chopped the mop

I know what you're thinking: it's about dang time. after i had been growing it out for over a year, and had opted not to re-color it for about 6 months. yes. it was time. and it feels good.

I called to set up the appointment and asked them when the next available time was and they said Thursday at 8 AM. What?! Who does haircuts that early?! i didn't even know that was possible to schedule a haircut that early! But without any hesitation I said "yah! I'll do the 8 AM" That's when you know you're a mom.. when you're actually excited about an 8 AM haircut because it means you can leave your husband with your still-sleeping babe in the morning. And lovely Michelle was waiting there with her clippers for me.

I called Paul when I was done and he was busy playing. They just played and played all morning. I think she maybe got a 30 minute nap in there somewhere. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall all morning and watch them play together. Paul is such a good daddy. it warms my heart.

Also sad that i missed this: Paul took a shower with Caitlin (which we do all the time, she loves it but she gets so slippery! its kinda scary) Anyways, there they are having a perfectly nice shower when all of the sudden Caitlin starts pooping! on paul! in the shower! haha if that doesn't make you laugh, nothing will. I knew it had to happen sometime. Luckily i don't think Paul will hold a grudge. I think today he trumps me: you know you're a dad when your baby poops on you in the shower and you can be ok with it. 

7 months old

Not too much has happened since last month, but here are some new things:
-She is so close to crawling. She does this little side scoot thing and can scoot backward, but hasn't gotten going with the real crawl yet.
-However, she LOVES to stand. She can stand by herself when holding onto or pressing against pretty much anything, and she wants to do it all the time. She's so happy and proud of herself when she's standing. she will also walk holding onto someone's fingers. It's so funny to see her tiny body move upright like that! 
-She is making tons of new noises and sounds, but still remains faithful to her "shrieking noise" most of the time. But she is starting to put more sounds with it like "ba, ma, goo, boo" it's fun to see her little mouth moving and different sounds coming out.
-She is developing more of her own personality and it's so adorable. She gets a little shy sometimes but overall is really happy and fun. I love how much she smiles and how happy she is.
-She loves eating, especially fruits. I have to force down the green beans and peas are still a definite no. Whenever i try to give her peas she'll swallow and then make a gagging noise and make this face at me like "that's horrible! i can't believe you just fed me that!" It makes me laugh. She does like some veggies though, just not green ones.
-Her hair is getting longer and poofier. The cowlicks in the back are starting to really take their effect and she has an "alfalfa" hair do everyday. I've tried combing it down but it doesn't really work.
-She likes to put everything in her mouth. But what she really loves is putting things that she sees other people put in their mouths... like spoons, straws, water bottles. I think she likes anything to be in her mouth but when its something that is accepted, she loves it.
-her outfits are a little bit hodge-podge these days as she makes the transition into 6-12 month clothes. She still fits into some of her 3-6 month ones, and then some things i think totally still fit until i put them on and as she is wearing them I notice the shirt is incredibly tight, or the sweater is hiked up her tummy, or the pants are now capris. poor girl.. sometimes staying in jammies is the only answer.

 

 

 

After looking at this for the past two days:

I just booked a plane ticket for a visit to AUSTIN!! i'm so excited! family, good times, and warm weather here i come! Sometimes, you just need a getaway... just ask Paul :)

(p.s. i stole that pic from the internet so, it wasn't exactly what i was looking at, but close enough.)

true madness

The following is a completely true story, with no embellishments:
Wednesday afternoon I was at lunch with my friend Heather and had just finished to get back in my car and find about 7 missed calls from Paul and one text that read: "call me! i'm going to the BYU game!" Excuse me? you mean the BYU Sweet 16 basketball game that was to be played the next day at 7:30 (ET) in Lousiana?!
Yes. Turns out that one precisely. I call Paul back and he is literally right then pulling up to his friend's house to get him and meet up with 2 other friends to embark on their journey to the Sweet 16. And then he says, "So umm, can I go?" 4 guys, driving to the game, from Utah, had to leave right away to even make it to the game on time! The game the next day! They found tickets for "cheap" online and they were ready to go. There wasn't even time to drive the opposite direction to our house to get things for Paul so he left with only the clothes he was wearing and borrowed item from friends.
So, me being the best wife ever, said "yah... i guess you can go" (since it was pretty much too late anyways, and not without attaching a huge YOU OWE ME)

and oh what a game. People really didn't play up to their full potential. It was full of highs and lows. Caitlin and I had a fun time watching with the Baileys, eating home made pizza and watching it on the projector big screen! Paul was able to get his hands on 9th row tickets and see the heartbreak on Jimmer's face in person. He also had his .5 seconds of fame when it showed the crowd sometime toward the end of the second quarter.

 

 ..and then he got in the car and drove 30 hours back home. Cougs, it was a good run.

Foto Friday

 MOHAWK TIME! her hair is getting longer! and yes her head looks huge in this pic, and her eyes... oh how i love those hazel eyes.

bathtime

Caitlin has pretty much always loved her bath. She doesn't laugh or wiggle around or splash a ton.. she just is content. She relaxes and she likes the water to be really warm (like her mommy!) She's getting really into playing with her toys in there too. I just had to snap some pictures the other day because i never really get to document her bath.

 

 

BTW that's her new face she makes: smiling with the bottom lip pulled in. all the time. It's cute to me.

for a good cause

Saturday night Paul and I were invited to attend a charity event hosted by the Forever Young Foundation (Steve Young's Foundation) with all the proceeds going to Adaptive Sports Foundation -- a company that makes sports possible for people with mental and physical disabilities, a really cool foundation that is changing lives. The event was up at Snowbird and there was a silent auction/mingling at the beginning and then a sit down dinner with a live auction and presentations. It was really fun to have a night out with Paul and eat delicious food and bet on outrageous things for fun and talk with people. But really, let's cut to the chase here: YES!! I MET STEVE YOUNG!!

Paul had already met him a few times (The charity that Paul helps run, African Equity, does a lot of things in conjunction with the Forever Young Foundation) so he remembered Paul but for me this was a first. Steve Young is a BIG DEAL for me. I grew up watching him play football, and he played at BYU and then for my grandpa's favorite team, the 49ers, AND he's Mormon! In my 10 year old mind: he was IT. Ok so maybe my requirements for the dream guy have evolved a little since then but that's not to say I wasn't super stoked to meet him.There were lots of other professional athletes there, and even some Olympians, it was a great night with some great people for a great cause!

GNO

(3.18) had a girl's night out with my sisters, we went to the BYU vs. Utah Gymnastics meet! It was really fun to watch and such a close meet. Unfortunately the Utes pulled ahead but everyone did great and it was so fun to watch!

Foto Friday

 she's a pepper.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

 

And Happy March Madness!

crib adventures

Remember THIS post? well her escapades have continued, and this time I actually got a few pictures. I still lay her down starting on her back and swaddled, but as of about 2 weeks ago, Caitlin now prefers to sleep on her tummy. The doctor says it's fine because now she's old enough that SIDS isn't a big threat and she can move around if she needs to. And, well, whether she needs to or not, she gets around in that crib! I don't know how she does these things, but they definitely make me laugh when i go in to get her.

This is how she begins:

 (3.12) Got one leg squeezed through her snaps

(3.15) Somehow unsnapped her whole bottom part and got her whole booty and legs out!

and, on her tummy, turned around. We find her sideways quite often. What a little rascal! She cracks me up! I know they make swaddle-me for bigger sizes but i think it would make her frustrated too much if she couldn't move around at all. Look how proud of herself she is!

visitors! x 2

A few days after the Dicksons left... the Meads came! ("if you buy it.. they will come" we have loved actually having room for people to visit!) We had so much fun with the Chris, Christine and Cason!! We did lots of relaxing, talking, laughing and of course visits go by way too fast.  Cason is the cutest little boy.. definitely my favorite nephew :) He is so sweet and chill and good tempered, and so big! He is a big healthy baby! I love all his rolls. He and Caitlin loved each other, although Caitlin did get jealous of me holding him a few times. 
Wednesday: we went to lunch with Paul at his work, went to the mall, met up with Mike and Jenna. We went to their place for a little bit then headed to BYU to go bowling. Bowling is never really my sport, but I almost hit 100 points. After that we went to "Hot Pots" in Provo (it's an Asian food place) Let's just say between the nasty smell, the tofu and shrimp with the eyes on, questioning the healthiness of the situation, and a crying baby, it wasn't my thing that night. But the boys LOVED it and had a great time and I'm happy for them.

Thursday: I got to babysit Cason for a while during the day and got a small taste of what it would be like to have twins. Good thing they are both such good babies!

Friday night we watched the BYU basketball game and had a sleepover (that is, Mike and Jenna stayed the night, since the rest of us were already here). Which was really fun. We stayed up late and lounged around in the morning.

Saturday: they left us. how dare they. way too soon. But we all love them and loved having them.

around the house...

Things are coming along in the new casa! between having visitors and going about our usual crazy busy lives, some rooms are pretty much done, while others have barely been touched but all in all we are making progress and loving every second of it. here's some peeks of how things are coming along:

-We mounted our tv,  which was quite the project but turned out great!

 -Paul's bear made his return and the office is mostly finished.

-the guest bedroom had to get done for our visitors!

-our bedroom is coming along.. 

I've still got painting and crafting and accessory projects here and there, pictures to hang and organizing to do but i have plenty of time to do it! More pictures and progress to come!

Foto Friday

don't you just love the hat?! we get SO MUCH MORE snow up here at our new house.

BYU Basketball

My complete lack of posting about BYU basketball this season shames me. I'm sorry cougars that I have failed to mention at all on this blog how AWESOME our team is this year! We have watched most the games on TV (believe me Paul is REALLY missing his glory days of writing for the BYU paper and getting to sit on press row) but on Saturday we were able to score some tickets and actually go to the game! It was a blast. Melissa's grandparents were nice enough to babysit so we got to go to the game and get really loud. BYU was ranked #3 in the nation! (yes, i know this will change after our embarrassing loss to New Mexico and after losing Brandon Davies to the honor code) Nonetheless, the boys are ROCKING IT out there! We won to Wyoming in our last home game of the season and it was definitely an exciting game to be at, for several reasons:
(#1) We scored over 100 points, which is always cool
(#2) We got to watch Jimmer Fredette play, which is also always cool because he is amazing. Some of my favorite signs people had were: "I've got the Jimmer Shiver" (instead of Bieber Fever... a 13 yr old girl had it.) "Jimmer Jimmer Chicken dinner" and "1 if by land, 2 if by sea, 3 if by Jimmer" people are so creative.
(#3) We got free cake at Magelby's afterward because we won
(#4) We got to sit with all our friends

 (#5) Caitlin looked SUPER cute in her new BYU shirt and i'm really sad i didn't get a picture. but i did get this one the other day when we were watching the game:

(#6) During one of the time outs of the last half the whole student section did a "flash mob dance" and did a full choreographed dance. It was so awesome! They all learned it before the game. I tried to video tape it but it didn't work at all. So i just got this chaotic picture:

but believe me, it was cool. Looks like someone else was able to capture the effect, so you can check it out HERE.

Happy 1/2 birthday

Caitlin's Happy 1/2 Birthday dessert party!

Half a year is a pretty big deal. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us, your friendships and support and love for us and especially Caitlin mean so much to us. And she loved being the center of attention for the night. And yes, her half birthday cake did turn out to pretty sloppy and yes, it did topple over later on, but whatever i'm working with a new oven and it's the thought that counts.

visitors!

So we moved in Thursday night, and by Monday we had visitors! Jeff, Melissa and Madison came up to Utah for Jeff's spring break from Med School. Although leaving sunny Arizona to come to cold snowy Utah for spring break.. I'd definitely say we got the better end of the deal. It was so fun having them! Little Madison is such a doll and it was fun having the two baby girls together. They really got used to one another and I think they liked at least looking at each other. The boys got to go skiing a couple times, Melissa and I had girl time with the babies, we hung out with Mike and Jenna, watched movies, ate a lot, went to a BYU basketball game, and even went and explored the Midway "ice castles". It was a lot of fun, I'm so glad they were able to come visit. Now as I'm typing this I'm realizing we didn't even have time to do even more stuff that we had planned to do together, it always goes by so quickly so we better get together again soon! love you guys!