9 months!

I can't believe Isabelle is 9 months old already! We love her so much. She's got a great personality and some of the chubbiest thighs you have ever seen with multiple rolls on them! She is crawling all over now and sticks anything and everything into her mouth that she finds along the way. Just today she pulled herself up to the standing position for the first time. She is eating finger foods and isn't really caring for the jarred food much anymore. She seems to spit it all over me now everytime I feed her! She is starting to play "games" like if you shake your head back and forth she will copy you. She also makes the loudest clucking noise with her tongue and can even turn her tongue upside down. We are so grateful for her and the joy she brings us!


These first two pictures are from last Monday when we went to the Payson Fish Hatchery.

Now that Isabelle is crawling she doesn't really want to hold still for a picture. These are the best that I could get of her today!

Beautiful Rocky Point

We took a family trip to Rocky Point over the weekend. Unfortunately, Robyn couldn't come because she would have missed half of the last week of school, but we definately thought of her while we were having fun! I can't say it was too relaxing because there isn't really any relaxing when you have such little kids but it was nice to escape the normal daily life. Justin loved the pool the most and would have spent all day in it if we let him. He was quite good at making friends and adapted to being in water quickly. Isabelle also loved the water. The first time we put her in the ocean she started panting like a dog and wiggling all over This is what she does when she gets really excited. It was so cute! I was a little worried when we woke up to Snoop Dogg playing very loudly and someone yelling the F word on the first night, but luckily they checked out the next day. We really didn't do anything other than hang out at the beach and the pool and eat but it was a great time! Oh, and it was great to miss the 110 degree weather that Mesa had while we were gone too! If only we could have stayed longer. . .

Are you Prepared?

Check out this website I found that has a food storage calculator. I was shocked at how much I need for my family for one year. Here are just a few things that my family of five needs: wheat 600 lbs., rice 200 lbs., dry milk 240 lbs. I thought I was doing pretty good with food storage until I used this calculator! I guess the next step is to buy more and then find room for all of it! The Provident Living website also has a calculator but not as specific if you want to check that one out too.

Tagged!

What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was finishing my first year at BYU

5 things on today's to-do list:
1. go to the gym
2. return stuff to Target
3. pick up some paperwork for Justin's preschool
4. play with the kids
5. My daily ritual of going to QT for a drink

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Fruit
2. Weight Watchers 100 calorie fudge bar
3.Angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream
4.Think Thin brownie crunch
5.yogurt

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:
1. Travel
2. Pay off the house and credit cards
3. Set up college funds for all the kids
4. Give money to Dave to open a reptile business
5. Shop till I drop

5 bad habits:
1. being lazy
2. I'm messy
3. drinking caffeine
4. watching too much T.V.
5. procrastinating

5 places I have lived:
1. Redding, CA
2. Multiple apartments in Provo, UT
3. Gilbert, AZ
4. Higley, AZ
5. Mesa, AZ

5 jobs I've had:
1. Mucking horse stalls
2. Hostess at Carver's steak house
3. Hostess, busser, and server at Black Angus
4. Fourth grade teacher at Benjamin Franklin Charter School
5. Mom

A long time ago my friend Melissa tagged me and I was supossed to name 6 quirky things about myself but I couldn't come up with that many so I never did it. I did think of one though and that is that I count things in my head a lot, especially when I'm in the car. I count things like light poles, signs, etc. I know, it's kind of strange.

I tag Chandler and Tiffany

My Latest Read

I just started reading Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, by Christopher Gavigan. I think it is appropriate since today is Earth Day. It is a very informative book, but it has left me feeling so guilty! It makes me feel like I am slowly poisoning my family, particularly the kids, because of all the toxins that are constantly around us. I had no idea that everything from the crib mattress, to the toys, to the bottles, to the clothing and pretty much anything else that isn't labeled "Organic" or "100% natural" has toxins in it! We've all heard about the toy recalls due to lead paint, most of which came from China. I couldn't believe it when the author recommeded throwing away any toy that came from China and India! The book also talks about the plastic used to make many of the toys. Many of them use PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic which actually releases toxic fumes into the air for our children to inhale! Many baby bottles and teething toys are made from this too. Poor Isabelle! Dave and I have been very careful to not warm the baby bottle up in the microwave because this can make it easier to seep in to her formula but I had no idea that it was releasing toxic gases too! The book has many other chapters about making your house, pets, garden, etc. more healthy and less toxic. I haven't read the whole book yet but I am already feeling overwhelmed at how much it would take for me to make a "cleaner, greener, safer home." I can't say that I am going to throw away everything I own that was made in China but I will get rid of some of it and be more selective in the future. I also went to Sprouts today and bought reusable grocery bags, all natural cleaner and laundry detergent and some things to help get the pesticides off of my fruit. It's not much but it does make me feel better that I am trying to make a cleaner, greener, safer home for my family. So I want to know what you are doing or do you think it's just a bunch of you know what!

Doggie Update

The dogs are no longer with us! They found a better home, or at least someone who wanted them!

Please save me!

Sorry for the bad pics but they wouldn't hold still long enough to get a good one!

Yesterday Dave was outside around 10:00 a.m. and these two little dogs came trotting up. I thought they were cute so I petted them and went inside to get some water for them leaving the door open behind me. Little did I know that these dogs were going to follow me in the house and now they won't leave!!!!!!! I put posters all around yesterday truly believing that they would be gone by last night but nobody has called yet. This morning Dave let them outside to go to the bathroom and they just ran off like they knew where they were going so we figured they were going home. Ten minutes later what do we hear? Two little dogs scratching on our door wanting to get in! If you know us at all, you know that the last thing we need is two more animals, so please help me find their owner before I go crazy! They are really sweet dogs and great with Robyn, Justin and Isabelle but I just can't handle two more. I can hardly handle the ones we already have!