Clean floors and Fresh sheets

Ahhh, doesn't it sound glamorous. Gracie got fresh sheets on her bed today and I cleaned all of our floors. What's the special occasion? Gracie threw up multiple times. So sad. If you don't want the whole story- STOP HERE.

She ate breakfast this morning and I gave her a bath. I did notice that she smelled a little funny but didn't think much of it (because I was planning on giving her a bath and she smelled better afterwards). I got her all dressed and was walking into the living room when she just threw up all over the carpet. I cleaned the carpet multiple times and vaccumed.

After I got her a drink, I went into her bedroom to get her a blanket. Looked in her crib and let's just say, no wonder she smelled bad. I think she must have thrown up sometime in the night. I feel really bad too because I thought she must have not been sleeping well because she couldn't suck her thumb (see yesterday's post). I also feel bad I didn't notice earlier because I got her out of her crib really fast to change her. I changed her sheets and put the old ones in the wash. I thought all was good.

Then, just a few minutes ago I was in the kitchen holding her and she threw up on the kitchen floor (good thing it was easier to wipe up than the carpet). Anyway, I laid Gracie down for a nap and swept and mopped the floor. It makes me so sad to see her sick. Sorry if I over-shared. Just wanted you all to catch a glimpse of my glamorous morning. :)

Gracie's Cast

We went to see the Dr. yesterday for Gracie's 15 month well baby check-up. She weighs 18 lbs and is 30.5 inches long. She's still really small but weighs enough to keep growing taller.

I asked the Dr. about Gracie's thumb sucking (if you read my post forever ago, the tape didn't work). The advice the doctor gave me was to take the cardboard from the paper towel roll, cut it down to size, and put it on her arm past her elbow so she can't bend her arm to suck her thumb. Who has ever heard of such a thing? It's brilliant, but a little sad. She's supposed to wear it whenever she would suck her thumb (which is always- I take it off for baths and mealtime) for two weeks.

Also, for those of you who remember me talking about the spring horse we got from Justin's aunt- here it is. Gracie loves it. Here is Gracie riding her horse with her "cast" on. I decided to cover it with paper so it would look a little cuter.

Farewell- You will be missed

My new hair

Well, I asked for some hair advice a little over a week ago. I finally made an appointment and decided to go through with it. Why is it that right when you decide you want to cut your hair that your hair magically starts to cooperate. My hair wasn't anything amazing, but all week before this, I really liked my hair. Looking back, maybe it was getting a little scraggly. Anyway, I was feeling like I didn't want to spend a fortune, so I went to the local beauty college. A potentially disastrous choice, I know. My thoughts were, If my $5 haircut turns out bad then I'll go spend $15 to fix it. If I don't need to fix it, I will have saved a bunch of money.

The daring location of my haircut.

Anyway, I like the new style (more today than yesterday). It always takes a minute to get used to new hair. All yesterday after the cut, I felt like I was wearing a wig because I'm not used to bangs and it seemed a little blunt. I don't think this is my new "forever" hairstyle but it's fun to have a change and to feel like I did something a little more daring than usual.

The finished product.

Take Me With You

Justin and I have taken Gracie up on the sand the last few days to the arena. Gracie and I went for a horseback ride for a little while with Justin's dad. Larry took Gracie with him on his horse, and I rode by them. It was cold, but we loved it. When we put the horses away, Gracie walked right over to the four wheeler and started to climb up. Larry took pitty and gave her a little ride. Thanks Granddad!

Printing my Blog

Last night I was talking to Justin about some things that Gracie has been doing. I told him that I wrote about some of them on our blog. Then he asked me if I wrote them in my journal- oops! I've had so much fun blogging that I haven't really been writing all of these things down in a separate place. So... I've been printing some of my blog today. I've mostly just been printing a post at a time to weed through my haircut options, random posts, and things that just might not be "journal worthy".

I just wanted to mention that because I had wondered before if you can really print a blog, but had never tried. Now that I think about it, it's kind of a no-brainer, " Of course you can print a blog." So if any of you have also been bad at keeping a journal, you print your blogs. I kind of cringe to print things in our almost paperless world, but can't tell you how sad I would be if I someday lost all of the experiences that I've been blogging about.

Puffer Coat

I went to the Children's Place on Saturday and hit an awesome sale with Carrie (Justin's sister). I got a few long sleeve shirts for Gracie that will fit her next winter, and as you might guess, this pink coat. It was originally $40 and I got it for $8. I love bargains. Anyway, it's a 24 month so it should be a perfect (or closer to perfect) fit next winter. For right now it was just huge, and puffy, and sweet. She almost didn't want to take it off, and I could hardly blame her.

Justin made it home safely. We're so glad to have him back. All the reports he gave were great. He almost got in big trouble for not taking a single picture, until he told me that his dad had taken tons of pictures on his camera. Maybe I'll post a few when I get a chance.

Gracie

I thought I would give a little update on Gracie. Her latest tricks are, climbing on everything, saying "woah" and "wow", sticking out her tongue when we ask her where it is. Gracie is also talking a lot, but it isn't super clear most the time, so I do a lot of guessing and probably give her too much credit sometimes for saying things she might not have meant to say, and not enough credit when I don't quite recognize what it is she is trying to tell me. This morning, she said "horse" (though not as clearly)while looking straight at the big spring horse that was delivered to our house yesterday by Justin's aunt. My favorite, was this morning when I helped Gracie brush her teeth and said, "Good. Now let me smell your sweet breath." Gracie breathed right by my nose. I was so surprised that I asked her the same question and she did it again. She is also getting really good at folding her arms for prayers.
So sweet.

Missing Justin

Well, for those of you who might not have heard, Justin went to Colorado yesterday. The National Western livestock show is going on right now (I think it goes for a whole month). Justin talked Larry into going with him. I think they will have a good time and I'm glad that Justin didn't have to drive all that way by himself.

Today they are at the stock show in Denver and tomorrow they will be going to Fort Collins to check out Colorado State University. I sent Justin with the camera to take lots of pictures and get all sorts of information. I'm glad that Justin can go and check it out. I'm planning to go sometime in the spring when we are a little closer to moving.

Anyhow, I really miss my hubby. It's amazing how much safer I feel just having Justin here. It took me longer than usual to fall asleep and I was trying to come up with a plan of action in case someone broke into my house. I never thought of anything good (except for sleeping with my rotary cutter by my bedside. I didn't do that, but it would've been smart). We are safe and happy but are anxiously awaiting Justin's return on Sunday.

By the way, Justin's aunt just came by and offered to give us a couch she's not using and a spring horse for Gracie to rock on. Too fun. I'll post some pictures when we get them. Oh yeah, and when I have my camera again.

Is it me?

I was planning on growing my hair out for a little bit longer but had a friend looking for a new hairstyle. I thought I'd look for her really fast and ended up really liking this haircut (for myself). I like that it is straight, I like the bangs, I like the blonde. I'm a little scared to do full-on bangs. The last time I did that (junior year) I ended up clipping them to the side until they grew out because Mary (my sis) told me I looked like Vicky Belnap (our choir director). I also think though that the bangs didn't work because they were curled (not straight like these). Anyway, I would love some input.

Thanks

Happy Birthday Kim

I met this lovely young lady on my very first date with Justin. It was at the Echo Lake Triathlon and I remember wondering how much she knew about me. From the very beginning, Kim has been very welcoming and good to me. I feel very blessed to have Kim not only as a sister-in-law, but as a friend. Kim lives in Provo, so Justin and I were able to do a lot of fun things with her and spend a lot of time with her while we were at BYU. Kim is funny, smart, successful, accomplished, and I really admire her. I feel sad that this is the first time since I've met her that I won't be there to celebrate her birthday with her. We miss you and love you Kim, Happy Birthday. Are you ONE, are ya' two, are you three...

I promise not to make any more posts today.

Introducing...

My new blog! I have just been really "post happy" lately. Well, since I made this blog private I wanted to still have my foot in the public blogging world. I also want another outlet for writing and don't necessarily want to clog up our family blog with a bunch of this other stuff. I also know that some people don't spend their lives blogging and don't have time to sort through what's really important and the stuff that is me basically "talking to hear myself talk". That said, those of you who have the time or desire you can check it out the Profi Frau.

My little helper

Gracie is at such a fun age. She is getting to the point where she notices when I am putting away toys and she helps me. She also has helped me put things in the dishwasher a couple of times and as you can see, helped her dad take out the garbage.
Gracie has also taken more interest in "cooking" lately. She loves getting spoons, spatulas, or whisks and stirring things around in pans or bowls.

If you look closely at her lip, you'll see that it's red. She bit her lip the other night(and it started bleeding) when she boncked it on the stereo at Carrie's house (Justin's sister). Gracie started crying and I went over and picked her up. Gracie is kind of famous for holding her breath in-between cries but right when I picked her up she started holding her breath and did not breath for what seemed like forever. We worried she was choking, and as I was basically in shock, Carrie grabbed Gracie to do the baby heimlich. Gracie took a breath and then I heard Justin say, "she's passing out". She woke right back up, but I started crying during all of the drama. Everything is fine, and Larry said that some of Justin's other siblings have done that before. It talks about it in the book What to expect the first year. All I have to say is, I hope I don't ever have to go through that again.

Out and about

Out and about were the words we always used to practice our Canadian accents. I'm happy to say in this case that we really have been out and about. In the last week we went to the park, went to the library for story time, and went over to singing time (singing group for babies and kids). Gracie loved them all and I loved to get out of the house in the warmer weather.
I thought that some time at the park might help Gracie release some of her extra energy so she wouldn't feel like she had to climb on everything in sight at home :)

This was Gracie's new hairdo the other day. It's a little reminiscent of a mowhawk but I was glad that her hair fit into something besides two piggies on the top of her head.

We went over to Jeff's house to visit. He had just finished a 4 hour bike ride (He and Baggs are training for an Ironman that's in April). Gracie sat up on the bike and stayed perched like that for about 5 minutes. She loved it (until she lost her balance and fell forward. I was right there but I guess I wasn't careful enough. She got a big bruise on her cheek. So sad.)

We can stop worrying

So, my good friend from BYU fessed up to being the "scary blogger". I'm sorry for the scare. I'll still think about going private but am totally relieved that it was him. He and his wife have a cute blog that I love to check. He just used a screen name that I didn't recognize and the link to his name didn't take me to his blog. I have to say though, that this experience is helpful for me to really stop and think about what I post and what I want everyone to see.

I got so worried last night and I hate that now I know it was a friend that I'm off the defense and don't really care to make my blog private. So, we can all take a big sigh of relief.

A little creeped out

I am all for blogs. I'm even an admitted blog stalker. I've totally looked up random people I know and not commented. I think we all do it and feel fine about it. I even set up my little map and have seen that actually quite a few people come and lurk around. That's fine. I feel okay about it when I can mostly trace that they are people I probably know and are curious about how we are doing.

However, today I noticed a comment from a person I did not recognize (who did not make an attempt to identify himself or herself). The person was helpful. I guess it's just weird to me to really realize that random people can look at my blog and take a peak into our lives. My life isn't that exciting and I don't mean to scare any of you- I'm just a little paranoid. So... I'm considering going private. Sorry, I know that it might make it a little more of a pain to check our blog. But here is the deal- I will try to contact all the people on my blog roll to let them have access to my blog. If you are not on my blog roll and you enjoy looking at our blog, (and if I even remotely know you) please let me know, and I will be happy to add you to our list of bloggers. You have one week to make yourself known.

If you are the blogger I don't know who left a comment and I really do know you, please let me know so that I can have some peace of mind.

Decision 2008

If you had asked me in the past, I would not have hailed myself as the political type. Yeah,I got wind of the candidates, and I'm proud to say that I have voted when I have been in my voting precinct, but have never been overly involved. I must say, however, that I am a changed woman and I really owe it to my husband, Justin, for being such a concerned and educated citizen.

Tonight we watched the Republican Debate with Mitt Romney, Ron Paul (Don't really know why he was on there), Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Senator McCain, and Fred Thompson. I have to say that I'm really pulling for Mitt Romney. I'm glad that I can also say that I really like his platform and that it isn't just because we share the same religion. Anyway, Mitt had a lot of attacks tonight, almost from every side. It has been fun to follow his campaign and see his views and the questions that he is asked.

I guess that aside from my favorite candidates, I just like being better informed about this decision. I also feel a lot more involved somehow, in the future of our nation. So that's it. I'll try to keep politics mostly off of my blog, and you can still be my friend if you are a democrat or unaffiliated.

Finding out what kind of eggs we like

One of my resolutions for the new year is to cook breakfast more often. I've been really good about cooking dinner since we've been married but haven't really been very diligent about cooking breakfast. Justin and I both really like cold cereal and because I haven't had all that much practice, my breakfast foods still have something to be desired. You may know how it goes, you only cook french toast every few months and when you go to make it you can't quite remember how much milk to add (or what temp. was good for your electric griddle).

Anyway, I've been really good, and so far I'm 3 for 3. I'm excited not to go through my cereal as fast and already I think I've made Justin feel extra special by going out of my way to do something nice. I'll let you know in the end what my favorite breakfast recipes end up being. I would love any of your favorites (especially healthy favorites because this resolution could get fattening in a hurry).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Our New Year's Eve was pretty low key. We ate dinner, hung out, watched a movie, and ate ice cream. Gracie went to bed early but woke up to the fireworks so I let her watch them for a minute. I waited up for the new year and then headed off to bed. In my college days I would have never dreamed that staying up until midnight would feel like such an event.

The highlight of our New Year's Eve celebration. We went to Smiths and got some ice cream with Gracie. These were our Baby, Mama, and Daddy bowls of ice cream.