1st WORD!!!!

That's right. Shayne has said her first word. I am counting it. And I think my affirmation means more than just the proud mother's because I've taken classes where we discussed such things as 1st words and what really counts as one. So, it is the cutest thing. One day I am folding laundry in her room and my cell phone is on the ground. She picks it up and places it near her ear and says. . . "Ha." She does this several times on either ear so I know it isn't just a fluke. So she is spontaneously using it, in the correct context, and she does it several times so I know it's really what I think it is. . She said "Hi!" Since then she has actually said it where is sounds more like 'hi' and less like 'ha', but she also has used a sock and a block instead of a phone. And one time she pointed to a lady in the grocery store on her phone and said "hi." Funny girl!
You can't see it but that's my phone she's holding in her hand.

Sunny Days in AZ

We took a little trip down to AZ to visit my family. It was really so much fun. I loved not having to put on several layers of warm clothing on myself and on Shayne just to get out of the house. It really made me miss my family down there and the warm weather (I know, 6 months out of the year it's hotter than h*** as Danny kept reminding me when I would say, "you should look for a job in Arizona"). Sarah had her baby shower and it was fun to go to and to talk to her about baby stuff. I feel like I know so much now : )
Thank you Brett for Shayne's fashionable look on this day. Really, I was doing laundry because I ran out of onesies for her. The 80s are coming back, you KNOW you did the one shoulder overalls.

Both of my sisters took care of me while I was down there. Sarah cleaned our teeth and Jamie gave me a facial one day. It was seriously heaven. Going down to Grandpa's office:

Until next time. . . .

Halloween!

Our little lady bug! My mom got this costume for her and I just laughed with adoration when I put it on her. Friday, I took her down to Danny's work in her outfit and showed her around. Then Saturday we went to a few houses and delivered some apple cider donuts (homemade by myself and delicious I thought--I was very impressed with how far I've come) to a few neighbors as a reverse trick-or-treat.

Eating leaves is a favorite pastime this fall:

The end.

Snowbird

Danny's sister from CA came to visit and we thought we'd go ride the tram up at Snowbird and see the fall colors. It was a gorgeous day! There were a couple of problems though: the tram was closed for cleaning and the leaves were all off of the trees up the canyon. So we ate lunch instead outside and took some photos.

Got this darling pic of Shayne. Not sure why it won't rotate though : (

Grandparents Visit and BYU Game

My parents came to visit for a fall football game. What a treat! My mom was gracious enough to watch Shayne for me so I could go. The day was snowy/ rainy and BYU did not play the best, but we had a great time anyway.
Trying to show our school spirit. Our friend Allison was a trooper to enter into the evil Lavell Edwards Stadium as she is a definite, bone-i-fied Ute fan.

Danny signed us up for the tailgate party in the alumni house before the game. We even saw some guys from our freshman year there. Allison thought it was a bit different from the Ute tailgate parties she had been a part of back in the day.

My mom brought some Christmas presents for Shayne and I convinced her that it was much more fun to open them while she was here. Christmas in October! If you know me, you know I cannot stand to wait for surprises/gifts and I can't stand not knowing things too-- if there is a secret, I'm usually dying to know it.

The joy of opening gifts:

Thanks mom and dad!

Shayne: 9 months

Shayne had her 9 month appointment today and here are her stats:
Height: 26.5 inches- 13%
Weight: 17.25 pounds- 18%
Head: 17.7 inches- 75%

Now it all makes sense as to why we call her "the shrimp!"

Also my MD made several comments such as: "she is so calm," "do you get the sense that she is really smart," "she is so clued in socially," "how do you not just eat her up," "she is just something else!" All I have to say is--does he know his target audience or what!!

Along healthcare lines, we have been trying to keep Shayne away from large crowds, especially of kids lately. My MD said he thinks that the peak of the swine flu will probably pass in the next few weeks, but then of course you just get into other viruses like RSV season in December. I have to just call into my MD's office to see when he will get flu shots and swine flu vaccines in for the under 2 population. So, we are spending a lot of time together and at home. I thought I was done with this once she passed the 3 month mark-- oh well!

Adventures of Shayne

Night in Park City. It's always fun to explore new places especially when you are crawling everywhere and standing up on everything you can.
I couldn't help myself when I saw this hat in a store. And I couldn't help myself when I put it on her and took pictures several times, and I can't help but post one here.

She loves crawling all around the house. . . . especially naked.

Attacking Ally is also another favorite. Especially when she gets her fingers right in her eyes. Ally just sits there and takes it. What a good dog!

Grandparents

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to take Shayne with me and go help out my grandparents in Price. My grandma just loved Shayne to death. It's so interesting to get to know your grandparents as an adult. Same with your parents I think. You see them in a different way since you have created your own adult life and ways of doing things. I also think your relationship changes from always being the one being taken care of to taking care of them more and more. I love all my grandparents and it's hard to see them getting older. There are not very many people in your life who have known you since you were born and who love you for just being you. Here are some memories of my grandparents:

'J' grandparents: Climbing the mountains in their backyard, playing dress-up in the basement and fighting over the high heels with my sisters, the scary hallway leading to the bathroom in the basement that I would always run through (I honestly still wanted to do this a couple of weeks ago when I was there), eating Smurffle Berry cereal at their house, going to the wave pool, all the great books my grandpa gave me, riding in the Corvette, lotion and socks from grandma at Christmas, Sunday dinners during college, grandma's magic medicine (oh that stuff would sting!)

Grandma Jo: the stars on her ceiling (really glitter on her popcorn ceilings), going to church history sites, her potato salad, how she once told me she thought Charles Barkley was 'sexy'- I was shocked to say the least, Avon for Christmas, how she loves to hold and play with Shayne, how scared I was of her cat Patches, how she wouldn't miss a graduation if it killed her

Grandpa Arlo: hearing about his growing up years on a ranch, his relatives, and when he was in the mortuary business, how he reminds me of Santa Claus, his ingenuity, when he gave me my flute, he came to visit one time and liked our miniature schnauzer and playing Nintendo so much that when he went home he bought a Nintendo and a dog just like ours

I will miss them when they are gone.

Goals

So lately I have taken up a few projects with some goals in mind. Now of course I am not putting timelines on myself here or else I would be destined for failure as I have never been very good with timelines. Here are a few:
1. Learning to Cook: I have decided that I really don't know how to cook. I know how to follow a few recipes, but I don't know much about techniques, spices, things like yeast, how to use a knife, etc. I saw that movie "Julie & Julia" and it started me thinking along these lines. I realized- I just need to start doing it and learning along the way. Here are some things I have learned so far: you really do need to sift when a recipe calls for it or you will get chunks of salty baking soda in a cake, cooking a pizza on the grill is DIVINE, mangos are not ripe when they are white on the inside and have the consistency of plywood, I like more other stuff than actual salad in my salad, and onion salt/ garlic salt is not the same thing as onion powder/ garlic powder. Live and learn, huh?!
2. Exercise: I have been running a couple of days a week trying to get rid of baby weight. I have realized that I have hit some sort of wall with my body. 30 is around the corner and MAN I feel like it. I think exercise will be painful and not-very-fun for the rest of my life. But I do feel good afterwards, or is it 'less guilty' when I eat something chocolate later that day.
3. Book of Mormon: Lately I have been hearing some religious discussions at work and it had got me thinking that I need to read the Book of Mormon again. But I know myself and I know I start with the best of intentions and then die out without even getting through 1st Nephi. Seriously! Anyone have any great ways they get through their scripture reading? Study guides? This one is going to take some work.

Our Girl!

I was thinking that it has been too long since I have gushed about our Shaynie. She is such a fun baby. She is 8 months old now, is pretty much crawling and getting into things, and has two teeth coming up on the bottom. She loves to swing at the park, watch Ally (our dog) and grab her face/eyes/tongue, go for walks/jogs in the stroller in the morning, eat Cheerios, and never let her mother leave her sight. She has always been a really good sleeper and her parents are VERY happy about that still. She likes to make noise with anything she can find- blocks/paper/her hand on a hard surface, pull her shoes and socks off, and do the cutest little wave I have ever seen--especially at strangers because then she gets lots of attention. Grandma Nettie taught her how to do "the Indian"-- pat your hand on her mouth a bunch of times while she says 'ah' and it sounds like an Indian call. And she says lots of 'nana,' 'tutu,' and 'dudu's. She is our girl and we love her!!!

Cousins

Over the last couple of months, Shayne has been able to spend lots of time getting to know her cousins. We had such a fun time with all of them.

And there is an announcement. Not for me of course, for my sister Sarah! She is having a girl in January! Yea, more cousins!!

Trips, trips, trips. . . . .

This is going to be a very LONG blog as it has been a very LONG time since I have blogged. And we have been all over the place in the last month and a half. So here goes. . . .

This is in backwards order but I'm just going to go with it. So the last trip we took was to Austin, Texas to visit Danny's sister Katie, her husband Todd, and their little boy who is the same age as Shayne. We went to the pool, went on walks, ate BBQ, and took care of kids. I LOVED their grocery store called HEB and really wish we had one here. It had a huge selection with lots of natural and organic foods. It carried Whole Foods brand products too. Here, I have to go to 2 different stores to find the same stuff, if at all : (
They have a teacup chihuahua named Bella that Shayne was mesmerized by. Shayne is a bit of an excessive drooler, but with Bella around I didn't even need to wipe her mouth because Bella just licked it off Shayne's face or out of her mouth. Sweet!

I also did a road trip with my mom to Washington to visit my grandpa for his birthday. It was really interesting to hear all about his growing up on a ranch in northwestern Utah. One night at our hotel, Shayne was really tired and went to bed at 5 pm. So my mom and I were prisoners in the room and could only whisper and watch TV with the captions on until we finally gave up and went to bed at 9. Ha!

We spent almost a week and a half up at the Box Y in August. I love the perks of being a stay-at-home mom. Vacation, anytime, anywhere, as long as you like. One part of the trip we were there with Danny's extended family, another we were there with some friends, and the last part Danny hosted high adventure camp for our ward.

Shayne and I spent a lot of time doing this:

Our friends with their two for a picnic:

Early morning hike. We saw a moose in the mist, it was beautiful.

We did a campfire just about every night with s'mores and banana boats:

And we went out on a boat ride on day with Danny's family. I hadn't gotten out on a wakeboard for a couple of years. It was fun.

Grandpa and cousins:

Domesticity and Thievery

How do these two things go together you ask. . . .well they did during this last week. First of all, I spent a day cooking. This doesn't happen often (just ask Danny), but when it does, I am pretty dang proud of myself. I made the best granola (thank you Teddy for the recipe). We'll eat it for weeks. Don't you just get tired of the cereals in the store for breakfast? Well if you do here is a great recipe:

In a pot, boil together until the sugar is smooth:
6 c. oil
4 c. honey
2 c. brown sugar
1-2 tsp. vanilla
*dash of salt

Add this to:
4 large canister of oats
*wheat germ: maybe about 3-4 cups
*millet-if you can find it: maybe 2-3 cups
Coat oat mixture thoroughly and then spread onto cookie sheets. Bake each at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. After it is baked add dried fruit like craisins, raisins, dried cherries and toasted nuts like flax, almond slivers, pumpkins seeds, walnut gems, sesame seeds. Let it completely cool before storing.

Now the thievery. I went up the canyon with a friend to hike a little. When we got back to our cars, both had a window busted and our purses stolen!!!! Such a pain!! Both of our wallets were stolen and my cell phone. And when I called my phone they actually answered it, didn't say anything, but my friend gave them a good PG-rated cursing. They charged some stuff at gas stations on her credit cards too. Please, is that the best you can do. At least buy some expensive leather boots or something nice. When I got my cellphone re-routed to a new phone, I had a voicemail from a woman named Amber who in a lovely gravely, smokers voice asked why I hadn't called her back yet. Awesome. Anyway, I think I have finally learned my lesson. If you give people the opportunity to take advantage of you, they will-so be cautious!

California Adventures

We took a quick weekend trip to the OC to visit Carrie and James. We loved it. You can see why people love to live and vacation there. Good weather, the beach, lots to do, awesome shopping. And houses are so reasonably priced. Seriously, gorgeous there!

Here's little Shaynie checking out Uncle James:
Danny took a tumble in a wave at the beach and got knocked to the bottom. He had blurred vision for a little bit after but was OK. Just a little road rash.

With Auntie Carrie on a duffy boat ride in the harbour around Balboa. We saw so many gorgeous yachts and sailboats. We saw one yacht called 'Terrible' which cost tens of millions of dollars. Ri-dic-u-lous. It was ridiculous.

So much fun. We also went to a tennis match that night. Thanks for hosting us for a great weekend C & J!

Love Affairs

We have been having a busy, but fun summer! Here's a recap. Danny's sister Katie came to visit with Clark. He and Shayne are two days apart in age. He is such a little man! I can't say they truly had a love affair, but they didn't seem to mind each other at least.

My gym class instructor said that your first child is the greatest love affair you will ever have. I think we are finding that to be true. We love everything she does even if it involves slober, snot, and poop.

We went to a family reunion at Aspen Family Camp with a bunch of my cousins and my family was all there. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and my sisters/mom were great and watched Shayne so I got to get out and bike, play badmitton, take a ski lift ride, and play some volleyball. Danny got in some mountain biking too. He's always looking for a buddy to go with......anyone??

The funniest thing though was that my older brother LOVED Shayne. He wanted to watch her and carry her in her baby Bjorn. He said he wants to adopt but I told him I think he should find a wife first. We also spent almost a week with our friends near Lake Tahoe. It is so beautful there. Their two little boys also LOVED Shayne, especially the older one. B- Shayne misses your cute little high pitched voice calling out "baby Shayne" to her. He was so good with her and helpful. And her most recent love affair is with sweet potatoes. And squash, and carrots, and bananas, and water. She is starting to be an eater!!
Next on our list is a quick weekend trip to Newport Beach to visit Danny's sister and then Danny's family reunion at the Box Y. I LOVE summer.

Oh and any advice on this?? Shayne is waking herself up all the time because she can flip from her back to her tummy but not the other way yet. Is there anything I can do or do you just get through this stage????

Hope you are having a great summer.