Sometimes...

Sometimes when you're listening to Christmas music on the radio do you have to stop and yell, "But Neil, you're Jewish!" just to remind him, because obviously he forgot?

Because I do. Although I find it a little harder to yell the same sentiment at Barbara...

Just because

I am organizing pictures. I'll post more soon, I promise. I just wanted to share this one of Lottie and Brad from our trip to the zoo in November.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

So, who wouldn't want to win this? Well, except maybe sister... she's not so crafty.

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year? An immersion blender, a Cricut, fabric, a new computer (oh wait, we just got that...), world peace? Although, my husband has already finished shopping for me, and I've only told him one of those things. I didn't give him my list until he'd already got my big present.

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received? My mom gave me a nativity made of wood. Nothing fancy, but I love it.

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle? I tried scarves and they turned out great, now my husband wants me to crochet some gloves. I don't know that I really want to tackle it, but it would be interesting.

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child? I don't remember many, (although I remember every year my dad coming down the stairs after turning the lights on the tree and saying Santa didn't come - so predictable) but I remember the year we got the Nintendo DS. We put that thing back in the box for weeks every time we were done playing with it - only to have to get it out again when we wanted to play. Once Everett got sick of that and left it out, I threw the worst tantrum I remember. I screamed "No, No, No! Put it where it goes!" over and over. I was even on the ground kicking and punching. Seriously, I had issues.

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year? They're not quite old enough to make lists. But Lottie's getting a play kitchen and Kelsey is getting a musical learning table.

6. What is your favorite holiday food? Nuts & Bolts (my mom's version of Chex Mix), or the fudge... maybe caramels? I love all of the tastes and smells of holiday food.

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays? I made a clutch for one of my girls night girls (Kristyn, if you're reading this, I need to get you your gift - act surprised). I haven't done too much crafting for gifts this year.

8. What is your favorite holiday movie? A Charlie Brown Christmas, or It's a Wonderful Life.

9. Favorite holiday song? I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

10. Favorite holiday pastime? I love decorating the tree. And I love Christmas Eve. My family's tradition is to have breakfast for dinner, read the Christmas story from the Bible, and each open one present. I love the traditions. Brad's family has a giant hoagie sandwich on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas they open one gift at a time so everyone can see what each other received. I am glad that we both have such strong traditions that we can merge together to pass on to our children, and that we have started our own traditions.

An Open Letter

To All Patrons of the Theatre,

Don’t arrive late. It’s just rude. I know that sometimes there are circumstances beyond your control Sometimes there are accidents or bad weather. Maybe you should plan a little extra time for travel to account for the unexpected.

If you do arrive late, shut your mouth as the usher shows you to your seats. Don’t continue to discuss the unexpected event that made you late, hoping that those around you will overhear your conversation and assume that you are not really late, since it wasn’t your fault. That just makes those around you dislike you even more.

And speaking of late, don’t wait so long to order your tickets that you won’t be able to sit with your entire party, and then yell across rows of people to the rest of your friends. It’s just rude. As you wait for the show to start, get up and go talk to whomever you want to, but don’t make everyone listen to your life story. Especially when you have a voice like yours (yeah lady behind me the other night, you know who you are)! And extra especially if you realize right before curtain that you left your cell phone in the bathroom. Nobody needs to know that it was in your hand, and you don’t know where you put it. The mental images that conjures are just wrong. Then, as the lights are dimming and the gentleman is telling everyone to turn off their cell phones and enjoy the show, when your cell phone rings (loudly) don’t pick it up and have a conversation telling that person that you thought you lost it and your daughter is off looking for it in the bathroom! Just turn it off and wait until intermission to apologize to your daughter for making her miss curtain while searching a bathroom. Especially if your daughter is sitting several rows of people away from you.

When you bring children to the theatre, please be mindful of what they are doing. The person in front of you does not keep turning around to look at your child because he’s so good looking. It’s probably because your child is doing something annoying – like kicking the seat in front of him. So when the patron in front of your child politely asks them to stop kicking the seat, don’t look at her like she is rude for talking. And when the musical (or other event) is over, don’t stop the kind beautiful woman who was annoyed by your child and say “I’m sorry he was kicking your seat. He just doesn’t understand that he’s not at the movies.” Because I’ve got news for you – That’s not okay at the movies either!!!

And speaking of when the musical is over – it’s not over until the house lights come up. This is not a football game where your team is up 54-6 with 40 seconds left. It’s not over until the performers are done with their bows. Don’t start walking out at the end of the finale to beat traffic. Be respectful of all the time these performers put in to give you a few hours of entertainment. Because I’ve got news for you – it may be dark where you’re standing, but the actors can still see you. And it hurts a little that you don’t care enough to stand for a few extra seconds and clap for their talents and efforts.

Sincerely,

A Patron of the Arts (who has at least a little class)

Boutique

It's time for our annual holiday boutique. For the last several years my sister and cousin and I have had a holiday boutique. While my cousin is unable to be there this year, and Steph no longer sells Pampered Chef (she will be hosting a catalog party for the boutique), we have been able to add Kate's photography, Mom and Barry (the brother, not the father)'s yummy baked goods - think delicious caramels...- and a friend's cute little girl fun stuff!

I'm really excited about it this year. In years past, I've been set up to sell Mary Kay at the boutique. While I will still have that available, this year I will be selling my new handbags and accessories. I've just started making bags, wallets, and accessories to sell online. It's my new business - The Busy Bean. Visit my new website to see what I'm making! www.thebusybean.com. Okay, right now there's really only one post there with the first bag I designed and made, but I'm working on finishing a few other styles and getting those pictures up as well. I've also finished a necklace and bracelet - with more to come.

While these will all be available at the boutique, I'll soon open up an etsy shop to sell them as well. The goal is for me to do this and teach piano, and be able to stay home with our girls. Being home for six weeks when Kelsey was born really made me realize how important that is. While it's great that they are always with family while I'm at work, I think it's still important for me to be with them more. And if I'm home, then Brad will get to spend more time with us all as well.

So, wish me luck, and tell all your friends about me - because all women need more handbags, right? And who wouldn't want a unique bag, instead of the same old store-bought, mass-produced bags everyone else carries? Come see the debut on December 5th!

Gone, Baby, Gone...

The mullet's gone. Yes, my child had a mullet. It wasn't intentional, just the way her hair was growing. And it was so long in the back I just couldn't bring myself to cut it! Until today.

And yes, she was cute before, but now she looks even better.

On another note, I meant to post this a week ago, but time just gets away from me. On General Conference Sunday, my family gathered at the Aunts' house to watch conference and do some humanitarian projects. We made games for the Humanitarian Center and blankets for Primary Children's Hospital. While we were there, Lottie finally let go. She's been walking with assistance for so long, but wouldn't really go more than a step or two on her own. Then that all changed...

Kelsey McKinley

I guess a week and a half is too long, and I should have put up some pictures of Kelsey long ago, but I just spend too much time cuddling her to get on the computer.

Kelsey was born last Wednesday (missed Aunt Della's birthday by 17 minutes... so sad for Aunt Della) at 12:16 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. For being 1 1/2 pounds more than Lottie, her delivery sure was a lot easier.

They induced me on Tuesday at about 4:30, I got an epidural when the contractions got uncomfortable, and at 9:30 I was still only at 4.5 cm. Yeah, I'd been almost that far along for three weeks on my own! But from there it went pretty quickly, I was ready to start pushing at midnight. My doctor got there at 12:10 a.m. and told me to start pushing. I was expecting this to be a long process, since I pushed with Lottie for about two hours. So, he said "Give me a big push" and tried, but started coughing. Gave him another good push, then he said "Okay, now another big push for the shoulders" and I was in shock! It couldn't be that easy, right? Instead of pushing I ended up coughing again. One more push and it was over, so I pretty much coughed Kelsey right out.

Now, my sister-in-law Kate is pretty much awesome. She's our family photographer, and we're lucky to have her. Visit her blog here - Kate Johnson Photography - remember that if you ever need great pictures taken. I was going to have her take pictures next week, but then I found out on Friday that she was going to be out of town for two weeks. So, Saturday morning I sent her a text and by that afternoon we were taking Kelsey's pictures! I love the way they turned out! Here are just a few...


With the teddy bear Grandma Glo and Grandpa gave her



Here's a cute one of Lottie that Katie snapped while I took a break with Kelsey. I can never get Lottie to smile in pictures for me, but Katie has a way of catching her at just the right moments to really catch her personality.


And finally here's me with my two girls. Brad was at Priesthood Conference while we did this, so he didn't get any pictures with her, but we'll catch that later.


Kelsey is so sweet. She doesn't look at all like Lottie, yet. I have a feeling they'll look more alike as time goes on. Kelsey does have my darker hair, and doesn't have Brad's eyes and eyebrows like Lottie does. I may be biased, but I think they're both adorable.

Non-stress?

Why is it called a non-stress test when they only do it when you're stressed?

I've been pretty sick for the past week and a half. My family shares everything - even the stomach flu. And that's miserable enough, but worse when you're 9 months pregnant! Yesterday, for the fifth day out of the last eight, I couldn't keep anything down. After being at work for a while, I noticed that the baby wasn't moving like she usually does. Little Laverne & Shirley is really quite active. So I focused for an hour and only felt her move once.

My doctor sent me to the hospital for a non-stress test. Luckily, I work with my brothers, and Barry drove me to the hospital. Brad dropped Lottie off at his mom's and met us there. They strapped the monitors on me and I waited. We heard the strong heartbeat immediately, and it continued throughout the test.

So, they sent me home with a lovely prescription for the nausea. And when they say that it may cause drowsiness, they are right. I slept almost through the whole night last night, for the first time in a long time.

Now I just have to focus on getting better so I can actually deliver a baby. I was almost hoping they would just induce me yesterday while I was there, but they won't do that while you're sick as long as the baby's okay. Now it's back to waiting. I'm scheduled to be induced on Wednesday if I don't have the baby before then.

By popular demand...

So, here are a couple new pictures of Lottie. I didn't take many pictures during August or yet in September, so they aren't the most recent.

We went swimming on the 24th of July with Debbie and Ainsleigh. Lottie has a lot of hair, but normally it just lays flat doing nothing. However, put a little sunscreen in it and you get...

Whenever we do Lottie's laundry, she likes to help. Mostly she helps by crawling into her empty basket. But if you put the clothes from the washer onto the door of the dryer, she

will push them in for you.

And to prove she's growing up so fast, we were waiting for Uncle Patrick and Aunt Katie to get home one night and she just had to sit in my seat and learn to drive. A minute later when she grabbed my phone and held it up to her ear with one hand still on the wheel, I knew we were in trouble.

I'm trying to upload a video, but it seems to be having issues. I'll work on that and get it posted too.

Maybe pregnancy insomnia is sort of a good thing. If I could actually sleep at night, I don't think I'd ever post. 4 a.m. seems to be a good time for me to blog. Two more weeks, then I get "baby's not sleeping" insomnia. Don't think that will be as conducive for blogging though.

Seriously, so proud

Last year, just before Lottie was born, Brad walked in the graduation ceremony at BYU. He wasn't officially a graduate, because he still had his 200 hour internship to complete, but he walked, planning on completing his internship over the summer and having his diploma mailed.

Well, ask anyone who's done it, but an internship while working full-time to support a family is no easy task.

It's already taken him longer to complete his classes than usual because he had to work full-time. He's put so much effort into taking care of me and Lottie that his own personal interests have been put second. There are so many things that he wants to accomplish, but there just seems to be no time.

His work schedule isn't the easiest. And when he's home, he seems to spend all of his time on his own "honey-do" list. I've never had to make one for him, he just gets things done. Of course, top on the list is spending all the time he can with Lottie. I swear, if it wasn't for him that girl wouldn't be as smart as she is. She loves to play and walk and go up and down the stairs, and he is the one who never fails to have the energy to do it with her - even after a full day of work standing for eight hours straight.

Add to all of that the internship. This summer (only a year after planned...) he finally finished his internship with Select Health. Part of that was to complete a journal of activities. So many people (myself included) would probably have just done the hours, whipped something together to get just a passing grade, and submitted it. But Brad put a lot of time into actually turning in a journal he could be proud of. Enough to get an "A."

And yesterday, his diploma was mailed. He is officially a college graduate. Sure, he may have picked the wrong University to attend (Go Utes!) but he did it. He didn't let anything stop him, and that makes me so proud of him.

I was talking to my mom one day, and she shared with me what she worries about with her children. Each of us has different struggles. One thing she said was that she didn't worry about my family financially because she was sure that Brad would do whatever it took to make sure that we were cared for. I don't doubt that either.

I'm so glad that he has the drive to finish what he starts. He truly can teach our children by example. I don't ever have to worry that they'll do something they see their daddy do, because I would be proud to have my children do exactly what their daddy does.

And so fitting that he finished classes and walked right before his first child was born, and actually has the diploma now just before child #2. So really, we could just pretend these pictures were taken now... since we both still look the same!

*Disclaimer - I just couldn't resist one stab at BYU... But while we all know that the U of U is a much better school, I am still quite excited that BYU beat Oklahoma. I even cheered for them and explained to my sister why it was so exciting that they won that game.

Quick Learner

Monday night we were all sitting around at the Johnson house when Gramma Glo called out for us to make sure the girls were contained so she could open the oven and check on dinner. It's dangerous to cook around little Ainsleigh and Lottie. They both love to "help" when we open the dishwasher, I'm sure they'd love to climb right in the oven and "help" there too.

Uncle Patrick asked, "Do they know what hot is?" Well, Monday night we could say, "Not yet."

Lottie must have taken that as a personal challenge to learn as quickly as possible what hot is, because this was her hand on Tuesday.

The other hand doesn't look much better.

She was playing outside at Aunt Colleen's house with Ainsleigh, getting ready to go swimming, and crawled over a hot piece of metal on the ramp up to the front door. The poor girl screamed for two hours straight. Gramma Glo was beside herself with concern that she didn't watch her close enough. I said "meh..." Really, it could have happened when we were there all day on the 4th of July and they were crawling around the same spot. Although it was fun to text the picture to Aunt Stephanie with the caption "Grandma taught me what hot is."

The nurse said that she would be in a lot of pain for 2-3 days. You would never know that with how happy and playful she was that night. The only time she screams at us is when we change the bandages. I'm sure it is not fun to have your hands all bandaged up so you can't bend your fingers all the way when they're barely big enough to grab your favorite toys as it is!

Realization

I realize that most dreams make no sense. I have a recurring nightmare about escalators and being torn to shreds by Sylvester the Cat. It makes no sense. What makes even less sense about this is the scary thing in that nightmare is Sylvester, not the escalator. And yet, I am afraid of escalators, and not Sylvester the Cat.

Still, other than that, I have never had dreams as strange or convoluted as during pregnancy. Yesterday, I woke up from a dream several times as I hit snooze on my alarm. I kept hoping that by going back to sleep I could somehow will myself out of this bad dream and force a happy resolution. Finally I just got out of bed since instead of getting better, my situation in the dream kept getting worse. But even more disturbing than the dream itself are the two conclusions I drew from the dream...

1. I should stop listening to NPR news.

2. Once A Flock of Seagulls gets in your head, it's impossible to get them out.

I'm still singing "I Ran (so far away)". Not a good thing. And any dream that combines those two realizations into one is definately not a good thing.

Opening Night!

Sometimes I get so busy that I forget to post about my show! I'm so excited to be doing theater again... four years away is way too long. It's been exhausting, but so worth it. So, everyone come see me play Yertle the Turtle in this wonderful production!


The Midvale Arts Council will present "Seussical", June 19 - 27 (nightly except Sunday), 7:30 pm at the Midvale Outdoor Stage in the Park, 400 West 7500 South.

Now one of the most performed shows in America, "Seussical" is a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza! Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty ("Ragtime," "Once On This Island") have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie, and a little boy with a big imagination--Jojo.

The story centers around Horton the Elephant, who finds himself faced with a double challenge--not only must he protect his tiny friend Jojo (and all the invisible Whos) from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left to his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him, the only one who recognizes "his kind and his powerful heart." Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant, in a story that makes you laugh and cry.

The show is being directed by Stephanie Johnson, with musical direction by Tammy Morgan and choreography by Emilee Stokes and Stephanie Maag. The cast includes as Cat in the Hat - Candice J. Jorgensen, JoJo - Gracie Vesley, Horton - Jeremy Wing, Gertrude - Casey Matern, Mayzie - Elisha Jorgensen,
and as Sour Kangaroo - Lorri L. Cerva.

Tickets are $5 general admission, $3 children and seniors and may be purchased at the door or in advance at www.midvalearts.com. Group discounts and $20 family passes (one household) are also available. Seating is on the grass so please bring lawn chairs & blankets.

Squidbaby

I got to work this morning and saw on my whiteboard the heading "My baby is a..."

There were three options, and a note to circle one. Boy, Girl, or Squidbaby.

As we had our ultrasound yesterday and eliminated one possibility, boy had been crossed out. Which, according to my team at work, still leaves the options of girl or squidbaby.

The doctor thinks girl.

Happy Cinco de Lottie

Today is Lottie's first birthday. I can hardly believe that she has been with us for a year. She really has been the most amazing blessing in our lives.

We had a lot of fun at her birthday party on Sunday. We had a barbecue, cake, and a pinata. The pinata really kind of scared Lottie, but she took a few swings at it with help.

I have a few pictures of the party, but I put my camera away since everyone else there had theirs out. I decided to be part of the party instead of just taking pictures of it. I'll post more when I get them from Katie.


She sat for a while in the hat, but when we turned it around to face front, she didn't like it one bit.



She did enjoy the cake, but then her daddy had to put her in the tub.

Oh Happy Day!

For two years, our yard has been dirt. And not so much plain dirt, but clay, since our soil where we live is crap. Finally, this year we have finally been able to put in our yard. Last fall and for the past few weekends, my family has been working really hard with us to finish the sprinkler system. It was finished on the 18th, which means this last Saturday we were finally able to make it look like someone lives in our house.

Here's Brad and my neighbor Amy (who is almost as excited for our grass as we are) getting the soil ready to lay the sod.



Patrick was a real workhorse Saturday, planting trees and lugging a lot of sod.



We had a few neighbors come help, and Lane and Everett to lay the sod. They finished up the last few pieces just as the pouring rain started.



I'll have to take some good pictures, now that the whole thing is done, but it was raining way too hard the rest of the weekend to get good shots. We still have to plant one more tree in the back, spread the seed back there, and put in the flower bed, but then our yard will be all done; ready for a summer of BBQ and fun. We've got a Little Tykes swing set for Lottie to play on and everything. I can hardly wait to be able to fully enjoy the perks of home ownership that include our own place to play outside!

Today I am grateful for...

My sister. I stole this title from her, because she has been posting on her blog every day about something she is grateful for. It's really nice to think about all these random things - movie quotes, new laptops (jealous), family, etc. It was a goal of hers to post one thing every day this month. And I love it. So check out her blog if you want something refreshing - funny - insightful - each day during April. I find myself really looking forward to it each day.

A few things

Last night I auditioned for Seussical the Musical. This was big for me. It has been a while since I auditioned for anything. I was thinking it was three years ago, but as I pulled my old theatre resume off the computer, I realized my last show was four years ago. And I haven't sung in public since that time.

Luckily my good friend Candice worked really hard with me on an audition song. Singing is not my strong point in musical theatre. I'm an actress who can sing, not the other way around. So I get nervous during the singing portion of auditions. Especially since I was auditioning for people I know. The musical director is a wonderful woman named Tammy. My only contact with her has come outside of the theatre, so singing for her was new. And the director is my sister. I've been dreading singing to be judged by these two talented women. They can be quite intimidating.

Well, as generally happens with me and singing auditions, I hit some pretty bad notes. Surprisingly though, I thought my sister would make me more nervous, but it actually calmed me to look at her! Candice too was in the audience, and between looking at the two of them and seeing their support, I was able to get back on track. And I felt good about my reading of "The Sneetches."

So, we'll see what happens. I'm not hoping for a lead; I know I don't have the vocal strength for one in this show. But, it will be good to get back to the theatre and have some "me" time. I've got to get that in before the next baby's born.

Which brings us to part 2 of this post. Lots of people know, but for those who don't, I'm pregnant! It was quite unexpected, (really, those little pills only work if you don't forget them for three weeks) but we are so excited! Baby #2 (currently named Cain & Abel by Steph) is due to enter the world on or about Septmber 27th. Yes, that puts Lottie at only 16 months - two not in nursery. But, since I'm not getting any younger, we're in a two week countdown to 30, it's not a bad thing to get our family into the world quickly.

Unfortunately, that's why I'm writing this post at 3:00 am on my phone... Pregnancy insomnia. I wake up for hours at a time during the night, unable to get back to sleep. I laid here for over an hour tonight before I decided to just do something. So, that means a blog update (since they're way too few in number). Next time I'll post from the home computer so I can include updated pictures of Lottie. They're getting even cuter now that she actually smiles for the camera sometimes.

A little confused

Lottie loves socks. She really does. She's just a little confused about where they go.

Update

It's really sad when you finally get around to reading your sister's blog, and only then realize that you haven't updated you own in 5 weeks. So here's an update.

We went to dinner on Friday the 13th to celebrate my mom's news that her cancer is in complete remission. Yippee! The transplant worked just as they hoped it would.

Our little family is doing well. Lottie gets bigger every day. She's still got her daddy's calm personality, for which I am continually greatful.

My Trip to CES

I found myself at the Microsoft booth at CES 2009. The CES, or Consumer Electronics Show, offers some of the latest technology, coolest gadgets and craziest new innovations. At this particular booth, I was playing around with one of the newest Windows Mobile phones when I was approached by a very insistent woman.

"You need to get off this phone, the FCC Chair wants to see it." Say what?

Naturally, I obliged and let Kevin Martin, the current (but not for long) FCC Chairman, use the phone I was just playing with. He kicked me off!

Part of me wanted to respond, "the FCC Chair can wait his turn just like everyone else." But I didn't want the government all over me, though I wonder in retrospect what he would've done if I had resisted. Guess we'll never know.

So why did I go to CES? To blog. And for an escape. I'm making the transition from full-time job at AT&T to a part-time internship, and it seemed like the best time to do it. Plus, I could get into the show and parties for free. All I had to worry about was the gas, food and possible hotels. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I currently blog for unwiredview.com, and figured I could find plenty of stuff to write about. It was true. Some of the cool stuff I saw? A watch with a built-in touchscreen phone (Dick Tracy style) and MP3 player, that will speak your text messages to you. A luxury phone that costs $2,000. An 8 MP camera phone (read: better than my current digital camera).

There was a ton more. Huge booths with the fanciest displays I've ever seen, showing off all the latest products. One in particular was a sensor that you put on the top of your HDTV that can see your hand gestures so you can use your hand as a remote control. Practical? No. Intriguing? Indeed.

I also enjoyed the parties. Many of the big players at CES will put on afterparties Thursday-Saturday nights. I went to three on Friday night -- one that was on the top floor of the Wynn, with amazing views of the valley; one that was uneventful for me and doesn't need to be mentioned; and one that featured a free performance by the Counting Crows. I got into that one at the last minute and waltzed right in to a nice view, only 5 feet away from the lead singer. Not bad for free!

I also was able to attend my grandma's birthday celebration that my parents and my dad's siblings attended. That was nice timing for me to be there, and a pleasant surprise for her.

The other notable thing I did on the trip was eat out at a posh steakhouse at the Paris called Les Artiste. Rather pricey stuff. I was invited by my sister-in-law who was on her way down to Cali with some friends; they definitely wanted to go to a place while stopped in Vegas for the night. Naturally I hadn't eaten much that day, so thus my stomach was smaller and I wasn't able to eat much of my expensive dinner. Nice timing for that as well. Fortunately I got a doggie bag and finished it all later, so it didn't go to waste.

All in all, it was a great weekend and everything seemed to come together quite nicely. I networked with some new people, saw some cool new gadgets, and caught some good entertainment. Great way to transition into a new phase of my life!

Between Boise and Bliss

I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog posts, but I thought I would start our holiday recap with this:

Lottie is generally such a happy baby. She spends much more time laughing and playing than she does crying. And she has slept through the night since she was a month old. So of course, when we went to Washington to spend Christmas with Brad's family, she was up throughout the night crying. She didn't smile and laugh like she usually does. I'm sure the family who doesn't get to see her much thought that we all lied about her personality.

It reminded me of when Melanie and Jeremy came to visit Utah last year. They spent a day skiing with Brad and Lane. I couldn't ski because I was pregnant (well... that and I can't ski). So I watched their 5 kids that day. They told me that Brielle, the baby, was so good-natured; that she was just a happy little baby. Of course, she spent the whole day crying and didn't take a nap at all. Turns out she was teething and having a bad day.

Well, as we were driving home from Washington (which is a story for another post) Lottie was being generally good. She was laughing and smiling or sleeping. Until we got back in the car after eating lunch in Boise. Then she cried and screamed pretty straight until we reached Bliss, Idaho. Then suddenly she started laughing and playing again. It was crazy how quickly her mood changed. I grabbed the camera and snapped some pictures. It was then that I saw this:


Look close on the bottom of her smile there - you'll see Lottie's first tooth. I guess one tooth makes a big difference in attitude. The difference between being in Boise and Bliss!