La Nostra Famiglia

Banana Nutella Pumpkin Bread!

2011-11-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Will be making this recipe Thursday after Thanksgiving. Looks so yummy!!

http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/10/03/banana-nutella-pumpkin-bread/

Catching up

2011-11-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

... again.

Man - I have no time! It's the Holiday season and rehearsals for the Christmas show are in full swing. And with that, people get injured, and then people like yours truly get thrown into completed dances last minute! So it's been stressful, but good.

We've also had Grandma and Grandpa Smith, and Grandma Adams come to visit over the past month and a half. And let me tell ya, Piper was in HEAVEN! We can't wait for Christmas when we get to go home and see everyone again!

Here are some random pictures to document the past few months! :)

Piper has started dance classes, and she loves it! She's so funny and cute to watch. She LOVES looking at herself in the mirror, and sticks her little tongue out when she's concentrating. :)

My parents came to town for Piper's Birthday! She had so much fun with them- they went to the zoo, to the memorial, and to some other stuff downtown. Somehow I can't seem to find any other pictures of them at the moment... :(

Yay Birthday time!! Piper wore Birthday related shirts the whole week leading up to her Birthday on Friday the 30th. First it was cupcake shirts, and then moved on to Princess shirts - it was a Princess party. :)

Though I really wanted to make a castle cake, I ended up going with these cupcakes, which my mom helped me with. I was so proud of them! They turned out perfectly!

Since she was having a princess party, we planned a game called "Slay the Dragon" AKA Beanbag toss. :) Luckily my dad was here and could draw the dragon. Goodness knows I couldn't!

Due to sickness and other things, only one of Piper's little friends was able to come to her party. Even though it made me a little sad, I was super glad that she isn't really old enough to realize that only one of her friends came. And on the upside, I was a LOT less stressed, because I didn't have to worry so much about being a host. :)

Juice boxes and Peter's pizza.

Piper got a Conga drum with some other instruments for her Birthday (what was I thinking?!) But she loves it, and loves beating on the drum and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Piper was lucky enough to have 2 Birthday parties. She has been named the "mascot of the dance department" and everyone was so excited to come to "Piper's Princess Pizza Party." A bunch of them even stayed afterward and watched The Little Mermaid with her. It was excellent!

Piper with two of her dance teachers.

This year I auditioned for the Student Choreography Show (A show made up of all the Senior Performance Major's choreography) and was cast in one of the most fun numbers I've been in in a while. It was a comedic number called "Office Break" and it involved a rolling office chair. Here's our cast with our choreographer in the chair.

Peter and I after the show!

Last year I was inducted into a "fake" but very real "frarority" called Gamma Gamma Super Star which is made up of Performing Arts majors that aren't involved in a Greek Organization. This year I got to take a "little" and here she is: Alissa! She's a Dance Management major and is seriously talented both on and off the stage. And she was my first friend here at school!

Totally random, but I "performed" with three other dancers at the opening of the Myriad Gardens downtown. I think I was in this costume for 9 hours-ish. I'm the green one in the back. Wasn't lucky enough to be a flower. No, no... I was "Kelp" and I think I had my picture taken with about a bazillion people. On the upside, everyone thought we were really cool, no one could see our faces, and everyone thought my costume was the coolest. ;)

Also, last month Peter won the Oklahoma Media's "Star" Award in the Cinema Director/Editor category. Basically the Emmy's of Oklahoma, if you will. He didn't win for one piece of work in particular, more an accumulation of all his work. But having only worked at his current job since July, I'd say that's pretty darn awesome. Yay Peter!

My mother-in-law also came into town a couple weeks ago, and we had a wonderful time with her - especially Piper! While she was here, we went to OKC Ballet's Coppelia; Piper's first ballet! And we had box seats, too! It was such a fun experience, and Piper loved the dancers - especially the dolls!

Halloween! They have something called "Haunt the Zoo" here when you get to dress up and go trick or treating at the Zoo! We went the Wednesday before Halloween, and Piper had a blast!

I love this picture - I think it looks like she's casting a spell on the pumpkin or something. They had carved pumpkins everywhere, and Piper loved looking at all the faces.

A few days later we carved Piper's pumpkin! She wasn't a fan of it, and kept saying, "I just want my hands to be clean!" So Piper played while Peter did the gutting and I did the carving.

Piper wanted a happy pumpkin, and I'd say it turned out pretty cute!

And a few days later it was actually Halloween! The weather was perfect and Piper was so excited!

Piper was a blue fairy and I was a witch. Peter decided to theme us all and be a pilot. That way we all were things that flew. :)

Towards the end of trick or treating we ran into Capri, who was a tooth fairy.

And the loot! She got a lot more candy than last year... probably because it wasn't so confusing with trick or treating on Saturday even when Halloween was on Sunday...

And now we transition from Halloween into Thanksgiving and Christmas! This year we're starting the tradition of "the Elf on the Shelf" which I am LOVING so far. And we're officially going to Tennessee for Thanksgiving! I'm so excited for the Holidays!

Earthquakes!

2011-11-05T22:15:00.001-07:00

Welp, we experienced 2 earthquakes today. First 4.7, Second 5.6. And Piper slept through both of them.

Praying they stop and don't get any stronger.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Pipey!!

2011-09-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

I can't believe you're three! Happy Birthday!

In the LDS News

2011-07-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the article written about the Youth Conference pageant I posted about. :)

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/61178/Weaving-the-tapestry-of-faith-in-the-heartland.html

2011-07-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Now, I'm saying my goodbyes. The living was the prize. The ending's not the story. Just saying my goodbyes."

All my love to two beautiful souls who left the world this past week. Dear Grandma Shirley Adams and my dear friend Arwen Morgan.

Weaving the Tapestry of Faith through the Heartland

2011-07-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Just over a week ago was the Oklahoma LDS Youth Conference in which I was heavily involved. Right after we moved to Oklahoma I was called to be on the Executive Committee of Youth Conference which this year wasn't just our stake, but 7 Stakes - All of Oklahoma, and a couple Stakes from both Arkansas and Texas.

Aside from the regular workshops and dances, we put on a pageant, like you would see at a Temple Dedication. Over the past year I've traveled all around the state auditioning kids for the show, and helped with casting, etc. I also choreographed 6 numbers for the show, as well as oversaw my stake's numbers. It was so stressful, but so rewarding.

About a week ago, after 2 years of planning (only 1 for me), it all came together. Sister Ann M. Dibbs came down and spoke at several devotionals throughout the conference. I was able to hear her speak twice, and it was really great! She also watched the show and really enjoyed it!

Aside from choreographing for the show, I was also the assistant stage manager, and had a blast working with the kids backstage, wearing the headset and calling cues, etc. Earlier in the day during rehearsals, before the show, I had absolutely no idea how it was going to come together. With just shy of 1,000 youth involved, it was taking forever to get from number to number. But of course, when it was show time, it ran seamlessly. The kids were fabulous, and the spirit was strong among the audience of over 6,500 people.

Peter was the roaming camera guy, and a few of the youth in our Sunday school class that had opted out of being in the show were his cord pullers. :) Everything he shot went up on the big screen. He also edited together the slide show that was consistently going on in the background. I donno how he lugged around that camera on his shoulder for 2 hours...

The first half of the show was basically Oklahoma history, including native dances, country line dances, and impersonations of all the famous country singers that have come out of Oklahoma. The second half of the show was geared towards the gospel, and basically followed the outline of the missionary discussions only done through different acts/skits, with some mood appropriate songs and dances tied in.

Though I'm relieved it's finally over, I am so proud of all of the kids and how well they did!

More about the pageant will be on www.ldschurchnews.com on Monday, and will be in the print version of the church news that comes out on the 23rd.

Here are some fun pictures of the show!

Sister Dibb with the kids before the show

Lloyd Noble stadium and the University of Oklahoma

This hoop dancing was amazing. It's not taught anymore, so it was really neat to see this artform, and it's sad that it's dying out!

Rock and Roll!

Farmer and the Cowman of course! Can you spot Peter? :)

One of our stake's numbers, the German Polka!

Our stake's other number... Bollywood! And the number that probably got the most applause throughout the whole show. The kids were BEAMING when they came off stage. So proud!

This number was awesome - A tribute to the oil drills, etc. and a play off of Stomp.

Who said Mormons can't break dance? One of them even did it with roller skates on!

My lyrical girls!

Two of my girls had solos and they were simply amazing. And I absolutely love this picture of one of them!

They pulled it off, and it was great!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T13:18:00.001-07:00

My wreath that doesn't look all that impressive, but I'm very proud of it. :)

We started the day off with muffins, and the 4th of July parade!

Peter wished he was this guy. Actually he didn't.

Tons and tons of Boy Scouts were carrying this giant flag! It was pretty cool.

A much kinder version of Pop-eye... we think.

These kids reminded me of our neighborhood parades when I was young. We'd decorate our bikes and ride around the block! Oh the memories. :)

Our parade group sans Peter, who is behind the camera.

Piper started to get bored... there was a lot of lag during the parade...

This guy was awesome. He was jammin' playing the organ.

This is the clown version of Fred Flinstone. maybe Fred Flinclown.

There were SO many Shriners... they were clowns, or drove cars around, and all sorts of things. They were everywhere!

Shriners doing wheelies. Never thought you'd hear that, didja?

Piper got so excited when she saw the "baby ponies"

One of the kids in our Sunday school class! There were at least 4 of them in the parade.

Princess Leia and her... wagon.

Storm troopers...

Darth Vader...

And this guy.

Cows!

I believe this was a girl scouts truck... :)

Singing nothing else but... Oklahoma!

Pink Cadillacs. Jealous.

Something you would never see in a parade from back home.

The pom squad of Cheer 4 Christ. They were dancing to Black Eyed Peas. I feel like this is an oxymoron.

Piper chillin' in her new awesome wagon!

This picture is specifically for my dad, who whenever we leave his house says, "Don't eat yellow snow." Peter got some 'lemon' flavored snow. He obviously doesn't take my dad's advice. And the sign in the background is perfect.

This picture cracks me up.

We had excellent seats for fireworks, and though Piper was a little scared of them at first (considering she's sat on my lap and fallen asleep the past 2 years...) she got used to them, and loved pointing out the colors and which ones were sparkly, etc. It was a lot of fun, and I saw a few types of fireworks I'd never seen before! First, there were these ones that basically just exploded in the air... probably a lot like what a bomb would look like. The first time one went off I thought a firework had just misfired, or exploded the wrong way... but nope. There were more after that- And they were loud! I also had never seen the fireworks that left glowing parachutes floating down. I've seen the ones that you can do in the street that have the parachute and army guy... but not the huge fireworks! It was pretty neat, and was a great show!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!!

Piper woke up from her nap and Peter went in to get her. A few minutes later I heard "Mooooommmmyyyy!" coming from her room. This is what I went in to find:

If nothing else, Piper sure loves her dad!

Father's Day Photo Shoot

2011-06-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

My friend Felisha took some photos of Piper for me a couple weeks ago for a project for Peter for Father's Day... and just to have some nice pictures of her. Here they are! :)

Trying to be a flamingo.

Dancing. :)

My favorite shot.

She LOVES her Flamingo purse!

Pure sass.

She kept copying the photographer, so every time the photographer would raise her hand and say "look up here!" or something, Piper would copy her. Made it a little difficult...

And the goofy picture to finish. :)

2011-06-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

Today Piper got to go to the zoo again with her BFF while I was in ballet class. I thought these pictures were just too cute not to share. :)

Pretty in pink and ready to go!

Piper and Capri with their little backpacks on. :)

Capri's Grandma bought a Zoo pass for the next year, so I have the feeling we'll have a bunch of zoo pictures to come!

HAIL!

2011-06-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

As I was writing my previous post we started hearing pounding... we thought someone was pounding on our door... and then we realized it was happening all over the house! We ran to the window... and look at what we found!

Sadly... last year's biggest hail storm was 3 times this size... we're hoping we don't have to experience that.

First Hair Cut!

2011-06-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

This morning Piper had her first hair cut! Our neighbor and good friend Kim cut it at her salon, and Piper did a great job!! We only took off about an inch, but Kim also added a few layers and Piper's hair looks SO much better now!!

The Zoo!

2011-05-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the zoo! Piper was very excited and has been talking about going for the past two days. I'm glad we finally went - it was starting to turn a little "are we there yet?"-ish.

Piper with her best friend Capri, and Capri's little brother in my pink spaceship stroller.

The Zoo had a children's zoo where the kids got to go pet and feed the animals. Piper liked the goats, but was terrified of going near them.

This picture is one of my favorites! The girls looking at the donkeys.

If you look closely, there's a turtle!

Sleeping Spider Monkeys.

Despite being terrified of the goats, Piper LOVED the birds and really wanted to hold one! They had cups of nectar you could buy so that the birds would come to you, and a nice gentleman gave me the rest of his nectar so that the birds would come to me and the kids could see them. Piper had so much fun hopping around with the birds and trying to "catch" them.

I had never seen a vulture until today. Creepy!

We went on the carousel, but Piper freaked out when I put her on an animal. So instead we ended up being the cool ones who sat on the carousel bench. But after that, Piper enjoyed it. This was our view from our bench.

Behind us, Capri and Joey rode their carousel animals like pros!

Piper... loving the bench ride.

The Zoo had some really fun bounce houses for the kids. But again, Piper freaked when I tried to put her in one. So while the other kids bounced, we sat on the bench and ate fruit snacks.

The Zoo just introduced a new elephant habitat and introduced a new baby elephant, Malee! It was so nice, and the lookout point was so nice - everyone could see!

The animal of the day - Giraffe! Piper was extremely excited to see them, and even got a giraffe stuffy from the gift shop as we left.

This giraffe has really dark spots in comparison to the rest of the giraffes. Cool, but crazy!

One of the strangest animals I've ever seen - An Okapi. It looks like it's from another planet if you ask me.

The Zoo was super fun, and we're excited to go back again soon!

Ribbon Princesses!

2011-05-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

So for the past couple of days I have filled my time with watching out for tornadoes, and making ribbon princesses. I'm so very proud of them! I saw them on a website for sale, but rather than buying them I decided to figure out how to make them on my own. And other than a few mishaps, I'd say they turned out really well!

Things to fix for the future, as well as things you're allowed to make fun of:

-Jasmine's earrings, which look like weird eyes. No earrings on future Jasmines.
-Pocahontas' legs. What can I say, she really likes to work on her biceps!
-Snow White altogether. She's a bit of a mess. But in my defense, I was making her while waiting to hear whether or not I needed to leave my house today due to tornadoes... I was a bit stressed.

Aren't they fun? I plan to make a bunch of them, make them into hair clips, and pass them out as party favors at Piper's birthday party in September, which is Princess themed. :)

Summer!!

2011-05-10T19:27:00.001-07:00

Well, I finished my first year at OCU! Crazy. It went so fast! Now for 3 months of time with my family!

Here are some photos of recent happenings...

One of my good friends, Sheri. She just graduated!

My girl and I!

I performed for one of the MFA students for one of her pre-thesis pieces, and this is Eric, my partner. We are all dressed up for the "Tribute to the Stars" Banquet.

At the banquet with 3 of my 4 ballet professors.

My daddy came to visit! It was short, but we had so much fun!

Haha! :)

Gave Piper a yogurt the other day... this is what happened.

Playing outside in the 90 degree weather in her new swim suit!!

Beautiful baby girl! She's getting so big and I am jealous of her hair!

She's getting so big...

2011-03-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

Blizzard

2011-02-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right. Last night we had a huge snow storm here. I got the notice that school was canceled yesterday at 4pm, and it didn't even start snowing until 7ish! I was nervous going into it all, as at least a foot of snow was predicted, and it was supposed to rain first. They were also predicted a lot of power outages, which had me nervous. But, at about noon yesterday Peter's boss called him and offered him a room at the hotel so that he could guarantee that he could make his shifts. He said he'd take it as long as he could bring Piper and I along. So we're camping out at the Sheraton! They're feeding us, though, which is very nice. And they have cable here... which nice for when we're completely out of things to do. Our number one source of entertainment though... bell carts. Piper has been having a blast riding around on one and waving hello to everyone. She's the only kid in the hotel... but they all like her! :)

I've never been in cold like this before. Today it's been consistently about 9 degrees with a wind chill of about -26. Tomorrow's high is 13 degrees with a low of -4. I don't even want to know what the wind chill is going to be. We took Piper out in the snow today for about a total of 7 minutes. The amount of time to get her ready was longer than the amount of time we actually spent outside... but once her eyes stating watering, nose started running and face started turning red from the wind, we figured 7 minutes was long enough. She didn't want to go inside, but we didn't want a Piper Popsicle either. Naturally, we won that battle.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T22:29:00.000-08:00

Peter is at work, otherwise he'd be in the picture. But he wishes you all a Happy New Year, too! :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

Long time, no update.

2010-12-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

Well here's one for ya!

Finals were this past week, and the week before that was the Christmas Show, and now I'm done with my first semester! Woohoo! I am absolutely LOVING school. Happy to have a 3 week break, but still loving school. :)

Piper is just getting bigger and smarter and cuter by the minute. She turned 2 at the end of September and had a frog birthday party! This kid might be a genius (words of a true mother, right?). Seriously though. **Brag moment** - Alphabet? Check. Numbers/Counting? Check. Colors? Check. Speaking in full sentences? Check. Please/Thank You/Sorry? Check. Animals names and sounds? Check. Right and Left? Check. (No idea who taught her those either... we've asked everyone. Neighbors, friends, nursery... nope. No idea. She just knows 'em.) And Potty Training? Half a check. We started yesterday... but after a few accidents she's making it to the potty every time. Even during nap/sleep! Chances are this could be a total fluke... but it's still kinda cool. I thought it was going to take forever!

A lot of the above are due to her super awesome dad, though. He seriously is the best. Working with her on all of these things during his spare time. :) Gotta love him!

Piper is also into the Princesses now. Her favorite varies from "the blue princess" to "the pink princess." :) She is also IN LOVE with Santa Clause! We've taken her to the mall several times to see him. She'll talk about him all the way there, and all the way home, but when she's actually in his presence, she is absolutely speechless. Her eyes light up and she gets this adorable little smile on her face, and won't say a word. Pure Christmas magic! Love it!

Peter is writing for Biz Kid$ again and we couldn't be more thrilled!! He got the call last month-ish that they got more funding! Such a blessing, and Peter is having a blast writing for the episodes!

At school I was secretly picked and inducted into a "frarority" called Gamma Gamma Super Star. It's basically a fake Sorority/Fraternity for dance/musical theatre majors who aren't in real sororities/fraternities, but still want the "brotherhood/sisterhood" side of things. So basically we do absolutely nothing but still have the families and the jackets. Haha! The girl who is my "big" (wanted to add me to her "family") took two "littles," so I have a "twin!" Her name is Lexi and I absolutely adore her! Confused yet? Yeah... so was I.

That's all I can think of right now... I'm SURE there is more... but I should have time over the next couple weeks to update when I think of more to say. So for now... pictures!

Piper's Birthday!

Playing Dress Up!

For Halloween, Pipey was a witch!

Peter was Kip at the end of Napoleon Dynamite...

And I was a cat... like the past 4 years.

Piper and her friend Capri at the ward Halloween Party

Pipey in her new coat!

Pipey and Santa!

And another day we took her back... she was begging to see him :)

My big girl!

We took Piper to build a bear not too long ago - She LOVED it! And this is her new favorite toy. Her name is Teddie.

My Gamma twin, Lexi

One of my numbers in the Christmas Show was "The Christmas Shoppers Can-Can" by Straight No Chaser (Hilarious song!) In the song it talks about how Christmas stuff seems to come out earlier and earlier every year... for part of the number I was a trick or treater.

I then became a regular shopper

Santa Kickline!

"Happy Holidays/Bows"

Putting up the "tree!"

Yay Christmas tree!

"There's singing time....

2010-10-22T20:57:00.001-07:00

And dancing time, and laughing time, and playing time. But now it is our favorite time: Signing Time!"

I'll just let Piper tell you more about it!

OCU in the news

2010-09-14T06:45:00.001-07:00

I'm in the kick line portion of the video - second in from your left side of the line. :)

Watch me!

School: Week 1

2010-08-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well - week one is done!! And fortunately, it went really well! I made weight, and classes are going well!

The way dance leveling works here, there are A levels, and B levels, and 4 levels within each letter. So A 1, 2, 3, and 4, and then B 1, 2, 3, and 4. B levels are more advanced. Anyway, so this week has been "leveling" for all of my dance classes. In ballet, I was one of about 7 girls to get moved up to the B levels, so that was pretty great! Tap, I'm definitely in the A levels, and in Jazz so far I'm still in the A levels, but that still could change. Probably not, but it's possible. I'll find out my exact level number sometime this week. :)

On Tuesday I auditioned for The American Spirit Dance Company, the school's dance company, and made it! I didn't feel like I had done super well in the audition, but I must've done alright! At the same time, I auditioned for a chorus line roll in an upcoming Casavetes (director of The Notebook, My Sister's Keeper, etc.) film called "Yellow" and I was one of about 30 to get called back for it. On Friday, we had callbacks ("I got da callback!") and they recorded us dancing to send to Casavetes. He'll watch it and he'll pick which of us he wants in the film - so we'll find out if I made it! Hopefully this week, but I'm not really sure. Jo, the head of the program, hasn't signed the contract yet, and is still in negotiating... so there's a chance it could be a no-go - we'll see.

I had been hoping that whether or not I got picked for the film, that I'd at least be proud of how I did in callbacks. I'd been hoping and praying that I'd do my best, and that would be all that really mattered... and I feel that that's exactly how it played out. After rehearsing in my group, Jo called me out in front of everyone as being one of the best dancing/performing the combination. It was such a nice compliment, and really answered my hope/prayer that I'd at least do well, whether I get cast or not. It was so nice to have it confirmed, and it was nice to be noticed! It was definitely a fantastic ending to a fun, but tiring and grueling week.

So far I have made two good friends, Lindsey and Alissa, and I couldn't be more grateful! They're both just great, and waited for me after callbacks on Friday to see how I'd done! It was so sweet of them. I was really worried about making friends, because I'm older, and especially because I'm married and have Piper... but they don't care at all! Love it.

It is a little weird being married with a baby here though... it weirds people out a little at first, but then they get over it. Somehow it's going around that I'm 5 years older than I really am... not sure how that got started, but hopefully it'll get corrected. :)

Peter and Piper are doing well so far. Peter's really liking his work schedule, even though two of his shifts are 11pm - 6am. Piper lost a fight with the sidewalk earlier this week... we're hoping for no scarring, but other than that seems to be having a grand ol' time. She's getting a lot better with her colors, letters and numbers, and has started to make up songs about random things. Her other big thing lately is telling us everything she likes. "I like dolphins. I like chairs." etc. She's pretty comical, but we like her!

Well - gotta get up at 4:30am... will hopefully have time to update again soon!

Our house!

2010-08-14T22:52:00.001-07:00

I'll post pictures of the inside once we're a little more unpacked...

Meet our 50's-ish rambler!

Family Photoshoot!

2010-08-12T18:46:00.001-07:00

Before we moved, Peter's cousin Sara took some photos for us... and I absolutely LOVE them!! Here are some of my favorites. :)

Pictures of the trip coming soon!

As of this morning...

2010-08-12T06:18:00.001-07:00

I am officially my school weight. :D

Well, we made it!

2010-08-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Barely...

I said this was going to be an adventure, and let me tell you - getting here certainly was an adventure of its own! The real one hasn't even started yet!!

We pulled out a week ago (Aug 1st) and drove until we couldn't take it anymore, stopped at a hotel, and slept. Monday morning, the plan was for us to head to my sister's house, and then for me to go visit my ever beloved www.babysteals.com friends! We booked it to Utah, but didn't make it in time... so Tuesday was the day! We stayed at my super cute prego sister's house for the night (they made us a super nummy steak dinner!! Yum!) and headed to Babysteals headquarters the next morning. I got to see/meet some of my friends, browse local pickup (jealous of the locals!), tour the warehouses, and Piper got to do a photo shoot for some of their upcoming steals! It was tons of fun, and they are still by far my favorite company!! Such great people behind such an awesome business. Love it!

Tuesday evening we headed out towards Four Corners. We wanted to stop in a nearby city so that we'd be able to visit the monument the following day. We stopped in Moab for dinner (definitely should have scheduled that better and planned for more time... the red rock is BEYOND amazing and Peter could have gotten some awesome photographs), and then headed out. When we got to Blanding, we drove towards the 'nicer' of the hotels... but they were all booked full. So instead of turning back to some of the not-so-nice looking ones, we decided to continue on to the next town which was only about 20 miles away.

BAD IDEA!!

When we headed for the next city, it was about 11pm. We didn't end up stopping to sleep until 5am. City after city, no hotels. We made it all the way to Four Corners... and there are no hotels within an hour and a half of that place!! So we didn't end up getting to see the monument after all. Bummer. But we didn't feel like adding an additional 3+ hours to the trip the following morning. Needless to say, we slept in that morning, and left around noon. On to Oklahoma! As we were headed toward the border of New Mexico and Oklahoma, we saw a lightning storm up ahead. We got some really cool photos of some of the lightning! But I really should have recorded going through the actual storm itself! Let me tell you that.was.terrifying. You know in movies where there are huge bolts of lightning coming down ALL around you and you're totally surrounded? And it's dark and the rain is coming down like crazy? Yup. That's what we went through. We have since decided that we really should have pulled over and waited for the storm to pass, but nobody else was pulling off! So we just followed the crowd. It felt like forever getting through the storm, when it was probably only about 5 minutes... but I have never seen such thick bolts of lightning in my life!! Or so close... *shudder*

That night we made it to Oklahoma, and the following morning we pulled into Oklahoma City. Our fun adventure since then? Finding somewhere to live. We had a house all lined up, and spoke with the lady that would rent it to us on Wednesday night. She told us to call her within an hour of us pulling into town, and she'd show us the house. So an hour within us pulling into town, we call her... and guess what? She tells us she rented the house to someone else!!! We'd been talking to her about this house for 3+ weeks, and spoke with her about it the night before... it was being remodeled due to the crazy hail storm they had a few months back, and she wasn't going to rent it out to anyone until it was finished, which was supposed to be yesterday... but she did anyway. And didn't even care to tell us! BOO! So for the following two days we stayed in a not-so-lovely Econo-Lodge just south of downtown OKC. We spent the past two days calling every single apartment complex we could afford in the area, and each one was either full, or seemed too scary/gross to live in. My friend Leah who goes to school down here was such a sweetheart and lifesaver. She was checking online for us, sending us names and addresses to check out, and letting us know where is and isn't safe/fit to live. Luckily we passed one of our church buildings and there were people inside. Peter was able to get the number to one of the members of the local Stake Presidency, and he too was SO extremely helpful. While on his business trip in Colorado, he also did everything he could to help us. We were constantly getting calls and text messages from him about our progress, or to give us numbers of people to call for help. He ended up putting us in contact with a member of one of the wards to has a house for rent... and that's where we are now! Thaaaaaank goodness! I am forever grateful to Leah and to both of these men for helping and saving us!

Also in the past couple of days, Peter turned 26! It was probably the worst birthday he's ever had... but he did eat a delicious red velvet cupcake!! (He'll tell you I forced him to, though... which is not true.) He also interviewed for a job (with benefits! Score!) at the Sheraton hotel, and he got it!! Right now, we plan on this being what will get us through until he's able to go to the tv stations, etc. So we don't know how long he'll have it, but for now, a job is a job!!

As for Piper, she's been a real trooper. She fell off one of the hotel beds at one point, which wasn't so much fun, and kept us up to all hours another night... but her biggest boo-boo was yesterday morning when she was running around the hotel, tripped, and fell straight into a chair. At first I thought she'd hit her forehead, but then realized I was wrong when blood started streaming from her mouth. Poor baby. Going on little sleep and tons of stress, I started into hysterics as well. The sweet baby, while in tons of pain and tears, starting patting me on the back and tell ME that it was going to be okay! She wouldn't let us look at it very well, and the blood wasn't stopping, so we decided to take her to the ER. By the time we got to the ER it looked as though it had stopped bleeding... however, I still wanted her to get looked at, so we wandered around looking for one of the many pediatric clinics located in the hospital... then realized it was Saturday. So we headed to the ER to ask about any possible 24 hour clinics in the area. One of the nurses at the ER came to talk to us, and ended up looking at Piper there in the waiting room and told us that she'd be fine, and what to watch for in case it got worse. It was so wonderful, because the nurse went out of her way to do that when she didn't have to, and we didn't have to admit Piper, which means we get peace of mind without having to pay a cent. It was a serious blessing!

Yesterday we moved into our new house. Aside from the dead roaches, it's pretty great! ;) It has a nice size living room and kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms (SCORE!) and a nice size den area, as well as a one car garage. We're liking it a lot and I can't wait to make it more of a "home" tomorrow when we start unpacking more.

Today we went to church, and it was very nice, other than the fact that our ward meets at 1:30pm. It's a fairly decent size, and many nice people. Piper had a blast in nursery - who could ask for anything more? It was nice, but I was feeling pretty homesick... especially when they played a Primary Song in Sunday School.

Though it has been crazy... we're here, and we're alive. Peter has a job, and we have someplace to call home. I start school on the 23rd and I'm terrified. Thanks goodness we have a little more time to adjust to the area (and the HEAT! Holy cow!) so that I'll feel more comfortable when the time comes.

Pictures soon!

More dance...

2010-07-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

This season on So You Think You Can Dance, there is an amazing male ballet dancer who dances with the Miami City Ballet. He's truly just incredible. Last night, the style of dance he had to dance was Hip Hop. It's SO incredibly hard for a ballet dancer to be able to loosen up enough to do jazz, let alone hip hop! And it can take years when they're that classically trained, let alone a week!

What was expected to bomb was a complete masterpiece. This guy is unbelievable. He's the one that starts on the sofa.

*Link Fixed!*

Click here to watch!

Mystery Mailbox

2010-06-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Where we live we have to use keys to get into our mailboxes. And then if we have a package, there is a key put in our mailbox that goes to another bigger 'mailbox' that our packages are put into. There are four of these special package mailboxes at our complex. These four package mailboxes are how I determine whether or not the mail has come for the day. If there are keys dangling out of the majority of the four mailboxes, then that means the mail hasn't come. If the keys are gone, it means they are in someone's mailbox, therefore, the mail has arrived! Well, for AT LEAST the past two months, one key has been missing. This most likely means that there is a package in that mailbox that someone has not retrieved.

My first thought when it comes to this is: why hasn't this person gotten their package yet? Why are they holding the key ransom? But then I had another thought... what if the mailman put the package in the box, and then never put the key in the right mailbox? Or lost it even? And then I got thinking even harder... what if the package in that box is for me?!? It's got to be for someone, right? Why not me? And then I remembered... about two months ago I did a candy swap with some of my Canadian mom friends (can you say Aero bar? Yum) and my candy never arrived!! What if it's in this mystery mailbox?!

I am almost ready to stake out in a tent by the mailboxes (can't see them from my front window/door) and wait for the mailman. And then ask the mailman... what's up with the mystery mailbox? Where's the key? Is it mine?

After I write this, I realize that there is a chance that maybe the key broke or something, and so they locked the mailbox while they wait for a new one. But 2+ months for a new key? For something run by a government run agency? I mean COME ON!

Someday... I will find the truth.

Graduation Ceremony!

2010-06-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Peter graduated yesterday!
He officially has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Video Production and Digital Film Making. We're so proud!!

It was quite the ride. We had a terrible miscommunication - I was guest performing in a show the same night as his graduation, but by some miracle I was able to be there to see him walk and get his certificate, and then raced and got to the theater in time to literally walk on stage to perform. Thank goodness!!

Walking to his seat!

Getting his Bachelors Certificate!

With his Daddy after graduation! :)

Our goofy little family

And of course... the graduation gift!

ConGRADUATIONS Peter!!!

Bath Crayons

2010-06-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

Crayola, I applaud you and your bath crayons. The struggle has turned around to be about getting out of the bath, as opposed to getting in. Bravo.

MIA much??

2010-06-07T16:44:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's been a while! So much has gone on and I'm not sure I can cover everything! I'll try...

First and foremost - this past Thursday was my Mother-in-law's last Chemo treatment!! Hooray! We couldn't be more happy or more excited for her and the family. It all goes up from here, right? :)

As for the rest of this, I'm going to start on the sad note. My heart and prayers go out to my dear friend Tara whose husband was killed last weekend in a car accident. All my love to you and your boys, Tara.

Watching Tara go through this has been heartbreaking and just makes me even more grateful for my wonderful husband and all that he does for Piper and I. I can't even imagine being without him, and pray that I never have to be.

And now for something completely different-

It's official - we're moving to Oklahoma. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

Nanner Nanner Tutus! has really taken off and I'm loving it! At first I started the store through Etsy... BAD idea. Way too much competition for it to make sense. So instead, I made a Facebook group for it, and voila! *At least* one order a week. Couldn't be happier. Favorite tutu I've made so far? An American flag tutu for sweet little Kat to wear as she waited for her daddy to get off the plane from Afghanistan!

Piper is 20 months old, walks, talks, dances, signs, and cries like a pro. She's still in love with Signing Time or "Baby Sign" as she calls it. She asks for it daily. Doesn't mean we let her watch it daily, but that doesn't keep her from asking. Over the past month or so, I've been trying to teach her some animals out of one of our many books, with minimal success. And then a couple weeks ago, found the Zoo and Farm animal Signing Time DVDs for sale on craigslist. So of course I snatched them up! And to no surprise, my teaching her from the book was in vain. Pop in "Leah's Farm" or "Zoo Train," and guess who knows ALL of her animals and their signs after just a couple days? Yep. The little Twerp has it down.

My friend Jess had a little boy last October that was born with Congenital Heart Disease. Sweet Stephen only lived for 44 days, but he and his mother have become an AMAZING inspiration to thousands. (thisandthataboutthebowmans.blogspot.com) This past month, some of my friends and I from across the country and Canada teamed up with our fave company (you know... www.babysteals.com) for an awesome surprise for Jess and her family. Due to medical bills, etc. little Stephen did not yet have a headstone, and probably wouldn't for at least another year. So we joined forces in form of a fundraiser: A Headstone for Stephen. It was so amazing to watch. Our initial goal, knowing it wouldn't be nearly enough, was $800. But through Jess and her story, we ended up raising $2,610. The best part of it all? We got to watch Jess receive the gift. She just so happened to be visiting the Babysteals warehouse, where they occasionally do live online chats with their customers. The employees pretended to be setting one of those up, but in the end, put Jess in front of the camera for all of us to see and presented her with the amount. Tears and more tears - but so much fun.

We have already gone camping once this year! With our Lemmony friends, of course! It was a little wet, but it was fun! I'll post some pictures - I got some great ones of Piper! She's mostly crying in them, as she was much more a fan of Emily that weekend then she was of myself, but some of them are still super cute!

Charlie Brown went GREAT! The cast was awesome, and the audiences loved it. What more can I say? Mission accomplished.

I can finally announce that my sister is PREGNANT! Woohoo! We find out the gender here in a few weeks and are super excited! I, personally, am rooting for a boy. We'll find out soon!

This winter/spring, my show was The Biggest Loser. Not American Idol. Weird, huh? But I LOVE IT! SUCH an inspirational show!! And I love that the biggest guy they've ever had won the title of Biggest Loser. SO awesome. Couldn't have been more perfect.

The past month, my brother Derrek and his girlfriend, Josalyn, have been in town. She's a super awesome girl and I couldn't be happier that he met her. On top of that, Piper LOVED her! She still asks where "Jossy" is! Josalyn left last week, and my brother heads into the MTC here in about 2 1/2 weeks. Crazy! I'm super excited for him and couldn't be more thrilled that he's going, but I'll sure miss him!

At the beginning of April we went to The Great Wolf Lodge. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We totally loved it, but definitely need more friends/family there with us next time so that we can do the water slides together as opposed to, "you watch the baby while I go, then we'll switch!"

Okay... that's all I can think of for right now. Soooo picture time!!

Pipey and Derrek

Piper and Jossy.

Piper in her beloved Singing Time t-shirt!

What else do you do with oven mitts at 20 months old?

Pipey and Uncle Vinny

Attempting to sign and say, "I love you."

While we were camping, Piper had this thing for laying in the dirt.

Ben and Lily on the log slide we discovered on our hike!

And Peter and Piper on the slide!

The path to the beach was closed...

Scenery

The kids. All 3 of them. ;)

At Great Wolf Lodge! Piper had broken her glasses... they didn't make it in this picture.

Terrified of the "wolf" guy. I'm sure he had a name...

Swimming!!

Glee Flash Mob!

2010-04-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

So yesterday there was a flash mob in the area. I would have done it had I not had rehearsal of my own. Many of my friends were in it, but my friend Renado was one of the main dancers at the beginning! So fun to watch him. Someday I will be in one of these!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5PyIVVKoWU

Oooooooooklahoma....

2010-04-02T16:53:00.001-07:00

I got in. With a talent scholarship... STOKED!

What a week!!

2010-03-30T17:08:00.001-07:00

This past week was pretty nuts. Peter finished school and I had my audition.

Peter had his final presentation on Thursday. He got several offers, which is great! We're waiting right now to see if any of them pan out. But he's officially a college graduate! He couldn't be happier, and neither could I! I'm so proud of him.

Piper and daddy at his final presentation. She hadn't seen him in about two weeks... needless to say she was pretty clingy.

And then when I tried to get in the picture, she kept trying to push me away... this is the best one we could get of the three of us. Haha!

He doesn't actually walk until sometime in June - but he's done!!

As for me, my audition was on Saturday. My mom came with me as Peter was finishing up School the day before we had to leave... so we figured that was best.

Oklahoma is... flat. And windy. When they say, "Oklahoma, where the wind goes rushing down the plains" then certainly mean it. It's not just some words for a rhyme.

Anyway, we flew out early Friday morning and arrived in the evening. We were able to drive around and find everywhere we needed to be for the next day. Ate at the Cracker Barrel (delicious!) and then got some sleep. The next morning, we got up, and headed out to the audition. Nerve wracking! After filling out a bunch of paperwork and getting my number, etc. We all gathered into one of the studios and watched the current performance company perform. One word. AMAZING! They were seriously incredible. And what makes it better? Everything was CLEAN! Clean music, clean choreography, clean, nice costumes... I was beyond pleased. Throughout the day, the school just got better and better. They're even a tobacco free campus! Anyway, after watching the company perform, the Dean and the founder of the dance school spoke with us. She's pretty funny. Seriously, this like, little 70+ year old woman in tights, a leotard, boots, and a thick headband. She had quite the personality! Very fun, though. After that, they split us into all into three groups and sent us to our studios.

First came ballet warm up. I think our group got lucky, as the lady who gave us our warm up was also the one giving the ballet portion of the audition, so she taught us the ballet combinations ahead of time. So we had extra time to work on them... and with ballet being my strongest point there, I couldn't have been more pleased. After ballet warm up, had our jazz audition... which was actually probably the hardest one for me, oddly enough. The instructor threw like, four eights of choreography at us and then would say, "okay, go!" And by the time I got the choreography she'd already taught down, she's start adding more! It was a little nuts, and the number I was give put me at the left end of my line, so I had a slightly harder time seeing what she was doing. So I don't know - I think I did alright in jazz. I definitely didn't feel like I was able to "perform" the choreography as well as I know I could have, but oh well.
Ballet came next - piece of cake. And since we'd already learned the combinations ahead of time, we got through it all quickly and had extra time, so they had us do more ballet... and my strong points. I was so happy! So ballet was totally fine.
Next came tap. Ohhhh tap. Haha! Now, they knew that some of us would come with little or no tap experience... I'm one of those people. I've had limited tap experience. I know the basics and can fake it pretty decently, but I never learned the proper names of the steps, so when she said, "Cincinatti, Irish, blah blah blah" I had no idea what was going on. After I watched them a few times I was able to fake it well enough that I think I did okay. For those of us that weren't super tappers, she said that that they're mainly looking for musicality and to see if we were teachable. So I put a big grin on my face and pretended like I knew what I was doing. I felt like such an idiot, but it was sorta fun. Because I was sure I looked silly... but I "performed"... and that was something they were looking for. So even though I know I didn't get all the steps right, I'm not too worried about it. I did get some of the steps right, and showed that I had musicality and that I could perform Some of the other girls had worried looks on their faces and basically just jogged in place... and I'm happy I wasn't one of them.

Then came solos. It all went so fast that I'm not even really sure how mine went. I know I didn't have any major mess ups, and that I smiled a lot, which was important. So I just hope I was sharp enough where I needed to be, etc. *fingers crossed*

And last... measurements. Dun dun dun!! I was very proud of myself, though. I only weighed 3.6 pounds more than the weight bracket they would place me in... which was great. I was shocked at how many people there were "overweight." So that will definitely play in my favor. And it's exciting to know that they thing that I've been working SO hard at could be something that really helps me get in. I mean, of course I have to be a good dancer, but they're really strict about weight. And they're going to have a much easier time telling me that I need to lose 3.6 pounds as opposed to telling someone else that they need to lose 20.

They'll only take 75 out of the 200+ auditioners. So here goes nothin'!
I'll hear within the next two weeks as to whether or not I got in. I'm pretty proud of how I did... so if I didn't get in, then I know it wasn't meant to be!

After the audition we went out for dessert!!! Mmmm!
While we were there we also went to the city and saw the memorial of the '95 bombing, which was heartbreaking and cool all at the same time. We were also able to go see the temple! After an excursion and a surprise toll road, that is!

But that was pretty much it. And now... I wait!

One of the random murals in downtown.

Before the audition... number 64.

In front of the school of dance.

The memorial

The bomb went off at 9:02. So they have these two walls. One says 9:01, and the other says 9:03. The minute before and the minute after.

Just our luck, the reflecting pool between the two walls was under maintenance. So there's usually a reflecting pool where this granite is.

9:03

This tree was next to the building and survived the blast - so it was preserved.

One of the rescue workers wrote this on the building next door the day of the bombing. This building has been renovated, all except this one wall in order to preserve the message. This building is now the memorial museum.

The Oklahoma City Temple

And then a random picture of Piper. She's 18 months today. :) She's growing up so fast!

Piper Diaper

2010-03-20T21:18:00.001-07:00

So I was doing the dishes tonight, and Pipey comes up behind me and says, "hi!" So I turn around to respond, and she looks like this!!! She had me cracking up for quite a while.

Peter wasn't home, either. She did this all herself! Goofball.

Next Saturday

2010-03-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

One week one week one week one week! AH!

I am having a HUGE dessert party sometime within the next few weeks. You are all invited.

MISSION CALL

2010-03-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

My brother got his mission call tonight!!!

Orlando, Florida - Haitian/Creole speaking!

He reports on June 23rd to the MTC in Provo.

Good thing he took French in High School!!

Bragging Mother Moment

2010-03-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Bragging Mother Moment:

I tried to count it up last night, but I know I've missed a few as I'm still adding to the list... but as of right now at 17 months old, Piper can say 75 words and can sign 65 words. About 50 of those are crossover that she can both sign and say.

Lovin' it!!

Peter has started writing for Biz Kid$ again and they LOVE his stuff! It's so much fun to have the producers so excited about his sketches. And he graduates in 3 weeks! I'm so proud of him!

Oh, and yesterday was my birthday - here are some fun photos from that.

Our goofy little family

Smack!

She downed the cake so fast...

Every time we get the camera out, she makes this face and says, "say cheese!"

My little walker!! :)

Drama Queen

2010-02-23T20:07:00.001-08:00

Piper just said and signed "No, Stop!" to me...

I also caught her watching herself cry in the mirror the other day...

Can you say Diva?

She walks!! Feb 17th, 2010

2010-02-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

Late Night Blogging

2010-02-02T00:56:00.001-08:00

I cannot sleep. So Blogging it is!!

Bullet points, though... maybe some pictures. Then another attempt at sleep.

- I have an awesome husband who deserves way more credit than he gets.

-Piper is 16 months old as of three days ago. She still does not walk. She is 25 lbs.

-Who is choreographing Bellevue College's Spring Musical? Oh yes, that would be me. You can all come see this one, too. Even your kids. You're a Good Man Charlie Brown is gonna rock.

-Less than two months until Peter is done with school.

-Less than two months until my audition.

-Piper can say over 50 words... the doctors were astounded at her appointment yesterday. It was very fun and I enjoy bragging about it.

-Piper officially broke her glasses. It took her three months. I'd say that's pretty stinkin' good.

-I performed in a show this weekend, and seriously miss performing as much as I used to.

-Remember that really super awesome thing I was so excited about that I never told anyone about because I wasn't allowed to? Well, here it is... even though I'm still not sure I'm technically allowed to share. Anyway.... My brother and very, very close friend was not sure how he felt about our religion... for quite a while now. Of course we loved him just the same, but he has since gone through a change of heart and is expecting his mission call within the week. Can you say psyched?

-Did I tell you I'm starting a tutu shop? Well, I am. Online on Etsy. My awesomely super talented brother in law is making me a banner for my store. I'm already filling orders and the shop isn't even up yet thanks to some accidental self promotion.

-I wish I had more to say about Peter. He's always gone and always doing something... He'll have to update you on his life sometime soon. I hardly know what going on other than "seminary, school, and work." I think he eats too, though.

- Over the past couple months I have made some new awesome friends online through baby oriented dealings. :) - Some of them are even Canadian!!!! Haha. It has been very fun... and has been a nice way to keep me sane when I'm home alone with Pipey.

Pictures...

I entered Pipey into a photo contest with this picture. My awesome friend Katie brightened it up for me and made it look way better than my dinky camera could ever have done. LOVE it!

Pipey in one of my tutus

"The Darkness Inside" - Choreographed by Melissa Gould. That's me on the right.

Hangin' out with my friends and co-dancers Emily and Jen backstage... tired and in front of a toilet, apparently.

Pipey and I sportin' our awesome hats.

FIN

We Like to Sing...

2010-01-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

I picked Piper up from my parents' house tonight only to hear my dad singing to her - "We like to sing 'cause it's funner than a brick..."

Three Whole Years!

2009-12-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Three years!

It doesn't feel like it's been that long at all.

I love this crazy man!!

I LOVE YOU, PETER!

Christmas!!

2009-12-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas was absolutely delightful this year. I'm finding myself having a lot more fun giving than getting. Don't get me wrong, the getting is awesome... but I love the look on people's face when you get them something they're excited about!

We spent Christmas Eve with both sets of parents again this year. With my parents we celebrated my dad's birthday, and at with Peter's parents we did the whole Nativity and Christmas song extravaganza. All the kids dress up Shephers, Wise Men, Camels, mary, Joseph, Angels, etc. and act out the nativity as grandpa reads it from Luke 2. It's so fun to watch the kids in their roles, especially as they get older and older each year. We then went home and unwrapped jammies and ornaments, then went to bed. Peter and I were in bed by 11:00pm... I have a feeling that this will never happen again on Christmas Eve.

My favorite part of the whole gift process, was Peter's reaction while opening his big gift, which consisted of a bunch of "No way!"s and "How?!"s. Peter got a Wii this year. Now, before you all go jumping down my throat about it, I bought it "used" on Amazon for well below retail. The fact that it came and was brand new was just a super-bonus! I'd been saving about $5 from every time I got paid for the past several months... and that's how it all happened. Veeery very sneaky.

Piper got a Wheely Bug. There's only been one listed on Craigslist in at least the past six months... and I got it! Though it's used, there's hardly a scratch on it. I guess that lady's kids don't really know what "playing" is... if that were in my house growing up, it'd be mutilated!

Peter got me Adobe Photoshop Elements, which I'm totally psyched over. It's not here yet though... so we're waiting... patiently.

Christmas day was spent with both families as well. Lots of fun, lots of food, with lots of noise, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Our beautiful tree and the Christmas haul!

Piper playing with her new baby doll from Aunt Mari, Uncle Bobby, and cousin Mabel

She was slightly overwhelmed by the busy ball popper from my parents... but she kept turning it back on, so she must have liked it!

Playing with her new magnetic letters! She loves to play with the magnets on the fridge, so what better than alphabet magnets? Maybe she'll learn her letters while she's at it. :)

Piper sniping Mabel's food. They were so sweet together. I love that she has a cousin that's just within months of her.

Piper and I - I'm in my awesome new jacket from my brother. :)

I hope everyone had an absolutely wonderful Christmas, and if not Christmas, then a fabulous holiday! And if no holiday, I hope that this winter has treated you well!

O' Christmas Tree

2009-12-18T21:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you, thank you to whoever left the beautiful Christmas Tree on our doorstep. I absolutely love it and can't wait to get it decorated.

Thank you!

Family Photos 09

2009-12-12T22:55:00.001-08:00

We had our family photos taken a couple weeks ago. We didn't have the world's greatest photographer... but they turned out okay. They kinda make me feel like Peter is military. It's the hair, I guess.

This is the giraffe picture. Seriously.

I love Pipey in her cute little glasses... but darn that glare! So frustrating.

The Holidays Have Arrived!

2009-12-04T09:41:00.001-08:00

Okay, well, Thanksgiving has already passed... but there are still more to come!

The past two weeks have been pretty crazy, but fun! My cousins, Alicia and Caroline were in town, and due to their presence, Piper I got to do a bunch of fun stuff! We all saw "New Moon" (sans Piper on that one), went up the Space Needle, went to the Aquarium, toured Pike Place market, ate at the original Ivar's on the waterfront... okay I guess that's not a bunch of stuff. But it sure felt like a lot! Then Thanksgiving came around. My cousin Alicia had left to spend Thanksgiving with her family, but Caroline stayed, and my Sister Alyssa, her hubby Vincent, and my brother Derrek all came home! Unfortunately Piper got sick in the meantime. So Alyssa and Vincent, who only get to see Piper once a year, didn't get to meet the fun, care-free and calm little baby Piper. Instead, they got a runny nosed crank-oid baby Piper, which was sad. Especially when she was back to normal the day after they left.

First off - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a yearly tradition in my household growing up, and is one I'd like to continue... but I watched it alone this year. Peter was trying to figure out Turkey Bowl stuff and Piper was sleeping. But come on! Snippets of Broadway shows? "Shrek: The Musical" performed a number... which is, if you don't already know, my new favorite musical. I'm a self admitted theatre snob. And let me tell you, this musical after movie is GOOD! Not to mention Sutton Foster plays Fiona. :) And then the Rockettes! Who doesn't love them? And to top it all off, Seattle's (well, the Eastside's, really) own Cheyenne Jackson performed! (Issaquah Village Theatre Kid, gone Broadway, now new cast member of 30 Rock with Tina Fey). I love the parade. Can you tell?

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at my folks home this year, but of course, we always show up for the "Thankful Game" with Peter's family. Everyone writes down things they're thankful for, from family, the gospel, and having a job and modern medecine, to silly family things like, "YDMB" (you da man baby), "Gina B" (not exactly sure on this one... seems like it always changes), Peter's Pecs... etc. All of which were NOT mentioned this year. Did anybody else notice that? Anyway, everyone writes their "thankfuls" down, then we all put them in a bag, draw out a handful, and take turns reading them out loud. It's longer and more drawn out every year... but it's fun. And we wouldn't miss it

And then there was pie. Oh how I love pie.

But now it's time to get ready for Christmas. I am so excited. We recently bought new stockings, and I feel like I've been Christmas shopping for months. I've been super bargain hunting and am on a roll! Nothing I'll give but the candy is brand new... all have had former owners, but I think the pickled peppers are going to have a great time on Christmas morning. :)

After seeing "New Moon" - you can tell who the real Twilight "crazies" are from this photo. :)

Hanging out at Seattle Center

Before we went up the Space Needle

And up on the viewing deck

Seattle baby. Can you tell?

And she's already visited Santa! She really liked him. I'm not sure I'm going to get one of those horrified of Santa photos from this little girl unless we have Santa pinch her or something.

Hooray Men!

2009-11-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

I love my husband, father, and father-in-law very much. Here's a shout out to the three wonderful men!

As I was driving to the "girls night" tonight, can you guess? You got it! My car died!!

My father drove all-in-all an hour or so to come get me and take me where I needed to be while my husband tried to coordinate with insurance and all that jazz. Meanwhile, my father-in-law is figuring out AAA stuff to see if we can have our car towed on his policy.

It's now almost midnight and my husband has been out on the side of the freeway in the dark, cold, and wet for about a half an hour waiting for the tow truck, while my fabulous father-in-law waits up at his house because he'll have to sign for the car once it arrives.

Just found out the tow truck people won't be able to get there until 12:45am...

I love you guys! And I'm sorry about all of this. Did I mention I'm cursed?

Thanks so much for taking care of me!

Excited!!

2009-11-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

Okay. I am SOO excited about something. But I can't say what because I'm not allowed to yet. No I'm not pregnant. It's something I was starting to worry wasn't going to happen... but guess what?!? IT'S HAPPENING!!

Halloweekend 09!

2009-11-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

Halloween was tons of fun this year - mainly because Peter got off work early and got to go

Trick-or-Treating with Piper and I!

Tuesday night, Piper and I went to our ward Halloween Party and Trunk-or-Treat. Piper couldn't really play any of the games or anything, but I wish she could have. It was really cool carnival style! But it was fun to see everyone dressed up and having a good time.

On Friday, Piper and I did all the festivities and Trick-or-Treated from office to office at my dad's work. We got out pictures taken, got to paint a pumpkin (for free!), dance, go through a "haunted maze", see a bunch of the employees perform "Thriller" and Piper got to go on her first bus/shuttle ride! When Trick-or-Treating, Piper got the hang of taking the candy and putting it in the bucket... the problem was which bucket. Half the time she gave the candy back as opposed to putting it in her little bucket. It was cute, though. And she especially loved the chocolate eyeballs...

On actual Halloween, Piper and I went to my parent's ward Trunk-or-Treat - talk about going ALL OUT on decorating your car! After we hit up all the cars for candy, we went to see Peter's parents and show off Pipey's costume where Peter showed up and surprised us. Then we Trick-or-Treated around Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood... the best Trick-or-Treating neighborhood ever! We got way too many full sized candy bars. We even got a Capri Sun from one house! It was pretty great, and Piper loved it!... though she still had the giving candy back problem.

Piper was a ballerina of sorts. A rock ballerina, a Halloween ballerina... hallerina... Howlerina, whatever you'd like. I just made her a tutu and made everything match. Just go with it. :)

Our kinda lame door... no one trick or treated at our house. When we got home, there was a slug in with the candy. Sad.

With Uncle Dallen

With my dad at his work!

Tired after trick-or-treating

It's a little silly, but I love this photo.

A back shot of her tutu

With my mom at their ward Trunk-or-Treat

Happy Halloween!

Bullet Holes. Not Points.

2009-10-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

-Peter is almost done filming and soon I will have my house back. James Bum and the Case of the Spoiled Soda will debut in full come December.

-I got into Oklahoma City University and am now freaking out about my dance audition in March.

-Piper loves her glasses.

-My show is over. It went well and was fun, but I'm glad it's done. Thanks to all who came to see me sing and dance... even though I didn't invite anyone.

-Now I start choreographing My Fair lady.

-Piper just started saying "Hi!" and it is consistently in a high pitched voice.

-My new ward is great - but tonight especially, I really miss our old ward.

-Peter continues to amass projects for which he has no time or computer space. Which keep him continually holed up in our garage with a space heater. Honestly, I don't know why he doesn't just come inside...

-Piper can play patty-cake all by herself. You say the words and she'll do the motions. I especially like her "marking it with a P".

-I'm starting up a little side business. By little, I mean little. And we'll see how it goes and won't be heart broken if it doesn't go far.

-Peter had a very, very drunk man collapse on him several times tonight while he was at work.

-I'm excited for the holidays. And not. They all involve such good food... and food is my biggest enemy right now. :'(

-Piper is an avid stair climber. Thank goodness for baby gates.

-Peter and Piper got to shake hands (or foot to hand, in Piper's case) with Dallin H. Oaks last Sunday.

-Part of me wonders if I had Swine Flu last week. But I'm over it now and there's really no way of knowing.

-Peter is "wrapping up" editing Greek Life. Let's hope Fremantle Media actually picks it up... and even if it does, none of you will watch it.

-I have zero energy and am going to bed. Goodnight!

After "Tribute to Broadway" with our new friend Briana

This is Piper's new face for whenever pictures are taken.

These were actually taken a couple months ago and I never posted them. But I love them. She was all mismatched in pink and has the most adorable hat!!

Glasses!!

2009-10-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

Piper got her glasses yesterday! When we put them on her for the first time, she looked around for a few seconds and said, "oh...wow!" I think she recognizes a difference - She's only tried to take them off once!

She looks a little like her cousin Abby to me in this picture.

Happy Birthday, Baby!!

2009-10-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a year already!

On her birthday Piper had 4 teeth with two on their way in, still couldn't wear shoes because her feet are too chunky, couldn't walk, barely started pulling herself to standing, points to everything, and could tell you where your nose is with her eyes closed.

She can say: mama, dada, hi, oh wow, what's that? (whissat?), yeah and no (though not very often... yet.)

She signs: dada, more, dog, hi/bye, eat, and all done.

Piper had a family party, a "cast" party, and a friend party this year. All Ladybug themed!

The family party was first, just a few days before her birthday.

Isn't she so cute in her little ladybug shirt?

Eating her new favorite food: Dad's pasta.

These pictures are a little backwards. This is her when she's mostly done with her cupcakes and is pointing to her nose.

Uh, why not both?

Starting out with a chocolate cupcake. She didn't scarf the cupcakes nearly as fast or as messily as I thought she would. She was actually pretty slow and clean about it. We think she either ate too much pasta, or it was because her eyes were dialated. Or both.

Almost all 50 of the ladybug cupcakes. Fun to make, but time consuming.

Aren't they adorable? I was pretty proud of them. And had a fun time eating all of the ingredients. Needless to say, I was not carb free the week of her birthday. :)

Opening presents with help from dad and cousins!

On her actual birthday in her pretty birthday dress! I couldn't get her to look at the camera and smile. She's either smile until right before the flash and then crawl away, or she'd pull her dress over her face. I think I got a couple decent ones.

The best picture we could get of her in the dress while sitting still.

I love this picture and wish it wasn't so blown out!

Silly girl.

I had rehearsal the evening of her birthday and she had to come with me. So I made this big ladybug cake so that we could celebrate her birthday with the cast.

And finally, her friend party the day after her birthday. It was more our friends... but Lily, Benjamin and Joshua are her friends. Even if she doesn't really know it. :)

A little ladybug-ish decoration.

Again with the Ladybug cupcakes.

The look on her face while everyone is singing "Happy Birthday" to her.

This time she was waaay into the cupcakes. She scarfed two in less than ten minutes.

And gifts with mom this time.

Happy first birthday, little love!!

Out of my box...

2009-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

The lead in: My family is such a medical anomaly it's crazy. I'm going to need to tell my brothers' future wives to be careful. Make sure you really love 'em, because your kids will have the blood... and it could be dangerous. To single in on one particular case... my brother has had a bunch of eye problems since a young age. He was the only one of us that had to have glasses, but that's turned into surgeries and eye pressure problems and all sorts of things. It's been a pretty big deal over the past few years.

The point: When I had Piper, Dallen's eye doctor told my mom that they do free eye check ups for infants under a year, so we made an appointment for this past Friday and took her in. Apparently they don't have to do this very often, but my little love who isn't even a year old yet has to get glasses! As of right now it's more of a corrective thing and will hopefully be temporary. She's nearsighted in her left eye, so with glasses it should make that eye work harder and then they'll be at about the same level and she won't need the glasses anymore. The doctor said that with most kids, this problem isn't caught until sometime in elementary school causing the doctors/parents to have to be much more strict about constantly wearing the glasses, patching, etc. Her having glasses now should hopefully prevent her having to go through any of that, and the approach can be much more relaxed because, well, she is a baby and those things ain't gonna stay on for very long periods at a time... but we can work up to it.

I don't know why, but after the appointment while I was driving home I got really upset about the whole thing. I don't think I've ever seen a child her age with glasses. I mean, there's nothing wrong with glasses! Maybe it's just because it's a whole new world to me... and because my little baby isn't perfect, and because she's so little still. But oh well. We'll see how long "temporary" is - and I'm sure she'll still be just as adorable with her little glasses. :)

The Conclusion: We're going to pick some out today.

Curses!

2009-09-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Teeth!!

The other night at my parent's house, Piper's pack n' play was turned into her own personal ball pit! She LOVED it and was so funny. She'd scream if you took her out of it, and that night she fell asleep with on of the balls. And what color was it? Blue, of course.

We sold the Taurus! And guess what? The new car died! On the same day! Hahaha. I have the WORST luck with cars! I think I am cursed.

Edit: The new car is fixed... luckily only a $70 fix as opposed to a $1200+ fix. But I still think I'm cursed.

Pretty Girls and Gremlins

2009-09-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so bummed that summer is ending. I've loved the sun... minus that insane week when it was over 100 degrees. I like the fall, but that means it's getting closer to winter, which I love too... but that means snow. I literally have snow-phobia.
Anyway... Piper turns 1 at the end of this month! I can't even believe it! I'm having a really hard time coming up with gifts to get for her, though. Anyone have any good suggestions on good gifts for 1 year olds? It's the toys I'm hung up on. It seems like everything I've been able to find that looks cool is either too "new baby" or too "older toddler" - nothing inbetween. I guess I could just give her a pen, an empty wipes bag and some paper... she likes to play with those and doesn't have any to call her own.
Piper has started to sign of her own free will, which is really fun. Her newest sign is "more." She used to do it if we did the sign and asked her if she wanted more, but now she'll do it without that. Cute! She doesn't do the actual sign, she has her own version of it, but at least we know what she's saying.
Piper has also started saying "ohhhh" or "ohhh wow!" and she makes this perfect little "o" shape with her mouth. And she mimics the tones of things people say, if that makes sense. It's pretty funny if you ask me.

Peter starts seminary tomorrow, which he's both looking forward to and not looking forward to. He's not looking forward to it mainly because of the whole wake up at 5 in the morning deal... other than that he's excited. And he also only has two quarters of school left until he's done! Woohoo!

Me, I bit off WAY more than I can chew for this fall - mainly teaching wise. I'm currently praying (literally) that one of my classes won't have enough students to be a go, which is terrible, but would make life a lot easier... and it's my least favorite style of dance to teach - hip hop. I'm also in/helping with the neighboring Stake's musical and it has taken up way more of my time than I was told it would. It's been fun, but I'm totally ready for it to end.

The morning after she learned to crawl, being bribed with freeze dried yogurt. Delicious!

Very seriously signing "more" for the camera

Lately she makes this face almost every time I take a picture of her. She sees the little orange light right before the flash and wham - this face appears. I have so many pictures of her like this...

Can you say Gremlin??

I love this dress on her.

Laughing with Grandpa!

Haha...

She totally looks like her cousin Samantha to me in this picture.

In her sweater Aunt Carla made for her!

Movin' movin' movin'!

2009-08-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

We've got a crawler! She started monkey-ing it this afternoon on one knee/shin and one foot. Then this evening, she got the "real" crawl down.

1 week down on no sugar/carbs... self control is being severely tested. But it's working... I just have to remember that cookies and chocolate aren't going anywhere. *Sigh* Diet Dr. Pepper is currently my best friend.

Pipey's 9 month stats... since I forgot to post them a month ago.

She was 28 inches long - 70%

She weighed 20lbs - 75%

Her head was 17 3/4 inches around - 80%

She's going down in percentiles!

Crawling Videos... aren't uploading. Pictures soon!

Now please excuse me while I go vacuum...

Bullet Points and Pictures

2009-08-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Piper is 10 months old now. Sheesh! I haven't posted her 9 month stats yet. I'll do that... eventually. Hopefully before her 12 month stats. :) The only one I remember off the top of my head is that she was 20 lbs. Big girl!

Other happenings:

Peter turned 25 last week!

I have sent in my application for Oklahoma City University and am preparing for my audition by dieting and taking dance classes again. Yeehaw!

I am now employed as "the dance instructor" at a local Preparatory High School, as well as their choreographer for their Spring Musical (My Fair Lady).

Peter's Tomato plant died. Poor Tomato plant.

Piper went "swimming" for her first time this past month and loved it! She also has started eating meat... and she loves that too.

Peter and I were both called into the Primary at church. I'm the Primary Chorister (teaching religious songs to kids, for those of you who read this that aren't LDS) and Peter is teaching the 11 year olds.

Piper is almost crawling. She scoots around everywhere, but still doesn't know how she does it.

Peter has a new job editing corporate videos together - sublets for Microsoft. Most notably, the Microsoft Intern Series!

My car died a month ago. We've been through mega stress and back trying to get a new one. A HUGE thanks to Sam and Emily for letting me borrow their Subaru for a few weeks! Car after car has fallen through and the whole thing has been an absolute nightmare. As Peter was valeting the other night he was telling all the regulars that if they new of a nice car anyone was selling for cheap to please let him know. An older lady came out after her dinner and offered Peter a car that she is no longer in need of. Her husband passed away not too long ago and she was going to donate his car to her church, but she decided that if we could actually use it then she'd sell it to us. So come Monday morning I should have a car. And quite possible a much nicer car than either of us were expecting to get out of this whole ordeal.

I overuse commas. I just had to edit that paragraph of about 10 pointless commas.

And now, pictures!

9 month photos. (I love this one!)

I swear, this happens once a day at least.

Piper is an advanced waver. She'll wave every time someone says "hi" or "bye" and once she gets going, it takes a bit for her to stop.

Now for 10 month photos. Notice the color of toys she's playing with and all the other ones she's left behind her. She LOVES blue. She'll play with a bunch of different toys until she finds a blue one, then she'll only play with that one.

"It's hot, mom!"

We had a super heat wave last week (109-111 in Kirkland!) so Piper and I spent a lot of time outside and at the beach and swimming pools. I'm totally bummed I don't have a picture of her in her bathing suit, and now that the weather has turned, I don't know if she'll have another chance to use it. I'll have to stick her in it just for a picture. :)

Peter and Piper on his birthday!

Off to endulge in some pickled peppers, I'm sure!

4th of July 09

2009-07-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Independance Day!

This year Piper and I went to a 4th of July Parade with my parents and our Lemmony friends, while Peter was at one of those Tea Party deals with some other members of our family. After that and naps, we went out to Monroe with family for a barbecue and fireworks. It was great!

Pictures... in totally random order :)

Our Lemmony friends! Emily's pregnant tummy is gone now, though - Little Michael was born last night!

Something happened to Piper's eye on the way to the parade (we think she rubbed sunscreen in it) so she was a bit sad with a swollen eye. Here she is snuggling grandpa, which she did for the majority of the parade.

Silly girl!

With Grandma at the parade. You can kinda see her swollen eye.

4th of July Outift #2

Baby Blue Eyes!

Family Photo!

Mommies with matching babies!

Happenings as of late...

2009-06-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

To my great joy, Piper has started taking naps. Woohoo! Sometimes 3 hour naps! It is excellent and has all started this past week. I am naps' number one fan!

Piper is 8 1/2 months old now, and is working on the 'starting to crawl' portion of baby-hood. She doesn't exactly move yet, but she's trying to get places, falling on her face, etc. So, I don't think it's very far away. I think she might be a scooter though, not a crawler. Just my prediction. :) Annnnd, she just got her 1st tooth! She cut it yesterday! Poor baby though, its next door neighbor will probably cut in the next day or so. So she's been kinda cranky with this double tooth thing, but I don't blame her!

She says "dadadadada" all the time, but just discovered how to say "mamama" when she's not crying. So that's great!

As for Peter, we're still waiting to see if Biz Kid$ will get funding. It's been a pretty lame wait. So cross your fingers for us that it does!

He's also working on a movie called Penny Candy - he's the Director of Production. That's pretty much all I can tell you, other than he spends every weekend in weird places and comes home with wild stories. Last week they filmed in a house that has pretty much become a homeless shelter for cats. Yikes!

He's also working on his script for "Scout Camp" and "James Bum," as well as a co-producing a TV pilot episode for a show that will possibly get picked up by Fremantle Media (they produce American Idol, The Price is Right, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.) So that's pretty cool. The guy that had the idea for the show approached Peter and basically said "I have the money and the idea, you have the talent, equipment, and the people. Help me out." Honestly I don't at all get how this show would be entertaining at all. But, Fremantle seems to think it could be, and they know way better than I do, I guess.

Me: just teaching dance, assistant choreographing for a local community musical, and being mommy!

Teaching the younger kids is pretty fantastic. I specifically like my Saturday morning class where I teach a bunch of my friends' girls ages 5 - 8. The girls are hilarious. I have them "fly like butterflies" and I ask them where they're flying to. Today, one girl went to "Aspirin Grove" (Aspen grove). Pretty great if you ask me. Oh, and they tell me what color they are. Most are usually "all the colors in the rainbow becept brown, black, and gray." Next week we have our "recital" which should be pretty awesome.

Little Shop was up about a month ago and went pretty well. I'm on to do next year's show, and possibly some other work in between (I might become an "actual" teacher at the school. I donno if they're gonna make dance an elective or what... but it could be neat.)

Another thing I've done recently that I am loving, is starting up an internet group for "deal seeking moms!" As most of you know, I'm an avid frequenter of "deal-a-day" websites, and mostly are baby/toddler related. One of these sites in particular has a forum, but you're not allowed to talk about any competing sites. So another mom and I decided to start up a group where we can discuss all these cool deals, etc with other moms. It has turned into such a wealth of info and money saving tips and I'm loving it! Within the first 3 days, we already had 100 members. A lot of the moms are amazing coupon cutters (one lady at one particular store has spent $167 on $3000 worth of merchandise. Pretty amazing if you ask me) everyone has online coupon codes for here and there, and know of amazing discounts/sales on stuff I'd normally be buying. Several of the moms even own their own kids shoe stores, or baby boutiques and are offering discounts to people for simply being in our group. People are buying and selling used baby stuff, and it's just turned out to be really cool... and it's only been a week since it started! So if any of you want to join, let me know!

As for us as a family, we're in our new place, and really like it. We're still getting everything put together, though. I just painted a dresser for Piper! And painted some wall hangings, and hand made two picture frames and a lamp for her room! I'll have to take pictures and post them. I'm really proud of it! Her room looks so cute!

And now for some pictures!

Piper as a ballerina. :)

One of my new favorite pictures of her.

Getting into her "toybox." Her toys are just that much cooler when they're in this box.
This is also a good example of her new mobility.

In her new ducky tub, which she LOVES! She outgrew her infant bath, so this is what I got. She loves playing in water.

After the bath.

Fin.

Catsup. Ketchup. No, Catch up!

2009-05-09T21:27:00.001-07:00

Wow - no post for a while... and a million bajillion things have happened/are happening. So here's a long post that includes several random things. But there are pictures!! All is well.

Piper is 7 months old!
I forgot to post her 6 month well-baby stats. So here they are!
26 3/8 inches long. 75%
18 lbs. 1 oz. 85%
17 1/8 inch head. 75%

Other noteworthy things before these pictures...

*My show (Little Shop) goes up this week.

*We've started doing sign language with Piper. She has recently been trying to sign something, but I can't quite figure out what it means yet.

*Piper waves at everyone and it is adorable.

*We move in one week from today.

Cheerio ad much, no? She's started finger foods!

This was taken after her very first roll this past week. She hasn't rolled since... I think it was a total accident and it didn't even phase her. Oh well.

But she sits up extremely well now! She doesn't even need the Boppy behind her anymore. It's nice.

Piper and I spent the majority of Easter weekend in Utah for my aunt's wedding. Peter had to stay home due to school and work. It was sad, but worked out more or less - Our flight got us home about 7pm Easter evening.

Piper with her Easter lot. Her uncle Derrek was making her laugh really hard, hence the tongue.

If she could suck on plastic Easter eggs all day, she would.

Isn't her Easter dress adorable?

My aunt had an Easter Egg Hunt at her wedding reception for all the kids.

Piper and I with our Easter Egg hunting helpers. Vincent, my sister's husband, REALLY wanted to hunt for eggs. So he held the Easter... bag... and helped us find the eggs.

These are the Easter eggs I colored. The two toned pink and green one is Piper's. She "helped" color it.

I colored an egg for Peter.

About a month ago we were invited to go camping with our Lemmony friends, and our Smurrie friends! We had a blast. We only got to stay for one night due to Peter's work, but that's probably for the better considering I got sick the next day. It was interesting camping with a baby, but it worked more or less!

Ready and warm for camping!

Crazy faces.

Lemmony Lily trying to eat berries. She had so much fun in the dirt!

This is how Piper slept. Fleece jammies, fleece wearable blanket, two fleece blankets, and two hats on her head. Amazingly enough, she slept through the night.

Lemmony Ben making eggs with a plastic knife! The cooking utensils were accidentally left behind. :)

Crazy Piper in her awesome and extremely warm hat made by cousin Alicia! (Thanks again for the hats! They were LIFESAVERS on this trip!)

Lemmony Emily and Lemmony Lily around the campfire. (Isn't this picture of them adorable?)

We spend an hour or so at the beach that was about 5 minutes away from our campsite. It was beautiful, and we found the skeleton of a really weird looking dead fish!

Peter with the Smurrie's kite.

The lot of us minus Pipey (she was asleep) just as Peter and I were about to leave. We had such a great time and are excited to go again sometime soon!

www.babysteals.com

2009-04-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you know, I am in love with www.babysteals.com. It's better than the best thing since sliced bread. I have my alarm set for 7:57am every day so that I can see what the new "steal of the day" is when it goes up at 8:00, and if it's something Piper needs, then I get it at an awesome discounted price! (I got a pair of Robeez shoes the other day for 50% off. They ended up being cheaper than the knock-off brand!) There are some other baby deal-a-day sites out there, but babysteals.com is by far my favorite. Check 'em out- They're great!

"Take her to the Zoo. I hear idiots love the Zoo."

2009-04-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

Pipey is 6 months old! Wow, is time flyin' or what?!?

I absolutely love the following pictures. I needed to feed her the other day, but didn't have a clean bib. So I ended up feeding little miss chubs in her diaper. However, the Bumbo and her chub covered it up!

This almost looks like one of those classic pictures where the person all of a sudden notices that they're naked, and then tries to cover up. "Don't look!"

Look at those legs!

Oh, and see the little toy bug in the bottom right of the picture? Random, but that's her favorite toy.

The quote in the title may be misquoted from whatever movie it is... oh well... but in case someone misunderstands, it's a quote. I do not think any female member of our group is an idiot.

Anyway, yesterday we went with our Lemmony friends to the Zoo. It was Piper's first time, and even though she had no idea what was going on, she seemed to enjoy it.

Piper's friend Lily.

I've decided that Hippos are Piper's favorite animal. She just doesn't know it yet.

Kids with dads on Hippos.

Lily was chasing the duck.

Our Lemmony friends!

You kinda have to look a little harder to see what's going on in this one. Peter took the baby up to the glass, and the monkey saw her and came right up in front of them and stared at Piper for a bit as she stared back. It was pretty cute. I wish I'd gotten a better picture, though. Oh well.

These two Orangutans (if you look close you can see the second one... stupid Zoo glass!) Looked like they were just chatting away. It was pretty funny. While we were watching, I heard a little girl say, "Mom, that monkey looks just like dad!"

All snuggled up after she ate and as it started to rain.

Lily was talking to and playing with the Otter statues. I wish you could see her face better. She has the most adorable smile!

The End!

Some Pictures and a Toy Thief!

2009-03-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Some funny pictures of Pipey.

In her Bumbo!

"Uh, I donno Mom..."

I think this one is hilarious. I can't help but smile every time I see it. Oh, and she's not falling... she's just being silly.

Don't you love her adorable little legwarmers? She prefers them to pants, and I think they're pretty swell myself. They keep her chubby little legs so warm!

So I took Piper to my parent's house the other night so that they could babysit her while I was at rehearsal. Just before I left, this is what I found...

She was playing, and my diaper bag just happened to be next to her...

She was stealing the toys out of my bag! Well, I guess it's not really thievery if they're your own toys... but still!

She'd take them out, chew on them for a minute or two, drop them, and go for more.

Until she had almost all of them. Silly baby.

I guess maybe it's not that funny to you... but I thought it was pretty good.

Bad Day

2009-03-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today has not been a very good day at all. I woke up extremely tired with absolutely no energy. I went to my friend's house hoping that would help, and it did... but then I had to leave to go do stuff for Scouts, and that put me back in this strange impatient, exhausted mood. I've been having this sleep problem for a while. Thank goodness Piper sleeps in late, because most days I cannot get out of bed before 10:00. It almost hurts. I've been trying to force myself out the past few days, but it's just been even more exhausting. I know that sometimes if you get too much sleep it can make you even more tired, and maybe that's it. I don't know. That, and since I've been getting up so late, I haven't had time to go running before Piper gets up, which probably makes me even more tired because I'm not getting as much exercise.

And Peter's been gone all day and will be gone until between 10 and 11 tonight.

I'm sitting here playing the "Soft Music" playlist on Peter's computer while Piper is screaming in the swing. I am absolutely desperate for her to take a nap.

I decided to go dark again. (Sorry, mom.) Nothing was wrong with my hair, I just didn't like being blonde. But it's a little too dark right now. I was aiming for a medium brown color, and it came out pretty dark. In my past experience, it will lighten up a bit within a week or two... so I'm currently banking on that. It's just a bit shocking. So yeah - beware.

15 minutes of screaming in that swing and she's finally out. Thank goodness. There are only two ways to get her to sleep and to stay asleep. Sometimes she'll nurse and fall asleep, but the second I move her, she's wakes up. So I have to sit there and hold her while getting absolutely nothing done. Or I can stick her in the swing, which isn't always a guarantee of sleep - usually just of screaming after she's in there for too long. And either way, it only lasts 20-30 minutes. Blahhh.

On the upside, I did get two pair of Robeez shoes this morning for half price at www.babysteals.com. That was probably the best part of my day. Oh, and maybe watching Adam not get kicked off the show tonight will be pretty good.

Addition: Snugly!

2009-03-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Please notice the title description (is that what it's called?) I think it's funny.

Piper has started rolling onto her side! I can't wait for her to finally make it all the way over...

Peter got a part time job video editing with VIP Studios in Seattle. Which is great. Really it is... except I have no idea when we're ever going to see him. He's teaches Seminary, then goes to school, then goes and valet's until between 10 and 11pm, and then comes home, does homework and prepares his seminary lesson, and then goes to bed and repeats it all the next day. Not only do I not know when I'm going to see him, I don't know when he's going to even do this new work. But alas, he's kinda superhero-esque a lot of the time and can somehow do it. I think he has one of those time-turner things like in Harry Potter.

About 2 months until we move again. Hopefully that will be the last time for about a year and a half... *smacks forehead*

Piper was the Baby of the Week for March 10th through Warm 106.9! We entered her after our niece was a finalist a few weeks earlier. She probably only won because I hounded and bugged people about voting every day... but either way, it's kinda fun.

I have officially finished choreographing all of Little Shop of Horrors.

American Idol. What can I say? Adam Lambert... you better win. You're incredible.

So I'm aiming to do a Musical Revue within the Bothell Stake. (More or less all the members of my church in the Bothell area... for those of you who aren't LDS and don't know what a Stake is.) I just have to talk to the people in charge and see what they think. I'd volunteer choreographing/helping figure out music, and then the most amazing Musical Director I know is in the Bothell Stake and has also said she'd volunteer and help out (YES!) So I'm hoping they'll let us. If we do a musical revue we wouldn't have to pay rights if we don't charge for tickets. (I'm 99.9% sure I'm right on that...) So technically, it would all be more or less free other than props and costumes... and since it's a revue, those aren't super vital. So I'm excited and I hope it'll work out. If not, well, too bad for me and maybe next time.

Um, I think that's all I have to say. The end.

Older

2009-03-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Last week, Piper turned 5 months old. This week I turned 21. Hallelujah, let me tell you.

My drivers license did not turn horizontal, and if I want it to, I have to go back in to the DOL AKA boring-est place on the planet with the longest lines in the universe, and pay them an additional $10 to fix it. I'm kinda miffed.

Bullet Pointing Life

2009-02-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

Piper's sleeping... but it's probably not for long. So I'm bullet pointing.

*I've been figuring out which classes from BYU/BCC will transfer to OKCU, and it is a nightmare, to say the least.

*Piper loves solid food. Sweet potatoes in particular.

*My sister-in-law fixed my hair color, and I am forever in her debt.

*Valentines Day was fun. We hung around with family for the first part of the day, and then Peter's brother DJ and his wonderful wife Angie watched Piper while Peter and I went and saw Coraline and grabbed a milkshake. It was different, but good... both the movie and the milkshake.

*We've started seeing Peter's work on TV, and it's pretty cool to see his name in the credits.

*I am addicted to www.babysteals.com. It's literally what gets me up in the morning.

*I am officially a week away from being completely and totally legal to do just about anything but be the President. And I get a sideways drivers license.

*Peter is in demand for several film projects... including a possible reality TV show pilot with Fremantle Media... we'll see on that one. I for one don't see how the show would be entertaining to anyone, but maybe I misunderstand what it's about... ?

*I got a new phone. It's the free one, but I like it.

*Olivia Wilde from House is an Italian Princess. Thought that was interesting. There really aren't any perks to it other than the title... and maybe a free parking spot somewhere.

*Piper snores. She got it from Peter.

4 Month Well-Baby and Solid Foods!

2009-02-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went in for Piper's 4 month appointment and she's getting bigger!!
She's 25 1/4 inches long - 75 % - Last time she was 55%... so that's a jump.
She's 15 lbs. 7 oz. - 85% - Same % as last time.
Her head is 16 1/2 inches around - 75% - Last time she was 65%.
So she's a sproutin'! All in all, pretty proportionate. So I'm not complaining.

Since she was 2 months old she's been sleeping through the night. Mostly 11 hour stretches occasionally waking up once around 7ish. Not a bad thing. However, lately she's started getting up more and earlier throughout the night. That combined with her sudden increase in feeding means... solid foods! Dun, dun, dun!

Last night was both her first time in the high chair and her first time with rice cereal.

One of her first bites.

Not completely sure about this...

And she loved it! I actually wasn't that surprised, considering her chunkiness. She ate almost the entire bowl.

What did surprise me, however, is that she did not sleep better AT ALL! She went down at 11, then was up 3 times before 5, and then slept 'til about 9:30. The issue was after about 6, I couldn't sleep anymore. Lame. Oh well.

Piper has also discovered that she can scream for fun. She practices often, and tries to match or beat out her previous pitch. It's loud and squeaky. Sometimes she tries to go so high that she doesn't even make any noise. It's pretty funny.

4 Months Old!

2009-01-31T18:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Piper turned 4 months old! Crazy.

Tummy time.

And just in case you missed the memo, the 80's are truly, truly back.

I saw this outfit and couldn't pass it up. It was way too hilarious, and cute in it's own way.

In other news, we are officially and completely moved after several unsuccessful tries. But everything is finally here, with a big, humongous thanks to my favorite Lemmony friends.

Also, go rent the movie Igor. It is absolutely hilarious. I want to share it with everyone I know. It has so many big name voices in it, yet it didn't do too well in this area. I can kind of understand why with the plot line... but some of the side characters are SO WORTH IT!

Over the past few weeks I have been helping both my mom and brother prepare to audition for their stake musical. I helped them pick songs to suit their voices (and did a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself), practiced with them, etc. By the end of it I was kind of jealous. I haven't done a show in almost 2 years, which is really crazy seeing that I'd done at least 2 every year since I was 10ish. The auditions were the past two weekends. My brother auditioned last weekend, and my mom yesterday night. So last night as we were at the old house packing stuff up, I got a call from my dad telling me that the stake musical wasn't just for the their stake, but for whoever wanted to do it, and that there were people from the surrounding stakes auditioning as well, and that if I could be there in and hour, they would have a slot for me. I debated it for a while, but then Peter decided for me, and told me I'd regret it if I didn't audition, so we raced to get music, raced to pick a song (all of which I haven't sung in over a year) and raced to the audition. It was pretty insane, but I did it, and am actually feeling pretty good about the song and my performance. Rehearsals don't start until October (why they were auditioning this early, I have no idea.) And I don't know when I find anything out about getting in, casting, what the show is... (maybe I'm wrong, but supposedly they haven't picked it yet, so I didn't even know what I was auditioning for.) It was a very interesting and racey (fast, not inappropriate) night. But it was fun, and I'm glad I went. The end.

Well, I guess it's kinda funny...

2009-01-23T15:03:00.001-08:00

Just a couple funny pictures.

In this first one, Peter was dressing her. Specifically to look like Dr. Mean Thing - James Bum's nemesis. I don't think she liked it too much, but she does have a pretty good squinty bad guy face. She also looks like she might be getting ready to hit someone. Or is saying something like, "I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you kids and that crazy dog!" Or whatever the line actually is.

Piper in her "Sleepy Time" hat. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I actually bought this hat. Supposedly it helps kids take longer naps, and I think I was feeling slightly desperate at the time of purchase. I mean, I know I can't really complain that Piper sleeps through the night... but the consequence is that she doesn't nap during the day, and if by some chance she does, it's only for about 20 minutes.
Anyway, I actually just took this picture. I'll let you know if the reminiscent of Wee Willy Winky hat actually does its job.

Well, nothing is too new with us, except that we've moved. Again. We're almost done, and I must say that it is extremely difficult to pack and move while keeping the house presentable for realtors/viewers. Can't wait 'til we're completely moved. And then we won't have to worry about it again until, oh, another 5 months.

Piper's Baby Blessing

2009-01-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who read that may not know, in our religion we give our babies blessings shortly (or not so shortly, as Piper is 3 months...) after they are born. Here's Piper in her blessing gown. She's so adorable, and man did I fight for that gown! Anyway, she was blessed on Sunday, December 28th while all the family was in town. It was so nice that all the brothers/grandfathers/great grandfathers could participate (except Jared... but we forgive him. He was very stuck in the snow.) There were a lot of people, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Piper's 1st Christmas and New Year - 2008

2008-12-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season was a little odd this year. Nice, but odd. In early December my dear Grandmother passed away. After plane delay upon delay, our family finally made it down to Utah to attend what turned out to be an absolutely beautiful and memorable funeral. After a nice, but sad weekend in Utah we came back, now with my brother and my sister with her husband. We did all the good ol' family stuff, like photos with Santa, Peppermint Hot Chocolate, family photos, the works. We were stuck in the snow and couldn't get to our house for about 10 days, so we ended up staying at my parent's house until we were safe to get out and get home. We were, however, able to get to Peter's parent's home for Christmas Eve. Several of the other families were stuck, so Peter and a couple of his brothers joined in on the Nativity that's normally done by the grandkids. Peter was a shepherd.

Grandma and Amelia as angels.

Singing carols.

After the Nativity, we headed back to my family to do our Christmas Eve traditions, as well as to celebrate my dad's birthday. Luckily we had all of our gifts with us just in case we did get snowed in/out. So we spent Christmas morning with my family.

Getting ready to go downstairs to the tree.

She fell asleep during gifts. Who does that?!?

My parents opening their gift from Piper.
(It was 11 pictures of her crying with the word "Eleven" in there. It was Eleven Pipers Piping.)

I adore this photo! Peter was reading her one of her new books and she was lovin' it!

With her new dolly.

Yay new 3 month onesies!

Self explanatory.

The baby girl with all her gifts!
Yes she did get wipes and diapers for Csssssssprt fnort blut (sorry... but my dad interfered and I promised I'd keep that there.) Anyway. Yes, she did get wipes and diapers for Christmas, but Peter says it's because she's too young to be getting socks.

Due to the white Christmas, we weren't able to get to Peter's parents home for Christmas, so we had it a few days later. It was sad, but was a nice extended Christmas.

Overall, Christmas was very nice and fun, and we were eventually able to get home to only have it snow more. Luckily it has warmed up and it's safe to travel. Hopefully the weather won't be like last year and have it snowing up until April. Bleck.

We also spent New Years Eve with my family. We attempted to spend part of it with Peter's family, but when we had to leave everyone else started showing up. We were kinda bummed, but ohhh well. We ended up playing board games, and then watched all the New Years performances and stuff from New York, then watched the Space Needle's fireworks go off. Everyone else went outside to do pop-its and streamer thingies (the only legal fireworks here...) but I stayed inside with the tired baby.

Over the Holiday week we were able to meet up with lots of our friends that were in town for the Holidays. It was really nice to see all of them, and sad to see them go. It was especially sad to see my sister and her husband, and my brother go. I'm super close with my brother, and I hadn't seen my sister in over a year. We had a great time with them here and hope to see them all again soon. But we all had to get back to the real world. And such is life.

2 1/2 Month Picture Post

2008-12-12T14:19:00.001-08:00

Some pictures of my sweet little 2 1/2 month old! I can't believe it's already been that long since she was born! Everyone told me time would fly...

Doesn't she look like a plastic baby doll in this picture? So stiff...

In a nighty made by my Aunt Carla that I wore when I was a baby!

(I think she looks a tiny bit like her cousin Amelia in this picture. I'm not exactly sure what it is, though. )

In her beloved bouncy seat.

Sleeping in a Super Man pose.

Yay, I finally caught a smile on camera!

In her Christmas outfit. We had family pictures done this morning and the photographer was so lousy... this picture is better than anything she got of Piper. I'm pretty miffed about the whole experience. I'll put those pictures up when I get them. Hopefully they're better than they looked on the stupid screen at the photography studio.

2 Month Well-Baby Check Up

2008-12-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

Well, she's growing and doing alright, I guess!

As of today she's 23 inches long (55%), 13 pounds (85%), and her head is 15 5/8 around (65%).

Crazy stuff!

Today was also immunization day. Poor baby. She loves the Grape Tylenol, though... so that's good.

She's been a lot fussier than normal, lately. Hopefully it's just that she wants to be held all the time, but they're also considering reflux. Not only has she been throwing up more, but her amounts of spit up are apparently more than normal. So I have to keep track of it all for now and then we'll see at the next appointment.

Also, it's 100% confirmed that it's a Strawberry on her side. I wasn't worried that it was something else, but it's nice to hear a doctor say it is one, not something like, "Uh, no. That's not a Strawberry, it's something dangerous, blah blah blah." So yeah.

So wahoo! Healthy, yet very cranky, baby.

Embarrassing

2008-12-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

What's worse than having a sick baby, finals, extra shifts to be covered, a new second job, and a bajillion things to do so you're hardly at home and so that the house is a disaster?

Having this be the week that your landlord decides to surprise visit you.

SO EMBARRASSING! I can't even tell you. He surprise visited on Saturday, then called Peter today and didn't sound too happy. I don't blame him.

Part of the issue is that we're trying to figure out what to keep packed and what not to keep packed, because we'll most likely be moving again really soon - so there are half packed boxes here and there and it just looks really tacky. And then neither of us have been at home this past week - and if we have it's been to sleep, and then rush out in the morning... resulting in no progress cleaning wise.

And we can attempt to call and apologize, but he's not going to believe me if I say, "Oh, it was just this week, I promise!" - That's the oldest excuse in the book! Uhg.

Well, at least we warned him. When he called on Saturday saying he was going over there, Peter attempted to explain the situation and warn him that it was messy... but apparently our warning wasn't enough to keep him from getting a little ticked.

I'm so embarrassed. And what's worse? This guy goes to church with us. Oy.