Happy Pioneer Day!

So pioneer day was last week, a Utah holiday that people out here have never even heard of! Here's our tribute to Pioneer Day...

Sweet pioneer bonnet, Liv.

Livy's BFF

Livy's latest BFF is little Cosette. These two LOVE hanging out. At church, they'll sit on this one little windowsill and scoot close to each other. They also love to travel holding hands. The way they hold hands is so hilarious. Yesterday, they had so much fun playing in the pool together. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. But here are some pics of the other day when I was watching little Cos and Cal and Gabrielle.

They're all hugs!

They loved playing the piano together.

Ring Around the Rosies was an instant hit. Every age was a fan.

My Baby So Far...

Livy seems to be getting bigger and bigger each day, so I want to write down some of her funny little quirks before she moves to the next stage and I forget all about them. So here's all about my baby at 15ish months...

Teeth. She still barely has any teeth! What's funny is she has the two bottom ones and then she has two molars on top, one on each side. Isn't that hilarious? Already two molars but no front teeth on top, what a weirdy.

Prayers. She loves to fold her arms for prayers and sometimes she'll hold them for the entire prayer.

Clothes. Yeah, get this. She already brings clothes to me that she wants to wear. I'm so screwed, I know. She is definitely going to be very choosy about what she wears when she can finally talk.

Helper. She loves to help me. Today she was helping me put clothes into the washer. She loves to put stuff away to. She'll go grab a diaper and wipes sometimes when I ask her to. It's cute. She'll look through every drawer until she finds them.

Smarty Pants. I don't really have any examples for this one but she is just so smart! I love to watch her experience her environment and learn how things work. She loves books. I'll find her sitting alone in her room holding a book open, usually upside down, and she'll be "reading" it to herself. She's also super tricky! I swear she just sits around and schemes sometimes. She also loves to take advantage of the situation. If she finds something she's not suppose to have and we're distracted, she'll hurry and take it into her room and cause so much damage.

Bruises. This kid is pretty much guaranteed to have bruises all over her legs and one right on her forehead, which is true at this very moment.

Monkey. She LOVES to climb on everything. She really is a little monkey. Her latest favorite is climbing on the entertainment center and just sitting in front of the T.V. while smiling at us and kicking her legs.

Back it Up. When she wants to sit in our laps she always steps really far in front of us and then walks backwards until she ends up in our lap. It's so cute and funny.

Exercise. This kid loves to watch my work out DVDs and try to do the exercises herself. It's way funny. Today, I was doing push ups and she got down on all fours and was bending her arms trying to do the same thing.

Licking. She thinks it is the funniest thing ever to lick you. It's so gross but she finds it so hilarious. She'll randomly lick our faces and then start laughing so hard.

T.V. Shows. This kid has a couple favorite T.V. shows right now: Phineas and Ferb (which coincidentally is Matt and my favorite T.V. show as well), Tigger and Pooh, and Sesame Street. All of which she jumps up and down for when they come on and then sits for a good 15 minutes and doesn't move.

Morning Person. She loves the mornings. Matt always gets her out of her crib and then she comes and lays with us for a little bit and gives us big kisses. She's pretty happy during the mornings for the most part. It's nighttime when things get scary.

Blankets. This kid loves her blankets. But only the ones that are SUPER SOFT. She doesn't sleep without them. She loves to take them whenever we go outside. Also, whenever we get her out of her crib, before she'll let us pick her up, she frantically bends down and has to grab one of her blankets to take along. Sometimes she'll pick up like three of them.

Songs. Her favorite songs right now are: the BYU fight song (of course), Wheels on the Bus (her favorite verse is the babies crying), Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Monkeys in the Tree.

Dance. This kid was born to DANCE. Seriously, she LOVES LOVES LOVES to dance. Whenever she hears music she gets up immediately and says yay! And then starts twisting her torso from side to side. Sometimes she gets crazy and puts both of her arms upside down behind her back, it's way hilarious. There's usually a very wide stance involved.

Rocking. Before her nap she points to the rocking chair where I rock her and sing her some songs before she goes to bed. She loves it. She usually falls asleep after the second song. Sometimes she tries to sing along. So cute.

Food. Her favorite food right now are these gross dinosaur chicken bites. They look so gross but she eats them right up. That and pears. She LOVES pears. She also loves to feed herself lately. She loves her independence.

Daddy's Girl. This kid is already a huge time Daddy's Girl. This one time I offered her a Wheat Thin (her favorite) and she kept whining and wouldn't eat it. So then Matt handed her another Wheat Thin and she looked at mine and handed it back to me and then ate the one Matt had given her. I mean, really, Livy!?!?! She also won't let me feed her if Matt is around. It drives me nuts! But I am happy she loves her daddy so much. (sometimes)

No! She just learned how to say the word no and boy is it annoying! Not only is the word itself annoying but she uses this cute little nasaly voice. So after so many nasaly no's we get pretty tired of hearing it.

Friendly. This little kid is the friendliest little toddler I've ever met. She loves to wave to people as we pass them. She also likes to run up to strangers and wave. Her favorite way to make friends is to high five them or to pound it with them. She definitely prefers pounding it.

Shoes. This kid is definitely all girl. She loves to put on her shoes or any shoes she can find. She wears them all around the house and actually gets the right ones on the right feet usually.

Hair. Livers has the cutest, curly, layered hair. Everyone always asks me if I got it cut that way. But no, it's just the way it grew in from her bald spot, it happened to make her hair appear layered. It's so cute when it's all curly, I love it.

Cousins. She loves her cousins, Cal and Gabrielle. She loves trying to do what they are doing. And then when what they are doing gets too crazy she'll just sit down next to the action and watch them very intently while just smiling.

Naughty. This kid is SUPER naughty, A LOT. When we get up to come get something from her that she knows she can't have, she'll run from us then when we get closer she'll chuck it across the room. So naughty! Sometimes she'll hit us, but usually that's because she gets excited. She assumes everything is hers, so when we don't give it to her she starts screaming, immediately.

Giggles. She loves to start fake laughing when adults start to laugh. Super funny. This one time in church, this old man made a super corny joke and so everyone did the little chuckle and then when everyone had quieted down, Livy started to fake laugh super loud. And we were right in the front row. It was super funny.

Games. Her favorite game right now is to put her hand down and then have you put your hand on top of hers. Except she doesn't really get that the next step would be to take her hand from under yours and put it on top. So she just moves her hand to a new place and waits for you to put your hand on top of hers over there.

Words right now: No (as explained before), Mom, Dad, Thank You, Yeah, Yay, Stop, Oh Wow, Woah, Please, Sorry, Hello (hi-yo), the letters A, B, and C. Sometimes she can say Jesus. She loves to say Mmmm when she wants food or when she's eating it. And if we ever ask her to say any other word, she says "daboe." That's her go to word whenever we ask her to say something, it's super funny. We're like, "Say Grandma." And she'll be like "Daboe!" For everything.

July 4th at Bear Lake

I know I'm so late, but oh well. We had SO MUCH fun on the Fourth! We took an 11 hour drive to Paris Idaho to spend a couple days with our friends, the Matthews. The crazy long drive was TOTALLY WORTH IT. We planned this getaway forever ago and I'm so glad it happened! So the Matthews have a little boy, Skyler, who is like a weekish younger than Livy. They're going to get married, it's been settled.

So the very small town of Paris, Idaho is AWESOME. Matt became obsessed. We started out the Fourth with a flag raising ceremony that was quite comical thanks to a very focused boy scout in charge of calling out the commands of raising the flag... Then we got to go to an awesome parade where Todd instructed us to cheer as loudly as possible. The louder you are, the more candy you get. So we were totally game.

I like to think that they're about to hold hands here. Unfortunately, I didn't get them kissing and hugging each other. It was so freakin cute!

After the parade, we went to play at Bear Lake. It was so fun and the water was way warm. The kiddlies were loving it, as were the husbands.

Blueberries are Nasty

So I've been on a bit of a blogging/doing anything hiatus. This pregnancy is super different. I'm not as sick, I'm actually hardly sick at all, but I am SO FREAKING TIRED. I try to get Matt to go to bed every night at like 8:30! He refuses. But seriously, I've been going to bed around 9 lately. If I stay up past 10 I'm in serious trouble. I've also had ZERO motivation to do anything, especially blogging or playing on Facebook, two of my favorite pastimes. Anywho, I've decided to live my life despite the ridiculous exhaustion that has come with this second baby. Also, we'll be moving soon. Not far away, but to a much bigger and nicer place! Woo! So that has been occupying my time as well.

A weekish ago we went to Apple Hill to go pick berries with Matt's familia. Unfortunately, it was blueberries, BLEH! Actually, I only claim to hate them, I'm not sure if I've ever tried them. But still, they seem nasty. Anywho, Livy loved picking them. Immediately after she picked them from the bush, they went directly to her mouth. It was so stinking hot though! Matt and I gave up after about 5 minutes and just sat in the shade as our niece and nephew carried on. We're going back when they have raspberries for sure!

Here was our resting spot where we enjoyed watching our diehard niece and nephew.

That would be a positive sign...

That's right, peeps. My eggo is preggo. I'm going to be a legit mommy on or close to Feb. 26, 2010. So I'm about 6ish weeks along. Also, the morning sickness so far (cross your fingers) isn't as bad as it was with Livy! Woo! Let's hope it stays that way. Matt's convinced that this means it's a boy... I'm pretty sure he's jinxed us to have all girls.

Why I dread 3-year-olds...

...and 22-year-olds. (Oh wait I'm 22 as well.) Anywho, here's my nephew, Cal, in Newport, followed by my sister-in-law, Amy.

I love parades.

It's a true statement. I totally love parades. Every time I find out that there is a parade - I get SO excited! Well I got Matt to go today and it was AWESOME (even though it was almost 100 degrees...). It was the Citrus Heights Red, White, and Blue Parade. Needless to say, it will become a tradition.

We found some friends from our ward, the Conigliaros, and totally benefited from their dedication because they had been there for an hour and got an awesome shady spot. Livy loved playing with their little kids. At first, she was super scared about what was going on, but by the end she was standing out there all by herself, dancing to the many songs from the many bands that paraded before us. Many, many bands...

My favorite little girls

Livy and Gabrielle are the only little girl grandchildren on the Wiseman side. They are so freaking cute together. Livy LOVES following Gabrielle around and Gabrielle is super cute with Livy. Anyway, I just like these pics...

HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY, BABE!!!

Here he is on his big day!

Matt's birthday was last Saturday and so basically that means that I suck. I don't know why I've put off writing this post. Maybe it's because I'm sick and every time I cough, my child makes a fake coughing noise as if she's mocking me...

ANYWHO Matt is 26!!!!! I know, SO OLD, right? He's an old man now. So we decorated the room in Newport on his birthday. Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family so of course we decorated while on vacation to Matt's surprise. Gabrielle totally helped me out. She was my tape girl. Here she is sitting under our awesome decorations that we taped all over the place. It's a new pose every time...
And here is the freaking BOMB cake I made (if I do say so myself). It's just a chocolate cake but the frosting I made was a reese's peanut butter cup icing recipe. It turned out way yummy! Here's Livy desperate to eat some cake or to become a pyromaniac, we're still not sure.Here's a better pic of the cake. Can you see Livy's hand?? It's my favorite part of the picture. When she got under the glass table for the first time, she kept reaching up to things on the table that she wanted and then she'd get frustrated that her hand was somehow being blocked! So funny.

I hope you had a good birthday, Babe! We love you sooooooo much! (Even though you're getting super old...) JUST KIDDING.

Father's Day Awesomeness

I put together this information today for this thing I made for church. I thought it was awesome so I'm posting it on here as well...

The History of Father’s Day

It was during a sermon in 1909 that Sonora Smart Dodd became inspired by Mother's Day. After the death of her mother, Sonora and her siblings were raised by their father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran. Sonora wanted to show how thankful she was to her father and, because William was born in June, she worked to have the first Father's Day celebrated on June 19, 1910.

In 1924, President Coolidge recommended that Father's Day become a national holiday. President Johnson designated the third Sunday of June to be Father's Day in 1966. It was not until 1972 that President Nixon instituted Father's Day as a national observance.

Did You Know – Roses are the official flower on Father's Day, red for fathers who were still living and white for those who have passed away. (History.com/content/fathersday)

The Importance of Dads

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "The Lord's plan of salvation requires that you pass through trials in this mortal life. Those trials seem to be greatest when you reach fatherhood, but be assured—fatherhood, in a sense, is an apprenticeship to godhood" ("Father, Consider Your Ways," Ensign, Jun 2002, 12.)

President Ezra Taft Benson: "Fathers, yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released. Callings in the Church, as important as they are, by their very nature are only for a period of time, and then an appropriate release takes place. But a father’s calling is eternal, and its importance transcends time. It is a calling for both time and eternity" ("To the Fathers in Israel," Ensign, Nov 1987, 48.)

President Gordon B. Hinckley: "God bless you, dear fathers. May He bless you with wisdom and judgment, with understanding, with self-discipline and self-control, with faith and kindness and love. And may He bless the sons and daughters who have come into your homes, that yours may be a fortifying, strengthening, guiding hand as they walk the treacherous path of life. As the years pass—and they will pass ever so quickly—may you know that "peace... which passeth all understanding" (Philip. 4:7) as you look upon your sons and daughters, who likewise have known that sacred and wonderful peace. Such is my humble prayer, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen" ("'Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children'," Ensign, Nov 2000, 50.)

Things to do on Father’s Day

• Talk about your favorite memories of your dad
• Watch your favorite home videos together
• Make Dad his favorite dinner
• Have a photo shoot with dad
• Help Dad around the house
• Take a short family stroll
• Have a family barbecue
• Take a family portrait
  

Awesome Daddies in my Life

Awesome Daddy #1

I thought it was super cool to find all of this out. I've always been blessed to have amazing examples of fathers in my life. My dad was always super awesome. My favorite memory of him is when he was taking me and Drew to our babysitter's and on the way (it was snowing in UT) he pulled over really fast to the side of the road and I was like, woah what's going on! And he got out and went up to this old lady shovelling her driveway and he took her shovel from her and quickly shovelled her entire driveway. That memory always stuck with me.

Later in life, I remember coming home from high school everyday and relaying the daily events. Now thinking back on that, he must have dreaded hearing all of the nonsense that drama teens go through... (I know I'm not looking forward to it) but he always listened. My dad's pretty much the epitome of always being there for a kid. I remember him coming to everything that I ever had: Ridiculous 5th grade spelling bees where I couldn't freaking spell the word "manual" (In my defense, she said it with an E sound!), tennis matches, cheerleading competitions (bleh!), etc.

Awesome Daddy #2

Now I have the most amazing father for my daughter. I couldn't ask for a better hubby/daddy for Liv. Since the day we found out we were pregnant with Livy, Matt has been there for EVERYTHING. He went to every doctor appointment, was in the bathroom EVERY time I puked, tried endlessly to get me to eat (during the first trimester) after I would scream at him and make him question every marrying me... we're talking EVERYTHING.

He's the most amazing man, and I'm so proud of him. He takes Livy every morning so that I can sleep because he loves spending every free moment he has with her. He works so hard to provide us with everything we need so that I don't have to work. I can't wait until our little family grows and I get to see his amazing father abilitites become even greater! He's a faithful priesthood holder who takes his responsiblity very seriously. He's a great example to me and Livy of someone who truly loves our Heavenly Father and who tries his hardest to emulate Christ's example. I got a serious winner and I don't tell him enough. Love you, babe!

Happy Father's Day to all of the awesome daddies, grandaddies, etc. out there!!!