Football games, ponies, and playdates...

Reese's first pony tail... and she's waving bye bye. Don't mind the imprisonment we have her in... we try to limit her mobility to just the living room. Ok so our internet has been down again this last week... again I can't really be complaining since we just happen to be borrowing it from our neighbors. Nothing really monumental has happened this last little while, Todd got accepted to BYU-I and now we are waiting to hear what track we will be on so we know when we'll have to move (hopefully he can start in January so we can just get him done with school and get on with our lives). Work has pretty much been the same. Yesterday we fed the missionaries - don't you wonder what it would be liking serving in an area like Pocatello, can you imagine the excitement after you open your call (and the relief their mothers probably felt). This week we'll be going to a friends reception and to Torben and Angela's baby shower. So hopefully I'll have a few more things to blog about next time.

Last Thursday my friend Kallie came down and we had a little play date. She has a little girl a couple months older than Reese - here they are pretending to be best friends. Elexzia (sorry Kallie if I spelled her name wrong but I just can't remember) mostly liked to pull Reese's hair (no doubt she was jealous of her static do), they weren't so much interested in each other but someday maybe when they can actually play a little more and we can set them free to have all sorts of adventures.
Yes Reese's hair is finally getting long enough to pull it back in a little clip, the only problem is her hair is so fine and straight it usually slides out shortly after putting it in, but so everyone knows we do attempt to control the beast (her hair).
Eating can ware anyone out, she had been fighting a nap all day and then finally gave in.

A couple bronco games ago... Grandma and Grandpa (Todd's parents) came up to watch the game with us. Grandma was so excited to play with Reese since she doesn't see her every week anymore (she used to watch her once a week). Grandpa is most likely thrilled to have another bronco fan in the family.

This was watching the last bronco game... I mentioned that Reese used to love watching basketball... not so much with football and think it's too hard for her to see what's going on (jeez sometimes I struggle with it too)... but she loves to be with her daddy.

Pig skins and those Denver donkeys...

As promised here is our first post about Bronco season. Good thing Broncos won (booo Raiders fans), it's a sad day for Welch men when they lose !! I sometimes don't understand how emotionally involved they can get into the game, as if they know Cutler, Royal, and Bailey on a personal level. You'll notice Reese is wearing a Lynch jersey who no longer plays for the B's (booo) we had bought her jersey before she was even born -- so we had no idea what was to come (plus they were 50% off). Todd had put black electrical tape over Lynch's name on the back of the jersey in protest to his leaving the Broncos. I went grocery shopping for goodies in preparation for tomorrows game since we will probably have some friends and family over.

Not much else is going on... a little Reese update... she has been saying "da, da, da" really good for a few weeks now. She waves bye bye and says 'b, b, b' as she is doing it. She is crawling everywhere and over everything like a wild woman and she can pull herself to a standing position. She used to do patty cake and clap her hands together really well, but now when ever you sing the song she just does the rolling part. She head bangs everything from furniture to people. She loves to watch Clifford the big red dog, Seasame Street, and Spongebob. She is a crazy dancer whenever Todd plays the guitar or a song plays on one of her shows. It's funny to watch her when she is watching Elmo's world or something when she doesn't know you're watching and see her bounce up and down when someone starts singing a song. She is pretty dang cute!

Just a little update...

Sorry not a lot going on lately to really blog about... but last week we did make it to the big fair in Blackfoot. Which I realize it might not sound like a big deal, but it is at least to those who live in the area. We went up last Wednesday and spent a few hours making the loop around the fair seeing the animals and the lame booths they have every year. The food makes it all worth it. We loaded up on some great dutch oven cooking (BBQ pork, green beans, and cheesy potatoes - YUM!!), they have about anything you could want. We also indulged on the infamous tiger ears, but they should call them elephant ears because that's how big these scones really are!!! They have tons of animals at the fair huge barns full of goats, horses, Clydesdale's, pigs, cows and mini horses. Reese loved the animals, but only dared to pet the goats - they were they only ones that would really try to interact with the people passing by (probably because they wanted food). We didn't go to the concert they had this year (which was Poison) I was totally ok with missing it, I've had all the Brett Michaels I can stand after watching Rock of Love I and II.
Yesterday we went down to Logan to Willow Park to celebrate my nephews Dylan (1) and Mason's (3) birthday. We had some cupcakes (which all had finger pokes in them thanks to the birthday boys and other helpers), opened presents and made a loop around the zoo. We spent today in Downey with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma Z no longer babysits Reese once a week since Todd switched to overnights so she was happy to spend some time with her and show her off to all her friends in the ward. She is definitely a proud Grandma.



Well that is all that's been going on lately. We have a few more upcoming birthday parties to go to and Bronco season starts so I'm sure we'll have some more to blog about this month.

This is what happens to babies on the move...

So as I have mentioned before Reese is crawling now... Above is a picture of Reese's holding cell while mommy tries to update her blog. I've tried to hold her while typing and that is impossible!!! She's grabbing at everything she can get her chubby little hands on and usually helping me type as well - which only results in me having to erase and retype almost every word. The laundry basket keeps her entertained momentarily - enough to get a little done.
So she doesn't seem to mind her prison -- she definately enjoys pressing her face up against the net and having a taste. My house is a disaster - I miss the days when I could sit her in her bouncy chair and get all sorts of things done. I do love that she is able to interact more with the world around her. She crawling all over us demanding all sorts of attention and affection.
So not much else has been going on lately. Todd is switching to overnights next week... which frees up more time at home and he has to work less days but longer shifts. So three nights a week I'll be sleeping solo - which kind of stinks - but having him at home more when I'm there will be nice. He used to work mostly nights and not get home til eleven at night and that stunk. I wish I could only work 3 days a week!!!
So I'm working on getting Reese on some sort of bedtime routine. She used to sleep so well... she would fall asleep at a decent time and stay asleep all night! Now she'll go to sleep when we usually go to sleep at like clock work she'll wake up at 3 AM!! So we are trying to do the same routine... Ideally I would like to go for a evening walk (which who knows if that will keep happening), give her a bath, read a couple stories and have a bottle and off to bed. We'll see how long this will last... I just hate being so disoriented and not having control over the sleeping situation. It will be nice having Todd home during all this now. If anyone has any other ideas feel free to mention them I'm open to other options. Well I better get ready for bed myself... I have to work tomorrow.. it's the sucky part of my week.. I don't have a day off til next Wednesday, ugh!

When I grow up...

So I don't know if I've mentioned before than I'm trying to break into the design world. Ideally I would like to work from home and do wedding announcements, baby announcements, Christmas cards or whatever (and I've even started playing around with some video editing software for Wedding videos). It's something I've always been into... but I'm not business savvy. I've done a few wedding announcements here and there... this is the most recent one I did (hopefully they don't mind it's on here for the world to see). I still have a lot of things to learn - I know there are a lot more brilliant designers out there and I'm not all about being Miss Super Design Woman... more as a hobby - or enough to bring in enough cash so I don't have to have an outside job. Like I said the goal here is to stay at home - so there is a little insight to a goal of mine. We are moving to Rexburg in December - all those young, poor Mormons up there getting hitched should provide some opportunities to develop some more skills in the industry. So I'm just babbling now... but I just thought maybe someone out there might be interested it what I want to be when I grow up.

The baby is asleep, it's really late...and I want to blog!

So as I mentioned it is late and I should be in bed... but it's not happening. Todd is watching the Mens Olympic B-ball game (it's 12:45), the baby is asleep - so I am taking this opportunity to brush up on my photoshop and update my blog. Last night Todd, Reese and I went down to Downey to a get together with a bunch of people Todd went to school with and had a nice little dinner and campout (only we didn't camp out - since I had to work this morning). It was great to see some people we hadn't seen in a while and to see what they were up to. Todd brought his guitar and entertained everyone while we chatted around the fire and grilled up some good food. Reese was loving it all!! As you can tell she was mesmerized by the fire - and it actually put her to sleep within a few minutes. Don't mind me looking like a dork - but these are some of the only pictures I took of last night - maybe should have included some other people besides Reese and I in the pictures.
So Reese loves her cookie monster!! He has a plastic cookie attached to his arm and she is constantly chowing down on it - either that or his eyeballs (they are soft and she usually puts a whole eyeball in her mouth - mmm tasty)!
When every Reese is drinking a bottle she saves the last ounce to wear. When there is just a little bit left she bites the nipple and pulls it out of her mouth over and over again - getting little milk splatters everywhere!!! What a goon!!
So as I mentioned before I have a new camera and it has this neat setting - it takes the picture as soon as the person smiles. So here is me testing it out on Reese... which is an awesome feature if any of you have tried to capture precious moments with your children - not an easy feat if your camera isn't quick enough.

I"ve got rhythm...

As I have mentioned before Reese loves when her Dad plays the guitar. In this video she has pretty good rhythm and rocks out while Todd plays the guitar. Note: The song Todd is playing is a song he wrote for Reese.. he isn't quite finished with the words as you'll notice. Even when I was sitting her uploading the video Reese was rocking out -- she is a pretty vain child and loves to see photos and video of herself. I should have had video of her watching the video she was all over the place and clapping her hands. Hopefully in the future she will develop some musical abilities.

Dancing with Daddy

So Reese's favorite movie is enchanted -- she especially loves the cartoon beginning and all of the songs. She was starting to dance when the song began then her daddy picked her up and started twirling her around and she loved it!!! We watched it last night while we waited for Todd to get off work. She has being staying up late lately - ever since she was sick last week her schedule is all messed up. She used to always go to sleep by nine thirty or so and that was even with a few naps during the day... now she hardly naps and stays up way late and only falls asleep when you hold her... when before as soon as she started rubbing her eyes you could just lay her in bed and she would be out in a few minutes. She's is driving me nuts I wish she would sleep better.

Happy Birthday Weekend to Me!!!

Sorry but these pictures went in the exact opposite order I wanted... I always forget when I upload them...so skip down to Friday first... ok these pics here are from Saturday (my actual birthday). After work we headed down to Preston and met up with the Bee's at the Bull Bonanza (a festivity held during the fair) - the actual bull part was lame but we were able to see some old friends and spend some time with Kate and Eli.
Sadie is about 4 months older than Reese. Kate and I are set on trying to make them be friends. Sadie would give her "luvs" but I failed to get a photo. It's too bad we live an hour away and can't have more play dates.
We stayed the night in Preston and had a nice Sunday dinner with all my family to celebrate my birthday. About 3-4 different times during lunch we caught these two (my nephews) taking a wizz. They always made sure to face us whenever they did it to (maybe to prove they were big boys who didn't pee in their underwear)
Reese likes to play patty cake now. She can pat it and roll it - we haven't conquered throwing it in the oven yet - soon I'm sure.
There's that bottom lip again.. she is always pulling this little pouty face - whenever she pokes her lip out it makes her cheeks seem even chubbier - like there is no room for her lips to sit naturally on her face.. what a goof ball.
(these are some other pictures that were supposed to be under Friday - at the play ground at Ross Park after we had a nice little picnic lunch).


These pics are from Saturday before we went to the Bull Bonanza. Ethan got the Thomas the train engine set out that has the cars that drive them selves so naturally destruct-o girl was always trying to catch the cars to eat. In the photo below notice we still have blue eyes. Must have come from the grandmas and yes her hair even though longer is just as wild - there is no taming it, I've tried many products and styles...I just let fly.

FRIDAY -- so my birthday weekend (yes I said weekend) I couldn't get my actual birthday off (apparently in retail the Saturday before school starts is a pretty important day to be there) from work so we kind of spread the celebration out. Friday we didn't do anything too exciting just went to Ross Park and the Pocatello Zoo. Where you can see local animals in a make shift natural habitat. We still like to go though. It's quite the hike if you've ever been, the zoo is kind of set up on this cliff side so one half is spent climbing up this mountain and the other half is crusing down the mountain (on foot).

Reese chillin' in her stroller...(ps I got a new digital camera for my birthday and I love it... Sony DSC-W170- I was in dire need of a new one)!!!
As mentioned before we saw animals we see around this area anyways... Look how majestic the Bison is.. in his natural habitat (troth)?
One nice feature is the petting zoo -there are donkeys, cows, and goats that you can go in their pen with. Reese is really starting to like animals - and especially lazy goats that just sit there while you pull on their ears.
The donkeys didn't ever get too close - but she thought they were hilarious, maybe it was the big ears (which might be why she also finds her mom and dad hilarious).
The zoo also has this big tree house with different levels and a slide. Note: the slide is made for smaller butts.. Todd originally was the one who took her up first and I was going to stand at the bottom for photo opps while they slid down - but Todd didn't fit in the slide. It's amazing my child bearing hips did.

The rest of July...

So to round out the remaining month in July... My mother, grandma, Reese and I made a trip to Downata Hot Springs enjoyed the pool for a few hours and had a nice picnic lunch. My mom wanted to have one last little jaunt before she had to go back to school/work and I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn't joking when I told them Reese may have been a fish in another life. She swam the entire time we were in the pool; we were tired before she ever was (mostly because we had to lug her around the pool). The picture above is after we swam; eating lunch... Reese trying to savor any drops of Mountain Dew she can get her lips on.
Grandma - was over loaded with babies the week of the Rodeo. My nephew Dylan was staying at my mom's house for a few days while we were there... they enjoyed taking each other's toys and splashing in the bath tub. Dylan is about 4 months older than Reese - but about the same size. Reese was very envious of Dylan being able to crawl around the house. She would get on all fours and just rock and rock hoping to get somewhere... but it would only make her even more upset when she couldn't.