TGIF

I look so forward to Fridays! Aaron usually gets to come home a little early from work, and we always go out to eat. What more could I ask for?! Last night was a nice, relaxing evening. Aaron had a practice for his flag football team over at the school by our house, so Elsie and I went on a little walk to go watch him. The weather was very pleasant, and Elsie loves being outside. After we put Elsie down for the night, Aaron and I baked up a few Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and watched The Office. It was great! I love that show...it makes me happy. We also watched a Smallville episode from last season. We weren't able to watch it last season, so we're going crazy watching the DVDs to get caught up. It's fun always having something to watch. I love relaxing at the end of the day with Aaron.

Yesterday evening I turned on a little Teletubbies for Elsie. She loves (like all kids do) when the "sun baby" laughs. It always get a big smile out of her. (I don't know why my camera keeps taking blurry pictures...maybe it's me!)

I always had to post this video of Aaron trying to feed Elsie. Sometimes she gets so mad (I know it's because she's super hungry) when we are trying to feed her. It always makes us laugh because she will be eating, and then within a milisecond she'll be pissed! She can be the happiest little girl and the grumpiest little girl all in one sitting.

life sucks sometimes!

This week has just been sucky, hasn't it?! I feel almost stupid for saying it because there are others who are feeling the effects of all this garbage way more than I, but I've really felt so bad all week. I love my family so much and absolutely hate to see bad things happen to them, especially when it is so undeserved! I really have a hard time dealing with seeing other people hurting. I hate not being able to do anything to ease their pain. I hope they all know that I love them and wish only the best things for them. I admire everyone in my family and feel so blessed to be an Earl!

don't wanna write

The last few days I just haven't really felt like blogging. I don't know why. It's not that I'm not happy or that I don't have anything going on, it's just I don't feel like writing. Writing (well, I guess in this case it's really typing) has never been my favorite thing. I know that's why I've never been good about keeping a journal. It's hard for me...even if it's just writing about what's going on. I know that sounds silly, but it's true. It doesn't come naturally. So, for now I'll just say that things are going well.

I'm absolutely in love with Elsie! Every time I look at her, I feel so happy. I love the way she grunts when she is not satisfied. I love the way she is constantly moving her feet. I love the way she does a fake cough to get my attention. I love the way she so strong-willed. I love her!

I must also say that I'm absolutely in love with Aaron! He is my best friend. I look so forward to when he gets home each day. He always makes me laugh. He supports me when I'm trippin' out! He is the best!

Daddy's a freak show

We think Elsie is a little confused about whether she likes Aaron or not. Aaron says she looks at him like he's a freak show. She'll always stare at him when he's around, but when he looks at her, she'll look away. It's very strange. Lots of times she'll turn away when he tries to give her kisses, but I think it's because of his prickly face when he hasn't shaved. Who knows?! It is kind of fun being the favorite!! (J/K Aaron!) However, I don't get many cute pictures like this with Elsie, so she must like him at least a little bit.
P.S. Don't worry, Daddy! I love you! I'm just a little scared of your nasally voice.

not such a little baby anymore

The last couple days I've really noticed how Elsie is not seeming like such a little baby anymore. Maybe it's because I've been dressing her in her new fall clothes...jeans and all. She just looks like a little girl to me now. It's weird, but fun at the same time.

why does this have to happen to me?

I don't know why these kind of things happen to me. Maybe it's because I just blogged about a very embarrassing moment I had with a mirror. I think I cursed myself. Well, yesterday evening Aaron and I decided to go to Taco Del Mar for dinner. We had sat down at our table, and, like usual, I was sitting pretty far forward toward the edge of my chair. I went to reach for Elsie, and my world came crashing down! That's right, the chair slipped out from underneath me, and I went crashing to the floor. It was the loudest noise ever, and I was so embarrassed. I remember thinking to myself as it was happening, "Can't I stop this? Please stop, chair." It didn't help that right then someone was walking into the restaurant (yes, we were sitting right by the door), and she asks, "Are you okay?" Yes, I was ok, I just felt like the biggest idiot. As I'm getting up, I see Aaron who is already laughing. He claims he asked me if I was ok before he started laughing, but I don't know about that. By this time, I was laughing (at least I didn't cry). There weren't too many people in the restaurant...thank goodness. We laughed for a good while. I was so embarrassed!! I'm sure Aaron was, too. Aaron told me I had to blog about it, which was good because I didn't really have anything else that has happened this week. Now you can all share in my pain!

nice weekend

It was nice to be home this weekend. I've been gone the last two weekends, and I really enjoyed not having anything major to do. Aaron and I watched The Prestige on Friday and went out to eat. I really liked that movie! Saturday morning I cleaned a little bit and then the three of us went to Aaron's flag football game. The weather was so pleasant, and Elsie loved being outside. His team won, and Aaron had a couple really good plays...a touchdown and an interception. That night I went out with my friend Mandy and her sister and mom to dinner and a movie. We went to see Becoming Jane. It was pretty good, but I don't think I was totally in the right mood for that kind of movie. When I got home Aaron was finishing the BYU game. He was stressed! Then he was super mad that they lost. We ended up staying up way too late that night because Aaron was so worked up. Anyway, nothing too exciting happened this weekend, but it was nice. My favorite thing to do is to hang out with Aaron and Elsie, and I got to do a lot of it!

Elsie is changing so much! It is so fun to see the new things that she does. She is really getting good at sitting up now. Of course, she doesn't sit up on her own. If I sit her in the right position, she'll stay there for quite a while. While we watched Aaron's football game, she sat next to me the whole time. I enjoyed that! The other thing Aaron and I were really noticing this weekend is how she is so curious and interested in what is happening around her. She likes to observe everything and be a part of things. That is why she won't drink her bottle when anyone is around or we are anywhere besides our house. All she wants to do is look around. I attempted to feed her at the game, but it didn't work very well. I don't know what I was thinking. She always has to be facing outward, she absolutely will not fall asleep at church (or anywhere else besides her crib) because she's too busy looking around, and she LOVES being around other kids. It is amazing how she will just light up when there is another child around.

I had to put this cute picture up of Elsie watching TV. She has recently become very interested in the TV and will watch anything that is on. I suppose I should probably care that she's watching the TV a lot, but I don't. When it's on (which is most of the day...I need noise), why not watch it!

mirror, mirror, on the wall

Elsie was playing with this mirror today and was so fascinated with it. I think she liked how the light was bouncing off it, plus she liked looking at herself.
It reminded me of me when I was younger. I had this really bad habit of always looking at myself in a mirror if I walked by it or when I was talking to people. I never realized I was doing it, it was just such a bad habit. My mom used to point it out to me, and I would really try to stop. But I couldn't!! I think I'm better about it now, but maybe not. My mom had these two long mirrors in her bedroom, and I can picture myself staring into them while I was talking to her. It's not like I was admiring myself...I just couldn't look away. It sounds weird, I know! Then one day, not too long ago, I was walking in a department store with Aaron, Angie, and Jared & Lindsay. Anyway, we were walking and talking, and I was watching myself in this mirror up ahead of me. The only problem was, it didn't register in my mind that I was actually walking straight toward this mirror. The next thing I knew...BAM!!! I walked right into the mirror with my full energy. It hurt so bad. It took me a second to actually process what had happened. Then I was so embarrassed. It didn't help that they were all laughing really loudly at me, plus it made a really loud sound. Yeah, we still talk about that one. At least I don't stare at myself in mirrors so much anymore.

maybe I should work at Staples

Not much is going on right now. I made my weekly trip to Costco and Target today with my neighbor Stephanie. I didn't buy much, but we had fun looking around. My favorite purchase of the day was a pack of Sharpie fine point pens. Now I know most of you are thinking that is not very exciting, but you must understand...I love office supplies!! I remember looking forward to the start of every school year because we got to go school supply shopping. I think the only part of working in an office that I actually liked was getting new supplies and organizing them. Anyway, the pack of pens on got was on clearance. It was regularly $15.99, but I got them for $3.99. You can't been that!! Plus, there are 24 different colors. I've already written all sorts of things on my calendar, so I could test out the colors.

I took this great video of Elsie the other night while Aaron was playing with her. She is starting to get this great, hardy laugh. I love it!! One of the things that really gets her going is when she is hanging out on her tummy and I grab her legs and flip her over to her back. She thinks it is so fun! I'm so happy to have Elsie in our home. There's never a dull moment, and I'm sure it's just going to get better!

back to life

Well, my summer fun is over! We got back from Utah last Thursday. It was a great trip, and it was so nice to be able to be with family and friends. I loved having people to talk to all day long and always something to do!! On Friday, we spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the house, etc...

Saturday morning I flew up to Seattle to meet Angie for the JT concert. We had a great day together. We shopped, ate good food, and enjoyed the concert. Angie gives a good recap on her blog! It was seriously such a good concert. He sang every song off his album, and was so entertaining. I was sad for it to end. We had to drive back to ML that night, so we didn't get home until about 2 a.m. The nice thing was that I got to sleep in on Sunday for as long as I wanted. It was a nice feeling that I haven't had a for a while! I flew back to Boise last night. Aaron spend the weekend alone with Elsie. He did a great job! I'm so glad I have a husband who is willing and excited to take care of his little girl. I do think, though, that he was glad to have me back. He seems to realize a little more how much attention she requires.

So I now have nothing more to look forward to for the rest of this month. I know I really shouldn't even be whining, but that's what I do best. I was excited to spend the day with Elsie, though, since I was gone the last couple days. She's such a cutie!

still on vacation

We've been having a great time so far here in Utah. We've been able to see family and friends and get to hang out with each other. We came down Friday afternoon with Jared in our car. By the time we got to Aaron's parents house we were starving. We put Elsie to bed and then went to Costa Vida. Oh, there sweet pork is the best! It was 9:00 at night, but we didn't care. We chowed down anyway.

Saturday morning we visited with Aaron's parents and then took a quick jaunt over to the BYU bookstore, so Aaron and Jared could find shirts to wear to the game. Dad got to Aaron's parents' house around 12:30, which gave us enough time to go to Los Hermanos for lunch before the game. The boys went to the game, and I met up with my old roommate Jill and her family for a bite to eat. Well, they ate real food, and I just got a dessert. (Thus, beginning my week of beyond horrible eating!) When they got back from the game, we ordered pizza and they watched football the rest of the night. It was very thrilling for me. But, it was fun to have time to visit with Jared and Dad.

We drove up to Park City on Sunday because Aaron wanted to get some dress shoes at this store at the outlet mall there. The only problem was the store wasn't there anymore. We were not happy...I guess that's what we get for shopping on a Sunday. That afternoon all the family came over to play games and eat some snacks. We had a great time playing "Mafia", "I Love the 80's" game, and "Celebrity". I really love playing games with Aaron's family because we all get into it! It was just so nice to be with everyone.

On Monday, Aaron and I met some friends, Peter and Courtney, for lunch. We really have a good time with them. They're so easy to talk to and are so funny! Then, we went to the mall to try to find shoes for Aaron. While we were there we ran into Tamu and Vana. They were trying to convince Aaron to buy dress shoes with a really pointy toe. I told them that he couldn't pull it off, but they were convinced that he needed to. Tamu was giving him tips on how to look cool. Unfortunately, Aaron doesn't quite have the moves that Tamu does. Oh well!! It was a good laugh. We had a bbq that night at Gary/Sylvia's, but Jeff and Nicole couldn't come because Alexis had gotten sick the night before. Bummer!

Today, Aaron and I went shopping for some more fall clothes for Elsie and found some cute stuff. We also came across a cute little Halloween costume for Elsie. We tried it on her tonight and it is adorable. I can't wait for Halloween! Aaron is at his live draft for his third fantasy football league tonight while I'm here watching HGTV. I guess I might as well go to bed.

We've had a great trip so far, except Elsie's sleeping at night. For some reason she has reverted to waking up during the night and having majoy crying fits. We're sleeping in the same room with her, so it's really not been fun. We've finally just given her a bottle to calm her down. It's really going to suck when we get back home and have to break her of this again. It's worth it at 2:00 in the morning, though! She's been such a good girl and has had a great time playing with her grandma and grandpa. One of the things she loves the most is watching grandma clap...she is fascinated by it. Tonight we had some friends over with their kids, and she was loving that as well. She just lights up when there are other little ones around. She was so happy, she kept rolling around on the floor...just doing roll after roll. She's getting pretty good at it.

I've kind of slacked on taking pictures, but I'll post a few when I get home. I don't know why it's so easy for me take them when I'm home, but I always forget to take them when we are on vacation. We've got a few more days here, so I'll try to make up for it!!

happy morning

It worked. Not only did Aaron get up with Elsie and I this morning, but he told me to go back to bed. I got to sleep for another hour!! It was so nice. Grandma and Grandpa Wise loved getting to hold and play with her this morning, too. It's always fun to see Elsie with her grandparents.