Monday, September 29, 2008

Happy Birthday Robert!

Today is my brother Robert's birthday. He is turning 33 today. Below are the 5 top reasons why I love my brother.

This picture was taken on their wedding day. This is his wife Carolyn. They were married 3 months before me and Kurt.

#5-He is smart and good with computers. He loves to design things on the computer like buildings and motor coaches. I thought for sure my brother was going to be an architect.

#4-He is very talented. He loves to draw. He has been drawing sinse we were kids. He had a love for Superman when we were kids, so he drew him a lot. He also plays the drums and is very good at it. He learned to play by ear. Crazy, huh?

#3- He loves extreme rides and he is willing to ride them with me. He is really fun to ride rides with.

#2-I love all the memories I have of my brother growing up. He used to wear a Superman costume all the time when we were little.

One time he and his band set up in the front yard to play for the High school (we lived across the street). It was so funny. People were looking out the windows and coming down during lunch to listen. My sister was in high school at the time and people were coming up to her and telling her "Do you know there is a concert going on in your front yard? They are pretty good." The cops were called because they were disturbing class.

I also love the memories of me and my brother just talking. We still do.

The #1 reason I love my brother is that he loves me and loves being an uncle to Ayla. He lights up every time he sees her and he always gives her kisses.

Happy Birthday Bro! I hope you have a great day! Love ya!


Friday, September 26, 2008

Four, Four, Four, Four...

I had a couple of friends do this tag on their blogs. I was personally tagged by Tierra, so here goes!

A) Four places I go over and over: Smiths (grocery store), My parents, My sister-in-law Suzanne's (she does our laundry. nice huh?), Church

B) Four people I admire:
*President Thomas S. Monson- He is the president of our church and he is a loving and caring man. I've heard so many sweet stories about service he has done and they all take place before he was president of the church. He has accomplished many things.
*Elder Holland- He is one of our apostles of the church. Every time he speaks he gives me chills and makes me cry. He gets to the core of me.
*My sister Marion- She has always wanted to be a nurse. She was going to nursing school in Washington and had to quit due to a divorce. She wanted to move back to Utah to be with her family during her hard time. Now she is a CNA at the University hospital in the postpartum unit and she is going to nursing school again. She doesn't get a day off or room to breath but she is doing it. I am proud of her.
*Kurt-My husband, for working so hard and going to school to take care of me and Ayla. He is a great dad and he loves his family.

C) Four favorite places I like to eat out: Olive Garden (I went there today, My mom's treat. Yum Yum!), Texas Roadhouse (I love their stakes), Chilli's (I love their fajitas), Wendy's (It is my favorite fast food.)

D) Four places I would rather be right now: Disneyland for sure. (I love it there), The beach with Leah (I miss her and her family), Camping with my little family (I love the outdoors), In bed (I am tired)

E) Four movies I love: Lord of the Rings, Titanic, Wild Hearts can't be Broken, Dan in Real Life.

F) Four TV shows I watch all the time: I haven't watched TV in a long time but if I did, it would be Lost, The Office, So you think you can dance?, Design on a Dime.

G) My favorite CDs in my car: Josh Gorban, The Beatles One album, The RM soundtrack, Ben folds

So there it is. Yay one more tag done! They are fun! I tag anyone who wants to do this!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

7 months today!

Ayla turned 7 months today. Where does the time go? She weighs 16 lbs now and is 26 1/2 inches long. She is getting to be a big girl. I think it is all the solids she has been on. She eats solids 4 times a day now.

She has learned and has accomplished many things during her 6th months. She definitely knows her name. We thought she kind of knew it before but we know for sure now. The other night she was in her swing minding her own business and Kurt was singing a song about her. She wasn't paying attention until he sang her name. She immediately looked over at him and started to giggle. She loves to hear her name.

She has started to say, "Ba, Ba, Ba." It is a lot softer than when she started saying "La, La, La" last month. She loves to hear her voice but it seems that she has toned it down a little, that is until she starts getting mad. She will start screaming "La, La, La!" She is so funny.

This was taken today in our kitchen.

Ayla has learned that she can stand in her walker and she knows now that she can push with her legs to get it to move backwards. Can you tell in the picture she is about to start yelling "La, La, La!"? She makes me laugh.


Ayla has grown into her shoes that Grandma Chris bought her 3 months ago. Aren't they so cute on her? Grandma Chris also bought her the Kansas shirt she is wearing when she went to visit her friend Val in Kansas. It is so cute. It has a tornado on it.

Ayla is really starting to get around. I can't leave her in the room for two seconds. She has learned to scoot during her 6th month.

One of the accomplishments for me was getting her crib in. Now she sleeps on her own and she seems to be sleeping through the night. Such a good baby! :)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I finally got a hair cut!

My friend Melissa came over yesterday and cut my hair. Below are before and after pictures

This was how long my hair was, not too long but too long for me.

I didn't know what to do with my hair, so I would just pull it back into a pony tail. Something I hadn't done in years because I have not let my hair get that long.

This is Melissa. We turned my kitchen into a salon for the occasion. She is standing on a shower curtain which was a great idea. It made clean up easier.

Look at all that hair. Can you tell how much she cut off?

She cut off about 4 inches.

Are

you

ready

to

see

my

new

dew?

Tell me what you think of it. I think she did a great job. I love it. It feels great to have it short again. I usually always get the same hair cut. I will probably have the same hair cut until I am old and gray and then it will be even shorter.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Weekend Catch Up! #3

This weekend was not as busy as the last two. It was very rewarding though.

Friday night, Kurt and I went to the Salt Lake Temple to do Sealings. It was so nice to be there and feel such peace. It was the first time Kurt and I had been alone together since we had Ayla. Grandma and Grandpa Perry watched her for us, so that we could go to the temple to celebrate our anniversary. When we returned home, Ayla was okay until she saw me. She did this little squeal and started to shake. You could see she was filled with emotion. It was so cute and it made me feel so loved.

Saturday, we didn't go to breakfast with my dad because he was with his friend Gary at the cabin again. I got some rest that morning. I spent most of the day making curtains for our apartment.

As you can see in the picture we had a sheet over our front window because the blinds are not that great. I have been wanting to get some curtains to replace the sheet. I have been looking for weeks and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on these windows because this is not our house. It is just an apartment. The cheapest I could find were $5 dollars a panel, and they were pretty much see-through. I didn't want to spend even $20 on the front window and the bedroom window. Other curtains were too much money and it would have cost about $60 dollars to do both windows. I just wanted simple Kaki curtains. So I went to the fabric store and got fabric for a total of $15 and they were not see-through. Yay! 

Can you really notice a difference? I guess it is still better than having a sheet over the window.
 
I so wanted curtains in the bed room. At night we have the fan on for white noise and the blinds would always smack each other. It drove me crazy.

At least you can tell the difference with the bedroom window! I know they are very plain curtains but I feel a little bit of accomplishment that I made them. My first curtains I have ever made.  I am getting better with sewing.

Ayla sporting the cute onesie that Grandma Perry just recently brought back for her from her trip to New York. 
We enjoyed the rest of the evening just chilling. 

"Look dad no hands!" 
I just thought this picture was cute.

Sunday was very nice. Kurt took care of Ayla in the morning so I got to get some rest. Thanks Honey! 
Church was wonderful. I really enjoyed sacrament meeting. We had a beautiful baby blessing and three people were confirmed members of our church and that was followed by some really good talks on forgiveness. I love Sundays because I always come away feeling good about life.

Ayla in her cute yellow dress she wore to church. 

Last but not least, Kurt gave me my Anniversary card Sunday night. It is hilarious! I love it so much. Click on the pictures to enlarge them to see his art work. Plus you can read them better.

It reads : "Heather, we've been married for 3 years now. And you know what that means... (turn the page to find out what that means...)

"3 TIMES THE PASSION!" Quote: "My good dishes!"
"3 TIMES THE ROMANCE!" Quote: "Uh.. Hold on let me go brush my teeth."
"And best of all... 3 members now in our family! Happy Anniversary! Love, Kurt"

I just love the picture of Ayla and Kurt's socks. I think they are such cute drawings. I also love the look on his face with the top left hand corner one on passion. It just had me laughing. 
After reading the card we pulled out all of the cards he has made me through the years and we reminisced about the past and wrote the dates on the back of the cards so we could remember when they were made. I really, truly love the cards that Kurt gives me. There is nothing like them.

What a nice weekend!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Finally done with the crib!

I finally got the last thing in place today from getting Ayla's crib in. We only have a two bedroom apartment and I was not looking forward to putting the crib in. I didn't think we had enough space and I was also not excited to have Ayla in the other room. I have been wanting to post about it sinse I started two weeks ago, but I didn't want to post it until I was officially done with the project. 

This is why it was time. She didn't have much room left in her bassinet. Poor girl! :(

It took a lot of planning but I decided I definitely wanted Ayla's crib in the other room.

The project was to move this computer into the living room and put the crib here. I was thinking "Our living room is so crowded where is it going to fit?"

This was the view walking into the living room from the hall. See what I mean about being crowded?

This was the view from the front window. I actually got Ayla's dressers in the other room and we got rid of the TV stand and put the TV in the other room. That gave us some space.

This was the view from our front door. In the bottom right hand corner is Kurt's bike helmet. Kurt's bike used to be in the front room. I hated it there. I hate clutter and this living room was cluttered. I was trying to baby-proof too, while I was doing this project. So the bike went in the other room also. I don't know how it worked out but the other room is not as cluttered as I thought it would be. It almost looks the same. So I was happy about that.

Here is the picture of the crib in it's place. It actually looks a lot cleaner than having the computer here. 

The black object in the bottom left hand corner is a chair. It is nice because I sit on it at night and feed her and get her right back to bed. I couldn't get a good enough picture but it looks pretty good even though nothing matches but I can't complain. They're all gifts from showers we had. We have been blessed. The crib is actually my sisters and she is letting us borrow it.

This is the view now coming into the living room. I am a lot happier, it is not as crowded as before.

This is the view from the front window now. It looks so much better.

This is the view from the front door now. 

Ayla loves her crib. Even though we have had it for two weeks, she didn't sleep in it until this last Sunday night. I was not happy. I cried but she did really well. Now she has been sleeping in it for a week and I am getting used to it. I am grateful on how this project turned out. It felt like it took forever because I had to rehang all the pictures hanging up it the living room and in the bed room and find places for every thing. I am a lot happier now with our apartment than before. The living room is a lot cleaner and Ayla kind of has her nursery and has room to sleep. I feel our apartment looks the best now than it ever has. I guess this project, that has been weighing on my mind for the past 6 months, was a blessing in disguise.

This is a picture of Ayla in her crib for the very first time on September 7th 2008. She loved it from the Beginning. I know there is a picture of her in it above this one but this is my journal and I wanted to document it. 

This was her first nap in it. Look at all the room she has. Yay!!!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

3 Wonderful Years!

Today is Kurt's and my 3rd year anniversary. It has been 3 wonderful years being married to Kurt. We met 4 years ago on Sunday September 12th 2004. It was the week I was going to be going through the temple on  September 15th. That is why we chose to be married on the 17th. It was the Saturday after those two dates a year later. What a great day! Down below are some pictures and the top 10 reasons why I love Kurt and why it has been 3 wonderful years being married to him.

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple. One of the  best things I have ever done.

I love this picture but don't you love the crane in the background?

I had to share this picture it was taken in the Joesph Smith Building. I love it because you can see Kurt's stunning eyes. I am so glad Ayla inherited them! :)

"You just got married. What are you going to do next?" "We're going to Disneyland!" This was my first time going to Disneyland. It was on our honeymoon. I was like a kid all over again. I love Disneyland. I am sure Kurt thought he had married a kid.

#10- He makes really good eggs for breakfast and he will make them for me anytime I want.

#9- He loves to give me flowers. The first time we kissed. I got a bouquet of roses the next day with Hershey's kisses on stems in between the roses.

This is a picture of a vase I have and Kurt will fill the vase with flowers when ever he feels the need to. It is so wonderful to get flowers out of the blue.

#8- He always makes me cards instead of buying one. They are always so funny to me. There is an example of one on my post called "What a great birthday!" I always look forward to his cards. They mean more to me than whatever gift he got me for the occasion.

#7-I love his sense of humor. He makes me laugh all the time. He loves to be goofy and I love to be goofy with him.

This is a picture of him on our first anniversary. We went down to Beaver Canyon and stayed in a condo. We found this hunting jacket in the closet and decide to take some hunting pictures.

"Good aim!"

"Just cleaning up around here. It is such a mess!" I got in on the action too, when we found a vacuum hose.

#6- He is so unselfish. He is always serving me in some shape or form. He took really good care of me during my pregnancy. He always helps me out with whatever I need. He also loves to do things for others. You don't have to ask him help. He will just cut in and do it.

#5- He is a wonderful father to Ayla. He lights up every time he sees her.

Ayla and her Daddy!

#4-He holds and honors the priesthood and has blessed me and my family many times through  priesthood blessings. He gave comfort to my family during my uncle's funeral. He gave the family prayer for the closing of the casket and he also dedicated his grave. Such a blessing to have him in my life.

#3- He made me a mother and goes to school and works so hard, so that I can stay home and raise Ayla, which makes me so happy! :)

Ayla and her Mommy!

#2- He is so patient with me, even when I am being so difficult. He makes me want to be a better person. I also love that we can always talk through anything.

The #1 reason I love him is that he loves and honors me as a wife, a mother and a woman.

Happy Anniversary too my wonderful husband Kurt! I am so happy to know that you are mine forever!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Weekend Catch Up! #2

We had another busy weekend. I had to make a Cinderella cake, so I started it on Friday and finished it Saturday morning. Ayla and I went to breakfast with my dad and uncle as usual on Saturday morning. 

I have made this cake before. I will have to show some of my favorites sometime.

This is Colton and his mother Rachel. She is Marion's boyfriend, Monty's, sister. Colton is her son. They came around 3 p.m. to pick up the cake.  It is for her step granddaughter who just turned 1.

This is my cousin Sandy she lives in a home with other handicap people. I went and visited her on Saturday. I brought her cookies and she shared them with everyone there. I thought it was so sweet of her. This was my first time visiting her at her home. I had a wonderful time meeting all of her friends. They were all so adorable. There was this man named Allen who was probably in his 50s, he was balled and had no teeth. He was tiny and couldn't talk but he was so happy. He was excited to meet me and showed me his soda he had just gotten from the dollar store. You could tell he loves the simple things in life. I found him so adorable. You could just feel his sweetness and it just made me feel so happy. You can really learn how to be truly humble by meeting someone like him. He was just so happy.

After all that, I was supposed to go to a wedding with Kurt but I found out that the wedding was almost in Manti. I didn't feel like torturing Ayla in the car for that long, so we stayed home while Kurt went to the wedding. We would've gone but on Tuesday this week, I gave my sister-in-law, Suzanne, a ride to Smithfield right above Logan so Ayla had already been on a long trip this week. She doesn't like to be in her car seat for very long. I was thankful anyway because I was so tired and I know I would've been more tired if we would've gone with Kurt. 

Thomas S. Monson

Sunday morning we had our Stake conference. It was wonderful. It was held in the conference center downtown and it was broadcast at our stake center. We watched it from our stake center because we have Ayla, of course. We had the privilege to hear from Richard Hinckley, President Hinckley's son. Sister Lant talked and so did Elder Ballard. We then had the privilege to hear from our prophet Thomas S. Monson. It was a wonderful conference.  It was all on the family and how to strengthen our families and to love one another.

Sunday evening we went to Grandma Perry's house.

 Ayla happy with her grandma, as usual. She loves her grandma.

Krista was over there too so we got to see her and her family. Yay!

This is Morganne, our niece. She had a lot of fun playing with her uncle Kurt.

And of course our sweet little Kurt! We got to see him too!

What a great Weekend!