Mockingbird Wanted

Uploading the Camera

2011-12-08T14:13:00.004-07:00

I finally unloaded my camera. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of Thanksgiving or of Sienna and her cousin Lilly playing :( But I took some cute ones of Sienna and Riley:

Wearing Mommy's socks

Cute tonguey smile

Sienna jumping

Sitting in the chair I got for her room

Wearing her 'Mary Thing' (pronounced Mary Sing)

In the jumperoo

Eating baby food (he's had applesauce, pears, avocado, sweet potato, banana, squash and mango)

Our Christmas tree :)

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-01T13:45:00.002-07:00

I feel like we didn't do very much for Halloween this year. I bought a pumpkin but we didn't carve it yet! At the last minute Ryan and I tried to get supplies to make caramel apples and they were all sold out. Darn it! But we did dress the kids up and take them "trick or treating" to Ryan's work. It was quick, easy and warm to do it that way :) And Sienna got a LOT of candy!

After the kids were in bed, Ryan and I drank hot spiced cider and watched "Psycho". It wasn't the best Halloween. Next year I'll have to put more effort and preparation into it!

Here she is- all decked out as "Dorsey" (Dorothy). I had her calling me Auntie Em while we played yesterday.

And here is our little monster. People kept asking if he was supposed to be cookie monster. He's just a little Riley monster :) Cute!

What's going on?

2011-10-18T11:44:00.003-06:00

Something is just not right here. Look at these pictures of Sienna and Riley, both 4 months old:

RILEY

SIENNA

RILEY

SIENNA

Riley's weight: 12 lb 10 oz

Sienna's weight: 15 lbs 14 oz

Sienna was sitting up without toppling. Riley is not. What happened? Is my milk less creamy now? Is Riley just not an eater? Can I blame such a significant difference on Riley having a "bad" latch? I hate having this problem!

4 Months/2 years 5 months old

2011-10-14T14:06:00.004-06:00

My little Riley boy. At 4 months he is 12 lbs 10 oz, and 25.5 inches long. He has slipped from the 30th percentile in his weight to the 10th. The doctor thought that he might have thrush so we've been taking medicine and hopefully he'll start gaining.

He is very interested in grabbing and playing with anything within his reach. That includes his feet, toys, books, his binky, my clothes, the keyboard, food (if I'm trying to eat while holding him), etc... He likes to play so much that it's a major distraction during feeding (this might be one cause of his dropping weight). If he hears anything going on-I'm talking me sneezing of all things, or the TV or Sienna or the phone-he stops eating to listen and often refuses to finish the meal. It's very frustrating. I've gotten to the point that I lock myself in the bedroom with Sienna on the other side of the door trying to get in, in order to feed him!

He no longer likes to stay in his swaddle and somehow always gets at least one arm out. Even though I wrap him as tight as possible. He could have a future as an escape artist if he keeps it up.

He still hasn't mastered rolling over. About a month ago he rolled over from his tummy to his back 5 times in a row and I thought he had it, but now he seems content just to stay on his tummy, propped up on his elbows, looking around.

He still wakes up about 2 times a night, goes down to bed around 6 and is up around 7.

He went through a phase a few weeks ago where he was blowing bubbles all the time (hasn't done it much lately).

We are working on building up his tummy muscles. As of right now, he can't sit up. If I try and prop him with a pillow or something, he topples forward and ends up on his tummy.

He is a very easy going baby, hardly ever crying or fussing, and is very quick to smile. We feel very blessed to have this sweetheart in our family!

My two and a half year old!

Sienna is almost 2 and a half! I can't believe how grown up she is getting! She is potty trained/potty training (she still wears diapers while she sleeps and still uses her little potty instead of the big toilet, although once in awhile she opts to sit on the big one!)

Another funny quirk about Sienna is that she can’t stand to have things in her room that don’t belong. Once she started crying hysterically after we had put her to bed. Ryan went in to check on her after a few minutes and she pointed to his keys (which were on the floor) and said, “Take them out!” After which she went happily to sleep. She has done this a number of times since.

For awhile Sienna has "said" the prayer (by which I mean, she repeated the words we gave her) but recently she has started putting her own spin on things.

This is what I told her to say/This is what she actually said:

Bless Daddy to get home safely tonight/Bless Daddy to ride his bicycle

Please help me to be obedient/Please help me to be sweet to Jesus

Please help me to sleep good tonight/Please help me to go to sleep, and not cry

Today when Sienna woke up from her nap she was crying and told me, "I want my momma, and my dadda". I told her that Daddy was at work, but that we could call him if she wanted. When she had him on the phone she said, "Daddy, I tooted." It was very funny at the time.

My Favorite Things

2011-10-04T14:15:00.002-06:00

My favorite things of all are always going to be my kids and my hubby. So that's what you get to see :)

Sienna, getting one of our Wii remotes out of the basket...very sneaky

Sienna during conference. She was running around stealing popcorn from everyone else's bowls. Also, she was "sharing" hers with them (whether they liked it, or not)

Riley and Ryan. Does Riley look a little worried? I can't say I blame him

Portrait taken of Riley today. He is so darn cute! I can say that about my own, right?

Sienna and Riley together. The only way to get her to smile for me (naturally, not that crazy, toothy fake smile) is to tell her to say, "Boo" and then scream when she says it. A trick I learned at my Photo by You workshop!

Sweet face

One of Sienna's favorite things to do is to jump on my bed. Her favorite time to do it? When I'm trying to feed Riley. He doesn't like it much.

And last but not least, Sienna on her potty. She is learning and is doing really well. I just don't know how to take her to the next level (i.e. from going on the potty chair to going on the REAL potty. Also, when will she not need me to remind her to wipe every time, or to wash her hands? And when will she be comfortable pooping without first walking around the house for 30 minutes like she's in horrible pain and then finally letting it out?)

Sienna's reaction to Lovey Bear "pooping" on his potty. (A tootsie roll) She just couldn't believe it!

Picture Perfect

2011-09-28T22:00:00.004-06:00

This past Saturday I went to a photography workshop called "Photo by You". I learned the basics of shooting in manual mode on my camera (the one I've had for 4 years now and have always shot in auto mode...). It was surprisingly simple and in just a few hours I felt like I could start shooting manual (although it's going to take a lot of practice and time before I'm "good" at it). Here are some photos I took today with my new camera.

Can I just say, I have beautiful children! And the last picture is of our dinner tonight, beef bulgogi. It's a Korean dish and it was really yummy! Here is the recipe:

2 lb beef top sirloin, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ Asian pear or ¼ kiwi—peeled, cored and minced (not optional. This acts as a meat tenderizer.)

4 green onions, thinly sliced

½ cup soy sauce

4 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp sesame oil

4 Tbsp rice wine or Korean cooking wine

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp minced fresh ginger or 1/8 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a large Ziploc bag, combine beef with all other ingredients. Seal and refrigerate for 2 hours. Preheat grill pan over medium heat. Brush oil over grill pan, and add beef. Cook, turning to brown evenly, until done.

Serve with rice, wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves (much like a taco shell).

Comparison

2011-09-06T15:01:00.002-06:00

I just looked up Sienna's size as a baby out of curiosity. At her two month check up she weighed 13 lbs 9 oz. At his, Riley weighed 11 lbs even. At birth they were both 7 lb 9 oz.

Is it a girl thing? Are girls just destined from birth to be fatter???

I'm a Good Mom....Really!

2011-09-06T14:29:00.001-06:00

This morning I went to institute class with Sienna and Riley in tow. When the class was about halfway over, I could smell that Sienna had a stinky diaper, so I took her out into the hallway, just outside the classroom so that I could still hear the teacher ( the door was open). As I was removing her diaper, Sienna said (not quietly), “I have a penis.”

I think this came from our little discussion about Riley’s little “fishy”, and I don’t think that anyone heard her, but I can’t be sure. It’s funny to think what the other mom’s would think of me if they did hear. (Not knowing us and about our little talk recently about penis's and vaginas.)

Out of the mouth of my babe...

2011-08-28T14:44:00.008-06:00

This morning right after Sienna woke up and was still in bed, Ryan asked her if she wanted to "go watch the BYU Cougars" with him. She said in a very excited voice, "Yeah! Let's go watch the....(sorta long pause).....cucumbers!"

I gave Riley a bath yesterday, and as usual, Sienna pulled a chair over and climbed up to "help". She watched for a minute and then asked me (while pointing at Riley's junk) "Is that a little fishy?"

Needless to say we had a little discussion about the difference between boy and girl anatomy. I did get a kick out of her question, though.

What I Loved this Week

2011-08-25T09:44:00.004-06:00

There were so many things I loved in the last few weeks. I'm just going to lay it all out there!

I love finding awesome things out by the dumpster, in the "free for all" area! This week I went to take out the trash and returned with this sweet little kitchen. It needed a good cleaning, and had no accessories, but as you can see, we already had those! I had some fun setting it all up for Sienna to find the next morning. When she woke up, she came out of her bedroom and walked right past it. I told her to come back and even though she was facing it, she still didn't notice! Once I pointed it out, she stared at it for a few seconds and then immediately started to play. I always wanted one of these when I was little!

I love checking on Sienna during the night/naptime and finding her bed strewn with books. For some reason, she really loves this children's Book of Mormon.

And in the morning when I go to get Sienna up, she usually has a pile of books she's working on. I really love that she loves to "read"!

We went camping for the first time since having kids! We were a little nervous, but we didn't need to be! Sienna had a great little adventure sleeping in a tent, and has asked a few times if we're going to go again! Ryan made sure that our tent had a separate room to put her in...I think it made all the difference!

As part of the camping trip, we went boating. It was a lot of fun! Especially when we were able to ride on a tube pulled behind the boat!

Riley continues to be so cute! I love his chubby cheeks!

I had to practically force Sienna to don this little princessy dress. Who ever heard of a little girl not wanting to play with dress ups? Once she got past putting it on, she was a very happy girl and enjoyed our little "Princess Party", especially when she was served m&m's in a goblet, and when Daddy came home and danced with her.

This guy is beginning to swat at toys when they are held within his reach!

Making and playing with play dough was a lot of fun. Sienna made a mommy and a baby snake!

Some other things I loved this week:

Last night during scripture time, Ryan was reading about Nephi building a boat and stated that Heavenly Father could do anything! He could tell that Sienna was not paying attention, so he asked her, "Sienna, who can do anything?" She looked at him and said, "He wants to build a rocket ship!" It wasn't even an answer to the question he had asked but it had us rolling on the ground!
I was doing laundry yesterday, and had my roll of laundry quarters out on the bedside table. When I came back from putting my first load in downstairs, the roll was gone. I went into Sienna's room just in time to see her putting the last coin into her piggy bank. (Luckily there weren't that many left.) I thought it was funny and just let her have them.
Yesterday after changing Sienna's diaper, I threw the used one across the room and into the trash. She must have liked what she saw because she said, "Good job throwing it, Momma!"

Things I Loved this Month

2011-08-15T22:16:00.004-06:00

Happy Smiles from this guy (and cooing, but that is hard to capture with a picture)

Tiny Braids

Laying out a blanket for my two little rays of sunshine.

Playtime with Sienna's two best friends, Anna and Drue

Sienna sneaking dough while making peanut butter cookies with Mommy and Daddy

What Sienna does while Mom is busy with Riley. She's pretty creative, wouldn't you say?

How Sienna always has to collect a pile of rocks, wherever there are rocks to collect.

Another creative way to play while mom feeds Riley... (she's sitting under the bassinet in the fabric basket that wasn't meant to hold 25 pounds...)

Sienna smothering Riley with love and attention. I don't know if a girl ever loved her sibling so much. She is constantly calling him a "good guy", "Punkin", "Handsome boy" and kissing and loving him to death! I like how this picture looks like she is literally going to smother him to death. It's funny.

Hanging out

Riley had a little playdate with his cousin Leah. They laid on a blanket and stared up at the ceiling most of the time. They're going to be good friends, I think.

My pretty girl. She hurt her nose by face planting on the cement. I knew she was okay when her first words (while crying) were "I want the stroller!" (She face planted while pushing Lovey Bear in a stroller and I moved the stroller so that I could help her up. She didn't like that.)

This girl thinks she is still little enough to use the baby swing.

I love how Sienna always wants to jump. Off of things, like in this picture, but also she loves to jump on the bed, on the carpet, into my arms, you name it.

Motherhood

2011-08-12T14:51:00.004-06:00

Have you seen this? If you haven't, take a few minutes. It is something that I especially needed to hear after feeling like a failing mother for the past few weeks.

Lick Your Plate Clean Good!

2011-08-12T13:19:00.002-06:00

I made something for dinner last night that I think needs to be shared! This was tasty, and "guiltless" which makes it taste even better! It's the Creamy Pesto Pasta from Our Best Bites which is my favorite food blog EVER!! I've made several (and by several I mean 30-something) recipes from OBB and there have only been a few that I wasn't pigging out on. So on to the recipe...I only would make one change and that is that I would either leave out the tomatoes, or put them in fresh, not roasted. I discovered last night that I am not a fan of roasted tomatoes. That's just me, though.

Creamy Pesto Pasta

1/2 batch Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

1/2 lb Farfalle/Bowtie Pasta (I would just use the whole lb because this wasn't very much)
3.5 oz Pesto (that’s about 1/3 cup, or 1/2 of a 7oz container they sell in stores)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
8oz mushrooms (about 3 C sliced)
3T pine nuts
Parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

1. Prepare your Guiltless Alfredo sauce. When it’s finished, just make sure it’s covered and set it aside.

2. Place a large stock pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.

3. Remove stems from mushrooms and slice. Place tomatoes and mushrooms on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil (3-4 T should do it) toss with your fingers making sure everything is coated and then lightly sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Cook in the pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes. You can tell the tomatoes are ready when the skins start to split. Don’t overcook them or they’ll be mush!

4. When water comes to a boil add a little salt and the pasta.

5. Toast pine nuts: Place nuts in a dry skillet on med heat. Stir constantly. They will start to turn glossy which means the oils are releasing. Then they’ll start to brown. (have you checked your pasta? go check your pasta) Let them get golden brown and then remove them from the pan to cool. It should take about 7-10 minutes total.

6. Your pasta should be done, drain it if you haven’t already.

7. Add pesto to alfredo sauce and stir to combine well.

8. Tomatoes and mushrooms should be done about now, take them out of the oven.

Put it all together! Place pasta in a large bowl and combine with as much sauce as you need. Place tomatoes and mushrooms on top and sprinkle on lots of fresh parmesan cheese. Sprinkle pine nuts on top and serve.

Life is so good!

2011-07-28T23:22:00.004-06:00

I can't believe that Riley's already 7 1/2 weeks! I feel like it's flown by (and at the same time, I don't know how we ever lived without him! It seems as if we've had him for forever)

I have a ton of pictures but none on the computer I'm using. I'll have to remedy that later. For now I'll just say that he's a growing boy (he was 10 lb 3 oz on the 20th) and oh so cute!

He's smiling and having "conversations" with us now. I love it when he stares into my eyes and coos. It really seems like he's trying to communicate something. And I swear this guy has sweet dimples in his cheeks, though of course, Ryan has never noticed them and probably thinks I'm imagining things. I still haven't been able to capture a photo of him smiling :(

I feel like I have been to the doctor more times in the last 8 weeks than in...well, you get the point. Not only have I taken Riley to his newborn and 2 week check ups, I have taken him in for having eye gunk that glued his eyelids together, and again for not having a bowel movement for a week. I never had any of these issues when Sienna was a baby...I really hope this is not a shadow of things to come. I have also been to the doctor a couple of times for myself, but I am doing really well. At my 6 week checkup I only had 12 or 13 lbs to lose in order to be at my pre-pregnancy weight. I'd like to lose 10 more on top of that (to be back to my pre-marital weight). I ordered Jillian Michael's 30 day shred and am going to attempt to do it in our tiny apartment. I've heard that it's pretty tough, but that it gets results. I'll let you know :)

Sienna had a major upheaval in her life this week-Ryan and I decided it's time to give up her binky. On Tuesday night, I snipped the ends off of both binkies and told her they were broken. She was pretty upset and kept asking for a different binky. She cried herself to sleep and we couldn't help but feel like we'd made a mistake but the next night she sucked on the broken binky without complaining, and tonight she went to sleep without the binky and without even asking for it. I don't think she's going to give it up so easily, but I'm encouraged by the progressive ease of putting her to bed. It makes us both sad, though. Our little girl is growing up. I can't for one second blink because if I do, she's going to be gone. *Sigh*

Sienna-isms

2011-07-06T15:42:00.003-06:00

Sienna is a very funny girl. This post is going to be more for my benefit than yours because these are things I want to look back and chuckle at in my old age, but read on if you are interested.

She uses the word "Yum-a-licious" when she likes something. ???

She often tells me, "Good job, Mommy!"

She likes to go with me to the "Toska Store" (Costco Store) and on "Petnacks" (Picnics)

One day Sienna saw Ryan adding seasoning to a pot of chili (yeah, I made it too bland). She asked him, "Are you getting some sprinkles, Dadda?"

When Riley was crying in the car one day, Sienna called him "Poor little Fella" and then when he didn't stop crying she asked, "Do you need a time out?"

When Sienna asks me where Dadda is, and I tell her that he is at work, her response is always "He should be home!"

She loves to swing "really, really high!"

Sienna loves to look at the pictures in her BOM stories book and "read" to herself. It sounds something like this: "Win-Oh win-oh walka lah-ka wooby doo..." And sometimes like this, "Lamanites kill and die!" or "Wicked men choke and die!"

Out of the blue Sienna will start to pray and she always says the same thing-"Dear Henly Father, Thank you for this day. Amen"

One day Mr. Riley decided it would be funny to spray us...he got the whole family. Right afterwards, Sienna said in surprise, "He spit on me!"

She pronounces the word "Okay" like "Oh-coy"

She calls Riley "Ry-Guy"

She really likes M&M's, and calls them "Eminem-nems"

Once when Sienna was misbehaving, Ryan asked her something like, "Are you going to be obediant like Nephi or be disobediant-like a Lamanite?" and she said "I'm not a Lamanite...I'm a cutie!"

Some variations of the above conversation- when I told Sienna she was a cutie, she said "I'm not a cutie, I'm a Lamanite!" Also, "I'm not pretty, I'm a Lamanite!" and "I'm not pretty, I'm Sienna!"

Once During FHE we were talking about seeds and how you can plant a seed of faith in your heart. Sienna told us, "That sounds like fun!"

Ryan and Sienna were playing outside and she saw an ant. Ryan asked her where the ant was going and she thought it was going "To Texas". Aparently all airplanes, trains, and anything that goes anywhere is going to Texas!

Sweet Pictures

2011-06-28T18:29:00.000-06:00

Riley

2011-06-15T14:08:00.004-06:00

Riley's sleeping arrangements while visiting Grandma and Papa

But sometimes he ends up here...

Trying to get a comparison picture here, but neither kiddo would hold still

Riley and Mom. Yes I realize I still look pregnant... That is why you won't see many pictures of me for awhile :)

Sienna loves her little brother. She likes to point out his different parts. She also tries to share her snacks with him and tells him, "it's okay" when he cries. Once I heard her ask him if he needed a time out (not very sweet, but funny!)

With his lion. Not sure of the name yet. We're thinking Lyle or Leo or something that starts with an "L" and welcome suggestions!

Sleeping angel

Riley's first hike to bridal veil falls. We didn't really hike...more of a leisure walk.

Our garden plot. Tomatoes, peppers, jalapeno, cilantro, basil, cucumber, and green beans. Can't wait for the harvest!!

Riley hanging out by the garden while Mom and Sienna watered and weeded.

Sweet cuddles

Sienna helped to give Riley his first bath in a tub! He didn't like getting wet because I think he was cold. Poor baby!

We love our little guy! He is sweet, sleeps all the time, likes to put his hands up near his face, and has only "sprayed" during diaper change ONE time so far. Unfortunately, that same diaper change also delivered a torpedo poop all over the bedspread :( It was bound to happen eventally right?

Riley's Birth

2011-06-09T13:03:00.003-06:00

Sunday morning I lost my bloody show. If you know what that is, great. If not, try not to think about it. It's pretty gross. But...I was excited because I knew that meant I would have the baby within a few days. Contractions started coming while I was at church, but they were not very close together and they didn't hurt. I kept timing them all day and they never got any closer. In fact, they stopped altogether around dinnertime. Finally after putting Sienna down to bed, Ryan and I went on a walk in hopes it would trigger labor. It seemed to trigger my contractions to start back up but they were still 10 minutes apart. So we got ready for bed. And Ryan actually went to bed and fell asleep around midnight. I was up reading and didn't want to go to sleep b/c I was still timing my contractions and was noticing that they were only 8 minutes apart. And pretty soon they were only 6 minutes apart and starting to feel somewhat painful. I wasn't sure but it seemed like the real thing so I nudged Ryan awake and told him that we might be going to the hospital in 40 minutes if things kept up the way they were going. He got up, got dressed, and went to the store to buy himself some 5 hour energy. By the time he got back, I was ready to get going, so we called my parents and asked them to start heading up to our apartment to sleep over and take Sienna in the morning. Then we were off.

Once at the hospital, a nurse checked my cervix and found that I was dilated to a 5. It was about 1:30 a.m. My contractions were getting worse and so they sent for the anesthesiologist to come and administer an epidural. I remember asking the nurse, Dara, how long it would be before he would get there (I was not enjoying life at that point, and really wanted that pain relief!). She told me it wouldn't be long. He came in pretty soon and gave me the epidural (which really isn't that bad, painwise, but is very strange feeling when nerves are touched and you feel sensations and electric shocks in far away parts of your body. I really don't like that!). He kept asking me if my legs were tingling or numb and I kept telling him, "maybe...I think I might feel something tingling..?" And after 15 minutes of that, he concluded that he needed to redo the procedure because it wasn't really working. So he did it again, with the same result the second time. Thinking that it might be easier in another position, he had me sit up and lean over the side of the bed while he gave me another epidural. Afterwards, he told me, "We're going to take a little break now" and left the room. I thought at first he was finished, but then realized that it still hadn't worked and that he had to go help someone else with an epidural before he could continue trying to administer mine. He was gone for about 30 minutes, and all the while I was breaking down and absolutely BEGGING Ryan and my nurses to do something! To bring back the doctor! And I remember I just kept saying the word, "Please. Please. Please! Please! " Over and over while trying not to cry and then finally crying as well. I asked the nurse at one point if I was going to be able to get an epidural at all. She checked my cervix again and told me that I was fully dilated but that there was still a chance I could get one as long as my water didn't break. I know I was a pathetic sight, and now I have a lot of respect for the women who had to have babies without any medical pain relief for thousands of years. I couldn't handle it, obviously.

Finally the anesthisiologist was back and he tried again, either one or two more times, I can't remember. The last time he tried I went numb very quickly and it's a good thing because my doctor showed up right then, broke my water, and I was pushing a baby for what felt like one minute and they handed Riley to me. It was so quick and so easy (thank you epidural!) compared to giving birth to Sienna and pushing for 3 hours in a lot of pain!

Anyhow, everything went well until I started to develop a pounding headache a few hours later and was told that it was probably a spinal headache, caused by the large epidural needle puncturing my spinal column and letting spinal fluid leak out. When that happens, your brain doesn't have enough fluid to keep it elevated, and so it is essentially dropped to the floor of the skull and the pain gets really severe unless they do yet ANOTHER epidural procedure and inject some blood back into the spinal collumn.

So in total, I believe I had 6 epidural needles in my back over the course of 2 days and it wasn't very fun. Good thing I love my baby, even though he stayed up until 4 a.m. his first night home

Riley Ryan Palmer

2011-06-08T16:03:00.002-06:00

was born June 6th at 4:59 a.m. He was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 inches long. I think I'm in love...pictures and story to come when I have more than one typing hand available!

Cute Video!

2011-05-17T08:33:00.002-06:00

Our Baby is Two!

2011-05-17T08:12:00.004-06:00

We had an early birthday party for her while we were still in Texas. Rachel and I made rainbow cupcakes, which were delicious! And took some pictures while Sienna enjoyed her moment! I caught her digging in prematurely, but hey, it was her cake!

On her actual birthday I woke Ryan up really early and sent him to the store for a balloon, some hashbrowns, and a few other things. We made Sienna pancakes with strawberry topping and whipped cream, and bacon (she only ate her bacon, the stinker)

We went to McDonald's for lunch, so that she could play in the indoor playground. She didn't eat more than a few fries and some parfait (and only after I called it ice cream :)

Then we went to Barnes and Noble and got her a big chocolate cupcake (sign up for BN Kids Club and they'll send your kids a voucher for a free one every year on their birthday!)

Next was the pet store, where we were dissappointed that they only had a few puppies. Mommy was hoping to see a cute little daschund!

Then on to see Grandparents!

We gave her the tricycle, and she needed some time to get "used" to it, as you can see from her face. Daddy had to sit down on it and show her that it was a fun toy, not a scary toy.

That is her balloon up there in the sky...and the funny thing is that it wasn't set loose by Sienna! Daddy let go of it! :)

On Sunday Sienna had another party, at Grandma and Papa Palmer's. She got a piggy bank and a race car toy from Grandma and Papa, a teddy from Chelsea and Kris (who she has dubbed "Care bear"), a Princess umbrella and backpack from Miles and Beth. thanks everyone! We've been enjoying playing with new toys!

And we'll be having yet another party for Sienna next Sunday with the Larsen side of the family. This girl really knows how to make it laaaaaaast!

p.s. I have to share something funny that she did- at dinner on Sunday we were drinking braziliann lemonade (ourbestbites.com has a great recipe) and at one point during dinner Sienna pipes up from her high chair, "I look so pretty!" We all looked over to find that she was dipping her hands in her lemonade and rubbing in her hair. What a mess! She was so proud of herself, though, and although I had to take her up for a quick bath, it was something I want to remember about my cute little girl :)

Hiccups

2011-04-29T05:42:00.002-06:00

Don't you hate getting the hiccups?

Tonight I felt my baby hiccuping for the first time. I kept thinking, why is he kicking so much? What has gotten into this kid? And then I realized that the "kicks" I was feeling were much to frequent and rhythmic to be kicks. It was fun to get a sense of where his face/chest are. Not so much fun to be awakened at 4 a.m. to get it.

I think the kid has gone back to sleep now, and so I will, too.

April Pictures

2011-04-26T15:27:00.004-06:00

I don't know why I have such a hard time blogging when it seems like everyone around me has more than one kid and updates daily or atleast weekly. I'm going to try and do better!! These are my favorite pictures that we took this month:

Sienna finally found out that I keep the paper towels beneath the sink. She went straight to work unwinding as much of the roll as she could before I stopped her.

Easter Egg Hunt on Easter. We almost didn't do one because the weather wasn't that great, and all those eggs are completely empty of candy :) But it's okay, she had plenty of treats in her basket, and she just had fun finding the eggs. I didn't get any great pictures because she isn't one to hold still...

This is a morning ritual for us...I sit down to apply my makeup and Sienna plops down in my lap to apply her "makeup". She also loves to brush my hair. Which I'm sure I will enjoy someday when she learns how to NOT draw blood (she hasn't actually drawn any yet...but sometimes I feel like she's trying)

Sienna's makeup

Eating a snack and playing in her room

We dyed Easter Eggs for FHE . It was fun for her, but she won't eat eggs. Except cooked on French Toast, or in cake.

With Lovey, who is still her favorite little pal. Every morning after she wakes up, she has to inform us that "I have binky and Lovey Bear!" as if we didn't know :)

When asked to smile, she sometimes gives us this lovely face...

We've been really bad about taking pictures of my growing bump, so I thought I'd post one of the few. Ryan took this during Conference, and I wasn't aware. Yes, I'm huge. I fot up to around 44 or 45" around during my first pregnancy, we'll see how I compare this time around.

Update

2011-04-13T02:39:00.001-06:00

Our ultra sound went well. The baby is measuring perfectly, his kidneys looked normal, and so as far as we can tell, he's healthy!

Baby Stress

2011-04-11T22:20:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow morning I am having a second ultrasound to check on our baby. During our first ultrasound (back in January) it was determined that our little guy had a 2 vessel cord-which means that instead of having 2 arteries and 1 vein with the umbilical cord, there is only 1 artery and 1 vein. The way the doctor explained it to us it was an extremely common "abnormality" that we shouldn't worry about at all. So we didn't. In fact, I don't even think I told anyone about it because it was presented to us as no problem.

In the last few days I have started to worry a little, after talking to a friend who had a baby with a 2 vessel cord. Her baby was perfectly normal, but during her pregnancy her doctor performed an ultrasound at every check up and was concerned about the chance of downs syndrome, birth defects, kidney, bladder and heart troubles. After that conversation I did a little bit of "research" online and it seems that most people who have a 2 vessel cord baby are frequently given ultrasounds to monitor everything. So why is my doctor so sure that everything is alright? It probably is, but what if it's not? And we've just been as happy as can be thinking we didn't need to worry.

For sure, I will be asking a lot of questions tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Our Goings On

2011-03-11T13:40:00.003-07:00

Lately Sienna has really gotten into movies. She can finally pay attention long enough! Her favorites are "Finding Nemo" which she just calls "Fishy movie", and "Rattatouille" which she calls, "Rat movie". She also enjoys movies we rent from the library. She likes "Signing Time", "Elmo's Potty Time", "The Wiggles", etc... We mostly use them for when Mommy needs to shower, and she no longer pounds on the door. It works out pretty well.

She talks about going to see "Grandpa and Grandpa" and "cousins" a lot. Sometimes she names off her different cousins, "Emily, Sarah, Skyler, Sofie, Josef..." (She sometimes says others, but these are the usual. It's funny because she says Josef with a "J" sound. Don't know why...)

I told her we were going to fly on an airplane to see her cousins in Texas in a few months. I shouldn't have told her yet, because she says, "Let's go!"

Yesterday Sienna was playing in the kitchen. Ryan and I were in the living room. When I started listening to her I realized she was saying, "Heavenly Father" over and over. I looked over to see her with her arms folded.

A couple of things that she has started to say that I'm not too happy about- "That's mine!" in a very aggressive way while trying to grab whatever the object is, and "I needs it!!" That one cracks me up because of the "s" on the end of need. Where did she learn that? Not from me :)

She was sick a few nights ago and had a hard time staying asleep. Ryan is a very attentive Daddy and would go in her room to comfort and cuddle her when she woke up crying. At one point he came out saying that she had started stroking his cheek with her little hand. How sweet is that?

Places we have found Snow white in the last few weeks...

She's a climber

Ryan and I sneak into Sienna's room every night before bed. We often find her in positions that demand a picture be taken. Can you imagine sleeping like this?

Yesterday we had some time to kill before picking Ryan up from work. We decided to go to McDonald's because they had a playland. And I guess the fries had something to do with it. I can't get this girl to eat anything I make for dinner, but she loves fries. Go figure. Maybe I just need to start cooking crap. In this picture she was telling me her shoe was coming off.

So she set it up on the table and kept eating.

She liked the yellow "slide" and kept going into it and coming back out.

Playing in the snow. Doesn't she look cute all bundled up?

And here is the movie I promised in the post about Antelope Island. We wanted to keep her awake long enough to feed her lunch. She didn't make it easy!

Why Don't They Call it Buffalo Island?

2011-03-11T13:21:00.005-07:00

I've never been one who enjoyed hiking. I married a man who loves (almost) nothing more than a good hike. He even took me hiking in Yosemite when Sienna was barely two weeks old. I remember feeling guilty for quitting in the middle of an easy-ish hike. LOVE YOU HONEY! But ever since Sienna got old enough to walk, she has liked to hike. And it is making me like it, too! It is just too darn fun to take her out and watch her explore, climb, and collect rocks.

March 1st was a beautiful day. Ryan had some time to spend with us, so we decided to go to Antelope Island.

Did you notice S's muddy knees? The trail was muddy in spots and at one point I told her to hold my hand so she didn't fall in the mud. She sped up to "escape" me and promptly fell in the mud. It was a little funny, actually. She got up and said, "Don't worry!" or something to that effect. I'm glad she's so laid back.

Climbing on the rocks. You can tell from the second picture that I'm right by her, but Ryan wanted me out of the picture. You can see from the 3d picture that I was nervous about it.

More climbing. It's all she wanted to do!

Thinking about splashing in the puddle.

Deciding in the end to just walk around it. Thankfully.

We saw several Buffalo (she's pointing at one here), and one antelope. They really should rename the place, "Buffalo Island".

A very fun outing. Afterwards we wanted to get lunch, but had trouble keeping Miss Sienna awake during the (short) drive to Zupas. Video to come. Oh, how I love these two!!

Desperately Trying to Catch Up

2011-03-11T12:05:00.007-07:00

I'm terrible at blogging. I'm not even sure why I try...yes I am. It's because I'm also terrible at journal writing and scrapbooking. Therefore I just know that someday this blog is going to be the only record I have kept of Sienna as a baby (And this next baby, too). May I learn to blog more often :)

We got some new carpet last month and although we can't install it, my Dad helped me cut it to the size of our rooms and we just laid it over the top of the nasty purple/red stuff. You'll see for yourself with the pictures, but it has made a WORLD of difference in our apartment. Messes don't seem as messy, I don't have to vacumn every 30 minutes just to keep my sanity, it's soft and cushy under our feet, and in short, it actually makes this dismal cell of an apartment seem pleasant. I like being home! The best $$ I ever spent :)

My Dad came to help me with the carpets (Ryan had a busy week and I didn't want these babies laying around for that long). Sienna sure enjoyed playing on them, though

This is a BEFORE picture of the carpet. Trust me, this picture does not depict just how nasty and uncomfortable a floor this was. The thought of laying my newborn baby down on it--or even just the thought of getting down on it myself to play--was ICK! I really really hated it.

And here are some AFTER shots. I tell Ryan everyday how much I love the new carpet. Just ask him. He's probably really annoyed by now.

This is the babies' room. The carpet is different because we bought 3 separate remnants, and they didn't have 3 of the same. Got a great deal at Home Depot, by the way. The carpet we wanted was on sale for $.73/sq foot at one location. At another location, they had that very carpet in their remnant section. 2 pieces, just the sizes we needed. Only it wasn't on sale there. So we asked if they would match the price, and because they were remnants, we got 30% off... which made the carpet close to 50 cents a foot!! I'm sure ya'll don't care. Sorry :)

On another note, I bought this bowl at DI and am wondering if you have any ideas for what I should put in it? It has stood empty for close to a month now :) Thanks!

Sienna

2011-02-23T14:05:00.002-07:00

Apartment Re-do

2011-02-23T13:43:00.004-07:00

Ryan and I are getting an unexpectedly good tax return this year, so we're doing a little to revamp our apartment. But first some pictures of my sweet pea. (Please notice in the first picture how our bedroom looks...red bedding, green tables. I didn't take a before picture of it so that's the best I've got.)

I bought a warm snowsuit for Riley and brought it home. Next thing I know, it's on Sienna... It BARELY fit! So cute!

This is the way her hair looks the morning after she's had her hair pulled up.

CRAZY!

I was getting ready to put our BLT's together. The bread was out of the bag waiting to be toasted and this is what happened! Drat that kid :)

She LOOOOOOVES-and I mean LOVES- her stuffed animals. They frequently take trips around the apartment. It's a cute sight to see Sienna carrying them all at once.

She also fauns over each one and says in the cutest little voice, "Aaaaah, sweet!" while hugging, kissing and caressing the things.

Some funny things about Sienna...

She calls the desitin "sour cream". She's even tried to taste it.

Ryan took her to Target one night (to give me a break) and when he was getting back into the car after shopping, he noticed that Sienna had a stuffed animal in her arms. She was fauning over it and so he took her back inside and taught her about paying for items before taking them.

When they got back out to the car she said, "Kitty....Dog....Bug....." The thing is so ugly that she couldn't even tell what it was (it's a chihuahua). Now she calls it "Kitty cat bug".

Now for the apartment redo. First things first, I had to take care of those green tables.

The lighting in our bathroom is bad, so you can't really get a feel for the color. The curtain is green, maybe a little darker than the color of the table above. It looks sooo much better than the plain tan thing that used to hang there. Also, I put the basket on the back of the toilet. It just makes it look less messy.

This is our new bedding, our new lamps and our "new" black bedside tables. I already had the frames, I just put them up finally.

Bigger picture of the bed.

So it's not GREAT, but it's a lot better after just a few small changes. We're also going to do something about that nasty maroon "carpet", so stay tuned. You'll see.

Our Best Bites

2011-02-08T04:21:00.004-07:00

Do you ever feel stuck in a rut when it comes to cooking, or is that just me? Some weeks I just feel like I'm making the same old crappy food and I couldn't be less enthusiastic to eat it. (or to feed it to my family). But I have found a cure for the boring old routine. I love to go online and check out recipe ideas at Ourbestbites.com. I would say that out of everything I've tried, 90 percent has been delicious! And I'm betting that the 10 percent less-than-yummy stuff is good, too. I probably messed with the recipe and screwed it up :) Here are some of my faves (but this list is constantly growing):

Southwestern Cobb Salad

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Thai Peanut Noodles

Pizza Sauce

It's making me hungry just to think about it! I highly recommend the website, so check it out and let me know when you find something great! (I seriously haven't even tried most of it. I will, but there is a lot on there. The desserts look amazing!)

(One thing I will say is that some of their recipes are VERY garlic heavy, and that for me has ruined a few things. I don't like garlic nearly as much as these women! Don't say I didn't warn you!)

Thrifty

2011-02-01T14:56:00.003-07:00

I went to the thrift store this morning and struck GOLD! I'm so glad I went because I have been wanting to get some things for my closet (things like boots and jackets) but have been holding off to find the "perfect" ones-since that's what you do before dropping $60 or more on something. I am so glad I did, because I got a CUTE pair of Steve Madden boots, PLUS all of this: a pair of cute heels, 2 cute pairs of pants (one is Ann Taylor, any guesses how much those cost brand new?), a coat, a really cute trenchcoat, and 3 cute jackets to wear as part of an outfit!! All of that for the $60 I would have spent on just boots. And I didn't even get to look through the pants or tops because of miss Sienna losing her patience with me. I'm definitely going back to that store!

Terrible One and a Half's?

2011-01-18T22:19:00.002-07:00

Sienna is and always will be my favorite little goose, but lately she has been driving me crazy. She throws tantrums daily now and they are pretty bad. She sprawls out face down on the floor, concrete, or whatever is underfoot. Sometimes she goes and stands in a corner with her face to the wall. Is that weird?? Anyway, I love her but I am sad to see her changing in this way. Today she got out of her crib during nap time (Don't even ask me how, I've never seen her attempt it before) and she wanted to be held and rocked. For her nap. I love to do that, but I can't rock her for 2+ hours while she sleeps. So she didn't take a nap. By 6 p.m. she had bags under her eyes and I got her ready for bed. I really hope we can figure these things out by the time baby boy is born and it starts all over again.

Introducing Our Baby

2011-01-13T13:56:00.006-07:00

We went to the doctor this morning and had some nice pictures taken of our little baby...

It's face. Can you see the eye cavities in the scull? Little creepy.

A cuter profile shot. The technician said it looked like the baby was picking its nose :)

On the left you can see some toes, on the right, legs and feet.

And this is the tell tale shot between the legs....

So I will give you one guess as to what we are having!!

A quick video of the baby moving around.

Spaghetti Squash

2011-01-13T08:35:00.002-07:00

I made something for dinner last night that was different, very healthy and really good. The only problem with it is that (since Ryan and I typically eat a lot of carbs and protein for dinner) it wasn't very filling. I have heard of people using spaghetti squash as a substitute for spaghetti but had never tried it myself. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.
Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl. Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil. Serve warm.

Boy or Girl

2011-01-04T14:15:00.002-07:00

So I have my ultrasound a week from Thursday. I am excited to find out the gender of our baby because I'll be able to start shopping for fabric (to make some blankets) and Ryan and I can talk seriously about a name. This time I've tended to think the baby is a boy (mainly because I had an ultrasound in a dream and it was a boy...I know that is silly but I didn't have an opinion either way until then) and Ryan thinks it's a girl. Just because he wants to say the opposite of me. So we are wondering what everyone else thinks about it...give us your guess and we'll let you know late next week!

Sienna Clause

2010-12-27T15:00:00.002-07:00

Things that I Loved this Month

2010-12-27T13:59:00.004-07:00

Meeting Santa Clause (and hearing Sienna call him "Sienna Clause")

Finding random pictures on the camera

Putting Sienna down for a nap on Mommy's bed and then finding her like this

"Sienna Elf"

A big snow storm the week before Christmas helped us teach Sienna how to throw snowballs (and we're loving how quickly it all melted)

Painting our fingernails red on Christmas Eve

Pretty jewelry from Grandma

Trying to eat her plastic ice cream cone

Sweeping up the floor

Playing ring around the rosie with mom and dad. Every time we'd fall down, she would say "Do angain?"

And some things we don't have pictures of...

When Sienna wants to sit on someone's lap, she backs right up to their knees. If they don't take the hint, she asks them to "care muh" (carry me).

When looking for something (anything) Sienna starts to say "(insert name of object), where ahh you?" in a cute little voice. Sometimes I ask her where something is just to see/hear her do it!

This girl loves bananas more than anyone I know. We buy huge bunches, sometimes 2 at a time and they always seem to be gone within 3 or so days. The most she has eaten in a day is 3, and that is only because I wouldn't give her a forth when she asked for it.

When she sees the camera she'll say, "Smile" but won't actually smile for any pictures. Grrr!

Pregnancy Update

2010-12-11T09:09:00.003-07:00

At my doctors apt this week, I heard my baby's heartbeat! It's nice to know that there really is a baby and that at least so far, things are going well. I also told my doctor about giving birth to Sienna and feeling an excruciating amount of pain when I expected the epidural to take care of it. He reassured me that it wouldn't be like that again, and that the likely reason was that the anesthesiologist I had hadn't done his job properly. Thank goodness for that. I don't want a repeat!!

Update on Sienna-

she points to my mid-section when I ask "Where's the baby?" (midsection= anything between my neck and my bum...)

She's continuing to repeat everything and to speak in (fragmented) sentences

I left her with a neighbor who has a daughter just her age, and she did GREAT! I hope we will see repeat results :)

When she saw Ryan and I kiss last night she said, "yucky!" We don't really know if it was about US, but it was funny

She loves to draw with crayons and with pens. Yes, we have had some drawing on her hands mishaps, and on clothes as well. But normally she keeps to the paper, and it hasn't entered her head to try the wall yet.

What to do?

2010-12-08T18:37:00.004-07:00

I am out of ideas and could really use ideas from anyone out there with experience...How do you feed a picky child? Mine is going on 19 months now, and I still have to make a separate meal for her every night. She doesn't like anything that I make for Ryan and I. Sometimes she doesn't even like what I make for her (tonight for example, I made her a quesadilla. It looked delicious but she wouldn't even TRY it!). She loves and eats a lot of fruit-bananas, grapes and oranges especially. She likes yogurt and applesauce SOMETIMES. There are things that she used to love but will no longer touch (cheese, avocados, pancakes, etc...) and some things she has never liked or even been willing to try (pnut butter, beans, pasta, almost everything I make). Today she wouldn't even try a donut!! I think there are many things she would love if she would just give them a chance, but I can't force her to, so what am I supposed to do? The doctors always say, "The kid isn't going to let herself starve, she'll eat a lot some days and a little others, it's normal blah blah blah" but that just doesn't take into account the stress of a mom who doesn't know what to give her little girl to eat.

What did you do when your kids wouldn't eat and you were tired of preparing special meals everyday?

p.s. Lest you think I am sabotaging myself, the donut was offered after Sienna ate ALL her lunch. (It was mac'n'cheese...so I may not have exactly redeemed myself, but it wasn't after she refused her dinner)

Sienna's First: Fat Lip

2010-11-24T07:25:00.002-07:00

Yesterday my daughter gave herself a fat lip. She was climbing on her high chair--which is something she KNOWS she shouldn't do because every time I see her start she gets the ultimatum (no no, or you'll get a time out). Unfortunately my back was turned and I didn't get the chance. There was a loud crash followed by a scream followed by the kind of sobbing when you know someone is really in pain. I scooped her up and saw that she had blood in her mouth. After a thorough (as thorough as a mother can be when her baby is trying to stop her) investigation I saw that she had bit her lip, probably as a result of a big high chair falling on top of her face. The outside of her top lip was swollen and skinned as well. Poor thing! I gave her a little bit of medicine and a baggie full of ice chips (to eat, mind you...none of that holding ice on the wound for her!) and she was feeling better after a while. Speaking of Sienna, I can hear her whining from her room, so that is the end of this post!

Halloween Photobooth at the U of U

2010-11-11T14:40:00.003-07:00

The University of Utah threw a fun little Halloween party a few weeks ago, and I just got the pictures back from their "photo booth". Sienna waited in a very long line to get her face painted, then didn't want to have it done until she watched Mommy go through it. After that she sat still but of course, as soon as she hopped down her hand went up to investigate, smearing her little bee. Oh well, it was still fun! Here are the pictures. Does anyone know any tricks to get an 18 month old to smile for the camera?

Dear Santa,

2010-11-11T11:38:00.002-07:00

Sienna has been a very good girl this year, so she definitely deserves extra presents. Here is her Christmas list:

Play food

Toy broom and dustpan

Lace up cards (for church)

The fisher price nativity set

New bath toys

Bath paints

Puzzles (the kind with knobs)

Snap-Lock Beads

Big Legos

wood blocks

Toy dishes

Bubble blower

Thanks Santa! We'll be sure to leave you our best cookies when you come to our house this year!

Pictures of The last warm day and the first snowfall!

2010-10-28T11:46:00.000-06:00

Sienna's News

2010-10-26T06:59:00.001-06:00

It Finally Happened

2010-10-21T09:35:00.004-06:00

We never thought it would really happen but we were finally able to complete a short sale on our townhome. It's been a stressful and frustrating year and a half, but everything finally came together for the 5th (or maybe the 6th--it's hard to keep track of) potential buyer. It's a relief to have it all over with. Now we just need to hope that we aren't hit with a big tax bill, and that we can get our credit back before we are ready to buy again. We did learn a valuable lesson, so it wasn't all bad...I guess :)

(And I waited until our mortgage account online said it was "closed" before posting this...I still didn't believe it was all over! Hey, I guess something could still go wrong, with our luck! Knock on wood!!)

My Sweet Bumble Bee

2010-10-21T07:58:00.003-06:00

My favorite thing is how she says "Bum Bee...Bzzz"

What is a bum bee??!

Priceless

2010-10-16T15:32:00.002-06:00

Today I made myself an ice cream cone. This little booger was in my face the whole time I was trying to eat it, taking tastes as often as she could. Then somehow she was able to convince me that she should be the one to hold it. The rest is history-she wouldn't give it back and she would dream of sharing. And it was the last of our ice cream! Drat!

I spent two weeks in Provo while my parents were in Shanghai. While there, I spent some time working on what is going to be Sienna's play kitchen. I painted it pink (still not finished with that) and found some accessories to go with it. She already likes it :)

Sienna took this picture with my camera. She has started to show an interest in monkeying around with it, and the picture isn't bad. It's in focus at least (it's of her leg, if you couldn't tell)

When riding on Daddy's shoulders Sienna needs something to hold on to. I think it's so funny!

Hay Ride at Wheeler Farm

In the corn maze at Wheeler Farm

Picking out the perfect pumpkin!

This girl is so much fun! I just wish that I were better at recording each first and each stage and each funny thing she does! I feel like time is getting away from me, and there is nothing I can do to keep her from rapidly changing and growing up! Stay my little girl!!

Pictures to make up for lost time

2010-10-16T15:19:00.004-06:00

I found a really good deal on a baby bjorn potty (I got the one pictured plus a smaller, on the go version, both for about $17!) and put it in the bathroom for Sienna to "practice". Yes, I know it's a little early, but I am really anxious for her to be out of diapers. She just doesn't quite understand what to do with it...

Is this where I put my foot?

Oh, I get it! You stand in the hole!

Or maybe you sit down on the side??

Disgraceful Dismount

"Playing" with a finger puppet that I made for her quiet book (which I finally finished, woohoo!!)

Sometimes I find things in the fridge that shouldn't be...

Collecting Rocks

Gorgeous Girl

Hitting Daddy with this big stick is a riot!

Doughnut Falls Hike

2010-09-23T12:06:00.002-06:00

Doughnut Falls

2010-09-23T11:50:00.002-06:00

I have never been one to love hiking, but this hike was really fun! I think it's because of Sienna. Her excitement about every little thing is contagious, and so fun to watch. Every time we saw water, even if it was just a tiny stream across the trail, she would yell "Wa-wa!". When we got to the riverbed, she wanted to play IN the water and cried because I wouldn't let her.

She was being extra sweet and cuddly that day. I LOVE everything about this picture (besides the scratch on her forhead that she got from Ryan walking to close to a pine tree). I think I had told her to "Be nice" to Daddy. And the second one I told her to "Kiss" Daddy. Usually she won't do that, but when she does, it's precious!

Doughnut falls was really cool. I didn't hike up there because of Sienna (it was a very steep hike through river and across logs and boulders. Scary!) But Ryan took some pictures. It looks cool!

This picture is just for fun. Ryan must have taken it. I love that little face!

Sunday Dinner

2010-09-23T11:42:00.002-06:00

Since we only drive to Provo/Orem for Sunday dinner every few weeks, I thought you might wonder what we do when it's just the three of us. Here is what we did a few weeks ago:

1. Drove to Alta Ski Resort for a little bike ride

2. At the end of the ride, we pulled out our dinner-pot roast and for Sienna, a pear-and had a little picnic. It was fun, and really pretty up there. I definitely wasn't Ryan's favorite biking companion, as I was holding my brakes almost the whole way and he had to stop and wait for me. I wish I could ride beside Sienna :)

Sienna trying on Daddy's "hat". Isn't she cute?

Dear Diary...

2010-09-10T15:02:00.005-06:00

It's that time...Sienna is starting to do and say things that make me laugh or surprise me. I try to record them when she does and I'll start posting them here. You're welcome. These are entries out of Sienna's "journal":

I decided to make cookies today, with Sienna’s help. I wanted to see if she would be able to enjoy something like that. She did, although it was tough to keep her from dumping flour and sugar on the floor, and to keep her from eating an egg yolk raw. As I was adding the vanilla (the recipe called for 3 Tablespoons), I would count after each spoonful. Pour, dump….”one”, pour, dump....”two”, pour….and as I was pouring the third; before I could say anything, I heard a little voice squeak, “three!”

I had to think about that one for awhile. I hadn’t taught her to count. Not knowingly. She must have picked it up from the 1-2-3-jump game (you know the one—two people on either side of a little pipsqueak hold on to one hand each and chant 1, 2, 3, JUMP! When they say the word jump, they simultaneously swing the munchkin as high in the air as they can). So she knows that two comes before three. Even if she doesn’t know what two or three is just yet. I’m amazed at all the things she picks up from us without us even knowing. Scary...

________________________________________________

We took Sienna to Sugarhouse Park to feed the ducks tonight. There were geese, ducks, and seagulls and the poop to prove it. Ick! I was expecting them all to scatter when Sienna came too near, but instead, they swarmed her. I would hand her a piece of bread, she would immediately drop it on the ground at her feet and the birds (geese, mostly) would grab it almost before it landed. Whichever bird was lucky (or unlucky, you could say) enough to get it first would then practically swallow it whole while getting nipped and de-feathered by the rest of the group. It was savage. A couple of birds went so far as to grab at Sienna’s hands (looking for bread, of course). Those birds had to face the wrath of a protective Momma! They were shouted and swatted at, as you can imagine. When we started walking around the lake, the entire swarm (hundreds) of birds (some swimming, some walking) all FOLLOWED us. It was surreal, and would have been creepy if we hadn’t known them to be harmless. I wish I had gotten a video, but our camera was dead. Despite the poop and the violent geese, it was a fun outing. So fun, in fact, that when we put Sienna back in the car she cried like her heart would break. Don’t worry, we’ll visit again soon!

Ohh la la!

2010-09-10T14:37:00.002-06:00

I've been cooking quite a bit lately. Now that we live in SLC and that we don't have someone else who automatically cooks dinner every night :( (It was nice while it lasted) And I've found some yummy recipes!

This one is something I've been wanting to try ever since eating one at "The Chocolate" in Orem. If you don't know what a pizookie is, you better make this and find out! Basically it's a delicious cookie made in a larger pan--I used a 9 1/2" pie plate-- and then just as it's warm out of the oven, you scoop vanilla ice cream right on top and enjoy. It's soooooooo good! (p.s. I think I cooked mine longer than 15 minutes. Just go by what looks done to you.)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Pizookies

1 cup unsalted butter

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup sugar

1 ¼ cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. Pour the melted butter in a large bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, egg yolk, 2 tablespoons milk, and vanilla extract to the sugar-butter mixture. Mix.

Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips (can be omitted or increased depending on taste).

Scoop onto baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet, OR spread dough on the bottom of 4 9-inch pie tins. (Each pie plate will serve about 4 people) Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve cookies or cool and store. Pizookies are topped with vanilla ice cream and served warm.

People who know me really well know that I loooooove curry. Especially Thai curry. There is something about the coconut sauce that tastes incredibly good to me! I could drink it from a cup (it would be better than v8 juice, so it's not that strange!) or lick up every drop on my plate. It's that good. And I have been trying different recipes for YEARS, trying to find one that comes close to what we get when we eat out. Without success. Until now...

This recipe is one I had tucked away all along, courtesy of Amberly and finally got around to trying. Ryan liked it so much that he ate WAY more than necessary and made himself sick. It's that good. And not only that, it was EASY. A cinch! No intimidating ingredients, nothing you have to go to the Asian market for. Try it, and I'm sure you'll love it too. ( I did change it just a little. I don't have fish oil on hand, nor do I ever plan to. I just added a bit of salt. I also think it would be simple to add more veggies like carrots, green beans, snap peas, zucchini. Wa-laa. Tastee!)

Thai Curry

1 Tbsp canola or peanut oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 each, red and green bell pepper, cut into strips

1 cup canned coconut milk

Thai Green Curry Paste (available on the Asian aisle)

Dash of salt

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp lime juice

1 lb chicken breast in thin slices

2 Tbsp raw peanuts, toasted (if desired) and chopped

3 cups cooked rice

Heat the canola oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until it is almost smoking. Add onion and peppers and stir-fry until just tender, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Return the pan to medium heat and add the coconut milk. Heat until it begins to bubble. Stir in the curry paste (start with 1 generous Tbsp and add more if desired) and simmer 3-5 minutes. Stir in the sugar and lime juice and bring to a low boil. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and vegetables and continue to simmer until the meat is just cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Garnish with peanuts and serve over rice. Can also be made with beef, but I would suggest a red curry paste instead of the green.

Inspired

2010-08-31T13:13:00.003-06:00

Ryan and I have been wanting to get Sienna a play kitchen for awhile now. Maybe she's been too young, but for some reason we've really wanted to get it (probably because I want to play with it!!). The problem is that they are just too darn expensive. And the ones that aren't as much aren't as good. I like the realistic, made out of wood kind WAYYY better than the plastic kind. So you get the dilemma. But, I was online yesterday and just happened to bump into this really good idea! I got it from this blog: giggleberrycreations.blogspot.com

This is what they started out with. An old entertainment center that you can buy used for very cheap if you look at yard sales, etc...

And they turned it into my DREAM play kitchen! This is soo cute! I LOVE it! The only thing I would change would be to have the oven open from the top and not the side. I think I will be trying to find myself an entertainment center! Christmas is coming, after all, and I would LOVE to present Sienna with something like this (from Santa, of course)

In the Gorilla's Den

2010-08-21T16:54:00.002-06:00

Hogle Zoo

2010-08-21T16:31:00.003-06:00

So, as promised, I took Sienna to the zoo the other day. And it wasn't too bad, other than being really, really hot. I didn't take any water for myself and was sorely tempted to take a swig from Sienna's sippy cup. It didn't happen, though. Can you imagine the backwash? Eww!

Sienna "asking" me for a snack...

She kept her hat/sunglasses on for about 2 seconds, just enough time to snap a picture.

Looking at monkeys.

Elephant (in the background)

This is the new baby elephant, Zuri, and her Mommy. She was following her mom around, nursing off and on. I tried to show Sienna, but I don't know if she got it.

She got really excited about the Gorilla. I have a video. Maybe I'll post it.

When we got to the giraffes and she only wanted to push the stroller in circles, I knew it was time to go home.

But first, a quick train ride.

When the train started moving she got scared and grabbed my leg with both hands. Very funny and cute :)

Have you met Pip?

2010-08-20T10:57:00.004-06:00

I have to admit that during Sienna's nap time sometimes I get really bored. Sometimes I don't want to be "productive". So I get online and I read other blogs. Friends, family, and very often total strangers blogs. That is how I met Pip. I have to warn you that once you meet her, you'll fall in love. And you'll follow her blog from now until forever.

(Picture stolen from Reagan's Blob)

Isn't she a cutie? Every time I read about her, a part of me (the mommy part, I think) melts and wants to hold her and pinch her cheeks just like Elmira from Tiny Toons. Is that morbid? I always feel very grateful for things that I maybe take for granted otherwise--things like having Sienna sleeping in the next room over every night, and being able to take her to the grocery store, the park or anywhere I want to (and even places I don't want to).

I like her mom, too. She's a lot of fun. In fact, I wish I could be more like her, because she always looks so pretty, and you can tell that she's living her life every minute, every day, and is (as she puts it) nailing it! It makes me feel jealous sometimes for being so afraid to live mine. I'm afraid to talk to new people, afraid they won't like me. Afraid to explore a new city alone. Afraid to spend money. Now that we don't live near San Francisco and never will again, I regret never going to Alcatraz (I almost called it Azkaban-ha!), never going to the Theatre, never eating at an expensive restaurant. I regret having never traveled outside of the US-or inside the US-before getting married or before having a baby. I regret not completing school, not keeping in touch with any old friends, not having anything that I'm really good at. But I think the thing I fear the most is for Sienna to grow up just like me, with fear and eventually, a long list of regrets for her life. Yikes. Please, no!

I'm going to have to work on that :) Maybe I'll take her to the zoo today, by myself. (Yikes...)

Yeah, you should go meet Pip. She makes me want to do things I would otherwise be too scared to do.

Help!

2010-08-04T00:35:00.003-06:00

Hi Everybody!

Ryan and I are moving to Salt Lake in less than two weeks! I've been thinking about how I have a tendency towards being a homebody, especially when I don't know an area or any people in it. I'm just not someone who is comfortable exploring a place to learn it-definitely not with a toddler to take around. So I need some help from anyone who knows salt lake...what is there to do with a kid? Where can I take Sienna during the day when Ryan is in school and we are tired of being cooped up? Of course I know the obvious attractions like the zoo and the library and there are sure to be a billion parks around... but where else do people who don't have a lot of money to spend take their kids?

Thanks in advance!

2010-07-30T14:41:00.002-06:00

My husband rocks.

He left yesterday morning for a job interview pretty confident that he wouldn't get the job, but he was wrong. In fact, he was offered TWO jobs. Just like that, on the spot.

If anyone needs help or coaching for a job interview, Ryan's for hire :)

another post about my awesome baby

2010-06-09T23:12:00.004-06:00

(Picture from March 2010)

It's past my bedtime, but thanks to allergies I can't sleep. Rather than stare at the wall, I decided I could use the time to catch up a little on my blog...

Sienna has an expanding vocabulary; she probably knows how to say many more words than I even realize. She has to say things in context before I can figure them out-for example, the other day she was holding a dirty diaper (all wrapped up and ready to be disposed of), and kept saying the same unrecognizable sound over and over. After awhile I realized she was saying, "garbage" meaning she wanted to take the diaper outside and throw it in the big garbage can. The only problem is that she was only saying the second syllable of the word (bage), and it was coming out sounding like a word she shouldn't be saying.

She has also learned to say Papa (Grandpa Palmer), and Amen (she repeats it after we say it during family prayer).

She understands much more than she can say.

She responds by pointing at the correct body part when I ask her, "where's mama's nose? where's mama's eye?"

She spits or takes her binky out when I tell her, "Binky stays in the crib."

She knows that when I say something is yucky she needs to put it down (though she doesn't always obey...)

She knows where to go when I tell her it's lunchtime, or that we are going outside.

She knows that when I say it's diapey time she only has a few seconds to escape.

She knows that "bath time" means she should try to climb over the side of the tub.

Her eyes find the correct target when I say words like, "Lovey Bear", "Train", "Dolly", "Book", "Doggy", etc...

There are so many cute little things that Sienna does that I want to document and remember forever, but I'll record the rest in my journal and spare the rest of you a mile long post.

Bruce

2010-06-04T14:00:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Ryan and I dropped Bruce off at his new home. There was a decent sized yard, a large green parrot on the doorstep and 3 young-ish kids to welcome him. The thing that broke my heart more than anything was walking away while he tried to follow but couldn't. If a dog can "freak out" that's what he did when we got into our car and drove away. I didn't cry up until then but I broke down in the car and cried all the way home. I know that it will get easier...I just hope that happens quickly!

We love you, Bruce!

Sienna, Turning One?

2010-05-07T20:13:00.005-06:00

Sienna is going to be ONE in 4 days! A whole year has passed since I woke Ryan up in the middle of the night and he drove me to the hospital. A whole year since meeting our little 7 lb 9 oz baby. It's gone by me without even realizing, and at the same time, I can't remember what life was like one year ago before having this beautiful girl in my life. I am so grateful for her, especially now that she's down for the night...

Sienna is now walking all. by. herself. She doesn't do it all the time, but when she does, she is really good at it. And you can tell that she's feeling proud by the way she grins at you afterwards.

She now has a vocabulary beyond just Dada and Mama! She can also say Moo, Cluck, Down, Cold, Eee-I-Eee-I-Oh, Ruff, Owie, No, and Grandma claims that she has said Grandpa...I still haven't heard that one.

Sienna is becoming somewhat disobedient now that she realizes she has a choice. She likes to get into the dog's bowls, throw food onto the floor from her high chair, and spit her food out so that it splatters all over her and me. And to make matters worse, any reaction from me (even a warning, "Uh-Oh") only eggs her on. She smiles at me as if to say, "What are you going to do about it, huh?" and only gets upset when she is left in her crib for a short 'time out'. What happened to my sweet, utterly dependent baby??

She is gradually weaning herself from breastmilk. We only nurse about 3 times a day now, around 10 minutes each time, and even that is a struggle. She just wants to play all the time. In order to keep her nursing I invented a game that I may live to regret. I take her foot and give it a good sniff. Then I say, "Stinky feet!" and act like I'm disgusted. From that point, Sienna takes over, sticking her cute little feet up towards my face and it continues from there.

I couldn't love this stinker more. I'm so glad to have her!

In other news, we might actually sell our townhome this month. The bank actually approved an offer and the buyer was still around and still interested in buying! That has never happened before since the bank likes to take it's sweet time! Cross your fingers for us, everyone!

Sienna, Sienna, Sienna, and American Idol

2010-03-02T21:44:00.004-07:00

For all my blogging fans...Uh, I mean friends...I know I've been gone too long. When we moved we didn't bring our computer over with us, and that means that I don't have any pictures to post. Since this blog is dedicated to Sienna and showing off how cute she is, I just haven't had any reason to post in awhile. Plenty of cuteness. Just not on this computer.

Actually I found some pictures on my friend Joie's blog. Isn't she a great photographer? That's her cute baby Max, who is 3 months younger then Sienna. (Max is her boyfriend, but she's the one in charge if you couldn't tell.)

Sienna experienced her first swing and LOVED it. I remembered that my parents had a baby swing that could be hooked up to the tree in their front yard, and so I dug around in their garage (for those of you who have seen their garage, you know what a tremendous undertaking that was!) and put it up for her. The last few days were warm enough to enjoy some swinging and I did get quite a collection of photos for my other computer.

Sienna's got such a distinct personality these days. She gets more fun every day!

She loves fruit, string cheese, graham crackers, and baby cereal puffs. She won't eat vegetables or meat without a lot of crying and spitting. Dinnertime has become very tricky for me, since I have to figure out how to get the vegetables down without her realizing and/or freaking out.

She loves to take baths and is now sitting alone in the tub without any kind of support (unless you count Mommy for that).

Ryan taught her how to play ball. If you roll the ball to her, she will roll it back. Although her roll is more like holding the ball an inch above the floor and dropping it.

She loves laundry. Anytime there is a pile of clothes-clean or dirty-she spreads it around the room one piece at a time, by way of flinging.

She loves to practice turning pages in books. She doesn't care about the story, and doesn't wait for me to read it...she just wants to turn pages and then when we get to the end of the book, she starts going back the other way. Over and over :)

She likes to scream--not in anger, but just to hear herself. She was screaming all through Walmart the other day and the binky didn't help, as she just spit it out repeatedly. Good thing she's so cute. No one could be annoyed if they just got a glimpse of that cuteness, right?

She won't keep socks or hats on, she copies actions she sees/hears others do (such as sticking out tongue, breathing through nose loudly, clicking her tongue, etc...).

She won't sit still for a diaper change and has to be physically restrained every time.

She has a mullet now that her hair has gotten pretty thick in back (but still very short on top).

She still only has 2 teeth. Other kids her age have, like, 5.

She's knows the hand sign for milk, but only makes it at night when she wakes up.

And a million other things. She's such a fun girl! That post was probably overkill, but that's what happens when you spend 8+ hours a day with such a sweetie. That's what you talk about :)

In other news, I watched American Idol tonight and my favorites (of the guys) are Lee and Andrew. Andrew's song was not my favorite, he was off-key through a lot of it, but I still love listening to his voice! And I also have to admit that I like Alex's unique voice. Too bad he has no chance because he has no confidence. I think Tim Urban is a cutie, but he isn't very good. Casey is good but I'm not gaga over him. Maybe he'll change that in the coming weeks, but I think it'll be either Lee or Andrew!

Early Signs of Indecision

2010-01-13T14:46:00.003-07:00

With so many binkys and so little time

what's a girl to do???

I Love Being a Mom

2010-01-13T13:49:00.004-07:00

She was sleeping with her leg in the air. Wow!

I'm just relaxin and eating cereal puffs...what's up with you, Mom?

Where is the batter, guys?

"Everybody was kung fu fighting...Hi-ya!"

Christmas present from Sienna to Grandma

Great Websites

2010-01-09T14:27:00.009-07:00

Deals to Meals a site geared towards helping people save money while grocery shopping and establishing a food storage

Knock Off Wood-- AWESOME site of plans for all the cutest Pottery Barn furniture and how to build it yourself. I don't know how to do that but (supposedly) Ryan does. We'll see! My favorites are the child size furniture (especially the play kitchen) and the beds!

picnik.com--a website where you can upload, edit and enhance your photos for free. Fun!

frugalfamilyfunblog.com--amazingly creative mom gives great ideas for frugal activities for children! I love this blog!

paperbackswap.com--swap your books for new books you want. You get 2 free books just for listing your first 10 books and another for each book that you send to someone!

ourbestbites.com--a food blog my sister introduced to me yesterday. The food looked and sounded delicious, and after dinner last night (I made bacon wrapped smokies, I know it's not meant to be a dinner food, but I don't care) I can attest to the delicious tastiness of the recipe(s)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T10:45:00.004-07:00

(I wrote this newsletter intending to send it to everyone. I wanted Ryan to read it first but we never got around to it, so here is our very late newsletter!)

2009 has been a great year for our family. The arrival of our first child, Sienna, in May was the highlight and watching her grow and learn has been a constant delight. She is now seven months old, just crawling, and one of the most contented babies ever (lucky us!). We were happy to move back to Utah in September. We miss our friends and ward in California, as well as the beaches and forests and awe-inspiring nature, but Utah will always be our “home” and it is wonderful to be near family again.

Ryan is working at a property management company in Park City—and is seriously considering going back to school to get his MBA. He loves being a Daddy, and has been wrapped around Sienna’s finger since the very beginning. During Ryan’s time off of work, he loves to ski, ride his bike, watch football (especially BYU!), and spend time with his family.

Tamara is happy to be a stay at home mom to Sienna. During her free time (gotta love those naps!) she loves to sew quilts and baby things, read all kinds of books, bake, take pictures of Sienna, and relax. She’s looking forward to the day when she can go back to school and learn about both culinary arts and interior design, but for now, home is the place she wants to be.

Sienna loves to play peek-a-boo (or “where’s Mommy”), jump in her jumper, take baths, and play with her toys. She is very “talkative” and loves to expirament with squeals in new octaves, tongue clicking and even words like “da-da”. She loves to eat applesauce, pears, graham crackers, and many other foods. She is learning sign language (“milk”, “eat”, and “more”) although she can’t make the signs herself yet. She loves to smile, get tickled, and play with daddy’s guitar. Just in the last few days she has begun to dance (by rocking back and forth on her hands and knees) when she hears music. We can’t get enough of this munchkin and wish she would slow down and stay our baby awhile longer.

Right now our doggies, Bruce and Sampson, are living with their foster parents (thank you Natalie and Haylee!) and getting to know their doggie cousins, Buddy, Rocky and Rambo. It is wonderful to have family so willing to help out when there is a need!

Though I can confidently say this year has been one of the happiest, thanks to Miss Sienna, we have also dealt with our fair share of challenges. Through them we have learned to rely more on the Savior, and he has brought us comfort and assurance that everything will work out. Though it is sometimes frightening not to know what the future will bring or when we will be able to get back on our feet, when we think about the Savior and reflect on the purpose of our earthly existence, our temporal concerns seem insignificant. We’re grateful to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we hope that everyone will remember the Savior as they celebrate Christmas this year! Have a wonderful 2010!

Christmas Festivities

2009-12-26T16:45:00.007-07:00

Christmas was a blast! Christmas Eve was spent at my sister Natalie's home, where we ate a delicious roast beef and potato dinner, sang some carols and read the Christmas story, and had a little visit from Santa Clause! We also got to see Bruce, who Sienna adores (see pictures).

On Christmas morning, we enjoyed a large feast, skyped with Elder Jason Palmer in Ireland, and then opened presents. We made a killing! I got a gorgeous baking cookbook, some nice Japanese knives, a necklace with a "T" on it, a cute advent calender (thanks Bri!), some cookie mixes (thanks Brooke!) a gift card to the Carter's Outlet in Park City (!!) and a bunch of other wonderful gifts! Ryan got some sweaters, a new pillow, a watch, the Bourne Trilogy on DVD, some jalapeno jelly, Jenga, etc...

This first picture is me and Sienna on Christmas Eve. I always forget to put the pictures I want to appear first in last. So the rest of Christmas Eve pics will be at the end of this post. I just don't have the time to drag and drop all of them...

Aprons that I made for all the girls. Susan bought the fabric and helped me figure the pattern out. It was a fun project and what I needed to get me back into sewing!

Sienna liked all the new toys! She really liked all the wrapping paper and boxes laying around the room.

I got my red coat! My husband is the bestest!

Little Santa. I think Sienna looked adorable in this cute outfit from Grandma Palmer!

A picture of her waving.

Santa came to visit on Christmas Eve! Sienna was able to rip a piece of his beard off and we found her still chewing on it a few hours later.

Sienna liked Skyler's walker/car thing. It's a good thing Santa brought her one the next morning!

She tried to open a bunch of Natalie and Nate's presents. She almost succeeded..whoops!

Year in Review: Part One

2009-12-23T21:19:00.005-07:00

Pregnant and loving it...mostly

In the wee hours of May 11. Contractions are awful!

Thank goodness for medication!

Sienna arrived safe and sound after about 3 hours of pushing.

Daddy looks on as Sienna has her first bath (look at the yucky water!)

Sienna reflecting on the meaning of life while being spooned by "Piper" the puppy.

At just 2 weeks old, Sienna takes her first road trip.

She sleeps through all the good stuff, though.

Sienna and Sampson love

Mommy cuddling her little cutie. Was she ever that little?

Sienna in her blessing dress and bonnet (made by my mom and worn 22 years ago by yours truly).

At the beach...maybe the first time??

At another beach-she's an old pro by now.

Sienna practicing her happy sumo pose.

Sienna makes a friend. Only a few minutes later she reached over and grabbed his mitten right off his hand. Or maybe it was before this picture??

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

So This is Love

2009-12-19T23:08:00.005-07:00

Today my cute hubs called down from our bedroom, asking me to join him there for a minute. I dropped what I was doing (reading the newspaper...I hurt for the family of Susan Powell and hope that she is found soon!) I was sure that I was in trouble for something...

When I got to our room, I found the hubs on his knees next to the bed so I knelt down and got ready for morning prayer. It wasn't why he had called me, but he laughed and we said a prayer anyway. Then he reached under the bed (this is why he'd been kneeling) and pulled something out.

"I thought you might want to get an early start on this" and handed me a book called The Lovely Bones. It was an early present and so thoughtful, since he knows that I love to read. I almost didn't tell him that I'd already read it, years before in high school. I told him anyway, but said I wanted to read it again. And I do.

That is one of thousands of reasons why I love my thoughtful hubs. Now excuse me while I dive in to my new book.

Seven Months

2009-12-19T23:01:00.003-07:00

You are seven months old!

You have reached a major baby milestone—you have teeth! Two cute little bottom teeth which make for an adorable toothy grin. I discovered it on Thanksgiving day and everyday after that it felt a little bigger until you had TWO full fledged, food chewing, nipple chomping, toothy grin TEETH! You’re getting so big…(sigh).

Mommy has been teaching you sign language. We are starting with just three signs, “milk”, “eat” and “more”, and will work up from there. I think that you understand the first two, but you are too little to make the signs on your own.

You love jewelry. You are drawn to necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Sometimes you even break them…no one really minds.

You click your tongue. When mommy copies you, you stop to listen and grin, then you answer with more tongue clicking.

You crawl now!! You’ve been working up to it ever since you were 6 months old, but now you can put one knee in front of the other, and then again and again and again. You can get anywhere you want to go. You love to crawl to the fireplace, the guitars, and even into the kitchen to look for crumbs. I’m so proud of you!

I love you so much!

Good Tamara/Bad Tamara

2009-12-16T15:12:00.004-07:00

Who will win the battle today??

I have two different Tamara's inhabiting my body. One is very good, practical, unmaterialistic, responsible and frugal. I have become very familiar with her because she is around a lot. The only problem is...this Tamara doesn't have too much fun because she's always to busy being responsible. She's always too worried about paying bills and getting out of debt to spend money. She's kind of a drag.

There is another, cooler Tamara lurking deep down, the Tamara that we don't meet very often. That Tamara has a long list of wants and "needs" and she likes to spend money on herself. Usually when this Tamara makes an appearance, the "good" Tamara is waiting to smother her back into submission. She almost never wins.

I was at the mall yesterday and I saw a beautiful red coat. It looked a lot like this one:

and that Tamara really really wanted to buy it. Fearing the wrath of both "good" Tamara and of her husband (probably without cause), she merely placed it on hold. The shop selling it does NOT give refunds, only store credit, which makes this decision all the more difficult...

I can think of so many other things $50 would be better spent on...but do I want to let boring Tamara take over my body? What if fun Tamara suffocates and dies? Oh, what to do....

The Best Part of My Day

2009-12-16T15:01:00.003-07:00

I adore this girl...what's not to love?? I am so lucky to be able to stay home and hang out with her everyday! I hope that she and I will play everyday for many years to come!

My favorite cheeks in the world!!!

Sienna Crawls!!

2009-12-14T11:07:00.002-07:00

Recent Projects and Sweet Baby Pictures

2009-12-14T10:40:00.004-07:00

I've been keeping busy at the sewing machine lately, and wondering why I let so much time pass with it packed up & unused. I love to be working on some kind of project! Sometimes I feel guilty because I look forward to Sienna's naps so that I can get going again! Here are some things I'm working on:

Car Seat Cover-- Wish I had one of these 7 months ago...now when we're at church or on the go and Sienna gets tired I can flip the cover down and it's WAY more likely she'll take a nap. Not guaranteed but WAYYYYY more likely :)

Baby blanket...I know it's about 7 months late, but better late then never. I'm still iffy on some of these fabrics but I'm going to figure it out soon. And I'm definetly using pink minky for the backing! So cozy and soft! And I think I'll have enough scraps to make a doll blanket to match, yeah!

And here is Sienna at 7 months old. I love this sweet girl! If you look closely at the 2nd picture you'll see her two little teeth. Teeth which she uses to bite my nose and Ryan's toes. What a girl!

Lousy at Updating

2009-12-03T10:02:00.003-07:00

It's been a while since posting.

Whoops!

I eventually did get my hair cut but I went to the wrong stylist because I hate it. Since the cut I've only done my hair one time (I've attempted to more then that but when I was frustrated almost to tears, out came the elastics...). Oh well--atleast I left it long enough that I can still use elastics, right?

In other news, Ryan had a job interview at a spa/resort in St. George early this week and has been invited back for a second one. The position is restaurant manager in this restaurant! Here's hoping!!

What to do?

2009-11-11T14:53:00.001-07:00

I have HAD it with my hair! I love long hair...on other people. On me, it does nothing but swing from a lazy ponytail. As I'm typing this, I haven't even brushed my hair! I put it in a clip straight out of the shower and 7 hours later it's still slightly damp and very tangled. I'm not patient enough to blow dry and fix it everyday but I'm tired of feeling plain and/or frumpy because my hair is undone. And then even when I DO fix it, I end up putting it in a ponytail anyway, so that little fingers can't pull it out of my head! So what do I do? I have some of the thickest hair in the world and I am seriously considering doing something short but it HAS to be easy and quick to fix otherwise I won't do it.

Advice???

These are some pictures I think are cute (not necessarily on me...I don't know!)

In my image wanderings I found this...I don't know what it's all about but it made me giggle :)

Get Paid to Search the Internet!

2009-11-08T08:47:00.002-07:00

I know many of you have heard of Swagbucks, but for those of you who haven't KEEP READING! This is an awesome opportunity to earn money, gift cards, or other prizes just for searching the internet. You just use the Swagbucks search engine instead of Google or whichever one you currently use. Each time you search you have a chance of winning between 1 and 5 swagbucks, which you can then redeem for prizes.

A couple weeks ago my friend got me to start using it and I'm so glad I did. I have earned 20 swagbucks, and in a few more weeks I will be able to redeem them for a gift card of THE OFFICE: S 5. I know it doesn't seem like much, but really I got it for doing something I do anyway...so it's a win win.

One way you can increase your earnings is to refer other people...hence this post! When your referrals win, you win. My friend has referred several people and just in the last few months has earned over $125 in Amazon gift cards!

This is SO easy and a great way to earn a little extra for birthdays, Christmas, or just for fun.

Click here to sign up through my referral link. I really appreciate it! Also, you get 3 swagbucks just for signing up! After you sign up you can download the toolbar which makes searching even easier. I even use it to go to my email, facebook, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions. HAPPY SEARCHING!!!

(Thanks Sarah, I DID use you as my referral)

San Rafael 2nd...

2009-11-05T20:43:00.003-07:00

Ryan and I really miss you guys! I was just looking at all your blogs and the pictures from the Halloween party and now I feel very nostalgic for the ward. Not California, no no. Just all you darn people.

Call us up if you're ever going to be in Utah!!

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-11-05T16:23:00.002-07:00

We had a couple of really cold days last week and realized Sienna had nothing to keep her little ears warm. We got her the cutest little hat! Just pretend that I don't look drugged in this picture :)

Debuting our precious little kitty cat.

I was bored and decided to paint Sienna's toes. A very tough job if you've never tried it with a baby. Just don't look too closely.

Getting ready for next Halloween!
Isn't she sweet?? I love this little girl!

A Lot of Pictures Without Many Words

2009-10-25T07:47:00.001-07:00

Cake Attempt #2

2009-10-21T13:18:00.002-06:00

On Sunday as I was dressing Sienna, I got an idea for my next cake...can you tell where my idea came from?

Not a Funny Joke

2009-10-12T12:23:00.003-06:00

Oh, and by the way, our realtor called to say that our buyer wants to come back AGAIN. I snorted when Ryan told me. We'll just wait and see if she comes through-maybe third times the charm???

Sneak Peak of Sienna's Halloween Costume

2009-10-12T11:45:00.002-06:00

I made Sienna a Halloween costume. Well, I made one piece of it and just got the rest together. I'm not going to tell you what it is until I put pictures of her in it! (Rach, you might be able to guess since I sort of copied you). Let's just say, she didn't know what to make of it--you can see the look on her face in the first picture, like she's thinking, "Hmm, Interesting..."

And then here are a bunch of pictures just because she's cute. Sometimes I get going with the camera and wind up with 100+ pictures of the same/somewhat similar pose, many which can be deleted right away, but there are usually 5 or 10 that I think are gems! These are some of my recent "gems".

The most precious of my gems just woke up from her nap so I gotta go! Enjoy!

R.I.P.

2009-10-10T15:49:00.003-06:00

I'm taking a cake decorating class at Roberts, and today I decorated my first cake. It was a 2 layer yellow cake with bavarian cream filling and orange buttercream icing. On top I "drew"

Jack-O-Lantern eyes, nose and smile with yellow icing. It was cute, although you could definitely tell it was a first attempt. I wanted to bring it home and take a picture of it- maybe even get a few "oohs" and "aahs" ( and "yums") from Ryan over it, but alas, it was not to be. As I was picking it up off the car seat, the cake caddy broke and my pumpkin face planted on the concrete. Shucks! You'll just have to imagine how cute it was until my next cake.

It actually may not be such a bad thing. After learning a few no-no's first hand, my second cake should turn out cuter and we won't have the guilt of eating TWO cakes this week.

(Not my actual cake)

Recent Sienna

2009-09-25T07:38:00.002-06:00

It's so good to be back in Utah! We've been revisiting all our old haunts and have many to explore still (Cafe Rio is high on the list!). Ryan and I went to see "The Proposal" the other night for only $3!! The movie wasn't very good, but for that price we can see bad movies and not feel like we were robbed! The first few pictures here are of us on a picnic at the Scera park.

No, Sienna can't sit up by herself without falling over. Ryan had to be a quick shot to get this before she flopped over. Like the bow? Finally I got around to making some-four months late, but better late then never!

She likes sitting in her johnny jump up...she doesn't get the jumping part yet. Just that she can sit in it and twirl around in circles.

She's very interested in this baby, Max, from our CA ward. He's a cutie!

I'm her mom, so I'm biased, but isn't she gorgeous?

Last Outing

2009-09-20T20:40:00.004-06:00