The Fortner Family

2012-01-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

So here's some catch-up:

Daphne broke our camera the week after Halloween, so I pretty much haven't taken any pictures since then.

Yesterday Daphne turned 16 months. She has 8 teeth, is finally starting to get some hair. It appears as though it is going to be brown and curly. She had learned to give kisses, can say 5 or 6 words and is just more delightful everyday. She loves to dance and spin and tap her feet. She's pretty into talking on the phone, climbing everywhere and thank heaven, she finally learned to go down the stairs on her own.

We spent three weeks in Spokane for Christmas. We got completely spoiled by both sets of parents and got to go out for lots of baby-free time. Several of our siblings came home as well and we had a beautiful, relaxing time. Daphne was so loved and had so much attention paid to her by her grandparents, cousin and aunts and uncles that she was pretty bored once we got home. But we're all glad to be back in our own house now.

Bryce passed his national board exams. YAY! Now just a few more hurdles before graduation in May.

We put our house on the market March 1st. Hopefully it will sell quickly. And my due date is March 2nd, so yeah, it's gonna be a crazy month. I've been cleaning and decluttering like crazy. Thank goodness for all the crazy nesting energy.

Baby boy is due to arrive in 6 weeks. We still don't have a name picked out because so far we can't agree. Since we'll be moving soon I'm not going to the trouble of doing a nursery, and that is kind of a bummer, but I still have a couple of little sewing projects to do before he arrives.

This pregnancy has gone by in a flash. I'm still feeling pretty great except for exhausted. I imagine that's partly due to having a toddler. It's very different from my last pregnancy, and aside from different discomforts I enjoy how much more relaxed about everything I am now that I've been through it before. I imagine this little baby looking just like his sister, I'm so excited to see him.

That's all the news with us. hopefully we'll get that camera fixed soon, at least before baby boy comes!

Goodbye October

2011-11-02T03:43:00.000-07:00

Halloween was pretty low-key for us this year. The big event was the Murder Mystery party we threw a few weeks ago. We were partied out after that. We didn't even get around to carving our pumpkins.

We did really enjoy Zoo Boo with some friends. All the decorations were so fun and amazing

Daphne had her first trick-or-treat experience


making the discovery that good things appear in the bucket

Wrappers are no obstacle. She just ate right through those.

We also went to the ward trunk-or-treat, but the Little Destroyer has put our camera out of commission, so no pictures of that.

We only get about 15 trick-or-treaters each year, which is fine with me. All in all, another great Halloween. We're excited for next year when we will have a family of 4 to outfit!

Bucket List

2011-11-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a bucket list. This is a condensed version of mine:

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.

1- ride in a hot air balloon
2- step foot on all 7 continents
3- complete a half marathon
4-be fluent in a second language
5- star in a play
6-have grandchildren
7-get another degree in something I am passionate about
8-write a book (even if it isn't published and is just for me)
9-have a beautiful flower garden
10-take a cooking class
11-visit all the major league baseball stadiums with my husband
12-swim with dolphins
13-have a home library with big comfy chairs and walls of books (and good lighting)
14-learn to play piano
15-travel, travel, travel. Just my travel bucket list is about 35 lines right now.

What's on your list?

Spooktastic

2011-10-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of great October reads:

2 books I read this month. Both sufficiently chilling to get me in a Halloween mood. The Hangman's Daughter, a fictional account of a real person, an executioner in medieval Germany.Lots of mystery and witchcraft. Portrait of a Killer, supposedly is forensic evidence presentation of who the real Jack the Ripper was. It was a little far fetched, but still a great book for a dark October night.

Happy Halloween

Duck Tales

2011-10-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Bryce and some buddies went duck hunting on the season's opening day. Between the four of them they got a pretty good number of birds, and lucky me, Bryce brought home a sack full of them.


The group shot down about 15 all together.

Getting up at 3 in the morning to go stand around in the freezing early air, waiting for ducks to fly by is not my idea of fun. Daphne and I had a sleepover with our friends Jenna and Macy and then went out for a yummy brunch. But I'm glad Bryce enjoyed it.

We're not food prudes, so we decided to cook the poor things. This is the duck cassoulet we made with the five birds he brought home. It was surprisingly yummy, as long as I didn't dwell on where they came from.

I felt kind of proud of my hunter/gatherer for bringing home the bacon...or duck.

Fall break

2011-10-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

She loved taking a nap in this hammock.

For Bryce's Fall Break we went camping down in beautiful Brown County. The trees were probably a little better the weekend before, but it was still pretty amazing. The weather was great the days we were there and the ground was dry so Daphne's rolling around in the leaves wasn't a problem. We were joined by our new friends the Dawsons, and had a really fun evening with them. Even though our darling girl decided none of us should get any sleep that night, it was still a good time. We didn't hike this time around, but we drove to some of the good vantage points, played with leaves and sticks and enjoyed the beauty of fall.

On the way home we stopped at a pretty fantastic pumpkin patch. It was just on the side of the road, there was no hay ride or hike to get your gourd. Just plenty of beautiful, (and beautifully priced) pumpkins right there to choose from.

check out all those colors!

We also hit up Zaharakos Ice Cream parlor for lunch and made a stop at the outlets. I continue to be disappointed in the options for baby boy clothes. Every time I go shopping for little brother I come home with a new wardrobe for Daf.

October

2011-10-18T04:40:00.000-07:00

There are so many things to love about October! Firstly, the weather. It was 85 for more than a week here. You just can't stay inside when it's that nice.

At the beginning of the month the canal downtown is dyed pink for breast Cancer Awareness month. Of course we went to see that.

It was a lot easier to see the pink in person, here it just looks like dirty water.

We went to Kelsay farms with some friends where I fell in love with the Corn Crib. What a genius idea!

Jenna Gunnel & Jamie Thompson

We played on the Hay bale mountain and network of tunnels

Daphne and Macy did some pumpkin bowling

We rode the Moo Choo Train

And took a hay ride through the fields.

This was a really fantastic farm, and totally worth the groupon.

Then of course there are the fall leaves. Usually I don't relish yard work, but I was looking forward to taking a picture of little missy in the leaves. As it turned out, I couldn't keep her out of them She just played and played while I raked and raked.

There's also general conference, apple picking and Halloween projects to love about October. I seriously think it's my favorite months.

Murder at the Circus

2011-10-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

So, chances are if you read our blog then you're also a friend on facebook and you may have already seen all the pictures from our awesome Halloween party. But in case you missed it on FB and you want to to hear all about it, here's the scoop:

Four the past 4 years, we have had the pleasure of hosting a Halloween party for all of our dental school friends. Our group has grown from 6 children when we got here to 20 with 4 more on the way and that makes for an out of control party! This year we decided no kids, and let's make it something extra special while we're at it. We did a circus themed Murder Mystery Party.

Every year our friends have blown us away with their creative costumes, so I know this year would be amazing. Here is the cast of characters

Circus bossman and wife with expensive tastes

fiscally minded ticket taker and FBI agent

Knife thrower and spotlight grabbing acrobat

Lion tamer and Elephant performer

Sword swallower and sabotaged tightrope walker

clown and snake charmer

Team of trapeze fliers

Tattooed lady and muscle man

sketchy midway director and swindling fortune teller

I do have to brag just a tiny bit and say that I sewed Bryce's coat and my whole costume

All of the ladies

All the guys, in character

the poor victim and her treacherous murderer

Daphne woke up to join the party.

We had a wonderful time. Everybody got so into it, and participated way more than I expected. The food was great, prizes were awarded, and I am devastated to think this was out last big fling with these fun people.

Thanks everyone for being such good sports and for playing along.

She's a big girl now!

2011-09-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

Sweet little Daphne turned the big 1 a week ago. She is officially a big girl now, walking and eating all grown up food. She is very proud of her four teeth. At 20 lbs. 4 oz., and somewhere around 30 inches tall she would look like quite the child if she only had some hair. As it is, she's still pretty bald and kind of looks like an infant when she's being held.

We had a little party with some ward friends on the 17th, her actual birthday. She was one spoiled (but adorable birthday girl.


She didn't quite get what to do with the cake. Luckily she had a friend to help her out.

Then this past weekend we had a BUG themed party with her two buddies Luke and Max. You can read Kim's cute post about it here. We made bug antennas for all the kids, did a pinata, a bug hunt and playdough. We had cute themed food. And I have to say, I am a big fan of splitting up the party prep three ways. I think I will spend the rest of Daphne's life looking for other kids with close birthdays to be her friends.

some of the party guests wearing their antenna and ready for the bug hunt.

All the birthday babies, with their matching bald heads. So cute!

We love our little birthday girl so much. Happy birthday Daf!

Canal & kilts

2011-09-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Indy's Irish Fest. We're big fans. but before we went to the festival we took a little walk on the canal. Daphne is usually content to enjoy our walks from the stroller, but this time she was determined to do all the walking herself.

From her new vantage point she could much more easily check out the fish, pet the passing doggies and just be more cute in general.

Then we headed to Irish Fest where we listened to Irish music and tried on some kilts,

looked up our family Coat of Arms, won some silly prizes from a radio station, played robin hood,

We watched a dog herding demonstration and petted some doggies,

but then we had to head home early because those Irish with their drinking ways were a bad influence on our little girl. We didn't even get to see any Irish dancing this year. :(

Irish fest is definitely one of the things we'll miss about this city.

Working hard on labor day

2011-09-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

After a fabulous breakfast at a fun breakfast place Bryce rented a ladder and spent the day putting up this ceiling fan. While he was doing that, I got to clean up what I am sure will be the first of many poop explosions in the crib. You know the kind...where every surface and every item in the crib (including the baby) are covered with a healthy smear of poop. Casualties included a pillow and two stuffed animals that couldn't be saved.

I'm so proud of my handy man husband. But I'm not pleased about the catastrophe that used to be the living room. I guess I'll spend the rest of the day cleaning up after my other mess-maker.

State Fair

2011-09-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

At the state fair the highlight for us was watching the draft horse competition. Bryce has a thing for giant horses.
We also enjoyed:

helping Daphne pet some animals

Going on a couple of rides

And of course, seeing the giant cheese sculpture.

Last year, during my first visit to a state fair I was 8 months pregnant, and couldn't stomach the idea of trying crazy deep-fried fair food. This year at the fair I was 12 weeks pregnant and totally couldn't stomach fair food. Hopefully someday I'll go to a state fair when I'm not pregnant, or at least somewhere in the middle of a pregnancy so I can finally see what all the hype is about over deep-fried oreos and snickers bars!

11 months

2011-08-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Our little bug is 11 months old. Almost a year!
She's such a big girl these days.
She can wave, clap, stand unassisted for about 8 seconds and walk along edges.
She finally takes a bottle, won't eat baby food, but will eat anything else and likes to feed herself.
Still a mama's girl with some major separation anxiety, but loving her daddy more these days. Loves other kids, dogs and anything that's not a toy.
She's a good sleeper as long as she's at home in her crib, still likes to be swaddled at night and likes climbing out of the bath tub more than sitting in it.
Two bottom teeth, still not much hair to speak of but lots of personality.

We can't get enough of this darling, happy girl. She makes us happy in every way and it breaks my heart that she is almost a year old. She's more fun everyday but I don't want her to grow anymore. Any tips for that?

2011-08-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Pictures to go with the last post

Epic Road Trip

2011-08-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

We went on a big summer road trip, and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately we majorly failed at taking pictures; I think we took 8 in two and a half weeks. Oops. So here is our big adventure in miles.
Indianapolis to Overland Park, KS: 8 hours 2 mins, 502 miles
-We stayed with Bryce's brother Kyle.
-Daphne played with her cute cousins and loved crawling all over 3 months younger Soren.
-Rested up for the next leg of our journey.
Overland Park, KS to Breckenridge, CO: 10 hours 36 mins, 685 miles
-Caravaned with Kyle and Kristen. Driving across Kansas was the most boring thing that ever happened to me. I was almost glad when my brother-in-law got pulled over because it broke up the monotony.
-Stopped in Highlands Ranch to visit our cute friends Tom and Ashley. They're having a baby soon!
-Stayed in an enormous cabin with the entire Fortner family.
-Went on a few hikes (nature walks)
-Road bikes.
-Survived the stomach flu.
-Played with the cousins.
-Whipped down a mountain on an alpine slide.
-Fell in love with Colorado. It's on the list of places I think I should live some day.
Breckenridge, CO to Yellowstone:9 hours, 17 mins, 506 miles
-Stopped in the charming old west town of Dubois, WY for Daphne's first camping experience.
-met up with my parents, brothers, Aunt and Uncle Geddes and Cousin Elisa and her family.
-Camped in Teton National Park for three nights.
-Saw a moose, elk, bears, pelicans and herons.
-Visited Old Faithful and bunch of the other awesome geysers and hot springs.
-Swam in a glacial lake
-Did a little hiking.
Yellowstone to Lehi, UT: 7 hours 7 mins, 402 miles
- Stayed with My brother Daniel and his family.
-Daphne played with some more fun cousins, and again enjoyed crawling over Beatrix whose 4 months younger.
-Went to 7 peaks
-Rented bikes and road down the Provo River trail.
-Wandered around BYU and relived our college days
-Spent time with my favorite sister!
-Went to a wedding reception for Bryce's old roomie Justin Hale, and hung out with some of Brycee's old friends.
-Ate venison steak, Yum!
-Decided we want to live in Utah. Too bad you can't spit in Utah without hitting a dentist.
Lehi, UT to Omaha, NE: 13 hours, 32 mins, 955 miles
-Stopped at possibly the coolest rest stop ever.
-Experienced humidity again.
-Stayed the Night With Bryce's sister Becky and her family.
Omaha, NE to Indianapolis, IN:9 hours, 37 mins, 608 miles
-Made it home to an air conditioned house and dinner in the fridge thanks to my amazing friend Courtney.
-Never felt quite so happy to be home.

So add in about 300 more miles for trips from place to place in each location and about 8 more hours in the car and that equals about 63 hours and just under 4,000 miles.
Yeah, it was long. Daphne was a stinker and I had to sit in the backseat with her almost the entire time. I was also nauseated the whole duration. But we had a great time. There were so many little good moments on this trip that in spite of everything, I think it was one of my fave vacations ever.

My favorite part of our trip was seeing Daphne and Bryce spend so much time together. Bryce pretty much took over the childcare. He changed diapers, took care of bedtime, managed meals and basically relieved me of parenting duties. He was amazing and besides the obvious enjoyment on my part, Daphne loves him a lot more now. Yay!

Jaimie's baby shower

2011-07-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Jessica and I recently teamed up to give our friend Jamie Parker a baby shower.
Jessica is a design wiz, and made all our cute little paper items.

Can you tell she's having a girl?

We had a great turn out and it was a really fun party.

Unfortunately we let the afternoon slip by without getting a shot of the hostesses and guest of honor together. We'll have to get one soon.

We can't wait to meet your sweet baby Jaimie!

Red, White and very blue

2011-07-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

My little Brother Ethan has been visiting for the last couple weeks, and for the culmination of his visit this weekend we planned a big trip to Michigan lake and Chicago.

It was perfect beach weather, and Daphne ate less sand than I anticipated.

But she didn't like Bryce burying her
We had wanted to camp, but it was 4th of July weekend. SO we camped in a trashy motel. I say "camped" because we definitely used our sleeping bags, and considered putting up the tent.
We went into Chicago to see the Cub's play. This is the only picture I got of Chi-town, the train.
On the way home we stopped in some tiny town for a freedom festival. A few rides and some funnel cake makes for a celebration in my book.

This slightly disturbing looking picture is of Ethan helping me by getting Daphne dressed while I worked on other things.
Such as: treats for the families Bryce Home Teaches,
And treats for the party we went to.
We went to an awesome party at our friends the Henricksen's house. Amazing ribs and lots of fun people.

And of course lots of things for Ethan to light on fire.

Now my little buddy has gone home, and I'm feeling pretty blue about it.

We miss you Ethan. Come back soon!

Museum of Miniatures

2011-06-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

There is a doll house museum up in Carmel I've been wanting to go to for at least a year now, I just never wanted to go by myself, and it takes a special kind of person to stare at tiny knitting baskets and umbrella stands for over an hour. My husband is not that person. I love him too much to subject him to what he would undoubtedly see as torture.

Luckily, Meghan came to town.

After a delicious stop at Red Robin we arrived.

I know the pictures aren't great, but this place was amazing.

And I just love this picture of my tiny friend standing on the stool put out for children, so she can see the tiny things.
Look at how perfect all this stuff is. It was so fun. I recommend this place to any girl who loved doll houses as a kid or has little girls of her own.

Meghan's visit was too short, and It's devastating not knowing how long it will be before I see her again. Our other adventures on this trip included the Children's Museum, the Drive-In and lots of lounging around talking. I miss you girlie! Have fun in Dallas!

9 months

2011-06-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe this little stinker has been alive for ONLY nine months. It almost feels like time started when she came into being.

She is 19 lbs, 2 oz.
Still no teeth.
She can crawl, but prefers to army crawl.
She waves and claps and gives kisses.
She climbs the stairs (Yikes!)
She's bound to start getting hair any time now, right?
She can pull herself to a standing position and walk along furniture.
She can climb out of the bathtub, (oops)
Loves dogs
She is a major Mamma's girl!
She sleeps from 7-7 every night.
Takes two good long naps a day
She's always happier when there are kids around.
She hates being read to.
She doesn't like to cuddle.
I think she has a good sense of humor.
And I just can't help it, I think she's amazing.

Strawberry picking

2011-06-15T18:13:00.001-07:00

My best friend Meghan came to see us. I haven't seen her since last summer and once a year is definitely not enough. We had lots of fun things planned to do with her and the first was strawberry picking.

It was a Beautiful day

I wanted to get lots of cute pictures of Daphne crawling through the plants, stuffing berries in her mouth. However, I have a strict no-crawling-through-poison-ivy policy. Unfortunately the patch was really overgrown with weeds, (including poison ivy and stinging nettles) and the berries were super tiny, so we just had to pick them for her.
She still had a good time playing with and eating them.

And of course, we made yummy jam when we got home.

Fruits of Summer

2011-06-08T16:48:00.001-07:00

There are so many things to love about this time of year; longer days, warm weather, picnics. And of course, FRESH seasonal produce. This week I'm especially excited about:

Strawberry & Rhubarb

They're pretty delicious all on their own, but together...

Amazing.

Today's goal was to make a pie. Not just any pie, a strawberry rhubarb pie. One of my ultimate favorite foods. I used this recipe.

And I have to toot my own horn just a little. It's the best thing I've ever made. That's not saying a lot because baking is not my strong suit. But let me repeat, It is the best thing I have ever made.

I added a teaspoon of dried Valencia orange peel. It was too delicious to just have one piece.

Try it!

(and if the pie wasn't enough to make it an amazing day, I only have to
wait 2 more days until my Meghan comes to see me!)

Nauvoo

2011-05-31T19:18:00.001-07:00

When I was 14 my family went to Nauvoo. They decided to go during the week of Girl's Camp... my 4th year of Girl's Camp, which as everyone knows is the very best year. So I never went to Nauvoo until this weekend.

We started our adventures with a horse-drawn carriage ride.

We visited Carthage Jail. This was definietly the most moving part of the trip.

We planned the trip with our friends the Farnsworths. We got to have lots of fun with them, but due to overlapping nap times we didn't see them as much as we would have liked.
We saw the "Rendevous" Program

We enjoyed talking to all the cute senior and sweet sister missionaries.

We went to the Print Shop, the Tin Smith, The Black Smith, The Wainwright, the Brick Yard and all the fun places where they show you how things were done back in the Pioneer days.

Daphne liked to get really hands on.
We walked down the "Trail of Hope" It was especially neat to see the journal entries (as well as the homes) of a couple of my ancestors.
We crossed the great Mississippi several times
Bryce kept Daphne entertained while I did a temple session

We loved just getting to be with Bryce for 3 whole days!
We did the Community Of Christ tour of sites. It was really interesting to get a glimpse of their beliefs. There was a distinctly different feel between the LDS sites and theirs. This is at the grave site of Joseph, Hyrum and Emma.

The whole weekend was wonderful. We had great whether, good company and our testimonies were sure fed. Learning more about the sacrifice all the Saints made back then makes me grateful for their examples in perfect faith, and inspires me to be more willing to sacrifice for truth.

(I'm also reallygrateful we decided to stay in a hotel instead of camping.)

Turkey Run

2011-05-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

We have exactly one year left in Indiana, and there are so many neat places we still need to see before we go. This weekend we spent a few gorgeous hours at Turkey Run State Park.
Lots of beautiful scenery and some good hiking trails.
There was this delicious little gully trail called the "ice box." As soon as you take a few steps down a bridge, the temperature immediately drops 20 degrees. It was misty and quiet and felt amazing on the humid day.
Daphne was such a trooper for the first hour and a half, but she decided she needed to be held for the last mile or so.
It was so humid the camera lens fogged up every time we tried to take a picture, and it looks like my hair is wet. Nope, just moist and frizzy.

Having fun as a family
We encountered some wildlife...

And really enjoyed the day. One more Indiana adventure checked off the list!

Things my brother told me...

2011-05-10T18:10:00.001-07:00

Which turned out not to be true

This is my big brother Daniel

He's three years older than me and as a little girl I worshiped him as little sisters tend to do.
I followed him around, I tried to play with him and his toys. I thought he knew everything and believed every word he said.I was always amazed at how smart he was and how he knew sooooo much.

As I've grown up I have realized that some of the things Daniel said that I took for fact weren't true, not by a long shot.

Examples:

Don't ever drink a glass of water that you left out over night, because a daddy
long legs might have dropped some venom in it, and if you drink it, it could kill you.

If you drink a Squeeze-It while lying down, you will choke on it and drown and die.

If a praying mantis gets on you, it will run around really fast and tickle you to death

While babysitting me one night, "Jen, I hear burglars breaking in. Hide here and I'll go check."
This was actually just a good tactic to keep me frozen with fear and out of his way so he could play video games until my parents got home.

(These are just a few examples. There are many more that run in a similar vein.)

Throughout my adult life I have realized that a lot of the things I knew to be true were totally false, whether he made them up or really believed them himself, I sure believed him. He was also full of useful facts about dinosaurs, space and square roots. But most of the things that stuck were the various tips that would help me avoid an early demise.

Hey, I've lived this long, so I guess I'm pretty lucky to have a big brother.

Little Bunny's 1st Easter

2011-04-25T16:08:00.001-07:00

After a week of birthday festivities, we were partied out. So this year we opted for a relaxed Easter. We didn't even dye eggs since Little Lady has been playing with and sucking on the plastic ones for the last month. Not only is it hard every year to use up the hard boiled eggs. I can only imagine the struggle I would go through looking for recipes that call for slobbered on hard boiled eggs.

But we did do the baskets up right.

Getting into her goodies.

Finally got an Easter smile on camera

We didn't manage to get a shot of the whole fam. Church is just miserable for the poor darling because she won't sleep there but can't happily go 3-4 hours without a nap. So we put her to bed right when we got home. But here's a quick shot with each parent.

We also didn't miss out on our traditional dinner, not the traditional Easter dinner, but ours.

Ham is one of the three foods I won't eat. So on this festive feast day we opt for what we call

"Easter Bunny Poop"
on a bed of grass

MMmmm, delish!

Birthday

2011-04-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

It was our birthday this last week. But since Bryce doesn't really care and I care A LOT, we're just going to focus on my birthday.

It was a fabulous day/week. Some of my sweet girlfriends took me to breakfast at Cafe Patachou. We made quite a spectacle of ourselves with all of our babies. After we ate we braved the record rainfall to go to the Flying Cupcake. Thanks ladies, it was so fun!
After Bryce got home we went out for our 3rd baby free date in 7 months thanks to the Jones for babysitting. We went to Saffron Cafe, which I've been dying to try. Mmmm. Moroccan food=fabulous.

We saw a movie and headed home. I scored some fabulous birthday loot. A Shabby Apple Dress, some perfume, lots of good books and some $, and lots of snuggles from my favorite girl.Then the next night my amazing bestie *Courtney* and I had a movie night. She even made me my favorite cake (lemon). I don't know how she even has time to think about people with how crazy busy she and her 4 kids are.

This weekend we were supposed to go on a ward campout. However, it was raining, pouring, flooding and otherwise wet. SO we got a hotel room downtown,went swimming and slept in! The next morning we went shopping and played tourist in our city.

It was such a great birthday. I'm so excited to be 23, (once again) it's going to be the best year ever!

7 months

2011-04-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Our princess is 7-months-old and exhibiting plenty of personality.

She sits as long as you help her get up.
she rolls and army crawlsSleeps 12 hours at night, takes 45 min. naps
Still no teeth and no hair.
She just started reaching up when she wants to be held.
Eats solid food but still loves to nurse

Daf loves to be around other kids and she's getting fast with her worm wriggling method of moving around.
Still loves the dogs.
We've taken her swimming a couple of times. She tolerates is, but is not really over the moon about it.

Favorite things to eat: any kind of paper or tissue.
Such a doll, we enjoy her so much.

The Fortner's Visit

2011-04-25T05:53:00.001-07:00

Bryce's parents came to visit and we had so much fun. The above picture is of Daphne expressing how sad she is they had to leave.

We mostly just hung out around the house. Chuck and Jan came to see us after spending time in Kansas City and Omaha visiting other grandkids, so they were a little tired by the time they got here. But we did have to show them the sights of course. We walked downtown and went to the Pres. Benjamin Harrison Home Museum. They came to church with us and Bryce and his dad played with the dogs.
And Grandma bought Daphne this pretty dress!
We're so glad they came and wish we saw them more often!

6 months

2011-03-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how much fun it is to be this girl's mom. It just gets better and easier every day!

At her checkup today, her stats were:
27 inches, 90th %
16 lbs. 14oz, 50th %
Looks like someone is going to take after her daddy.

She is a good sleeper, wants to eat everything she sees and can sit up for a couple of seconds before toppling. We really enjoy watching her roll over and over to get around the house.

Her favorite toys are a stuffed kitty, a pink dragon and all of her hair flowers. She thinks Hazel and Buster are hilarious. No teeth yet, no hair either. If you look really closely you can see tiny blonde hairs but not many. Luckily, she has a perfectly round, beautiful head. She could totally rock the bald look if she wants to when she's older. In fact, she may have to.

This last month Little Missy had her first cold, strep throat and got to visit some of her cousins in Utah, so it was a pretty big month.

That's our girl!

Gone green

2011-03-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

We're big fans of any holiday you get to celebrate by dressing up ridiculously and eating themed food. So obviously, after getting home from a week in Utah on Wednesday night, Thursday morning I left all of our luggage and laundry all over the house and got our green on for the parade!

Because we're die-hards, we got downtown early and scored prime curb spots.

Spotted our friends the Turners. Addy is a dork after my own heart.

Because the weather was amazing we walk a little farther down after the parade to see the canal dyed green. It was much brighter than it looks in this picture.

And, St. Patty's day happens to be Daf's 6 month birthday. She celebrate by licking the frosting off half a cupcake.

She was pretty pleased about it.

It's a girl thing

2011-03-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that I love having a little girl? I mean, I'm sure I'd be crazy about a boy if I'd had one. But you can't (or at least shouldn't) do this with a boy...

manicuresMascara
So fun. And she's not even 6 months yet. I've got years of girl fun ahead of me!

5 months

2011-02-27T05:09:00.001-08:00

My special someone hit 5 months last week. She is more fun than ever. Now she has mastered the art of rolling and can almost sit up on her own. She sleeps pretty well, but still insists on being swaddles. She's also in what we call her "zombie stage." When she sees something she wants, she reaches out for it with two hands, drools a little bit and grunts until she gets it.

Daphne loves to watch other kids and also loves to watch tv. She thinks our dogs are the funniest things in the world. We've started feeding her solid foods and she seems to enjoy 'em.

Daffy usually takes two two hour naps every day. It's so nice to have my hands and attention free during those time, but I have to say that I look forward to her waking up because I just can't get enough of the girl!

Happy happy happy

2011-02-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

This time next month I'm going to be here:

Visiting some very special people. Am I excited? You betcha!

I'm so grateful my husband is a student right now so we get Spring Break. Speaking of spring, it's a glorious 65 degrees today. I spent an hour outside and it didn't even bother me that I spent that hour picking up dog poop. We are ready for some sumptuous weather.

Doesn't great weather just fill you with hope and make you feel optimistic?
Me too!

2011-02-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hope you're having a day filled with love and happiness.

Saturday night we went to the annual V-day ball that the dental school puts on. It's so fun to get dressed up fancy and go dancing with our friends.

We've made our heart shaped sugar cookies and we have some pink flowers on the table. Tonight the three of us are going to have a lovely dinner, with diner's choice of baby oatmeal or manicotti.

Lots of love to you!

OPRAH!

2011-02-13T14:41:00.001-08:00

Did you watch Oprah on Wednesday? Me neither. But if you had, and you hit pause at just the right second when two guests were walking out of the back tunnel you would have seen me and three of my friends wildly jumping up and down and pretending for all the world like we knew who those two people were and we were exccited about it.

That's right, I went to see Oprah a week and a half ago. Now, I know what you're thinking... Doesn't Oprah always give her studio audience some fabulous prize during the course of the show? You'll have to wait to hear about that.

Early Friday morning Jenna, Lindsey, Kim and I squeezed into my car and headed for Chicago. Thankfully, the roads were clear of ice and snow and weather was great. When we arrived we had a few hours to kill so we had breakfast at Le Peep and perused the Oprah Store. Did you know you can buy items from Oprah's personal wardrobe? (Is that the smell of success or body odor?)

We then trudged back through the knee deep snow to Harpo Studios where we waited an additional 2.5 hours for our show to start.

Having to sit backstage for so long did afford its amusements. We saw Jennifer Hudson being literally carried onto the stage by two assistants because her stilettos were about six inches tall and needle thin. We also saw some guy from Project Runway being escorted past us. We got to hear them both being interviewed about how Oprah has changed them, the world, etc.

Finally it was time. The theme was Soap Opera stars. I was severely disappointed no characters from my Soap, Days, were featured. And to be perfectly honest, it wasn't as overwhelmingly awesome I expected, but it was definitely cool.

After the show we had an amazing dinner at Maggiano's, (more lemon aioli sauce, please!) And headed to our hotel. I felt like I was back at BYU living with roommates. Talked and laughed long into the night then fell asleep just after 11pm. What can I say, we're all moms of little babies and looked forward to a restful, full night of sleep.

We headed home to our babies early Saturday morning and after one blizzard and a 45 segment of stand still traffic we made it home.

I can't even emphasize how much fun I had with these girls. I could do without Oprah. Give me a weekend with friends any time!

Oh yeah, our fabulous prizes...nada. No cruise, no car, not even a pencil. Can you even believe it? Oh well, the memory is the real treasure, right?

(Ellen DeGeneres, if you're reading this, you are now and will always be my favorite. You are way better than Oprah and I would love to come to your twelve days of Christmas show next year.)

Ice, ice baby!

2011-02-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here in the midwest we got hit hard by the icestorm of 2011. The Monday before it hit we joined other frenzied Hoosiers in our preparations for the big freeze. After listening to the forecasts and dire warning of impending weather, we headed to walmart where we filled a cart with milk, flashlights, bottled water and 6 cases of firewood. We were ready for every possible scenario.

As it turned out, our power lines stayed on, we didn't get iced in and everything was fine. What we did get was three days of school canceled for Bryce. We loved the time together with nothing else to do but sit around in our pajamas playing wii, drooling over our adorable baby and taking lots of long naps. We also played on the ice and felt grateful we didn't have it very bad. My biggest concern through all the drama of weather alerts and frozen roads was that I wouldn't get to go to Chicago to see Oprah (next post).

Right now it 51 degrees, and our driveway is visible for the first time in 2 weeks. Looks and feels a lot like spring...I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

4 Months

2011-01-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

Daphne turned 4 months old yesterday. She is such a joy and a treasure!

She weighed in at 14 lbs, 8 oz and 25 inches long. 95th percentile for height, she's her daddy's girl

Daphne likes to wiggle and stand up when she's being held. She can roll from her tummy to her back and also from her back to her tummy, but only when she's sleeping.

She spends a lot of time hanging out in the bumbo and the excersaucer. She isn't very interested in toys yet, but she loves to chew on her fingers and on burp cloths.

She is very particular about how she sleeps; only when swaddled and only in a crib. But she has slept 8-10 hours through the last several nights, so hopefully we have that figured out.

Baby cereal is now on the menu. She loves to giggle and smile and chew on our faces. Still not a hair to be found on her head, but those big blue eyes have us taken in!

I love being home to spend the day with her and get to know her sweet little personality.

Best thing that ever happened!

2011-01-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

Half way through January and I never even blogged about our Christmas fun. Have I been super busy? Absolutely not. I have been consumed by the tv series Roswell for several weeks. It's basically LOST meets Twilight with a whole lot of cheesiness thrown in; what's not to love? Netflix and I have been great companions but now I've finished the series and all my normal productive and pleasure pursuits can resume.

Check back soon for posts covering:
Bryce's trip to Brazil
Christmas
Adventures of Daphne
awesome pictures of my duct taped car and more.

For the time being, let me just say that 2010 was the greatest year of my life so far, and I think 2011 is going to be even better

And this is why:

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

This year we got to spend Thanksgiving with some friends here in Indy. Thanks to Brooke and Ryan, (but mostly Brooke) we got to give thanks in style. Her table was beautiful and the food was all amazing. She even made leaf shaped butter for those of us who appreciate details. Even my candied sweet potatoes turned out alright.

I'm thankful for all the friends we've made here. These are the great people we ate with.
I'm thankful for my little familyAnd for a healthy baby, who was almost 12 lbs. at her 2 month check up,

who smiles all the time
And for a sweet husband who is just as silly as I am.
I'm thankful I get to see the rest of my family in 2 weeks!
I'm thankful the weather hasn't been as gross and cold as last year.
I'm thankful to be getting 5 hours in a row of sleep most nights
I have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!

3!

2010-11-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

It's our first baby's birthday!

When we got her she was 3 months old.
Today she is 3 years!

It's hard to believe that this chunk...

Was ever this itty bitty and adorable.

(On her adoption day)

Hazel is a wonderful dog. I complain about all her loose hair and how she licks the carpet and the couch and the throw pillows. And I don't appreciate it when I leave the kitchen for a second and she manages to eat half a pot roast or an entire batch of cookies,but she has been a fun, loving companion, a well-trained and super entertaining sweetheart. We look forward to many more years with our "first child."

And no, I didn't make that ridiculous cake. It came up on a google image search.

First Date

2010-11-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

Without the baby, that is.

Today we left our wee little one with a sitter for the first time and went on a fabulous date out to lunch at PF Chang's and then to see Trans Siberian Orchestra in Concert. The lights and music were so cool, but I was left a little confused by the narrative. We were joined by some fabulous friends and it was a great time.

I was far more comfortable leaving my precious little bundle than I thought I'd be. Our babysitter is fabulous, and as far as Daphne is concerned she wouldn't care if it was a kangaroo picking her up just as long as someone gets her out of the crib and feeds her. She was fine. We were fine. YAY!

I just hate that now we have to basically pay double to go out for fun now after incorporating paying the babysitter. So I'm extra thankful for winning free stuff from radio station contests so that we didn't have to pay for the concert too!

Animal

2010-11-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like my baby is not quite human.

She grunts like a pig when hungry
Mews like a kitten in her sleep
and has Canine powers of scent.No kidding, She can smell the mama's milk from a mile away.

Example A: If she wakes up early from a nap and I try to rock her back to sleep, no way. She is up and hungry and mad. If Bryce rocks her back to sleep we can get a little more nap time in.

Example B: The other night Bryce had taken his scouts on a camp out, so I decided to just let Daph sleep in my bed. Worst idea ever. She woke up every hour and a half sniffing and snorting and sticking her tongue out trying to find something to eat. She usually sleeps 7 1/2 hours at a stretch at night.

Example C: All I have to do is tiptoe in and stand a few feet away from her crib at night and she starts rooting and sniffing around and grunting for a midnight snack. There's no way I made noise, or that she could have heard me over her noise machine if I did .

Because I am inexperienced, I don't know if she's just a normal baby using all of her senses to their greatest ability or if her furry four-legged siblings are wearing off on her.

Or maybe I need to shower more often?

Blessing Day

2010-11-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Today we blessed Miss Daphne at church. Here she is on her special day

That's ironic

2010-11-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

I recently bought a waterproof fire safe for securing all of our valuables, i.e. passports, social security cards, pirate treasure, etc.

When I got it home and opened it, there was no apparent damage to the box. But low and behold when I opened the safe it had moisture and mildew in it and the instruction manual was soaking wet. Hmmmm.

Now excuse me while I go dig through the garbage for the receipt.

Last visit

2010-11-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

Since the little queen was born we have basically had a revolving door with all the visitors. Our last one came and went this weekend.

Auntie Ali came from Utah for just a couple of days, so we had to squeeze in all kinds of fun. We showed her the sites of Indy, took her to our favorite restaurant, went to the Museum of Art to start Daphne's art education, made Daf laugh for the first time, watched cheesy movies, felt her baby kick and had lots of fun.

We definitely didn't get enough time with her, but it wasn't too sad to say goodbye because we will get to see her when we go to Utah next month!

Little lady was telling her auntie how excited she is to meet her cousins!

October

2010-11-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

October has always been my favorite month. This time around it was extra fun because of everything going on with Miss Daphne. It was a busy month of growing and experiences for her

She started liking her swing, finally.

We had an exchange student from Brazil stay with us

She was a lot of fun and we enjoyed her a lot.

We went to the fall festival at Waterman Farms

with some friends

And look what we found in the pumpkin patch!

Our little missy turned 1 month old. At her check up she was 10 lb.s, 22 inches and in the 75th percentile in height, weight and head size.

Tried on her Halloween costume,

it took some getting used to

Daphne had her first tea party with our friend Carson

Her favorite part was eating the blanket.

Grandma Fortner came to see us

Bryce spent several hours carving a pumpkin as he does every year. It's Link, from Zelda
Daph has started sleeping 6 hours at a stretch every night and taking better naps(thank heaven) but we still get to see her alert a lot of the time.

We had our Annual Halloween party. All of our friends are so creative and came in amazing costumes. We were not crayons, but ketchup and mustard.

And best of all, in the past few weeks we have been getting lots of sweet smiles.

You may not be able to tell that's a smile, but it is. We just love our happy girl.

Best October ever!

Adjusting

2010-10-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

My first week and a half of being a new parent went so smoothly, I honestly couldn't have imagined it going easier. As we got closer to the two week mark things got exponentially more difficult. Hopefully we'll level out soon. But for now here are the ups and downs of new parenthood...

Downs first to get them over with:

1. My baby doesn't sleep during the day. Apparently naps are beneath her.

2. Mastitis sucks, and I don't think I even have a very bad case.

3. My bedroom permanently smells like baby poop, even though I can't seem to find any lingering traces anywhere.

4. I'm no longer allowed to go anywhere because my little lady is only comfortable when she's being held or swaddled and it's illegal to drive while holding or nursing your baby.
5.Miss Daphne always cries the loudest and the hardest when I decide to finally get in the shower.
6. My house is messy, and I would so much rather sleep than clean it.

As for the ups:
1: I get to snuggle and kiss this cutie all day long (and I do mean all day long because she is awake all day long!)

2. I've always hated blow drying my hair, and now I don't have to because I'm never leaving the house again.

3.Bryce is such a cute daddy! He literally pushed me over to get to the baby first when she was crying last night.

4. I've never felt so happy and emotionally healthy in my entire life as I do right now.

5. Baby smell, soft baby skin, cute baby noises, baby kisses.

6. You probably can't tell, but in this picture all of the mail is addressed to my infant. This is all the mail we got Saturday; I have become obsolete. That's totally fine-she's welcome to start pitching in and paying some bills!

7. My messy house doesn't even bother me that much because I'm cloistered upstairs snuggling my tiny sweetheart.

8. Half my preggo weight has fallen off! I know I have a long way to go and the rest of the lbs aren't going to disappear quite so easily, but Man! I feel skinny compared to a few weeks ago.

9. Baby laundry is so much cuter than regular old adult laundry. It doesn't even feel like a chore to wash all those pooped-on sleepers.

Wouldn't trade these days and nights for anything!

Every girl is obsessed with her own baby, right?

2010-09-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Daphne's adventures:

Receiving visitors in the hospital

Going home for the first time

Hazel trying to figure out what all the fuss is about

Being pretty
Just eating a pineapple
First whole family photo
classic "napping with daddy" picture

Grandma Daines came to take care of us
Visiting Luke and Kim in the hospital. These babies were 4 days apart and almost the exact same size.

Hanging out with Evelyn who is 3 weeks older

And I am really happy to see my feet again. They're no longer swollen to 4 times their original size! They are not the first body part I would like to return to normal if I only got to pick one, but a little progress is still good progress.

More pics!

2010-09-18T12:41:00.001-07:00

Some of you have been asking to see more pictures. So........ here they are!

Welcome Daphne Marion!

2010-09-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a long day, but Daphne Marion Fortner was finally born at 9:16 pm on September 17, 2010. She weighs 7 lb 5 oz and is 20.5 inches. Jenalee was in labor for about 12 hours, but only had to push for about 45 minutes. What a pro! Mom and daughter are doing great.

Minutes after delivery

Who do you think she looks like?

20.5"

7 lb, 5 oz

Bonding Time

Happy New Parents

Last Days

2010-09-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

With my due date rapidly approaching, we're trying to cram in as many baby-free experiences as possible. Unfortunately, I have very little energy for anything but complaining about my swollen feet and aching everything. Anyway, for our final wekend we went to the Indianapolis Greek Fest for some tasty food and a little culture...

Watched BYU get creamed with a bunch of friends (Thanks Rick and Christie) and spent several hours indulgently reading at Borders. By next Saturday, we should be snuggling a sweet little baby!

39 big ol' weeks!

Labor Day

2010-09-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

For the long weekend we went up to Lake Michigan. I can't believe we haven't been there until now. It's amazing!

Check out those waves. Who knew you could surf in Indiana? And no salt water in your mouth! it was a little windy, but we spent hours floating in the waves and enjoying the beach.

Preggo Campers

Bryce napping on the beach with his best girl. Hazel had the time of her life swimming all day, and let's not forget all the delicious scraps people were tossing her right and left.

Last chance to camp without a baby. Only slightly uncomfortable, but I slept better on the air mattress than in my bed.

All the girls at the campfire. It was so fun to kick back with friends.

I was actually hoping that all the activity of this trip would put me into labor. But if hiking around, lugging 40 lb. coolers and body surfing didn't jiggle the baby out, I think she's going to stay put for a while longer.

How many more days?

2010-08-28T04:45:00.000-07:00

Last year when I was teaching, and hating it, and really ready to be done Bryce helped put things in perspective. He reminded me that I could do ANYTHING for 65 days, or 42 days, or however many days were left of school that day. That was my mantra that got me through the hard days.

Within this last week or so pregnancy has become extremely uncomfortable, and I think I've experienced everything a person needs to experience while gestating. I won't go into the list of discomforts, most of you have been there or will be eventually. But bottom line- I feel ready to be done. Really ready.

I can do anything for 21 days. Deep breath. I can do anything for 21 days. I might spend those days moaning in agony stuck on the couch, but I can do it. Right?

2010-08-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

I was making cookies tonight and as I started splattering and spilling ingredients all over myself I made the comment that I probably needed to put an apron on.

Bryce looked at me, then in all seriousness said:

"Will any of your aprons even fit you right now?"

I'm trying to chalk this up to a skewed male understanding of how aprons work. As any woman knows, a generic tie-in-the-back apron will pretty much fit anything. They're one size fits all. Thick or thin, rotund or slim, most aprons will fit any person.

I'm trying not to let his comment (which under the surface meant "you've become enormous and absolutely nothing else fits you right now") make me feel bad about eating those cookies that I just made. They look too delicious!

Ready for baby!

2010-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some intense nesting the last several weeks, and now my little nest is all ready to bring a baby home to it. There has been lots of cleaning and baking involved, but I've mostly been best friends with my sewing machine. Here's what the baby's room looks like

I made all the bedding

Bryce and I refinished this Goodwill dresser together and I sewed the changing pad cover

Figured out how to make a diaper stacker without a pattern. It was quite a triumph!

Coordinating laundry bag from scraps

Nursing cover

Car seat cover

Not pictured: About a zillion hair bows, at least a dozen burp cloths and a couple of dresses I made.

And after all that I am still not done with the list of projects I want to finish before she comes.

Taken at 33 weeks, I'm 35 1/2 now.

Anniversaries

2010-08-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We didn't do a whole lot of celebrating. We pushed our car several blocks in 95 degree heat when it broke down on the way to the service center and attended a class at the hospital where I'm going to deliver. So, the actual anniversary was kind of lame. But my fabulous husband had gotten us tickets to Symphony on the Prairie for this weekend.

I've been a Prairie Home Companion fan pretty much as far back as I can remember. For those of you who aren't familiar, PHC is a good old-fashioned radio show that airs every Saturday night on NPR. It's about an imaginary town in Minnesota and the show includes skits, crazy sound effects, musical preformances and pretend commercials. I've always wanted to go to a broadcast, and this one out at Connor Prairie coincided so nicely with our anniversary.

It was a fantastic program! Thousands of people with picnic baskets and camp chairs being serenaded by Garrison Keilor. We got seats in the shade and nice breeze kicked up to relieve us of this horrible heat. We packed a cooler of IBC rootbeer and pulled pork sandwiches and it was a perfect two and a half hours, and one of my favorite things Bryce and I have ever done together. Thanks Love!

Today is an anniversary of a not-so-fun kind. One year ago today I miscarried at 10 weeks pregnant and it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Not physically; it didn't hurt much at all. But it was terribly taxing emotionally and it tooks months before I even felt like my normal self again or could focus on anything. In fact, it pretty much took until January when I found out I was pregnant again.

I still feel sad about that baby I lost and it breaks my heart to think I'd have a 5-month old today, but things always work out in the end. I'm so grateful that in just about another month we'lll be having our baby girl and for a healthy, mostly comfortable pregnancy. I can't wait to meet her!

Spokane

2010-07-15T02:44:00.000-07:00

We got to go home for one wonderful week. All my siblings made it home, which made the visit extra special. We spent a lot of time just sitting around enjoying the beautiful weather but we had a little excitement too.

We went out to see the Palouse Falls. I'd never been out there and the falls were raging. It was a spectacular sight.

My brother Daniel and his little family

Sweetest little girl ever.

Mom and Dad ( it was a very windy day)

The girls

The whole gang

Anna and I reliving our high school days with matching tiaras, cheer leading fleeces and, my favorite, the identical Pizza Hut name tags. We contemplated trying on our cheer leading skirts, but opted for dignity rather than depression. We plan on doing this every time we both go home for the next 80 years or so to document our progression through life.

Saw a couple of my little brother's baseball games. He's a total all-star!

My mom and sister + sister-in law threw a baby shower for me at Grandma Daines' house. It was beautiful and so sweet of them. I loved getting to visit with so many friends I haven' t seen in a while.

Mom, her sister Chris, Ali and Ann

Grandma, aunts and cousins

Friends from the good old Belle Terre Ward

Bryce's mom and sister

High school friends Celeste and DaNae
There was also 4th of July, lots of hikes and craft projects and the usual stuff. But the best part of going home was getting to see so many friends. Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit with me!

Baby Moon

2010-07-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

It's been several weeks since we got back, but I'm finally getting this posted.
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Our trip to Jamaica was AMAZING!
We swam in the ocean and the pool, read a ton, laid in the sun, ate lots of good food and just relaxed.
We snorkeled a bunch, kayaked, went on a bamboo river raft tour, wind surfed, danced and took lots of naps.
We saw a Rastafarian midget, were offered illegal drugs by locals and and ignored all the weird looks we got each time we declined the free alcohol.

I always think I've taken more pictures than I actually have, but here are a few:

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Hiking Dunn's River Falls

__________ Waiting to eat. So much good food = 10 new lbs for me.

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Catamaran cruise ride
( we use SPF 75, if you're wondering why we're both so pasty)

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___________________________ Enjoying being together

Getting pretty big

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It was such a wonderful trip. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

Aaargh!

2010-07-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Blogger is not letting me upload pictures. Anyone know why this might be?

A little help?

2010-06-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

We got home from Jamaica last night. Sigh. I miss it already.

I will be posting about it later, but for now I could use some help...

In the month since school got out for the summer, I have managed to knock out my entire summer reading list. So I could use some book suggestions. What have you read lately, what is your all time favorite?

All recommendations are greatly appreciated!

I'm outta here!

2010-06-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

Beach towel, sunscreen and a stack of good books. We leave for JAMAICA on Monday morning and I am ready!

Last night we tried to take a picture of the fireflies. There are so many, it looks like someone is dumping gold glitter all over the trees. But fireflies don't show up very well against the black.

Sometimes when Bryce is supposed to be mowing the lawn, he ends up playing around taking silly pictures. Usually they're of his dog, but sometimes he experiments with other subjects.

And here is the tummy at 26 weeks.

So I hope you all have a nice week. The Fortners will be in paradise!

Meet me in St. Louis, and Kansas City and Omaha!

2010-06-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of Bryce's week off last week to do some sight seeing and family visiting in the Midwest.
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First stop: St Louis, MO where we saw a Cardinals game,

Went to the zoo and the World's fair sight,
Visited the famous arch, and walked along the river where we could see the steam boats going up and down,
And went to the Temple.Next stop, Kansas. We got to spend a couple of days visiting with Bryce's brother Kyle and his wife Kristin. Their little girl is stinking cute, but I didn't get any pictures of her.
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We went to a Kansas City Royals game. The team pretty much stinks, but I think Kauffman Stadium is my favorite of all the ball parks we've been to so far.Then we hit up the church history sites in the area: Independence, MO, Liberty Jail, Far West and Adam ondi-Ahman. I loved the visitor's center at Indepedence. Their presentation about families was so touching, and the video segment of President Monson's talk on Finding Joy in the Journey Now was super inspiring.
We were the only ones at Adam ondi-Ahman when we visited. Incredibly beautiful and peaceful! (there was a shocking rainbow behind me, but you can't really see it)

And finally we stopped for one day in Omaha, NE to visit Bryce's sister Becky and her family. They took us to the Mormon Trail center and Winter Quarters temple. Another great visitor's center! I think my favorite part of this visit was while walking home from church, Charlie (four-year-old in the yellow shirt) asked me, "So what do you like about plants?" We discussed the subject all the way home. He likes trees and grass the best.

These kids are so well-behaved! I hope that's a trait all Fortner children are born with, and not just a result of Becky and Justin's superior parenting skills.

We didn't really get our fill of Bryce's siblings, but luckily we will see them in Seattle in a few weeks for a family wedding!

For our next summer trip we are going a little more exotic. Jamaica, I will see you in a few days!

You know you're a nerd when...

2010-06-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

This is Bryce's current mouth wash of choice. It has fluoride, so it's better than all the other mouthwashes we have in our bathroom cupboard.

A few days ago he wakes up and has to tell me about a dream he had...

adsd

"I dreamt that I was really excited because Listerine came out with a new CINNAMON flavor, and I couldn't wait to try it! But then I found out it doesn't have fluoride so I was super disappointed."

ADSad

I guess you know you're a nerd, or maybe you just know your husband is a nerd when he dreams about the excitement and disappointment associated with new oral hygiene products!

But the good news is, Dental School is halfway done!

asdgf

Here are the friends and classmates that Bryce has made it through with: Matt, Ryan, Eric, Rich, Brad, Rick and Trent.(Not pictured: Scott, Brett and Jonathan)

The support staff. The wives that have made it through together: Jenna, Lindsey, Brooke, Rachel, Melissa, Christie and Kimberly. (Not pictured- Kim, Jamie and Candace
I sure am grateful for all these people and how fun they have made this Indiana experience so far!
asfdF
And of course, our growing family. And I mean growing!
sdfADF

Oh yeah, and Hazel as decided she would like to follow in Bryce's footsteps...

ITCHY!!!

2010-05-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

I itch all over and I think it's going to drive me crazy! For the last 2 and a 1/2 weeks I have been getting patches of hives all over my body that itch continually.

It's not bug bites or poison ivy, it's not an allergic reaction to a new laundry detergent or bath soap. It's also not PUPPS or any of those syndromes associated with pregnancy that make you itch. So, nothing diagnosable so far. All my OB gave me was a recommendation to see a dermatologist.

And the dermatologist can't get me in until July 2nd.

I can only slather my entire body with Benadryl cream so many times a day! Has this ever happened to anyone else while pregnant?

And, how do I make it stop?

Unemployed!

2010-05-21T03:25:00.000-07:00

And 100% happy about it.

I didn't believe the end of this school year would ever truly come.

But it came, I survived and now on with life. I'm so happy I'll be getting to stay home with our little girl. However, I'm kind of overwhelmed at what I'm going to do with myself for the 11 hours a day I used to be at work each day until she comes...

I do have lots of projects on my to-list, such as

Refinishing this dresser,

turning this stack of fabric into bedding, curtains, etc. for the nursery,

replanting our little garden that got washed away in heavy rains,

cleaning out my garage

using my gym membership

knocking some books off my summer reading list

nagging Bryce about getting a fence put up

and on and on.

Oh, and to all my friends in the Indianapolis area, I am free to hang out now, ANY TIME!

Yes, I think I am going to like being job-free.

That's right folks!

2010-05-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

We're having a girl!
Ruffles and bows, YAY! And, no need for me start pretending I'm interested in sports just yet.

Our little missy is looking good and healthy, due September 18th.

I'm so excited, I can't stand it.

Wedding

2010-05-03T17:04:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I got to go out to Denver, Colorado for my little cousin Mindy's wedding.

Mindy is just about one of the sweetest people I know. Always happy, always loving and always serving. She and her new husband are definitely destined for eternal bliss.

Besides the sealing itself, highlights included hanging out with all the zany Daines women...

(Anna, Aunt Mickey, Aunt Marsha, Aunt Diane, Aunt Suzanne, Randi, Mom, Aunt Gail and Grandma at Sweet Tomatoes, a favorite lunch spot when these ladies get together)

Seeing my mom, and seeing her tear up while patting my tummy because, "That's my grandbaby in there!"

And of course, my beloved snister.

Highlights not pictured: playing speed scrabble with Grandma (and yes she beat me,) all the amazing food at the family dinner and reception and seeing the Rocky Mountains again. I've missed them!

Birthday Present

2010-05-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Our birthday was last week. Ours meaning mine and Bryce's. Yep. On the same day. It was a fantastic birthday. We were joined in celebrating by lots of our good friends here in Indiana and turning 25 didn't feel quite as bad as I had expected.

We got a joint b-day present this year, a new camera!

I don't post pictures very often because our previous camera was
A. kind of broken,
B. took forever to upload pictures to the computer and
C. didn't even take nice looking images.

Now, I don't purport to have any kind of photography skill or know-how, but this new camera does take a nice picture!

Here's to lots of future picture posting!

It was sunny today

2010-04-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

I like the to mow the lawn sometimes.

I like being able to hear cooing morning doves over the hum of the mower.

I like the smell of the juicey blades of grass and even the gasoline burning. It reminds me of playing barefoot outside late into the summer nights when I was little.

I like watching my toes become green as I push my way up and down the yard because I wear flip flops.

I enjoy all the sensory stimuli that goes along with a spring evening, enhanced by an enjoyable chore and the consuming rythym that requires focus and and relaxation at the same time

I DON"T like when the lawn mower stalls, over and over and over because the grass is still a little too damp and very long. Or when the grass catcher won't fasten on quite right and it dumps soggy grass back on my smooth pathways. Or when after emptying the darn thing I can't get it to start again. It's frustraating. And it just reminds me of all the other frustrating things that happened today. And then I feel angry and I don't want to mow the lawn anymore because now it feels like a chore.

So. What does a strong-willed and perservering person do when faced with such a problem?

She leaves it for her husband finish and goes inside to watch tv.

What do YOU think?

2010-04-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

a;fla;f;jg
We go in for the big ultrasound in about 2 weeks. I've been dreaming about baby girls and baby boys so I'm divided. I think Bryce has gotten tired of me asking him a hundred times a day what he thinks it is, so will you indulge me?
alsdjas;fjafk
Take my poll, what am I having?

Lucky Number 22

2010-04-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

sKJnf

22 days left of school. Can't wait for this to be over.

lskaaf

22 weeks left of pregnancy. Enjoying this quite a bit now that I feel well.

aLSKFN

I'm liking this number so much today, I think I'm going to be 22 again this year.

I hate the word belly

2010-04-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

So here is tummy picture

17 weeks and well on my way to HUGE.

Major craving so far:

Mustard

On a hot dog, a pretzel...or just by the spoonful.

Apparently it's a big deal

2010-04-05T20:12:00.001-07:00

It's been my observation that when local sports teams make it to some big championship event, let's say for example the state highschool football championaship, the SuperBowl or the NCAA Championship...people start acting crazy!

They do things they wouldn't ordinarily do like,let their employees where jeans and team paraphanelia, buy exhorbitantly priced souvenir shirts, or throw down in the middle of a grocery store over the last boxes of frozen pizza rolls and jalapeno poppers.

I'm not a sports fan. I don't really care who's playing in which game. So, living in Indianapolis this year has brought me several instances of intense confusion over all this eratic behavior. I just don't understand getting all worked up about which group is going to get the ball into the goal the most times.

So tonight while the rest of the city is glued to the game, I will be folding laundry and wishing we had two t.v.'s. However, all sports cynism aside I would like to say: THANK YOU BUTTLER BULLDOGS FOR GETTING ME OUT OF A 7:00 AM STAFF MEETING TOMORROW. GO BLUE!

I'll root for any reason to sleep in.

Spring Break

2010-04-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

No, my last post was not an April Fool's joke. I hate April Fool's. I don't like to think of myself as gullible, I just don't usually realize what day it is and end up getting all worked up by someone else's prank. We really are having a baby.

This week was so wonderful and went by way too fast. My week off from work included lots of house cleaning that I have been too sick/busy to do for the last three months, actually making dinner (which also hasn't happened in a long time,) going to the gym, taking long naps, enjoying the nice weather and going to the doctor to hear baby's heartbeat;such a happy, reassuring sound.

And this weekend was the best of all. How often do you get 85 degree weather in the beginning of April? Not a lot in parts of the country where I've lived. So we took full advantage and went camping in beautiful Brown County State Park with our friends the Turners (two pregnant women camping makes for lots of snacking and bathroom trips.). It was such a nice weekend with only a few hours of rain and lots of fun. And we made it home just in time for Conference Sunday morning and our traditional Easter dinner of Easter Bunny Poo (meatloaf.)

Sigh, having a week off definitely makes it hard to go back to work.

HAPPY EASTER!

No pictures you've noticed? Yeah, our camera is pretty worthless. Maybe some nice husband needs to get me one for my birthday!

I'd even be okay if anyone besides my husband wanted to get me a new camera!

OK!

2010-04-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Just one of the reasons I haven't blogged in a couple months is because my life was consumed by being in a play. I was in the show Oklahoma! at Footlite Musical Theatre in downtown Indianpolis. It was a lot of fun, but I'm glad for some time off. Thanks to my super friends who came to see the show!

qsdfwge

Another reason I haven't been up to blogging is my job. Anyone who's talked to me between last August and now knows that my job this year has been no piece of cake. I've had a particularly rowdy bunch of fourth graders, and I won't get into the nitty gritty details. But the good news is...I will not be enduring the same misery next year. I will be staying home to care for the BABY we're having in September!

ADEQFQE

And that's the third reason I haven't felt like blogging. I'm just about 16 weeks right now, and I think I'm finally over feeling like I have stomach flu all day, every day. I've had a few ultrasounds and baby appears to be doing well. I'm showing a little more than I would wish to this early on, and pants no longer fit, but it's so fun to visibly see the proof. I'm so excited for this baby to come, but so far I feel completely unprepared. That's normal right? Now I just have to get through the last 7 weeks of this school year and I can focus on getting ready for BABY!

You've done it again!

2010-01-09T16:04:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I thought Disney wasn't magical anymore!

I wasn't very interested in seeing The Princess and the Frog, because I am a childless adult and the last several Disney/Pixar films just haven't blown me away. But my friend Courtney asked if I wanted to go with her and her kids last night, and guess what?

I think it might be my favorite Disney movie ever! The voodoo part was perhaps a little dark creepy but overall it was fantastic.

I should have had more faith, especially last month when Disney on Ice brought me to tears during the opening number, (0f course I just thought it was due to the glittery costumes, dozens of spinning individuals and my weekened mental state from stress and exhaustion.) But I should have been more sensitive to the beauty and magic that Disney was built on!

I've got to say Disney, you've done it again!

Special Delivery!

2010-01-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

All my life I have enjoyed the thrill of getting the mail. It started when I was very young. I would look forward all year to the month of April when I knew there would be brightly colored envelopes addressed to me, filled with birthday wishes and often a 5 dollar bill. I looked forward to getting the friend magazine and those mini cereal box sample. My Grammy was unparalleled at sending cheesy cards for every holiday. Even though my anticipation was only indulged a few times a year, that didn't ever stop me from hoping, or from running down to the mail box in my bare feet.

As I grew up I got more mail, cards from far away friends, the random college letters and credit card offers. Even now that I am an adult and my mail usually consists of grocery store circulars and insurance offers I still get excited everyday when the mail comes. I never quite get over the exhilaration when I hear the distinct sound the mail truck makes as it comes up the street stopping every so often and then slowly passes by my house. I went through quite the phase of ordering free samples of random things last spring, and isn't the purpose behind online shopping to get a package on your doorstep a few days later?

Even though getting free samples is fun, I have a packet of NatureMade Sunbutter (sunflower seed peanut butter) still sitting on my counter from June, and my income can't support regularly ordering books on Amazon that cost more to ship than the purchase price. So, one of my new year's resolutions is to write more letters. I figure if I write letters, I'll get answers to letters, and then I will actually have a reason to look forward to picking up my mail. Besides, I've got to do something about that box of stationary under my bed that's been accumulating for the last 20 or so years.

So, friends far and near...anyone want to be my pen pal?

Hazel sings Christmas carols

2009-12-25T07:56:00.000-08:00

For your viewing enjoyment, a video of Hazel singing Christmas songs! (She gets better toward the end.)

Yesterday on our way to the children's museum we had to stop and take pictures with these festive displays!

This is Bryce's favorite present this year. A custom-made pair of flannel pajamas made by yours-truly. Doesn't he look cute?

Merry Christmas to you!

It's that time of year...

2009-12-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

When Hazel sheds A TON!

In accordance with the changing of the seasons, Hazel's internal alarm clock goes off and says' "it's time for all of your hair to fall out!"

A few weeks ago there were just a few strands here and there, you'd barely know we had a 70 lb. lab. This week, she walks through the kitchen and I have to sweep. She gets up from a the carpet and it looks like a squirrel perished there.

She's still the best dog in the world and I love her lots, but my vacuum and I are worn out!

Happy Christmas Break!

2009-12-17T16:51:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited, I feel just like a kid getting out of school for Christmas...oh wait (I basically am!) There has not been a single year of my life I have been more happy about getting out of school for two weeks than I am this year, not even in high school or college.

I can't wait to sleep in, do some sewing projects, finally finish painting my upstairs and spend time with Bryce. This will be the first time I am not with my family for Christmas, and even though I'm definitely sad about it I'm also excited for a relaxed holiday here in Indianapolis and to have our first Christmas with justour little family.

Bryce finished his semester last Friday and has been livin' it up all week long. Let me re-phrase that; He's been diligently waking up early to drive me to work, then coming home and checking things off my honey-do list. Thanks Lovey!

What are you doing for Christmas break? Are you as excited as I am?

2009-12-06T07:45:00.001-08:00

I ought to get up off my couch and do something productive like shower, put away laundry or finish something on the two mile to-do list. But is is so much more cozy to sit here with my dogs browsing blogs, internet window shopping, planning vacations to warm places and finding recipes for amazing meals I don't have time to make.

My job has kept me in a constant state of anxiety and hyper nervous activity for the last few months and I haven't just vegged for a long while. So this morning I'm JUST SITTING. I think I deserve it.

Jena ate a little lamb

2009-11-08T16:41:00.001-08:00

Tonight some friends invited us over for dinner. Lamb was on the menu.

Now, lamb happens to be just about my favorite food, but it is especially tasty when it is home-grown, like this one was.

YUMMY!

Goodbye October, hello cold!

2009-11-01T04:15:00.001-08:00

We love Halloween, so October is basically the best month of the year. Unfortunately our camera is just about the worst one ever made, so I don't take many good pictures. Sorry.

We started off the month apple picking out at Anderson orchard.

Round 1 of pumpkin carving with our friends the Nehrings

Mine

Bryce's

Bryce and Lindsey carving away

We had homemade donuts with the Jones family.

We carved a second round of pumpkins with our friends the Brooks, and made you typical pumpkin sugar cookies.

You know Bryce loves his dog.

Do you see the resemblance?

We saved our milk cartons for two months to make these cute front porch ghosts. I think it's going to become a tradition.

We went to Hanna Haunted Acres on a very wet night.

This is what a haunted hay ride during a downpour looks like. All of the haunted attractions are a lot more fun when you have to squelch through 4 inches of mud the whole time!

We had Halloween themed food

We had fall break

And the highlight...

Our 2nd annual Halloween party with our dental school friends.

Everyone is so creative. There were great costumes

Juno and Bleeker
Pillsbury dough baby

Me being and emo creepster

Bryce looking way too good as an emo boyA scarecrow and a crow

A ninja turtle and swine flu

Pippi long stocking, the other turtle, and my personal favorite, the pregnant 50's housewife (her husband was dressed as the milkman!)

The show stoppers, batman and joker. Jenna worked on those batman abs for months

And of course it's not a Halloween party without Halloween treats!

Purple People Eater Punch

Vampire Apples

and a cheese Mummy

Goodbye October, I miss you already!

Temple

2009-10-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

The best part of living in Indiana is by far the wonderful friends we've made. Yesterday we drove down to the Louisville Temple to witness the sealing of some of our good friends, the Turners. They are amazing people, and it has has been so neat to watch the whole family prepare for this day. Congratulations Steve, Courtney, Addy, Chase and Gavin. You set such an incredible example of righteousness, sacrifice and love. We love you guys and we're so glad you're in our life!

The Ward Family

Addy

Sleeping in secrets?

2009-10-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

Anybody have any secrets about how to sleep in? I am so irritated with my body's inability to remain dormant after 6:30, even on a dark and snuggly fall Sunday morning when I don't have church until 1pm. I know lots of people do it. Please, help me sleep in!

Do I know you?

2009-10-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

It's the weirdest thing...for the last 2 weeks or so, there has been a strange man wandering in and out of my house at the oddest hours.

I hear him walking around early in the morning before I get up for work. I am vaguely aware of him coming into my room at night when I've already gone to bed. Last week he was clutching a set of fake teeth. This week when I've past him on the stairs a time or two I have heard him muttering something about the musculo-skeletal system.

He's very tall, handsome, usually dressed in blue scrubs and somewhat familiar...but a stranger none-the-less.

A few pictures from this summer

2009-09-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Saloon photo in Deadwood, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore with the Fortners

Bryce and his brothers

Labor Day weekend in Chicago
White Sox Jelly Belly Factory Wisconsin Cheese

Firts Day of School teaching 4th grade

Bryce baptising our friend Cameiron

My mom's visit

Bryce got really lonely when I was gone so much during the play!

In the last couple months

2009-09-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here's some serious updating. But no pictures because I don't like how long my camera takes to upload.

At the end of July I got hired as a 3rd grade teacher. My mom came for a too short visit and we had fun doing girl stuff and setting up my classroom. She went home and My principal decided to make me a 4th grade teacher,3 days before the school year started. So that gave me a lot to do. I'm still catching up and school started 5 weeks ago.

I was also in a play with a community theatre here in Indy. I played the role of Caroline Bingley in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. It was fabulous! I met so many amazing people who became really good friends. That's what happens when you spend 5 hours together 5 nights a week! The sets and costumes were amazing. Thanks to all my sweet friends who came and supported me. I can't wait to be in another play.

We had our ward primary program at the end of August. How sweet it was to see all those precious little kids talking about their families and their love for the Savior. But I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say I am relieved it's over. I need a vacation from my calling. Is that bad?

Somewhere in there we had our 3rd anniversary, but we kind of missed it because of our hectic schedules. So, for Labor Day weekend Bryce and I took a three-day trip to Chicago as an anniversary trip. We went to the temple, the Botanic Garden, the Zoo, a White Sox game, the Mag Mile, and Ikea. And you can't go to Chicago without also driving up to the Jelly Belly Factory in Wisconsin. And everybody knows you can't go to Wisconsin without getting some Cheese!!! You know how I love cheese. Got to relax a lot, it was a great trip!

Bryce is pluggin along with his second year. They sure do keep these boys busy. It's so cute when he gets excited about weird medical stuff.

Wow that was a lot. If you read this far...than you have too much spare time and you should come clean my house!

Do you really wanna know?

2009-09-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Oops, I let almost two months slip by without posting. Plenty has happened but I don't have time to tell you about it all now, except this one little thing.

Do you wanna know what happened at work today? Really?

One of my students POOPED on the floor. On purpose. Yeah.

Theft

2009-07-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Um...somebody stole my newspaper today.

It was there at 8:52 when I left to go running, and it was gone at 10:07 when I got back.

I shouldn't be terribly upset, it's only a newspaper that I hardly even skim. However, I am deeply attached to doing the crossword puzzle.

I only get the paper Thursday and Sunday and I look forward to those days with anticipation so that I can spend a stimulating hour or two solving the day's riddles. Today, someone has deprived me of that joy. That's just rude! What's next, my mail?

I suspect my next door neighbors. I think they might be mad that sometimes my dogs poop in their yard. (I ALWAYS make sure Bryce picks it up, though.)

Maybe on Sunday I will hold a stakeout and watch from the upstairs window to see if I can catch the thief. If somebody steals my Sunday coupon insert...ooh, their will be trouble!

Now I am going to have to be productive for the next hour without that crossword!

On the road again

2009-07-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

We're in Omaha visiting 5 of the cutest kids in the world.

This is the first year I've been away from Spokane for this particular holiday. I miss my family, the flag cake and I forgot to bring my patriotic flip flops. However, balloon swords fights with our niece and nephews are a blast.

(I'm making a pirate face)

Next week we will be in exotic South Dakota for a week of Fortner Family fun! I'm looking forward to seeing Mt. Rushmore again, exploring the Black Hills, hot springs, bonding with Bryce's siblings and lots of relaxation.

Happy Fourth everyone. God bless America!

There Are No Cats In America And The Streets Are Paved With Cheese

2009-07-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the movie An American Tail?

Fivel and I have two things in common.

#1: Neither of us like cats (sorry Meghan); Fivel because they eat him and me because I am allergic.

#2: We both LOVE...

CHEESE!!!

Some might even say I am a bit fanatic in my love, devotion, craving and obsession for cheese.

I love all kinds; hard, soft, smelly, melted , on top of things, under things, mixed in, as a garnish or as a main dish.

Cheddar, Provolone, Gouda, Pepper jack, Monterrey, Munster, Brie, Feta , Cream Cheese, Cheese Cake, Cottage Cheese, Mithra, Mozzarella , Cheese balls, even spray cheese...I love it in every variety

For one month every year I give up cheese. It's a matter of self-control, and it's always good to set goals. So this year I did not seek out any kind of cheese for the ENTIRE month of June.

There were a few accidental indulgences, namely when I ate dinner at someone else's house and cheese was on the menu. I couldn't very well be rude, and I promise you I didn't enjoy it!

But as today is July 1st...

For breakfast I ate mozzarella sticks and cheddar jalapeno poppers.

For lunch I think I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich and an extra cheesy pizza.

For dinner, the possibilities are endless!

You'll have to excuse me now, I need to go eat more cheese!

Goodmorning Baltimore!

2009-06-30T04:49:00.001-07:00

One day of our DC trip we went to Maryland

We went to the beautiful DC temple

And we went to Baltimore to go to an Orioles game.

It was pouring that day, so we sported dorky ponchos.

It was free bobble head day at Oriole park, so sitting through the rain was totally worth it. Plus, I got to have cotton candy.

We walked around downtown Baltimore, but didn't see any of those famous crabs.

Paddle boats on the Potomac

2009-06-29T13:34:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago we went to D.C. These are some of the fun things we did:

Visited all the monuments and memorials

Stood in front of the white house

Saw the amazing man who plays water glasses. He let Bryce help him play a little!

Took an awesome tour of the Capitol building, (Thanks Ryan!)

Went through MANY of the Smithsonian museums. Our favorites were the Natural History, National History, Air & Space, and the Conservatory & National Gardens.

And road a paddle boat around the Tidal Basin. (If you ever happen to go paddle boat-ing, don't wear a skirt!)

We also saw lots and lots of squirrels, sat in the Senate chamber and watched some of the senators vote, walked a ton, watched planes take off at plane park, saw Old town D.C., Visited with my dear friend Michelle, and had a nice (but too short) visit with the love-of-my-life Meghan and her hubby Ryan.

As a capstone to our trip we went and saw Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian after we got home.
Super cute movie. It was really fun to see all the sites we had just visited (and I have a girl crush on Amy Adams).

It was a great trip, I highly recommend DC as a perfect vacation destination if you like to go to free museums and walk 10 miles a day.

Summer = Bugs

2009-06-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

The heavy summer heat brings with it all the bugs. The rollie pollies that inexplicably inhabit my front porch, the mosquitoes the devour me every time I step outside, the flies that find their way in even when every door and window is shut and the giant wolf spider with a body the size of a quarter that crawled across my shoe the other day. Oh, and let's not forget the ants that have been steadily invading my kitchen and eating my dogs' food. Bugs are gross.

But they're not all so bad. I love watching the dragonflies skim the pond in the morning sunlight. They come in so many colors and sizes that I don't get tired of staring at them. and...

FIREFLIES!

If you are not lucky enough to live in a place where fireflies light up the night, then I hope you will at some point in your life! They almost make the drenching humidity worth it, (almost.)

Last night I went outside just to watch them. On the other side of the pond there is a little forest, and right before dark there are so many fireflies that it looks like some great hand is dumping gold glitter all over the trees. The last little bit of sunlight turned the sky into an orange and peach and blue paisley. A great blue heron flew right over my head and perched in a tree behind me. Except for one obnoxious frog it was very quiet, and if I was trying to design a perfect fairytale or romance setting I couldn't have imagined anything better. I couldn't believe the amazing beauty surrounding me. I kept expecting a unicorn to come trotting out from the trees or something.

No pictures of this, you just have to imagine it for yourself.

626.06 Miles

2009-06-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today we drove through Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia just to see these people:

Ryan & Meghan Clyde. They live just outside D.C. and are letting us crash with them for a few days while we explore the nations capitol.

Of course, we had to stop and see this along the way

Who wouldn't take a 2 1/2 hour detour to see the world's largest picnic basket? I have a small obsession with seeing cheesy roadside curiosities. Lucky for me I have an indulgent husband!

We also stopped here

Gettysburg National Military Park.

It was very moving to think about the price our country has paid. I have ancestors who fought on each side. However, when I play civil war, I like to pretend I'm a Union soldier if I can, (they won, you know.)

I love road trips!

Strawberry Let Down

2009-06-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

We heard there was going to be a Strawberry Festival downtown on Thursday.

What comes to mind when you think of a strawberry festival? Seriously, think about it. What comes to mind?

I'll tell you what comes to my mind.

Tables full of strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, strawberry mousse and other unidentifiable but delicious strawberry desserts.

Old ladies wearing frilly bonnets selling their prized jams and jellies.

Houses made to resemble or made entirely of strawberries.

Grown men dressed as strawberries and driving tractors around town while little girls in vivid red tutus dance the strawberry waltz.

The strawberry queen waving daintily to her subjects from the top of a magnificent strawberry float.

Of course with all these beautiful images of strawberries dancing through my head we made plans to attend.

Guess what we found when we got there. No sweet scent of strawberries filled the air. There was no jam to be found, the only thing there was SIX DOLLAR STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. None of the other stuff.

It wasn't the lovely festival of my imaginings. It was a fundraiser for some church. There were no streamers, no banners, no strawberry queen. What a disappointment.

At least the SIX DOLLAR cake was good. On second thought, no it wasn't. The only thing good about it was the vanilla ice cream. Oh man, did I feel suckered!

You can bet that when I am in charge of the strawberry festival (or any fruit/vegetable festival) you can bet there will be houses made of the produce. There will be pageants and craft booths and excessive celebration. And you won't have to pay $6 for the shortcake.