Jill, Bill and Jaci

Moving On

2011-05-09T14:01:00.000-06:00

I know it has been FOREVER since I posted anything on here and I think it is time to close it down and move on. As most of you probably know, Bill and I got a divorce a few months ago and he is now getting remarried, so it is time to say goodbye to this blog.

Thanks to everyone who kept up with us! There may be a new blog in the future so I'll keep you posted!

2010-03-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

This week we celebrated my "little" brother's 17th birthday. We went to dinner at a place called The Keg, and then came home for some of Ryan's favorite dessert, chocolate mousse. The three guys were having a contest to see who is the tallest. In this picture, they're all standing up perfectly straight (which is unusual) and on their tippy toes! Rusty still has Ryan by a little bit, but they've both passed up Daddy, who is a shockingly short 6'3"! What good looking guys!

Above is a pic with Noni and 3 of the 4 grandkids, Braden wasn't there because he was spending quality time at the cabin with Nana and Bopy. While they were over we decided to make Cowboy Cookies. I had a lot of help, and by the time we were done, not a whole lot got made into cookies as you can see. But really, this is the best cookie dough EVER! The cookies turned out pretty good too, but they were gone way too fast! This is one of the few times Berk and Jaci aren't yelling at each other!

Aren't we cute! Jaci and I kind of matched for church today, so we decided to take a few pictures. She is such a smart and silly little girl. She has us laughing constantly with her new phrases! For example, she came up behind my dad while he was sitting on the floor, put her arms around his neck, kissed his cheek and said "Pops, you're really hot!"

2010-03-20T09:11:00.004-06:00

Here are just a few updates.

Jaci thought it would be fun to NOT take a nap and to instead draw all over herself and the bathroom door with a blue marker!

What a nerd! She's wearing her fireman helmet from firehouse subs and my glasses!

Going out for my brother (Rusty) and uncle's (Todd) birthdays. We went to Ruths Chris, which I had never been to before. This is just a pic of the girls! Man, I'm a giant!

Poor Jaci had pneumonia and had to do breathing treatments, but she took it like a champ! She was so good about telling it was time for her breathing treatments and that she was ready for her medicine. It was yucky, but she took it so good because she wanted to feel better.

For Valentine's Day Noni (her grandma) made her a giant heart cookie. Yummy! Except I don't think Jaci actually ate much of it!

Her new "big girl" bed. She's FINALLY pretty much stopped taking a bottle and so she graduated to a toddler bed!

Jaci dancing with prince charming (Pops) on his birthday. After all she is a "beautiful princess", or so she tells us several times a day!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T22:31:00.002-07:00

Sorry MOM! I know I'm a slacker. Okay, Jaci is getting so big...I know I say that every time, but it's true. She does so many things and says so many new phrases. There are cute ones like "I love you sugar mommy" and "don't worry mommy, I'm okay" and the not so cute ones like "No, don't touch me, stay there" and "MINE!" And, she has started saying our evening prayer...she's still very stuck on Halloween and her prayer sounds something like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, thankful for this day, thankful we can go to bed, thankful Jaci was a witch, and Grammy was a witch, and Daddy was a cowboy, and Mommy was a cowboy, name of Jesus Christ, Amen." She has said that same prayer since Halloween...I guess we need some other fun memorable things to happen!

I don't have much to say about these first two pictures. I think Jaci was singing in the above picture and the one below I thought was just super cute of her profile. She was very intent on coloring a picture of Mickey Mouse.

Anyway, for Thanksgiving, Bill's parents came into town and we have had a great time together so far! We've had dominoes and Wii bowling tournaments and have just had a lot of fun... even if Bill has had to study the whole time. It's mostly been me and Jaci and the in-laws. Luckly, I was very blessed with in-laws and we get along really well.

For Thanksgiving day we went down to the New Orleans area to spend the day with my mother-in-law's family. We had great food and a lot of fun. One of Melanie's nephews has a son a little older than Jaci, and the two of them hit it off. They drove around in Logan's power wheels car...well, Jaci drove Logan around, and around and around...moslty in circles, but they had a lot of fun. I also caught them sneaking off upstairs and holding hands! They also hid under the table telling everyone it was their clubhouse.

Aren't they cute!

Below is a video of Jaci and her Grammy (Bill's mom) playing with a singing Christmas puppy that she brought...and is taking home with her for Jaci to enjoy when we come to visit! She was so silly with it.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T23:06:00.003-06:00

I'm finally getting back to life! We just got back from Arizona where we had a GREAT time and we've just been going going going since! I'll be putting up our pictures from Disneyland (hopefully) sometime this week...once all the commotion dies down! Melanie (Bill's mom) got here the same day we got back and we've been having a great time with her. She has family here from England and we've been spending time with them as well. I love it! I could listen to them just talk all day long!

Anyway, if you can't tell Jaci was a witch for Halloween. And if I do say so myself, she is the cutest little witch to ever fly a broom! I dug stuff out of my closet that I actually used to wear and was a cowgirl. Bill had a few things, and a few he borrowed from my dad to become Sheriff Bill. Jaci has a cowgirl outfit too and we thought it would be fun to all match, but she looks so cute as a witch and I worked hard on that costume (yes, I made it), so we decided not to. Jaci had so much fun getting dressed up in her costume and LOVED going Trick or Treating. She'd go up to every person and say "Trick or Treat...Thanks". And she is very protective of her candy! But, she's going to have to give up most of it to the GREAT PUMPKIN so he can give her a prize in place of all her candy. He's a little too busy tonight, so we're going to call him and reschedule for tomorrow!

This is one of our Disneyland pictures. We got to got to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at California Adventure one night after the park closed. We got to meet a few characters that night including Leo and June from Playhouse Disney's Little Einsteins!

Okay, my Daddy always has some of the best costumes. While we were in AZ we went to our big annual Mortensen Halloween Party. Daddy is like one of the only adults to dress up, but he's always got an amazing costume! This year he was a scarecrow. Perfect picture right?!!?!

This is me and my Nana! I love Nana and I miss her so much when we're in Louisiana. Nana is one of my very best friends in all the land! She taught me to sew, and to cook a lot as well. Love you Nana!

2009-10-09T16:18:00.000-06:00

My little girl is so big! She's not my baby anymore, she's definitely a little girl! She loves playing pretend and dress up these days. I'll have to take some more pictures in some of her costumes. She found her tinkerbelle costume from last year and had to put it on, and another time she found my old cowgirl belt with my name on it and made me put it on her, then she went and found boots, and I let her wear my cowboy hat. She ran skipped around the house yelling "Yee Haw"! She is so silly. She even sings in the shower!

Anyway, today she said she wanted to go pee pee on the potty, so I got her brand new potty chair that my mom bought her out of the box and set it up. She decided she needed to read a book while she tried. Nothing actually happened, but I'm proud of her for wanting to try. Although, I'd rather stick to diapers for a while. I'm not sure I want to go through potty training yet!

Yesterday, I finally finished this Halloween skirt I've been working on. I'll explain it more on my other blog. I love the colors for Halloween and it's my favorite holiday to decorate for. I made Jaci her Halloween costume, which I will show after Halloween, and then this skirt and bow.

Jaci and I are excited for next week! We are going to Arizona and then driving over to Disneyland with my family. It will be Jaci's first trip to Disney and I think she'll love it. She loves Mickey Mouse and Pooh, so I'm excited for her!

Water Baby

2009-09-08T10:56:00.002-06:00

So, I decided to teach Jaci REALLY early about doing dishes....OR NOT! Every time I go to do dishes she has to be right beside me playing in the water. That doesn't last long though. She pushes me out of the way and most of the time I have to just move the dirty dishes out of the sink so she can play. She would do this for hours at a time if I would let her. The pros: it keeps her busy so I can get things done and she's happy and talking and singing "row, row, row your boat". The cons: she gets water EVERYWHERE, she SCREAMS when I make her stop, and then I can't actually DO any dishes!

She's just so dang cute, I just can't say no, so I let her 'do dishes' for a little while. She's playing in the sink right now and singing a bunch of songs, which is letting me get this done!

On another note, we had a BBQ in our backyard yesterday and invited some friends from our ward. It wasn't anything big, but we had a good time. Bill used the fire pit in the backyard to do hamburgers and he had some giant buckets of water (for fire safety) and the kids all played in those most of the time and came away SOAKED to the bone! There's just something with Jaci and water lately!

Two's the TuTu

2009-09-07T11:35:00.003-06:00

Last week I started making Jaci's Halloween costume. It's a little early, I KNOW, but I knew if I kept putting it off it would never get done and Halloween would come too fast and then I'd be in big trouble. ANYWAY, I made her a Halloween colored tutu. It is super full, way fuller than it needs to be, but she loves it. She wore it all day the day I made it and then first thing the next morning she wanted to wear it again.

I didn't really want her wearing out this part of her Halloween costume too early, so I made her a pink and purple one she can wear anytime...and she does. Even over her other clothes! I made this one about half as full as the last and it's about perfect.

Jaci is such a little girl and loves to dress up like a princess! She had it on the other day and was playing in her room and I heard her talking in there saying "Here comes the princess Jaci". It was so cute!

2 Times the Owie

2009-08-20T10:51:00.001-06:00

So, I see what happens when someone other than me watches my sweet little girl. She comes home with some sort of a scrape and a black eye on her left eye. Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect, but this has happened twice now. The picture above shows when she fell off of a diving board at my sister's friend's house and scraped her face along the brick. (Don't worry Kelcie, I'm still not mad at you!) Kelcie took her to her friend's house to go swimming and Jaci wanted to jump off the diving board like the big kids! Kelcie felt horrible and cried for like half an hour after it happened because she felt so bad. I love you Kelc!

This time happened last night. I went to Book Club with my friend Erin. (I don't normally go, but they were discussing "The Hunger Games" and I loved the book, so I decided to go.) Anyway, Bill took Jaci over to Adam and Erin's house to play with their son Daniel while we were gone. And I came back to Jaci with this little butterfly bandaid thing by her eye. Apparently, Bill had some ice cream in a mug and Jaci dove for it and hit her eye. It was a blunt edge, so she must have hit it really hard. Poor baby. When I tried to clean it she just sat still and whimpered. It was so sad!

This is what it looked like when she got up this morning. It spread into a little black eye. So now that's the 2nd one in two weeks! I asked her if she's a big tough girl and she says, "Yes, I a big tough girl". Luckily, it hasn't bothered her too much!

Mommy's Little Helper

2009-08-17T10:24:00.006-06:00

Jaci has decided that mommy does fun things in the kitchen and she wants to help! She helps alright! She helps make sure that everything tastes okay before I give it to anyone else! In the picture above I was making some muffins and she kept grabbing the chocolate chips on top and also taking a big pinch of the dough and eating it! Therefore, some of the muffins turned out a little small and a little lacking in chocolate! But how can you deny that face anything!

She found out at my mom's house that she could drag the bar chair anywhere she wanted so she could be high enough to see or help! She dragged that thing all over the house!

I know, these are a little belated. These are from our time in Arizona this summer and unfortunately we aren't there anymore. We had so much fun and we miss everyone so much already. Especially since Caryn (my SIL) decided to wait to have her baby TWO (2) days after I left! You can see him here. He's a cutie!

Summer in Arizona...so far

2009-07-29T12:30:00.003-06:00

Okay, well, we have done a lot since we've been in Arizona this summer. We've had 2 trips to Lake Powell, a trip to Colorado, spent a weekend at the cabin with my grandparents, and just had a lot of fun. My dad bought a brand new wakeboarding boat, but I don't have any pictures of that. It is NICE though. At the lake we learned to wake surf, which is apparently the new cool thing to do. It was fun, but no one took pictures of me doing it. I had too many pictures to show, and I don't even have half of them, so I decided to do a montage with all the stuff instead.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jaci's First Haircut

2009-07-20T19:47:00.005-06:00

We've done some fun things since our trip to Lake Powell, but I didn't have the pictures from our trip to Colorado, and then we went to the cabin with my grandparents, Nana and Bopy, and I left my camera there. I'll be getting it back tomorrow! We do have one exciting thing to document...Jaci got her first official hair cut. She's 2, I know, but before now I just couldn't make myself cut anything but her bangs, but I decided it was getting kind of long and scraggly!

This is before.

This is after

This is my mom's friend Jennifer, that we've known FOREVER!!! She had these wonderful muffins that she's getting me the recipe for, so when I try those I'll put them up on my other blog. Jaci actually did a lot better than I thought she would. She HATES even getting her hair brushed or put up for the day, but after she got her popsicle she did REALLY well. She sat fairly still and it went pretty smoothly. I've tried to blow dry her hair before too and she freaked out, but she just sat there while Jennifer did it today!

We'll see how this haricut works out. She has this horrible cowlick on the back of her head that makes most of her hair fall straight forward into her face...and she HATES her hair in her face! But for now I think her hair is adorable and now she won't look so much like a ragamuffin! Thanks again, Jennifer!

This is the best after picture I could get today. Even though she was good getting her hair cut, when she was done, she was DONE. There will be more pictures to come because we're going to Lake Powell again this weekend! My dad just bought a new wakeboarding boat, so I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures coming!

Lake Powell!!!

2009-07-01T15:09:00.000-06:00

Well we just got back from our yearly trip to Lake Powell. We had so much fun, and Jaci LOVED it! Last year she SCREAMED when she had to put her life jacket ON, and this year she threw a HUGE temper tantrum when she had to take her life jacket OFF. She would have worn it the whole time if I'd let her. She is a little fishy! I guess it's time to get her in swimming lessons.

We went on the tube a ton and Jaci didn't ever want to get off that either. My dad started driving a little crazy, even with Jaci on it, but she would not get scared off of it. Everytime I asked her if she wanted to get off she'd say "no, no, no, no, no" or "hmm-mmm" and adamantly shake her head NO! She was so funny because she'd scream....after the bump was over, and just because we did!

The kids liked going to the beach and getting to be on stable land for a little while! The second time we went to a beach to play in sand, Jaci threw her biggest tantrum of the trip. She screamed bloody murder for at least 45 minutes straight. She did NOT want to get out of the water. Then she'd calm down and I'd take her life jacket off and she'd start all over again.

Wow! I'm so white I could be a vampire! Usually Lake Powell helps with that a little bit, but NO. I got a little burned a couple of days and then it went away...back to pasty white!

There are more pictures to come, including the annual "Tireless" life preserver picture, but those are on Caryn's camera, so I'll have to wait!

Jaci's Photo Shoot

2009-06-13T17:05:00.000-06:00

I've been wanting to get some pictures taken of Jaci for a while. Lucky for me, my friend Lindsay is starting up a business and used Jaci to build her portfolio...and let me tell you, if she can get some good pictures of Jaci, she can take good pictures of ANYONE. Jaci absolutely HATES getting her picture taken...so Lindsay, you are amazing! This one with the bubble in front of her face turned out really cool!

In this one I think she lookes like a model posing for a magazine!

Yummy hair! I can't believe we got all these good ones! There are a bunch more too, along with the grumpy faces, but these were some of my favorites...along with the new topper for the blog...that one is my absolute favorite! She looks so precious!

Since my last post we've had my grandparents, Nana and Bopy, come to visit and today we had Jaci's friend birthday party. I'll post those pictures later, but I was so excited to get these ones today that I had to put them on first! I'm going to get several of them blown up and framed! Yay!

Watermelon Skirt

2009-06-02T20:45:00.000-06:00

We've had a busy week! Bill's parents were in town and we had a great time with them! We miss them already! We went up to Mississippi to visit with Big Bill's family and down to New Orleans for a crawfish boil with Melanie's family. Big Bill and I had a good time on the shooting range, and Melanie and I went shopping just about everywhere. They were in town for a wedding an dwe had a wonderful visit! On one rare quiet night during their visit (during the rehearsal dinner when I couldn't get a babysitter), I threw together this little skirt. I think it is adorable! I saw a baby bib like this and I figured I could make a cute watermelon skirt. I LOVE IT! It is so perfectly summery! I have a candle from Gold Canyon that smells like watermelon jolly ranchers and it helped inspire this skirt.

We are so excited for this coming week too because my grandparents are coming out from Arizona for a visit! I can't wait to see Nana and Bopy for a few days! We'll probably be doing a lot of driving...my grandpa wants to go see just about every plantation and antebellum home within 75 miles! We're excited to play tourguide and eat yummy food!

Jaci Turned 2!!!

2009-05-23T21:20:00.001-06:00

I can't believe that my little baby turned 2 today! It doesn't seem possible that it was two years ago that they put that sweet little baby girl in my arms for the first time! We have had so many good, sweet times since then. Her favorite place to be is still in her mommy's arms! Everyday I look at her and can't believe how "grown up" she is. She isn't a baby anymore, but a little girl. I love her so much and I am so lucky because she loves me so much too! I just hope that lasts forever! I love getting to spend my days playing with her and watching her grow. She is so smart and it is so fun hearing her talk and tell me all sorts of stories. She loves to sing, and that is my favorite sound in the world.

Bill's parents came in town last night so they could celebrate Jaci's birthday with us. Jaci had a great birthday! We started out the day at the park for a ward picnic. Then tonight, we had a little party for her and Bill. (Bill's birthday was 3 days ago.) She LOVED her presents! Bill and I gave her a sandbox (along with a few other things). Bill's parents gave her a little picnic table and umbrella for the backyard and some sand toys, and my parents gave her a little dolly and a baby bed and stroller for the doll. My sister-in-law made her some beautiful necklaces (including the one she's wearing in the top picture), and my "little" brother gave her some "treasure". She also got some great presents from Bill's cousins, including: dress up shoes, coloring books, crayons, and tinker bell dishes. Thank you everyone!!!

For the party, I spent all day yesterday baking. I made a Red Velvet Cake for Bill, a giant cupcake cake for Jaci, a pan of my brother's favorite Chocolate Dessert, and homemade Strawberry Ice Cream!!!

More Sewing and Baking

2009-05-15T22:06:00.003-06:00

Okay, here is another one of my latest creations. I saw this little skirt on a couple of blogs and I decided I had to try it. I have stuff to try it in some other colors too, and I'm going to make it a little shorter next time, but I think it turned out pretty cute! I'm having so much fun sewing! I'm going a little crazy with patterns and fabric and everything and my guest room is a disaster with all my stuff spread out everywhere, but oh well! It will all have to be cleaned up by next weekend when Bill's parents come.

She didn't like that I took one of her chairs outside, so she promptly took it back inside "where it goes"...lined up with the other 3 right in front of the TV.

I've also been doing some baking. I'm putting together a cookbook of my favorite recipes and I'm trying to take pictures of them to put in the book as well. These are two that I tried out on some of my friends and they LOVED them! Above are Peanut Butter Polka Dot Bars and below are German Chocolate Bars! Yummy!

Mommy's Sewing Again!!!

2009-05-12T12:44:00.000-06:00

I have recently really gotten back in to sewing. I have been looking up all these different sewing blogs to find ideas. I have so many ideas right now...now I just have to find time to do them! Although, with Bill done with his first year of law school (finally!), I have someone to watch the little miss, so I can get some stuff done! A few people had said they liked the book "Weekend Sewing" by Heather Ross, so I decided to try it out. In it, there was this little smocked dress and I couldn't wait to try it. It was really quick, I made this one last night while I was watching "One Tree Hill". I think it turned out pretty good! If only I could get Jaci to pose for a picture!

I'm trying to use up all my scrap fabric that I have taking up a bunch of space in my guest closet. I've got to get all my burp rags and baby blankets and changing pads made soon! If anybody wants to order anything, just leave me a comment and let me know! I'm also trying out a bunch of other cute ideas! I'll definitely have more pictures to come!

On another note, we had a great time with my mom in town last week! I miss her already! Jaci doesn't know what to do without her here to wake up in the mornings! Bill's parents are coming soon for a visit and we're excited to see them too! Bring on the Dominos! I'll have to think of a good prize for the running winner for the week!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T18:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter! I know it's been a while since I posted anything. We've done a lot though. Jaci and I spent 3 weeks in Arizona and had a wonderful time! While we were there we celebrated 3 birthdays (including mine)!

Today we did an Easter Egg hunt and Jaci LOVED it! She got so excited everytime she found an egg! She'd yell "EGG!" and run over to it really fast.

I also baked a bunch of cookies to take around to some neighbors and friends...these are some of the cutest ones!

Pitty Flowie

2009-02-22T17:17:00.003-07:00

Okay, not much going on here. Bill's time is pretty much all taken up with school. I get through the week thanks to mutual on Tuesday nights and our playgroup on Wednesdays. We were at the store the other day and I was really excited to see tulips! Yay! I bought some and Jaci was completely fascinated. She kept begging me for a pitty flowie (pretty flower). I gave her one and got some pretty cute pictures. Today she wanted another one and she said, "want flowie", so she's starting to put words together more. That's the first time I've heard her say "want". I can't believe how big my little girl is getting and how long her hair is! She is such a sweetie! She loves to try and count things. Anything she finds that there is a bunch of she counts "1,2,3,5,8,9,8,9,8,9...10" She gets stuck like a broken record on "8,9", it's pretty funny!

I taught my first lesson today in Young Womens and I think it went pretty well. I was nervous until I actually started teaching and then I was calm and it went great. It didn't hurt that I made cinnamon rolls for the girls. What can I say? If I have to buy their love with yummy things then I will!

We are headed down to the New Orleans area in a couple of days for Mardi Gras. We're going to see some family friendly parades. I don't understand why it's so exciting, but Bill gets 2 days off school for it, so that's good I guess.

Things are going well down here in Louisiana! We still miss our family, but things are definitely improving!

January Happenings

2009-01-30T10:40:00.007-07:00

Okay, okay...I know it's been a while since I updated this thing. Truthfully, not much has been going on. Bill has been back in school for a little while and Jaci and I basically just play all day. I have started making a few friends from the ward and that's been great. I was called to be the Beehive advisor in my ward and it's been fun so far. Jaci is definitely getting bigger. She says "thank you" and "welcome" and "bless you". She is s little sweetheart most of the time. She's also improved her tantrums. She fully lays on the floor and bangs her fists and feet. It's actually kind of entertaining. She loves books. The only way she willing goes to bed is if Bill or I read her a book first.
Honestly, not much has really happened lately. Just boring every day stuff. We're doing well and I really am getting used to living here a little. A couple of Bill's cousins have asked me to go with them for some girls night out stuff and that has helped me a lot. Friends make all the difference. I still miss my family so much, but I'm learning to live with it!

Christmas

2008-12-26T20:04:00.006-07:00

I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. This month has just flown by! Jaci made out like a bandit this year with so much great stuff! She got a little motorized quad, a tricycle, a swing, a little table and chairs, a kitchen, and so much more smaller stuff. She was so overwhelmed! In fact, she was so overwhelmed she was really cranky. She had to have 2 naps, instead of her usual one.

Bill and I made out well too. My parents gave us a big huge flatscreen TV! I also got a cordless vacuum and some cute decorations and stuff. Bill got tons of LSU stuff, including: a leather jacket, blankets, sunglasses, etc.

It was a really good day! Bill's parents got in town this week and spent the Holiday with us! My parents and Ryan and Kelcie get in town TONIGHT! Bill's parents are staying with some of their other family while my family is here. We have had a great time with them so far!

Although there was snow here not too long ago, Christmas was almost 80 degrees. Crazy! Also, last weekend we were able to go to the temple and seal Melanie (Bill's mom) to her parents and sister. It was a wonderful experience!

Fun in the Valley of the Sun

2008-12-07T14:40:00.008-07:00

Well, Jaci and I have been in Arizona for almost 2 weeks. We only have one week left and it feels like we just got here. We've had a lot of fun though. Thanksgiving was so yummy, I'm really craving some more stuffing and rolls! The day after Thanksgiving, we all drove out to the sand dunes in California by the Mexican border. We had a really good time and Jaci loved playing in the sand all day! We had no major injuries, so it was a good day!

Also, I got to go out with some of my oldest friends! It was so good to see them...we had so much fun together back in the day! We went to one of our favorite places, Bahama Bucks! Yummy! It was fun getting together with our kids...I just wish we could have hung out a little longer. Oh well...next time!

Other than that, we haven't really done anything huge. We've just been relaxing and having fun with family! I reread all the "Twilight" series after I saw the movie the first time (loved it!), so that took up most of the first two weeks here.I also tried to do a photo shoot with her for our Christmas card, but that didn't work. She is the most uncooperative child when it comes to getting her picture taken, plus the camera was on a wierd setting so all the pictures came out blurry...it was my dad's high tech camera, so I couldn't figure it out. Oh, Jaci went to nursery today for the first time with her cousin Berkley. She screamed most of the time when they made her stop playing with the play kitchen...until snack time. Hopefully, she'll get used to it!

Just Hangin' Around

2008-11-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Jaci since people have been bugging me to update the blog. Jaci's favorite thing to do is sit in her toybox and watch tv. She also loves her "ooh ooh ahh ahh" (Curious George stuffed animal) that Nana sent her. Her current favorite words are: "up, up, uppy". Right now, Jaci and I are in Arizona visiting my family for Thanksgiving! Bill decided that with finals coming next week, he couldn't take the time off for a break, so he's staying there and going up to Mississippi for Thanksgiving. We have some fun plans for while we're down in Arizona and we're so excited! We'll keep it updated now with pictures of our activities. We are planning on going 4 wheeling at the Dunes with our quads and new RHINO! Hope everyone has a great Holiday!

Halloween

2008-11-01T10:23:00.004-06:00

Happy Halloween! Jaci dressed up as Tinker Bell and she was adorable. My mom came a few days ago and gets to spend a little over a week with us. We're having a great time relaxing and shopping and reading, etc. Our Halloween was pretty much over by the time the 31st rolled around. We went to 2 church Halloween parties and that was enough candy for Jaci. She didn't care at all about going around trick or treating. She's not patient enough to walk from house to house, or even car to car for the trunk or treats. She justs wants to run around, so we didn't do any trick or treating on the actual holliday. We're going to dress her up one more time to show my mom though. Today we're headed down to New Orleans to show my mom around a little. She's never been here, so we're going to do a little sight seeing and she really wants to try some Beignets. In fact, we better get going!

Baton Rouge

2008-10-25T10:48:00.003-06:00

Well, we've been down South here in Baton Rouge in our new house for a few weeks now. It's getting close to being done and when it is (and clean) I'll take a few pictures. I've got to get it done really quickly since my mom is coming to visit on Wednesday! Yay! We want to be able to go do fun stuff and not unpack while she's here, so I've got to get the majority of it done in the next few days. Especially the guest room...that room's gotten a little neglected so far.

Jaci is finally settling in a little bit. She's getting more comfortable, although she does get a little bored. We stay home most of the time, but we do go to Target or Wal-Mart about once a day (those are the only placed I can finally get to without the GPS). That's about all we get out of the house though. We don't really know anyone yet to do anything with.

Jaci is growing up so fast. Her hair is getting longer and she loves watching "My Friends: Tigger and Pooh" and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". Whenever they count anything she says "six, eight, eight, eight".

Bill is up to his ears in law school. He's at school from 8-5 every day and even goes to school some Saturdays. He seems to be enjoying most of it, although he says Criminal Law is pretty depressing. Right now we're a little stressed with our carpet. The washing machine was not put in correctly and it flooded. We ended up having to rip up most of the carpet and dry the padding underneath, which was SOAKED. We're finally almost back to normal.

That's about all I can think of to update. We're doing okay, and I'm starting to get used to it, although I still don't love it here. I'm told Baton Rouge grows on you!

Ice Cream, you scream!

2008-10-11T18:37:00.004-06:00

I don't have pics of the place yet because it is a mess, but here are a couple of Jaci.
We were moving boxes from Bill's uncle's house and Jaci was helping.

This was Jaci's first ice cream cone all by herself. She did pretty good and only made a small mess, which was suprising. I think the terrible twos have started. Yesterday she dumped a glass of water into a bin and then onto the floor. Then she dumped out a bag of m&ms. Then she dumped her cup of fruit punch onto the floor of my car. Agh! It's not easy to unpack and try to get things cleaned up with a little monster on the loose!

Moving in

2008-10-10T08:05:00.003-06:00

Okay, I haven't updated in a while because we don't have internet. In fact, right now I'm mooching off our neighbors wireless signal. I just figured out I could do this last night. Anyway, we are in Baton Rouge, Louisiana trying our best to get moved in to our new place as fast as we can. We found a house that's about a mile and a half from the Temple in a private neighborhood. I'll post some pictures when I get a minute to take some. It's a disaster here though so I don't know if I'll put any on here until we're moved in and it looks decent. We'll see.

Jaci's new favorite show is "My Friends, Tigger and Pooh" on playhouse Disney. I bought a couple movies of it and she watches them constantly. She carries around her stuffed Pooh and Tigger dolls all the time. She laughs at the movies at the right times and copies some of what they say like "Think, think, think", "tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She's getting so big it's crazy. Oh, I really want to decorate her bathroom in Winnie the Pooh, but I can't find any Pooh bath stuff. If anyone can help me out or knows of somewhere to get stuff, PLEASE let me know!

My only complaint so far down here is the traffic. Most of the roads are 2 lane roads and so traffic is always backed up and it takes FOREVER to get anywhere. Hopefully I'll get used to it. I haven't had time with all the unpacking to decide if I like it here or not. I really miss being in Arizona or Utah with my family. The only outside contact Jaci and I get is with cashiers at the stores.

Well, I better get back to packing. I'll put some pictures of something up soon.

Cabin Fever

2008-09-11T23:38:00.006-06:00

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Jaci and I are still having a great time in Arizona, but we're heading down to Louisiana very soon. While we've been here, we have gone to our cabin in Pine, Arizona with Nana and Bopy twice. Jaci loves being there and especially going on quad rides with Bopy. They went on at least 4 a day. When they were finished with the ride she always had to carry both helmets into the house! On Labor Day, Bopy, my uncle Todd and I went on a hike down from the rim in Pine and had a great time. They day was absolutely perfect; it was cloudy and cool and...perfect! We love going to the cabin, it is so relaxing and much cooler than Gilbert.

Jaci is getting so big. She just jabbers and jabbers (we think it's Chinese) and every once in a while she actually says a word we can understand. She has started mimicking some words that I say. She now says "Mommy, baby" or "Mommy, me me me" when she wants me to pick her up and hold her. She also says "bye, ball, kick, 'Pops', 'Bopy', and someitmes she says some phrases that have to do with something we are talking about. She is just so smart and understands everything anyone says, which makes it really frustrating when she ignores me.

As far as Bill is concerned...he is still alive. He survived his first hurricane with no more damage than a power outage. He got the whole week off school and took time to visit some of his family down there.

She has absolutely loved being here with so much family so close. She is going to go crazy when we're down south and she's stuck with just me all day. We are so grateful to my parents for letting us crash with them for so long! Now we just hope we can find a place to live down there!

Arizona "Visit"

2008-08-25T17:32:00.003-06:00

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Hello again. Well, so far, Bill has survived his first week of law school. He is down in Louisiana living at his uncle's house until we find a place to live. I'm just procrastinating the time when we have to move to Louisiana. In the meantime, Jaci and I are staying in Arizona at my parent's house. They love having her here. They said she was absolutely perfect when she was down here without me, but since I've shown up, she's become a little more...moody. She still loves it here though. We went up to the cabin with Nana and Bopy a couple weekends ago and she was Bopy's girl. He took her on quad rides and wagon rides. She could have ridden the quad forever, she never wanted to get off. We're just biding our time and I'm trying to do a lot of research on the internet to try to find a place to rent in Baton Rouge. It's getting frustrating. Anyway, Jaci is still growing like crazy and she doesn't miss a thing. We were at church yesterday and she saw the chorister leading the hymn and Jaci started waving her arm like she did. She is so smart. She loves being here with "mommy, Ketsie (Kelcie), Pop papa, Boppa, Noni, Nana, and Kakey (Berkley)". She and Berkley decided they want to play Wii Fit like everyone else and they both want to learn to play the piano. Most of the time they get along pretty good now. We miss Utah and I still keep thinking of it as home and that we're going back, but...no. A whole new adventure awaits us in the South.

LSU, Here we come!

2008-08-06T13:09:00.003-06:00

Okay, first off, I'm sorry I haven't posted anything about our amazing cruise through Europe, but things have been a little hectic. If you want to read about it, visit Rusty and Caryn's website here

Now for the news...it's official...we're moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bill was accepted to LSU law school and he's ecstatic! He's always dreamed of going to LSU and now he finally gets the chance. So, this week I'm extremely busy trying to get everything packed because we leave on Saturday. It shouldn't be too hard since I sent Jaci down to Arizona with my aunt Steph (thanks again!) to spend time with my family down there so I could pack in peace. It's a little difficult when she wants to "help" me pack. She puts random things in drawers and boxes and takes other things out. For instance, we've been packing for over a week and thanks to her I can't find my camera (still) and one shoe. I miss her though, I keep thinking I hear her everywhere. Anyway, we've got a big few weeks ahead of us. We have no idea where we're going to live and school starts in about a week and a half. If I can ever find my camera, I'll get a few pictures on here, but for now this will have to do! We've had a great time living in Utah and we're going to miss everyone, especially Bill's parents. You guys are great and thanks for all your help with everything!

Lake Powell

2008-07-02T12:58:00.002-06:00

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I know I'm a little behind since we got home from Lake Powell over a week ago, but I was a slacker and didn't take any pictures so I had to get them from Kelcie and Caryn. Thanks guys! Anyway, we had so much fun up there. We always have a great time just relaxing and playing on the water. Jaci loved getting to go swimming and she liked getting to ride in the boat. She and I even got to go jet skiing together and she fell asleep!!! We went and stayed on my dad's houseboat with my parents, Kelcie, Ryan, Rusty's family, and Bill's parents. Jaci is a smart little firecracker and figured out how to undo the latches on the little gates on the boat. She even tried to teach Berkley and so we had to tie latches up so they couldn't do that. We couldn't find anything to do it with, so Caryn used straws. Pretty crafty! We had a great time tubing, wakeboarding and relaxing. As always, my favorite parts are the sunset cruises. Thanks Daddy! No place has sunsets like Lake Powell. Jaci and I drove home with my parents to Arizona so Jaci could go to the doctor before our big cruise through Europe. Bill comes to join us in a couple of days and then off to Venice! We are so excited! However, Jaci and Berkley are getting to act too much like siblings. Last night we put them together in the pack and play and they wresled. Well, Berkley wrestled and Jaci just kept trying to give him kisses. She doesn't take much crap from him anymore though. If he pushes her, she just pushes him right back! We have so much fun down here around family!

Jaci can walk!

2008-06-10T17:12:00.003-06:00

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It finally happened! She finally got up the courage to take the steps on her own. She was doing one or two at a time for weeks, but this past week my mom was here and she up and started walking. She now walks all the time. She can't stand up by herself yet, but if she pulls herself up against something and is already standing up, she just goes off walking. I can't believe how big my baby is getting. It is so crazy. She is good at letting you know what she wants too. She has gotten good at pointing at things and she is a DRAMA QUEEN. If she doesn't get her way or what she wants she'll throw a fit. It's actually really funny to watch. She'll lay down and roll around and kick her legs. She's a nut! Well, we're getting excited for our trips this summer. We head to Lake Powell next weekend and then only a couple weeks after that we go to Europe! I'm getting so excited. Of course, that means I have to get packing! I have to get the house packed and get Jaci and I packed for the trips. Bill is really excited that as of today there are only 3 more days of school and then he's finally graduated!!! Yay!

Little Red Wagon

2008-05-26T21:44:00.004-06:00

Jaci got all dressed up for her birthday party on Friday. We had a lot of fun with friends and family up here in Utah. Jaci got a lot of fun presents from everyone, including: Eeyore & Pooh stuffed animals, a dolly dressed like a lady bug, a coin collection, lots of cute clothes, a precious moments figurine, a hawaiian girl swimming suit, a blow up pool, chocolate, a book, and her favorite of all...a wagon! I put all the presents people brought to her party in the wagon and when it was time for presents I rolled the whole thing out. She got so excited when she saw the wagon. She started pulling the presents out of it and trying to climb in. She got to sit in it and open the rest of her presents. All she wants to do is sit in it and go for rides. She will almost sleep in it even! We walked Bill to school the other day with it and she turned over and curled up like she was going to sleep. It was so cute! Thanks everyone for making it a great 1st birthday!

Happy Birthday Jaci!

2008-05-23T00:00:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that Jaci is a year old today. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since our precious little girl was born. She is the light of my life and makes every day worth it, even the hard ones when she's cranky. All she has to do is smile at me or randomly come give me a hug to brighten my day. I can't put in to words how much she means to me. This past year has definitely had its difficult moments, but it has had its amazing moments also. Here are just a few of the many reasons I love her!

1. Her smiles!
2. Her hugs and when she just comes and cuddles up on my lap!
3. The way she says "mum mum" or "mmmm" when she takes a bite of macaroni and cheese.
4. The way she always wants to be with mommy and wants to just sit on my lap to watch Baby Einstein.
5. The way she follows me around like a baby duck!
6. Her laugh!
7. The way she sleeps all night!
8. How she likes to "help" me cook!
9. How much she loves shakes!
10. How dang cute she is!

I just love her so much! I never could have imagined that I could love anyone as much as I love her! Her daddy wants me to not forget that he loves her too especially when she gets really excited when she sees him after he comes home from school or work. She is so happy most of the time and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!

Riding the Train

2008-04-21T21:45:00.006-06:00

Saturday Jaci got to ride her first train. Bill's mom, Melanie, works for UTA (Utah Transit Authority) and they are opening up a train that goes from Salt Lake to Ogden, and eventually down to Provo. Last weekend was the family and friends weekend to ride for free, so we all decided to go. It is a very nice train and we had a good time. Jaci tried to get everyone's attention by screaming her high pitched ear shattering scream and trying to crawl down the stairs...it is a double decker train. We got off in Ogden and went to a couple museums while we waited for the return train. We visited an antique car museum with cars from the early 1900s. It was really cool. And then we visited the Browning gun museum, which all the guys loved.

In other news, two new teeth have broken through in Jaci's mouth. The top right canine and a top left molar. I'm checking every day for more. It's getting more dangerous to stick my finger in there to feel though. Jaci has gotten a lot more lovey too. She gives me big hugs and kisses all the time, and most of the time she doesn't even try to bite me when she kisses me anymore! She has loved getting to play outside on the days when it's warm in between the days that it snows (still). We actually got to have a picnic outside for dinner last week. She still hasn't started walking and will only take a couple steps when she's on the grass. Silly girl. She's getting tall too. She can reach things on shelves that I thought would be safe, but no, I'm going to have to do a little more baby proofing I guess. She has gotten a little more finicky about what she'll eat now too. She mostly sticks with waffles, fishy crackers, and mac and cheese. Needless to say, she loves CHEESE. I wonder who she takes after!!!

April showers

2008-04-15T20:13:00.004-06:00

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Hello everyone! Well, this has been a crazy week here in Utah. Yesterday it was a beautiful 80 degrees outside and today it is SNOWING. I can't believe it. I was so excited yesterday. So was Jaci. We got to play in the yard and Jaci even felt brave enough out there to take a couple of steps on her own!!! She's still hasn't worked up her courage in the house though to try and start walking alone. She has however, gotten into the habit of screaming a high pitched ear shattering scream. It's usually a happy scream and very random. Needless to say, I get lots of headaches. As for the video...when we were in Arizona a couple weeks ago, Nana, Jaci and I sewed together and when we got back Jaci wanted to keep sewing. I had some fabric in her closet and she went in there by herself and found it. When I found her she was sitting in her closet sorting through the fabric. It was so cute. Later that night she realized she could get into the drawers in her room if she stands on her tippy toes. She has also started laughing if she hears anyone else laugh. I'll laugh at something and she'll laugh with me, it's so funny. She has a stuffed animal that laughs if you press it's foot and she goes crazy with that. She is getting so big so fast!!! We have so much fun with her, even though we've had to finally put gates up in the house. She is a very curious little girl and wanders all over the house...which the landlord just sold. We are praying that we won't be kicked out before Bill is finished with school and we are able to leave. Speaking of school, Bill has finals this week and then one "term" left. He will be done the end of June, just in time for our cruise!!! No word from any law schools yet, but we'll keep everyone posted.

Happy 24th Birthday!

2008-04-04T10:53:00.002-06:00

We're Back!!!

2008-04-03T14:38:00.005-06:00

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Okay, I know, I know...everyone has been asking me when I'm going to update my blog again. We go through this EVERY time. I'm horrible. I need to set an alarm on my phone to tell me to update this at least once a week. Quite a few things have happened in the month and a half since I wrote last. Jaci is now a full blown crawler and is so close to walking she can taste it. We just got back yesterday from a vacation in sunny Arizona. It was a wonderful vacation. Jaci loved having so many people around to play with all day. She and Berkley tried to play together, but they were both so jealous of each other, neither one would be happy if the other had a toy or a person they wanted. Berkley would push her head away if she got to close to Noni (my mom). We put Jaci on this little green quad that Berkers got for Christmas and at first I pushed the little button to make it go, then I let go and she found the button and kept going! She's so stinkin' smart. We had such a great time down there and could have stayed forever. But we're now back up here in not quite so sunny Utah. Jaci's not happy about having to wear long sleeves, socks and coats again, but hopefully it's not for too much longer!!!

Valentines Day!

2008-02-15T12:09:00.002-07:00

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Happy Valentines Day!!! I can't believe Jaci is almost 9 months old. Time goes by so fast! She is learning new things and growing every day. A few days ago I went to get her up from her nap and she was standing up holding on to the railing of her crib. I had to get it on video. She is standing up a lot and really wants to be able to walk by herself. Didn't she look adorable for Valentine's Day!!!

Noni and Nana came to visit

2008-02-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

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In the past couple of weeks Jaci has been doing some new things. First of all, all she wants to do is walk. She can't do it by herself, so she searches for your fingers, pulls herself to a stand and off she goes. If she's sitting on your lap she will grab your fingers and scoot herself down onto the floor and then start walking. She started playing pat-a-cake with Noni and Nana when they were up here visiting this past week too. She's always liked Peek-a-boo, when Mommy would hide, but this week she started doing it herself with Noni.

Jaci and I both had a lot of fun with Noni and Nana visiting. The time flew by way too fast though. We miss them already, even though they just left this morning. Jaci has been a bit cranky since we dropped Noni off at Aunt Steph's last night. She hardly slept last night and was super cranky and wouldn't take a nap this morning. She needs her Noni back!!! Jaci loved playing with Noni and gave her big hugs and kisses with a just a few little nips!

I love Bubbles!!!

2008-01-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

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Jaci's new favorite past time is blowing spit bubbles. Isn't she cute!!! Not much is going on up here in COLD Utah. It's just snowing and blowing! If it's not snowing, it's so cold because it is really windy. I really miss Arizona. Jaci has been a little stinker. She finally had gotten into the habit of taking good two hour naps in her bed, but this week she's reverted back to only wanting to sleep when mommy or daddy is holding her for naps. Therefore, I have practically no free time again! However, I did manage to find time to finally start making some bows and paci clips! Now that she is sitting up on her own, she will sit on the ground and play with toys so I can at least do something for a little while. Yay! I am so proud of this bow I had to post a picture!

So Many Teeth!

2008-01-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone. We actually had two Christmases. One nice "warmer" one down in Arizona and one freezing cold one up here in Utah. The temperature varies from 8 to 20 degrees during the days now. Brrr! It makes me shiver just thinking about it. Anyway, Jaci loved getting new toys and playing with Berkley's new toys while we were down there. Her favorite "new" toys are actually hand-me-downs from Braden and Berkley. (Thanks Caryn!)

Since Christmas, Jaci has had her first ear infection, her first fever, and now has EIGHT (yes, I said 8) teeth; 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. She likes to randomly and very sneakily chomp down on her mommy's arm or face. She seems like she's going to give me kisses and then decides to BITE! I have quite a few bruises. I still know she loves me though because she has become even more attached to Mommy than she was before. She'll go to others and give them a quick hug and then wants to come right back. At least she has started taking naps in her bed! That has been a huge blessing! Now I've got at least a couple hours of free time in the day. Now I just need to start sewing or scrapbooking again since I have the time!

Jaci loves to eat!

2007-12-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

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I know I just put on some pictures about Thanksgiving, but those pictures are from almost a month ago so I decided to put on some more recent ones. Jaci got her two top teeth and she now loves to eat EVERYTHING. She loved to eat before, but now she's discovered a whole new world. She also finally learned to roll over both ways and can sit up by herself, for the most part. Kelcie and I took Jaci out to eat last night, so there are some pictures of that too. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Break

2007-12-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

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Well, I'm finally updating my blog. It's amazing how much time I DON'T have to do anything. Jaci just wants to be held all the time. She finally cut her top two teeth a day apart and we have started giving her toddler cereal bite things and she loves them. She also started drinking apple juice out of a sippie cup. She LOVES apple juice and she loves eating her rice cereal mixed with fruit, especially bananas. Anyway, for Thanksgiving break we went and visited Bill's family in Mississippi and Louisiana. There are pictures here of our vacation where we had a great time. It was fun being out in the middle of nowhere with a lot of trees and open space. It was beautiful and relaxing. We got a few huge rainstorms while we were there. I just wanted to go sit on the porch in a rocking chair and watch the rain like in the movies.

Oh! I thought it was a little weird when Caryn did a tribute to her Cranberry Splash soda pop, but I'll have to say I've amended my thinking. I tried the Pomegranate 7-UP and I fell in love! It is so yummy! I'm going to have to stock up so I can have it all year long! If you haven't tried it, you need to.

Halloween!

2007-11-16T09:15:00.001-07:00

Well, Halloween has very much come and gone, in fact it is almost time for Thanksgiving!!! This month has just flown by. Jaci has discovered her feet and she plays with them all the time. She hasn't gotten them in her mouth yet, but it's just a matter of time. She has also started reaching for her mommy to pick her up. It's very cute, but mommy doesn't get much done these days! Anyway, for Halloween Jaci was a beautiful butterfly and Kelcie came and helped us "trick or treat". Jaci fell asleep before we got to the first house so we didn't get a whole lot done!

Arizona Visit

2007-11-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

Hey all! I know it takes me forever to do a post. I've been wanting to put up the pictures from Halloween, but my sister Kelcie took the pictures on her camera and keeps forgetting to bring it to me. So we'll have to make do with pictures from our trip to Arizona. Jaci got to go "swimming" with Pops in the spa! I was excited because she got to wear one of her bigger swimming suits that didn't fit her while we were there in the summer.

We also go to go to our annual family Halloween party that I haven't gotten to go to in years! We had a great time with cousins! Jaci was particularly interested with my brother Rusty! She would just stare and stare at him and then at the party she lunged for him to take her. Of course, Berkley couldn't be outdone so he had to have Rusty hold him too!
Don't worry! Halloween pictures will come soon! I might have to beat Kelcie to a pulp before she remembers to bring her camera over, but one way or the other we'll get it done soon! Thanks mom and dad for letting us come and visit! We love coming home!

Bread and Blizzards

2007-10-21T13:18:00.000-06:00

Jaci had a couple of firsts yesterday. She has started grabbing everything and anything she can get her hands on. Especially if it's in my hands. Well, I picked up a roll that I was going to eat and she grabbed it out of my hand and stuck it in her mouth. She thought it was quite tasty! Now, the next first was a little...colder. We were just hanging out watching the BYU game when we looked outside and it was snowing...hard. Jaci got a glimpse of her first snow storm...her first of many unfortunately. Her momma (me) is an Arizona girl through and through and doesn't like living in the snow. At least we get to escape the cold weather for a few days and go visit everyone in AZ!!! We also took a trip this week with Kelcie and Grandma Penton up to Gardner Historic Villiage. Unfortunately I was a little spacey and forgot my camera.

Noni, Pops and RyRy came to visit!

2007-10-12T18:50:00.000-06:00

Well, we're all alone again. Noni, Pops, and RyRy came to visit us this past week. They came up to go to General Conference and then stayed a few extra days. Kelcie took us to lunch at "Legends Grille" which is where all the BYU football players eat. Dad (Pops) was really excited because he found a football that he signed while he was a football player at BYU! It was really fun to get to spend some time with them and we miss them already! Jaci and I can't wait to go down to Arizona for the family Halloween party on October 29th.
In other news, Jaci is getting a really strong jaw and loves to bite everything. She is also getting very good at grabbing anything and everything. She has become a bit of a Mama's girl, but I'm not complaining. At least not most of the time.

Fun with Nana!

2007-09-28T19:14:00.000-06:00

Well, we've been back in Utah for almost a month now and are finally getting the place in order. Nana came up this week and has helped me put all my pictures up and we went up to watch my cousin Sarah in a ballet performance at the University of Utah! Jaci has decided that she loves to go on walks in her stroller and sometimes that is the only time she takes a nap during the day. Nana's time here is going way too fast and we are going to miss her when she leaves. She loves spending time with her little lady bug!!!

Utah

2007-09-22T09:57:00.001-06:00

Well, it's been a while, but we didn't have internet until today in our new place. We are getting settled in here in Provo, UT. Jaci has decided she loves being outside, so we take her on walks in either the front pack or the stroller. We love having Kelcie up here too, we walk to her apartment and she runs to ours. I will post pictures of the new place once Nana comes and we can get all the decorations put up.

Jaci has already grown so much since we got up here. She is still a doll, but she bites hard! She bites my finger and she has almost made me bleed several times. She has started grabbing for things, so toys are a little more fun now. Also, I bought a Baby Einstein movie "Baby's First Moves" and she loves the puppets on there and will sit an watch it for ever. She laughs when the Kangaroo plays Peek-a-boo! She still doesn't want to be put down for naps, she wakes right up and opens her eyes as wide as they can go.

We miss everyone down in Arizona, especially the little boys, who are also growing up so fast! Come visit us!!!

2007-08-29T16:01:00.000-06:00

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Another tooth!

2007-08-26T20:32:00.000-06:00

I know I just wrote earlier today, but Jaci just started sucking on my finger and her other bottom tooth popped in. She now has both of her front bottom teeth. She's way too young for this! I know I'm not ready for it!

Teeth and Baby Fat!

2007-08-26T15:39:00.000-06:00

I am horrible I know! I don't keep up very well, as Caryn keeps reminding me. Seriously Caryn, you should just post for me! Well, anyway, Jaci is getting so big! She has been drooling and drooling like crazy for about a month and her first tooth finally came through last Friday! I can't believe she already has a tooth! I'll just blame it on her dad since he got his first tooth when he was still tiny too. Thanks alot! Also, we were over at Rusty and Caryn's the other day because Braden asked me to help him make a Macadamia Nut Pie! He's so silly, anyway, Jaci sat and played in their Jumperoo for a long time and had a blast. Berkley finds her very interesting. Every time she makes a noise or cries he looks at her like "what the heck are you doing?" We also weighed Jaci the other day and she is now over 13 lbs! What a chunk!

Family Photo Shoot

2007-08-12T14:29:00.000-06:00

We had a great time at our family reunion photo shoot! Here are just a few of the pictures we took!

Family Reunion

2007-08-10T16:03:00.000-06:00

We had a great time up in Deer Valley, UT! We had a Solomon family reunion and rented a huge 9 bedroom house in the mountains of Deer Valley. It was so much fun getting to see everyone! We also blessed Jaci up there so we could have the whole family there! More pictures of that to come soon!

Smiling!

2007-07-15T19:02:00.000-06:00

Jaci has started smiling! Once you can get her to look at you and make eye contact she'll just grin away! She is getting so big! We just weighed her last week and she was 10 and a half pounds as opposed to her 6 lbs 11 oz when she was born! This is no surprise since she eats CONSTANTLY!

I Love getting a Shampoo

2007-07-01T20:40:00.000-06:00

Jaci's 1st Swim

2007-06-30T15:50:00.001-06:00

Since it's around 110 degrees here in Arizona, Jaci and I decided to go swimming. It was her first time and she didn't think it was too bad! We got to put her in one of her cute little tiny swimming suits! This one was actually my little sister Kelcie's (who is now 17 and in college) when she was a baby!

1st Trip to Utah

2007-06-30T15:45:00.000-06:00

We took our first trip to Utah last week to take Kelcie up to BYU. We also went to Brianne (Gilbert) Hill's wedding luncheon which was beautiful. Jaci got to meet a couple of her Great Aunts and 2nd cousins who adored holding her. We had a great time, but she was glad to get home and finally be out of her car seat! On the way home we stopped in Beaver, UT and these two silly kids didn't want to wake up!

Lake Powell

2007-06-20T13:00:00.000-06:00

We just got back from a great week at Lake Powell. Jaci had a great first time, although she wasn't too fond of the car rides there and back. We can't believe that she is 4 weeks old already and she is getting so big! At her 2 week doctor's appointment she had already gained a pound and she's gotten much bigger since then. She is finally starting to outgrow her preemie clothes and fit into some of her newborn ones. We can't imagine life without her!

Jaci and Berkers

2007-06-20T12:51:00.000-06:00

Jaci and 8 month old cousin Berkley "playing" together at Lake Powell. Berkley just wants to touch her hands and feet and Jaci's not quite sure she likes it. Berkley isn't too happy when Jaci is being held by his Noni or his mom. He also doesn't know what to think when she is in the swing they share at Noni and Pop's house.

12 days old already

2007-06-04T22:25:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe she is almost 2 weeks old. Jaci is doing great. Jill and Bill and Jaci are still staying with Noni and Pops.

We're Home with Jaci

2007-05-26T09:19:00.001-06:00

Jaci's first day at home went well. She likes to sleep most of the time but wants to sleep while being held.

She's Here!

2007-05-24T14:45:00.002-06:00

Dark Hair?

"Pops" got to do the delivery!

The Proud Parents.

Jaci Carol Penton arrived at 4:07 pm May 23, 2007 weing 6 lb. 11 oz.

2007-05-24T14:45:00.001-06:00

Almost Due!

2007-05-20T23:27:00.000-06:00

Baby should be here in the next few days. Can't wait to see her!