long week

This is what happens when Thad is on Andi duty.


Andi has actually been sick this last week. Another ear infection! If she gets one more before the end of the year we have to do tubes. I don't look forward to that at all, but I have a feeling it will happen. If she picks up even the smallest little cold within a day or so it turns into an ear infection.
So, I have been looking forward to the whole daylight savings extra hour of sleep for quite some time now. We kept Andi up an hour later than usual in an attempt to help her adjust to the change so she'd still wake up at 7 after the time change. But our attempt failed and we did not get that extra hour. Andi was up at 6 ready to go and there was no explaining daylight savings to her. And now we have to wait an entire year to get that extra hour of sleep.

off and running

This has been an eventful few days for Andi. She started standing by herself a little bit at a time a few days ago, and last night took her very first step. She was walking along my leg and when she ran out she just stepped away trying to get to Thad. She fell on her behind of course, but she tried without any coaxing.
Look, No Hands!

As most of you know Andi is a puke machine and has been since day one. I can't count the number of time she's spit up all over me, in my hair etc. There have been several times when I just think to myself, one of these days i'll get you back for this. Well last night Andi got what was coming to her!
We were up in Draper at Thad's Aunt & Uncles and all the cousins were there. Heather(cousin) has a little boy who is a month younger than Andi. Luke and Andi were playing , crawling after each other, fighting over toys and what not. Anyway, Luke was, I think, trying to give Andi "loves". He wraped his arms around her head, opened his mouth and slobbered all over her head, wiping his snotty nose in her hair! I know I should have been grossed out or worried that she would catch his cold, but all I did was laugh! Finally, she got paybacks for pukeing on everyone! Yay for Luke!

Feelin the Burn and stuff

So Monday was my first day at the gym in . . . well. . . ever! It has been over 5 years since I've had any regular exercise program and let me just say that an hour of Turbo kickboxing was probably not the best way to jump back in to things. I am so sore! I can hardly pick Andi up this morning(it's always worse the 2nd day). So I think I'll try pilates instead of Turbo for a while and work my way up to that.
I had enrichment last night. My first as a committee member and it went really well. We had a dinner and I was running around getting stuff together, so when I finally came in to sit down at a table I noticed something interesting. Everyone was sitting by age groups. All the really old ladies at one table, the middle agers at one, luckily there was a seat left at the young moms table or I would have been lost! I guess we just gravitate to people we have the most in common with. Anyway then there was a program and all in all it was a nice night.
oh, and I just realized I hadn't posted any pics of Andi's teeth, so here ya go ;) She's not exactly happy to be having this picture taken because Thad wouldn't pick her up, but you can see her two bottom teeth pretty well.

And here is what she likes to do in the car now. . . weirdo!

on line shopping

So I've never been a big fan of the "stab you in the shins" pointy shoes everyone wears these days. But in looking for shoes for the bridesmaid dresses I went out on a limb and ordered these. I was actually really afraid when I opened the box because they are a whole lot pointier in person than in the picture. . . and they are going to be bright pink. But I put them on, and suprisingly they don't make my feet look like boats. This has broadened my perspective a bit on shopping. . . all those things I thought I could never pull off might actually work. Thad totally hates the shoes though. . . especially since they are going to be pink ;)

Home on the Range

So today Thad went to the Engineering and Technology school career fair on campus. He has a few info sessions and interviews lined up with some companies he's kinda interested in. But get this, the one he's really stoked about is a Co called Union Wireless. Basically they build and maintain towers for cell phones companies. They offer some really great benefits, a Co truck, good pay, and they are not all over so we wouldn't have to move around. The Guy at the booth wanted to hire him on the spot and he'd be put in charge of all the construction operations. Oh wait, did I say that it is in Mountain View WY!?!?!?!? In the brochure about the company it calls mountain view a "fontier comunity" . . . nice way of saying in the middle of nowhere! closest big city is SLC 2 hrs away. It get's better. . . population 1,600!!! It took me a while to figure out why Thad was so excited about this company and then He said that the guy he was talking to told him about all kinds of great fly fishing spots. So Thad want's us to move to nowhere WY so he can be close to good fly fishing. I know there is more to his excitment than that, but it really makes this whole issues suspicious. WY! I'm crossing my fingers that before April he gets excited about a different Co. Because I'm just not sure I'm cut out to be a country girl.

whirlwind

What a weekend! Both my parents and Thads parents along with our sibs came to Provo this weekend. They got here friday afternoon and left sunday morning, so really they were here not even 2 full days but we were busy! Tenille found her wedding dress and veil, and ordered bridesmaid dresses, and Mom B found a "mother of the bride" dress. I shopped with my mom for 3.5 hours on saturday and we managed to narrow down shoe options and find nothing for her to wear for Kelsies wedding, but we did find a dress for Lexi to wear as a flower girl, and bought material to make Andi and Cuatro wedding attire.
Thankfully the weather was very nice so we weren't running from mall to mall in the rain, and the boys had stuff to do outside while the girls shopped. With two weddings coming up within a week of each other it seems like wedding talk/business never ends! But I do get two cute new dresses ;)

Winter Wonderland

I've been so distracted by our house drama that I forgot to complain about the weather. I know, I do it all winter long, but this is bad. There has been snow on Timp for over a week, and I'm not just talking a dusting of snow, I mean like a foot. The high yesterday. . . 50 degrees. Hello, it's September! I don't know what's going on here, but I am definitly dreading the next 6 months. Winter is going to be forever this year! So far we only have rain in the valley, but it's been raining for weeks now. I feel like we are back in Vancouver. Last night was kinda cool though, the thunder was so loud that it shook the windows and woke me up at midnight. At least I'm not walking in snow yet. . . I guess that's one thing to be happy about.
oh! and speaking of house drama, our landlord finally called us back. He's assured us at the earliest the house would be coming down in 6 months, but probably not that soon, and he'd give us 2 months notice when it happens. So we should be done with school and out of here by the time they tear it down. Kinda sad, but at least we don't have to move!

Surprise!

So I've told you all before how our house was bought by a land developer who doesn't charge us rent. He told us months ago that our house would not be part of his new development because of zoning restrictions. Well, yesterday I came home from running errands to find this.

That giant whole would be my driveway. Apparently our house is going to be part of the new development and they needed to lay new sewer pipes. And by part of the new development I mean they are going to level our house and build a new one. The best part is that we still can't get our landlord to call us back and let us know exactly when our house is being demolished.

So now i'm thinking that me getting a job handed to me was not so much to bring in a little play money as much as it was a hint from Heavenly Father saying "your gonna need this". I hope not, and I hope we will get to stay in the house till April but with that hole, and lovely peice of machinery sitting right outside the living room window i'm getting very nervous.

In other news Andi's first tooth has made it's apperance. It's not all the way in, but just poking out enough to see and feel when she puts my finger in her mouth.

more changes

Well, now that we are all unpacked and settled in I've got time to tell you about all the little changes that have happened this last week.
First off Thad and I both got new callings. He is now the 1st councilor in the Elders Quorum and I am on the Enrichment board. I have to say I threw a bit of a stompy fit when I found I was getting released from Young Womens, and I'm still a little bitter about that. But I guess it's time I learned to appreciate Relief Society and enrichment. We'll see how that goes.
Also I got a job, well Thad kinda got me a job. Anyway Thad works for a guy who ownes a bunch of houses in Provo and Thad takes care of them. Their manager lady just quit so I'm going to be doing the management part of it. Dealing with tenants and contracts and rent and all that. It's only a few hours a week and the owners are really nice so that will be fun.
My sister got engaged a couple weeks ago and since then we've been wedding planning like crazy. I took her to Alyssa's and found her "the dress" in an hour. We found bridesmaid dresses on-line, which I have to order today, and she picked out flowers, cake and invites in Bako. So the bulk of it is done, which is good cos she's in Jersey till mid october and getting married Nov 18.
That's what i've been up to.

I'm Back!

Well It's been an action packed, fun filled, long yet short month. We headed to Bako the 2nd week in August and spent a week at my parents house before we left for the beach. We discovered that Andi LOVES the pool and has no fear of the water. She kept sticking her face in it, trying to drink it I think, and though she choked and sputtered would stick her face right back in it.
Saturday Kelsie and her "friend" (now fiance) Cameron arrived and we went to Rosemary's. For those of you who don't know, Rosemary's is by far the best ice cream place in the world and if you are ever near Bako you need to stop and eat there. Sunday my brother blessed his baby boy and we had a big family dinner where everyone had an opportunity to size up Cameron. He handled it well.
Monday we headed to Pismo and stayed in this awesome beach house. The 12 of us actually had plenty of room and it was right on a cliff over looking the ocean. We also had wet suits with us this summer which I decided is really the only way to go boogie boarding. I wasn't cold at all! It was awesome. Here are a couple of pics we took as a fam.

The whole crew

Kelsie and her now fiance Cameron

We got back from the beach Thursday afternoon in time to do some laundry and gt re-packed to go camping with Thads family. Friday afternoon we went to Wishon and Thad of course went fishing. He'd been talking about it for weeks. I always think that a few good fishing days will get it out of his system for a while, but that is never the case ;) We had a great time and Andi saw her first bonfire and trout.

The whole gang (yes Tara is holding her 1 month old and they camped in a tent trailer!)

Thad showing the kids how to gut a fish.

As you can tell they were almost as grossed out as me.

After camping we still had 4 days to just hang out. Unfortunately Andi got a double ear infection and couldn't go swimming anymore. We had a b-day BBQ for Thad at his parents Thursday with all the fam. And then drove back to Provo early Friday morning. And this is Andi boxed in by all our stuff in the back seat. Poor thing hates the car again.

We had a great 3 week vaca, and I know we'll never get to do that again. But we are glad to be back home and start getting un-packed from our WA move.

I'm not in right now

Well, we are getting all packed up this weekend and will be driving to Provo on Tuesday. Yay! I know you will all be sad, but I will be out of blog contact for almost a month as we will not have internet conection in Provo before we leave for California. I should be able to check on your blogs at some point on our trip, so keep them updated!
I will return in September.

The Wrestling Match

I've known since day one that Andi is a big fan of being naked. She doesn't get the chance often to be so, that is until she figured out how to crawl. She will sit still during the diaper change until the diaper is off, and then she's off. It doesn't matter if I'm holding both her legs, she flips over and wriggles free and starts scooting away! This morning's wrestling match was pretty rough, I finally had to put my leg across her stomcah and chest so she could not flip over, and try to put the diaper on working around my own leg. I think i'm going to find a way to strap her down from now on.

Week of the Babies

The stork has been busy this week. At least with my family members! My sister-in-law Tara had a little girl(Paige) Thursday night. My Sister-in-law Stefanie had a BIG boy(Walter Glenn Ray IV, or Cuatro as we call him) this afternoon. And my best friends wife is having a baby any time now. Yay for the babies!

Pictures

Here are the action shots of Andi crawling as promised!

Out of Order

Sunday night the computer decided to shut down and die. . . completely. We couldn't even get it to turn on! So after Thad pulled everything out of it he discovered that the motherboard had died and it took 2 days to find one a new one. So I've been without internet for 3 days! I felt so disconnected. . . I couldn't check e-mail or your blogs. . . but luckily it's fixed ;)
I'm getting antsy to go back to Provo. I keep getting these spassy urges to start packing. . . I start eye balling things around the house that we won't need in the next 2.5 weeks. So I have to distract my self by cleaning. I just wish we could pack up and go right now and get it over with! But I'm sad, the neighboor kids have been mowing the lawn for us this summer, and one of them e-mailed me to say that the lawn is dead! Apparently the sprinklers broke and our cousins who happen to be staying there have not fixed it. Thad and I worked so hard on that yard to get it looking good and now it's dead! I'm very upset.
Andi has begun crawling, sorta. She get's up on her hands and knees and lunges foreward, but from the initial lunge it's more of an army crawl. . . scrambling and pulling with her arms and pushing with her legs. It's very funny, and surprisingly effective. I've been trying to load a pictuer of it, but Thad has not finished fixing this dumb thing and it won't read the photo card. Oh well, I'll put one up when its fixed.

Agh!

There are few certanties with babies. With Andi we know that anything in her line of vision must immediately go in her mouth. Whether phisically possible or not, she will try to put whatever it is in her mouth, and if the object is too big, she covers it in drool. The other thing is that she freaks out over toothbrushes. Everytime I take her into the bathroom(she likes to stand on the counter spit at her reflection in the mirror) she tries with all her might to wriggle out of my arms and get mine or thads toothbrush. Yesterday during this event I realized that we actually had a baby toothbrush for her just waiting for a little chomper to come in. So I gave her the toothbrush and she would not put it in her mouth. The one object in the house that she is supposed to put in her mouth and she wouldn't do it!! She'd get close, then make a weird face and pull it away!


Oh! and my sister called me from Jersey last night with a disturbing situation. She was sitting with her employer and another lady and neither one of them knew what Newsies was! They had never heard of it! Fearing she might have slipped into some twisted alter uiverse she called to verify her sanity. I mean, who doesn't know what Newsies is!?!?! To shake off the bizarness I had to immediately turn on the soundtrack. What kind of Crazies live out on the east coast!? I'm still disturbed.

ho hum

So we finally have a picture of Andi with her hair done and I thought it deserved to be shown off. It's finally getting long enough to put a clip in it ! !


There is nothing terribly interesting going on lately. Our stake is having a pioneer day celebration at some park. We are going, but I can already gaurantee it will not be able to compare to Pioneer Village in Bako. That is one thing the tri-stake does very very well back home. . . TONS of good food, music, parade. . . not even the 100 + weather keeps people away. It's quite the party every year.
I really have nothing else interesting to post about, but we are going to Cali in a few weeks yay!

Half Birthday!

Today is Andi's half birthday, I can't believe it's really been 6 months. But then I look at her and can't believe it's only been 6 months. She's grown so much! She is still not crawling, but I still think she's going to skip that and go straight to walking. She sits up by herself now, and even stands holding on to the couch and coffee table. See. . .

She loves her jumper, mostly b/c she can walk around in it, and walks well if you hold her hands. She just doesn't show any interest in crawling. I've been looking up stuff to see if it's bad that she skips crawling and all I see are a bunch of people(Dr's included) arguing back and forth about the issue. Some say it doesn't matter, some say it does. I dunno.
It has been a long week. Not for any particular reason, it just feels like it has lasted forever! thankfully it's almost over.

Pirates and more. . .

Well we had a fun weekend. It was Dave's(Thads cousin here in vancouver) Birthday on the 7th, and to surprise him Mike, Heather Spencer & Hilllary drove out from Utah to hang out for the weekend. We of course saw Pirates on Friday night, which was so packed that we were on the very front row! Strange angle, i'm not even sure why they put seats that close to the screen. And I was kinda irritated by the ending of the movie, or lack thereof. Total cop-out ending. . . it's like the whole movie was just the lead up to say, hey, Pirates 3 soon to come! BUt it was still good, I'm just bugged b/c now I have to wait who knows how long to get some resolve and closure on the story.
Anyway, Saturday we went out to round lake and had a picnic with everyone. Thad caught a couple of ugly sunfish just to prove to everyone that he could flyfish even in a lake. It was pretty warm this weekend, Sunday of course always feels the hotest b/c we can't go to the mall to hang out in the AC or to the pool. But we did find a way for Andi to cool off ;)

Andi's first 4th of July was eventful. We started the day by buying her some new toys. We bought those foam alphabet puzzle piece mats and some blocks. I don't know why I didn't buy one of those mats before. It is genius! she spent like an hour just scooting around chewing on the letters and whenever she spit up, duh, the carpet was saved. Definitly a good purchase.


Then we went with Thad's Cousin to a BBQ at his in-laws, which was nice. Andi even enjoyed the fireworks. . . at least the ones she saw. They do their firework show really slow, one little popper at a time, so she was falling asleep before the good stuff started.
Growing up in a place where the big cool fireworks are illegal I had no idea how great a show you can see without going to a stadium. After we put Andi down for the night we sat on our patio and just watched the sky and there were fireworks going off everywhere! It seriously sounded like a warzone. . . I don't know how Andi slept through it. But it was really cool. I think we are going to buy some today and smuggle them back to Utah for New Years ;)