Todd & Melissa

Christmas . . . finally!

2012-01-22T20:07:00.001-07:00

Here are our Christmas pictures! We had a great holiday season, and we're always sad at how fast it goes by. Thanks everyone for the fun parties!

Izzie and me at the Barlow present exchange party.

Emmy and Great Grandma Mikesell

All the kiddos at great grandma and grandpa Mikesell's on Christmas Eve. (Tate looks a little stressed . . .)

Izzie and her new KITCHEN from Santa!

So excited for . . .

. . . this Rapunzel doll from Mommy and Daddy!

All the kids got BYU t-shirts . . .

Here's Emmy with her Christmas haul.

Tate with his favorite present that just happened to be from Santa!

Kiddos in front of the tree in their Christmas jammies.

Tate opening some presents.

The aftermath . . .

All dressed up for church on Christmas morning.

Izzie in her pretty dress. :)

Tate enjoying a tasty little snack!

Such a sweet boy

Pretty girl!

And just for fun, we thought Tate's facial expression was hilarious in this pic!

Izzie and Santa

2011-12-22T09:15:00.003-07:00

Our cute Izzie was so excited to go see Santa Claus this year! She has been loving all the Christmas shows and trees and lights and decorations that come around this time of year, but Santa is definitely one of her favorites. We have a little stuffed Santa and reindeer that she says goodnight to every night on her way to bed—super cute!

She was so funny when she saw Santa—and she definitely was a little intimidated as you can tell by her face in the pic! Her eyes got so big and she just stared at Santa for a bit. Then she slowly backed up to him so she could sit on his lap. She sat like this for awhile and we eventually got a whisper out of her telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas. She then got a candy cane and squealed and laughed all the way out to the car. Now she talks about when Santa will be coming to our house. I love this little cutie so much and am probably just as excited as she is for Santa to come this year! :)

4 Months

2011-12-19T21:09:00.002-07:00

Can you believe these two are 4 months old already!!!! They were actually 4 months back on November 30, so I'm just a little behind with the update.

STATS

Emmy

12 pounds, 12 ounces: 31st %

24 inches: 41st %

Head: 43rd %

Tate

15 pounds, 8 ounces: 64th %

25 inches: 55th %

Head: 71st %

What a couple of sweeties! Can you tell by the pics that one of them is a little more serious than the other? Both are little goofballs, but both are SUPER sweet and getting soooo big! We started them on baby food and they have so far enjoyed squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, pears, and bananas. They do not like green beans!

This is typical tummy time—Emmy looking around and Tate laying there like a log. :)

Both kiddos are super droolers and typically have to wear bibs most of

the day. But look how cute that sweet face is!

Sweet sweet girl.

Helping mommy make pies for Thanksgiving.

Daddy and the girls snuggling. :)

Just for Fun!

2011-11-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here are just some random pics we've taken over the last few weeks. We just can't get enough of these kiddos!

I'd like to say they were all looking at me or Todd, but really they were all watching TV!

I think these two look so alike!

Me and my little man! (He's getting to be sooooo big!)

Izzie and Tate snuggling with Pooh Bear and Baby Rella. :)

Lovin' my Emmy!

What a BIG boy!

Izzie and Emmy "playing" in their fort.

What a couple cuties!

Trick or Treat 2011!

2011-11-02T14:55:00.000-06:00

Our Sleeping Beauty

Precious flower

Bumble bee

Playing with cousin Maddie

All the kiddos

Guess what Izzie wanted on our pumpkin . . . :)

2 MONTHS

2011-10-13T15:08:00.001-06:00

So I have been terrible about posting pictures of our two new little cuties, but man, they sure keep us busy! We went to their doctor last week for the 2-month check-up appointment and shots (booo!), and all was well. Here are the kiddos stats:

TATE
11 pounds, 5 ounces, 34th percentile
22.75 inches, 36th percentile
Head, 37th percentile

EMMY
10 pounds, 23rd percentile
21.5 inches, 14th percentile
Head, 37th percentile

To go along with this update, I obviously have pictures! These start with the darling 2-week photos my fantastic brother-in-law, Curtis, and his equally fantastic wife, Amanda, did for us. Then just random photos up to 2 months from there. Sorry there's so many, but I needed to get all caught up! :)

About 2.5 weeks

Tate at 3 weeks

Emmy at 3 weeks

Sleepy boys! Tate at 4 weeks

Emmy at 4 weeks. (Loved her in this bright yellow outfit!)

Emmy and Iz (in her favorite new chair, that little stinker!)

A typical night at the Barlow home . . .

5 weeks

Beads provided by big sister!

Our BIG boy at 5 weeks

Izzie loves laying in the middle of these two!

6 weeks and so precious.

Tater Bug lookin' so grown up at 7 weeks.

Pretty little Em also at 7 weeks.

2 months

2 months

And let's not forget this little cutie! We love our Iz!!!!:)

Blessing Day

2011-09-30T07:37:00.000-06:00

I'm so behind on posting, but I hope you all understand that my hands are a little full at the moment with these little cuties (who happen to be 2 months old today!). These are just the pictures from their blessing earlier this month. Both of our families came to support us and we had a yummy breakfast afterward.

I love these pictures! And I especially love Izzie's grumpy face in this last one. :)

Who's 2? Izzie Boo!

2011-09-13T15:39:00.000-06:00

Our sweet little girl turned 2 back on September 2! We had a princess birthday party with all her grandmas and grandpas, and great grandmas and grandpa. She was definitely the star of the show and loved every minute of it. Here are a few pictures we took. We love Izzie soooo much and just think she is the cutest girl we know (and her sister Emmy too of course!)!

I also just wanted to make a list of some of Izzie's favorites and the cute things she says:

- CHEESE! Izzie has been in LOVE with cheese for quite a while now. It's what she wants for every meal—anything from string cheese, cheddar cheese, or even cottage cheese. She's been saying "I love you" to Todd and I for some time now, but one day she came up with "I love cheese" all by herself!

- Other favorite foods: Crackers of all sorts, juice, spaghetti, mac & cheese (of course), grapes, strawberries, watermelon, and any TREAT!

- Izzie knows her numbers 1 through 9, the letter "i" (for Izzie of course!), all of her colors, and many shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, diamond, star, heart, etc.). She has flash cards that have different colors and shapes. So for example, if you ask her where the red triangle or yellow diamond is, she finds them.

- She loves her babies—real and dolls. She burps her baby dolls, rocks them, and puts them "night-night." She also helps mommy and daddy burp her "real" babies. She's a great helper and is always willing to grab us burp cloths, diapers, wipes, etc.

- She also loves animals and can do most any animal sound you ask her to do. Her favorite animals are cats and dogs, but she also really likes horses—especially the ones that live just down the road from our house.

- Izzie also loves anything princess. Her favorite princesses are currently, Belle, "Rella," and Sleeping Beauty (Rose). She also really likes Snow White, Ariel, and Jasmine. She knows all the princess "songs" and sings them all the time, as well as requesting mommy and daddy to do so as well. She especially loves singing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin and "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty.

- Izzie also loves Mickey Mouse. She watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse almost every day.

- She loves sleeping in her new big girl bed every night and naptime. She thinks its pretty cool when mommy and daddy can lay next to her and sing her songs. When she wakes up and we go get her, she proudly points to her bed with a big smile as we ask her if she slept good in her bed.

- She also loves sitting in the cute pink chair she got for her birthday (see above) and reading books. She actually loves reading books anywhere. If it gets quiet, I usually find her sitting and reading.

There is so much more we could say about her! We just think she is so funny, cute, and smart, we can hardly stand it! Here are a few more recent cute pictures of her just for fun.

WE LOVE YOU IZZIE BOO!

More Cute Baby Pics

2011-08-09T17:10:00.000-06:00

These pics were taken at the hospital by Bella Baby Photography. Ignore my gross swollen face and hospital gown! Everything else is darling! :)

Babies Babies Babies (A Mega Photo Post!)

2011-08-09T16:43:00.001-06:00

Sooooo, it finally happened! Just after midnight, the babies made their debut on July 30, 2011! I'll spare you all the details of their safe arrival because I know you all just want to see their pics. Just know that the labor was quick, easy, and fairly painless. Just ask me and I'll tell you the details if you want to know them all. With that said, here they are! I'll be putting up a post with some professional shots from the hospital too. For a sneak peek, the second pic is one we took of the "pro" shoot. :)

Tate Andrew and Emmy Reese Barlow

They sometimes just hold hands! (And notice they are glowing . . . dumb bili blankets!)

Emmy during her first bath.

Tate during his. Both are pretty chill.

The big sister and her new baby dolls. She's been a rockstar and loves the babies like crazy.

And to pretty much sum up how we feel at the end of every day!

Izzie's Swim Lessons

2011-07-28T12:24:00.000-06:00

Izzie started swimming the first of July and has been doing so good! She likes everything but the backfloat, which just seems to really stress her out. Here are a couple shots of her and daddy in class together. I may have some other cuter ones later if my mom remembers to email them to me, but this is it for now!

Me and My Projects

2011-07-25T14:48:00.000-06:00

Obviously my main project has been getting the twins here safe and sound. Let me tell ya, it's been a harder job than I thought! I know I'm probably the last person who should complain about being pregnant considering it's so hard to get me in this "condition," but being pregnant with twins I think warrants me some extra complaints. :)

Besides just feeling huge and downright uncomfortable (for the last couple of months at least!) things have gone really well. As Todd says, a textbook twin pregnancy. I'm not so sure those really exist, but that's what it seems like just the same. My latest update is that the cerclage is out and I'm now almost 36 weeks. I go to the doc tomorrow and am hoping he tells me I've started dilating some. That news would be fantastic!

32 weeks

34 weeks

My biggest fear(s) at this point would be my water breaking in public, or maybe even worse, during the middle of the night. My great neighbor and visiting teacher has offered to help in that situation and wants me to call her to come stay with Iz, but I will feel terrible if I have to call her at 3 am!

Anyway, since it hurts like crazy to move around too much or run errands or do anything, really, I decided to do a couple last-minute projects that have kept me busy and at home. I made some blankets, one for each baby. I think they turned out pretty cute, and the pics don't do them justice.

I also figured I better put a couple pics of the kiddos bedroom now that it's mostly finished. My mom made the valances, crib sheets, crib skirts, and is just about done with the quilts. I'll just have to post those pics a little later. I just love the colors of the room and how everything has turned out.

That's it for now. Wish me luck!

Growing Up

2011-07-25T14:25:00.000-06:00

We recently keep tell each other that we just can't believe how fast Izzie has "grown up." She really is just a big girl now and is so smart! She knows her colors and can count to three all by herself, and she is a great little helper (when she wants to be). She's a mover and is always running or dancing, and is as curious as can be. We love her funny little personality and all the entertaining things she does!

(Sorry to put a pic of the "whale" in here, but it's to show Izzie running in the background!)

What a sweetheart. We love you baby girl!

Fun at Grandma's

2011-07-25T14:24:00.000-06:00

So during this really LONG pregnancy (or what seems to be), Todd had to make a few trips to Hawaii. Since I was told not to pick up Izzie, that made it difficult to stay home. Instead, we went to grandma's house to stay! We've had lots of fun over the last few months and just wanted to share a few of the pictures!

"Wearing" her swimsuit around the house.

Playing outside with cousin Maddie.

Maddie playing at grandma's new toy, the water table.

More playing . . .

Just relaxing!

Chillin' with grandma and some fun mermaid dolls!

Just finishing with the bath . . .

. . . and ready to get pjs on for bed!

Thanks for letting us stay over grandma and grandpa! :)

Big Sky 2011

2011-07-08T08:52:00.002-06:00

We were bad at taking pics during our trip to Big Sky back in June, so these are the few that we have. We had a great time though, and it was so pretty up there! Thanks to the whole Barlow fam for making it such an enjoyable time.

Getting ready to go on the 4-wheeler!

In Yellowstone visiting Old Faithful.

Intently watching Old Faithful too!

The buffalo that was right next to our car as we drove by!

Catching Up!

2011-07-05T16:51:00.000-06:00

Here are some fun pics of Izzie from the last month or two. We sure love that funny, silly girl!

Sitting at her little table having some snacks. She now likes to cover her face for pictures, the little silly!

After a morning of fun play time in our backyard. She fell asleep before I could even get lunch ready. :)

Helping daddy get the sprinklers all ready to go for this season.

Just being cute!

OLD, but Cute!

2011-07-05T16:43:00.000-06:00

I just noticed the following post never published! See below:

Todd's brother Curtis took some cute pics of our family just after Izzie turned one, so here are a few for your viewing enjoyment! Sorry it took me so long to get them up. We have a ton more, but these are definitely some of the favorites!

Updates

2011-05-31T14:54:00.000-06:00

I see that it's been a while since I last posted, so I thought I'd give you all an update of what's been happening with our little family!

Izzie: This little girl is growing like a weed and just keeps us super busy. She'll be 21 months on June 2 if you can believe it! Her favorite things include Belle and all the other Disney princesses, watching Disney princess movies, dancing and singing to the songs from said movies, reading books that are all princess, wearing princess clothes, and did I mention she likes everything princess? She does also love Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as playing outside when the weather is nice. She can't get enough of her swing and slide, and also wagon rides at grandma's house. :) Oh, and her favorite food? Every day I ask her what she would like for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the response is always the same—CHEESE! She throws in the occasional yogurt too, but that girl LOOOOVEs her some cheese. Anyway, here are a few pics from the last few months so you can see her in all her cuteness! :)

Walking around in mommy's shoes is FUN! She loves my silver sparkly ones the best!

Dancing with her baby doll.

Playing with her cousin Maddie.

Dying Easter eggs with mommy.

In her Easter dress. Soooo pretty!

Playing with daddy!

Making sure the baby bouncer still works for when her little sis arrives. :)

Melissa: I'm now about 28 weeks preggers and things are still looking good! No bed rest yet and the goal is just another 8 weeks of pregnancy—so I hope I can make it! I feel enormous already and can't imagine getting bigger, but that is apparently going to happen no matter what. The babies both measure over 2 pounds now and are right on schedule in size. I feel them moving like crazy and still find it hard to believe TWO babies fit in there! Here are a couple pictures of my growing belly. I can't believe how big it has gotten in such a short amount of time!

19.5 weeks

27.5 weeks

Todd: This guy has traveled to Hawaii twice now since the end of April and will be headed back toward the end of June. After that he's grounded until babies get here. Don't worry though, he'll be needed over there the end of August—yikes! We'll have two more kids in tow by that point, so wish me luck! I don't have any pics of Todd right now, but just know that he is SUPER tan and making me very jealous! I miss Hawaii!

Next I will try and get some pics up of the twins nursery. I'm just waiting on a couple little things before I take the pics. Try to be patient if you can!

4 Years Ago . . .

2011-04-17T21:02:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe that 4 years ago, on April 17, 2007, that we had our sweet little babies, Brock and Mia. I won't lie—that day and the 2 weeks proceeding (and not to mention the many weeks/months after) were definitely the hardest and saddest day(s) I've ever experienced.

Each year that passes does make it easier—the pain seems to lessen some—but we still miss and think about Brock and Mia every day. What makes things a little crazy this year is that we are pregnant with twins again, boy and girl—again. That part isn't so crazy itself, but the fact that this set of twins is on the EXACT same schedule as Brock and Mia is a little hard to believe. Brock and Mia were due August 25 and these new little twins are due August 26. I have to say that is all a little unnerving! (But things are looking as optimal as they could be, so we are feeling somewhat more secure this time, though if you ask me, I won't be able to rest easy until the safe arrival of two healthy babies!)

Anyway, I always feel the need to tell my sweet babies that we really are working hard to be able to be with them again, and that I hope they can be patient with us while we go through this life. I miss and love my little babies so much!

This year, as in years past, Todd and I (and Izzie!) go to Morgan and put new cute decorations up for Brock and Mia's birthday. We usually take some photos too, so here are the shots from this year.

Just Some Recent Pics . . .

2011-03-31T16:58:00.000-06:00

SUPER CRAZY hair after a nap!

Lovin' her bath like usual . . .

Happy Valentines's Day! She was showing off her cute outfit and pigtails that day.

Playing at Grandma Barlow's house and wearing her favorite bead necklaces!

Reading with daddy!

She really is a little princess, isn't she?

Look at all the beautiful blonde hair! Soooo pretty!

Just a little cutie, and we love her so much!

Um, Can Anyone Say BABIES???

2011-02-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yup, this is definitely an announcement!

I'm guessing most of you have heard the rumor that we are pregnant again . . . with twins. Again. Yes, as crazy as that sounds, it's true! We are super excited and nervous at the same time (the nervousness on my part due mostly to our previous experience with twins), but this time around we feel a little better prepared.

I'm now just over 12 weeks along and have already popped—YIKES! It's been hard to hide the last couple of weeks and is definitely noticeable at this point. My due date is Aug 25 or 26, but twins typically come about 5 weeks early, so we're thinking the little babes will be here the end of July sometime. I will be having my "stitch" put in on February 25 and we go to the doctor every 2 weeks for check ups. So far, the babies are growing well and looking great!

With that said, wish us luck!!!

Disneyland

2011-02-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland in January and had a super fun time! Izzie loved the rides, especially the carousel, the tea cups, Dumbo, and the cute little rides in Bug's Land. We had so much fun watching her smile, giggle, and squeal on all the rides. She also loved seeing all the characters, which we were happy about. She's obsessed with Mickey and Minnie at home, so we hoped she would like them in person. And, when it came to stand in line to wait to see them, she called "Mee Maw" and could hardly be contained until her turn! She would run right up to each character and smile and give them her special "pat" of adoration. So all in all, it was a GREAT trip!

WARNING: Here's some (and when I say some, I mean TONS) of pics from the blessed event. :)

Super Late Christmas!

2011-02-03T14:36:00.001-07:00

I just thought I better stick up some of these cute pics from our super fun day. Izzie actually opened presents this year and seemed to like them all! She didn't know what was going on or why she was getting presents, but she had fun anyway!

Fun Times!

2011-01-13T08:00:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the fun things Izzie has found to do at our house this winter . . .

Sit in the box that has/had all of our oranges in it.

Watch daddy shovel all the snow.

And play with him through the window.

Try really hard to climb onto the ottoman next to our couch . . .

. . . and making it!

And wearing mommy's clothes!

And really, just being super cute and sweet!

New Tricks

2010-12-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Izzie has been teaching herself some new tricks lately, but this one is by far our favorite! :)

She loves to stand on her head, and when she gets positioned just right, she puts her arms up in the air behind her and expects everyone in the room to clap and cheer. She always seems to get thunderous applause wherever she goes . . .

Zoo Lights

2010-12-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Zoo Lights this year at Hogle Zoo on the recommendation of some friends in our ward. They were really good—more than 1 million lights and lighted animated animals—and we suggest everyone try it out next year. You can see many of the real animals out and about too, and Santa even makes a nightly appearance!

She wasn't really scared of Santa, she just wanted to get down and run around!

15 Months and More Pics

2010-12-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Izzie's a growing girl! Here's her super-healthy 15-month stats and some more cute pics!

Weight: 24 pounds, 5 ounces . . . 72nd percentile

Height: 31.5 inches . . . 81st percentile

Head: 73rd percentile

Just Because . . .

2010-12-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

She's the cutest girl around!

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-01T10:50:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from our Halloween celebrations! Hope you all had a fun weekend! :)

Baby Maddie & Our Little Walker

2010-10-14T15:57:00.000-06:00

My sister was able to bless her baby this last weekend, and it was a great time! The whole fam got together for good food and conversation to celebrate this little princess:

Isn't her dress so pretty? And we all love her dark curly hair. She looks just like her mama! And some other news we have is that Izzie has started walking! She's still kind of wobbly but gets braver each passing day. Here are a couple silly shots of her walking to me:

Isn't that smile the cutest? She loves walking and giggles the whole time she's doing it. What a little nut! And did you notice the arms up in the air? My dad keeps telling her she looks like the gorilla on The Jungle Book, which I kind of have to agree with. Either way, she's one cute monkey! Speaking of cute, here's a couple more pics. Izzie's new favorite place is the princess couch she got for her birthday.

She throws her whole body back and just squeals with delight. She also likes to be buried with all of her stuffed animals while on the little couch. I'll try and get a pic of that soon. And, here's one last pic for fun:

Funny Little Munchkin

2010-09-24T14:42:00.000-06:00

Look who found a magic box . . .

I was literally on the phone for about 20 seconds and she about emptied a whole box of tissues. What a stinker! But she was so happy in her pile of tissues that I couldn't resist taking a picture and laughing about it the whole time. I wish the picture did the pile of tissues justice. There were so many all around her that it was hilarious! Needless to say, she now wants to empty this box every time she is in our bedroom now.

Happy Birthday!

2010-09-13T15:50:00.001-06:00

OK, so this post is obviously late since Izzie's birthday was on Sept 2, but at least I'm doing it now, right? We've just been so darn busy lately that it's hard to find minute to blog. When I have the choice of shower or blogging, I usually pick shower. Sorry! Anyway, we're now done traveling for the summer and hopefully things settle down for a while.

We had a super fun birthday party for Izzie. Since it was her first birthday, we invited everyone —grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Iz was spoiled with fun gifts like clothes and toys and books and puzzles. Her current favorite is a stuffed kitty that she holds and giggles because she likes it so much. It's a great distraction from the dishwasher too. If she's "helping" me load dishes, I just ask her where her kitty is and she'll go find it.

We also took Izzie to her one-year check up. She now has the all clear to eat whatever she wants (even though we were basically giving her everything anyway). We were able to face her car seat forward, which she is still thinking is totally weird. She has 4 teeth on top that are all breaking through (fun nights for me and Todd). Her stats: 92nd in height (wow!) and 70th in weight. And she is basically just growing up so fast we can hardly believe it. We love playing with her and watching her play and entertain herself as well. She does such funny things! Anyway, we love Iz so much, we can hardly stand it. So to prove how much we love her, here's a ton of pics for you to enjoy!

With her grandmas

Super smiley and cute!

Opening presents

Cousins helping open presents . . .

. . . and showing her how things work.

Her very own mini birthday cake!

First taste . . .

Digging in a little more . . .

Stopping for a pic with mommy and daddy . . .

DONE! :)

Trying out her new swing from mommy and daddy the next day.

And loving it! :)

Last Hawaii Trip

2010-09-13T15:50:00.000-06:00

We're done traveling for the summer, so here's a few pics from our last trip over to Hawaii.

Izzie is now brave enough that she crawls right down to the water.

Playing in the sand is one of her FAVORITES!

Hanging out in the shallow end of the pool at our condo.

Getting a little too daring and wanting to hang over the side of the pool chair.

Iz discovered she loves snuggling into a bunch of pillows. What a fun game!

Her first pig tails! :)

Rockin' her Pooh sunglasses once again.

On the Pineapple Express at the Dole Plantation with mommy.

Just being SUPER CUTE! (P.S. This was the pic on Good Things Utah!)

Randomness

2010-08-12T21:51:00.000-06:00

I just have a few pics I wanted to post of our cutie pie. I just love the little bug so much! These have been taken over the last couple of months, but I never got around to posting.

Ready for church!

Would you look at that face? Seriously, who can resist?

Swinging in the hammock with daddy.

I love that cute little belly poking out. I just want to eat it!

Too much fun!

Sitting on the jet ski with daddy at Pineview.

What a big girl!

Trying on her birthday present to make sure it fits! Shhhh! She doesn't know!

How Will You Remember?

2010-07-31T08:00:00.001-06:00

I love Pearl Harbor and all the history that goes along with it. I've probably been there 4 or 5 times and can't wait to go back. Before the your tour, you can go and walk around the museum and just . . . take it all in. After that, you start the tour with a short documentary full of pictures and stories (which the title of my post comes from), and then you take a short boat ride across the harbor and visit the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. The feeling I get there is a somber, yet peaceful one. It's amazing to me that just below where I'm standing are some 1,100 of WWII's greatest heroes, entombed in the sunken ship. There's still oil leaking that rises to the surface of the water, known as "black tears," that makes it all feel so real to me. So many died there during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but just being there makes my heart swell with pride. I love our country and the people that fight for it! How lucky are we to live in such a wonderful place with so much diversity and freedom. Strive to go to this sacred place one day, and hopefully you'll be able to feel the same pride and thrill that I do . . .

More Hawaii

2010-07-25T14:46:00.000-06:00

OK, I'm fulfilling my promise. Here are the long awaited "more" pictures, or should I say TONS more, from our last trip to Hawaii . . .

Izzie loved driving around Ko Olina in our little golf cart. I LOVED watching her hair blow in the wind!

Todd took all of our employees scuba diving and Izzie and I got to go.

She and I had to sit up by the captain while everyone else got ready and she fell asleep before we got to the first dive.

Todd getting ready to go!

Giving daddy a snuggle after his dive and her nap!

Taking us back to the marina—Captain Iz!

Chillin' with her bottle at the condo.

Ready to go on a date with daddy.

At the lagoons in Ko Olina with mommy.

Just playin' with daddy. (I love Todd's expression in this pic!)

The cute little smile that we love.

Wait, where's Izzie? :) She's asleep in the car with uncle Tyler.

The usual nap position at the beach.

A really CUTE close up. :)

Independence Day in Hawaii

2010-07-17T21:42:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't blogged forever, have i? We've been so busy with the new business and all the travel it requires that I haven't had a lot of time to sit at the computer, let alone sit at all! (Izzie doesn't help much in that area either!) Anyway, we had a fun trip to Hawaii and spent our 4th of July touring the island. Hope you like these pics for now, and I'll put up more Hawaii soon!

Iz and Todd at the Pali Lookout. It's super windy there and Izzie loved it! She had a pretty big grin on her face the whole time, except when we were taking pictures of course. :)

This is the Japanese temple and I've always thought it a really cool place. I think it's even more cool now since I spotted it on LOST, my favorite TV show in the whole wide world!!!

Us posing by a little "brook." Izzie would not smile for any of the strangers that took our pictures!

Checking out the HUGE koi swimming in the pond around the Japanese temple.

After the Japanese temple we went to the LDS temple and all over the North Shore. The temple is closed for renovation/remodeling, but the Visitor's Center is still open and has nice toilets and A/C thank goodness! :)

Playing in the grass and loving it.

I know this is a random pic, but I just love how it looks like Izzie and Todd are having a conversation. Izzie is like "awwww, dad, I don't know!"

Riding daddy's shoulders around the temple grounds.

Ignore my foot and look how cute my baby is! She still loves patty cake!

Posing for a photo shoot. A Japanese tourist group walked by and asked if they could take Izzie's picture because she looked just like a "doll." (This is not the first time this has happened!)

Ready to go home after a long day of driving around the island.

More pics to come soon!!!!

Mommy and Me!

2010-06-08T21:37:00.000-06:00

Today Izzie and I started our first swimming class together! I've been wanting to do a mommy and me class, but our summer schedule was looking kind of hectic with the new biz and all the traveling we'll be doing. Looking at the class schedules, I realized we'd miss a bunch of classes, so I decided I would wait until next year. I figured Iz wouldn't remember anything this year anyway. And then my mom pointed out that since Izzie wouldn't remember, I might as well go for it and just miss a few classes. So, we signed up at the rec center by our house! It ends up that we only miss 2 classes, and after today, I'm so glad we went for it. Izzie LOVED our little class and had a great time swimming. I think she's going to be a little fish, just like her dad!

Floating around the lazy river on her tummy!

More floating. She was totally kicking her legs and using her arms, even though you can't tell.

Here I'm trying to teach her how to blow bubbles in the water. I think she was a little distracted by her daddy taking her picture!

Now we're trying a back float in the lazy river. She was a little nervous to do this at first.

But then she relaxed and totally loved it. Isn't she sooooo cute!??

Big Girl!

2010-06-08T21:00:00.006-06:00

Izzie is now 9 months! My how time flies, seriously! We went to the doc and all is looking well. Here are her stats this time around:

Weight: 20 pounds 4 ounces, 75th percentile
Height: 28 inches, 66th percentile
Head: 83rd percentile

Our little bug has learned so much over the last few months. She can now feed herself, move around all over the floor to get to her toys, pull herself up to her knees, stand by the couch (for a few seconds anyway), and wave bye-bye! Here are just a couple cute pics of her. :)

Hawaii: Part 2

2010-05-27T15:35:00.000-06:00

OK, here's the rest of our pics, or at least my favorite ones! :)

Hawaii: Part 1

2010-05-24T21:10:00.000-06:00

Soooo, we're back from Hawaii and I have bunch of pics I need to post. Since there's so many, I figured I'd do it in two parts. We had a good time while we were there, but Todd was working so much, we didn't really get to spend much time with him. :( Lucky for me and Izzie, Todd's parents came along for part of the time. They were good to just kind of go along with our super relaxed schedule. We went for drives, stopped at different beaches, and even went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a day. Izzie had a GREAT time and loved being with her grandparents every day. She is soooo cute and we just love her like crazy, as well evidenced by all of the pics with her in them! :)

Izzie's first venture out to the pool.

Lookin' pretty sweet in her new sunglasses!

Lovin' the pool in her cool floaty. (It's actually a fish with it's mouth wide open.)

Relaxin' with a bottle and soakin' up some sun!

Playing in the sand with grandpa.

Ready to play at the beach.

One of the few times we saw Todd . . .

Me and Izzie at the Hukilau Beach on the North Shore.

Izzie "blowing" her tongue—one of her favorite things to do these days!

With grandpa and grandma Barlow at the PCC.

Our SWEET Babies!

2010-04-17T21:57:00.000-06:00

Three years ago today, our sweet little babies, Brock and Mia, came and went. We were able to go get them some little presents today and take some pictures. It was fun to have Izzie there for the first time! Not a day goes by that we don't think about our babies and the short time we were able to spend with them. We love them so much and are so excited to see them again one day! As always, we love you babies!

Easter and Other Stuff!

2010-04-17T21:50:00.000-06:00

We had a FUN Easter this year with little Izzie Boo. She picked out a pink basket and was super excited when the Easter bunny came to our house as you can tell from the pictures below! :)

Also, Todd was recently on a business trip and Iz and I went to stay at my parent's house for a few days. We had tons of fun there and these are just a couple pics that we took. Do you like Princess Izzie's crown? She sure does!

6 Months (ooops!) and Other News

2010-03-25T20:08:00.000-06:00

We, and when I say "we" I mean "I," forgot to post Izzie's 6-month stats! She'll be 7 months next week, so I guess I'm not too far behind just yet. Anyway, we went to the doc and Iz was given a clean bill of health and a set of shots. She hardly made a peep for the first two shots, but the third one put her over the edge! Anyway, here's how the little monkey is measuring:

Weight: 17.5 pounds, 76th percentile

Height: 26.75 inches, 81st percentile

Head: 81st percentile

She is such cutie pie and we can't be more in love by her, not to mention entertained by her as well!

The other big news we have to share . . . Todd is now a member of our ward's new bishopric as 2nd counselor. Yup, my husband is now a high priest at 32! We love our new bishop and the 1st counselor and think this will be a fun new experience for our little family.

Look What I Can Do!

2010-03-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Izzie is getting so big! She's been sitting on her own for a couple of weeks now and is loving it. She can reach for so many more toys now and thinks this "new" world is pretty cool.

We were also able to hang out with a bunch of friends a couple weekends ago and went sledding. You can tell in the pictures that Izzie was super excited about her first time sledding. :) OR, maybe it was Todd excited to take her . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2010-02-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

Izzie Boo

2010-02-02T16:02:00.007-07:00

For those looking for something to see/read besides anything baby, this is not the place for you! Today is my little love bug's 5 month birthday. Can you believe it? We can't. Time flies by so fast, and our sweetie is changing constantly. We've taken tons of pics (of course) over the last few weeks and have hit some milestones with little Iz.

Milestone 1
At Izzie's 4-month appointment, her pediatrician told us that we could start introducing REAL foods to her, starting with squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes! Apparently, as of October 2009, the new recommendation is to skip rice cereal and go straight for the good stuff (as rice cereal doesn't have much nutritional value compared to real fruits and veggies). Anyway, we went for it and though Izzie was somewhat resistant to swallowing this new stuff, she's starting to come around and is actually finishing whole bowls of squash! Today we're trying sweet potatoes, and we think they'll go over well. Next week, peaches and applesauce, and then maybe some beans and peas. Wish us luck!

Izzie Boo eating some YUMMY squash! :)

Milestone 2
Izzie rolled over all by herself! She went from tummy to back and was quite surprised when it happened. She went a couple weeks before doing it again, but she's done it twice now, so we think more might be coming!

Is she ready to roll over here? Maybe . . .

Milestone 3
This was a sad milestone, but one nonetheless. Poor little Iz got sick for the first time. It started with a yucky sounding cough, which the pediatrician said was croup. No fever though, so that was nice but there was some major congestion and stuffy nose with the cough. After 5 or so days with no sign of getting better, and now a fever, we took our sweetie to the doc again and found out she actually had a totally different virus and on the verge of an ear infection. Izzie was so sad, and so was mom and dad! Luckily she has been feeling a lot better lately and is starting to act like her normal happy self.

Little sicky half-heartedly playing with daddy.

Milestone 4
This one is a gross one, but again, a milestone! Today Izzie had her first diaper "blow out." Only one blow out in 5 months? Amazing right? Sadly our good luck has come to an end in this area, but we figured it had to happen eventually. (Oh, and no worries, we'll spare you the photos on this one!)

So folks, those were the main milestones reached over the month of January. We can't wait to see what February brings, though we hope no more sickness comes around! (Todd and I are both sick now too thanks to little Izzers!) Anyway, here are some more fun pics of our little princess.

Classic finger in her mouth.

Riding the horsey with daddy . . .

. . . and loving it!

After eating her squash (naked of course) and then downing her bottle!

Playing with her favorite toys—her pink purse and "crinkly" money. (My kind of girl!)

4 months!

2010-01-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Izzie Brooke is 4 months old! This week she had her 4-month check-up and the doctor said she is doing great! We were excited to hear all about her growth and see if she's really as big as everyone says. (Basically because some people act like she is HUGE!) Check out her numbers:

Weight: 15 lbs., 3 oz—75th percentile
Height: 25.5 inches—84th percentile
Head: 42.8 cm—87th percentile

We laugh at her head being a little bigger than the rest of her. It's just so cute and round! Anyway, from what everyone always says, I was surprised that she wasn't 99th percentile in everything. Either way, we're happy that our little sweetie is healthy and happy. We love our little bug!

Christmas (Part 2!)

2009-12-29T15:57:00.006-07:00

OK, so here are pictures from the rest of our holiday celebrations! We went to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve and had yummy food and exchanged presents as usual. On Christmas we ate breakfast at Todd's parents house with the whole fam and did the present thing there as well. Todd made some YUMMY homemade cinnamon rolls with chocolate chunks inside. They are sooooo good! After playing games and just hanging out, we headed up to my parents house for more presents and Christmas dinner. Our traditional dinner (for the last few years anyway) of Cafe Rio/Costa Vida foods was delicious! After more games and just relaxing, we headed home. The day after Christmas we had a breakfast with Todd's whole extended family (cousins, aunts, etc.) and had the usual breakfast casserole and good times chatting. What a fun time of year!

Izzie getting super excited to open presents on Christmas Eve. :)

Iz loved her Pooh Bear from our cousin Zack. Thanks Zack!!!

A quick shot of all of us before going home to wait for Santa to come!

Me and Todd after presents on Christmas morning. (We have this same picture every year!)

Izzie with all of her presents from us and Santa! :)

Izzie opening presents with the Barlows.

What a tired girl! But SUPER sweet nonetheless. :)

Izzie with her new baby doll from her Grandma and Grandpa Mikesell . . .

. . . and her new board books that are all Disney!

Wow! What a great Christmas we had. We were super spoiled. We did also want to mention that we are so thankful for being able to celebrate Christ's birth each year. We know that is what the season is all about. Hopefully we're able to teach Izzie all about baby Jesus next year. We're excited to see what she does. With that said, Happy New Year and be sure to be safe!

Merry Christmas! (Part 1)

2009-12-21T09:34:00.008-07:00

So, I decided to just post a bunch of pics for everyone to see! I'm doing some pre-Christmas just because we've taken some cute pictures of Izzie lately. I guess Part 2 will include all our holiday stuff! Hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Izzie has lots of smiles for us these days!

Checking out the Christmas tree . . .

I'm flying!!!!

Our 2nd tree with new ornaments this year.

Some close-ups so you can see the fun colors!

Our sweetie pie

Thanks for the cute outfit grandma!!!

Izzie is getting sooooo BIG!

Nighty night!

My New Recipe Blog!

2009-12-07T08:00:00.004-07:00

OK, so this has been something I've WANTED to do for a long time now, and it's finally UP and running. Check out my new blog www.apieceofcakeforme.blogspot.com! There are RECIPES posted weekly, sometimes more often, from my cookbooks and some I just LOVE. I think it's turned out pretty CUTE and I hope to have a lot of followers soon. Also, if you need to ORDER any of my cookbooks, you can do it there as well!

Let me know what you all think! Oh, and tell all your friends! :)

Happy 3 Months Big Girl!

2009-12-02T08:00:00.002-07:00

Today Izzie Brooke is 3 months old! She is getting so big and smiles all the time. The newest discovery she has made is giggling, and the sound is HEAVENLY! We do all we can to try and make her laugh, but it's strange things that set her off. For example, the other night we were playing Bunco with my parents and she giggled when we rolled the dice. Since then we've tried dice and it hasn't worked! Who knew what made is so funny before. :)

Well, of course we didn't have our video camera ready when all of a sudden she started giggling as Todd was throwing her toy keys in the air, but we rushed and grabbed it and caught the tail end of some of her giggles, so ENJOY!

Also, here are some cute pictures from a "photo shoot" we did one day. I loved this little dress and hat and wanted to document them since she hasn't been able to wear it anywhere. (She's currently inactive and doesn't go to church—curse all the bad germs!) There's a few other cute pictures just for fun as well.

We love you our little baby boo!

Is it a Mullet?

2009-11-15T11:37:00.002-07:00

My sister emailed this picture to us the other day and we laughed and laughed because, apparently, Todd has a pretty awesome mullet! Check it out:

Thanks to the girl who was sitting directly behind Todd. We wouldn't have been able to enjoy this illusion without you!

2 months

2009-11-10T11:50:00.008-07:00

Izzie turned 2 months old on Monday last week, so today we headed to the doctor for her little 2-month check up. The result—GOOD! She's growing like a WEED and everything is looking great. We LIVE for her cute little smiles and coos, so it made us really SAD when she had to get those "nasty" shots. Poor little sweetheart! She didn't cry for too long though, and we hope she'll FORGIVE us soon. As for her numbers, she weighed 12 pounds and was 23.75 inches. She was 72nd percentile for weight, and 88th percentile for height! Her parents are both SOOO tall, we figured that was about right. :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T21:57:00.008-06:00

Prettiest flower ever!

Where's Izzie? :)

Just a cute close up.

Get me out of this costume!!!

Don't you just want to pinch my cheeks?

One more just for fun because we LOVE our little flower!

The Many Faces of Izzie

2009-10-27T09:00:00.005-06:00

We love all the cute faces Izzie makes all of the time. In fact, they totally crack us up. We think she is so funny! I think we might be the first parents to feel this way about their child, but just try to imagine. :)

With that said, we decided to try and catch some of her "faces" with pictures. A lot of these don't do her justice, but we still think they're pretty darn cute!

Getting ready to cry face

Super sad crying face

Sweet smiley face

Leave me alone I'm pooping face

I'm done eating but want more face

Polite but will you get this off me face

I'm cute and I found my tongue face

I'm SUPER sweet face

Sweet AND sleepy face

I love my mobile face

Isn't she so cute, sweet, funny, cute, sweet, cute, adorable, and did I say cute? :)

My Favorite Project!

2009-10-25T14:11:00.007-06:00

As you all know, I've been working on projects for Izzie's room over the last few months. I finally finished all of them, and this is a picture of my favorite! I think it turned out so cute and it looks absolutely adorable on one of the shelves hanging in her room.

Baby Blessing

2009-10-15T09:05:00.011-06:00

We had Izzie's baby blessing on Sunday and both of our families were able to come and participate. Todd gave a beautiful blessing that had many in tears, and Izzie was a little sweetheart during the blessing and all of sacrament meeting! (Thanks to the binks!)

Afterward everyone came to our house to partake of some yummy breakfast casseroles and warm homemade muffins. It was so fun having our families together to celebrate, and I think we all had a good time despite all the chocolate milk disasters. :)

My mom spoiled us by getting Iz the blessing dress I've been eyeing at Swiss Days for, oh, the last 4 or 5 years. I was super excited and it was so pretty, but the baby wearing it was MUCH prettier! Anyway, here are some pics of the big day.

P.S. I don't know why some of these pictures look grainy. Our camera hasn't been working all that great lately! :(

One Month Old

2009-10-06T19:22:00.006-06:00

Wow! It's seriously crazy how quickly time flies by! Our baby girl is now 1 month old and growing so much every day. We can't believe how much she's changed over the last couple of weeks. Izzie is filling out and her little personality is just cracking us up. Anyway, my grandma told me I needed to put up some more pictures (and I agreed), so here they are!

I LOVE Shoes!

2009-09-29T10:02:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone, check out this blog and win shoes! They do giveaways and the shoes are SUPER cute! My friend won a pair on their last giveaway.

http://headoverheelsutah.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Baby

2009-09-19T10:47:00.007-06:00

This week, Todd's SUPER talented brother, Curtis, came to our house to shoot some pics of our sweet Izzie. We were SO excited to have him and his cute family come over because we knew we'd be getting some FABULOUS pics! Thanks to BOTH Curtis and Amanda, the shoot was a complete success. We totally appreciate the two of them for doing the research and posing us all so cute. We are so IN LOVE with our little girl and how sweet she looks in these pictures. You can definitely see her little personality shining through. Thanks again you guys!

That's Just How You Look (Oooops!)

2009-09-19T10:39:00.002-06:00

So Todd is demanding I share this little "story" with everyone. In the previous post, "More Izzie," there's a pic of Todd and little Iz watching football. After Todd saw that post, he and I had a little conversation that went something like this:

Todd: I look really weird in that picture.

Me: It's because you're so skinny you look like a skeleton.

Todd: I look ugly!

Me: No, that's just how you look!

This is where the "oooops" comes in. I obviously don't think Todd looks like a skeleton, or that he is ugly. I was just trying to compliment him by saying he looked really skinny. I totally screwed it up. Needless to say, neither of us could stop laughing!

More Izzie!

2009-09-13T12:38:00.008-06:00

I know we've been slow at getting more pictures up. Sorry! Who knew something so small could take up so much time? :)

Anyway, Todd had put a video together of a bunch of pics from the hospital, but then we couldn't figure out how to load it. Now, those pics are old news, so I decided to put up these most recent pics. There's quite a few! Hope you love them as much as we do!

Sweet as can be hangin' out in the bouncer. Izzie loves

having her hands up by her face!

First bath at home. She cried the whole time until we left the water running in the sink. Then she was totally calm.

Sleeping in daddy's arms—one of her favorite places to be.

Totally chill in mommy and daddy's bed. This is the life!

Dressed up in one of her many cute outfits. What a doll!

Watching football with daddy.

Looking around after eating. We love it when those eyes are open.

In Izzie's room after another bath. She loves her pink princess towel. :)

Mommy loving little Iz.

She's just a little cutie, isn't she?

Izzie Brooke Barlow

2009-09-05T17:08:00.008-06:00

Our little sweetie is here!

Izzie came on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:19 p.m., weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. We love her and just can't get enough. Here are a few pics for you all to preview!

Last Pre-Baby Post?

2009-08-26T17:23:00.005-06:00

The answer to that question is YES! I went to my doctor this week and I'm dilated to a 3, 80% effaced, and scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, September 2, if our little babe doesn't come before then. HOORAY! We're so ready for our sweet little girl! (We think . . .)

Anyway, this is probably the last belly shot you'll get of me, so I hope you thoroughly enjoy my swollen body! (It looks pretty yucky if you ask me, especially my overly swollen face!!!)

Also, my mom finished the curtains and crib skirt for our baby's room, so I had to put up a picture of those because they turned out so darn cute! I'll put up a pic of the quilt as soon as it is finished.

So look for our next post, which will be ALL BABY ALL THE TIME! :)

I'm 38 weeks in this picture. I didn't ever think I'd make it this far!

I love how these curtains turned out. Way to go mom, I think they're the cutest!

The matching crib skirt is kind of hard to see, but it looks really cute, I promise!

Now I can't wait for the cute quilt!

Todd is Totally My Paul

2009-08-20T21:38:00.003-06:00

Every month I get to go to my EMC (Editor's Movie Club) with all the girls from work. We watch movies that have to do with publishing, editing, writing, or whatever. This month's pick was Julie & Julia, and I absolutely loved it! The stories were darling, the food looked so amazing (and fun to make!), and I just have to say: Meryl, you are such a genius!

One thing I learned about Julia Child after seeing this movie was that she was one of the luckiest people in the world! Not because she mastered French cooking, not because she wrote a book, and not because she was on television. She was lucky, and I should say very blessed, to have a husband that loved her soooo much. The relationship of Julia and Paul stood out to me the most in this movie, as it seems almost like a parallel to me and Todd's marriage in many different ways. Paul was such a support to her, and so encouraging, and just . . . loving. To be that in love is such an amazing thing. Without sounding too sappy, it definitely made me think of Todd and all the love and support he gives to me in everything I do. He is my rock, my North star, and my best friend. Everyone that has seen this movie will know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm sure. And if you haven't found your Paul yet, I hope you do soon!

I love you Todd!

Coping with Pregnancy

2009-08-02T12:59:00.004-06:00

If any of you have talked to me recently, you may have noticed that my voice sounds a little funny—like I have a cold of sorts. But, you also know that I don't have a cold, it's just one of the many fun things that is a direct result of me being pregnant. Well, my nasal problems don't only sound in my voice, but also are pretty prevalent when I sleep at night. A month or so ago, I woke up one morning to find that Todd's head had disappeared! Apparently I had been snoring very loudly that night, and rather than wake me up, he was nice enough to figure out another alternative—namely, putting a pillow over his head. I laughed when he told me why he had covered his head and then I told him I was sorry for being so loud. (Obviously, I just can't help it!). So this morning when I woke up, I thought the way Todd was sleeping was way too funny, so I had to take a picture. He just looks so peaceful all covered in pillows! Unfortunately, I didn't think about the flash, and he woke up right after I snapped the picture. Ooops!

And, here is the long awaited belly shot. I'm now 35 weeks and basically just feel huge and hot (not to mention tired!). Besides that, I feel pretty darn good. I go on Tuesday this week to have my cerclage (stitch) removed and then hopefully baby will come by the end of the month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for August 25th, I'm not sure why, but it sounds like a good day!.

Childbirth Prep Class

2009-07-11T16:58:00.003-06:00

OK, I know I've gone through a delivery already, but it was done kind of blindly and we thought it might be nice to feel a little more prepared this time around. Todd and I both thought the class was definitely worth it, but neither of us much enjoyed the movies they showed of actual births. GROSS! I honestly don't ever need to see another birth! Is it just us, or does anyone else agree? We know it may be different when I'm delivering our own child, but I really doubt I'd ever choose to watch. It's a miracle, that's for sure, but I'm fine being totally in the dark as to how that miracle looks coming out!

P.S. I'm 32 weeks now and my doc says I'm doing great—so great that he wanted me to give him a high-five when I was there this week :) I will post another belly picture soon!

Birthdays and Baby Bellies

2009-06-19T14:12:00.009-06:00

Happy Birthday Todd!

Monday, June 15, was Todd's birthday, and he is now 32! (I think we can all agree he still looks like a newly returned missionary though. What a BABY face!) We had tons of fun celebrating his birthday all weekend—sushi on Friday, BBQ with the fam on Sunday, and Coldstone on Monday. We love birthdays and look forward to MANY more!

So, I know this picture doesn't have ANYTHING to do with Todd's birthday, but I had to put something up and I've always thought this was soooo funny. This is on California Screamin' in California Adventure at Disneyland. Todd insisted he take some pictures while on the ride. I'm pretty sure my scream was real and Todd's was totally FAKE. Either way, I think he's a nut and he always makes me smile. I'm glad he's mine! :)

As for me, I'm now officially in my third trimester and am 28 weeks along now! Here is the latest picture of my BULGING baby belly. (Am I seriously going to get bigger? I'm HUGE!)

Projects!

2009-05-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

OK! I've been working on projects for the baby's room over the last couple of months and finally have a few of them finished! They'll probably look better as a whole when you see the baby room completely finished, which will hopefully happen in the next month or so. For now, just consider them previews!

This is a lamp I made and I think it turned out pretty cute! I found the base at Ross for $5 as well as the white shade. I just added the beads, ribbon, and flower!

This is one of three shelves that we're hanging up. We just painted some unfinished shelves from Michael's that we bought for $5 a piece and then I mod podged scrapbook paper on the outside and inside panels. Polka dots inside and the cute pink and green stripes on the outside. I glued the same ribbon from the lamp around the top edge of the shelf too.

This is the baby train! I think it turned out really cute. It'll go on one of the finished shelves once we get them all hung up.

Finally, we found this cute vinyl saying a month or so ago and finally put it up. We thought it was super cute because obviously our little girl will be quite the princess!

So, that's it for now, but I'll have some more in the next little while. Everything seems really PINK! We like it though and think the room is going to be SUPER cute! My mom is making a quilt and skirt for the crib, and I may attempt to make some matching curtains for the window. (What you see with the vinyl saying was a cute valance I bought, but we decided to make one on our own that matches the crib quilt AND was cheaper!) We'll post pics of those when they're done! :)

Can't wait for PEACHES!

2009-05-24T20:53:00.008-06:00

So this past week we've been working in the yard and trying to get it primed for summer 09. We've done a lot of work and still seem to have a long list to go before we're through. One of the things on our list is to finish pruning all of our fruit trees. For those that don't know, we have an apricot, cherry, plum, peach, and 2 pear trees. Our favorite is definitely the peach tree, followed closely by the pear trees. The fruit is SOOOO good! Anyway, since we love our peaches so much, that's the only tree we've pruned so far. We thought it was funny once it was finished because by the time it was done, there was more tree on the ground than actually left on the tree. So we took some pictures for everyone to see!. Now we're hoping we get some big juicy peaches later this summer. I say every year that I just want peaches and vanilla ice cream for dinner every night for a week. Last year we only had 3 peaches and the birds ended up eating 2 of them so that plan didn't really work out. But this year looks WAY more promising and TONS of little peaches are already growing! Hooray!

Baby Belly at 22 Weeks

2009-05-15T17:42:00.005-06:00

Ooops! Has it really been a month since I've done a post! Sorry about that, I guess I've been busy with projects. Anyway, here is another picture—I'll try to keep posting them every few weeks. I'm actually 23 weeks now, but I was a week behind in putting this one up. Sorry!

And, something for you all to look forward too (maybe), pictures of all my projects! I've been making tons of things for the baby's room. I'll post again soon so you can see what I've done so far!

(P.S. Don't make fun of my face in this pic! I look totally weird!!! Next one will be WAY cuter!)

Happy Birthday Babies!

2009-04-17T07:59:00.003-06:00

We can't believe it's been 2 years since our little ones came and went so quickly. We love and miss Brock and Mia every day, and wish with all our hearts that they could be here to celebrate their birthday with us. I find myself thinking about what they would look like now, and how sweet—and rascally—they would be. It's a blessing to know that we will be with them again one day, get to know them better, and love them more than we can even comprehend. We're so lucky to have made the choice to be married in the temple so that we would be given the opportunity to work towards being an eternal family. We love our babies, as we will always affectionately call them, and we can't wait to see them again.

Baby Belly at 18 weeks

2009-04-08T17:20:00.001-06:00

A few people have been asking to see my bump, so here it is!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

2009-04-03T08:50:00.004-06:00

We went in for a checkup yesterday and the doc did an ultrasound. Todd asked him if he could tell us what we were having, so he told us! As you can see, it's a girl! Everything is looking great so far—the baby is measuring perfectly and has a strong little heartbeat. We go have the "big" ultrasound in just over 2 weeks at the hospital, so we're definitely excited (and a tiny bit scared) for that! Hopefully we get a "girl" confirmation there. :)

You've all been wondering about a name, and we have a handful we're considering with two pretty strong frontrunners. BUT, I want to hear suggestions from you guys first, just for fun!

Thanks everyone for all of your support! We are SO happy and SO excited!

The Apple of Our Eye

2009-03-17T17:32:00.007-06:00

So I'm struggling with what to post lately, but like I said in my previous post, Todd and I are thoroughly amused at what type of fruit, vegetable, food, etc. our baby will be compared to each week. I'm now 15 weeks preggers and our baby is roughly the size of an apple! To clarify, this just means from one end to the other, not necessarily the circumference (or is it diameter?) of the food. So, this means the little guy/princess is about 4 inches long and weighs 2.5 ounces. What a little bitty thing!

And, an update for all those wondering, I did have my cerclage (or stitch) put in. That happened about 2 weeks ago now and all went well. The surgery was all of 5 minutes and I was done. They did put me out for it though, which is kind of funny, but I'd obviously rather be out than feel any pain. :) Now the baby should be nice and secure in there and hopefully stays put!

The Size of a Lime

2009-02-28T15:11:00.005-07:00

As many of you already know, we are expecting a baby! Not of the adoption kind, but the good ol' fashioned way—with me being the one pregnant! (For those who didn't already know, SURPRISE!) Our due date is September 8, and we are very excited and equally scared. Everything seems to be looking good though! We've met with the doctor multiple times and have ultrasounds each time we go. I've been pretty sick with this pregnancy, which is something new as I've never been sick before. We figure that anything different is likely a good thing! Luckily I'm to the stage where the sickness is starting to go away and I'm looking forward to it being completely gone soon and getting a little of my energy back. As for the title of this post, we get weekly updates on our little one from the all-knowing Babycenter.com people and think it's funny because each week our update compares the baby's size to food. This last week our baby was the size of a lime! Oooooh! How cute!

P.S. And, in case you were all wondering, we've decided to put our adoption profile on hold for now as I was getting nervous thinking I would be a week from delivery and we'd get the call saying a baby was waiting for us. I thought that might be a little stressful . . .

The Office

2009-01-30T09:29:00.002-07:00

No, this is not another post about one of our favorite TV shows! I'm sad to say that the company I work for is making some changes and has asked all the people who work at home to start working in the office again. Their reasoning for this change is mainly so our team can regroup and get our energy and focus back in check. The possibility of working at home again somewhere down the road is still there, so that gives me something to look forward to I suppose. So, as of Monday next week, I will no longer be home 2 of my 4 work days and my new schedule starts. I'll be in the office Monday through Thursday! There are lot's of ups and downs to working at home, but the same goes for working in the office, as I'm sure you're all aware. I'm actually looking forward to having two more days of real face-to-face human conversation. However, I'm sad to be leaving the comforts of home. I've really started to become a home-body and it's just so nice and cozy here! Here's to changes, and hopefully it's a good one!

Time to get LOST!

2009-01-21T15:27:00.002-07:00

I can't wait for this season's first episode of LOST! It starts in a few hours and I am so excited! Is anyone else as obsessed as I am? If so, let me know and we can talk about our obsession and theories for hours, I'm sure! :)

Another List?

2009-01-14T15:42:00.005-07:00

I've seen some blogs recently that have lists. Lots of lists with numerous things. Things people like, things for which people are thankful, things of tasks that need to be done, things people hate, and many many more. I really enjoy reading these lists and getting to know everyone a little better. Sooooo, since I too am a fan of lists, I've decided to add my own.

"A Few of My Favorite Things"

Movies I can watch over and over: Star Wars, Narnia, Return to Me, Robin Hood (yes, with Kevin Costner), and National Treasure (plus quite a few others that I'm sure I'm forgetting—Oh! Like Sleepless in Seattle)

TV shows: LOST (hooray! New season starts 1 week from today!), Survivor, Amazing Race, The Bachelor, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, and How I Met Your Mother (Do I really watch that much TV? I swear that not all of these shows are on during the same time of year!)

Favorite TV shows Todd and I can quote in relation to just about anything that happens in our lives: Seinfeld and Friends

Favorite unhealthy snacks: Nacho Doritos, Easy Cheese (on Reduced-Fat Wheat Thins though!), cheese of any kind (does anyone sense a theme here?), and Diane's buttery popcorn

Restaurants: Cheesecake Factory, Macaroni Grill, Paradise Bakery, Rumbi, Cafe Rio, The Mandarin, and Tsunami (yummy!)

Desserts: Key lime pie or cheesecake, gooey brownies, ice cream with big chunks of candy (like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups), oatmeal cake, and fruit pizza

Favorite Music: Anything by Ingrid Michaelson, or whatever happens to be on my blog playlist, Rascal Flatts, and quite a few others (Todd would beg to differ though)

Books: The Work and the Glory, Children of the Promise, Anita Stansfield, Pride and Prejudice, Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo, Harry Potter, Twilight (please finish Midnight Sun Stephanie—it's my favorite!) and many others!

Favorite Vacations: Hawaii, Mexico, Disneyland, and Disney World!

Ice Cream: Mint Chocolate Chip, Raspberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Heath.

Favorite Meals: Pizza, pizza, and more pizza! (I don't know why I like pizza so much!) I'm also a huge fan of yummy salads and I like a good Maddox Turkey Steak with Heinz 57 on it with mashed potatoes and corn. Mmmmms!

Favorite thing to do with spare time: Snuggle with Todd, stalk people on blogs or my new found friend—Facebook, play games with friends, read, clean (when the mood strikes me), create new recipes to try out, shopping, and just being me

Things I love to collect: shoes, recipes, clothes, things for babies, scrapbooking stuff, cute decorations for our house, cute socks, cute notebooks, books to read, and probably more

Last but not least, things I love MOST: My "boopy" (a.k.a. Todd—don't even ask), my family, my friends, and all the love and support I feel from everyone that surrounds me!

OK, if you made it this far and are still reading this somewhat lengthy post, I'm finally done!

Who Are You?

2008-12-26T10:34:00.002-07:00

My friend Jennifer has a book coming out called Remarkably Jane in just a couple of months. She found this fun quiz that tells you what Jane Austen character you are most like. I'm so happy I'm Elizabeth! Now, who are you?

Take the Quiz here!

Back from Disneyland!

2008-12-10T20:31:00.018-07:00

So it seems I haven't posted in a really long time! We've been busy the last few weeks with missionaries coming home, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving shopping, and then driving the next day to California for a FANTASTIC trip with Todd's whole family. I thought I'd list the highlights (and a few "lowlights") of our fun-filled vacay.

Highlight 1: Stopping in Vegas on Saturday for the night and trekking over to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had another YUMMY entree that was out of this word. Way to go Cheesecake Factory, you never disappoint!

Lowlight 1: Unfortunately our stop in Vegas meant we'd be driving from Vegas to LA on a Sunday morning. For those who are unaware, this is a HUGE no no because the traffic is ridiculous. It took us TWO HOURS to drive to Primm from Vegas. Again, for those who are unaware, Primm is only 30 miles away! The drive that normally takes 3 1/2 hours took us a total of 7 hours. NOT FUN!

Highlight 2: We stayed at the Hyatt—a great hotel that is only a few minutes from Disneyland. The beds have super comfy pillows and a down blanket that is extra cozy. It's the same place we stayed last year. We loved it then and loved it this time too!

Lowlight 2: Even with such a great hotel, we did have this one little problem with our room that nobody else seemed to have. For some reason there was this really loud noise that kept coming through the vent in our room all night long, every night but two. This means we did not sleep all that great. The first night we thought it was a fluke, otherwise we would have switched rooms. The second night it happened again, and we discovered the noise went off every 9 minutes—ALL NIGHT LONG! Then we were basically halfway done with our stay, so we obviously didn't want to change rooms. We did have noise one more night and then two nights of sweet peaceful freedom. So I guess that was the "highlight" of this "lowlight."

Highlight 3: Disneyland decorated for Christmas was SOOOOO cute! I loved it all. Walking down Main Street was fantastic with all the garlands and wreaths and ornaments and of course the huge Christmas tree. We went straight to Small World where everything in the ride was decorated very Christmasy, and outside the ride looked fantastic at night all covered in lights. The Haunted Mansion was done all Nightmare Before Christmas, which was kind of a fun change even though we think Tim Burton is super weird. There was a Christmas parade with all the characters dressed in their winter attire that was fun, and also a special Christmas firework show each night where it snowed on Main Street and other places in the park (we discovered the snow was actually soap bubbles).

Highlight 4: Being there with Todd's whole family. We discovered vacationing with kids is an entirely different type of vacation! We had a great time watching all the kids discover fun new rides, and even being scared of others. Our favorites were some great lines by the little kids:

Ben (in Vegas) after seeing a billboard of a somewhat scantily clad showgirl: "Dad, I can see her bum!" Craig: "Then don't look at it!" Ben: "Well, she's not real!"

Rachel after riding the Matterhorn: "I don't want to see monsters, only butterflies!"

Ben at the hotel after riding Tower of Tower earlier that day: "There are rides at Disneyland that are not for big people and little people. There's this one ride that goes up really fast and down really fast and up and you just float. I hate it."

Rachel after riding Pirates of the Caribbean and then Pooh's Adventure: "I don't want to go on Pirates, only Pooh!"

There were many other funny comments that I'm sure we'll remember later. :)

Highlight 5: All of the rides of course! My favorites are always Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. We were able to go on those multiple times, so I was a very happy camper. There's a new Toy Story ride in California Adventure that is similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney, but is all 3-D. It was pretty cool and we went on that mulitple times as well.

Highlight 6: Thank you Fast Pass! Because of these little beauties, the longest we had to wait in any ride was about 20 minutes. The parks weren't too crowded until Friday, so we loved the luxury of the "open" spaces until then.

Lowlight 3: I was somehow convinced that you do NOT get wet when sitting in the front seat on Splash Mountain. I had actually gone on the ride during a previous vacation and didn't get a drop on me in the very front. Obviously you can all see where this is going. Yes, I sat in front, and yes, I was soaked! Wet jeans, wet jacket, wet hair. I looked totally hot, but was seriously freezing, and basically stayed wet for the rest of the day/night. It was a bummer, but I miraculously made it back to the hotel without dying, so I guess it wasn't too bad. :)

Highlight 7: The food was delicious! We ate YUMMY things every day. A list of our favorites: pepperoni pizza with really thick crust, caramel kettle corn, a hamburger covered in A1 sauce and blue cheese crumbles, pineapple whip from the Dole stand, a batter-fried Monte Cristo sandwich, ice cream cookie sandwich, French onion soup, garlic Parmesan fries, and a ton of other stuff I'm sure.

Lowlight 4: The one sad food moment for me was when we decided to cancel our reservations at the Blue Bayou. I've wanted to eat there for years and never have. We even made reservations this time, but could only do a group of 8. Since we had at least 14 in our group most times, we decided to forego and eat at the Orleans Cafe across the little street where we could all sit together. It was good food though, so that lessened the blow a little. :)

Highlight 8: We were lucky enough to have Jared come along with us and he taught a few things about Disneyland. He hooked us up with some awesome Honorary Disneyland Citizen pins, told us secrets about how to get higher scores on the new Toy Story ride, took us in the "special" caboose of the train, gave us his best performance on the Jungle Cruise, and got us an amazing discount on food and souvenirs! Thanks Jared!

Highlight 9: Taking it easy on our last day was nice. We didn't run around to all the rides, we just did the "show" thing and didn't rush. We went through this place in California Adventure where you can take a test to see what Disney character you are most like. Todd was Buzz Lightyear and was considered adventurous, and I was Lady (of Lady and the Tramp) and was considered a lady of leisure. Loved that!

Well, there are many more highlights, and probably a few more lowlights as well, but I'll stop before this post gets way too long. Be on the lookout in the next few days for a great slide show with a bunch of our pictures. Hope you enjoyed these sneak peek shots for now! And a big thank you to Todd's parents for making such a fun trip happen for the whole family. We love you guys so much!

Seriously, Snow?

2008-11-06T19:06:00.009-07:00

Three years ago was our first fall in this house and we raked enough leaves in our backyard to fill nearly 40 garbage bags! Last year we got smart and mulched them with the mower, so we only filled 10 or 12 bags. A huge improvement! This year we thought we'd be all cool and show everyone how many leaves we actually have. We had this great plan of taking pictures of the leaves during stages as they covered the ground out back. Great plan, right?

Stage 1: We took this awesome picture after we'd filled a couple bags with leaves. This many had fallen again by the time we cleaned everything up.

Stage 2: This was taken a few days later when a little more than half the leaves had fallen off our trees. Lookin' good!

Stage 3: This is the picture we took after all of the leaves had fallen. Note, there is something in this picture that does NOT belong!

Stage 4: To finish things off we took this picture, because it seemed like somebody was rubbing it in. Seriously, are we are total geniuses or what?!

So, with that said, does anybody want to come help us rake up 40 bags' worth of soggy leaves when the snow melts? It'll be SUPER fun . . .

More Mexico Pics (finally!)

2008-10-28T17:00:00.002-06:00

The Twilight Test

2008-10-26T11:18:00.003-06:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I of course had to take this test, so I guess I'm Esme! It seems fitting I suppose. Since my cousin Randee made her husband take the quiz, I decided Todd had to take it too. He wanted to answer all of his questions with the "brute strength" and "flexing muscles" answers, but then I told him he had to answer HONESTLY! So in the end, he turned out being Carlisle, which made me happy since Carlisle and Esme are so happy together! :)

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Viva Mexico!

2008-10-17T08:34:00.009-06:00

Well, we just got back from an awesome week-long vacation with our friends from warm and (mostly) sunny Mexico! We stayed at an amazing all-inclusive resort (Secrets Maroma and Capri) thanks to Todd's genius travel research. We got a great nightly rate and loved the fact that we didn't have to pay for any of our meals or activities while we were there. Some of the highlights were relaxing on the beach, WARM weather, piña coladas, snorkeling, scuba diving (for the boys), sailing, kayaking, visiting old ruins, EXCELLENT food, running to catch the ferry, Spencer's Spanish/Italian menu, swampy cenotes, Julie's "drunk" giggles, and tons more! Here's some of our pics, and be on the lookout for another post when we get the rest of our pics from Spence (who was a great camera guy!). VIVA MEXICO! We can't wait for our next trip down there!

Dinner our first night at Bordeaux (the French restaurant at our hotel)

Outside the lobby (sorry it's foggy, our camera had do adjust to the humidity!)

Just playing "under the stars!"

In Cozumel on our way to scuba diving for the boys and snorkeling for the girls

Adam, Spence, and Todd just before their first dive!

In front of some ruins in Tulum (we had an awesome RM as our guide!)

Megan, me, and Julie overlooking the beach at Tulum

More ruins and beach at Tulum!

Fall Colors

2008-10-17T08:23:00.004-06:00

Every year Todd and I listen to the Sunday afternoon session of the fall General Conference as we drive the Emigration Canyon loop up to Morgan so we can see all the pretty fall colors. It's a fun tradition and a great way to stay awake during that usually sleepy afternoon session! So, here's just a couple pictures of our drive. The colors were extra good this year!

Me at the top of Emigration Canyon

Todd IN the leaves on the Morgan side

It's About . . . Time!

2008-09-30T20:32:00.007-06:00

Well, our adoption profile is finally online! It was only supposed to take 24 hours for our profile to post, but due to some "complications" at the adoption office, it took more than 2 weeks! We haven't been too worried just yet and figured if we were diligent, it would be posted eventually! So, without further ado, I know you are all dying to see said profile! Just click on the link below, click on Search Adoption Profiles, and then type toddandmelissa1 in the search box. Enjoy!

www.itsaboutlove.org