Holiday Happenings

So I made a New Year's resolution last year to post at least once every month. And here it is New's Years Eve and I am quickly entering this post for December... looks like my procrastinating hasn't changed yet.

Steve, Grace, and I are up in Utah right now visiting family and friends. We will be leaving January 2nd after a long 2.5 week trip up here. I came up with Grace a little early and managed to drive all 11 hrs with only 2 quick stops with a very grumpy baby in the backseat.

It's been a fun trip, but I'm excited to get back to AZ... it seems to be growing on me more and more. Here are a few of the highlights from the past couple weeks:

Celebrating a Norweigian Christmas Eve at my Aunt Marie and Uncle Charle's home... such a special tradition! Grace got to open 1 gift that night after watching Santa put presents under the tree.

Christmas morning... someone looks tired!

Our Princess Turned One!

So, my baby girl turned 1 today! We had a fabulous princess party yesterday with lots of royal guests, decadent cake, and games fit for a princess!

Thanks to my sister Abby for making such tasty and beautiful cakes!

Loving her adorable tutu that my friend made especially for Grace! Parachute Games!

Enjoying some yummy cake! So, I didn't let Grace go all out with this one, but rather she had 1 dainty bite-sized cupcake. No mess to clean up and we avoided a sugar high too!

Grace loves her pretty pink piano!

"Thanks Nana for helping with my party!"

And before I forget, here are a couple pics from Grace's first experience with snow! She LOVED being outside in her puppy snow suit!

Halloween, Birthday, Visit from Nana, Sunglasses Update...

So, I had the best birthday present ever about a week and 1/2 ago... mom my flew down on the morning of my birthday, and we had a blast while she was here! Steve has been in Tuscon for one of his rotations and I was getting a little lonely here at home by myself, so this present from my mom is just what Grace and I needed. We went to one of my favorite restaurants in Scottsdale: Arcadia Farms. The food is DELICIOUS and the desserts are very tasty. We then took a trip over to the MIM (musical instrument museum). This attraction is fairly new to Phoenix and if you live in the area or come to visit, it is well worth your $15. They display instruments from all over the world and you get to hear a huge variety of music and culture. One might think this museum would be very noisy, but is actually very quiet... let me explain. On the tour, you wear a headset hooked to a receiver. Each display has a TV showing people from almost every country in the world playing instruments native to where they live. As you pass in front of the TV, the transmitter picks up the signal and you are able to hear the music... it is awesome!

We also went hiking in the South Mountain park and decided to try the "Mormon" trail. Notice the sign below.I think it's about time to get a new hiking pack for Grace. The baby bjorn was too heavy to carry in front, so we managed to get it on my back...Grace enjoying her first piece of cake...We made these fun jingle sticks for a music class I teach in our ward. They were a lot of work, but I think they turned out great and the kids seemed to like them.Luckily, my mom was here for one of my most favorite holidays: Halloween. Grace was supposed to be a lion this year, but the costume was just too big for her. I made a quick trip to my favorite store ever and picked up this adorable flower costume. Grace is quite petite, and this 6-9 month outfit was the perfect size... it makes me laugh because Grace is 10 months old! We went to the trunk-or-treat at church and Midwestern also had trick-or-treating throughout the campus with some other fun activities. I felt a little silly grabbing candy for Grace, but I enjoyed it later! Right after we dropped Nana off at the airport to go home, Grace and I headed to the polls...Steve was able to come up for the weekend from Tuscon. Since he wasn't here on my birthday he said he would have a gift for me on the weekend. And he surprised me with this:
I am SO EXCITED to finally have a bike! Steve scored big when he saw this bike on Craigslist. I didn't think I would be able to get a bike this year because they are so expensive, but I am so grateful that Steve found such an awesome deal on this one. The lady that he purchased it from had ridden it only 8 times. She had all of the gear too, and amazingly it fit me perfect.... shoes, shorts, helmet, etc! The bike was purchased for about $2,000 (she even showed Steve the receipts) and he bought everything for $550!! She planned to train for a triathlon, but never really got into it. I'm just excited because now I can train for my first triathlon and not have to use spin class as training! I can't thank Steve enough for finding it!

And we had to cheer on our Utes this past weekend... unfortunately their undefeated streak is over.
And just another side note, Grace started crawling about a week ago! My mom was still here and saw her timidly creep across the floor. She doesn't like to go very far, but I'm sure that will change with time. Steve is back down in Tuscon, but I won't be lonely for very long because my sister is coming to visit this week! Soooo excited to see you Ange!

Oh, and before I forget... my sunglasses were lost once again. But this last time was quite ironic. When I went to TJ Maxx to purchase Grace's costume, I left my jinxed shades on the counter at the register. Luckily, I called and they confirmed they were still there. This makes me laugh because they got left at the place I originally purchased them at! Wow... I wonder where they will end up next!

They must be Jinxed!

So, I have a pair of sunglasses that I'm surprised still exist! I have often heard to not spend a lot of money on sunglasses because for many people they easily get lost, stolen, broken, dropped in a lake, etc. So I bought this lovely pair for about $40 at my favorite store ever (thanks to my mom): TJ Maxx.

Featured here...And here...

I've gone through many a pair, but I have somehow managed to hold onto this particular pair for a while now, meaning for about 2 years! This is very surprising to me because they seem to been lost more than found, however, they somehow always get returned... let me explain:

1st time gone missing:

My aunt comes to visit this past spring and the sunglasses get left in her rental car. I call her just in the nick of time before the car is returned. Unfortunately, they went back to Utah for 3 months. On my way up to WA to visit my brother, I picked up my favorite pair on my layover in SLC.

2nd time gone missing:

While visiting Utah, I'm enjoying my recently recovered sunglasses. Of course I had to attend a family reunion and then leave them on a picnic table. Not knowing this, I searched everywhere for my shades. After flying back to AZ, I realized that they may have been left at the reunion. Luckily, someone had picked them up and I managed to track them down after making some phone calls. Talk about good fortune. My mom mails my favorite pair to sunny AZ.

3rd time gone missing:

I'm finally enjoying my sunglasses again in the blazing sun here. Then one day, Steve's aunt Kathy watched Grace while I went to work. After installing the carseat base in her car, I left the glasses on the floor of the car. I get a phone call 2 days later saying that a pair of sunglasses were found. "Wow," I thought... "how do I keep losing these things!"

4th time gone missing:

After about 3 whole weeks of NOT losing my sunglasses, they of course had to dissapear once again. This time, however, they didn't wander too far. But after all of my luck, I thought for sure that I had thrown them away on accident... just like I had thrown away our remote control 2 years ago. I searched our apartment as if I were a crime detective; they were nowhere to be found. I remember sitting for about 30 min on the floor trying to retrace my steps from the past week. I realized they must be in the diaper bag, although I had gone through it 4 times already! I dumped the whole thing on the floor and there they were.... at the very bottom! I also realized that I should probably clean out that bag more often.

5th time gone missing:

So, it had been about another 3 weeks of holding onto my jinxed shades, until yesterday... I just had to leave them at my friends apartment after attending her son's 1st birthday. It's nice to know they are in safe hands (as long as they are out of reach of her 1-year-old) until I can get them back, once AGAIN.

Am I the only one who has a pair of sunglasses that seem to disappear and reappear so many times? Maybe one day they won't make their way back to me, but as for now, I'll just enjoy the time I have with them, especially because sunglasses are ESSENTIAL year-round in AZ.

And on another note, we celebrated Steve's 30th B-day a couple weeks ago! I managed to pull off an awesome surprise party, and much to my surprise, he was VERY surprised :) We splurged on some Coldstone ice cream cake and Steve loves his new Halo Reach game. Now I can tease him since he is in his thirties and I'm still enjoying my twenties :) Love you baby!!

Picture of his younger years..."Happy Birthday Daddy!"

Playing Catch Up

Where did August go? My goal was to post at least once a month this year... oops. I admire the moms that manage to post weekly and capture every moment on camera to tell the story of their day to day lives. I often find myself saying "this would make a great post," but 90% of the time those imaginary posts are simply stored in my memory. So here is, yet again, another recap:I see my little baby turn more and more into a little girl. She can now clap her hands on command and twirls her soft hair like her mommy from time to time. I can no longer eat anything in front of her without sharing... even when I know she is not hungry. She is a little fish and can't get enough of the water. She's even been under a few times and finds it funny to come up coughing out any swallowed water.

Playing in Nana and Papa's hot tub on our trip to Utah (it was cooled off of course, just in case you were concerned). More pizza please...Playing dress-up at Nana and Papa'sRiding on Papa's boat...Barbeque with friends... thanks Rache for organizing everything... it was a blast!!Lunch date with my friend Lindsey... always a treat!I just had to throw this picture in... "Mom, I think I'm teething..."Steve has been busy with rotations, but manages to make time for family and finds his daughter irresistible. We realized that we hadn't been out on a date, just the two of us, since our anniversary in May. You might think this is crazy, but we absolutely love going out with Grace. We've taken her out to dinner, to the movies, and over to friend's houses in the evenings (she'll just sleep in her carseat in a different room).

Here we are in Scottsdale at the Fairmont Princess Resort. We wanted to go on a little trip over Labor Day weekend, but didn't want to travel far. We scored an awesome deal on Hotwire.com, it's was blast. The pools were amazing and very baby friendly too!And here are some updates on my life other than being a mom 24/7:

I have been working from home and absolutely love the flexibility it gives me. I usually can finish most of my work while Grace is napping. I have also been going into the clinic on Saturdays and fill in on a few shifts a couple times a month... it's great!

I'm officially registered for the Sedona marathon in February. I'm so excited for this race... the course is beautiful and I'm excited to run with some of my AZ friend's! Aside from running, I'm really enjoying my twice-a-week yoga class... I feel so much stronger and flexible doing this than my usual routine. The instructor really is inspiring (she is nearly 70, but looks as if she's in her 50's)... I hope I look like that when I'm her age; it must be the yoga.
And lastly, I can't seem to stay away from the craft/fabric stores. Hobby Lobby is one of my new favorites... they have EVERYTHING there when it comes to crafting and sewing. I have so many projects I want to do, but there just isn't enough time.Carseat canopy and diaper cake for my friend Kristin's shower.