A long story made short (there is a pun intended!)

While we were waiting at "The Dodo" for dinner...

and people watching...

my good friend Meg and I discussed new hair do's and...

this is what came of it!

P.S. I am usually a little opposed to taking pictures of myself but in the interest of Lydia being down for a nap and Chris at work this is all I got (ha ha ha!) I promise they look better in person!

Don't stop, don't give up!

Yo Gaba, Gaba!

Some of you may already know about Lydia's love of the above mentioned show. And I will be the first to admitt I was a little annoyed with the obsession at first. Who wouldn't be from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed she is dying to see these funny little characters (Muno, Fufa, Todee, Plex, Brobi and of course D.J. Lance Rock) and after a while it definitely takes its toll.

Well I have recently changed my mind. I see why Lydia loves this show, I think she loves the dancing and music and the funny little characters. But I see that there is so much more to the show (ha ha ha, I never thought I would say this!) SO I have almost every song memorized (not by choice of course) and one day I was cleaning in the kitchen, Lydia was eating lunch and of course "Gaba" was on. I had a rough day and was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Then on came the song "Keep trying!" I had to laugh because I thought "Wow, i really needed to hear that!" The rest of the song says "don't stop, don't give up, you can never give up!" Well it was then I decided I do want my daughter to hear things like that, I want her to know that in life there will be bad days but you can't give up! Anyways so "Yo Gaba, Gaba!" Thanks for the much needed pep-talk and thanks for reminding Lydia not to bight her friends (ha ha ha!)

P.S. I also must say it is the cutest thing ever we can say to Lydia "Singing and dancing is..." and she responds very enthusiactically "AWESOME!"

I want...

Cookies

Well it has been a long time since I have made home made cookies, I decided to take a break since Chris wasn't feeling the love from them (i.e. I was rushing and they weren't turning out the way I would've liked!) Anyways Chris had an appointment that went way late so Lydia and I decided to make him cookies. I really only like the dough, but lucky for me Lydia loved them (surprise, surprise) she devoured three in about 10 min. I know I'm a bad parent but she was loving them! Anyways there is nothing better then chocolate chips all over and a cup (or sippy cup) of milk!

The last bight, while riding her pony and holding her baby...I like to call it her entourage!!!

It is the real life "Bam, Bam"

"CHEESE" (she officially has that one down!)

You can't have cookies without milk!

I had to throw this one in Daddy brought Lydia home some drum sticks from Vegas (it was SWAG) and she LOVES them. She even tries to play Che', needless to say he doesn't really appreciate it all that much (ha ha ha!)

Oh my gosh, what happened?

Well last Tuesday Chris went out of town, and of course Lydia got sick. I swear she used to have a great immune system and now...not! Anyways she had a serious fever and the stomach flu. I have never seen Lydia hold still for so long in her little life, which eating nothing but water for two days might have something to do with it. Anyways I was so excited for Chris to get home Thursday night and Lydia wouldn't go to sleep so I decided to put her on the couch with me and see if that would help her (by this time she was feeling quite a bit better) Anyways I am laying down pretending to be asleep and she is crawling all over me, yelling "Gabba Gabba" and in the process she knocks her water bottle down. I peek my eyes open to see her put her little hands up and say "Mama, Oh my gosh...what happened?" I couldn't stop laughing which didn't help my cause of getting her down to bed. Anyways even when she is sick she still manages to make me laugh.

A new favorite!

Well for the past year or so we have heard from our bro and sis in law (Justin and Lindsey) all about this amazing Thai restaurant called 5 star! They too are fans of the whole in the wall, don't have to wait and yet darn good food. Well the day after Christmas (yes this post is old) we headed up to the outlets to look for some post Christmas deals and then we headed to 5 Star! and all I can say is YES it was as amazing as they said, even as I am writing this post my mouth is watering thinking about their fabulous spring rolls. Anyways thanks guys for as always a great night, and thanks for the new favorite! It doesn't look like Christmas was good to Chris and I...atleast Lydia looks cute (ha ha ha!)
Our cute little "Punky Brewster" as Chris calls her!

Ok I love this pic...Lydia obviously loves her daddy!

Backing it up...

Ok so I should've really posted this way back in December but I couldn't find the cord for my "purse camera" ...needless to say I finally found my cord and for my own journaling purposes didn't want to forget about these precious moments (ha ha ha!)

Anyways a good friend of mine was kicked out of her house (due to her hubby having a business meeting) so we decided to take the girls to the lights at Thanksgiving point. The girls loved it and it was a nice way to get into the Christmas spirit!

Emma, Ameliah and Kaylee Visser and Lydia
The lights were pretty cool, I was actually surprised I would definitely make it a tradition.

Stace, trying not to get photographed!

The girls loved the reindeer, it was so funny Ameliah kept poking it on the butt and finally it pooped (ha ha ha!)
And Yes my daughter is in pajamas...it was late and I was hoping she would fall asleep on the car ride home, it didn't happen.

DRESS UPS!

Ever since we found out we were having a girl I have so looked forward to all the girly things like dress ups and tea parties and all that fun stuff...and I will say I LOVE IT! Snow white with a stylish twist!
Her dress ups are still a little too big but boy does she love them.

Can't forget the purse, that is the most important part.

In nursery I asked how she was and they said there was a little girl crying

and Lydia kept going up and patting the little girl and saying "it's ok!"

Lydia show us what you learned in Nursery...folding her arms!

Hard Core, Par Core...Baby Style!

For all of you Office Fans out there, you will appreciate the title of this post. Lydia has taken to extreme sports at an early age. No kidding the kid is jumping off of everything and anything. She counts down for herself and goes for it. The best part was I heard her jumping off the couch, without the pillows underneath and she was getting so excited for herself...these pics are after adding safety precautions (ha ha ha!)

Bound to happen...

Well Lydia finally got sick, she couldn't have picked a worse week considering Chris was out of town on a golf trip with his dad and brother. And I the overprotective mother was left alone with a child on New Years eve with the croup. After making several attempts to find open insta-cares I finally took her home and slept on the couch with her so I could hear her breathing all night (did I mention I was overprotective ha ha ha?) Anyways she was put on a steroid and is doing much better know but I do have some theroies as to why the great wall of China otherwise known as Lydia's immune system finally came down.

1. She is now in nursery and people send their kids even when they are sick (I have two other friends and both of their kids came down with the same thing and they are all in the same nursery!)

2.It is the holiday's and as such we were a little lax on the whole bedtime schedule, ok we were way lax one night she went to bed at 11:00 pm...yes I know we are bad parents.

3. She knew I needed something to do on New Year's Eve since Chris was out of town and figured a trip to the insta-care at midnight would fill that time!

4.She got it from playing with Dog's...ok, ok I know this one is really far fetched but with Che' and Ginger she is always playing with them, feeding them, trying to give them kisses and maybe she got something from them!

5.Those little germs finally chiped away at her immune system and brought down the great wall of China!

What a wonderful life!

Well as I reflect on all that has happened in the past year I can't help but feel like "I have a WONDERFUL life!" I feel so lucky to be able to look back on the past year and have so many great memories, and see how truly blessed we have been. We have a beautful daughter who fills each moment of each day with wonder and excitement. Lydia over the past year has changed and grown up so much. She went from crawling, to walking to running all in the past year. She has learned word upon word and sure knows how to get what she wants. Chris has been so blessed with his work, as a realtor many people have had to get extra jobs to support their families but Chris has mannaged to stay busy, and had a great year. My studio has officially been in business for over a year, I feel so lucky to get to do what I love every day. But even more than dance I LOVE being a mom, there truly is no greater calling! We have been blessed with many new friendships in our ward and neighborhood. We have gone through a ward split which allowed us to get new callings which will definitely challenge both of us. We have seen many changes in both of our families both blessings and trials but we have grown through them all. Who are we kidding everyday that I wake up I can't help but feel like "I don't know what I did to deserve all of this!" So here is to 2009 for all the great times and great memories and 2010 I"m hoping you bring just as much joy!