Pictures

Hey all... I've been posting quite a bit. Doesn't mean I actually have time to though... Anyway, we had some 1 year pictures taken for Lilly last weekend and they kinda turned out to be family pictures too.. These are just some of them but I love them so much! Enjoy!

Grateful

*WARNING - may be whiny.

Lately I've been having kind of an "off" time.

We have this big evaluation coming up on Monday to become part of a ballet association which means in May we would be traveling to go to a conference in Washington! I'm doing a variation by myself as part of the evaluation. Shayla doesn't seem like a crazy person but (and I'm not being modest, I'm being perfectly honest) there are other people in the class that can do the variation better than me. I've been nervous because I've been working really hard on it and it still isn't where I want it to be.

I'm finding out that Steve is traveling a whole lot more than we thought he would. It's good and bad... the money is nice but I really miss my husband. I used to tell myself when he was gone that it would all soon be over and I would have my husband back and everything would go back to normal but I'm finding out that him being gone is sometimes just as normal as him being home.

I know this is kind of gross but my bunions have been killing me this last week. We have a new choreographer this week and it's very difficult to do your best and impress the choreographer when every time you go up on pointe you want to scream! Plus Lilly had a fever on Tuesday so I wasn't allowed to take her to daycare (even though it turned out to just be a teething fever) so for one of the days of choreography I was basically sitting in the back playing with my daughter.

So there you have it... whinefest 2000.... and yes I would like a little cheese with my whine.

The only thing that has been getting me through this is gratitude. I can't believe where I was just 6 months ago. My husband hated his job and I was sitting on my butt. We both have such amazing opportunities before us. Steve is doing seriously amazing at his job. And he LOVES it. And it's totally ok for him to love to travel. Sure he misses us a lot! But there is something about Steve that most people don't find too hard to understand...He is the friendliest person on the earth and he loves meeting new people and making friends all over the place so this job is really cool for him. Plus he is doing SOO good at it. The only reason he is gone so much is because everyone always requests Steve to go because he is the best one! And even though he has been gone a lot I feel like our relationship has gotten a lot better in general (due to a few attitude changes that we have both made lately!) Even though he is gone he still makes a point to talk to me AND Lilly EVERY day. Even if that means I keep him from an hour of sleep! I'm so grateful I have the best husband ever.

And as far as my dancing goes.... 6 months ago I believed that I was still done dancing and that I would never go back. I have to look back and see what happened to get me where I am right now... I'm sitting here complaining about my feet and how bad they hurt when really... when I look at the big picture.. I am grateful for that pain... well really I'm grateful for the opportunity to have the pain. Because 6 months ago my feet were perfectly fine...And I was bored. My life is so exciting now! And my foot pain is a part of the ups and downs of the best roller coaster ride!

Even though I still think she is crazy... Shayla has given me such an opportunity with this variation. She sees something in me that is worth showing to an evaluator... I'm so grateful to have such an amazing teacher!

And I am seriously grateful for my family... Lilly and Steve have made so many sacrifices to make this work and are happy to do it and I just think, man, I'm going through a rough time right now but I seriously think I'm the luckiest person ever, and when I really look at my life... I'm the happiest person ever as well!

The Mall

We went to the mall yesterday with some people from RBE and we stayed a little while longer to do some shopping for some upcoming family pictures! We ate at the food court and I captured a little bit of what it's like to go places with Lilly. She has started doing this new thing.. .She is learning how ot do a pirouette! (a ballet turn!) Really she just turns around in circles and makes herself dizzy. And then she wanders around to meet all the people that are around us. It's pretty fun.

Fun story about the mall. We were right by deseret book when Lilly looked at us very intently and asked us for milk by signing. We realized that she hadn't had her afternoon milk yet so we ran into deseret book and bought her some milk... then we ran all the way down to the food court to find her a straw... asked a few different people for one, finally got one.. found a table, sat down opened her milk and got it all ready. She took one good sip from the straw... looked up at daddy with a smile and signed, "All Done!" And she was...shewouldn't have any more of it! Gotta love her!

Progress

Weight - 17.66 lbs. 5.22%
Length - 29.7 in. 71.62%
Head - 17.5 in. 32%

My baby is a super model... she needs some meat on her bones!

Lilly has started communicating lately! We got some signing videos and Lilly LOVES them. She honestly could watch them all day long. She stands about a foot away from the tv and just stares at the screen. She doesn't really laugh or smile or anything like that too much, but she won't take her eyes off! I started to worry about it cause she wasn't picking up the signs yet and I was kind of afraid I was turning her brain into mush, but she actually is signing now! She is signing a bunch of different words and she is starting to speak too. She says mama and dada... but it's still really random and i'm not sure she always means mama and dada when she says it...So her first real word was KITTY! We went down to Grandma Eldredges house this last weekend and she chased her kitty around for hours... She was so excited about that cat! Everytime we saw the cat we would sign it and say "kitty". Well one time the cat came around and she actually said the word "Kitty"! And everytime the cat came around after that she would say some form of kitty... ticky..... kiki......kitchee..... keessee.... titi.... I'll buy all of them! She even started pinching her cheeks which is her version of the sign for cat! But she signs a bunch of things here they are:

-Mommy
-Daddy (Daddy was actually gone this last week on a business trip... every morning when she would wake up she would ask for daddy and I felt so bad that he wasn't there... so towards the end of the week when she would ask for daddy I would show her pictures of him and she would smile and laugh! )
-Kiss*
-More
-All done
-Milk
-Eat
-Juice (I think.. she did it for the first time today)
-Banana*
-Kitty
-Puppy
-Frog

*She hasn't signed these words yet, but she understands them when I sign them to her.

I know I haven't gotten a good video up of this yet, but she is a walking maniac! She doesn't crawl at all anymore unless she is really close to something. She always prefers to walk. I can't always contain her in a grocery store anymore cause she wants to be down and walking around. I let her a lot of times cause it's ridiculous to try to hold her.. she going to jump right out of my arms one of these days. And she'll stay in the cart for a little while but she gets mad and starts screaming. So I'll take her out and let her roam around if I'm gonna be in a section for a little while. Of course she tries to pull everything off the shelves so I've become one of those moms that runs around the grocery store saying sorry to everyone cause my child is in the way! It's a pain but it's kinda fun too. She has even tried to start running lately, but she usually only gets a few steps before she tumbles over. She knows this so she will only run to us if we are pretty close... she gets excited and bolts for us so she can fall into our arms! (We love her!) This usually comes about when we play the "I'm gonna get you" game. Usually when this game is played with a child, the child runs away to stop from being tickled.. Lilly does the opposite...We say "I'm gonna get you" and she runs head on for us! It's pretty much the only way we can keep her out of places we don't want her to go like the kitchen or the bathroom.. all we have to say is I'm gonna get you and she completely forgets about what she was going for! It seriously works better than picking her up and moving her or trying to distract her with toys!

Another thing that we have started doing is playing imagination games. Grandma Eldredge got Lilly a baby purse for her birthday... it came with a mirror and car keys and a bracelet and fake lipstick. I showed her a few times how to use the lipstick and now when I pick it up she puckers her lips and sticks out her chin so I can put lipstick on her! She carries her purse all over the place and loves it when I put the keys in the pretend car and drive her around the house!

Sorry no pictures! I gotta get my camera out!

Lilly's First Birthday!!!

I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged. I have been so ridiculously busy. I honestly didn't realize I could be this busy. Literally every minute of my day is occupied and if I get a spare moment it is always stolen by trying to relax a tiny bit so I don't fall apart!! School (especially a Ballet Major) is tiring with a family.... but I am totally LOVING it! Anyway, more about that later.

Lilly turned 1 on September 30! My baby girl is growin up!

The weekend before her birthday we went down to St. George. Steve's Dads extended family had a huge get-together and we were able to celebrate Lilly's birthday with everyone there! And since we were in St. George my Momma got to be there too! I tried to upload the video but it was taking FOREVER, so sorry!

We were glad we were able to have that little celebration then because since like I said, we are crazy busy, we weren't able to do much for her on her actual birthday. We brought cupcakes to daycare with her so all of her daycare friends were very excited for Lilly's birthday!

Lilly has been such a blessing to have in our lives. We love her so much! She is such a smart little girl! From the moment she looked at me I knew we had a very special relationship. She has always been such a determined girl. She has a very strong personality and we love her for that. We couldn't be blessed more! Steve and I wanted to make sure that our kids were confident children and they understood how loved they were and that they would know their worth and we feel like our little girl is so confident that I think she will be able to do anything she wants to do with her life. She will grow up to be someone who makes lemonade out of lemons, she will grow up to be someone who doesn't just sit around and wait for things to happen for her, she will make things happen for her... we are certain she will be a good example to her friends and her family. Lilly, 1 year ago, September 30, was the happiest day of our lives because you came to live with us! I can't wait to see who you become! We are so lucky to have you! Love you angel!

Out of my slump... I hope.

So lately I've been in kind of a slump as far as the food story goes. I was so unmotivated to cook and nothing sounded good. I have been way too lazy to plan out my meals and go grocery shopping so we have been watching our bank account balance plummit as we have been eating out a whole lot. I have been looking for a few recipes to get me out of my slump and NOTHING has worked... until this....

I found this book on someones blog and ran out IMMEDIATELY to buy it. I went grocery shopping right after and bought enough food for 4 meals.. but really more because we will have PLENTY leftover for freezing, and a few other things for breakfasts and lunches... essentially feeding our little family for more than a week, and spent $64. I'm SOO excited to start cooking! YAY!

I have lots to post about Lilly but I'm waiting till I can get some good videos... She is walking now, and has been for over 2 weeks, but the most she will take is like 6-7 steps and she won't do it for the camera... so keep a look out for that special post!

Company

Sooo.

I look smokin in a Leo and tights...

My hair fits into two really messy pigtails...

Lilly is actually really enjoying daycare...lot's of friends to play with that can't get enough of her....

and I made the company!!!!

Life

is

good.

It's done...

Last night was the last night I didn't have to worry about being somewhere in the morning...

This morning was the last morning I didn't have to worry about being somewhere....

The last morning I could just relax with my baby and husband...

Tomorrow.... It starts.

I don't know what it is... I'm getting really scared. About everything. My baby is going to daycare... someone else is going to watch her for 8 hours a day instead of me... It breaks my heart. I know she will eventually love it though. Her daycare teacher, Denise, is SOO good with kids.. she is going to have a blast hanging out with her friends at Denises! It will probably take a little while for her to get used to because she has some MAJOR separation anxiety right now... but I think this will be good for her... I keep telling myself this:

The more people she knows that love her.... the better.
The more people she knows that love her.... the better.
The more people she knows that love her.... the better.

That statement is the only reason I was ok with doing this whole school thing. I truely believe that. My sisters kids are amazing and they go to daycare! There is no reason I should be worried but I guess it's just that I know I'm going to miss her.

Anyway that isn't the only reason I'm scared... You would think that going back in the summer and dancing there for several months would make going in the fall like just another semester... but it isn't. I'm so scared about tights and leotards again... and scared about pointe shoes... and about my hair that won't fit into a bun... even though I already dealt with all of these fears over the summer... They are back. Dumb I know... but I feel like I have so many expectations to live up to... not just other peoples expectations.. but my own are probably the most daunting. But I have to do that... I have to be honest with myself and expect the most that I am capable of.

Lot's of 'em

Hey... I just posted a ton of new posts at the same time so be sure to look at all of them!

The Zoo

On Saturday we went to the Hogle Zoo with some friends in our new ward! It was so nice of them to invite us! We had such a good time looking at all the animals! We started out at the big black wet ball right in the front of the zoo.. incidentally it was probably Lilly's favorite part!

They have a carousel you can ride on for $2! Since we strongly feel that life is more about experiences than money... we of course had to go on it!

Lilly loved seeing the monkeys! We made so many monkey noises that by the end of the day she had started to imitate them as well!

This is an elephant in the background but you can't really see it cause she is covering it!

She was COMPLETELY mesmerized by the turkeys cause they were just walking around on the sidewalk.. she wouldn't stop looking at them!

We went to a bird show there and although it was really hot and you weren't allowed to stand up during the show and Lilly was tired and hungry through the whole thing... it was still really cool. If you make a donation the bird takes it from you and puts it in the donation box for you! Lilly had to try it!

Owlz Baseball Game!

This last Monday we got some friends and family together and went to see an Owlz baseball game! We had a good time! Enjoy!
Us with the Mascots.. Lilly couldn't take her eyes off those guys!

Matt and Lauren came with us! I'm so glad we live by these guys! They are so freakin cool! Can't wait to meet their little boy in December!

Steves cousin David Jay and his wife Melissa came too!



Some friends of ours from our old singles ward came as well.. they just had a little boy not too long ago so it was fun to have another baby there!

2009 Ballet Summer Intensive

Within 8 hours of us getting home from our vacation... life started again! It was good though! Steve started a brand new job! Steve liked his job at Teleperformance, but decided a while ago it was time to leave. Being the amazing man he is, he waited till he got another job to quit. Well, with the economy the way it is.. it's pretty hard to find a job right now. But he did! He now works at Direct Pointe as a Desktop Installation Technician. If you want to know what that is, then ask him, but he will be doing quite a bit of traveling.. which is cool and not so cool too. Anyway, we get better benefits and higher pay... and he's learning a lot about computers.. he is very happy!


Anyway, so I sent him off to work at 9am and then I got ready for my annual .....

Ballet Summer Intensive!

This year we did pretty much the same thing we did last, but we added a few new things! We did T-shirts and we had a little showcase to show parents what we had been working on, and then we had a pool party! Many things went aray as they normally do, but it turned out good!

These are all the girls! I love you all!

This isn't all the girls... but most of the girls that did the workshop on pointe... they are the toughies!

Schedule Every day went like this:

• 1:00-1:45 Pilates
• 2:00-3:50 Ballet Technique
• 4:00-5:00 Ballet Repertoire
• 5:00-5:30 Dinner and Ballet Movie
• 5:30-6:30 Modern
• 6:30-6:45 Stretch and Goof off (basically stall till we got the guts to put our shoes on!)
• 6:45-7:30 Pointe Technique
• 7:30-8:00 Pointe Repertoire and rip our hair out!

Yeah.. that is a TON of dancing! The girls were so amazing about it though.. they were so tough! I'm so proud of all the hard work they did that week!

On Saturday we had our pilates as usual and then we had Shayla Bott come to teach us a master class. Shayla has been a teacher of mine off and on for a while and I value her SO much! She taught me so much about musicality and she has helped me get back into school and she is actually the one who referred me to Alexis for this job! I owe her so much so I was so happy that she was able to come teach my students and me!

After that we had dinner and then we got ready for our showcase. The girls danced their dances SOO well! I was VERY proud of them! We did a dance called the paper dance. Throughout the week we wrote different things down on paper, goals, things we have learned about ourselves, and letters to people who mean a lot to us. We drew pictures to represent our feelings and danced with them. In the actual performance once we finished our dance we handed our picture to the person that helped us this week. It was very special!

We took our ballet dances from Paquita! We did the Mazurka and we also did the wedding variation on pointe.

This is me talking to the parents about how good their daughters were... I can't believe I started crying!
Then we had a pool party! (it was on and then it was off... and then back on again... crazy rainy day!)

Doing the Hundreds... actually slapping the water!

Oh... and I teach Cousin It!Just kidding... She's actually going to be a model someday! (Love you Savanna!)