Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Running into walls and such.

Well it is once again time for another Hallie update. She is basically my life so I have to write about her. She is developing one hilarious personality and every day is filled with a new adventure. I can't believe how much they change in just a couple weeks. Here is the rundown...

Walking. She is walking EVERYWHERE. Hence the name of the post. She constantly has red marks on her head because she is falling and hitting her head on walls, doors, toys, freestanding objects, shoes, closet doors, chairs, open drawers, etc. She took her first actual steps about a month ago, and now she is cruising. I had to buy her shoes.. which is the hardest task! For new walkers you need shoes that have soft bottoms... people who have new beginning children or have had them know what I mean. I looked high and low for a pair. I just wanted them to stay on her feet, and be able to walk in them! I was nervous to even buy shoes in the first place because Hallie's whole life, she has ripped them off within seconds. Anyway, after searching the lovely Target rewarded me with soft bottomed pink mary janes. Thanks Target. Seriously. They were only 12 dollars. I was about to buy some Toms that were 30+shipping. And Hallie absolutely LOVES them. Now whenever she sees a pair of shoes (any shoes-mine, jordan's, hers) she sits by them and whines or brings them over to you and whines until you put them on her feet. It's hilarious. But the shoes that are too big for her make her very mad. She starts to walk/can't/falls/shoes fall off/she wants them on/etc... She has even turned walking into a game. I took her to walmart and we were looking to buy some birthday presents and I set her down and she would look at me and start running away, look back to make sure I was coming after her and giggle the whole time. So cute. But totally made the walmart trip 1/2 hour longer than it needed to be.

Hallie is a jabberer. Talks all day long. Looks at you jabbers, and ends the talking with what seems like a question. And she sits and waits for you to talk to her back. She pretty much says dad for everything. Points at everything and says dad, but you know when she is actually saying "Dad" to Jordan. Maybe it's the annunciation when she does it, but it's like to, too and two. For Hallie it's Dad for something over there, Dad for grandpa and Dad for Dad. If that makes sense. She is still saying mom, dog, kitty, the other day she said Mickey. One day I showed her a picture of Jesus and told her to say Jesus. She looked at me and said Jeeesuus. Yup She said it. Just like how its spelled. And the other day she was walking away from Jordan and I and we asked her where she was going and she turned around  and said "I don't know" and kept walking. Jordan and I can't help but bust up laughing. Oh and I can't forget she can say Laney. Laney is the oldest of our nieces that live in Idaho, and Laney plays with Hallie all the time. So yes, Hallie will call for Laney when she is sitting with me and Laney is playing outside.


Hallie used to be an amazing eater, and she still eats but now she is starting to get picky and sneaky. If she doesn't want to eat it, she will throw it on the floor. And sadly, if we don't pick up the food right away after eating, she will come back and eat it later. haha disgusting I know. Or if she doesn't throw it on the floor, she knows that I will pick her up out of her high chair if all of her food is gone. If I am not paying attention, she will stuff all the food between the chair liner and the high chair so I can't see it until she is out of the high chair. She is one little sneak. And I will say, "did you stuff all that down there?" Of course, she will just look at me and giggle.

You know those bouncers that you put your babies in when they are tiny? Well Hallie hated them when she was tiny. And a couple weeks ago she discovered the bouncy in her room and now she is attached to it. She climbs in it and sits up and rocks back and forth in it to make it go up and down. She'll also fling herself backwards (which scares me, because it is flimsy and will flip backwards and she will hit the wall-which I know from experience) so the bouncer will fling up and back. You can also tuck a blanket over her while she is watching TV and she will sit there for about 15 minutes and watch, which is forever for Hallie. She is constantly moving.


Whoever bought Jordan and I the the stacker toy from Ikea is amazing, and thank you. I don't know what to call it besides a stacker toy, but we have one with all different colors and sizes and the rings have a hole in the middle and they stack on top of each other? ring a bell? Anyways, Hallie is a pro at it. She will sit and do it for hours. When she first started with it, she would get so frustrated and throw the rings because she couldn't get them on, but now she is awesome at it. And it keeps her entertained pretty much most of the day.


Well that's all I can think of right now with the Hallie update. I can't believe that I have a toddler. She was just born! Where does the time go?? Simply too fast if you ask me. I truly can't get enough of her, until about 8 o'clock until I put her down for bed because I've had enough of her:)





Friday, August 3, 2012

500 phone calls later...

I can't remember that last time that I blogged about randomness. I have been updating pictures and stories from summer like crazy, but I haven't been able to release my feelings. Sometimes the blog is just the best way to do it. I feel a little more comfortable than putting it out on Facebook or Twitter because hardly anyone will see it! So I can put my awesome random feelings out there without those weird friends you have commenting and making the relationship strange to the point that you want to un-friend them (which I did recently:/).

The Presidental Campaign.

I have to say that I haven't been totally in love with Mitt Romney, but he is a way better choice than Obama. But this last week I decided to volunteer for the Romney for President Campaign. My motives behind this are totally selfish. I wanted a "Volunteer" t-shirt from the Romney Campaign. I mean come on. Who doesn't love a t-shirt? And if he becomes president I will know that I helped!! So I signed up. Little did I know that making 500 phone calls would take up 6 hours of my time (probably more, I am low guesstimating it) for a silly t-shirt, but I learned a lot. And I practically lost my mind.

1. Young Democrats in New Hampshire are mean. Most of them would yell into the phone.. "I am a Democrat and I love Obama!" and hang up. Well thanks for that. Now it makes me understand a little.

2. Most of the old people in New Hampshire are republicans and are super nice, and are voting for Mr. Romney.

3. The nice Democrats that I talked to didn't love Obama and they didn't love Romney. Fence sitters I would call them.

4. Some old people are freaking senile and hilarious. My favorite conversation was with a retired gentleman who said, "I am not voting. All the politicians are G*& D^%$ criminals!" I just had to laugh with him. Come on I was about 300 calls in and I was starting to loose my mind too.

5. Sometimes I would get super nervous when a really old person would get on the phone so I would just hang up. ah! naughty.

That was just my insight into the world of cold calling. I would hate that for a real job. But I do have to say that if anyone every calls me collecting research I will gladly answer their questions. There are people that get paid to do it. If you hang up on them, it is more likely that person will not meet their quotas and that person will lose their job. If that person loses their job, well our economy will stink even more. So next time someone calls you for research, answer their questions... unless they are trying to get your social security number or your credit card info.

I have a lot more respect for Mitt Romney. I hope he gets elected, and I hope, truly hope that he can change things for the better instead of another 4 years of nothing but more debt and a stupid health care bill. 

Well that's all I have to say. The deadline to get the t-shirt is August 5th, and it is the 3rd. So hopefully I will get it. I will update you on whether or not it actually comes. Fingers crossed because I really want one. :)

Oh and here is the link if you want to volunteer!!

http://www.mittromney.com/call-home-landing?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20120801_lb_cfh-aug-super-sat-non-targets_facebook

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Weekend Getaway

This last weekend Jordan, Hallie, and I made the long voyage to Utah. A whole 3 1/2 hour drive. It seems like a voyage because Hallie does not enjoy being in her car seat. She loathes it. But we left during her nap time in hopes that she would sleep, and after 2 hours of screaming crying she did sleep. Well anyways...

The reason that we went to Utah was for a wedding! One of my very good friends from high school, Caleb, was getting married. I knew I couldn't make it to the reception in Colorado, so I figured that going to the wedding and reception in Utah would do:) His twin brother, Jon, is getting married this weekend in San Diego, and since we can't go to that either we figured we should go to at least one thing.

I cannot express the words or feeling that I get when I attend a temple sealing. I have seen people get married out of the temple, and the ceremony is always nice, but nothing compared to two people in the temple.  I always cry when I see the emotion of my good friends, and knowing Caleb as long as I have and seeing the look of happiness on his face and his wife's face was just amazing. To me, a sealing is one of the most sacred and beautiful things that happens in the temple. It is the whole point to life. Two people being together for time and all eternity and having all of their posterity sealed to them. I am glad that I got to go to the sealing and be reminded of the blessings that couples that choose to get married this way receive.

We also went to their outdoor reception, which was beautiful. Her dress was beautiful (which her mother made!! By far the prettiest home made gown I have ever seen. And probably one of the prettiest gowns I have seen a girl wear, and it complimented her so well!!) We got to meet up with all the old gang from high school. My favorite part was seeing Bonnie!!! Bonnie and I have been friends since 5th grade, and through her moving to Germany, going to different colleges, marriage, babies (on my end) her mission, we still have remained good friends. It was good to talk and catch up.

All of this wouldn't have been possible without my good friend Courtney. Whenever we go to Utah she puts us up. I feel like we use her... but I am so glad for the company. I would go to Utah and stay in a hotel and visit her anyways, but staying with them is just more fun. She cooks us food and is just the most wonderful hostess. I hope she knows how much we love and appreciate her and Jeff for always putting up with us:)

The trip was short and sweet, but so much fun. I am so glad I live so close to be able to share these memories with my good friends. I love them all very much!



 the dress! Sorry Cassi, I know you weren't paying attention... lol.



oh and while we were there Jordan and I found our future home. haha. 


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Spencer & Lexie Sautter

I have been pretty crammed with pictures this summer! I feel like there is a trend, everyone wants Summer or winter pictures. Never Spring or Winter. So I have been crammed this summer. I can't complain though, my clients pay me. Extra money for summer activities is always a plus!

I have to apologize to Lexie because it took me forever to edit these and to get them to her (the disc is on its way to you now!). But I am pretty happy how they turned out. We had a teeny bit of a scheduling problem between the two of us, plus the weather was up and and down, so we ended up doing them when it was SUPER bright, but the family is so cute we would have done them anytime and they would have been just as cute.

I would just like to add, as a personal note to myself, that I am getting wayyy better at taking pictures with my camera. Even though my lens is possibly, probably broken it doesn't change the camera body and I have been doing little to no editing. Go me.

A special thanks goes out to my assistant, which if he wasn't there none of these pictures would have been possible. I love you Jords! 

And also a special thank you to the Sautter family for risking their lives on this freaking scary bridge. 

Here are the favorites:






Thursday, July 19, 2012

Lincoln Smith

Babies are by FAR the hardest photoshoots. Well not babies.. newborns. You just feel like you are going to break them, and especially since they are not your baby I am extra careful. My good friend Jessica asked me to do pictures of her new baby Lincoln. He was actually a month old when we did them so he was a little more active than a brand new baby, but he is still brand new (hopefully that makes sense).

I am debuting these before she has even seen them, so Jessica I hope you like them! They are coming through town again in 2 weeks on their trek from Boise to Boston (Hopefully I am allowed to say that.. lol). I sure will miss her being so far away, but she was already far! All of my friends are leaving... across the country!! (Hopefully one day we will have a Margene's reunion:])

oh and a special thank you to my friend Amber who made this possible for me on such a short notice!! Love you girl!

Here are a couple of my favorites.






Meek/Smith Family



I have to say that I love taking pictures of this family. They are all so photogenic and are really up for anything. Plus it isn't bad that they are all extremely good looking. So, a good-looking/photogenic family who are returning customers... who wouldn't love that?

Plus it was a huge boost to my self-esteem to have the family ask me to do their pictures again. I don't know if you know this, but unless you ask me to do your pictures because you know that I enjoy taking them, or word of mouth, I don't go out there and do it. Don't ask me why. But one day, one day I will.

Anyways.

This shoot was super crazy! Hallie was having her first birthday party on Saturday the 23rd and my whole family was coming into town. Then my good friend Jessica texted me and asked if I could do their pictures the day before! Talk about stressed out! But it was the only day they could do it because not only has Jessica added her little Lincoln to the family, but they had not one, but TWO missionaries entering the MTC the same day that next week. I felt bad about leaving my family, but then when I got there and was able to do the pictures and be with this awesome family I didn't feel bad at all.

It took me forever to edit them becuase of Hallie's bday, family vacation, fourth of July, then Hallie getting shots/being sick, me getting sick and anything else that could be inserted into that time period. I hope they like them and I am so happy for all the cool things happening in their family.



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Family Vacation: Bear Lake

Jordan's family does a family vacation every year. I think it started a couple years before we got married. But there are so many of us that it is one time during the year that we can all get together and just have fun. This year we went to Bear Lake. It was sad because Jordan's 2 sisters, Chalai and Hillary, and their families were missing. But all the boys were there.

We rent a cabin in Bear Lake and then do lots of fun activities. This year the activities included: nature hike, Paris Tabernacle, Beach Day, Jet ski, and Lava Hot Springs. I have to say my two favorites were the Paris Tabernacle and the jet ski.

If you have never been to the Paris Tabernacle, well you are missing out. They offer free tours all day, all summer long. The building has been there since 1889. Jordan and I really enjoy doing stuff like touring old historic buildings, especially when they are part of church history. There is so much church history that I don't even know about (one of these days I will be a church history scholar, mark my words...). The building is very cool and they let you go in every room. I love that. I hate when you take a tour of an old building and there are tons of rooms you are not allowed to look in. What is the point? Hey! I am just a curious being! I just want to look! But not here. You are allowed to look at everything. And pretty much touch everything too. It was awesome.

Also the jet ski. So fabulous. I haven't been since high school probably... and my early high school years at that. It is sad to grow up around boats and then not have any. You know exactly what you are missing out on. But I didn't let all that lost time take any of my skills away. I used to have my boating license! I pretty much ruled the jet ski. Jordan wasn't even as crazy as I was. I threw him off once too! I would have gone off with him if he didn't let go of me. I got a real good laugh out of that one. But the coolest things about Bear Lake is the water. It is the caribbean blue you go to Mexico just to see. So when we were way far out on the jet ski, we would just look at the water. It was so clear, so blue, and so beautiful!

The vacation is filled with lots of late nights, early mornings, crazy skits, screaming kids, sick kids, good food, munchies, sunburns, and so much more. It was so nice to get a vacation from everything and just be with the family. I'm really lucky to have such amazing in-laws, parents and siblings.

















We can't wait until next year!!