Photo Shoot Attempt

Every month we take her picture here to keep track of how much she grows her first year. This is her 5th month picture, it was just too cute to not post!!!!

She has been able to sit all by herself for a couple weeks. She is so strong and so smart!

About 7 months ago Brandon and I decided to get a really nice camera to take nicer pictures of our own. We research and found that the Canon Rebel EOS would be best for our needs. I have a great intrest in photography and love the way you can learn to take great pics. Also since we have a baby now, we thought it would be so fun to capture great looking pics of her. Unfortunatly I am not very good yet. I will keep practicing, and study up on the manual some more!

2010 Half Marathon here I come!

My second time at the Disney half marathon 2o07.

My favorite athletic supporter at the finish! Check out that medal!

The last race I ran was the PF Changs Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon in 2008. Well, a race I tried for, I forgot, I did do the disneyworld half marathon January of 09 when I was 11 weeks pregnant. I felt so sick and miserable I just ran because I had registered and wasn't expecting to get pregnant so fast. oops... I was debating what I wanted to do for running this upcoming year, I love the disney races- I have done the Walt DisneyWorld Marathon two times, disneyworld half marathon once, and the Disneyland half marathon 2 times. I was there for the inagural race in 06, it was so much fun that I set my personal record at that race, and I went for it again in 07. Since California feels like my second home I was thinking about doing the disneyland half marathon again in 2010, AND we have a baby to take to disneyland too! I couldn't decide whether or not to do this run, or if we should even take Avery who will be a little over 1 year old if we went. Registration fills up fast. Christmas morning came and I was opening a present from Brandon. It was a new pair of running shoes. Yay! And there was an envelope in the box with the shoes, I opened it and it was the registration confirmation to run the disneyland half marathon in 2010! He registered me because he knows how much I would enjoy it. I am so excited! Don't get me wrong I can't wait to run and to try to set another PR, but I am even more excited to share the fun and magic of disney with our little girl. I have so many precious memories of being there with my family as a kid, and into adulthood, I can't wait to see her reactions to all the fun!

Christmas in Arizona

Avery at Mesa's Temple lights

Daddy and Avery

Mommy and Avery

Mesa, Arizona Temple Lights.

Brandon and I were sealed for time and all eternity in this beautiful temple.

We got Brandon's parents a zipline tour when they go to Kauai in a couple weeks.

Tracy got a bump-its to have sexy square roosevelt hair!

Our cousins Jenn and Laurie

On December 18 we left freezing cold Roosevelt to head to sunny Phoenix, AZ to spend Christmas with my family. It was 3 degrees when we left Roosevelt and when we got to Phoenix, it was about 72. Wow! We were hot! It was great weather the whole time, which was so awesome because we were able to go on walks with Avery in the stroller, I went running a lot, Brandon and I played tennis, and we weren't freezing all the time! We loved it. It was fun to be with my family, on Christmas Eve we get together with my aunt, uncle, and cousins to have dinner and do a little $5 gift exchange. It was a lot of fun, Christmas morning my brother and his wife, who is having a baby- due July 7! yay! came over to open gifts together. We got lots of meaningful things and Avery had fun opening all her new pj's and toys from her grandparents and uncles. Before we left for Phoenix, we had Christmas with Brandon's family. They got Avery this huge bouncer toy with lots of gadgets for her to play with- she loves it!!

In Phoenix, after we would put Avery to bed around 7:30, Brandon and I would go out for dates!! It was soooo fun! I miss those days of freedom and dates! :) Some things we did was- go out to desert ridge ( and outdoor mall and entertainment place) and watched a band and drank hot chocolate, went to movies- saw Avatar which was the best movie I have seen in a long time and got coldstone ice cream, went out for dinner, drove around to see Christmas lights and our old condo, hung out and my brothers new house....etc. It was so fun! Thanks mom and dad for staying home while Avery was in bed to babysit. We stayed 10 days, a great trip and a fun Christmas. Now we're back in Roosevelt in single digit temps planning where to go next to get outta here! :)

Santa!

Santa and Mrs. Clause were at the grocery store today! Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma took me there to meet them. It was so wonderful! There were so many other babies and little kids waiting to see Santa. We waited for over 30 minutes. Finally it was my turn, mommy put me on his lap, I knew he could tell what I was thinking I wanted for my first Christmas even though I couldn't talk to him. I loved meeting Santa for the first time! Thanks mom and dad!!

Giggles...

Grandparent's Visit

My mom and dad came last week to visit us. We had a lot of fun, it was very cold for them- especially my mom. She had thermals on the whole time and would wear fur slippers around the house! Here Brandon and I are in our short sleeves, come on its only 30 out!?! haha We spent the week mostly at my house, we went over to this dinosaur museum one day and ate at cafe rio. My dad loved the museum! Brandon and another pharmacist from work took my dad pheasant hunting. That was a HUGE thing for my dad, he said it was a great time and even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it and wanting to go again. My dad and I went running a lot together too. It is nice to run with him again, he started me in running when I was in 8th grade, I would run in the mountain preserve with him through high school and college too when I would have time. It was great to talk and run together. It was so fun to see them play with Avery and see how excited they got over everything she did! They were trying to help her roll over and showing her how to do it. They left yesterday and guess what Avy did all by herself?? Yep, she rolled all the way over onto her tummy! Thanks mom and dad for helping her! Wish they could have seen it!! We plan to go to Phoenix for 10 days over Christmas! I am so excited, Avery will be so much bigger and even smarter! What a great week!

Walmart Excursion

A couple weeks ago I went to walmart with Avery to grocery shop and get a few other things. Walmart is 28 miles away, so some planning is involved. 1- make sure to bring milk for Avy, warmed. 2- bring diaper bag with wipes. 3- bring front carrier pack because the car seat doesn't fit on top of the cart and if its in the cart then there is no room for groceries. 4- bring the list.

So my journey begins the SECOND after I feed her at home, I have to change her, make sure I'm ready and rush out the door. Otherwise I won't have time to take my time to shop before she needs to eat again- she still eats right on every 2 hours! I get to walmart and get on the front carrier pack and get her out of the car seat. She pooped so I have to change her before putting her in and getting the cart. So I change her in the bathroom and then put her in the pack, which she LOVES, and get the cart. I'm shopping around and mind you we have no groceries so I'm getting everything I see so I don't have to shop agian for a while. By the end the cart is soooo heavy and my back hurts from carry her on my front, I thought I had probably burned 1000 calories! After I check out I'm pushing everything to the car and unload it all into the back of my explorer with Avy still on me in the pack. For those of you who have worn them, its hard to bend over to pick something up, you have to do a squat. So I squat down to get the case of water and the plastic rips and it drops on the ground, so I have to get down again to pick it up and I'm sweating sooo bad! You THINK someone would help me load all my groceries in- as it looks like I have a family of 10 with all my stuff.

Once it all was unloaded, it was time to feed Avy before our 28 mile drive home. So I get her bottle and get in the car and feed her in the walmart parking lot. She ate well, was happy, and began the drive home. We got onto the main road and she starts crying. Oh great! I talk to her and shush her and the crying gets worse, almost into screaming. I absolutly can't stand her crying in the car, I feel bad and it stresses me out. So after trying lots of things I just started singing twinkle twinkle little star at the top of my lungs. It was so loud of a sing that my voice was cracking and everything. It worked though and she ended up falling asleep and I enjoyed my drive home. So tired!! And then I have to unload everything when I get home. ugh!

Avery is being so fun and she is getting so big! She enjoys going on walks in the stroller and playing with her daddy and mommy. Since she was like 2 months old she could stand up with me holding her waist or hands, she is so strong. She can even stand on her own just for a split second if I let go. She is smiling a ton and making lots of talking noises!! We love her sooo much!