VACATIONS

I am in the most magical place on earth...Disney World. Last week Tyler and I went to Costa Rica and had an amazing time together! The week before that me and Lucy went with my mom to Utah to Amy's graduation. Can you believe my little sister graduated from college?
Anyway, I have tons of picture to share but haven't uploaded them onto a computer. But be prepared to see me having a blast!

Cute Cousins!

A couple of weekends ago Dane and Ashleigh (my bro and sis-in-law) dropped off Rafe and their adorable little Berkley. Tyler decided it would be fun to do a video. When we asked Rafe if he wanted to have a dance party he replied by saying "yeah, brake dancing!" What a cutie! Here is the finished product...thanks Tyler for putting it together!

Thoughts

So as the cloudy skys turn a little brighter here in Oregon, Lucy and I have been spending more time outside. Now we live in an apartment complex that has a play area for kids. I have come to realize even more than I did before that I am no longer in the happy valley of Utah. The other day I had to ask some guys (looked like they ranged from age 9 to 12ish) to watch their language. Lucy is like a sponge and the last thing I want is her to cuss at random people. Then yesterday as we played at our apartment play structure I noticed I was not just the only married mom, but I was the only mom that was a non-smoker too. We stayed for over two hours so I watched many come and go, but it seemed they all took turns going and standing off in a distance smoking. They would say things to their kids like "not now, mommy is smoking." I had to laugh to myself when Lucy walked a little too close to one of the moms who was smoking and Lucy started to cough. She couldn't stop and I should have been getting so upset with the girl for letting Lu breath her second hand smoke, but instead I thought to myself 'good job Lucy. Way to make her feel bad for her bad habbits!' That is mean of me...I am just so happy I am not addicted to anything that could hurt my child in any way.
Another thing happened at the play ground the other day. One of the moms of a two-year-old boy (young, single, got fired for a DUI and lives with her mom) made me realize one of my new biggest pet peeves. Her son is two right...she talks to him like he is two weeks old. I am not kidding. I could understand his words more than I could hers. I don't mind baby talk to babies, they say the higher pitches are actually good to use on infants. I totally did this with Lucy all the time. But when a child is learning to talk, teach him the correct way to say things and stop treating them like babies. I don't know how I can understand her little boy as well as I can to be honest!
I am not trying to make this a negative post, but I just have some things that have bugged me this week. Such as how some people should just keep their mouths shut. That would include me too! I shouldn't judge these mom's for getting pregnant and having a baby on their own as teenagers, I don't know their situation at all! I also shouldn't judge them for smoking or using annoying baby voices to their kids who can talk in full sentences. Well today I babysat a couple of kids. When the mother came back to pick them up she made a comment about how I still gave Lucy a bottle. It wasn't mean, but it was very unnecessary. She acted as if she were so shocked, like nobody should ever give their 19-month-old a bottle. Then she found out I still warmed them up for her...her eyes got big and she laughed and said "that is so funny that you do that." BIG DEAL!!!! I feel there are a lot worse things in life than giving my kid a bottle. Yes, I should probably start 'thinking' about weaning her off, but seriously, it's not a big deal. Not only is it not a big deal, but it is absolutely none of her business. We all have different parenting styles. We all make decisions on when to do what (stop breast feeding, stop the bottle, pacifier, potty training, etc,.). Every child is so different and it isn't our place to judge.
I am done. Those were the things I needed to get off my chest. Now I just need to wait for my hubby to get home so I can go to sleep :)
Too bad the Blazers are down by so much!

I'm Back

So usually when someone doesn't blog for a substantial period of time it means there is a new baby cooking in the oven. I'm sorry to say that isn't the reason at all. In fact, I don't have a good reason for not blogging for two months. I feel so out of the loop because not only have I not blogged on my own, but I have only viewed ONE blog in the past two months as well. Well Tyler looked at one the other day and I did look at that one too with him. Anyway, I have been getting nagged at from every level possible that I need to post more pictures of Lulu.. Problem is, I haven't really taken that many pictures either. Tyler decided he likes the camera and takes it while he travels. And my little camera I keep in my purse ran out of battery and I haven't charged it yet. Lame I know! Here's the thing. I have actually been quite productive lately. I have gotten really organized and kind of left everything I used to do behind. This isn't really a good thing on all levels, but sometimes turning on my computer seems like a waste of time. When it is on I have to check my email, updated blogs, baby articles and of course any Yahoo news articles that catch my eye. Then I like to look at sales at my favorite stores, my bank accounts, new recipes, good books and the list goes on and on. I am simply more productive when my computer is off.

But I am going to try to have a more balanced life and have moderation in all things. In that attempt I will try to blog on a more regular basis without getting caught up in everything else on the Internet.

MARCH UPDATE

So it seems a lot happened in March. It started out with our friends Eric and Tamera coming out for a job interview at LHFP. While they were here Tyler and I had a few firsts. We went to the Portland City Grill (way overrated!) and to Voodoo doughnut. Okay that place is WEIRD! You pull up to this huge bush shaped as a person with spears stabbed into it like a voodoo doll. Then you walk in and start to understand just how liberal that place is. It was fun/interesting, but was a once in a lifetime experience for us. I knew there were some odd named doughnuts, but when they start looking like parts of the male body and you have two very immature boys with you who insist on buying those particular doughnuts and then taking pictures out front with them-I start to get a little embarrassed. But I do have a confession, they were pretty good!

With the Battles we also took a day trip to the coast. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, a beautiful lighthouse and then drove up the coast to Cannon Beach and ate at a great little place called JP's. It was a little more chilly than expected so Lucy ended up having to wear my extra sweatshirt I packed which resulted in a major nose dive into the pavement. Lulu scraped up her face pretty bad. It made me so sad to see my baby cry and to know it was my fault!

Other things that happened in March were Tyler continued to EXCEL at his job and the area he manages was number one in the company for the month. I am so proud of him. I rearranged our apartment to make it look bigger. I am now sitting in my bedroom to type this instead of our front room. Let's see, I made three binders in an effort to get more organized. I get a lot of magazines and I cut things that I like out of them. So I made a house binder where I have things I like for our future house, I have a parenting binder where there is everything from development articles and fun snacks to things to do on a rainy day. That is my favorite binder I made. The last one I made took the most effort because I had to sew the sheet protectors and measure them like crazy, but I made a coupon binder. My mom showed me how and I spent two days making it happen. I am proud of this one, now I just need to use the coupons I cut out, I am so bad at remembering that!

My best friend Chelsea from High School was in town and we got together. She is thinking about moving here after she finishes up her masters in Alabama and I couldn't be more excited! We dropped by our friend Diane's house too to see her new little baby who is absolutely adorable. The following week I ran into another high school friend, Mandy, at Costco. We ran into each other again at the gym and were able to meet each others husbands this time. It is weird seeing all these old friends but so much fun too!

In March we spent most weekends with my brother and sister-in-law Jon and Amanda playing games. I like board games and they have a ton of them. So I learned how to play three new games: Race for the Galaxy, Pandemic and Dominion. They sound weird but we have so much fun playing them along side Amanda's new ice cream maker:)

Lets see...I got a gym pass, decided I still like working out and then Lucy decided she was scared to death of the Kids Club after only 5 or 6 visits. I need to fix this somehow because I am determined to get into shape this time! I even got a personal trainer and then decided I HATE having someone tell me what to do and push me harder than I want. So I skipped out on my last session and will never have one of those again. He was good, but I like doing things on my own even if it does take longer to get the results I want. I now feel for those people on the Biggest Loser!

Lucy also had her first Chuck E Cheeses experience and decided she loves it there (almost as much as Tyler).
Okay I know I have done a ton more but this is getting long and I can't remember everything at the moment. But hopefully I will get into blogging on a more regular basis so I don't have to write a book to catch up.

Until then...

A Beautiful Day

Today after church I couldn't resist the beautiful day and both of my loves looking great!

So Funny!

Okay, you have to watch this speech given by the best man at this wedding. It was sent to Tyler and because it is my wonderful lovers birthday, I thought I would make the post for him. Not that he cares, but it is an excuse. It is so dang funny!I can't find it on YouTube or anything, so follow this link, you won't be sorry!
http://www.freakybestmanspeech.com/

HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!!!!!!

Make-up Help!

Products I love:

Mac for my eyes and cheeks

Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara

Chapstick

Products I would love to replace:

Cinique Super Balanced Make-up & Clinique compact powder

I have been sporting the same face make-up since the 7th grade. I am now 25 and feel I need something a little more age appropriate. Sure I could just go to a random make-up counter at the mall and they could sell me on what they think their best product is, but I don't even know what brand to choose. This is where you come in.

What can you tell me about face make-up you love?

Here's the deal, I go 6 out of 7 days a week without wearing the stuff because I hate it when I can feel it on my face. So I need something that feels like I have nothing on. Has anyone use bare minerals? I also want one with sunscreen, mine currently doesn't have it which is a major no no, I know!

And do most people use bronzer? I probably have the fairest skin out of everyone who could possibly read this blog, but I don't use a bronzer. I don't want my face, neck and chest to all be a different color.

I sound ridiculous I know, being a woman I should know more about make-up. But if any of you have any advice, lay it on me.

Thanks!

My Lover Tyler

On my blog I usually only talk about Lucy, but I wanted to share a little about my wonderful hubby Tyler. And because a blog post just isn’t the same without a picture, here is one of us from back in 2002. I can’t believe how much time has passed! When Tyler found out about his new/current position at work, he told me there would be a lot of travel involved. I thought, ‘well if anyone can handle that it would be me because my dad traveled a lot while I was growing up.’ Well let me tell you, it is so different to have your dad traveling and away from home then a husband. I have so much more respect for my mom when she had to deal with us kids and sleep alone all those nights. I HATE Tyler being away from us. I feel so alone in the world and start to freak myself out about someone breaking in or something. (Last night I put our couch in front of our locked front door). I would say I am getting used to it, but I think the proper language here would be I am becoming more tolerant of it. He is working so hard and doesn’t like being away from us either, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get ahead in life. That is exactly what my lover is doing for us. I need to remember this, but it is so dang hard!

Well last night was a particularly hard night for me. Tyler and I discussed some deeper things on the phone and I wanted nothing more than to cuddle with him as I fell asleep. I really needed him there by my side. So I spent all day today being sad and feeling sorry for myself—sorry to say this isn’t really a new thing. I put my little Lucy down early tonight (we have both been sick) and turned on the TV. Around 6:30 I heard a light knock on the door and was kicking myself for having the volume up on the TV because I didn’t want to answer it. I didn’t and ignored it. Then the knock came again. I looked at my outfit, PJ’s from last night, then felt my unshowered hair and thought, ‘heck no!’ I thought it was the boys from upstairs asking if they could “Jam.” I figured if I ignored them they would think I left the TV on and was gone. I would rather listen to the loud drums and guitars then answer the door. Then a third knock came and was rather loud. I ran to my bathroom and grabbed a pony tail holder, put up my hair, moved the couch out of the way and opened the door. It was Tyler with a big bouquet of flowers and dinner.

He came home two days early from his trip. I was so excited and honestly, he being there was the best surprise ever! I love that he knows exactly what I need, tolerates it, and loves me anyway. It is amazing how I ended up with someone so perfect for me. He means everything to me and I have no clue what I would do without him! So we spent the evening together and I laid in bed with him for 40 minutes till I knew he was asleep, and knew I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep (those mid-day naps will kill you) which brings me to right now. I know he can’t always come running home when I need him, but just knowing that he cared enough to do it means the world!
Thank you Tyler for loving me unconditionally!

Beautiful Locks!

My baby has locks long enough to put in cute little pig tails. I am one happy mommy right now! I am now wishing I hadn't cut the back of her hair twice already because I know I could have played around with it a lot sooner. Oh well I suppose it was worth it for Lucy to avoid the baby mullet!

Scrapbooking

For those of you who know me well, know I have been trying to start digital scrapbooking for the last year and a half. I want to do it so badly but am so dumb when it comes to Photoshop and computers in general. So I am trying out quickpages. It still took me over an hour to do this, and all I had to do was add the pictures. Like I said, I have issues with computers. But here it is, my first, almost home made, scrapbook page. What do you think?