Florence Family Blog

I Love to see the Temple

2012-02-22T14:05:00.007-08:00

I am just so super excited about these that I had to share! You always hear that you should display images of the Temple in your home. I've always wanted to put some in my kids rooms especially but have this OCD complex with decorating. I could never picture one in their rooms as part of their decor...until now. I have been addicted to Etsy lately, because I went to a boutique fair called 'Oh Sweet Sadies' and saw a stand with these adorable temple prints on them. The best part is that they are a printable file. So for $6, I chose my color and got the digital files to an 8x10, 5x7, and 4x6 print of this:

This is printed in the 4x6 and because of the color I chose It is slightly hard to read in the picture. It says "I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday". Isn't it adorable!? This particular one is from the Etsy shop Paper+Pip.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaperAndPip

Now this was was so adorable I had no trouble picturing it in Bella's room. And she also offers it in boyish colors which look cute as well. But I couldn't help but think that it was a little feminine and the style wasn't quite right for Liams room, so I did a search on Etsy for Temple prints and found this one by Momo Prints.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MomoPrints?ref=seller_info

They also offer a boy and girl version. (This shop actually costs $8 and only allows for one size. I got the 8x10) The girl version is cute but I preferred the Paper+Pip detail for Bella's room.

Once we are in the new house I am planning on printing these in either a 5x7 or an 8x10 print so that they are more easily read. But for now, aren't they super cute?! :)

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

A few things I'm grateful for today!

2012-02-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning was our home appraisal. So of course the night before, even though I was feeling rather under the weather, I bent over backwards to get my house spotless and in ship shape, spring clean, for the appraiser! The next morning (which was yesterday) I woke up with an extremely messed up neck and shoulder!

Thank goodness for this guy (yes I realize this is the most random, strange, picture of him ever! I have never seen it, I pulled it off of his facebook lol)

And thank goodness for his flexible job, that allowed him to work from home. He was able to take Bella to and from school which was essential since I can't move my head, so driving is out of the question! And he took care of all the neediness of our children so I could take it easy.

Then this morning I woke up and it was feeling slightly better, so Ryan went to work and I went about my day with the kids and whoops! Too many lifts of Liam, I'm now bed sent! I can't really move at all without pain shooting through my neck and shoulder. Actually it hurts no matter what I'm doing.

So today I am grateful (again for Ryan cause he took a long lunch) for my sister in law Sydnie who has offered to come and watch my kids!

My great neighbors who are always so helpful, let Bella come and play with her girls while Liam was napping before Sydnie got here and now Bella is still playing there!

My computer and phone of course, for making communication and entertainment possible, and for the TV, which I have yet to watch, but soon will because I am running out of things to occupy me on my computer and phone! :)

Thankfully it is almost the weekend as well, so hopefully by Monday I should be in ship shape! However I'm sure my house will not!

Some cupcakes I made!

2012-01-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

I just thought these turned out pretty cute. I made them for my MIL's birthday. We got her these cute cake plates so I decided to put some treats on them! :) I think I need a set too! They are lemon flavored, and no I didn't make them from scratch. Duncan Heins all the way. :)
The cute cupcake toppers are a free printable I got from www.thetomkatstudio.com
The have the cutest party shop on Etsy and occasionally she releases free ones!

Christmas!

2012-01-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

We had a very good Christmas this year! It was a little strange to have church at 9:30am kinda cut into the festivities, but it was great to get a good reminder of why we have Christmas in the first place, on Christmas day!

Of course Christmas is the only day of the year where Ryan and I can't sleep because we are too excited for the kids reactions in the morning, and then the kids sleep in! This year we had to wake them up, although I'm pretty sure Bella was wide awake in bed. Even though it was light outside she had this idea that if Santa hadn't come yet and she got up, then he wouldn't come if she was awake! lol! Poor girl had probably been awake since 6:30am.

So anyway we finally went and got the kids up at 7:30 and got the Santa stuff done and over with. But we were rushed to get there for 9:30 Sacrament meeting, which we missed the Sacrament part....sorta the whole point in going! :) Then when we got back we started opening gifts from Eachother and then did a video chat with my family. I was very tempted to put a picture up that I took while on video chat with my family. It is a picture of the screen. It turned out quite detailed and I'm pretty sure my mom would die if I put it up since she is sitting in her Zebra snuggie! :) You can thank me later mom! Then after Lunch we went to Ryan's sisters house to do presents with them. It was a busy day!

So for the rundown, Bella got the vanity/salon she was wanting, with play makeup and play hair things. Mom and dad threw in some fake nails and clip on earrings for her to get all gussied up. Then Liam got a firehouse that is so cute. Unfortunately as you see in the picture below, he preferred Bella's Vanity to his firehouse! lol! He looks up to her a little too much I think! :) Everything she does is already so cool to him! He needs a brother! He also LOVED the tool set I got Ryan for Christmas. He wouldn't leave it alone. Guess I should have picked him up one at Costco!

Moving...hopefully...

2012-01-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

I see I have failed to mention that we now have our house up for sale! I know I mentioned it on facebook so a lot of you already know. We love our neighbors, they are great, but we are looking to move somewhere with growing families such as ours and we have a lovely lot chosen in a community here in South Jordan called Daybreak. The lot is located right across the street from the lake and it is down the street from the Oquirrh Mountain Temple! We are super excited but nervous we won't sell our house in time. They will reserve the lot for us for 3 months at a time (depending on the market) and they will not begin building until our house has closed. We have now been up on the MLS for almost 2 months and we have had a ton of showings but no offers yet. We have 9000 South behind our house and even though we have a privacy fence, and the noise is very minimal, it still hangs most people up.

Anyway I just thought I would post a few pictures of our current home now on the market, and also one of the exterior of the home we plan to build (shown first), if all goes well. Also the wrap around porch faces the lake, which Ryan is stoked about! :) He has big dreams of sitting out on the porch gazing at the view. lol!

DISCLAIMER: I did not take any of these pictures, my realtor did, and while I don't love them, they do the job and I'm way too busy to get spotless pictures of my house...as he took these I was one room ahead trying to tidy up what my kids were one step ahead of me messing up! :) Hopefully before we move I will get some really good shots because I'm always sad I have none of our Rexburg home and we put a lot of work into this house so I want to have pictures to remember it by!

The Nutcracker Ballet

2012-01-13T21:34:00.001-08:00

I love this picture as she looks SO dramatic! lol! Bella took a ballet class this fall and the end goal was a part in the annual Nutcracker ballet! She was SO so SO so excited and she absolutely loved EVERY performance...all 60 seconds of them! :) It was a super small part, but so adorable! They got to be the little dolls and it was chaos and wrong moves all over the place but she did great! A few times she even led the others! She is a true performer. She didn't get nervous one bit, and she was ecstatic to be able to wear a ton of makeup and get her hair done up for each performance.
In the end it seemed to be a lot of work for mom, to have to do all three performances in a 26 hour period. And we pretty much had to pay for everything. We had to pay to get her into the class, pay to get her into the recital, pay to rent the costume, and pay to come watch! Awesome! Needless to say we have discontinued dance class and will begin a nice tumbling class until we can find a more up front studio to put her back into dance. I hate hidden fees. Oh and my favorite was that Decembers' tuition was required to perform and then they CANCELLED all the december classes! Awesome...

Halloween!

2011-12-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

How about I finally post about Halloween! What do you think? Good idea? Well for starters I have had these pictures all ready to blog for a while now with the exception of some pictures of Liam in his costume. I wanted to take some good ones, but that would have required time and help from Ryan, so these will have to do! :) I love the first one where his face is so 'this is so lame'!

This year for Halloween Bella decided to be Cinderella (her favorite princess besides Rapunzel), and I think she made a dang good one for sure! Liam was a dragon, or a dinosaur as I called him, since he knows what they are! They both had a lot of fun trick or treating, and Bella went out for quite a while this year since the weather was very nice!

On to pumpkin carving. Liam loved the goop from the pumpkins. He played in it for so long, and we could hardly get Bella to touch it for a second! Don't get me wrong, it grossed Liam out at first too, but he quickly warmed up to how fun it could be! We had a great Halloween and we have TONS of candy to show for it! Too much if you ask me!

Liam's room and Birthday Present.

2011-11-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Liam's room. I never posted pictures because I wanted to wait till I was done, but I fear that will never happen. In fact I just realized it has changed even since I took these, there are a few frames hung to the left of the surf picture now, and the starfish shadowboxes above his crib are now stacked vertically on an entirely different wall... It is always evolving, as is Bella's room and the rest of my house...so here's good enough! :) And the first picture is of the bookshelf and chair he got for his birthday. He loves his reading nook and it is used daily for sure!

Liam's home birthday party

2011-11-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

Originally I had planned on doing a crab shack themed party because I just thought it was adorable, but when it came time to finally do his birthday party at home it ended up that the date I chose was international talk like a pirate day. Ryan's family always gets together for this to have a nice pirate themed dinner so we combined the two and hosted the pirate dinner at our house. We got a great picture of all of us in our pirate attire on my mother in law, and sister in law's camera's but I have yet to get ahold of one of those.

Anyway, here is the original invite, before turned pirate...

Here's a picture of Ryan, Bella and Liam at least all dressed up!

This is the table, pre food. I really wanted a picture once all the food was on but once it was out, we were all starving and digging in. So this is the decorated table. All the decor came from Target marked down from 70-75% off! It was a steal! And I don't know if you can see on the right but there is a shark mobile that went quite nicely with this decor. I ordered it on clearance from Pottery Barn Kids thinking it would be awesome in Liam's room as a mobile above his bed....WRONG! It is huge! and hello!! sharks hanging above your bed might be a bit terrifying. I will for sure hang it at some point though.

These cupcakes are my favorite part of the crab shack ensemble. I found a similar party theme on a blog and they had a cake with these crabs on them and I adapted them to be on cupcakes that have "sand" on them for the top part and then did Shark fin's and a life preserver in "water" on the bottom ones. They turned out darling, and I couldn't have done it without my sister in law Sydnie. She is awesome at this kind of stuff, (baking, sewing, decorating, etc.) and she had a fabulous marshmallow fondant recipe she helped me make. I would have never made it on my own. It is quite meticulous and she had awesome tips for me, such as adding the coloring BEFORE the powdered sugar so it is easy to smoothly mix in! She also got the ball rolling on making the crabs as I was struggling to get started, AND she made the adorable life preserver! So I owe her big time...although I'm not sure what favor I could lend to her...she will have to make me aware of one someday! :)

So the blue canister had gummy sharks in it, which melted before anyone got there because it was so hot outside. So it was all a big huge gummy shark grave. SUCH a waste!

In case you can't tell in this picture, those are swedish fish peeking out of the "water" which is jello. It was supposed to be gummy lobsters, but I couldn't find any anywhere.

My Sister in Law Angie's family made these adorable pirate ship fruit bowls! Cute and yummy!

Liam kept clapping! He was having fun because everyone was paying attention to him... :) And I think he loved the crab on his cupcake!

Liam Turned One! And Trip to Washington!

2011-11-06T17:05:00.001-08:00

This year we got to go to Washington for Liam's birthday! It turned out so awesome. My entire family was able to be there at the same time, so we scheduled a trip to the beach and rented a beach house for a few nights. It was so nice to all be together and to be forced to stay at home with each other! We were able to get a very good visit in those few days! The first two days we were there were pretty cold, but the last day was beautiful and warm and awesome! Perfect beach weather! And on the way home we stopped by the Tillamook cheese factory, as we always have with our old friends the Staples, which we missed this time around, however we were lucky to be able to have Kristina and her son Tanner along with us!

Also the day we drove up was Liams birthday! So Shauna and I whipped together a cake when we got there and we celebrated a few hours after arriving! (I shouldn't fail to mention that Shauna was actually the one to make the cake and cupcakes the day before we left. I simply helped decorate it...Thanks Shauna!)

Liam was very slow to dig in, but Grandpa CC tried to help things along a bit...

Liam's present this year was a new bookshelf for his room and a my first anywhere chair from PBK. That was way too hard to haul all the way to Washington, so instead we wrapped a bunch of books and let him open them up there on his birthday. He loves books! I will post a picture of his bookshelf and chair in a different post.

We got to see this beautiful sunset every night from the window of our Beach house! So pretty!

We attempted a family picture out on the beach one evening...didn't happen. It was so cold and SO windy that Anthony looked like a werewolf!

Bella loved the sand...Liam didn't. I didn't get many pictures of him on the beach :( which made me sad since I was hoping for some like the ones I got of Bella at that age for the kids bathroom. Oh well! :) He cried every time I tried, so I gave up!

The last day was so nice and we were able to go over to the dune and the tide pools.

Jeff caught two crabs with his bare hands but they were both females so he had to throw them back. He was bummed cause he wanted to cook one up and eat it. Next time we go we will have to rent a boat and go crabbing. We did that one year...it was very interesting with little kids. Andrew Staples ended up getting bit on his finger and flinging the crab into his daughters face, which poked her and thoroughly terrified her I'm sure! lol!

Anthony thought he looked pretty slick in Bella's specs!

Kimberly was a trooper and took Bella up the sand dune. She even carried her half the way up! Thanks Kimberly!

Ryan carried Liam most of the way up the dune and got so sick Jeff had to go get Liam off of him and he had to lay down in the sand so he wouldn't throw up! Which would have been disgusting considering there were so many people sliding down that hill. They may have blindly slid into his pile of puke...even if it were buried! lol! But it was WAY hot and going up the dune was apparently even more so than down below. I obviously didn't attempt it. I did that as a kid. It was time for me to just hang back and take pictures! :)

Wish I had more pictures with me, my mom, Jeff, and Kristina in them...I think Jeff got a bunch but I don't have those. All in all it was a great trip and we were so glad we were able to make it and do the things we got to do while we were there!

Playing catch up!

2011-11-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally going to try and play catch up. Starting off with my gallery wall which has been up for a few months now and I love. Just in time for the last post...which will be posted last... :) Anyway enjoy the update!

Some of the kids for the Gallery wall!

2011-07-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

So I had a few open frames on my gallery wall that needed some pictures of the kids in them. I really only needed one of each of them, but they turned out really cute. Also this was the easiest, most efficient photo shoot I've ever had with them! It was a half hour for both of them! And only at one place! I was very happy! And Ryan didn't even get cranky! :)

The Daddy Daughter Kings Grand Ball!

2011-07-11T20:26:00.001-07:00

So Ryan got the chance to go on a daddy daughter date to this ball in Lindon a few days after her birthday. I really tried hard to get Ryan to have his brother, who also went to this with our niece, take a picture of he and Bella dancing. But check out the sweet outfit he wore...

He was not thrilled about pictures! :) Doesn't he look awesome!? His mom made this prince Charming costume a few years back for his brother Riley when he worked at a preschool, and it seemed perfect for this occasion. Bella was thrilled!

How cute are these girls!? I love it! They had SO much fun!

I still haven't gotten the pictures from the Princess Festival from my sister in law's camera yet, and who knows when or if I ever will. So if I post some, they will have to be totally out of sequence! :)

The Pink Pony Cake...

2011-07-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

For the family birthday. This cake was so easy to make and it was a hit for sure! I couldn't find pink rip rolls for the hair (which would have been way cuter cause it's "sparkly") so I used bubble tape which worked just as nicely!

A Pinktastic time!

2011-07-06T21:38:00.001-07:00

So this year for Bella's birthday she decided on a theme early:
Are you familiar with this awesome book?

Well if not, and you have a daughter, you must familiarize yourself with it right away. But till then I will fill you in on the gist of it. A little girl eats too many pink cupcakes and wakes up the next morning and has turned PINK! She then eats more pink and turns red, then has to eat green food to get back to normal. It's a really cute book.

Well the party went well, but there were 11 little girls, and 3 hours to kill...I totally overdid it with the 3 hours but I had way too many cute ideas for this one...and I wasn't able to do them all. By the second hour I was so tired I told the girls to just go play, But I did plenty! Unfortunately since I was doing it all, I wasn't able to get very many pictures! :( I was so sad when I realized I hadn't gotten a picture of the food before the girls got served! It was all so cute, and I wanted something to prove I did it! :)

Below is a mess of pink stuff waiting to go outside,

Once the girls were all eating I turned to one of the moms there and was horrified that I hadn't gotten a picture of the table settings before they started eating! She however had snapped one with her phone while waiting. So thanks to her I at least have this one. It shows the far away view. I wish I had one of the close up view of each setting, but I don't. Hmmm.. a photographer? Really?

Here are my attempt of the cupcakes to look like the ones in the book. I think they turned out pretty good!

Here I am reading the story to the girls while they are eating. Some of them hadn't heard the story before, and so seriously what is the fun if you have no idea what is going on! We also had all the girls come wearing pink!

I forgot to mention above that half the decorations didn't get put out because it was SO windy! I mention this now because if you can tell, there are some strings tied to Bella's chair. They used to have balloons attached, however the wind kept blowing the balloons into things and most of them popped in the first half hour, scaring all the girls half to death!

Below are the party favors and activities. We had bubbles, "pink drink", and play dough pinkalicious labels I made and glued on. Then we had crowns and wands for each girl, that resemble the ones she has in the book. We did a pinata filled with only pink candies, we painted unicorn sun-catchers that looked like Goldie, her imaginary pet unicorn, and we colored pictures of her with Goldie!

The birthday girl! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her in her full Pinkalicious getup! In this photo she has lost the wings, crown and wand. :)

My cute little niece!

Bella grinning as everyone sings Happy Birthday to her! We ate the cupcakes in the grass since the table had been trashed by food and paint from earlier!

I did these cute cotton candy sticks which then melted within the first five minutes of being outside! Then they didn't look so cute! The girls ate them anyway! :)

Love this. Doesn't it look so convincing that she's gonna hit it?

There we go...much better!

So after all 11 girls attempted to break the pinata multiple times, and nothing happened, it was then Ryan's turn. He first tried to hit it with our tiny Cinderella bat, but that wasn't working, in fact it was breaking the bat, so I suggested he break it on the swing set beam. Well he did, and the candy SHOT out and flew at the girls like bullets! Amazingly enough only 2 girls got hit with the flying starburst. They both burst into tears so this cute picture is Ryan comforting one. I was comforting the other girl, but that didn't get captured! :) So sorry to those little girls! We were idiots! lol!

And last but not least, how cute are these little Pinkalicious'!? My brother in law Riley and his wife Sydnie made this awesome poster for the girls to put their faces in for pictures before they left! Unfortunately because of the wind, this kept blowing over and so got tucked behind one of the tables during the party. Then I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get the girls the right goody bags at the end (and half of them were thirsty, or needed to use the bathroom etc) that four of the girls left before I realized we hadn't gotten pictures of them! :( I was SO sad! Thankfully 6 of them still got a picture and they were thrilled! I am planning on emailing these to them.

And there you have it! I guess it was at least memorable, since I have had parents comment to me a few times that their little girls wouldn't stop talking about it. So I guess it was a success! :) Thank you to my cute neighbor Alex as well for helping out! She came over early and helped set up, finish food, then helped with everything all through the party. She took most of these pictures for me, which is why I got any at all! And then, as if that wasn't enough, she stayed after for awhile and cleaned up my entire toy room and all the garbage outside! She's awesome!

Happy 4th Birthday Bella!

2011-07-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

I do realize this post is a little late, but our little toddler Bella, turned into a kid on June 22! About time! She has been acting like one for almost 2 years now! ;) For her birthday she got the much anticipated dollhouse which appeared much smaller at her cousins house than it does in our toy room. We were quite surprised by how huge it is in our house! lol! I was a little embarrassed actually to have anyone see it. Poor Liam will have no room for any toys now! :oP

I have a friend who interviews her kid every year and then puts up the answers and I thought this was a cute idea. Kind of like a journal of sorts! :) So I have interviewed Bella with her answers below! Enjoy!

What's your favorite color?
"All the colors"

What are some of your favorite things to do?
"making stuff!...I mean skip all that, I love playing with Liam"
(she LOOOOVES all things creative!)
-Swing
-Draw/color/paint/cut
-Dress ups
-Play barbies

What do you want to be when you grow up?
"Right now I'm an artist, and then when I grow up more, I'll be a teacher!"

Who is your best friend?
"Claire"

What makes you happy?
"When dad comes home from work"

What makes you sad?
"When my friends have to go home"

What makes you ANGRY?
"Nothing makes me an-gry! :P"

What is the best part about being a big sister?
"Playing with my little brother"

What is the hardest part?
"Being nice to Liam"

What do you like to do with Mom?
"Make cookies and cakes!"d

What do you like to do with Dad?
"Play house with him"

What does your mom like?
"hmm...when I clean my room!"

What does your dad like?
"when I be nice"

What does Liam like?
"When I make funny faces at him!"

What is your favorite food?
"broccoli and mushrooms and carrots!"

What is your favorite treat?
"all of them!"

How old are you now?
"4!"

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

So incredibly happy to live in this country! My kids are so happy too...they just don't know the half of it! Thank you to all those out there making sacrifices for our continued freedom. We are so grateful.
Here's the kids in their patriotic getups!

Have you heard of Anthony Barbie?

2011-06-26T21:17:00.001-07:00

My brother Anthony recently signed on with a modeling agency, Muse Modeling. Next thing you know, I'm perusing the Mattel website and come across this remarkable discovery...

Do you see the resemblance? Well if you know Anthony in person there is an even bigger resemblance than you see here! Even the way this doll STANDS is like Anthony...heck the part in the hair is just like his! So come to find out, Muse told my brother when he signed on, that they discovered the new face of Ken. So they have connections to Mattel. Anthony also received a random paycheck from them not too much sooner than my discovery for the same amount they agreed to pay when selling copyrights to his photos. Now, they haven't told Anthony one way or another if this is him, but come on...what do you think? Either way we have decided to name this Barbie (who currently is named Barbie Basics Model #16 Collection #002...even more of a reason to think they used his pictures) Anthony Barbie! And we bought him one for his birthday!

Of course it doesn't quite look like him in THIS particular photo :oP

Bella's Gymnastics Showcase!

2011-06-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

First let me just say I am WAY behind! Aside from this showcase, I also need to blog our completed playset, the princess festival, Bella's birthday, Bella's pinkalicious birthday party and The daddy daughter kings grand ball! My problem mostly is that I have 3 different people I need to collect pictures from. So keep checking back in the next couple of days and I should have a few more blog posts by then! :)

Let me apologize for these horrible pictures. I wasn't sure how this showcase was going to be set up and I brought the wrong lens. I should have brought my zoom lens. So a lot of these I had to just crop in real close which is why some are such bad quality. luckily I think Ryan got some video on his phone cause it was so hard to get anything of Bella with people walking in front of us or standing in front of us.
Anyway, Bella has been doing gymnastics for the last couple of months. Her last day for the summer is actually tomorrow. She has done pretty well learning but the curriculum they have set up for this age group is very relaxed. Some of the things Bella has gotten much better at include, balance beam (this is my favorite to watch her on because she points her toes so nicely!), jumping/falling into the foam pit, jumping on the trampolines they have there which are WAY springy, and she has almost mastered a front handspring! lol! One downfall of all this braveness that has come, is that before our slide was put onto the playset, Bella decided she was going to jump out of the hole for the slide to "practice" flying! It didn't turn out so well, but it could have been much worse!
They all got a medal at the end of the showcase and got to take a picture with this giant bear...I'm not sure why...I think it was because they were collecting stuffed animals for orphanage kids...

The New Van!

2011-06-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

So we got a new van. It's been a month now, but the first day we got it home, I was backing out of the driveway, which has a curb at the end, and didn't realize how low to the ground the van sat...went over it too fast I guess and the front bumper slammed onto the concrete popping it out of place, knocking some rubber piece that holds the bumper on, off, and partially knocking off the undercarriage cover. I have been waiting to take a picture until it got fixed and now it is, $400 later! So ridiculous.
Anyway I totally love this van. It is a Honda Odyssey Touring 2006. It only had 37000 miles on it! For those of you who aren't yet sold on vans, here are the reasons why I would drive NO other vehicle as a mom!

-It drives SO easy. Easier than the Subaru
-There is DVD with multiple sound outlets. The kids can listen to the DVD while you listen to the Radio if you wish! (Yes I realize this isn't only a van feature!)
-The sliding doors, while not appealing are so awesome for 2 reasons: 1) You can open them with the push of a button and 2) While putting a car seat (with a baby inside) into the car, you don't have to worry about your car door hitting the car parked next to you! Something SO hard to do, when you have a huge baby like I did... (yes did, I will explain later!)
-I can not only open the sliding doors with the push of a button, but the TRUNK or cargo or whatever you want to call it, as well!!! So I'm walking to my car with Liam in one arm, and two sacs from a store that doesn't have cart return areas outside, and bam, with the push of a button my life gets so much easier!
-While we are driving on a road trip, or any lengthy drive, even to Provo, if one of the kids needs something, I can unbuckle myself, WALK into the back, and join them! :) It is all so easy!
-Other things that are so much easier include: changing diapers, nursing, putting kids in PJ's, feeding Liam baby food, etc...
(these are the things that I love after having used the outback for so many years with a kid!

There you have it! Buy a van! They really are much better than people give them credit for! :)

Also, how I mentioned that I USED to have a huge baby, it's because Liam had his 9 month checkup on the 1st and he weighed in at 19 lb 6 oz and 27.9 inches. Meaning he really hasn't grown since his 6 month appt. He maybe grew .5 inches! lol! So he is now in the 25th percentile for both weight and height! Quite a difference from 95th! :)

First Word...

2011-05-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Liam said his first word yesterday! Mama! He has been working on this for awhile now. I've heard him almost say dada too, but that was only once. It's clear I'm now finally his favorite! :oP Ryan got to be his favorite first! He was the only one that could get him to smile for awhile! lol! My turn! ;)

Also I have to at least post one picture. This is a photoshop mock up of what I'm going to do to our huge bare wall at the staircase! I'm so excited! The frames look a little piddly in this picture, but they are not! I will post a pic when it is all done! If ever! :)

Finally!

2011-05-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

Finally on my fourth trip, and over a year after my first trip to this orchard, there were blossoms! Unfortunately the daylight was going fast so I only got the set of them together and a few of them apart. I had a super cute outfit to change Bella into for some individual shots in the blossoms, but it got dark too quick! Even still, I am more than happy with this first picture! I will be printing it on a large canvas for sure!

Liam's surgery + funny video!

2011-05-04T15:30:00.001-07:00

Sometime in January we all decided it was time to get sick. We were in and out of the doctor multiple times a week for over a month. Amidst these Dr. visits Liam got his first ear infection, a double one. After the antibiotics one side cleared up however the left side did not. We tried a new antibiotic and after three days on it took Liam back in, only to find nothing had happened. Then we started the round of shots. We did three rounds and the darn ear never cleared. This whole time there was fluid present in both ears, which we never were able to get rid of either. So after 3 months of a constant ear infection we finally got Liam in to get tubes put in his ears. I was terrified to put him under, and that was the worst part...so Ryan went in with him for that! 5-10 mins later he came out totally bugged and we took him home!
We saw maybe 12 hours of happy baby and then he began to cut his second tooth and is still working on it! :) Hopefully he will begin to sleep longer at night without the help of ibuprofen!

This is a cute picture of him in his little "hospital" gown!

I took this video the other day when I got this hat back from my sister in law. I took pictures of him in it when he was first born, and was curious how it fit now that he's huge. The results were cracking me up!

Continue down for more new posts! :)

Playset & Easter

2011-05-04T14:39:00.001-07:00

We've been up to a lot lately, but have been so tired due to Liam's ear infection, and have had so much to do, I haven't had a chance to update the blog. First, Bella started gymnastics with her cousin, which she is LOVING. I don't have pictures yet, but I really need to get some, and when I do, I'll post a few. We also got a new addition to our backyard! Finally we have a playset...and three weeks later the best it is set up is what is in these pictures! It is still missing the slide, ladder/rock wall, and swing set. Not to mention the playhouse door! If the weather would just cooperate already Ryan and our neighbor could get it done! But it's been so crummy! I think it's starting to look up, so as soon as it's finished there will be more pictures!

Easter morning was fun, but rushed since we have 9 o'clock church. My vote is to have the Easter bunny come on Saturday next year...I'm pretty sure i'll win! :)

This year we decorated eggs with a glitter kit! Way cute, and FAR too complicated for a 3 year old! lol! She kept getting so bugged. But this is one of the eggs Bella did and she wrote her name on it. She was very proud of it in the end!

Liam, just hanging out with the one egg he found!

Bella got to find two Easter baskets this year, since Liam isn't old enough yet. Her's was in the cupboard on the outside of the kitchen and Liams was in the coat closet inside of his carseat.

How cute is this bunny!? It's a blabla doll and I'm obsessed with it!

We didn't go to our ward because Bella had an ear infection and a goopy eye which I had begun drops the day before, so we waited it out till the afternoon to expose her to other kids. But we did go to my cousin's mission farewell, and afterward Ryan and Bella went home and took a nap, while Liam and I went and hung out at my aunts for awhile. It was nice to visit with my aunt and uncle and cousins! Then we came home and went strait to Nanny and grandpa's house for the family Easter egg hunt.

I love this picture! :)

Liam was way more interested in the branches than the actual egg or candy!

Somewhere in the middle of all the craziness I found a chance to snap some pictures of the kids on the porch in their Easter attire!

I absolutely love the face Liam is making in this picture! It reminds me of my brother! :)

Videos of Liam

2011-03-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

First let me just say that I have posted quite a bit tonight, and recently. So make sure you scroll down a bit to get all the updates! :)

I took this when Liam was 4 months old. He was being SO cute talking like crazy. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera on hand and Ryan wasn't home so I had to pick him up and go grab my phone to take some video, so I didn't get as good of talking. But it was still pretty good!

This video was taken a few days ago right after I fed Liam. He was being all cute, and then it got a little graphic.... :P It's hard to see in this teeny video, even when it's full screen (although that does make it better). But it was a lot...and out of nowhere! lol! And yes I know he's in a purple chair. There are trade-offs. Bella gets to use a "boy" carseat (according to her) and Liam has to sit in this purple bumbo.

My first attempt at video...

2011-03-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

These are just some cute videos I have of Bella dancing. The first one is of Bella and her cousin at their sleepover, dancing to the 'Just Dance Kids' wii game. They love it, and it's totally cute to watch! :) The second one is a daily occurrence at our house these days. I really need to get this girl into some ballet classes. You should see the moves she can do just by watching Barbie nutcracker! lol!

Foam Rollers

2011-03-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, here come a bunch of grainy, weird colored photos from our phones!)

So I put Bella's hair in foam rollers for the second time Wednesday night. There seems to be a pattern:

Totally excited,

Rockin' the do-rag and loving it,

Results,

Isn't it darling? <3
She is always surprised by how short it gets when it's curly. Her cousin has super curly hair but hers is way longer than Bellas. So I think she expects an outcome like that. However when I ask her why she doesn't like it she replies that she wants it long like Rapunzel's. I tried to explain to her that as the day went on, it would get "longer" because the curls would relax, (and it did. Around 1pm she was in LOVE with her hair) It wasn't until I reminded her that Snow White's hair is short that she finally gets a smile on her face and says "And Rapunzel's gets short at the end when it turns brown and she cuts it!"

Also we got Bella these pink cowgirl boots and she LOVES them. And I got her this cowgirl hat like a year ago and have never been able to get her to wear it. Now she wants to wear it all the time with her boots. Who knew she just didn't love it because she didn't have the complete ensemble! :) lol! SUCH a girl!

Some oldies but goodies...

2011-03-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

I pulled these off of my and Ryan's phones tonight. Some are REALLY old...those came off of my phone because I almost never plug it into my computer and upload photos and videos off of it! :P

These first three are from when we went to OMSI this last trip to Washington. It was really fun and Bella had a blast, but I forgot my camera, so we have crummy phone pics from it!

Do you love that Liam's arms and legs are the same width as Bella's! :P

Liam just LOVES all things music, but especially the guitar. He can be in the worst mood and Ryan pulls out the guitar and starts playing and he is entertained forever, literally. I really think he would never cry for Ryan to stop playing.

Again, check out both kids arms...

I just love this shot. She had just gotten her hair cut. It looks like she's posing for top model without even trying.

Happy Saint Patricks Day! :)

2011-03-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

So here's the story:
Bella went to preschool on Tuesday. They had a special visitor that day. It was a Leprechaun. In each room the Leprechaun had done some tricks on the room (ie. turn the tables upside down, or put the chairs on the tables, etc.). And in the last room there was a treasure of treats left by him. Well apparently this was all very disturbing to Bella and she was in tears most of the class time. Her teacher finally had to tell her it was just a pretend Leprechaun and then she was fine.
Well for St Patricks Day, a Leprechaun comes and turns all the sugar in our sugar bowl into candy. So this year we explained to her what a Leprechaun was and then she was fine. However thismorning she would not come out to the main rooms of the house by herself because she didn't want to "see" the Leprechaun. lol! When we came out she saw that he had done one trick, turn the coffee table upside down, and then left the treats and a note (shown below), and some lucky charms. She was so thrilled! No more tears!

Here is a picture of the after math of her breakfast this morning...it seriously grosses me out to look at/think about! :)

"Princess Presto to your service!"

2011-03-17T20:18:00.001-07:00

Bella had a superhero birthday party to go to for her friend down the street....all boys! :) Except her! She was told she could dress like a princess but we tried to find a girl superhero she could be. Let me just warn you all to never search for female superhero images when your kid is watching! They are all so disgusting! Like video game girls! Anyway we finally asked Ryan and he came up with Princess presto from SuperWhy, which was kinda perfect! We improvised on the costume but she turned out great in the end. She even has a cape, which you can't see very well in the photos :)
(btw, the title of this blog is what she kept saying when she waved her wand!)

Liam is 6 months old

2011-03-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

So I finally got around to taking some more pictures. After last months photo shoot we all got sick, and we have been sick since. We are now on the mend from hopefully what is our last cold of the season! It has been a LONG sleepless month, with WAY too many doctors visits. We had sore throats (strep) and sniffles, throwing up, and hives. Nagging coughs at all hours of the night, and headaches galore! It was ridiculous! Among all of this Ryan's job has been going crazy. They have been working him at all hours of the day, and weekends too!
Anyway so I finally got some pictures! The session didn't last long, as you know Ryan never does, and he was required to be there when Liam fell over. So we got a few keepers, which is enough! And then when he finally sits up well on his own I will probably start taking a lot more...not to mention when the weather is warm and we can do things outdoors instead of having to set up the studio lights.

So Liam was concentrating much to hard, trying to sit up, for any smiles in these first pics (I got the one smile only)! And then when we put him in the green box he was having a blast and being so cute....but of course the lights were too low and we were getting shadows on his face from them. So I took him out of the box to move the lights up and then when we put him back in he wouldn't have it...those ones are all of him crying! So the last two have some funky lighting but they sure are cute of him! :)

Bella's Easter Basket

2011-03-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

So how cute is Bella's Easter basket I just decorated!? Not the best picture of it, but it really did turn out cute! I got the idea off of this blog: redmommycrafts

It's super easy (for a craft anyway) and it's way inexpensive. I already had this basket, but the one she uses is from the dollar store, one of those plastic ones. The tulle was $1.97 a yard at Walmart. I got a full yard since I didn't know how much I'd be using, but didn't use it all. However I think I should have. I think it would have been a little cuter if it had been more full (it does look a little more full in person), but I just got impatient! :)
And the ribbon I got for 2 bucks at walmart as well. That was for a whole spool...and I seriously only used like maybe 3 feet! Anyway just thought I'd share the idea for all you fellow friends with princesses for daughters! :)

PS> I have been thinking Easter was in a couple weeks (beginning of April), like it was last year, so I was getting everything all ready, and my mother in law informed me tonight that it is not until April 24th this year! lol! I guess I am WAY ahead!

5 1/2 months

2011-02-14T15:06:00.000-08:00

And how cute is he! I need Ryan's help so that Liam doesn't roll off of the table or roll and hit his head on the wood...he kept rolling while I was trying to do pics. The only ones I could get were on this boppy cause it kept him from Rolling. Anyway So I will go ahead and say more to come...and keep my fingers crossed! :)

Some randoms

2011-02-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

First, How cute are these kids of ours!? :)

Also, here is a picture I found off of Ryan's phone of Bella when our elf Frisbee came to town. He filled Bella's shoe up with Candy and stuck around to spy on her through the Christmas season. He was always watching, and would report to Santa every night on Bella's behavior. I think she almost got coal in her stocking...lucky for her she had a new baby brother to deal with so I think Santa was lenient this year...next year she may not be so lucky! :)

Christmas Day

2011-02-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get any pictures from the beginning Santa Clause part (That was all on video) but here is the rest of our Christmas morning. We had a really great time. It seemed so short this year though since the kids slept until 8:00a, which is unreal for us! lol! But we all got everything we wanted and so we were all very happy at the end of the day! :)
From Santa Bella got a tag reading system, with some princess books, a Cinderella princess doll, a jewelry box, an art easel with art supplies, and a play dough ice cream maker. Liam got an activity table, singing puppy dog toy, a sit n' spin, and some baby food! :) He can now eat solids, which he does very well! :) We got some other fun things as a family and we have had a lot of fun playing with those things together! One in particular was a Wii game, Just Dance Kids. It's awesome to watch Bella dance to it, and she gets me and Ryan to dance with her quite frequently! lol!

Ryan got his Ipad cover he was wanting. I must say, it changes the functionality of the ipad a ton. We actually really love the cover.

Here I am opening my new blender, which I LOVE, and which I can't believe I lived without any sort of blender for SIX years!

I love this picture because Ryan asked Bella what she wanted to get me for Christmas, and she listed 2 things (both of which they got for me): Puffy socks, and Slippers! And of course they are beautiful pink, picked out by none other than my girliest of girls!

Liam got Bella these bracelets and rings, and Santa surprised her with this "Magic Music Box!" Just what Bella had been wanting but hadn't asked for. She was so excited. And she absolutely LOVES this simple box! :)

I love this first picture cause Liam looks SOOO chubby! :P

Christmas Eve

2011-02-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

So it has taken me so long to post Christmas stuff because I had this cool slideshow of all the images ready to upload, but blogger kept making it HORRIBLE quality. I know there are other ways of posting video but I just decided to do this the old fashioned way, since Christmas was now over a month ago.
Christmas Eve we went to temple square to see the lights. They have a lot less than they used to but once you got into actual temple square it was pretty well lit. We really enjoyed it. We think we may continue it as a tradition for Christmas Eve from now on.

After we got back from Temple Square we opened our Christmas eve jammies. So fun! :)

Oops!

2010-12-23T22:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know how Snow White didn't make it into the previous batch of pictures but she didn't. She was another favorite of mine. She was super cute, and had the perfect voice. :)

A few from Disneyland

2010-12-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

Okay so obviously this trip was for Bella since we have exactly one picture with Liam in it (he was sleeping most of the time anyway). Also the pictures with me and Ryan in them are scarce as well...I am waiting to see what the rest of the family got and then I will post some more. But for now here are some of the highlights from our trip this year!

Everyone needs a picture with Mickey Mouse...unfortunately we never saw Minnie! :(

And of course the princess pictures that will be most treasured.
Jasmine was cute with Bella, and they had matching "golden" shoes, which made Bella grin! Also if you notice her hair, that is a completely different post I will be doing once I have all the footage from it. It was cute/super annoying/way too expensive and a never again occurrence! :)

Cinderella is Bella's favorite and she was the first princess we got to see in the Fantasy Faire! Unfortunately the sun was all spotty on their faces for the classic look and smile pose, but this one was cute!

We got to see Sleeping Beauty twice! This was the fantasy faire sighting, the other one she was in too big of a hurry for a photo. Same with Cinderella's fairy godmother who was darling, but she gave Bella a hug. We were sad we couldn't get a picture with her.

Belle was our favorite (Ryan & I's), She was so super cute with Bella and she came over to Liam and was so cute with him too! That's how we got our only picture of him! :)

Bella was very concerned that Ariel wasn't wearing her pink dress and she asked her about it. Ariel told her that she had been on a date with Prince Eric and she spilled spaghetti ALL over her dress and so it was being cleaned now. Then she asked Bella if she liked her blue one instead though, and she said yes. Luckily Ariel also pointed out that she was wearing her blue dress on the signing book Bella had! lol!

What's funny about seeing Tiana there was that Bella and her cousin seemed the most excited to see her! It surprised us, cause she isn't their favorite princess, so it was funny.

Bella wanted these ears and wore them for probably 30 seconds before taking it off. The elastic band bugged her too much! But you gotta have one of those classic disneyland hats right!?

Rapunzel was so cute! Her and Flynn Rider had there own tower to do pictures in. The line was long, and they only let so many people in so we were lucky! Anyway Rapunzel danced around with Bella (and of course none of those pictures turned out! :( ) and Flynn was really funny and great with Bella too. I love this face he is making in this picture! So in the character! lol! Also after we left Bella got this look on her face and said "Oh no! I forgot to ask Flynn if I could see the crown in his pouch!" lol. If you haven't seen the movie, you must. It is adorable! We loved it and it's so entertaining!

Bella and I had a chance to walk through some of the toon town houses while waiting for everyone to get off a ride and so I tried to snap this pic of us. Unfortunately since my camera isn't a point and shoot, this didn't work so well. It's blurry! lol! But it shows I was there with her right!?? :)

The Dumbo ride was a big event for us! I don't know why but it was a very loved ride and very much anticipated! The best ride was Storybook Land, which we didn't have our camera with cause we left it in the stroller with Liam and the grandparents.

The beach was a much needed relaxing day after three crazy days of Disneyland. Bella was in heaven playing in the waves with her cousin. She was having SO much fun as you can see, until a wave got her to trip (I think cause the sand probably got real mushy, like it does when the water comes), and she went completely under the water....lol...poor girl. Sand all over in her hair, and she was freezing cause it wasn't the warmest day. Another downer was all the seagulls trying to get our food. They are fearless, and scared poor Bella senseless. Ryan had to walk a perimeter around us while we ate or the Seagulls would lunge for our lunch and totally freak her out! :)

Our Family Picture

2010-11-30T20:44:00.001-08:00

I thought I would snap a picture of our family for the Christmas card by using the self timer on my camera, and a tripod. Then I lent one of my studio lights to my brother in law and so we decided to go over to their place for the picture so they could take it. Man I was glad I did that! It was SO hard! A 3 month old and a 3 year old who can't keep her hands off the 3 month old, combined with a cranky husband (he always gets cranky when I want to do pictures....surprise!), made it VERY difficult even with someone else snapping the picture! Thank goodness my sister in law Jenn stepped in to save the day! She also does photography so it was really nice that she was there to help! Thanks to her and Landon (for holding the magical sunshine that gets Liam to look and sometimes smile) we were able to get this great pic! I did have to photoshop Liams head from another picture though. And I also had to liquify my face and arm a bit to get rid of the baby weight I still have! lol!

Here is some backblogging...

2010-11-30T19:34:00.001-08:00

With all the craziness I never posted anything from the summer. Well I finally got these pictures off of our point and shoot, and thought I would blog them!
Bella made a new friend this summer, Parker, and when we went to their apartment there was this truck in the parking lot. Bella started to laugh and pointed saying "Look at that car! It's all tangled up!" It cracked us up so I had to take a picture! :)

At the beginning of summer, Ryans' mom hosted a "girls weekend" at the lake. Moms only! So Ryan got to stay home for the long weekend with Bella, and since his brother had a scouting thing he had to be at, he also took our niece! They had so much fun having a sleepover, but Bella was having a hard time...I guess the word is sharing? She just wanted everything her cousin had. If she had it, it was the best. End of story! It made for a very exhausting weekend for Ryan! :)

Her absolute favorite thing to do at the lake was ride the "foy wheeler" this year. She took every opportunity she got. Luckily mom doesn't know how to drive one (by choice) so she didn't have to take her on any rides, but she wore Ryan out for sure!

It must have been mating season...these two were just hanging out on the driveway in plain view. No shame! lol! Click on it to make it bigger. It really blows my mind that my point and shoot camera caught so much detail...also it's SO weird how they mate...we can't quite figure it out.

Bella loved the beach this year. Playing in the sand was her favorite, but she also loved to jump over the "waves"!

Yes I know she looks naked, I assure you, she is not. She had just started writing her letters a lot better so Ryan snapped this cute shot of her! Her 'E' now has three lines like it is supposed to! lol!

One for the Christmas card! :)

2010-11-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

So I had about 5 minutes of Bella holding Liam before he lost it! So this was the best I got! I wish he was looking at the camera and smiling (right?) but he gets really nervous when Bella is around! lol!

Also about a week ago we started decorating for Christmas...yes that's right, BEFORE Thanksgiving! So shoot us! We love Christmas! Monday for family night we put up the tree and decorated it! It was so much fun! Bella and Liam got to open their new ornaments...which I failed to take pictures of. Bella got a ballerina one since she is obsessed with dancing this year and actually shows real promise in the ballet dept! Liam got an airplane, and I got Ryan a grinch one since he is somewhat of a Grinch around Christmas! ;P I'm mostly kidding! :) Here are a few pics from it. Yes the two of the decor are blurry...I was too lazy to set up the tripod....sad, I know!

Liam's baby blessing

2010-11-10T15:20:00.001-08:00

Liam was blessed this last Sunday, November 7th! It went really well! I got up and bore my testimony in like the first time since me and Ryan have been married (6 years!), only cause I thought I had done it at Bella's blessing also, which Ryan informed me after that I had not. I just felt guilty doing it at one kids and not the others...and now I still feel guilty...for not doing it at Bella's! :) Anyway Liam looked super dashing in his getup! And super chunky! A shirt & tie really bring out the chub in his face!

Yes, yesterday was the fall post...

2010-11-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

Today is the winter post! It snowed a little bit today. Not the first snow, not by a long shot. We had about 3-4 inches a few weeks ago, and then had some great mid 60's weather, but I feel that fall is coming to a close! :) Bella wanted to go out and "play" in the snow...which there wasn't any to play in, so she just went out and did jumping jacks in it and "ate" some! :) While I was taking the pictures she made the comment "Mom you're just taking lots more pictures of me than Liam!" Sad that she is lacking attention that much, that this meant the world to her! :)

Fall in it's prime!

2010-11-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

Fall is probably my favorite season here.
It's so pretty, but also the temperatures are so nice!
(Today was actually a cold day though).
Anyway we have these four great big trees in our
front yard that produce the BEST fall leaves. When
I was a kid my favorite part of fall was when
my dad would rake up all the leaves and let us
jump in the piles! So today after lunch we all went
out and raked leaves and jumped in them.

Bella helped rake with her little kid sized one!

Then decided to sit in the pile...she wasn't too thrilled.

But moms idea to jump in got her excited!

Of course then Ryan had to join in! Gotta love the faces he pulls! :)

Liam cheering from the sidelines...

Then of course mom had to have a turn...not too flattering of a picture :P

Some more pork...

2010-11-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

Look at this Porker!

2010-11-08T20:00:00.001-08:00

2 months old and he already weighs as much as Bella did at 5 months! 13 lb 14 oz! He is 97th percentile for weight, and has grown 3 inches since birth putting him in 75th percentile for height! He is a big boy! I can't keep up with his growth, he is constantly growing out of clothes, and for his baby blessing Sunday he wore a vest that is a 6-9 month size! (I will post pics of that soon hopefully!) And check out that neck strength! I feel like he's been able to hold his head up since birth! He seriously has some crazy strength in that area! His pediatrician just kept commenting over and over how huge he was and that it was crazy how well he held his head up! She said if she didn't know she would swear he was older than 2 months! :)
Also he IS smiling now, but I have yet to catch that on camera. I have been pretty busy lately but that is my goal for his 2 month pics I will be taking in the next few days. I got a slight laugh out of him today too, but only one...soon enough I suppose.

Halloween!

2010-11-04T16:51:00.001-07:00

Bella was a cute little witch for Halloween. Funny how she went from being a princess last year to a MEAN witch this year! Yes she wanted to be a mean witch, and boy does this fit her personality at the moment! :) Princess last year, witch this year! She has definitely been giving us a run for our money. Too bad she wouldn't let me put the witch makeup on her face...so she doesn't look all that mean! :)

Here is Bella and Liam in their costumes. I looked and looked for a cute monkey costume while I was on bedrest for Liam, in a 0-6 month size but couldn't find one anywhere, so I moved on from cute and cuddly, to funny! A Chili Pepper! How lucky is he! And doesn't he look thrilled! He wore it for a total of 5 minutes! :) What a waste! He hated the thing, and the hat was huge on him! Lesson learned. Just buy a "Baby's first Halloween" onsie and call it good if they are under 6 months!

Here is Bella's witch face! I also dressed up like a witch to take her trick or treating. It was super miserable weather to trick or treat in. Gray and drizzly and cold...not to mention windy! My hat kept blowing off! :) Bella didn't last too long, but mom thinks she got PLENTY of candy! Between the four halloween parties she attended plus trick or treating, she has as much back as we handed out! Too much for one person! Good thing she has such great parents to share with!

"Mom take my picture"

2010-11-04T16:40:00.001-07:00

I was taking some pictures the other day of Bella holding Liam when all of a sudden Bella said "Mom take my picture over here"...

She then proceeded to literally run from place to place in the room posing all cute for the camera. I guess she misses the days when I had time to constantly take her picture! :) She hated it back then! :)

Some of the kids together...

2010-10-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

It was a nice day today...too nice actually! I couldn't get Liam to stop squinting. These are two pictures I have out of maybe 5 that his eyes were semi open in! :)

Liam is one month old...

2010-10-06T14:58:00.001-07:00

And guess who he looks just like....ME! (Alisa) I showed Bella a picture of me as a baby the other day and said "Who's this?" To which she replied "Liam!" He really looks SO much like I did! Ryan thinks this is a good thing cause it means he will be tall! lol! And because Bella looks more like him, she shouldn't get taller than him, right!? :) Nice logic huh!?

Also I did some pictures for my friend of Bella in this halloween skirt she made. She is going to start selling them, they are so super cute! I believe she will be on Etsy soon...I'll post when she is!

He's Here!...and one week old!

2010-09-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Liam Ryan Florence
Born 09-01-10, 9:24am, 20.5 inches long, 8lb, 11oz and 3 weeks early! We just knew I couldn't carry him all the way to 40 weeks!
Week one has been just awesome. The recovery time for me (Alisa) has been far better than my first and Liam has been an angel so far. Last night he woke up just once to eat (at least once during the time Ryan and I were asleep) and hasn't really woken up since. He's been sleeping so much today, I'm a little worried he won't tonight! :) We will see! Anyway Bella is being the best big sister too! She has had a few moments of obvious jealousy, but when we explain things to her, or give her a little extra attention, she gets it. Today has been a real improvement actually!
Here are some pictures of our new little guy, and a few of him with Bella. She just loves him so much already and is constantly giving kisses and holding him and reading to him. It's really fun to watch!

Home Again!

2010-08-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back home again. I got released from the hospital last Monday sent home on bed rest. Well more modified bed rest. Today has been the worst day so far. I had to take my medication 2x's in under the amount of time you are supposed to wait between doses. So I have been battling this major headache that resembles a minor migraine. I have even been nauseous a few times. Besides that things are going well. By Friday Bella was so tired of being passed around that it started to wear on her. We are trying to keep her around a little more this week. And by Monday I'm off bed rest and hopefully into labor within the week! We will see! :) That is the update! :)

New Happenings!

2010-08-07T08:35:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone! I have been trying to keep everyone updated via facebook and phone calls, but most of the time it has been pretty watered down details so I thought since I have all the time in the world right now I would post an update on our blog.
It has been a long crazy week. Last Friday we went to Bear Lake for the weekend. We had a really great time like always, but by the end of Saturday I wasn't feeling so great. We had taken a couple bumpy boat rides and one really long ride in the big boat so the kids could go tubing. I had forgotten to take a drink with me and it was very hot so I'm sure I got a little dehydrated. Plus I got motion sick so I got into the water to swim which was way fun. When I went to climb in the boat though the steps that I thought were there, weren't. I guess there are no steps that get into the boats, I was thinking of the wave runner, So I had to pull myself up into the boat (with a little help from my mother in law) but when you are told no heavy lifting in pregnancy you never think about lifting yourself...at least I didn't.
So by the end of the day I was feeling pretty yucky and we drove home that night. The whole way home I was having pretty regular contractions at about 15 min apart, sometimes closer. Then the next morning I was still having them and was also starting to feel sick and overheated, so I stayed home from church. That evening I spoke with a friend who's daughter is a nurse and she told me that even if they aren't totally regular and aren't painful that since I was having them for so long and more than 6 an hour, that I needed to go into the hospital.
So we went to labor and delivery. It all started very routine with not much worries. It was more of a precautionary visit to ease our minds. But when the nurse over me checked my cervix I was dialated to a 3. You could tell that her demeanor changed a little and she was more concerned. So they hooked me up to a monitor, gave me an IV and took some tests. They also gave me some medicine, that I call speed because it makes my heart race and my body shaky. After a few hours everything was stabilized and they sent me home.
The next morning I woke up with regular contractions again. So I waited till about 1:30 and then called my doctors office to ask what to do. My doctor was/is out of town so I talked to his nurse that I'm used to dealing with and told her the story and she was very upset that I had left the hospital without steroid shots for the baby's lung development and told me to get back into the hospital right then. So we went back.
Same ordeal as the night before except even on the medicine after a couple hours my nurse checked my dilation again and I had gone from a 3 to a 4 and went from being under 40% effaced to 80%. So they came to the conclusion that I was in preterm labor. I got the first shot for the babies lungs and we spent the rest of the day in a delivery room watching things. Nothing seemed to be happening once the medicine stabilized things but they were still concerned so they moved me up to a postpartum room the next day.
That was Tuesday. Since then I have had a roller-coaster of things happen. I was given the last shot for the babies lungs tuesday So by wednesday at 4:30pm it was a lot safer to deliver the baby, so that is good!, however thursday night I was having contractions a minute and a half apart with more pain, and my nurse was saying she thought that was it! That I was having the baby! But everything continues to stay stabilized. Every time I take the medicine the contractions go back to normal and everything seems fine. I am still on bed rest at the hospital and will be until I reach 34 weeks, which is Monday! :) At that point they will decide if I can go home and be on bed rest there until 36 weeks.
Everything is so up in the air and on a day to day basis that it has been hard on us and those helping us to really be able to plan things out, but we really appreciate everyone who has chipped in to make it easier on Ryan at home. Thank you for the meals and the time watching Bella, and the phone calls and visits to me in the hospital, as I have been bored out of my mind all week! lol! We really appreciate it all!
And despite all the things that have been going on, Ryan and I are both very optimistic. We really feel like the baby will be totally fine and that even if I deliver him premature, he will thrive. So we are both calm and positive. We are just wondering how and when this is going to happen! We had an ultrasound that measured the baby at 5lbs 16oz as of tuesday so we know the baby will still be good sized! :)
Here is a maternity picture of me finally. Not the most flattering but I had to have one before he came so this will have to do for now! :)

Yesterday Bella finally started to miss me! They spent all day here at the hospital with me and then went home around 4. Bella fell asleep on the drive and when she woke up at 6 she was in the worst mood and didn't cheer up until Ryan said they could come visit me again! So they came back and we watched Barbie Rapunzel! She was so cute linking her arm in mine for like the first 20 min! They stayed till 9 and then went home. That has been my best hospital day so far, so I am looking forward to the possibility of going home on Monday. We will just have to see.
Another hard part about all of this is that my regular doctor is out of town until this coming Wednesday, so I have been speaking with a different doctor everyday about my condition. It will be nice when Dr. Terry returns! :)

oh and here's a fun picture of Bella with a goatee! When they come to visit I am allowed a 30 min wheelchair ride! Whoot! So we went to the cafeteria this one day and got ice cream! It was yummy!

Anyway I think that is everything. I'm sure I missed something but for the most part this is what is going on. I will try and keep this updated if anything crazy happens. Again thank you for all your prayers and support! We are very grateful! Hopefully the next post will be in a few weeks about our new little guy! :)

And we are having....(drumroll please)...

2010-05-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

A BOY! We all knew it (except Bella, who wanted a sister, but is now okay with having a brother).
We just found out this week, and so far I have gone out and bought some boy clothes, boy crib bedding, in the process of buying a sweet sleeper recliner (we learned the first time how important comfort in one of those is!), and some bedroom accessories! I knew it was a boy so much that I already had everything planned and picked out! Now we just need to finish the basement so that we can move the toy room downstairs and put in the baby's room! :) Fun stuff!
Now I have to go and learn all things boy....plus come up with a boy name, which is HARD!

Orchard

2010-04-26T22:43:00.001-07:00

Me and my sister in law went to stake out a new spot today...This was my favorite shot from it...there are more on my website if you want to check them out! :)
http://www.alisaflorence.com

I am finally loving the spring weather...

2010-04-20T17:42:00.001-07:00

Bella was being the hugest goof today, and with the wind being as crazy as it was I was lucky to get these three cute keepers! Also Bella is sporting her cute new haircut...I didn't go too drastic on the length since I enjoy being able to put her hair up...but I was SO tempted to so more of a short bob! Maybe next time! That is a tree in our front yard behind her! I love it in the spring...hate it in the summer...plus it was planted crooked before we moved in..so it is unsavable! Also we find out in 2 weeks what gender of baby we will be having! :)

Guess What!?

2010-01-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

Remember this little bundle of joy!?

Well we are finally getting another one! September 20th, 2010! Hooray! :)

Christmas Day 2009!

2009-12-28T19:38:00.001-08:00

So we had a really great Christmas this year! It was Ryan and my first Christmas since we got married that we have spent in our own home Christmas morning! It was just magical! :) Really we just had a really great year, and this was a great way to end it! Santa brought mom the studio lights that she has been wanting since she graduated three years ago! Dad got the new dress clothes he was wanting, but forbade any other purchases on his behalf...And Bella was just tickled at all the princess stuff she got from Santa this year! Especially her Cinderella movie she asked Santa for many times! She remembered too! Good thing he was able to find a pirated version since Cinderella isn't out again for another 5 years or so!
Anyway I didn't get any pictures of the "Santa" part. That was all video taped, pretty much the whole thing, but I got a few from the aftermath! We had a fun time this year.

I just love this girl in this coat and hat combo! So cute!

Apparently I am SO excited about these soft cushy socks I got...nevermind the new studio lights towering over my head...

I just loved this face! It's like a chubby kid cheese!

Yay! The bum gets to dress up!

Bella helping dad open his present from HER!

The occasional picture of me does get taken...keep in mind this was early Christmas morning! No time for showers, makeup and hair!

We were a little worried about how long Christmas morning would last the first time we saw her open a present this year. SLOW and teenie tiny peices at a time! However on Christmas morning it was a different story! She went to TOWN! She was just tearing through the presents! We hardly had time to process her gifts ourselves, and we were the one's who gave them!

Something that will never happen again...using moms new softbox as a tent!

This is her 'show mom' face!

Bella yelling "I a princess! I a princess!" while jumping up and down in her new nighty!

Bella and Ryan's cousin Emmy, watching The Little Mermaid, at the family dinner at his grandparents that night! I thought it was cute!

Casey looks about how we all feel right about now...

Bella got to sit on Santa's lap!

2009-11-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

I wrote a bunch about this on my 365blog, The color turned out much better on that blog...at least on my screen it did! :)
I tried to add a link for it under here but it isn't working, so just look at my web links on the right and it's the first one there.

Bella plays in the snow with dad...

2009-11-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

...but not with mom, because mom's a pansy and hates the snow! So mom takes pictures from the sidelines!
Bella and dad start to form a snowman, and get into a little snowball fight along the way...something I didn't capture very well...I captured it better than these pics show, but not well enough to post...

This is how Ryan looked after being hit with a snowball by Bella....I die laughing every time I see this pic!

Ryan told Bella to eat some snow and she said "it's like ice cream?"

making snow angels...

Bella's first snowman! We couldn't get eyes or a nose to go in it because the snow was so packed it was like ice!

Lost the gloves! It's all over, she is now SO done with the snow!

Bella's favorite new pastime..

2009-11-19T07:27:00.001-08:00

This was from my 365 blog from yesterday and I thought it was so cute I had to post it!
She is constantly getting into this tree and it is driving us nuts! lol!

BRIDGING THE GENERATION GAP

2009-11-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

This was cracking me and my mom up, so we had to take pictures. It's Bella and my grandma both playing games on me and Ryan's iphones. The best part was my grandma was so into the game on Ryan's phone that she didn't even notice us taking pictures of her!

Grandma was so excited when she finally won the game! It was Animatch for those with iphones! So she held up the phone to show us her score!

Princess Blella on Halloween...

2009-11-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a MUCH better picture of Bella in her costume! I literally had like two mins with my camera and she posed SO perfectly for me! Thank you Bella! My day yesterday was so stressful and you made that part of it so much easier! :)

Princess Blella!

2009-10-28T18:24:00.001-07:00

So Bella got to wear her halloween costume today at the Barnes N Noble storytime, so of course we had to take a picture of how stinkin' cute she looks in it! I forgot to have her hold her cute little wand though so I will post more that we will probably take on halloween! Sometimes she says she is 'Sleeping DJudy', sometimes she is 'Cindablella' and other times just 'Princess Blella'!

GOING PUBLIC

2009-10-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

Okay I have now decided to share with the world my 365 blog. I hope I can keep it up...we shall see. The web address is:
365.alisaflorence.com
Also it snowed today and Bella was dying to go outside! The pic that shows her actually in the snow is on my 365 blog, these are just some other ones that I thought were adorable of her. Especially her sitting in front of the door. She did that herself and was huddling up saying "it's cold!" and making those faces!

Just a bunch of Bella!

2009-10-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

We are pretty uneventful I know...if I pulled out my ol' point and shoot and finally downloaded those to our computer I'm sure I would have alot more of a variety of photos, but with my big ol camera, all I ever shoot are clients or Bella...so...until then, here are a bunch of Bella from the last couple of months!

I LOVE this face! It's my favorite!

Getting Pumpkins with the cousins...

Thank you Landon for telling Bella to eat the corn she found on the ground!

THESE next few are for a new project I'm doing. My brother and sister in law got me into it. It's called 365. And what it is is I will take at least one picture a day for a year...of course I can't only take just one...but I am keeping a blog of one picture a day. I haven't gone public with it yet. I thought I would first see how I do at it! It's a big commitment...

These next couple are a few from a photo shoot me and my sister in law did of Bella and Claire (her cousin) for Bella's room...These are the ones I think I am printing to frame for it!

I tried...

2009-08-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Well I tried the other day, with little success, to get Bella to pose all cute in her new boots for a picture for the wall. This was the best I got...it is still cute, I know, but not quite what I was looking for! Maybe next time! :)

I love this cutie!

2009-06-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

I just love the faces she gives me now when I'm trying to take her picture. They are either ultra-cheesy, or uninterested! lol! This one is great though I think!

Some non-artsy pics of just us in Aruba

2009-06-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

This is how they bag your groceries in Aruba...they just pack them into random boxes. When we went to check out the church location there were a bunch of people playing domino's and eating food out of a Budweiser box because of this!

These pictures were taken on our Jeep tour...it was fun, but we got filthy, and it was TONS of off-roading...which is fine if you like that sort of thing...

Here are some more Ostrich pics! I am a huge fan of the way the ostrich looks in Ryan's pic, and in mine you can see just how crazy they are because of all the birdseed that is flying around! The Ostrich farm was also part of the Jeep tour!

Some cool things in Aruba!

2009-06-14T21:44:00.001-07:00

Backing up....

2009-06-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture of Bella and Claire holding hands! They held hands for a long time and helped each other up the stairs holding hands even! It was adorable!

So the day we left for Aruba we decided to take Bella to the zoo and bring her cousin Claire along for the ride, so she would have more fun! It was fun, but we didn't get very many pictures at all...it was like we had twins to deal with! In fact everyone kept asking if they were twins...probably only because me and Ryan were the only parents with them, because they really don't look like twins... We pulled them around in this wagon most of the time, and Claire was an angel, did everything we asked, but Bella kept trying to climb out and run around the zoo! She's almost TOO independent that one!

Day two and three in Aruba!

2009-06-06T14:16:00.001-07:00

So....here is our VERY flattering hammock picture. I just HAD to post one to ensure everyone believed my last post! We didn't Hammock it up for very long though....the water is too tempting! My shoulders are also now fried. Somehow the most important thing to get sunscreen on ended up with none....

Here I am just hangin' out with the flamingos! We're best friends!

Here I am getting attacked by a giant alien! ....or just feeding the Ostrich, but man it looks brutal!

And here is Ryan feeding the Ostrich! That was a fun part of day two in Aruba, because it made some great pictures! lol! I love that two of the Ostrich's necks are twisted together!

Neener Neener!

2009-06-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

We are currently on the beautiful island Aruba! It is fantastic! I will post pics as soon as we have some, but we just got here today! Here is what we are doing tomorrow! lol!

Some new pics of Bella

2009-05-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

So These top pictures I realized AFTER we took them, that her eyebrows were kinda crazy because she kept rubbing her eyes. So that is why they look wacky! They are not normally like that! lol!

This is ticking me off!

2009-05-16T21:17:00.001-07:00

Okay the post below is being insane. So I apologize for the writing at the side of the picture, but if I try and move any of the pictures around it makes it so you cannot enlarge them, like the last picture of the stair-railing. So you cant enlarge that one for some reason. I am very sorry! :)

Our New Blog

2009-05-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

We tried to get our other blog to work for us, but alas we have caved. We are now bloggers. We switched hosts for our websites and our blog got deleted before it got transferred. So, here are some pictures of our new house that we have recently taken. We haven't gotten all the pics up yet, only what we have done, but we will post new ones as we get them done!