Library

So I took the girls to the Library the other day and Laila was being so loud. There was a little boy there that kept saying, "mom that baby is being too loud in the library." Thank goodness the Librarian thought she was funny.

Music Video

Geoff and I have been babysitting my sisters kids while they are in Hawaii. For our Sunday night activity we made a music video.

For your viewing pleasure..."I Don't Dance"

HOORAY!!!

After months and months of studying, Geoff has passed all four parts if the CPA exam. Hooray, we have our dad back!

I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard to pass these tests and now his hard work has paid off. I appreciate him so much for all that he does for our family. I love you sweetheart!

This picture was taken before he took a test in October

Laila Ruth

My little Laila is getting so big. This last week brought some big firsts for her.

She cut her first two teeth.


Started eating oatmeal.

Rolls over. She has only done this twice and I think she might be doing it on accident (i.e. so mad that she flails her body over) But hey, a first is a first.

Laila will be 6 months tomorrow and I cannot believe that she is already so old. It has been so fun to see her little personality develop. I love that she is always good for a big smile.

No Excuses!

Laila is almost 6 months old and I have lost a total of 5 pounds since she was 2 weeks old. I have put a very minimal effort into getting myself back in shape and now that it is 70 degrees swimming suit season doesn't seem so far away.


My efforts have increased these last few weeks thanks to Geoff's extended family. I joined "The Biggest Loser" Hill style. I have commited to lose 15 pounds by April 15. Also I have joined the Hill family team to run in the Wasatch Back. Now you have to know that I have never run more then 15 minutes without stopping in my life, so that is about 2 miles. This race requires that I run 3-7 miles 3 times within a 24 hour period. I am totally breaking out of my shell to say the least . I am struggling with the runs but I know I will be able to do it. I am so glad to have a goal and I am determined to achieve it.






Now that it is such nice weather and I am with the girls all day, I am now a proud owner of a Jogging Stroller. This is the coolest jogging stroller I feel so lucky to have it! That is why I now have no excuses. I have everything I need to train for this race. If any of you are runners I need any advice you can give.

Update.

Things around our house have not been very interesting but I thought I would update what has been going on for those who might be interested.


My little sister April moved in with us at the beginning of January. She goes to BYU-Idaho and is currently on her "off" semester so she decided to come to Vegas and get a job. She is an Art History major so she easily found a job at the Guggenheim Museum at the Venetian as a docent. We are so glad that she came to live with us but also brought the flu to our house...again.

So all of us have been sick again. Auntie April taught Aria a new trick. I am not sure what is so great about sticking toilet paper up your nose.

Yesterday was a wonderful day! It was a beautiful 65 degrees so we spent the day outside. We went with the Johansen's and the McGiven's to feed the fish and play at the park. Aria was in heaven. I always love the first few warm days, it reminds me of all the things I love; barbeques, swimming, picnics, swings, walks, family parties, long days etc.

We ended a wonderful day with a date. Geoff was able to get tickets to the Cirque du Soleil production of Mystere for $37 each. Regularly they are $100 a ticket so we jumped at the chance. It was so cool. I had no idea that Vegas is packed with so much amazing talent. The things that these people did were incredible. It was also really fun that Geoff's cousin Mike and Angela Rose could come with us. They made the experience even that much better (thanks guys). Also It was so nice of Auntie Sarah to babysit the girls. What would we do without you?!?!

I feel so lucky that I have had a few really wonderful weekends in the last few weeks. To top it all off it is 70 degrees. I feel so happy.

Wonderful Weekend!

I had a wonderful weekend! It all started when my sister Sarah and her husband Bryce came into town. This was an excuse to do lots of girl things and leave the kids with Geoff. On Saturday all of us sisters went shopping and to the movie 27 dresses. It was so fun to be with my sisters again.

The fun didn't stop there. For Christmas I got Geoff tickets to the Brad Paisley concert on Saturday. We dressed up in our best cowboy outfits and headed to the concert. It was so much fun. I used to go to a lot of concerts and I have forgotten how much I enjoy a good concert. I especially love a country music concert because there were people age 2 years to 80 years. One of the guys that opened the concert was really good. His name is Chuck Hicks he has some good songs and it doesn't hurt that he is really cute!

It was a great weekend and I am thankful to Geoff and April for watching the girls the whole time!

We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet.

President Gorden B. Hinckley has passed away. I am having a hard time wrapping my heart around that. He has been the prophet since I have really developed a testimony of my Savior. I feel like his words and example have supported and lifted my spirit through these 13 years. I am so thankful for him. I never met him in person but each time I read his word or saw his face I knew that he knew me and that he was mindful of me and my challenges. I love him and I am so thankful for the sacrifices he made to be a leader. I will miss him so much.

"Here she is, Miss America"

It's pageant time! Yes the perks of living in Las Vegas are procuring tickets to the Miss America Pageant Preliminaries. Geoff's company audits the Miss America Pageant so he got free tickets. So we rounded up the girls and headed to the pageant.



My sisters April and Monica

Aleena, Rochelle, April, Monica

Here are a few pictures of the contestants. I wish I had written down who was who. I really liked Miss Florida and a few others I don't remember. The best part was at the very beginning the contestants were introducing themselves, the attire was a spaghetti strap tank top and jeans. It was hard not to notice one girl that was wearing a Shade shirt, we new she had to be Miss Utah and she was! I was really proud of her.

This video is of Miss Montana's interview, definitely the funniest of the night. Sorry it shakes so much, we were laughing so hard!

Evening Gowns

The night was ripe with frilly over the top dresses that the contestants felt a need to fan out. I guess that is the only way to get the full effect. A few were very beautiful and not too over done.

Talent

The talent portion was everything cliche to pageants. Super dramatic and over the top. I am sorry that I didn't get a video of the a monologue, very pagentesque! Don't get me wrong they were all very talented girls, just all trying every ploy to "one-up" each other. Overall very entertaining!

Miss Utah is the one on the right.

5 months!

My baby is 5 months old. She is getting so big and not just in size, though she is a whopping 17 pounds and 26.5 inches long. Laila is very sweet and loves to be where the action is. This part poses a problem because even through the night she doesn't want to miss anything. As a result Laila's new room is the Laundry room downstairs. Now she can wake up as much as she wants without waking anyone else in the house. This might sound cruel but believe me, her life is way better now that I am getting more sleep I am a much nicer mom.

I feel so blessed to have two happy and healthy girls.

The best thing that happened today.

The last few weeks have been tough. I am not going to go into details, but it hasn't been pretty. So as I was wallowing in my pessimism, it hit me, nothing was getting better because I had not made a space for it. I have never seen myself as a negative person I am usually pretty upbeat. It hit me, the other day I had a phone call from Geoff and my Mom and I heard myself clearly for the first time. They both asked how my day had been and I went off on how bad everything was. I had become "that person", you know, the one that you put off calling because you feel the dark cloud over your head the whole time your talking to them. Geoff used to call whenever he had a minute and I realized that he rarely called during the day.

How was my life going to get any better if I kept myself stuck in such a negative pattern? I felt trapped in a vicious circle. The more I focused on all the bad things, the more depressed I became. The more depressed I became, the more I focused on what was all wrong in my life.

When I realized that I am the only one that can change my perspective, I turned to Gratitude. This is the best way I know to change behaviors. When I am focusing on the things that I am grateful for, they only multiply and increase leaving no room for the negative.

This is a lesson that I have had to learn many times in my life and I am sure this will not be the last. I am amazed how easy it is to fall into negative patterns and I am equally amazed at the opportunity for personal growth when I come out of it!

So the reason for this post is to share what I am thankful for today. I am thankful for sounds...or the lack thereof. This morning I listened to beautiful church hymns while listening to Aria play "mommy" to her babies. One of my favorite sounds in the world is Laila "talking". She has so much to say and loves to coo. Because I decided that today I am thankful for sounds I really started listening and I never realized that Aria has the most wonderful pitch to her voice, it is the sweetest high pitched melody. I am grateful for the sound of Geoff's voice at the end of the day, his sound is a solid foundation that grounds and stabilizes me.

At this moment, as I write this post, I am thankful for the lack of sound. The girls are in bed the house is picked up and I am feeling overwhelmed at what a wonderful day it has been. I thankful for all the bad things so that the good things are even that much better!

Alta High School Class of 2000!

"Who rocks the house? The Hawks rock the house, and when the Hawks rock the house they rock it all the way down. HUH!"

That's right all you Alta Hawks out there, it is almost time for our 10 year class reunion. I know, I know, it is still more then 2 years away but for attendance and planning purposes it is time to get on the ball.

I have set up an Alta High Class of 2000 blog. I don't know if this is the best way to do it, but for right now this is what I can do. The blog will post any information needed to have an awesome 10 year reunion.

Please visit the blog and make sure that all those that you are still in contact with get the information about the blog as well. We are hoping to make it an unforgettable event. I am hoping to post information monthly so make sure to check often.

altaclass2000.blogspot.com
altaclass2000@gmail.com

Go Hawks!

CAUTION...potty training!

My new years resolution: Stop spending hundreds of dollars a month on diapers!



Aria is now 2 years 3 months, is it time to potty train yet? I love the Internet but today I hate it! This morning I googled "potty training" and got an overload of conflicting information.

Don't give rewards, give rewards, get a little training toilet, don't get a training toilet, etc, etc! There are also about 2 million potty training books, which is the best?



AHHHH!



I need real advice from people that have actually have done this. What do I do? Where do I start? Does anyone have any good advice that actually worked for you? What is the best book to read? I would love any guidance!

Thank you!

Merry Christmas!

Sorry this post is a little late, but I wanted to remember our Christmas of 2007! It was actually a very wonderful Christmas. Geoff was supposed to work Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas so we couldn't go home to Utah for Christmas. To make a very long story short, he was able to take those days off of work so we packed in the car on Sunday and surprised Geoff's family for a Christmas.

Christmas Eve was spent with Geoff's extended family for a wonderful dinner and a cute program. It was the remaking of "The Grinch that stole Christmas" Geoff was the Grinch-perfect role!

Christmas day was spent with my family in Draper. It was very nice, Aria loved all of her presents that Santa brought to her! Thank you to everyone that made our Christmas so wonderful, we appreciate the generosity!

We are so glad that we actually spent Christmas with both of our families. We realized that we would have been very lonely alone in Las Vegas. It was a Christmas wish come true!

These are Aria and Laila's Christmas dresses! So cute.

4 Years!

Today is our Anniversary. We have been married 4 years! It has been a wonderful 4 years full of lots of fun and a few challenges. I feel very lucky to have married Geoff, he is perfect for me. He is very kind, patient, loyal, aware and funny. I appreciate him more and more as time goes by. As you can see by the pictures below, he is my soul mate. I found someone that loves to dress up just as much as I do.

I am thankful that we have had a wonderful 4 years and I am looking forward to many years that we will have together. I love you Geoff!

Happy Birthday Grandma Joeen

Happy Birthday Grandma Joeen! We are missing you and wish we were there with you to celebrate.

We love love you!

Jingle Bells Batman Smells?

"Jingle Bells" has been Aria's favorite Christmas song to sing. The other day I asked her what song she wanted to sing and she said, "Jingle Bells". I started to sing and she said,"No, Batman smells". Earlier that day she had spent some time with her cousins and the result was the elementary school version of "Jingle Bells". Here she is singing her favorite Christmas song!

Even though the screen is black, press play and it will work.

The Saga Continues...

Thank you to all those that commented and gave advice on Aria's sleep drama. I thought you might like an update on what has been happening.

After the initial night that I posted about, things have gotten better little by little. Because Aria will not be told what to do, for two nights she slept on the floor just inside her room but she still woke up a few times in the night. We finally decided that she couldn't sleep on the floor forever and that was contributing to her waking up at night. So we went back to the fight and made sure that she slept in her bed.

How did we do this you ask? Aria sleeps on the bottom bed of a bunk bed, and it has been since she has been sleeping there that she keeps waking up at night. We decided to just take the mattress off and put it on the floor to see how she would do. We also bought her a brighter night light. That night she did much better. I woke up to feed Laila around 4:00am and Aria was on the floor in her room, but she never came into our room.

The next night we added a heater blowing in her face (thanks Renee) she fell asleep after having to be put in bed 3 times, woke up once during the night but only had to be put in bed 2 times. This is a huge improvement.

Thank you for all posting encouraging comments. The day that we will all be able to sleep through the night is much closer then I would have imagined a week ago.

As an added bonus, since Aria has been sleeping better so has Laila. Laila was waking up every 2 hours to eat during the night, the last 2 nights she has only woken up once to eat! Hurray! I think I can do this. It is amazing how much more I get done in the day because I don't feel like a zombie anymore!

Outnumbered

Today I did a little babysitting. I realized when these 3 boys walked into my house asking for cars and "guys" that I was in trouble. I have 2 girls. I don't need "guys", I need babies and barbies.

I really should get some boy toys. I have noticed that everyone Aria plays with is a boy. All of her cousins that live by us are boys and all of her friends from nursery are boys. Poor thing is outnumbered. Good thing she has a little sister.

Next challenge was that 3 of the 5 kids are 2-years-old. As you can imagine this proved for a lot of fighting and crying. I took this picture within 10 minutes of the kids coming over. I really should have taken an "after" picture.

Overall it was an interesting morning. I learned that the key to a boys heart is food. Thank goodness for granola bars and pretzels.