Sleep, baby, sleep

I've recently discovered that nothing soothes Ellie better than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Soon after she was born I would only listen to MTC around her, because she had just come from heaven and well..it just made sense.  I guess the MTC is pretty similar to the angelic, heavenly ones because she goes to sleep almost instantly once I put it on.  I've tried sneaking in a less holy, but mellow song (Jack Johnson) here and there just to see if this love for the choir was all in my head, but sure enough within seconds (no matter how long she's been sleeping) she's awake and not happy.  So I switch back to the choir and she's off to sleep again.  By no means am I complaining! It's great music, I just never realized the power it had on little kids.  I definitely feel the Spirit, (and nostalgia from the mission) when I listen to it and it's amazing to me that my 2 month old can tell the difference between the MTC and other music. 

I love this video. It makes me cry every time I watch it. It reminds me of the Savior.  And how I really can be like him by doing small and simple things. It's never too late to be forgiving. Kind. Less judgmental. Happy.

Good morning SPF...

So I had Sweet Potato Fries for breakfast this morning. I found a recipe to make the southwestern sauce Guru's uses for their fries so I made that too.  It's not exactly the same, but pretty close.  Don't be fooled by the orange colored sauce..there's more to it than just ketchup and mayo.  Recipe is as follows:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 T. ketchup
2 T. bbq sauce
1 t. cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp honey

I think in the future though I will add a tad more seasoning and bbq sauce.  If you're not a fan of Sweet Potato fries I suggest you become one, because they are delicious.

                    I ate these as I watched "Julie and Julia"...I'm sure Julia Child would have approved.

You can't win without Emilio

Last friday night we decided to meet up with some friends to watch a BYU Hockey game.  You can see how excited Ellie was about it.  Andrew was in heaven as he loves anything that isn't sissy, girly stuff.  Hockey at BYU is apparently not much like "real" hockey as everyone is mostly well behaved and only one small fight broke out during the entire game.  I don't know much about Hockey except that if I were a Goalie I'd have killer thigh muscles from being in a lunge position for three hours straight every game.  Also I kept wondering when they were going to do the "Flying V" because that really saved the game in "The Mighty Ducks"...I guess they were waiting for Emilio Estevez to show up and since he didn't, I'm assuming that's why BYU lost.  Still a fun game and we looove our friends.  Shout out to Geoff who spent $5 to throw 5 hockey pucks into a center ring to win a prize. He did win: A 3 Musketeers bar which probably cost 50 cents.  Good times in Utah.

Karoake night at Guru's!

This is Sarah.

She is my workout buddy, a thrift store expert, and the craftiest person I know. For all I know she most likely made that outfit she's wearing in the picture.  Seriously..that's how cool she is.

Sarah is married to Matt.  He also served as a missionary in the Colorado Denver North Mission. He and Andrew are both drummers and like to tell lame jokes.  The most interesting thing we have learned about Matt recently is that he eats at J-Dawgs,( a local hot dog place near BYU campus) 3 times a week. Wow.

So on Saturday night the five of us (Ellie included!) decided to go to Guru's for dinner.  Guru's is a restaurant decorated with really cool modern art and they have a variety of good stuff to choose from.  Their sweet potato fries are THE best and really the main reason we ever go to Guru's although I happen to love everything about it.

  While at dinner, another mission buddy, Geoff (we pronounce it G-off),showed up by surprise with a date. They joined our table and while they were eating their sweet potato fries, some guy made an announcement that there would be karoake that night! We once tried to find a place that did karoake and all we came up with was Applebee's on Tuesday nights. Random. 

Sooo...we were pretty excited and after listening to a guy with a glow stick around his neck sing two or three songs, Andrew, Geoff, and Matt decided to get up there and show everyone how it's done.  I wish I had brought the camera!!  Andrew chose Kelly Clarkson's "Since you been gone" and he and Geoff sang their little hearts out while Matt did some dancing.  When they got on stage they made sure to point to us so that everyone would know we were with them. I don't think any of them will be making it onto American Idol anytime soon.

The next day when Matt and Sarah came over, the first thing that Matt said to Andrew was, "Did you feel like an idiot when you woke up this morning?" hahaha..

Andrew specifically asked me to write about this, because he doesn't want to forget how awesome it was..Guru's karoake night will be seeing us again soon.

http://www.guruscafe.com/     LOVE it!

Adventures in Ikea part 2

Since we moved into this house last August we've been overwhelmed with several different remodeling projects.  Andrew's parents own the house and are SO kind to let us live here. They have allowed us to do whatever we want to make it feel more like home to us.  It's taken a lot of time and work and forgiveness (when we all learned that I am not gifted in choosing good paint colors) haha.  When Andrew's mom Marti and I first found the house we were ecstatic.  It wasn't the brown paneling or outdoor carpet that made us so excited, but the POTENTIAL of what could be..I think we both walked into this house and caught the vision of an opportunity to create within these walls.  It has a really open floor plan which we love and the 4 bedrooms allows us to welcome guests on short notice.  I wish I had pictures of the "before" because the "after" is pretty remarkable.  

So on our date night to Ikea, Andrew and I had a blast picking out new furniture and decor to spice up the house and make it look more like we live here.  At one point I was so tired from walking, I sat down on some cushions that were in between two huge boxes. The cart with Ellie's carseat was in front of me and without realizing it, it was blocking anyone from seeing me.  Andrew had gone off to look at something so I was talking on the phone.  Through the cart I could see this couple walking very, very slowly in front of me and then all of a sudden the woman saw me and said, "Oh! I'm so happy to see you...I was wondering who on earth would leave their baby alone in Ikea!"...glad to know there are such observant people out there that are watching out for my baby! I am also equally relieved that upon seeing no adult nearby, they did not try to kidnap her. I think we all know that would not have gone down well.

Anyway...here are some pics of the house! More will eventually follow as I finish painting and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning...

This is the front room...the paintings on the wall were a great Ikea find :) The yellow wall was actually brown paneling that we quickly painted over. The house also has a few really big mirrors..like this one over the fireplace.  We're going to make a frame for it with some dark wood so that it will stand out more.  Usually the couch and rug are spread out more..not sure why they're so close together in this picture.

Here is our dining area although we rarely dine here.  The kitchen is to the right, but it was messy so I didn't take a picture of it.  The white cabinet was also formerly brown..an awful brown that was proof this house lived through the 70's.  My mother in law painted it white and I'm so glad she did because it really brightens up the room.  Also, the chandelier came with the house and was transformed from a rusted, brass disaster into something I'm proud to have hanging over my table.  I think I will take the clock down eventually and put up some family pics in unique frames.

:

BIG thanks to the guys who helped us move this extremely heavy piano, (from a 3rd floor I might add) while I was pregnant.  It's the first thing you see when you walk into our house and we love it! Someday maybe someone will live here that knows how to play it :)

More pictures to come featuring our new Ikea stuff! Love!

Sleep...the distant memory.

I love sleep. Andrew loves sleep. So does Ellie. So to summarize...we all love to sleep in this family. Problem. Ellie has decided it's much cooler to sleep during the day than at night.  I'm assuming she inherited this from me since I've always had a preference for the "night owl" side of life.  I've never quite understood the people that love early mornings.  An old roommate once told me how she just loved to be awake early enough to see the sunrise and hear the birds sing...well that's just not me.  And just the other day Andrew commented how he wished we were on the same schedule so that we could both be up early. I politely reminded him that at this phase of life, there is really no time when I'm not "up".  I have seen enough sunrises from my living room windows lately to last me a lifetime...

So to help Ellie want to sleep at night instead of during the day we've been waking her up every 3 hours and then at night we don't wake her at all.  I've been told this helps babies figure out the difference between night and day.  This is NOT working.  Now she's just little miss cranky pants all day and then she's still up all night!  Since we hang out all the time, I'm getting a little tired.  However to distract me from my sleep deprivation today, after I gave her a bath, she gave me a big smile that reminded me of a song, "don't worry 'bout a thing..cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"

Okay okay I love her. Way more than sleep.  And although I'm probably turning into Miss Cranky Pants myself, as long as I get at least one of these a day I think I'm gonna be alright. :)

Adventures in Ikea Part 1





Last Friday for a date we decided to go to Ikea.  When we reached the plant area, Andrew commented on how we should improve the air quality in our home by getting some plants. I suggested maybe that just means he should buy me flowers more often. He politely told me that was NOT was he meant. We both laughed, but last night he surprised me with these roses! I love him. Yes I do :)

Gingerbread houses, Italian food, and a little white bear

For Christmas we thought it would be awesome to do some Gingerbread houses with our good friends the McCammons... Andrew made a Temple. Yup that's Captain Moroni on top made out of a starburst. 

Matt decided his "house" would not really be a house at all...just something really tall. So he ended up stacking everything he could think of to have the tallest gingerbread house there ever was. He was very proud.

The guys both had their "hardcore" knives with them..you know, just in case a bear attacks or maybe a wolf? No animal attacks happened so instead they used their knives to cut graham crackers and candy.  They are so tough.

 Ellie got to be Santa this year...her little boots are my favorite part! And if you look closely you can see that I painted her nails.

                                                          My two favorite people :)

This year we had a front yard where we built my FIRST snowman ever!! He was a Missionary of course..

 Christmas morning...Andrew was up most of the night with Ellie, trying to figure out how to wrap the Treadmill (behind me)..it was a success! And also just a really great day. Not pictured: the leopard print snuggie that was in my stocking haha

Happy New Year to Ellie girl! She looked so warm and cozy it made me wish I had a bear suit myself.

 This is Tirimisu. We had a New Year's Eve dinner at Cafe Paesan in Orem that ended with this deliciousness. Ok I had one bite and then Andrew devoured the rest. Either way, it looks pretty. AND the food was awesome..you should go there.

                                                          Us.

Hope everyone had a great New Year's..last year was full of adventures and we're excited to find out what 2011 has in store for us!

Ellie Baby

Andrew once said to me, "Honey there are slow movers in this world and there are fast movers. The fast movers think of an idea and then do it as soon as possible. That's me. The slow movers think of an idea, and then think about it some more, and then maybe a few months later consider it again, and then someday they get around to it. That's you."

Well he's right. I've been talking about creating this blog for months. And months. So after much deliberation here it is! So regardless of what else gets done today, I can feel good knowing that I finally completed SOMETHING. It's a New Year's miracle.

"It's hard to judge others when you are preoccupied with love."

Two months ago, we welcomed Ellie Noel into our family and life has been bliss ever since. She is really good at making us laugh and cheering us up when it's been a hard day. Her smile is the most precious thing on earth. Ellie makes us better people and happier than we ever thought possible. We can't wait to spend forever with her. We love everything about her. Just a few of the funny things she does right now...

-When she's fallen asleep in her carseat and she wakes up realizing she's strapped down, she makes noises that sound like she's trying to escape. It's hilarious, but then again who likes to be strapped down? I'd probably try to escape too.

-Everytime she sneezes, which is usually a good 3 or 4 times, once she's done she makes this low, worn out sound "uuugghh"

-When one of us is playing with her, if we stick out our tongue she sticks out hers. So cute.

I realize these are just small, simple things, but I think it's those little things that can bring us some of the greatest joy. Ellie is the sweetest part of everyday and we feel sad for all of you that don't get to hang out with her as much as we do. We are so lucky. And did I mention happy?