The Two Kids, part II

I'll start blogging for real soon.  Maybe.

from Liam's point of view

Discovered on my phone camera:

and a Happy New Year

I was hoping to send out Christmas cards this year.  It would have been our first time.  But after some procrastination and a disastrous home-photo shoot, it just didn't happen.

Looking over these, I'm having a hard time deciding which one is most representative of our family right now. They're all pretty good -- too good not to share, that is.  Merry Christmas, Internets!

Let's start with an action shot:

singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" to get him to smile

and the "how can I get out of here?" shot:

Moving on to the "how do we take pictures with a two-week old?" shot:

"... especially when she wants to eat?" shot:

And ending with the "WE ARE DONE WITH THIS" shot:

I'm thinking the last one takes the cake.

(Next year maybe Kiana should use a tripod?)

(Also, don't you love the Arnold Palmer ornament prominently displayed on our tree?)

Anyway.


From our house to yours - may the next year be better than the last.  May you grow in wisdom and love.  May your days be merry and bright ... and filled with less crying than mine are.

Raising Funds

Several weeks ago a couple girls from our neighborhood (i.e. ward) (i.e. Primary) came to the door with a fundraiser that I've never heard of outside the Uintah Basin.  They offer a "free sitting" for family portraits and "free 11x14" with a certain donation to their organization.

Now, the last time we took family photos was over a year ago at Lu's wedding, just for fun. So I'd been wanting new ones forever.  Mainly from the ever-fabulous Linnea Anne, who by the way, was one of my very best friends in middle school.  (And my grandparents now live in her parents' neighborhood.)
But as family photos - and pregnant bellies - go, we hadn't gotten around to it.  So we signed up for the fundraiser.

Two weeks ago I went to pick them up.  Not really wanting an 11x14, but unaware that they would present me with other outrageously-priced sheets (all I wanted was a couple 8x10s!), I ended up buying the whole package including copyrights and the digital image.  Because it was cheaper than the two sheets.
Darn fundraiser.

Anyway, here's our latest family photo, which will be outdated in a month:

My hair went flat during the HOUR we had to wait for portraits.  Also: good times standing there while the photographer tries to figure out how to hide my belly. Ha!

obligatory pictures

We took Liam to the zoo on Monday.  We've been wanting to forever, and I thought we better do it before it gets cold and we have another baby and I never want to leave the house again, etc.  Slice and I were definitely more excited about it than Liam was.

I think the favorites were the monkeys and elephants ... lots of construction and NO BUTTERFLY HOUSE??  LAME.

Anyway, good times all around.  I just think I have the cutest kid in the world.

As we rural dwellers do, we made the most of the trip.  Siegfried's for lunch, RCWilley for a kitchen table, Provo Canyon for a photo shoot, Sprint kiosk in the mall for a new phone plan.  It's exhausting, but we've got to do it.

In other news, Slice has switched his schedule so he won't have to work Thanksgiving or Christmas.  For the first time ever, we can make plans for Thanksgiving!  (With no guarantees though - I'm due two weeks later.)  Hopefully we'll get to see some family this year.

BIG sigh.

Whew!  We've got three weddings under our belts.
(And no money, but let's not talk about that, hmm?)

Last Friday we drove to Utah Valley for a wedding at the Timpanogos temple.  We had a family Easter party in Bountiful Saturday, so we planned to make a weekend of it.  Only ... we thought the wedding reception (which was in PRICE) was that same night.  It wasn't.

So we took the pics, visited friends, shopped and ate and spent the night in American Fork.

Saturday we drove to Bountiful for the family party, to Price for the reception, and back home for Sunday.

Total drive time: 11 hours in 2 days.  Poor Liam.

Sunday I accompanied a musical number in Sacrament Meeting for a missionary report - but when the girl brought me the music, the bottom line was cut off on all four pages.  A quarter of the song was missing!  So I just made up the missing stuff, which was fun.  Then I filled in again as Primary chorister while Slice wrestled the boy.  

(I knew this would happen when I wrote that post.  Karma, you know.)

Monday was filled with wedding preparations, and Tuesday was filled with the wedding.  

Guess what else it was filled with?

Angie's baby!

She was a week overdue and attempting a VBAC without any pain medication.  Of course(!), her water broke in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.  But she still went to the sealing and also, she did it, which pretty much makes her my hero. 

Anyway....

The wedding was wonderful, and the flowers were gorgeous (thanks to the incredibly-talented Amy!), and we had perfect light for taking pictures.  Until it started hailing on us.  Literally.

Don't worry, no one got hurt too badly.

We took pictures at the luncheon and reception, and BOY it was a long day.  I will be posting pictures ad nauseum on the photoblog and our new Facebook Fan Page (become a fan!), so as always, you can find more there. 

You guys are awesome.  Now, back to my recovery ....

The two things I love most

(just in case you were wondering)

Jane

Slice and I spent a wonderful (if somewhat stressful) weekend on the Wasatch Front with some dear friends and former roommates. Jane married her sweetheart Ivann after a quick turn of events (i.e. moving the date up from SEPTEMBER) - and they pulled it off beautifully!   The sealing was wonderful, and she looked absolutely gorgeous.  I'll be posting lots more pics on the photoblog.

We're Cheap.

So, Matt and Kim asked us to do their wedding pictures.

Yikes!

Talk about pressure.  A wedding only happens once.  And we really don't have the equipment to do everything I'd like - we don't even own a decent flash, for heaven's sake, thus far we've shot only with natural light - so, it will be quite a challenge.  I'm excited but also SUPER nervous.

Last weekend we took some engagements, and you can go check them out here (there are two posts).  If you want to.

Miso Cute

Thanks to Uncle Ty & Aunt Marie for this darling onesie.... he finally fits into it! Photo-op!

How you know it's time to make the switch

1/2

For his half-birthday the little munchkin got to meet his Uncle Matt!  Unexpected (until two days ago, that is), but really quite fun.  We sang some favorite Christmas carols, passed around the One-Tooth-Wonder, ate pistachio pudding and ice cream, and chuckled at the resident Paraguayan, who kept poking his head inside various appliances and repeating their names aloud, as if in wonder.

"Refrigerator..."
"Wow, Microwave Oven..."

Also he spouted off phrases in Spanish.

A happy day, all around.

(Isn't that tooth the darndest thing you ever saw??  So glad this kid made me a mother.)

8:13 am

the part of the weekend that made the rest worth it

So my blog is quickly becoming Lu updates.  I'm okay with that!
She's engaged and I am oh so happy for her.

(Check the photoblog sometime soon for more pics.)

Remember how that guy almost called Child Protective Services?
Good times.

Goblin

It's been said before and probably will be again ... but we just cannot get enough of this kid.

(especially when he sleeps through the night!!)

Three Weeks

My baby is three weeks old!

Last night we took some pictures of him- they turned out well considering it was our first attempt. He was surprisingly cooperative (that helped!).

I'll post more once we get our computer/internet up and running...

Anyway, isn't he beautiful?

API

Last weekend was the annual American Petroleum Institution golf tournament, Ki and I took pictures again.

I'm pretty sure Liam is still punishing me for the two days of neglect.

But hey. Now I have nothing planned for, oh, the rest of my life.

How about that?

The grass really IS greener on this side

This mama is one happy girl.

Firstly, my baby is an angel. He sleeps 3-4 hours at a stretch, which means if I feed him and put him down around 11:00 at night, he usually wakes up only once before 7:00. Once!

So far, he only fusses when he needs something: food, diaper change, burping, sleep. He loves his carseat and will sleep in it even if he's hungry, as long as the car is moving. AND he makes funny faces when he falls asleep (or wakes up) - providing us with endless entertainment.

Yes, we know we're spoiled, and no, you can't have him.

Secondly, I have my body (mostly) back! I can walk! and wear my own shoes! and clip my toenails! and sleep! and breathe! now. It is a wonderful thing. I admit, I miss the kicking every once in a while. But not the bathroom trips.

Thirdly, Slice got this camera for a great deal and it is awesome. We play with it pretty much every day. And .... now you know why we've started taking more videos than pictures, and all the pictures of Liam are terrible quality.

Not to worry, this will be remedied.

Soon.

because if I don't post a picture Emily will never read this blog again

Last Saturday I took senior pictures for Kiana's two best friends and it was really fun.
I hadn't even picked up our camera for months .... (such dedication!)

You can see some more here.

go Lady Cats, and all that jazz

Last Friday Slice and I attended a high school basketball game; my first in years. I figured we should probably go since it was a State game, at home, and we get in free.

(Our girls team is so awesome this year (20-1?) that they moved the boys Varsity games to 5:00 and the girls to 7:00. 'Cause everyone wants to watch the girls.)

Um, I forgot how loud those games could be.
I pondered wearing earplugs - the Dr. told me I should protect my hearing better from now on - but didn't think they would be necessary.
I was wrong!

I had to plug my ears almost the whole time.


Slice went all camera-happy during the game, snapping literally hundreds of pics while I buried my left ear in his shoulder, trying to get comfortable on those horrid bleacher seats. I'm pretty sure it annoyed him. Also, I love seeing who goes to events like that, often I am surprised. My parents have never gone to school games unless my brothers were playing. They are still uneducated in small-town community etiquette.

Anyway. We won! And the team won again last night at UVU, maybe because of the two packed student buses that didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning.

But if they keep winning, Lana will be gone Saturday during our marathon dress rehearsal.
(Center Stage shows next week!)

I'm torn.