Moved

Our new front room
and our dining room
With Joni recently finishing our 2nd blog book, I feel motivated to keep blogging. Just like everything else, it's easy to get out of the habit without that kind of motivation.

We are in Nevada now, not more than a few hours after the movers finished up and left we were hit with a couple of days of nasty weather. We ended up with about a foot and a half of snow and felt a little cramped in our new place with a bunch of moving boxes. It was fun to get out and play in the snow, Ellie didn't want to play or move, she just wanted to eat it.

After all of our moves, getting accustomed to a new place and to new people is never easy. We are optimistic about our situation, one thing I've learned over the last few years is that you can be miserable anywhere, or you can be happy anywhere...it's really up to you and your attitude. Home is where your heart is, and for at LEAST the next three years Nevada is our home.

We are so excited to stay in the west, to be close to San Francisco and Tahoe (California is 15 minutes away), and still somewhat close to family. The view of the Sierra's from our house is amazing, we can see Heavenly Ski Resort from our house, and we are close enough to see the snow blowing off the tops of the mountains. Looking back on our little "journey" I wouldn't change a thing, I know the moves we've made have been the right ones.



Ellie's new favorite things:
-finding the toilet and sticking her hands in it, then licking her fingers
-unraveling the toilet paper roll
-walking back and forth down the hallway carrying the same little shopping bag
-pretending she's talking on the phone, except she is using a comb or a banana
-erasing all the contacts on my phone, calling random phone numbers
-pulling clothes out of the dryer (or pulling anything out of anything)
-climbing into strange places (baskets, toy chests, under sinks) and then whining when she can't get out
-playing with her belly button
-talking to herself in the mirror
-reading books (even by herself, she loves to turn the pages)
-she actually enjoys spending time alone, talking to herself in her crib or in her bedroom
-Eating peanut butter from a spoon...she is truly OURS

A little sleep talk never hurt anyone.

Hi everyone, Joni here. We have had a busy few weeks and yes, we plan on posting recent events as soon as things get a little more settled. But for now something a little different.
Paul is a major sleep talker. He usually falls asleep about an hour before me, and about 45 minutes into his slumber starts sleep mumbling. Every once in a while I will catch a sentence or phrase and get a good laugh, and a few months ago I decided to start writing down stuff he said. So here are a few of Paul's night-time adventures...

August 12th, 11:46pm
"He just a little guy who looks like a dead goofball"

October 7th, 12:30am
"Adding peanut butter to my ipod is only making it worse"

October 10th, 11:16pm
"That Subaru is Smootharoo"

November 20th, 12:04am
"Sometimes when he's bored he plays with string like a kitty"

....And my personal favorite...
December 3rd, 12:20am
"We just did it at the wrong time and at the wrong flag pole. It was like Mississippi meatball... Pfft."

Thanks for all the midnight laughs, Paul. One of the many reasons I love ya!

Nevada calls.

So we finally got some long-awaited information about our next move. It's coming soon, we will probably be living in NV by middle of February. Paul got his official job offer last week and everything seems to be happening so fast! As much as I've enjoyed living in CO, I am looking forward to putting down a few roots.


Since relatives dont get to see Ellie that often I thought a little update might be appropriate. We finally got her a new car seat that faces frontwards. It's so fun (and slightly distracting/dangerous?) for me to see her face through the rearview as she looks around at the world from a different angle.


It's amazing how masterful Ellie is at getting what she wants (considering she doesn't know how to speak yet). Through a process of elimination we have learned her favorite activites, foods, and jokes. For those of you who are interested, here they are.
Favorite activities:
- Walking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth (x20)across the house while holding onto an assistive hand.
- Playing with anything that has to do with animal noises.
- Attempting escapes from the grocery cart, simultaniously scaring her mother to death.
Favorite food:
- Hands down, Carnation Instant breakfast
- Ice, although this is questionable as a food item
- Rasberries
- Green beans
Favorite jokes:
- Attacking Paul's solitare games and throwing the cards everywhere (Paul will swear she knows when he is about to win).
- Picking up a handfull of food, putting it up to her mouth like she is going to eat it, then throwing it on the ground.
- Pretending like she's NOT going to bite my finger off as I wash her little teeth with a cloth... then at the last minute chomping down hard enough to draw blood. Very funny Ellie.


I took her to the park yesterday and put her in the swing for the first time. She loved it! Ellie is an awesome little buddy.



Have a good weekend everyone!

If you don't feel like reading, scroll down to the pictures...

I've fallen off the blog writing kick for a while, not really sure what happened, just kind of lost the desire but it should come back...I hope. I still like reading other people's blogs, so I guess it's kind of selfish on my part to not at least keep everyone posted on...us.

Ellie is over 14 months and still refuses to walk. At the rate she gets around from crawling I'm not jumping at the bit to get her to walk though. Ellie does do a standup/sitdown routine while clapping her hands. We know she can do it but she's determined to walk on her own schedule. Her hair is so long, Joni actually gave her a quick hair "trim" last week.

She babbles in sentences now instead of just a word or two. She used to always say, "ducking, ducking, duck-a-duck-duck-a-ducking", now she always repeats, "wah oh wah oh wah oh wah oh" like someone is in trouble. She loves to read, and actually knows how to use an Ipod and erase all of the contacts on my phone.

Joni is into her "bootcamps" at the gym. I'm pretty sure she will miss it when we move again soon, for some reason when she describes it all to me it doesn't sound like a lot of fun. She is already planning on another triathlon soon. Meanwhile, I like to sit on the couch and eat Nutty Bars.

We have stayed pretty busy over the last couple of months. We got a visit from our friends the Barnes last weekend, since we haven't made any friends in the last 2 states it was great to spend time with them, plus they are awesome. We will definately miss being near my Dad and fam, and near Joel and Erin. We haven't been able to see everyone as much as we would like but our time here has been amazing. We love and will miss Colorado.

Which brings me to our next move, I received an unofficial job offer on Friday. We are moving to Minden, NV in February. Despite the reputation the Reno area gets, we are totally excited. Joni and I have both been there over the last couple of weeks and I don't really understand the harsh words for the place. It is so beautiful, and like all of the other places we've lived, it feels right. We are excited to finally put down some roots for a while, and start off fresh in a new place. Plus, having a ski resort 15 minutes away, and Lake Tahoe over the hill will be pretty nice.
Not sure why we all decided to act like idiots at the same time, I guess it's contagiousEllie loves pop cans, we filled this one with water and she went nuts spilling it everywhere. She's been off the bottle for a while (that sounds weird) but she was sick while in Evanston and it was all that calmed her down, it was that or another episode of Yo Gabba Gabba
It was great spending some time with Joni's fam over Christmas, I'm pretty sure Ellie has a lot of people who love her. We got to see Glen and Kendi too for a quick visit.

Ellie loves babies, we even caught her trying to go home with the Barnes, she found her way into Jen's bag

Lately.

So just in case nobody knew, I have the best husband on planet earth. A few weeks ago I was griping about how badly I wanted to go to an upcoming Rocket Summer concert in Denver. A couple days later he walked in after work and handed me two tickets!! Brownie points for Paul. It was an acoustic tour, so it ended up being just the lead singer on the stage talking, singing, and playing the guitar and piano. Like typical Joni, I brought my camera sans SD card. So here are a few pics I snapped with my phone. Best night ever!







So I just realized that this blog is going to be a conglomeration of random happenings from the last month.

Unrelated topic #2:
Here is the cake I made for Ali/Sadie's baby shower over Thanksgiving.



Unrelated topic #3:

I have heard a lot of new moms describe experiences where babies are "growing up too fast", where they get sad/stressed the first time their child gets a tooth, rolls over, or some other milestone. Ellie has made it through many firsts, and I have been fine. Until this ONE thing... I smiled... I cried a little ... time is passing too fast...

P I G T A I L S... Funny how two little elastics changed my baby into a little girl.




Last random topic:
We got super great courtside seats to a USU vs. Denver basketball game last night. We were able to sit directly behind the Aggie players. Being at the game made me realize a few things:
1. I miss the energy and excitement of the Spectrum
2. Denver Pioneer fans are pitiful (sorry guys)
3. Never under any circumstances, should any school band attempt a Black Eyed Peas song
4. I will always have a place in my heart for Aggie Basketball

Romantic Football (let me explain)

I remember years ago when the Broncos were doing so bad that a fan camped out on top of a Billboard in the middle of the winter on I-25 in Denver, and said he'd stay up there until they won a game again. The guy stayed up there for several weeks through more than a couple of snow storms. Supporters brought him food, a tent, a tv, clothes and the news stations even climbed up there to interview the guy.

Now that I think about it, that guy was an idiot. You have to give him credit for being committed, but it makes me wonder, why are we fans of teams that 99% of the time don't win the championships we want them to? What do we get out of this seemingly one-sided relationship?

I used to ask my friends in high school the same thing. They would have a huge crush on a girl, but never do anything about it. They were the ones that would always respect a girl, and never take advantage of her. They had thoughts of the perfect moment for their first kiss, but never kiss the girl...they were romantics.

Ever since I watched the movie Fever Pitch, I've come to realize that certain sports fans are romantics...it's all about the excitement, the anticipation, the hope, holding something or someone up on a pedastal, sticking with a team (or person) through the good times AND the bad. Not jumping to criticize when times are tough, sharing your excitement, being able to say "we" scored like I was on the football field with the team. For all the heartbreak we experience, the idea of coming out on top is one of the most exciting feelings we can have. That feeling is what makes a fan a true fan. You do a double take when you think you see someone wearing your team's shirt, you look for your team's name on TV and in the newspaper.

So, while the Broncos continue their struggles, I will patiently wait for better times to come. I will not be angry after the game is over, I will not wish to kill one player or coach that makes a mistake. Now onto the pictures of my first Bronco game at Mile High, they lost to the lowly Rams, it was freezing cold, but I was in my own personal Disneyland. I will not be the idiot that you'll see on top of a billboard, but I will respect the man who does so, because I understand him.This was before the game of course from our awesome seats, although the end of the game didn't have many more fans left than this.
Before the loss in Denver...Losing in Houston...
...and losing in Dallas

Joni here again. It looks as though Paul has fallen off the face of the internet planet so I guess I will take over the blog for a while.
I cant believe teeny lil' tiny lil' Ellie is already 1 year and >1 week old! I have hung out with this kid every day for the last 374, and she never ceases to amaze me with how much she smiles, learns and loves. Here she is at 1 day, 2 months, 6 months and 1 year.










I love this kid...


This weekend my two good friends Andrea and Jessica came to visit. Both are into running and decided to sign the lot of us up for the Longmont 36th annual Turkey Trot 10K. Here we are in the freezing cold getting ready to go.






Although I have been running for many years, it's been a while since I took stock of exactly how fast I go. I was surprised at how many people asked "what time are you shooting for" and didn't really have an answer. Finally, at the starting line I told some guy next to me I was hoping to run nine minute miles. Some time in the first mile, I was running along at what felt like a comfortable pace and the same guy said (in an arrogant way, might I add) "Hey, you better slow down or you are gonna burn out" and passed me. Those of you who know me, know that those words lit a fire under me and so I decided to try to keep the guys pace. I stayed comfortably behind him for the first 3 miles or so and even noticed I kept creeping up on him. Finally, I made the big decision to go for the pass. As I went around him he looked over at me like "good luck with that". The last 3 miles were surprisingly fun (after I decided I was comfortable passing people :]) and I ended up finishing in 46:02/ ~7:20 min miles, so I was happy. I wish now that I had tried a little harder because I got 4th in my age group and if I had gotten third I would have won a free thanksgiving turkey! Maybe next time.



Andrea and Jessica have been running a lot of races recently and they both shaved 3 minutes off their previous times, so they totally rocked it!



After the race we decided to celebrate with Five Guys burgers (my own personal heaven). YUM. Then Sunday Andrea made us her mom's white chicken chili and homemade garlic breadsticks. Good eats and good friends make for a great weekend!

Halloween and Cake

We are running a little late getting our Halloween pictures up, but I've had a few requests so here goes. I love this picture of Ellie playing on the porch



On Halloween we went to Mike and Susan's for their annual "scary dinner". I may never view water chestnuts the same way again after we had them disguised as dead mans eyeballs! I made a scary dessert... owl and gravestone cupcakes.




Those of you who are familiar with Yo Gabba Gabba will be quite amused with Paul and Ellie's outfits this year. It's Ellie's FAVORITE TV show and the only thing that can get her to sit still for more than 3 minutes. I found her little "Foofa" costume and was happy, but when I saw the adult sized "DJ Lance Rock" I knew it was meant to be!






It's crazy to think that last Halloween I was sitting around with a GIANT belly wondering if Ellie would show up soon... little did I know I had another week to wait! We celebrated her 1st birthday on Saturday and even got a last minute visit from my bro Ryan and his family! It was so great to be with family to celebrate such a big occasion. Ellie loves raspberries, so Andrea and I made a white cake with raspberry filling and whipped cream cheese frosting. As is tradition, the birthday got the top layer all to her self.




Here is our sugared-up child with a smile on her face and frosting in her hair. I'm pretty sure eating that cake was the best moment of her life thus far :) I thought she would dive face first into her cake (I would have), but she was actually quite delicate at first, taking little scoops of frosting on her fingertips and putting them in her mouth. Eventually she did create a big mess though, so we got her cleaned up and opened presents.






She got a lot of super cute stuff from all her family members and the grand finale was her baby doll from GraMaude! It was love at first sight.








Ellie told me to say thanks to everyone who came, and also to those who sent cards and presents in the mail! Happy Monday everyone!

- Joni