Globetrotters

Earlier this week, Shaun won tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters basketball game! His office has a box suite, so we got to enjoy the game from there! Maisey had so much fun watching "Ball Ball".

Maisey and Mommy before the game started!

Maisey sitting in a big girl seat all by her self!

Once the game started, I couldn't get a picture of her face because she wouldn't take her eyes off of the ball! She was a crack up dancing to all of the songs and clapping when everyone else did!

I decided to take a pic of the game since my main subject wouldn't look at me! :)

Maisey picked out her own jammies tonight! Dora pants, Elmo and Abby shirt, red gloves, and her cupcake hat! What a goof!!!

Good Day, Bad Day

Good Day:

We got our fatty tax refund!!!!! :)

Bad Day:

I went to a stake activity tonight where I saw someone from my ward growing up.

His comment to me: "Wow, You are HUGE! When are you due, like 5 days ago?"

My response: "Actually, 10 more weeks!"

(I didn't think I was THAT big. I've gained less weight with this baby than I did with Maisey!)

Another Failed Photo Shoot

Maisey turned 18 months old on Thursday. So I was going to do a Valentine's Day/18 month old photo shoot this weekend. But Maisey had other ideas! She was not very cooperative, but she was still being cute, so instead of getting frustrated, I decided to just try to take pictures of her running around! These are a few of what I got:

The babyless (or should I say childless. . .) photo shoot!

Maisey was more interested in smelling the flowers instead of sitting next to them!

She spent lots of time running away from mommy. . .

. . .Thinking Grammy would save her (which she did!)



She did peek up at me and I snapped this shot. . .

. . . and this one, but that's pretty much it!

***More about Maisey***

*She is very territorial with her house, her toys, her books, and her mom! She isn't thrilled about sharing them with the girls I babysit 3 days a week.

*She seems to want daddy all day while he is at work and then when he gets home, she only wants mommy!

*She lasted about 10 seconds in nursery today! We've been practicing going in and she's been doing great, but she definitely noticed that I left today, and thought she REALLY, REALLY needed me!

*She is a GREAT sleeper, as long as she is in her own bed. She doesn't do very well in the pack n' play. But she will sleep 12 + hours at night at home and take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

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These are some of her favorite things:

*Food - Mac N' Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, Enchiladas, and Pizza

*Snacks - Cookies (she LOVES any kind), marshmallows, gold fish, cheese

*Shows - Elmo, Dora, Wonder Pets, The Wiggles

*Activities - Ring around the Rosie, Coloring, Magna Doodle, Reading Books, Talking on the phone, Patty Cake

*Songs - Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home, 5 Little Monkeys, ABC's, Elmo's World Theme Song (she actually sings the words to this!)

*Toys - Stacking cups, Baby Abby, farm house, Ikea blocks

*Animals - "Dog Dog" and Kitties

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These are some of the funny things she says:

*"I'm turnin' the wheel" as she makes the hand motions (It's off of a Dora movie)

*"Ball Ball" anytime she sees any kind of ball or a basketball, including the basketball hoop in the gym at church. During Sacrament Meeting she yells out "Ball Ball" really loud and points to the hoop.

*"Uv Do" - Love you! It' so cute!

*"Elmo, Cookie, Dora Dora, Boots, Daddy" - Her response to the question, "Who are your friends?"

*"Cheeeeeese" - anytime she sees a camera or hears me take a picture on my phone.

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These are some of the funny things she does:

*She will take my socks off and count my toes. She LOVES to count. She can count to 9, but she skips 7, and 8. :)

*She sings songs to herself

*When she is around males or new people, she covers her face with her hands because she thinks people won't be able to see her if she can't see them.

*When we tell her it is time to go nigh-night, she lays down, covers her eyes, and says nigh-night!

*She loves to do family kisses. She puts her arms around both mommy and daddy's necks and pulls our heads together, leans in and we do a family kiss!

*She knocks on the bathroom door anytime there is someone in there.

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I can't believe that my baby is 18 months old! She is really growing up into a young girl and sometimes I miss the younger stages, but I really love what she is becoming! Plus, I'll have another chance with all of those younger stages soon enough!

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I actually told Shaun the other day that I miss rocking my baby to sleep and sleeping with her in my bed. She doesn't cuddle quiet as much as she used to! But when she does, I take advantage of the opportunities! :)

Why we could never live in NY or DC

So lately, Shaun has been working in the actual office in down town Portland, instead of client sites because there aren't really any projects going on right now. Well. . . to park in downtown it is $12/day. Ridiculous!!!! So in an effort to save money Shaun decided he would use public transportation. He has been driving to a park-and-ride and then riding the bus into work. It has worked out really nice and only costs about $4/day. We decided that since he wasn't assigned to any projects in the month of February that we would buy a monthly pass for this month.

Well, he found out last week that there is a project out in Beaverton that he could work on this week so of course he took advantage of the opportunity. But since he already bought the bus pass for February he wanted to get the most out of it (even though parking is free at the client site).

So yesterday was his first day at this particular client and HE WAS LATE!!! He called me at like 9:00 am to tell me that he was so dumb and watched 3 trains go by that would have taken him to where he needed to be. I asked why he just stood there and watched them? He said, "It's so confusing to know which one is which and where they are going!" So between his morning and evening commute he spent like 5 hours using his February train/bus pass! Good thing we are getting our money's worth, because by the time he got home, Maisey was ready for bed! :)

Now, I've never been to D.C. or NY or any big city for that matter, but I am 100% sure that they have way more subways/trains and buses then Portland. So if he thinks this is confusing, he would get eaten alive by the public transportation systems in those bigger cities!!!

P.S. I have to give him credit. . . at least he is saving us money! I would have never attempted public transportation! Thanks honey!

P.S.S. Meghan - Maybe you and Shaun can compare Metro Woes stories! I enjoyed your post as well!

Lists of 8

My cousin's wife tagged me and I have been tagged before but I have never gotten around to it! So I decided to take a few minutes and fill this out!

8 T.V. Shows that I Love:
1. Good Day Oregon (Morning News)
2. The news at noon
3. The news at 5 pm
4. The news at 10 pm
(I love watching news. . . I like to know what's going on!)
5. American Idol
6. The Office
7. A Baby Story (at least for the next few months!)
8. Sesame Street & Dora (because they give me some free time!)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Cracker Barrel
(The only 2 reasons to miss Utah!)
3. Sweet Tomatoes
4. Fudruckers
5. Red Robin
6. Roadhouse Grill
7. Burgerville
8. La Hacienda Real

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Babysat 3 kids
2. Did 4 loads of laundry
3. Took a nap
4. Played outside with the kids (It was a beautiful day!)
5. Made Dinner
6. Watched the News and American Idol
7. Hung out with my Mom
8 Talked wedding talk! :)

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. To have a healthy baby ON TIME!
2. To find football wallpaper border for the baby's room. (Not all sports, just football. . . I'm having a hard time finding it!)
3. Take another BABY FREE Vacation some time in my life!
4. A garden fairy to come and plant my garden for me and taking care of it would be nice too!
5. Maisey's biting phase to be over!
6. All of the See's Candy in the world and not gain weight!
7. An elliptical
8. Winter to be over so our heating bill will go down

8 Things I Like About This Season:
1. I'm in the last Trimester! :)
2. The random, beautiful, spring-like days (like yesterday and today!)
3. American Idol starts up again!
4. Maisey loves to get bundled up on Saturday mornings to go outside and help Daddy in the yard! Mommy gets some Saturday morning FREE TIME!
5. College Basketball
6. Football Season is completely over (as of last Sunday!)
7. Maisey is still excited about all of her new Christmas toys (Give her another month or so!)
8. Valentine's Day is coming up and I get to go on a date!

8 Weird Things About Me:
1. When I eat Tums (which is very frequently during pregnancy) I have to eat 2 of the same fruit flavor. I won't eat them if they are different colors!
2. I LOVE to vacuum my house with my mom's Dyson! I borrow it all the time. Silly I know but I won't use my Dirt Devil.
3. I don't mind the smell of sweaty, stinky socks.
4. When I go to Mexican Restuarants, I always order Nachos. Just plain chips and cheese. Shaun gets so embarrassed!
5. I don't eat left overs. I think they are so gross and I gag if I eat them. It's all in the head!
6. I also don't eat potatoes. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, funeral potatoes, french fries. NO POTATOES. I puke my guts out if I eat them. Once again, all in the head!
7. I have issues with "used" things. I don't like to go to Goodwill or Garage Sales but I still look on Craigslist every once in a while to see if there is anything good!
8. I have to do my own dishes and load the dishwasher. I don't even let my mom do them at my house. I like to know that they are clean and that none of the dishes are touching each other so they get sanitized in the dishwasher.

Now I am supposed to Tag 8 people, but I'm pretty sure alot of people have already done this, so if you haven't. . . YOU'RE IT!

You know it's bad when . . .

. . . You can't smell your daughter's poopy diapers for 3 days when you can usually smell a poopy diaper with in 30 ft (make that 60 ft. when your pregnant!)

. . . Your throat is so swollen that you can't swallow your prenatal vitamins.

So I finally went to the doctor today, after being sick all week, to find out that I have a sinus infection and pneumonia. No wonder I have been coughing like crazy. Seriously. . . I have never had a cough like this. Good thing it's the weekend and Shaun is home to take care of Maisey! I am going to bed and probably won't get out until Sunday afternoon!

Happy Hibernating!

Happy Year of the Ox

Yesterday was the Chinese New Year, so in celebration and for FHE we had Chinese Food and made fortune cookies. We had a lot of fun making up fortunes for each other. My mom wrote one for me that said I will NOT have over a 9 lb. baby. Thanks mom!

I made this same recipe last year... they seemed to have turned out better looking then. This is our attempt this year!

I did make one pretty good looking one!

We had a great time and it was a fun family home evening!

If you were born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 or 2009 you are the year of the Ox. Those born under the Ox sign are dependable, calm, modest, and stable!

Good to know that is what our son will be! HaHa! One can only hope!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Over the Hump!

I've passed the 100 day mark, only 98 more days to go until we welcome a nameless baby boy into the world!

Lots to do, Lots to buy!

The BEST!!!!

I just want everyone to know that I married the BEST guy in the whole world! He amazes me everyday! He is a great, sensitive, and supportive husband, and a fun, silly, caring, and loving father!

Friday night we hired a babysitter again (Later I found out she was a 6th grader! A 6th GRADER!!!! I'll update more on that later!) and we headed to dinner and a hockey game! Just the 2 of us! It was so fun to spend a baby free night with my wonderful husband!

On Saturday, we did some shopping in the morning and then Shaun took Maisey for pretty much the whole afternoon! My mom and I went to see Bride Wars -- which was a great girls movie and it was so nice to just get out of the house for a while! Then my mom and I did some more shopping. Old Navy was having a huge sale -- I scored some pretty cute maternity clothes for VERY cheap! Then we headed to the grocery store and once again I was able to get my grocery shopping done BABY FREE!!!!! It was amazing! When I got home, Shaun had put Maisey down for her nap and while she was sleeping he did lots of yard work, frosted the cupcakes that I had made that morning, and did the dishes! All with out being asked!!! It was such a nice surprise!

Thanks for being a great Daddy to Maisey and a great Husband to Me!

I did Maisey's hair in pigtails for the first time this weekend! She looked so dang cute!

She loves to get her haid done. She sits sooooo still!

We were eating dinner one night and Mais lounged back in her chair and stuck her foot on the table! She was being so silly!!!

A few other things:

• Last Monday, Maisey learned how to go DOWN stairs. She's known how to go upstairs for 6 months now, but she would always get to the top and scream because she couldn't get back down. Well... we were playing at my cousin's house on Monday and I hadn't seen her for a while, so I went to go check on her and she was half way down the stairs! I was pretty schocked! The best part about this story is every Monday I get an email from Baby center about the development of Maisey for how many weeks old she is. This is the one that I got that night --

"Hello, Emily! By now your toddler may be able to climb up a set of stairs, turn around at the top and sit, then scoot her way back down. Some more cautious toddlers may like climbing up the stairs but will call for help to get back down. Sign your child up for a toddler gymnastics class at the local Y or community center where she can climb and tumble over soft play structures without getting hurt. Or make your own play area at home by stacking pillows on top of a mattress or futon on the floor to make a pint-size climbing course. "

• So Tuesday night we did end up going to the temple! I didn't fall asleep, and I did worry the whole time! Especially because when we left Maisey was SCREAMING!!! But the sitter (Brandy) said she only cried for a few minutes and then she was really good and she went to bed really well too!
• So Friday night I went to pick up Brandy's sister, Ashley! I had never met Ashley before. When we were driving to my house I asked her what grade she was in and she said, "6th"!!! I pretty much almost passed out! I was pretty worried all night, but Ashley did a great job and Maisey was peacefully sleeping when we got home! I guess leaving her with a babysitter isn't as bad as I thought!
• This week Maisey has started calling her baby "Baby Abby". It's totally cute that she named her all by herself. So we don't leave home with out Abby anymore.
• When I ask Maisey what we should name mommy's baby she says, "Elmo!" Of course!!!
• Maisey ate ANOTHER tube of my chapstick this week, which brings her total to 3!
  
  
  
  

A Nervous Mom!

The title only describes the last paragraph! So if you want to skip the catching up I do in the first 95% of this post, that is fine!

So when we went to Spokane at Christmas time, I didn't take very many pictures on my camera. Most of them were taken on Shaun's sister's camera. So I was waiting for her to send them to me so I could update. Finally I just decided not to wait any longer. I'm sure I'll post those pictures soon.

Christmas time was kind of a crazy time for us! We had so much snow on the ground and some of the freeways and highways around here were shut down. So I decided last minute that I was not going to ride in a car to Spokane. I told Shaun the only way I was going was if we flew. I said that we would probably end up divorced by the time we got to Spokane if we drove. I am a nervous wreck in bad weather. Since we decided so late to fly, there weren't very many tickets available. We ended up flying to Spokane on Christmas evening. And we came back on Sunday! It was the perfect amount of time for us to be there.

Since we didn't fly out until Christmas night, we were able to spend our first Christmas owning a house actually at our house! It was SOOO nice to just do our own thing with our own little family. Since we've been married we've switched off spending time with our families at Christmas time. I told Shaun that we aren't traveling at Christmas anymore! I just want to stay home and enjoy OUR house, OUR beds, and OUR traditions. I know it sounds a little selfish, but by next Christmas we will have our next kid and it's important to establish our own traditions.

Maisey is enjoying a frosted sugar cookie!

Maisey got a wagon from Santa! She loves it and wanted daddy to pull her around the house all morning. She got lots of fun toys from Santa! Her favorite: the $5 stacking cups! Classic!!!

(Sorry all the videos are sideways! I don't know how to change them and that's how they are taken on my phone!)

My mom was taking us to the airport on Christmas afternoon, so we headed over to her house for a bit and then just left from there!

Daddy and Mais took a little snooze....

.... while mommy and grammy squared off in a match of Beach Volleyball on the wii!

We were able to spend New Years out our own house this year also! My mom, and my sisters, and one of their boyfriends came over and we played games and ate some yummy snacks, including our chocolate fountain!

Pregnant Woman + Chocolate Fountain = BAD IDEA!!!!!!!

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So, post Christmas, Shaun went back to work! :( It took us pretty much all last week to get back in routine with daddy going to work and Mais staying home with boring mommy! But mommy loves routine and structure, so she's happy to be back on schedule!

Last Monday, we had a special FHE! It was all about missionary work. We sang missionary songs, Shaun read D&C 4, and then we wrote Uncle Ryan letters and Maisey colored him a few pictures plastered with her Wonder Pets stickers that she got from Grammy for Christmas!

Maisey is working hard on her letter to Uncle Ryan!

"All Done Mom!!!"

Maisey has really been developing into her own person lately! (Or a miniature me!) She LOVES to talk on the phone. The other day I let her call my mom. She was just walking around the house talking to her and all of the sudden she came out of the playroom pushing her baby stroller with one hand and holding the phone to her ear with the other, just talking Grammy's ear off! I just started cracking up so hard! I asked myself, "Where does she learn this stuff?" And then it hit me! She loves to be just like her mommy! We eat cereal together every morning, and the other morning, she started drinking her milk out of her bowl, just like mommy! I bought her a potty chair, and she likes to sit on it and pretend to go potty when I am going potty! It's been our routine for Mais to watch Sesame Street while I sit on the couch and read my scriptures. Well, the last few days, Sesame Street hasn't been doing the trick. She climbs up on the couch and wiggles in right next to me, and helps me read. I read aloud to her and she actually sits there. I am sure this is just a phase, but right now it is very cute!

She is also really into developing her language. My mom gave her some flash cards for Christmas, and we never leave home with out them! She loves to identify the pictures on the cards and she also loves to identify her Sesame Street characters in all of her books. Shaun helps her practice their names in the bath!




My favorite is when she says Abby Cadabby!


She also loves to point out all of her friends on the picture board that I made for her!




So tomorrow is our big day! The first day we leave Maisey with a baby sitter. We attempted this once before but then she got an ear infection so we ended up cancelling! We are going to the temple tomorrow night for ward temple night and my mom has enrichment for her ward so she can't babysit! So we set up to have a young woman from our ward come and babysit. I am really nervous because it's not like she can call us if she has a question or something goes wrong, because we are at the temple! However, Mais has developed this NASTY cough this afternoon where she was coughing so hard she was gagging. . . . so I am kind of wondering if she knows that we are getting ready to leave her so she gets sick, because I mean seriously, 2 times in a row now she has done this! I'm sure we will still go, but it's kind of a coincidence!

Wish this nervous mom some luck tomorrow night!!! (Hey, at least I will be able to stay awake the whole time at the temple because I will be worrying!!!!!! :) )