Welcome to 2010!

I'm not the biggest fan of January in Utah. It's too cold and snowy to do anything outside, you don't see the sun for weeks at a time, and the main source of adult interaction is grocery shopping and church. I've been trying to keep myself busy with fun projects. I've decided to be a little more adventurous in my sewing, and actually make something for myself besides a headband. So here is what I've made lately:

I got a pattern for 99cents and decided to try it out. I think I like sewing without a pattern better. Maybe one day I'll learn pattern-lingo. For now, its practically gibberish and I had to call for help a few times. It turned out pretty cute though!

This one I made just copying a skirt that I already have. Much easier. No crazy pattern-talk. :)

Then I found a super-easy wallet tutorial here. I skipped quilting the outside, but used the measurements and inside directions. I also used a magnetic clip for the closure and added a super cute flower outside. (I bought an iron-on patch at Hobby Lobby for that, and used my Crop-a-dile and an eyelet to attach it.) I think it turned out way cute. Love it!

My sister-in-law was having a baby shower the day after I made my wallet, and I decided to try to be creative. So I took the basic idea from my wallet, made it bigger and turned it into a diaper wallet! I turned out pretty cute, but the pockets need some work. I think I needed to put some elastic in them (they don't hold things in very well). But even if you don't use the pockets, its a cute case for hauling diapers and wipes.

The next project was one for Josie. She's been way into princesses, dancing, and spinning lately, so I decided it was time to make her a tutu! Basic instructions--cut your tulle into strips, and loop over elastic. If you need more detail, let me know. I made this one a little big, so she can keep if for a while. I used about 4 yards of tulle (I think it costs about $1 a yard, not expensive!)

Josie helped me with the strips...

Finished tutu! She got it on and said, "Wow! Look at me!!"

Just for good measure, here's our little cheeser:

Here is our favorite video of the month. Justin and I can watch it over and over. It cracks us up. Josie got a Sit & Spin for Christmas (Thanks Andrea!) and she loves it. This is her favorite way to spin..

A few of my favorite sayings..

Josie is a regular chatterbox these days, so I just wanted to make a post with some of my favorite things she says so that I can remember them when it comes time to putting it in a scrap book.

As soon as she sees me going for the diaper caddy, she says, "No diapey, no diapey!!"

On a similar topic, when she needs to go (and sometimes when she already has), "A poo poo, Mama."

"Muscles!!!" (while flexing)

Dad has taught her how to pretend with her stuffed animals, so she'll grab 2 and here's how the conversation goes.. "Hi bear, hi bear, mwuah!"

"(Gasp!) A-sat?" (her version of What's that?)

"'Ere-a go!" She says this when she's all done with something and wants you to take it.

"Wow!"

"I sowwy" (this is usually accompanied by a "Mama")

"Tank-oo, Wecome!" (Yes, she says them one right after the other).

"Bess you!"

Just today she started saying "Dada, wook" when she learned that Dad goes to work.

And my personal favorite, "Mommy!"

Our Christmas Break

WARNING: LONG POST, LOTS OF PICTURES AND VIDEOS! :)

I have been putting off blogging because I knew I had a ton of pictures and videos to sort through and decide which ones to post, etc. But I decided that since it is now the 8th of January, that I'd post Christmas in honor of my sister Andrea's birthday. (Happy Birthday Andrea!!) So here's a glimpse at our Christmas celebrations!
On the 23rd, we packed up our car and headed down to Justin's parents house for all the festivities. We stayed there until Sunday. we had our annual Christmas dinner with Justin's family. After dinner, we had our very own live nativity! We were lucky enough to have a brand new baby (Gavin!) to play the part of baby Jesus, with his parents as Mary and Joseph. The kids filled in the rest. Here are a few pictures:

The littlest shepherd got a little scared being up there "alone". So I had to sit with her and distract her with a sheep so she wouldn't cry.

On Christmas' Eve, we opened a present that, to our surprise, turned out to be a Sony HD flip video camera!! Thank you SO SO much!! (You know who you are!) So we hurried and plugged that in so the batteries would be charged in time for the party. That evening, we all got together at Mimi and Papa's house for some enchiladas and opening the sibling/cousin presents. We also go to open our new jamies--another tradition. :) I didn't get a picture of the kids in their jamies, but it was pretty cute!

Here's a video of Tucker and Josie opening their presents. They were the first to go, since the younger ones were either sleeping, or not there.

Christmas Morning!
It was such an exciting year for us this year, because Josie actually had some idea of what was going on. It was sooo cute. I wish I had gotten a picture before the kids got in the room, but here's the video of them all as they walk in. Its a long video, but in my opinion, the beginning is the best part. :)


Waiting ever so patiently on the stairs while we wait for Mimi and Papa to be ready.

Josie quickly figured out that a few of the things in her stocking were edible. She called them "nacks", and asked for "more nack" all morning (in a lot of the pictures, she has a mouthful!)

It was baby Gavin's first Christmas, so we had to get a little video! His eyebrows are the highlight...

Tucker got this cool rocking horse. You push his ears and he moves his head and tail and neighs and whinnies. Josie finally got a turn on him and kept asking for "more ears!"

A little later, Josie and Tucker got all the downstairs toys to themselves as the bigger kids played with their new toys. They were pretty thrilled.

On the 26th, we decided to go out and play in the snow. Josie has been wanting to ever since the snow stuck. So we finally gave in. She did some sledding on the little hill in the yard and we took her sledding with us down the big hill. She loved it! We got lots of adorable video, but there's only some much room in one post, right? Here are my favorite videos.

On Sunday, we went to church with Justin's parents and got to show off Josie's Christmas dress. We also celebrated the December birthdays.. I think I was burned out on taking pictures by this point because I didn't get a single one. And we celebrated Justin's birthday! Oh well...

We also went home on Sunday night to recover from the much partying. Josie helped me do all the laundry, and found a pair of my socks particularly appealing..

We wish we could have spent the holidays with all you family members all over the US, we missed you! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was fabulous!!!

I love....

Josie's favorite little word game is the "I love.." game. Here's how it goes.
Mom or Dad: I...
Josie: love... Mama! (She fills in the last part with whatever name she thinks of first: Dada, Tutu, Mimi, Papa, etc.) Here's what we got yesterday in the car.
Dad: I...
Josie: love... GOOFY!

We're also learning "Old MacDonald". Here is how it went yesterday.
Dad: Old MacDonald had a farm.
Josie: aya ayao!
Dad: And on that farm he had a...
Josie: JOSIE!

In case you're wondering, a Josie says, "yayaya".

Pre-Christmas December

I came to the realization that I will have lots of pictures of Christmas day. So I decided to post a December blog with everything pre-Christmas so that I can devote a whole post to just Christmas! I love this time of year and I especially love sharing it with my little monkey this year. Here are some pictures of our holiday fun:

We're still working on feeding ourselves..

I taught Josie how to say "reindeer", and she loves toting around the little reindeer at the bottom of the picture. One day she decided that he would be happier with the other reindeer...

We started having weekly play dates with a friend of mine, and last week we got out the dress-up clothes. The big girls had pretty dresses on, so Josie needed one too!

I was hoping to have a picture to put in our Christmas cards this year, but I just couldn't find a good family one, so I decided to try getting one with Santa. Josie is generally GREAT with strangers. We were hoping that she would do ok. This is the best picture we got. Apparently, Santa pretty scary!

Mom's shoes...

On Saturday, we woke up to a sick baby. We've had throwing up, diarrhea, lack of energy, etc. The doctor says its not too serious, just a stomach bug. Josie's been a little trooper through it all. Here's her happy-sick face..

Hopefully she'll be fine by Christmas. The Doc said it should only last a couple days, and she already seems to be on the mend. Hang in there Josie bug!

At the beginning of the month, we got the first REAL snow (real meaning, it sticks around and there's lots of it!) We were getting ready to run an errand, so Josie decided to help dad shovel. She LOVES the snow! (although, she calls it "nose")

Stayed tuned for the Christmas update! We wish we could spend the holidays with all you family and friends (especially you guys in Hawaii), but pictures and web cams will have to do. Have a very very Merry Christmas!! :)

Crime and Punishment

Sundays are always fun at our house, since we don't get home from church until 2 and nap time is 1. Yesterday was SUPER fun because Josie refused to take a nap. She sat in her room, yelling, singing, playing, etc. for nearly 2 hours. She wasn't crying, so we decided to just let her stay.. hoping of course, that she would fall asleep. Needless to say, we were quite excited when bed time rolled around. Josie was exhausted and sooo ready for bed. It was then that I discovered what was keeping her so entertained during nap time.....

I know its hard to judge scale on this picture, but that is probably about 8 inches of wall paper border missing. I was so angry/upset/baffled/etc., and the main problem is this:

How do you punish a 1 year old for something like this?

She had no idea that she was being bad. I told her it was a naughty thing to do and she said, "Nau-ee." Justin told her that she needed to say sorry, so she said, "Sorry, Ma-ee" (ma-ee is mommy). How do you keep it from happening again???? Last night we just decided that apologizing was enough and pulled the crib into the middle of the room and put her to bed. The border goes all the way around the room, where are we going to put the crib??? I just don't know what to do with our mischievous little monkey...

November!

I have been SOOO lazy about blogging lately. I used to be good at getting pictures up once a week or so.. now I'm shooting for at least once monthly. So here are the highlights from November. :)

Lance and Tassia came for a visit--we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with them, but it was great to see you guys!!

My sister Andrea and her husband Sam came out from California to spend Thanksgiving with us and we all went to the big extended family gathering that my mom's family does every year. Here are a few pictures of that:

Andrea and Sam

Kelley and Nate

Josie playing with cousins--well, kids of my cousins, so you figure out whether they are 2nd, or 3rd or whatever cousins :P

Josie with Grandpa and Grandma R.

Back at our house, Andrea was Josie's new favorite person. She chose her over mom.

I also have TONS of videos and just not enough time/space to post them all. Here are a couple of my favorites. I think they give you a good glimpse into her personality.

Finally, our favorite new thing that Josie started doing this month: smelling thing! I know, it sounds silly, but you ask Josie if something is stinky and she checks it out for you. Example:

Me: Josie, is your shoe stinky?

Josie: (Pulls her shoe off, sticks her nose in it, two sniffs) Stinky!

She will do that to just about anything, including Mom and Dad (we are both usually stinky according to her). If you aren't stinky, you get a smile instead. She's such a funny little monkey and we are so happy to have her!!

See you next month.. :)