Congrats and Good luck Auntie Karen!!

My little sister Karen is starting as a freshman this coming week at BYU. We are so proud of her and Carly was so excited that her aunt is swimming for BYU that she decided to pay her tribute by wearing mommy's swim goggles!! HEhe-what a goof!
We love you Karen!! You'll do great!! Enjoy every minute of it! = )

I need some advice........please, HELP!

So right now, I'm having a problem (among others!!haha~). Carly sleeps with a binky at naptime(this is so not happening with the next child...or so I say now). She doesn't really ever have a binky at any other time of the day. We occasionally take it with us when we go out in case a Carly crisis breaks out, but that's it!
Right now she's doing this thing where she is dropping her binky outside her crib and sometimes along with her little giraffe blanky square-Both of which she cannot/WILL NOT sleep without. At first when I started to notice that this was becoming a habit, I tried to not go in there and get it-I figured that she was doing it just to get me to come in(and she probably is), but then she just cries for hours and refuses to nap. I thought if I try to ingnore it, then eventually she'd get the idea to not toss them out. No luck with that strategy!! So I don't know what to do. I hate going in there when I hear that's she's dropped them on the monitor and I don't want this to go on forever! Should I try to wean her of her binky at naptime? (She has one to go to bed with at night, but I take it out before I go to bed, and she sleeps through the night without it! We were lucky on that one!)She doesn't do the extra binky in the crib thing either. My mom said to clip it to her but she doesn't like that and just messes with it and gets it off as well!! I need some suggestions, or hear what any of you have done!! Even if I've said stuff that you've done that hasn't worked so far, I want to hear it!! I need encouragement desperately!! Thanks moms!!

Okay, be patient with me.....

Alrighty, so as you may have noticed, I haven't been the best blogger lately. I have been sick for the past few weeks, and have been lazy about posting. In fact being sick really isn't my excuse, as I haven't really ever been good about consistantly posting! I won't post for a while, and then I'll post about ten different posts to catch up, but that's not as fun for daily readers/bloggers!! I love to see friends and families blogs that post more often...So, I am going to try to follow their example (Brittany-You are the best at this! Thank you!) Even if I don't have pics, I have so much I can say, and have many things in my daily life that I would love to get advice on!
Okay, so you're hearing me say it, and I want you to call me on it when I slack!!
BUT, since I'm starting this today, you'll have to forgive me for a quick "catch up," for the last time. I have tons of pics from the last week, and so slowly but surely, I am going to post them over the next few days. I also have been "tagged" by Liz, so eventually I will put that up as well!
Thank ya bloggers!

She's growing up~!

Here Carly's watching her favorite and only show, "The Backyardigans." It's the cutest show ever! I know, we're terrible parents-

So nice to turn from the tv to pose!

Bed Head!

"Baby Long-Lashes"

Side shot of "the do"

"What are YOU lookin' at?!" Hehe~

Carly had crazy hair this morning!! We came in to get her and she actually had a fever(that's why her cheeks are kind of rosie) She's getting FOUR top front teeth all together-NO FUN!! ANyways, she was just so sweet and we got such a kick out of her mohawk hair!! You'll have to blow up each of these pictures to really appreciate them! They're just so cute, and you can see her hair better!!

Eating or wearing our lunch?

Okay, so I'm having a terrible time keeping a bib on Carly. She's EXTREMELY strong willed, and refuses to keep her bib on. She loves to rip it off, and give the most defiant face and look at us as she tosses it overboard. I tell her no, I praise her when she keeps it on, I keep my hand on it to try to keep her from taking it off-I don't know what else to do!! I tried using the hard plastic bibs that she can't get off, but then she just sits and yanks and yanks on it till she's hurting her neck!! You'd think that'd stop her, but nO! By the last leg of meal times, I've given up and let her just make a mess because it just takes too much energy and time to keep putting it on! HElp me! I can't get out all the stains on her clothes! Such a mess! I'll take any and all suggestions!>....




So much work, but who can't love those baby blues?!?...saves her every time!!

Pack'n Play!

We have this wonderful Pack'nplay that isn't the typical pack'nplay. It's by graco, and it's call the Tot Block. I love it because it's square and a lot bigger than the standard pack'nplay! Carly lasts so much longer in it because she has room to move around! I love it! I also love that I got it practically brand new (used once at a grandmas house) off of Craigslist for $35 bucks!! That's $65 dollars less than in stores!! Yahoooo!!! Gotta love a steal!
P.S. I swear Carly doesn't always "sport" such nastified clothes!! She's practically wearing her lunch!! Good grief! Don't worry, I changed her....eventually!! LOL

Ms. "One-Eyed Jo" saying goodbye!

Ryan's mom flew out Sunday night, but his dad and Carsen stayed till Monday morning to see San Fran on the drive home. SO here's pics of Carly's goodbyes!
I don't know what's up with Carly's smile these days! She loves to scrunch up her nose and half close her left eye!!(Maybe we should get that checked?hehe) It's not the most attractive thing ever, but it's pretty funny. I call her "One-Eyed Jo." She looks like she's trying to make some kind of pirate face!! ARRRRRRR!!! I just wish I could get a normal picture every once in a while!! Silly baby!
She'll probably grow out of it before Kindergarten school pictures, right?!

Carly and Carsen...

Carly has so much fun with her Uncle Carsen!! I was a little worried that Carly might not take to everyone soon enough before they had to go(she's a HARDcore Mommy's girl, and doesn't do so well with other people), but luckily she did just great with everyone! We think that maybe having my sister Annie here (2 days prior to the weekend) for 8 days broke her in a little!!! It was nice to have someone else hold her for a change!(Not that I don't love holding my baby!)



Carly taking a moment to herself to reflect upon the day...

Happy Birthday Ryan!

We celebrated Ryan's 30th birthday last Sunday!We had a great weekend-Ryan's parents and his little brother Carsen came up from Utah and surprised Ryan when he got home from work on Friday(and I mean REALLY surprised him!It was pretty funny to see his shocked reaction). We played, laughed, swam, ate lots, and most of all, just enjoyed eachothers company. It was a fabulous weekend! Thanks so much Mom, Dad, and Carsen for coming to visit!! We love you!

Yummy cake!! Strawberry Boston Cream!!....and no, I didn't make it! Sad to say, it's store bought, but soooooooooooo worth it!!



Go easy there old man!!

Fun with Auntie Annie!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Anniversary!!!

Ryan and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary yesterday! We were married 8/06/04!
3 years ago and still going strong!
Thanks to our "built-in babysitter for the week," (my little sister Annie), we were able to go out for a really nice dinner, and finally to the movies!(First time since Carly's been born!!) We saw Harry Potter, and it was awesome!!! We are old-timers though because we were exhausted being out past 10:30!!! Hehe~ LOL~ I guess that's what being parents will do to ya! Anyhow, we had such a wonderful evening of celebration.
I can honestly say that as much as I love Ryan, I continue to love him more and more each day. He is such an amazing example to me of unconditional love(a useful quality to have being married to me!!), and he is the cutest/sweetest Daddy ever! I can't imagine my life or myself without him.
We have been so blessed with the love, support, and wisdom of close friends and family through these years. We are so grateful to have been married and sealed in the temple for time and all eternity, and for that solid foundation of our home and family.

Our little prodigy...

Carly loves jammin' on her piano!!! She can even sing at the same time!!!

Baby Blue Eyes

I've been cleaning out Carly's closet this week, and I found this cute coat that she hasn't worn yet, so I was trying it on, and it looked so cute that of course, we had to snap a shot!