Strawberries!

We have been introducing new fruits and veggies to Ellliott lately by using a food grinder and this little mesh feeder. He LOVES the mesh feeder! So far, I would have to say his favorite foods are strawberries and pears. He is hilarious to watch eat! He gets so excited he starts to bang the mesh feeder against his body while grunting and squealing! Unfortunately, I didn't get THAT on tape...but here is a glimpse of him with the strawberries.

Sorry the video gets blurry. Too much movement I guess!

A Day in the Life of Elliott

This is the majority of what Elliott does every day.

We are SO blessed to have Elliott for our son!

A Small Project

So, last week I read something on a friend's blog that inspired me. She attempted to clean out her craft closet, and would have finished I am sure, but she was happily interrupted with a surprise from her husband. SO, I got to thinking. My "craft closet" is actually our second bedroom. Which just so happens to also be our study, and more importantly, Elliott's room. My friend inspired me to clean up that entire room.

So, I did.

Before:

After:

This is my creating space. I realize that it's still a bit cluttered, but hey, it's 3 rooms in 1! Now when people come over, I don't have to make sure the door to this room is shut! I am exited though because Preston told me yesterday that he thinks I should make this space "me." I take that as the ok to do WHATEVER I want! Which is pretty much what I usually do, but with the possibility of Preston in the back of my mind saying "eh, I don't like that." Not this time.

This space is MINE!!

Update

I believe that blogs are an OK place to brag, right? Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am done with my Christmas shopping! I am so proud of myself! The only problem with having this done so early is that you are much more likely to KEEP BUYING things for people. "Oh! Brooke would LOVE that!" or, "Mom would look GREAT in THAT!" I guess luckily for me (and of course our bank accounts), I don't shop very often. My biggest problem is going to be resisting Etsy. And to help keep track of what I have bought, I made myself a Christmas Book!

I made it with enough pages so it should last for years to come. That way it junctions as a sort of Christmas journal also. I can look back and see what the kids wanted , what they actually got and about how much was spent.

In other news, I have swine flu. At first we were a little worried. I was nauseous for a couple days, but then all of the other symptoms hit so we knew I was probably just sick and not expecting another little one. (yikes) I have been in bed for the last few days (with bathroom breaks coming far to often), watching seasons 1-5 of Monk, eating rice pudding, Oreos (double stuf), and chicken noodle soup (thanks mom!). I am staying out of public as much as possible so as to not spread this awful illness. Hopefully it will be over VERY soon.

Due to my illness, my house is a wreck! Elliott is almost out of bottles, we are completely out of dishes and the laundry, well, I think that's enough said.

Classes are going well I guess, it is my last semester. (thank heavens) I officially applied for graduation! I will be SO glad to be able to say I WAS an english major.

Elliott has 6 teeth and says two words. "mama" and "baba" (baba=dada...we think) Mama is his favorite word ;)

Preston has quit NuSkin but has some fantastic publishing, and movie making opportunities along with working as a research assistant for a Professor on campus. He is researching and applying for grad schools and is also taking the GRE. Wish him luck! We need full ride baby!

Other than that, we are just enjoying the crisp weather and of course, TEA SEASON!

All Boy, Baby!

A few things to watch for in this video.

1. oink noises

2. imitation of a toothless elderly man

3. looking up at the fan to see if it is on

4. cock-eyed raspberry

5. a belch as the grand finale

ENJOY!

Things We're (mostly I'm) Excited About

**This list is no particular order. **

1. Where the Wild Things Are (Oct 16th)

2. Elliott's 1st Christmas

3. Elliott's 1st Birthday

4. Lovely Bones (December)

5. The Fantastic Mr. Fox (thanksgiving)

6. GRADUATION (December)

7. To not be sick

8. Alice in Wonderland (March 2010)

9. To be able to read for fun (someday)

10.Go to FL again (someday)

11. New Moon (November...don't judge)

12. Go on our double date with Rik and Cole.

13. Elliott eating people food..no more formula!
14.Tea season

15.Go out again with Mike and Camille

16. To eat my dinner of corn and tomatoes...right...now...

I usually don't do these things...

Where is your cell phone? in my purse
Where is your significant other? across the coffee table from me
You're hair color? brown
You're favorite thing? locket/wicked awesome scriptures/book supplies/tea kettle
You're dream last night? scary/funny
You're life dream/goal? exito!
The room your in? living room
You're hobby? book binding/jewelry making/pin cushion making/ a lot more'
You're fear? failure
Where do you want to be in 6 years? don't care, so long as Preston is done with school!
Where were you last night? home
What your not? blonde
One of you're wish list items? dish washer
Where you grew up? Florida
The last thing you did? drink a lot of water
What you are wearing: v-neck shirt
You're TV? sony bravia
You're pet? Hank E. Pank
You're computer? Mac/white
You're mood? chill
Missing someone? Lease
Something your NOT wearing? g-string (for obvious reasons)
Favorite store? Etsy (if that's a store)
Your summer? school/work/baby
Love someone? someone? everyone!
You're fave color? kelly green
When is the last time you laughed? 5 minutes ago
When is the last time you cried? 4 days ago
Your significant other's hair: naturally? blonde wiry
You're life in one word: splendid

Just wanted to add something "fun". Feel free to do the same and add it to your blog!

San Diego Trip!

Last week we went on a family vacation to San Diego and we LOVED it!

Our first stop was a place that I have ALWAYS wanted to go to...

THE SAN DIEGO ZOO!

Hippos rock.

So this has a funny story...we hopped on the tour bus because the park is just way too big for us to walk it all. As we were getting on, the driver/tour guide singled Hayes in her showing us what macadamia nuts look like in their shell and how hard they are to get out (there was a macadamia nut tree at the stop). She gave Hayes two nut shells, one which was unopened and the other that a squirrel had cracked open and gotten the nut. So, as my mom was taking this picture of Hayes he was holding the to shells in his hands I thought it would be nice to get the shells in the picture too... so I said "Hayes, hold up your nuts. Hold up your nuts Hayes...Hold up your..." half the bus was laughing at me, including my dear husband.

Where most children scream out of fear of these characters trying to hold them and get their picture taken, hayes cut people in line with excitement. Strange little boy.

For some reason, Brooke, my mom, and hayes think that this is what a giraffe looks like.

I think Hayes' cheeks were getting tired of smiling for the camera. What else could we do? He was the only kid that went to the zoo with us! (By the way, that's a koala behind him.)

Hayes, Preston and Elliott all got this shirt. Cool eh?

Preston was such a trooper helping us get to...

THE BEACH!

When I was a freshman at BYU-Idaho, Lisa and two of our roommates took a road trip to the sacramento area. I have this great picture of Lisa wearing some seaweed like a boa. So, in tribute to lisa, I took my turn...hayes loved it.

After the beach we went to a local pizzaria...it was AMAZING! We got one pizza for ALL of us! And we had PLENTY of leftovers! It was 28'! 32 slices of goodness!

And we were so blessed to be able to attend the San Diego temple. It is BEAUTIFUL! I seriously think it is the most beautiful temple I have ever been to. The inside is even more beautiful than the exterior!

We really enjoyed San Diego. We would like to return some day. Definitely worth the 11 hour drive with a baby!

Elliott's Eccentricities

We wanted to share/prove to all of you that our son is just about as strange as we are. For example, when Preston was younger he use to rock against the back of his parents couch for hours. He claims that to him, it was just as fun if not more fun than jumping on a trampoline. We have somewhat recently discovered that Elliott too has a love for rocking. It must be genetic. That, or Preston still rocks when I am not around...

Like father like son.

We also wanted to confess to the cruel and unusual punishment we subject Elliott to.

sleepy, sweet and ferocious

sleepy...that's Elliott drifting off to sleep in his bumbo chair.

Going, going...

GONE!

now for the sweet and the ferocious...

My Kid ROCKS!

Need I say more?

The Days of Roller-skating

I randomly saw a teenage boy roller-skating down the street today while I was driving which then caused me to reminisce in my own roller-skating days. Every weekend in elementary and some of middle school I would wait in line to pay my $3 to get in to the Naples Roller Rink. And more often than not I would drag Lisa to join me, even though she disliked it very much. Glow skate and couples skate (where the boy would actually skate backwards and hold the girls waist and the girl would place her hands on the boys shoulders, as if they were slow dancing.) Ahh, those were the days! Yard long licorice and "soft" pretzels. Then coming home and girl talking till we fell asleep about who was the cutest boy there and wondering why on earth he didn't ask me to skate with him! Only a year or two after I stopped going every weekend, someone decided it would be best to turn my dear skating-rink into a bingo joint. And so it is even today. More popular than ever. Old people and their gambling. 

But I wonder, is roller-skating still "in"? Or is it at least "back"? I would love to go again and re-live my roller-skating rink days. Except this time, I am fairly confidant that the cutest boy there will ask me to skate with him. Perhaps even more than once! But where to find a skating-rink? And, even more importantly, where to find a sitter!?

Stick A Fork In Me!

I'm DONE! By "done", I mean sick of school. It is SUPER hard to do all of this studying and learning completely on your own (online). This summer that is how I have been taking my classes, so I can stay home with Elliott. And I have found that it is tough to stay self-motivated. Especially when there are so many other things that I need to get done and of course, those things that I want to do. It has been nice being able to drop what I am doing and just enjoy Elliott whenever I want (or he wants). We will FINALLY be done in December...well, I will. Preston still has grad school. Should be interesting...and extremely hard...but we will survive. 

On a completely separate note, I have been working on some new projects that I am pretty excited about besides the books. I will post pictures as soon as I have some! 

Sir Talks A Lot

Elliott has discovered that he LOVES his own voice. It's pretty dang cute...but can get to be  a tiny bit bothersome. For example, we had to leave Sacrament meeting on Sunday because of Elliott's insistence on speaking. I think he wanted to be the one at the pulpit. Here is a glimpse into a day with Elliott.

See what I mean? Adorable! But a little loud at times. Either way, we don't mind. Imagine how talkative he will be when he gets to the "why?" and "what's that?" stage! Oh the things we have to look forward to.

My 1st Mama's Day!

The time has finally come! I celebrated my very first mother's day this year! Preston...I mean Elliott, did a FANTASTIC job at making me feel loved and appreciated! My day consisted of breakfast, church, a nap (!!!!), a personalized gourmet dinner (Brooke and my mom were also cooked for and considered in the preparation), and gifts! It was great! Elliott gave me the CUTEST card! Since I don't have my camera on hand to take a picture of it, I will try to describe it as best as i can...the card is written in a wide spectrum of colors...the card read as follows...

"To make shur dat u all ways member wen i was free monfs old i wil giv u a hand..."

then you open the card and it reads...

"i luv u mommy!"

and below is a green 3 month old's hand print! SO cute huh?

and with that card Preston....I mean, Elliott, got me a CD that I have wanted for about a year and a 1/2 ago (Ingrid Michaelson) as well as some clamps that I needed for my book binding!! SOO fantastically thoughtful! 

I have some pretty swell men in my life eh?

Ya'll Ready For This?

It has been a busy and exciting last few weeks. Florida was great! We were able to spend lots of time with family and friends and of course, made a trip for Elliott's first time to the beach! Everyone loved seeing Elliott. Linda (Preston's mom) spoiled Elliott rotten! But what are Grandmas for?! It was sweet to be able to see Preston's side of the family get to meet and interact with our little man.

This is an outfit that was Preston's when he was a baby. 

I was able to spend some good ole' quality gal time while I was there with Lease (lisa) Delayna, and Larissa. Larissa was taking the picture. Of course, we HAD to go to silverspoon! Lease and I use to go there ALL the time for the mozzarella stars...apparently, now they are triangles. Lame, I know. It was so great to be able to have some Lease time. She has been my best friend for almost 20 years! Sounds kinda crazy that I am that old that I have a friend that I have known that long.

And of course, the BEACH!!

I had bought this WAY cute matching bathing suit and beach hat for Elliott, then I lost the hat and had to buy a new one...of course, I found the matching hat that I had originally bought about 1 hour after we got back from the beach. Figures.

I LOVE those trunks and even more so the boy in them! Check out those pecks!

Jack (Lisa's son) fell in love with Elliott. Rather obsessed actually. It was cute.

We were able to meet up with one of Preston's childhood friends as well. She just so happens to have a baby about 1 month older than Elliott. AND he just so happens to look very similar to Elliott. So...

We thought that they should embrace...turns out...

Neither of them enjoyed it.

Besides enjoying what Preston and I still think of as home, 

I have been working quite a bit on this..

That's right! I finally have developed this talent! These are just two of the books I have done so far. I have sold a few on etsy and also at a craft show that Brooke and I did together. It was four days long and it was NOT the kind of craft show we were hoping for...We were hoping it would be more like an "etsyish" fair..but it turned out to be more of a "wow, look at that! ANOTHER painted, wooden beehive!" kind of fair. As you can imagine, our stuff wasn't as appreciated as it might have been at an "etsyish" type of fair, but people still really liked Brooke's pendants. She made a killing! 

This was our booth. Preston described it very well. He said that our booth was more urban/cityish, and the rest of the fair was 100% country. 

The whole experience over all was great. It was really nice to be able to spend so much time with brooke too. We will be doing it again, but at more "etsyish" shows. I'm excited for that. The next one is in less than a month..I gotta get a move on and make more books so people can buy them!