tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327969112024-03-07T02:39:32.867-07:00My RamblingsMelanie Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06145022584257592470noreply@blogger.comBlogger727125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-65464971284059623362012-05-29T17:47:00.000-06:002012-05-31T11:31:01.669-06:00A surprise trip...<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We took a last minute trip to CA last weekend thanks to one of Ben's
former students and the free tickets to Disneyland that she gave us. We didn't tell Nolan what we were doing until the morning we left, and even then we just said we were going to California.</div>
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That night, on the walk to dinner from our hotel, Nolan started figuring it out...</div>
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Peter met us in California Adventure and then had dinner with us. </div>
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It was so much fun to see him again! </div>
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And on top of all of that... Downtown Disney had a Lego store!</div>
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Little did he know that the next day held a trip to Legoland! </div>
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And with his cousins to boot! </div>
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More surprises! </div>
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After Legoland we had a marvelous dinner at a delicious burger place near Tiff & Kurt's house, followed by frozen yogurt and a run through the water...</div>
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And the next day, a trip to the beach in Del Mar.</div>
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Nathan & Jenny were able to join us again, so it was a great day of playing with so many cousins! </div>
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We had such a fabulous time in San Diego. </div>
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We are so lucky to have such great family down there to stay with when we're there.</div>
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The Wickhams are some of the best hosts ever. Our kids LOVED their kids and Holland was OBSESSED with their dog, Lucky.</div>
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<br /></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-74836331108471163272012-05-29T10:04:00.001-06:002012-05-29T10:06:39.634-06:00Trees and Pavers<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When we bought this house we knew that a large portion of our summer was going to be spent making the yard look the way we wanted it to. We came up with a grand master plan of where everything would be and what the finished product would look like. We then looked at what we could reasonably spend on the project THIS YEAR and came up with a plan for what we needed to do now and what could wait until later. The first things on our list were trees and a patio. The trees, according to the nursery we used, could, and should, go in before the sprinklers so we could plan around them. The patio, as we had planned it, was going to be large, so it definitely needed to be the first big project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So here are the results so far...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Trees:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQyR04C0DsLOfK8zK1QfwpdNkhcsGtjjXzdEtT5IVBpt4b3KfMXOkiE-MYNdensHwzyTu66e6gkdUUhy26ulawmOHZoxoZXHHxE1CNbppp0T0mJcHImjL7Uk57DXR7CuX5f0Y/s1600/IMG_1117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQyR04C0DsLOfK8zK1QfwpdNkhcsGtjjXzdEtT5IVBpt4b3KfMXOkiE-MYNdensHwzyTu66e6gkdUUhy26ulawmOHZoxoZXHHxE1CNbppp0T0mJcHImjL7Uk57DXR7CuX5f0Y/s640/IMG_1117.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We got 3 flowering pear trees from Costco and added those to the mow strip out front. They are struggling a bit... but they were cheap, so we're hoping they won't die.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mBga-LPAaWXKjO7lmZNMCIrH_3WaGhCeUxbyqSntvAz1AEdl1hjWVVenod-f5tB8AmOqzBkEQr3Bia9Unoz8xSuE9_W-VB6gVt1aBvgl7l1SPzFEIEEA8XVmcGKrZygz4fbB/s1600/IMG_1315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mBga-LPAaWXKjO7lmZNMCIrH_3WaGhCeUxbyqSntvAz1AEdl1hjWVVenod-f5tB8AmOqzBkEQr3Bia9Unoz8xSuE9_W-VB6gVt1aBvgl7l1SPzFEIEEA8XVmcGKrZygz4fbB/s640/IMG_1315.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a Shademaster Honeylocust. It's in the southwest corner of the yard. These things are supposed to grow 4-5' a year, and they get up to 40' wide. We're hoping that it will be a great shade tree pretty quickly for us.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6D5jO9BiUu6tQa97opDNs6sUWQ-NaegiMpNioxdjjhXHl1_l7CcYofDt8Vk2vZ-iRPj-rhwRj1JuLWofYs0y71vOtmjFFw7wpHts5RTBVihHOufLoA3CbIrS4mD80aNbKBHoB/s1600/IMG_1314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6D5jO9BiUu6tQa97opDNs6sUWQ-NaegiMpNioxdjjhXHl1_l7CcYofDt8Vk2vZ-iRPj-rhwRj1JuLWofYs0y71vOtmjFFw7wpHts5RTBVihHOufLoA3CbIrS4mD80aNbKBHoB/s640/IMG_1314.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">And finally, this Autumn Blaze Maple, the largest of the trees, is on the north side of the house. It grows less quickly, only about 2' a year, so we got one that was already fairly large. Thankfully, the nursery that planted the last two warranties them for 5 years, so we have high hopes that they will thrive. In the foreground you can see the piles of gravel that were the beginnings of the patio materials...</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLFGIiGGx6ef5tv6ugKSd4q-szX1knMiigFiKnn19Qyt8eMdlFQp4jlyg8g03GPd_0mlqOaz-BUFWZxkQ2mVLZ6rWxRlfnR8zFVzM8wqpmyIgqyafo6Id2y6rR5jfknF69YGl/s1600/IMG_1313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLFGIiGGx6ef5tv6ugKSd4q-szX1knMiigFiKnn19Qyt8eMdlFQp4jlyg8g03GPd_0mlqOaz-BUFWZxkQ2mVLZ6rWxRlfnR8zFVzM8wqpmyIgqyafo6Id2y6rR5jfknF69YGl/s640/IMG_1313.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On to the patio! First, we had to dig out the area... we had to go down about 5 inches from where the dirt started, so there was a lot of tilling and raking/shoveling the dirt out. It was a large area because we really wanted to add outdoor living space, and there is still PLENTY of room for grass.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8DRIdOlnyC53JS9sbyApSMQ1SwP6PGdmI_yiMAqjJLzqWk7H-d-Db-H7X8EAlgaC0oqQUpPcQ33gT0AcN7g1cFApQ1kXNwX0f6k0IDHoUwNq8mA-54Wug6_MfvaHq2qx46JNY/s1600/IMG_1318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8DRIdOlnyC53JS9sbyApSMQ1SwP6PGdmI_yiMAqjJLzqWk7H-d-Db-H7X8EAlgaC0oqQUpPcQ33gT0AcN7g1cFApQ1kXNwX0f6k0IDHoUwNq8mA-54Wug6_MfvaHq2qx46JNY/s640/IMG_1318.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The black pipe that we buried in the middle is a conduit for sprinkler pipes for later. We wanted to be sure we didn't have to go around the patio when the time came to put the sprinklers in.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrGl1WHpQ1T5lkiOcHbOxTeNcmxD_eggjP5hVfyZ5Kf4ucA9VS5BfF-Y4BQM4KpT2u6ElRKrCfGIAq_20y9pHbj9Qr_IOleTJzjPuwkGbOjAzBjxP-OInysQ41JBte1wjw4xI/s1600/IMG_1320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrGl1WHpQ1T5lkiOcHbOxTeNcmxD_eggjP5hVfyZ5Kf4ucA9VS5BfF-Y4BQM4KpT2u6ElRKrCfGIAq_20y9pHbj9Qr_IOleTJzjPuwkGbOjAzBjxP-OInysQ41JBte1wjw4xI/s640/IMG_1320.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once the dirt was removed, the next step was to add gravel. It had to go in 1" at a time, be sprayed with water, and then tamped down to solidify the base. That tool standing in the middle is a heavy metal plate on a stick. Lifting and dropping the plate onto the rock compacted the rock into itself. The rock base has to be at least 4" deep, so this is a long and tedious process.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeiIEQlVITIr4aMtT7Sw0wC2xR4zZenshcLEDHGEJcHwh5Z2tVMJwBWaYMpGd8t4o1UL2ysJTL_Ry4qP65_bBw-I79lfI_wvSniI6GFf5nkMB2KW_0UXyLSy683_plXThxnp3f/s1600/IMG_1422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeiIEQlVITIr4aMtT7Sw0wC2xR4zZenshcLEDHGEJcHwh5Z2tVMJwBWaYMpGd8t4o1UL2ysJTL_Ry4qP65_bBw-I79lfI_wvSniI6GFf5nkMB2KW_0UXyLSy683_plXThxnp3f/s640/IMG_1422.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The next step was to plan the pattern for how we wanted to lay the pavers. I hate to even tell you the number of hours we spent calculating this. The hope was to arrange the pavers in such a way that there were no straight lines through any section and also that we didn't have to cut any pavers. We didn't want to spend the $ to rent the wet saw to make the cuts... Obviously, the first planning session was done with Legos...</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Qkspo9Rn8eCEvpEWL_oIcI7qjY6JcAJFXpE6pZ_dXjit2UCSe3sYIG3u1zuWSPA_WZtuCvyvHAxX1hr0O_N0Ssz_MdPovrrOM4-eQYttvxuOvLKAAG0EZ99PfQXz6xYFHWRI/s1600/IMG_1445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Qkspo9Rn8eCEvpEWL_oIcI7qjY6JcAJFXpE6pZ_dXjit2UCSe3sYIG3u1zuWSPA_WZtuCvyvHAxX1hr0O_N0Ssz_MdPovrrOM4-eQYttvxuOvLKAAG0EZ99PfQXz6xYFHWRI/s640/IMG_1445.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And when we didn't have enough Legos... Ben mapped the whole thing out in Excel. (nerdy, yes, but it saved us SO much time) At which point we printed the whole thing out and hung it on the inside of the patio door so that we could follow along as we went.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkZQ78F5YTt6gBOo1lEPDNMz7a-0zj7Qhp-T333S1kBee8YdllVq3UH2t0T6U9Mgke0lBqqMsH93Qzw2fhnBH7s9Dzj_ogfmk1789jaTwR2OVBlZ4dn5NU0vJMSYDHmYKwqSe/s1600/IMG_1432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkZQ78F5YTt6gBOo1lEPDNMz7a-0zj7Qhp-T333S1kBee8YdllVq3UH2t0T6U9Mgke0lBqqMsH93Qzw2fhnBH7s9Dzj_ogfmk1789jaTwR2OVBlZ4dn5NU0vJMSYDHmYKwqSe/s640/IMG_1432.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On our first day laying the pavers we did the smallest section...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HdEjXCHhtlnoGUV-KLIed5hBhXXmEF2AHR5ejkMf0n8xlntZEcl5FEuTZCQoL5yiwkAqNgplZTC6JAWLwLDkDHgJ_-Na5rxpKHNq45h7AR5HNGrAlIQk_ESbAa_t-fc7Px6O/s1600/IMG_1464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HdEjXCHhtlnoGUV-KLIed5hBhXXmEF2AHR5ejkMf0n8xlntZEcl5FEuTZCQoL5yiwkAqNgplZTC6JAWLwLDkDHgJ_-Na5rxpKHNq45h7AR5HNGrAlIQk_ESbAa_t-fc7Px6O/s640/IMG_1464.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nolan wanted to help chisel the corners off to fit under the patio door. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFmd0FaMPApPhx_6foehcMxmGEisvjvw0BetpKgZNwATn5dNg-Uuogx0GM0ED91Y_C1HocdFdCzrrdIOquHgjd3ZPrsjdarCO0gi5cAuq5wtWV1MOznpCSQ7BmM9FWZfd9U8t/s1600/IMG_1455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFmd0FaMPApPhx_6foehcMxmGEisvjvw0BetpKgZNwATn5dNg-Uuogx0GM0ED91Y_C1HocdFdCzrrdIOquHgjd3ZPrsjdarCO0gi5cAuq5wtWV1MOznpCSQ7BmM9FWZfd9U8t/s640/IMG_1455.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Each section needs an inch or more of sand laid on top of the rock for the pavers to rest on. The lines you see in the sand are from the pipe you lay to level across the top of. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgSLJioV_0hcu0GR5k3jzkXBgM6IPtGM_481-fFgSudOlMRiUhhBMQ8U4NRxTdqChoeM89n5hXIonC9pwDjH_sSt7viEVY9jusXI0tB6eOZWm3MGFWMQABJLQRFXd-0as36Yf/s1600/IMG_1456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgSLJioV_0hcu0GR5k3jzkXBgM6IPtGM_481-fFgSudOlMRiUhhBMQ8U4NRxTdqChoeM89n5hXIonC9pwDjH_sSt7viEVY9jusXI0tB6eOZWm3MGFWMQABJLQRFXd-0as36Yf/s640/IMG_1456.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then it's just a question of adding the pavers, one at a time... </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YGsMFupVZclFlnjVecj4VcWmtZ9fLh05uXCaM6hJtnrAMyISolQrlmWTWNXQizcppfs7m-5ll4KVRo14cTjAK-wVD8GX5sf7BAnv0kowHDl9n6RlG4TVjiczpvOPs97hSolf/s1600/IMG_1465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YGsMFupVZclFlnjVecj4VcWmtZ9fLh05uXCaM6hJtnrAMyISolQrlmWTWNXQizcppfs7m-5ll4KVRo14cTjAK-wVD8GX5sf7BAnv0kowHDl9n6RlG4TVjiczpvOPs97hSolf/s640/IMG_1465.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once all of the pavers have been laid, you have to put a plastic border around the edges and sweep a second type of sand over the top of the pavers. This sand settles in to all of the cracks and acts as a kind of mortar. after each pass with the sand you have to take the tamper and go over the whole thing to help the sand settle into the cracks. We did three passes with the tamper last night... but I'm sure there will be more in our future as things settle.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqln0wYGCLGVRTD8xkaWw68m3qYq5djZaLntJq5ZO2QpMIhMzK1hJcnPdcJq3NEp3IIC65MjrGLVw4KYGHx0AxcNnFI2ngbbLJOdvFb4K7yEqJpRIdVBC9bD_QF8hReLcCplSn/s1600/IMG_1468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqln0wYGCLGVRTD8xkaWw68m3qYq5djZaLntJq5ZO2QpMIhMzK1hJcnPdcJq3NEp3IIC65MjrGLVw4KYGHx0AxcNnFI2ngbbLJOdvFb4K7yEqJpRIdVBC9bD_QF8hReLcCplSn/s640/IMG_1468.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And this is the finished patio! In general, we decided that erring on the side of too big is probably better than too small. We'll have room for a grill, a table and chairs & a fire pit without being cramped. The way our house faces means great evening shade, so we're hoping to use this space a LOT. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And a better detail shot... There's still some sweeping to be done, but we are THRILLED with how it came out.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">One project down, 83 more to go! </span></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-10786056826205396892012-04-13T15:57:00.000-06:002012-04-13T15:57:08.000-06:00Playing Catch Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fvk5wR3MAj9KEU0Y_RNQeiXQ7zVBavKC_GWXPh0wV4mTNRPfhdHPMWT6CMD4jFBgAYifTjdOClRjZB9YfYMRSUlgSebJVKggLRyWq_Kk_TSmcNynuJjJmCSENohW01xwQjoK/s1600/IMG_1112+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fvk5wR3MAj9KEU0Y_RNQeiXQ7zVBavKC_GWXPh0wV4mTNRPfhdHPMWT6CMD4jFBgAYifTjdOClRjZB9YfYMRSUlgSebJVKggLRyWq_Kk_TSmcNynuJjJmCSENohW01xwQjoK/s640/IMG_1112+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We've moved! We painted all of the bedrooms before we moved in, and we are so happy with the results. It's taking us a while to get settled, so I haven't taken photos yet, but I will soon. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSuTCRipqjOm2Q9PAk9BGJeV_O3rTgi8UCjL_4cBBJFz01d3Genzkq5cjw1GUTP2ymkCbE24lamQdyPVW6LOBWERd3-VMh9jh2SN-QxdWaUapsP7Yk6VF2oxUWeglsv-MINQv/s1600/IMG_0859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSuTCRipqjOm2Q9PAk9BGJeV_O3rTgi8UCjL_4cBBJFz01d3Genzkq5cjw1GUTP2ymkCbE24lamQdyPVW6LOBWERd3-VMh9jh2SN-QxdWaUapsP7Yk6VF2oxUWeglsv-MINQv/s640/IMG_0859.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Now we just have to spend the summer putting in a yard. Joy!</div><div style="text-align: center;">We have been spending a lot of time in Home Depot, to say the least.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6pB1SR8LQ1VKrAet3Tbxl9QR9Uag_Z1Di-a8AXlBS-3QUNfQ2xSURe2SWNQV9VGHKXCJeTYKu7jYhN4Iyg7PqMTDVT905xqUD1QCJUtdZsOUG34V8sKjupBxgVCHM1arboqg/s1600/IMG_1053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6pB1SR8LQ1VKrAet3Tbxl9QR9Uag_Z1Di-a8AXlBS-3QUNfQ2xSURe2SWNQV9VGHKXCJeTYKu7jYhN4Iyg7PqMTDVT905xqUD1QCJUtdZsOUG34V8sKjupBxgVCHM1arboqg/s640/IMG_1053.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Holland turned 1! I can't even believe that she has become such a big girl. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
A few items of note about Holland:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bzxcwypI0luhD4utIS-onZMXAjM9v57KIBHE22IQxFxz14yBR5uteZim0WJ-Nfdi3PYjwq1yD0hAV06qFNfyx5JvUbdfZyKAfYNk5-mK7IWISdkqZExEOSSYK1WnolZcfrOI/s1600/IMG_1001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bzxcwypI0luhD4utIS-onZMXAjM9v57KIBHE22IQxFxz14yBR5uteZim0WJ-Nfdi3PYjwq1yD0hAV06qFNfyx5JvUbdfZyKAfYNk5-mK7IWISdkqZExEOSSYK1WnolZcfrOI/s640/IMG_1001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She, unlike her notoriously picky brother, will eat ANYTHING. She loves food. All kinds of food. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIGwpeSmpW1eKObRS1_I-qqxLZI3dfUKRt1ELHdkgAp0esKI9_-pL27k7OqXcOgOnElAjB3Hq2h86S69MucxOFRdQgWhkzoNQDSS6ovQzWNvIyCxjIDUTMu_4IaZTCgosEx5i/s1600/IMG_0954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIGwpeSmpW1eKObRS1_I-qqxLZI3dfUKRt1ELHdkgAp0esKI9_-pL27k7OqXcOgOnElAjB3Hq2h86S69MucxOFRdQgWhkzoNQDSS6ovQzWNvIyCxjIDUTMu_4IaZTCgosEx5i/s640/IMG_0954.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She has been cruising for months, but doesn't seem to have any desire to walk independently. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She is a total mama's girl. I love it and am frustrated by it simultaneously. Mostly I love it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She is a chatty little thing. She says mama & dada and a vague version of "all done" and "I love you". But mostly, she loves to growl. She has an impressive one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJxtEmEAcKgwZDKYPfNcV7WRsag5ta_AWDsh8f8lR_OLibaQ5a-sdbmSfRm0T1VGLLplcRpq9WP0BuAjFGKKHXD3keRVqqaxSPj205n67OvvskbaWx7jc1flwcuPHYE0JlLj7/s1600/IMG_0981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJxtEmEAcKgwZDKYPfNcV7WRsag5ta_AWDsh8f8lR_OLibaQ5a-sdbmSfRm0T1VGLLplcRpq9WP0BuAjFGKKHXD3keRVqqaxSPj205n67OvvskbaWx7jc1flwcuPHYE0JlLj7/s640/IMG_0981.JPG" width="640" /></a>She has been teething in a very painful way for weeks (or months). She has basically gotten 6 teeth all at once. The last of those 6 is just about to break through. We're all hoping that she gets to live with the 8 teeth she has before she has to start getting more.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She does not yet sleep through the night. She is a bit of a pill on that point. We're working on it, though. I have high hopes...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vK2rslP72DaHt48k__NMmkQTpj5HeQJqCdrGg0daSxPKgrqVlLFnGXOFVU9ZdT5b95ptlVnG3Yn3xOzgOuzH6C4IjbG-rsGW68bCoar8pvRLNLI0iiOnCPLTclFE6zCOMrrv/s1600/IMG_1088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vK2rslP72DaHt48k__NMmkQTpj5HeQJqCdrGg0daSxPKgrqVlLFnGXOFVU9ZdT5b95ptlVnG3Yn3xOzgOuzH6C4IjbG-rsGW68bCoar8pvRLNLI0iiOnCPLTclFE6zCOMrrv/s640/IMG_1088.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nolan is getting bigger and stronger and smarter every day. He is sounding out words and reading really well now. He is obsessed with several things on alternating days. Pokemon, Star Wars, and Legos. He was not thrilled about leaving his old room to move into the new one (which I refused to paint exactly like his old one) but the play room has won him over and he's happy in the new place. </div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-63625075354235181302011-12-04T19:15:00.002-07:002011-12-04T19:16:50.986-07:00Zoo Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The first day of Thanksgiving holiday started with an impromptu trip to the zoo. We had a nice day, though a touch chilly, to wander and see the animals. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM82wYNvx9_LWkSn0PRuw-vlmP4ns1cGHrBjg_ZgGAr-8mAizibM74SF3Tptkhfrdn6aE26R8HMzQH0MzWsVBdSpumRLXOBjCUbcQ4fugbGQovrRdgHKk9frZzE2RlOfCBggSe/s640/DSC_2737.JPG" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The kids posed with the giant elephant that squirts water in the summer time. Nolan thought it would be the most fun to climb on the trunk.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0omvD8JY_8_CVrvn-Dz7SttVEPityahKRo3nQ4-LTResEHzghTtle0BNu8wJ14ePqUxOkcEtElOsCC21lPNn7L7pFx2q1kentrCaN7kWnRPCyGlRmpK8O-wLM9DCs14jKj7F/s1600/DSC_2743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0omvD8JY_8_CVrvn-Dz7SttVEPityahKRo3nQ4-LTResEHzghTtle0BNu8wJ14ePqUxOkcEtElOsCC21lPNn7L7pFx2q1kentrCaN7kWnRPCyGlRmpK8O-wLM9DCs14jKj7F/s640/DSC_2743.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Nolan pretty much worships Tanner.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Can you tell?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCrjQb4W_7P2tG-DiA4HrDPu7W_l6o2-7sCG6WoLTJsPLdL8YwDzWQ_g2gV7hrFbySTD0YkXbEPuaVcARvfxsd0NZzokGIT9x1fKbMQUPqE7awOzjlMoWVkpdwbvboODYFWd_/s1600/DSC_2750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCrjQb4W_7P2tG-DiA4HrDPu7W_l6o2-7sCG6WoLTJsPLdL8YwDzWQ_g2gV7hrFbySTD0YkXbEPuaVcARvfxsd0NZzokGIT9x1fKbMQUPqE7awOzjlMoWVkpdwbvboODYFWd_/s640/DSC_2750.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> I'm guessing the rhino horn was a little less comfortable than the elephant trunk. Aubrey got the prime spot for this one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKfHCGYNGEivNNqQWaIdPCJFSSuUo9gwA5RncvxT0kK4JCatDcpLY0m01Avl71XRTPMN61KU19dZz2QVYNJ0-YnCevW78MC4lYSeS978FFTOuJfnIj2s6sJMwwBhiEGmDrk7A/s1600/DSC_2757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKfHCGYNGEivNNqQWaIdPCJFSSuUo9gwA5RncvxT0kK4JCatDcpLY0m01Avl71XRTPMN61KU19dZz2QVYNJ0-YnCevW78MC4lYSeS978FFTOuJfnIj2s6sJMwwBhiEGmDrk7A/s640/DSC_2757.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> All of the kids on the lions. Nolan was giving his best smile, obviously.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-Yi98DzVPIbtxP1riRoztz9jd0qASLczjSzA88fnr2SAapWLAAe__Fq6XZm9E83vqckfQ8TDOcHEJz0RqrLJ7MVFNgt3NfAVBEKhTGXrhW8z6EGXAt7huecr1-FL5xwzC925/s1600/DSC_2762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-Yi98DzVPIbtxP1riRoztz9jd0qASLczjSzA88fnr2SAapWLAAe__Fq6XZm9E83vqckfQ8TDOcHEJz0RqrLJ7MVFNgt3NfAVBEKhTGXrhW8z6EGXAt7huecr1-FL5xwzC925/s640/DSC_2762.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Tiny posing for daddy's camera.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvgCYZldkP752lYI8LNduFzktlqDSSYtgQfNsYtVomRstvpRL-rL55kRL91-Y2lh5t9lI6OAwgy4jW39ijYxb_qoHHn8FdUHzHn9oOettkxGu-Dt6tA_p4VYiYsW8YGxuveVC/s1600/DSC_2772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvgCYZldkP752lYI8LNduFzktlqDSSYtgQfNsYtVomRstvpRL-rL55kRL91-Y2lh5t9lI6OAwgy4jW39ijYxb_qoHHn8FdUHzHn9oOettkxGu-Dt6tA_p4VYiYsW8YGxuveVC/s640/DSC_2772.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> In front of the giraffes. She got so excited when she saw them. We attribute that to her chew toy, Sophie.We were suckers and got her a stuffed one on the way out of the park.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpQuR2nmPC3IvJxDc8PmqyI3KI19CZ8stV_VcCl9aLZyI9G_MTlcj2MH7FwVd0FSSNXcyqSyFnM8gmgkHap2fv8uJ0bethGNpDQCUi8GzKa4msUYVXLhfVvM3Qdg8byIYiye9/s1600/DSC_2787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpQuR2nmPC3IvJxDc8PmqyI3KI19CZ8stV_VcCl9aLZyI9G_MTlcj2MH7FwVd0FSSNXcyqSyFnM8gmgkHap2fv8uJ0bethGNpDQCUi8GzKa4msUYVXLhfVvM3Qdg8byIYiye9/s640/DSC_2787.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nolan from above. He was banished to the stroller for a lot of the day... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">we'll leave it at that. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-76437580746987409692011-12-04T19:14:00.000-07:002011-12-04T19:14:25.477-07:00Holland & Food<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SQEeLFw38KpGiKu9W2uisxq0_p2S0Z7ZTO_gP0XN5_FncUqgXFGGM35jkryd6HmQ7btnj8DXIJyLS0itkFh4rbhsuIxh8uDozezd9q7m3yqbET1Rs1dOpHf7Y0jZk55LtYXN/s1600/DSC_2631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SQEeLFw38KpGiKu9W2uisxq0_p2S0Z7ZTO_gP0XN5_FncUqgXFGGM35jkryd6HmQ7btnj8DXIJyLS0itkFh4rbhsuIxh8uDozezd9q7m3yqbET1Rs1dOpHf7Y0jZk55LtYXN/s640/DSC_2631.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Baby's first Kit Kat... a post trick or treating snack.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqC0hITIEKwjJKZ2eDAWwbQBP1C2WODu8RCkfcy3n3B7lo_82XI6jVY1nXm3BOB4QRaAuwv0OUQ-6X6OxYxcNk8Yk2mnK6cUDAGFphpgCUooYhgnxg4pPGhJ3lHKlE3Nda7U9j/s1600/DSC_2673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqC0hITIEKwjJKZ2eDAWwbQBP1C2WODu8RCkfcy3n3B7lo_82XI6jVY1nXm3BOB4QRaAuwv0OUQ-6X6OxYxcNk8Yk2mnK6cUDAGFphpgCUooYhgnxg4pPGhJ3lHKlE3Nda7U9j/s640/DSC_2673.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Daddy gave her a first taste of refried beans he brought back from Del Taco.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD_1Jamuh5VSXkoGpyIXvtpPoVfUdi0uqmUV8-zdoGuEQU7odgL7RgQGy-UirRb9Z0X7AOzqzOmXiUdqGftygSWxmIK7le5W4hsarSU7_rli9tbWVXY0wn4votTOOPnKochC4/s1600/DSC_2665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD_1Jamuh5VSXkoGpyIXvtpPoVfUdi0uqmUV8-zdoGuEQU7odgL7RgQGy-UirRb9Z0X7AOzqzOmXiUdqGftygSWxmIK7le5W4hsarSU7_rli9tbWVXY0wn4votTOOPnKochC4/s640/DSC_2665.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCQB36y-RoCAvV70bAqRcD90lJ7eNwK43Cm_f5iKGc8JdKqbZ1EipCgp-0mHuP8Md2LR51CB0tNBm7hpybtW-mbqpxU_uQtiIrtjMWjQjXVbQgcpuKgIscmrHCQfJhB4NC7cs/s1600/DSC_2664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCQB36y-RoCAvV70bAqRcD90lJ7eNwK43Cm_f5iKGc8JdKqbZ1EipCgp-0mHuP8Md2LR51CB0tNBm7hpybtW-mbqpxU_uQtiIrtjMWjQjXVbQgcpuKgIscmrHCQfJhB4NC7cs/s640/DSC_2664.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'd say she liked them, wouldn't you? </div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-24175916812644651992011-11-18T13:09:00.002-07:002011-11-18T13:31:16.702-07:00catching up some more<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Annnnddd.... a month later I finally return. Geez.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A few moments from our fall, in photo form.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntEfw5mL_GwHDUZfKfoPUNoh3rA6M3ogBVgaCJOaxoUnUFzFGAchJcLAIkaxejG_mYBC2-eMBbYWYzRIl0zJR2m7VJN8o2xyD4Lr9igzBKDBzQONl1wDmFw5WwKS3wGsxqUZl/s640/DSC_2526.JPG" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nolan started going to preschool at Challenger up in Lehi 3 days a week. I drop him off when I go to work and pick him up when I'm done. He absolutely ADORES it. He is such a social kid and he loves learning, so this was a no brainer for him. And it's so close to my office that I am right there if he needs me (which he never has).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">He wanted his first day of school photo in dad's tie "because that's what dad wears when he goes to BYU" </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln_VPrjXuc0lJXiNIU_xBf6UX76hHAfcnar1jWdVtyxAlyjDI7kvrXTefiYHGYfxSJ_JbIZNyOZ_GXeHe4czTvPrCtIPaiSmFx3bJKmNP3zncUD7WAoLwVNU4KNpEKF6JzDIx/s1600/DSC_2555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln_VPrjXuc0lJXiNIU_xBf6UX76hHAfcnar1jWdVtyxAlyjDI7kvrXTefiYHGYfxSJ_JbIZNyOZ_GXeHe4czTvPrCtIPaiSmFx3bJKmNP3zncUD7WAoLwVNU4KNpEKF6JzDIx/s640/DSC_2555.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nolan and Holland are fast friends these days. Sometimes he loves on her a little too much... but that's pretty natural for an older brother, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalGKPzgd0PXBANSJQsNwdjsHsyb2FgECwyOR2T4TfCj2_k6T_e_fEGMqzWKbeGORrtVvIfR2Snqi0327QJqFWxetXRhdP4g3YW8jUvGm1yFJJWyRF2dzSirG4so_Jeg8gElsY/s1600/DSC_2563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalGKPzgd0PXBANSJQsNwdjsHsyb2FgECwyOR2T4TfCj2_k6T_e_fEGMqzWKbeGORrtVvIfR2Snqi0327QJqFWxetXRhdP4g3YW8jUvGm1yFJJWyRF2dzSirG4so_Jeg8gElsY/s640/DSC_2563.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Holland has entered the brave new world of solid foods. This was her first meal of oatmeal (mixed with breastmilk, so it wasn't totally foreign) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1IFYonzxaGFhO8No954npc1oChkl20qDRrRiHf2JD2SqabUcLo2RrCh3zKb05QLMMC-PwEEHlsudXQlBjwBTTv1i9KLdiI7PBUtz7Z8GXCdxsYPP3BOkdEe2AAZ021nMTHXY/s1600/DSC_2566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1IFYonzxaGFhO8No954npc1oChkl20qDRrRiHf2JD2SqabUcLo2RrCh3zKb05QLMMC-PwEEHlsudXQlBjwBTTv1i9KLdiI7PBUtz7Z8GXCdxsYPP3BOkdEe2AAZ021nMTHXY/s640/DSC_2566.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xWXw9QIx7d1QjJqiimxLhMrLbOghPmJf-fQSYYTC-FbmJtoCvgMMxM76wJnaMvKknSDHbUt2cOlmgROKRodMmrVc35giWbM4hR47g-MCEkM0L_u7R9R-_CJ30EzYjpiP6MFX/s1600/DSC_2584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xWXw9QIx7d1QjJqiimxLhMrLbOghPmJf-fQSYYTC-FbmJtoCvgMMxM76wJnaMvKknSDHbUt2cOlmgROKRodMmrVc35giWbM4hR47g-MCEkM0L_u7R9R-_CJ30EzYjpiP6MFX/s640/DSC_2584.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Frankly, she doesn't love it. She would much prefer to steal whatever we are eating. </div><div style="text-align: center;">And we let her.</div><div style="text-align: center;">But we also fill her up with this concoction because she's been on a bottle strike for several weeks now and I want to make sure she's getting the good stuff somehow when I'm not home. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We went Trick Or Treating with our good friends the Chandlers on Halloween. This is their family photo. They were all good sports.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDV_7Dt9SBqmGfq5qN_wabG9R8fzgrclfZsLSTCwiCdHUH47B-LFGNytYVPHY7bizB29-NfIJdG7EDw8loPOJYHfXOpeB5y9yAHbEtslvVvrCdFda3QP5jcKq_Jppuyh6LHfa/s1600/DSC_2617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDV_7Dt9SBqmGfq5qN_wabG9R8fzgrclfZsLSTCwiCdHUH47B-LFGNytYVPHY7bizB29-NfIJdG7EDw8loPOJYHfXOpeB5y9yAHbEtslvVvrCdFda3QP5jcKq_Jppuyh6LHfa/s640/DSC_2617.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqp4FLKjBJpZyNKpPKqd2d_HRQ41DChW5OrkM25HgLxHIQ0dPA7TQPzcxJZmJLzubUXX1k6oWcpcDYKJemCV6_ZwpW9Lq_ao2xxIR5zYO4qdoRxk-hgPCifRRz14wVpIxYyRZF/s1600/DSC_2620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqp4FLKjBJpZyNKpPKqd2d_HRQ41DChW5OrkM25HgLxHIQ0dPA7TQPzcxJZmJLzubUXX1k6oWcpcDYKJemCV6_ZwpW9Lq_ao2xxIR5zYO4qdoRxk-hgPCifRRz14wVpIxYyRZF/s640/DSC_2620.JPG" width="574" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I was not. I sort of hate the practice of dressing up. But I did put Holland in black and then attach stuffed black socks to the Bjorn so she looked like a spider. That's something, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKv4p8uAfraMT0QIj0njvxrAT7FZhrPYMNFW7xBwQobIHSYNEJjRtDKngNs05W7E5gqNHErnE0efQtcui1Pph_jx77oUqSOoVEbLVnRvfXfsts3fO2C7OxSRzWDwKmQ7Jp4dp/s1600/DSC_2622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKv4p8uAfraMT0QIj0njvxrAT7FZhrPYMNFW7xBwQobIHSYNEJjRtDKngNs05W7E5gqNHErnE0efQtcui1Pph_jx77oUqSOoVEbLVnRvfXfsts3fO2C7OxSRzWDwKmQ7Jp4dp/s640/DSC_2622.JPG" width="638" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Nolan dressed as Mario again... Which was convenient for me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvp35VCKhOiJ6j8RDHa9c4i5YCo55ldwHU5NVg2nXL-N_MjNrjcQGHJ73tEl15HFXdltAX6W1c1qHk1pcIAggAs-ZeR0WLFD8agMSfi_BN4Rq1TGFzGatkPED14Y6dv4-USMm/s1600/DSC_2594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvp35VCKhOiJ6j8RDHa9c4i5YCo55ldwHU5NVg2nXL-N_MjNrjcQGHJ73tEl15HFXdltAX6W1c1qHk1pcIAggAs-ZeR0WLFD8agMSfi_BN4Rq1TGFzGatkPED14Y6dv4-USMm/s640/DSC_2594.JPG" width="640" /> </a>Nolan's birthday is the day after Halloween... which is fine with him still, because he likes Halloween. We just did a party with my family to celebrate, because his cousins are some of his favorite people. And all he wanted was vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting decorated Mario. So I copped out a bit and printed pictures and put them on toothpicks. It worked. <a href="http://asd/"><br />
</a>We also had vanilla ice cream. He's a purist, this one.Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-53786063264315667642011-10-08T22:35:00.000-06:002011-10-08T22:35:12.846-06:00Pictures with Nanny Tamera<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://teamariephotography.webs.com/">Tamera was trying out a new backdrop yesterday,</a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and was nice enough to use my children as guinea pigs, yet again. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Thankfully, they were nice enough to smile for her. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(If only Nolan had gotten a hair cut one day sooner... his curls do some interesting things when his hair grows out & he looks like a hippy. But I guess that was reality.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love the lists of their current favorites on the chalkboard, for memories.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And that last one...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's going on the wall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg73pRkrV7sCR1I177enrAw6-0dmZJVBOfflaQVa6V-Nmoi5BV0ioqSvvneoNy5HYu_UusNBcEP15QrJYDAUK3jiMe5caPtJuDiUQ3bpgtUspASznUWCx2v67EM-jl8x6uLR_/s640/0+web+TMP_6306.jpg" width="640" /></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoIH-2ijlqZR8emPiJBXVZZVLN6wiujeoF8lRs20TEXMMnsEDrcF1pp4GpySY6TIO_QQcE6fRTGpdf96_MiCpVbkNDJ-9BgJ4zFxzkwBPiyYd8VebCoh8fh9Sp0y0TCcvaixY/s1600/0+web+TMP_6320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoIH-2ijlqZR8emPiJBXVZZVLN6wiujeoF8lRs20TEXMMnsEDrcF1pp4GpySY6TIO_QQcE6fRTGpdf96_MiCpVbkNDJ-9BgJ4zFxzkwBPiyYd8VebCoh8fh9Sp0y0TCcvaixY/s640/0+web+TMP_6320.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFG-GMlbks2WpltElNqn0wkredsQO5FW07-tX_43AE_36yX7ubFrsOkyRV0gzjZCzaxS6L-iCfTJmPEwc4TO4P-A84-d3ePmNFgC096U5CggNmaynKHKRtJ9MjKz9UgByu7_m/s1600/0+web+TMP_6324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFG-GMlbks2WpltElNqn0wkredsQO5FW07-tX_43AE_36yX7ubFrsOkyRV0gzjZCzaxS6L-iCfTJmPEwc4TO4P-A84-d3ePmNFgC096U5CggNmaynKHKRtJ9MjKz9UgByu7_m/s640/0+web+TMP_6324.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuN_W8GgGcDYlg0XlhyphenhyphenzIwIUbTeuY6rab_HiTjbLBsJ3L3LKbQDgrkfsSVavpTB6B830p-6HHeg3qqdPF62prLzYAZpCBiIQ7Zx-cY5WQCeY21XEZILivi_uRBPnesZSoL1tJ/s1600/0+web+TMP_6360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuN_W8GgGcDYlg0XlhyphenhyphenzIwIUbTeuY6rab_HiTjbLBsJ3L3LKbQDgrkfsSVavpTB6B830p-6HHeg3qqdPF62prLzYAZpCBiIQ7Zx-cY5WQCeY21XEZILivi_uRBPnesZSoL1tJ/s640/0+web+TMP_6360.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pwhbiUldgtLuS26411QzaIiZQVC9uZIeK4jpa3C7xMONjiZIpBrtXJaDZSVYfMxP-Bslfa-iPkTC6UsNS-jBB2lsjPHzBa1_jIH2ZKqDnKpBFYPXm-pALfKeNEk9misUee_d/s1600/0+web+TMP_6381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pwhbiUldgtLuS26411QzaIiZQVC9uZIeK4jpa3C7xMONjiZIpBrtXJaDZSVYfMxP-Bslfa-iPkTC6UsNS-jBB2lsjPHzBa1_jIH2ZKqDnKpBFYPXm-pALfKeNEk9misUee_d/s640/0+web+TMP_6381.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXun-Wf2dxAkXsdxClUv9ppigUCVsS0qkkPANbv2ShtpwbgCLltka-ENpHJhzcjKJeO3X2j0rVuGZng9Ob6_BBfBSFVPAmDmIrLz9bxP52PDmna6IU62MNvlq3qUIri0pqUXE/s1600/0+web+TMP_6418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXun-Wf2dxAkXsdxClUv9ppigUCVsS0qkkPANbv2ShtpwbgCLltka-ENpHJhzcjKJeO3X2j0rVuGZng9Ob6_BBfBSFVPAmDmIrLz9bxP52PDmna6IU62MNvlq3qUIri0pqUXE/s640/0+web+TMP_6418.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-606811507917211682011-10-05T16:26:00.002-06:002011-10-05T16:29:50.180-06:00In a Nutshell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pMh_DDrpZrzwkByhQCK66692nxo5gP4ZESCdrm4AeJNwX-gxUOmPeYpwwsW5-UxgRRNWJR3ku6qVEQmuzdaauOS43LjKldx-WERFqooxVi2dftiV5BfbOjZdVL5FMEq7nT1c/s1600/IMG_1334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pMh_DDrpZrzwkByhQCK66692nxo5gP4ZESCdrm4AeJNwX-gxUOmPeYpwwsW5-UxgRRNWJR3ku6qVEQmuzdaauOS43LjKldx-WERFqooxVi2dftiV5BfbOjZdVL5FMEq7nT1c/s640/IMG_1334.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I have photos and video spread over SO many computers and hard drives right now... So rather than a proper post on any of these things for today, I will give you a quick recap of the last 2 months. I will likely come back to all of this again, but as an overview...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We're tired.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">-- We enrolled Nolan in preschool. He goes to Challenger School just up the hill from my office 3 days a week, from 9am-5pm. And he is LOVING it. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">-- Ben started yet another school year, checking in students, training RAs and RHA kiddies, organizing programs... and trying not to lose his mind in the process since his normal busy time happened to overlap my busy time this year (normally our convention is in November. This year it was in September)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">-- XANGO Convention came and went... thank HEAVEN (on the went part). It was huge for my department, given that we had to rebrand the company and all of our product lines in the 3 months prior to convention.<br />
To call it insane is an understatement of EPIC proportions. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I wish the fact that convention is over meant that things were slow around here... but alas. I'm still crazy busy. Project management is a lot of work on top of my archiving duties.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">-- Her wee tininess is 6 months old now. She won't go in for her check up for another 2 weeks, since we were late last time, but I know for sure that she is getting bigger daily. She's still little, relatively, but she's got some chunk on her, finally. She's rolling all over the place, eating some solids, and sleeping... pretty much like her brother did at this age... which is to say, not very consistently. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I think I can speak for all of us in saying that it feels like a bit of a miracle that we even survived the past couple of months. And if someone offered to let me start over and try them again, I would punch that someone in the face. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But we did survive. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And we're going to try to make Fall awesome...<br />
because it is, after all, the best season there is.</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-56539827406776314182011-10-04T16:35:00.002-06:002011-10-04T16:35:43.252-06:00We're not deadSeriously. <br />
<br />
I know it's been two months...<br />
<br />
but the longer I spend not blogging, the less I remember how.<br />
<br />
I will now update my header instead. <br />
<br />
And be back tomorrow.Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-80983144365578164362011-08-05T16:50:00.001-06:002011-08-05T16:51:40.116-06:00Friday Randoms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDS1QN9zxKzdvsGZQilF1TLkYoTl49M6jYl2N5YXnIwHvyJ54SKE9512s3LRl67ZP9tSFdHdtSOmbRKIxIcnUyDxTxz3bmuR4QsK2qEdZ5GohLSZKlVGdzTGt593KL2br-tD0/s1600/IMG_1180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDS1QN9zxKzdvsGZQilF1TLkYoTl49M6jYl2N5YXnIwHvyJ54SKE9512s3LRl67ZP9tSFdHdtSOmbRKIxIcnUyDxTxz3bmuR4QsK2qEdZ5GohLSZKlVGdzTGt593KL2br-tD0/s400/IMG_1180.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">this is Holland's "I don't feel so good" face. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">1-</span> We all got sick a couple of weeks ago... starting with the baby getting croup and then passing along the joy to the rest of us.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is what I get, I think, for planning on having a Spring baby to avoid getting the plague. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is karma laughing in my face. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">True, it was only croup and not RSV... but 3 weeks later we have all FINALLY finished our antibiotics and are not coughing ourselves awake at night.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And that's just wrong when it's 90 degrees outside.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPo30qKtRDtnYM8qeqzApZPX6hKIP_Cys7doYwmTz8mUNsbtqIZ_4iOJXJvZrK41gr_hFk0EhOttKgetPAKe6a3_UkBGRiQ9OBHlD_EHHAp4F1hUc7rh1SNMQ76aLyQcVf8CPb/s1600/IMG_1125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPo30qKtRDtnYM8qeqzApZPX6hKIP_Cys7doYwmTz8mUNsbtqIZ_4iOJXJvZrK41gr_hFk0EhOttKgetPAKe6a3_UkBGRiQ9OBHlD_EHHAp4F1hUc7rh1SNMQ76aLyQcVf8CPb/s400/IMG_1125.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">2-</span></span> Because of the sickness, her Wee Tininess got to go to the dr. with Ben to get drugs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Her weight... 11 lbs, 10 oz. </div><div style="text-align: center;">At almost 4 months old.</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Nolan was 17 lbs by now)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaLPZz8WcraxjVNiQxJT5ecro7olHhU5cBTcsYmZVcLt8_WOUTm8qJEDuiYa2InZJHxtavDbw7SKn1vlpy2dDMRgIamOP1USoZi4Rl992LImpv2nrT2KV-ch3MbLNgxS-2Qsy/s1600/IMG_1118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaLPZz8WcraxjVNiQxJT5ecro7olHhU5cBTcsYmZVcLt8_WOUTm8qJEDuiYa2InZJHxtavDbw7SKn1vlpy2dDMRgIamOP1USoZi4Rl992LImpv2nrT2KV-ch3MbLNgxS-2Qsy/s400/IMG_1118.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She's a skinny mini. but still growing, so that's OK.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfY6rATd4m6KY2Z-vq-HbpK6LHMwS2P3urXiQvDAjhFLoqjqmxf9vR5HEwR9TlSbMA239dHnDA6Hhe_yRccLbgzr47PTnUvkXHHCJEcK6ehIiBdrTeGVWMNxfkg6s3uQa9PIg/s1600/IMG_1190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfY6rATd4m6KY2Z-vq-HbpK6LHMwS2P3urXiQvDAjhFLoqjqmxf9vR5HEwR9TlSbMA239dHnDA6Hhe_yRccLbgzr47PTnUvkXHHCJEcK6ehIiBdrTeGVWMNxfkg6s3uQa9PIg/s400/IMG_1190.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Check her out in the Bumbo. Not quite sturdy enough to stay in it for long... but we definitely don't need to wedge her in like we did her brother.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">3-</span> We have been having a lot of afternoon rain storms this summer. It brings me back to my VA days.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Upon arriving home from Tamera's one day, Nolan decided he wanted to play in it... and I was trying to be a cool mom, so I let him. . .</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">It actually didn't rain for much longer, but the metal roof over our parking spaces was nice enough to create a fountain of water so that Nolan could continue his fun...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAS_tA3b8rTQfcPsBov4jZfzzF8_5fK6hjVmjMBsp2FjLc6xAAWbxp84Ag2XCmTsrXxGCt27Kcwne7iyF1u2mrP-Xab34Y3q3YNGikrxOk3dJFlPWWvFhKC0VgnEVhCv3l-Wv/s1600/DSC_2486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAS_tA3b8rTQfcPsBov4jZfzzF8_5fK6hjVmjMBsp2FjLc6xAAWbxp84Ag2XCmTsrXxGCt27Kcwne7iyF1u2mrP-Xab34Y3q3YNGikrxOk3dJFlPWWvFhKC0VgnEVhCv3l-Wv/s400/DSC_2486.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1w3z91JYChjTqwWv640iiolImquqstQkYjnNe6N1phGyqLcJ6DVpzhLftgLhNyu7pWPNFxCpQc1Vv6b4vlFBFwPzmZnA_Stce-e9fTV-ImGslkZW2Fh-02AlWPLpaRErc6Ee8/s1600/DSC_2477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1w3z91JYChjTqwWv640iiolImquqstQkYjnNe6N1phGyqLcJ6DVpzhLftgLhNyu7pWPNFxCpQc1Vv6b4vlFBFwPzmZnA_Stce-e9fTV-ImGslkZW2Fh-02AlWPLpaRErc6Ee8/s400/DSC_2477.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLsoDqdKSOF-ZzFqsg7hF7vhdoUSyMFtBQwHOU8vxYOMpmXlVF9o7-1Cqc1VSneaLneS4DIggnQbGG4Ps1QKbJJek0T1HHZv9aTYmkHnNb7hnMhNZNtsZFczLuZ-axCnKWteD/s1600/DSC_2495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLsoDqdKSOF-ZzFqsg7hF7vhdoUSyMFtBQwHOU8vxYOMpmXlVF9o7-1Cqc1VSneaLneS4DIggnQbGG4Ps1QKbJJek0T1HHZv9aTYmkHnNb7hnMhNZNtsZFczLuZ-axCnKWteD/s400/DSC_2495.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I begged Ben to go out and take his picture, as he was SOAKED, and was having so much fun... </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxyb-i03RGjv_HlbaQWFBJ7iYGw02B3X49NEXE9u7kfm6zdDlmwxYtJlBKsu8bPC-vOufDgEoViYWgrhb8S72uNaSM-GZX7We5G9WzXYjz2JnlH30enPhgtAY8kB9Uuop5My-/s1600/DSC_2501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxyb-i03RGjv_HlbaQWFBJ7iYGw02B3X49NEXE9u7kfm6zdDlmwxYtJlBKsu8bPC-vOufDgEoViYWgrhb8S72uNaSM-GZX7We5G9WzXYjz2JnlH30enPhgtAY8kB9Uuop5My-/s400/DSC_2501.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> After which, Ben turned the camera on us girls.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"> 4-</span> Nolan is a pretty typical 3 year old. He has obsessions... Several of them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">He has a marvelous imagination, and is constantly pretending to be a character from one of his favorite shows/games/etc..</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkAWlWJa2KJ6gt8XoEfRwn5tOSsunzOgwZ2j7RQ7xHbP31TBk-Wa60tJIiwPBSbmPvsF3PN4n8jli4ztOhKZQIOzrRZpNeSW53NG6tNLi-1kI7WIkcT23P4z4znmWG90wDiuG/s1600/IMG_1199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkAWlWJa2KJ6gt8XoEfRwn5tOSsunzOgwZ2j7RQ7xHbP31TBk-Wa60tJIiwPBSbmPvsF3PN4n8jli4ztOhKZQIOzrRZpNeSW53NG6tNLi-1kI7WIkcT23P4z4znmWG90wDiuG/s320/IMG_1199.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> On this day he was wearing his Lego Harry Potter t-shirt while swinging his Yoda light saber...</div><div style="text-align: center;">It's hard to know what's his favorite thing from one day to the next, but I'm guessing that won't change as he gets older.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6KvUF9bybz2Q_atMaRcUe-crgmTMxDM6fMe1wnQz4YEfCRXDi42GAptGEpzzWmisLyoNbT_mur3iUiBCeC_FXMcEA7tWxWXKdoFrwgZdtbJvzqDtrUymhcUXeyLlzoAsbdTo/s1600/IMG_1206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6KvUF9bybz2Q_atMaRcUe-crgmTMxDM6fMe1wnQz4YEfCRXDi42GAptGEpzzWmisLyoNbT_mur3iUiBCeC_FXMcEA7tWxWXKdoFrwgZdtbJvzqDtrUymhcUXeyLlzoAsbdTo/s400/IMG_1206.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">5- </span>And finally, a first for our family.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Professional soccer! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Every summer my company hosts a party for all of the employees. There's food and games, and usually it's held at 7 Peaks so that everyone can enjoy the water slide fun.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But a lot of us don't go... because we don't want to see our co-workers in swim suits, and don't want to be seen in ours.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This year, the company leveraged our <a href="http://www.realsaltlake.com/">RSL sponsorship</a> and got us all tickets to a soccer game instead.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We cheered the team on from great seats surrounded by our friends.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTW4-oiO9QEWXDMeYSrRsb83erAF7jPyXhjpEdxteC_J9xqDz1OByeUvmSxfKcSyUvR0qwIG7G9B8T_Y2ueKfvZT9lIPeaZ0LIpe9pf-lO_Ys-Zw2KHuYPa3oTTCOIwEYhxfN/s1600/IMG_1208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTW4-oiO9QEWXDMeYSrRsb83erAF7jPyXhjpEdxteC_J9xqDz1OByeUvmSxfKcSyUvR0qwIG7G9B8T_Y2ueKfvZT9lIPeaZ0LIpe9pf-lO_Ys-Zw2KHuYPa3oTTCOIwEYhxfN/s320/IMG_1208.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Nolan loved it. As did my friend Clint's son Vinnie, who was sitting in front of us. Clint is the resident soccer expert at XANGO, so Nolan chose to sit by him and ask him all about the game. Clint was nice enough to answer him.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Vinnie looks strikingly like Nolan, doesn't he? red heads gotta stick together!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">As a side note, this was also Nolan's first day without diapers or pull ups, and he weathered it like a CHAMP! He's going to be fully potty trained before you know it. (finally!)</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-57094769684117873952011-07-24T00:46:00.000-06:002011-07-24T00:46:38.587-06:00Another Visit from Lolo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We were thrilled to see Loraine again last week. She wasn't planning on visiting UT this trip, but she felt that she needed to meet Holland... And we were so thrilled to see her again. We crashed the Knudsen house several days in a row to see her.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We had a giant Costco chocolate cake along with our game of pinochle to celebrate Trishmas...</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's been 2 years already. Hard to believe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDUQZimMhICApSOdg1qxbSdXEDhlDtS28au7HmAvVAfBM6xWX74H-Vfc_6ScYRzdUEk5_1Cy5PyglimKRxH1ObgvYDcYwwyfmSn9Ntoqrj7zkF_jXoZLEIceswyC8FqipA6tT/s1600/DSC_2415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDUQZimMhICApSOdg1qxbSdXEDhlDtS28au7HmAvVAfBM6xWX74H-Vfc_6ScYRzdUEk5_1Cy5PyglimKRxH1ObgvYDcYwwyfmSn9Ntoqrj7zkF_jXoZLEIceswyC8FqipA6tT/s640/DSC_2415.JPG" width="640" /></a>Nolan had a FANTASTIC time playing with Dane & Jack. They have the most amazing back yard, and the boys made good use of it.<img border="0" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nggrD18uyDPPg1bTwxyyyZ-vE82ZNkFhwbc4iyrg7-FB38f5VNJ_0WtW6VkfSHhDGaGwaVOOivGsldfyEcsurKj9jy28HvoHXMw2e2GALMAKDuZhfcNufQrnQCmeKdUokFD8/s640/DSC_2419.JPG" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I saw this photo that Lillie posted on facebook right before Loraine arrived, of them together when Lillie was about 2...<img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8nve8Ir5jjHwRuz87CAlXhZDMvTheRzRNMr2foO5lPtn1V5ErbGO0VerhkWpgv2p1UdzeXrjoiD1zjiYHkEhrnqfuBkstPphZuD7IMH4zJEvT9uoeM7ificcdbFZmjXHcj-h/s640/Screen+shot+2011-07-24+at+12.33.58+AM.png" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And I forced her to restage it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">13 now!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWRErleBeJOn7llEy8YNAjOal3Oqc0IALTtUPa2IWmOwx5LAekEvln6C6cymSTytugp4dX_qSjIzNf1jfptiT2mgHkQlZTUGFgtJdRrMdtdIhB2Qej7tu0vofwunDCaCLg670/s1600/DSC_2424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWRErleBeJOn7llEy8YNAjOal3Oqc0IALTtUPa2IWmOwx5LAekEvln6C6cymSTytugp4dX_qSjIzNf1jfptiT2mgHkQlZTUGFgtJdRrMdtdIhB2Qej7tu0vofwunDCaCLg670/s640/DSC_2424.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jen's kids were totally enamored with Holland.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Luckily, Holland can sleep through ANYTHING once she's out for the night, and she let them love on her while she slept.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GqDUdnoiCONBb42syc-tNruOWvHK8KNcAahok9y4TVeP-YBGOY2_DLY6rP6AJwPMNdN8jr_P7vSMHD9gAnhAcJ0Gapg62MR09pCjfbQ7r6B8FqIDdnsH8uV8KmcXmnMSlumo/s1600/DSC_2422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GqDUdnoiCONBb42syc-tNruOWvHK8KNcAahok9y4TVeP-YBGOY2_DLY6rP6AJwPMNdN8jr_P7vSMHD9gAnhAcJ0Gapg62MR09pCjfbQ7r6B8FqIDdnsH8uV8KmcXmnMSlumo/s640/DSC_2422.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo4drdixzf7wLtFh02fgHu_I6wW9FoUQrmYONKCI6-8jZaZIKrX_81uYb-ECHifSg2N6WLpckdRWk7zL2DPTgE8np0fARvvKbgmeWLp91VNprrYbuukEePBAeAI8BLHxpq5EU/s1600/DSC_2433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo4drdixzf7wLtFh02fgHu_I6wW9FoUQrmYONKCI6-8jZaZIKrX_81uYb-ECHifSg2N6WLpckdRWk7zL2DPTgE8np0fARvvKbgmeWLp91VNprrYbuukEePBAeAI8BLHxpq5EU/s640/DSC_2433.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Ben was able to take the kids to the zoo with them the next day (I had to work, so I didn't get to join them) </div><div style="text-align: center;">Apparently I mostly missed a lot of heat and people...</div><div style="text-align: center;">And some ice cream cones.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7X1mL89-ieT-BMr2fO0tiwjX09OjNiXeZm6Q7wyV7FRFr7W2ZMtm7g1byb-jqCBdkDf4S3YIB8cFK5_GCAO3AJ2tj16oLNVqgTiMb0vH5fyf88zooyYlrAk8DdeSKTEMz-02/s1600/DSC_2448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7X1mL89-ieT-BMr2fO0tiwjX09OjNiXeZm6Q7wyV7FRFr7W2ZMtm7g1byb-jqCBdkDf4S3YIB8cFK5_GCAO3AJ2tj16oLNVqgTiMb0vH5fyf88zooyYlrAk8DdeSKTEMz-02/s640/DSC_2448.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZkPSYWnwVSSmfKkVHtm6Fp-wVd4WWn1Dowr5luZAj7A7is68y3x74dCZ-OmlLwU03ADbZ9b71XIzAGhyTKr_9X0dQMejuSzuH9PtxjG2a00eQNz2UWVv0B64xWl4_wvg-Snl/s1600/DSC_2451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZkPSYWnwVSSmfKkVHtm6Fp-wVd4WWn1Dowr5luZAj7A7is68y3x74dCZ-OmlLwU03ADbZ9b71XIzAGhyTKr_9X0dQMejuSzuH9PtxjG2a00eQNz2UWVv0B64xWl4_wvg-Snl/s640/DSC_2451.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>We managed to snag a fantastic double stroller from KSL classifieds for a STEAL! I am so glad we have it. & even more glad that we didn't pay full price for one. Who knows how much longer Nolan will dig the ride vs. the walk...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOitJJ39myzNP5IZ_csmBgDEzoC8LnuQXRFlK4aZ1Q8iBzib2cFWOYjM715EHH377U-bJm_s266AHHZfzI0Wpc8njAiZ8Lg4yWnhTmpxIlcnomj0PHsk-UZsx0wg82Rvji-adz/s1600/DSC_2437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOitJJ39myzNP5IZ_csmBgDEzoC8LnuQXRFlK4aZ1Q8iBzib2cFWOYjM715EHH377U-bJm_s266AHHZfzI0Wpc8njAiZ8Lg4yWnhTmpxIlcnomj0PHsk-UZsx0wg82Rvji-adz/s640/DSC_2437.JPG" width="640" /> </a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Luckily, Holland thought it was a pretty sweet way to see the zoo.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizG1AIfdGAuhxACgA-Laoj_6M2D1mdtZeSX6ijnMxdc0BZ2c2Ockg_qva0-Rka1UJLX6StEfTxQPBRogbYbi_cu62_SeLZkrGfrPeAclTJUcpUsOQpnnIzf6dy9vtj8j8WBG_a/s1600/DSC_2459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizG1AIfdGAuhxACgA-Laoj_6M2D1mdtZeSX6ijnMxdc0BZ2c2Ockg_qva0-Rka1UJLX6StEfTxQPBRogbYbi_cu62_SeLZkrGfrPeAclTJUcpUsOQpnnIzf6dy9vtj8j8WBG_a/s640/DSC_2459.JPG" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> We're so glad Lolo got to visit and meet Tiny. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">& we're hoping it won't be too long before we see her again. </div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-55616758255109198612011-07-08T16:21:00.001-06:002011-07-08T16:23:08.169-06:00Friday Randoms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Ym7kSty7DrrSvaRc4hBpympp0GIaeudXtAR61kTczrwdXK5wrliMY6eShnFYOPDGSa3KZjMLWMoqlQrT42vEg3ghyxtIxWxONN9hD4lteiUSnmPW-FST7yFyhoObFuUDESrn/s1600/DSC_2387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Ym7kSty7DrrSvaRc4hBpympp0GIaeudXtAR61kTczrwdXK5wrliMY6eShnFYOPDGSa3KZjMLWMoqlQrT42vEg3ghyxtIxWxONN9hD4lteiUSnmPW-FST7yFyhoObFuUDESrn/s640/DSC_2387.JPG" width="604" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">1- </span></span>Our friend Susan and her wee man Eli came to visit last week. Eli is 3 months Holland's senior, and we have promised them to each other for future spouses... that's still OK to do, right? They look so perfect together! We had to take a picture so that we would have one of their first meeting to add to the slide show at their wedding.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">2-</span> We spent our 4th of July weekend up in Island Park, ID with some friends at their family "cabin". (Just outside of West Yellowstone) There was much card playing, much eating, and some seeing of the sights worked in...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT-3LOW7koMcqn9vIQuzHaWPEJ2PTNacBl7QXQKaOfPp_luVtmxiaIOFXZFzZHnuN7ybp790a5kLjMYopSvufpcOeLbNT-6k34GWMKtqxK0YYczu4bX_G7CRwdO7T-gS2GH4W/s1600/DSCN3091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT-3LOW7koMcqn9vIQuzHaWPEJ2PTNacBl7QXQKaOfPp_luVtmxiaIOFXZFzZHnuN7ybp790a5kLjMYopSvufpcOeLbNT-6k34GWMKtqxK0YYczu4bX_G7CRwdO7T-gS2GH4W/s640/DSCN3091.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxj_YUJGk567G1O8KL9pvw1eK29aHJJqRuYVpWGhlb6F0eHeIi4VFMy1A9CUroGVW6bUS1bYfR4ua9xi3rbcIruBhzyJRB0tFa3T7PcxqTgtgbdkkoTM7ffcMkEsNeYUuE8AqO/s1600/DSC_2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxj_YUJGk567G1O8KL9pvw1eK29aHJJqRuYVpWGhlb6F0eHeIi4VFMy1A9CUroGVW6bUS1bYfR4ua9xi3rbcIruBhzyJRB0tFa3T7PcxqTgtgbdkkoTM7ffcMkEsNeYUuE8AqO/s640/DSC_2396.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95U6Divi0yY8zzQK5Ic4BpGXxEN_YOjEwE7Yp3dFmz3UEaj8ZqsxhlFo2lOYfOO7fKKtDBHAWzqSWzbgt7-mXos4QJc8r0VT_WCcmmTPb5hntQ02PTIdgvVCy6v4UePqpUCH3/s1600/DSC_2399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1BlHTtPsiacl2uUCaQFMZSEAJxrXlMsSoQDduW8TCuQvSu87kfeoQhsmi0YrBtHR0bqzoqr1cdqIpZ8wKQzr4Uq4sLLErhNqxtdnNivlxD932kg1dYwk8mtap_I5FsNTKcDv/s1600/DSC_2402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1BlHTtPsiacl2uUCaQFMZSEAJxrXlMsSoQDduW8TCuQvSu87kfeoQhsmi0YrBtHR0bqzoqr1cdqIpZ8wKQzr4Uq4sLLErhNqxtdnNivlxD932kg1dYwk8mtap_I5FsNTKcDv/s640/DSC_2402.JPG" width="640" /></a><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95U6Divi0yY8zzQK5Ic4BpGXxEN_YOjEwE7Yp3dFmz3UEaj8ZqsxhlFo2lOYfOO7fKKtDBHAWzqSWzbgt7-mXos4QJc8r0VT_WCcmmTPb5hntQ02PTIdgvVCy6v4UePqpUCH3/s640/DSC_2399.JPG" width="640" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNXDdDesjrSQ5HcRzK7gX3yzPVl8InpO1NzrE7WFjRT-2PaOssFQTNtTtFyXaIncYZvIt0kfJYFoedK6kmuBAlMzlyPMlWWDzxD9fDxMYiNfwZwM5498URUls3NgQ6F-igLHF/s1600/DSCN3071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNXDdDesjrSQ5HcRzK7gX3yzPVl8InpO1NzrE7WFjRT-2PaOssFQTNtTtFyXaIncYZvIt0kfJYFoedK6kmuBAlMzlyPMlWWDzxD9fDxMYiNfwZwM5498URUls3NgQ6F-igLHF/s640/DSCN3071.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">3- </span></span>A local grocery store in Island Park put on a fireworks show on Saturday night that you would not believe. It went on for an HOUR. We were all bored by the end. Nolan tried to add to the fun by serenading us with a little Katie Perry. Unfortunately he only knew one line of the song...<br />
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<embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh117%2Fmelhess%2FIMG_0663.mp4" height="361" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" wmode="transparent"></embed>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-76767445163994024112011-06-24T15:53:00.000-06:002011-06-24T15:53:50.435-06:00Friday Randoms<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">1-</span></span> We went to <a href="http://www.rooftopconcertseries.com/">a little concert</a> a couple of weeks ago. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I was a little antsy to spend a evening away from home, and there was this FREE concert, nearby, and kid friendly! So we decided to go. It was Mindy Gledhill & Meghan Smith, and they were amazing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We ran into some old friends, and were lucky enough to share a space with them, because the concert was PACKED. Our friend Leslie even stole Holland away and held her while she slept through the WHOLE concert. Which gave Nolan and I some opportunities to boogie... Does he not look like he is having a fabulous time?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh117%2Fmelhess%2FIMG_0505.mp4" height="361" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WrMg3g7ZeLwa-hOolpL8k9ehTgvvUGbHMJdj_YaI_4R_r_aMMeqvtqUVQqa8IEdHnto43K4Dy4Pu2Ib2dnoTc443ZEpKWCF4lIuuRxbTbi2nvPGJt2FhBFABCO4oQpkgKwqi/s1600/DSC_2357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WrMg3g7ZeLwa-hOolpL8k9ehTgvvUGbHMJdj_YaI_4R_r_aMMeqvtqUVQqa8IEdHnto43K4Dy4Pu2Ib2dnoTc443ZEpKWCF4lIuuRxbTbi2nvPGJt2FhBFABCO4oQpkgKwqi/s1600/DSC_2357.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">2-</span></span> We did our traditional Father's Day photo for Ben (see <a href="http://melaniehess.blogspot.com/2008/06/happy-fathers-day.html">here</a> and <a href="http://melaniehess.blogspot.com/2009/06/happy-fathers-day.html">here</a>) about 3 minutes before he walked in the door the day before. Not being home very often when he's not, I didn't get a chance before then, and it shows... but his kids still love him, even if their photo is a little lame. (also, it appears that I didn't post last year's photo, and that's OK, because it was a little scary in its own right)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH5c-WjtiA_IpAB9oasc0ORfHntuUCSC7My93YKek8tOohx8d7oQlUe_CpayARg8zG-t0RB81fIkyFfBETQCoUOA3Y7iRivu7E2ENHCUYkD-fEGhg-ueuqEIx9zKfab6K3t54/s1600/DSC_2380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH5c-WjtiA_IpAB9oasc0ORfHntuUCSC7My93YKek8tOohx8d7oQlUe_CpayARg8zG-t0RB81fIkyFfBETQCoUOA3Y7iRivu7E2ENHCUYkD-fEGhg-ueuqEIx9zKfab6K3t54/s1600/DSC_2380.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> 3-</span></span> Our friends Melinda & Skylar have been together FOREVER, it seems. We first met them during our first year of Sweeney Todd, almost 10 years ago! Well, they are finally tying the knot, and our friend Marcie threw a big fat shindig for them at her house last Saturday to celebrate. It was gorgeous. They were gorgeous, and Melinda started having second thoughts about never having kids when she met Holland.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDK_k9hloShp4eIimGh_XEcg4dk-vs23ZLVQWebpGEThgWdd0Yv8By_Jw4Yofrnt41SktqTMbZo6UGTus9YOEJsJRZ85j63KahS2JQnEyzr6pJZBI-5GGgAyoSrvNuiF5bRk_X/s1600/DSC_2377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDK_k9hloShp4eIimGh_XEcg4dk-vs23ZLVQWebpGEThgWdd0Yv8By_Jw4Yofrnt41SktqTMbZo6UGTus9YOEJsJRZ85j63KahS2JQnEyzr6pJZBI-5GGgAyoSrvNuiF5bRk_X/s1600/DSC_2377.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Congrats, you guys!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">4-</span></span> And lastly, for now, Tamera asked me to bring the quilt my mom made Holland to her house the other morning. I didn't know quite what she had in mind at the time... but look what she did! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I have to admit to thinking my kids are pretty darn cute...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUoQ81NiZ4frCsZmhPvyeGyZbbNya2tB7z9ivFj89ZMyngddnDamejA-OenBRY_pQLywDIrbWbpM_0ZfrZAODXW6xy7x_IOHlSuhr1hY6AIPd_qTbe5527BG1G16qTZrLKw3v/s1600/0+web+TMP_1162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUoQ81NiZ4frCsZmhPvyeGyZbbNya2tB7z9ivFj89ZMyngddnDamejA-OenBRY_pQLywDIrbWbpM_0ZfrZAODXW6xy7x_IOHlSuhr1hY6AIPd_qTbe5527BG1G16qTZrLKw3v/s1600/0+web+TMP_1162.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEKf5uTtTk3-zmZkzB7YoeoUEYbtR7vWKxt-7jnexJEJ4hB6jq6bkS4ufOzk3KEXoBUv1MfwuPXt5vWQw8Fz-GOY4LJ4Af53XkfpQ5gqtUrC-xTf8-_ef_bo7p9_WkwP5ryRf/s1600/0+web+TMP_1149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEKf5uTtTk3-zmZkzB7YoeoUEYbtR7vWKxt-7jnexJEJ4hB6jq6bkS4ufOzk3KEXoBUv1MfwuPXt5vWQw8Fz-GOY4LJ4Af53XkfpQ5gqtUrC-xTf8-_ef_bo7p9_WkwP5ryRf/s1600/0+web+TMP_1149.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6Yh5ij3wVjIKM57KKOSsqnDinM46Ibc0XL6ZVwgKHVboUAKtUG1SM_KwQCHzmMzYEg7EZqgygw_ooYXj_l85_Az87TQdmWFTezgsVHz8PtE7dNw49otAeyzcNqT2-q3q8ZQH/s1600/0+web+TMP_1144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6Yh5ij3wVjIKM57KKOSsqnDinM46Ibc0XL6ZVwgKHVboUAKtUG1SM_KwQCHzmMzYEg7EZqgygw_ooYXj_l85_Az87TQdmWFTezgsVHz8PtE7dNw49otAeyzcNqT2-q3q8ZQH/s1600/0+web+TMP_1144.jpg" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdHK-2dByrbMxvazP1vrwdQysTDhpH0XOeMOOiAjiKLrr7yQUtOMlpyQXPGMs2phNW_8MMJYf89xYl1asRBDqyogmp5mx45xVoIPqrzaAfOQF6Q3pk_fqzaTsX0Tqn7ooKdOC/s1600/0+web+TMP_1179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdHK-2dByrbMxvazP1vrwdQysTDhpH0XOeMOOiAjiKLrr7yQUtOMlpyQXPGMs2phNW_8MMJYf89xYl1asRBDqyogmp5mx45xVoIPqrzaAfOQF6Q3pk_fqzaTsX0Tqn7ooKdOC/s1600/0+web+TMP_1179.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxq0zENsoIcq-qcut46xie1wvsemZz8AHAd3TBwGAmyPK03Kg_FffhRGTyEM1giKe0-0cF1nKBZv-RoRfTFXS5f2Ge97otdR3fhn_jlWq0nNgHwSqHGe8jYh_J7ocywjfQz6-u/s1600/0+web+TMP_1169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxq0zENsoIcq-qcut46xie1wvsemZz8AHAd3TBwGAmyPK03Kg_FffhRGTyEM1giKe0-0cF1nKBZv-RoRfTFXS5f2Ge97otdR3fhn_jlWq0nNgHwSqHGe8jYh_J7ocywjfQz6-u/s1600/0+web+TMP_1169.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsE_UVDO5yoU5Cw1c9697t8VVPFiG9Uk7OI2O0tFg_JU_ZVAEUjBeenBTKwsP0KgFVRg4FQvsGyXipixuYKbIK43aXY_4NIUqssGNpytHRrl7l7i7R4lzhCKaVggZL-j3T7Lq/s1600/0+web+TMP_1149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_L2ZVvtGfn2OFMUZmFep4Cr8HX2NA41vvIC0NAvCh1NjtYAn-9AZWC8nlNQt8tsHyEsdBnWiQmlXinr7CqwMOGf51CxC_zi8-hmmtu6TnrO8hnlfaprjvouHw1Nj5wEQKL42/s1600/0+web+TMP_1162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-38177790835228917152011-06-17T12:00:00.002-06:002011-06-17T12:00:03.173-06:00Holland in PicturesBy this stage in his life, Nolan had thousands of pictures taken of him. <br />
<br />
I wish I was exaggerating.<br />
<br />
Holland has not been documented as completely. We just don't spend as much time laying around staring at her as we did Nolan. How can we? <br />
<br />
But I have been trying to catch up a little... get out the big camera and document her in more than just iphone photos. She's become a smiley little thing... but when a camera is on her, she's more impressed with the big black thing (thus the ooh face) than she is interested in grinning. But we'll get it.<br />
<br />
Here are a few of my favorites from the last 2 weeks (her auntie Marcie gave her the adorable outfit):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJoDtXtvKq7-b1NHXl3uisMzclK-iCXD2XD8WWL0kZnXl723LteFdU3WhRVmXaHijAFB2CRTctTlor9fqvTLnISmKTm3btHw1hfSVNj4gfnT1MHHH4VTfFJCKzH6Vde5ZiCjv/s1600/DSC_2300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJoDtXtvKq7-b1NHXl3uisMzclK-iCXD2XD8WWL0kZnXl723LteFdU3WhRVmXaHijAFB2CRTctTlor9fqvTLnISmKTm3btHw1hfSVNj4gfnT1MHHH4VTfFJCKzH6Vde5ZiCjv/s640/DSC_2300.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5HqQK2YzRsKQft5eXhuWxF5TjUVxoz8qMlK6oLoeaehrlbBC__WbZeRCMrHCGE0m1hunfaEFpAhtvwtVZsHGf5l2H9RF3lntADVPkQeOwL4OL8QIPkamovF7BJm22l9wkIce/s1600/DSC_2312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5HqQK2YzRsKQft5eXhuWxF5TjUVxoz8qMlK6oLoeaehrlbBC__WbZeRCMrHCGE0m1hunfaEFpAhtvwtVZsHGf5l2H9RF3lntADVPkQeOwL4OL8QIPkamovF7BJm22l9wkIce/s640/DSC_2312.jpg" width="428" /></a></div> This one shows off her long and skinny self pretty brilliantly. She's in the 80th percentile for height right now, but only the 25th for weight (at only 10 lbs). Melissa & I decided that means she'll be built like a super model...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJVDBulnt8XTQFOCxc_JvDKbV-R3SX82OLJFjQTjPZHQNfZe-N0xAii_3H2XIiVc1RB3cGLzrqEdlMmLHKp8Oel9UF3D4uZqJTwhM8likfjT9Tdg8l1Y1jtiuWW8lkJSWhrHH/s1600/DSC_2338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJVDBulnt8XTQFOCxc_JvDKbV-R3SX82OLJFjQTjPZHQNfZe-N0xAii_3H2XIiVc1RB3cGLzrqEdlMmLHKp8Oel9UF3D4uZqJTwhM8likfjT9Tdg8l1Y1jtiuWW8lkJSWhrHH/s640/DSC_2338.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SHj0HajQB09cEYQG18jx2CVeRRb2bItIbyW_TaPFziBoVRJDEfcYUd5Q9J4d4Oa6muzLVwIIwwJTpBdSUT4ZWVYeMNTGLcgPfwj8mANosY20ViednIjm0ymNmAP0Ab7eZBa5/s1600/DSC_2342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SHj0HajQB09cEYQG18jx2CVeRRb2bItIbyW_TaPFziBoVRJDEfcYUd5Q9J4d4Oa6muzLVwIIwwJTpBdSUT4ZWVYeMNTGLcgPfwj8mANosY20ViednIjm0ymNmAP0Ab7eZBa5/s640/DSC_2342.JPG" width="638" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWXKn5UW1GUKLX_-yQ3fxVuurVJUMR59-3cdWD42rdq2EAfn34ilgUvcF76x3Bh8mXiTBsEkoaIwcQikQ7PgOx6EoTeUEOpb6GZJFQcs2OCHXNm-whp_m0Exhj680A3C-_ZRr/s1600/DSC_2343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWXKn5UW1GUKLX_-yQ3fxVuurVJUMR59-3cdWD42rdq2EAfn34ilgUvcF76x3Bh8mXiTBsEkoaIwcQikQ7PgOx6EoTeUEOpb6GZJFQcs2OCHXNm-whp_m0Exhj680A3C-_ZRr/s640/DSC_2343.JPG" width="602" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And one of Nolan with his buddy Juan... and a ridiculous sunburn... which was gone the next day, but looked extra special that night and will likely result in a whole new crop of freckles:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcvsBh0RxWPit07Mz2PoFyvw4nWp_YdmjnSQN7SboZ4jD5TGZNsba6V8juoWs2tFr5Btqi8-mHC7VkLGCO-QHpJhVfNP6O07PwFX1fXBrLVDdjkGBlCZqKSZcHzsoS8YkUcpmZ/s1600/DSC_2316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcvsBh0RxWPit07Mz2PoFyvw4nWp_YdmjnSQN7SboZ4jD5TGZNsba6V8juoWs2tFr5Btqi8-mHC7VkLGCO-QHpJhVfNP6O07PwFX1fXBrLVDdjkGBlCZqKSZcHzsoS8YkUcpmZ/s640/DSC_2316.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-27811787578606539922011-06-16T15:04:00.001-06:002011-06-16T16:00:17.236-06:00Holland's Blessing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Holland's blessing weekend was a whirlwind of family and fun that left me catching up for a good long time. But to say that it was marvelous is an understatement. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was a perfect day, and Ben gave Holland a beautiful blessing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Melissa took these two photos of us just before the meeting started:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrDS4p-fIJed1jShwvcVxOt5bXfu04bhFSWICm12fb1p5Ob1vUVmgj-88YQojg1sf4SuZS4oYPf2GXcWlgwZ17S7rf5sGC7A6WeR8DkJAvdQAnlawb48Md2NOq9u_hR_f1ZVU/s1600/4f60500813654cf284a72afee9199c4c_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrDS4p-fIJed1jShwvcVxOt5bXfu04bhFSWICm12fb1p5Ob1vUVmgj-88YQojg1sf4SuZS4oYPf2GXcWlgwZ17S7rf5sGC7A6WeR8DkJAvdQAnlawb48Md2NOq9u_hR_f1ZVU/s400/4f60500813654cf284a72afee9199c4c_7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSoA9j23Q3gHieJbA2AvcWHLuFD8DAJwHEykZ-teun7tAhnxLZYPXpgNkoRaoVx-32Qzjr32h3lyRa8-hAsNRhX2mi6mB_6DHWbsXew96O71b9apTzkpDhbIXCgFo9LypIQJZ/s1600/tumblr_llywrtnqid1qa8324o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSoA9j23Q3gHieJbA2AvcWHLuFD8DAJwHEykZ-teun7tAhnxLZYPXpgNkoRaoVx-32Qzjr32h3lyRa8-hAsNRhX2mi6mB_6DHWbsXew96O71b9apTzkpDhbIXCgFo9LypIQJZ/s400/tumblr_llywrtnqid1qa8324o1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We were surrounded by SO many friends and family... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and were seriously remiss in getting good photos the day of the blessing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">At the very end of the party we managed a few, though, with our camera:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ErprYQYT0tOsDdLnJznXjc_YdHkAw-6DuzF9VLQZUy21xuIol2FfXsPfNAP_ZV8kN1Sx-cZUir0LWSMc4iIJDXuYdQ6R0UhBJiWzk-wKlyVpJRxDRIUt3W-LvWrZjJRUAqtI/s400/DSC_2262.JPG" width="400" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Grandma & Grandpa Webster with the sweet girl.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe6D9-DU4zRfUHY2tV42KW4ULsx-FLB0RMcauWSd6iXM6gvqccXP50HyKEYq4F6whNwpYoePC4tRl5dCAWyr6YrftVoCVyb9rYhT_dnwzjAPG5bTwq5LIcBXC_dfsUCeDG523U/s1600/DSC_2264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe6D9-DU4zRfUHY2tV42KW4ULsx-FLB0RMcauWSd6iXM6gvqccXP50HyKEYq4F6whNwpYoePC4tRl5dCAWyr6YrftVoCVyb9rYhT_dnwzjAPG5bTwq5LIcBXC_dfsUCeDG523U/s400/DSC_2264.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Grandma & Grandpa and parents </div><div style="text-align: center;">(forgive the yucko ponytail hair. By then we were a couple of hours into the party and any attempts to keep my hair down had disappeared)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrp25Qx46aYm1ZrUt0qPP0tj8lasFXbOICeR3nDUVu_n3tcUQ-8AVz8h2aouGT6ees0IvvluB3Y65x3ZLtj80TqEe8Tt7Tksb95WiS6ZmpU4RO87A13_zyHI1W-sl7AGl1Q6i8/s1600/DSC_2269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrp25Qx46aYm1ZrUt0qPP0tj8lasFXbOICeR3nDUVu_n3tcUQ-8AVz8h2aouGT6ees0IvvluB3Y65x3ZLtj80TqEe8Tt7Tksb95WiS6ZmpU4RO87A13_zyHI1W-sl7AGl1Q6i8/s640/DSC_2269.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The guest of honor in her pretty little blessing dress, courtesy of Baby Gap. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Simplicity is the name of the game at our house, when it comes to Holland's clothes. I learned my lesson with Nolan that comfort is paramount at this age.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And the following week, some cousin time:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLogwH_FpISgLh9WwTYlT5HLcWwocvBmiBTt6jSHIK1Z1Kgq2NiA_BcuFa7OW4tVS6bw7IKZgsvBJHGNdAwJgx0rqakgaKAhRQyO3RhQAB6nN_XxMoGmu9idw1mPci0ItZgrYS/s1600/DSC_2281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLogwH_FpISgLh9WwTYlT5HLcWwocvBmiBTt6jSHIK1Z1Kgq2NiA_BcuFa7OW4tVS6bw7IKZgsvBJHGNdAwJgx0rqakgaKAhRQyO3RhQAB6nN_XxMoGmu9idw1mPci0ItZgrYS/s400/DSC_2281.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Nolan and Tanner. Nolan pretty much worships Tanner, and was thrilled beyond words that they got to have a sleepover and Tanner got to hang out all day AND all night. Made Nolan's year.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCAF26IHbGD3NC_rh4lTbdW9cr42TG1Tw589Q8aPL64J1W9xQtnCpIWiJMn4M25OWIG9lbjqhjtWGUuStu1Jhgq1jZAHyrQNlUmZ5tJpErjwFMN4VLwv6xeN064a8g6yJtD50/s1600/DSC_2285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCAF26IHbGD3NC_rh4lTbdW9cr42TG1Tw589Q8aPL64J1W9xQtnCpIWiJMn4M25OWIG9lbjqhjtWGUuStu1Jhgq1jZAHyrQNlUmZ5tJpErjwFMN4VLwv6xeN064a8g6yJtD50/s400/DSC_2285.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And the 4 kids (mine & my brother Nathan's) </div><div style="text-align: center;">Madison, Nolan, Tanner & Holland</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qI0nR9ThlhqGIVimEBsDXX9eRmDmy3JpNXtHp2yMCPvFVnEUKgmIY9zufOCki3nce3fI7F8KBaHig02V-qmHBAZXDRbe7bolRw_VowVwUm_o47O1hOBsd671RtXUDyPIJX5P/s1600/DSC_2352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qI0nR9ThlhqGIVimEBsDXX9eRmDmy3JpNXtHp2yMCPvFVnEUKgmIY9zufOCki3nce3fI7F8KBaHig02V-qmHBAZXDRbe7bolRw_VowVwUm_o47O1hOBsd671RtXUDyPIJX5P/s400/DSC_2352.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And another day... Logan (2) gets to hold the baby... </div><div style="text-align: center;">which he mostly loved... and she tried to tolerate. </div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-84523603949024912692011-05-27T14:28:00.001-06:002011-05-27T14:29:21.170-06:00Friday Randoms<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">1-</span> We are blessing Holland this weekend at our church. As such, we have family in town. A lot of family that's not usually here. I can't begin to say how excited I am to hang out with my brothers and their familes again. And see Ben's dad again (so soon!). And get so many of our dear friends and local family together in one place.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">There will be lots of cleaning and cooking over the next few days, but we have some of our favorite kitchen friends in town, so it will be FUN!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">2-</span> I am in love with <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=pinterest&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=uTj&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivnsl&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=YgPgTcL_M436swPl3dSnBw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1183&bih=732">Pinterest</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUmluXAJ7uPVvT7bo0p_mN5TKPzB9UQUGgfBbnrPZJmKB8Cj35hL-VrcsNSGs4DYDtL4iuYItyH2K6qQbQvibt_4GibCSu5gtqITwa7b-MvsboJcGoHozBc8bFrhg2Lty1F9x/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-05-27+at+2.04.57+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUmluXAJ7uPVvT7bo0p_mN5TKPzB9UQUGgfBbnrPZJmKB8Cj35hL-VrcsNSGs4DYDtL4iuYItyH2K6qQbQvibt_4GibCSu5gtqITwa7b-MvsboJcGoHozBc8bFrhg2Lty1F9x/s400/Screen+shot+2011-05-27+at+2.04.57+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Like, obsessively in love with it. It combines my love of pretty things with my need to ORGANIZE. Especially in a digital sense. I am really hoping it helps to inspire me to finish a few of those unfinished projects I've had bookmarked forever.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">3- </span></span>A few photos of life in our house this week (before I went back to work)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrep7OMfcHX2M1iY8D9BiKvcBhMTa3triZMJM9FNeIeHrPFwIfpUyK86NulI2F4GuCeIzi9nIscnzB7TMvQU5YimXLM5q9IOjg5-ITchwnZuPyOdbVZ-l21ALRnPmDKHBAFNym/s1600/IMG_1077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrep7OMfcHX2M1iY8D9BiKvcBhMTa3triZMJM9FNeIeHrPFwIfpUyK86NulI2F4GuCeIzi9nIscnzB7TMvQU5YimXLM5q9IOjg5-ITchwnZuPyOdbVZ-l21ALRnPmDKHBAFNym/s640/IMG_1077.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8UCXkiH3h-iyYHckoPUtoX7XCqlW72wl6Oad3uSYqtL8Kh7Tlmioes-JVs5WP06g3BonOvnk3znvRdF9bjxEAn-LeTvYw4To3HZyRg9h2SKg4Ah0h_IflssDK11PZIfylHqZ/s1600/IMG_1067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8UCXkiH3h-iyYHckoPUtoX7XCqlW72wl6Oad3uSYqtL8Kh7Tlmioes-JVs5WP06g3BonOvnk3znvRdF9bjxEAn-LeTvYw4To3HZyRg9h2SKg4Ah0h_IflssDK11PZIfylHqZ/s640/IMG_1067.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf5KDbTBRv70hqgKJdPrqff0UYzfNJcXkLUxTqDPOGcfgVcq-F4TimYbrD0AHdydMqTM-zQ49dshhlY1YKJogPwkZthxyLuCc4f00MsJLjuF1oO-6YieXvWEzsbkT3de7SB8f9/s1600/IMG_1075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf5KDbTBRv70hqgKJdPrqff0UYzfNJcXkLUxTqDPOGcfgVcq-F4TimYbrD0AHdydMqTM-zQ49dshhlY1YKJogPwkZthxyLuCc4f00MsJLjuF1oO-6YieXvWEzsbkT3de7SB8f9/s640/IMG_1075.jpg" width="531" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhLW8ENu2lSR3V5-QzVZOoS0PFBfQgFeVPy9YFVCUHRhZuplin_Ue3hCFB7Su-o1RH-FObC_4sz1WaUjUFk3_T3h6Fj7Wx24GHw3Kjlo87pb58NNB5RBuznL_o-EsSwzJrPtLN/s1600/IMG_1073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhLW8ENu2lSR3V5-QzVZOoS0PFBfQgFeVPy9YFVCUHRhZuplin_Ue3hCFB7Su-o1RH-FObC_4sz1WaUjUFk3_T3h6Fj7Wx24GHw3Kjlo87pb58NNB5RBuznL_o-EsSwzJrPtLN/s640/IMG_1073.jpg" width="480" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUNMUWe5PL5OoveSu6YQKAHDzpKE9HhifmujDCUZHJXkWaVRb8R8GESBGEqTFlTtKK-4g8J7iFE9WmHjme6N-8jARAzUokjwVXI203m1TDcOT1FAb8DO6GEk2N20rprFtqdsT/s1600/IMG_1066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUNMUWe5PL5OoveSu6YQKAHDzpKE9HhifmujDCUZHJXkWaVRb8R8GESBGEqTFlTtKK-4g8J7iFE9WmHjme6N-8jARAzUokjwVXI203m1TDcOT1FAb8DO6GEk2N20rprFtqdsT/s640/IMG_1066.JPG" width="491" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Melissa created the comic book shot. I think it was actually taken a couple of weeks ago... but it's fun, right?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">4-</span></span> Is there anyone out there that still feels passionately (in a positive way) about his/her job? I listen to a lot of people talk about their work, and it has started me wondering... This economy leaves everyone with fewer choices, more responsibility, and less pay for the hard work we do.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">At what point does all of this discontent lead to a work force that is SO annoyed with their current situations that they turn off their brains and their productivity and become a group who just shows up and collects a pay check, but doesn't actually accomplish much?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm not an economist, or a psychologist... these are just things I wonder...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">5-</span></span> While getting my hair cut last weekend, I had the stylist try to teach me how to do my hair in the very popular look seen here:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5cXk8S2j_CXTKOcml11BFyVcMIu2OODbYdkzBmjBTrMA2hAmJ2wgm83AtRY1rk0p8ArOJVZm_RTlRQxPHmWowxlJ2_zL02Ozrd-X74VU5gK6dRBfv6QQGmpnpD-SUqJqCbdB/s1600/colbie_caillat_breakthrough_0409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5cXk8S2j_CXTKOcml11BFyVcMIu2OODbYdkzBmjBTrMA2hAmJ2wgm83AtRY1rk0p8ArOJVZm_RTlRQxPHmWowxlJ2_zL02Ozrd-X74VU5gK6dRBfv6QQGmpnpD-SUqJqCbdB/s400/colbie_caillat_breakthrough_0409.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So the question of the weekend... Will I be able to do this to my own hair? Or will it just turn out straight because I'm doing it with a flat iron and am not as skilled as said stylist?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And more than that... will it even look good if I DO get it to work?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I will return with photographic evidence of the answer, as we're having family pictures taken on Sunday. Wish me luck! (and leave me any tips you might have, if you know how to do this on your own head)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-10697448480467687342011-05-24T17:35:00.001-06:002011-05-24T17:36:48.136-06:00The End<div style="text-align: center;">I go back to work tomorrow. Maternity leave is at an end... far too soon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">You'd think I would have done something spectacular today to mark this transition. I didn't. I spent the day at home with my kids, making a short trip to Provo for lunch with Ben and our friend Korianne, of whom I see far too little.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The last 7 weeks have been filled with a little of this:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBHuHT1qJdHhtMKxZsr2Or1RDZJWronbSHGOvNflJWPAaIYuCcueKVbyiHRAB_zDUI9rq-OxkjTP8wArlAA3ZebjXHvD8DMc5lGN6nIWpOQIt9ISbm6yWURFHPZyT_PFrMnZ9/s1600/DSC_2131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DxdNByhvOdlSPKvOSTQSeDgygrdhfJv0hEMX4ZfGcLa0dJM11UjqJ1Im9P6St07cQ5C_twbE_i05Ks9lZEeLann1uoVTqLFVnCSfX4G1b452iWIHJPl2KgfDV4o_uyAlSst2/s1600/DSC_2135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DxdNByhvOdlSPKvOSTQSeDgygrdhfJv0hEMX4ZfGcLa0dJM11UjqJ1Im9P6St07cQ5C_twbE_i05Ks9lZEeLann1uoVTqLFVnCSfX4G1b452iWIHJPl2KgfDV4o_uyAlSst2/s640/DSC_2135.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0Z7WiKWzvuPynB_nQNeOiDHetHKA88dbsvkmVx9OER2dCs4_Bvn74CrsN78hxqfYxdTtnB1NertVSujRyLyPoX77HBvE9YflG9lSdVRErF6yVSvPfoRH3QvVaacO0zc7eo61/s1600/DSC_2139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0Z7WiKWzvuPynB_nQNeOiDHetHKA88dbsvkmVx9OER2dCs4_Bvn74CrsN78hxqfYxdTtnB1NertVSujRyLyPoX77HBvE9YflG9lSdVRErF6yVSvPfoRH3QvVaacO0zc7eo61/s640/DSC_2139.JPG" width="640" /></a> (Ben's sister had a baby 2 weeks after Holland was born. I have a feeling this will be the first of MANY photos of the 2 of them together.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And a lot of this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8WR-6Aof2a7GMGboxfmgoqENRaRt-kRU4nc_EOshTzWwW0Wcp7AQ-pPmFd07CZLIvpaE5317lf19OPzSJ9PWwyZCpB1o6LwmfhUR9zmttUV8aaxRHqZ8RJpLx_CfWBqPpMmp/s640/IMG_1037.jpg" width="480" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBHuHT1qJdHhtMKxZsr2Or1RDZJWronbSHGOvNflJWPAaIYuCcueKVbyiHRAB_zDUI9rq-OxkjTP8wArlAA3ZebjXHvD8DMc5lGN6nIWpOQIt9ISbm6yWURFHPZyT_PFrMnZ9/s1600/DSC_2131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBHuHT1qJdHhtMKxZsr2Or1RDZJWronbSHGOvNflJWPAaIYuCcueKVbyiHRAB_zDUI9rq-OxkjTP8wArlAA3ZebjXHvD8DMc5lGN6nIWpOQIt9ISbm6yWURFHPZyT_PFrMnZ9/s1600/DSC_2131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBHuHT1qJdHhtMKxZsr2Or1RDZJWronbSHGOvNflJWPAaIYuCcueKVbyiHRAB_zDUI9rq-OxkjTP8wArlAA3ZebjXHvD8DMc5lGN6nIWpOQIt9ISbm6yWURFHPZyT_PFrMnZ9/s640/DSC_2131.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikki6rHmwMF9XuKbJKRGf6JfgZj0X1CzqTwkDIc0xcdb4G4983CfSSaRXwuV7p7Zk93AFlAqeQIDxYeLN22NFQteX8fH4d2jseiL1tlgdHm4ZJFd2srUXPU59DjpK1hpVfpOTJ/s1600/DSC_2144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikki6rHmwMF9XuKbJKRGf6JfgZj0X1CzqTwkDIc0xcdb4G4983CfSSaRXwuV7p7Zk93AFlAqeQIDxYeLN22NFQteX8fH4d2jseiL1tlgdHm4ZJFd2srUXPU59DjpK1hpVfpOTJ/s640/DSC_2144.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiPv8zMHH7HMEjiArqGadLn77eiYV30lFgmCyavvWa8vfwW-C2fVhJ_zeyw22GAbfKjQviycwabJgz-4IRLU-oUnyX4nc3a3JWb0mKRU0jU_fKO0T7lnkkQkrF-UU9_L0kTvA/s1600/IMG_1036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiPv8zMHH7HMEjiArqGadLn77eiYV30lFgmCyavvWa8vfwW-C2fVhJ_zeyw22GAbfKjQviycwabJgz-4IRLU-oUnyX4nc3a3JWb0mKRU0jU_fKO0T7lnkkQkrF-UU9_L0kTvA/s640/IMG_1036.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And a even more of this:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh117%2Fmelhess%2FIMG_1027.mp4" height="361" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh117%2Fmelhess%2FIMG_1029.mp4" height="361" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><div style="text-align: center;">Only in the past week or so have I gotten particularly ambitious or productive. We are having Holland's blessing this weekend, and both of my brothers get to come up for it. As such, we are getting a Webster family photo taken. And for this photo, I needed something for Holland to wear in yellow. I was struggling to find something I liked. So I thought to myself, "you've always loved those pinafore dresses you see on Etsy. Just make one!" So I dragged two kids to my favorite fabric store, where I found the perfect fabrics. And managed to buy enough for two other dresses as well, because they were too cute and I am a sucker for cute fabric... This was the result:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5F1AeWHMuc_goo_gTy3ELr9r_jtm6gQwyIF8i4sZF6a8u-jqEJBvqlqfUhnrMS_YkYVESoYNDmReGl2iXio0rXsdW-h8Z6CtW2F2dgwMEtig8sh8Ygz5b9dtF1xpYSWDggcz/s1600/DSC_2248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5F1AeWHMuc_goo_gTy3ELr9r_jtm6gQwyIF8i4sZF6a8u-jqEJBvqlqfUhnrMS_YkYVESoYNDmReGl2iXio0rXsdW-h8Z6CtW2F2dgwMEtig8sh8Ygz5b9dtF1xpYSWDggcz/s640/DSC_2248.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkemRHSc_VccgTDH11ruWW8SOLsMbss1MsArkIYHqmhdMCtDq-L-IdW7ZmJ-syAB65PMF_r8PXb37YMnB8T_j70Y8dYCYvbbpUz4woY55d5wg2Sze4YQUcR_j7uMq2hXYcRAp/s1600/DSC_2250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkemRHSc_VccgTDH11ruWW8SOLsMbss1MsArkIYHqmhdMCtDq-L-IdW7ZmJ-syAB65PMF_r8PXb37YMnB8T_j70Y8dYCYvbbpUz4woY55d5wg2Sze4YQUcR_j7uMq2hXYcRAp/s640/DSC_2250.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(forgive the lighting. It was a VERY dark day, and my house lights are murder on color) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> They still need the diaper covers to go under them, but I didn't plan well for the fabric for those, so I haven't finished them. I have a white one with cute ruffles I'll use for Sunday's photos if I don't get around to it by then.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are also making progress on finishing Holland's nursery, but I'll leave the reveal on that one until we are actually done. It's getting close! Just a few more elements to go!</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-21098903303941662522011-05-13T23:18:00.000-06:002011-05-13T23:18:56.147-06:00Time Flies<div style="text-align: center;">Maternity leave is officially FLYING by for me. I hate to admit how many hours a day I spend glued to my couch holding my baby. For one thing, the girl loves to be held. Seriously loves it. Hates to be put down, and won't sleep anywhere else but on or next to another beating heart. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6NYSqyOulrL9xkabVpcFFs8SGQU0iMsmJRtyDreLCZ3lCAgPZV2ai4hUcGB-FwB9cI1t-Ugau6L4vMsXpmmSB2r7wEfVFa9BhkGO-7k5Je-pmwNIlQucRF4krzcFh0JA9ftt/s1600/DSC_2146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6NYSqyOulrL9xkabVpcFFs8SGQU0iMsmJRtyDreLCZ3lCAgPZV2ai4hUcGB-FwB9cI1t-Ugau6L4vMsXpmmSB2r7wEfVFa9BhkGO-7k5Je-pmwNIlQucRF4krzcFh0JA9ftt/s640/DSC_2146.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm sure some of you will have some sage advice about spoiling her, so let me stop you there. I don't really believe you can spoil a kid that's less than 6 weeks old. not really. And also...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I want to hold her. She is likely (unless God has strong feelings otherwise) the last baby I will give birth to, and I want to hold her. I go back to work in 2 weeks, so I am going to milk it. Even if I "shouldn't". Even if it makes us have to spend some time weaning her (I do put her down, it's just not something she's a big fan of. She has strong opinions)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtfahKvXjsdYELbcbF7hXtb_67E7ywts8WL5UqE7IwQzD-3PqBs36RaQTR_6YWF965eN7PCum7wHT_V_4DSgIPCmJRnBwniuihCrlGqQdrosxNVBpxDcOxmnd_Qwcm6d6-lDZ/s1600/DSC_2198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtfahKvXjsdYELbcbF7hXtb_67E7ywts8WL5UqE7IwQzD-3PqBs36RaQTR_6YWF965eN7PCum7wHT_V_4DSgIPCmJRnBwniuihCrlGqQdrosxNVBpxDcOxmnd_Qwcm6d6-lDZ/s640/DSC_2198.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPYbnrRueU84ESCLrVbxf7zglIJysEOaUg01gyxEfXfjmH44ZBb1sx8-3DbT7eYelaDjYQaCxIZds2E5mp_wh329t3Eg_7hh1ckz4UDjHZG6l8DWCgqHYf99Xo8coKFmoK4bw/s1600/DSC_2165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPYbnrRueU84ESCLrVbxf7zglIJysEOaUg01gyxEfXfjmH44ZBb1sx8-3DbT7eYelaDjYQaCxIZds2E5mp_wh329t3Eg_7hh1ckz4UDjHZG6l8DWCgqHYf99Xo8coKFmoK4bw/s640/DSC_2165.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the plus side, she sleeps pretty well, if she's next to someone... several hours at a time sometimes (though 2.5-3 is her average still) And I have to admit, I am surprisingly unworried about that. I'm exhausted too, but this whole second time around thing is making me fully aware that everything passes. There's no point getting worked up about much of anything, because I'll blink and it will be different. That's just how babies are.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So instead I will love her the way she is now and try to remember this cute face as a tiny one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhdiR7mOz62tiV-G7XH_qIvUjSYGfCfOpuU9CfMfGElU5sYLzSbhQbnNFMzKBX-OYENRSWBfQiq4q0kExTKsg2t1BFCAQFyQEL_W1qPGgFElNsXvvFPR3KuKKLXbwdo-EUP0k/s1600/DSC_2243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhdiR7mOz62tiV-G7XH_qIvUjSYGfCfOpuU9CfMfGElU5sYLzSbhQbnNFMzKBX-OYENRSWBfQiq4q0kExTKsg2t1BFCAQFyQEL_W1qPGgFElNsXvvFPR3KuKKLXbwdo-EUP0k/s640/DSC_2243.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And also try not to murder her VERY talkative brother in the next two weeks.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJDydeuHanG3f7qtXdEWmU_HGVMcuzi0L8MqAQ_QSEJ9IUA69RU9v9tlNYWrbyWAVYU0ATSM5m8WEf6VL6PDpLMbbNEQdwuv5Z-QwV6NgRIiWGy9ZEMoRluLm5ys8qMJlJLpR/s1600/DSC_2150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJDydeuHanG3f7qtXdEWmU_HGVMcuzi0L8MqAQ_QSEJ9IUA69RU9v9tlNYWrbyWAVYU0ATSM5m8WEf6VL6PDpLMbbNEQdwuv5Z-QwV6NgRIiWGy9ZEMoRluLm5ys8qMJlJLpR/s640/DSC_2150.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just kidding.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mostly.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Do you think they look alike? This is Nolan at the same age...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBAildHsGDS9gntGz1utT5l2n9rtjqM7oXJWm_B_8DJ5Np5JsfzuHBfnBq7WokwiSReDDnN8wgKsn0c2V0RG05kAD2_zItQwgD240-MJirG-waOmAqs1E5gJpe2aXUk4ierEu/s1600/DSC_2239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBAildHsGDS9gntGz1utT5l2n9rtjqM7oXJWm_B_8DJ5Np5JsfzuHBfnBq7WokwiSReDDnN8wgKsn0c2V0RG05kAD2_zItQwgD240-MJirG-waOmAqs1E5gJpe2aXUk4ierEu/s320/DSC_2239.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5gVsie73xbhpmJqsI9X0_YlnKH9zigwDxcorB5v0BQVvcmDGtvRsn0tlZPvW8ad4Q36AXjz5Z3RwYvnYRoDEu22I90RgEG3jZ-Eb0nLUvq5124-V4LzrQTREvk-BB-TBP8gr/s1600/DSC_0813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5gVsie73xbhpmJqsI9X0_YlnKH9zigwDxcorB5v0BQVvcmDGtvRsn0tlZPvW8ad4Q36AXjz5Z3RwYvnYRoDEu22I90RgEG3jZ-Eb0nLUvq5124-V4LzrQTREvk-BB-TBP8gr/s320/DSC_0813.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-35390815777800789962011-04-21T12:50:00.002-06:002011-04-21T12:50:51.238-06:00Photo Shoots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZBrKyL7m4ICsZms33E3TICANiIFHgy4cMVRmrKr_zqg7WL39hd0XittcBwRqVwyu3BuLnNeOq1rpcb-het-gGMEaX2Ih911rUjA10FrTmx5PYnCUhg8jqm3rb2tkEzAq4ZHO/s1600/Weiss_063-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZBrKyL7m4ICsZms33E3TICANiIFHgy4cMVRmrKr_zqg7WL39hd0XittcBwRqVwyu3BuLnNeOq1rpcb-het-gGMEaX2Ih911rUjA10FrTmx5PYnCUhg8jqm3rb2tkEzAq4ZHO/s640/Weiss_063-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> We had an amazing photo shoot last week with one of the <a href="http://blog.picturememine.com/">fantastic photographers we work for</a>. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I can't tell you how excited I am by how these turned out. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Our hope was to capture our family as we are now... in our element... in our home. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I was really nervous that there wouldn't be enough light in our townhouse... but Jess did a fantastic job!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.picturememine.com/index.php/2011/04/19/hollands-slideshow-utah-lifestyle-newborn-photographer/">Take a look at the slideshow she put together for us!</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-42067408674651336102011-04-13T20:03:00.000-06:002011-04-13T20:03:36.584-06:00Meet Holland Taylor Hess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Holland's entrance into this world was... a little bit dramatic. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not only was she almost 3 weeks early, but the surgery that brought her into this world created some rather interesting side effects for her mother. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm not going to go into the whole long story here, except to say that in the process of my surgery, I had a really weird, and rather unsettling (for those around me. I have no memory of it) reaction to some of the medication that was used in my epidural.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As a result, She was a little bit late in getting to meet her brother and the rest of the family... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But meet him she did</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SBY7Lur6F6K8ehEwgMk-OVmVSyoXOrgW_cxmbflUxq7pP60iq7wcjSUFzzqZp5Tb0PzHpNUNvKV523b7ecTT9rDFqYS3Un1pg5mHCtuHsFvjCyqGxCzIrC4DCgqQcAR59OLE/s640/DSC_2055.JPG" width="640" /> </div><div style="text-align: center;">And he loved her.</div><div style="text-align: center;">He is by far her biggest fan, as you can see. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh117%2Fmelhess%2Fbigbrother-1.mp4" height="361" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are all pretty big fans too... Just take a look at that face:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13zTIECckqaNTB0IPdY95BK-brjM5Ik-vaNFJWiCBf-5h1EGMhbg2kcerfzDzJn5uXwu8Nw32qwTm1xv6f9IPoHkz0qqRuhRHcCthnaDLMr14yXq9LI1NCXZr8ISdqzqKoaTD/s1600/DSC_2071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13zTIECckqaNTB0IPdY95BK-brjM5Ik-vaNFJWiCBf-5h1EGMhbg2kcerfzDzJn5uXwu8Nw32qwTm1xv6f9IPoHkz0qqRuhRHcCthnaDLMr14yXq9LI1NCXZr8ISdqzqKoaTD/s640/DSC_2071.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtAUMAO3zdQAzAy9GxK9Js50LSxgp1b70qCjxmfWpyyabQpWwjj_5qoKUKyYUXnAAci0UiNUDiDa0Rf1Z4M7Fykl5OhimlEqTGP-K-CbXemXgKVeun1cY6mbqi2NLkC3bwPwJ/s1600/DSC_2075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtAUMAO3zdQAzAy9GxK9Js50LSxgp1b70qCjxmfWpyyabQpWwjj_5qoKUKyYUXnAAci0UiNUDiDa0Rf1Z4M7Fykl5OhimlEqTGP-K-CbXemXgKVeun1cY6mbqi2NLkC3bwPwJ/s640/DSC_2075.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5t8b_e_ebBebTXW1p1EN05SNZNZqs8XLkO7N312S9rQw2QYw3FsyaIRWiep9Gkv73jllPudeVGKo-DANm3ZegD5c9FXknldPWZc2Ch1jVaN-0Nr_SgWyiV3I1I0BCaTxBQY0/s1600/DSC_2080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5t8b_e_ebBebTXW1p1EN05SNZNZqs8XLkO7N312S9rQw2QYw3FsyaIRWiep9Gkv73jllPudeVGKo-DANm3ZegD5c9FXknldPWZc2Ch1jVaN-0Nr_SgWyiV3I1I0BCaTxBQY0/s640/DSC_2080.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBV3NvVdy29QBOu-6795yWHe5e7y-lpyRwC5NCM0T6AUhCs2u3daKYwr7LG2_BxQvJCbT8WamRp0HafIxyDiWVgGVfqYVeCFOMxRDC8J8IqLoy0HaT4zCeMGS24tcH6woyQe5X/s1600/DSC_2092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBV3NvVdy29QBOu-6795yWHe5e7y-lpyRwC5NCM0T6AUhCs2u3daKYwr7LG2_BxQvJCbT8WamRp0HafIxyDiWVgGVfqYVeCFOMxRDC8J8IqLoy0HaT4zCeMGS24tcH6woyQe5X/s640/DSC_2092.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGgbI6CeB4j7E1Nz2GKFRNg1ROEuUshKVqySXzRREvZbgBdNCpqn1m3tFbYsi4rh9SaUevU1_j7exz91Y0Czi5Whuyba7JM9Fe3m1gPT4aO_blnl-8cR8A1_Ez0iPSHFnUlWh/s1600/DSC_2109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGgbI6CeB4j7E1Nz2GKFRNg1ROEuUshKVqySXzRREvZbgBdNCpqn1m3tFbYsi4rh9SaUevU1_j7exz91Y0Czi5Whuyba7JM9Fe3m1gPT4aO_blnl-8cR8A1_Ez0iPSHFnUlWh/s640/DSC_2109.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwh68AUB8MfbxuydZaQqJKYsXo_Yw9gl5af1ZYw4xuryc0t12tNnWbZSnTK62VSVaEsev7vrHAV-C2DlhrnbddeM1k8cqwKn0ltNYBcO0Fy91ik7Jd4QzCv8fC9KjJvyPKWPxO/s1600/DSC_2138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwh68AUB8MfbxuydZaQqJKYsXo_Yw9gl5af1ZYw4xuryc0t12tNnWbZSnTK62VSVaEsev7vrHAV-C2DlhrnbddeM1k8cqwKn0ltNYBcO0Fy91ik7Jd4QzCv8fC9KjJvyPKWPxO/s640/DSC_2138.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqllfTVYAFzVkIzVEdE63QUBjWFJIIwthfJ6r09it3tRzVwkmpf0IhXdVPlHy_mLLbeBMENRmxpq05Pq7S2PbCpHfQqUT_Pn8lidgjmkQg0Dcy_B6PSaNH3U5tDHwwEnurvVS/s1600/DSC_2151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqllfTVYAFzVkIzVEdE63QUBjWFJIIwthfJ6r09it3tRzVwkmpf0IhXdVPlHy_mLLbeBMENRmxpq05Pq7S2PbCpHfQqUT_Pn8lidgjmkQg0Dcy_B6PSaNH3U5tDHwwEnurvVS/s640/DSC_2151.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTemFoVUtV1aKOf5Xgx5QZgkAFfHS9OQ71-dSeXiIUSBxBq8P0oIyVkV1ogM0TqwJ16-8vEj6fTI7TbPIqZHQg4xWBNg8_VyQUL3r3i5lzDWicKPngPSlrGJ_4wEXisNrXL1WI/s1600/DSC_2189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTemFoVUtV1aKOf5Xgx5QZgkAFfHS9OQ71-dSeXiIUSBxBq8P0oIyVkV1ogM0TqwJ16-8vEj6fTI7TbPIqZHQg4xWBNg8_VyQUL3r3i5lzDWicKPngPSlrGJ_4wEXisNrXL1WI/s640/DSC_2189.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQT5OxS9n6hVghR9SaoM9rxtnBbDE73j2mHF0j0EUTl7_VN9vukTneefSGDJ72ZuzIpP7Hlyp8Y0Sg5GMvtl0JPEaNYZ1PBRWoizYspTHOdDDnst-4cpJy4q6PgRK3J7sBrCun/s1600/DSC_2223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQT5OxS9n6hVghR9SaoM9rxtnBbDE73j2mHF0j0EUTl7_VN9vukTneefSGDJ72ZuzIpP7Hlyp8Y0Sg5GMvtl0JPEaNYZ1PBRWoizYspTHOdDDnst-4cpJy4q6PgRK3J7sBrCun/s640/DSC_2223.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">More soon, when we're getting a little more sleep around here...</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-78421640608731730542011-03-29T09:40:00.000-06:002011-03-29T09:40:10.774-06:00Planting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After being on real bed rest (I'm not supposed to be up for more than 5 minutes at a time... which I don't always stick to, but I try) for 8 days now, I am kind of sick of thinking about how I'm stuck here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In all of his crazy busy life this week, Ben was determined that we have a good Monday night family night, so he bought a "project" for us. Since it appears that we will be sticking around this house for a while yet, we decided we're going to try again at planting some edibles in our garden. It's still snowing on and off, so we started our garden in our own little indoor greenhouse.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We have cilantro, basil, yellow string beans, sugar snap peas, lettuce, & spinach seeds to start.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We'll start the corn when it gets a little bit warmer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nolan was SO excited to PLANT THINGS!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAlIk4Iba7oJ-1iVPv5POY3gLrmcdBI3s15bl-tqBo-R-Vgsdc7iv3xF5ddgjvEBsEeWsGO5cq_tedunvt8cyEk59piNtrMdUk8NHjQndtW60yU-dMz4psRQm7o5NcNjyfBbU/s640/DSC_2022.jpg" width="640" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They added water to the special pods to help them expand</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtg5ZAEvV_RwRpdXk4jDv5ErjbJQNjrKAtQLAG6Ag5xtu_mJ1s6K8SbTqPQPyIWil6pyruuCcEMcrrz2zFQfDD6n9lnABvl6jwTglEXTZrBCyQ5Lr4qfVm6GXpJp8ItQ5Zf5ar/s1600/DSC_2026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtg5ZAEvV_RwRpdXk4jDv5ErjbJQNjrKAtQLAG6Ag5xtu_mJ1s6K8SbTqPQPyIWil6pyruuCcEMcrrz2zFQfDD6n9lnABvl6jwTglEXTZrBCyQ5Lr4qfVm6GXpJp8ItQ5Zf5ar/s640/DSC_2026.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is Nolan getting SO excited to add the seeds </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCjHyNdMwDea4-DgzNofAHN7AmbUorXHxX2kbkwUMhVbjnCDeJF_kw8Tc9HuXo-gu-iB30Ann1hyphenhyphencuim9tIg0nobC0NXf01FFsdsdQrDlx3iiUvDstEY3BHXjZwASQnO7Q3P3/s1600/DSC_2033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCjHyNdMwDea4-DgzNofAHN7AmbUorXHxX2kbkwUMhVbjnCDeJF_kw8Tc9HuXo-gu-iB30Ann1hyphenhyphencuim9tIg0nobC0NXf01FFsdsdQrDlx3iiUvDstEY3BHXjZwASQnO7Q3P3/s640/DSC_2033.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He liked dropping them on top... but he wasn't a fan of getting the dirt on his hands, so we compromised and Ben did all of the burying. Nolan just dropped in the seeds. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtz_uJL806kUXREw69YRuYmAhP6ERsxwfTamWniLdaMAGerAU8aEkwn7jVH3hdgPwC9ASpeMG9s08VPg8-I_yuXQiNymrhloI6D42laicRDMFCEqfQIgonGfq-IPa3d8-Rpwu/s1600/DSC_2037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtz_uJL806kUXREw69YRuYmAhP6ERsxwfTamWniLdaMAGerAU8aEkwn7jVH3hdgPwC9ASpeMG9s08VPg8-I_yuXQiNymrhloI6D42laicRDMFCEqfQIgonGfq-IPa3d8-Rpwu/s640/DSC_2037.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Then they put on the lid... and we wait. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDo2FHnawa7AGaKkvIbw-hVV4gbyKLD2JwGbTryu_36ZrE8XKVTtDcw6YyUk7vJTsXZ6VNL5tKPkKK6xxgQ2ycWTONeYvkjCSx9F6Vz9qN2yAk6E93ohTLRfNgMd-gHlaxtib/s640/DSC_2039.jpg" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">They had a great time with their project, even if they couldn't both smile for the camera at the same time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And my blood pressure went back down after a while. . . I just couldn't sit this one out.</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-31961197253552522322011-03-22T15:39:00.000-06:002011-03-22T15:39:15.440-06:00Pressure<div style="text-align: center;">This pregnancy just keeps getting better and better.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Today is day 2 of serious bed rest for me.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Thursday afternoon of last week I got a migraine. So what, you say? Yeah, so did I. I get them occasionally. Less often when I'm pregnant (one every 2 weeks instead of 1-2 a week) but I still get them. I can usually take a pretty low dose of Excedrin or Fioricet and they go away. Usually, it only takes one of those solutions. But that night, neither one worked. I didn't sleep much and the headache kept raging... Of course, I panicked a little, having heard a thing or two about pre-eclampsia, and called the dr. I went in to have them check my blood pressure and it was high. Way too high. So they sent me to the hospital to be monitored. They gave me a shot to relieve the headache, and it went down... but I was sent home to be on bed rest and monitor my numbers. Only the way the nurse described bed rest just sounded like "take it easy. Don't do anything strenuous. stay off of your feet as much as you can". So I went to my baby shower, and tried to take it easy over the weekend at my parent's house.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgED1RkFq7alS5Yl4wSBL64ybpdt-MSL1FuVDPstKpIw2O30qckFeRRFy4bzh1Ot2WyM5GiSl1SF9qXDqlqWdZ_QbPB-e8Q8TS_CjaFzZy4Rpu2p1DmP4ehU8ZMoxncGg9RGN8K/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-03-22+at+10.40.59+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgED1RkFq7alS5Yl4wSBL64ybpdt-MSL1FuVDPstKpIw2O30qckFeRRFy4bzh1Ot2WyM5GiSl1SF9qXDqlqWdZ_QbPB-e8Q8TS_CjaFzZy4Rpu2p1DmP4ehU8ZMoxncGg9RGN8K/s320/Screen+shot+2011-03-22+at+10.40.59+AM.png" width="275" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And then, Sunday night, I checked my blood pressure. It had stayed in the high end of normal all weekend until that time, when it went up pretty high again... and I felt gross. So I laid down. We drove home, and I checked it again when we got here... and it was even higher. I had no idea what to do... so I went to bed. Decided to call the doctor in the morning.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And 2 days later... here I sit. I am officially on bed rest until the end of my pregnancy. When will that be? Who knows. It definitely won't be later than April 14th... but if my blood pressure goes up again and won't come back down... it could be earlier than that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is definitely not how I expected my pregnancy to end. I spent so many days at the end of my first one on long walks and nesting that to sit here in bed feels really foreign to me... even if I am working while I sit here. It is all I can do not to be up and around and getting ready for this little girl to join us... but in the end, this is what will get her here safely... so it's what we're doing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kids.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">They're never predictable, are they?</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-31911959488323068432011-03-10T11:33:00.001-07:002011-03-10T16:31:52.300-07:00Forget Belly Shots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMbBJVho64mL_EE3DFzw8C6HN5LKd_8OUv8W77zY3kMLo2FM0iVjwCRl_CV55-Uoy_CdX5YUaIMlGg_agAA3-ghoMeSx_e98jExqzJMWEJxCkcDZ-vF6mCSVZH5D3NdpZtjwD/s1600/photo%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMbBJVho64mL_EE3DFzw8C6HN5LKd_8OUv8W77zY3kMLo2FM0iVjwCRl_CV55-Uoy_CdX5YUaIMlGg_agAA3-ghoMeSx_e98jExqzJMWEJxCkcDZ-vF6mCSVZH5D3NdpZtjwD/s400/photo%25282%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I will now post pictures of my super fat feet once a week so that you can feel sorry for me and my inability to bend my toes. :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And my inability to reach my toes to repaint them, apparently.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-51131372983479000482011-03-01T15:22:00.001-07:002011-03-01T15:23:10.981-07:00Catching up<div style="text-align: center;">What's that? I didn't post ONCE in February? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Oops.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I wish I could say I had a back log of posts all saved up to publish... but alas. Between day jobs, night jobs (Ben is teaching a class for BYU's EMPA program this semester along with our OOF work), purging our house in order to get it ready to sell, and pregnancy, and all of the joyful symptoms that come with it in my world... Let's just say there hasn't been a lot of documenting going on around here. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
I know. Excuses excuses.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So here are a few things to redeem myself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">First, the Oscars. I was THRILLED with the winners, for the most part. I loved The King's Speech. LOVED it. I would have been just as happy with Inception winning, but that wasn't going to happen. I'm just glad The Social Network didn't take home the big prizes. It deserved the ones it won, and I feel like most everyone got their due... I WILL come back and do a movie review post... perhaps next week. I have a LOOONNGG list to update on, but I'll do it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIQ6gNkkYuFY2For8DVCa79f1dui_f2DWiYB8gCzgS7vdyb7J_Os1IU4MGfaAdPn0I5e2KuOhw036VpQG3DALvrrgly4Hgxu-l0bOJf92rc4WkBaPnfOcVcsnbIC693KblCrZ/s1600/DSC00088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIQ6gNkkYuFY2For8DVCa79f1dui_f2DWiYB8gCzgS7vdyb7J_Os1IU4MGfaAdPn0I5e2KuOhw036VpQG3DALvrrgly4Hgxu-l0bOJf92rc4WkBaPnfOcVcsnbIC693KblCrZ/s320/DSC00088.JPG" width="286" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Second. I am 32 weeks pregnant tomorrow. (I didn't do my hair for this photo... sorry 'bout that) 32 looonnnggg weeks. I am still throwing up on average 4 times a day. Completely exhausted ALL of the time. If there's anything harder than your first pregnancy... it's subsequent pregnancies when you have other small beings to take care of on top of the one you're growing. I must admit... I hate it. Every second of it. I'm SO ready to be done. I'm scared to death to have a baby again. Scared to death for the constant neediness and the lack of sleep.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">That said, I'm also REALLY excited to meet this little girl. If everyone could do a lot of praying that she'll be a mellow little angel baby, to make up for the past 9 months, I would really appreciate it. It would certainly make it easier to look back on the past little while with less stress and more fondness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Third. Nolan is currently 3 going on 13. Bless his heart, he has a real talent for sass. I can't believe how amazing he's become at communicating what he wants and needs. I'm curious to know who decided that two is the hardest age... I'm finding 3 to be much more challenging, as far as behavior. On the other hand, he is becoming incredibly social and enjoys running off to play with his cousins or his friends. I love his new found independence. I love that he can help me a little around the house, even if it often becomes a fight to make him follow through. I love that he is starting to wrap his brain around things like spelling and addition and imagination. He has many "pretend friends" that come to hang out with us on a regular basis. Some of them are characters from his favorite games and shows. Some are real people that he wishes were at his house to play. It's hilarious to watch the stories he comes up with. He's getting to be a real character. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I redid <a href="http://melaniehess.blogspot.com/2010/05/interview-with-2-year-old.html">his interview from last Spring</a>, just to see how much he's changed. I've actually done this several times over the last 6 months, but this one has turned out the best, so check it out!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh117%2Fmelhess%2FNolanInterview2.mp4" height="361" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" wmode="transparent"></embed></div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32796911.post-15751747826972799382011-01-26T15:36:00.001-07:002011-01-26T16:01:39.707-07:00Sundancing 2011<div style="text-align: center;">Sundance has been a bit compressed this year... piling a bunch of films into one weekend, and then leaving the final one for just a couple of days later. We did this for a reason... Dallas and Helen were supposed to come up from AZ for the festival, but alas, a very sick little girl made it impossible for this year.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgVs_a1xncPjH46Fi3RchBSPBs7uZ_2sCWVXAIHqL9XhtcLUobPMUrgm-JYfICFne5S_6mKs3Z3epUXZmI8qTehey1M1FVKV-xHAhXtbiei4wMhAL_MauaEBp_LJYAiNOhu0pf/s1600/-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgVs_a1xncPjH46Fi3RchBSPBs7uZ_2sCWVXAIHqL9XhtcLUobPMUrgm-JYfICFne5S_6mKs3Z3epUXZmI8qTehey1M1FVKV-xHAhXtbiei4wMhAL_MauaEBp_LJYAiNOhu0pf/s400/-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This photo kind of sums up the experience, except that, frankly, I was smiling because Melissa was making me laugh, not because I was completely content. . . I mean, I was was content... just tired. This was right before movie #4 of the day for me, and to say my pregnant self was a little tired... that would be an understatement. Which is sort of dumb, because I basically sat on my rear end the whole day.<br />
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Ben was happily killing pigs on his phone... and I'm not sure WHAT was so important to Nick, but clearly it required a great deal of focus.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Anyway, here are our 4 films (I also went to see The King's Speech in the middle of the first day because we had a break) and how I felt about each...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMIEzMr3syI_q3ZLrCWgMJkZJL1YbBJeCLn6nueINWWmpb1dRu6hx-Eqncj8NlzoCmj5aFvf_WcFSB2Kdwn73MxWh24OSfHWLTeoWZOQL19GEwkGqKNNUMas6vkihdLePWPfz/s1600/VampireTease.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMIEzMr3syI_q3ZLrCWgMJkZJL1YbBJeCLn6nueINWWmpb1dRu6hx-Eqncj8NlzoCmj5aFvf_WcFSB2Kdwn73MxWh24OSfHWLTeoWZOQL19GEwkGqKNNUMas6vkihdLePWPfz/s400/VampireTease.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Vampire</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let's just say this was a vaguely interesting concept that could have been brilliant, but instead fell flat on its face. It was about a guy who had a compulsive need to drink human blood, but went about it in a different way... It was directed by a Japanese man who didn't speak English, but the film was in English. And let's just say that the disconnect he must have had with the actors was quite apparent. </div><div style="text-align: center;">If, by some miracle, it gets picked up... skip it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4O5-DC1xusPTMy2erNX0hO094mvvRZqVqED_hh5DKWH2tmKqKiWQCRuO-FCIPHQK62qvNPMRYzCbFy9A7e7YVhf99Qatx6jz5lF8L9YE2LwTuPdIxL0u2Y4F4wDkrJfaSzflm/s1600/theGuard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4O5-DC1xusPTMy2erNX0hO094mvvRZqVqED_hh5DKWH2tmKqKiWQCRuO-FCIPHQK62qvNPMRYzCbFy9A7e7YVhf99Qatx6jz5lF8L9YE2LwTuPdIxL0u2Y4F4wDkrJfaSzflm/s400/theGuard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Guard</div><div style="text-align: center;">I can probably count on one hand the number of Sundance films I've ever seen that I laughed out loud through... at least because they were genuinely funny. This movie was HILARIOUS. The language was pretty awful, but I know it's been picked up, so if language doesn't bug you, see it. You will laugh your head off. & Brendan Gleeson is AMAZING. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-l8Wz5IALX8bpz82clxk5obsBP7S-RiOXFCCFbpQduXTMHZ_JW8encSpetFMJ9NMXh2vwWnJdl2XBZerpMJO8bJcPnjIE1jyEiKQ4S0oi5FwdIZdio-WoPSRzJWxlnSJOYbq/s1600/43782116-43782120-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-l8Wz5IALX8bpz82clxk5obsBP7S-RiOXFCCFbpQduXTMHZ_JW8encSpetFMJ9NMXh2vwWnJdl2XBZerpMJO8bJcPnjIE1jyEiKQ4S0oi5FwdIZdio-WoPSRzJWxlnSJOYbq/s400/43782116-43782120-large.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Like Crazy</div><div style="text-align: center;">This movie has received RAVE reviews from critics. RAVE reviews. And none of the 4 of us that saw it have any clue why. And it's not that we don't generally like independent film. Not at all. But this movie was DULL! The characters had no arc. There was very little dialogue, and what there was felt improved (in a bad way). It was a little too "slice of life" for any of us... So, WHAT are we missing that every critic that saw it loved? Is it because the director is someone they like and therefore they SHOULD like his work? No idea. But I didn't like it. At all. And when it's up for an Oscar next year, I will still maintain that position.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVr0pTv-5xuHnbGKyF2Pl2oSIiWmtTDEWmbJfLkhQEOdhBkYrPNn0TrZwBMnrkd0XUvx_9rai2LSa_nza0QuGadrcA4mTwdYjwcWh3Jvvd7EAx4k34t3olG9sxcvbLz1mi3RY/s1600/43432167-43432171-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVr0pTv-5xuHnbGKyF2Pl2oSIiWmtTDEWmbJfLkhQEOdhBkYrPNn0TrZwBMnrkd0XUvx_9rai2LSa_nza0QuGadrcA4mTwdYjwcWh3Jvvd7EAx4k34t3olG9sxcvbLz1mi3RY/s400/43432167-43432171-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Ledge</div><div style="text-align: center;">So, when I was wtching this movie, I got swept along a little. The actors are good ENOUGH that you try to care. (Patrick Wilson in particular) You try to follow along and expect it to hit some sort of great climax. It really just doesn't. It should, though. The idea of it is a good one. It's just suffering, in a big ugly way, from writer/director syndrome... sad. <a href="http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-fien-print/posts/sundance-review-charlie-hunnam-and-liv-tyler-in-the-ledge">I like this review of it a lot</a>. </div><div style="text-align: center;">And I'm not willing to tell you that much about it... so read his instead.</div>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036077720306782145noreply@blogger.com1