Love your Blue Eyes!

As soon as we are in the parking lot after church Joel's tie comes off! He and Laura looked SOOO good together in their dark blue. I love the dress, thanks Gamze for sharing your clothes with Laura! And oh, what cute hair bows. Well thank you. I whipped them up Sunday morning when I realized that she didn't have any bows to match her dress!

Thanksgiving in Arrowhead

I wish I had been here for Thanksgiving, Joel and I missed the Polar Bear Plunge! Last year Joel braved the frigid waters of Lake Arrowhead with my aunts and uncles to do a plunge in the lake and swim to the shore! (I was pregnant so I had a GREAT excuse!) Joel had to work Fri and Sat so laura and I came up by ourselves. We heard that there was a 30% chance of snow, but no one belived it! Look what we woke up to!



We had a fun time putting up the Christmas lights, Laura was so bundled up!

Pumpkin Pie

Here is my first Pumpkin Pie! I had a little dough from the pie crust left over, so I used the mini pie cutters in Pumpkin, Leaf 1 and Leaf 2 for a decorative topping. I think it looked great! Just waiting to eat it!

Ditto

Ha Ha! This reminds me of our Christmas pictures we took last year. We drove around with our friend Liz Pollock and stopped at cool houses that were well lit. We jumped out, sat on their lawn, took some pictures, and drove away before they had time to come outside! We ended up with two favorites and so half of our friends and family got one picture, and the other half got the second picture. We would have DEFINATELY stopped at the left house for photos! Thanks again Liz!

Bundled Up

It was freaky cold last week, so while Joel got Laura dressed in the morning he picked out very warm clothes and a great hat! She was so excited! She loves to practice her standing!

Halloween Party

We had our ward halloween party last night. It was so fun! Laura had a great time! When we got home and put on her pjs, she curled up in my arms, tired out and ready for bed!

I hate to say I told you so...

The following is an article from Mira Jacob regarding the Disney recall of the baby Einstein videos. The super fabulous book "Babywise" went against the conventional grain when the authors asked that parents NOT let their children 2 and under watch tv. (Their defination of tv also includes movies and computer screens. See Becoming Baby Wise Vol 2) Children 2 and under who watch tv have a greater risk of developing ADHD and having a shorter attention span. Joel and I have tried not to let Laura watch any tv, which is difficult at times, especially if we want to watch a show and Laura is playing with her toys in the same room. But reading this makes me want to redouble my efforts!

The great Baby Einstein scam

by Mira Jacob, Shine staff

Of course it was too good to be true.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Disney is offering a refund to buyers of its ubiquitous “Baby Einstein” videos, which did not, as promised, turn babies into wunderkinds. Apparently, all those puppets, bright colors, and songs were what we had feared all along—a mind-numbing way to occupy infants.
This news has rocked the parenting world, which had embraced the videos as a miraculous child-rearing staple. Videos that make your kid smarter while you prepare dinner? Genius!
Or not. According to the article, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two years old stay away from watching screens. In the letter threatening Disney with a class-action lawsuit for "deceptive advertising," public health lawyers hired by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood cited a study which found a link between early television exposure and later problems with attention span.
For many parents, this was the most unsettling of "duh" moments, and a confirmation that nothing, when it comes to child-rearing, is as ever easy as we'd like to make it. So why were we so quick to seize on Baby Einstein videos as technological tutors?
Call it the perfect storm of parenting. Who doesn’t want to believe that there is a magical, wondrous, no-parental-guidance-required product that will turn their kids into Mensa members? The combination of our lack of time, our paranoia over our kids performance, and our faith in technology primed this generation of parents to accept the clever advertising around "Baby Einstein" as truth, just as parents before us have seized on corporal punishment, or the teachings of Dr. Spock.
Still, the idea that a caper this big could be pulled off (according to the Times, in “a 2003 study, a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years old had at least one 'Baby Einstein' video") is mind-boggling. Disney’s refund is about as close as we’re going to get to an actual admission that we were sold snake oil, and it casts a pall over the other "educational" toys out there.

Laura's Rocking Horse

I love this way cute rocking horse! It is the perfect height for Laura. If I bend her knees and put them on the runners, (and if she's holding onto the handles) then she'll push herself up so she's standing! She looks at me so proudly because she knows she did something cool! Love the messy hair and miss-matched pjs, you can tell she just got up from bed! What a sweatheart!

I love my husband (99% of the time!)

This morning is definitely one of the times I REALLY love my husband! Joel always gets up earlier than me in the morning and today was no exception. I heard him in the kitchen and thought irritably, "Does he not know how to shut a drawer quietly?" Then he came in the bedroom and said, “Are you getting up soon, because breakfast is ready.” Well let me tell you, I was up and out of bed so fast, you wouldn’t have believed it! There on the kitchen table was a plate set for me with 2 sliced of bacon, 2 sausages, scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice. Wow, I felt so guilty for the mean thoughts I had just had about how he was so noisy. We enjoyed a very nice breakfast together. I wonder if he’ll make it again tomorrow? I got my fingers crossed!!!

Eating Cherrios is Fun!

Here is Laura in one of her favorite spots: The Highchair! At first she picked up the Cherrios with her entire hand, but she is now using her ponter finger and thumb to get them. Most of the time they make it in her mouth! One time she dropped one and it rolled too far for her to reach So she fell forward and rolled over until she could hoover it up with her mouth! Hilarous!

Ha Ha Ha!

The redneck highchair and teething ring! Great!

1st Trip to the Library

We went to the library on Friday because I needed some new books to read!!! While we were there we also checked out the dvd Duplicity staring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. A little confusing in the begining, but amusing overall. Laura and I went to return the dvd on Saturday and read some children's books together. What a fun afternoon!

Going to the Park

Last week Laura, her cousin Pason, and I went to the park in Moreno Valley. We had a fun time, especially since it was Laura's first time on the slide! I enjoyed the nice walk while the kids had fun in the double stroller. My sister-in-law Ashleigh is a substitute teacher, so while she was subbing, so was I! As Pason's substitute care-giver that is! I love the fact that our kids will not only be cousins, but friends.
We also saw a really cute Chihuahua. Now, everyone know that I really really dislike dogs. But I let Laura touch it because it was suprisingly cute! (But not cute enough to keep, the irritating rat-dog.)

Laura goes to work

My work is closed on Fridays so Laura and I took advantage of that fact, and last Friday Laura went in to work with me for a few hours. She played happily with some toys and then took a nap. When she woke up she had a bottle and some food and then played with more toys. She had been cooing and gurgling to herself all morning. When I got up to use the copy machine I realized she had been quiet for a while. Thats's when the silence became ominous. I walked around the edge of my desk and saw...Laura playing with the trash! She had tipped over the trash can and was pulling out each piece, examining it, and then moving on to the next piece. Hilarous!

3 year anniversary

Last Wednesday Joel and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. Wow, we can’t believe it has gone by so fast! We celebrated by going out to dinner at Chili’s and splitting the Paradise Pie (which IS Paradise!) We took Laura with us because we can’t get enough of her! She is so cute! We’ll really celebrate our anniversary in Sept when we go to San Diego. Cousin Gamze will enjoy playing with Laura!

While Laura was taking a nap today I thought it might be a good time to start organizing all the wedding and shower cards to scrapbook. (It’s only been 3 years, I obviously did not feel the need to rush!) It was fun re-reading the good wishes of our family and friends as we prepared to be married for time and all eternity in the Redlands CA temple. Halfway through the cards, I came across an envelope. Strange, because I normally throw all envelopes away and only keep the card. So I opened it and lo and behold, out fell a check! I would cash it, but since the date on the check is 2006, I doubt the bank would accept it. Ha Ha Ha!

So here’s my advice to Katelyn who is getting married in October (we will miss you!!!) and also to my brother Jed and his finance Paige (Congrats again!) DON’T WAIT!

PS: IF YOU RECOGNIZE THIS CHECK AS YOURS AND FEEL THE NEED TO RE-ISSUE IT, DON’T. It’s going in the scrapbook on the page titled “For a good laugh keep reading”

Nursing the baby

This is an excerpt from an email my aunt Deanne sent me. Her husband is Gokan and 5 year old daughter is Elizabeth. (Keep in mind while reading that Elizabeth is 5!)

On friday night I went to see Julie & Julia (cute) with my work friends. Gokhan and Elizabeth took a walk around the lake while I was gone. Elizabeth wanted to take her stroller and baby with her, Gokhan figured it was easier to just go along with it rather than argue with her. So off they went. Half way around they came to a bench and Elizabeth told Gokhan that she needed to stop and feed her baby. Again he figured he would just go along with it...... She then pulled up her shirt and started nursing her doll! Gokhan thought he would DIE. He had to convince her that the doll was finished and they needed to get moving.

I got a good laugh over that.

Last night she asked if we could get our own baby Laura......I told her we just had to SHARE because there is only ONE baby in the world as good as the original Baby Laura! She agreed.

Love you, Deanne

Where did this dress come from ?

I love this chroched dress, but don't know where it came from. I'm not even sure who I got it from. If you know, please tell me. But I might not give it back! :)

I love Camarillo!

This was Laura's first visit to Camarillo! We went to Pleasant Holidays and had a fun visit with my friends in HR and Accounts Payable. That was a fun 4 years of my life, great friends, good company to work for, and GREAT perks! Oahu and Maui with other employees for the FAM trip, Oahu with Mom and Dad, Grand Caymen in the Caribbean with Julie, Maui with Kelly (for her 18th birthday!) and also with Deanne, Gokan and Gamze, and the Big Island and Maui with Joel for our honeymoon.
The amazing thing is I did not pay for airfare on ANY of those trips! And actually the only one I paid for a hotel was Grand Caymen! The rest I won or used free nights I had accrrued. Wow. Talk about terrific.
Grandma and Grandpa loved having Laura, Mom and I there for the weekend. It was fun to be back. Sadly I did not get to The Habit for a burger and chocolate shake. Joel and I used to go to The Habit and I would get a hamburger and then we would go to In-n-Out for his hamburger and then go eat in the park. Each of us would declare our hamburger to be THE ABSOLUTE BEST. But know this, Joel was wrong. Habit is WAYYY better!!! If you've been lucky enought to have eaten there, I know you'll agree with me!

How embarassing!

I am so embarassed! I haven't posted to my blog since Laura had her 4 month check up and soon she will have her 6 month checkup! So enjoy the posts, I think today I posted 10 posts! I will keep posting and hopefully we will soon be caught up to current events! (Like Laura eating cereal for the first time! Pictures coming soon!)

Laura rolls over!

There's no volume, so don't worry about why you can't hear! It's about 1 min 20
seconds of the CUTEST baby in the world showing off her mad rolling skills!

Sleepy baby

No Mama, I'm not falling asleep...zzzz

Cool Dude Shades

Are you talkin to me?!?

Gotcha!

I love you!

Laura goes to work with Mommy!

The office is open Mon-Thurs so on Friday while no one was there, I took Laura in with me to get some work completed. She had a fun day, especially sitting in the chair in my office! I love my jobs!!! Job 1:Mamma Job 2:Executive Assistant for the most wonderful bosses ever! And I would know, having surrived working for "The Boggs" at Pleasant Holidays!

New hat for Fat cheeks

Thanks Terry for the CUTE hat! Terry works with me and is SO generous with her time! She made Laura a bracelet that spells out her name, which is so cute. I love these pics of her with her fat chipmunk cheeks!

Curly hair!

When Laura's hair is wet it is so curly! That's from Joel. When it dries it is straight. That's from me. I love to leave it curly after her bath and have it dry like that, instead of combing it out, but then Joel thinks she has crazy hair!

Little Ballerina!

I LOVE this outfit! It has tulle sewn on the onesie to make it look like she is a ballerina! I'm experamenting sewing one of these for my friend's daughter. (I'm not saying WHO in case it doesn't look so good and I decide NOT to give it to her!)

Happy Birthday Tobin!

For Tobin's b-day party, it was Sports theme! You had to wear a jersey to attend. Luckily we had the perfect outfit for Laura! I wore my jersey which I bought LAST year to wear to Tobin's birthday party. (And which I had not worn since) I've decided that it will be my once-a-year-Tobin's-party-shirt.