Celebrity Makeover

I just found the coolest thing on Instyle.com/hair. You can try on different celebrity hairstyles. I am in the market for a new haircut (short- baby keeps pulling my hair) so I thought I would try it out. Most everything looked pretty ridiculous on me, but I think it is me, not the hair. They are really just too ugly to post, but I couldn't resist trying some new styles on Isaac for funsies. Enjoy! BTW- I want to see your celebrity hairdos, so if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

What's been going on......

So here is what has been going on. I am really embarrassed by my lack of blogging. I have had some great blog ideas, but life really got crazy after Thanksgiving. It is strange how the Holidays blur together and before you know it, it is Christmas.

Let me start by going clear back to Halloween just because I want to post this picture. Isaac was a pumpkin and we went trick or treating at my office. Not much else to say on that subject, but here is my cute little guy.

We spent Thanksgiving in Sacramento with Bryce's family. We had a great time, but it was a long trip, and I gained 240 pounds or so. It was great to spend time with everyone and to see how big my nephew is getting. The sad part of the trip was that Isaac got sick for the first time ever. It was really sad to watch him deal with it, and to feel kind of helpless because I got sick too, but I am so lucky to have such a healthy kid in general. It is quite a change from our daughter, and I went through much MUCH more with her. It is still hard just to hear Isaac sniffle though. BTW-Henry's- sorry we didn't get out to see you. We didn't want to get Cal sick.

Things started to get back to normal when we got home. Isaac's illness got extended a bit because he got his flu shot. I don't think it made him sick, it just really hurt is leg and made him sad and grouchy for the next couple days. He would just cry any time you touched him.

Then, Doug and Brandy decided to move. They came and stayed with us for a couple of weeks before moving into a new home. We actually had a great time and really enjoyed having them. I am so glad that they are living closer now and we will hopefully be able to spend more time together like we used to :).

We went to my work's Christmas party a couple of weeks ago. BTW- great job to everyone involved! It was kind of an eye opener for me though. While it was great to see everyone, I really felt out of place. I am only minimally involved at the office, and the party just made me realize how out of touch with things at work I am now. It is kind of sad, but kind of okay too. I have backed off work a lot since the party.

So, that brings us to now. Bryce's family will be getting in town tomorrow for Christmas. Better updates with more pictures and fun to come!

Space Filler

I know I have a lot of catching up to do here, and I promise I will do it very soon, but for now, follow this link for some fun. I promise it is nothing bad.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1700861741

I'm IT

Misti tagged me so here goes!
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. Isaac is getting much better at sleeping through the night, but some nights this makes me sad because I want to go and snuggle him.

2. I can play the violin, piano, and snare drum, all badly. I also took flute lessons for a year but I can't play it at all. I could never make the sound come out right so I managed to fake it for a year by just pretending to play in class while everyone else did. I can't believe they never asked me to play solo and I never got caught.

3. I really wish I was a Dr. I love science and biology. I read medical journals, watch continuing education programs for docs on Discovery Health, and now XM radio has a station for docs called ReachMD that I listen to all the time.

4. I had two pet geckos when I was in college. One of them is still alive, and since Bryce is not a reptile fan, my poor mom gets to have him and feed him crickets every week. If anyone wants a leopard gecko, let me know. Free to good home!

5. Road rage makes me really sad. I try to be a courteous driver but I guess we all make mistakes sometimes, and when I think about people who have "given me the bird", I still get sad and feel bad.

6. Deep Sea fishing contests are my TV guilty pleasure. I almost never see them, but if I am flipping channels and I pass one, I have to stop and watch.

Ok...your next: Doug, Brandy, Elaine, and Andrea!

Celebrity Gossip

I now have another celebrity friend in addition to my ESPN web celebrity Brother-in-law Doug (see older posts).

Longtime friend and sometime poker champion Spencer Campbell was featured on a commercial for Check City paycheck loans! It ran last night during "The Office" so if you recorded it, you can check it out. This would of course have only run in the local market, so if you are outside Utah, you probably can't see it. I tried to find it online but I couldn't. If you know where it is, I would be happy to link it.

In the ad, Spencer talks about the good experience he had with CheckCity. Very convincing. If I ever need a paycheck advance, I will choose CheckCity:).

I love having famous friends! If you are a star of TV, Movies, the Net, YouTube, whatever, let me know and I will give you a mention!

o-o- OREO CAKESTER!

I have given this a lot of thought, and I have decided that it would just be wrong, like a lie, if I didn't tell the world about the wonderful joy that is the oreo cakester.

I tried the cakesters a couple of weeks ago. They were an impulse buy on my way out of the grocery store when I was a bit hungry. I have been trying lately to rid our home of junk food. I have done this by consuming all that we have and not replacing it. It has been a good strategy which had been very effective in reducing our grocery bill, our BMI, and getting us to use food that we buy and then forget about. Recently though, Bryce noticed that there were no readily available snacks in the house and he was frustrated. I told him about the plan/experiment that I had put into place and he accepted it at first. Since I have been at home, he hasn't been participating in the grocery shopping the way he used to. This all came to an end on Saturday when he came to WalMart with me for a few items. He defiantly announced that he was no longer on board with my no junk and snacks plan and he needed some freakin' ding dongs! Well, that was all it took for me to fall off the wagon. I can't just watch him eat ding dongs while I continue with my only snack left, cottage cheese. I picked up some ice cream and more of those tasty cakesters.

The cakesters are a miracle of a treat! Imagine the awesome flavor of an oreo, but soft and fluffy. I haven't tried the traditional ones. Chocolate is my life so I went straight for the chocolate filled. I am ashamed to admit that today the box is already gone... and I am the only one who has eaten them.

Happy Birthday to Us!

As many of you know, Bryce and I have the same birthday (October 20). Interestingly, our first child Maeve was due on October 17th, so we almost thought we would have a third birthday on the 20th, but she was born two months early.....

Sharing a birthday is really fun. It has its drawbacks I guess. On your birthday, you sort of expect to be waited on and taken care of. That is kinda hard when you both have the expectation. We also don't have parties because a) we are adults and b) it just seems strange to throw yourself a party. Still we really enjoy it.

On Friday night, we had dinner with Doug, Brandy, and Logan. We went to La Vigna (formerly Ottavios). The meal was good, but more trouble than it was worth. Logan and Isaac were both suffering from diaper rash and exhaustion respectively. So, the meal was spent with some missing from the table at all times to take care of a screaming kid. We all reflected on the days when we used to go to movies and dinner any time and do everything spur-of-the-moment, with no regard for bedtimes, sippycups, and disrupting others. Ah, good times. Oh well, nothing beats our little guys and the constant source of entertainment they are. They sure keep us on our toes!

On Saturday Morning we woke and did presents. Bryce got some video games, new jeans and shoes. I got clothes (my favorite!) and new pots and pans (so cool!). Then, we threw some clothes on for a family birthday breakfast at IHOP. Isaac decided to forgo getting dressed and instead dined in his jammies.

We came back home to clean up and get dressed for real, and then it was off to the mall in the freezing cold to exchange Bryce's new jeans. Shopping is always fun, and Isaac got to try a little orange julius, which he loved!

After a stop at Walmart for some groceries (even though it is our birthday, it is still Saturday and we have to get stuff done) Bryce went home to nap through the BYU game while I went to the church to set up our father-daughter activity for the activity day girls. After that, Bryce, Isaac and I met my mom, brothers, grandpa and his wife at McGrath's for birthday dinner.

That was probably the highlight of the day. I have not seen my Grandpa Kenney very much. He came out for my high school graduation and my wedding. I was pretty busy during my wedding reception, so I just briefly met his new wife, Sherry there. This is the first time we have seen them since. They live in Port Angeles, WA during the summer and Mesa, AZ during the winter, so they were on their way down to AZ and decided to stop in for a quick visit. It was really nice. They loved meeting Isaac, and we really like Sherry. I am glad that my Grandpa has her, and I hope we get to see them more often.

My lack of blogging this month has been nagging at me like my poor visiting teaching record:(. I really am going to be better at both. I don't have any new pictures to post so here is my old standby, a baby porcupine.

St. Louis

This was a pretty fun week. Isaac has been jumping around a lot when we hold him, so I found him a jumper. He is still a bit small for it and he hasn't quite got the jumping thing down yet, but he is getting better. The jumper hangs in the pantry doorway because it is the only one low enough in the house. I think Isaac likes it though. The pantry is full of cool stuff to look at!

On Friday, we went to St. Louis for Bryce's 10 year high school reunion. The fun started on Friday night at the homecoming game. It was so crowded. I have never seen so many people at a HS football game. Isaac was a little freaked out by all the cheering, so we didn't stay long. We took him to some friends from Bryce's old ward to play while we met up with Bryce's classmates at a bar called the Fox and Hound. We had a great time hanging out and catching up.

On Saturday, we went to the top of Gateway Arch. I have never been to St. Louis, so this was a fun way to see it. The Arch is not a place to spend a ton of time. It is a super way to combine my claustrophobia and fear of heights. Just kidding, its not that bad... There is a museum there that I wanted to check out, but they don't allow strollers and Isaac was getting sick of being carried, so we left and hung out at the park outside the Arch for a bit. Isaac felt much better with a clean diaper and some playtime. We spent the rest of the day driving around seeing some places Bryce wanted to visit again and doing a little wandering around the mall. That night, Isaac went to the babysitters again while we went to another bar for more reunion fun. This one was called Bar Louie and was in Downtown St. Louis. There was a $50 cover charge meant to include all you could drink..... so Bryce and I enjoyed our $50 cokes! Pretty expensive, but worth it to spend some more time with Bryce's old friends. I hope we can see them again soon, instead of waiting another 10 years.


Isaac having fun in his jumper.

Hanging out at the park at Gateway Arch
The weather was so great. It was 80 and sunny with no humidity.

All of us at the top of the Arch

Isaac and I at the top

Waiting in line to go to the top

How it went

Well, I am really tired. Isaac did great. I was just so nervous that I couldn't sleep. He didn't sleep through the night or anything, but he did sleep very well, with no fussing at all until he got up to eat at about 3. That is great, considering how frequently he has been waking up. I did bring him back in to sleep in our room when he woke up. I just wasn't used to feeding him in his room in the middle of the night an it felt weird. I am going to try to do it tonight though, if all goes well.
I am really glad though. I feel like I made a lot of progress. I learned that Isaac definitely sleeps better when he is not in our room. It is probably much quieter for him in his own room without Bryce and Molly's snoring. I also learned that the monitor does work and I will hear him so I shouldn't freak out so much.

Separation Issues

I am having a rough day (week really) and would love some feedback from any of my readers (both of you) on this subject.
Isaac has been sleeping in my room since he was born. He does not sleep in the bed with us, I can't sleep like that, but he is in the pack and play next to me. He does have his own room. There were several reasons I started this. First, Isaac is breastfed. He gets up at night to eat, usually just once but sometimes twice with the second really just being very early in the morning when I want to go back to sleep. His room is on the other side of the house and it is hard to hear him and get over there to feed him when I am groggy in the middle of the night. Second, I have been nervous. I know that many mothers are, but having had a very sick preemie before, and now knowing parents of children who have died from SIDS, I have really just been scared to leave his side.
I never had any problem with the arrangement until now. I have actually been fine with getting up and feeding Isaac. In fact, I usually woke up a bit before him. A lot of people have advised me that he should sleep through the night and that I should let him just cry it out. I think that is fine for other people, but the method just doesn't feel right for me. I can certainly handle letting him fuss a little, but I see no point in letting him cry for long periods of time. I think babies go through a lot in their first year and sometimes they need a little food or just the comfort of nursing in the middle of the night. I don't think he is going to starve without it or something, I just want to make sure his needs are met. Is it really realistic for babies to sleep through the night? I don't sleep through the night myself, and didn't before I had him either.
The problem now is that Isaac seems to be waking more than he used to. He makes little noises and I get up and give him his binky, and he goes back to sleep, but this sometimes happens a lot, resulting in a lot less sleep for me. Now, when he gets up to eat, I am not awake and okay like I used to be. I am tired and sometimes can't even get my eyes open when I feed him. He goes right back to sleep, but may still make noises and wake me a few more times.
I am sure the solution to this is to put him in his own room to sleep. It is just so difficult. I wish I had started him off in there,because now it is so hard to change. I am too tired most nights to try it, not to mention still being so nervous about what might happen. I had really hoped he would start sleeping through the night before I had to move him.
Anyway- right now he is asleep in his own room, so I guess I am trying it out. I will post tomorrow on the results. Right now, I don't even want to go to bed. I wish I could just stay up all night with his monitor making sure he is okay.....
Isaac turns 4 months this coming week and I just feel like the worst mommy in the world. Am I the only one with a 4 month old in the room, who doesn't sleep through the night? The one nice thing is that I have no problem getting Isaac to sleep. He goes to sleep very easy. He just can't stay that way for more than 5 hours at a time.

In keeping with my commitment to daily blogging, here are some pictures! These are actually old. They are from our cruise back in January, but I just got them yesterday.
This (above) is all of us hanging out on the deck one night. I think there was some kind of party that night where all the old people wear Tommy Bahama and dance to "HOT HOT HOT".

This is at the Hilton in Puerto Rico before the cruise started. We were all overdressed because our luggage was lost.

I am pretty bummed already about the end of summer. These pictures make me want to plan our next fun winter vacation. Maybe Mexico, maybe Hawaii. I would do the Caribbean again, but just stay in one place this time. I liked Aruba best. Ideas? Send them to me in the comments!

I really do love blogging!

Okay, so I am way behind on the blogging. I promise I really do love it and I am going to try to do better. Starting now, I am setting a goal to post something every day rather than every week. That way, when I fall short of my goal, I will probably still wind up with more posts than are currently happening.

So why haven't I posted in a while? Lots of reasons I guess. One problem is that I haven't taken as many pictures lately. I am not sure where the camera is right now. We did buy an awesome new HD video camera a few weeks ago, but I haven't had much time to play with it yet and I tried to post a video here but it didnt work. The file was too big or something. If anyone has any tips on that, let me know.....

Life is getting more fun with Isaac all the time. He sure keeps me busy, but now it is with more play time. I am starting to get a better hang of this SAHM thing. I always thought if I stayed home I would get so much done. It hasn't quite turned out that way, but I am getting closer. Isaac is getting on a more regular schedule so that I know when I have time for things and when I don't, and he is also getting much easier to interact with. He doesn't mind our errands and chores anymore. He sits and plays with his toys or "talks" with me while we do things. It is really a blast. Being a mommy is the best!

Last week we had Isaac's 3 month pictures taken. A little late since he is almost 4 months now, but I was trying to wait for this rash on his face to clear up. It has gotten much better, but on picture day he scratched his nose in a couple of places... Oh well, I guess with kids it will always be something. And this way, years from now we can look back and remember his drool rash and his sharp little fingernails that I seem to have to clip at least twice a week:). Here are some of my favorite pictures. BTW- The photographer is Tiffany Burns-Rushforth and she is amazing! You can see more of her stuff at http://www.photographsbytiffany.com/.

Yup- 3 months old and he can stand....well... when he leans on something...and just for a second:)

Such a cutie!

My little pumpkin

The Family

This one is my favorite

BTW- I have to mention my brother in law, Doug, because he is famous today. He was quoted on ESPN's website. Here is the link:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-28-61/Speak-Russian--Neither-Does-Jerry-Sloan.html

Happy Birthday Maeve Lillian

Wednesday the 22nd was Maeve's Birthday. Bryce and I brought lots of beautiful fresh flowers to her for the cemetery. I was also planning to give a gift to the parent network at the UVRMC NICU, but I still haven't heard back from them on what specifically they need. We could just write a check I suppose, but I would like the gift to be more personal for the families that need it and I would also like the service opportunity of purchasing and/or creating and delivering the gifts to the hospital instead of just handing them money. I still plan to do something though. If I don't hear back this week, I will just make a donation to the CDLS foundation. I would be doing so anyway, I just like to alternate and do the NICU on her birthday and the foundation on her angel day.

Someday soon, I am going to start posting the story of Maeve. It is difficult to do, but so many memories fade, and I know I need to write everything down so that I can hold on to it. For today, I just wanted to share one thing.

There were two songs that I used to sing to Maeve the most. One was "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley, and the other was "House at Pooh Corner" by Loggins and Messina. Those are her songs and now hearing them is bittersweet. At her funeral, Doug and Brandy made a video montage of her pictures set to music and included both songs. "House at Pooh Corner" had an extra verse that I didn't know before and never sang to her, but I thought the lyrics were beautiful and so appropriate somehow.

It's hard to explain how a few precious things

Seem to follow throughout all our lives

After all's said and done I was watching my son Sleeping there with my bear by his side

So I tucked him in, I kissed him and as I was going

I swear that the old bear whispered "Boy welcome home"

Believe me if you can I've finally come back To the House at Pooh Corner by one

What do you know There's so much to be done

Count all the bees in the hive

Chase all the clouds from the sky

Back to the days of Christopher Robin

Back to the ways of Christopher Robin

Back to the days of Pooh

I love you, Bug. Happy Birthday.

I've been sick:(

Well, I am already behind on my blogging. I have had a nasty cold for the past week and have not done much of anything, but there have been a few highlights that I will mention.

I am the ward activity days coordinator for the primary girls. For their final activity before school starts back up, we took them to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. This is supposed to be a preview of a bigger better aquarium that is still under construction. Honestly, I was not too impressed. I think that the displays at Cabella's are better (and we could have taken them there for free), but the girls seemed to have a great time, especially with the touch pools where they got to pet stingrays.

We went to church last week in Bountiful at Bryce's cousin Ashley's ward. She has just returned from her mission or Singapore/Malaysia. It was great to see her again and her talk was wonderful. We are so proud of her! Afterwards, we went to her families house for the usual get together. While we were there, we got to visit with tons of family including another of Bryce's cousins, Michelle. She and her husband live in Kentucky but have spent a month in Utah visiting before school starts back up for her husband. They had a baby (Lucy) 5 weeks before Isaac was born. Isaac and Lucy got to hang out together and someone even asked if they were twins! I don't think they look a lot alike, but they are about the same size.

Finally, the biggest news of the week... My mom graduated with her Masters in Business Administration from BYU! We are so proud of her. She is such a great example to my brothers and I. She moved us all to Utah as a single mom long ago to finish her Bachelors degree. She did it, while working full time and raising us. I am so glad that she decided to go back after more years away from school and get her MBA. We attended both the graduations for all of BYU and just her school and they were actually pretty good. We heard some great talks and of course, great songs by the choir.

Isaac Enjoying Thursday's Graduation at the Marriott Center

My Mom Singing in the Choir
Isaac has had enough!

Last Week in Review

We had quite an interesting week last week. It started off pretty fun for Isaac. I will try to avoid telling too many icky diaper stories in the future, but this was one for the record books. When Bryce was getting Isaac ready for church last week, Isaac decided to surprise him during his diaper change by peeing all over himself and the bed behind him. Bryce quickly stopped the problem, but Isaac was determined to finish the job. Just when Bryce thought he was safe and resumed the diaper change, Isaac decided to pee some more and made sure to cover any areas of our comforter that he missed. We decided to document the incident for your enjoyment and to embarrass or blackmail him when he is older.

On M0nday, The Deseret News published an article on CdLS. They included some information about our daughter Maeve, and a picture of her. I am an awareness coordinator for the CdLS foundation and I am so glad that even after her death, Maeve is still able to teach others. You can read the article here:

http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/cqcgi_plus/@plus.env?CQ_SESSION_KEY=RRJZBCZAPBZL&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=1&CQ_TEXT_MAIN=YES

Ruthie and Katie Callahan were here to visit from Wednesday through Friday. We met them during our stay in the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center NICU with Maeve. Katie was born a couple of weeks before Maeve and was 26 weeks gestation. Most babies born this premature have significant problems and delays but Katie is doing very well. She and Ruthie (her mom) were here for her 2 year Dr. appointments.

Ruthie and I took Katie and Isaac to visit our friends in the NICU and do some shopping at University Mall on Thursday. Although it was nice to see some of the people who helped care for Maeve, I realized that I was ready to move on from the NICU. I will never move on from Maeve and I will always treasure the memories of her and lessons she taught me, and carry it with me everywhere, but I think I can finally separate her from the NICU itself. A lot of NICU parents have a problem leaving at first. You actually miss the NICU and feel like it is home. I had that feeling for a long time too, but I think I no longer need to visit. I would love to see the nurses and docs if I run into them, but I won't be bugging them at work anymore:). It helps having Isaac. He is not tied to the NICU and his presence has really helped turn our house into our home. Maeve's place is not the NICU or the cemetery, it is in our hearts.

On Saturday, we took my mom to the Salt Lake Parade of homes. We were only able to get through five houses, but they were pretty amazing. The Parade goes through the end of this week, so we may see some more still. Although we will not be moving into a 3.5 million dollar house anytime soon, I did get some fun decorating ideas, so I am looking forward to doing a little shopping this week to get started!

We have a blog now!

This is probably how most of these sites start huh?

I have always thought it would be cool to have a blog, but have never had the time or know how. Since Isaac has been here, many of our friends and family have asked for pictures and I have been having a hard time keeping everyone posted, so I thought this would be a great way to share the fun with everyone. I keep trying to send pics around, and they are frequently kicked back because the emails are too large to be sent or received.

Anywho, I hope that this will be a fun way to journal, keep everyone informed, and help motivate Bryce and I to take more pictures:). Keep in mind that I am totally new at this and cut me some slack if it is not always up to date or entertaining. Enjoy!