Monday, March 30, 2009

My Dog Is Cooler Than Yours Is!!!

OK so that was totally immature but I just wanted to be a bragging mom and a little immature for the moment. OK so my dog is probably not COOLER than yours is but he is stinkin COOL and so perfect for our little adventure family we are building!
So Kip taught Echo a while ago that when he says "Jump, Jump" Echo jumps over or on top of something that Kip is pointing at! We have a blast with this power now because the dog is seriously fearless and will jump on or over anything we ask him to! He is SO ATHLETIC!!!! We constantly test his skilz to see exactly how cool he is and he really impressed us yesterday on our Sunday family walk. Check out the video's we got! This was the first test, a pretty high wall??
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Passed with flying colors!
Next test a big rock??
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Wow another pass!!!
Third test, an even bigger rock???
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This dog is amazing to us!!! We want to some day have him do those obstacle courses, the dog LOVES to run and jump and do cool tricks so it would be perfect for him. I wish we had the money and the time right now because we have the perfect dog for it! OK so as we were going to leave the park we were walking past a 6 foot brick wall where there were 2 dogs on the other side barking at us! Echo was getting very curious and decided that since he has been doing so well with this jumping thing, he would give it a go. We had no idea the dog would even attempt to jump a 6 foot brick wall but he went for it and got his 2 front paws over the top before we yelled at him to not jump over! At that point he flipped his body around and bounced off the wall like it was nothing! I really wish we had that on video but it was so unexpected! So yeah, our dog can jump out of our yard if he really wanted to. A little crazy to think about, hopefully he never gets the itch!
So after reading this don't you think Mr. Echo is just the coolest dog ever?? I DO!!!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Road Trips!


Well this past weekend Kip and I decided that we needed to take some special time to celebrate our womanhood and manhood separately. I had the opportunity to hitch a ride with a good friend of mine Megan up to Utah, and Kip got to get together with the guys from CAMCE (California Association of Mine and Cave Explorers)and go check out a few new mines out in a place called Trona, it's north of us!
Kip and I LOVE to take trips together and ALWAYS have the time of our lives but every once in a while it is fun to get a good girls or boys trip in there. I think it is healthy for our relationship :) SO that is exactly what we did last weekend and by the end of the weekend we came back to one another TOTALLY MISSING each other!
So since I am the Lady and the one doing this post ME FIRST :)
Megan and I set off for good ol' Salt Lake at noon on Thursday right after my doctors appointment (which went well, I saw little Brooke move for the first time on the outside!!! I have never seen my belly move like that without me doing it and it was the coolest thing ever!!! I was SO EXCITED and the doctor was in the room kinda like "yeah lady that's what happens when the baby gets bigger" but it was the FIRST TIME I SAW IT and I needed SOMEONE to celebrate it with :) so he got to be that someone). Anyway, we get on the road with a TON of snacks that we just HAD to get, and set off! The drive was not nearly as bad as I had remembered it being. We stopped in Victorville to get some Lunch (which was really too late) and ate at Jack in the Box. Then on the road again. I did so good at holding my pee too!!! Once in St. George we stopped at Cafe Rio for the best food EVER!!! I got the salad and Megan the burrito and she said it tasted good there but apparently she was not too much of a fan, I find out later :( I think it is because the Jack in the Box was too close to our dinner and that is what made her tummy not happy. I have to stick up for my Cafe Rio! Anyway we both got some heartburn from the excess chocolate, fast food, cafe rio and sitting FOREVER and had some stinky burps that I just had to make sure I remembered, by adding that into my story!
We finally got to Salt Lake at midnight Utah time. My friend Shannon picked me up and took me back to her beautiful condo that she bought and we stayed up till like 2am talking!
The next morning we had home made muffins and headed down to Provo to remember the good ol' days of living in Provo! In reality I do not have that great of an attitude of me LIVING in Utah after being there the 3 years I did. But as we drove around I remembered so many good times and bad times, it was really fun to look back on what felt like a lifetime ago! Here is all the places I lived in Provo!

BROOKVIEW

I moved here when I was 19 years old! Here I had a pretty good experience! It was the most Ghetto of the apartments in the ward which was lame but what can you do? I experienced home sickness for the first time there but did not do too bad! My room mate was WEIRD!! She was not even dating anyone and had her wedding ring drawn out, designed, and appraised, her wedding dress picked out (she worked in a store selling them), her reception location picked, colors picked....and strangely had a shrine of TAMPONS on her desk! SO WEIRD!!!

THE COLONY
I totally recommend this place to live, super fun and cool! Loved the ward and my roommate was the best cook ever! I did have a near death experience while living here. I had a bad accident while rappelling and somehow only ended up with a broken right arm. The broken right arm kinda put a damper on the summer with no swimming, sports, and all that stuff I am into! BUT I WAS ALIVE!!! This is when I meet Shannon and Marie who are now life time friends!

SPARKS II
I moved in here with my friends Shannon and Marie which was super fun! I do have some GREAT memories of living here but some of the worst times of my entire life took place while living in Sparks II. My Grandpa died unexpectedly, who I was SUPER close to which got me depressed, then I decided to snap out of my sadness and become a new happy person again. In that act I decided to dye my hair and had a HORRIBLE allergic reaction (if any of you saw one of my first posts ever on this blog you will have seen the result of that)! I became deeply deeply depressed and would not leave my room unless it was to work. That is when I meet some of the most AMAZING guys EVER!!! I have so much to thank them for and at that point in life they really were my saviors, thanks Ryan and Bryan!!! So this is where I meet Ryan( later on he introduced me to my husband after dating both my sisters :) )!

At this point I moved home to be with my family and I was planning on going on a mission! While home my sister who was my BEST FRIEND EVER decided to move up there to Utah to be with her boyfriend ;)

CENTENNIAL
Back up to Utah (something I said I would NEVER DO) to be with my little sister who had gotten dumped only days after moving up to be with her boyfriend! She needed her big sister to help her through this and called me asking if I would come up... 2 weeks later I was her roommate! Her and I had GREAT times together playing in the snow, on the ice, going to ward activities! Pretty dang good memories I will never forget! But here near the end we started growing apart :(

KING HENRY

Here my sister and I had an apartment to ourselves but were complete strangers... a sad time :( BUT I had the BEST singles ward I think I have ever had and also got to live in the same ward as Bryan again! Him and I grew super close as friends here and I had some seriously GREAT memories!!! This place was my favorite of all the places I lived in Provo! I meet Philip Niu, another life long friend while playing basketball here!

Still living in King Henry but a different apartment! I became roommates with Effie who is another life long friend and I had a really good time while living here! I really can't think of anything too bad that happened while I lived here, other than my car getting totaled while being parked in my work parking lot. But the BEST thing about living in this apartment is that I meet KIP when living here!!! These are the stairs leading up to my apartment which is the top one! This is where I saw Kip for the very first time! Where my life changed forever!!! Right here on these steps!! So I took my pregnant self back there and got a picture in front of the very steps where I saw my prince charming for the first time :) 2 weeks after I meet him I moved to Corona and have been with him ever since!

Ok so since this is FOREVER LONG, but good for my journal keeping!!! Here are the pictures of everyone I saw while up there!This probably will be the most pictures of my pregnant face you will see on this blog at one time ;)
Shannon and I at Gendolfo's (a MUST HAVE for both breakfast and lunch)!

Joy and I at Cafe Rio (another MUST HAVE)!

Shannon was there too!

I spent Saturday night and all of Sunday with these WONDERFUL people!!!!
The Olayan Family Darren, Mel, Kaika, Roko, Koa, & Kalia!!! We had a blast hanging out telling old stories! GOOD TIMES with the Olayan Clan!!! O and good eat's too!

Mel, Me, and Janel, love those girls!

The other Olayan family was also there pretty much most of the time I was over at Mel and Darrens house! Jai was at work but here is a picture with me with Janel, Keala, Maka, and Kai!
Wish I would have gotten a picture with Sadie and Curtis :( But I did get to see them and Sadie is the cutest thing ever and I love her to death and Curtis, wow, he is a man now, SO WIERD!!

I got to visit Becky and her little family, Lance was at work! Here I am with Becky, Lance III, Rylie, & Halle! I miss Becky's sweet and such a happy spirit!

This is me and Jamie one of my old managers from like 5 years ago, we ran into him while eating at Red Robin where we all used to work!

Me with Garrett one of my other managers that is still a manager there 5 years later! SO CRAZY!!!

All of us that used to work together forever ago! Mandy, Alicia, Garrett, Me, and Shannon! So strange to go back in time like that!


So all in all the trip was super duper fun!!! I can't wait to go back and visit them all again! I loved all the Utah food that I miss and had fun remembering the old times! Thanks Megan for inviting me on the trip, it was super duper fun!

Now for Kip's trip!!! This will not be long because I was not there and boys do not take as many pictures :)
Kip went to a town called Trona which is an old mining town. He rode up with a guy named Larry that he meet from CAMCE who also happens to be a member of our church! Kip and Larry totally hit it off and have a great time together! Larry is a Cop and Kip almost a full time Firefighter so that is cool and people feel safe with them around! Kip also enjoys knowing that there are a few people there with the priesthood and that have the spirit with them and know how to listen to it! But that does not stop them from doing some pretty crazy stuff! Kip told me stories of the places they went and the crazy latters they went up but of course they can not take pictures in moments like that (and glad they didn't)! So here are some of the cool ones from his trip! He had a total blast and is going back out there for another boys trip soon! I can't wait till I can go with him again!
This is where Kip and Larry sleept! Kip was totally impressed with Larry's camp set up, it's called the Wilder Nest, I guess it is part of the camper shell. COOL!!!

This is Kip, Rob, and Larry all members of CAMCE!

Kip exploring some crazy abandon building!

Kip and Larry exploring together!

Getting ready to go in, a sign like this just get's Kip excited because this means it is going to be FUN!!!

Finding cool old stuff like an old shovel!

Larry going down!

Exploring a level!

Going up a super steep ladder!!!

Kip being his crazy self!

Some of the old buildings!


And that's all folks!!! We are both home safe and sound and as happy as ever to be back together! Gotta love the Road Trips though!!!
Sorry for the Novel!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Getting Crafty!!

I WILL make time for this. I like the idea, Amy! Thanks!

***Making handcrafted items is a dying art, but they are so fun to make & get! So, here's a little game to encourage the handcrafting to live & thrive!! The first 5 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a super-duper handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!
The catch is that you must participate as well. So before you leave your comment here, write up (or copy & paste as I did!) a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!
Remember that only the first FIVE comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! But I will try my best to make sure you do.
2. It will be done this year (hopefully sooner than later).
3. You will have no clue what it is going to be.

So who's in?

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

3 days ago....

MY HOUSE WAS CLEAN!!!!
Today....not so much! Kip and I have apparently decided to start a few projects that at this point are not finished. Any of you that know me will see these pictures and know just how much this is making me CRAZY but it is LIFE and what can you do right?? So here is a peek into my home at is's craziest in quite a while....
First our room, yep our bed is taken apart. I decided to wash all the sheets (yes I do that regularly) but also the bed skirt since it has gathered some dog hair, which is NASTY to me!! SO I had to move the mattress which we also plan on flipping and vacuuming before we put everything back together.....

...which leads us to what will be Brooke's room, right now holding our guest bed... yep we have been sleeping there the last 2 nights because we have forgotten till 11pm that our bed needs to be put back together. I normally make the bed in the morning but for some reason since this is the "guest bed" and not our own bed it has not been made??? Yeah don't quite know why?

Now my next little project that has been left begun but not finished...my mom gave me this jewelry box because she got some expensive little gadget so I decided to go through my jewels and get rid of the many many things I no longer wear, but this project has also been started but not finished.... this is SO not like me...

... and for Kip's begun project that was started last night after we had a discussion on the projects that needed to be done before little Brooke's arrival into our home. He is making our downstairs closet deeper since this closet is basically the room that goes under the stairs. We plan on using this space for food storage and kid toys so they are not out all over downstairs. Last night he knocked out the wall and whala....lots more room in our closet. He plans on having it finished by Monday??? We shall see??

Until then all the junk that was in that closet is now in my family room...AAAAaaaa!!! So yeah, this project needs to be done ASAP or I may snap?? But I am glad we are doing it so for now I am being patient!

So there you have it... my home that was once clean 3 days ago is now in shambles! And my blinds have not begun to be cleaned! Thanks so much for the tips, I think I am going to go with Lacie's strategy even though it seems that it will take the most time. I plan on hitting 1 window a day to perfection...I have 20 windows... which means each window will only go 20 days without being cleaned. Not too overwhelming to take on right???
OK well I hope you all enjoyed this post, especially those of you who know me well :)

Family Time!

This past week Kip's brother Rick was in town. Kip took advantage of every opportunity he could to go spend time with his brother, I on the other hand seemed to be busy every time they were getting together. We love it when Rick is in town and always look forward to the time we get to spend with him. So on Saturday we FINALLY got family time ALL together and it was GREAT!!! Kip's sister Laurie and brother Rick drove out here with little Hailee (Laurie & Gregg's little girl) and we all set out on a hike right by our house. It was perfect weather and we ended up doing a GREAT 6 mile HILLY hike!! Up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, down a hill, but it was beautiful with all the wild flowers out and about. It was cool because we kids all got to spend some good time together! Here are a few pictures from the hike that I stole from Laurie (thanks girl)!
Laurie, Kipper, Hailee on Kip's back, Echo under Kip, and Rick!

Kip carried Hailee the first half of the hike and Rick the second, they got a great work out with a 1.5 year old on their backs and little Hailee was SO GOOD!!

Me, Echo, Kip, Hailee on Kip's back, & Rick (as you can see I needed that hike)!

When we got home I went and took some pictures for the Thompsons, why don't I just add a few of my favorites here to show you (I took these in the field right behind my house):
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After pictures the rest of Kip's family arrived! We all ate Costco Pizza & BIG YUMMY cupcakes at our house, and then headed over to see the house that Laurie and Gregg recently put an offer on. We wish them the best of luck on getting that beautiful home but we really do not like to think about what an amazing deal they would be getting since at this point we totally over paid! O WELL!!! But good luck to you guys, the home is beautiful!
Then to tv and visiting by the fire in the backyard! We have this super cool fire pit that we love to light up when company is over. We were all outside for about 2 hours or so visiting and having a blast before everyone parted their ways and went home.
We love family time and had a great Saturday!! We are going to miss you now that you are back up in Idaho Rick!!!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

I NEED HELP!!!


I know that I have a bunch of Clean Freak friends out there in the blogger world so I NEED to know if any of you have any good tips on cleaning blinds??? I have tried dusting and the dust just lands back on them, tried wiping them down with a wet rag and it smeers the dust...... I NEED HELP!!! If any of you are genious on blind cleaning give me your knowledge because my blinds are NASTY!!!!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Change of Mind...

SOoooo.... after doing that last post about Brooke's room a few things have happened...
I ended up ordering the crib and changing table after searching long and hard to see if I could find a better deal on anything I liked and nope this was the best deal out there for us! So we ordered it Monday night and the crib arrived here this morning.... with free shipping... WOW!!! I can't wait to peek in the box and see the color of the wood and thickness of it and all (since I never saw it in person). Hope it is nice?? We will not put it all together till the room is painted, which should not start happening till April'ish, but we have a crib YEAH!!!! What a huge moment for us :)
And for the bedding, well, I was going to make it and was excited about it and all but kinda stressed out about it too. First of all, I am not really the biggest seamstress quite yet so I was planning on learning on the bedding. Also, when to find the time with working full time and doing some photography jobs on the side and well, being tired and all, and then finding a teacher. I got a great point in a good direction from a friend of mine that commented on my blog (thanks girl) and I checked out the bedding at Babies R Us and found something I LOVE and that is totally on the lines of what I wanted and I think it will be cheaper to buy than for me to make all my own stuff, this is it...

I think it is super cute and goes well with the country type theme! Do you like?
I still think I am going to make her the blanket I have pictured below because I totally LOVE IT, but I will not feel in as big of a hurry and as stressed to do it. So yeah, that is my update for now. Not that you really care I am sure, but I am just so super excited about all this baby stuff and can't stop thinking or talking about it all, so yeah, another baby post. Annoyed yet??? If so SORRY :(
O and I got HUGE this week, all at once, it is crazy how this belly grows in spurts! I only plan on taking a picture once a month but I feel this growth has been significant so I had to post it since people keep thinking I look small in the pictures but in real life my belly does not look so small. SEE!!! I look SUPER PREGNANT and for all of you that have spoken to me lately, you are lucky to get a picture with my face in it :)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Starting to think...

About Little Brooke's Nursery!!!
I can not tell you how often I think about all the different things I want to do to her room. I truly feel like I am OBSESSED with thinking about this little girl, I can't get her off my mind... and I LOVE IT!!!
So this is what I have come up with so far for the nursery.... because I know you care right???
I want to go with kinda a shabby country theme. I have model horses that I collected as a child that I want to incorporate into the room somehow. I want the colors to be White, Baby Pink, and Chocolate Brown! I know, everyone is doing the brown and pink thing but I LOVE IT!!! So I want to do Wayne's Coating on the lower half of the walls that is painted white, then a light pink on the upper walls, dark brown crib and changing table, and then her bedding pinks and browns and whites. I was tossing around adding a little green as an accent to the room but donno??? I think I might just stick with what I got?
So this is the crib and changing table that I think we are going to get?? It is the least expensive one that I still really like and Kip likes it as well. I think it would work well with a girl and a boy which is good because this furniture has got to last through all of the 4 kids we plan on having. The only thing I do not like about it is that it seems you can not see the bedding very well, is that lame??? Probably not THAT important right? What do you think about it?? It is on sale right now so I gotta decide soon before the sale ends?

This is the fabric that would be my main fabric I use for the window coverings, and bed skirt, and then of course the bumper and blanket. With the bumper and blanket I want to do kind of a patchwork type of thing with different fabric's that I really like in the brown, pink, and white colors.


Here is a picture of the blanket I got made for my niece Hailee for Christmas, I want to use the same pattern and colors but with just different fabric's. Isn't this SO CUTE???



So that is what I have got so far! I am SO SO SO STOKED to start this room!!! I wish I had endless amounts of money so I could make it exactly the way I have it in my head but I know with some creativity we can make it pretty close to what this brain has thought up.
Sorry if you really do not care about reading about how I want to do this nursery, I am just so excited about it that I had to do something that made me feel like it was moving forward a little, so for now a post will do!
Any advice or cute idea's that would go with my little theme I have going, I would be happy to hear, thanks!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

5 Months...HALF WAY!!!

It is so, so fun and SUPER CRAZY that I am already half way done with this pregnancy! The first half was pretty much a breeze for me and went by SO FAST!!! I think that I got pregnant at the perfect time because I was super busy ALL of October getting ready for that Halloween Party we had, then November with Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas, December with Christmas, January with New Years and all the resolution things that come with it, February with Valentines Day and BAM half way done!!! I am going to have to have all my kids around the same time of year because I love how fast this has gone by!
This last month has had a few changes. First off my belly has POPPED!!! At least I feel it has. I have still only had 1 person ask me if I was pregnant while out and about or at work. I am kinda surprised since to me I look Obviously Pregnant but I guess to others I just look like I could be fat?? I was SO HAPPY when the lady I was serving at my table asked me when I was due, it was so exciting to me that I made her give me a high five and told her she was the first one to ask! The other girls at the table gave her a hard time and could not believe she had even asked me because they said I did not look That Obvious and that she could have totally offended me if I was just fat. I thought it was funny and flattering but I was so excited she asked me when I was due. It felt like a milestone in the pregnancy!
I have also started feeling little Brooke move around inside me and have LOVED it every single time! People keep warning me that at some point I am not going to love it so much but for now I am going to appreciate every single little movement! I even think I felt her on the outside like twice but also second guess myself?? I think that will be soon though!
I have had to stop running, this was my first week not running :( On the days I ran my back would hurt SO BAD the whole entire rest of the day. Not fun when for my job I have to constantly walk and carry things! I have also been feeling it in my knees and know that can not be good! I have been advised by the doctors to not EVER run due to my knee surgeries on each knee. I disagree and WILL still run the rest of my life but feel that for right now while my weight starts increasing I will give the knee's and back a break until after little Brooke comes out! Until then LONG FAST walks. My goal is to walk 2 to 4 miles a day with my dog up until I pop!
Lastly I have started getting the dreaded leg cramps in the middle of the night!! NO FUN!! I think that might be competing with one of the worst ways in the world to wake up from a peaceful sleep! OUCH!!! I get them in my calves and do not dig it one bit! I am going to eat lots of banana's and hope that helps out??
I think that is all the big things that have changed this month. It has been a fun one and I can't wait to see what is to come! So done with the writing mostly and on with the pictures!
Here I am at 5 months, 21 weeks!


We also went yesterday to get one more ultrasound! I do not know if you remember me complaining before about our 18 week ultrasound but it was terrible!! Kip and I were so excited for the 18 week one and the lady was so unfriendly and un-informational, the pictures that we got from that ultrasound were SUPER DARK and no bueno for scrap booking (which is super important), and she was not totally sure on her call on our baby being a little girl! I did not want to end up decorating for a girl and then having a little boy pop out. You can not really pull off pink dresses for a boy, so I decided that we needed a second opinion! I really needed to have those good scrap booking pictures and more importantly have someone confidently tell us we were having our little Brooke! So we went yesterday and boy was it a wonderful experience! We got to watch her up on a big ol plasma screen TV on the wall as they did the whole 20 minute ultrasound! The lady was so nice and gave us so many details on her. Her heartbeat was at 143 which is right in the middle of the healthy chart, and she looked developmentally perfect! She was being really silly and giving us a hard time. At first when we were checking to confirm the sex she was crossing her little legs and covering up! We finally got a shot and yes she is for sure a girl!!! The rest of the time she decided to hide her little face from us. Covering her eyes with both her hands. Super cute but not many face shots were able to be gotten. Overall Wonderful Experience!! Here are some of our favorite shots we got!
This is one of her covering her head. Do you see that little bicep muscle in her arm?
You can see one of her legs is crossed but the other is kicked out, here you can see her little "girl parts"!
Her hand and foot, you can even see her other hand in the background with all her little finger bones!
I just like this one of her cute little foot! So perfect!
And here she is mooning the world!!! I love her already!
Can you just say awwww....so cute!!
The Home Alone pose! AAAAAaaaaa!!!
Her just being SUPER CUTE twice in a row!


Sorry this is so long and to half of you probably quite boring but I just have to write down all the details for our little family to keep forever! As you can tell we LOVE our little girl! We can't wait to meet her but will for sure let her cook longer to get cuter and to give mommy and daddy time to prepare for her arrival!