My Best Friend's Wedding

Marianne got married! I couldn't be happier for her really. We love having Chris around, and I love seeing Mare so happy. The day was beautiful, of course. There is something crazy fun about watching someone you love so much do something amazing, like get married. I also loved spending the day with Ryan and remembering when it was our turn to have that magical day (shout out to Katie and Jeff for playing with Kyle all day...thank you!!). Congratulations Mare! We LOVE you!

*Thanks to Kels for the pics...I didn't have my camera. 

For he's a jolly good fellow...

Last night we celebrated Mike. His birthday is this week. We love Mike. I was lucky enough to meet him back in Jr. High, and since then he was always been one of my very best friends. In fact, when Ryan looked through my old picture album from high school he named it, "my bff shrine to Mike", since the majority of my pictures were with him. That's what happens when you go on choir trips together I guess.  Mike is the kind of friend who will always be there. The type of friend that if I called him with some crazy secret or something, he would say "how can I help?" without thinking twice, or passing any judgement. He is the type of friend I would call if I ever killed someone, to help me hide the body. Our lives have taken us both many different places, but through it all we always seem to stay close. I feel so lucky to have such a great friend for life. Happy Birthday Mike!

The best we could do with self timer...we missed those who are obviously missing.

Strut

Yesterday our furnace broke so we took refuge at my parents for a couple hours. While we were there hanging out in our jammies, I thought we should get a little video of Kyle walking. It took him a while, but he now walks pretty much full time. We think it is a lot of fun. So many people said things like, "oh be grateful he can't walk yet" or, "just you wait til he can walk"....like it was some terrible thing about to happen to us... but so far I don't know what they were talking about. He causes just as much destruction now as he did when crawling and I just love that he can walk instead of being carried around in public places. Maybe I will eat my words later, but I couldn't be happier so see him roaming around everywhere. He is so grown up! He also likes to applaud himself.

I am hoping to get better video sometime soon, but this is nice for now. Go K-man go!

Sick Days

We have had an awful lot of sick days at our house lately. We have sort of been in survival mode...doing the bare minimum to get by. This means things are getting pretty messy by now, nobody has any clean clothes to wear, and a home cooked meal is a distant memory from how things used to be. Ryan is clearly exhausted from having so much on his plate...he fell asleep at 8:30 last night. Poor guy. We hope to get back to normal soon, but until then, at least the Oscars are on tonight? 

Sick or not, he makes me smile.

Crafty

So back when I was pregnant with Kyle I had a hard time finding any bedding/decor that I liked. Because of this, I felt inspired to make him a quilt. I am not really super crafty, especially when a sewing machine is involved...so this was ambitious. Luckily I have a friend very experienced in quilting who helped me a ton. Also, I make the quilt tops, send them away to be quilted, then I do the binding...so all that fancy stitchery work is done by someone else. But I am still proud of my part. Well I swore Kyle's quilt would be my first and last...but then I kept going. So I have decided to make a little quilt journal, to remember the quilts as I do them.

First up, Kyle's quilt. Matches his room, and I still love the colors...which is a miracle. I tend to change my mind way too much when it comes to decor. This quilt is full of flaws, but will always be special to me.

The next one I did will always be special to me. I made this one for Brooklyn, my sweet niece who was stillborn in November. She is definitely a special spirit, and it made me happy to make something for her.

My most recent one was so much fun. I was completely obsessed with the colors and fabrics. This one was for Baby Garrity, who is yet to arrive. Hope she approves!

That's it so far. I am currently working on a bedspread for Kyle's "big boy" bed. It is the biggest and by far the most involved quilt I have tried so far. It will sort of be a miracle if it all works out, but totally worth the work. I have really come to enjoy this little hobby...and am working to improve all the time. It is rewarding to put so much time and effort into something and then enjoy the beautiful product. Happy quilting!

Oh baby

Ambs is having a baby! Naturally, we had a shower. Good luck Ambs, and baby womb girl...we love you already.

ramblings.

Lately I have had an unusually high number of experiences that have all taught me one thing, that everyone is going through something. Not that I am really naive enough to believe that anyone has a perfect life or that those who appear to have it all really DO have it all, but sometimes it takes talking to new people or learning new things about people you have known for years to really remind me of this. Everyone is struggling. Some more than others, and all of us at one time more than another.

Recently when talking with a friend, this line came to mind..."in the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see.."  A simple line from a hymn I have sung regularly my entire life, but the meaning of it finally set in.

Everyone is struggling, some more quietly than others. When you think of in this way I guess it could feel depressing. But instead I think it makes the world approachable. Why not smile and say hello to someone? Why not drop a treat off to someone? Why not take your neighbors kids for an hour? Why not ask someone a little more about themselves? They could probably use a little help...couldn't you?

Some people are living in a sort of secret darkness we might never expect. Others might have more public struggles, but we might never know exactly what they are going through. But it doesn't matter. You don't have to relate, you just have to care. When your motives come from a sincere place, you can't go wrong. Remember times are tough for many, and do something to make their day a little easier. Be considerate. Take the time to forget yourself and care about someone else. This is my goal for the month.

Love.

Ryan is out of town all week. I think I said that already. Things are a bit lonely around here, but life goes on. It is actually a busy week, so time is flying, and I don't mind. The nights get long though. Enough complaining. Just wanted to document Valentine's day with my baby. Kyle and I had quite a good time.

We started out the day with sugar cookies for breakfast while dancing and singing to Pandora's Love station. It was full of good tunes, and Kyle is always full of great dance moves. It was a lovely morning (despite the fact it started at an hour I hardly consider morning)...can't stop whining can I?

Then we took a nap. This really changed our outlook on the day. It was definitely gonna be good.

Then we ran some errands...always an adventure. Then we visited a friend, and Kyle was lucky enough to receive a Valentine! Lucky man.

Then Kyle took another nap (this only happens after weirdly rough nights..the two nap thing I mean). I finished a project.

Then we went to dinner with my dear Grandma. Love her. Kyle ate a ton, which is always such good news for me. We went to one more store, where Kyle was given a bouncy ball...which was not only the highlight of his day...but possibly his whole week/month/year? The fact he can drop something and it comes back to him is just great I guess.

Mix some play time and chaos in there along with phone calls to Ryan and that is about our day. I know you needed the play by play. It was a good day. I've had the same Valentine for four years now, added one this year, and look forward to all the years to come. I've got some good men in my life.

*I wrote this last week but never posted it. Thought I would now. So glad to have Ryan back home this week.

Dia de Amor

Ryan will be out of town all week next week, so we thought we would celebrate Valentine's tonight. We had a lot of ideas, but because of a few circumstances ended up going to Cold Stone and wandering the mall baby free. It was so much fun though. Earlier in the day we were able to spend some family time outside too. So wonderful. I loved being with both the men in my life. I also love early celebrations of holidays...it usually means there will be more than one celebration, which I always approve of. Still sad Ryan will be gone next week, but it was a fun day. Simple. Nice.

Guess which one is mine? Bigger the better.

Want to make your ice cream taste better? Go a month and a half sugar free...mmmmmm splurge day was wonderful. Happy Valentine's Day early! (I plan to celebrate Tuesday too of course)

14 Months

Another month has gone by my friends, and Kyle has new tricks of course! Favorites?

• He walks! (finally). It is really only a few steps at a time, and he still prefers to crawl most of the time...but he does walk!
• He jumps. In the air, both feet off the ground, and lands perfectly. It has only happened a few times though.
• He gives kisses. Legit ones. All puckered, so slobber. He only kisses me and select stuffed animals usually, but Ryan was lucky enough to get one once too. This is perhaps my favorite milestone so far.
• He roars like a dinosaur, but always in a whisper.
• He still dances when there is any sort of music. He loves music so much. It always calms him down and makes him happy.
• He loves to be outside. No matter how cold, he would prefer to be outside.
• He doesn't like his food broken up. Prefers to take his own bites.
• 14 teeth. 
• LOVES High School Musical and Camp Rock. Maybe more than me. Seriously. He will watch as long as we let him.
• Loves to read books. Especially new ones from the library.
• Loves to point out facial features and name them.
• He loves his haircut. Cries and cries when I finish. Sits perfectly still the whole time.
• Loves to comb his own hair in the morning.
• He loves taking medicine and hates eating.
• He doesn't like to share. Period.
• He loves to kiss himself in the mirror.
• He loves to wrestle and be flipped upside down.
• He. Is. SO. Sweet. 

I keep thinking each month is my favorite until the next one happens and becomes my new favorite. As much as I loved cuddling a newborn, watching Kyle learn to talk and seeing his personality become so distinct is so much fun. He is a bit crazy, but I love his energy. We love having him around so much, even though he makes me go insane sometimes. I look forward to all the new things this next month will bring!

I will leave you with a video. Last night we heard Kyle laughing in the middle of the night. We went in and found him happily standing up, then diving onto his blankets over and over again. When I asked him if he wanted to get out of bed he said no, and kept diving and laughing. So then I said good night, and this is what he did, before returning to his game....

Living in the past

Remember when the Cardinals won the World Series 2011 in an AMAZING way? Well, my family remembers! My dad threw a little bash tonight and we watched the highlights on dvd. He also made delicious St. Louis inspired food. Yum. And reliving the game was so. much. fun. We are getting close to baseball season...woohooo!

Stella & Dot

I mentioned on my hair blog that I am obsessed with Stella & Dot, but I thought I would document it here as well. Last summer my sister in law showed me some of their  stuff and I loved it all. By Fall I through my own trunk show (and ended up scoring lots of free jewelry), and by winter I had signed up myself. It is just so cute, so nice, and so much fun to wear. The other perk is that occasionally I team up with Becky (sister in law who introduced it to me) and we throw parties, or go to boutiques together. We did one last night in Lehi! Who wouldn't want to hang out with that girl showing people amazing jewelry all night? It hardly feels like work. If you haven't checked out their stuff....you MUST. Too cute to not know about. I am addicted. 

check out the jewelry here.

Its mutual...

He likes the ducks.

The ducks like him.

Copy Cat...

BFF Mare is getting married! Woohoo! I am so very excited about it all. Well we through her a shower a bit ago, and it was great. I wanted to blog about it of course, but Mel did such a good job...I am just going to copy hers. Thanks Mel! And CONGRATS Mare!!!

Check it out HERE.