Ginger's New Favorite Spot

Yes, that's the toilet! I don't know why but in the last couple of weeks, Ginger LOVES this spot. If you can't find her, just look behind the toilet in our bathroom! I'm sure the cool tile has something to do with it, but there's cool tile in our entry and in our kitchen!

Silly dog!

Better him than me and other weekend happenings about to happen!

Christopher had a 4am inspection this morning. He's a Structural Engineer and part of his job is going to worksites to do inspections...when they pour concrete,etc. Because it gets so dang hot here so early in the morning, inspections are done super early to beat the heat! He left at around 3am this morning! UGH! Like I said, better him than me! The happy side of this story is he will be home around 12pm and will have the whole day off tomorrow! Hello 4 day weekend!!

In other weekend happenings, GIRLS NIGHT OUT TOMORROW NIGHT!! Breaking Dawn is being released at midnight so a few of my girlfriends and I are heading to AppleBee's for dessert around 11pm and straight to Wal-Mart at midnight to buy the book! We are so excited! We did something fun like this when Eclipse was released so I couldn't think of anyone else I'd want to be with when I buy the last book! Pictures to come for sure! You can check out our Eclipse fun HERE!

On Saturday, our niece Shealynn,
is being baptized in Snowflake so we will be heading up there for the day. My only conflict was do I bring my book or not. I don't do well reading in the car so I decided to just leave my book at home...It'll just add to the excitement when I can get home on Saturday evening and READ! Plus, we have early church so I'll have all day Sunday to read too! So excited! I plan on not answering my phone, text messages, or emails until my book is done so no one try and call! (MELISSA!) Oh, and don't try and call me on Saturday to rub it in that your reading and I'm not! ;)

Hope everyone else has a great weekend!

Off to work I go...

Most of you know that before Addysen was born I was working part time (if you even call it part time) at Kohl's Department Store. It all started almost 3 years ago when Chris and I were deciding to buy a house. I wanted new furniture and odds and ends for said house so I decided to go to work. It was perfect timing for Elodie and Chris too since Elodie was getting ready to turn 2 and was awfully clingy to me. So, I earned some extra money and Chris and Elodie got daddy/daughter time. And it was amazing for their little relationship!

So, 6 or so months later we backed out of our house...and thank heavens we did. We were getting ready to purchase a house for $230,000 that is now going for a whopping $140,000!! It makes my stomach turn to think what our circumstances might be right now had we followed through with that purchase! Not to mention the commute it would have made for Chris....I'm starting to sidetrack.

Even though we decided to back out of our house, me working wasn't creating any schedule conflict so I kept at it. I was only working evenings after Chris got home and didn't average more than 15 hours a week. A few months later, we decided to take some of the money we earned and blow it at Disneyland!! And boy an I glad we did! Not only did we have an awesome vacation, I loved that me working allowed our family to do that without any financial burden or credit card usage. Especially since the whole time we were saving money, Chris was in school and only working about 30 hour weeks. By the time we got back from Disneyland (December '07) I had been working at Kohl's for almost 2 years! Crazy! Long story short, I quit at the end of January and Addysen came along at the beginning of March.

I can't say I wasn't happy to leave the working scene because I was. It didn't help that I was 8 months pregnant when I quit either! All in all I left on good terms and my managers told me anytime I wanted to come back they would take me back in a heartbeat!

Well, here we are....6 months later. Addysen is almost 5 months old, going to bed at 7:30pm and I was starting to get a little itch. Strumming my fingers trying to figure out what vacation we want to take next and how much money will be needed to take it! Chris and I talked it over and felt really good about me going back to work for the holidays. Well, I felt really good about it, Chris just wants me to be happy so his response was always "if it's what you want to do".

So, I went up to Kohl's on Friday, they welcomed me back completely, and by Sunday evening I had a schedule for this week. Just like that!!

For now and probably the whole time I'm there- I don't expect to work past the first of the year- my schedule is extremely limited. Since Addysen is a nursing baby I'm only making myself available 3 nights a week (Mon-Wed) and 2 or 3 Saturdays a month. No shifts longer than 4 hours. All proceeds go straight into savings! WOO HOO!

Last night was my first night back and I work tonight and that's it for the rest of the week. See what I mean about even calling myself part time? I was a little nervous about how Addysen would do last night. Not because I didn't think Chris could handle it! I usually feed her around 6pm and then top her off at 7pm right before she goes to bed. It's not a long feeding but enough to ensure that she won't wake up anytime soon. Since I wouldn't be there for that feeding I made sure to pump throughout the day so Chris could give her a bottle. This is where I got nervous. She hasn't taken a bottle since my mom was here when she was first born! Sure enough, when I talked to Chris last night, he told me she wouldn't take the bottle so he put her down without that feeding. I was REALLY nervous then thinking she would be up around midnight to eat. THANKFULLY, I didn't hear from her until her normal time of 3am and then she surprised me and slept in until 6:30am! Yes, I said slept in! Hopefully that 7pm isn't a big deal. I'm hoping not since I won't work again until next Monday. And like Chris said, we'll figure it out!

So, other than that, last night went smoothly. Same job, mostly the same people I use to work with which was exciting. The only diffrerence is I'm not pregnant anymore!! I was telling Chris last night when I got home that there were 3 things I had forgotten about that I realized tonight while at work...

1.-People shop REALLY late! I don't think I've ever been out shopping at 9:30 at night! And the sad thing? When we are open later for the holidays, people will be shopping close to midnight! Crazy!!

2.People have their kids out WAY too late!! Both of our girls are in bed early. Elodie goes down between 6:30 and 7pm and Addysen is in bed by 7:30. Last night, I saw a lady with her little boy about the same age as Elodie at around 9pm!! Put that baby on a sleeping schedule! I don't need anything that badly that I'd keep my kids up to get it! And most of the time the kids are acting out like crazy because they are so tired!!

and

3. All that walking at work makes me SO hungry at 10pm!! I passed Sonic, Burger King, Wendy's, and TACO BELL all on my way home last night....I'm glad I resisted the temptation to stop but all of them sounded good!

So, here's to a little out of the house time, a little extra spending money, and a vacation in the future!

Another new toy..

I know I've posted alot about Addysen and new toys but I promise...only one more for now! Addysen is moving into a fun age where she is slowly showing an interest in toys and holding on to things. While cleaning out the garage last night we went ahead and pulled out the excersaucer and the highchair. We figured Addysen would be using both in the next few months so we might as well get them out now while everything was pulled out.

I remember clear as day getting this excersaucer for Elodie. The funny thing now and then is we thought Elodie was so big and ready for this contraption...as soon as we put her in it we realized how small she really was. She couldn't sit up by herself so she leaned forward for a long time...so funny how fast we want them to grow into things...

For now, Addysen just stares at everything. More importantly, it's a nice place for her to sit when I need to move around the house. A little more entertaining than the bumbo.

We also hung some new (Elodie's old toys) on Addysen's carseat. She loves griping on to them and putting them into her mouth. Well, right now she moves her mouth to the toy! It has proven a great distraction while shopping in Wal-Mart. Again, it was so fun when we bought these little toys for Elodie. The animal with the dangly legs is one of those pull and rattle toys. Chris and I remember when Elodie pulled it for the first time and it rattled back into place. We were driving and although we didn't actually see her do it, we heard the toy stretch out and rattle back into place! We seriously thought she was the smartest...as all parents do of course!


I thought this was so funny..she was hanging on tight to both toys...looked almost like she was working out!


Addysen in her new toy...



And Elodie, same age, same saucer...
a

It's been 6 months..time to dejunk again!

I can't stand clutter. I am a "throw it out" kind of person by nature. When I was a kid, my mom had to go through my trash can in my room because I would throw away anything I wasn't using...honest truth! And while I've gotten better with age (better as in finding better homes for things I don't want instead of throwing them in the trash) I still can't stand clutter. I am grateful to have a husband who is on my page when it comes to clutter! We reorganized and dejunked out garage yesterday afternoon. It all started when I mentioned I wanted to move all of our food storage from the garage to Elodie's closet. She barely uses half of her closet and I didn't like the idea of our food storage being outside in the heat. It kinda got out of control from there and became this into the night, after the girls went to bed project!

When we first moved into this house at the end of January we did like most people do. Dejunked, reorganized, and downsized. That's the best part of moving right? So, when we got started, we really didn't think there was much more that could be done to the garage as far as dejunking goes. Mostly, the garage had just gotten disorganized from a few boxes being moved around. The funny thing is, once we got started we ended up filling Chris' truck with a pile for Goodwill, a pile to go to the dumpster, and a pile of things to be put on Craig's list. We went to Wal-Mart and picked up these awesome 55 gallon tupperwares and got rid of 10 or 15 small boxes that were taking up most of the space in our garage. The sad thing is, 6 months ago everything piled up in Chris' truck were things we didn't want to get rid of. Now here we are 6 months later and when we asked ourselves have we used this in the last 6 months, the answer was no! Why didn't we just get rid of it 6 months ago! Just goes to show how much we really use! Or how little...

It felt awesome to get rid of things we didn't need! To make better use of a space, and make room and take care of the things that are really important to us...even if they are in the garage! It may sound corny, but we were breathing so much easier without all that clutter invading our space! I must have peeked in the garage 5 times last night before bed just giddy at how nice, clean, and more FUNCTIONAL our garage is now!

I wish I would have taken a few BEFORE pictures but when we got started I certainly didn't think I would be blogging about our clean garage! Here are a few AFTER pictures that make me giddy! A few of these things will hopefully sell on craig's list in the next few weeks and already we want to get 2 more storage bins to downsize my holiday boxes and other miscellaneous items.





In other efforts to help keep our home and our lives "dejunked" I've tried really hard to think about the counsel given by Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve.

-Use it up
-Wear it out
-Make it do
-Or do without

It's definitely helped me better appreciate the things I have, think before I make purchases, and use our money wisely. And although my flat iron occasionally turns off at randoms times on me and our car is a little small for our family, we are trying very hard to live within our means and appreciate what we do have....and if that's a flat iron that still works and no car payments then so be it!

Recipe

I made this for dinner last night and it was SO GOOD!! Hope you try it! Compares to the beef and broccoli at Panda Express

Beef Noodle Bowl-

1/2 pound lingiune
3 cups broccoli (I used frozen)
3 carrots peeled and chopped (I had baby carrots on hand and didn't measure. Just chopped up 2 huge handles. We love carrots anyway.
2 tsp. oil
1 pound sirloin steak (sliced)
1/4 cup KRAFT asian toasted seseme dressing
1 TBSP. teriyaki sauce

Boil noodles as directed. Add broccoli and carrots in the last 2 minutes of boiling.
Heat oil, add meat, and cook through. Stir in dressing and sauce. Lower heat and allow sauce to thicken. Add noodles,carrots, and broccoli and toss until all is well coated. ENJOY!

My only tip....Next time I will double my dressing and sauce. I didn't feel like it was enough to coat and flavor each bite. You may want to try it first and then make your own adjustments. I also sliced my steak and chopped up my carrots during the day so when I got ready to make dinner it was done within 20 minutes

New Toys

Yesterday, we pulled out all of our 0-6 months toys for Addysen. I was specifically looking for this little rattle we got Elodie when she turned 4 months..it was her first toy. While Addysen didn't show a HUGE interest in any of the toys, Elodie had a hay day looking through the box, playing with blocks and old music making toys.
Maybe I should do this more often. Box up a bunch of Elodie's toys and then pull them out 6 months later..she seriously sat quietly in the living room for atleast an hour digging through the box!

In other Addysen news, since we moved her to her own room she is only waking up once a night. Around 3am. She occasionally wakes up around 11pm but will cry for just a few minutes and put herself back to sleep. Amazing and one step closer to getting her sleeping through the night. Woo Hoo!

This is for no one except myself...she is up around 3am, eats, and goes back to sleep until 6am. She eats again at 6 then is awake until about 7:30am or 8. Then is back to sleep until around 9:30 or 10. She generally has only one more nap in the afternoon and then both girls are in bed by 7:30pm. It's a wonderful thing having both girls on the same sleeping schedule! It makes for a very peaceful evening!

I'm sure as I type this Addysen is plotting a way to change this all up...it's what babies do best right?



Elodie at 4 months with the same little rattle...

Picture Tag..

My sweet friend and old Ricks roommate Stephanie tagged me for this...I had fun with it and other than the pictures of the girls, I'd probably never take pictures of the other things..good for posterity!

The rules are you have to do this right away and you can't change anything....

My fridge..okay what do we have here- spaghetti leftovers from Monday night, a coke I've been working on today, Elodie's milk sippy and Littly Gym water bottle that has water in it (go figure), apples from Costco, no milk but since the picture was taken I've been to the store for 2 gallons. We really can't function without milk. Atleast not with the way Elodie goes through it!


Our closet...just one half. Love all the space. One of these days I'm going to move my food storage from in the garage to in this closet.


Self Portrait...nice. I let Elodie take the picture for me. We had to take 2, you understand why...



Living Room...I couldn't get the whole room in one shot and figured I'd probably like to see these pictures 10 years from now.

Library books strung on the couch, a picture of the Mesa Temple Chris got me for Mother's Day last year, and a lamp in the corner we've had since we first got married that really needs to be thrown out. It was one of those before we had kid purchases that really isn't kid friendly!




Kitchen Sink...in all it's glory


Laundry room...just a closet in our hallway but we don't need much. This is also where all of our swimming things end up.



Picture of the girls...Elodie and Addysen


Elodie's Bathroom...technically I was suppose to take a picture of the toilet but really, who wants to see a picture of that! Besides, this ladybug bathroom is MUCH cuter than any toilet! Love it! I'm most happy to have 2 girls so I don't have to change it for a really long time! I've had all this ladybug stuff for a really long time. Back when we were first married and living in Louisiana. Back when I was a GAP Manager...LONG time ago, like 6 years! Back when we had 2 bathrooms too. When we first moved to Arizona we didn't have 2 bathrooms. Not till we moved into this house actually. The ladybug shower curtain was a gift from some girls I worked with when I was at the GAP and everything else was bought shortly after. The frames on the wall my brother Owen made and have postcards of ladybugs in them from my sweet friend Jamie D. And, although you can't see them, the towels have red and white gingham ribbon sewn on them. Really cute! Elodie loves her bathroom!


Favorite Summer Shoes...Brown leather flip flops from American Eagle bought 2 summers ago!



Now I tag Robin, Jamie D., Sarah, and Brooke

2 must try summer salads!!

During the summer, I try my HARDEST not to turn on the oven..I love quick, refreshing meals that don't leave me feeling weighed down and hot! Such meals would include meat loaf, lasagna, you get the idea.

That's why I LOVE summer salads! There the best of both worlds...filler ups, no need to use the oven, and as a bonus- they usually make a ton that last atleast a week!

I especially love making a salad on Friday and having it in the fridge for the weekend. No whining that there isn't anything to eat in the house when I don't feel like cooking on Saturday.

ENJOY the salads and what's left of the summer! The pools here close on the 5th! UGH!

Paradise Bakery Pasta Salad-

1 box rotini pasta, boiled as directed
1 head of brocolli, chopped into small bites
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 half of a red bell pepper, chopped into bite size pieces
1 half of a red onion, diced
1 small can sliced black olives
1 cup parmasen cheese (more if you like)
3/4 bottle of Italian dressing.

Combine all ingredients and keep cool in the fridge. We love it with marinated chicken breast grilled on the barbeque! Perfect for summer! And it makes a ton!!

Chicken Pasta Salad- (I got this recipe from my great friends Jen and Melissa-both submitted it in our ward's cookbook-THANKS girls! We love this recipe!)

1 bottle coleslaw dressing (16 oz)
1 cup mayo
1 box rigatoni pasta
4 to 6 chicken breast (cooked and cubed)- I only used 3 and it made plenty!
1 medium can cashew nuts
1 bunch green onions sliced up
2 cups grapes (I like red)
2 small cans mandarin oranges
1 can pineapple tidbits
1 pkg. craisins

Cook pasta, combine all ingredients, and enjoy! Best cold next day!

On her way to becoming a big girl...

We moved Addysen into her own room yesterday. She had been sleeping in her own room while we stayed with Grandma Yarn in Snowflake and she did just fine. I had been wanting to move her for a while but was waiting till she was finally sleeping through the night...I think we might be waiting forever for that one! UGH!

So we went ahead and moved her...a little sad but it's nice to have our room back to ourselves and not walk on tip toes and talk in whispers when we are in our room.

Now if I can get her sleeping through the night....that part of getting bigger I won't mind at all!

Pioneer Day Weekend 2008

We just made it back from Snowflake and had a great time visiting family and enjoying some cooler weather!! I forgot a jacket for Christopher and he said he didn't want one anyway, he wanted to freeze! It wasn't that cold but I'm glad I brought a jacket for myself and some warmer clothes for the girls.

We stayed with Chris' Grandma Yarn and loved spending some time with her. Both girls did great away from home. We were a little worried about the car trip with Addysen but she slept most of the way. She started to cry when we got into Heber, which is about 30 minutes outside of Snowflake, but really who can blame her. We had been in the car for almost 3 hours at that point. We all wanted to cry!

Overall, it was a great trip! We packed in as much as we could and are happy to be home and back to everyday life!

We met up with Chris' parents, his sister Kasey,her husband Justin, and all but 2 of the grandkids at the Rodeo. This was the first time we had been and we had a great time. They do it every year and I think we will go again next year. Elodie loved all the horses and especially enjoyed all the little girls and the barrell racing! It was amazing how tiny those little girls were on those huge horses!
Our nephew Treven rode a little bull, placed 3rd, and won 50 bucks! Doesn't he look so cute in his cowboy gear!






Elodie loved hanging out with her cousins. She has 9 on the Yarn side...and they all run in different directions so I didn't get a group shot! i figure it's just going to get harder and harder as the family grows!




At the parade. About half way through, Elodie decided she was done yelling for candy. The funny thing though is people in the parade kept throwing candy to her so when the parade was over, her chair was surrounded by candy. We didn't tell her I snuck off and threw all her candy away. She never asked for it either!

Where are you at 5:30 in the morning?

Are you awake? Still asleep? Out the door like Christopher? I'll tell you where I am...being woken up by my almost 4 year...she's already dressed for the day and in need of her pink milk and piece of bread...UGH! I think it's important to document how early Elodie wakes up simple so I'll have it when she complains about her own kids!! I'm sure I did the same to my mom....

That being said, our house has been up for almost 5 hours..we all have dressed, had breakfast, completed a few things on the "to do list", layed a baby down for a nap, and we are packing for a nice long weekend in the White Mountains. We are headed up to Snowflake for our annual Pioneer Day Weekend.

I' ve talked to a few of you about this and really I don't think I'd want it any other way. I'm not much of a sleeper inner so to be so productive so early in the morning is a good thing...5:30am is pushing it just a tad though!

The joys of a 5:30am wake up call and no nap in the middle of the day? A 7pm bedtime, 6:30pm on days we swim...that's when the world is right!

Down a sunny dirt road, deep in bear country...

Before Addysen was born Elodie started enjoying the Berenstain Books. She had gotten one for her birthday and after really loving the one, we started checking them out at the library.

Rewind 20 years (yikes again!) to my childhood. I don't know if my brothers were really into Berentain Bears or not but I loved them! Every chance we got to get a new one was so exciting for me! My mom must have collected 30 or more Berenstain Bear books through the years.

Knowing that my mom still had them, I called her up and asked her to bring a few of them with her when she came to Arizona for Addysen's birth. Well, she didn't disappoint! She brought more than a few....like 15!! Every night while my mom was here and before Elodie's bedtime, she would curl up with her and read a new Berenstain Bear book. Elodie was in heaven! When my mom left, she surprised us all and left all of the Berenstain Bear books for Elodie to keep! I thought it was so sweet of her because I know how much she loved those books and enjoyed the memories they had collected!

Since my mom left, every few weeks, Elodie gets a package in the mail with 2 new (well, new to us) Berenstain Bear books from Maw Maw's collection. Elodie gets so excited and can't wait to call Maw Maw and thank her for the new Berenstain Bear books!

It's really fun for me to read these books with Elodie. All of them I can remember reading as a child. Some even have my name written on the inside cover, written in my handwriting. Others still have the price sticker on the front cover...guess how much my mom use to pay for a Berenstain Bear book? 95 cents!! Now they are 3 dollars a piece at Wal-Mart. Crazy!!


We have started quite the collection and everyday Elodie request for me to read to her. She loves the Berenstain Bear books so much that she even calls herself Sister Bear, me MaMa Bear, Chris PaPa Bear, and Addysen Honey Bear. She also reminds me that we don't have a real Brother bear yet so he is her pretend friend for right now...which, all of Elodie's pretend friends is a post all it's own! It's so cute to hear her call Addysen Honey Bear and if you call her Sister Bear she literally beams!! We love it! I had told one of her primary teachers about "Sister Bear" and her teacher called her Sister Bear and Elodie about died! She is too funny!

We also found that The Berenstain Bear cartoon comes on PBS on Sunday mornings. Tivo records it for us and it's one of Elodie's favorite shows to watch during afternoon quiet time.

So thanks mom for the books, Elodie loves them! I know it was probably a little hard to give them up but I promise we take great care of them and hope to keep passing them on!

Ladies and Gentlemen...we have a roller!

She did this for the first time today...excuse all the background noise. Chris was watching some History show....My favorite part? How excited Elodie was when she saw Addysen roll over!! You'll hear it...

ENJOY!

Elodie's idea of playing dress-up!

Addysen is happiest when she is in the middle of Elodie's world. She loves to sit in Elodie's room and watch her play. I usually let her sit in Elodie's room while I'm busying around the house. Elodie does a great job of entertaining Addysen and as I've said before, it really doesn't take much entertaining on Elodie's end, Addysen can sit and watch Elodie for hours.

Addysen's usually good for about 30 minutes until she starts to fuss to be fed or put down for a nap. During that time, I peek in to make sure all is okay with the girls. This is usually what I find happening.

Addysen sitting quietly allowing her sister to dress her up however she pleases...and although, I don't have a picture of Elodie, she is SUPER proud of herself always asking for me to take a picture of Addysen. And of course, I don't have to be asked twice to take a picture these days!!

ENJOY!

3 month picture and 4 months today

I can't even believe that a year ago this time, we were finding out we were pregnant! This year has seriously flown by and now I have a 4 month old!! WOW!!

This is her 3 month picture we just got back...


Addysen is doing great. Healthy, happy, and still not sleeping through the night! What more could we ask for...other than a full nights sleep! I can't complain too much. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she eats and goes right back to sleep..it's really not that bad. As long as I keep telling myself that!!

She is still in love with Elodie. If Elodie would sit still long enough, Addysen would just sit and stare at her. It's a wonderful thing to watch!

We love you Addysen!

Happy 4th of July!