Trip to San Diego

Jason, Brooke and  I all got to get away to San Diego on Monday and Tuesday. Jason needed to go down to take his State Administrator test and he invited us to come along. We had a great time. We stayed at the Hyatt Hotel which is right next to the San Diego Temple, and it was so beautiful to see every time we went outside. We got to hang out, eat a lot of yummy food, and we even got a short trip in at the Wild Animal Park. It was so fun and it was so nice getting to hang out with my sweet hubby those two extra days. 

I love this pic that I took of Brooke looking at the Temple!!

11 months.... Really?.....Already?

Brookie turned 11 months on the 12th of this month.  It is so amazing to me how fast the time has gone. She is at such a fun age right now and I love to see how fast she learns things and how everything in this world has something to teach her. Her favorite thing to do is point at things right now. I love seeing how smart she is by asking her to point at something and she will. It amazes me how smart she is. She talks her crazy baby talk all the time, she makes silly noises with her mouth, and she is back to doing a very cheesy smile, that is oh so cute. She still isn't walking on her own, and she really hasn't shown an interest in walking unsupported. She loves to hold on to everything and she is a very cautious baby, so I don't think she will be walking on her own anytime soon. She has such a fun and sweet personality and I am so glad that she was sent into our family! I can't imagine life without her.

Fun time at The WAP

This past Thursday my mom and I took Brooke to the Wild Animal Park for the first time. It was such a perfect day. It was slightly overcast, not to cold, and then it started raining right before we left (this is a good thing..I LOVE the rain!) We had such a fun day. Brooke had her little finger pointing at everything and she really had a  great time there. It was also nice to hang out with my mom and just have a relaxing girl day with her. She also took some awesome photos during the day. (Thanks Mom!) Here are some cute one's that we got.

I was hating that this bird was on my head. I thought it would poop on me for sure. I was quite happy when it flew away. Brooke loved looking at all the birds even though her mama was freaking out because there were like 5 of them all on me. Lets hope she gets a better like for touching animals then I do!

Like mother, like daughter?? This picture cracks me up because Brooke and I have the same facial expression. She is definitely my baby girl.

Looking at the elephants. 

These flowers were so beautiful and I love how this shot of Brooke and Grandma turned out.

Grandma getting attacked by the birds. 

My baby finally let herself go to sleep, after 7 hours of being awake!

I love this picture. When we were on the tram ride Brooke found this little pole to hold herself up with and she loved holding it and talking to all the animals. She looks like such my big girl in this picture. Where has the time gone???

Such a cute photo with Grandma. Can't you tell where my baby got her very blue eyes??

True Love Is....

Being a mom and a wife have really showed me what true love is.  

Here are a few - 

 True Love Is.......

Letting your baby stick her finger in your nose (repeatedly), just to hear her laugh.

10 Loads of Laundry a week....WOW! What is it like for those of you with 5 kids??

Your husband still wanting to kiss you when he gets home from work, even though you haven't showered, put on any make up and you are still in your PJ's....oh and there is "baby gunk" all over you.

The way your baby lights up and gets so excited when you walk in the room.

Changing the most disgusting diaper, that your baby just had to put her hands into (yep, were talking a poopie one), and then kissing them and loving them up and still thinking they are the cutest little things ever right after your done. 

Working so hard all day and coming home to a sleeping family that you just spent the day providing for. (Thanks Hubba!)

Eating the soggy gross cracker your baby has been munching on for the last 5 minutes because she decided to share it with you, and you want her to learn good principles.

Fishing the poop put of the bathtub after your baby got a little "too relaxed".

Picking big juicy boogers out your your babies nose so they can breath better. (sometimes in public.)  I use to think that was disgusting when I was younger and would see my sisters do it. Now it seems as natural as smiling :)

My hubby taking me out to dinner, when I am just too exhausted to cook or do one more thing.

Attempting to be romantic with my husband in the aforementioned state that I am in when he gets home, and him still thinking I am beautiful, and wanting me anyways.

Oh there are so many more, but I won't be boring and keep going. 

Thank goodness for True love, and being able to love someone unconditionally through all there faults! 

Whats Up??

Brooke looking through the baby gate at us, one of her favorite activities.

Singing with the Wii.

She loves to take all the books out of the box a lot more than read any of them.

Bath time ranks as one of her favorites. Thanks for all the fun bath toys Grandma!

Well I have been pretty bad about Blogging lately so here is a catch up of all that we have been doing.

Jason - Jason has been a busy bee at work lately. He is doing great and loves his job, and he amazes me with how well he deals with all the responsibilities he has. Within one month of taking over his building , he took it from the worst month they had ever had to the best month! I could not be anymore proud of him. He is such a perfect husband and I really could not ask for more. Other than work it is really just about us and his calling and the poor guy barely gets the sleep he needs.

Brooke - Brooke is just the cutest girl on the planet! Her little personality is coming out now and everyday she is so much fun to watch and play with. A few new things she is doing are; really funny fake laugh, a weird noise that can't be explained but is hilarious, and her favorite thing to play with is the white cap off the toilet, a sock, or a Wii remote or microphone. She still is a crawling like crazy and really hasn't showed any interest in trying to walk yet. She is a very happy baby and she keeps me very busy.

Natalie - Well let's see my life is basically watching Brooke and cleaning. Sometimes that feels like that's all I do and life seems very mundane at times, however I do love it. We bought our iMac computer and it has been fun finally making all of our video's into DVD's. I have also decided to take up teaching dance again, and although I am not doing it in schools, I have decided to offer free classes to anyone in our ward or stake. I am so excited to start again because I love teaching kids dance and getting to see them learn and accomplish new things, Plus it is totally fun!! We also decided that we needed to move closer to Jason's work so that Brooke and I could see him for the 2 1/2 hour commuting time instead of him driving everyday. However as we looked for homes we really didn't like anything. Well except that we found our perfect house in Walnut, CA. But at a mere $1.3 Million we decided just to stay here for the next few years and suck it up. (Although I am ashamed to admit we actually seriously considered this as an option for about a day and a half! What were we thinking??) I am so happy to stay here, but it is bitter sweet because I really miss my hubby some days and Brooke doesn't get to see him sometimes at all. Thank goodness I know we have the rest of eternity to be with our families, otherwise I don't know if I could do this! Well that is basically all that we have been up to. We love our life and couldn't ask for more. 

I couldn't help but add these cute pics of Brooke from this past week. What can I say, I have a weakness for cute babies......esp. when they are mine:)

I can't believe my baby is 10 months old!

Well it seems as though another month has just flown by, and once again I am left here scratching my head as to how my baby is growing up so fast. It still seems like I just gave birth to her a few months ago, but in just two months she will be turning one! I really have enjoyed watching her cute personality evolve, and there are so many cute things that she does that I just LOVE. Here are a few of them in no particular order.

. I love the way she smiles.

. I love her big blue beautiful eyes.

. I love the way she crawls so fast when she see's something she wants. (esp. when its me).

. I love the way she pulls her toys out of the toy box with such gusto and with so much force.

. I love her laugh/scream that she does when she is happy.

. I love her smell.

. I love her small two second cuddles that she gives and I cant wait tell she allows them to be longer.

. I love that she loves to share her stuff and offers babies her toys and us her food. She really is a sweet girl.

. I love her sweet baby talk.

. I love how smart she is and what an alert and active baby she is.

. I love her cute ballet foot motions that she does.

. I love her kisses!!!

. I love her sweet spirit.

. I love the way she splashes in the bath and then drinks the water that splashes up to her.

. I love how excited she gets when you give her what she wants.

. I love her chunky baby thighs.

. I love that she likes to be around me, and is my little buddy all day long.

. I love the serious look she gives to people the first time she meets them. (she will never give them a smile.)

. I love her big fat baby cheeks, that are oh so kissable.

. I love the way she is always kicking her legs.

. I love her little bounce dance she does when she hears music.

. I love the funny faces she makes.

I think I could go on and on forever. I really do love everything about her and I feel ever blessed to have her in our family. Thanks Brookie for being my sweet baby girl. Happy 10 months!

Christmas Recap

We had an awesome Christmas at home this year. It was just the three of us for Christmas Eve, and my Dad came for dinner of Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we watched Christmas Movies and ate hourdorves and visited with Jason's brother and his family for an hour or so. Then we woke up on Christmas Morning, opened gifts, ate breakfast, and played all day. I made a steak dinner, which Jason wants to make a tradition now, and it was so fun to watch Brooke react to everything. Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

Brooke at the Ward Christmas Party. She was sick and not feeling well. (Oh yeah I forgot to mention we were all sick for Christmas this year)

Poking Auntie Lana in the eye Getting Kisses from Uncle Eric.

Christmas EveBrooke on Christmas Morning checking out the Christmas tree for the first time, and not knowing what to do. She went for Jason's Cream Soda instead of her gift from Santa.

Trying to show off our matching PJ's but she just wanted to play with all the fun new stuff under the tree.
The Bows, wrapping paper, and boxes were her favorite part.
Opening her stocking. Jason got her this slinky ans she loves it more than any of her other gifts.

Opening gifts from each other.
With Grandpa Dennis

Our crazy looking Ginger Bread house that we made.

That's it:). It was such a fun Christmas, and I am sad that this time of year is now over. Now the countdown begins for next year!

I'm finally posting!

Well this month has been a crazy one, and I have gotten really bad about posting! We went to the Ellen show again (way back on the 16th), and we got to preview Jim Carey's movie, Yes Man. It was really bad, and I should have walked out of it, but didn't because I was to nervous to do it at a free screening of it. We got to see Jim and Jenny and he was really fun to see in real life. The show was really fun, and we were there on day 10 of her giveaways. We won a Nokia e71 Phone, a Jawbone headset, a Motorola Motonav Navigation, and a HD flip video camera. We aren't keeping any of them, but have decided to sell them and our laptop, and our desktop to get a mac. I have wanted one for a really long time, because I love making DVDs and Slide shows and editing photos and I just don't feel like I can do all I want to with a PC, so I am really excited to get one. The day was really fun and Brooke and Jason got there first day together without me. They had a great time but unfortunately Brooke was sick with a fever when I came home. Well I am rambling on now but here is a pic we took while waiting to go into the Ellen Studio.

Brooke is 9 MONTHS!!

I can't believe how big my baby is getting. To say that the past few months have gone by fast would be an understatement! It seems that I love every stage Brooke goes through and I have so much fun with her. This past month she has accomplished so much. She learned how to clap, dance, stand up, stand up and walk supported by objects, she says Mom, Dad, Hi, Wow, and she even started to say her name. I don't think she knows she is saying her name but she sure likes saying it. She loves to shake her head no, which cracks me up, because it seems she does it at all the right times. Can a baby already understand what a head shake is?? She finally had her first tooth appear after way too many months of teething, and she is soon to have another one any day now. She loves to play and explore and the Christmas Tree has been a big hit with her too. She follows me all over the house and now that she can stand up, I love that she can come over to me and pull herself up on my legs when she wants to be held. She really loves her Daddy, and already recognizes the sound of the door opening when he comes home from work and she gets excited because she knows it's him. She is such a fun and sweet baby, and I love having her in my life. Here are a few cute pictures that I took in the last week.

My Baby Fell Off The BED!!

I was having the most wonderful deep sleep that I have had since Brooke has been born, and then all of a sudden I hear a clunk, Brooke scream and Jason saying "no, no, no!" Jason had brought Brooke to me earlier so she could eat, but apparently I was so out of it, I totally forgot she had ever been brought to bed with us. A few hours later I didn't think she was in bed and wasn't trying to protect her from a fall (normally I snuggle her really close, have an arm around her or some kind of barrier when she is in bed with us because she is a roley poley and she will get up and start crawling in her sleep) but I didn't have her protected at all. She was on the side of the bed, and at 6 a.m she fell of my very high bed. I felt like the worst mom ever! How could I not remember my baby was in bed with me? Jason said she had been crying or fussing for like 10 Min's before she fell, and I didn't even know that! Thankfully after some cuddling, a feeding and a little bit more love she was smiling within a few minutes of it happening. I checked her out and she had no injuries whatsoever. This baffles my mind! I know someone was watching over her because we have a high bed and there is just no way that she wouldn't even end up with a bump or bruise anywhere. I am so thankful Heavenly Father protects our little children and keeps them safe when we fail as parents. I am so glad nothing is wrong with Brooke, and she is smiling, happy, and being her normal self. Brooke for the record, Mommy is very sorry that I let you fall, and I am so glad you are a very quick to forgive baby. I love you -

Family Photo Shoot

We were able to finally take family photos after not taking any professional ones since our wedding. Mollie Jane did them and she did such an amazing job! Sorry I posted way too many of them but I couldn't pick out which one's were my favorites. But hey at least I didn't post all 200 of them! If you are interested in Mollie Jane you can go to her blog at www.molliejanephotography.blogspot.com or her website at www.molliejanephotography.com