a bug's life

trending now

2012-01-11T09:07:00.005-07:00

On my yahoo home page they have a "Trending Now" sidebar with what I expect is supposed to be happening, searched or popular topics. Sometimes I think they're fake and yahoo just stuck some random thing in there. Because today...Herniated Disc Surgery. Really? I mean, I've had one but I really hope that's not a trend. So anyway, jumbled thoughts and all this is my personal trending now post.

Kindle Fire: Okay, I got one for Christmas and it's been the best gift ever. I have been so bad at reading the past year or so. There are so many books I want to read but I'm lazy and never make the time. I guess by not having to turn a page it's really made things easy for me and I've read three books since Christmas. Going along with this trend is the Hunger Games series. Leave it to me to be a year or two behind the trends but I started these after Christmas and I really like them. I've avoided them because of the futuristic/science fiction-y idea but they've been great.

Zumba: My cousin Alisa and I bought gym memberships on living social. She's a superstar and goes to every class but surprisingly I've got hooked on a few classes too. It really helps when it takes 2 1/2 minutes from my driveway to a parking spot to get to the gym but I really actually enjoy it once I'm there. My favorite is our Zumba class. Who knew I would have so much fun and not dread going to an hour long class which turns me lobster face red and a sweating mess. A lot of it has to do with the instructor...he's amazing! At the end of a long day it's so therapeutic to dance around with a bunch of strangers (and my cousin) to a latin-themed Pump up the Jam.

Downton Abbey: Last weekend my cute friend Stacy mentioned this PBS series on her blog. Stacy has really amazing taste so I knew this could be worth watching. Then on Sunday there was an article in the Tribune about the second series starting and how it was even better than the first. Well, in just a few days I'm almost finished with the first season and I have all of the second season set up to record on the dvr. I LOVE it!! The costumes and sets are spectacular and the different story lines draw you right in. This is highly recommended! The episodes are on Netflix but I've been streaming them from amazon for free...you guessed it, on my Kindle! Thanks Stace...

Bathroom cell phone pictures: Even though it hasn't been that much of a winter yet. There are still some long days. When the crafts are done, one too many episodes of Caillou have been watched the next best thing is to put on a little makeup and take pictures.

Noel Gallagher: The first gift I ever gave Blake was an Oasis cd. Then Wonderwall became our song. Well, the Oasis brothers have broken up but lucky for us we're still going strong. Noel Gallagher has started his own band and he really brought us back in with this song. Romance! So as I start packing for a mini vacay retreat with my bestie I'll leave you with the video. This one will be 'trending' for awhile!

holiday recap

2012-01-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Holidays...from the Suk!

Christmas this year flew by but it was still pretty fabulous even if it still seems like a blur. This year we hosted Christmas Eve with the Schrecks. I worried about squeezing everyone into my dining "area" but it worked...nice and cozy. Blake and I wanted to get all theme-y and we did more of a southern bbq Christmas. Well, Sugarhouse BBQ did more of a southern bbq Christmas!

To go along with our down south theme we had our own little hootenanny! Janet brought her guitar and we all sang along. Lucy was in performance heaven...and Blake pretty much was too.

Baby Everett! This is Lucy's first and only cousin. And our first and only nephew. We love him so much and he was dressed very dapper for the night.

And lucky for us we'll get another little boy cousin in late spring. Clint and Abby are expecting their first and we love him already!

everyone's favorite...uncle Kyle

After the festivities we did our Eve pajamas, new Christmas book, note and treats for Santa, and Lucy did a lot of "oh dear, I hope I get my American Girl doll".

Christmas eve jitters!

And the sigh of relief Christmas morning that he came...

and delivered!

Out of nowhere Lucy came up with the name Annison for her new AG doll. And she's now a part of our family. Seriously, I'm putting a seatbelt on this doll every time we leave in the car and kissing her good night. Lucy's pretty vocal about NOT wanting siblings but she sure loves this new addition.

After presents at home we raced over to my mom's to open presents. We got showered with amazing gifts (a Kindle fire to help with my resolution of reading more books and less "updates") had a delicious breakfast and spent time lounging before continuing on with our day.

Trying on her new rock star jacket and looking a little holi-dazed...

And unfortunately that's all that was captured on camera. But the rest of our day was a good mix of food, family and togetherness.

Moving right along - Lucy plans to pull out Valentine's decor this weekend!

counting down

2011-12-20T20:40:00.006-07:00

So there's no snow here yet but we've been counting down for Christmas for the last couple of weeks and now we're just a handful of days away....woo hoo!!

I've been so excited for Christmas this year so instead of waiting to almost the middle of the month we bought our tree and decorated right after the first of the month.

This chair is my early Christmas present!! I made Blake go to a Pottery Barn Christmas entertaining class with me (mostly for the 10% off coupon) on a Sunday early in the month and as we were checking out we spotted this darling chair. We've wanted an armless to add to the living room and this was what I was looking for. So, early Christmas for me!

I needed a mini tree in our bedroom this year just to have another room with glowing lights. I might have to keep this up longer than our usual December 26 purge.

This is Lucy's. But since this picture about 400 more pink sparkle ornaments have been added.

I made a Christmas activity list because the month flies by too fast and I want to make sure we get in as much in as we can. Well there were only a handful of ideas I came up but we ended up doing a lot more...We've done Zoolights, Lucy made a gingerbread house, went to the Nativity in the Glen, adopted an ornament and went shopping for UAID, drove around to look at lights and eat treats, went to my work party at the country club, Blake went solo to his "no spouses" party at Grand America, Lucy saw Annie at Pioneer Theater with my parents, decorated cookies and visited with good friends, made crafty ornaments on a cozy morning with good friends, had my work girls gift exchange and dinner and lots of Christmas movies cozied in at home.

And one of the highlights was Lucy's preschool Christmas program!

Rockin' out on her homemade guitar, strummin' away singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".

Preschool has been the best decision ever. I only wish she would have had another year here because it's been such a great experience. Almost every class in December she came home with a darling project. This performance was the best and so was seeing Lucy pop up standing on the church pews looking back for us!

Who knew "All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" could be so funny!!

The day after her performance we got up bright and early for Breakfast with Santa at Grand America. The breakfast buffet is delicious (white hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows!) but the highlight of course is Santa and Mrs. Clause. In the middle of breakfast you hear the jingle jingle and then the two of them singing (and having everyone else join in) "Santa Clause is coming to Town". Pure magic!

After they come around to each little table we go into the next room for some one on one time to discuss matters.

Santa got specific requests: American Girl doll, with red curly hair, blue eyes and her ears pierced...let's hope she's been good!

Taking in all of the festive hotel.

We've had such a good month spending time with friends, family and just the three of us. Now let's hope for at least a little snow!

Merry Christmas!

(yeah, I was busy having too much holiday fun to do Christmas cards...so this is it!)

sugarplum

2011-12-13T11:03:00.002-07:00

Saturday morning we were treated to dancing sugarplums!

Another Christmas recital with Miss Julie and all of her darling dancers. The Toddler & Tiara episodes must be rubbing off on Lucy because she kept asking for more makeup and lipgloss...

sparkle baby!

I think this was our best recital yet. Lucy could not wait to get on stage and perform and she managed to situate herself center stage!

Wednesdays are all about two things: Miss Julie and Lucy's sweet friend Amelia. This is their third year together in dance and it's so fun to see how far they've come and how much they've grown!

happy birthday mom!

2011-12-12T10:45:00.003-07:00

Yesterday my mom turned the big...6-0! On Saturday night we all got together for yummy Indian food at Bombay House, chocolate cake and to celebrate my mom.

Nani and my parents.

Caitlin and Brinton had a big announcement for all of us that night....

they booked their trip to Peru!

(waa, waa, waa)

Maybe by my sixtieth birthday they'll have the announcement I'm waiting for!

Caitlin made my mom the Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake it was delicious that night but so amazingly delicious the next morning for breakfast.

Happy birthday Mom! We love you!!

Balboa bonanza!

2011-11-28T19:31:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since we've been back from our trip. I thought about skipping a trip report post because 300+ pictures is daunting. But once I started looking at some of them and thinking about all of the fun we had I knew it must be documented. Enjoy...somehow I managed the patience to upload almost all 300 pictures in this post.

We found a darling house on Balboa Island (near Newport Beach) to rent for the week. We picked this house from the few pictures on vrbo which looked great but you never know what you really end up getting until you're there. Lucky for us it was even better and roomier than we thought. Each family had our own large room so we could retreat at the end of the night if we wanted to. But most of us stayed around the main living space.

My dreams came true when I saw our house had a Dutch door. I've loved these doors so much and almost every house on Balboa has one. It was one of my favorite parts of the house until the very last hour we were there and I hit my head on it and came thisclose to having Blake take me to the hospital...seriously. But it's still darling and I still want one for Christmas!

Balboa is the cutest, most quaint little village. Our house was right around the corner from Marine Avenue which is the main drag through the village. So we'd walk around the corner and pick up coffee, the best sweet rolls ever or a frozen treat at night. If you walked the opposite way from our front porch we were about 5 houses down from a little beach and marina area with a walkway that circles the entire island.

I love looking at houses and when you walk around the island every single house is different. From the tiniest bright yellow cottages to huge palatial villas - every walk we took I saw something else to fall in love with.

Between my sister and I we found plenty of yummy places to eat. Our first night we had delicious Mexican. I don't know if it was the combination of changing time zones (uh, 1 hour is all) and arriving on daylight savings but Lucy seemed to fall asleep in the middle of every dinner.

Our first full day we headed to some tide pools at a nearby beach. It was a beautiful day and we spent quite awhile exploring.

The whole family did one day at Disneyland and then Blake, Lucy and I went back for a second day to stand in line for characters and catch anything we missed. Ten minutes into our first day with the whole family and we ran into Snow White and Cinderella right next to the castle. A magical way to start the day!

besties

Blake could spend all day doing the handful of thrill rides Disney has to offer. Our last three visits or so it's just been the 3 of us so he was thrilled to have a friend. Every chance they got Brinton and Blake were running to rides.

But only after us parade go-ers were properly supplied with cokes, corn dogs and popcorn to watch the best Disney parade ever! Every dream character of Lucy's was in this parade and we had perfect front row seats!

A shot of Toad for Coleman who couldn't make the trip :(

Cruisin!

On Tuesday we decided to rent a Duffy boat and cruise around the island. This was at the top of my list of favorite things on our trip. We had a couple of hours to just cruise around all on our own - you don't have to do anything but pay to be able to rent a boat! Blake was very comfortable in his job as captain and we enjoyed lunch, gawking at homes, listening to good tunes on a sunny afternoon.

Wednesday brought the three of us back to Disneyland and there were more touches of Christmas all around the park. Go in November...it's the best!

Storybookland Boats...now one of Lucy's favorite.

Thursday was breakfast at Ruby's (I love you cinnamon roll french toast) and a beach day. Sand castles, chasing waves, reading and daydreaming.

Our hair is morphing into the same color/style.

Thursday night was a little crazy...Brinton had to head home a little early for work and couldn't get on a plane so he stayed at the airport for 9 hours until we picked him up. My dad and Blake headed to San Diego for a Chargers game and it took them like 7 hours to travel 120 miles away and missed half of the game and the four of us walked all over Fashion Island for our girls' night trying to find someplace to get seated to eat. Kind of a crazy night but we all made it back safe and sound and none of us punched each other out...success!

Brinton and Caitlin headed home Friday morning so my parents and us spent our last full day relaxing around Newport. Every time we're in that area we've driven by the Sherman Library & Gardens on PCH. I've always been intrigued and this time we stopped. Oh my gosh! This is such an amazing place and we spent a good chunk of time wandering and admiring the grounds.

A dream succulent garden.

The gardens were such a treat! Lucy felt like she was in an enchanted garden all to herself. It was like $3. to get in and again, another of my top moments.

To end the trip we had a dinner at The Crab Cooker. Lucy is terrified of crustaceans (lobsters, crabs) and she will scream like a hyena if we have to walk by them in the tank at Dan's - like hysterical scream. So of course we took her to Cooker and right past their case of crustaceans. Lucky for us she only squealed as she ran by but she did show us her crab face outside the restaurant. If you want to see something better than the crab face have Blake show you a video on his phone. On one of our beach days he found a dead crab and chased her around while she ran and screamed until she lost her breath. Blake of course laughed and filmed the whole thing...and that is why we are amazing parents!

Now that I've relived the whole trip....I'm ready to go back!

post-vacation ramblings

2011-11-16T22:16:00.005-07:00

Whew! We're back from our California getaway and we had a fabulous time! It's the longest trip we've taken in quite awhile - a full 7 days. We've taken almost a week before but that has involved a day or two of driving but this trip we flew (thanks Jetblue for rates cheaper than gas) so with a full week I was able to fully relax and reenergize. I haven't quite made it to organize yet though...as far as pictures. I have two cameras and phone full of pictures so maybe I'll get to a trip report next week. Most of the readers of the blog were actually on the trip so I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself.

The picture above is Lucy on our full first day back home. She was full of energy and ready to resume nonstop fun with a fully housed staff of maids, butlers, audience members and entertainers... pretty much what she had on the trip.

So let's just say getting her back to reality has been a treat this week. On Monday I knew we needed a craft, outside time, tv time and snacks. On the Family Fun website they have a ton of cute craft ideas so I picked "take a nature walk, collect berries, leaves and twigs to make a sign". Well, the nature walk went well but once we got back inside Lucy said she refused to help make the "idiot" sign and colored pictures of Jack Skellington silently next to me. I was in no mood to argue and didn't attempt to cut a circle out of cardboard for nothing so I made the sign...alone.

Lucky for everyone it was back to work and preschool on Tuesday. My favorite thing about Lucy's school is the cute crafts she comes home with. Tuesday they made a "thankful tree" with what Lucy is thankful for: mom, dad, wedge. Of course she left out Suki. We asked her why and she said "I'm not thankful for him."

My poor Suk.

We're all back into our routines and vacation hangovers are going away. But today panic set in for me a bit - Christmas is just over 5 weeks away and I haven't bought a single thing. Nothing! But worse than that is I have no real ideas for gifts. Today I thought I might have a possible, little "stuffer" idea...

Lucy has a new obsession...Muppets. With the new movie coming out it's all she can talk about. I personally find them a bit creeptown, usa, but I do remember watching Muppet movies as a kid so I guess I get her obsession. Well in a magazine ad we saw OPI nail polish in Muppet colors (not as weird as it sounds) but Lucy freaked! So today I find myself traveling the valley to find this polish. Sometimes I get so fixated on something that I will do insane things like drive to as many JCPenny Salons (I had a coupon) as I can think of and none of them had the MISS PIGGY COLOR! Finally, in the parking lot of Valley Fair mall I took a breath from inhaling caramel corn (the only redeeming store or item that mall has) and realized I was spending a ridiculous amount of time (and gas) looking for nail polish...Muppet nail polish...for a 4 year old.

So nothing checked off my list today and the laid back vibe of vacation may be dwindling but that's why we have lots of pictures and really fun memories. So with the chaotic craziness of the holidays around the corner (which really, everyone secretly loves) I'll have a happy place in my head to go to...

(she is such a good girl and she had such a fun week - I can't even remember how lame our trips must have been before her)

p.s. if you're not watching Parenthood you should. It's probably my favorite right now. It always has really good music but when I heard this tonight (and knew every word) I was like, love it!

Boo!

2011-10-31T20:14:00.002-06:00

Halloween-y!

Lucy and I played around with some editing effects of this picture with the plan to make it spooky and zombie-ish. But Lucy has a love-hate relationship with Halloween. She loves to talk about it a but today all of my talk of the Great Pumpkin leaving her treats, talking in a zombie voice and trying to make this picture spooky has resulted in a few tears.

It's the last day of October and with all of the spooky fun we've had I feel like the big day has passed. But tonight is trick or treating and the final wrap up of our favorite holiday...which seems has been going on for three months.

Heading out for the night...someone needs to stay home and pass out candy and watch Dancing with the Stars.

Earlier today we hit the foothill village trick or treating with the Baruas. Such perfect weather (probably the last nice fall day) and always good company. Sweet little Lennox didn't make one peep...just happy to be along for the ride.

A few weeks ago we did our annual breakfast with the witch at Gardner Village with Angie and Dakota. The Great Pumpkin always seems to treat us right with perfect fall weather, good little girls and yummy fudge!

monster mashing

home of the best pumpkin pie fudge

We love, love this day with these girls!

We ran into one of Lucy's friends Ari at the pumpkin patch in Farmington. A quick stop for pumpkins turned into a good chunk of the afternoon of these two running, playing and dancing amongst the pumpkins.

On Friday Lucy had her very first Halloween party at preschool. But she bolted from me the minute I dropped her off so I didn't get any pictures of her and her class. Later that day we met Blake at work for trick or treating in his office. After she loaded up on candy she only wanted to be with Blake. Again, I'm left in the dust. The one who spent over an hour straightening her curls to be Alice; she couldn't get rid of me fast enough.

Saturday night... the annual Worthen Halloween costume party!

Tweedles

solo Sabrina (Nick was working)

Buzz & mob boss

I have a whole new love for Blake because of this pose.

Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter & Alice

Wonderland!

Lis & Steph - spookies

I don't think you're supposed to look this good on halloween.

cousin Eddie & Catherine (love this!)

Phew! Kind of a jumbled post but when you cram all of October in one that's what you get. It was a pretty spectacular month of activities and now the countdown is on for...Disneyland!

it's fall y'all

2011-10-17T08:39:00.009-06:00

For a few years I've had this dream of having a harvest party. Not a summer bbq in the heat or a Christmas party in my little house but an outside, crisp harvest party during my most favorite time of year. Every year I see pictures of similar parties in my Sunset and Better Home & Gardens and it seems so simple...good friends, good food and some cute sweaters.

Well, this year my party dreams came true (although in my dream it was about 20 degrees warmer) and just over a week ago we had our first annual harvest party.

We had all the ingredients: a group of fun friends, cute kids to take pictures of and a fabulous array of yummy food (none of which I made!). The biggest stress of the party was the weather. A half an hour before the party it was sprinkling, freezing and dark but literally just as the party started the sun came out and we had some blue sky. Everyone was still bundled but it added to the whole "fall crisp"... or that's what I'll tell myself.

Of course it's easy to come up with the plan but I couldn't have done it without help. First of all to all our friends for bringing their favorite dish to share, my mom making the cute pennant banner that reached across the yard, my sister for taking these great pictures and of course, the best ever Blake. He went along with everything with no complaints. Hauling dozens of pumpkins in the backyard, picking up straw bales and telling me the heat of 50 or so people would of course heat up the back yard.

A couple of crafts & games for the kids and good food for the adults is pretty much all you need.

Donuts!

And if you think watching all these kids was fun...look at all of their cute (and proud!) parents.

I've always wanted a pinata and dammit, I'm 33 and I got one!

(I'm pretty sure Lucy didn't get hit in the head but I was pretty excited about the pinata so I'm not sure)

We have the best friends and they have the best kids. I've said it before but I don't know how we got so lucky to be surrounded by such funny, friendly, amazing people. We are so appreciative that everyone gave up one of their Saturday evenings to hang out with us and we hope that they might want to again next year (and we'll try really hard for some warmer temps!)

See ya!

amber anthem

2011-10-13T14:01:00.000-06:00

If you haven't yet...

go for your fall drive.

We did ours a couple of weeks ago along with my 3rd annual fall playlist. We dropped into the Heber valley area and it was bursting with orange. Blake couldn't contain himself and had to pull over and go leaf-collecting.

We stopped at The Homestead for lunch with this ragamuffin and she was overwhelmed with all of the picture opportunities.

Notice that couple in the background? They were excited about the photo ops too. I let Blake and Lucy climb to the top of the crater thing while I watched this couple pose with the halloween props. I don't know which is worse, grown adults seriously posing with scarecrows or me creepily watching them?

This is probably the last really great weekend to spy leaves; get some tunes and go!

Taylor!

2011-10-12T10:14:00.002-06:00

We've been counting down since spring and finally got to see Taylor Swift a couple weeks ago!

Lucy was beyond excited and Taylor did not disappoint. It was such a fun show with so many set and costume changes. This concert wasn't just for Lucy though - Caitlin and I knew EVERY word and at one point were so into the concert we didn't realize Lucy had fallen and collapsed herself into her folding chair...oops.

Nothing but love for Taylor.

So all of the hype, lights, screaming girls and fireworks was a bit of sensory overload for Luce so more than halfway in she opted for a power nap.

But we got her up when Taylor made the rounds on the floor and was literally just a few feet away from us.

At the end of the show Taylor sang "Love Story" and circled the arena in the air. It was an incredible show...

first dentist

2011-10-11T09:57:00.000-06:00

I might regret this post...

first of all because Lucy going to the dentist is really only noteworthy to us (but this is my only form of scrap/memory keeping) and I'm pretty sure this appointment was about two years overdue according to most dentists recommendations...oh well.

Last month Blake took Lucy to her first ever dental exam. I have an extreme dentist fear and I guess that is why this appointment was so delayed. The thought of the smell of a dentist office and being the brave mom was a bit more than I could handle.

Blake has raved about his dentist for years and they accept child appointments so the two of them had a cute little dentist date. I got to avoid the whole event by being at work but told Blake to make sure and capture the event with pictures...and he did.

Blake said she did amazing. She loved the tv in the ceiling, the dentist and picking a prize. And lucky for her no cavities!

I guess now it's my turn to go.

11 years!

2011-09-21T21:57:00.003-06:00

Eleven amazing years with my bestie!

Blake brought home pretty fall flowers for me. And just because he's that great of a husband and daddy he brought some home for Lucy too.

We had a family date night out to dinner and to the Bakery for desserts outside. Such a beautiful fall night. We told Lucy all about our wedding - how it rained but stopped long enough for outside pictures, our wedding cake that would have been taller than her (or two of her) and how we went to California for our honeymoon. She was pretty disgusted we didn't stop at Disneyland. Then she asked, "was I just a tiny baby at your wedding?"

Earlier today I got probably the coolest gift from my friend Angie. She left a sweet happy anniversary message for me and mentioned an Earth, Wind & Fire song that has the lyrics "Do you remember, the 21st night of September". I thought it was some obscure song but cool that it had our wedding date in the lyrics. When I looked it up on youtube....seriously?!!?! THIS is the song?! I've had many a shimmies to this song and never did I know (and no one EVER told me) it had these lyrics! Seriously, the best news ever. We drove home tonight with the windows down rocking out to this song. Now I want to renew my vows just so we can have a dance party and bust this out along with some Redbone. Thanks Ang - this kind of made my day!

*try not to have a seizure watching this video.

Blake,

'I thank my lucky stars, that you are who you are'.

I love, love, love you so much.

september

2011-09-20T19:45:00.005-06:00

One of my favorite days of the year is when we caravan to Perry and the infamous 'fruit way' to buy a bunch of pumpkins, eat a lot of rolls at Maddox and wrap it up with typically the first fall drive of the season. This year did not disappoint.

Pumpkins were out in force and we spotted a few orange and yellow leaves on the mountains.

My sister is kind of obsessed with me so she dyed her hair red on Saturday afternoon and then invited us all over to her back yard forest for yummy food and time around the fire pit.

I should have a picture of Caitlin's cute hair but Lucy seems to be the only subject of these photos.

Brinton & Caitlin's back yard looks amazing. There's a zillion little twinkle lights and mason jars with candles. I would totally steal this idea but Blake doesn't do well with heights or electrical projects. Brinton has worked so hard and their whole yard and garden is a cozy woodland retreat.

Lucy slept over and kind of couldn't wait for us to leave and have her night begin.

Suk and Wedge had kind of a traumatic day at the groomer earlier in the week. Our regular groomer is not available so we've been on a search to get these mangey mutts groomed. Blake found a place but when I dropped them off only big dogs were around - like pit bull type dogs. These little boys were terrified. Well, almost nine hours and about $100. later Blake picked up the boys. Wedge was handsome as always but my poor baby Suk had all the long hair on his ears cut off and any hair he had on his stump tail was gone (when we bought him 10 years ago for our first anniversary he was discounted because of his stump tail). My poor Suk. He was embarrassed for a few days and he's still shivering so we took them to the party to cheer them up.

Pit-bull ears.

My favorite month of the year!

preschool

2011-09-07T10:03:00.003-06:00

The first day of preschool was a success all around!

The night before I admit (if you didn't read my post below) I was kind of a basket case. I was nervous, sad and doubting if I would be able to be there for the drop-off in the morning. But we all woke up excited and happy and all of the uneasiness from the night before was gone.

Lucy was literally squealing about school. Blake and I both took the day off because we both wanted to see her walk into her class and hear all about her day when we picked her up. Blake made Lucy a yummy breakfast but with all of the excitement she only had a few bites.

We got to the preschool and it was so quiet. I expected madness but mostly it was a lot of nervous/excited kids and parents taking pictures.

Lucy gave hugs and walked right into her class. She knew from the open house to get her name tag and to wash her hands. We stayed a bit in the doorway (with ten other parents) to spy and make sure she was fine...and she always is.

She looked so big in her classroom. I mean, hello, she did make it onto the growth charts last month for the very first time - 1st percentile!!

She seemed older and very ready to be where she was.

Blake and I had almost 3 hours for a Tuesday morning date - so we went to Costco and Target.

And I guess Blake 'coupons' now...

We picked her up and she kept saying "it was so fun!"

Lucy loves Halloween (of course) and it's practically the middle of September so for her first day of school gift she got a giant Halloween coloring book and Halloween-ish/Pirate pajamas.

Blake and I handled it much better than expected. I teared up a little walking into the preschool but it was mostly because of all of the excitement and emotions from the parents and kids you could feel in the fall-ish air.

Lucy did amazing but I didn't expect anything less.

Here's to a happy school year!

(and a couple of free hours to browse as many "boring" stores I wish!)

practically perfect

2011-09-05T20:49:00.004-06:00

To use a term from Mary herself, that was exactly how our weekend was, practically perfect!

We've been counting down to this long weekend for quite awhile and it didn't disappoint. We spent some time shopping, lunching, picking up dance shoes for a new season, packing the backpack and having as much fun as possible to wrap up the summer.

On Sunday afternoon we checked in to one of Lucy's favorite places, the Little America Hotel. We thought it would be fun to have a little family overnighter downtown before we step into this new chapter. Preschool may not be a huge deal for some but for us (Blake and me) it's a huge deal sending our little girl to preschool and we wanted to do something special.

After checking out the room we went to swim and lounge by the pool. We ate and then Lucy and I got ready for Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theater. Blake wasn't invited to the girls' night so he played chauffeur. The musical was amazing!! It's over 2 1/2 hours and Lucy was mesmerized every minute. If you have a chance, see it! Even if you don't really care for the movie the musical is so entertaining and way above anything I expected.

After the show we went back for treats and snuggles in the hotel. Our sweet little girl was so appreciative and kept thanking us for her special night.

Unfortunately I've been using my camera phone for everything lately so things pictures aren't the best...

ready for the show

in the elevator with her new Mary Poppins bag - mini version

sleepy girl.

It was such a fun weekend and a nice distraction. I know I'm overreacting but I have so many mixed emotions about preschool. We went to the parent orientation the other night and as we sat in the chapel (her preschool is at a Presbyterian church) the Pastor was giving a blessing to the students and the school year and I got so emotional. I know that Lucy is ready for preschool, friends and to be away from home a few hours a week. But it is hard letting her go. I guess it is hard because I know it's a step to so many more things. Kindergarten next year is going to be a doozy...

I have full confidence that we're doing the right thing and I know she is going to the right place so that does make it a little easier but it is incredible how fast time flies. She is growing up right before my eyes and I'm afraid to blink.

But I'm sure the melancholy will last for a few days and then her excitement and stories about preschool will outweigh a lot of these feelings. It's so ironic because one minute I feel like I need a break from the zillions of questions, picking up messes and being a personal butler but now the idea of her starting school and her venturing out into the world soon has me absurdly considering home school.

But just for a second...that would be punishment in Lucy's eyes and well, I can't even really do long division.

Tomorrow will be hard for a minute. Sending my little baby off to her two teachers (who pretty much already seem like angels) and off on some new adventures to meet new friends, learn exciting things and take a mini step of independence...so, so bittersweet.

Sitting at her bedside in the NICU I prayed to God to have these moments. I prayed for her to stand tall, be brave and have the most amazing life ever imagined.

I wanted it all for her - and she will do it all.

I just have to be okay with letting her go...but just a tiny bit for now.

so long summer

2011-08-18T13:33:00.000-06:00

Yeah, it's August.

But I'm ready for the change in the air and ready to move into a new season. I'm ready for schedules, cooler air and some more orange in my life.

Blake brought home these beauties for me the other day and they're the perfect welcome for fall to arrive.

But instead of watching the calendar we're making the most of the last few weeks of summer. Lucy starts school pretty soon and we're having fun playing outside and visits to the pool. Last weekend we even had our own backyard movie night. I thought we'd need the elaborate set-up of a projector and screen but in about five minutes Blake just set up one of our tv's and we were good to go! We had such a fun night and it was so cozy to have our treats and movies in our own back yard.

Summer isn't complete without breakfast in the canyon.

morning people

Summer growth spurts.

Lucy has grown almost two shoe sizes over the summer and is in a bigger size of clothes. Her hair seems to grow longer by the day and don't even get me started on her personality.

4 going on 14 is no exaggeration.

We've had a great summer so far...

enjoy the rest of yours!

nicu reunion

2011-08-09T21:17:00.004-06:00

This weekend we went to the annual NICU reunion at IMC. We missed the reunion last year so we were excited to go and visit with other NICU graduates and remember how far Lucy has come. IMC did an amazing job on the reunion - so many fun activities for the kids and Toy Story themed. There were over 600 people so it was kind of crazy but Lucy got her passport and visited all of the rooms and activities. This is Lucy at the nurse station room standing next to an isolette - where she lived for her first two months of life. When we first walked by the room I had to catch my breath. Isolettes, heart monitors, oxygen and all of the other equipment found in the NICU was on display so the kids could see what helped them when they were born. Once we went in though it was interesting to watch Lucy take everything in. She was cautiously curious.

We explained how this was her bed and we'd visit her and do her cares and then when we'd leave we'd put her blanket over the isolette to let her sleep. I told her she had her cute dragonfly quilt - not a hospital issued sheet. I think that pleased her.

They had scales and various items to show how much their weight equaled. Blake and I found a one pound bag of dry beans and an apple to make her birth weight.

Fishing for prizes.

Bo Peep from Toy Story - Lucy was so excited and we spent a good chunk of time hunting her down. Meanwhile Blake was complaining, "we'll be in Disneyland in two months!"

Hello scrooge, this girl stops for any and all characters.

And I do mean any characters.

A fun reunion and a very happy one too!

It's good to remember and look back but also nice to go home and snuggle and see how far we've all come.

rainy monday morning

2011-08-01T14:42:00.000-06:00

We had a nice, dark down pour all morning and into the afternoon today. The grass sure needed it and I think Lucy did too. She got soaked to the bone and splashed to her heart's content.

After she was dry and warm she wanted her magic blanket and books on the porch.

This was the rest of the house on this dark, cozy morning...

When it's clean...Lucy's room is one of the coziest places in the house. One of her windows is almost covered in greenery and with the dark clouds it looked like the perfect spot for a nap... but Lucy doesn't believe in naps.

p.s. the only thing missing on this rainy morning was a good book for me. On Friday I finally bought The Help and it was so amazing that I read it in less than two days. This morning I kind of wished I didn't finish it so fast. If you haven't yet, read it!

arts & crafts

2011-07-27T16:17:00.005-06:00

When Lucy had her last dance recital in June I worried what would keep her busy or entertained over the summer. We've done a lot of fun things but she needed a class - something to look forward to each week and give her a break from home. So she started a summer art class in June and it has been the best thing ever!

A cute friend of mine helped put the class together (her sister in law is the teacher) and it's saved Lucy this summer. Each week she goes to Annie's house for an hour and a half (plenty of time for a Target run!) and learns about a new artist, has a story, a little snack and brings home plenty of AMAZING pieces of art!

Before this class Lucy would color a little bit but now she is an art master. She's doing elaborate drawings, paintings and her imagination can go crazy on the canvas. Her teacher is truly wonderful and so good with the kids. I can't believe how much Lucy has learned about each of these artists and styles of art.

This was yesterday when I picked Lucy up from class. They learned all about Georgia O'Keefe, studied flowers, made their own magnifying glasses and Lucy ate gobs of watermelon. I swear, sometimes I struggle with getting her to eat but every week at Annie's she shovels in every snack put in front of her.

When I pick Lucy up from class this is usually what I see. Paint hands, huge smile and begging for me to come back and pick her up "in five more minutes." She's in class with one of her besties Amelia and even Amelia will say, "Lucy's mom, we're not ready for you yet." Over the summer we've practiced a lot of writing and recognizing letters and numbers but I also think having more artistic time has helped her writing. Sometimes I'm too uptight about art messes so it's been nice that once a week she can dive in, get messy and be creative.

All of this new original artwork started to take over my fridge so it prompted me to work on a new project the past couple weeks. We've had a playroom downstairs that has been very neglected. Hopefully I'll take care of the finishing touches this weekend and do a post with the playroom makeover.

Lucy's had such a great time in art this summer so I know that preschool will be her dream come true! I'm taking the whole "back to school shopping" a little overboard but it's just as fun for me as for Lucy to pick out a new backpack and cute school shoes. We have just about a month left before she starts and it will be hard in the beginning (for me) I'm sure but seeing how much she loves being in a class, learning and being with friends it will be so worth it.

p.s. if you have any interest in fall art classes let me know and I can put you in touch with Lucy's teacher Annie. She is an accomplished artist and I can't say enough about how amazing these classes have been. She is planning on doing a series of classes in the fall - her house and art space is located in the avenues.

book worm

2011-07-12T21:24:00.005-06:00

My genius.

Well she's not reading yet but she earned herself her very own library card. We've been working on writing numbers and letters this summer. Lucy could practice all day so it's not much of a thing to 'work' on for her but she's done so well I thought this would be a fun reward. Last week we went to the library for the puppet show (still can't decide if this is a hit or miss) and then Lucy got her card, 5 books & movie.

The librarian was so cute with her and when she asked for her name Lucy stood on her tippy toes and in her clearest voice said "Lucy-Cate-Schreck".

My big girl.

Between her bedroom, playhouse and playroom things that don't belong to us are sure to get lost so all library books have to stay in a separate space. I probably should use this same strategy on redbox rentals. I could have bought Barbie Fairy Secret for as many $1 nights we had it before returning.

This last picture was from my phone one night when we drove up Millcreek. We walked as far as this trail marker and then I felt creepy crawlies on my legs (or possibly a breeze) and it was time for me to get back in the car. But I just love this picture of Lucy. Eyes closed, long curls and those red pants!

Lucy was finally able to get out for a legit hike this past weekend. Lucy, Blake and her Poppa hiked to Dog Lake bright and early. I heard Lucy was a champ but it's a good thing she can still fit into the hiking pack because she needed a few breaks.

In between the summer fun we've had some lazy pool days, movie days and backyard pb&j picnics. Ahhhh...the thick of summer!

the 4th is fun

2011-07-07T21:53:00.007-06:00

She only wore them for about 20 minutes but I was able to squeeze Lucy's (sock free) feet into these boots for one last wear.

Lucy's big into holidays so we've been talking about fireworks, bbq's, America's birthday for weeks. Finally the day arrived and we headed to my grandma's house for 'grand old flag' party.

Hmmm, who here ~~likes~~ loves holiday costumes?

A backyard "march" is one of my favorite family traditions. My grandpa started this years ago. He would bring out the bag with all of the hats and flags, CRANK up the patriotic music and lead the march around my grandparents' backyard. Oh I miss my grandpa.

But we brought out the bag of hats, grabbed a flag and again cranked up the music! I was so happy to see my Nani march around with us. Just weeks ago she was very, very sick and in the hospital. She is doing much better and I'm so glad she was willing to let us have our party once again in her backyard.

After a couple of loops in the backyard this impromptu (and kind of odd) circle was created. We all just kept marching in place with big, goofy grins across our faces! If that wasn't awkward enough we all decided to take this performance public and head to the front yard.

I love us.

Bobbing for apples. This year the event was timed and Blake and Brinton tied for 2.4 seconds. They were going to have a bob off but after all of our faces swimming in the tub they wisely decided against it.

Coleman! This is the first summer in years he has decided to stay in Utah. Usually he's off to Alaska until the fall but lucky for us he and Calah are local and get to participate in all of these fun family activities. No way is Alaska cooler than that!

This was Calah's first experiencing bobbing and maybe she's already decided on Alaska for next summer :)

Haylie couldn't resist my harassing chants to participate.

We finished out the night with some fireworks and dessert. Lucy declared she loves 4th of July and Halloween (!!) best. Now onto Halloween costume planning...

weekend

2011-06-29T21:35:00.004-06:00

Yeah, it's Wednesday. But last weekend was fun and relaxing and I have a few cute pictures, so here you go!

Finally! Temperatures warm enough for sprinklers.

We visited a new perennial nursery from my aunt & uncle's recommendation and got a few more goodies to add to the yard.

Friday night we paid $9. to take Trax to the Arts Festival. We could have driven there in about 10 minutes (for free) but it was my grand idea to take the train. Oh well. We found Brinton volunteering in the face paint tent and Lucy was a (kind of creepy) red cat for the night!

They had a lot of really cool free activities for kids and Lucy did them all. We wandered the booths, bought a birdhouse from a guy whose pottery studio is in Long Beach, ate some yummy food, people watched, introduced Lucy to a 'port-o-potty' and enjoyed a perfect night in downtown SLC.

On Saturday night Lucy had a sleepover camp out in Caitlin & Brinton's back yard. Blake and I had a dinner date night on the patio at Rino's with a little shopping afterwards and then finally watched The King's Speech (we've only had it on our kitchen counter for about two months). Lucy had the time of her life at Caitlin's house. She stayed up late and woke up early and I'm sure was annoyed with me checking in on her.

It was a great weekend and hopefully we'll have just as fun this weekend!

a very merry unbirthday!

2011-06-16T21:54:00.003-06:00

June 16 ~ four years ago on this date we were finally able to bring our baby girl home!

After 79 long days in the NICU - her bedroom, jammies, puppies and mommy and daddy all ready and waiting.

I remember Dr. Fox calling early one morning - always a sense of dread and panic when the NICU phone number showed up - he said it was time. We had been at the hospital day in and day out for almost three months and for me it had turned into a comfort zone. So a small part of me felt like maybe we weren't ready - but Lucy was and that's all that mattered!

Lucy's latest obsession is everything Alice in Wonderland!! I mean, obsessed. So I guess that means a trip back to Disneyland is in order...we'll see.

But in the meantime I decided to celebrate her 'coming home' day we would do a little family dinner, just the three of us and celebrate Lucy's 'unbirthday'!

I was excited to cook something special for Lucy's dinner but no one around here seems to think I can cook so when asked what she wanted to eat she asked for Chipotle. Okay - easy enough for me.

Nothing special to anyone else ~ but special to our girl!

Her favorite things ~ flowers, balloons, fancy dishes and cupcakes.

And a special night for the three of us to spend together and remember how far our sweet girl has come and how thankful we are for every sparkly speck of her!

southern utah

2011-06-13T08:32:00.004-06:00

It's been a week since we returned from our little southern Utah getaway. I've been pretty lazy enjoying summer (finally) since we've been home but this trip was a success and needed to be documented. About an hour after Lucy's dance recital we were on the road to St. George.

Our first night we had tickets to Tuachahn to see The Little Mermaid. Our cute friends the Nance family had tickets too and were staying the night in St. George before moving on the next day to Disneyland - yeah jealous. We got to chat at dinner before the show and Lucy and Dakota got in a mini playdate.

Lucy and cute Flounder after the show.

I thought the show was a-mazing! I loved in more than Blake (tired) and Lucy (scared of Ursula) but I think overall they both enjoyed most of it. Does anyone want to drive down and see Grease?! I've never seen anything at Tuacahn and was so impressed.

Waiting for breakfast at the Bear Paw - peanut butter pancakes are worth the wait.

We took advantage of the splash pad - wading area. It was Sunday and pretty empty so I put my paranoid-of-rotavirus concerns aside and let Lucy be four.

Monday we were up bright & early and in Zion National Park.

She looks like a natural but prefers pretty pools, nice linens and a fun restaurant...just like her mom (and who are we kidding, just like her dad too).

No, we all really enjoyed ourselves and I didn't complain once about our mini hikes. It was a beautiful day and Blake and I even wanted to stay in the park longer - but Lucy said she was hot - and I think it was 78 degrees....

So this is the oddest but so cute new thing Lucy's been doing. I noticed it a couple of weeks ago. At home, restaurants, she would put her hands together like this for just a second and close her eyes and then eat. She doesn't say anything and it lasts a split second. I hesitated to ask what she was doing - religious practices are kind of a personal thing - but finally had to know. She rattled off some weird OCD explanation about how she's cleaning or calming (she's said both) her hands before she eats. So maybe it's not a prayer like I thought but whatever it is it's adorable.

We finished off the trip with a stop for squeaky cheese and cow watching.

It was a fabulous trip!

Tangled!

2011-06-08T14:27:00.004-06:00

Lucy's dreams came true when Miss Julie announced their spring recital would be Tangled! Since I don't sit in on her dance class I wasn't even sure if it was true for awhile because Lucy has been OBSESSED with Tangled forever. But she was right and I've been looking forward to the spring show for a long time.

Lucy with her Tangled curls. So right before Lucy's first number (and the first dance of the whole recital) she said "I might have to pee". I asked if she could hold it and she said yes and scooted herself on stage. Well the girls were standing up there as Miss Julie welcomed the audience and recapped pretty much all of the Tangled story. Blake and I were sitting on the floor up close with video and camera rolling and Lucy starts dancing around (not in the tap and ballet sort of way) and then my favorite moment - starting holding herself. I just prayed the music would hurry and start. I figured once she started dancing she'd forget about it. Well the story of Tangled was running a tad long and Blake said "I'm taking her - do you know what it will do to someone if they pee themselves on stage?!" Uh, no, but maybe he does?! Good daddy that he is he ran on stage, grabbed Luce and told Miss Julie (in the middle of her speech) they were out of there.

Well according to Miss Julie - the show must go on! She told Blake to put her back on stage and told Lucy (over the microphone) that she had to go to the bathroom too so they'd both have to hold it. The whole audience laughed and Blake reluctantly plopped her back to the dance line. Yikes. I so didn't want to have to clean up pee in front of a packed house.

Luckily our little rock star held it and danced her little heart out - what a dramatic intro!

This show, costumes, set and music was by far the cutest of all of Lucy's performances - we love ourselves some Rapunz & Flynn.

Lucy and her dance bestie Amelia.

"The show must go on!"

So proud of our girl!

this girl

2011-06-01T18:33:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I blog about the lamest things. TV shows, plants, pillows. This blog started because of this girl and wanting to capture every little thing she did in some sort of journal. But over time life happens and her 'first time eating sushi' or her 'stage of spitting' isn't documented and we just laugh about it and live in the moment - and then I come home and do a post about how I could live in pottery barn.

I hope when I finally getting around to printing 'the blog' and Lucy grows up and reads it she won't wonder why every post on 'lucy bug's life' wasn't about lucy. I hope she'll have 50 gazillion fun memories and even if I slacked off on documenting everything - her cute little photographic mind will remember the rest.

I guess I'm just feeling nostalgic because she's growing up so damn fast. Lucy wrapped up her last lesson in dance class today - another year down. Dance this year was the first time I dropped her off with someone else for an hour. This fall that one hour will turn into three when I drop her off for preschool - and I really don't know how I'll handle it. Lucy is so beyond ready for school and a fully-booked social calendar. She is four and needs friends, teachers, learning and I guess a little time away from me. She will be so ready this September but I won't. I had a mini panic attack in bed the other night realizing that once I get through preschool then the next year she'll be gone EVERY SINGLE (week) DAY. Doesn't that seem a bit much?! Five years old and going to school five days a week!

Ugh. The hard part of this is that the three of us are all so close and Lucy is a child-spy (like I was) and can sense any emotion, anxiety or unsettledness. Blake and I can be having a conversation and we think she's completely immersed in her own little activity and then she comes and recites word for word what we said (of course, adding in her opinion too). So I guess I have to drive up the canyon and cry and scream and freak out to not upset her.

Part of this anxiety could be because I probably will only do this once. That's another blog post altogether or possibly one that will never get published but Blake and I really like having our one perfect girl so it's not like I have 6 other babies in diapers I can focus on. My one perfect, delicious, amazing baby is growing up - and that's that.

I hope this is just an emotional phase I'll get over but it's bittersweet. And a little more bitter than sweet today.

addicted

2011-05-23T10:20:00.006-06:00

This Saturday was our first non-planned Saturday in a long time. So what did we do...

set our alarms for 6:30 and headed to home depot of course!

It started Friday night on our 'family date night' which consisted of dinner out and a legal pad full of notes, ideas and plans. Thank goodness for the leapster explorer because Lucy's not too interested in yard chat. After dinner and a lot of big ideas we made our first two (with a total of 5 over the course of the weekend) trips to scope out some trees. Saturday morning we knew half the city would be at home depot because it was the first sunny day in forever and well, it was possibly the end of the world and who doesn't want to enjoy some gardening and projects on your last day?! So that's why we took two cars and got there bright and early.

Our tree purchases!

We left h.d. with three full carts of stuff and some really annoyed customers behind us waiting to check out with one tomato plant.

We decided we might as well get everything for our projects at once...

first up is working on our carport area. We have a garage and attached is this carport thing but I would take out a wall if I ever tried to maneuver a car back there so last year we utilized it as a play area, grill area and some random seating. While you're using this area it doesn't seem so horrendously ugly but these pictures...yikes!

So our first plan was to paint this brick wall, paint the ceiling and the ugly brown wood slats and install light fixtures.

Do you like that I only have 'befores'? Well we might have been overly confident in how much we could get done in one day of sun.

We are still trying to determine how all of that space will be used. Part of it will be a play area again but we'll see what we'll do with the rest. My idea of this scene from pottery barn is probably not in the budget:

In the middle of projects we decided to take a break and head to one of my favorite nurseries J&L Garden Center in Bountiful just to make sure there wasn't something we were missing.

Lucy was not as enthused as us.

This is my table of goodies so far.

The rain started in again on Sunday so instead of making progress on projects or getting some things planted we drove north again to see what we could find (and this is why I'm choosing this blog title...) the Costco in Ogden has a pretty big garden center with good prices. Unfortunately we didn't find anything we had to have this visit. So we headed to Valley Nursery in Uintah (near the mouth of Weber Canyon). This is my favorite nursery of all and Lucy found a lot to do here.

Blake spied an AMAZING Japanese maple at Valley for a screamin' deal. We were contemplating picking it up but then realized we had no way to squeeze it into our car. As we wandered away two guys came speed-walking into the green house making a beeline to the exact tree. I freaked out. It's one thing for me to pass up a tree but if I feel like someone else might get it panic sets in. We watched and eavesdropped on this happy couple and when they went to find an employee to get the tree I told Blake he HAD to grab it! They haven't claimed it yet! I would find a way to make it fit! It was meant for us! And blah, blah, blah - ca-razy-town!

Sadly Blake wasn't about to fight someone for a tree and I guess we really didn't have to have it - but it didn't stop of from staring (and taking pictures) like sad saps as they tried to load it into their (much smaller than ours) car.

Addicted I tell you!

But a lot of fun.

(p.s. hopefully 'after' pictures will come soon!)

Thank you!

2011-05-15T18:53:00.005-06:00

Over 65 team members who showed up and walked - over $5,000. raised -

thank you all so much!

bake sale bliss

2011-05-11T08:40:00.008-06:00

Front and center.

The very first sight you saw as you stepped onto bake sale grounds (after Brinton accosted you in your car on the drive in) was Lucy and her lemonade stand. Healthy, happy, with friends, laughing, running - thanks in large part to the work of the March of Dimes.

Ten weeks early, over one pound, tiny lungs needing extra help.

That is why we walk, raise money, give back.

And give back we did! The bake sale last year was an amazing inaugural event - we fought the rain and cold and still managed an impressive grand total.

This year we had quite a few extra tables of yumminess, sunshine and very generous customers. But who knew we would TRIPLE our amount from last year?!

Well, we did and it was a truly wonderful day.

Lucy's lemonade stand was a darling hit. My mom made her cute stand and apron and some of those .50 cent lemonades turned into 5.00 lemonades!

My favorite pink gorilla...ever!

Brinton really outdid himself.

Dancing, somersaulting, high five-ing cyclists - he was kind of the hit of the event!

So many wonderful treats - made by many fabulous and generous bakers.

And friends...

one gift Lucy has given me since she's been born is crying at the drop of a hat.

As I would see familiar faces walk up I just got tingly and teary-eyed. Thank you all so much for your amazing support.

The two busiest bakers, my cousin Alisa and aunt Kim. They are the bake sale queens! I hope they both know how much all of their hard work means to us.

Creeping on customers.

No wonder he was so exhausted after the event - lounging takes a lot of work!

Until next year ladies...

(thank you, thank you, thank you!)

It was such a success because our amazing friends and family who continue year after year to support us and this important cause. Thanks to all of the bakers, packers, Steve and his awesome printing skills and donation of flyers, raffle donors and packers (mom), Caitlin's cupcakes, D, Crosby and Lennox for sharing Alisa and letting us take over your house and yard, the gorilla and every single person who stopped by - we love you!!

As of this morning we are $1,000. over our goal with a total so far of $4,377.00!

p.s.

for those of you great Team Lucy Bug! members who will be walking with us on Saturday...

I found out today the actual March for Babies program will START at 10:00 - with a few speakers and announcements. We will be the last speaker and then they want our team to try and make our way to the start of the pack and lead off the walk. There will be a lot of us so if you can't make your way to the front we'll regroup a few minutes into the walk.

The gates open at 9:00 but you really don't need to be there until 9:45 or so. We'll be near the entrance gate into the park. Wear your pink and green and make sure you get a wristband from one of us or from the registration tables.

After the walk we want to get a few team pictures and then feel free to leave or hang out for a bit. There will be food, bounce houses, face-painting, train rides and more!

See you Saturday and call Blake or me the morning of if you can't find us!

mmm!

2011-05-06T13:57:00.005-06:00

The forecast tomorrow is 70 degrees and the smell of sweets in the air!! All the bakers are busy - kneading, frosting, stirring and baking their buns off! Please stop by tomorrow and I'm sure there will be a sweet treat with your name on it! We're starting at 10:00 so be there early to get your pick of the freshest most delectable treats!! We will also have a raffle with some great prizes - tickets are $1.00 each and Lucy will be selling her delicious raspberry lemonade.

The bake sale is located at a house on the corner of 1300 South and 1840 East in Salt Lake. Look for the signs and there is plenty of street parking. Every dollar we make will be donated to our March for Babies Team Lucy Bug! and will go to the Utah Chapter of the March of Dimes.

We're so excited for tomorrow and hope to see you there!!

p.s. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to everyone baking today!

bunny magic

2011-04-24T21:47:00.004-06:00

We started the Easter weekend with a hunt at Wheeler Farm. I really envisioned this Easter (being so late) with lots of sun and springy clothes but still...winter coats!

Poor Lucy. In the race to get to the 9:30 am hunt I forgot her basket so she had to use one of our reusable bags from the back seat of the car. Usually I would see kids like this and feel so bad that their parents wouldn't bring them a cute basket...not my finest.

Easter morn! So on Christmas we had to wake Lucy up to see if Santa came but for Easter she was racing in our bed waking us up at 6:45 to see if the bunny came...and he did. That sneaky bunny hopped in, filled the basket, hid the eggs, ate the carrots and milk and left a note for Lucy.

As quick as we were done at our house Lucy said she was sure the bunny stopped at Gammy's so we called and woke my parents up so we could have a bright and early hunt there too.

The rest of the afternoon and Easter dinner was at my grandma's house. I have the best holiday memories at Nani & Grandpa's. We'd do the traditional plastic egg hunt with money and each of us grandkids would have their own color of eggs to find. I had a mini breakdown during the week that Lucy would miss out on this memory - no siblings, no cousins. But by the magic of the bunny Lucy had her own plastic egg money hunt - and she didn't even have to fight off any cousins. (actually for me that was the fun part - so come ON someone and have a baby!)

Sandy, Tracy and the girls are so artistic! They did the most amazing eggs I've ever seen. This one above was Tangled - just for Luce - and by far her favorite.

I'll share my cousins with Lucy until she has her own. It was such a lovely Easter and even though I didn't get to see all of my family (C&B - San Diego C&C - Alta) it was a fun day! I really don't know what we did before Lucy on the holidays. All of my excitement that I had when I was a kid has come back with her and it makes traditions, family, memories and holiday so special.

haylie, meg, lucy & aspen

Save the date...for goodies!!

2011-04-11T12:33:00.002-06:00

Team Lucy Bug!

2011-04-08T10:12:00.003-06:00

You KNOW you want to be a part of this cool team!!

Salt Lake March for Babies event is in 5 weeks! Saturday May 14 at This is the Place Heritage Park. The walk starts at 10:00 am. After the walk the train will be running for free rides and there will be many other activities for kids. Or if you have a busy Saturday you can make a quick loop around and do the march with us and then be on your merry way!

If you are interested in joining our team you can register HERE or if you'd rather not register just leave me a comment, email, text letting me know if you will be able to show up and support our team.

You can also click HERE to make a donation to our team - $5. makes a difference and is greatly appreciated!

In just 4 weeks we will be having our 2nd annual Team Lucy Bug! Bake Sale!

Saturday May 7, 10:00 am

On the corner of 1300 South and 1830 East

cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pies, bars, candy and other sweet treats!

Including a 'Lucy lemonade stand'!!

If you are interested in providing a sweet treat for the bake sale please let me know asap!

(Ferguson girls - we want your treats!)

Send me a message with what you'd like to make and how many you will be able to provide.

Kim and Alisa are doing an amazing job running our bake sale and need to know what we will be selling so they can prepare tags & pricing now so leading up the the bake sale they can just bake! Please know anything you plan to bake can be picked up by me a day or two before the sale - no need to worry about getting it to us.

And if you're like me, better at picking up baked goods instead of baking them, PLEASE plan on stopping by May 7 for the most unbelievable display of goodies!!

With all proceeds going to a great cause.

Thank you.

(and thank you to everyone who has donated, registered or has let me know they will be supporting us and Team Lucy Bug! - we love you so much!)

my four year old!

2011-04-06T16:32:00.003-06:00

After the little bug party with Lucy's friends I gave into her endless requests for a Tangled party. On Wednesday March 30 we celebrated our sweet little miracle's fourth birthday! Unfortunately Lucy was struggling with a yucky cold but once the family party started she was able to enjoy herself.

Rapunzel and her locks all over the cake - you'd think the idea of this might disgust me enough not to eat it but no - Dick's Market cakes are the best.

It was a small gathering with gammy & poppa, Caitlin & Brinton, Coleman & Calah and Lucy's great-grandma 'Nani' - after the gifts inside mommy & daddy took Luce outside for her 'big' gift!

Her reaction...squatting?

And then a run in her wings and rain boots to her new playhouse!

When I first saw this in the store I kind of started to cry. I wanted this more than Lucy - because I've wanted one for almost thirty years!

Blake and his brother Brad put this all together in only one Saturday afternoon. Once the weather settles down we have BIG plans and Lucy's going to have a third of our back yard to herself!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday baby -

we love you so, so, so, so much!

Thank you for being ours.

ladybug bash

2011-03-29T19:07:00.009-06:00

On Saturday our 'buggy' had her ladybug party with all her little friends --

and I do believe it was a success!

We met at the Sprout House at Red Butte Garden and started with smocks and painting pots.

ladybug balloons

ladybug earrings

followed by a lesson in ladybugs

then the hunt was on for aphids in the garden

8 of our bug friends - 3 must have been exploring

once the aphids were found and pots were dry it was time to plant

present time!

and as each present was opened the kids moved in closer and closer!

So cute to see all of them so excited for Lucy to open her gifts.

My favorite part of the party was seeing all of the kids in their ladybug masks! All through the garden little ladybug faces would pop up.

I just have to say...this group of kids was so fun to be around. Without siblings, cousins or school Lucy has met most of her friends through our friends. And these are the most adorable, funny, smart little kids. It was such a joy to see them all play so well together and I just love all of them. Blake and I are lucky to have some really great friends and now Lucy is just as lucky.

a happy, happy girl who has some lovely 'bug' friends!

tea time

2011-03-26T17:35:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday my mom invited Caitlin, Lucy and me to Afternoon Tea at Grand America for our March birthdays - and it was grand!

Lucy held onto her invitation all week asking if we would

- have pink tea

- use spoons

- use sugar

- have tiny cakes

and lucky for Lucy she got to do all of that and more!

Caitlin got all three of us sweet little gifts for the occasion.

We opted for the couch seating instead of the normal tables so Lucy could be within reach of everything and pick her own items (only two broken glasses!). We started off with fruit, crackers and cheese, choice of tea and champagne (only for Lucy and me). Next was mini sandwiches and scones with fruit spreads and cream.

We pretty much devoured the three tiered tray and it was little awkward when the waitress asked if we were finished...and all that was left was a lone green olive slice and crumbs.

Maybe at tea you're supposed to leave a little on the plate...

or not!

The dessert tray came next and it was delicious! We were seated right next to a harpist and Lucy was thrilled. She kept saying "oh I love this song."

After tea we had to check out La Bonne Vie Patisserie - we wished we lived there!

Very appropriate birthday hats everyone should have.

It was such a fun afternoon, thanks mom!

the birthday bowl

2011-03-24T17:19:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure what the best part was of Caitlin's bowling birthday bash:

- finding out my parents haven't bowled in 40! years

- the pizza factory bread torches

- 3 of us talking about past back issues and all secretly hoping for no injuries

- watching Lucy's dramatic sing and dance routine when Justin B.'s "Baby" came on

- knowing that we only were playing one game

We really had such a fun night and I think some of us might opt to start picking activities for our birthdays instead of my snoozer senior citizen birthday breakfast at little america.

(Coleman was up to bowl during this pic and Blake disappears when I have my camera)

Happy birthday - bash sister!

princess makeover

2011-03-23T16:53:00.004-06:00

On Saturday Lucy's princess dreams came true!

I actually let her out of the house in princess garb (Rapunzel to be exact)

and we met our girls Angie and Dakota for a full princess makeover.

The stylists at the Paul Mitchell school used their brightest blush, pinkest gloss and created a fog of hairspray to please these princesses.

The presentation...

Lucy especially liked the manicure with a lovely deep purple hue that still hasn't come all the way off.

Rapunz & Belle

After princess overload Angie and I were in desperate need of some caffeine and lunch so eventually we found a place that was open but walked in and they sat us in the dark. Well, the whole restaurant was dark - and empty. The staff acted like nothing was wrong and Angie and I both went into mini panic attack mode when we heard there was a major power outage in the area. We're both nervous like that but once the chips and salsa came we enjoyed our afternoon eating in the dark. It was an odd but very, very fun afternoon with two of our favorite friends!

whole foods

2011-03-11T15:53:00.003-07:00

Is it odd to sign up for free tickets to 'tour' a new grocery store? Probably. But it might even be more odd to blog about the tour. Oh well. We don't go to Disney on Ice until 7:30 tonight so in the meantime this is about as exciting as it gets around here.

Since the beginning of the year the three of us have really made an effort to eat a bit healthier and move a little more. Blake and I aren't getting any younger and we've both tried to commit to some healthier choices (do you notice how I'm using the words: effort, a bit, little, tried - those words aren't the best choices to use). We've worked HARD, we've moved A LOT more than ever and are not trying but DOING what we've planned.

(there, I'm working on being more positive too!)

So being more mindful of what we're eating prompted my interest to sign up for tickets for a preview tour of the huge new Whole Foods store at Trolley Square. Lucy and I headed down this morning for our 10:30 tour for samples and to view this beautiful new store. I've been in Whole Foods a few times but never really shopped there. What I learned today is that even though it can be pricey I would feel a lot better about our food choices shopping Whole Foods. The store has a great florist shop inside, amazing seafood department, produce that sadly had items I didn't even know existed and a whole side of the store devoted to an in-store pizzeria, sandwich shop, sushi and coffee shop.

The tour guide had a lot of interesting information about the company and the products they use. For one, their florist shop only buys flowers from growers who pay fair wages. That's not something I would normally think about but we were told so many flower wholesalers pay unfair wages and make workers work in unsafe conditions. Although we don't see those workers and don't know the history of the flowers we buy I personally do not want to support or pay into anything like that. So I guess the lesson is to be more aware of what you are buying and where it comes from. I know that's easier said than done but I guess little steps.

So many yummy cheeses...with all of the samples Lucy thought she could grab and start eating everything.

Freshly made subs.

Lucy spit out the salami but devoured the veggie sausages. I think her palate prefers Costco samples but some of these she enjoyed.

Delicious green veggie pizza - I'm learning to like vegetables.

Our sweet swag bag!

So we probably won't do all of our shopping at this store but it is good to know there are many healthy, fresh choices ten minutes away. Since we've been eating healthier it seems all we do is grocery shop. Costco for produce, some meats and dairy and eggs, Harmons for bread and a few other things and Target for all of the aisle items: peanut butter, cereal (movies, Tangled toys, magazines and cute seasonal stuff) :).

Now I must add this disclaimer that being more 'mindful' of our eating doesn't mean we're the epitome of healthy eating - not by a long shot! So don't judge if you see me eating a Dunford chocolate donut. And we're not giving up our Hires burgers anytime soon.

But making a few healthier choices has really improved how I've felt lately - I no longer have a drip of diet coke into my bloodstream but actually am drinking water (with only about one diet coke a day). I wore out a pair of tennis shoes and needed to get new ones. And have tried a few healthy recipes in place of a run through a fast food window. So like I said earlier, little steps!

And nothing is healthier than being out in this beautiful sunny day!

pink retreat

2011-03-03T21:44:00.003-07:00

Over Presidents' weekend we did two room makeovers. Blake took an extra day off and we decided to update both Lucy's room and ours. Our room is almost done but I need to do some more accessorizing and find something to put on our super bare walls before I show the finished room. Lucy's room is complete now and I'm in love! The first thing I do when she wakes up is open her blinds (that's the first thing I do in EVERY room - closed blinds in homes is probably my biggest pet peeve), make the bed and check on the mini inside rose bush she and I found at home depot. I'm sure I enjoy it more than she does!

I'm pretty sure it was my 8th birthday (the year before my sister was born) that I had a full room makeover. The colors were peach and cream. I had the most beautiful wooden cream-colored canopy bed, matching dresser, desk and hutch. My bedding was peach and I had a peach-colored bedside lamp. It was my most memorable birthday. I remember just sitting on my bed admiring all the special little touches, artwork from Appleyard Art, peach silky ribbons hanging from the canopy posts - ahh I can see it all now! I remember I got a journal that year also and instead of writing some scandalous 8 year old secrets I made a list (my all time favorite past time) of my favorite items in my room. How weird-o is that?!

Anyway...bedrooms, special places to retreat are really important to me and so I wanted Lucy's room to create that same feel. At almost four years old I think she'd rather sleep in our bed with us and the dogs but I'm sure she'll appreciate it soon. She sure does love to show it off and give a detailed tour so I'll share it on the blog...

(oh and I don't have an amazing camera like everyone else does nor do I have any interest in getting one - that being said these pictures REALLY don't do the room justice!)

Blah - this is the before. This picture does show Lucy's new bed. Once we moved out the toddler bed and cancelled the RCWilley order for a really boring wooden slat headboard - this arrived. It's no carriage bed - but Lucy approves. So notice all the dark wood furniture? When I was pregnant Blake and I found a perfect nursery set at Babinskis and I justified the cost by saying Lucy would use the furniture for at least 8 or 9 years. Well, now all of that pretty dark wood furniture is stored in a spare room downstairs. Pink and cream (much like peach and cream) is kind of a necessity for a four year old princess.

This pink on the walls is a super cozy pink - I'm still in search for the right bedskirt.

The mirror on the wall used to hang on my wall in high school but was a really stark white so I spray painted it cream to add to the soft look of the room. This dresser was a great find from KSL. I went from a dresser and changing table to this one large dresser and finally packing away two drawers of baby blankets. I changed the top knobs out on the dresser. Originally I thought I'd paint it but the gold goes perfect in her room.

Did you know you can paint wood laminate? I was looking all over for the perfect sized book case and everything was too pricey or too tall. Then I realized this piece in Blake's office was the size I wanted. I was leery about painting on something fake - I though it would just wipe off. But spending some time online there's plenty of tips on how to paint cheapo wood laminate. So for the price of a couple cans of spray paint I created the perfect piece!

Like me, Lucy loves accessorizing and finding cute little decorative pieces. We've spent many mornings hunting for goodies.

Most of Lucy's toys are in her playroom but she keeps some of her treasures in the drawers of her vanity. I love to see how similar the two of us are. The way she arranges and organizes all of her stuff. It's been so fun to shop and decorate her room when she's so into it.

So that's her cozy little retreat! I've had so much fun working on it but I couldn't do any of it if it wasn't for Blake. He spent his whole weekend painting while I wandered the house and pretended to help. I'm great to come up with an idea, gather supplies, envision results and shop for the "fun" stuff. But when it comes to work, eh, I seem to disappear. Blake would be painting a full room by himself then walk down the hall to find me flipping through decorating magazines under a blanket on the couch.

I think he prefers to work alone though - he's kind of a perfectionist when it comes to painting. I tend to rush through things because I'm too impatient. That's why the book case I painted had a few too many drips - I was painting in 30 degree weather. But what better way to get through the dreary months that a room makeover...ours will be up next!

front page news

2011-02-23T21:16:00.007-07:00

We've had some really fun experiences so far being the March for Babies Ambassador Family. Last Friday we received our local 'Sugarhouse Journal' and look who made the front page! The article is HERE - so fun to see and the paper version had an extra picture on the inside.

This is from our very first Roller Derby we attended a few weeks ago. Wasatch Roller Derby is a great organization that donates most of its proceeds to charitable organizations. The derby team contacted the March of Dimes and wanted us to speak and attend their event. I had no idea what a huge following roller derby has. I asked Blake if he would do the speaking and figured it would be the team and 20 or so other people but there were easily a couple hundred people at their event at the Salt Palace. Blake and Lucy did great and 40% of the night's proceeds went to the March of Dimes!

A week after the derby we were invited as guests to the March for Babies Corporate kick off breakfast event at the Sheraton downtown. I collected a bunch of photos of us in the NICU, at past walks and plenty of her 'superstar' pictures over the past (almost) four years which was presented in a slide show. I spoke to the audience of corporate teams and sponsors and held it together pretty well. I kind of thought Blake would take a picture during my big stage debut but...no. We met a lot of great people who do so much to help the March of Dimes - it was a great event to get us pumped up for May!

Lucy helped the MOD staff with the raffle.

Superstar!

Our next event will be a radio interview this Friday February 25 at 3:30 pm. Blake and I will be interviewed on the Person to Person show on AM 630 K-Talk. This will just be a quick ten minute interview but we're excited for the opportunity to spread the word about the march. If you find yourself randomly tuning the AM dial Friday afternoon - tune in - but just don't make fun of us if we sound like chumps. I'm nervous but Blake lovingly reminded me that probably only like 9 people will be listening.

I am so excited for this year's march and it sounds like we're going to once again have great support from all of our family and friends. Again, if you want to register with our team you can join at www.marchforbabies.org/codi21 and click on 'Walk with Me'. If you'd rather not actually register just send me an email letting me know you are planning on walking so I can include you on Team Lucy Bug! emails. If you would like to donate to our team click the sidebar to the right. We are also planning our 2nd Annual Team Lucy Bug! bake sale and if you are interested in contributing something to the sale let me know. The bake sale is a couple of months away but my aunt Kim and cousin Alisa are already planning and we'd love to know if we'll have any other contributors and what you will plan on making! We really appreciate your support!

sparkle ears

2011-02-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

My baby is so growing up. Last Wednesday we were at the mall and she told me it was time. We had talked about piercing her ears a few times but it wasn't the right time. I decided I'd wait until she asked on her own to do it...and she did.

She didn't cry at all or even flinch. I was the one sobbing and asking random strangers if I was making a mistake. Luckily the random strangers were super sweet and (probably awkwardly for them) my support system. It was done and Lucy wiped my eyes and we were on our way. Oh, my baby.

She loves having earrings and I have to admit they look adorable!

happy hearts!

2011-02-13T16:35:00.003-07:00

We've had such a fun time celebrating Valentine's this month. I decided to do a '14 days of Valentine's' for Lucy this month and found a perfect little mailbox from PBK to hold her little prizes. Each morning Lucy would find a treat, movie or little toy to celebrate. The first few days she asked who was delivering the surprises and I hadn't really thought that out so I never really answered. Blake then started calling it a 'Valentine fairy' so I guess that works.

I love Valentine's day. Some people don't like it but it's always been one of my favorites. I tend to prefer the "sub" holidays with a ranking of 1) halloween 2) valentine's 3) easter. When we were growing up my mom always made Valentine's so cute and we'd always have fun gifts to open. Lucy has loved it this year too. Her new line is "Isn't this DARling?!" So we've heard that all month!

On Saturday we celebrated our "family" Valentine's. I had signed Lucy up for a Valentine tea party at Pottery Barn Kids. That store can get outrageous on prices but just like Pottery Barn it's worth it (sometimes). They do everything up just right. Cute pink sugar cookies, punch, Fancy Nancy stories. Fun little projects and crafts to take home. I guess that's why I had to register well over a month ago and received a confirmation call the day before.

I've gone to a bunch of the classes offered at Pottery Barn and most of them have been really worth going. They offer decorating, party planning and other classes early Sunday morning. It's clean, quiet and smells wonderful. This activity was a little noisy and got messy with glitter glue but Lucy loved it.

Lucy's choice for dinner and she picked Spaghetti Factory IN the trolley.

On Sunday we made and delivered some cupcakes while Blake golfed for 14 hours. Loved the sunny warmer weather!

My Valentine!

On Valentine's night Blake and I are going to the Sarah McLachlan concert (4th row center!). I'm so excited we actually have a date/plans on Valentine's. I hope you have a SWEET day!

what's up?!

2011-01-28T09:45:00.003-07:00

...obviously nothing much that's worth blogging about!

But that's okay...sometimes nothing going on is a good thing and makes for some lazy days...

with crazy hair,

and creative creations (this is her driving a Cinderella coach).

But other than dance class, the premiere of Bubble Guppies and reenacting the Tangled movie 14 times a day someone might be going a little stir crazy.

I'm obviously not the creative one in the house and have decided I need to be planning a trip, booking a trip or ON a trip during January to not want to pull my hair out. That's not in the cards for us anytime soon so instead I decided to do some projects in the house.

January blahs aren't that bad with springy new pillows...

And Valentine's stuff!

Caitlin, my mom and I worked on these banners two seconds after the Christmas trees went down (but then they both got really cute glitter and made new ones on their own making mine look blah)

Lucy's fab creation...

These hazy days make for some fun dance parties so we've had many of those. This week we had a little more excitement visiting and deciding on some preschools for fall. I really have spent more energy on this decision than necessary but if I have to send my girl out on her own I really want to make sure it's at the right place. I know this will be so good for her but I will be lost without my little dance partner, shopping pal, co-decorator and tv snuggler (even if it will only be for less than 10 hours a week).

Up next on our agenda? Some bedroom re-do's!

I just have to convince Blake that painting is one of the best things to do on the weekends!

Hopefully I'll have some amazing room makeover blogs coming soon...

2011

2011-01-10T10:48:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year!

2010 was a great year...we moved into our new home, had some great vacations, went to some awesome concerts and celebrated 10 years of marriage. Lucy has grown up so much this past year and time is flying by. I've been on the ball so far this new year and am in the process of applying for preschools. The thought of Lucy going to a little class this fall is more than I can handle some moments and others I wish she was enrolled in summer school!

Crisp calendars, fresh starts, Christmas decorations away...these are really the only great things about January. And by the middle of the month I'm over the calendars. But I know 2011 is going to be an AMAZING year and one day spring will be here.

We have exciting news for 2011 - we've been named the Utah Ambassador Family for the March for Babies!! This is really such an honor for us and I am so excited to share our story and represent the March for Babies. With this title we will be able to help participate in many March of Dimes events this year and will have some speaking opportunities (yikes) to share our story and connection to the March of Dimes. This will be our fourth year walking in the March of Babies and every year we are so overwhelmed with the love and support of friends and family who've participated and donated to this cause. This year I REALLY want to be overwhelmed! Blake and I will always participate in this cause but this year we really want to make a plea to our friends and family to get involved. We want to have our biggest team showing yet at the march on May 14, 2011 at This Is the Place Heritage Park. After this year we will of course love to have your support but PLEASE if you can this year, register, donate and WALK with us!! We've usually had one of the largest number of team members but this year being the Ambassador Family I want to make sure we are #1.

The walk is just over 4 months away but now is a great time to decide to join us - here are some ways:

If you've joined our team before you can use your same user name and password. Make a fundraising goal. I'm asking for a goal of at least $10. If you are bringing a family and only want to register one of you - that is fine! And still, just a $10. goal is great.

Email me: if you don't want to register but do want to show up and walk that day we'll take you! Registering is a good way for the March of Dimes to have an estimate of attendees but if you'd rather not that's fine too. Just let me know so I can update you with information on our Team Lucy Bug! email list.

My amazing aunt Kim and cousin Alisa are going to host another bake sale for our team this year! They did such a great job last year and raised so much money for us. If you would be interested in making a treat for us to sale at the bake sale let me know! The bake sale will be in May on a Saturday before the walk.

And if you'd like to make a donation to our team it would be so appreciated. Click here to be directed to my page www.marchforbabies.org/codi21 or click on the March for Babies widget on the sidebar of the blog.

THANK YOU!! This year is very important to us and I know Team Lucy Bug! will again be a success because of you!

Walk details:

This Is The Place Heritage Park (same as last year)

Saturday May 14, 2011

Registration 9:00

Walk starts 10:00 (our committee will really push for the walk to start on time!)

After the walk there will be entertainment, food, bounce houses, train rides all free with your participation in the walk.

and to all a good night!

2010-12-29T14:37:00.009-07:00

Ahhh. Christmas 2010 has come and gone.

We had a great one along with a nice Christmas season. The actual day comes and goes so quickly that I'm glad we did as many activities in December as we could squeeze in. The week of Christmas I was a little nervous though. On Monday I woke up with the worst stomach flu I've had in some time (lovely that I'm documenting). I was sick all day and into the night and the next morning woke up fine. Tuesday I came home from work just in time to witness it hitting Lucy...at the dining room table. I found out that night that it's a good thing I only have one child because two sick kids would send me into a full blown panic attack. Our poor girl does not have a lot of extra reserves to lose so with each puke I worried more. Luckily Blake helped the situation by making us a cozy family bed complete with a throw up bowl for Lucy and popcorn for us. He found every season of The O.C. "Christmukkah" episodes (we own all seasons and yes it's one of our FAVORITE shows...do yourself a favor - Netflix!) and we watched all four hours of it while Lucy woke up every twenty minutes to get sick. The next morning she was pretty much back to herself. Blake thought he dodged a bullet but just in time for Christmas eve with his family it hit him. Luckily he's not as dramatic (and miserable) to be around when sick so he played it off well.

We spend our Eve with the Schreck family alternating houses. Clint and Abby hosted this year and they made a delicious dinner (Blake wouldn't know) in their cute festive house.

Blake, Kyle, Bob, Janet, Brad, and Clint (and his dog Dozer)

Lucy had an up-do for the evening

Home for Christmas jams, one present (always a book) and leaving out her bargaining chips (cupcakes and milk) for Santa

These jams are so cozy and cute and probably will make a reappearance next year.

Santa brought Lucy the unicorn pillow pet -

seriously, did every kid get these this year?!

Poor Suk. The first time in 9 years he didn't get one gift. His sidekick Wedge didn't either but I figure over $1,000+ in vet bills is Christmas enough this year.

We made the 90 second journey to my parents' house where we all got spoiled yet again. Luckily my brother was able to dig himself out of Alta so we were all together Christmas morn!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!

Notice the neglected Cabbage Patch in the background...

she was not interested and must not share my love/obsession with CPK.

The next stop of the day was my great aunt Beth's home. Lucy got to see her favorite Crosby and my brother got to hold a Santa baby! Little Lennox is the cutest thing ever.

I wish Caitlin and/or Coleman would have their own already.

The night wrapped up at my grandma's house and apparently so did my picture taking...

this is my cousin Aspen's body (not face) and the arm of her bf/bff (?) Cody - who I like to use as my babysitter whenever we're at my grandma's. I like to give my cousins the third degree on their dating lives, school them on the latest breakups in hollywood and impress them with my rapping skills (glee karaoke - gold digga.)

Christmas was perfect, we were all well and we went home feeling so blessed & happy.

breakfast with St. Nick

2010-12-20T22:00:00.004-07:00

We made the reservations clear back in early September but our breakfast with Santa on Saturday was SO worth the wait!

Our party of three made our way to the Grand America hotel that was decked out in all holiday coziness. Festive trees, perfect decorations and yummy food awaited.

Oh and Santa too!

The "breakfast" was a full buffet with special attention to kids and their typical palates. In the center of the room was a kid size buffet just a few feet off the ground so the kids could see what they were adding to their plates. Little corn dogs, mac & cheese, french toast sticks and darling mini desserts just for little hands to reach. Around the perimeter of the kids' table were the adult offerings but I didn't realize that until I made a full plate of kid food for myself.

During breakfast we suddenly heard the jingle, jingle of Santa and Mrs. Clause - they came out singing Santa Clause is Coming to Town! After the song and cheers holiday music started playing and the duo made their way around to the tables.

After the table visit you could go into another room after breakfast for a little photo shoot.

You could do as many poses (one with just Lucy - one with us) and they print the pictures for you right there - included with the event!

watch out - here she comes!

After breakfast we spent some time walking around the hotel. They have holiday windows somewhat reminiscent of the old ZCMI holiday windows. They also have a great display of gingerbread houses that I teased Lucy I was going to eat. She wasn't amused.

Even if you don't do the breakfast anyone can walk through and see all of fun in the hotel.

What a fun morning! It will be hard to go back to a mall Santa after this.

*oh and for my entertainment I spent a good ten minutes watching some dad methodically haul out about two pounds of fresh raspberries in a plastic milk jug. I guess he wanted to get his money's worth.

christmas twirls

2010-12-13T14:23:00.006-07:00

Candy smile!

This weekend was holiday dancing overload! Lucy's winter recital landed on the same day as our date with the Nutcracker. I must say Lucy looked beautiful in her frosty blue snowflake ensemble. For the winter recital it's "dancers choice" as far as costumes are concerned and we loved this costume so much it might just make another appearance next year.

Umm, is someone getting taller?! This group of girls are all three years old and it looks like Lucy might be catching up (a little!) in height. She's perfect just as she is but it was fun to see how grown up she look compared to last year's "baby" class.

"oh, by golly!"

What a wonderful sight! A full row devoted just to watch our little girl twirl. We have the most amazing, supportive family ever.

Lucy and her dancing bestie Amelia

The one and only Miss Julie

After the recital we celebrated my mom's birthday with a late breakfast at my house. We surprised my mom with tickets for the Nutcracker that night. The bonus gift was that Lucy would be joining us for the evening. Lucy also had a little gift for her super job performing - a little twin dancing statue.

Look how much Blake enjoys the holidays!

So my parents, Caitlin, Lucy and I headed to the Capitol Theater with all of us crossing our fingers Lucy would be on her best theater behavior and not get us all booted out.

And she was wonderful!

I mean two hours of ballet with no words is a bit much for any little kid to handle but Lucy followed the whole story, loved the dancing and costumes and couldn't have enjoyed herself more. I conveniently sat her between my parents so I could pretend to not know them if she started freaking out but she was superb. Caitlin on the other hand busted open a bottle of diet coke two minutes into the show with the loudest "psheeew" to ever be heard.

We had such a fun, Christmas-y weekend. I've said it before but what did we do before Lucy?!

deck the halls

2010-12-08T14:13:00.006-07:00

Our first Christmas in this house and it's just as cozy as I expected. Tiny enough that a party of more than 15 would cause claustrophobia but snug and warm for us.

I put off holiday decorating because I wanted to enjoy the simplicity of nothing for a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving but on Sunday Blake said it was time to get the tree.

Now it feels like Christmas.

The tree lot we visit on 700 east doesn't disappoint. We had to narrow it down because so many trees seemed like "the" tree.

After the tree was strapped to the top of the Outback we stopped at one of my favorite stores Cactus & Tropicals. I've decided once the dreary-time of winter and SAD starts to set in I'm going to drop in and visit this store. It's warm and humid and you can always find something in bloom. We picked up a darling little basil tree for the kitchen.

I know you're jealous of this disco-esque tree skirt. It's really not so garish in normal light but I'm still in need of a replacement. I found a perfect burlap skirt early in the season but it's now sold out. But since I had success on my burlap project below - maybe I could attempt to make my own??

In the fall I ordered a Harvest banner from Etsy - I really love it but looking at it I realized it probably cost less than $5 to make and I spent (of course) a lot more than that. So after a few tests and a visit to Hobby Lobby (I've never been!) my sister and I gathered the supplies to make "winter" versions. On Sunday my mom did the sewing while Caitlin impatiently painted hers in three minutes. You can't really tell from this picture but mine is dark brown paint with brown glitter. Pretty cute and very easy.

This is Lucy's tree. The other night Blake had his company work party so Lucy and I decided to pick out a tree all of her own. It's so cozy in her messy room.

But this little girl deserves it because she has done AMAZING in her new big girl bed. The first couple of nights she woke up and got out of bed but only because she's been getting over a bug. Poor girl was sick and just needed us. But ever since she's spent all night in her bed. It's so tall and I worried she'd fall out but she's stayed snug as a bug - I think she loves all of the extra room.

So the house is decorated, most of the shopping is finished, sickness (I hope) has left the house,

so now all that's left is some fun holiday activities and some cozy nights in front of the fire.

And of course, hot chocolate!

on repeat

2010-12-05T21:02:00.004-07:00

Is there ever a time when you come across a song that you've heard a million times before but this time you really hear it? And it becomes an obsession? Like an over two week obsession? I don't know what it is but I can't get enough. If the phone rings or I get busy with something I have to restart it from the beginning. And tonight at my parents' while the women folk were crafting (or attempting to craft) my dad turned on his old cd player and guess what song started up?!

I love music. And I've decided this might be one of the most romantic songs ever.

thanksgiving weekend

2010-11-29T09:38:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful low-key Thanksgiving weekend - hope yours was too!

Blake made his yummy parmesan artichoke stuffing to take to dinner at my parents' house and I made a delicious sweet potato casserole that NO ONE ate - but me. Next year I think this dish will be taken off the menu because I came home with a full 9x13 pan (minus my small corner serving taken out).

I love our smallish-sized Thanksgiving. There was only 9 of us with plenty of room to lounge and flop after dinner.

I'm thinking of cutting her hair.

Nothing drastic or super short but it's kind of crazy right now. Her real bangs hit her chin so I was thinking of having it all cut to one length to clean it up a bit. Hmmm.

I don't know how she'll feel about it though because yesterday we saw Tangled and well, Rapunzel and her hair were a hit!

All of my family saw it with Lucy yesterday and I think all of us loved it. Rapunzel has the cutest freckles and Lucy's favorite was Maximus the horse. Lucy would not stop talking about the movie all night and was reenacting it in case Blake and I forgot something. I'm worried Rapunzel may take top billing to Cinderella so last night I did some early cyber-Monday shopping and now I think all princesses will have an equal showing Christmas morning.

Speaking of...

Christmas comes early today at our house!

I'm waiting for the RCWilley truck to pull up anytime now (I even shoveled for them...well for them and for Salt Lake City. Because now you can be fined in the city if your walks aren't shoveled 24 hours after a storm. We are probably the youngest on our side of the street and last to shovel...)

So...RCWilley will be here to bring Lucy her big-girl bed!

I may have mentioned it before but against our will we've been co-sleeping since summer. What was an occasional visit from a sweet sleepy-eyed girl stumbling in for a cuddle at three in the morning has turned into an EVERY NIGHT visit complete with kicks, cover stealing and a formation of the human "H" (Lucy being sideways in the middle). Three humans and two dogs is not cool even in a king bed. We tried bribes, presents, threats but she doesn't care about those things in the middle of the night. I've decided she's just outgrown her toddler bed. I mean the size of the mattress is for a crib and she'll be four this spring. So even though she's petite she moves a lot and I think an arm or leg flung off the side of her bed is waking her up. So a bigger twin bed is our next option.

A decent sleep would be the best present I could receive!

Next we have to pick out some sheets Lucy will love because she's already disappointed in the style of bed arriving. Last week we went to pick out the simplest headboard, box spring and mattress because I want to wait a few years for a new bedroom set. Wandering through the bedroom sets we saw the bed pretty much made for Lucy - a carriage bed!

A darling (just from Cinderella) bed with a full carriage around it. I don't know who wanted it more Lucy or me. I knew it wasn't happening though and tried to steer her towards her new pioneer bed. What happened next was frightening. Full on screams and chanting of "carriage bed - carriage bed". And of course usually RCWilley is packed but this night it was a ghost town except for a few saintly 3-5 year olds and their parents waiting for the one salesman to finish helping us. Screams turned to sobs and then I had some sense to take Lucy out to the car. I then had to try and explain why she couldn't have the carriage bed (pretty hard when I wanted it too). She got over it once we got home but guess what was in the RCWilley black friday ad the next morning?

I hope this bed does the trick. Because if we don't get some sleep soon we might be delirious enough to go back for that damn bed.

Sweet dreams!