sumANDrew

i think its love

2012-02-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

for a long time now i have been trying to convince drew, and pretty much everyone around me that thinks mini vans are lame, that they are not lame, but in fact, they are the opposite of lame.

i guess if you hate having a car that is:

super conviennent

ridiculously spacious

a space you can actually walk around in

low enough that your kid can get in them self

doors that open with a click of a button

doors that don't bang into other doors next to them

trunk space that could fit a small elephant

the gas mileage of a sedan

a ride that is smooth as silk

and just a general feeling of well being while driving

if you hate all these things, you probably would hate a mini van

i happen to love all these things, and LOVE my new mini van

we've been searching high and low for the perfect one. we finally found it in jackson hole wyoming. i kept bugging drew to call the guy and he kept telling me that "george" wasn't calling him back. it was all part of his little plan to trick me. he had to go to idaho while i was in california, and who knew he was going to make a little jaunt up to wyoming and pick up this beauty. when i got home this was waiting for me in the garage with a bouquet of tulips, delicious chocolates, and a really sweet card. I was sooooo surprised.

too bad for everyone else, but i kind of have the best husband in the world

California

2012-02-09T09:05:00.001-08:00

This last week I went to California for 1 more trip before the baby comes. Sunny and I had a little shower together with family and close friends. It was so fun! I was happy that my cousin Sarah was able to be there too. She's preggo also and due the month after sunny. Niya was in hog heaven with all the cousins and the attention from gunnie and papa. I'm 34 weeks along and things have been going pretty well thus far. Ofcourse though when I get to California my legs swell up like tree trunks and my blood pressure gets high. I'm now on strict watch with my doctor going in every week and monitoring my own blood pressure twice a day. Uughhh! It's so frustrating being pregnant and having no control what happens to your body. I guess it's all worth it in the end though:) I'm getting really excited to meet baby boy (any name suggestions would be greatly appreciated!)
6 weeks to go! Let's hope my bp stays in check so I can make until then!!!!!

getting ready for BB....finally

2012-01-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

i feel a little bad because i haven't really paid much attention to baby boy in my belly thus far. with niya it was all i could think about. i guess niya is still all i think about. Lately i've finally felt like i need to get ready for this little boy to come. with only 8 weeks left I'm kickin it into high gear.

heres what i've been up to

making onsie designs in my silhouette

rit dying some of niyas old stuff making it more "boy"

making little pants

mittens (i hate when babies scratch their faces!)

some more dying and silhouette art to cover old stains :)

t shirts.

i still haven't perfected t shirt making but I'm working on it

burp cloths

making a little quilt

and finally the bedding!

i did a different style than i did for niya. i don't think i like it as well because its 6 separate pieces instead of one long piece. also niya's had pockets. I think i'll miss those. I did however learn how to do piping:)

theres still so much i want/need to do

paint the nursery

cover the ottoman

make curtains

make a boppy cover

make a car seat canopy

im also in the middle of changing niya to a big girl room so theres that whole room that needs to get done. and lets not forget the basement that drew SWEARS will be done before the baby is born so my my will have a place to sleep when she comes.

yikes

I'm trying not to be stressed

December

2012-01-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

December is always such a busy month. This year was no exception. It seems like the holiday festivities last all month. We started out the month by going to Alabama and Mississippi to attend christmas parties for drew's work, and the company christmas party here in salt lake. We did manage to get out and get a christmas tree

we didn't get to cut our own down this year much to drew's disappointment but we still got a good one

we also celebrated Grandpa georges 91st birthday with a big family party.

it was fun to get to celebrate another year with him. he's such a funny, special, and unique man

since it was our year with the quists for christmas we celebrated christmas eve in normal quist fashion,

driving around, eating pizza in the car

and looking at christmas lights. this house was my personal favorite. it was holiday blow up decoration heaven

a-mazing

later we went back to drew's parents and just hung out

christmas jammies is my family's tradition and i've brought it to the quists

I'm sure they just love it :)

christmas morning was, interesting. Niya had the weirdest reaction ever. she acted so excited to go down stairs to see if santa brought her a kitchen. when we actually went down there, she ran straight over to the kitchen, looked at it, and turned and ran away scared into the kitchen. she wouldn't open any presents and wouldn't play with her santa toys. I think she thought santa was going to jump out and surprise her or something. So gift opening went on without her. Finally after a while she decided it would be ok to look at her presents.

she's loved her kitchen ever since, and tells me every day

"this is my kitchen. santa brought it to me. Niya so lucky!"

drew got the surf booties he's been wanting, and a few other ridiculous things like an ice axe

he surprised me with a beautiful new mac (i LOVE it)

we had a yummy breakfast

and everyone was so happy for christmas

the rest of the day we spent going to church, going to robert and tracy's (drew's uncles) and going to Lori's (lisa's sisters)

we ate A LOT of ham that day

The day after christmas we drove to CA to celebrate with my family. We had an after christmas, christmas with them

niya loves nadia sooo much

drew thought he could just make retarded faces in every picture that night

it was a lot of fun. we had a yummy dinner, opened presents, and had our annual christmas talent show

that week in Ca we took niya to disneyland for her first time

our first ride was small world. we thought that would be a good starter for her. she was in awe the whole time

we had such a fun day. it was super crowded but still way fun

we rode pretty much all the rides that she could ride.

i kind of forgot that most of the rides are dark and a little scary. she handled it like a trouper.

even on pirates

she loved the parade and seeing the characters from afar.

when we went to see mickey close up, she was not so stoked

i can't wait to go back when she's a little older. I think she'll love it even more

November

2012-01-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

November brought some fun and exciting things.

Like snow

who knew it would be pretty much the only good snowfall all winter so far

i've said it many times before, but Niya loves the snow

the other day she told me "mom, its snowing! It makes me so happy!!!"

we also got to go to Mexico for thanksgiving

we went with my family and stayed in nuevo vallarta at the grand luxe. Its a really beautiful resort thats brand new.

my parents took us all there. Thanks parents :) I wish i would have taken more pictures but i guess i was too busy just enjoying myself.

on thanksgiving day we had quite an "adventure". We chartered a deep sea fishing boat for 24 hours and went searching for some big fish. The men were over joyed the women and children were nervous to say the least.

the boat was not quite the "yacht" we were expecting. it was basically just bunks hanging on the side of a boat. Above are drew and niya in our bunk

heres the view of the entire "stateroom" yep there are 4 beds there. you might not be able to notice the 2 on the ground that you basically had to army crawl to get into.

this is the common area the next morning after going miles out to sea all night. notice sunny looks a little rough. she just might have been barfing over the side all night long. she was having a bit of a panic about being on the boat and wanted us to drop her off in some mexican town. that wasn't happening. she was not happy. Nerves were definitely in full effect and we were not without sea sickies.

i didn't even think a 2 year old could get sea sick. well i was wrong. poor little niya barfed all over me, and herself and kept saying "mommy my tummy hurts sooooo bad" poor little thing

the kids were real troupers. there really wasn't anything much for them to do. By the next afternoon the trip was beginning to be a bit of a bust. we hadn't really caught any of the big tuna that we were after. We were almost getting ready to head back when we struck gold.

the tuna started biting like crazy. drew was soooooo stoked to say the least

every single one of us got to catch one of these beauties. i didn't realize how heavy they were going to be

this is my brother shawn. he's a man of the sea, and is the one that planned this whole fishing excursion. you can imagine how happy he was when we finally had some success

look at that beast

heres drew pulling it in

my brother billy with his loot

even the kids got to catch fish. Everyone was a lot happier when we started catching fish

spirits were lifted, we all caught fish, it was an experience of a lifetime.

we will always look back a laugh about all the crazy things that happened that day

this was our grand total. pretty grand i think. the crew fillet all the fish and we all went home with a ton of fresh tuna.

i have to say its the best fish i've ever eaten

the rest of the trip was spent just lounging around

taking a trip in to town

and just enjoying being together as a family

Niya's 2

2012-01-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

This year we did a pretty low key party with just a few friends and family. I just didn't have it in me to out do last years party. It turned out perfect.

earlier that day for lunch we took nina to chuck e cheeses. That place is kinda lame. I don't really even think she liked it that much. The part she liked the best was getting tickets out of the games

october

2012-01-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

October was filled with fun fall activities

like dinner in the canyon. i love the going up the canyon this time of year. We usually go up early october with drews family

we went to thanksgiving points little barn with friends

and bought season passes to corn belly's where they have a bunch of fun activities for kids.

niya discovered dress up and became obsessed

and my parents came to visit for niyas 2nd birthday

i went out with some girlfriends to "witches night out" at gardner village

and Lets not forget halloween that i already posted on and niya's 2nd birthday party that i'll give its own post.

september

2012-01-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

In september i turned 32! yikes. we had a fun little family party with lots of gluten free treats :)

August

2012-01-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

by august morning sickness was in full effect so i was not on top of my best game this month

Niya spent a lot of time entertaining herself. I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself

july

2012-01-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a recap of july. As I'm going through my pictures I'm realizing that i was horrible about taking pictures this summer. here's what i got

we spent the 4th of july at the beach house with my family

we always love to be there.

drew found a california king snake on our little nature walk. he was so stoked. the kids were really stoked too.

a lot of july was spent playing outside, eating popsicles, and playing in the "pool" in our back yard :)

A few other things we did in july included... drew hiking mt whitney. He loved it. And i got to go to vegas for my annual girls trip to celebrate my moms birthday. I loved it. I also found out i was prego!

June

2012-01-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

so since I'm sooooo behind on blogging as usual I'm just going to do a quick recap of the months i've missed so that maybe i can get back on the blogging bandwagon without feeling so overwhelmed. So here are a few fun things that happened in JUNE.

lake powell of course

My mom gave niya 2 weeks of swimming lessons. She really hated it at first because the method is pretty hard core. She did really good though and was holding her breath really good by the end. She even started to kick and swing a little.

we went to Nadia's cowgirl birthday party. Niya loved the pony rides, and petting the animals, and especially being with her cousins

halloween

2011-11-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

halloween is for sure one of my very favorite holidays. i love costume,s and dressing up, and candy! niya has adopted my love as well. she was sooooo into halloween. it was really fun to experience it through a kids eyes. she totally got it.

during the day i just wanted to dress her in a cute festive outfit. well, she thought she was a witch, and insisted on finding her witches hat. i didn't have one for her of course, so i had to improvise. i cut out a little hat shape out of felt, glued it onto a headband with some feathers, and voile!

she was the cutest witch i've ever seen

for trick or treating she wore her "hoo hoo" costume. i worked really hard on this costume and when she threw a fit when i was taking off her "witch costume" i thought it was all going to be for waste. some how i managed to get her to change. candy works everytime

at first she didn't want to walk. drew kept on telling her that if she wasn't big enough to walk then she wasn't big enough to trick or treat! when she realized trick or treat meant put candy in your basket she stopped complaining

she looked so cute standing at the doors waiting for someone to open with a bucket full of candy. she said trick or treat everytime, and happy halloween!

we tried to do a family theme costume this year. Drew was harry potter, i'm hermione and niya was our little owl. drew kept telling me that hedwig was white and niya didn't look like him. i said i took some creative liscense. for our costumes i just got graduation gowns at DI and made a semi look alike gryffindor patch on my silhouette (amazing craft cutter)

after trick or treating in our neighborhood we went to drews parents. niya was so happy to see manda dressed as a panda

drew thought it was so hilarious to "cast spells" on me

yeah he's nerdy

grammy was a witch and she made super yummy chile and we ate doughnuts. it was a really fun halloween!

Barcelona

2011-08-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

warning: picture overload

Im finally going to try and tackle blogging about our trip to europe. Pretty much i haven't blogged all summer so i guess i have to start somewhere. We were so lucky to go on a European cruise with Drews work. I invited my parents along. It was and amazing trip!

We sailed out of barcelona so we got to spend a few days exploring there. I have to say i was really surprised how much i LOVED barcelona. It was such a beautiful, modern, clean city but still had old charm. Drew loved it too. It was definitely on our top list of places we visited.

when we all arrived we decided to venture out even though i was feeling soooooo jet lagged. i really really really hate being jet lagged but i knew i couldn't go to sleep for the night at 2 in the afternoon
so....

we hopped in taxis

and headed to the market

drew was absolutely in heaven. there were just rows and rows of local food. He especially loved the cured ham. we bought some saffron too for a really good deal.

everyone found some delicious treats to enjoy

there were some not so delicious things as well

like skinned goat heads

our dads thought they were hilarious

the next morning we went to see Sagrada Familia

its a catholic church designed by Gaudi. Its basically been under construction since 1843 so the scaffolding is kind of a permanent look. Its too bad because it really distracts from the whole presence of the church

the inside is really amazing. It was super modern

the stained glass was beautiful

and the design was so unique

it was was different from old gothic style churches you see across europe

my personal favorite was jesus floating away on a hot air baloon

the outside of the church is soooo intricate

there are these little biblical scenes all over the outside

we took the elevator up to the top of the bell tower. the view of the city was prety cool. You took the elevator up but the stairs down

these stairs were the craziest things i've ever been on. there was no rail in the middle to keep you from falling hundreds of feet to your death. im not kidding when i say my legs were shaking with fear.

on our way out we noticed that the doors to the church was carved out will all sorts of scriptures. Very cool, and very modern.

the rest of the day we spent just exploring barcelona including visiting all the Gaudi houses

all the detail is amazing

we stumbled across a political protest going on in catalunya square

and ate tapas, ofcourse.

drew had to order the angulas (baby eel) they looked like little gray noodles and tasted super garlicy

we found some fantastic local art

and just enjoyed a fabulous day

our last day in barcelona was the day we got off the ship. we just wandered around.

saw some churches

went inside more chrches

and just enjoyed the cute little streets of barcelona

the skinny streets are one of my very favorite parts of europe. i took millions of pictures of streets :)

niya was such a trooper. of course we had to bribe her at times with candy

we had such a fun group. it was crazy at times trying to all be going in the same direction at the same time. but it was worth it. I believe scott took this picture, and im pretty sure my dad was lost on some tour bus by himself at this point

the last thing we saw was the christopher columbus monument.

this was where columbus landed back in europe after he discovered america

kinda cool

that pretty much does it for our visit to barcelona!

i do have to add one more thing that happened on that last day. When we got off the ship we went with my parents to their hotel. We were just going to leave our bags there, because we were heading out on a train that night for madrid. So we were all there waiting to meet up with the quists. Niya was ofcourse running crazy around the hotel lobby. All of a sudden i see her run toward the revolving door. Before i can get to her, i see her fall down and her leg get sucked underneath the revolving door. I let out a blood curdling scream. I grab her leg and literally have to rip it out from under the door. As im doing this im thinking her leg is broken for sure. And if its not broken then im breaking it right now by tearing it out from under the door. She's screaming. The hotel people are around me. I get her loose and am just kind of in shock. She's just crying, and I'm trying to examine her leg. It looks totally fine! After a couple minutes she gets down from my arms and runs away. sheeeeesh!

Easter

2011-06-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

Every year drews moms family spends easter weekend in st geroge. it was a tradition for drew growing, up and has become a tradition for our little family. this year was no different, and we had a great time.

of course there was an easter egg hunt

i wasn't sure niya would get it but she picked it up right away

it was so fun to see her get all excited as she spotted another egg to put in her basket

the egg hunt rapidly came to a halt when she figured out there was candy inside

she couldn't believe her luck

of course she turned into a candy mess.

she is SUCH a sugar monger

niya also discovered how much she loves the pool

it was so fun, that she threw a fit when we took her out

it wouldn't be easter without decorating eggs.

niya decorated her very first egg

she had to get a little help from drew though because she started to try to get wild with the dye

my mom sent an easter package for niya

she was so excited to open it

it was the cutest little owl and fluffy chick wearing high heels. niya kept saying "shoe, shoe, shoe"

this was the only "easter family pic" i got. drew and i had already changed out of our pretty easter dresses. i was a little bummed about that, but niya fell asleep on the way home from brunch and we didn't want to spend all day in our sunday best.

so oh well

Happy Easter!

Air Supply

2011-06-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

before i can post about Europe, i need to catch up on what we've been doing lately. Things have been wild this month. We've been traveling a lot. We went to st george for easter weekend. Then straight to florida and new york. We came home for two weeks then left for europe. I haven't had time to catch up with my blog so im a bit behind

so......

in st george the whole fam went to the Air Supply concert. To say i enjoyed myself would be a gross understatement. It was pretty much amazing. I LOVED air supply in highschool. I may have even spent some nights alone, in my room, in the dark learning every word to their greatest hits album.

the concert was at taucahn. id never been there before. it's a really pretty venue

they were promoting their upcoming performance of the little mermaid

who can resist sticking their faces in these things?

and greece

can you tell how excited i was, and how much drew was making fun of me

i even heard lisa singing along

grandma patsy even came

lovely

home

2011-06-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

its 5:30am, and no thanks to niya, and jet lag we've been up since 4:30 but were home!!!!! we had an AMAZING trip to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. We saw so many amazing things and amazing new places. Niya was overall, a little dream (okay maybe thats exaggerating)

Pics to come!!!

dad-isms

2011-04-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

my mom and dad came to visit. its always so fun when they come to my house because usually its me going to theirs. its nice to have them in "my world" once in a while. Even though they're in my world, my dad is still, my dad, and has little ways to make "my world" into "his world"

welcome to "his world"

first things first. the bed in his room was turned the other way, and up against the wall, so my mom had to climb over him to get into bed and. that would simply not do, so he rearranged the room and moved the bed.

problem solved

the closet in his room is full of my fabric and craft stuff. so there was no where for him to unpack his clothes (my parents LOVE to unpack) so he went to home depot and got him self some shelves so he had a place for his stuff.

problem solved.

it seems there was some confusion as to what garbage can was for trash, and what was for recycle. i've never been confused about it before, but apparently it wasn't clear. so he wrote TRASH with PERMANENT marker on my trash can

thank goodness there will be no more confusion

problem solved.

obviously the tools i had in my tool box were not sufficient.

dont worry, he and home depot also took care of that

problem solved.

he was a nervous wreck with niya outside, with no grates on the window wells. i told him it was on our to do list for spring. spring couldn't come quick enough

so he ordered us some

problem solved

he didn't like the shower head in his bathroom either.

naturally he replaced it with one he liked

problem solved.

these are my dad-isms.

in "his world" problems get solved

im used to it. he's my dad. its a little endearing, pretty funny, and maybe some things even a little annoying. but im used to it, he's my dad.

i love that he makes my world his, and spoils us rotten all the while

thanks mom and dad for coming to visit

we love you

come again soon!!

soccer is kinda fun

2011-04-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

we got to go to the REAL soccer game the other night. it was a big game, they played costa rica. i guess there in some north american championship. its kind of a big deal. anyway we got to go!

i was a little worried about niya because it started late, and it was pretty cold. she loved it. she clapped when everyone clapped, and cheered when everyone cheered.

scott and lisa had some "club' seats. these come with free food. so we had fun eating pretzels galore.

the thing i like most about these games is that they're so lively, and full of energy. the crowd is wild. niya joined right in.

they won 2 to 0. that makes it even better1

thanks for the fun night scott and lisa!

3 years and counting

2011-03-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

this month drew and i celebrated our anniversary. i really can't believe how quickly the time has passed.

so much has changed and life is so different now than it was when we met.

im a little fatter, drews hairs a lot balder, we no longer enjoy the california weather, we "get" to enjoy the utah snow, i gave birth, we have a beautiful baby daughter, drews working at snfc, instead of schooling at usc, i only do hair sometimes, we have a house, we can't go to the movies without getting a babysitter, both our cars are paid off, our baby has been to 16 states, i've become a much better seamstress, im on a much tighter budget, drew gets to ski a lot, im becoming a lake powell veteran, im no longer scared to be home alone when drew travels, drews second home is rainbow city Alabama

life is always changing. i welcome change. change is good

im glad i have one constant though. drew. he's an amazing husband, a wonderful dad, a great supporter, and my best friend

i couldn't ask for more

Happy Anniversary to us!!

this year we celebrated with an amazing dinner at our favorite place Forage then spent the night sans niya at the most amazing house in park city.

it was heaven

nursery bites

2011-03-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

after my work out at the gym this morning i went to pick up niya from the nursery. the teacher informed me that oliver had bit niya. "who's oliver, and why was he biting her?" i said

and then i saw this

yikes! so nursery gives her a fever like every other week, and now she's getting abused by oliver.

the price i pay to get in shape

so good

2011-03-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

nothing makes me happier, than looking in my rear view mirror to see my daughter completely in love with her del taco bean and cheese burrito

just like her mama

little girl in a little house

2011-03-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

when i was little, there was nothing cooler than a really good playhouse,tree house, or fort.

thats why me, and niya really want a playhouse.

until our wish is granted, the one at Grease Monkey, where we get our oil changed, will have to do

"oh hello, welcome to my playhouse"

"did you see my beautiful flowers"

"ding dong"

"pull up a chair, stay a while"

little gym

2011-03-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

for a few months niya and i attended a mommy and me class at the Little Gym.

it was a lot of fun.

every week she'd "learn a new skill"

what a little gymnast!

mostly we'd just run around and play on all the equipment

we'd also play with balls

sing songs, blow bubbles, and just be funny, and have fun

as the weeks when on niya really did become a little more coordinated, and a little less afraid

since we're gone so much we decided not to sign up again. we were having to make up way too many classes and ended up losing about 4. bummer waste of money.

so little gym has been replaced by the germ infested nursery at the gym. yippee!!

valentine

2011-02-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

rash, smash

2011-02-02T23:44:00.000-08:00

i guess niya's first rash was just a little teaser because it came back with a vengeance. what the crap!

at least she seems to be unaffected by it. thank goodness. i don't think i could handle a replay of last week.

she peed on the floor twice when i was trying to get this picture.

this week sucked

2011-01-30T23:38:00.000-08:00

this was the best title i could come up with, because basically, well it sums it up.

niyas been pretty much sick with one thing, after another, since christmas. just when i think it can't possibly get any worse, it does. i'll spare the details, because im even boring myself thinking of them. i just need a quick minute to vent. she had a fever for 5 days. cried all the time (so not like her). wanted to sleep an awful lot (so not like her). wouldn't let me put her down (so not like her). wouldn't eat anything, including ice cream (so not like her). she was just sick sick sick. i felt sad for her, bad for her, and was super worried. at the same time, i wanted to freakin jump out the second story window, rather than listen to her cry, and whine, and pull at my leg for one second longer. many times through out the day, i would have to just sit down, and hold her, and cry while she cried. it was the first time where i really thought to myself "wow this is really, really hard being a mom" there was nothing i could do.

On the 5th day this happened

and it all continued on for 3 more days

ROSEOLA... BOOOOOOOO i hate you

today i FINALLY saw this face

i can't even tell you how happy i am.

life is good again

hollywood, holy temple, hot tubbin

2011-01-30T23:08:00.000-08:00

the highlights of my recent trip to california

HOLLYWOOD

its always a treat. you never know who, or what youre gonna see

iron man was there, niya hated him

the walk of stars of course

lilly and nadia with oscar winning performances

4 t shirts for 10$. why didn't we buy?!!!

my husbands a star

lilly woke up the next morning "BIG"

bj became a street performer, juggling babies was his act

i hadn't been to the walk of stars in a long time. i'd almost forgotten how fun it is

THE HOLY TEMPLE

this day was so amazing and special. words can't really even do it justice

it only took 40 something years but my dad finally made it back

HOT TUBBIN

the best part hand down about california (besides my family of course) is the weather.

we suited up and went for a dip. sunny and bright...sigh....oh california in january

niya loves her cousins so much

just relaxin, catchin some rays, tossin back a cold one

ice cream, and bathing suits are the perfect combo

make a drippy mess...jump in the pool

we loved it all

we wish you a merry christmas

2010-12-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

ho ho horrible

2010-12-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

we took niya to the mall to meet santa for the first time. i honestly thought she would be fine. she really has no stranger anxiety at all. apparently santa is beyond stranger status

she HATED every second of santa

christmas jammies

2010-12-08T23:46:00.000-08:00

i love them

give thanks

2010-12-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving was fantastic as usual.

it was our year to be with the quists, so we stayed in town. it was nice to get up, and be home for a good part of the day, just enjoying the holiday

my day started bright, and early, making lots, and lots of these.

drews started bright, and early on the ski slopes

later the quist family all gathered at scott and lisas

niya was showered with attention....as usual

it was fun to be together as a family

especially since baby brother was on break from syracuse

lisa made the turkey, gravy, and the stuffing. soooo good. i really love her stuffing

amanda made an absurd amount of home made cranberry sauce.

yum

i made grams's rolls, and a home made apple pie. i love grams's rolls,

they so remind me of her

we ate, and ate, and sat around chit chatting

drew and jason love to chit chat

thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays.

even if i do eat myself sick

saylors family fun

2010-12-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

we spent a few days in california with my family before thanksgiving

there's never a dull moment

funky town

2010-12-01T23:14:00.000-08:00

i have to say niya's first birthday party was pretty freakin awesome. since its a couple days before halloween, naturally we had to have a costume party. what better than to do a disco theme. its no secret that i kind of love costumes, and dressing up. this couldn't have been more fun!

me and drews costumes came from the thrift store

i made niyas jumpsuit out of a nasty polyester dress from the thrift store. its not easy to find disco costumes for babies. her shoes also came from the thrift store spruced up with a little spray paint. for the belt i hot glued mardi gras beads on some felt

voila!

we had lots of friends and family show up.

i couldn't have been more impressed with the costume efforts

way to go people!!

that morning me and my mom spent hours making cup cakes. they turned out really cute and really pretty yummy

i had been working on teaching niya how to blow so that she could blow out her first candle. she

learned how to blow but got nervous with the crowd watching her so she crumbled under pressure

she did, however, love eating the cake

she got so many cute presents! and she actually loved sitting there opening every single one

she especially loved the shopping cart that grandma lisa gave her

i worked really hard making all the party decor. the pictures don't really do it justice

the birthday banner i made out of 12 old records. on every record was a picture for every month of her life

i also glued every stinkin sequin on that disco ball

i thought all my hard work paid off. the party was a huge success

it was so worth it

niya should have been born in the 70's.

she looks pretty awesome with an afro

from zero, to one, in a flash

2010-12-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

as usual im behind on my blogging blah blah blah

but...

the cutest baby in the world turned one last month! its not even funny how fast this year went. i think im in constant denial that niya is practically a toddler. she is changing so fast, and doing so much. i swear every day its a new trick!

one day after her birthday she started walking, she weighs 20 pounds , she now has 5 and a half teeth, her first word was eye (i know totally random) she also says mama, kitty, duck, fish and more. she knows that dogs say woo woo and im sure she says a hundred other words that only she, and other babies understand. she feeds herself. eats really well. LOVES sweets (just like her mama) drinks regular milk, goes up and down the stairs all by herself, dances to anything that has a beat, likes sesame street, jumps up and down on anything bouncy, tries to run away from me when im trying to take something from her, shakes her head no when she's doing something bad, opens all the cupboards and drawers and pulls EVERYTHING out, laughs when i laugh, smiles all the time, and is just such a happy baby....how could i not be such a happy mama

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

we love you more than words can express

"what's a pumpkin patch?"

2010-11-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

i was excited to take niya to the pumpkin patch, since this halloween she was not only like 2 seconds old. i wanted to go sit her in the pumpkins, and take a million pictures, just like i remember doing my entire childhood. my mom, and dad were coming for niyas first birthday, so i thought it would be fun to do with them. when drew got home later that evening, i told him we went to the pumpkin patch with niya. this is how the conversation went

drew: how was your day? what did you guys do?

me: it was really fun, my parents, and i took niya to the pumpkin patch, and took pictures

drew: what do you mean?

me: what do you mean what do i mean. we took pictures at the pumpkin patch

drew: whats a pumpkin patch?

me: what?? are you kidding me? its a big farm where you go, and pick out pumpkins. didn't you do that as a kid?

drew: no we just got ours at the grocery store

i couldn't fathom that he didn't go have photo shoots at the pumpkin patch, and then pick the perfect pumpkin out of rows, and rows, and rows of pumpkins!

its funny the things you just assume everyone does, and so surprising when you find out they don't

niya will always know about photo shoots at the pumpkin patch, and its a good thing because she looked so cute in them

New York

2010-11-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

our final stop on our eastern tour was Syracuse new york to see adam. it was great to see the city he lives in, the school he goes to, and his apartment. i didn't really get any pictures there. i don't know why!

we happened to be there over my birthday so they planned a dinner and cakes after

the sunday that we were leaving we drove to Palmyra to visit the sacred grove and hill cumorah

i was excited to go because its something we hear about over, and over in our church. it was very special to actually be there and feel the spirit that was there

the smith farm was really pretty

we walked around the grounds before we entered the grove

inside the grove it felt so crisp, and cool, and peaceful. i had to just stop and think about what it really meant to me.

my favorite thing was looking up through the trees and seeing the light peak through i couldn't help but hum to myself "oh how lovely was the morning....."

niya was happy to be there. i think she sensed it was special

adam is lucky to live so close

we kept trying to get a self timer shot of all of us. i have to say it was over all unsuccessful. this was the best we got

grandma and grandpa with niya

as everyone walked out of the grove i just kind of lagged behind and tried to soak up the spirit that was there

from the farm you could see the top of the temple through the trees

after the sacred grove we went to hill cumorah. it was neat to be there and see the monument that symbolizes where the golden plates were buried

this was our last stop before we headed to the airport. what a great way to end a really fun trip!

vermont

2010-11-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

Vermont was where the nalc convention was, so here we met up with scott, and lisa. normally lisa and i hang out while drew and scott go to meetings. we get to see a lot of cool places and do a lot of fun things.

in case you didn't know. Vermont is the home of the original ben and jerry's factory

so of course we took a tour

scott loves ice cream soooo much that he decided to skip the meetings and go with us.... OK that's not entirely true. he had mallet finger from putting on his shoes too hard, so he couldn't go to the "golfing meeting" with the rest of the business people

we were happy to have him with us! especially since he's the one holding niya up in this picture.

don't we totally look like ben and jerry?

statue of cows, because cows make milk, and milk makes ice cream

at the end of the tour we got a free sample

it was mint chip. ben and jerrys really is good

after the meetings were over drew got to join us. we went to the ski resort and took the gondola

grandma and niya taking in the spectacular view

we hiked (OK walked) to a little waterfall

Vermont was really lush and beautiful. and the fall colors were amazing.

next stop Syracuse to see baby brother

new hampshire

2010-11-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

this was pretty much all we saw in new hampshire

maine

2010-11-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

im way behind on my blogging, and i hate when that happens because then im just over it. so today im forcing myself to do a little catch up

we did a little back east tour a little while ago. it was fantastic. i'll start with Maine

we saw really old lighthouses, very cool

some beautiful coastline

we went to this amazing "lobster pound" it was a bit out of the way but drew had read about it and it was sooooo worth it

it was pretty chilly at the lobster pound

can i just say how ridiculously delish the lobster is in maine. its cheap, and maybe one of the best things i've ever had. the only thing i didn't like was the guts, but it was so good that i chose to over look that

nothing makes drew happier than good food.....he was so happy

we spent a day just walking around bar harbor. it was such a cute quaint little town, with fun shops

i think this was by far Drew's favorite find. hand made slippers from Pakistan??? that's so drew to be pumped about some Pakistan slippers

they were really excited about the lobster with ice cream

I'm eating a yummy fried clam. of course we ate lots of sea food and lots of blueberry stuff. we tried everything we could find blueberry

blueberry pie, pancakes, cake, ice cream, tart

this was our bed and breakfast. it was our first experience. we liked it

the next couple of days we spent at Acadia national park

drew made us hike down to the ocean even though i thought we were going to get smashed on the rocks

the view from the top of Cadillac mountain

we rented bikes and rode through the park. this was so much fun! and niya was a little peach

a nice jogger passing by offered to take our picture

drew pulled the baby trailer, and i just trailed behind. enjoying the beauty

another light house...not as cool as the first one

thanks maine you were a gem

dinner in the canyon

2010-10-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

it seems to be a tradition in the quist family to go up the canyon at the first sign of fall and have a little din din. this year was no different, and it was delish

fun times!

corn dogs, stinky animals, and the zipper

2010-09-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

yep thats right, we went to the state fair!

this is why the fair is awesome

copious amounts of fried food

niya was NOT disappointed with her first corn dog

fun time with family

amanda was more than delighted to show niya how to love animals

lots of animals for you to look at, touch, and SMELL (gag)

niya was a little unsure but drew made sure she touched them, weather she liked it or not

rides that make you sick, and fear for your life.

how tight can those bolts be? i mean they did put that zipper together in about 5 minutes

how can you not have fun at the fair?

we love labor day

2010-09-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

we all went to california for labor day weekend. we couldn't miss the annual trip to the beach house that we love! it was really crowded this year. me drew and niya had to share a room with my parents. we don't mind though. the more the merrier!

niya was always on the run. here she is escaping out the door to the balcony. i guess she decided it was time to explore and get to know the house

she wasn't so sure if she liked the sand. it was kind of like how she is in grass... paralyzed

finally she warmed up to the idea and decided it was kind of fun

grandpa gave her boogie board rides

gunna showed her the birds

cousin colby wanted a ride too

she loves grandpa

and aunt sunny

it was cousin layla's first birthday. so we had a little celbration

party crowns and all

and of course a pinata

drew had to come to the rescue when the pinata got wild

drew even got to go surfing a couple of times

it was a perfect weekend

kam belly soup

2010-09-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

today is a really sad day for me. i just said goodbye to my best friend kam. no she didn't die, although the mood might feel like it. her, and her little family are leaving utah to start a new chapter of life in naples florida. im really excited for them to go have this new, and exciting adventure. im also really jealous that they get to live by the beach. im more than a little bit sad for myself to be losing her.

we've been friends since 2001, we were both starting beauty school. we've been through a lot together since then. fun times, room mates, dating, boyfriends, heart break, laughs, engagements, weddings, babies, and the list goes on. through it all kam has truly been one of the best friends i've ever had. she is always there for me, and i can always count on her to make me laugh. really there's no one else that i laugh more with. she supports me, and loves me, and values me. there is no one kinder, more down to earth, and more honest than her. im gonna miss her

i'll punch naples in the face for stealing you away

i love you!

baby einstein

2010-08-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

niya is 10 months old now and can already read

what can i say, she's kind of the smartest baby alive

ok, so she can't read but she loves, loves books. she turns all the pages, and studies them carefully as if she really was reading. she even laughs at the funny parts

she does all kinds of other things too.

she walks around all the furniture, climbs on everything, feeds herself (very messily), clicks her tongue, jumps like a little bean, grew just enough hair for pig tails, has new found fear for all kinds of things, knows when she's doing something naughty, waves hi and bye bye, gives great big slobbery kisses, points, throws little tantrums when you tell her no or take something from her, and just in general is adorable all day every day!

we love her

i hate to admit...utah has perks

2010-08-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

everyone knows my heart belongs to california, but utah does actually have some perks, in its peaks. the mountains are most definitely her best feature

as the summer is rapidly coming to an end, we had to find a night that we could go camping. i actually love overnight camping. you know the kind where you go on a friday night, and leave on saturday morning. its the perfect amount of time. enough to enjoy the out doors, stuff your face with tin foil dinners, and make yourself sick on s'mores. so thats exactly what we did, and it was delightful!

we found a perfect little spot up american fork canyon. away from the camp grounds. all by ourselves.

niya was a big help putting up the tent

it was a little hard to keep her from eating the weeds

once we got the tent up and the fire going, it was time to just enjoy

and eat our DELISH tin foil dinners. im kind of really good at tin foil dinners

once it got dark enough we put niya to bed, and just got to sit out by the fire and eat s'mores and look at the stars.

i can't say i slept all that well though. i was paranoid that niya was going to get hypothermia in the night. but of course she slept like a champ

camping is fun

birthday mama

2010-08-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

Every year my mom takes aunts, sisters, and cousins to vegas to celebrate her birthday. its been a tradition for almost 10 years and we all look forward to it every year! we stay in style at the bellagio and spend most of our time just hanging out, laughing, eating, and catching up. this was the first time i left niya over night. i was really nervous and missed her a lot. but she was in good hands, and i really enjoyed my freedom.

we always eat at the Grand Lux Cafe. its pretty much delish

hanging out at the pool is one of the best parts

its so fun to be with my sisters and cousins. it really helps us to stay connected.

thanks mom for another fun fun time in vegas. we love it! and we love you!!!

more little bitty clothes

2010-08-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

here are a few more things i've made.......

i made this for a drews cousins wedding. i thought it turned out pretty cute. i made the skirt and just added the ruffle to the onsie. the flower and the ruffle are thrift store fabric. i think maybe an old curtain??

this little top i dreamed up. the fabric is a pillow sham i scored from the thrift store.

this one was her 4th of july outfit. she was being a big stinker so i couldn't get a good pic. i made little red bloomers too, but they didn't make it to the picture

lake powell.... again

2010-08-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

we had another few fun filled days on the moenkopi. it was a really perfect trip. the weather was great, not to hot, a little bit of rain, and good company

the speed boat did NOT break down this time. In fact scott bought a new one the day before we left. so we got to break it in. no complaints here

we found a nice little spot to make niya a bed. she slept like a baby

when she wasn't asleep she was wanting to run wild. she felt right at home on the new boat

drew was happy because he got some good wake boarding and skiing in. here he is mid back flip. check out his hair, wow

yep he landed it

still rockin the pony

niya loves baby brother, and the drink cozy

baby brother was catching some good air

cousin jason attempted the very first off the back of the boat wake board start. it was unsuccessful, but we gave him a great big A+ for effort, not to mention it was quite entertaining

niya has graduated from the sink bath to the plastic tub bath on the back of the boat. she's getting so big so fast...sigh

till next time lake powell

zions

2010-08-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

after our ogden family reunion we headed south with the saylors family for a few fun filled days in zion. mom and dad rented a couple of "cabins" at zion ponderosa ranch. they weren't really cabins at all, they were pretty nice homes. it was nice to be just with the saylors family for some bonding time. paul and cathy and family couldn't make it so we missed them.

Heres the fun things we did:

we went hiking in zion national park. all of us on the same hike!

drew and i love zions. we go there quite often

niya is becoming a local there. she loves hiking. she usually never makes a peep along the trail. she just takes in the scenery from the comfort of the baby bjorn

i was pretty impressed that my dad did a part of the hike with his still healing back. drew found him this nice walking stick. he looked pretty funny in his hiking get up

the one lung-er made it too

the kids had fun and kept up really well. i was the one that was lagging in the back

at the end of the hike everyone went swimming in the river except for me, drew, niya and my parents. they had a blast

we prefer the pool to the river. we spent the next day hanging out there

everyone just relaxing

later that afternoon we took a horseback ride. drew being sooooo allergic to horses stayed behind with the baby.

the trail was a mega dust bowl but we still had fun.

my mom brought poppers since we were there for the 4th of july. we didn't get to see fire works but we had a little fun with out own

we mostly just had fun beating each other with them. you can get a good sting if they pop on your bare skin

our last adventure before it was time to leave was zip lining. it was definitely no zip lining in costa rica but we still had fun doing it.

we all went our separate ways later that day. its always sad to say good bye. i really love spending time with my family. thanks mom and dad for making such a fun vacation for us!

ogden family reunion

2010-07-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

we had a great big family reunion for my moms grandparents family. it took place down in richfield ut. almost everyone from my moms side of the family was there (they made it pretty much manditory). it ended up being a lot of fun. there is something about being in the place where your family's entire existance began.

this is my great grandparents. it was in celebration of their 100 year anniversary.

we all met at the park in richfield for some kfc (sick) and some good old family fun time games

drew did not win it for the team in tug of war

all the girls just watched from the sidelines

so did the old guys

niya met lots of long lost cousins

the next morning we headed out in our family color tee shirts, go team orange! we were sent on a walking tour of historic family sites around town

here we are outside the church great grandma and grandpa went to

this little pioneer cabin houses the chest my great great great grandfather immigrated from england with

family pic outside the cabin

later that afternoon we headed to the "milk ranch" where the ogden boys hearded sheep and where my grandma and grandpa spent their honeymoon. getting there was quite and experience. we got a flat tire in the motor home and had to hitch a ride with uncle clark. then we proceeded to run out of gas while driving up the canyon with no cell phone service. we walked and walked up the canyon with me, my 8 month old baby, my one lunged mom, sister and husband in 100 degree heat. it was wild.

once we finally got there it was so worth it. it was beautiful and nostalgic. i felt like grams was really happy that we were there.

we just spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out as a family

the next morning we had a huge family picture then went to the cemetary to visit our ancestors. it was really cute how into my heritage drew was. he had the pedigree chart out and was making the connections to whos who. i really enjoyed learning who everyone was too.
Mostly i just wanted to see grams. it makes me so sad that drew never got to meet her. she was so special to me. i know he would have loved her

i think we were all happy to be there and share in the spirit of great grandma and grandpa.
im sure they were looking down overjoyed with the sight of all there posterity together, as a family, celebrating them
Happy 100!

i eat hair

2010-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

8 is great

2010-07-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

i really can't believe that niya is 8 months old! these pics were taken on our car ride back from our saylors family trip to zion (post coming soon). the drive was long for her, and by the end i think she was delirious. she was being so funny. i think these capture the essence of her personality perfectly.

she loves to ham it up for a crowd.

she's been busy this last month learning all kinds of new tricks.

she learned to: go from all fours to sitting. shortly after that she learned to pull her self up to stand. then quickly came the crawling. she'd been rocking back and fourth for about a month then one day she just crawled like a pro. 1 week shy of her 8 month birthday. now shes ALL over the place, putting everything in her mouth. so far i've rescued a feather, a door stop cap, a rubber band, lots of paper, and im sure the list will go on and on. she's starting to wave, and give kisses too.

every month is more fun than the one before. her little personality is more apparent every day. she makes me laugh a million times a day. how could i be anything but happy?

real!

2010-07-01T09:16:00.001-07:00

friday we got to go to the Real Salt Lake soccer game

at first all the cheering, and loud noises scared niya but after she got used to it she loved it. No one scored, but we still had fun!

lake powell

2010-07-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

we took our first trip of the year, and niya's first trip to lake powell. other than the speed boat breaking the first day, we had a lot of fun. the weather was perfect, but the water was a little cold still, and drew was a bit of a depression case after the boat broke. he eventually perked up though. the new houseboat is amazing, so it wasn't so bad that we spent all our time on it.

niya got to drive the boat for a while. she's pretty good for an 8 month old

then she was "the king of the world", not thats not leo dicaprio in the background, its drew and YES he has a pony tail, i've lost all control

bath time was so fun in the kitchen sink

life jacket, and dip in the lake, not so fun

looking cute in the jacket but not so sure about whats happening

this is a bad idea

over it

oh but the froggy pool, now thats a good time

forget about the lake, im a pool girl

see you again in a couple of weeks lake powell

little bitty clothes

2010-06-25T09:47:00.001-07:00

lately i've been having a lot of fun making little clothes for niya. here are a couple of projects i've done.

i made this hat and sun dress. the hat i used this tutorial, and the dress i just kinda made up

this little number i made using the warhol pattern by dana at made. i thought it turned out pretty cute

niya likes it too

its so fun having a baby girl i can sew for

california dreamin

2010-06-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Me and niya went to california for a week to see my dad. he just had a spinal fusion and we wanted to be there to help, visit, and maybe lift his spirits. the surgery was really brutal. its really hard to see your parent in so much pain. he seems to be healing SLOWLY. Hopefully the surgery will be a success and he can have less pain.

It was good to see him and good for niya to get to know her papa a little better

Niya was happy to see gunna too

she made friends with burger pie too (this ones for amanda)

i loved seeing my cute nieces and nephews. they loved playing with niya

the week happened to be over memorial weekend so we got to spend a little time at the beach house too. Niya had so much fun.

i put her in the sand box to play, and of course the first thing she did was eat it

yum

i left niya with sunny for a few minutes to run get the camera and i came back to this. she let her face plant in the sand. what a bad aunt

she practiced her hands and knees rock on the "oh so clean" beach house carpet

she got to spend time with her second cousins. this is sarah's boy carson

can you believe that face

i got to spend some much needed time with my family.

i miss them so much living in utah

i always love getting to spend time at home in california. it never seems to be long enough, or often enough

concrete jungle where dreams are made of

2010-06-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago we got to go to New York! we had such a good time. we were practically locals by the time we left.

we stayed right in time square. it was a pretty perfect location. there are a butt load of people walking around at all times. i hit at least 5 people with my stroller. i might have hit a few on purpose.

of course we went to magnolia bakery for cupcakes. i love cupcakes more than life. i give magnolia's a big fat 2 thumbs down. can i say WAY over rated. i miss sprinkles

we sat in the park across from the bakery. drew and niya played while i ate half my red velvet then threw it away.

niya was a pro on the subway

so was drew. except for the time when he got off the train, and left me and niya stuck behind the closing doors because these two lamos would not get out of the way of the stroller

we went to FAO schwarz. id never been. it was amazing. i think i enjoyed it more than anyone

especially with the big piano. we were just like tom hanks in BIG

we found the worlds ugliest statues. walking from the WTC to battery park. just look at those, pure ugly

drew did have to do a little bit of work, but i felt like we had the perfect amount of time. we saw everything we wanted to see, did a good amount of shopping, ate ourselves silly, walked our little buns off, and had so much fun!

I heart NY

6 months, oh wait, i mean 7

2010-05-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

niya's 7 months

so i thought i better hurry and blog about her 6 month well baby check up.

stats:

HEIGHT: 25.5in 70%

WEIGHT: 16lbs 45%

HEAD CIRC: 43.6 cm 77%

shes growing perfectly and way too quickly!

we have so much fun hangin out together all day.

this month she.............

cut her first tooth! shes gonna look so cute with one little tooth on the bottom. shes still rolling all over the place, and is now getting up on her hands and knees and rocking. she rolled off the couch (yikes! i guess the days of leaving her unattended are over) she's started sleeping on her stomach, she eats whatever i give her, shes had 2 colds, she sits up perfectly, AND shes the cutest best sweetest baby in the world. im so lucky

today i made this little gem

2010-05-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

i cant wait to put it on this little gem

happy mothers day to me

2010-05-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

sunday was my first mothers day as a mother. it was a really fun day. drew woke up and took care of niya so i could sleep. i woke up later to beautiful flowers and a new camera lens , YIPPEE!! then we had a brunch at little america with lisas family. we ate ourselves silly just in time for our second brunch at little america with scotts family where we ate ourselves silly again. i know, sick. and sick is pretty much how i felt when we were done. but it was fun. drew left early from the second brunch to teach our primary class. i got to stay and keep eating (and i wonder why i can't get rid of the last 20 pounds of baby weight).

it was a fantastic first mothers day. i love being a mother to this little family more than i could have ever imagined.
thanks to my beautiful baby girl. who is such a sweet, energetic, playful, inquisitive, happy little soul.
i love love love being your mom
happy mothers day!

i wear no pants

2010-05-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

so one thing about me, is i hate hate hate going to the grocery store. i'd rather clean a toilet, or do the dishes, or pick up dog poo in the back yard, than go to the grocery store. i don't know where my aversion came from, but its definitely there. so tonight i got to go to the gym, and drew took the baby to do the shopping. i left before him and got home before him. so when he and baby girl came home i excitedly went to get her out of her car seat. i reached in to get her, looked down, and saw she had on no pants.

i guess thats how you roll when you go out with dad

i just can't get over this face

2010-05-04T23:21:00.001-07:00

30's the new 20

2010-05-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

this guy is 30!!!

its official my husband is no longer a spring chicken. last wednesday he passed through his twenties and into his thirties! despite the fact that he's had a pretty nasty cold, we've had fun celebrating all week.
the night before his birthday i snuck(with lisas help) into his office to decorate. i made him a picture collage of some of the cool places we've been.
i thought it turned out pretty cool. he was pretty surprised when he got to work on his birthday morning. that night we went out for a yum dinner, at a place we've been wanting to try called forage. it definitely didn't let us down. Friday night we went to black diamond, where drew got a really cool hiking backpack, and then to REI for a new sleeping bag. looks like hes all set for the mountains. maybe while he's doing all this backpacking, me and niya will have sleep overs at grandmas house. Saturday night we had a little party with family and friends. It turned out really fun. I wish i had pictures to prove it but my camera battery was dead :(

I hope you had a really fun birthday babe, i LOVE being married to a 30 year old

Happy Birthday I love you!

don't wig out

2010-04-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

my baby is 6 month old!

i cant believe my baby is a half a year old. the time has gone by so fast and i have truly loved every second. every day gets more and more fun. she is such a sweet happy baby. i didn't know they came THIS good. id like to think its just because im such a good mom, but don't worry, i know better than that. shes doing so many fun and funny new tricks. she had turned into a little spinning top. she rolls, and rolls all over the place. most of the time she finds her self stuck under the furniture,oops

shes now eating all kinds of food. rice cereal or oatmeal in the morning and some kind of fruit or veggie at night. she seems to love it all. she's quite the little chow hound. she's gotten really good eating off the spoon im sure it won't be long before shes begging for whats on our plate

she laughs and smiles alot. babbles and says mamamamamama all day long. cries hardly ever. has figured out how to sniff/snort and thinks its funny. hates when i pick her nose. loves when i clean her ears. can pretty much sit on her own. sleeps in her own crib all night long. can sometimes put her own binky back in, well ok shes not that good at that one. loves to play and chew on EVERYTHING. likes music and when i sing to her, and i swear sometimes she tries to hum along. loves books. loves baby einstein(and any tv). does not like the car or having the sun in her eyes. and most of all she LOVES attention, and lets me smother her with kisses all day long

Don't grow up too fast baby girl!

yay for hawaii

2010-04-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

im just finally getting around to blogging our hawaii trip. it couldn't have come at a better time. i was so ready to leave the snow. we had so much fun. taking niya made it especially fun. shes such a good sweet baby, it made travel a breeze. i was worried about flying, but she was a little angel on all the flights. we first flew to oahu with the security national board. we stayed at the jw marriot. it was beautiful.

i especially loved being able to dress niya in summer clothes. im so sick of the cold and snow
it was her first time really wearing a bathing suit.
it was fun to be there with drews family. grandma lisa, and amanda are so much help
we spent lots of time just hangin out by the pool. it was so nice and relaxing
our second night there we had dinner with the whole board but really it just felt like a family dinner cause we had our own table. notice niya has pig tails.
we went to the north shore and ate shaved ice at matsumotos. its supposed to be the best but to be honest i liked our shave ice at jo jos in kauai way better.
we went to sharks cove and niya had her first little dip in the ocean.
it was really cute. she liked it.
i was happy her first time was a good experience because the second time i was holding her not realizing that i had her face in the water. who knows how much sea water she drank. oops
we stopped by giovannis shrimp truck on the way back
sooooo delish. but i think i was sweating garlic for days
on our last night on oahu. the whole fam went out to dinner. we tried to go to the fishermans warf where the quists always used to go but when we pulled up the it was out of business and the building was deserted.
so we took the time to take a few pics while we figured out where we were going to go

all the girls. we had so much fun on oahu. the next day just drew and i and niya were off to kauai. i was excited to go. i'd never been to that island
heres drew and niya going through security
us waiting in the terminal. it was freezing in there
niyas a natural flyer. i love this pic.
in kauai we stayed at the st regis princeville. it was AMAZING
this is the view out of our hotel room window
we spent one of the days on our own private beach. it was kind of a treck to get to it but once we were there it was perfect.
i even got a minute to read
i put this picture here for drew. he loves sunsets. and this was his favorite. we just sat out on the hotel lounge chairs and watched the sun go down.
here we are
this day we hiked the napali coast. unfortunately i didn't bring my camera. it was pouring rain that day and it was just one more thing to carry. drew was so pumped to do this and i was really glad we did. it was soooo beautiful. we hiked 2 miles in to this little beach and the 2 miles back. drew carried niya in the baby bjorn. she did great. people along the trail were always surprised to see a baby. well worth it
that night we wanted to go out for a nice dinner but didn't know what to do with baby. it worked out perfect because we made a late reservation and just put niya to sleep in her car seat. she slept under the table and we had an amazing dinner (one of the best i've had) at the kauai grill.
we had such a good trip. yay hawaii!!!

happy anniversary to us

2010-04-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

better late than never. im a month late on our anniversary post but last month we celebrated our 2nd one! we had a really fun night out. thanks adam and amanda for babysitting. we went to dinner at spruce. it was soooo good. then we went and saw a movie. so fun

i decorated all anniversaryish

we ate our wedding cake. i know youre supposed to do that at one year but since we were in tahiti last year we saved it. dont worry it was not good

the decorations looked so cute i had to get a pic in the day time and include the flowers drew gave me

im so lucky to have such an amazing husband. happy anniversary!!

Easter

2010-04-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

im getting pretty behind on my blogging and it starts to stress me out! i still need to do hawaii but i thought it would be appropriate to do easter first

we had a really good time in st george with drews family, the motzkus', patsy, and troy and amy.

we had fun doing baby photo shoots

dying easter eggs. we used the rubber cement idea and they turned out pretty cute

niya loved her easter basket. bunny brought her some cute books, a cuddly easter frog, and some burts bees baby shampoo. aunt sunny will be happy cause its parabin free. of course we hunted for eggs too. me and amanda tied for first. sorry drew and adam, looks like im good at looking for eggs now. it took me a couple years to re get the hang of it, considering i hadn't hunted for eggs in like 20 years. after me and amanda dominated we went for breakfast at the egg and i. after we spent the rest of the day just hangin out. it was nice and relaxing. it was a fun easter weekend.

st patty's

2010-03-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

on the actual st patricks day we were getting ready to go to hawaii but the sunday before we had a fun little celebration with corned beef and cabbage at scott and lisas. I made this little dress for niyas first patty's. i found the shirt at walmart and refashioned for baby girl.

little chubbers

2010-03-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

this week niya had her 4 month well baby check up. i have a love hate relationship with well baby visits. i love because you get to find out your babys "stats." i hate because of the shots.

so this is what we found out.................

height : 25 inches 71st percentile

weight: 14 pounds 52nd percentile

head circumference: 41.1 centimeters 48th percentile

every month is more fun than the last. she's such a sweet baby

she smiles all the time and loves to try to get your attention, her giggle is to die for, she loves to chatter, if you talk to her she almost always talks back, she loves her feet and is constantly grabbing them, she sleeps 10 hours at night, she loves loves to suck on her hands or anything that she can get close to her mouth for that matter, she is a drool machine, she's discovered her tongue, and learned how to spit, and smack her lips to make kissing sounds, shes getting much better at tummy time, and mini push ups, she has rolled over from tummy to back once, and my favorite trick of all........she holds her own bottle, what a smart baby we have

she looks so freakin cute all nakey laying on the table. she thinks its fun too

all smiles, she doesn't know whats coming! she got two shots this time. when the nurse poked her she screamed like a 5 year old. i felt so bad for her, but she recovered quickly.
i hate shots

glasses for the blind

2010-03-05T22:49:00.000-08:00

only 2 weeks until we go to hawaii. YIPPEEEEE!!! i seriously can not wait to get out of this winter wonderland. of course i have been getting niya prepared for her first real vacation. i pretty much buy every bathing suit i see in her size. the other night we had a fun time trying them all on. I found the sunglasses in the dollar bins at target. the are seriously the darkest glasses i've ever seen. i could not see her eyes at all. she looked ridiculous, and i couldn't stop laughing

who does she look like?

2010-03-02T23:00:00.001-08:00

i can't figure out who i think niya looks like. my family all says she looks like drew, and drews family says she looks like me

so.................... what do YOU think??

me?

drew?

or amanda?

who cleans the highchairs?

2010-03-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

monday was a really fun day for me, and niya. we celebrated her 4 month birthday at cafe rio with cher. i decided she was old enough to get out of the infant seat, and join us at the table in a highchair! she loved it. she just kind of slung her arm back and lounged. she looked like a natural. it was like she had been sitting in a highchair in the womb. i tried not to think about how nasty dirty the chair was. i know nobody cleans those

she loved cher too. she kept staring at her and smiling. i tried to get a good picture of them, but all i got was niya looking wild eyed , and cherilyn looking chinese. oh well better luck next time.

when we got home later that day i was disgustingly reminded of the dirty high chair when i found red sticky candy on her blanket, courtesy of the runny nosed, slimy handed kid that sat there before her. i shivered feeling grossed out, but ,before i let my anxious mind start running wild, i just stopped, took a REALLY deep breath and said to myself "oh well"

we love zions

2010-03-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

for valentines weekend we went to st george with drews family. if you go to st george you have to go to zions. its so beautiful there. we love it. we brought niya of course she's in the family pic below but she's hiding under drews sweat shirt. it was kinda chilly. there was actually snow still on the trail, and lots of mud

uncle troy went with us. he actually only made it about a 3rd of the way up the trail because he didn't want to get his new shoes muddy. i know right!? who wears new shoes hiking in zions?? it was SO troy.

niya had a great time she did 2 things:

first she ate

then she slept

what else is new?

my favorite time of day

2010-02-28T23:14:00.001-08:00

well its not actually day at all. i love, love ,love, late night, when drew and niya are both asleep and i have my time all to myself. its so quiet and peaceful. i can blog, or craft, or sew, or just watch hours upon hours of tv. at 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 i force myself to go to bed and fall asleep thinking about what im gonna do tomorrow night.