March 2011

March flew by, and I can't believe it's already 1/2 way through April! We had a great month... Lily just turned 11 months on Sunday! I have about 2 months of school left, and Josh is on his last segment of his semester! Here are some highlights from the month...

Lily, 10 months on March 10, 11 months on April 10




Our little baby is growing up way, way too fast! She has been learning so many new things lately, we can barely keep up! She is moving all over everywhere, and inevitably, even when I just vacuumed 5 minutes before, she can find every little spec of anything on the carpet.

She is babbling and "talking" so much, and loves to have conversations with everybody. She can say even more words now, like mama, dada, baba, baby, puppy, papa, bye bye, hi, granpa, and a bunch of other words, as she likes to try and repeat whatever we say. Her hair is just getting longer and longer, and she still has her bright, blue eyes. Here are a few things I am loving right now...

- she has the most amazing crazy bed-head hair in the mornings
- she wakes up, and instantly starts talking and laughing, smiling from ear to ear
- she loves to clap, and she HAS to clap whenever she sees anyone else clap, even if she is crying
- she loves to give high fives and waves bye-bye at everyone
- she points her little finger at everything and says "whas that?" over and over
- she loves to hiss and tsssss all the time, and whispers to us
- she loves to read her books, and can sit and talk to her self and touch the pages over and over
- she is such a great eater, and loves to eat whatever I am eating! I sometimes let her try it :) We shared a yummy, peach popsicle today while we waited for Josh to get home, and she absolutely loved it
- she loves Scott and Karen's puppy, but whenever the puppy gets close, Lily squints her eyes really tight and blinks really fast, but she still holds her hand out to pet her, the brave little girl
- she is LOVING swimming, and gets so excited whenever she sees a pool. we have stayed at a lot of hotels the last few weeks, and she has had lots of experience swimming, and splashing constantly

We can't believe she will be ONE in only a month... It seriously blows my mind. I can't wait! She is so adorable, and I really do love evey second of this mom thing.

SPRING BREAK 2011

Josh and I went to Vegas for a few days, and it was so nice to be in the heat for a few days! We stayed at the Planet Hollywood, and our room overlooked the Bellagio Fountains! We love Vegas, walking around, seeing the architecture, eating the yummiest treats. Because of our busy work and school schedules, Josh and I hardly ever get to see each other, so it was so fun to have his undivided attention for a few days, and laugh like old times. Here are a few pictures from the trip.



After Vegas, we got to see Jeremy and Amanda in Salt Lake! We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving, so it was a great weekend. Josh and I went to the Jazz-Lakers game, and boy was it intense. About 1/2 Lakers fans and 1/2 Jazz fans. Overall, Lakers made a great come-back, and I had one happy husband after watching Kobe play a great game.




KRYSTIN GRADUATED!!

We are so proud of her! She looked so gorgeous in her new outfit and robes, and it was a great weekend. We sent her off on her well-deserved Mexican cruise, and we can't wait for her to come back to Boise!!




- I have so many plans and goals for this year, and sometimes I feel so overwhelmed at getting them all done. So lately, I have been interested in simplifying my life. I want to de-clutter my house, do an intense spring cleaning, get a simple, organized schedule, and stick to it! I want to keep running (all my sisters and I are trying for a 1/2 marathon), learn to cook better, finish school strong, and get ready for a summer of my little girl all the time!

And I may find time to update the blog a little more frequently :)

2011... and a 9 month old already!

2011

What an awesome new start the New Year brings. I made Josh sit down with me and type out goals in several categories for 2011. I know he is not a huge planner, but for me, it makes me feel so excited to see it all on paper. Totally motivating to go out there and get things done.

And then January 2nd happens...

...and things already start to slip a little bit. BUT, I am not giving up, and I think 2011 is going to bring some great things for us! I got a BodyBugg, we have a fun trip planned, great goals to save for, Josh is still doing awesome in school, I am going to finish my first year of teaching, and of course the MOST IMPORTANT one is seeing how fast Lily is growing up!!

9 months

It's hard for me to even say that I have a 9 month old already, and she will actually be 10 months here in a couple weeks. Words can't express how much I have loved this little girl growing up in my arms. She is the most absolute precious thing in my life. I am amazed when I wake up every morning and hear her cute babblings and her rolling around in her bed, and I actually love her even more than the day before. Every day that happens. more and more love. She is amazing.

SO FULL of personality and spirit. She makes everyone around her laugh and feel so good. Here are some other things she is doing lately...
- clapping up a storm
- waving and saying "bye" to everyone, unless she doesn't like you, and then you get either the looking-up-at-you-from-under-my-furrowed-brow look, or the shy turn-my-face-away-and-look-down move, but it's mostly the waving and waving....
- she babbles and "talks" ALL the time... and she is getting quite loud
- she loves to imitate everything we do, and loves it when we imitate her. Josh and lily can go back and forth for hours just imitating each other and laughing and laughing
- she is so intrigued with small, detailed things. she flips all of her toys over until she finds the screws on the bottom, and then just carefull points and and pokes them over and over.
- she is mastering mama and dada and baba, and an occsionally hi, baby, and tons of other sounds. she even gets the random "gmpa", which makes her grandpas smile so big
- not crawling yet, but oh so mobile. she can scoot and roll and reach and dive everywhere
- she loves pulling her socks off her toes and her hats off her head, and then just looks at me and laughs as if to say "nice try mom...i am NOT wearing that"
- her hair is getting quite long, and even curly a bit in the back!! with Josh and I both having stick straight hair, I am so excited if she keeps that!

There are so many other things I could say, but as we speak, the little Munchkin is in need of some love and play time. I can't believe that she will be ONE in only three months. That seems crazy to me.... She truly is the best thing that ever happened to our family, and we love her with all our hearts.

Here are some pictures of Lily each month so far... It's crazy to see how much she has grown up!!

Newborn


One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

NINE MONTHS!!!

We love you little girl!!!

Holidays 2010

We had such a very Merry Christmas... two months ago.

One of my resolutions for 2011 was to keep a better family history, like photos organized, journals, and keeping a blog updated. So far... I have definitely done a big fat ZERO when it comes to blogging. I would have already posted about New Years, My birthday, Snow in January, 2nd semester of teaching, Valentines Day, McCall, and Lily swimming for the first time, which was absolutely adorable.

Well, I guess it's better late than never, and I got to start somewhere. So here are some random Christmas pictures in no particular order.

We got to spend Christmas Eve at my parent's house. It was full of games, great food, matching PJ's, and family traditions (my favorite part of Christmas). Josh's parents came over for dinner as well, as did the Petersons. It was great to be with everybody. It makes me so grateful for family and the blessing to live so close to them.

Lily loved her first holiday season....

Since Lily truly is a princess (and a bit of a diva most of the time :), and we love her just the way she is) it seemed perfect that she got her own little throne that matched her room perfectly from Grandma and Grandpa. Now she has a great place to be able to read all of her books!

Grandpa Scott helping her to open presents

She was quite spoiled as the only grandbaby and niece on both sides.

I really wanted to get her the perfect "First Christmas Dolly", and I thought this one was so cute.

Christmas morning with the munchie!

She looked like a little Santa Baby in her Christmas PJ's!

Lily got a high chair FINALLY, and was all smiles about it.

Mama and baby on Christmas Eve

I still have to get her everything that says "My 1st Christmas", or whatever holiday it happens to be.

Our little snowbunny loved the holidays

Seeing Santa at the mall

Lily playing with her friend Crew at the BSU bowl game

All the girls on Christmas eve....

The boys! We are up to THREE now! wow....

The whole family!! Matching jammies will probably have to stop here soon.... so many of us!

TONS of awesome loves from her aunties

We went to Lily's first sporting event and went to cheer on my Dad at his hockey game!


Overall, it was an awesome Holiday season. Lily truly made our lives so incredible in 2010, and we are looking forward to another incredible year with her growing up way too fast.

4 month Fly By

Wow... Just, wow. I don't even know what to say. When I looked and realized that I haven't posted since August? I mean, BEFORE I even started teaching?? How can I ever catch up on all that has happened. Let me just say it has been a whirlwind of a few months.

Lily went from 3 months to 7 months, and has made the most incredible changes!

Josh has been working full time all day and going to school from 5-9 all night, every single day of the week! so he has been one busy boy.

Heather: I have been teaching at Renaissance High School, working at the bank a few days a week, and doing a grant program for education. As well as being a mom to the cutest little baby you have ever seen.

Needless to say, a LOT has gone on. I won't even try to do everything justice, because that is just not possible, but here is the last 4 months in review so we can get ready to post about the holidays and the new year! Sorry in advance that this may be long...

AUGUST
I started teaching at Renaissance High School. That is a post all on its own. But, I LOVE it. I teach every other day, but I am there almost 12 hours every day that I teach. The good thing is, however, that I walk out of school so happy that I was there. I truly am so passionate about education, and it has been amazing so far. I have some awesome stories of my students... but I'll save that for another day. I have been teaching US History, as well as all the Newspaper and Yearbook classes. I have no clue what I am doing in the journalism classes, but I figure things out and the kids are having fun. It's a headache, but I love the extra challenge. I am already developing so much school pride for my high school, and the staff there is awesome. TOTALLY a blessing from the Lord to land this job. I couldn't ask for a more perfect spot for me. A huge thank you is due.

Lily was 3 months until August 10, and as cute as ever. She started laughing a lot during this time, and we called her "Angel" all the time. She slept through the night like a champ (10-12 hours). Josh also started school this month. He is completing a Cisco Networking associates degree program, and might I say he is ROCKING IT! We are so proud of you Joshy!


SEPTEMBER
School was in full swing this month! We took Lily to the Women's Fitness Celebration, and she did her first 5 K! She got her own baby t-shirt and number. She loved being in the middle of the action. Except during the middle of the race when she decided to take a quick nap in her stroller amongst the thousands of racers. What can I say, her first 5 K wore her out!

Lily was 4 months in September. She started to grab her toes all the time, and really learned to belly laugh. She is so ticklish and fun to play with. Big, huge smile for everyone she sees.


OCTOBER
Working 2.5 jobs started getting a little hard for me at this point, plus trying to be a good wife and mom on top of that. JOSH really stepped up and proved to me once again that he is the perfect husband. We took turns cooking meals, changing the baby, and we made it through!

Lily was 5 months in October, and started sitting up really well! We started to call her "Munchie" all the time (short for Munchkin). Her personality really started to shine through, and she instantly charmed anyone she met. Lily truly is a happy, happy little girl. I do see some dramatic sides to her, which makes me beleive she has more of her mom in her than we thought :) She is such a bundle of joy.



For Halloween, we dressed her up as a Lady Bug, which was fitting, since we called her "Lily Bug" all the time. She loved it... and even wore the tights the whole time! Atta girl!


NOVEMBER
November absolutely flew by! I honestly don't know what happened! One minute, October was ending, and then the very next, December was starting! We did enjoy an awesome ONE WEEK BREAK for Thanksgiving! That was a much needed vacation. We planned on going to Utah with Josh's family, but we ended up staying in Boise because of the bad roads. So we had a little staycation and slept at Scott and Karen's house, and Manda and Jeremy flew up from Arizona! It was so fun to see them, and Lily loved to see her Aunt and Uncle!

I am obsessed with getting her things that say "My First _____", so here is her "My First Thanksgiving" bib!

This is her "I AM SO EXCITED!" Face that we just love to see!

Lily was 6 months at this point, and so much happened! She started rolling over, sitting up all the time, reaching for everything, got two teeth, got her first hair cut, and so much more! She truly is a joy, and every minute I am apart from her does NOT get any easier. I am so increidbly blessed to have my mom and mother-in-law watch her when I have to work. She really is my little side-kick already. She laughs and babbles and talks all the time. She loves her books, and anything bright and shiny. (Yes, that may include her reaching for every single diet coke can she sees).

I made her wear this white blouse BACKWARDS for an entire day. Apparently the buttons go in the back... geeze, what a good mom. :)

Lily's first hair cut at Graffiti Salon! She loved it! It was free since it was her first!

Cute little jean skirt for the occasion

All snuggled up in a car seat cover for the freeeezing cold weather.

DECEMBER
Which leads us right to December! Karalee and Austin got home from a month of Central America, Krysitn and Kayla are coming home for Christmas, and School is out for two weeks!! Josh rocked his last final and school is done for the semester! Wahoo! I am quitting my job at the bank so I will have more time for teaching and Lily, and so I can find some balance in my life. All in all, it's turning out to be a great month so far! We just barely put up our Christmas tree tonight (gasp....) But I love it so much.

Lily is SEVEN MONTHS now! Can you believe that?? She is closer to being 1 than to when she was born! She is loving all the Christmas lights. She gets so excited and opens her mouth so wide and waves her hands around. She is loving her solid foods, and her food choices are quiet extensive these days! She is getting more and more mobile, and she is growing up way too fast for me. We can't wait to spend Lily's first Christmas together.

All dressed up to go see Santa at the mall. She loved him!

Wearing her new party dress (thanks grandma Nola!) for a work party. she was a hit!

In case you can't read it, her shirt says "I cry when ugly people hold me." Yes, her dad thought he was pretty funny buying that for her :)

Our happy little princess all ready for church on Sunday!

Well, that was a whirlwind recap of the last few months.If you made it this far down, WOW, I am impressed. You must really love our little family. :)

I will be better about updating from now on... We have had lots of other good times. Here are a few bullet points of highlights for me over the past little while.

- Harry Potter 7.... wow. no words to describe how much I loved this.
- Left over turkey at Thanksgiving
- Glee Christmas Album
- Crying so hard in the most recent Bones episode
- Listening to christmas music two weeks before Thanksgiving. no shame here.
- Seeing all of our siblings from all over at some point in the last couple months!
- singing crazy, silly songs to Lily and hearing her laugh and laugh
- Dressing Lily up for Halloween
- Moving in to a new apartment which we love
- still being so in love with Joshy and spending time with him when he is home
- watching Eclipse on our new leather couch
- soaking up every ounce of Lily that I can!

Hope your Holidays are wonderful and happy! We love you guys!