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.

Who's the Boss?

SIX MONTHS!! It is so crazy to see how fast time flies by. I can't believe Britlee is already six months old. I feel like she was just born. Everyday sure is an adventure and I love it! I had all these plans though to take lots of pictures of her in different outfits and such, but since our camera got lost I don't think that will quite work out. We still have my old one, but it's not as good so maybe I will still try or borrow my brother's or something. I just want to document such a big milestone :) That and I want more pictures of my adorable daughter! But for now we will just document that she is six months and share all of her accomplishments thus far.

Britlee is now 14 1/2 pounds, which means she has more than doubled her weight! Which is fantastic. Though before she was always in the 80th percentile or close to it, she is now only in the 20th.

She now rolls EVERYWHERE! It is so fun to watch. I was telling Justin that she rolls all around the room and I guess he didn't quite believe me because we he put her down and he went into the kitchen and looked over she was already on the other side of the room he says "hurry come look, I just put her over there and now she is over here!!" But yes I got excited because he needs to experience those wonderful moments as well.

Britlee sure has her favorite toys and when you take one away she cries at you I swear she is telling us that it just isn't fair. Oh boy, it has started already! The funny thing is, is that her favorite toy seems to be the remote! HAHA it makes me laugh all the time. I know someday Justin will regret introducing that to her as a toy, but for now we all just laugh. I tell you I think she might have a personality like her father (wink wink), very independent but wanting everything her way. So really I think I may be making her sound like she is bossy and possibly starting to be bratty already, but that is not the case. She just has her moments of wanting what she wants--yes a typical girl and baby! And I love it.

Britlee LOVES books; she loves to read them and tell them. If she is ever sad I hand her a book and she quiets down and just starts turning those pages.

She loves to help me cook and clean. Many times she has to be in my arms while I do it, or right there with me. Maybe when she is older she really will help me? Is that wishful thinking? I'm sure it is, but for now I will tell myself she is going to LOVE it!! I will have an amazing helper :)

She is definitely trying to scoot but eventually gives up cause she isn't moving fast enough and rolls over and turns herself until she can get to where she wants to be. She is quite creative.

Well for now that's all I have got to share. There are many more but I won't bore you all with them. Six months has truly gone by way too fast and I am saddened but it but also so excited. Every day is a new adventure and I love it! She is an amazing little girl and I am so happy to be her mother!

Anybody have any Rootbeer?

Ok so seriously I started this post a couple of weeks ago and now just getting back to it. Hopefully I will finish it. There are so many things to blog about all the time but I have no time or don't take the time. But I need to be better, why you ask? Well because it is fun and I think some people might actually read it and if I don't update it than there is nothing new to read and than you are just bored. So I will try and be better.

Britlee has become very fascinated with water bottles lately. Anytime someone is holding one she wants it; whether it's plastic or not she wants it. I think mainly because I always have one so she thinks she needs one too. Maybe? :) Anyways... so a couple of weeks ago we went to the church for an institute class. They had rootbeer floats after for dessert (YUMMY!). We were one of the last ones there and so the couple wanted to give us their the left over soda. We initially said no because we don't really drink it, but than they asked us again so we said sure since we have Cory, Aaron, Stephanie, and Melanie come over all the time --for sure they could drink it. So I was holding Britlee and Justin had gotten the soda. Britlee kept reaching for it and wanted it. Justin came closer so she could touch it and she basically grabbed it out of his hands. And this was not a small bottle mind you, as you can see below in the picture. But she sure wanted to hold it. Silly girl. She thought it was so great. She was holding on to it and smiling and laughing. As we were walking home I look at her and she is trying to suck on it. Oh my we just laughed and laughed. We tried to get good pictures but we were laughing so much she would get distracted and have to laugh too. So the pictures don't quite do the situation justice, but close enough. I tell you that girl is just too funny!

see little kisses!

Boise

Yesterday ended our trip in Boise and we are now back at home in Beautiful Rexburg! We had a wonderful time :) I used to spend summers in Boise but that was so long ago I forgot most things so it was fun to go back and get a different perspective.

We stayed with a friend of mine from back home, Bridget, whom I have not seen since high school. Friday was filled with a campus tour of BSU, a question and answer seminar, meeting with the Business department, visiting my cousin Angie who I have not seen in more than 15 years, and of course we ended the night with a BSU game at Bridget's friends house filled with goodies and serious game cheering! Britlee and I enjoyed the game for awhile but than she was so tired so I wandered the house trying to get her to sleep. She would almost get there and than say oh wait there are people here who think I'm cute I can't sleep. (yes I really do think she thinks that, she is quite the entertainer) She finally fell asleep in the last five minutes.

Saturday was just as eventful with a trip to the Farmer's Market. We LOVE Farmers' Markets and we were extremely excited when we were finally able to go to the one here in Rexburg, but after walking through and seeing everything in 5 minutes we decided it was not worth the drive into town. So sad I know! So when we go other places and someone mentions one we have to check it out. When we were in Salt Lake a month or so ago we went to the one in Salt Lake and completely fell in love. Yes that sure is possible. (maybe not for everyone but for us it's so exciting. Small towns will do that to you I think) So when Bridget mentioned there being one in Boise we of course had to check it out. And yes we thought it was fantastic. So much to see and so many yummy things to try. It wasn't as big as Salt Lake but it still got us excited. There was this CUTE little boy, I say probably about 7 or 8, there selling his drawings. I tell you it was the cutest thing ever. Each drawing was 5 cents. We couldn't pass up the moment. Justin searched through the stack and found the perfect one and the boy even signed it for us. ADORABLE!! I think Justin gave him a quarter and the little boy wanted to give him change but Justin told him the rest was for him. He was pretty excited. What a great artist, starting so young. He was just sitting there with his glasses and cute little bow tie (yes of course I took pictures, BUT can't post them--well because there was a mishap that I will talk about later). After the Farmer's Market we headed over to our apartment tour. Yes, that's right, we are contemplating transferring to Boise State. So the rest of that afternoon was spent driving around viewing the city and apartment hunting. We saw some great ones. Some way out of our price range and some that seemed to make an impression. Others we wanted to view but offices were closed. So now if we decide to go we will just have to keep looking online and hope the one we pick makes us happy.

After a long afternoon of apartment hunting we went to check out the Capital Building, which was amazing. Took some pictures and than headed for the mall. Yes being in a big city we have to go to the mall. We wandered with amazement! You see our mall is not so big and could be eaten by this mall and still be hungry :) We grabbed a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and headed back to Bridget's for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal of ribs, potatoes, and salad with a dessert of popcorn and cheesecake!! So delightful. We then ended the night with a movie. Britlee was already asleep and I sure didn't take long to follow. I am not sure I saw much of the movie.

And than Sunday we enjoyed some visiting and left midmorning for the drive home. The trip was great, but happy to be home. Britlee had a blast, but I think she enjoyed sleeping in her own house. I could tell this morning she was happy to be back home because she gave me a "welcome home" diaper! Lol we always enjoy getting one of those after a trip.

I'm sure after these great stories you are wondering where the pictures are, well I tell you there are some! Of course there are :) I know I am bad at taking pictures and really need to get better, but this time I really took some. Some good ones too, BUT there has been a mishap. Quite a tragic one I might add. The camera has been lost, yes you read that right-LOST!! I know it is very depressing. I can't believe it either, tears are almost streaming down just talking about it. The camera contains ALL of our pictures of Britlee and no not all of them have been transfered to the computer yet. We took pictures at the Capital Building and than the next time I wanted to take a picture it could not be found. Somewhere between Capital Building and Mall it has been misplaced. When we were at the mall we figured it was just in the car, but NOPE! AHHH!!!! So now we have no idea. We are home with no camera and broken hearts. Hopefully by some chance Bridget will find it in her car miraculously. We are hoping for a miracle. If not that is what I am asking Santa for Christmas this year. Or maybe from the birthday fairy :)

But even with the tragic end the weekend was fun. Justin fell in love with Boise--I think mainly because it was a big city and he loves to be in big cities. I on the other hand loved it, but not sure I want to move. Big cities aren't really my thing anymore. And I'm comfortable here in Rexburg. So it will be fun trying to decide what to do. So stay tuned for what we decide!

A Daddy and his Daughter

I have always wondered whatit was that made a relationship between a daddy and his daughter so special. I mean I am close to my daddy and just love him and know he would do anything for me. He is very protective, more with me than with mybrothers. There is just no relationship like it. I know he loves all of us kids, but somehow I just feel the relationship is just a little bit different--maybe because I am so sweet! :) But I have noticed that is how it is between other girls and their dads and even mothers and sons. So what is it that makes this so? I can't quite figure it out, but I do know there is something special about it. I see it in my home EVERY DAY!! Justin and Britlee just adore each other.Britlee and I have so much fun together all day and can laugh and smile and sometimes I am the only one that can calm her down, but I tell you when Justin gets home she smiles SO big. There is nothing like it. I just love it! When she's tired and Justin picks her up, many times she will just lay her head on his shoulder and snuggle and within just a short time she falls asleep. So precious.

I must admit I do love watching them play. When Britlee is really sad and crying Justin talks to her and does everything he can to calm her down. Most of the time it works. Amazing!

We sure have lots of laughs because of those two. One being the way Justin dresses Britlee. I tease him all the time telling him he sure is lucky she doesn't know any better, but someday she will see pictures and wonder what on earth he was thinking when he picked out her outfits. We have had quite the unique color scheme. Pinks and peaches and reds. Yes that would be all in one outfit. I think that one is my favorite. For awhile he had this favorite outfit and kept picking it out for her even if it was gigantic. At first I would tell him J that is just too big, but when he kept getting it out every time I would ask him to get her an outfit I knew it would be better just to dress her in it. She was so cute it didn't matter, and it made him smile. Another time was when he put her shirt on backwards. I couldn't figure out why it looked so weird. It had a collar and was just really puffy or something. I finally figured out why it looked so funny. It was on BACKWARDS!! I laughed and than asked why he put the tag in front instead of in the back. He smiled and said OOPS with a big grin. He didn't even pay attention to the tag he just saw buttons and thought for sure they had to be the back. I really love that guy. Britlee doesn't usually notice any of these weird things her dad does, she just wears the outfits he picks with pride, as if nothing was off. What a good sport :)

I am so in love with these two! There is no cuter pair.