Nothing Much...

I don't really have anything much to add, I just noticed I haven't written for a while and thought that maybe I should! Serra decided to grow some more teeth afterall and 4 shot out from the top of her mouth just yesterday. We're a little nervous because her 2 bottom ones are overlapped/crooked and these 4 are REALLY spaced apart. I was told when I was younger that I had my father's line of teeth and they get worse and worse with each generation. I was hoping that none of my kids would get my teeth, but Ian's instead. However, it's looking like Serra may have gotten mine... I mean, have any of you ever seen a child with totally messed up teeth? Not that baby teeth come in perfect, but they aren't usually crooked and spaced and stuff... or maybe I just haven't met the "right" kids... Serra is constantly cracking me up though with silly faces and the things she decides she wants to do. Her latest fascination is with trash- not playing with it, but picking it up and throwing it away. So, I thought we might as well put it to use! So after each meal I ask her to please get the trash [which we have already gathered and put in a bag for her to carry]. She picks it up and carries it to the trash can to throw away. And once she's done that she comes back in clapping her hands and with a HUGE grin on her face. She is so funny! A few of my friends have announced pregnancies in the last month or two... looks like we'll be out of the loop again when we decide to get pregnant- we just aren't timing it right! :) Still no news on moving. We haven't had a single person come and look at the house, but we're trying not to get too discouraged- it has only been 3 months, so it's really not that bad yet. Anyway, we'll keep you posted on anything that comes up!

A new month... and WALKING!!!

Well, September is here- and along with it school, colder weather, and better reason to call Serra a "toddler". She's walking! It took her a while to go from walking a few steps when prompted by Mommy or Daddy to walking any chance she gets, but she's finally doing it- and getting better at it each day. Although she still resembles Frankenstein a little. We went up to Kamas, UT to visit some of my extended family and attend the Francis Frontier Days Rodeo. It was way too cold to go to a rodeo, but Serra behaved and still had fun watching the bulls and horses. We don't really have a lot else planned this month except to continue in our efforts to sell our house- and save money to do so! I've recently acquired a zeal for reading and have begun reading several books- fiction, non-fiction and self-help. I even joined a website called www.goodreads.com to log the books you read and write reviews- I only have 1 review so far, but it's been fun. Hopefully I can keep my enthusiasm! :)

New Ring!

For our 5th wedding anniversary, Ian surprised me by getting me a new wedding ring! I tried to take pictures of it, but our camera doesn't do so well at close up- we need to get a new one, but that's another story. Anyway, here's the factory picture of my new ring- I love it!

Ridgecrest, California

Wow, I guess it has been a while! We've been pretty busy this month. First it was all that hassle with moving, not moving, moving, not moving. Then we had Serra's 1st birthday. The day after her birthday we drove up to Cache Valley for some splurge shopping at all the great Utah's Own stores. Ian was a little upset because the jerkey guy wasn't there, but maybe he will be next year. Then we packed up and drove down to Ridgecrest, California to visit Serra's grandparents [Ian's parents]. It took longer than we would have liked since we had to stop halfway both there and back. But luckily I have lots of family almost exactly halfway, so we got to stay with some of them each time.

Ridgecrest was a lot of fun- Charisse [my mother-in-law] taught me how to quilt and I made a small wall-hanging quilt in a couple of days. And we played around with her embroidery machine to make some cute bibs for Serra. We also spent a lot of time watching the Olympics- crazy stuff! Ian had to work while we were there, but he was able to have fun on his breaks and in the evenings. We brought his younger brother, Gavin, down with us and they got to hang out a bit- shooting hoops, watching videos. It's really made us anxious for our Christmas break when we'll be there for over 2 weeks [and Ian won't work at all!] But with every vacation, it's nice to come home- and what was really special about coming home this time is that our house was CLEAN! We had cleaned it and set it up just in case we had a showing while we were gone [which we did, but they decided not to buy]. So we came home to a nice, fresh, clean home! Serra definitely missed home- and some of her bigger toys that we couldn't bring along. She just keeps giggling and speeding around the place excited to know where everything is and to be able to play with just about anything she can reach [because we've baby-proofed the house so much!]

Anyway, just a little side thought- I still can't believe that Serra is one year old, but when I look at newborn pictures of her I don't even recognize her- she looks totally different! And I've already forgotten what that time was like. I went to Walmart while Serra was napping [Ian works from home, so he was here "watching" her] and I saw this new mom pushing a cart with her little baby fast asleep in his carseat and when she came to the door, she saw that there was a big bump and proceeding through the door VERY slowly as to avoid waking him up. When I saw her do that, it totally took me back- I used to do that! And what's really funny is that the times I would do that would be the times that I could have picked her up out of her carseat, jiggled her, and set her back down to find her still asleep! It's now that any little noise or movement wakes her but I am much less careful. Oh well, I guess I just figured it's not worth the effort or something. But it was really funny to see this newer mother doing something I did as a newer mother and laugh [both at her and myself!] :)

TAG- You're IT!

Okay, I guess I've been tagged! So, here's how it works [I think mostly to see who is reading who's blogs :) ]:

List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts about yourself. Then tag 3 people at the end of your post. Alright, so here we go!

3 Joys:
-Serra
-Ian
-spending time with my favorite sister :)
3 Fears:
-dying young
-losing more family "early"
-the dark [yes, I know it's childish... but I have nightlights in our whole house!]
3 Goals:
-to sell our home in Utah!
-to get the house we want in Idaho!
-to be happy [sounds too overall encompassing, but I could use an unfocused goal occasionally]
3 Current Obsessions/Collections:
-working out/losing weight
-thimbles
-crafts, crafts, crafts!
3 Surprising Facts:
-I have all 4 wisdom teeth grown in and I still have 3 baby teeth!
-I want to go to Ridgecrest, CA [those of you who have not been there cannot understand how surprising that is... I purely want to go out of love for my daughter and a chance for us to hang out with her only grandparents- and it's nice to tell people you're going to California, even if it's not the "California" they think it is! :) ]
-I want another baby already... WAY too soon, but I guess we'll just see where it leads us!
3 People Tagged:
Lorie, Megan, and Cassie

Birthday Girl!

Serra had the best birthday ever! Okay, so it's her only birthday ever... but it will always be memorable to Ian and me.

First, we gave Serra a birthday hat.

Then we opened presents before Daddy had to start working.

Later in the day we had Serra's favorite dinner- tiny pasta!

After dinner, Serra got her first forward facing car seat ride!!!

Next we went to Serra's first movie theater movie! [We saw about 15 minutes of Meet Dave]

Serra's favorite part about the movie theater was the popcorn. :)

On our way back home we got a birthday slushie- mmm, peach!

And finally we went on our nightly family bike ride with Serra's new bike trailer!

And, of course, what's a birthday blog without a birthday suit picture! :)

August 2008

Not a whole lot has changed- no one else has even come to look at our house. I've been getting my hands on some simple craft projects [I can't do a whole ton because my craft room is one of the many things packed and in storage to make our house look less "cluttered" for shows]. Right now I'm making all kinds of hair bows for Serra- she actually has enough hair to hold a hair clip! I am so excited, I've made way too many bows. But I can always keep some as baby shower gifts or something! Serra is nearly 1 year old and we still can't believe it- she isn't walking yet, but she REALLY wants to. I think she could do it, she's just lazy because she knows she can crawl faster. I'm sure it'll happen in the next month or two. We're hoping to go to Cache Valley this month for some shopping- and visit Serra's grandparents in California. Hopefully we can get it all done this month, but we'll see! [It's also our 5 year anniversary- I can't believe it's been 5 YEARS!!!]