carrot goatee

logan is definitely dave and i's son (and especially my mom's grandson). he is not a big fan of vegetables. this is the face he makes whenever we feed him vegetables. and it is usually accompanied by a gagging cough/noise. so far squash, carrots, green beans, peas and beets have been a no-go. we are now trying to mix them in with sweet potatoes, the only veggie he will eat. we're having so much fun watching him grow up, although it is happening much to quickly. who knew such a little person could bring so much joy?!

2nd annual things i heart...

2 years ago i honored the month of february with a things i heart post and even though i missed last year, i decided to make it an annual thing. i am also hoping that by honoring february i will come to terms with the fact that we still have another month of winter left (what has been a long and cold winter). i am in major need of spring.

• being a wife and a mother. the 2 best roles in the world
• when dave plays with my hair
• setting goals
• fresh starts (like a new year and a new decade)
• painted toe nails
• learning something new
• the feeling i get when i finish a project (i'm hoping to have that feeling a lot more this year)
• logan's crooked smile
• blogs (and blog stalking) and how blogs connect people
• different opinions and perspectives that make me think
• being mormon
• dancing. especially the family dance party we had on wednesday.
• my dinner group
• getting mail
• how i feel after i exercise
• relationships and reconnecting with old friends
• gilmore girls
• photographs
• making memories
• the way dave looks at me
• snuggling in bed
• when the spirit teaches (or re-teaches) me just what i need to know at that moment
• google reader (although this is a love/hate relationship because i also love comments on my blog and google reader minimizes the likelihood of comments)
• daydreaming
• feeling content
• watching logan in his jumper
• cereal (especially sugar cereals. it's my weakness at the grocery store)
• my iPhone (what did i do without it?)
• dave's dimples
• the "father of the bride" movies
• an organized house
• being a stay-at-home mom. it is my dream job.
• fresh flowers in my house
• the wild honeysuckle scented soap from bath and body works
• how dave is always making me laugh
• accomplishing goals and crossing things off my "to-do" list
• my camelbak waterbottle
• logan's crooked smile
• music
• writing in my journal
• associating with people who inspire me to be better
• eating junk food
• the 2 wonderful families i get to be a part of (i guess it is technically 3 since i have my own family now)
• running
• candles
• curry
• reading my patriarchal blessing

olympic thoughts

like most people, i love the olympics. some of the thoughts and memories i had last week while i was watching the opening ceremonies (wearing my 2002 canada olympic sweatshirt) were:

• standing outside in the cold just to catch a glimpse of the olympic torch as it passed through provo.
• opening my mission call the evening of the 2002 opening ceremonies. later that night as i watched the opening ceremonies (on a date strangely enough) and saw the athletes from canada walk in i thought to myself, "hello friends, i'm coming to visit!"
• being together with my family as we all met in slc to attend a few events. it was amazing to be at the olympics. there was such an incredible feeling there.
  
• i love vancouver! i visited a year and a half ago (during the summer olympic opening ceremonies) and fell in love. i decided at that time that i could totally live there. it is the best of both worlds, a big cosmopolitan city and gorgeous mountains and tons of outdoor activities.
• a love for canada in general. when they were doing the piece on canada and the usa's relationship (before the opening ceremonies started) i got teary.
  
• listening to "oh canada" and remembering how we sang it at every zone conference (i sang along in my head, except the french part)

while this post seems like a tribute to canada, don't worry, i am cheering for the usa!! i am a proud american (who just happens to be a lover of canada).

ps - it is so hard for me to watch anyone, from any country crash. my heart just breaks for them.

beautiful

i love flowers. i love to get flowers. dave picked up on this early in our courtship (actually even before we started dating). it wasn't unusual for me to get a dozen roses from him for no reason at all. i loved it. then we got married and i had to put a stop to the flower giving. not because i didn't love it, but because it got expensive real fast. he has obliged the no flowers rule for the most part, but i still get flowers on special occasions and i'm ok with that! these are the flowers i got for my birthday. they are gorgeous! and dave took this fantastic picture that captured how perfectly they bloomed. i just had to share. as a side note, i am done with winter. i am ready for warmth and color and flowers blooming in yards. especially my parent's yard and garden, it is amazing! i better pray for patience (especially considering that snow is in the forecast for tomorrow).

it's that time of year again

today as i left the grocery store i saw it...the table in front of the store stacked with glorious boxes of cookies and staffed by little girls in green vests. it is GIRL SCOUT COOKIE time! i am so excited (obviously, this is getting its own post)! last year i didn't get to fully enjoy this fabulous "season" because i was still at the point of my pregnancy where i just wasn't into sweets (i still don't know who that person was because it couldn't have been me). i think i still bought a box because i couldn't pass it up. so this year i am going to take full advantage. of course i didn't have cash on me today (i would have definitely selected the cash back option when i was paying for my groceries if i would have only known what awaited me outside), so i am just plotting when i can get back there and get me a box (or five) of tagalongs!

happy valentine's day!

from my favorite little baby valentine

his shirt says "the ladies love me." it's the truth (although i am biased).

shirt compliments of aunt erin and uncle john. thanks guys! we love it!

7 months

playing with/eating the paper is now definitely his

favorite part of taking these monthly pictures

check out all that drool! compliments of teething.

these days logan is:

• talking more and making all sorts of new noises. more a-da and ba sounds.
• throwing things. his sippy cup, spoon, rings, blocks etc.
• waving his arms around. especially when he gets excited. it's so fun to watch.
• banging on tables, his bumbo chair tray (especially when we're taking too long in between giving him bites of peaches).
• constantly reaching for ANYTHING within arms reach. and he is fast!
• looking up and giving me big smiles after he is done nursing. he's done this for a long time and i am glad he still does.
• lifts his legs up and lets them bang down against the mattress when we lay him down in his crib.
• when we open the door to get him out of the car he turns and looks at us with the biggest smile, like we are the greatest people on earth. it sure makes us feel good.
• while sitting, pushing his toys away and then trying to pull them back to him.
• mesmerized by older kids and watching them play.
• kicks, wiggles, squeals and smiles when we come to get him up from his crib.
• loves attention. if you talk to him and smile at him you are bound to get a big smile back.
• he has started to reach his arms up when he wants to be picked up. it makes me feel warm and fuzzy!
• he just started sleeping on his side.

recent firsts

first time in a restaurant high chair

no more slings at the restaurant for his car seat. this kid likes to be

able to look around and be part of it all.

first walk in the (real) stroller

(without his car seat attached)

first mohawk

you may have to look closely, but there is hair there :)

first superbowl

first tooth

you will definitely have to look close to see it.

it is on his bottom, right side, just barely poking up. i think because he's teething he also had his first cough and runny nose. he didn't have a temperature and it didn't seem to bother him at all, but from his nose to his chin he was "glistening" with snot and drool!

first time to the movies (no picture)

who knows why we didn't take advantage of this more when he was younger, but even at (almost) 7 months he was a rock star and slept through almost the whole thing. he woke up about 30 minutes before it ended (it was a long movie) and ate and then chilled and watch the last 10 minutes.

i know some of these are silly, but i wanted to remember them anyway!

i don't want to work...

i want to bang on the drum all day

one year older and (hopefully) wiser too

dave and i have birthdays 2 weeks apart and since i didn't manage to blog about his birthday earlier (and since i didn't take too many pictures of either occasion...for once), i thought i would do a joint birthday blog post (really it's because i'm feeling lazy).

david's 28th!

logan and i headed downtown on dave's birthday to meet him for lunch. dave's request was mad greens and it was really good (be careful if you add too many extras to your salad or sandwich though because it gets pricey. but we were willing to splurge since it was a birthday meal)! i always love getting to see dave mid-day on a weekday!

that night logan and i gave him a list of 28 reasons why we love him (there's so many more, but 28 was in honor of his 28th birthday)

a photo album for his desk at work (mainly pictures of logan, the star of the family)

and of course the long awaited nerf gun (spotlighted in this previous post)

yes, it's pretty fancy with a scope and everything!

i love when i find the perfect gift for dave (which doesn't always happen). this year it was a private fly-fishing lesson to go along with waders from his parents (and the rod and reel i got him last christmas). it was a big hit and made me soo happy that he enjoyed it so much. a big shout out to david at bass pro shops. he went above and beyond and has my business from now on!

dave decided to have a halo night with some of his guy friends. it was much cooler because he borrowed a projector from work and didn't have to play on our crappy tv.

stephanie's 29th!

it's almost impossible for me to believe that this is my last year of my 20's. how did i get so old (my mom told me she was wondering the same thing. especially since i am her baby)?! since i am older than dave, he delights in reminding me how close to 30 i am. dave took my birthday off and we had a great day.

• perfume to make me smell good
• earrings to make me look pretty
• yoga (just me, dave watched logan)
• breakfast (i think breakfast food is my favorite food. besides sweets of course)
• new running shoes (so expensive, but so worth it. i ran faster the next day and i attribute it to my new shoes)
• beautiful roses (yellowish, tipped with reddish/orange...that is the official color :)
• indian food for dinner. it is my favorite. it is not dave's favorite. we headed to a restaurant in our neighborhood and it was fantastic! even dave liked it which means there is more indian food in our future (which makes me very happy)!!
• 
  
  and of course it feels so nice to be remembered by friends and family...texts, phone calls, emails, cards. and i just have to say that i love facebook for the fact that i can get birthday wishes from people i haven't talked to in 10 years (i'm not being sarcastic. i think it is great. yea for facebook!)
• the night of my birthday i was surprised by a few friends that showed up at my door with yummy birthday treats! dave arranged it since he knows how much i love surprises, treats and talking the night away with friends. so far i am feeling good about 29, even if it does feel super old!

i am my funniest self in the shower

that title really drew you in, didn't it?

me, fresh out of the shower, trying to capture brilliance before it flees away

i often think about blog posts while i am in the shower. i "compose" what i am going to say in my head while i scrub away. and let me tell you, those posts are clever, witty and hilarious. but something happens from the time in the shower to when i sit down at my computer. it's all gone...the wit and humor and flowing sentences. and it never comes out as good as i imagined it. maybe i need a computer in the shower or a tape recorder to talk into (both of which i realize are unrealistic and problematic). i do wish there was a way to capture my "shower thoughts" when they are at their peak though. oh well. just know, this post was also way better in my head, in the shower.

ps - i went to get logan up from his nap wearing my towel turban (as pictured above). i picked him up, he took one look at me and his lip began to quiver and he started to cry. i don't think he recognized me. that or i looked really scary and it brought him to tears.

it's monday...

back to work!

in need of a new day

today i have been feeling kind of blah and frumpy (the blahness was probably caused in part by the frumpiness and the fact that i didn't workout, which always makes me feel blah). frumpy as in i didn't shower and wore a hat all day and worn out jeans and a shirt that doesn't seem to fit quite right and no makeup and ran errands but still didn't seem to accomplish all i needed to (the last part of which i guess could be the case most days). even when i am feeling (and looking) my most frumpy, somehow dave still tells me beautiful, which is amazing and wonderful (isn't love great?!). but still, it's nice when i feel it too. which is why i am happy to be crawling into bed right now (and cuddling up to my loving husband) and waking up to a new day (that will hopefully be frumpy free)!