Just checking in

From here on out, most of the pictures on here will probably be of our little girl Zoe. She is growing by leaps and bounds. Today she is 4 and 1/2 months old and has hit some milestones. She slept through the night last night. I understand that that might be more like a milepieceofjello. I don't expect that she'll do that every night from here on out, but man, it felt so nice to sleep through the night. She also rolled over today from back to tummy. Then she got stuck and cried. If only that other arm wasn't in the way. Argh! I love watching her and being with her and playing with her. Today she was introduced to Guns-N-Roses - yet another milestone. We rocked out together to "Welcome to the Jungle." She was totally digging it too. Ryan is currently working for a guy named Eric Lofholm. He's a sales trainer. Things seem to be going well, but we both feel that it's not going to be long term for us. We're still apartment managers at our complex and that has its ups and downs. Right now is a down because we've got some vacancies and need to get them filled. We are happy and healthy and couldn't be doing better.

I have started an entertainment blog (http://canyounamethemovie.blogspot.com). It indulges my movie quoting side. If you are a movie quoter, check it out. I post a movie quote everyday and you get to see if you know it! The following day I'll tell you what movie it's from in case you didn't get it.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to go to my sister's step-daughter's basketball game. She's 10 (step-daughter, not my sister). There were some moms in the stands that I am determined to never turn into. They were yelling at the refs for every call and were into the game way more than their kids were. I was embarrassed for the kids. Mom, thank you for (as far as my memory serves) never being like that. I am all for supporting kids in sports, but once you're so into it that you're threatening to yell at a ref who is giving up his/her Saturday morning to chase around a bunch of kids who don't know what they're doing, then I think there's some serious problems.

Ok, and now pictures of a way cute baby:

She loves her feet. I love those leg warmers!

She loves guitar time with Daddy.

2009 - Year in review

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

My little sister Dannika got married.

MARCH

I went to visit my brother Aaron in Texas.

Daffodil Hill

My 29th birthday

APRIL

Prom

MAY

Memorial Day in SF.

Wrapped up my 2nd year of teaching.

Visit from Melissa.

JUNE

Attended our first Juneteenth celebration.

Went to Las Vegas to visit Ryan during his 3 month absence (he was getting NLP training). Met up with an old friend, Kara, from Hawaii.

JULY

Annual trip to Bodega Bay, this time sans Ryan =(

AUGUST

Celebrated Ryan's 29th birthday at Alicia's cabin.

SEPTEMBER

September 14 - Welcome Zoe!

OCTOBER

1st year anniversary - October 31st.

NOVEMBER

Attended Ryan's brother's wedding: Jordan + Priscilla

Enjoying parenthood.

NOVEMBER

Family hike to Hidden Falls.

DECEMBER

Making gingerbread houses with the Kelseys.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Awww.... shoot! Photo shoot that is.

We recently found an awesome photographer and had our pictures, ok, mostly Zoe, taken. Please enjoy:

Creativity?

As a dedicated member of my ward at church, I recently attended the monthly enrichment activity. For those that don't speak "mormon," it's a once a month activity where the women of the ward get together to be "enriched." There's usually food and some sort of craft involved. So, I had planned on going to this Christmas enrichment and had received an email or two about it. I didn't read the email too closely though... well, I did, but by that time it was too late.

After a yummy dinner of fajitas with Ryan, here's what I discovered in the email about what enrichment would entail: Dinner, ornament exchange, dessert potluck. Ok, so I wouldn't be eating dinner because I was stuffed. Strike one. Ornament exchange? Ryan and I scrounged around the apartment looking for something we could "turn into" an ornament. No such luck. Strike two. Dessert potluck. Now I knew I could whip up something quickly (seriously I had about 5 minutes and no time to stop by the store). Ryan opened the fridge, bless his heart, and suggested I take some leftover pumpkin puff (a cousin of the much loved pumpkin pie), but it was in tupperware and I couldn't make it look presentable like that. I didn't have time to cook/bake anything so I had to get creative. Hostess cupcakes? Nah. Too elementary school lunch-ish. Butterfinger bars? Nope. Too Halloweeny. Chocolate covered cherries? Perfect! I had happened to purchase a box that week when grocery shopping. I got out a pie dish, placed them in and filled in the many gaps with some much loved hard Christmas candy. It was no Martha Stewart, but it fit the bill. It was a dessert.

I felt a little sheepish bringing it, but Ryan insisted I blog about it because one day I'll look back and laugh at it. I was actually laughing at myself as I walked out the door to enrichment. And I learned to pay closer attention to those emails.

This just in - literally

I just took that picture 5 minutes ago. Here's the random story behind it. About 20 minutes ago Ryan said he was going to take a walk around the perimeter of the building. As apartment managers, this is one of our duties. On his stroll today he found the blue cooler you see in the back of the picture. Inside the cooler we found everything else you see in the picture, including 2 pairs of boxers. There were purses, wallets, dresses, skirts, and pants inside that cooler. Here's the funny thing: all the items are brand new - the tags are still on the clothes. Here's what I think happened: someone has stolen these clothes, kept them in a cooler, and in a moment of panic stashed his/her stash behind the bushes in our complex. Not sure what to think about this whole thing, but pretty random, yeah?

Paradise Falls

I have the best husband ever. As I got out of the shower this morning, I found this note:

If you haven't seen "Up" yet, then the reference to Paradise Falls and Mr. Fredricksen makes no sense. We recently watched that movie and both cried. It's such a cute movie. We laughed a lot too (Kevin's a girl?) and just really enjoyed it. Since then, we call each other the names of the old couple in love in the movie, Ellie and Mr. Fredricksen. So I found this note (Ryan's penmanship isn't that bad; he wrote this with his left hand) and I thought, "Oh, how cute! A picnic lunch later on. We'll probably just go to the a nearby park." I had a visiting teaching appointment at 10:00 and then would subsequently be visit taught at 2:00 so we had a small window of time to work with. Ryan took care of all of it though. He got Zoe ready, packed lunches and brought everything we'd need for our little outing. He found this place up near Auburn called Hidden Falls. It was about a 45 minute hike to the falls. Today was such a beautiful day and I couldn't have asked for a better time.

Gotta love CA weather. It's almost Thanksgiving and no need for a jacket. Zoe is all bundled up though. Gotta make sure she doesn't get the slightest bit chilly!

Just getting started on the hike.

Glamour shot.

Can you spot the wild ferocious bobcat? Hint: it's hiding behind the tree.

Scenic spot stop.

Only the world's cutest baby!

The Hidden Falls. Not so hidden anymore! Ha ha! We found you!

Zoe got a big dose of sunshine today.

Aerial view of the fam!

Belly progression

I knew there was a reason I took all these pictures. I decided to not post the first couple months because there's not much to show. Watch my belly grow!

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months