DFW

One of the nice things about being in Dallas is the major airport. Many flights layover in Dallas, allowing us the oppotunity to see family members as they travel from SLC to MSY (New Orleans) and back. A few weeks ago my mom went out to New Orleans after my niece, Lilly, was born. We got to see my mom for 6 hours on the way out, and 3 hours on the way back. Then, this past week, we got to see my brother, Colin. Colin is the youngest of the nine children in my family. He is preparing to put his papers in for his mission. Colin has always been very sweet and kind, and never seems to mind playing with his nieces and nephews. Since we don't have any family here other than Debbie and crew, we are glad to see family whenever we can, even if only for a few hours.

14 Months and Counting

Another month has flown by and my baby just keeps getting older and older. As much as I miss my tiny little baby, I really do love this age. It is a lot of fun to hear Shelby say new words and watch her as she discovers new things. I'm not going to do my traditional "14 Things", but there are a few things about Shelby at this age that I want to jot down:

- Shelby can now tell you what a kitty cat, snake, puppy dog, monkey, and lion say.
- Shelby loves shoes. Her shoes, my shoes, all the kids in nursery...
- Even though I don't think Jeremy and I really have Southern accents, Shelby is proving to be a Southern belle. When she says "bye", she says it with the biggest drawl. "Baa", she'll say as she waves her hand.
- She loves Roxy. She is so amused by her and loves to watch her run around the house playing fetch. She loves when Roxy will get on her hind legs and is just as tall as her.
- One of Shelby's favorite games is "Monster". Either Jeremy or I will say, "Don't get me!", to which Shelby replies with a loud, "Rrrrrraaa!", and proceeds to run after us. Usually we run out of the room really fast and wait just outside the door. Just when she peeks her head around the corner we jump out. Shelby will squeal really loudly and run back the other way. She could play that all day if we had the energy.
- She has been sleeping in a "big girl bed" for almost a month now. Ever since we moved we had problems with her sleeping in her crib. We finally put a guard rail up on the full bed in her room, and scooted the crib up against the end, so she is almost completely caged in, and just put her to bed there. She sleeps there all night long, and Jeremy finally can sleep without a foot in his ear.
- Shelby is still one of the sweetest little girls. She always lights up when she sees another child and will quickly say "HI!" in an exited, high-pitched squeal. If both Shelby and the child are on the ground, she will usually walk up and try to give kisses.
- Shelby is not just friendly with other children, she makes adult friends pretty fast, too! Just today at lunch at Chick-fil-A, two men asked if she wanted to come back to the office to work (actually that is kind of creepy now that I think about it), and she was putting on a show for two other couples- running back-and-forth between their tables, giving them "fives" and laughing.

As I was writing these things down, it made me realize how truly grateful I am to have such a healthy, happy little girl. We are extremely blessed to have Shelby in our family.

One Year Pictures

Ok, more like 13 month pictures. We had such a busy summer that I never had a chance to get Shelby in for pictures until a few weeks ago. I was curious as to how they would turn out, as the only appointment time available was 12 pm so Shelby was hungry and getting tired, but I think for the most part they came out ok.


I love this picture. It totally captures Shelby at this stage. She loves to clap and she LOVES to carry her purse around.





Um, yeah...not such a great picture of me. I think I was frazzled by trying to get Shelby to sit still. But, we needed a family picture...

RIP

Anyone who really knows me knows that my favorite band in the entire world is the Dave Matthews Band. Has been for years and always will be. So I am deeply saddened by the loss of one of the founding members of the band, saxophonist LeRoi Moore. The band will not be the same without him.



You can read more about what happened here.

Olympic Awesomeness

I love the Olympics. Of course I have my favorite sports to watch- gymnastics, swimming, track- but I will watch anything, including badminton. When the Olympics come on, I suddenly become this sports nut- jumping up and down and screaming.

THIS was awesome! I totally thought the French had it. But no, dude came up from behind and beat him. I was literally jumping up and down on the bed screaming. I cannot believe I didn't wake Shelby up.

Sssshhhh!

Do you hear that? Me either. That's right. Not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. I LOVE Jeremy's flex days. Every other Friday I get to experience the joys of actually eating lunch as well as Jeremy taking care of Shelby while I get some work done. Right now Jeremy and Shelby are going to pick Roxy up from the vet, so it is just me in the house. All by my lonesome. But as good as these few moments to myself feel right now...I can't wait for Shelby to come running through the door saying, "Hi!", and blowing me kisses.

Out With The Old, In With The New

Well, last Thursday Jeremy called from work saying that his car died on him as he was pulling into his parking space at work. He took off work early that day and took the car over to a mechanic. Turns out the head gasket blew and it had a cracked radiator. We found out it was going to cost more to fix the car than the entire car is even worth. So, time for a new car. After lots of research and negotiating, we finally got this: