It's Me

Cute things she's said....

2011-02-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I picked Zoey up from school this week and as she was using the potty before we left she told me, "Mommy, soon I three and when I three I be a boy" she then went on to tell me that when she's a boy when she's three then she'll be able to stand at the potty!

Then, on the way home I asked her about her day. She proceeded to tell me that the monsters chased her outside and they were scary. We started talking about the monsters and it turns out one was the Holy Ghost! We then had a discussion on how the Holy Ghost wasn't a scary monster/ghost it's nice and your friend. She is still convinced that the Holy Ghost is scary, I guess we'll need to work on that one!

Picture Overload..

2011-02-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

As you know, I've been absent for awhile from the blogging world. Here are just a few pictures to catch you up. I wish I had time to put full stories on everything and put more but this gives the overview of the last few months of my life...These are in no particular order, just the way they were uploaded!

A few weekends ago we were down in Houston for my sisters wedding and Zoey decided she didn't want to take her nap on the drive home. So when we finally got home we put her in her PJ's and fed her dinner. It was the cutest thing, she totally fell asleep while eating, then she'd wake up and take a few bites and fall asleep again. I got the best video of it and will cherish is forever!

We moved into a new house and this was moving day, Zoey had to get her favorite toys and her stools and put them in the middle of the living room and watch Diego on my phone. It was too cute!
We got a WII for Christmas, this is actually at Jacob and LeeAnnas house. We went to have a fun night and Zoey of course had to play just like her daddy. She doesn't get how to use the WII controllers yet but she loves to pretend.
One of her Christmas toys was this pop up Princess castle. Zoey calls it her temple. She enjoys hanging out in it.

Clay turned 31!!! I was out of town at my sisters bridal shower and endowment but his sister Candice came over and got him a birthday cake. Thank you Candice for taking care of him while I was gone!
We spent Christmas at my parents house. Christmas Eve we had the kids to The Nativity. Of course, since Zoey was the only granddaughter there she was Mary.
Zoey LOVES babies. We saw my newest nephew at Christmas and she loved to help feed and take care of him. I can't wait till I can give her a new baby brother or sister, someday!

Clay took Zoey to her first movie! I asked him to take her out so I could finish packing the house and they went to breakfast and a movie. They went to the dollar movie in case she didn't sit through it but he says she did great!

I made the Prince Peanut Butter Fudge all by myself for the first time! This is a family recipe from my mothers side and I've made it a few times with help but this time it was all on my own! I didn't even have to call my mommy on the phone for help (I do that a lot when I'm cooking because I usually don't know what I'm doing). Oh and it was yummy!
My work had a Christmas party, I was having so much fun I didn't get any pictures but Clay took a few of the tables (it's his artistic talent).
Zoey and I went to Jacob and LeeAnna's ward christmas party because we didn't have anything going on that night. When they asked the primary children to come and sing Zoey had to go up with her cousins. She loved it and though she didn't know the words she sure tried! I can't wait till she graduates nursery next year and starts going to primary.
Zoey absolutely loves her dad. They regularly have fun photo shoots together. We absolutely love our I4's. I think every picture from this blog is from our phones.
Alison is married! For that matter, so is Amy (I just don't have pictures of that yet). Alison and Byron got married at the end of November and 3 days after their wedding Amy's boyfriend Brian proposed and they got married the end of January. I had fun going down for each of their showers and the weddings. I cannot believe my two little sisters are married!
Zoey and Daddy love to go and get donuts on Saturday mornings while I sleep in. Zoey LOVES her chocolate donuts with sprinkles. Man this kid is spoiled!
Thanksgiving was spent at Clay's parents house. We had a wonderful weekend with lots of great food and fun. Grandma and Grandpa even took the little kids for a day and went to the aquarium while the parents and everyone else went to the movies. Boy are grandma and grandpa brave!
We enjoyed putting up our $3.00 christmas tree I got a few years ago on clearance at wal-mart. Zoey enjoyed helping put up the lights and also putting on the ornaments.
This is just a fun/long day we had! She decided to dump everything out and refused to wear clothes. I was so glad when she went to bed this night.
This is our new house. I don't have any inside pictures yet but we really enjoy it here. We didn't buy it, we're just renting but I am so glad to have the extra space and also the backyard. Now I just need to finish unpacking and decorating so I can fully enjoy it. We're getting there!
Yeah, the Monday after Alison's wedding I totaled our new car. We had only made one payment on it and I totaled it! Luckily no one was hurt. It happened on my way to work and I still made it to work by 9:00 am and worked all day! It was the only way I could get it off my mind. We then had a few months of fun getting a new car and car repairs and figuring things out, but all is well now!
Mickey Racer came to Alison's wedding. She was my piano teacher growing up but she was more then that. She is an amazing woman and will always have a place in my heart! I was so excited to see her and spend some time with her and hear about all the stories of her life. Her and her husband retired 10 years ago and have since been traveling the country in their RV working at different places and having a blast.

Well, there you go, you're just about caught up! I'm not promising I'll be better but I will try. Oh, I guess the other new thing is I started a new job. I now work at Smile Magic and am the HR Director, it is so awesome and I absolutely enjoy it! I'll give you more details later, maybe!

Eat what you want its vacation...

2011-02-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, obviously I've ignored my blog for awhile, starting a new job and the holidays will do that to a girl! Here are the last of the pictures I'm going to post from our vacation. I take that back, I might put a few from the Meldrum half of the vacation but right now I don't have any on my computer and I don't feel like transferring them from Clays. We had a great summer with both my family and Clays.

Yes, she was a very dirty girl by the end of this day! Enjoy -

Random

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

So this post is just a bunch of random pictures Clay put together. I'll throw in a few stories for your entertainment, and my memory!

Though Zoey was pretty good most of the time I did have to get down to her level a few times and remind her of some of the rules.
Ahhhh, nice grass! We sat in this grass all day and no bug bites especially no fire ants! It was so nice and soft I wish I could bring it home! I guess I'd need a house or yard to put it in first though hu?!

We did family pictures. We all got these shirts that say "Roots that Keep up Strong" on on the back is a tree and the outlining of the tree is everyones name (that's like 50ish people!). They were pretty cool.

Oh did I ever mention Zoey ate and ate and ate and had absolutely anything she wanted! She loved the Popsicles and would always go to grandpa and ask him for one since she new he'd get it for her every time! The white shirt was ruined by the end of the day but that's ok, she had fun!
Yes, it was beautiful out there. Nothing is more fun then being surrounded by so much of God's beautiful creations.

Playing

2010-10-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

(Click on the picture to see the full action in full size)

I think this in shows how much fun we had and how tired I was by the end! Zoey was FULL of energy the entire time and wouldn't hold still until she crashed late each night.

Trampoline

2010-10-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a post of JUST trampoline pictures. All the little kids love to jump and miraculously, there were no injuries (that I know of at least!)

Not sure what she's angry about here. I probably walked away or something and left daddy. She doesn't like it when I'm not right next to her.
I love the one above and two below. She is so into her jumping! She jumps all the time at home too. She'll jump down the halls at school, to and from the car, and all over the house. She likes to jump on me too but we're trying to put a stop to that! Some days I really feel like tenderized meat I've been so trampled on!

Well, there you go...another post down! I'm getting closer to the end of the Cortez reunion so I guess I better get Clay to start putting in pictures of the Meldrum reunion so I can post about those next hu?

Playing

2010-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

We did LOTS of playing in Cortez at the Prince family reunion. Here are some random pictures Clay has deemed acceptable to blog...

Us three shared an air mattress. That wasn't the plan originally. We were going to have Zoey sleep on the ground with lots of blankets but of course, she refused to sleep anywhere except snuggled in between us two. In the above picture Clay is just pretending to be asleep for effect (obviously someone was) but I was totally passed out and about to fall off the air mattress. I swear, I slept on the edge and had about 3 inches to myself that I balanced on while half my body was off the air mattress.

Zoey absolutely LOVED the trampoline (I think Clay did a whole post just of trampoline pictures, to come later of course). She was on this thing always!

She also loved wandering away from us to go and see anything new and exciting.

Yes, I am on a horse. Growing up I LOVED horses but as an adult I try and stay away because they just scare me they're so big and powerful (as I've grown I seem to be more aware of dangers around then the potential fun). Don't worry though, my cousin Stephanie guided us and we only rode for about 3 minutes then Zoey was done.

There were like 7 four-wheelers or something crazy like that. The kids were always off running and riding them but we got a few turns. Zoey really enjoyed riding them. One day, when she refused to nap, we took her in between us and drove for around until she fell asleep. She was so cute then!

As you can see, we spent almost the entire time outside. Most of us camped in tents in the backyard and all the food and games were outside. We only went inside for bathrooms, to cook the food, and to put Zoey in front of the TV when she refused to take a nap!

Well, until the next post....

Swimming in Crawdaddy River

2010-09-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

My mothers side of the family has a family reunion once every 3 years. It is always held in Cortez Colorado because my Aunt/Uncle has a HUGE farm and tons of space and fun things to do that us city kids don't see that often. One of the traditions is on the day we all gather before the festivities 'officially' begin, we go down to this river and swim. We've always referred to it as the craw daddy river and I have no idea what it's real name is! I was so proud of myself, I was one of the first people in and I stayed in until we left! I never got my head wet or went in past my waist because the water was FREEZING but I was in it!

There were almost 50 people at the family reunion. We all had a blast!
Awe, isn't Alison just adorable!!! Oh, and for those who don't know...SHE'S ENGAGED NOW!!!!! Yeah, she wasn't at the reunion, it all happened after but I'm so excited for her!
Zoey absolutely LOVED the water. She did not care that it was freezing cold. She wanted to swim and swim.

Of course all the 'old folks' sat in chairs and watched everyone else. I guess that's what you get to do when you're now a grandparent instead of just a parent at one of these reunions!
Across the river is a rock ledge and it's every one's favorite to jump off. That's what the picture above and below are showing, they're not meant to show my white shirt and white arms but the kids across the river jumping!

Zoey was wiped out by the end! Grandpa had given her a sucker when we got in the car and she fell asleep with it in her mouth ( I guess we took it out before this picture was taken, but trust me, it was so funny!)

Well, that's all for this post! Keep checking back for the next one!

Dinosaur's

2010-09-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Vacation Part 1 - The drive:

About a month ago Clay uploaded all the pictures from our family vacation this summer in like 7 different posts so that all I had to do was go in any type and post. You can see how quick I'm getting that done! Well, since I found a few minutes during my lunch at work before I have to run up front I thought I'd start and get the first post done. So bug me until you see another cause I have lots waiting!

For vacation this summer we drove to Cortez Colorado for a family reunion on my mothers side of the family, then drove to New Port Beach California for a family reunion on my husbands side of the family. We were gone for almost 2 full weeks and were exhausted at the end but had a blast!

This was our first true, family vacation since being married. On the drive to Colorado Zoey was getting a little restless in the car (surprise hu?!). We started seeing signs for a dinosaur museum in the next town so we decided we were making good time and it was almost lunch so we might as well stop and see the dinosaurs. It was a little museum that was also a research lab for the local community collage. It was only a few dollars to get in and it was pretty small but it was just perfect for what we needed!

They had a little children's area lots of displays all around that you could actually touch (they even had one of different hardened poops you could tough, don't worry, we washed our hands after!)

Zoey really liked running around and seeing all the different exhibits.

This was in the children's area. You could make foot prints in the sand. They even had a walnut shell pit where you could 'dig' for fossils and things, she didn't care for the pit very much but we had to drag her away from the sand. I can't wait until we have a backyard or even a patio again and can put a sand table up for her!

Some of the larger exhibits she would get scared of if we got too close. It probably didn't help that we tried to pretend and feed her to the dinosaurs but that's what you can do when you're a parent, right?!

Zoey has always loved to swing so when we stopped for lunch we let her play for a bit before getting back in the car.
For me one of the best things about the drive up was after the dinosaur museum we stopped at a local park and ate lunch that we had brought in our cooler. Whenever Clay and I have traveled in the past (usually no more then 4 hours to see family) we always just stop and eat fast food. I was determined to make this trip fill like a really family trip that we use to take growing up and I wanted to stop on the side of the road and eat sandwiches from the cooler and for breakfast have cereal in a cup! We did the lunch, once, then I think we ate out every other time! But hey, we had the experience!

Well, that's part 1 of our vacation. I hope you'll stay tuned for part, 2, 3, 4,....

4th of July, 2010

2010-08-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Zoey loves her school. Everyday she wakes up and asks if we're going to school! This is a little project that they did for the 4th of July. It's been hanging on our fridge since because we think she looks so cute! She loves to come up and point to herself!

We didn't really make any plans for the 4th of July. Clay and I were both busy with work and getting things ready for a 2 week vacation left for right after the 4th so we didn't plan much. On the 3rd Clay went into work and called us to see if we wanted to come and see the fireworks from his work. It turns out his office is on the street where everyone parks and watches the Addison fireworks. It was very last minute but I'm glad we went.
We left early to avoid traffic as much as possible so we ended up sitting in the break room at Daddys work for an hour or so before we went to find us a seat. It wasn't too bad though because I brought the portable DVD player and Zoey just watched a movie while we waited.
We then went out to the parking lot next door and found us a spot all by ourselves. The view was a little obstructed by buildings so we know better for next time but it was fun none the less.
Zoey kept pointing to them and calling them diamonds (like twinkle twinkle little star). For weeks afterwards she kept asking to go see the fireworks again because she wanted to see Diamonds! Though it was last minute it was fun and we will probably go back next year. Oh, and the best part, bathrooms! Since we were right by the office we didn't have to worry about where the bathrooms were and how far away we were from them. This is great with a two year old who was just recently potty trained!

When Mommy is Away

2010-08-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have a great husband. He is SO good with our little Zoey. Over a month ago I went away for a weekend for FRG training (my brother is in the Army Nat'l Guard). I enjoyed a quite weekend in Austin while Clay stayed home and took care of Zoey. According to the pictures, it looks like they had a great time! Zoey LOVES cookies so they had fun making cookies together. Her favorite part is the candy though! Isn't she just a doll...

I love this shirt, it says "Daddy's little Monkey," so true!

I can't believe how grown up she looks.

She always loves to make faces at the camera.

She doesn't always love all of Daddy's hugs and kisses though..."PICKLES"

Not sure what's going on here?!

We love our cookie cutters. We use them for cookies, play dough, and peanut butter sandwiches. She won't eat a sandwich without it cut into a fun shape. Best wedding present ever!

Of course her dolly had to join in the fun. I'm still trying to figure out why she always undresses her dolls, she doesn't seem to like it when they're wearing clothes? Ideas?!

Zoey is great at counting and pointing out colors. (Her favorite is to sneak a candy in her mouth though, notice the chocolate all around it?!)

One of Clay's famous food pictures. I'll have to add this one into the next book!

Well, there you have it, when mommy's gone they make cookies and eat candy. I'm just glad there were a few cookies left for me when I got home!

Various Images & the Start of My Family History

2010-08-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

So the other day my wonderful husband created a few blog posts for me. He uploaded tons of pictures and put them in my draft folder so all I have to do is go in and type up something and post it. I liked the idea but my first thought to this particular group of pictures was "why do I need all these pictures? What am I supposed to write about? Didn't I already cover some of these pictures in past posts?" Well, if I used them in past posts they were not the edited/touch up pictures that you find here. Clay is great at editing photos and I love to see what he does with them. Also, tonight I was sitting down and putting together the last minute details for our Relief Society activity tomorrow night. We are doing genealogy but I wanted to add another dimension into it since not everyone gets exacted about family history. So, I have this whole display and presentation on starting your own family history for your posterity. It then hit me, that's what this is for...here are some pictures of Zoey's life and I can add little stories and thoughts and not loose all my memories. I've been meaning for weeks to write down some of the funny things she's said but I keep forgetting so here's to starting now... (You don't have to look at all the pictures or read all the stories, again, this is for my history too!)

Zoey LOVES to play with bubbles. When I go and pick her up from nursery on Sundays they are always blowing bubbles and sometimes I have to drag her out because she wants to keep playing.
Zoey is potty trained (notice how she doesn't have any pant on in these pictures). Just this last week she's begun to strip naked and run around the house! I think it's funny how at school/daycare she will use the potty by herself but at home I have to be in the bathroom with her. This has, of course, become an annoyance so I started saying 'no, show me how you go potty like a big girl at school!' and it works! She runs off and uses the potty and comes back acting all proud! I love my little girl.
Zoey's favorite foods right now are, apple sauce, apple juice, pasta, pizza, mac & cheese, string cheese, candy, and cupcakes! I haven't been great at feeding her lots of fruits and veggies but it's something we're working on.
Zoey loves to wear clips in her hair. They usually don't last the whole day but she loves to put them in and out. Her hair is getting SO LONG! I keep searching the web for cute hair ideas because I always seem to do the same thing (if you know of any, please pass along!). Oh, and the only way I can do her hair in the mornings is while she brushes her teeth. Routine is great though!
Zoey loves to laugh! She is constantly trying to get you to tickle her or chase her around the house. While we were in California this summer I bought the cutest book called the 'Tickle Monster'. We have read that book EVERY night for at least 2 weeks now and even at nap time on the weekends. It really is a cute book and I love the art in it. I especially love Zoey's laugh!
Her Daddy taught her a new game a few Sundays ago. Whenever he grabs her and traps her she yells 'pickles'. You know, kind of like the 'monkeys uncle' or whatever other people use. This has been a fun thing in the house. Whenever someone to grabbing or tickling someone you just yell 'pickles' and they stop! So, a few Sundays ago, we were in Sacrament and Zoey is totally a mommas girl. Well, Dad tried to grab her towards the end of the meeting and as soon as he gets his hands on her she yells, loudly, 'PICKLES'. We couldn't help but laugh!
Zoey has been on a taco kick or something. We've only eaten tacos once in the last few months because they're not mommies favorite food! One day we were driving to school/daycare and Zoey said 'look mommy, birds'. There were a bunch of birds in the grassy field by school. I asked, what are they doing? She replied 'eating'. I then asked, 'what are they eating?' Her reply 'they're eating tacos mommy!'. I thought this was so cute! I laughed and said, no, they're eating worms and bugs. So the next morning she saw the birds in the field and again pointed them out. I asked what are they doing, again. Her reply 'they're eating worms and bugs mommy, not tacos'.
Zoey is getting to be really smart in my book! She can count to 5 in Spanish and it is so cute to listen to. She also loves to trace letters and numbers and lines. I laminated these practice cards for writing and every day she asked for me to get them down because she wants to trace. She'll trace, and wipe the card clean and trace some more! I'm glad she enjoys learning so much.
Zoey loves to play outside. I cannot wait for the day when we have a backyard so I can just let her loose to play. (it's been SUPER hot here the last few weeks and going outside is the LAST thing I feel like doing). She loves to run (she even pretends she's running while we're in the car sometimes.) She also loves to hop/jump. It doesn't matter where we are she is always hopping or jumping or moving any way but walking. What energy she has!
Zoey has learned what red lights and green lights mean. She is quickly becoming a backseat driver. She'll watch out the window and when she sees a traffic light she yells, stop mommy, or go mommy. She loves to tell me when to go, and when I'm going to fast! The other day she even yelled at me to stop driving, she said it was her turn and you could see her pretending to drive from the back seat.
Last week I bought Zoey her first doll house. We had a play date with a friend of mine from work and her daughter had one and Zoey loved it! She hasn't stopped playing with it since. I love watching her play with her dolls and act like a little mommy to them. She'll pick them up and pat their back when they're 'crying'. If they fall on the ground she'll gently pick them up and ask 'what happened'. I do have to be careful though because she is very good at copying what I say. Sometimes its cute to see her pretend to be like me, other times it scary and I wonder 'do I really sound like that?'
Well, I think I've shared quite a bit with you about my little Zoey so I'll let you just enjoy this last picture and know that there are at least 6 other posts waiting to come out so keep checking back! They won't all be this long, I promise.

My week and Misc Pics...Of Zoey of Course!

2010-05-29T11:39:00.001-07:00

So, this week has been a fun one (I'm saying that sarcastically!). Tuesday I got a call from Zoeys school after nap that she was running a temp of 102. I went to pick her up, took her to the Dr and found out it's NOT the flu, strep, ear infection or a UTI. She had no other symptoms, no cough, runny nose, nothing. She continued to run a fever over 100 till last night. I thought it might be that Roseola thing but she hasn't broken out in a rash yet. So, who know what it was but I'm glad that it's over (if she wakes up from nap with a fever I'm going to cry)! Clay and I tried to split up the days as best we could with work but it's been a long week. The hardest part is that besides the fever she's been completely happy and hasn't liked staying home. She kept begging to go to the park or school or to go swimming.

We had fun trying to get her to take her meds all week too. I kept her on Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours but she usually didn't want to take it. Most of the time I just bribed her to take it! I'm glad her fever is gone and I'm excited to be able to get out of the house this weekend!

So, here are a few fun pictures of Zoey from the last few months...

Zoey loves bubbles, my favorite are the Gymbore bubbles because they last and the want thing makes great bubbles very fast!

For her Birthday my mom sent a package and this was one of the coolest PJ's Zoey now has. Zoey calls this her Princess PJ's and loves to twirl in them.

Zoey has show and tell at school each Friday and I always struggle with what to have her take. So, my new great idea is on Thursday nights we will do a small art project that goes with the theme for the week and she can take it the next day. This was our first project, the subject that week was flowers so we used foam stickers and made some cute pictures. She had so much fun with this project we've pulled the foam stickers out a few times since then to play with.

Zoey loves trying on my shoes. I thought this picture was too cute!

Her favorite thing to do is, "play game". She loves matching Dora. She's really good at it too.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my miscellaneous post. Enjoy-

Lots of Easter Celebrating!!!

2010-04-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

For Easter this year we had almost a week long celebration. On Thursday Zoey had an Easter egg hunt at school (sorry, no pictures). We then went that night to The Colony Easter egg hunt. Zoey kept asking to go sit on the bunnies lap but when we would get close she would freak out and cling to me. Needless to say, she did NOT sit on the bunnies lap.

On Friday our apartments were supposed to have an egg hunt but it was raining. They still had the bounce house (which again, Zoey kept asking to play on but every time we got close she would just cling). Zoey enjoyed playing in the rain for awhile while we had hot dogs and played with the neighbor friends.

Saturday I went with my friend, Dani, to get all the stuff for Easter baskets for our kids. It was so fun to see Zoey open hers Eater morning! She was so excited.

Doesn't she look adorable in her Bunnie ears!

We then went over to Dani's house on Easter and had a wonderful Easter dinner and an egg hunt for the kids in the backyard. It was amazing to see Zoey so into the hunt. We had 125 eggs that we hid for the 3 kids! Of course once Zoey figured out they had candy inside she had to eat while she hunted!

Aren't her pig tails so cute!

Of course I had a blast hanging with Dani and can't wait to see what we do next year for Easter!

Our Weekend Adventures

2010-04-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went on a new adventure. My best friend Dani and I took our families camping! Neither of us have really been camping in a long time. The last time I went camping was with Clays family when we were first married. We have never been by ourselves. It was definalty a new experiance. I'm glad my dad and Clay's brother let us borrow some of their camping gear. We met up at a cabin in Davis, OK. On Saturday we went to Arbuckle Wilderness. OMG!!! It was SOO much fun! It was a total blast to watch Dani and David feed the animals threw their windows. Clay got some great video (I'll try and have him post some later, it's absolutly hillarious). Here are the kids in the backseat.
Here is Dani feeding one of the animals. Clay and I were too scared to feed the animals but David and Dani were very brave. All the animals were cute but some were kinda scary!

We of course did s'mores while we were there. Zoey's favorite part was the chocolate!

I cooked in a Dutch oven for the first time! I made stew. It actually turned out pretty good (though the meat was a little tough).

This is the cabin Dani rented. On the first night Clay, Zoey and I slept out in our tent. It rained the ENTIRE time we were out there. So, the second night we all slept in the cabin.

Here is Dani and I. BFF's!!!! We had an absolute blast together! I pulled this off her facebook. She is so amazing and I absolutly love hanging out with her (and her family).

The kids got dirty with all the rain so we of course had to give them a bath! Aren't they so cute all together?

On the second day we drove down to Turner Falls. There had been so much rain that we were told we could drive into the park at our own risk and may get stuck on the other side if it rained some more. So, we parked up top and walked down to the falls area. It was so pretty! We're planning on going back one day without the kids so we can do more hiking on the trails. Though it was slightly cold and still raining we had a good time.

Here we are sitting by the smokey fire. Boy was it smokey! Because of the rain we didn't spend much time hanging around outside.

Ok, so this is funny!!! Dani has boys...We had just finished cleaning out the cabin and were all playing outside when Evan needed to use the bathroom. We told him to be a boy and just go outside. He then proceeded to pee off the porch. Zoey saw what he did and tried to copy him! It was so funny. Luckly she only got her pants down and didn't pull off her diaper.

And of course I had to put in a shot of all the kidos.

Zoey was exhausted by the time we drove home. And she should have been, she barely napped or slept the whole time we were gone! It was a very quiet ride home!We had an absolute blast over the weekend. It was kinda tough becuase of the rain but we didn't let it ruin our weekend! I can't wait until our next adventure...

Zoey's Birthday Party

2010-04-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

It only took me a few weeks but I am finally posting Zoey's party photo's!!! Better late then never right (that seems to be my motto lately)? Anyways, I debated for weeks about what to do for her party. I finally decided upon a simply park party. I invited a few families and we meet at a park and let the kids play. Since I didn't put alot of money into a place for the party I decided to make cute gift bags. Zoey loved Dora so I decided to make these adorable Dora backpacks from purple lunch sacks. I filled them with candy and toys and fun stuff for the kids. I felt really accomplished after making them!
I also kinda out did myself a little with the cupcakes. I thought it would be easier to have cupcakes so they could just take one and then I wouldn't have to worry about plates and forks and things. I ended up making 5 dozen cupcakes! I did 2 dozen of these Dora cupcakes. I got the idea of Nickjr.com. I had lots of fun doing the hair!

The other 2 dozen I did these cute butterflies. I could have done all of them Dora's but I got bored after 24 and wanted to do something else! The wings are made with melted chocolate just like Dora's hair. Now that I've taken a cake decorating class I probably could have done them cuter but I think I did a pretty good job with what I had!

Oh, and the best part of all the cupcakes. I had started early in the week making them so that I wasn't up all night making them right before the party. Well, that last night I went to make the last dozen cupcakes and realized that the 4 dozen I had already baked I left the water out, and they tasted NASTY!!! So, I called one of my friends over so I could go buy new cupcake mix and remake everything! It was a LONG night!!!

So, finally a picture from the party! Zoey and all the kids really liked the cupcakes.

I was very glad that Clay, my wonderful husband, was able to join us for the party. He works ALOT and I apreciate all he does! He helped me by watching Zoey durring almost the whole party so that I could take care of everything else and say hi to all my friends. Zoey loves her daddy and they had a great time.

Zoey's favorite thing at the park is to swing. She could swing forever and not want to stop. So, we ofcourse swung her!!!

She also loves slides. I love how her hair ALWAYS gets staticy when she goes down the slides. She is such a brave little girl and has no fear when it comes to climbing on the steps and going down the slides. I'm glad she likes the park and I'm glad the weather is warming up so that we can go more often.

Of course by the end she was done and tired and ready to go home! We had such a blast and I am so glad that so many friends and family could join us for her party! Now to start thinking of ideas for next years party...

Enjoy -

Fortune Cookies

2010-03-08T14:02:00.001-08:00

I'm not a big believer in superstitious stuff. I don't read my horoscope or even know what my sign is. But I love Chinese food and I love to eat fortune cookies and laugh at the messages inside. Usually I'll add "in the bathroom" or "in bed" at the end of the fortune and laugh! (try it, you'll laugh too)

Anyways, life has been busy and stressful and tough sometimes and I've had some good and bad days (don't we all). I happened to get lunch for my boss and I and we had Chinese. YUMMY!!!! I ate a fortune cookie while we were talking and it said 'Your ability to juggle many tasks will take you far.' Nice! A fortune cookie that actually knew me! My boss loved it too! It made me feel good too since I was having kind of a rough day. Then just a few minutes ago I went to eat the other fortune cookies sitting on my desk (remember I love to eat fortune cookies!) and this was the fortune 'You will soon emerge victorious from the maze you've been traveling in.' Wow, how is it that fortune cookies either make me laugh hysterical or seem to say exactly what I need to hear! I though this was just some sort of fluke that I got two cool messages in one day. So I had one more cookie on my desk and decided to eat it and have a laugh (there's no way all 3 messages are good right?) It said, 'Your skills will accomplish what the force of many cannot.' Um... all I have to say after today is CREEPY......

Disclaimer: I know that all fortune cookies are written in such a vauge way that you can apply it to just about anything and anyone but for somereason these cookies hit me in a good way today...speaking of fortune cookies, look at these homemade fortune cookies. Cool hu?! Maybe I'll get some made for future bad days!

Zoeys Idea of Fun

2010-02-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

So Friday Zoey had a check up for her tubs in her ears. Since it was later in the afternoon I didn't have time to go back to work after so we got home a little earlier then normal. Zoey has been attending the Montessori for 3 weeks now and has grown leaps and bounds already. One of the biggest changes is in her independence and desire to help with EVERYTHING. So Friday, after we got home, Zoey decided to help me put on shoes and socks. She found one of my knee highs and a sock! I'm glad she at least found matching shoes for me from the shoe basket! Oh, and she wouldn't let me take them off either. I tried a few times because I wasn't really in the mood to walk around the house in heals but she would fuss each time and sit me down and put my shoes back on for me. Totally cute!

She also decided she wanted to wear her Dora winter hat and she put on another of her uniform shirts over what she was already wearing. She wore this all evening. This picture she's playing with the light switch. It kept her entertained for a while so it was nice!
I did finally get her to do something else though. I put on one of the big PJ shirts I we played with play dough. She loved using the cookie cutters and I showed her how to roll it in her hands to make a ball and roll it on the table to make a snake. We played for quite awhile and had fun. Most of the pictures I took of her she had her tongue hanging out! She was concentrating hard!
Then today, Clay had to work all day again and I really needed some things to get done around the house because I don't have the energy to do much during the week. So, I vacuumed and swept. Zoey loved helping. She was scared of the vacuum but wanted to stay by my side and help push. Every time I brought it back she would step back and say "toes." After I swept and did a quick mop of the kitchen Zoey played with the broom for a good 15 minutes! (I cleaned the bathrooms while she swept)
While she was sweeping she caught a gimps of herself in the oven and decided she was done sweeping! I thought it was so cute!!!
Well, that's the fun we've been up to the last two days. Now I have more things on my list that I'd like to get done so I'm going to get on it so I can go to bed.

Potty, Bed, Dinner Fun, Uniform, Snow and Valentines

2010-02-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, this post has a lot in it, but it's better then nothing right!!! For starters, Zoey has potty trained! She isn't perfect at it but she's pretty darn good! She's even gotten down pooping in the toilet! I still put her in pull ups when we leave the house because I just can't pull over or run when I'm in the middle of food shopping but I know we need to work on that. She looks so cute on her little potty!!!

Zoey has also transitioned into a toddler bed. This was because she started to flip out and land head first! She does pretty good staying in her room but we need to work on keeping her in her bed. She usually ends up sleeping right by the door.
We also have fun during dinner. I taught her how to use pretzels to make fangs. We enjoy growling at each other while we eat! (PS: I LOVE my new table, thank you Mari)
Last Monday Zoey started attending a Montessori and I love it! Doesn't she look so cute in her uniform. Right now she's only going 3 days a week but she'll start going 5 days once Clay transitions to days at work. She is already learning so much. The very first day she was telling me what she did and what she ate on the way home. She's also singing songs she learned there at dinner. She is growing up WAY too fast, on a good day she knows most of her colors and shapes and will count to 13 (yes thirteen, why thirteen I have no idea) by herself! I am glad that we made this decision to put her into the Montessori.
And, if you live or read anyone else blog who lives in Dallas then you already know that is snowed like crazy last Thurs/Fri. It was record breaking snow fall for Dallas. Of course, we had to go and play in it. We didn't make anything cool but Zoey loved walking through it and picking up the snow and throwing it on the ground. We even made a small snowball and threw it at daddy.
Last but not least, these are the valentines I made for Zoey class party. I got this idea from one of the blogs I stalk. I made crayons and attached them to a card that says 'Have a Colorful Valentines'. I used cheap crayons so they didn't turn out as well as if I had used real Crayola crayons but they were still cute.
Well, that's all my updating for today. Maybe I'll be better at posting and maybe I won't, I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Finally...Christmas

2010-02-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's February but I wanted to at least get these few pictures up for me and my memory. We spent Christmas in Tulsa with Clay's family. We barely made it to Tulsa before all the roads closed because of the snow that came through. We had a really great time. Zoey LOVES her Grandpa Meldrum, he was in town this weekend and all day today she was asking to see Grandpa!We had fun unwrapping presents. Zoey was only into it for awhile so I ended up opening most of her gifts but it was fun to see her play with all her new toys.
It was very cold and had snowed TONS! We took a family picture, my feet were frozen because I hadn't brought any snow shoes and my shoes got wet and cold really fast!
A tradition at the Meldrum's is to make a gingerbread house each year. It doesn't always turn into a house but we always have fun! This year we made a pirate ship with people walking the plank and all! It was lots of fun to make!
Here is a family picture of all of us that were able to make it to Tulsa. It was fun to see Wade since we hadn't really seen him since he got home from his mission. It was also fun to see Brett, Emily and their new baby Avery. We missed the family that wasn't able to make it but we're excited to see everyone this summer in California!
Well, there's my overview of Christmas. Now I guess I'll get to posting Valentines!!!

HELP ME!!!

2010-02-02T19:50:00.001-08:00

Ok friends, I am in need of your help...

Zoey is turning two in about 5 weeks! YIKES! I would really like to do some sort of party for her but I'm stuck coming up with something I'm excited about. I am looking for something that is fun and playful (nothing too structured because these are toddlers!) I was thinking a park but is it going to be too cold in March (the weather website I looked at said the average high is 68). If I do it at a park, do you know of one that I can reserve the pavilion area? Do I do it at some indoor party place? If so, any suggestions? I don't have a huge budget and again, these are mostly 2 year old's so I'm looking for a playground type place.

PLEASE, I need ideas. I want to get this planning started so I can get invites out so everyone can come! Thanks a million!!!

More Flu...

2010-01-25T18:55:00.001-08:00

It seems like forever since I've posted. I wish I had some pictures to post right now but I'm lucky just to have two seconds where I feel like posting. I want to (and still may) do some of this in their own posts but here's an overview of my life since Christmas. A LOT has happened, I feel like I'm barely in survival mode most nights.

We moved into a new apartment (I still have about 30 or so boxes to unpack, not major stuff, just crafts, books and decorations).
Zoey decided she didn't want to sleep in her crib anymore and started to flip out and land head first on the floor. Needless to say, she is in a toddler bed now and was doing really well going to bed at first but not so much the last few weeks (any ideas?)!
She also decided she didn't want to use diapers anymore, so we potty trained her 2 weeks ago. She actually does really well with it (except she pooped in the bathtub tonight).
She will be two in about 5 weeks or so and I defiantly need to get a handle on discipline!
I am still working early mornings and Clays still working nights so I still don't see him at all.
I am in the YW presidency as a counselor now instead of just the secretary stuff I feel like I have a lot more to do (I LOVED being the secretary because most of what I had to do I could do on my own time frame.) I'm trying to figure out Wed night activities and all that good stuff.
Oh, we bought a new car today (Clay's car isn't doing to well). I'm blessed that I have a friend at work who was selling their old car and it's worked out well, now I just need to figure out what to do with Clay's car?
Clay's birthday was last week, he's 30!!! We had a nice relaxing weekend but he couldn't decide which birthday cake he wanted so I made both! We had (and still have tons of) Cathy's Chocolate Moose and the Meldrums Oreo Delight Ice Cream cake (both VERY yummy and very easy to make).
Clay and I have come up with a possible business idea that I'm trying to research and make happen (lots of reading and headaches right now), so once it starts coming together I'll fill everyone in.
Oh, and to top everything off, Zoey has the flu! I know she just had the swine flu after Christmas but now she has just the normal flu, even though she got the flu shot! So I haven't gotten much sleep since Friday night, and I really hope I don't come down with the flu because I really don't have time for it!

Hopefully I'll be able to get my life more organized and feel like I have time to post again sometime soon. Until then, you keep posting because I love reading about all ya'lls lives! Right now my house is a mess, dishes are piled up in the sink, I have a to do list a million miles long and all I want to do is go to bed, so that's where I'm headed!

PS: Don't get me wrong, I love my life, I just want to be able to love it more! I just have too many grand ideas and not enough time to do what I want, I just need to prioritize a little better and learn to multitask more.

Swine Flu...

2009-12-28T18:44:00.000-08:00

Zoey has the Swine Flu! Yep, that's right, she has the Swine Flu AND an ear infection (and the both tubes are still in place, I thought they weren't supposed to get ear infections while they had tubes?) Anyways, this explains why she was so grumpy and didn't sleep well while we were in Tulsa over Christmas. I'm still trying to figure out when and how she got sick but all I know right now is that she is sick! This is really putting a damper in my schedule this week and I was really hoping to get around to blogging some but I think this is all your going to get until our Internet is installed at our new apartment sometime next week. Yep, we're moving this week! Once the Internet is back up I'll tell you all about our amazing White Christmas and all the fun we've had the last few weeks. Until then,... I hope everyone stays Healthy and Happy and enjoys the New Year.

Day 11, 12, 13, and 14

2009-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

I guess I didn't do as good this last week as I did the first week posting every day. Oh well, at lease I'm getting it done! Let's see...

Day 11 (Friday)
I had my work Christmas Party. It was at a restaurant called La Duni's. It was really yummy and a nice evening. I do have to say my favorite part though was the fact that my husband was able to go into work early that day and was able to join me at the party. It was also nice because my friend, who watched Zoey for us, kept her over night so we didn't have to worry about picking her up and had a very nice, quiet night!

Day 12 (Saturday)
This was a very busy day! It started with me waking up early and driving half way to Houston to meet my sister on the side of the road to pick up Nativity costumes for my Ward Christmas party this weekend. It was a nice trip because I didn't take Zoey with me! Amy and I met at Woody's in Centerville and got to spend a little time together before we had to head back home. She also brought some Christmas gifts from the family. I got to open her gift to me and it was amazing! She made me her very own 'Amy's What Not to Wear' book! I don't dress that well and we always loved watching the show together. It is so totally cute! I had a bunch of errands to run and went visiting teaching in the evening.

Day 13 (Sunday)
This was a very nice, relaxing day! The only thing on my to do list was make 4 dozen cookies for my cookie exchange at work the next day. My amazing and wonderful husband offer and actually made the cookies for me! It was amazing! I actually got in a nap and was able to go to bed at a decent hour while he stayed up and made 4 dozen cookies for me! They were very yummy too!!!

Day 14 (Today, Monday)
Today was the beginning of my extra crazy days at work but I survived!!! The fun part of work was we had a cookie exchange. Everyone loved it who participated! I came home with a ton of cookies and they were all so yummy! After work I went to the outlets and did some shopping I needed to. While I was at Lane Bryant to get me some jeans (my only pair got a hole in them) I was in the dressing room and my zipper pully thing fell off my pants, then BOTH of the buttons on my pants popped off!!! I knew my pants were getting worn but I had no idea it was that bad! Luckily I had found some pants that I was going to buy and the ladies were nice enough to let me wear them out of the store. I was SO embarrassed, but I got some new cute jeans now!! So, Zoey is in bed, I'm vegging on the couch and I'm about to crack open the cookies I brought home and eat them all!!!

Oh, we kept up with the books each day and Zoey is getting really good at unwrapping them. Tonight she opened Elmo's 12 days of Christmas and it reminded me of a song that I discovered this year that I like. Below is a youtube clip of 'The 12 days of Christmas' by a group called Straight No Chaser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Ok, so I can't figure out how to upload the video, maybe I'll have Clay do it for me when he has a chance. But click on the link to see the video.

Until next time, Enjoy -

Day 8, 9, 10

2009-12-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

Let's see, it's much harder to remember what I've done over the last few days. I should be better about keeping track of this each day. So, what have I done the last few days... Day 8, Tuesday, I know I worked! Beth and I went to dinner and had some nice 'mommy time' without any children. It was a really nice evening! Wednesday, after work I sat around the house and worked on a few more Christmas Gifts I had to make. Tonight was really fun! My friend Danielle had a birthday party for her son Evan who turned 4. It was at Pump it Up and we had a blast!

I can't believe how grown up and independent Zoey is becoming. After I went up and down the slide with her like, a million times, I was brave enough to let her try it by herself (I think I was more scared then she was!) She did really well at climbing and loved to slide down.
It was a pretty high slide but it didn't phase her!
After we spent 1 1/2 hours playing we went to the party room for pizza and cake. Normally I cut up her pizza for her but she didn't even give me a chance. She jumped right in and ate it just like all the other big kids around. She did spill her drink though, guess we need to practice some more with big kid cups! She loved the pizza and the cake was really yummy!
Here's a video of her on the slide. I can't even count how many times she went up and down!

I'm really happy with how well Zoey did at the party seeing how the party started when I usually put her to bed! She was up 2 hours past her bedtime and the only time she threw fits was when we changed rooms or activities.

Well, work has been crazy this week and I have tons going on the next few days so I think I'm going to get some things done and then call it an evening and get some sleep. Enjoy -

Thank You!!!

2009-12-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to my friends that helped and voted for my friends daughter. She didn't win but because she was in such close place for second the photographer has decided to give them a print as well. I know I promised some of my amazing cards to those who helped so if you voted (and commented on my original post) then e-mail me at missyscraps at hotmail.com with your address so I can get your cards sent to you this week.

Day 5, 6 and 7

2009-12-07T16:56:00.001-08:00

I'm never as good at blogging on the weekend because my schedule gets all turned upside down.

Zoey got a few more cute Christmas books we enjoyed reading the last few days. Saturday I ran a bunch of errands and we spent the evening at my friend Danielle's house. We go once a month and hang out and play games with her and her husband, David. We really enjoy going over there and the kids love playing together.

Sunday we went and spent the evening at Jay and Jenn's in Allen. Dallas turned 12 and was ordained to the Priesthood. Clay's parents and sister from Tulsa came in town for this event and we all had a wonderful dinner and birthday celebration.

Today, I missed work and slept almost all day. I haven't been feeling well for the last week or so and I just couldn't get out of bed this morning. I slept almost all day and now I have millions of things I should get done but I think I'm just going to go to bed early. I'm feeling a little better but I know I have tons to do and lots coming up so I think I just need one more good night of sleep so I can survive the next few weeks.

Hopefully I'll have a better post for you tomorrow. Enjoy -

Day 4

2009-12-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

Today was a much better day then yesterday. I felt like I accomplished a lot at work and Zoey and I had a really nice evening. For my advent activity we went to the Nativity exhibits at The Colony bldg and the Carrollton bldg. When I was growing up my Family was in charge of the Nativity Exhibit down in Katy and so I really appreciate all the time and work that goes into putting the display together. We went to The Colony bldg and they had a nice display and they has a children's room that I really liked. I dressed Zoey up as good as I can and snapped a few pictures.

She started crawling on the floor. I guess she decided she wanted to be one of the stable animals!
They also had a little craft for the kids. It was a manger ornament. Of course, with Zoey, ours didn't turn out exactly right but it was fun because she loves to color.
Like my mom, I collect Nativities (I think I'm somewhere around 40 or so). This is like a Nativity I would love to own one day. It looks much brighter in this picture but the clothes are like real paper/cloth that are stiffened. I'm not sure how to really describe it but I really like them and want one like this one day.
I saw this and absolutely fell in love with it, "Are you part of the Inn crowd, or are you part of the Stable few." I'm so going to use that quote on something one day!
For Zoey's book for the night she unwrapped another Nativity one (as you can see, I really like anything Nativity). I got this one at Mardel's ( a Christian book store/Homeschool/Teacher supply store). It's got a pocket on the front that has little Nativity pieces that you can put on each page where they have a felt section. She really liked the book and played with it for quite awhile.
I'm also really excited because I'm going to put this book in my Sunday bag to keep her occupied during Sacrament.
Well, I'm going to work on some Christmas gifts tonight and go to bed early. Enjoy -

Day 3

2009-12-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

First off, I just realized that my last post was my 100th post! Cool hu!

Well, today for Zoey's book she wasn't a very willing participant. I had to work a little late to get caught up at work and she didn't take a nap at the babysitters so by the time we got home she wasn't in the mood for much. We did open a book, it was a Nativity story one. I read the first two pages before she started grabbing and throwing it! Lets just say she was put to bed early tonight!

For my advent activity I did was I was supposed to do last night. Because I had a really long day at work and then a tough time with Zoey I wasn't in the mood for anything more then sitting on the couch and do nothing. So, I watched the Forgotten Carols by Micheal McLean. If you haven't read the book, heard the music, or watched the DVD I would highly recommend it! I remember when I was younger the first time my Dad read us the story. We were going to read a chapter a night (it's kind of a lengthy story) but we all got so into the book after the first chapter we made him keep reading. I can't remember if we actually finished it all in one night but I know we defiantly didn't stop at just one chapter each night!!! The music is amazing and the story is wonderful. Tonight was actually my first time to watch the DVD and I really enjoyed it (I personally love the book more, but that's just me, I like to read when I can). Anyways, I still feel like I'm coming down with something and I hope this cold or whatever it is goes away soon, I don't have the time, energy, or money to be sick.

To see what I've done, click below:
Day 1
Day 2

Day 2

2009-12-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

Since I don't have my advent calendar actually made and displayed I'm allowed to change the activities for each day right?!!! I started feeling a little under the weather last night and I'm still not feeling well. My plan was to watch the Forgotten Carols tonight but I don't have the energy to stay up and watch it. So I'm going to count the Christmas tags/cards I'm going to make with a friend tonight to go on some blankets the Relief Society made at our last activity. We're going to deliver them this next week.

For our book today, Zoey unwrapped one that I got at the Dollar Tree! I haven't actually read all the books I wrapped but this one turned out pretty cute. Some of the rhymes were a little bit of a stretch but we enjoyed it. Since the book was called "A Letter for Santa" I had Zoey write Santa her first letter ever! Ok, so I wrote it and had her color on it.
Look at me! Two days in a row, I'm really on a roll! Hope to see you tomorrow.

To see my previous posts, click below...
Day 1

Do It For Me!

2009-12-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so my friend had her daughters pictures taken by this cool photographer and she's having a contest where you vote on your favorite picture for the month. If you please go to this website (http://squaresvillestudios.squarespace.com/) and vote for JOSIE (she's the first picture). If you come back and comment that you voted then I will send a mini Christmas card collection, I'll even send them off this next Monday so you'll have them in time for Christmas! This offer stands for each of my friends who helps me out! The contest is only until the 5th so hurry on up and go check it out.

Free cards from me!!! Just let me know by commenting here that you voted!

Isn't she just adorable!

Day 1

2009-12-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Before I start with my Advent activity for the day I wanted to share my Christmas decorations with you. I have an entire closet full of Christmas decorations, it's the only holiday I have decorations for! I own about 40 nativities, I have enough ornaments to fill 5 trees and I have an entire large storage box full of just Christmas crafts and ideas of things I want to do, one day! This year though, this is my only decoration...

I bought this tree at Wal-Mart after Christmas a few years ago for $2.50, it's a great tree though!
This is the only Nativity I put out this year. It's perfect because Zoey loves it and has already spent all day playing with it.
My favorite part of all Christmas decorations it the lighted tree with all the other lights out. I think it's just so pretty and peaceful. I put up so few decorations this year because we're moving the week after Christmas and I really don't have the time or energy to deal with more this year. (I know I'd be putting Christmas up at that time anyways but now I'll have that time to pack other boxes instead.)

So onto our activity for the day: I didn't put out any of my nice ornaments because this is really Zoey's first year with a tree and though she did well today I'm still not sure how well it's going to turn out. I also thought it would be cute for Zoey to decorate some ornaments! I love all the foam activities you can find at the craft stores so I got these cute wreaths and Zoey had fun putting the foam stickers on a few of them (we only got 6 made)
I've also decided this year to start a tradition where Zoey gets to unwrap a new Christmas book each day leading up to Christmas. Today, of course, was out first book. She did a great job unwrapping it and she loved sitting and reading it oh, 5 times or more!
The book was about Humphrey the Camel who lost his beloved blanket. Throughout the book he does everything he can to get a new blanket and at the end he wraps baby Jesus in his new blanket. So, to make the book come alive I showed Zoey how to wrap Cookie Monster in her blanket. It was so much fun to spend the afternoon playing with Zoey. The best part was she didn't ask for Dora once while we were doing our activities!
Well, my goal is to do this every night with what I've done, we'll see how well I do! Good Night -

Yeah, I know

2009-12-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

So, it's been too long since I've blogged. I have a ton of stuff I want to catch up on and I might still so if you see park pictures in the middle of the cold winter you'll know it's just me catching up! Anyways, instead of getting overwhelmed with all I should have done I'm just going to start now with where I'm at and be satisfied with that! I'm SOOO excited for Christmas, it's probably my favorite holiday. I have bought all the gifts I need and only have a few more that I need to finish making. I wanted to make an advent calendar for myself but I haven't gotten around to it. I do have a list of what I wanted to put in each day so I'm still going to go ahead with all my plans even if I don't have a cute way to display it on my wall. So, that's what I'm going to post about everyday this month (hopefully). This of course will be in between work and taking care of Zoey and all the other things I have going on. December will be by far the busiest month I've had in a while, work is CRAZY busy and I have tons of Holiday things going on and we're moving at the end of the month (just to a smaller unit) and I'm so totally excited! Anyways, on to my Advent activity blog... (see above)

Zoey's New Obsession

2009-10-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yep, Zoey has found Dora. We're not sure how this happens because we don't watch Dora much at our house and neither does the babysitter but somehow, Zoey has fallen in love with Dora.

She has Dora shoes that we got at a clothing swap that are her new favorite now. I caved and bought her a Dora book while we were shopping the other day. When I'm home she asks to watch Dora all the time. When an episode ends she throws a huge fuss and wants more. I have to distract her with her Dora book!!! We went shopping this afternoon and we were walking down the isles when all of a sudden she started pointing and saying "Dora, Dora" at first I couldn't figure out what she was pointing to but she saw a Dora bike helmet, you could hardly tell it was Dora on the helmet from where we were but she saw it and she wanted it! Luckily we got out today without anything Dora! Don't worry, we don't let her sit and watch Dora all day, we limit her Dora intake, but I still think it's cute that this is one of the first thing she has loved and attached too (I think she loves Dora even more then she ever did Jack's Big Music Show which has been her favorite since she was 9 months old).

Updates...and Christmas

2009-10-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one already planning out my Christmas? I feel like I'm jumping over all the holidays but I can't wait for Christmas! I'm already almost done with my shopping and have a weekend coming up where I get to do all my craft projects for Christmas. I'm so excited!!!! Anyways, I know I should have been updating more but it's better late then never right? So here's a few pics of what we've been up to...

This is Zoey in the beanie hat Wade got Zoey from Brazil. She's really good at putting it on herself. We taught her how to say "Waz Up" when she puts it on. It's totally cute!

The weekend before General Conference I went down to Houston to visit family. While I was there I got to set up a few play dates for Zoey. We played with Cami and her daughter on day and then my Mia Maid YW leader Caroline and her son another day. This is the only picture I really got! We had a blast except when Zoey started to get rough with the other kids.

Daddy's getting even better with Zoey's hair. Here's one of our favorite styles, pig tails! Her hair's even long enough now to go in a pony tail, it's so totally cute!

I made homemade Oreo cookies last week. Zoey LOVES cookies and is always asking for one. She really enjoyed these cookie!

Zoey likes to color. When we were in Houston she found one of those boards that you color on and then it erases when you swipe the thingie at the bottom (I totally can't remember what they're called right now). Anyways, she carried it with her everywhere she went the whole weekend, so of course I had to go out and buy her one. It's one of her favorite toys right now! She goes around the house saying "color".
One of her favorite things to do while coloring is to trace her hand (or ours if she's in a good mood).

Well, that's what we've been up to besides work and more work! I have a lot of fun things planned for the next few weeks and hopefully I'll get some good pictures and actually blog them! Until later - Enjoy -

Zoey is 18 Months

2009-09-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Zoey is 18 months already. On Sunday we tried to have a mini photo shoot with Zoey. She doesn't sit still very long so at one point we put the camera on action shot just get a few pictures! Anyways, here are some of my favorites and some of the things Zoey's doing.

We've been teaching her how to say 'cheese' when we take her picture. She's getting pretty good at it!
Zoey loves books. I have some from when I was growing up. One has a little mouse on each page and without me ever showing her she figured it out and points it out every time we read.
We also have this fish puzzle where you match colors and Zoey can put each one in the right color! She'll put it in the wrong one and then look and move it to the right one. Now if I can just get her to say the right colors!!!
I had to switch out her clothes because she's been growing so much. She's in 24 mo and 2T's. She's wearing a size 6 shoe already too!!!
She's saying a lot of words now too. She is so much more a little girl now then a baby. It makes me sad some days but I'm loving the stages she's going through.
Yes, we had to bribe her with marshmallows to stay on the chair while we took pictures! Hey, gotta do what works right! She loves giving and getting kisses. She likes to be tickled too. She has the cutest laugh ever!
We live on the second floor and I haven't had to carry her up or down the stairs in a while now. She's getting much better at the steps. She isn't very careful when I'm holding her hand to go down, she thinks she can jump and be silly. But if I don't hold her hand then she's really careful to hold the edge and go down one step at a time!
She had her 18 mo check up last Wed. She's 34 1/4 inches tall (she's off the charts!!!), and 25 lbs. She has 12 teeth and is a picky eater most of the time.

The other crazy thing with her being 18 mo is she started Nursery at church. She's been in two weeks now and is doing pretty well they say. I guess she has a little issue with hitting but she's doing better! I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast. It's not always easy having a toddler in the house but I wouldn't change it for the world (even with her trouble going to sleep the last few days).

Well, I'm off to play with my little angel. Enjoy -

Playing at the Park

2009-09-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Zoey loves to play outside. When it's nice weather (not like it's been the last week or so), we try and go to the park. I've found one by the house that we like. We went the other day with Daddy and, since we'd just lost our pictures, we made sure to take the camera.

Zoey loves the slide. I like the one at this park because I can go down next to her.

This park doesn't have the baby swings but Zoey doesn't care! Once we figured out fun and, somewhat, safe ways for her to swing, I've enjoyed it too...Don't you just love the pig tails!!!

This last time I was even brave enough to let Zoey try and sit up to swing. I didn't push her high at all and kept my hands on the chains at all times cause I kept thinking she might fall!! But she did great and loved every minute of it. I can't wait till the rain eases up and we can go back.

I can't remember if I blogged about the first time we went to the duck park as we call it. We thought it would be fun so we took bread to feed the ducks. When we got there these geese came up to us and surrounded us! Then all the other ducks came over and lets just say, we were scared!! These ducks have no fear and will get really close. The hardest part is Zoey kept trying to run right up to them and pet them. She didn't understand 'no' that day. This time was a little better, they didn't surround us but they still got close and Zoey tried to run to them a lot more, she has NO fear!

Zoeys Hair and Table

2009-09-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

So, we got the computer back. Luckly I had some pictures still on the camera so I'm going to try and catch up on some of my blogging. Because of my recent picture loss experience, I might have a few more pictures on some posts and some might be silly posts. But, this blog is all about the highlights of my life...

Zoey's hair is really growing. It's pretty crazy in the mornings after she's slept on it...

But daddy's getting really good at putting it up each day!

Zoey loves her bath times. I can't believe how she's grow though. I just thought she looked too cute all wrapped up in the towel.

Awhile ago I bought a little table at Ikea for Zoey. What I didn't realize till I got home was that the wood edges of the tables were unfinished. So, we decided to paint the trim of the table this bright red. It took us a few weeks to complete the whole project but I think it turned out great. Zoey loves her table! (She especially loves climbing on it and standing on the chairs!!!) One of the things I really like about the table is if she marks all over the top while she coloring it wipes right off!
Enjoy -

Welcome Home Wade!!!

2009-09-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we went up to Tulsa to welcome Wade home from his mission. He just spent two years in Brazil teaching others the gospel. We are so happy to have him home but are so proud of all the work he did. Clay made this great sign at work and so we had to get a picture of everyone in front of it. Wade was only home for a few days in between his mission and heading off to BYU for school. He left for the airport on Sunday before we even packed up and left!

Wade did bring gifts home for everyone. Zoey got a beanie hat that she looks really cute in. Clay and I got a lacquered piranha. Yeah, it's a real piranha turned statue!!! We like it though, we'll always remember Wade by it!
Just to finish it off here's a great picture of Zoey on the way home. She didn't sleep AT ALL on the way home. I'm really not exited for any long car trip with Zoey any time soon!

They're Officially Gone...

2009-09-10T04:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Apple said the hard drive was shot so they are going to install a new one but we wanted to see if we could take it somewhere to save the pictures. We took it to a data recovery place and they are 99.9% sure they can save all of our pictures, but it will cost us $1,800.00!!! I know pictures are priceless but there is no way we can come up with that kind of money any time soon. So, unfortunately, our pictures for the last 6 months are gone :( ... A Moment of Silence for the lost pictures... I'm glad I blogged during that time so that all my memories aren't lost. Now I just need to be better about blogging and scrap booking so that all my pictures aren't only on the computer. Anyways, I do have a few posts to do, but I need to figure out how to either hook up my camera here at work or wait till the new hard drive comes in for Clay's computer at home. We'll see how it goes...Until next time.

* I guess I should have mentioned that we have 3 back up hard drives that are all full of pictures and videos. We take WAY too many pictures! We just haven't had the money for another hard drive yet (Clay has to get a certain kind to be happy), we had it in the budget to get the end of this month though!! Timing really is everything! Don't worry, now we're going to get two hard drives, one for him and one for me so I can keep them in two additional places!

Oh No....

2009-09-04T04:24:00.000-07:00

Clay's computer won't turn on. This is a big deal becasue that's where all the pictures are, and the cute videos of Zoey doing the itsy bitsy spider and other adorable things! He's taking it in today to have it looked at. I really hope we haven't lost everything, I'd be so sad. I won't be posting for a little bit because I can't without a computer (right now I'm at work). So, wish us luck and hope that he can atleast save what's on the hard drive!

I Cooked!!!

2009-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Ok for those of you who really know me know that I can't cook. I don't really know how, I don't have the time always and I just don't really like it. My mother-in-law gave us this "Magic Pan" awhile ago and I've yet to use it. I had no idea where to even start! My mom came down a few weeks ago and I wanted her to teach me how to make a roast. So we pulled out the Magic pan and I made a roast. It was SOOOO yummy!! We forgot to take after pictures (we were so hungry and it smelled so good we couldn't wait).

So, because my blog posts are always about Zoey I have to add her in here! And, since we're talking about food, here's a few pictures of Zoey feeding herself. She is getting so good at it!

But then she gets board being good and resorts back to using her hands. Oh, and she hasn't gotten over the "I'm done eating so lets throw all my food and plates and everything on the floor" phase, hopefully that won't last too much longer!

Max's Birthday

2009-08-22T08:26:00.001-07:00

Zoey's cousin, Max, turned 3 a few weeks ago. We went over and had cake and ice cream with them to celebrate. We had a wonderful evening just relaxing and letting the kids play.

Zoey has a ton of fun with all their toys. She loves going over to Max and Kylee's house to visit. She's such a strong kid. She loves to try and pick up heavy things and carry them around!

What's a Birthday Party without Cake!! Max loves cars so what better then a car cake!

I know Zoey sure enjoyed her cake and ice cream!!! We're glad you invited us to celebrate your birthday Max!

Zoey Missing Mommy

2009-08-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

Clay likes to grab out the camera whenever he gets a chance. This day he pulled it our right after I had left for work. This is one of the many reasons I DON'T WANT TO WORK!! Zoey would go through phases where she'd cry and scream when I left or be happy and wave and stuff. Now that I work at 6 am I don't even get to see her before I leave (this makes mommy sad). But, I know she's in good hands with my amazing husband Clay. He says that even on her angry days she only cries/fusses for like 2 minutes and then is fine. I think it's because he tempts her with food!

Oh second though, maybe she's just crying because Daddy has the camera out again?!!!

PS: she does miss her dad too when he's not around. She always points to picutres of him and says 'Dadda'!

One of Zoey's Many Loves

2009-08-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Zoey loves shoes, any shoe will do. She loves to play with them and will go from pair to pair. Here's a photo shoot we got of Zoey with Daddy's shoes. We should try and get some video of her walking around! It's too cute!

Enjoy -

Zoey's Favorite Spot

2009-08-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

Zoey has found a favorite spot in the house...

The arm of the couch! I use to be so scared when she'd go near the arm because I was afraid she'd fall over the edge (she did once) but she's such a big girl now and she has great balance! She is always sitting, laying and crawling over the arm of the couch. Here are a few pictures of some of her favorite positions.

She'll sit/lay on the edge and watch tv or play. I can't believe how much she has grown. I think it's amazing the balance she's developed and how aware she is of her surroundings.

Enjoy -

Zoey's New Dress

2009-08-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a picture of me sewing. My mom came and visited a while ago and I've really been in the mood to learn more how to sew (I haven't sewn in like 10 years). So we went shopping and bought a few patterns and fabric. To start me on a few basics she taught me how to make this adorable shirt dress.

We started with a basic shirt and added fabric on the bottom and on the sleeves as cuffs. I think it turned out absolutely adorable! I can't wait to make a few more! I even have a few ideas to adjust it a little more to make it fit Zoey better. Who knows maybe I'll even make some and put them on my Etsy site.

Here are a few pictures of Zoey in the dress. She wouldn't stand still long enough for me to get a great picture but I think you get the idea!

I love the little buttons on her collar. We added those to tie everything together, it was the perfect touch! I also love these bows. I bought them from my friend Cami and once I realized they matched this dress I was SOO excited! They are perfect!

She loved playing in her dress. This picture also shows the cool tags that I made for her baskets on the toy shelf. I thought the tags turned out wonderful!!!

I love the dress so much I had to put it on when we went to see family and I thought this was just too cute. Zoey is giving her cousin Kylee kisses! They are so cute together!

Zoey's got Tubes

2009-07-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

So Zoey got tubes put in her ears yesterday morning. Boy was she a trooper. She did so well. We had to be at the surgery center at 6:30 in the morning and she wasn't allowed to have any food or drink before hand, she didn't seem to mind at all. She didn't want to get on the scale to be weighed at the beginning so after a few tries I had to be weighed with her then my weight deducted (I didn't like seeing those numbers!) Of course as soon as I stepped off the scale she went right on it to play with it! I'll have to remember that for next time!

The facility was really nice! We dressed Zoey in this adorable tiger gown and they gave her some drug laced Tylenol that started to make her sleep after a few minutes. She just laid there on the bed and was a pretty happy baby!

Here she is after the stuff really started to kick in! They took her (and her doggie) back for the procedure and we went out to the waiting room. I had taken some stuff for me to color for YW and I didn't even get one page done before the Dr came out to say he was done! We had to wait for her to wake up before we could go back but that only took like 5 minutes. As you can see below, she was not very happy when she woke up. She was fussy off and on for about 30 minutes or so. She mostly didn't like it when we put the oxygen/heartbeat thing on her toe. She was really loopy after the surgery too, very floppy in my arms. She did enjoy the bag of animal crackers they gave her. It was cute/funny how she'd put one in her mouth and then start crying and then put in her binkie and then eat the cracker! Her binkie was covered in animal cracker by the end. The let us go about 30 minutes after and we drove home (in traffic on 635) and put her right to bed.

We ended up being gone from the house for only about 3 hours! She then slept for about 3 hours and woke up like nothing had happened and has been a happy baby ever since! I do have to give her ear drops and I was a little worried at first but she doesn't' mind them at all. She actually takes the bottle from me after and lays her head down to try and give herself some more! This morning she was even trying to put some in my ears! I'm so glad she has no problem taking medicine and things!

Well, that was my experience! I'm glad everything went so well. Enjoy -

My Etsy Shop

2009-07-21T19:00:00.001-07:00

So, I finally got it up and running. Yep, I am now an official member of the online craft selling world. Take a look and let me know what you think? To jump start my site I am doing a give away, yes you see a lot of them but now it's my give away!!! I am also offering a 25% discount for anyone who participates in the giveaway, if purchased by 7/31. I'm not sure exactly how to do this but these are my rules...

1) Go to my site and comment on this post what your favorite item was.
2) Link this post to your blog/facebook and let me know in the comments.
3) Order something from the site between now and Saturday (7/25)

If you can think of anything else to get you points in my giveaway just let me know.

Oh, I guess you want to know what I'll be giving away hu?!!

Your choice of...

One of the cards in the Birthday Card section:

Or one of the cards in the Thank You card section:

It's your choice, any of them in either of those sections.

I'll draw names this Sunday (7/26) Enjoy -

She's getting Tubes

2009-07-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. She's had so many ear infections (7 just this year) that we finally met with the ENT today and have set an appointment to get tubes put in Zoeys ears next Tuesday. I know everything will be ok but it's still a little scary, I mean, she's my baby! Anyways, just thought I'd let everyone know so that if I act all weird and crazy until then you'll know why.

Enjoy some pictures I found of my little baby when she was little, before these last 7 ear infections...

Zoey can Color

2009-07-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

As I always say, my little girl is growing up! Last Saturday I went and bought her a little table at Ikea because, well, I wanted one! I also had read in one of my development books that she's at an age she can start learning to color. So I had to get her colors and a book! I had seen these little Crayola Beginner things that help them grip the crayons. Zoey had such a good time. She's not very good at staying on the page but we're working on it!

We had to put her apron on her because she kept putting the crayon on her chest and coloring on herself. The apron defiantly helped!
These are her first colored pages! Mommy did the blue on the elephant to show Zoey what to do. She did the money all by herself though!
Oh, so I was telling Beth (her babysitter) about her new coloring skill and she let me know that Zoey had colored at least once before! She showed me where Zoey had colored on her brand new dressers in the girls room. O0ps, sorry Beth!!!

4th of July

2009-07-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend of the 4th with Clay's family. His parents and sister came down from Tulsa and we hung out the with all the Meldrums in the Dallas area. We started out on Friday by going to lake Lavon and hanging on the beach and boating. Zoey LOVED the water. She had so much fun she didn't want to get out of the water to eat lunch or take a nap or anything. We spent 7 hours at the lake!

Saturday morning we started out with a Ward breakfast and then went to watch the The Colony 4th of July parade. We got good seats because my friend Heidi let us join her by her moms house. Zoey had fun watching everyone come by. She was a little scared of the motorcycles though, especially when they'd rev their engines.

The theme of the parade was 'Super Heroes'. Most of the floats/groups had pictures or dressed up like the main super heroes we all know (Batman, Hulk, Spider man,...) This was probably my favorite float. I really like the thought of the people that truly fought for our freedom.
We then went over to Luke and Mistys to go swimming, BarBQ and then go see the fireworks. I love this family picture. I think it's the first where Zoey is actually crying because we're making her take a picture! I know there's many more like this to come!

There's a small airport right across from the pool and there were some fighter jets that took off and flew over us while we were swimming. Zoey thought they were very interesting.
I don't have pictures of the fireworks. I was so surprised how well Zoey did. She sat there in my lap and fell asleep about half way thorough. We got a good spot and from where we were we actually saw 3 other firework shows off in the distance.

We had a great 4th and can't wait for next year!

Video's of Zoey

2009-07-13T18:21:00.001-07:00

So, these video's are was over due! I should have posted these weeks ago, but here they finally are!

So Zoey is really learning a lot of animal sounds. So far she knows dog, cat, monkey, lamb, cow, lion, bird, elephant and we're working on horse.

She's also doing great learning her body parts, so far she knows eye, ear, nose, belly button, and mouth.

I can't believe my little girl has grown so big! She is learning more and more each day. She goes and gets her own diaper. She know routines and says hi, bye bye and night night. She is eating with silverware (not great but she's getting there). She know that when she wakes up in the morning that Daddy is asleep in his bed and goes and knocks on his door saying 'Dadda". She copies faces and sounds and is getting good at helping pick things us when asked. I'm really enjoying this stage right now!

America's Next Top Model

2009-06-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

So I was going through the photos for the last few posts I've done and came across these pictures. I just had to share them with everyone! America's Next Top Model has been doing all day episodes and I've recorded a bunch to watch (there's not much on during the summer). Anyways, when I saw these photos I thought they made a cute mini photo shoot for Zoey.

It all started when Clay and I were cleaning up the house and Clay put this bag of trash by the door to take out. We kept cleaning and when we looked over she was laying her head on the bag like a pillow! Once Clay pulled out the camera she immediately started posing! These are my favorites.

I LOVE this head tilt!

After a few shots we finally got the one we were going for. Don't worry, the trash bag didn't have anything bad in it, and it was well tied up!
Oh, and Zoey's not quite opening them yet (thank goodness) but she can reach the doors. She does like to play with the locks on the knobs! That's why we don't let her play in her room by herself just yet, I'm afraid she'll lock herself in!

Enjoy -

Memorial Day Trip

2009-06-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to visit Clay's parents and sister in Oklahoma. It was a nice trip. I know there's a lot of pics but I just couldn't choose!!!

Here's a great family photo. Talking about photo they showed us how cool Skype was so we now have it so we can talk to them and others in the family! It's so cool!
Zoey had fun playing with the toys that Grandma had around the house.
This is one of my favorite faces she makes lately. The wide eyes and long open mouth! She's just too cute!
Eventually Zoey warmed up to everyone and even let Papa read her a book in his chair.
One afternoon I took her on a walk around the pond by there house. Zoey would stop every so often and pick up little pieces of grass that were on the ground and hand them to me. I love how awed she is by the simplest things around her.
We went to a pancake breakfast by the Boy Scouts on Memorial Day. It was actually pretty yummy. I know this pic is blurry but as always, I thought it was cute!
We had a great weekend and Zoey was tuckered out by the end. She actually did pretty good on the car rides. She did have an ear infection in both ears the whole weekend so there were defiantly some rough times (like in the middle of the night) but overall it was a great weekend. I can't wait to see them all again.
Enjoy -

Amy Came to Visit!!!!

2009-06-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my sister Amy decided to make a last minute visit. We had a blast! Saturday night Amy and I went out to have a little sister fun bonding time. We went shopping, went out to eat and went to the movies. I haven't done so much at once in a long time! Well, we didn't have anything in particular we needed to shop for so we just looked around. We passed by Build a Bear and we decided to make Zoey a bear! Yeah, totally random I know! We got her a dog because she loves to make the dog sound. She sleeps with her every night and loves her!
She also loves the box the dog came in! Clay got these pictures of her the other day while I was at work. One night she was putting things in it and pushing it around. She's just too cute!
Oh, and don't tell Clay that I'm using unedited photos in a few of my posts! Sometimes I just can't wait till he edits them, they're just too cute!!!!

15 Months Old

2009-06-11T20:02:00.001-07:00

Wow, time really does fly by. Zoey had her 15 month check up today. I'm glad we had the appointment scheduled today not only because I wanted to see how she was growing but also because the last few days I could tell she was getting yet another ear infection! So, since her last well check 3 months ago Zoey has actually LOST .5 oz. (22 8.5 lbs = 49%) Crazy hu! She is tall though (32 1/2 = 95%) and has a big head (19" = 96%)! She is absolutely the joy of my life! She is so fun (most of the time) and so cute!!! Oh, and yes, she does have another ear infection, I've lost count with how many I think we're up to 8 ear/sinus infections. So we're looking at our options to see what we want to do.

Here's a few pictures of Zoey to show how she's growing! (I had wanted to do a comparison photo post but I'm too tired to go through all the old photos and do that right now, maybe later)

Zoey is becoming a little girl more and more. She knows how to find her arms when you dress her, she puts her arms up when you undress her and she likes to try and dress herself. Oh, and she LOVES shoes, you can almost always find her trying on shoes. It doesn't matter if they're hers, moms or dads, she'll try them on!
We went for a walk this afternoon to check the mail. We took a little break at the apartment office porch. I love the pig tails! Thanks Amy for helping me figure out her hair is long enough (barley)!
This is my favorite today! Because she actually lost weight the Dr said to make sure to give her high calorie foods, he even suggested ice cream! So I got her a Sonic strawberry cream slush and put it in her cool little straw cup. She loved it

Well, I have some great short videos, I'll put them up after Clay does his thing to them! Enjoy -

A Fun Day with Daddy

2009-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is what Daddy and Zoey do while Mommy is at work...

Zoey sure enjoyed her chocolate frosting filled graham crackers! It's a good thing Daddy gave her a bath after this too! Boy was she messy!

What will they do next!

Help, I Can't Decide!

2009-05-27T18:50:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I really want to make a quiet/activity book for Zoey. She's really starting to develop her fine motor skills and I think this would be fun for her and hopefully help with Sundays! I've been searching online and have found TONS of sites with ideas and patters and I think I've narrowed it down to two choices. I just need your help deciding...

This one is found here, it seems to have the pages I want, the page it has that I haven't found on others is the mirror page.
This is the other one I have found, it's here on Etsy. I like that it has a page for each ABC. It would take me longer to do each page but I'd probably do it in like 4 smaller books. I like that it has tons of ideas.
I have no idea how I'm going to decide. Please vote in the comments. If you do you'll be entered to win something fun made by me!

Oh, and just for your enjoyment here are two more patterns that I will probably be getting because I like them so much!

Nativity Book

Holiday Book Kit

Guess What Today Is?

2009-05-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

One year ago today Clay left for work like normal. He came home early and it turned our world upside down. He has lost his job. This was his first job after college, we had a 10 week old baby and I wasn't working (or planning on going back to work). I could never have imagined what blessings would come into our life because of that day.

I am so grateful that I had a good job before the baby came where we were able to save a little so that we could get through the first couple of weeks. I'm grateful to friends and family who helped us out as we figured things out to get us back on our feet.

I was able to start babysitting during the day and Clay went looking for a job. We ended up moving in with our friends the Sampson's because Clay hadn't really found anything yet and we couldn't keep up the bills at the apartment. We weren't sure how long we would be there for or where we would go after but they were so nice to let us crash for a few months. Clay did get a job working the night shift at Maveric Color and has really enjoyed it there. We realized that even with his job we still wouldn't be able to make it on our own without some more income so I even found a job. This was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I know that probably sounds silly but my whole life all I've ever wanted was t be an at home mom. We even waited till Clay was almost done with school to have our first baby so I could be home. But, I did find a job and I am grateful that everything has turned out ok.

Clay is able to be home during most of the day with Zoey and we have a great friend who takes care of her the few hours that our jobs overlap. I'm glad that Clay gets to spend that extra time with Zoey that most dads don't get. I enjoy my evenings with her (even though they're short) and love to see her smiling face when I pick her up everyday!

Because of the job loss and then job finds we are in a better apartment then I ever would have imagined. I have no problems staying here until we're ready for a house, even if that's 5 years from now! Together we make more money then ever before and we are well on our way to being debt free and building up a savings. Things are still tight but we're at least able to enjoy life. We even have a DVR now! I know, we should be good and save that money, but it's our favorite (and probably only) real splurge right now. No more setting the VCR timer and hoping the reception is good enough for our shows!

I am so grateful for all the blessings, big and small, that I have received over this last year. I'm grateful for the Church welfare system and for my Savior who helped me through each day, good and bad, to get me to where I am now, and where I'm headed. I'm enjoying life and am grateful for all that I have learned this last year. If you'd asked me a year ago if I thought I'd ever be where I am now I would have laughed at you! Thank you to all our friends and family who have helped us along the way. If we can ever repay the favor, please let us know.

More Zoey...

2009-05-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so as my sister pointed out to me it's been awhile since I've blogged. I know, I've been busy! I don't have much time even right this moment but here's a few quick pictures of Zoey for your enjoyment...Zoey LOVES books. She goes from book to book to book all night long once we get home. She usually only looks at a book for all of five seconds before going on to another except she does have a few favorites, like this one, it's Noah's ABC's, it's a cute little board book with flaps (she LOVES flap books). Her other favorite is a farm animal book, she even knows what sound the doggies makes! It's so cute when she goes 'woof woof.'

Here is an adorable picture of Zoey in her Great Wall of China Pj's. Yes these Pj's are actually from China. Grandma and Grandpa Irving went to visit China and brought these back for her. They are one of her (and mommy and daddy's) favorite pair of Pj's. We don't have many short ones so she wears these on especially hot nights.

Well Amy, there you go! I hope you enjoyed my little post and maybe I'll be better at posting again one day! We love ya'll!

Birth Centers in Trouble

2009-05-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hey friends -

Ok, I'm not usually one who'd big into politics or bills or anything that has to do with government. BUT...my birthcenter and others are in trouble. I don't know how to explain exactly what's happening but basically Congress is trying to pass something so that Birthcenters cannot be paid for by ladies who have Medicaid. Now, this might not concern you if you're one of the lucky ones who has medical insurance but this does effect other women and could affect the birthing center you might want to go to later. I know my birthing center I used for Zoey, over half her business is Medicaid women and if this passes it will shut her down and then I would be really sad (and you don't want to see me sad).

So, what I'm asking is that you go to this website and follow the 7 steps that are listed to let your voice be heard regarding this issue. Now those of you who really know me know this isn't something I would normally do because it's WAY out of my comfort zone, but I really feel strongly about this issue. We, as women, have the right to choose where and how we give birth. I don't judge other ladies who choose to give birth in a hospital because it's their choice, and I should get to choose too!

**Now the bribe in this is that EVERYONE who posts a link to the above site or my blog post will get something specially made by me for them (you just have to comment back here so I know). You all know how crafty I am and so I know you're all excited about that! The trick is this needs to be done in the next week or two because I guess the bill is going up for vote pretty soon.

Thank you thank you in advance for helping!

Here's a cute face of a birthcenter baby and her mommy to inspire you...

(Look I even posted a picuter of me on here, you know I must feel strongly about this issue to post a picture of me!!!!)

What a Weekend!!!

2009-04-27T13:19:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a weekend I've had! Friday morning I woke up to Zoey having a fever of 101.3. I was just a little concerned because she was on antibiotics so I called the Dr on my way into work to see what I needed to do. We set up an appointment for that afternoon! So I went on my marry way at work knowing that Zoey was in good hands with Daddy at home! When I got home at 2:30 to take her to the Dr her temp was a whopping 104.3!!!! I shoved Tylenol down her throat and threw her in the car and rushed to the Dr (I was glad I already had an appointment!). When the Dr finally got in to see us he checked her ears. "Wow, that's bad!" He said that she had a bad double ear infection. She had been in to see him 10 days earlier because her eyes were all swollen and he said she had a minor ear infection. We put her on antibiotics (the pink stuff). Well, I guess after 10 days the antibiotics didn't touch her ear infection and it just kept getting worse. Of course because she's such a good baby I had no idea! Even with the fever I would have never guessed she was sick because she didn't stop playing and being as happy as always! Anyways, so now we're on another round of antibiotics (the white stuff now)! Saturday she continued to run high fevers but by Sunday night they tapered back down to normal, thank goodness!!! Hopefully these antibiotics will do the trick! The only rough part with the bad ear infection (that started Thursday night) is that the drainage causes Zoey to cough at nights. This then wakes her up sometimes and I have to go in and rock her back to sleep. I can't really complain though because these are such precious moments to me. Zoey doesn't snuggle hardly at all (even at nights) so I totally take advantage of when she will snuggle with me even if it's 3am!

Well, since it's been awhile since I've blogged here are just a few things about Zoey growing that I think is so fun!

1. She has 2 of her molar teeth just starting to show through!
2. She knows where her Nose and Ears are (I'll try and get a video of this), we're now working on eyes!
3. She LOVES Noggin' especially Jack's Big Music Show, when she's hears it come on (I love Free Video on Demand) She stops whatever she's doing and comes running!
4. She is totally into her routines, especially at night. Bath, teeth, book, prayer, bed! She even knows what's coming and gets ready by that door or gets the book or will fold her arms before I'm even down on the floor! Also in the mornings she knows that I leave right after prayer so as soon as it's over she goes to the front door and starts waving bye bye even if I'm not over there just yet!
5. She likes to give 5! It's so cute!
6. Her hair is really starting to grow! I can still only put it in a little pony tail on the top of her head but it's getting longer in the back!
7. She LOVES grapes!!! This is probably her favorite food!
8. She likes to do Patty Cake.
9. She LOVES her babysitter! I'm glad about this one because I know she has fun over there.
10. Um,.... I'm sure there is tons more but that's all I can think of for now!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures of her to put up soon for ya'll.

Enjoy -

Zoey's New Skill...

2009-04-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone, Zoey has an awesome new skill! Ok, so it is really awesome but it totally scared mommy the first time she did it! Towards the end you can also see her say Bye Bye and blow a kiss! Yeah, I think she's the cutest kid ever!

Zoey's 'Official' 1 Year Pictures

2009-04-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to have Amy (the awesome photographer Clay works for) take Zoey's 1 Year/Easter pictures. I am still in shock that my little one is a year old! We went to a park by her house and had a blast. As always Zoey was all over the place! She is one active little kiddo! It was fun to watch Amy chase after her. She got some great shots in even with her all over the place. Here are a few of the great pictures she took. She looks so sweet in this picture!

I thought this was a great family picture. I think it shows the true character of us right now. Zoey just running everywhere!

She got some great shots of her on the playground. Zoey got fussy at the end but she did like to climb the stairs!

Zoey decided to try and climb up the slide after sliding down. This is now one of her favorite things to do! Luckily she can't get high enough to hurt herself, yet!

To see a few more of the great pictures Amy took check out her blog.

Zoey Helping with Brownies

2009-04-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had a free card making night at my house (see my craft blog post). I wanted to make yummy treats for everyone who came so after I got home from work Friday night I started to make brownies. Zoey has gotten to the stage where she has to be involved in everything I do. If I'm cooking dinner she either has to be in my arms or playing right next to me (unless I turn on Noggin' then she watches tv!). Anyways, this time I thought it might be cute if I gave her her own pot and fork to 'make' her own brownies. She LOVED it! She stirred for at least 15 minutes (which is a long time for Zoey to do anything consistently). I had to get some pictures of the adorableness so here are just a few of my favorites...

She'd lay on the pillow and still stir, totally cute!

She'd even lick the fork in between stirs! (no, she didn't get that from mommy, I do not like brownie batter, now cookie dough on the other hand...)

Zoey seemed to enjoy 'cooking' with mommy so much that now when I am actually cooking something for dinner and I might be more then 2 minutes at the microwave I pull her out some of our dishes and let her play on the floor next to me.

Picnic at the Park

2009-03-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

About a week ago the weather was beautiful here so we decided to take Zoey to the park by the church and have a picnic. We had wanted to take her to swing and had finally found a park in the colony that had baby swings. We had such a fun time. Zoey loved swinging and playing. Here are some cute pictures we took.

Look at me swing!

Look ma! I'm flying.

She was so cute laughing and swinging. We really had a good time.

I hope we have this much fun next time we go to the park!

Characters by Lois

2009-03-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

So I have a friend that makes this awesome letters for people. I've tried my hand at making a few letters and they are NOTHING compared to hers! She's doing a give away right now so hop on over to her blog and check it out! Here's one of her awesome letters she did not too long ago.

Zoey's New Pj's

2009-03-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I had to run to Wal-Mart to get a few items we needed to get us through the next week. Since Clay and Zoey were already in the car with me (we had gone to the park for a picnic, I'll post about that later) I made them come with me real fast. One of the things we needed was Sippie Cups so we had to go to the baby sections at Wal-Mart. As I was getting what I needed Daddy and Zoey took a look at the clothes and of course Daddy was drawn to the Batman and Spiderman PJ's! Lucky for him PJ's were one of the things on my list because Zoey's been growing and doesn't fit into the PJ's I bought her last summer and the warm PJ's are just too warm right now. So, I caved and let him buy this pair of PJ's for Zoey...

Yes, it has a cape that is removable...
Doesn't she look cute! I think she kinda looks like a boy but you should see her in the pair of PJ's I picked out for her....
Now that's what I call a cute little girl!!!

Joint Birthday Party

2009-03-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Zoey has a cousin, Kylee, who is about 2 1/2 weeks younger then her. We decided to have a joint family birthday party for the girls. We had a great time. Misty made the best butterfly cake and the cutest small ones for each of the girls. We had all the family that was in town at the party (my Mom, Dad and sis Alison were in town!) We got the girls matching dresses. Aren't they adorable!

Zoey enjoyed opening some of the presents but didn't stay entertained with them the whole time. She got a doll, a few outfits including a smocked dress from my mom, and new PJ's.

Don't they look so cute in their matching outfits!

Look at my messy girl (daddy had to put some frosting on her for a good picture!)

They both got the hang of getting messy after a while. This cake eating kept them entertained for a good long time. Thank you Misty for the great cake!

Next year I'm already thinking of a "Two by Two" party for the girls, maybe!!!

The Zoo

2009-03-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

One of the things we did to celebrate Zoey's birthday was go to the Ft. Worth Zoo. We had such a great time. It had been rainy and cold during the week and it was still wet when we went but it turned out great. In the morning not all the animals were out because of the cold but we still saw a bunch and more were out by the afternoon. I was so happy with how well Zoey did. We got there at about 10am and didn't leave till 3:30. She did fall asleep about 2:30 and slept in the stroller. She had a blast walking around and seeing all the animals. She was scared of most of the animals if we got too close but really seemed to enjoy it. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day (just a few, Clay took about 400 pics between the Zoo and her party!)

Zoey loved this area where the sea otter was. There were these can phones that if you pushed a button told you a story about different animals. The phones were heavy but she spent forever putting it in and out from the holder. She screamed when we had to move on.

She wasn't afraid of the fish! She liked to see them up close.

The white tigers were awesome. This one just paced back and forth in front of the window. Right after I took this picture and turned off the camera the tiger got up and his hind legs and scratched at the window right above Clay's head, it was totally cool!

I loved the intensity she watched things. She was so interested in most of it.

This is Zoey laughing at Daddy. They had a blast playing for awhile in the car seat while I ran into the store. She is so cute! It's crazy to think that her car seat is facing forward, that was a milestone for me, and she seems to like it.

She's No Longer a Baby

2009-03-19T19:08:00.001-07:00

Zoey's 1 now. I can't believe she's 1!!! This is the first post of 3 about Zoey's birthday celebrations. On her birthday I took the day off work so we could have some fun! We started the morning with her well child visit...
Weight: 22 lbs 9 oz
Length: 31 inches
She got two more shots, and as always she did so good. She had a sinus infection (her fourth one) that started over the weekend so the Dr. gave us another prescription so we headed to Costco after to buy diapers and fill the prescription. By the time we got home she was tired and not feeling well and neither was I. So instead of going on a picnic and playing at the park and doing other fun things we spent the day at home resting. I did give Zoey her birthday toys and we did have fun playing with them for awhile.

Here are some little things about Zoey:
- Zoey loves bath time. She mostly loves to splash and they don't last long because she likes to try and stand and that means it's time to get out!
- Zoey loves almost all food. She'll eat just about anything you put in front of her. Her favorite food is fruit (any kind).
- Zoey loves to play outside. Now that it's nice outside I open the door to the porch and she'll go in and out forever!

Today, as we were driving home after I picked her up she was playing with this Lego block toy that we got in a kids meal the other day. I was so amazed to watch her try and figure it out. For a while she'd keep making her Godzilla sound because she couldn't get it on right. Because I was driving I couldn't help but I kept encouraging her and watched her in the mirror. She finally got it and it was so fun to celebrate with her. The big smile that came on her face and she started to clap and then she tried it again. It's so awesome to see her growing and learning. I can't believe she's already a year old though!

Here's a picture of her trying to figure out her new Birthday toys on her birthday. She loves these toys and is getting pretty good at figuring them out!

First Free Card Making Night

2009-03-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Check out my crafting blog to see information about my first free card making night. Everyone is invited. It's next Friday night and Saturday morning (3/27-3/28), come and go as you want.

Need your Help

2009-03-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

Ok friends, if you have a second please jump over to my new Blog, Melissa's 101 Things to do in 1001 Days. I saw an idea like this while blog hopping (I can't remember where so I can't give appropriate credit, sorry), but I really liked the idea. I'm stuck trying to come up with things so if you can take a look and let me know what you think I would appreciate it. I don't want to start the list until I have the 101 things and I'm hoping to start it soon, so any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks ya'll

More Presents from Me to You!!!

2009-02-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, I already did this once but I thought I'd do it again since I'm feeling selfish and posted on alot of my friends posts!! So, the next 5 new friends who comment will get gifts also!!! (that includes you Danielle!!!) Enjoy -

I saw this on my friends blog and I love it!!!

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!Let the games begin!!

(Oh, and I have to be able to contact you with mailing information!!!)

A Present From Me to You!!!

2009-02-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

I saw this on my friends blog and I love it!!!

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!Let the games begin!!

(Oh, and I have to be able to contact you with mailing information!!!)

Ice Day

2009-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

As many of you know it was VERY cold and icy the other day here in Dallas. On Wednesday I was able to stay home all day with Zoey. How happy I was to be able to relax and spend time with her. It's hard for me to have to work all day and only see Zoey for only an hour or so at nights and then the weekends. I would give just about anything to be able to be home with her all day to show her the world and teach her new things. She is growing way too fast. I have more posts to show you how she's grown, you'll just have to wait for those! Anyways, I was so excited to be home and thought it was cold it was beautiful outside. We had been given this snow like suite and even though it was just a tad too small we made it fit so we could get some cute pictures outside. Here are my favorites...

She was fascinated by the ice on the plants. Her hands were freezing by the end but she couldn't get enough of exploring everything around her.

I think she's just so cute!

Because the suit was too small the hood wouldn't stay on her. Oh, and the hands had little flaps that went over her hands to make mittens but again, too small! You do have to admit she looks cute though!

Look at how well she's standing. She's actually walking quite a bit now!

I loved showing her all the new things to experience. This will be the day I remember until the next time off I get to be with her!

Look at me!!! I'm a happy baby!!

Hope you all enjoyed -

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

2009-01-29T20:22:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Clay's birthday this last weekend. With our crazy work scheduled I made him a cake on the weekend. It was a yummy ice cream cake. We defiantly enjoyed every bite of it!

Even though his birthday was last week I just wanted to let him know how much I love him. You are a wonderful husband, father, friend, provider, and helper. I am so glad to have you in my life. Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for Zoey and I. I hope you have a wonderful year! (I'm already planning your party for next year!!!)

Photo Session Giveaway!!!

2009-01-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, my husband works for this awesome lady, Amy, who owns her own photo studio called Daisy Photography. After Zoey was born she did a photo session for us when Zoey was about 6 months old. The pictures were wonderful. I totally love Amy. Well, right now on her blog she is doing a photo session give away. Go and check it out here. Good luck!!

Here's a link to my original blog post of the session we had with Amy, and here's one of my favorite pictures from that day.

TC1 Ward Christmas Party

2009-01-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

I know this is a little late, and I still need to get actual Christmas pictures up but I figured better late then never right!

Here is Daddy and Zoey at our new Wards Christmas party. We had a nice evening and Zoey got her first taste of candy canes (chocolate dipped no less!). Oh, and she got to meet Santa! She seemed to enjoy herself too that night! We are so excited to be in this new ward and are looking forward to meeting more people and making some wonderful friends and memories. Oh yeah, and I got called as the YW Secretary. I am LOVING it so far! We have a great bunch of YW and the other leaders are so sweet! I am SO excited to see what this new calling brings for me!

Zoeys Mad Skills

2009-01-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

I just thought this was too cute of Zoey playing next to the fridge. I got these ABC magnets from Wal-Mart and she just loved them, a little too much though, she liked to try and eat them and they're just a little too small for her to actually play with right now. But she enjoyed them for these few pictures until I put them away! Look at how good she is at standing! She's even gotten good at squatting down and picking things up when she knows there's something close to grab on to if needed! I am so proud of how fast and big she is growing. I can't believe that she's already 10 months old! As stated in the previous post she's taken a few steps for Daddy! She's not a little baby anymore!

Ode to Daddy...

2009-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

So, Clay and I work opposite schedules so that one of us can be home with her most of the day. Luck for Zoey, she gets to spend most of her time with Daddy since he's home during the day. Mommy wonders sometimes about the fun they have when I'm not around. The other day I picked up the camera to take a picture or two of Zoey since it had been awhile and then I started looking through all the pictures on the camera. I was AMAZED by how many pictures of Zoey in the highchair their were. I guess Daddy moved on from taking closeups of food to taking pictures of Zoey eating food! So, in Daddys honor, I put together a little picture of some of my favorites I found while searching through the camera...

Though every picture looks just about the same they are each from a different meal (you can see different outfits on under the bib). I'm happy to know that my daughter is defiantly getting enough to eat!

Well, while looking through the camera I also came across this picture...

What was Daddy thinking! Pants don't go on her head and socks on her hands! They sure seemed to have fun though! I have to say how grateful I am that Daddy is willing to work evenings so he can be home with Zoey while I have to work. I love the special bond they have developed. Oh, she even walked 2 steps for him this morning all on her own, she hasn't walked for me yet. Well, thanks a million to my wonderful husband, I love you!

Totally cute bows!!!

2009-01-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I had this friend when I was a teenager and I thought she was just the coolest person ever. I remember wishing I could be her friend when I first met her and was SOOO excited when we actually became friends and she turned out to be 10 times cooler then I thought! She has an amazing singing voice, she is a great dancer, she is the sweetest, nicest person I have EVER met, she always made me smile! I remember hanging out at the church dances and working at Chick-Fil-A with her, it was the best when she'd give me rides home! Well, she went on a mission and at that point we kinda lost contact with each other. She has been one of those friends who I always thought about and so when I found a link to her blog awhile back I was SOOOOO totally excited! I have loved catching up with her and hope to see her again one day, both our families still live only about 15 minutes apart so maybe one day we'll both be visiting home at the same time!

Anyways, my reason for this is she has started a bow making business (we both now have little girls, her baby is only about 2 months younger then Zoey). She is doing a give away on her blog and I, of course, wanted more entries so here's my post!!! Go and check it out, they are all so adorable. Uh,... she showed me at one point how to link it to a 'click here' button but I can't remember so here you go!!!

http://babyhairbows.blogspot.com/

Here are the bows that she's giving away...

and here are my favorite (for now!!!)
Enjoy!!!

5 Year Anniversary Suprise...

2008-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

So, I know Christmas was just last week and I should be blogging about Zoey's first Christmas but I really wanted to share with everyone the awesome anniversary gift my husband got for me. Keep tune and I'll get some more blogs up soon.

Our anniversary is two days after Christmas, yeah crazy I know, so since we were in Houston my parents watched Zoey while Clay took me out for a 'surprise.' I knew a surprise was coming, but I have to say I loved it!

We started off the night by having our car Valet parked at the beautiful Double Tree hotel in Downtown Houston. That was a first! We felt funny giving them the keys to our car that had toys strewn about the back seat and is a great but cheap car! We had no idea how much to tip them either, I ended up asking the guy at the front desk so I knew what to give them when we left. He said start with a dollar and it goes up from there, man I felt silly tipping a guy a dollar the next morning!
Clay had booked us the Romance suite and the room was BEAUTIFUL! They brought up chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine. We had them take the wine back and and asked if they had any cider but they were out. We used the ice bucket the wine came in to keep our waters cold instead!

Later that night Clay had gotten us tickets to go and see 'A Christmas Carol' at the Alley theater. The hotel is only 6 blocks away from the theater so we walked. It was a beautiful night for walking and it was nice to get all dressed up and be out and about without carrying a diaper bag over my shoulder! The show was wonderful. At the end Clay and I tried to figure out if the maid for Scrooge was a guy or girl, defiantly was wearing girl clothes but there were a few things that made you go hum. Low and behold it was a guy! It was actually the director! We had a good laugh about that. I know it was common back in Shakespeare's time but it was just funny to us that night!

So, after the play we went to get something to eat. We hadn't really thought that far in advance so we walked around a few blocks to see what was over there and ended up deciding on the Hard Rock Cafe. Now at first I didn't really want to eat there, I was afraid it was one of those places that everyone talks about and everyone wants to go and it's a cool place but the food isn't very good. Boy was I wrong, the food was great! I got this herb chicken with yummy mashed potatoes and then I ate like all my husbands french fries which were some of the best I've had in a while! I thought about buying a shirt while we were there but decided against it after realizing the shirt was more then our whole dinner including tip!

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and I zonked out within 10 minutes of coming home and I did not wake up till morning. The bed was SO comfortable. I don't think I slept that well in who knows how long! Defiantly since before I got pregnant! My wonderful husband let me sleep in the next morning which was so nice! After finally waking up we went down to the restaurant in the hotel and had a yummy breakfast. I had my favorite breakfast food, french toast.

We then packed our things and ventured back home to rescue my parents from Zoey! I am very grateful for my wonderful husband who put so much thought and effort into a wonderful evening for me. I can't believe we have been married for 5 years now! I hope the next 5 years are as wonderful as last 5 years.

Apple Blossom Baby Giveaway

2008-12-10T19:47:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I don't usually blog giveaways but these are just so cute! Take a moment to look it over! Enjoy - http://vermillionrules.blogspot.com/2008/12/monday-giveaway-apple-blossom-baby.html (yeah, I haven't figured out how to do all the cool link stuff yet.)

This is the elephant I like.

Tag Class Dec 13th

2008-12-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, so I finally did it. I got my stuff together and am doing a Tag Making class coming up Dec 13th at 7pm here at my new apartment. The cost is only $10 and you'll leave with 14 tags and hopefully a full tummy from yummy treats I'm going to make! If you have any questions please fill free to e-mail me at missyscraps@hotmail.com I sent out an Evite and if you didn't get an Evite please don't take it personally I couldn't find all my e-mail addresses so just let me know and I'll get you one so that you can have all the information you need. Well, here are pictures of what we'll be making that night.

This is a pouch filled with 8 tags that are my favorite. You can keep them for yourself or give them as a gift in this nice bag we'll make for them.

These are the tags that you can take home and let your children color themselves and add to their gifts for mom, dad, grandparents and others who would love to have something from the kids.

The above two pictures are a nice 3x3 card with open envelope that will add a special touch to any gift.

I might even come up with other ideas between now and then so you never now what surprises you'll find that night. Please RSVP by Dec 10th so I can have everything ready and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Love ya'll,
Melissa

Help Me!!!

2008-11-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

So, Saturday morning daddy went to get Zoey out of bed when we heard her playing on the monitor. He went in and found this!

Of course he had to run and get his camera. He said that when he first went in she was screaming and crying and when he went to get his camera he came back and she wasn't in the same spot. So he calmed her down and put her back here so he could get a few pictures!!! He's so funny!

Well, Zoey hasn't been sleeping very well the last week or so. She has a cold and her little cough is getting horrible and she's so stuffy. Her coughing fits at night wake her and I think her throat hurts, at least it sounds like it does. My poor baby. She also just got over a yeast diaper rash. I hope things start looking better for her!

Oh, we got all moved into our new apartment and I'll get pictures put up at some point! I also saw on my camera a bunch of other posts that I have neglected to do so if you see a post come out in the next little but that should have come out months ago just laugh at me ok! I hope every one is doing great!

More Pics of Zoey!

2008-11-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

I know I've been bad. As always life has been busy! (Who's life isn't busy, right!) Anyways, this Sat we move into our new apartment and I am SO excited! So I've been packing and getting things ready in the little time I have in between getting home from work and having to put Zoey down for bed, at which point I can no longer get anything done in the room because she's asleep! But it's all going good. Sat I got pretty much everything done, now it's just odds and ends.

Anyways, Saturday before last we went and Amy, who Clay works for editing her wedding photos (she has her own photography business). She does amazing portraits and wanted to do some of Zoey for us. Below is the link to all the pics she did for us. I am so grateful for her doing them because they are WONDERFUL! And it was our first time to do family pictures which I just love! I already know where I want hang them up at the new place! So, take a minute and look through the pictures if you want. Here are a few of my favorites...

http://www.pictage.com/576114
Event key: meldrum

Amy's blog (Zoey has her own post on here!): http://daisyphotostudio.blogspot.com/

I'm getting around to it!

2008-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

Danielle (dbryan-danielle.blogspot.com) tagged me, that's ok, I still love her!
Ok,...
1. I talk to myself, alot! I'll have full conversations in my head. I will even use hand gestures!
2. I would rather it be 100 degrees outside then 60. Give me heat!!!
3. I love mindless tasks. I don't mind filing, typing, organizing, cutting, stuffing, folding, or any mindless task, especially when I don't feel like dealing with other stuff!
4. I enjoy getting together and being with people even if I don't talk the whole time. I love sitting back in a group of people and just watch what's going on!
5. I check my blog about 50 times a day, but I'm bad about posting or commenting on others but I LOVE when people comment on mine.
6. I collect Nativity sets. I have about 40 right now!
7. I'm shy! There are a bunch of people that I would love to get to know better but I hate going up to them first and trying to make that initial contact, it scares me to death! I guess I'm afraid of rejection or something.

Well, I guess I have to tag 7 people, uh,... ok, so since this is a random fact tag I'm just going to tag a few random people! Paige Sinclare(paigesinclair.blogspot.com) Clay Meldrum(claymeldrum.blogspot.com) Katie Curtis (thekatiecurtis.blogspot.com) Laura Silver (keepitonthedlsilver.blogspot.com) Brett & Emily Meldrum (meldrumland.blogspot.com) Jen Wecker (theweckers.blogspot.com) and... Jessica Gillespie (gillespiebunch.blogspot.com)

Hope everyone is has a great day. I'll post a better post later, I've just been getting use to work, life, and all the new fun things happening!

Zoey's 6 Month Pictures and More

2008-10-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

When I went to Houston, my mom and I took Zoey to get her 6 month pictures taken. Below is the link to see all the pictures. I think she is just the most adorable ever!

Enter Customer name in link below (MELISSA MELDRUM)
https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0048103962JCP

Here are my two favorites I think...

So, I've been working for 3 whole days now and I can say that I really enjoy it! It's not bad, the only hard part is of course not seeing Zoey and Clay , and not having enough time in the day to get everything done that I need to. Things are going great though, we found an apartment that I just LOVE. We already put a deposit down and are just waiting to hear back to see if our application was approved! I really hope we get this apartment. I'm even more excited because it's a 3 bedroom and my sister is going to be coming to live with us and go to school here in Dallas! If it all works out then we will be moving Nov 15 (right around the corner!). The apartment is in The Colony which I'm sad is out of the Ward but I'm excited for the new things that life has thrown my way!

I'm also excited because this Saturday will be my first craft how! It is in The Colony in the Community Center from 9am-3pm. If anyone lives in the area you should come by and say hi! My friend Danielle and I got a booth together and we're excited to enter this new world of craft shows! If it goes well then we will find others to do, otherwise it will just be another fun day hanging out with Danielle.

Well, I'm tired and have to work tomorrow so I guess I'd better go to bed! Hope life is going well for everyone!

A New First

2008-10-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally happened. Zoey's sick :( She's had a runny nose the last week or so but yesterday and today it turned nasty green. She also had a low fever last night. Her eyes started to get goopy too so I called the Pedi to see what I can do to help relieve some of her congestion. She hasn't been able to finish a whole bottle at any feeding for a week now and I just want her to be back to normal! He wanted to me to come and and so I did. He checked her out and said I did good to catch it and call early like I did because if I had waited a day or two more then she would have had a full blow ear infection too. So now I have oral and eye drop antibiotics to give her for the next few days. I can tell that she's not feeling her best because she's been sleeping more and has been especially clings and grumpy today.

Well, such is life! At least she's still a mostly happy baby and we caught it early so we can take care of everything and be back to normal in no time!

Good Morning Sunshine!

2008-10-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

I love waking up each morning to see my little Sunshine. She is always so happy in the morning! Here is an idea of what I see each morning when I wake up...

At first she would just smile at us from inside her crib.

Then she started to make faces at us! I guess she likes the taste of the sides!
Some mornings she just relaxes until I'm ready to get up and get her out.
Then this morning! I found her doing this....

From where I was sleeping you could only see the top of her head sticking up over the edge. It was SO cute! Zoey has been pulling to stand for a few weeks now but this was the first time I had seen it in her crib, and for some reason it just made her seem so grown up! She loves to pull herself to standing any chance she gets. Yesterday I took the Sampson boys to Karate and I decided to go in and watch them since the class isn't that long. Zoey found the glass doors and stood up and just watched everything forever! And this morning she was standing next to the couch and I had to go use the restroom so I sat her down in the middle of the room, because she's not the greatest at getting down from standing yet (luckily no bruised head yet!) and when I came back she was standing up at the couch again! Oh and the other day I found her trying to climb up the Sampson's stairs! Scary!!!! Guess it's time to get a baby gate!

I Got A Job!!!!

2008-10-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. I heard back today from the company I interviewed with last week and I GOT THE JOB!!!!! I'm so excited! I start Monday (Oct 20) as a receptionist for this property management company. Though working full time was not my dream I am so excited and feel very blessed that things are working out the way they are. I now have an even longer to do list this week though so I better get cracking!!! I'll keep you updated as things hopefully keep falling into place for us!

Yeah! I got the job!!!!!!!!!!!!

Few Pics from Houston

2008-10-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, the post below talks about my trip to Houston here two pics I found...

This is Zoey and I at one of the soccer games.

Here is Zoey at the Basketball game. I found her little red basketball shorts that made her look like she should get out and play with the big girls! She had to have the bow though otherwise she looked like a boy! She is so cute!

Update, Update, Update

2008-10-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

I know it's been much longer then I would like so I'm going to try and play catch up. I don't have my camera with me right now so I will have to post with pictures later but since the Tulsa trip here are just a few things that we have been up to.

Clay is now working for his brother at Maverick Color. He is enjoying it but working TONS of hours. He is also still working a few hours a week for Amy editing photos for her (she owns a photography studio and does weddings). So I don't get to see him much but that's ok, everyone has to put in there dues sometime right! We also moved in with the Sampson's (I guess we did that right before Labor day but I can't remember if I posted about it or not). Things are great with that right now. The Sampson parents are actually out of town for 10 days so the left me incharge of holding down the place, yes they're brave! We are hoping to be able to get back into our own place before Christmas and it looks like that will be happening!

I took a trip down to Houston a weeks or so ago just to spend time with my family after the Hurricane. Zoey and I had alot of fun! In the one week we were gone Zoey did 5 new things! Daddy missed seeing them all for the first time! I'll post pictures later but the 5 new things she did are...

1. She started to clap (Daddy had been trying and trying to teach her this for awhile!)
2. She crawl crawled not just army crawled. (It was only a few times and now she won't real crawl at all, but she did it, I have witnesses)
3. She learned how to go from crawling/laying to sitting, and then getting back down again.
4. She started to pull her self to standing (she only did this once or twice but now it seems like she's doing it all the time. I guess it's time to get a baby gate for the stairs!)
5. And last but not least...she got her first tooth!!!

Her second tooth should be showing within the next day or so you can already feel it coming up. I was very happy that she wasn't an extra fussy baby. She was a little fussy but not bad at all like I was expecting. I love my little girl.

The other fun thing I did in Houston was go with my Mom, Sarah (my sister), and Maribella and LeeAnna (my sister in laws) to the RS broadcast. It was so good. The things that were talked about were SOOOO good. I LOVED Elder Uchtdorf's talk, as did many people I know. I feel like I have alot of things to be grateful for and alot of things to work on after hearing him and also Elder Bednar (he spoke at our Stake Conference a few weeks before). So, other things I did in Houston beside just seeing family include,... going and eating at the grill my two little sisters Amy and Alison work. Going and watching my littlest sister Alison play basketball (she is SO good). Getting my eyebrows waxed for the first time ever by my sister Sarah (she just graduated from cosmetology school). Going to my nephew Daniels soccer game, then to watch my niece Jade cheerlead, and then back for my other nephew Cameron's soccer game! Hanging with my Aunt Melanie. Shopping, shopping, shopping. Eating, eating, eating. Oh, and watching TV!!!!

So, I'm trying to think if there is anything else I want to mention in this post to get me all caught up... oh, I had a job interview yesterday that went very well, hopefully it will all work out! As always my life revolves around Zoey. She is growing SO big. I am so happy that she is eating so well and loving her solids. She loves to eat puffs and she can pick them up with either hand!!! It'll be interesting to see if she ends up being left or right handed because right now she's both! Here are her stats from her latest Dr. appointment...

Height: 27 1/2 inches (95%)
Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz (90%)
Head Circ: 17 1/2 inches (90%)

Anyone who read this whole post through has my kudos because I know it was not very exciting, I just really wanted to get everything down so that I can start fresh and not feel like I'm so far behind on everything. I'm excited because tomorrow we're going to the Pumpkin Patch and I will defiantly have more fun pictures of Zoey. I will try and do better!

Love ya'll tons -

Beauty and the Beast

2008-10-08T20:05:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know...It's be awhile. Anyways,

So, my last post was about our trip to Tulsa during labor day. Well, one of the coolest things we did while we were there was take pictures of Zoey in "the beast". Now, there's a long story behind this beast, in short,...My father-in-law lived in Texas for like 14 years (that's when I knew them). Then just after Clay and I got married he and his wife with what family was still living at home moved to Tulsa, OK. My father-in-law feels like Oklahoma is his true home! They had bought a truck in Houston before they moved from my brother-in-laws lawn business, but a few months ago they had to sell the truck. My father-in-law was so sad and he told his wife that he wanted to get some sort of trailer that they can hook on the van so he can still haul stuff. Well, this is the trailer he found on Craigs list. It is the back half of an old truck. My father-in-law LOVES it! It is a fun topic among us kids! So when we were in OK we made a special effort to get some pictures of Zoey in "the beast." So, long overdue but here they are...

So you may be saying to yourself...man, Zoey is really good at standing on her own! Well, she's not (at least at that time she wasn't). This is how we had Zoey look over the side without hurting herself.....ME!!!!
Yes, I laid down in the dirty truck to hold Zoey up so that Clay could get some great pictures of "Beauty and the Beast."

These are priceless pictures that I will cherish forever! Enjoy

Labor Day Weekend in Tulsa

2008-09-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day we decided to go and see Clay's parents and sister in Tulsa, OK. We also needed to put some stuff in storage in their attic so it really worked out great. We didn't do much while we were there just hung out and stuff. On Monday we went and walked the Boardwalk by the river (which has like NO water in it!) then we went to my favorite place in all of Tulsa, the Trading Post!!! It's a cool place that people rent booths in and then they fill it with antiques, crafts, anything they want to sale. It's fun to see what you can find. This time I found some of the Golden Books (with the gold spines) for Zoey. Mom was nice enough to get me a few for Zoey. It was Mom's birthday the week before we came up so we took birthday gifts from all of the kids here in Dallas to her. It was fun to watch her open them all! Well, it was a short trip but we had a great time. Look for my next post to show you the other fun thing we did!!!

Zoey with Dad, Mom, and Lanae
Zoey and Lanae
Zoey and Grandpa

Zoey and Grandma

I'm Back...Zoey's Pacifier(s)

2008-09-10T13:22:00.001-07:00

Hello friends, after a few weeks of no posts I just wanted ya'll to know that I'm still alive! I've been getting our room organized and getting into a new routine here at the Sampson's house. I thought I'd take a moment and do a few posts so that ya'll don't forget about me! Check back again later as there will be more posts coming this next week!

So, alot has been going on,...we finally got all our stuff out of the apartment and got it all clean and turned in the keys! Then we left right after and went to Tulsa for Labor day (post to come later). Zoey and I have been spending alot of time playing together, she LOVES the game peak-a-boo and it's so cute to see her laugh and play! I've also spent alot of time at my friend Danielle's house out in McKinney, we have so much fun together and our kids enjoy playing! I'm glad things are finally getting back into a routine, I still have no idea what the future will hold for our family but right now, things are good.

Of course,... picture time...this was actually from today! Zoey loves her pacifier when she sleeps. I like that she's not totally attached to her pacifier all day, but she does need it when she sleeps! Well, I put her down for nap after play group with the only pacifier I could find at the time. Latter I went in to check on her and found her with not only the pacifier I put her down with but she was holding two more in her hand!!!! I just HAD to take a picture, I'm glad it didn't wake her up. Now I know where all the pacifiers are.

Again, check back later for more new posts.

Busy, busy, busy,...

2008-08-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been BUSY!!! I spent all last week packing and babysitting. Thursday was my last day watching MJ for the summer. I now have to find another way to bring in money (I have an interview w/UPS this week). So Saturday morning I got up early and went to a baby shower that was wonderfully done! Then I moved!!! We moved in with the Sampson's and and I am exhausted!!! I still have tons to do this week but so far things are going good. On Saturday Zoey got sick for the first time. She woke up with throw up all over her from her afternoon nap and then threw up another 6 times in 30 minutes. She didn't have a fever at that point. Later that afternoon she had a fever of 100.3 but she was eating and sleeping like normal within 4 hours of the throwing up episode. So, I guess she's ok!! She's been good today! Well, I think I'm going to go to bed because I'm exhausted. I'll try and post more this week but it depends on how things are going!

Bouncing Zoey

2008-08-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, it's a short video, please take a look at it! We got this jumper a few months ago when we got the saucer toy. We tried to put Zoey in it then and a few times since but she had no idea what to do, she's just sit there. Well, we tried it again the other day and she immediately started to jump. She loves it! Here is just a short video of her jumping and enjoying it.