Family Photos

We went to California last week to visit my parents, and while we were there I found this old photo of my family when my brother and I were about the same ages as Liam and Eliza.


Here's a recent photo of my new family, which made me realize a few things:


1) It's probably time for us to get a professional family photo taken.

2) Apparently, I can't blame genetics for the fact that I'm still 20 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.

3) Fortunately, I haven't passed on my beady little eyes; but unfortunately, Eliza got my wings ears.

During Eliza's Morning Nap Today...

I tried to paint/sand/stain the baby gate to match the railing:


And then tried to make a valance for my kitchen window:


Just don't pay attention to the fact that I'm still in my pajamas at 2:45 in the afternoon.

Learning to Crawl

Probably most kids Eliza's age are starting to walk by now, but we like to take things slowly around here. There's really no need to rush into mobility.

What Are The Chances?

Ben lost his job a few weeks ago, so he has spent a good part of this month e-mailing his resumé to the world. He's been applying for jobs mostly in Utah, but also a few in California and Colorado since that's where our parents are.

So I've been looking at real estate in California and Colorado, just for fun.

Yesterday I found a house in Colorado that looked like it might be our dream house. It had lots of open space on the main floor and it was completely outdated, so I would get to pick my own upgrades.

I told Ben about my "dream house," and then asked him to come look at the photos online. He asked, "What's the address?" and I told him. Then he said, "I used to live in that house."

You Know You're Originally From California But Most Recently From Utah If...

1) You make Jell-o, but then 2) When you put it in the fridge, you move everything else off that shelf because if there's an earthquake in the next four hours, something's going to land in the Jell-o.

Pigtails!

There's something about putting pigtails in your baby girl's hair for the first time that makes her suddenly so grown up.



It reminds me of Liam's first haircut. It's totally blowing my mind that in three days I'll have a 10-month-old. A 10-MONTH-OLD!

New Tricks for the New Year

In the past 24 hours, Eliza has rolled onto her belly and fallen asleep there three out of three times. She has also woken up with a stinky diaper three out of three times.

Coincidence? I think not.

Happy New Year!

Feeling Crafty

Sometimes I get made fun of for getting all of my ideas off the Internet. But why should I waste time thinking up my own ideas when other people have posted their much better ideas for people like me to copy?

Here are some things I’ve copied lately.

For my bathroom:


For my baby:


For my neighbors:


For my front door:


For my young women:

Liposuction: The New White Teeth

In Utah right now we have radio ads for a new kind of non-invasive liposuction—a procedure so easy that you can go back to work the next day.

First you could get white teeth for a fee; now you can get skinny for a fee.

Am I going to be the last chubby girl with yellow teeth left on the planet?

Mother of the Year

Yesterday I got Eliza up from her nap, only to find that she was holding a piece of a petrified roll that I had given her the night before at dinner. Yikes!

Then, I was telling Ben about it at dinner last night. I ended with something dramatic like, “She could have died!”

Liam became curious at this point, and started asking questions. After he figured out we were talking about Eliza and a piece of a roll, he asked, “And then she died?”

The poor kid would have been traumatized if he knew what the word “died” meant.