pumpkin walk!

every october in logan local residents participate in the pumpkin walk, an event that features displays made with pumpkins. they're really cute so i was sad that i forgot my camera this year. but we went with our buddies nate and claire and their baby norah, so thanks to nate for this pic!


(please ignore her bare foot poking out. her sock fell off and try as we might to keep that blanket wrapped around her, her little foot always found a way out. don't worry, we weren't outside that long...)

i'm excited to make penny's costume this year (wrapping some red jersey fabric around her last year to make her into a hot dog doesn't really constitute "making" a costume...) and i'm looking forward to taking and sharing some cute pics next post.

looks pretty good to me.

as if i'm not already addicted to my laptop and as if i don't spend enough time online...i started a second blog. although i love this little family blog, this other blog is for everything that's...not about family (i.e. my etsy shops, adventures in crafting, thrift store finds, books i like, movies i like, design stuff i like, etc). that way i don't have to bore you on this blog when i get excited about some new fabric i bought.

but if you're into that kind of thing, check out my new blog HERE. or click on the "looks pretty good to me" link in the right column.

lagoon!

this past saturday paul's parents graciously baby-sat penny for the whole day so paul and i could go to lagoon. i'd never been before and they had some pretty sweet rides. it was so fun to walk around holding hands and to have the whole day to ourselves - it was like we were newly weds again! (for you non-utahns, lagoon is a theme park near salt lake city. i would say it's a cross between knott's and your local carnival.)

it was "frightmares" at lagoon, but we didn't go in any of the scary mazes because i'm a big pansy. but we did watch a cheesey show that featured zombies that sang and danced to pop songs. the weather was so nice, crisp and sunny, and i always love me some roller coasters.









i LOVE the swings. it's one of my favorite rides.


aw, me and a hack-and-slash guy. how sweet.


it really was a perfect day. i LOVE amusement parks and it was nice with just the two of us. yay for lagoon!

penny's progress

So...I'm sure you've heard me mention that Penny's motor skills aren't eaxctly up to par. At her 9-month check-up, her pediatrician recommended that Penny visit a physical therapist. Of course, I instantly felt like a failure and wanted to cry right there on the spot in the doctor's office. But I just asked for the therapist information and how to get started.

Turns out it's a program funded by the state of Utah called "0 to 3" where they come to your home and evaluate your baby (can't you just imagine the FUN?!) and then they assign you a physical therapist. He comes twice a month and gives me new exercies to work with Penny and lo and behold...she's improved! She used to not be able to sit up on her own and he told me to just sit her up, and put a bunch of pillows around her for when she inevitably falls back, and that she'll get used to it and improve. And she did! At 10 months she went from lying on her back all day to sitting up on her own within a WEEK. What a simple tip! But I'm a dumb first time mom and didn't even think of it.

When it came to standing, Penny used to be like a wet noodle. The girl simply did not want to lock her knees for any reason. So the therapist said to use the couch as support for her chest and put "motiviation" (aka toys) in front of her. (Motivation is key for ALL of these exercises, otherwise they get tired and don't care.) Now look at her go!

(please excuse the jammies and bedhead, she had just woken up.)

Coercing her to crawl was a little more difficult. It required her to use her feeble arm strength and carry her own weight on all fours - something she's never done before. But after a few weeks of doing the exercises, she can support herself on all fours, but hasn't really begun to full-on crawl. Still! It's progress, right?


I love this picture. This is Penny "resting" in between crawling exercises and giving me the stink-eye (and reaching for my camera).


Anyways, sorry to bore you with all the details but as any mom knows, when something is "wrong" with your baby you completely obsess over it and it always happens to be the first thing out of your mouth when you talk to other people just to cut to the chase when they will inevitably ask the dreaded question. It pretty much goes like this (this happens in church the most):

Person: So how old is she now?
Me: 13 months
Person: Wow time flies! So is she walking yet?
Me: Nope, not even close. She doesn't crawl either, mostly she just sits....but she has the sweetest temperament and never cries and sleeps 12 hours a night and yeah, she's skinny but we feed her a lot, the doctor said she has high metabolism but she has lots of hair so that's fun and did I mention she can sit on her own?...
Person: Oh, um, don't worry. I have a cousin whose baby never crawled and went straight to walking yadda yadda yadda
Me: (feeling like a dork for bombarding this person with my entire list of pros and cons concerning penny's development)

And lastly, yes, I do think about how it could be worse, of course it could! I know she'll get around to walking when she wants to and that I'll just have to keep working with her and really it's not THAT big a deal considering all the other babies Penny's physical therapist goes to will never walk because they're missing a limb or have brain damage or will be connected to an oxygen tank for the rest of their lives...anyways I know she'll be running around with the rest of the 4-year olds scraping up their knees but I just never realized how much you WORRY as mom...and she's only one! I think I might have an ulcer or two or twelve by the time Penny leaves the house. Anyways, thanks all you moms for worrying about your kids so that they turn out relatively normal.

pumpkins are your friends.

I LOVE fall. I love the smells, the colors, the weather and of course, the holidays.

And what would a holiday be without baking or crafts?

I can't remember where I found this recipe. Whenever I come across a recipe I like on the internet, I copy and save it in my "Recipes" folder and then usually forget about it. But I remembered I wanted to try this one because it's SUPER EASY. Seriously, even if you've never baked a cookie in your whole life, you cannot screw these up.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box spice cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the cake mix and the pumpkin. Add the chocolate chips and stir well. Spoon mounds of dough onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool. Makes 2-3 dozen, depending on the mound size.

They look a little motley but are SO DELICIOUS.


I ate 3 in a row and then I had to bag them up and hand them out to neighbors so that I wouldn't eat the entire batch right there on the spot. Plus, you might get Halloween treats in return from your neighbors like we did!


But, if you don't feel like baking, painting pumpkins is always fun. I wanted to first paint them white and then paint black swirlies on top to make it more Halloween-ish, but then I decided I liked them just plain white. That way they can be Thanksgiving decorations, too.


(For reals, go make those cookies right now. You won't regret it. Well, maybe you will if you eat an entire batch and then feel sick.)

this was an awesome and hard weekend.

ya know how you kinda anticipate family hangout weekends but then they're also kinda stressful too? (i.e. packing, traveling, planning, timing, spending etc.) then on top of that add a friggin nasty cold that all 3 of us got. like seriously thursday night it all hit us - one of those achy, nauseous, super-congested, no-energy, hate-everyone-around-you colds (hmm...maybe it was the flu...) - and we had to head out friday to spend time with my family. which was great, but not as fun when you're miserably sick and all you want to do is sleep.

but saturday we had our family picture taken - part of the reason my parents drove up to utah because this momentous occasion only happens every 4 years - and none of the babies cried, penny and katelyn even smiled! hooray! then saturday night we went and saw my cousin erin play the lead in evita. i had doped myself up really good with cold meds by that point so it was fun to watch (i LOVE going to plays) and she was awesome!

then on sunday - which i consider the best day of the weekend + we all were feeling so much better - my sister made delicioso crepes with fruit and nutella that morning and we watched the first half of general conference (aka big mormon meeting with lots of talks from the apostles and other men and women of our church, if you're not familiar...) then we dropped max and penny off at baby-sitters and packed up and got to attend the sunday afternoon session! i love going to temple square - it's so beautiful and peaceful (despite the lovely protestors...) and it was very cool to watch conference live. the tabernacle choir was so beautiful to listen to, so full and pretty. i think my favorite part was the intermediate hymn where everyone (all 20,000) stood and sang together with the choir. religious song or not, that's always something that's cool to be a part of. i'm not gonna bore you with any more details so here's some pictures.

in temple square. it was cold and rainy that day but the temple and the grounds were still really beautiful.


in front of the salt lake city temple.


sitting in our seats, waiting for the session to start.


yes, i realize this is a cheesey picture but it was so cool to be in the same room with all of them!
(we were allowed to take pictures before the broadcast started).


and to top it all off, my aunt margo (aka martha stewart) made a big turkey dinner that night for all of us.
it's always good to see the fam but cripes, i'm tired.

splish splash, i was taking a bath...

...in the kitchen sink.


sometimes i get lazy and don't feel like bathing penny in the bathtub. it's so much quicker to fill up a little sink with water and to bathe her at waist-level. i think of it as a time-saver but then again i do spend 5 minutes scrubbing that sink before i sit my baby's bum in it. since she won't fit in the sink much longer, i might as well take advantage, right?

oh man, i love that look on her face.