Maybear Update

I have a million things that happened in December to post about but I can't get to my pictures grr. Anyway, in the mean time Maybear has been doing so many funny things. It's sad she's not really a baby anymore but toddlers sure are entertaining.

She has started wanting to put on make-up. She loves getting her toe nails painted and she gets really upset when I don't let her use my make-up brushes in the morning. It cracks me up. She'll also brush her hair (that she doesn't have), and wait for you to tell her "pretty".

We did a FHE the other night about being a child of God. I had a picture of a bunch of kids and asked, "Is this a child of God? Is this a child of God?" for each kid. I left the picture out on the couch and the next morning she was pointing to each of the kids saying, "isshish, isshish, isshish..."

She loves to put on scarves and necklaces...unless mama wants her to wear them of course.

I keep a chair in the kitchen to reach the high shelves. The other day I left her snacks on the counter. She pushed the chair over to the counter and started climbing up it to get the snacks.

At the store she always holds my debit card and when we get to the card machine she tries to put it in the slider...obviously mommy goes shopping too much.

When Goob barks she barks back at him and tells him to "shh".

She has a shopping cart and she'll push it to the tree take all the ornaments off that she can reach and stick them in her shopping cart.

When I'm cooking dinner I give her a pot and a spoon and she'll sit there and stir. Then she'll "eat" whatever she cooked.

If I lay down on the ground she'll immediately stop what she's doing and come over and tackle me. No resting in this house.

She loves to dance. If anything even remotely sounds like music she'll start grooving.

She has started saying a lot of words. She says, dada, goob (that's the dogs name), good girl, fish, shoe, no no no no, and she'll buzz like a bee. She doesn't say mama though what a stinker.

She is just getting in her last 1 year molar. Teething is terrible. I'm throwing a "done teething" party as soon as she gets all her teeth in. The main activity at the party will be SLEEPING!

Despite my house looking like a tornado ran through it after I cleaned it five minutes ago, and the tantrums that are becoming more frequent, I love this age. It's so much fun to watch her figure out all the little puzzles she meets from day to day. It amazes me how smart she is and what she picks up on.

Maybear sees Santa

Maybear went and saw Santa for the first time. So sad, but you gotta love the "screaming santa picture" doesn't everyone have at least one? My favorite has got to be the pouty lip in the last one.

My Thanks

I've been feeling a little bit down and terrible recently which makes me feel terrible because I know it's the season to be thankful. So I thought I would make a list of things I have to be thankful for. Just for the record once you get past 4 they aren't really ranked in any order of importance.

1. Zach- No matter how grumpy I am, Zach is always there for me to make it better. He always makes me laugh and gives me the best hugs and encouragement. He works long hard hours so that I can stay home with our little girl. I am so lucky to have him.

2. Maybear- I realize everyday of my life how big of a miracle the Maybear is. She stretches me to be better and of course she is just the sweetest girl in the world.

3. My Mom- I have the best mom in the world. I imagine that in the premortal existence I begged the Lord to let me have her as my mom and he let me as a big favor. She always makes time for me and makes me feel important.

4. Katherine- Not many people will put up with me (I actually can't really name another person) but Katherine hangs out with me and I can talk to her about anything. I'm sure she is friends with me out of sister-in-lawly duty but whatever the reason for her being nice I'm glad she is.

5. Our Apartment- Yes, it's loud and it's noisy, and I'm sad we didn't get into a house this year but really it's warm. It's more than enough space and there isn't a swamp on our porch (like in our last apartment) so I should be more grateful for it.

6. The Dog- He is my arch nemesis. But deep down I'm glad he's here. It's nice to have him bark whenever someone gets too close to our door or when annoying sales people show up. Also, I'm glad the weird creepy guys at the park stay far away from us on our walks because of him. Plus, he keeps my feet warm at night.

7. Chocolate- 'nuff said.

8. Dishwasher, Washer, Dryer, Fridge, Oven, etc.- Can you imagine life without them, ick.

9. Bishop (I can't even think of his last name isn't that so sad?? His first name is Daniel though)- I really don't think we would have made it to the temple as quickly as we did without his help. We owe him our happily ever after.

10. Living in America- I always feel so guilty for complaining about anything when I hear some story of someone living in destitution in another country. We are truly blessed here. Living in Utah- I don't think I would be unhappy living somewhere else but it's nice to have a million temples just down the street.

11. Our cars- I would be a lousy mass tranistee.

12.The Office- The fact that it is on this list means I need an intervention. But sincerely, I love it.

13.Our Health- I don't think I truly appreciate this one, I don't think anyone does until it's gone, but wow we are lucky that the three of us have no serious health problems.

14. Instant Yeast- Weird, I know but discovering it this past year has really saved us some money and made some delicious breads. Thank you to http://karaskitchencreations.blogspot.com for introducing me to it.

15. Technology- I say anyone who says they don't love this is lying or really has no idea what they're missing out on. I am glad I live in this day and age.

...last and certainly not least, the gospel. I hate the ward we're in but it's nice to know that the same principles are taught whether we like the people there or not. I love my Savior. I know no matter how down trodden and lonely I feel he is there for me. I know as long as I do my best he'll help with the rest. Even when I turn away from him he does not turn away from me. I'm so thankful for the scriptures they speak peace to my heart. I'm thankful for a living prophet. I love reading the words of the modern apostles. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me everything that I have. I am redetermined to be more grateful to him and live more deserving of the blessings he gives me. I know I have hundreds more to be thankful for and I resolve to notice them more each day.

Happy Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween. We went trick or treating with Maybear's cousins. She held her treat bucket in one hand and then she'd hold a piece of candy in the other. When someone put a new piece in she would put the old piece back and hold the new piece.

A Party (In No Particular Order)

The Big ONE

Yesterday was Maybear's first birthday. We kept singing happy birthday to her at random points of the day she thought it was pretty funny. I took her to the farm country down at Thanksgiving Point. She loved it. The goats were her favorite followed by the chickens. Did you know you can buy chicks there? For two bucks, that's almost the price of eggs. Crazy.

About an hour before Zach got home Maybear was standing up against the couch and fell which she has done before and has been fine, but this time her mouth was bleeding from what looked like her teeth. I had no idea what to do so I called my mom in a panic. Luckily she just bit the top of her mouth. Scary though! She has had such a rough time the past couple weeks. She got a stomach bug on top of her acid reflex stuff, a yeast infection, she fell off the bed, caught a cold, and bit her mouth. Hopefully things can only get better right?

We bought her some wooden blocks and some new books but her favorite present was this shopping cart from my parents.

We ate some cake. She wasn't too impressed with it. I think she was pretty upset I took away the shopping cart to put her in the high chair.

Wow, what a year. It is crazy to think that this time last year I was in the hospital with my little 5lb 14oz baby, and now she is trying to walk! I am so thankful that I have her as a daughter, she is the biggest blessing in mine and Zach's life. She is such a ray of sunshine and always makes us smile. It's honestly hard to believe that God would trust us with such a wonderful little girl, but I'm glad he does! I've learned so much about myself this past year and Maybear has truly pushed me to become a better person. I know I've made mistakes with her, and unfortunately I know I'm going to make a lot more but hopefully she'll forgive my shortcomings. I'm so excited for the adventure that lies ahead. I'm excited to see what Maybear does with her life (but she should definitely take her sweet time growing up). Ha! I'm sitting here crying at the computer so I think that means I should probably end. Your mom and dad love you Maybear! Happy Birthday!

Missouri Trip

Scott is back! Hurray! Maybear and I packed our bags and flew to Missouri for his basic training graduation with my mom, dad, and Scott's girlfriend. Zach had to stay behind and work :( can't win them all. The trip itself consisted mostly of flying, driving, or trying to get some sleep. Maybear did SO good. She only fussed a little on one of our plane rides and did really well in the car until the last day when we got lost forever and all of us were pretty grumpy then.

We got to spend the day before graduation with Scott. We went to this engineer museum (that's what he trained in) and then spent the rest of the day relaxing. Maybear took her first big spill off the hotel bed you'll notice her poor nose is bright red in the family picture. You will also notice my dad is missing because he was catching up on sleep (he drove us to our hotel the night/morning before).

The graduation was very nice. I enjoyed hearing 100 some odd guys do a cadence together, it's pretty cool. I'm so proud of Scott! It's amazing to listen to some of the things they had to do. I think he's grown up and changed so much in the last 4 months. He told us that he always gets in trouble because he can't help smiling. You'll notice in the close up below he's the only one with a grin. It's good to know that some things never change. Welcome home Scott!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl! Don't think you got out of reading a big long post about the festivities of the day and how wonderful she is, it's a comin'

My Halloween Adventures

Last fall I threw away all our Halloween decorations because they were so darn ugly. I like decorating for Halloween so I couldn't go without getting some new ones. We're on a bit of a budget though so I had to try to pull out some creativeness (which for me is a task). First of all I hit up Dollar Tree and they actually have some pretty decent stuff that is already made. Below though is what I came up with. For those of you who are super good at these kinds of things try to keep your laughter at a low chuckle. :)

I saw a ghost like this at Shopko for $30 bucks. I already had the dowels (for the legs) toilet paper (also for the legs), and the sheet (you can buy them for $3 at Wal-Mart and I had a ton left over to use for something else) and some shoes that Maybear doesn't fit into anymore. I spent $3 at the dollar store for the underneath head (which is actually a super ugly skeleton head), the socks and the mask.
I decided I kinda hate the mask though so it's just a ghost now. I don't know. Any opinions on which looks better? Seriously tell me what you think. I used masking tape to put it together, it's been knocked over a few times and still survived but I would definitely go buy duct tape if I were to do it again.
I saw a sign at Thai Pan that was $25 that said pumpkins and gourds and had an arrow. Loved it. Here is my creation. I got the board at Robert's with a 50% off coupon and their paints were on sale so it cost me about $5. You can't see the "hand written" stuff in this picture but it fixes the "Pumkin" and tells the price and says they're big etc. I got some frames at the dollar store to put some pictures of Maybear playing in the leaves below it. Unfortunately it's not up yet because Wal-Mart doesn't understand the meaning of 1 hour photo.
This one is not as grand as the original but for a $17 dollar difference I can live it. It was a dollar each for the leaves, the vase, and the candle. Plus I have some leaves left over to do something with.
The last thing I am sooo proud of. I don't sew. But I decided to make Maybear her costume this year. With help from my oh so patient mom and sister-in-law it's done! Hurray. It's a lion, just in case you can't tell what it is. I would put a picture of her modeling it up but she HATES it. I've had to put it on her twice to measure stuff and she screams. Ha! Hopefully she gets over it before Halloween. The bow in the mane is removable so we can use it for a boy if we ever need to. I haven't really been keeping track of the cost but I probably could have bought something cheaper, but the learning experience...priceless.

No More Blur!

I've gotten so tired of having such a cute kid (well, we think she's cute) but having all our pictures of her turn out so terrible. So we searched and searched for a good deal on a super nice camera and we finally got one on labor day. I'm justifying such an expensive purchase by telling myself that I'll never have to spend money at the portrait studios. Zach likes it because you can take "artistic" pictures (funny huh). We've been having a ton of fun with it and some of these pics were just too cute not to post. I would probably just post them all but I realize you all have other things to do with your time. :)

Unpacker For Hire

Have you ever caught yourself thinking these thoughts, "I wish my entire floor was the trash bin"

or how about "It would be so much easier to find the book I'm looking for if they were all over the floor" or the classic "That laundry basket needs to be emptied but I just don't have the energy to get those clothes out."

Well friends your problem is solved. Maybear is an excellent unpacker. She does everything from cupboards to drawers to bags.

And she does this all day every day so you can rest assured that your unpacking needs are in experienced hands. And there is no need to worry about fragile items they will be handled as gently as a baby...would handle them. Act now and for every 2 minutes unpacking you'll get 5 minutes of spreading your stuff all over the house. Now that is value!

The Zoo

Today was Maybear's first trip to the zoo. We went with my Mom, my grandma, my aunt, and my cousin. Good times. May I just say though that I think there were more exhibits empty than had animals. It's pretty sad. Maybe one day I'll have lots and lots of money to donate to the Zoo and the Aquarium so they can buy some animals. The coolest part was the baby giraffe. I guess it was born about a week ago, so cute. The new Madagascar exhibit is lame sauce. They should've kept the amazon thing they had before with the white alligators. Maybear liked the giraffes, waterfalls, and the peacocks wandering around the best.Makes you feel old when your baby is bigger than the monkey baby. The baby giraffe. Maybear watching a giraffe eating. I know she looks a little scared but for her to be that enthralled with something she can't touch is pretty good.