Oregon Vacation

We were planning on going to Echo lake in Montana with the rest of the Hansen's this week but we had a little change of plans. My grandma had a heart attack last week and my mom wanted to stay close by. So we all packed up and came to Oregon instead.

We drove all day Friday and have had cram packed days ever since. Some of the highlights have been seeing Batman at the IMAX. Oh my goodness amazing! Apparently they used special cameras during all the action scenes, (pretty much the whole movie) and it really made the movie come to life. It was a great movie, one of the best action movies I have seen in a long time! I think Heath Ledger really peaked in his performance, it is a real shame he is no longer with us to share his great talents. His character was so creepy that it makes me wonder if playing this part had something to do with his depression. Anyway, it was a movie worth seeing!

Sunday Dane and Ashleigh came up from Salem and we had dinner. Afterwards we hurried out to Sherwood to eat Dessert with Tyler's family.

Another highlight was the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. It rarely disappoints and this seemed to be like an especially good year! My hubby Tyler who hates shopping even managed to rack up a bill of his own! A much larger bill than me I might add!

Yesterday we went out to the river with some friends. I haven't been on a tube ride in forever, but I had fun hogging the tube with both my stissy and Tyler.

Lucy sure enjoyed the boat rides and especially the sand. As you can tell from the picture below, she maybe like the sand a little too much.

This morning I went to the driving range with Tyler. I decided that I am not very good at golf! I got frustrated half way through my balls, so I sat down and watched Tyler swing. He is getting pretty good-especially when you compare him to me!

Warm Sensation

I am pretty good about staying for all three meetings at church. Even if this means walking the halls for one of them, I am hanging around hoping Lu will want to go in and play quietly. Today was a different story!
So I am sitting in Sunday School and Lucy is actually sitting in my lap playing quietly with some finger puppets. With only twenty minutes to go I feel something super warm on my lap. I didn't realize what this warm sensation was till I felt it running down my leg and into my shoe. SHE PEED ON ME! It went straight through her diaper and onto her lovely mother. Tyler handed me a diaper wipe but the damage had been done.
I changed her diaper (it was mostly dry-go figure) and tried to walk around and let the pee on my dress dry off so I could go to RS. I finally gave up on my underwear and slip drying too and Lu and I walked home.
Sad Day!

Laughing Lulu!

Amy babysat Lu yesterday while Tyler and I went out to dinner with his sales manager. When I got back Amy showed me these videos and I have watched them a ton of times since. Isn't my little girl the cutest thing you have ever seen?! Oh she has a personality for sure, part of that is my happy little angel you see here.

Independence Day

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend as a family! Friday morning Tyler went and played 18 holes of golf while Lucy and I went to the parade. To our surprise, Tyler joined us. When he did he said that it was trying to find a needle in a haystack. I asked him why he didn't call us to see where we were sitting- apparently I had missed 8 calls. I suppose it is hard to hear with all the bands and fire/police sirens going non-stop.

The three of us had a very enjoyable BBQ lunch and of course made my mother-in-laws green pepper chip dip. Then came the best part of our day...a nice long nap for the three of us. It was that kind of paralyzing sleep where you couldn't get up even if you tried. Lucy slept for three hours, so we did too. It was lazy but yet, so rewarding!

(Two photos below: I had to add these because they make me laugh. The first, Lucy's hair blowing in the wind. Where did those fluffy duck feathers come from? The second photo you can totally tell Lu is in her element! She loves the feel of the wind/fan on her face!)

It was a good thing we got some extra sleep because at 5 we when to Rock Canyon Park to watch the firework show from the Stadium of Fire and because of traffic, didn't get back home till after 12. The fireworks didn't start till around 10:30 so we staked out our spots with blankets and chairs and headed off to Boarders to please my two loves. Tyler got a golf book and Lu got 'Baby Cakes.' The book I wanted was there but I had already looked it up on Amazon and a new copy was still 10 buck cheaper online after shipping. So I opted to wait.

Then it was back to the park to wait. Lucy loved being outside for such a long period of time. There were so many people there for her to watch, she was in her own little heaven.

It was a great show and we had perfect spots. Unfortuantly, Lulu wasn't quite able to stay awake.

It's My Anniversary

Two years ago I was married and sealed for time and all eternity to the man of my dreams. A lot has happened in two years, but my feelings for Tyler only get stronger with time.

Another very important date, one of the most important in my life, happened just short of six years ago. This is when Lacey and Jessica introduced me to Tyler in the back of the chapel after church in Rexberg. I thought he was cute and wanted to get to know him a whole lot better right away. Of course he was dating someone else, but that didn’t stop me from trying to get his attention. It worked and we started dating shortly after. We clicked right away and before long, I felt I was in love. I believe it was a form of love, stronger than I had ever felt up until that time in my life, but it is amazing how much that love has grown throughout our years together.

(Photo: First time we every actually hung out. We spent the whole day together making a fort, walking to Papa Kelsey's for Pizza, watching a movie in our fort and just laughing and having a great time together and with friends)

I am so happy we rekindled our love for one another after Tyler’s mission. Although what a great opportunity I had to grow during our time apart. I was able to date a whole lot of other people and discover that he was the only person that seemed to complete me as a person. With Tyler I wasn’t afraid of commitment like so many of you know I have had issues with in the past. When I was with him, it was the only thing that seemed to make any sense at all. Ironically enough, choosing to marry Tyler was an easier decision for me to make than it is most days when I try to figure out what I am going to wear. I am still very very happy with my decision and can’t wait for our many years together as a couple and as a growing family.

(Photo: First time we hung out after Tyler's mission. I was dating someone else at the time but Tyler drove to Utah and we spent most of the day together with friends. We saw a Real Salt Lake soccer game, a fire works show and tried to catch up on our two years apart. We didn't get back together for at least six more months)

Mommy's Little Helper

It seems my little Lulu can be a big help. This is usually in the form of being a good girl while I am trying to get the house clean, or a meal prepared. She has been very interested in the laundry lately and enjoys sitting in the basket while throw the clothes at her-she actually thinks it is quite funny.
On a different note, Lucy is quite the opposite of a helper, but I love her all the same! I am not sure what attracts Lu to the garbage can, but it seems to be her favorite toy in the house.

Dang It!

So I just spent a bunch of time redoing my family and friends lists to show the last time they updated it right on my blog. I finished that and wasn't ready to go to bed so I decided I wanted to change my template too. I had NO CLUE it erased all your pictures on the side bar as well as the links. When I realized it would do this I didn't save any of my changes and went back to the old template, but it was too late. My last hour of work was for nothing...I am going to bed a little sad.

Advice Please

So I am in the midst of trying to baby proof our apartment. I have gotten pretty good at my makeshift contraptions as you can tell by the pictures. Don't you love the Bosch on the coffee table? It was the heaviest thing I could find so she couldn't pull down the blanket put into place to block our video's, cable box and DVD player. I am thinking that this little stand holding our humble TV isn't going to do for long. I need something with doors on it!

And forget a pathway through the family room...it is now a play pin!

So for all you mom's out there, what have you done to keep your mobile babies out of trouble? Are there gates that you like and ones you don't? I have plugged up all the sockets but that is about it. What else do I need to be sure to do, or will I need to do once she is walking? I didn't know this was going to be so hard to keep Lu from getting hurt. I turn my back for one second and she is standing up against the end table or couch. Without a way to get down. Kind of funny if you think about it.

Anyway, let me know whatever advice you have or have heard of to baby proof our home.

Best Babysitter Ever

Aunt Amy Kay

It is so nice to have my sister around Provo for many reasons. One being that Tyler and I can have a weekly date night! For this weeks date we went to see Iron Man which I actually really enjoyed. Then we went to Sub Zero and had yummy ice cream. Have you all been there? It is almost more fun to watch them make your ice cream using liquid nitrogen than to actually eat it. You can even choose how much fat is in it-I opt for the 0% which is more like frozen yogurt than ice cream and it still tastes pretty good.

When we got home Amy helped me upload all her photo's of their adventures together onto my computer. I thought I would share some so Amy's friends at work have new pictures to look at that actually have someone in the photo besides my sweet baby. It seems that I have been putting a lot of naked baby pictures on the blog as of late, I apologize!

Here you go Amykay...thanks for being such a great stissy, sister-in-law, aunt and babysitter!

Drum Roll Please...

LU LU CAN CRAWL!!!

It is actually a very very challenged crawl, but she is moving from 'Point A' to 'Point B.' I have been trying for a day now to attach a video of her on the go, but it doesn't seem to be working. At first I was so excited about this new little development, now I am not so sure.

Today I didn't quite finish getting ready before she woke up so I brought her into my bedroom and set her on the floor. I then went into our bathroom to blow dry my hair. The next thing I know there is something/someone tugging on my leg. I look down and she is smiling so big. I am sure she was just so proud of her accomplishment. I clapped along with her and then proceeded to pick her back up and put her back onto the carpet in our room. No less than a minute later I look over and she is pulling herself up on the bathtub. What am I supposed to do now? I liked those days, before yesterday, when she stayed put for the most part. She could roll around pretty good, but that took her 5x more time than crawling.

Crawling changes the world as I know it. I have to be running after her and watching her like a hawk. I have to vacuum every day (2x yesterday) because she sees every little crumb or piece of lint on the ground and tries to put it her mouth. How do mothers do it? I think about what crawling means and don't even want to think about walking. And then what, we bring more little movers into the world and have our children going in all directions at once?

I went to the park today with our ward play group. Everyone else had at least one child walking and I was amused at watching them chase their children around the playground. This will be my life before I know it.

I suppose I should just embrace the present circumstances. When I put myself aside, it is a wonderful thing for Lucy to be able to move around. Think of all the doors it opens up in her world. She has to be so excited and loving life. I can handle the extra effort for her to be so happy. And I want her to grow and progress in all areas of life. This would include crawling so I need to be happy about her new found talent!