4th of July fun!

We had such a great 4th of July….well…we actually celebrated the holiday on the 3rd, for the most part, and worked all day on the 4th, but it was still great. We so wish that we had been able to visit with both families, but scheduling just got too crazy…as it always does in this business. Still, I was so happy to be sitting there, watching beautiful celebratory lights in the sky while singing the National Anthem. MY National Anthem. I love my country, and it was wonderful to feel so much gratitude for this nation in the midst of thousands of other American’s celebrating with me. It still makes me well up inside at how much I am grateful for because of where I happened to be born. I am incredibly lucky and blessed.

Here are some of the shots Jon took of the games and family fun as well as the fireworks on the 3rd. Hannah loved the lights, and I’m happy that Jon didn’t worry about shooting the display so much, and took some time away from the camera to cuddle with his girls.

July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza 2009

Happy Birthday, my sweet little land of Liberty!!

Hannah update…she’s a genious…but I’m sure you already knew that.

Our appointment with Dr. Witt was great. Hannah is 40th percentile in her head size, 20th in weight and 60th in height, and he says that everything looks perfect. She’s happy and mobile, she’s dextrous and verbal.
How verbal, you ask? Well, we DID ask what average for 18 months was…According to the doctor, average number of words that a kid of 18 months owns, knows, and says without prompting is about 10. Whoah. So, 90 is good? He hid his shock rather well. We told him about our criterea…she has to say it without prompting and know what the meaning is, and we still came up with over 90 words. Knowing that, he found the beginning of Hannah’s visit all the more hilarious. After her measurements had been taken and we were waiting in an exam room for the doctor, Hannah got bored. She took my phone and played bubbles for a minute, but then put the phone to her ear (to talk to Elmo as she always does) and she walked, naked but for a diaper, out into the hall and stood there. It was like she’d gotten and call and excused herself to the hall to take it. Dr. Witt came walking up at that moment and burst out laughing that she didn’t have to call him…he wasn’t THAT late. She followed him cautiously back into the room, but then had fun running around the confined space repeating words and just babbling at him. He was smitten.
The only sad news after everything is that our new incoming insurance is not one that’s accepted by Dr. Witt’s office, so we are now in search of a pediatrician to handle Hannah at her next appointment in six months.
Thank you Dr. Witt!!! It’s been a sincere pleasure.

…because I choose to be happy

I’ve had the discussion lately a couple of times about why I’m a happy person. Honestly, thank you John Cusack and Director Cameron Crowe for the moment at 18 when I realized that you never get to choose how people treat you or how they act around you, and sometimes you end up in situations that you’d never have picked for yourself if you were in total control…but in any and all cases, you get to choose how you respond to those things. And, no matter what, you can CHOOSE to be happy.

Don’t get me wrong…everyone has lapses and even I get sad sometimes…it’s true…it’s happened…once…but once you’ve had a chance to work through a tough situation and put it into perspective, the time to make a choice shows up again, and then it’s all on you.

The whole concept has repeated so often in my life…

I know two sisters who grew up in the same place, dealt with the same abuses, but one is happy and amazing and the other is messed up and still dealing with sad issues. Their childhood was so the same, but their choices after that were very different.

I worked with a woman who went through a bad divorce decades ago, who was very vocal about how she was never going to trust a man again, and her bitter attitude festered there in the cubicle next to mine.

A friend came home from his mission, and I’ll never forget his first talk in which he said that Christ never reacted to things. He never did something because someone else affected him so much that he reacted…he always made a choice and ACTED…never RE-acted. Even choosing to overthrow the tables of the money-changers was a choice, not an emotional reaction. It made me think.

Most of you know, I have a tattoo. If not, here’s your big reveal. I do! It’s the Chinese symbol for Happiness and it’s on my left shoulderblade. I put it there when I was 18, out on my own in New York where I came to the huge realization that I got to choose. Every time I see that little mark of black, I wonder at the choice of doing something so permanent, but I also always remember that I get to smile and make a good choice.

I was listening to this song today and just had to share. The lyrics say it all!…and it’s got a catchy tune. Enjoy!

I’m on a high, I’m on a high
there’s nothing more to it.
We are the sea and the sky
and the blue that runs through it, yeah.

and there are some who say there are so many things I need
so I run or I fight and I crawl or I scream and I bleed
I bleed, I bleed

well, it’s a lie it’s a lie – don’t you believe it.
if you’re fine then you’re fine – it’s all how you see it.
oh, there never will be no conspiracy of happiness.

I’m on a high I’m on a high
and there’s nothing more to it
I have the sun, it’s a star
why should I refuse it

and there are so many reasons I could give you why I should be down
there’s not enough money or time and my love you’re not around
around, around

but it’s a lie it’s a lie – don’t you believe it.
if you’re fine then you’re fine – it’s all how you see it.
oh, there never will be no conspiracy of happiness.

you’re alive you’re alive – how else could you hear me?
you are fine, you are fine – there’s nothing worth fearing
’cause there never will be no conspiracy of happiness

I’m on a high, on a high
we are the sea and the sky
I’m on a high, on a high
I’m on a high

Hannah is smart!

Hannah has an 18 month appointment coming up this week, and as we looked at the calendar, Jon and I got a bit excited. Hannah’s pediatrician is always really great…nice guy, well spoken, but calm and pretty laid back…he’s a great fit for us first-timers. The first visit I ever made to his office he told me that since it was the middle of winter and because I had a brand new infant, he’d keep the appointment as short as possible so that I could get her out of there and back home away from the cold and other sick kids. He promised that he’d talk more during the summer when it wasn’t as important and when there wasn’t as much of a chance of catching something. He just seems to be aware of everything involved with our kid, and he’s always ready to answer any questions we may have. He’s also always sweet to tell us how cute and how perfect Hannah is, and we always feel better knowing that, as far as her doctor is concerned, Hannah is a bit above the curve, learning things right on time for her age…or maybe a little bit early.

In light of that…knowing our desire to impress our doctor and show him that Hannah is still cute and that she’s progressing perfectly…that she is smart beyond her 18 months…we figured that a good yardstick to measure her intelligence was communication. How many words does Hannah know? We put some criteria to it…It had to be a word that she could say and that we understood when she said it. (She understands the word garbage and will put something in the garbage can when I ask her to, but she has never said the word “garbage”, so it’s not on the list.) It had to be a word that she wasn’t just repeating, but it had to be a word that she could produce without prompting and for which she understood the meaning. (She can say the word ‘groovy’ when we prompt her to, but she has no concept of what groovy is, so it’s not on the list.)

Still, as we plowed through the standards like “mommy”, “daddy”, “apple”, and “ball”, we were surprised to find more impressive words like “bubbles”, “moon”, “pretty”, and she knows most of her body parts. We’re fairly embarrassed that she knows “show”, “stinky poo-poos” and “messy” so well, but we’re also pretty happy that she knows “please”, “thank you”, and “music.” We were very excited the day that we realized she was asking for her pacifier when she said “Bint-bi” and she loves it when she asks for her “Monks” and we put on the dvd of Disney’s Chip and Dale. You should see the pride on her face when she says something that we understand and which enables us to give her what she wants. How amazing to know that you’re finally understood! What an achievement that must be for a toddler!

Every day we find a few more words that we hadn’t realized she knew, and we laugh again at how quickly she is grasping the entire communication process. Our list has grown, and two days before her appointment, I believe we’re just above 90 words solidly in Hannah’s vocabulary…and I just realized that she knows a couple more that will go on the list when I get home. The pediatrician will probably knock us down a couple of pegs and tell us that 100 is average for 18 months, but until then, we’re riding high on the idea that we’ll get to the appointment and our daughter will be light-years beyond normal.

Some of my favorite words Hannah knows: Banana, shoes, car, go, Hi, bum, coo-coo, num, bye bye, Elmo!, chair, dress, birdie, baby, noodles, meat, milk, cheeeeeese, hair, church, Jesus, love you.

A little bit of A.D.D.

I’m at lunch and don’t want to surf, so you get a moment in my brain.
Whew. The flowers turned out perfectly and Jon was on time to deliver them at the temple.
Glad they were good because I was up till 2 to finish them.
I like Diet Coke.
I’m pround of having Marvin Gaye on my playlist.
I’m going to be old tomorrow…weird.
Typing. Historically…who’d'a thought millions of people every day would sit there clacking on keys?
I’m tired.
I miss Hannah.
My wholesaler couldn’t get the leaves I need for Saturday’s wedding. Grr.
I need ribbon from another wholesaler anyway…I’ll see if they have the right leaves.
Hope I can deliver these ones tomorrow and then spend a quiet weekend at Camp Cham and not have to rush back.
I want to sit on the couch with Jon and watch Psych.
I really want a nap.
Health insurance is good!…and I get it as of July 17th. Whew.

And there’s 30 seconds in my brain. Hope you enjoyed a look at why women multi-task better than men. Time to get back to work.

More fun and updated vids

Here’s she goes again with the bouncing! She really does love that chair.

Here’s some fun footage of Hannah at the ranch. We did an engagement shoot North of Lindon, and we had a great time by the lake, seeing cows, and playing with the dog Belle. The family were so sweet and fed us dinner and popcorn! What a fun day!


Photos from the day at the ranch.

2009 summer fun

He he he. It’s been a while since Jon and Hannah took a break to play Xbox football together, but you can see how much Hannah has grown…sitting in her chair like daddy sits in his…and she still loves to dance to the fight song and yell when daddy yells.
The unfortunate byproduct of this days game is that daddy missed a pass and shouted, “SUCK!”
Suck is now one of Hannah’s favorite words. Luckily, it sounds REALLY similar to sock and duck, so we can usually distract her into paying attention to her toes and whether they have coverage or not.

Happy Anniversary, my love!

Four years today. I can’t belive that it’s been four years! In some ways that seems like nothing…like no time has gone by and we’re still silly and giddy and goofy newly in love…then I start to count…I count how many times you must have taken out the trash, how many times you’ve done something new and beautiful to our home, how many times you’ve taken such good care of our beautiful daughter…and I can’t believe it’s ONLY been four years. Four years. I think about that day, and smile at how in love we were, and then I swell and get weepy at how much more I love you now. You still open my door. You still give me happy shivers when you touch my neck. A major reason for the purchase of an automatic car is so that we can hold hands on long drives. I know unmistakably every day that you love me and work so hard for our family, and I hope every day that I can be the wife you hoped for.
I love you so much, Jon! Happy Anniversary! Here’s to a million more!

Swine flue hits home…or close to it!

I just got the news today that a fantastic lady at my office, who has been out sick for two days, has been out sick with swine flu! Poor girl! I know, I know…the article even says it…”People who work with pigs, especially people with intense exposures, are at increased risk of catching swine flu.” I guess that’s what we get for working with lawyers, is that it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just to remind you all…

Stay healthy everyone!!!

It’s no fair, being sick on vacation.

Jon and I took off Saturday night after a wedding to head down to St. George. Jon slept most of the way since he’d worked the whole weekend and was exhausted. Hannah woke up for some reason and we sang primary songs for about an hour. She’s the funniest kid for not being able to sleep and then telling me, “Again.” every time she wanted to hear Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes or Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree. We made it to St. George, and snuck in the back door at around 4:30 a.m. We got a few hours of sleep before we ran to the church to participate in little Gabe’s blessing. So sweet! Back to Aaronee and Vaughn’s house for food and family fun. I stayed with the party for about an hour before I had to give in and go back to the basement for a nap. Hannah came with me, and we got a good chunk of sleep and then hung out alone in the house for a while as everyone else had fallen asleep once the party ended.
Monday was pretty casual. We sat around watching tv for the most part, which was fantastic! I needed a veg break from the world. I started not feeling well though, and my tummy started rumbling. I hit the bathroom several times, and the drive home took an extra hour because of all the stops we had to make. Heaven bless the Utah Parks system for the clean and regular rest areas all along I-15. Hannah enjoyed the breaks to get out of her seat and run around on the grass too, so I guess they weren’t too bad. We finally rolled in to our garage just after midnight, and I bolted upstairs for the bathroom, again. Bless Jon for making the entire drive home and letting me sleep between coughing fits or stomach aches.
Crawling into my own bed was wonderful though, an a full eight hours in my comfy bed was the best medicine. Still not feeling great this morning, but I haven’t had to bolt for the bathroom at work yet either. We’ll see how the day goes.

How long can you plan ahead before a wedding is no longer considered an elopement?

Hmm…Jon and I are in debates on that one. Is it the secrecy that makes it an elopement or is it because of the short-notice announcement? And how short does that announcement need to be? Or, how many people can come before it’s not considered a secret anymore? Hmm.

We have a bride that signed up with us for her wedding in September. Last week I got a call from her to ask if we could add a date in June to just take pictures at the temple because they were “eloping”. They were still planning an openhouse on the already reserved date in September, but they were jumping in and getting married in three weeks anyway.

Of course we’ll do it! Part of me was a little bit sad that it wasn’t a full-on elopement to Vegas…I’d love to get some shots in the Little White Chapel. Still…this would be fun too! Especially if it was what she explained…Come the 25th, show up to the temple, get a few shots at the luncheon, and done. Then, the bulk of what we were doing left until the original date in September. Sounds great! June is crazy, but we can add an appointment like that. Invitations wouldn’t go out until August. Bridals could wait until we were un-crazy. Plenty of time for prints and for disscussing flower options.

Uh…mom called a few hours later to say that the September date was gone and that we needed to cram all of it into the next three weeks or else.

Whoah.

Luckily, Jon had taken their engagement pictures a month ago during tulip season, so he just had to load those for them to see, and they’re awesome. Still, in the last two days we’ve shifted it all! Flowers, photos. The engagement shot to be included in the invitation was decided on today. The favorites for the sign in book were done ten minutes after that. The bridals were done at 9:00 this morning, and Jon will turn those around asap. The bride loved my improptu bouquet that she held in the photos today, so that’s cool. I loved that she wanted to go with Jon’s design idea of using a curl of bamboo as a bouquet holder. It turned out really well! She wants the wedding day flowers to be just like it, but with monkeys tail fern curls in it too. Score! I’ll submit that order to my wholesaler today. I’ll design the book tonight, and then if Jon can crank out the bridals, we should be just about right. Whew! It’s nice when they make a decision…even if there’s a tinge of scary when mom cracks the whip to get those decisions made NOW!

A shot from mom’s phone at the bridal shoot this morning. Yes…that’s a full-on backhoe in the background you see there. Construction going on all around the location they were shooting, so it turned out pretty hilarious to get shots of her in front of the equipment. At least the bride has a sense of humor! even if her mom doesn’t appreciate it as much.