merry christmas!

this year we traveled to albuquerque, NM to spend christmas with paul's sister, kenna, and her family. here's some pics from our weekend...

our first night there we went and saw a christmas lights festival. all the kiddos were bundled up, it was chilly!


christmas morning! penny was so excited to see all the little presents inside her stocking.

kenna, gabe, and baby nate.

penny lovin' on her new strawberry shortcake doll...she got to work right away brushing her hair.

i got paul an old-fashioned shaving kit, the kind with soapdish and brush. now he can learn the art of the manly shave haha.

cousins playing after all the presents were opened.


i'd have to say the "best" part of our trip was the gift that kept on giving...the flu! it was like dominos, each day a new person would be sick and i totally thought i was in the clear...until the day after we got home and both penny and i decided to hop on the puking train. BOO! but we're all better now and baby girl didn't mind me being sick at all, she just kicked me the whole time to let me know that SHE felt fine even if i didn't.

penny had fun playing with her cousins, especially maddie. penny would wake up in the morning and be like "where's maddie? play toys with maddie?" so cute.

hope you all had a great christmas!

25 weeks!

here it is...a bump pic. i'm just about 6 months and i can't believe this little girl is going to be here in a little over 3 months! things are going swimmingly and the time is flying by. nothing too exciting as far as the pregnancy's concerned...baby girl is kicking ALOT more than penny did, she's definitely an active little thing. which, of course, i love because it reminds that i am pregnant, except of course when i look in the mirror...

no real cravings, maybe i like spicy things more, like i'm totally loving salsa more...i'm a pretty boring pregnant person i guess. oh and WATER. thirsty thirsty thirsty, i can't ever get enough water. i guess that's not really a craving, pregos are supposed to drink more water anyways so...that's convenient. you see? so boring. but i'll take it. boring is good.

eek! i can't wait to meet this little girl! i love her so much already.

lately

just some pics from the last couple weeks...
paul got an iphone and it's so convenient for lazy people like myself to use it for pictures.

messing around + penny playing in her closet (sans pants).

cousin buddies max, katelyn and penny coloring at the balmforth christmas party.

my brother's newest little girl, scarlett + penny in front of our tree.

hope you're having a fun holiday season!

festival of trees

every december local volunteers decorate trees (and wreaths and gingerbread houses) for the festival of trees. it benefits primary children's hospital here in salt lake so i was more than happy to buy some tickets for our family to go. it was a little crowded to say the least, but penny loved it! she kept saying on the way out "i like those fun trees, mom."

thanksgiving weekend

this weekend my folks and little brother brian drove up from california for thanksgiving and the blessing of my older brother's new baby girl. first up was thanksgiving on thursday at my aunt margo's home in highland...

my dad and his mom getting ready to carve the turkey.

mmm...homemade rolls. i think they're my favorite part of thanksgiving dinner.

miss penny watching all the food get ready for the table.

let's eat!


on sunday we drove a couple hours south to oak city where baby scarlett was blessed.
love this pic of my brother jordan and his daughter katelyn riding home from church on an ATV haha.
the whole balmforth fam at kjersti's parents house after the blessing (minus little bro derek on his mission).

(from left to right: brian, me with penny, paul, jordan with katelyn, kjersti with scarlett, kris with max, lana with elsa, and my dad and mom. whew! that's alot of us!)

such a fun weekend! hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

20 weeks!

i had my 20 week ultrasound today and they confirmed that our baby is indeed a girl. (i never doubted you for a second, fetal foto!) but more importantly, all the anatomy shots looked great and she's developing just fine. yay!

man, i love the second trimester. i feel so awesome. still a little tired and having migraines now and then, but otherwise it's good to feel good. baby girl is kicking up a storm and her kicks are definitely getting stronger, which i love. is there anything better than feeling your baby kick?? every time she does i breathe a tiny inward sigh of relief, like "okay, she's doing good." i know i know, those kicks might not be so cute come 35 weeks but it still makes me happy just the same.

hooray for being halfway done!

headband model (again)

it's pretty convenient to have a daughter when you have a hair accessory shop. just pop in a dvd and little girl sits still as can be. i'm in love with these new headbands. fabric bows and felt roses are pretty much my favorites. i love my little penny model!

you may remember this model's past work here and here. please stop growing up, miss penny.

p.s. (insert gratuitous self promotion here) i have FOUR local holiday shows coming up! check out the sidebar on the right for more details.