Happy Valentine's Day

I have a small confession to make...I love it when our family coordinates. Not matchy-matchy, but just subtle coordination. At first it happened by accident; I would dress myself according to my mood, and then I would dress Kaiya according to my mood too. I didn't even notice it the first few times until someone pointed it out, then would look at us and say to myself, hey, we look pretty cute! So I secretly laid a dastardly plan to get Jamie in on the act. I bought him a pink tie. I am so glad he is manly enough to wear it, because the Sunday after Valentine's day, all the pieces fell into place and we went to church looking like we could be pasted into a Valentine. And I secretly loved it.


Of course Kaiya was the cutest in the family...

Happy Valentine's Day!
Love, Jamie, Tristen & Kaiya

Bathing Beauty

Sometimes I just look at my sweet Kaiya and can't even believe how blessed I am. After a crazy day, Jamie gets home, and somehow things just fall into perspective again. We do something together, our little family, just the three of us (okay, 5 with the puppies) and all is right with the world.

Tonight we gave Kaiya a bath, and just the way she looks at us, her little personality shining through, brings on the amnesia of motherhood. I forget all the tears and frustrations of the day, and just want to hold her, smell her sweet baby smell and never let her go.

How lucky am I?

Dim Sum

This Saturday we went to Kirin Court in Richardson for Dim Sum with the Peterson's and we had so much fun! It was Kaiya's first dim sum (not including the take out Hattie brought over when I was still pregnant and on bedrest).
It was great and Kaiya ate Char Siu Bao, which is probably my personal favorite, it is a steamed pork bun, and sooooo good; and Lauryn fed her some Har Gau, which is a shrimp dumpling, and goodness knows that is the only way that girl is ever going to have sea food! But we also had Sui Mai (pork dumpling), sticky rice, Chinese broccoli, and rice porridge....yummmm!!!!




I'm ready to go again now! You want to come too?

Kaiya's First Trip to the Zoo!

So, I know it is the first week in February, and we should all be bundled up to our noses and hiding indoors, but yesterday it was 83 degrees here! So Kaiya and I just couldn't stay home. We decided to head up to the Fort Worth Zoo, and we had a great time. Kaiya was the perfect tourist...


This was also the first time she has worn the sunglasses out of the house. She likes to wear them on her changing table and stare up at the lights on the ceiling (yeah, I don't get it either), so I thought we would try them out in the sunshine, and she thought they were just about perfect. She actually wore them and didn't try to pull them off!

It was funny, I brought two hats for her, a white one (in the picture above) and a yellow one. I put the white one on her first, and it was too small, so I switched to the yellow one. As soon as I put the yellow one on her, she snatched it off her head. So I put the too small white one back on her, and she was as happy as a pig in mud; she left it on all day. Silly girl!

Here is the action sequence with the bothersome yellow hat...




But enough of the fashion report, back to the main event...the zoo. We started off with the primates, and Kaiya was very attentive. I would hold her up and point to them, and she would just concentrate so hard on them. She seemed to like the chimpanzees, but I think that was because she could get so close to them since they were behind glass. We went by the flamingos, which were excessively noisy.

She also liked a little turtle in an aquarium that was very active; but her favorites were the otters. And who can blame her? We pulled her stroller up to the tank, and the otters were swimming and playing right in front of her. She would watch them go by, then when they got out of her view she would stare intently until one came back, then she would kick her legs and flap her arms and just get so excited! She even started pointing at them, which is a new milestone for her. When one would come by, she would look at me and point, to make sure I was looking. It was the most fun part of the day. We stayed there for quite some time, and I think Kaiya would have stayed all day; but time was getting short and naptime was looming, so we had to leave our first foray into the animal kingdom, but we will be back, and I think next time, we will start with the otters.

I've Been Tagged

I've Been Tagged!

A. The rules of this game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the question about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

Picture of me 10 years ago

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Well, 10 years ago next week, I was getting engaged! Crazy huh? On one hand it seems like yesterday, and on the other hand it seems like a lifetime ago! I was at BYU (Provo) and living with my very best friend Suzy, and having an absolute ball! Suzy & I have since had discussions that went something like this "How did we graduate? I don't even remember studying!" Jamie was at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and we were both working to pay our long distance phone bills (yes, this was in the dark ages before awesome cell phone plans). We were having a long distance romance, and getting fed up with it, hence, the engagement and we got married that August.

5 Things To Do Today

1- Deliver 80 homemade pillow cases to the Stake Center
2- Get root beer and vanilla ice cream to take to the Churchwells for dessert
3- Figure out which kind of car seat to get for our super fast growing baby
4- Get snacks for watching the Super Bowl
5- Vacuum

Things I Would do if I Were Suddenly a Billionaire

Well of course I would first pay my tithing, donate to the perpetual education fund, and donate to a charity that provides reproductive health services to women in 3rd world countries.

Then I would get ready to have some fun! I would take a fabulous trip, starting off in Japan and China/South East Asia. I would go through India and Nepal/the Himalayas on my way to Tibet. Then I would want to go to either Russia or Egypt, depending on which way the wind blew me. Eventually I would make it back to NYC, where I would get the best tickets to every fabulous musical, and do some truly extreme shopping, including an absolutely vulgar diamond ring in the fabulous powder blue box (Tiffany's).

I would then build a fabulous home here in Grapevine where I can raise my sheep, goats & chickens (and of course hire someone to watch after them and love them while I am away on my extended vacations). I would also get a fabulous loft in NYC, for my frequent theater jaunts, and a cottage on the beach in...oh maybe Laguna Beach where my Dad can teach Kaiya to surf when the time comes. Then I will come back to my home base in Grapevine, and live a relatively normal life, except for our frequent vacations.

3 Bad Habits

1- A constant battle of wills with myself over Diet Coke addiction (I am currently off the sauce, but don't really want to be)
2- Getting so wrapped up in a book that everything falls to pieces at home until I'm done
3- Carbs!

Places I Have Lived

In order from earliest to latest:
Provo, Ut
Anaheim, Ca
Fallbrook, Ca
Mission Viejo, Ca
Brentwood, Tn
Provo (again)
Huntsville, Al
Irving, Tx
Grapevine, Tx

Jobs I've Had

PBX operator (phones)
Sales/Customer Service at department stores & home stores
Human Service Worker at a group home for Juvenile Sex Offenders
Office Temp
Sold trophy components over the phone
Temporary Nurse Staffing
Social Worker
Mom

Things You Might Not Know About Me

Growing up I was in musicals & competition choirs, and wanted to be a famous actress on Broadway

I spent 10 days in NYC with the Model United Nations Team from BYU

I am 6'2"

I learned to drive in a parking lot where a temple now stands

I used to have my ears pierced 6 times in one ear and 4 times in the other

Nine Month Check Up

Last week Kaiya got pretty sick, she had a high fever hardly ate for days. The fever topped out at 103, but it hovered around 100 or 101 for most of the time. We went to the doctor and found out it was RSV, which is apparently pretty serious. She was still such a sweetheart even while she was sick, and when she finally started to feel better...LOOK OUT!!! She had a lot of catching up to do, and she has been going non-stop since Sunday! It has been crazy!


Then on Tuesday we went for Kaiya's 9 month check up, and I know you all will be shocked to hear that Kaiya is exceptionally tall. She is 29.5 inches long, which puts her in 95th percentile for height, and she weighs 19 pounds 6 oz, which means that she is in the 63rd percentile for weight (although she had lost almost a pound while she was sick). One interesting thing that the Doctor told us, is that at 29.5 inches, Kaiya is as tall as the average 16 month old!!!

Proud to be a Band Geek

So I am about to officially declare my nerdy-ness. My high school marching band is in one of the best new country songs: Brad Paisley's song "Online". I am so proud! The band is still led by the same band director that we had, Mr. Randall Box, and I found an article about BHS playing on the album, and it has a picture of Mr. Box with Brad Paisley! Weird huh? Here is the link to that article:

http://www.marching.com/spotlight/brentwood-band-brad-paisley/

But I can even do one better than that...they also got to play on the CMA's this year! How cool is that, right? The only thing cooler is at the end of this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqNmYwxK2Z4

You have to watch until the very end...of course the guy is a baritone player, which is what Jamie played...he feels that the young man at the end has appropriately carried on the legacy of the Brentwood High School Marching Band Baritone Section.

The uniform has changed but the tune remains the same... here's Jamie and I during our Senior year of high school.