The nicest guy said he'd take our picture after he noticed us struggling to do it ourselves.

Doesn't that look cool? Another attempt at photography.

Another attempt at self photography. I wish that guy would have come back to help us.

We had amazing seats at the concert. We were second level but the seats were way better on the second level than the first in my opinion. Kurt Bestor's an amazing musician and it was a great performance.

Baby it's Cold Outside

We've had some frigid temperatures in Utah this month of December. I mean 8 degrees is just not a desirable temperature. My job is to make sure my baby stays warm on our outings and Christmas shopping trips. I think I did a bang up job! :) She even had little booties on that can't be seen under the blanket. As long as you love me so, LET IT SNOW, let it snow, let it snow!

9 Months

This past Sunday Lydia turned 9 months. It's crazy for me to think about her being alive OUTSIDE of me as long as she was alive INSIDE of me. It actually seems like she's been born much much longer than nine months. It's hard to remember life without her and I don't want to. This age is such a fun age with the awareness, games, talking, and adventure that goes on. Sometimes I become really sad because Lydi is really growing up and she's so big now. It's fun and unbelievable at the same time. She climbs all over everything and favors biting, growling, screaming, a super-unfeminine way of clearing her throat, blowing raspberries, clapping, and drumming. She's our adorable little monster. One cute thing she does that I hope lasts awhile is that she cocks her head to the side as though to say "look how adorable I am, don't you love me, awwww" and she does it at such random times it just makes you laugh. It's really hard to get a picture of, so this is the best I can do. Ususally it's without a hand in her mouth with a half smile :) Happy nine months Lydi bug!

BYU vs UTAH 2009

So for Brigham's birthday I got him a ticket to go with me to the BYU/Utah game this year. We had so much fun! BYU won in overtime 26-23 and it was a thrilling final game. It was my last year to buy season passes for awhile so it was really good to have Brigham there for the final game and to beat our rivalry. The crowd was so crazy and so pumped and so fun.


It was really cold at the game. Even with all the jumping around and screaming I did, I still froze to death!
The BYU and Utah marching bands combined to do red/white/and blue like they usually do. It was neat to see and hear.
Because it was our last game for awhile, we rushed the field after BYU won. We got to pat a couple BYU players on the back and tell them good job. It was crazy on the field with everyone pushing each other around. I really enjoyed meeting a couple of the players. I wanted to meet Dennis Pitta (who I fondly call PIZZA! (with my arms making a touchdown signal)) but alas, I did not find him.
Even though my throat was sore for a few days after and I hurt my leg jumping down from the bleachers, it was a blast, I got free awesome BYU stuff, and I sure do love beating the Utes. GO COUGARS!!! :)

Cell Phones!

No other toys are as exciting to Lydia as cell phones are. She loves them. She loves holding them, looking at them, pressing the buttons, and sucking on them. She gets so mad when you take them away and nothing makes her crawl faster than seeing a cell phone laying around. She actually is really smart and will run her fingers over the buttons on the cell phone until it presses down and a number or letter lights up the screen. I don't know why she has such a fascination but I think we are in trouble already! Usually we try to keep her away from them but one night we just decided to let her play with them. You can tell by that grin on her face how happy she is :)

Happy Birthday Brigham!

Today is Brigham's birthday and he turned 25 years old. I hope that his birthday is a good one. Some fun facts about Brigham as he is now are the following...

He loves spiderman

Brigham loves different languages, especially French

He makes facts up because he thinks they sound correct, even though he really has no idea

Brigham won't eat sweet potatoes

He has crazy eyes! (That are beautifully blue as well)

Brigham has weirdly jointed body parts

He is really smart and always knows such random trivia

Brigham loves his family and will do so much for them

He tries really hard in school even when it's hard to focus

Brigham is pretty dramatic

Brigham is a really good dad and loves his little girl

He has a really good testimony and knows a lot about the gospel

Brigham is a meat and potatoes kind of guy

He likes big dogs, but not little ones

Brigham is the best husband in the world and I love him!

I hope you have an awesome birthday dear and I am glad I get to grow old with you and experience birthdays until we are both too old to know how to count that high anymore ;)

Happy Birthday!

and as Buzz Light Year would say...

To Eternity and Beyond!!

or something like that :)

A Baby's Laugh

There's nothing like a laughing baby to put a smile on your face. Lydia loves to tilt her head to the side like a dog. We don't know why she does it but it sure is cute. We tried to catch it on video but as soon as the camera came out she stopped. Brigham tried to tilt his head to get her to follow his example, but he just looked like he was dying. However, she found him hysterical, so we got a video of that instead.

Maple Valley

My mom found this maple leaf on a run outside. This shows a little bit of the beauty of Maple Valley and why it got it's name. This photo reminded me of how much I love Washington, and especially Maple Valley. It's so beautiful there. I love walking outside and seeing trees everywhere. The air is so fresh and clean that immediately when I step off the plane to visit home, I take the biggest -deepest breath possible and savor it for a moment. I love that I have the option to choose between a walk to the creek, forest, or lake from my house when I want to be alone, or to just have some fun and adventure. I'll miss being able to walk to my spot on the creek and have a good cry, or think about things, like I used to when I was a teenager. I love being able to walk down the street and pick fresh, wild blackberries off the side of the road. I love being close to civilization but being able to escape it just as fast. I miss that most of all. I miss being able to explore the nature around my house, completely alone, singing to my music and in my own little world. I feel so close to God outside with the sun warming my face or the breeze cooling me through my jacket. Nature is so pure and primitive, and I feel the Spirit in all of it. It is wonderful in the beauty and freshness it offers. It's no wonder my favorite hymn is "How Great Thou Art" when one of the verses reads as follows

"When thru the woods and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze, Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art! How great thou art!"

I feel like whoever wrote these words, could see into my soul. I miss Washington and Maple Valley, always will, and hope to return someday.

Party on Halloween Night

Well it was time to once again throw our annual Halloween party. Instead of trying to squeeze into our little apartment, we had it in the primary room at our ward-house. There we played games like pumpkin bowling...

and candy corn toss,

... and finally Witches Brew. Witches brew was my favorite because I made up gross names for common drinks and everyone had to guess what the actual drink was. For instance, frog juice was limeade, mummy guts was egg nog, and rotten onion extract was lemonade with food coloring. I think I just had so much fun making the labels and disguising the drinks.

Of course we also had our costume contest. This year it was fun because Lydia was a lady bug and she was so adorable. She, however, was not a fan of the games or costumes. Halloween was a little too scary for her this year and I think next year's party will include a babysitter.

We were a family of bugs with Brigham being a Daddy-long-legs, I was the queen bee (of course :)), and we had our little Lydi bug. I made all the costumes myself except for Lydia's which we borrowed from a friend at my work. Brigham's costume was the biggest pain and took me forever. It didn't turn out how I wanted and I ended up really frustrated with it but in the end it made me realize I do like being crafty.

other costumers we had at our party are the following . . .

Sam and Caitlin as nerds, Tim and Ashley as aviators, and Brittany and Scott and bats

Katrina was Violet from the Incredibles, plus Michelle and Cody as cat

and gangster. We also had couple that came as imfomercial actors in snuggies, haha (Clever), Chad and Syndey (they can be seen in previous pictures). Nonie was a jester and Dan came as himself. Overall it was a pretty fun party and we had lots of fun celebrating Halloween!

Too tired to play anymore

We put Lydia in her crib to go to bed and of course she started playing. Well, I went in to check on her and found her asleep with her burp rag in her mouth. She always plays carrying it in her mouth and must gotten tired and fallen asleep that way. It was so funny, I had to document it.

Where did my baby go?

Lydia is seven months now and I took pictures of her playing in the bath the other day. Then as I was looking through old pictures and saw how much she's changed, I became really sad. Where did my baby go? She used to be so small and cute and now she's so big and funny (and still cute). I miss having my little Lydi. Here is a picture for comparison.

Isn't it so crazy?! Now she's sitting up in the tub and splashing and playing, where before she would just lay there quietly and try to figure out what was going on. I do love seeing her grow and experience the thrill of watching her learn new things and discover life. Here are some fun new facts about her now...

She loves to drum. She'll slap her hands on anything and will hit objects with toys to see how it sounds. She loves shaking toys to a beat.

Lydia loves the kitchen floor. She'll scoot from the carpet to the hard tile so she can bang her hands on it and roll around. I don't understand this because she bangs her head... a lot.

She does NOT wake up well from evening naps, I try to avoid her taking them at all costs.

She smiles with her mouth as wide open as possible.

I can't laugh at anything on TV because it makes her cry hysterically, as if I just yelled rather than laughed. It's weird and a little bothersome, you'd think she'd like laughing.

She doesn't babble around other people often, but at home she's all about making weird noises.

She hates getting her clothes changed.

She is fascinated by TV commercials. . . .perhaps the catchy tunes? I have to turn her high chair away from the TV or she's too distracted to eat (hmm already like her father) and she still strains to look around the back of her chair to catch a glimpse.

Jumping and bouncing are her favorite, especially on Daddy's shoulders.

She carries around cloth items in her mouth like a momma bear.

Lydia HATES when you leave her in her high chair and walk out of the room. Expect hysterics, even if you're gone for two seconds. You've damaged her for life and she'll let you know it for the next half hour. . .even after she's calmed down, between bites of food the fake cry will continue- after all, you did leave her alone in her high chair.

No one can figure out her eye color because it's still hasn't changed from the baby blue/gray. I personally hope it never does and I say the color of her eyes are slate.

She's the most fun and laughs I've ever had.

She doesn't smile for other people very often, just stares with her eyebrows furrowed in a very inquisitive look.

I could keep going because I love talking about her, but I'll just end with this ...

She's finally getting long enough hair to give her crazy hairdos in the tub :)

I love you Lydi bug!

My Einstein Baby

The other day I went to DI and bought Lydia some new toys that she needed desperately. After cleaning them up, she began to play and this one immediately became her favorite. After she watched me messing around with it for a little while, she just started closing them all by herself. I was so surprised. She can't figure out how to open them yet but I was pretty impressed with her figuring out how to close them.

I thought she was so smart after watching her do this, and had to take a video. Maybe she's not extra smart and any average 7 month old can do this, but I'm the proud first time mommy and she's my little genuis! I don't know why the video loaded fuzzy but you get the point...

Lydia's Prey

Lydia loves playing monster and one of her favorite things to do is to "attack" her burp rag. She grabs it and chomps down really hard on it. You can see the devilish glimmer in her eye while she does so. She also likes to play with it trapped in her mouth. Here you can see her admist her toys with her burp rag hanging off her two teeth. What I find funny is that her burp rag is her most favorite thing and sometimes when she plays with it in her mouth, it's as if she's the mother lion carrying around her cub in her mouth. Or perhaps her hands are busy and she must have possesion of it at all times and only her mouth is available. All I know is that she sleeps with it, eats with it, plays with it, attacks it, and carries it around non-stop.

Ruffle Rump!

Lydia looked so cute in her ruffles at church the other day, I just had to take pictures. She's already seven months now and is so much fun! You really can't beat a little girl in ruffles, especially my little girl :) Everyone at church commented on how especially cute she looked and I was just the proud mommy who smiled and said thank you.

Model in Training

The other day after getting back from a walk, I put Lydia in her chair and this is how she ended up sitting. She clearly wanted me to take her picture. It was as if she were saying "Mom, look how great I look in these socks and my beach hat." I laughed pretty hard and she kept just staring at me like "What's you're problem?" Oh my little model, you are going to cause me trouble, I can tell!

First 5k and BYU vs Colorado State

Last weekend Brigham and I had a VERY busy Saturday. We woke up at 5:30am so we could be down in Provo in time for me to check in for my very first 5k, the BYU Alum Run. I was very nervous and excited for this race. My normal run is 2.3 miles while a 5k is 3.1 miles. I knew I could do it, I just didn't want to look pathetic or come in last. I had my friends Brittany and Katrina do it with me and I also paid the fifteen dollars that it cost. Once I paid I knew I wouldn't back out because it's against every thing I know to waste good money. Anyways we arrived and we were ready to go. I even got a number and everything! I felt so official. :)

The race was hard because it was around the BYU campus which is FULL of hills but I finished in 32 minutes which was under the goal I had set for myself of 35 minutes (remember I'm only a beginner). I also came in the top ten of the girls of my division (ages 20-29). Awesome Katrina got first, finishing in 24 minutes (holy cow girl!) and Brittany got sixth, finishing in 28 minutes (I got wasted by a pregnant girl :)). It was so much fun and I felt so good about myself afterwards! I loved having Brigham and Lydia there to be my cheerleaders as I crossed the finish line! After the race I hurried and showered in order to make it to the temple before the football game. When Brigham and I have a day together we have to fit in the temple! So we drove Lydia to my Uncle's in Springville, raced back to Provo and did a session with Brittany and Scott. Then we raced back to Springville, picked up Lydia, hurried back to Provo and dropped Lydia off with Brittany and Scott who watched her during the football game. She was passed around a lot that day. We met up with Katrina and were pretty exhausted by time BYU started playing Colorado State but soon we got into the energy of the game. Despite a few fun trick plays and a couple beautiful passes, BYU didn't look as good as I hoped for but we won and it was fun. Afterwards, we did a little grocery shopping with Katrina and then finally headed home around ten. It was a long, successful, tiring day!

Bad Mommy and Daddy

As Brigham and I were getting ready for Church one Sunday, an accident happened at our house. Brigham was watching Lydia while she was eating her bottle on our bed. Well Brigham got a little distracted as she was eating and came into the kitchen to talk to me. I forgot to remind him to go back into the bedroom to make sure Lydia wouldn't roll off the bed. As we were talking, Lydia finished her bottle and did, indeed roll off the bed. We heard a loud bump and sudden crying. The feeling you get when you hear that is awful! We ran in the bedroom, I grabbed her and she calmed down pretty fast. We were pretty scared because when we found her she was lying on the leg of our desk that sits on the floor so we searched her little body to make sure she was ok. We then noticed that the dark red mark on her cheek. We also noticed she wouldn't open her eye. She then started heaving like she was going to throw up. I laid her on the changing table and she closed both eyes and acted like she was going to sleep. I started to panic and tried to keep her awake and open her eye. As I tried to open her eye, all I could see was darkness and I thought that I had blinded my daughter by neglect and that she also had a concusion. I was so afraid even though Brigham says I seemed really calm. Then suddenly she opened both eyes and whined a little. After a couple of minutes watching her I realized she was ok, just a little shocked. Her eye was swollen and she had a huge red line running down her cheek that later turned into an array of colors (black, blue, green, and orange). It was an awful experience and we were late to church (one of my huge pet-peeves), but after six days she was completely healed. It's crazy how fast babies heal! These pictures are a couple days after the incident and don't show how bad it looked at first. We don't leave her on the bed anymore (especially Dad because he was more traumatized than Lydia was!) and I'm so glad she's ok! We both felt like horrible parents even though I'm sure worse things have happened. I do not look forward to the next accident!

The High Chair

We finally got a highchair from one of my friends at work and this is Lydia's first time eating in it. I know it's hard to tell but actually she looked really small compared to the highchair. She didn't know what to think at first but now she really enjoys her chair and it sure beats trying to feed her while she kicks in her bouncy chair! She had her rice cereal and her butternut squash, if you couldn't tell

She eventually got back to her usual ways of playing her favorite game, monster, and attacking mommy. As you can see I was terrified. It's great watching her grow into new and different things but part of me misses her being small.