Summer Adventures

So Justin left us at the end of April and since then our lives have never been the same. I've been more tired than ever and extremely bored. Not that Britlee is in any way boring, but when she sleeps and there is no one to cook for, no one to watch movies with, no one to bug, no one to snuggle with....then life gets very boring. So we have tried to do things to keep us entertained and our minds a working. We have increased our walks and our trips away from home. We visited our friends Carol and little Bailey a couple of times which is always great. They always seem to make us feel better. We took a few more shopping trips then normal but I'd say we've been pretty good on not spending much and doing mostly window shopping. We've learned more of Britlee's artistic abilities. I'd say she was a natural.
Our first little trip was to Salmon to hang out with my cousin's while my aunt and her husband went to Boise to watch my cousin Tyler run in the state track meet, in which he did awesome!!! Britlee LOVED being with the boys. I have never seen that girl follow boys/guys around so much. She's always around girls so she's more comfortable but ever since Justin left she has seriously needed manly attention and she follows it. It must be that comfort thing. I get that way too. When I feel sad or upset I just need a man hug and seem to feel much better real quickly.

We then had a second trip to the same place. Salmon was a hot commodity for us. Tyler graduated high school and is headed to Boise State. Tyler was one of his high school Valedictorians! I am SO proud of him. Britlee LOVED all the attention she got. People were wanting to hold her and snuggle her and make her laugh. She followed the kids around everywhere. She is quite the social butterfly. My Uncle Brian's family tried to share a piece of chocolate cake with her and she spit it out. I was pretty proud of her. I mean she's never been much of a sweet tooth, always enjoyed the veggies more than anything and I sure didn't want her to be like me and ALWAYS want something sweet. I must admit though, since then she has turned over a new leaf and now loves chocolate, her momma's daughter I suppose. 

After all of our Idaho adventures we ventured off to Arizona! What an adventure that was. Britlee and I had to catch the bus at 5am to ride to Salt Lake (it didn't show until 5:30am) and my goodness thank goodness for a break because it was hard for Britlee to sit in her seat surrounded by strangers and to take care of her business...yep that's right. I'd say the airport wasn't near as bad as I imagined that it would be. I had to get us all into the airport but once in people were nice and things were easy. We had a bit of a wait at the airport so we did a lot of rounds by the gate we were going out of. She got a little restless in the stroller so I took her out for a bit. That may have been a mistake, but she sure loved it. Britlee decided she wanted to push the stroller all by herself, she is quite the big girl you know; quite helpful. People kept laughing and she loved it even more. 

Britlee was definitely very chatty with the people we sat with. I hoped she would nap, but she wouldn't so it made it for an interesting day. Uncle Ron and Aunt Jeneil were right on time, or actually probably early. I had forgotten how big the Las Vegas airport was, it's a good thing there are signs or we would have been super lost. Arizona was a blast. We spent a few days at the house and then traveled on up to Utah to see Justine, Tyrel, and Chance. Ron and Jeneil's dogs LOVED Britlee and just kept trying to lick her. Of course I think dog licks are so gross but Britlee would usually laugh. She would try and push them away sometimes but she really enjoyed their attention. She would even chase after them. Britlee would also just stare at the fish in the fish tank. In the mornings she would sign fish and work her way over to see them. Such fun adventures. It really was a blast, we can't wait to go back. 

What to say

Below you will find lots and lots of pictures of parts or our summer. I couldn't figure out how to get it to align like I wanted so sorry. I'm a little annoyed but such is life. These pictures consist of our summer at home, at Deanne's, and on our way to other adventures away from home. Eventually I'll do specific posts but for now just pictures with little captions. 

Enjoying the outdoors

Trying to put on her own shoes! Doing pretty
good I'd say

Loving the dino. I think she thinks she is the
coolest kid with that thing

A day at the park

She loves the slide and Zane sure liked helping
her climb up and go back down

Here I am

This is so fun!! Seriously Britlee thought this was the greatest thing that existed.
She wanted to play on it every day we went back

Riding with Zane

Swinging

A masterpiece

Such a beauty

A little tired from all the graduation partying

We are SO proud of Tyler!! 

This is Matthew, Deanne and Brian's nephew and
now Britlee's new best friend. 

Just too cute

"I Love Fishing!!!"

I'll get those fish one way or another

First plane ride!! On our way to see
Aunt Jeneil and Uncle Ron

Who me?

So first off I must apologize to any that care (probably mainly me) that I have not been keeping up on my blog. I am such a slacker! I want to so bad and I have TONS of pictures and stories from this summer but just haven't taken the time to type out clever thoughts. So maybe this week or weekend but in all reality probably not. BUT I do have a short story for today. Just a little story of how funny my little lady is. 
Last night we were putting Britlee to bed and I burped (so gross yes I know and SO unlike me hehe). I looked at Britlee and said Britlee how could you and my comedian of a daughter looks at Justin and points to herself and makes a face like "Who me?" Oh seriously it was a crack up!! She is so funny and just knows when to do something to make it hysterical! 
So that's my story for today. More posts to hopefully follow soon. Some summer photos, anniversary activities, beach fun....the works! Just wait :) Ok it may be months but they'll show themselves eventually!!!

Moo Moo Juice

So I know I have been very bad add keeping up on my blog but maybe someday there will be more hours in a day, but for now there isn't so it probably won't happen much. Even though I want to. But this morning I have a little funny story and so I'm just going to be real fast. I have been trying to introduce whole milk to Britlee a little at a time. Slowly, as I think that is best blah blah. Yes I have my reasons and it may be weird to most but o-well. Anyways...I always ask her if she wants some milk and she says yes so I proceed to give her some but then she won't drink it. She has a taste and won't touch it again. She's probably thinking "silly mom that's not milk." So this morning I thought I should try a different name and see if she would drink it or if she really just doesn't like real milk. Today I called it moo moo juice and my goodness she had some and then wanted more and then some more. So apparently it does taste good, it's just not milk! I guess that's what happens when you nurse and they know what milk is!!! Anyways Britlee is so funny and so dang smart!! 


PS Florida in 5 days!!!!!

Never Enough

This post won't be long, I don't think. I was just thinking as I was sitting here that I need to do a post or two and post pictures of our summer so far but it's getting late and I'm tired so I'll write a little post. Today I have been thinking how sometimes we take things for granted, I'm sure I do it far too often. I wish I could change that and I plan on working at it but something I am realizing is that just because people don't talk about everything they are going through and dealing with doesn't mean they aren't hurting or aren't going through something. Everyone has something that's hard in their life and we all, particularly me need to be more understanding and aware of that. It may not be in my face and they may fake it, but I need to be a little more sweeter and read between the lines.

On a better note I'm feeling extra lucky to be a mom today! Even though I have felt more and more exhausted and feel as though I finally get a nap and then Britlee wakes up, I feel lucky. Not much sleep equals and little extra grumpiness until your child leans over and gives you a big kisses and climbs on your lap just to snuggle. Not only that but she smiles a cheesy smile and giggles and walks all around. I am so proud of my little girl and feel lucky that God has blessed me with such a miracle in my life.

So that's my day!

Monkey Time

So I believe it’s catch up time. Yet again I haven’t posted in FOREVER and SO much has happened. We had a HUGE event, Britlee turned one!!

I can’t believe how fast time flies. She has gotten so big and just keeps on growing. I swear she is the smartest and cutest kid ever. Yes, I’m bias, but I still think it’s true.

So our little lady sure turned one. She had a cute ladybug/bumble bee party. Lots of friends and family and good food. Britlee loved and hated all the attention. When we sang to her she got pretty startled and didn’t know what to do. Her presents were great but she no longer wanted to help by the time she was done with first bag. There was a ball in it and that was the end of that.

Even though a year has passed and I have forgotten what happened yesterday I can still almost remember everything that happened on the day Britlee was born. I remember certain feelings, thoughts, some conversations and especially the way I felt when she was born and when I held here. Oh I tell you PERFECTION!!

Now to tell you how smart my little angel is. She can do anything! She has pretty much decided for now though that she may just want to be monkey. At least I think she must because she climbs everything, including me. Britlee can either say or sign 25 things. She reads everything she picks up and finds it all very interesting. She even explains it to me. So these are just a few examples but I tell you I think it proves she is the smartest.

Summer has begun and Justin is gone. He left over a month ago now. So it’s just been Britlee and me, some days it’s far too quiet for our liking. But we keep pretty busy. I’ve started, key word here is started, my “spring cleaning.” I certainly haven’t gotten very far because I get distracted and start something else. So everything is just in disarray. But I started it and that’s an accomplishment in and of itself right. We have visited our friend Carol in Idaho Falls a couple of times and traveled to Salmon to see my Aunt and her family. As a matter of fact my cousin Tyler just graduated and was Valedictorian! So proud of him. He’s got great scholarships for school and has chosen to attend Boise State. So you see it’s in our jeans for my daughter to be brilliant!

Justin just LOVES Florida. He has been having way too much fun on the beach with Ryan and Cory. They are always laughing and telling stories. I swear they don’t really work but they “say” they do. And because Justin is so sweet he says life would only be perfect if Britlee and I were there with him. Of course we can’t wait to go visit. I’ve been trying to get Britlee all ready, but for now she just stares and laughs at me when I tell her how fun it will be.

We head for Arizona on the 9^th to visit my aunt and uncle and then on to New Mexico. We will be world travelers by the time the summer is over. Britlee will have visited 5 states and flown on a plane before the summer is at an end. And I thought her first year was busy, but it’s looking like her second will be pretty close if not more so.

Our mornings are filled with exercising on the wii with Carol and Bailey and naps. Britlee really likes to workout with me. She is always trying to get on the wii and I’ve caught her on it a few times when I wasn’t looking. She sure is funny. She is a mimicker. She wants to do everything I do! Just the other day she was in the tub so I sat by it and take off my nail polish and she wanted to do it too. I gave her a q-tip and she started cleaning her toenails. J  She sure makes me laugh. I feel so lucky to be her momma. I've been looking for some safe polish for babies and kids and I think I finally found some. I'm pretty excited so I think I'm going to be purchasing some in the very near future! So be looking for some pictures of some adorable toes!


Well there is our life in a nutshell. I believe I have repeated a few things because I start posts and then never finish them and then post them and post new ones without really paying attention. So sorry if that has happened but there is so much more to share so hopefully I'll not be a crazy slacker and wait months before posting. 

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Do you ever wish that time would stand still? I must admit I wish that almost everyday. Britlee is just growing up way too fast and I'm not dealing with it well somedays. She sure makes me laugh and I have loved every stage, but I just never thought it would go so fast. I swear she was just born, can she really be one years old now??
Even though I have wished for time to stand still it hasn't, so we embraced it a little and partied like CRAZY for Britlee's 1st Birthday!!

*If you notice the dates on the pictures they are wrong! It's supposed to be 2012, not 2011. Justin just says oops :) 

Book Worm

Who needs tv when you have Britlee?! I sure don't. She is always keeping us entertained. She loves to sing and read books and a lot of times even dances. As of lately she LOVES to climb up the stairs. No, this isn't anything new but before she would wait for us; now she just takes off. Most of the time could care less, until she is at the top of course, if we were following her. On Saturday we were watching General Conference and she would go up, I would follow and bring her back down, and then a few minutes the cycle would repeat. Finally we gave up on bring her back down. She eventually went into her room and shut the door (a new phase as well, to shut all the doors). She was in there for at least 20 minutes just playing. Justin and I just sat outside her door and laughed. We laid down and did our best to peak under the door so we could see what she was doing. She just pulled books out of her box and read them, would put one down and go to another part of the room and read another, and then another and another. She would read parts and then just laugh. Justin and I laughed SO hard. We couldn't believe she was so content and didn't even care that we weren't in the room and that she didn't have anywhere to go. I love my little book worm and she is quite the reader! :)

Britlee has been walking along things for quite sometime and in the last few weeks has started pushing anything and everything she could around the house so she can walk with them. She still isn't quite ready to let go of things and walk by herself but she sure is getting close.  She LOVES to help momma in the kitchen. She loves to stir in a bowl, she is quite good at it and she'll even use the spoon to move things around, mainly on the kitchen floor. Quite a hoot to watch. She has discovered the joy of her turtle toy. She tries to climb on it and ride, but her legs aren't quite long enough so she'll make her little noises to let us know she wants to get on. Once she is on she plays for a bit and then climbs right off. Her favorite part is the music it plays. She'll dance with it and when it stops she pushes the buttons again and again. She even tries to push and/or pull that around the house, but it's not so easy on the carpet. 

Justin is in his last week of school for the semester and he is just so excited. He sure has worked hard. Now he just needs to plug through the last week and then work like crazy until he leaves for Florida. If you haven't heard he is going to work with my brothers in Florida for the summer. He's SO excited. He tells everyone about it. Britlee and I will miss him, but we do get to go visit and I just can't wait for that. So Britlee and I are trying to decide on our summer plans so we stay busy and not miss her daddy too much. So we'll go home for a visit to New Mexico, which my mom and dad just can't wait for. I hear from them almost every day to find out when we are coming! So I guess we better figure that out soon so they don't go crazy with anticipation. 

Work for me is almost over. I've started counting down. It has been great and I've really enjoyed the experience but I just can't wait to not have to leave Britlee. Somedays it sure is hard and it throws a damper in our day. So it will be nice to be done. 

She was looking for her belly button!

Mixing

So stinkin cute!

A day at the park and trying to climb up

Playing catch up with pictures

Britlee's first Halloween! Cutest Bumble Bee I have ever seen!

All dressed in her bathrobe

My little mover! She crawls EVERYWHERE! She is getting to be such a big girl,
I honestly cannot believe it. She keeps me on my toes

Enjoying some food!

Playing with her toys

Taking a snooze! Isn't she the cutest thing ever. And that thumb is adorable too.
I know it might drive us a little crazy because we are afraid she will doit forever
but it's still cute.

The first car seat cover I ever made. This is for my niece Luiza

Projects I have been working on. Well actually that I did awhile ago!
I made these for my sister in law for her adorable little girl!LEGGINGS!

Hair bows

A Proud Mama

Ok so I realize it has been FOREVER since I have blogged. What a slacker I am. I honestly can say I never thought life would get any busier than it was when I was in school, and then I thought wow I can't get any busier then this when I was on my mission, then I thought that when I got married and was in school and then working, and then I thought oh life can't get any busier then it is after having a baby...WELL I was SOOO wrong. In the last few months I have taken classes with H&R Block so that I can prepare taxes this year, I have started working, we moved, Justin's working still and going to school, and Britlee is growing and crawling everywhere and walking along furniture. I tell you I don't think I will ever say life couldn't get any busier because I have been so dead wrong in the past.

As was mentioned we moved, but we are still in Rexburg. We moved into a wonderful townhouse, which we love. It was a pretty hectic time and timeframe for that matter, but it all worked and we are almost settled :)

I still can't believe I haven't blogged in so long. I missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years...Oh boy so I'm warning you now there will be a post with just a bunch of pictures I'm sure.

Our sweet little Bumble Bee, Britlee, is sure growing fast. Just the other day Justin and I were discussing how it is happening far too quickly and we aren't sure we like it. Ok I know I don't like it, but I can't stop her. I've already tried having a sit down heart to heart chat with her and it just didn't work.

For the past couple of months she has army crawled all over the place/the little leap frog(getting on hands and knees and lunging forward) and in the last two weeks has started doing a full crawl. It's so funny cause if she gets going too fast she falls on her belly and she says forget this and starts her super fast army crawl. I just love it. Sometimes I leave our room just to walk down the hall to hers so I can watch her go her fastest to catch up. Honestly it is just adorable. She now sits up from lying down or walking all by herself. And has decided the hardest thing she can get her mouth on is exactly what she wants to chew on. Mainly church benches, chairs, crib...yes I do believe it is to soothe her mouth from the teething, though at times it grosses me out.

Britlee has been going through the "teething process" since she was about 4 1/2 months old. We could feel a bump in her gums one day and then not the next, those crazy elevator teeth. Then we could see the tooth indents on her gums a couple months ago and as of Monday I could see one tooth!! And now we can feel it. Which is exciting and not so much cause she has a tendency to bite down sometimes when I'm feeding her...OUCH!! She loves blueberries and bananas! I tried offering her raspberries the other day and she decided she is not ready for those yet. She will eat other fruits but they aren't her favorite. She is constantly trying to eat whatever we are eating and just stares as we eat. She even moves her head to watch us. She loves veggies too and the meat she doesn't mind much. She actually ate that better for awhile then the fruit. Too sweet I suppose. She had some avocado's yesterday and ate a few bites and thought it was great and then decided well maybe not. So we shall see.

I seriously cannot believe how much time flies and so fast. She still talks all the time and people still turn to stare at us in public places, especially church. I can't help that my child wants to sing along, share her stories, and testimony right along with everyone else. I love it! She has found a favorite thing she likes to do every morning and I finally got it on video the other day. She loves standing at the end of our bed and tell stories. She stands there and waves, dances, and tells stories. A total crack up! She is our little entertainer.

Justin is enjoying school and work. He is doing amazing at both, yes I might be a little bias but it's true. He actually said yesterday he isn't as stressed about it all as he thought he might be. It's not easy being a full time student, working a part time job, and playing mr. mom at night. But he does great and I think Britlee loves her time with him.

Me, well I feel busy but I'm probably not as busy as most. Britlee and I play constantly and don't do a lot of housework, oops! But I figure since I started working I don't get as much time with her so when I do I want to take full advantage! I work 3 to 4 times a week at H&R Block, which I really enjoy. It's still really hard to leave Britlee for a few hours but I don't cry nearly as often so I think I'm making some sort of progress. The last two weeks have been really busy so I have worked the 6 days a week we are open and for a lot longer hours. It has been hard on us all, but I think we have started adjusting. I can't wait to get back to only 3 days a week. But it's been really fun getting to know people and doing what I actually went to school for. Though I must also admit I can't wait for April 18th cause then I will be ALL done!

Oh my, so cute story. As I'm here typing Britlee woke up and I could hear her talking. I went upstairs and what I find is her sitting in her crib reading her book. SO cute! I wish I would've had my camera to take a picture. Maybe next time. She is quite the reader and story teller so I'm sure it won't be the last time, I'm hoping anyways.

Well I do believe that I should endmy story for now. I have a little girl ready for lunch. Pictures and more stories to come.