Hello June

Here is the June desktop. I am feeling very lucky because the weather finally warmed up today and we were able to take Tobi to the park. I took a million pictures because my little guy is just too cute, and I was able to fit a couple into my June desktop very nicely. The pool at our complex also opened today, woohoo! Now we just need the weather to stay nice so that we can enjoy it!

Popsicle Soaps

Amber's baby shower is just a week away and boy have I been busy! Yesterday, we got the girls (Amber, Jocelyn, my mom and myself) together and got to work on her shower favors. I've had the supplies for weeks and I've been so excited to make them! We took two popsicle molds and filled them with melted glycerin soap that we colored and scented. We put the popsicle sticks in and as soon as they had solidified, we pulled them out. We used a scalloped cookie cutter to cut the "bite" out of the corners and tada! We now have super cute, totally awesome popsicle soap favors for Amber and Ashtyn's "sweet" baby shower!

Bruisies

My poor Tobi shut his finger in the door today. Every time I see it, it just breaks my heart.

My creative genius at work

I did something really fun today and I am just gushing with pride over it. Unfortunately, it is a surprise decoration/gift for my cousin's baby shower....which is not for another two weeks. And that means I can't post pictures. I can give you a little sneak peak though!

Can you guess what it is?

Complete

I made Tobi a new crib sheet last week and I have LOVED seeing it in his crib. However, I don't love seeing his raggedy pillow in an old extra pillowcase that doesn't match his room at all. So while I was at the store today I picked up some fabric to FINALLY make him his own very first pillowcase!!!! I know I know, I'm much more excited about this than I probably should be....don't judge me mmmkay?

I went home and found some cute giraffe fabric to mix in with my new polka dot fabric which matches the sheet I just made him, and I put this together!

What do we think? I think it's not bad for my VERY first pillowcase. It's not all fancy-schmansy but my little Tobi sure loves it! And it matches his room much better than mine and Jordan's old ones.

Yay!

Tobi's on the move...

with Kids on the Move that is. If you haven't heard of them, they are an agency that provides early intervention services for children (0-3) with developmental delays (hate that phrase with a passion). I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to blog about this, but I've found my blog to be extremely helpful whenever I need to fill in a timeline and I really try to blog about our life regularly so that I can have it in print later. It's so much easier for me to journal this way and Kids on the Move is a big deal for us right now.

Anywho....we were referred to them by our wonderful doctor a few weeks ago and they met with us this week to do Tobi's preliminary assessment to see if he would qualify for the program. Lucky (depending on your definition I guess) for us, Tobi qualified for their assistance. In addition, it will only cost us $20 a month, that's their fee for a family with our annual household income...it varies. It was such a relief for me to hear that since we've already paid $1000 in P.T. bills for him already, not to mention we just got the bill for the P.T. on my back that I finished last month (my back feels fantastic though so I really can't diss on the benefits of physical therapy).

They are going to be making regular home visits to our apartment for the next little while and working with Tobi to get him walking and also get him talking a little more. Apparently at his age he should know somewhere between 30-40 words and right now he can only spout off about 10. I know he understands and knows more than that, he just won't cooperate. He's a very stubborn little boy, bless his heart. He did really well with their puzzles and other educational toys, they said he is very smart (which we knew already!) and that was great. They said as far as his walking goes, he's picked up some bad posture habits (a problem since day one really--remember his flat head problem anyone???) that we need to work with him on. Once he builds a little more strength in his "trunk" he'll feel more confident about walking. The kid can climb over, under, through, and on top of just about anything, cruises along everything like a little roadrunner, and walks great with his little walker that I bought him a month ago...we just need to get him confident enough to do it on his own!

I'm really excited that they are going to be helping us with this because I need it. I can't help but feel that he's not walking because I'VE failed him. I KNOW that kids walk when they are ready and that each kid is different, I promise...but I will seriously FREAK OUT if another person tells me this. Especially when their kids are doing just fine. It really does not help me when people say that. Kids do walk when they are ready, and some of them do end up needing help. And mine is one of them. You never know if they are being lazy, or if there is an underlying problem that needs attention. Tobi's gone five months now looking like he's going to walk any day now, and hasn't progressed. Hopefully now that will change. And hopefully this will not stick with him.

Developmentally behind. I hate that and I don't want that to be a label for him or an issue for me. I think he's going to great and I'm excited to see what happens in the next couple of months. He's going to love it when he realizes he can walk all by himself.

Oh the places he will go!

Project Crib Sheet...

...a success! My totally BRILLIANT friend Jocelyn (seriously, she is a project queen and I love being her assistant) came over and showed us how to do baby crib sheets. Sounds hard huh?

WRONG-O! It was SOOOOO easy. You pick your fabric, and if you're anything like me it's so hard to choose so you end up making like...ten sheets when you only need two or three. Good thing I have all these friends and family members having babies right now eh? Seriously. I have no control.

Back to the point...pick your fabric and have two yards cut. Take it home and bust out the most important, most valuable, creative machine you own (if you don't have one, get one!)...you're SEWING MACHINE! Alright, that's as good as my instructions get so I am posting the tutorial we used here and happy sewing! WOOT!

Behold! The Candy Jar!

I've been on a huge kick lately with making AWESOME stuff from crap at the D.I. I LOVE IT!!! Here is my first D.I. project (there will be many more to come if I can ever find the time to finish them!).......

The Candy Jar

Unfortunately, in all my excitement to get the ball rolling, I forgot to take pictures before I painted it...but you get the idea.

The first time I painted it...don't judge me mmmkay....I picked a green that turned out to be MUCH brighter than what I wanted. Seriously, it was burning my eyes.

I HAD to change it. So, to make things quicker, I picked a spray paint this time. Oh my newfound love of spray paint....I won't go into it but lets just say there is another fabulous obsession there. I sprayed my light purple choice over the green, leaving a couple spots where the green showed through because it looked cool (so glad I did that!) and taaa daaa! Perfection.

How did I do it? (For those of you that can't tell by looking) I found a normal cookie type jar, $1.50 from the D.I. and a pretty candlestick, $1.00 also from the D.I., and then I painted them and super glued them together. To jazz it up a bit more, I tied a cute ribbon around the top.

And there you have it, a super cute candy jar to spice up counter space wherever you want!

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day this year was a lot of fun. I made some cute little soda can keychains for all the mommy's I know along with some cute little Mother's day cards. We started out the day by going to my Grandma's house and lucky for us, my parents were already there! We gave my Grandma her pretty flowers we had picked out and for my mom we gave her the fourth season of Criminal Minds (love that show!). After that we went to a birthday/Mother's Day lunch at Sean and Brynn's. It was Ellie's birthday that day, and Noah's was the day after. We took them their fishing poles and some books that we got them. Jordan is pretty excited to take Noah fishing this summer. After lunch, we dropped Tobi off with Chace and joined my parents at my favorite theater to see Something Borrowed. The movie was GREAT and it was nice to go out with my parents. We don't get a lot of one on one time with them anymore.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Number twenty five

I turned 25 the beginning of this month and I was surprised at how quickly it came and how quietly it went. I was on my way to Yellowstone with my family (minus one sexy husband that I missed!) on the day of my birthday and they did awesome trying to make sure it was still MY day. I'm so glad that even at the grand 'ol age of 25 they still view birthdays as being a BIG DEAL. My parents treated me to breakfast, and gave me an AWESOME set of new kitchen knives (which my Grandma picked up for me in Arizona, thanks G-ma!). Then! While we were in Yellowstone, they bought me a hoodie that I LOVE. Andrew and Bronwyn treated me to a super yummy BBQ dinner and of course I got lots of phone calls and texts wishing me a fabulous day. It was really weird spending my birthday without Jordan, and hopefully there won't be repeats for either of us!

He did take me out this week though and got me my new cell phone, the Motorola Atrix and I LOVE it. He also took me out to lunch and then to my favorite theater to see Thor, which was awesome!

And day #3 in Yellowstone!

Today was our last day in Yellowstone, we are leaving for home in the morning. I'm excited to go home but I've also had a lot of fun on this trip. Today was probably the BEST by far. We started out the morning by visiting the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. They had three different habitats with some grizzly bears, and two different packs of wolves. We were lucky enough to get there right before feeding time too! We learned that they feed both packs of wolves ONCE a day. One pack at 10:00AM and the other at 3:00PM. They open a door that leads to a separate housing unit and the wolves can choose whether or not they want to go in and eat. If all FOUR wolves go in, they shut them in and then change their habitat so that they have more to interact with and they don't get bored. Unfortunately Leopold, the omega wolf, got chased out of the food house and he didn't get to eat. Poor wolfie. We were very sad for him, he sure looked hungry! So there weren't any habitat changes for that pack today. Tobi had a lot of fun in their little museum, looking at all the bear stuff, pushing buttons and feeling the coarse bear hair. He sure loved it there!

Now....here comes the BEST BEST BEST part of the day. The Zip Line Tour. Andrew and Bronwyn booked us for the zip line before we left. It wasn't scheduled to open for a few more days and they said they'd only take us if we had a group of four. My mom and I agreed to go with them so they'd have their four people, and my dad was going to watch Tobi. The whole part of our trip so far, I've been TERRIFIED of the zip line. I was dreading it so bad, I was feeling a little sick! I kept hinting for my dad to take my place, but he was SO not taking that bait. We drive for an hour to get to the place and I'm about ready to wet my pants, or puke....or both. We sign a waiver, basically agreeing that there is no guarantee we won't die (yikes!) and get suited up in our gear. Again....have I mentioned how TERRIFIED I was? We meet our tour guides, Steph and Eric (the coolest people EVA!!), and they drive us a couple miles up the road to the zip line course. They give us a little tutorial before we hit the first tower, about fifty feet up, and at this point my acid reflux has started and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna die (also, everyone is laughing at me for being so dramatic). I make it up to the tower and watch Andrew and Bronwyn go ahead of me. Then it's my turn. I knew if I just stood there and thought about, I'd never step off the edge, so as soon as she had me hooked up I JUMPED.....HOLY SMOKES!!! I zipped so FAST and before I knew it I was at the other tower and Andrew and Bronwyn were making fun of my scared face....RUDE! Ha ha, so then we climb this rickety ladder (again, terrifying) and we are now ready for the next zip, about seventy feet up, which also takes us over the freaking RIVER. Again, I just leap off knowing that if I hesitate, Steph is going to have to shove me. This one was the fastest and the longest and boy was it fun!!

I ended up coming in backwards and Eric had to grab me and help pull me in, it's so hard to steer on a zip line! We walked the WORST bridge (a rope bridge that was VERY teetery) to get to the third and last tower. This one was about sixty feet high and took us back over the river to where we started. On this one, I pulled my legs up for what they call a cannonball (it makes you go faster) and I FLEW across that river. Andrew and Bronwyn were already on the other side and Katie (our third guide) had to apply extra brakes for me, I was going so fast! So...I think I'm officially broken in as far as zip lines go and on our next trip, this girl won't be scared at all! Okay, well maybe a little. It's a scary thrill!

We ended the day by having another yummy dinner at The Outpost and then came back to the hotel to get ready for bed.

WOW! What a day!!

Here are some pictures of our LAST and BEST day in Yellowstone!

Day #2 in Yellowstone

Woo! Yellowstone is so cool! We made it to Old Faithful yesterday and it was AWESOME! Unfortunately, our timing sucks and it had just gone off when we got there. But! Tobi was asleep in the car (and hadn't been for long) and my mom wanted to squeeze in a nap so my dad and I wandered around the gift shop and checked out the visitor's center. About an hour later, we went back to the car for lunch and grabbed my mom and Tobi. We watched Old Faithful blow...SO COOL! Afterwards we shopped the gift shop and Tobi got a cute little Buffalo that makes noise when you squeeze it, and a cute little Prairie Babies book.

We took a long, scenic drive back to town and got see some elk, wolves, hawks, and even and eagle! There was a really cool nest with a couple of hawks in it, and we got to watch them fight off a hungry eagle trying to gobble their eggs. It was great!

When we finally made it back to our hotel, we let Tobi have some quiet time and then ventured out for some yummy Chinese food for dinner.

Here are some fun pictures from our SECOND day in Yellowstone. :)

Day #1 in Yellowstone

Tuesday night, Tobi and I stayed the night at my parents' house so that we could ride with them to Yellowstone the next morning. We got up early and hit the road as soon as we could. Tobi did AMAZING on the drive up and I am so proud of my little buddy! We were extra prepared with Daddy's ipad and Grandpa's DVD player. Between those and snacks and toys...he was pretty entertained. We arrived in Yellowstone just after two and checked into our room at Best Western. From there we decided to drive into the park and check out a couple areas. There was snow EVERYWHERE, a lot of it as high as six feet deep! However, it wasn't that cold. Guess I'm used to it being from Utah and all ha ha! We bundled Tobi up good and got our first look at some hot springs and geysers.....SO COOL!We also got our first good look at some real live BUFFALO! We had one walk by so close, it brushed the car by Tobi's window, causing him to take a second look with eyes as big as quarters! We also got to see a wolf playing out in the snow, so Grandpa pulled over so we could observe for a bit. Right about this time I was WISHING with my whole heart that I had a better zoom lens on my Canon. Oh well, next year maybe.

When we got back to town, Andrew and Bronwyn treated me to a FABULOUS bbq place called Beartooth BBQ for my birthday. I ordered the pulled beef brisket sandwich with french fries and it was very yummy! And I think that is saying a lot since I really don't care for BBQ. After that we were all pretty tired, especially little Tobi, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed.

I decided not to take the Pack N Play and had Tobi share a bed with me instead. He did pretty good the fist night, only waking up a couple of times and only for a few minutes. However, I learned that my sweet little boy is a TOTAL bed hog! He slept pretty good, I didn't. Oh well.

Here are some fabulous pictures from our FIRST day in YELLOWSTONE Montana!!!

Cake and Icecream

It has begun....the birthday/holiday craziness that comes at the beginning of May!

We went to my Aunt Brenda's house last night for a nice little birthday celebration for Eli, who turned THREE! We watched him open his gifts (I love watching little kids open gifts, so hilarious!) and then had some really yummy cake and icecream, which Tobi devoured. We finally got to see Payslie and Jason and they are both SOOO cute! And getting so big!

And do you want to know the best part? Jordan got to go too! He didn't have to work with it being a Monday night and all and I was very excited to finally take him with me to one of my family gatherings!

Birthday Day #1

Since I'm going to be out of town on my actual birthday, Shannon decided to take me out yesterday just me and her for some birthday fun. We rarely get to go out without BOTH the boys and it was so nice and relaxing!

She started out the day by taking us both to get massages....so nice! And after that we went to the D.I. to find me some really good junk to glam up (my newest obsession). I found some really cute tea cups and plates that I'm using for a homemade lamp and later at TJ Max, I found the perfect little teapot to match. We then went to see Water for Elephants which I LOVED, definitely buying that one when it comes out.

From there we went to Costco where I got a really cute new shirt and then to the best fabric store EVA! Fabric Mill! We met Jocelyn and Steve there and we all helped each other pick out some pretty sweet fabric. Adam and Shannon took me to Olive Garden for dinner, so yummy! I haven't been there in forever.

At the end of the day...I was very exhausted but I did have a LOT of fun.

P.S. Adam was awesome and watched BOTH babies so we could go out. So a huge thank you to both of them for the very fun day!

Baby Ben

Jordan and I got to go out to Sean and Brynn's tonight, finally! I have been dying to hold my new little nephew and I waited for Jordan to get off work before going over so that he could come with me. He hadn't seen Ben yet.

He is so tiny and so cute! He has the most adorable little grunt and I had so much fun holding him. It ALMOST makes me baby hungry but I'm hangin' in there!

Here are some pictures of my new nephew....Ben!

Hello May

I'm so excited that May is here! We have so many fun things that begin in May and I can't wait for the pools to open at the end of the month. Hopefully this year they can open on time and be warm!