Gary & Jana Plus Two

Leah's first time in the jumper!

2010-07-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Turn up you sound or this one!

Just had to get a picture in of the ruffles on these bloomers...

2010-04-01T15:41:00.001-07:00

Sisters...

2010-04-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

We sure are having fun with our new little baby girl! Olivia cannot get enough of her! Sometimes it's a little overwhelming for Leah (and mommy) but it's so cute that she wants to hold her and play with her all the time. One time I even caught Olivia changing Leah's diaper! Here are some of my favorite "Sister" moments...

Yes, this is my 3 month old baby girl watching her sister play Gamecube. I love this Bumbo Seat! It's so easy to carry around...I even put it up on my vanity when I'm getting ready so Leah stays entertained. How cute is this?!?!?!?

Snuggling on the bed in the girls' bedroom. How sweet!

OK, there is nothing cuter and more fun than putting my girls in matching outfits! These are dresses my friend Lindsey made, and BOY were these girls a hit at church! Don't they look absolutely adorable? They both even have matching black shoes with bows on them. I'll have to try to look for another picture. And Leah's bloomers have ruffles on the bum! And I even made matching flowers for their hair. I am so in love with my 2 princesses!

Aren't big sisters hilarious? Olivia thought it was so funny to put Leah's giraffe on her head. I hope this isn't a picture of things to come...

Big Day for Little Leah!

2010-03-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

What a great day we had on Sunday! We blessed our little girl and had my whole family and Gary's mom and brother there with us! We also had some of our best friends there. It was amazing. Gary did a fabulous job and it was so nice to share our special day with our family and friends. Thanks to everyone for being there for us! Here are some amazingly adorable pictures my sister took that day....

She wasn't too happy, but we still got some good ones. At least she wasn't crying!

Sweet face!

Gorgeous baby, gorgeous big blue eyes!

Look at that beautiful smile! I love the way she scrunches up her eyes!

Our Tiny Dancer

2010-01-06T12:54:00.001-08:00

My friend Lindsey made tutu's for all of her son's little girl friends. She surprised me with this tiny one for Leah and then came and took these pictures of her. These are some of my favorites...

Christmas Dresses!

2009-12-31T11:04:00.001-08:00

My gorgeous girls....

Our Little Dancer

2009-12-19T21:32:00.001-08:00

It's dance recital time again! I love that her studio does a Christmas recital. It's just the younger classes so it's not such a long recital. It's just fun to see all the kids having a good time on stage!

After the recital the kids get to visit with Santa!

Celebrating afterward with Mom! I'm so proud of our little dancer! She's so good at it and loves it so much.

Coming Home...

2009-12-19T20:35:00.000-08:00

Here's Leah at the hospital getting ready to come home!

SISTERS!!!!! Olivia meets her baby sister for the first time. She is so cute with her! She loves to hold her and feed her...it's been fun watching her fall in love with Leah. SO CUTE!

Grandpa finally gets a turn! Leah has captured everyone's heart.

The look on Leah's face is priceless!!! Olivia loves to take care of her.

Our New Arrival

2009-12-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Our precious little girl was born on November 30, 2009, almost 3 weeks early. Leah Marie Acton was 7 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 18 1/2 inches. Mom had been on bedrest for 2 weeks with super high blood pressure, and as soon as we got to the 37 week mark, my doctor decided not to wait anymore. The swelling from my high blood pressure was out of control and I was miserable! So we went in for a C-Secton on Monday afternoon. Leah had a little fluid in her lungs so they kept her in the Transition Nursery for several hours on oxygen and monitors. She was born around 2pm and at about 9:00 the nurse called and said they were bringing her to my room. Five minutes later she called and said that Leah had stopped breathing and needed to be stimulated to start breathing again, so she was headed to the NICU! I was devastated, but knew it was what was best for her. She had 2 more apnea episodes that night in the nursery, and I was so glad it wasn't while she was in the room with me! They kept her for 2 nights for observation and finally ok'd her to come to my room on Wednesday morning. It was a happy day! We both came home on Thursday, and she has been just fine ever since! We sure are enjoying her!

2009-12-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

My poor little baby in the Transition Nursery

The first time I got to hold Leah! The nurses actually wheeled my bed from the C-Section Recovery to the Transition Nursery so I could hold her for like 2 minutes. They tried to get my bed into the nursery, but it wouldn't fit, so I held her out in the hall. I wouldn't get to hold her again until hours later! It was torture....

After I was able to get up and around a little we spent a lot of time going back and forth, the nurses or Gary pushing me in a wheel chair to the NICU to feed and hold Leah about every 3 hours. NOT the way I pictured my first few days with her, but it all worked out in the end...

Gary feeding her in the NICU. She's telling us her Dad is #1
So cute!!!!

Wide awake in the NICU, laying on Daddy! We sure treasured the time we got to spend with her! It was hard to go back to my room empty handed. The 2 days she was in the NICU felt like at least a week!

2009-12-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

Sweet little Leah! This is one of my very favorite pictures of her.

Finally back in our room where she belongs!

Beautiful baby!

With Grandma Edmonds...there were strict visitor restrictions because of the dumb Swine Flu, and we were only allowed 2 visitors TOTAL the whole time we were in the hospital. So the 2 Grandmas were the lucky ones to wear the wristbands to get in. They only got to see Leah through the glass in the Transition Nursery on Monday, and still came to spend time with me while she was in the NICU even though they couldn't see her. It was happy times on Wednesday when they could finally hold her!!!!

With Grandma Taylor

Disney On Ice

2009-12-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

How can I resist taking my 4 year old Princess to Disney On Ice when it's all about the Princesses???? Of course we had to go, and so did Grandma. After all, she is Grandma's Princess, too! This time we splurged on the almost most expensive tickets and boy was it worth it! We were on the 6th row and had a perfect view of everything! It was so much fun, even for us older Princesses, and Olivia sure got spoiled!

2009-12-12T22:17:00.001-08:00

Halloween!!!!!

2009-12-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

Olivia as "Olivia the Pig" for Halloween! My favorite costume so far. Here she is with her cousin, Tyler, the caterpillar! So cute!!!!

I was so proud of these bloomers my friend helped me make. Thanks, Lindsey!

In front with our Jack-O-Lanterns. Fun times!

Where did July go????

2009-07-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we have had quite a busy month! It's so hard not having a camera. I'm sorry for not having more pictures, but I guess you'll have to put up with my long narrative of the month without pictures!

July started with a bang on the 4th of July with lots of family, a great parade, celebrating 2 birthdays (Gary and Olivia) and, of course, fireworks! It's been a tradition for the last few years to gather at our house and enjoy the day. We sure loved having everyone here!

Then, of course, was Olivia's birthday and her Princess Party. Check out the post below for pics and details of that great event! Thanks to my good friend, Lindsey, for taking the pictures and to all of my friends and family who helped out! The party was a great success. That night we took Olivia to her favorite restaurant...Chuck E Cheese's! The celebrating went on and on...

The month got a little crazy when I woke up one morning with a horrible toothache. It took a few days to get into the dentist and they ended up pulling my tooth. It was quite the ordeal, and I was pretty much out of it for over a week! I missed out on a lot and Olivia got REALLY bored, but we managed, thanks once again to my family and GREAT friends who brought us lunch and easy-to-eat treats, took Olivia while I slept, etc...

This last week I have been PLAYING since I was finally free from pain. Last Sunday Gary had some family in town: his brother from Nevada and a cousin from Mexico, so we spent the day at his mom's house eating yummy tacos and enjoying spending time with his family. The girls even had a toenail painting party! Olivia started 2 weeks of swimming lessons and we've been spending a lot of time with friends. We also went to the Roy Aquatic Center last week and today and had a blast! Olivia is getting more comfortable in the water, but can't swim yet, so it makes Momma VERY nervous! But it's fun to play with her in the water. She loves the fact that I can pick her up in the water because since I got pregnant, I haven't been able to pick her up! Late Thursday night we got a call from friends staying overnight in Park City who said they had a free condo for the night and would we like to use it??????? HELLO!!!! Of course we took them up on it. Olivia stayed at Grandma's and we had a night away from everything!

On Friday we saw Harry Potter for the second time, then Olivia attended her 3rd birthday party for the month (including her own). Then Grandpa lit fireworks at his house! Saturday we spent up in Big Cottonwood Canyon relaxing and roasting marshmallows with my family. It was great! And yesterday was my nephew's mission farewell, so once again we headed south for the day! He did a fabulous job on his talk and we are so excited for him to serve a mission!

So that about sums up the month. This week will be another trip to the dentist, this time for all three of us! It will be Olivia's first time.... and a lot of babysitting for me! I hope we have a lot more fun adventures this summer since it's the last time I'll have Olivia all to myself: she starts preschool in September!!!!! We still don't know if we're having a boy or a girl, but we may find out next week at my 20 week ultrasound. HALF WAY....YAY!!!!! In the meantime, I'm getting fatter, and I've been feeling a lot of movement lately - my favorite part of being pregnant!

Thanks to all for everything you do, and for enduring this painfully long post! Keep in touch!!!!

A Princess Birthday Party for our little Princess!

2009-07-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Olivia in her new Snow White dress that Mommy made her. It was quite the project, but she sure loved it! She also got all the accessories to go with it.

The famous Princess Castle Cake! Grandma and Mom worked hard on it. Mom did the main part and Grandma did the wonderful decorations. It was lot of work, but it was fun. I love making her cakes! Notice the picture of her on top of the cake, dressed as Cinderella!

Olivia, I mean Snow White waiting for her guests....

The birthday girl with her birthday decorations.

Playing the "Kiss the Frog Prince" Game. It was so cute! The kids were blindfolded and whoever "pinned" the lips closest to the frog's mouth won.

Making sugar cube castles

Opening a ton of presents! This princess got lots of fun stuff!!!!

Blowing out candles. Here comes the cake!

The whole Kingdom! All the princes and princesses who attended Princess Olivia's Birthday Party. Everyone had a lot of fun, especially the birthday girl!

Decorating their own crowns.

What's New?

2009-06-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, not a whole lot of news to report. The baby is growing as it should, I am feeling farther along than I should, and we should find out in the next couple of weeks if it's a boy or a girl! We are having a slow, but fun summer. We don't do much, but Olivia has been playing with friends a lot. Sometimes we go to the park or to a movie, but mainly we just stay home! BORING!!!! I'm looking forward to next week when we celebrate the 4th of July, Gary's birthday, and Olivia's birthday all within 3 days!!!! I'll have more news and pictures then...

BABY TIME!!!

2009-05-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

That's right, it's official...WE'RE PREGNANT!!!! It's been a long wait, but not as long as some! We are so excited to be expecting our second little bundle of joy on December 19, 2009. Olivia was born two days after her dad's birthday, and this one will arrive just days after mine! So far everything looks great and the baby is growing as it should and has a strong heartbeat. Hopefully in a month or so we will know if Olivia is having a little brother or a little sister. I've heard that my doctor is good at determining the gender pretty early on. Olivia is so excited! She goes around telling anyone who will listen that, "My mommy has a baby in her tummy!" It's so cute. She is hoping for a girl, of course, but I think she will be happy with a baby brother, too! Sometimes at night when I'm laying by her she says to me, "Mom, I love our baby SO MUCH!" I love it. She will be the best big sister. We will keep you all updated!

Our Little Dancer!

2009-05-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

After they got their dance pictures taken at the studio, we took the girls (Olivia and her friend who is in the same dance class) to the park and my friend took these pictures and edited them. They were too cute not to post! Our little girl is growing up! She is having so much fun in dance class. She dances all over the house, in public, wherever she can get an audience! I love it.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Finding her Easter Basket

Hunting for her colored eggs!

Here she is in her beautiful PINK (of course) Easter outfit. She was so excited because the skirt "spins" and the shoes are sparkly. She is so cute!!!

These are some of the pictures we took on Easter. She had so much fun this year coloring eggs, and hunting for them in the morning. Not to mention all the questions she had this year about the Easter Bunny. "Where does he live?" "What color is he?" "How does he get in our house?" "I want to see him!" etc.... I spent about 30 minutes the night before just talking about the Easter Bunny and answering all her questions. I'm glad she wasn't disappointed!

Olivia is a crack up. I don't know where she comes up with the things she does, but her imagination amazes me. Here are some examples:

2009-04-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

She got a hold of the tape at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I don't know how this started, but she even had Grandma's mouth taped shut. It was so funny to watch her try to see through the tape to walk! She is such a goofball!!!

She found this dress in Grandma's closet and about had a heart attack to see something she could actually use as a wedding dress! She asked Grandma to make her a wedding dress out of it so she could "get married" to the prince. Of course Grandma did it for her, and then some, with the bouquet and everything! Unfortunately, the only prince Olivia could find was Grandma! She even lays on the couch and pretends to be "dead" and her prince has to kiss her so she can wake up. What a little actress!!!

Recovery...

2009-04-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, Olivia had her check up from her little surgery last week and the doctor said everything looks great! She doesn't sleep with oxygen at night anymore and he said her throat is healing just fine! He said to follow up with her regular doctor in a couple of months and to watch her at night to see if she still has some apnea. Based on what I've seen, I think she is completely free of sleep apnea and won't need a sleep study! It's so weird to lay by her at night and not know when she actually falls asleep because she is so quiet! Sometimes I whisper her name just to see if she is still awake! It's amazing. I sleep in my bed most nights (before I would end up in her room almost every night) and we both usually sleep all night long! It's amazing and I'm so glad we got those tonsils out when we did! She is back to her happy, energetic self. Most days, that is....

Quickie!

2009-03-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post a quick note to let you all know that Olivia is doing great after getting her tonsils out! She is still not eating very well, but she doesn't complain about a sore throat much anymore. She has been extremely clingy and whiny which the hospital said to expect. She will hardly talk to anyone except me and Grandma, she won't play with friends, and she doesn't want to go anywhere (except to Grandma's), which is not like her. I'm hoping it will all return to normal once she's feeling 100%. She had a couple of really good nights of sleep, and then she caught a cold or has allergies or something! (Which is why we are up at 5 am!) And I got pretty sick, too. So aside from going through kleenex at an alarming rate, she is doing really well! She doesn't go back to the doctor for a check-up for another week or so, but after Tuesday, she will pretty much be out of the woods and can resume her normal activities. She can't wait to go back to dance class! I also wanted to thank everyone for your gifts of flowers, popsicles, yogurt, movies, etc...and especially for all of your well wishes! I know Olivia has loved it, and it has helped her mom get through this as well! We have amazing friends and family!

Hospital Pics:

2009-03-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

Before surgery! She had no idea what was coming. Of course, Grandma had to come with us! And boy am I glad she did!

The hospital staff was so great! She missed a little class they have for kids going into surgery, so they rounded up someone to give her her own class! They have the kids draw a face on a doll they get to keep, then they have real hospital equipment they can touch and use on their doll and they explain what's going to happen and what each thing is used for. It was so cool!

They even made a hospital bracelet for "Lely" and let her take her into surgery with her!

All drugged up and ready for the operating room! It's great how they transport kids in wagons instead of beds or wheelchairs. They even have tiles on the ceiling painted and the Anesthesiologist pointed out pictures in the hall on the way. By the time we got to the doors of the O/R she was so out of it, she didn't know what was going on! I was glad for that.

Waiting for her to come out of surgery...even Grandma was playing the DS!!! I had to get a picture of that!

More Hospital Pics:

2009-03-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

One of the few times she actually slept!

In the "cartoon" (recovery) room. She's watching Dora on a screen above her bed.
It was so nice to have the distraction!

With Mom and Dad in recovery. Her lips are purple because she had
just eaten a red and then a purple popsicle!

I'm so glad we went to Primary Children's Hospital! They have all kinds of toys and movies for the kids, and really cater to them. They were so good to her and made the whole thing as pleasant as possible.

She had the oxygen monitor hooked to one foot, and the IV in the other.
I guess it was better than having them in her hands!

Our latest "Adventure"

2009-03-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

SOOO...Olivia has always had problems with her throat. She gagged and threw up all the time when she was tiny, then she started getting infections in her throat like once a month. Well, it wasn't strep, and she didn't have problems breathing at night, so the doctor decided not to take her tonsils out last year. Plus she was still only 2. So about 2 months ago, she started snoring pretty bad, so I looked in her throat and HELLO, there were her HUGE tonsils! I immediately made an appointment with the ENT and in the meantime, listened to a three year old suffer every night, struggling to breath. It was so bad that a couple of times I slept with her and had to shake her because she stopped breathing. Now it was obvious that her tonsils needed to come out, so last week we did it! She ended up spending the night in the hospital because they couldn't get her oxygen level up and didn't want to send her home with pain meds, which make it worse, until they knew how she would do overnight. I'm glad they kept her because when we told her she had to stay, she got so upset that she stopped breathing, turned purple, and passed out in my arms! I have never been so scared in my life! I spent the night with her, and she came home the very next morning with an oxygen tank! Her doctor thinks she may still have sleep apnea even without her tonsils! But we will get her healed from surgery, and cross that bridge when we come to it! She is doing very well, but I am very bored! She's not supposed to do anything strenuous, or be around sick kids or crowds for 2 weeks! She doesn't even want to play with her friends. So aside from a few breaks thanks to Grandmas, we have been together 24/7 for the last week. I'm ready for a night out!!!! But I am already amazed at the difference it has made for her at night! I always sleep with a baby monitor on, and the first couple of nights I had to check on her a few times because I couldn't hear anything! It's so cool and I hope once she is healed that she will sleep through the night again.

COUSINS...

2009-03-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Olivia is the youngest cousin by a few years on both sides of the family. On her mom's side, almost all of her cousins even CLOSE to her age are boys! She absolutely loves them, and they adore her! Three of them stay at my house a lot when their mom works and they are almost like brothers to her. They will kill me for telling you this, but they even play house with her, just to make her happy! They also come up with some pretty wild things to do to entertain her. Mind you, they are now 13, 11 and 9 years old!!! Two of her older cousins came home for Christmas from their Army Base. We hadn't seen them for a long time, but Olivia remembered them and was so excited to see both of them! We miss them...

GRANDMAS...

2009-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

We were trying to take pictures of Olivia but she HAD to have Grandma in there with her. It's a pretty cute picture! Olivia is so close to both of her Grandmas! She loves spending time with them and they love to play with her. I couldn't find any pictures of her with her other Grandma. I think she's avoiding the camera! Plus we don't have a camera, so all of these are from someone else's camera.

Olivia BEGGED for a train for Christmas! So of course, Grandma got her one!!!

AAWWWW....love a Grandma!

Long overdue updates...

2009-03-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

I've been getting into a lot of trouble lately for not updating my blog. I blame facebook. I've spent so much time looking for old friends that I've neglected my blog! Well, it seems I have nothing but time these days, so I've decided to work on my blog again. Here some pictures of Christmas, only a couple of months late!!!

Her dad refinished this PINK desk for her! I found it for $5 at D.I. and Gary spent hours sanding all the rust off, then painted it pink (Olivia's favorite color) with glitter paint over the top! It's awesome!!!! And she loves it....

Here's Olivia in her homemade jammies and matching ones for her "Lely"

Tearing through gifts at turtle speed! She had to play with everything as she opened it. Good thing she's an only child!

More recital pictures...

2008-12-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

Here are all the little ballerinas waiting for their turn on stage!

I love their little dresses!!!!

"I love you, Santa Claus!"

The Christmas Tree Dance!
This has been such a good thing for Olivia. I hope she continues to enjoy it like she already has...

Happy Holidays and more...

2008-12-27T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I still don't have a camera and I'm waiting for people to send me pictures, but I thought I was WAY overdue for a blog update! This last month or two has been extremely busy and exciting! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all of my brothers and sisters except one (we missed you, Sha!) It was so nice to have my parents with us again for the holidays! On my birthday Gary took me to an amazing restaurant owned by one of his bosses. They give everyone who works there a free meal and we have never gone, so Gary made reservations for my birthday. It was unbelievable! I think I'll have to save my money and go there once a year on my birthday! December was busy with getting ready for the holidays. I did a lot of sewing this year: nightgowns, baby doll blankets, pillows and diapers for Olivia's friends...it was fun but very time consuming! Olivia had her first dance recital on Dec. 4th, and I have to say, it was a blast! She was so good! I've been bugging Gary to get the video of it on our blog, but I think he forgot. I guess I'll have to get on his case again. But here are some pictures my friend took:

This is the dress rehearsal

Olivia is in the same class as two of her friends in our neighborhood. This is Chloe, Paige, and Olivia. They all have so much fun!

They did dances to the soundtrack from "The Grinch" this was the finale with all the dancers.

Update...

2008-11-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

SOOOO.....my camera is broken. I couldn't even take pictures on Halloween. My sister took a bunch, but I don't have them yet. So this is going to have to be a picture-less post!

We have been busy! Two weeks ago I started babysitting a friend's kids 2 days a week. She brings them at 6am! Now, most of you know that I am definitely NOT a morning person, but luckily I LOVE babies, so it makes up for it. I also babysit my neighbor's kids once a week. Then last Monday I took Olivia in to the doctor because she had a wierd pimply rash on her face that kept spreading. The doc said it was infantigo..which is a bacterial rash caused by strep or staph. So he put her on antibiotics which was a good thing, because that night I was in Urgent Care with a high fever and sore throat...STREP!!! So since Olivia was already on antibiotics, she never caught it. I was miserable for a few days, but thanks to the priesthood, modern medicine and the best Grandma in the world (my mom took Olivia for 2 nights), I got better quick! (So to speak...I still slept all weekend trying to fully recover!)

So besides being sick, babysitting, Olivia's dance class and play dates, I also help my sister with her Youth Indoor Football League! I help answer emails and phone calls, help with fundraisers, and lately we've been running around to all the schools in the area passing out flyers! Basically I do whatever she tells me to do. It's been a busy week and I finally have a few minutes to relax. I like keeping busy, but I also like my down time! I promise I'll try to get more pictures posted soon!

Unexpected Visitors...

2008-11-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

So, I'm totally in love with facebook...it has put me back in touch with so many people I have lost over the years! One of them is my best bud from high school, Scott. We've been emailing back and forth a bit since I found him again, and then last Friday I got a phone call from him. He says to me, "Oh by the way, we're in Salt Lake City this weekend!" I about passed out. We went to high school in a suburb of Chicago and the last place I expected him to visit was SLC!!! I was so excited. So Scott and his friend, Matt stopped by for lunch last Saturday! It was just like old times and felt like hardly any time had passed. What a great surprise! Hopefully it won't be as long in between visits next time, and hopefully we won't lose track of each other again!

Homemade Christmas Presents

2008-11-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well....I don't usually brag about myself, but these turned out so cute I just had to share! I made Olivia a nightgown for Christmas last year and decided to do it again this year. I had tons of extra fabric, so I thought it would be fun to make a matching one for her favorite doll! It was a bit tricky, but I'm so proud of myself for working it out! I hope she loves it. I'm sure the little one will end up on "Lely", though...

REBA AND KELLY!!!

2008-10-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we had great seats!!! I think this is when she pointed at me and smiled. You think I'm kidding? I'm totally serious.

Another great shot from our great seats.

Reba and Kelly making their grand entrance, singing "Sweet Dreams" It was AWESOME!!!
What a night to remember. I know it was a couple of weeks ago, but I still had to post some pictures!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-22T20:20:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun today taking pictures at our friend's house!!! She really decked out her kitchen with a bale of hay, corn stalks, pumpkins, the works! Then she took these (and many more) ADORABLE pictures of Olivia in her Halloween costume. THANKS, LINDSEY!!! She was so sweet to do this for us. And I must say, her boys looked so cute in their costumes, too! Olivia is my little princess. She acts like a princess, loves anything to do with princesses, and will tell you in a heartbeat who her favorite princess is...CINDERELLA!!! She is outgrowing EVERYTHING lately, so I bit off a bit more than I could chew trying to make this costume for her. Luckily, my good friend Nicole stepped in and pretty much sewed the entire thing! She did an amazing job and Olivia is SOOO happy to have a new Cinderella dress that actually fits! Olivia is such a joy and I hope I can really cherish these moments while they last...

BEST NIGHT OUT EVER!!!

2008-10-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have some great friends. Lots of them. But two of them topped the charts on Friday night by giving me the best early birthday present ever! THEY TOOK ME TO THE REBA/KELLY CONCERT!!!! That's right, Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson are touring together, and most of you know what a HUGE Reba fan I am. I LOVE HER!!! It was an amazing concert. They were both on stage the entire time. If Reba was singing one of her songs, Kelly was either singing with her as a duet, or singing backup. If Kelly was singing her songs...you get the idea. It was pretty cool. AND....REBA POINTED AT ME AND MADE EYE CONTACT!!!! I promise, I have witnesses. I won't bore you with the details, but I swear it's true. We had GREAT seats not far from the corner of the stage, and every time she came to our side of the stage, I went crazy because she was so close. I know I'm a little bit nuts, but boy do I love her music! Another cool part is that the whole show was opened by Melissa Peterman who did a hilarious stand-up comedy routine. She played Barbara Jean, one of my favorite characters on Reba's TV show. She was so funny and even did a bit in the middle of the show when Reba and Kelly sang the theme song from the show. We had so much fun, and I know I thanked them like a hundred times that night, but here it is in writing: THANKS CHRIS AND CAROLYN LIKE A MILLION TIMES!!!! You guys rock. Chris took some great pictures and even got "Fancy" and "Because of You" on video!!! I will post them as soon as I get them. What a great weekend!!!

Long overdue pictures

2008-10-04T17:13:00.001-07:00

SO.....my sister took these gorgeous pictures of Olivia just after she turned three back in July. I am finally sharing them with all of you! I just love these and can't wait to get all the edited pictures back so I can plaster them all over my house! Thanks again, Sherry! On a side note, Olivia has been in dance class for almost 2 months now and is LOVING it! She has two little friends from our neighborhood that are in the same class and they are so cute! They are learning a Christmas dance for their recital in December. They will be Christmas trees in a small production of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and I can't wait!!! Not much else is happening in our neck of the woods. Life is good!

PHEW!!!

2008-09-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

What a week! I guess it started a week and a half ago when Olivia got sick. She started throwing up on Thursday night and didn't stop until Sunday. Poor thing couldn't keep anything down! I felt so bad for her. Then on Monday she seemed fine until the diarrhea started that night. NIGHTMARE! That went on for 3 whole days. And to top it all off, Gary came home early with the same bug on Monday and was sick, sick, sick for 3 days. Now, in the middle of all this, on Wednesday this week our plumbing decided to get all clogged up. I had had it by then, and Olivia and I left our poor sick Daddy at home and went to sleep at Grandma's. We could use the toilet, but not the shower or the washer. I didn't want to chance using anything else, either. On Thursday (Olivia was better by then) we took a break and went to the zoo with Aunt Sherry, her boys, and Grandma. It was a PERFECT day at the zoo and a much needed, relaxing day. On Friday Gary finally went back to work and the plumber came to clean out our pipes! I started feeling much better, which was a good thing, because then I had to prepare a talk for church! Gary and I spoke in Sacrament Meeting today, and I can now say the week is OVER!!! And I only have one thing to say...THANK GOODNESS FOR GRANDMAS!!! They saved me this week. I hope next week is better...

MONTANA OR BUST!!!

2008-08-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't have all of the pictures from our Flathead Lake trip yet, but I can at least post the pictures from our visit with Gary's family! His dad lives near Glacier National Park in a little touristy town and we haven't seen his brother and sister in almost three years! His dad was down here in March when Gary's other brother went through the temple, but he's the only one who's seen Olivia since she was about 3 months old! It was nice to see everyone, and I especially had a great time holding Gary's 8 month old nephew as much as I possibly could. Talk about a sweet baby boy! It was heaven. Olivia loved the baby, too. Here are just a few pics:

Olivia and Uncle Sean

Posing with Aunt Sheri

My favorite picture of baby Kristian!

Playing games on the porch (Olivia took this picture!) The weather
was so perfect, we spent a lot of time outside. It was beautiful!

Olivia and Kristian

Me and Kristian (he was kind of popular that weekend!)

More birthday pics...

2008-08-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

It wasn't easy tying in the elephant theme with the water theme, but we managed to do it! Heather bought Olivia the cutest elephant pinata and the cake turned out to look just like her "Lely" (her much loved stuffed elephant which is now lost). What a great birthday for our 3 year old bundle of fun!

Since the plane from Australia was delayed a whole day and Grandma and Grandpa and Heather missed the party by only a couple of hours, we celebrated AGAIN that night and waited to cut the elephant cake until we were all together.

Happy Birthday, Princess!!!

2008-08-19T23:10:00.001-07:00

Yes, I'm finally posting pictures of Olivia's birthday. It felt like we celebrated for a week! I made her a little cake (pink, of course) on her actual birthday, but for her birthday party she requested an elephant cake. The cake is always a big deal for me, and I love making them for her. It took a lot of planning, but I'm so thrilled with the way everything turned out. The kids all had a lot of fun and it was so nice to have so many of her cousins here to celebrate with her. Olivia is such a friendly, loving girl, and she has made a lot of friends here. We love our little princess who brings us so much joy and laughter!

Homecoming!

2008-08-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little late, but I haven't taken pictures almost all summer because my sisters have such fancy cameras and take SOOOOO many pictures, I just rely on them for all of my pictures. WELL.... I just barely got all the most recent ones downloaded on the computer, so I'm finally posting them! Mom and Dad's homecoming was so emotional and great! Grandma was worried that Olivia would be more excited to see Heather than her because her and Heather got so close while G & G were gone. Well, Olivia ran right to Grandma (who was crying because almost EVERYONE in the family was at the airport). And I am happy to report that the bond Olivia had with her Grandma before she left is still there. Whenever we go over there, the two of them are inseperable. It's so good to have them home!

Olivia was getting VERY impatient!

With most of the grandkids

The happy reunion

The WHOLE clan minus 3 - We miss you Kyle, Katie & Britt! They are away serving in the military. (Well, Katie's not, she's just married to Kyle and is dragged wherever he is stationed!)

Just the beginning of the promised pictures...

2008-08-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention that Olivia had her first sleepover at her Grandma's house the day before we went camping. She was playing in Grandma's room with her cousin when she fell and hit her face on the edge of the metal bedframe (OUCH). Grandma felt so awful and we did our best to reassure her that Olivia will fully recover and will still be going to sleepovers at Grandma's! We did everything we could to keep the gash clean while we were camping and it is healing just great! She'll probably have a little scar, but what kid doesn't...

Chillin' by the campfire

Olivia and her cousin, Benson LOVED playing in the tent. Benson was so good to read to her and play with her. What a lifesaver!

ABC's About Me...

2008-08-14T23:28:00.001-07:00

A. Attached or Single - Attached
B. Best Friend – My husband/my mom and sisters
C. Cake or Pie – Cheesecake. Does that count?
D. Day –Saturdays or any day I get to sleep in
E. Essential Item(s) – extra clothes for Olivia, lotion, diet coke, cash
F. Favorite Color – purple
G. Gummy bear or Worms – bears! Worms gross me out in any form
H. Hometown - Currently? Kaysville
I. Indulgences – Shoes for Olivia!
J. January or July – April????
K. Kids – Have one, want more...blessings from heaven!
L. Life is incomplete without – My family
M. Marriage Date – April 4
N. Number of siblings – 2 brothers, 3 sisters
O. Oranges or Apples – apples, I guess. Not a big fruit fan
P. Phobias or Fears – Losing a loved one
Q. Quote – "What yer said?" (Olivia) or "Get that corn outta my face!" from Nacho Libre
R. Reason to Smile – Olivia's emerging sense of humor, being with family, finding a good bargain on shoes for Olivia, basically anything to do with Olivia!
S. Season -Spring for sure!
T. Tag – All of my fellow bloggers!
U. Unknown fact about me – None. I'm an open book
V. Vegan or Opressor of Animals – ??? I'm not really extreme either way
W. Worst Habit – Two words....Diet Coke
X. X-rays or Ultrasounds – What kind of question is this?
Y. Your favorite food –Mexican or Italian
Z. Zodiac Sign – Sagitarius

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

2008-08-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

WELL...What a crazy month! I keep waiting for the hundreds of pictures we've taken of all the recent events, but I still don't have them on my computer, so you'll have to wait for pictures! Since my last post, we have had Olivia's birthday party, my Mom and Dad's homecoming, family visiting from out of state, a camping trip to Tony Grove, and a family vacation to Flathead Lake, Montana! It has been a blast! We are finally home and I think we are settled in for the rest of the summer.

Olivia's birthday party was so much fun! She loves the water, so we had a bunch of her little friends over for a water party! We had a small pool, water balloons, sprinklers, treats, and lots of fun! Of course she got spoiled and she got her first Barbie! She's getting so big...

We went straight from Olivia's birthday party to the airport to pick up my parents and Heather. They were supposed to be here for her party, but they got delayed 24 hours in Sydney. But they finally made it and we spent a week hanging out with them and lots of family from out of town. It was so good to have my sister Shauna and her kids here for 10 days. We don't get to see them enough.

When everyone left, Olivia and I packed up and left Gary home for a camping trip to our favorite spot, Tony Grove Lake with Grandma and Grandpa, Heather, Sherry and her boys! It was great! Then we had 1 day to do laundry, and pack up for a ten day trip to Montana! We visited Gary's dad in Whitefish for a couple of days, then went to Flathead Lake where my family rented a house right on the lake for a week. We were in a perfect little cove where the water was shallow enough for the kids to play in ALL DAY and Shauna and Steve and their kids came for half of the week! It was so relaxing and so much fun! The kids all had a ball, and it was hard to get them out of the water at the end of the day. We took one day and drove up through Glacier National Park and over Logan Pass which is the most beautiful drive I've ever taken! (Pictures to follow, although pictures could never do it justice...) It was hard to come home from such a great vacation, but now we are back to reality.

Somewhere in that busy month my sister came to my house to take pictures of Olivia which turned out SOOOOO cute! She starts a dance class this week and she is so excited. It will be so good for her. Sorry for the long post, but we had a lot going on! I promise pictures soon...

Tea Party with Belle!

2008-07-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is in the town production of "Beauty and the Beast". Some of the cast got into costume and presented a "Tea Party" for the kids before the production today. Olivia went with one of her little friends and I must say it was WONDERFUL!!! They had people register ahead of time so there were only a certain number of spots for each time slot. They took pictures there of each of the kids with Belle but we won't get it for a while. Here are some of the snapshots I took. We had so much fun! It was the cutest thing ever.

Here are Little Cinderella and Little Belle waiting to see Belle and the Prince...aren't they beautiful?!?!?!?

This is when Belle came around to the tables to talk to all of the girls

Here is Olivia (I mean Cinderella) with Mrs. Potts and Chip

We also saw Babette, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and several dishes, but my little Cinderella wouldn't get close enough to them to take a picture. She was in awe and I agree with my friend who said how much fun it is to have little girls!

4th of July Festivities...

2008-07-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

What a great 4th of July! We started out at the parade, where you can see that everyone took advantage of the water fight at the end! It was lots of fun. Olivia loves to get wet, but the trucks that come by to spray everyone kind of intimidated her, so she got a little nervous. My nephews played a trick on me to get my camera away from me so they could dump a bucket of water on me! They got me good. After lunch we went to the "carnival" so the kids could play on the big blow up slides. Then it was barbecue time and cake and ice cream for Daddy's birthday! We love to celebrate his birthday on the 4th with everyone there. Unfortunately, I was holding the cake and didn't get pictures of the big man blowing out his candles. Then it was time for the fireworks! Of course my brother came through with LOADS of fireworks and sparklers for the kids. It's so nice to sit in my front yard and have a great view of the city fireworks show that is so great every year. Overall it was a perfect day and the clouds even stuck around to make the heat bearable. I love the 4th!!!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

I love the 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays. Parades, people, food, FIREWORKS, family...not to mention it's Gary's birthday! I just love it. I also love all it stands for. We are so blessed to live in a free country. I know there's a lot of turmoil in our country and an upcoming election that scares me a little, but at least we have the freedom to vote and make a difference and be educated. We have so much more than a lot of people in the world. I love it. I love my nephews who are serving in the army and I'm so proud of them! I love that we have people fighting for and protecting our freedom all over the world and I'm so grateful for them! Now let's party and celebrate all we have to be grateful for in this country!!!

Twilight

2008-06-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I finished reading "Twilight" last night and I have to say, I wish I hadn't heard so much about it before I read it. It was a bit of a disappointment to me. I won't go into details in case some of you haven't read it, but there were things in it that bothered me. I plan on reading the other 2 books so I can be in the loop, and I imagine they'll get better. Don't get me wrong, I liked the book, I just didn't LOVE it. And so far, ladies, I am not in love with Edward yet! I hope the next book is better, but I can't get it until Heather gets home from Australia. It's locked in her room.I heard there's a HUGE waiting list at the library and I'm really not over anxious, anyway since the next month will be CRAZY trying to get ready for the 4th, mom and dad's homecoming, Olivia's birthday, 2 vacations...maybe I'll get to the sequels before the first movie comes out!

Summertime!

2008-06-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

It's HOT outside! In order to get outside once in a while we have to find a way to keep cool. Olivia doesn't have a swimming pool YET (her birthday is next week), so I turned on the sprinkler and put her slide in it so she could play in the water. She had a blast AND kept cool!

It's Always Fun at Grandma's House!

2008-06-28T00:56:00.001-07:00

Olivia loves to visit her Grandma! There are so many fun things
to do and play with, inside and out! Here she is swinging in
Grandma's homemade hammock swing. For a while I thought
she might fall asleep. No such luck!

PLAY DOUGH!!!
Grandma makes fun jewelry.

Just like a princess!

Grandma and Liv making "muffins"

We didn't get a picture of the two of them playing outside in
the sandbox. Grandma came in the house laughing telling us
that when Olivia was "taking her order" Grandma wanted milk.
Olivia informed her that "We don't have milk. You want Diet Coke?"
That's my girl! It's always hard to leave Grandma's house.
But we'll be back...

Homecoming!!!

2008-06-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Exactly two weeks from today my parents will return from serving a mission in Australia. I'm so proud of them for going! It's been a life-long dream for my dad and my mom is always so willing to serve. It was so perfect for them to be able to go to Australia and they have had some amazing experiences. I know they will miss it, but we sure have missed them! We talk to them almost every week on the webcam, but it's just not the same without them here. It sure was easier being a parent with them around! Without them, life as a mom has been just a little harder.

My sister Heather went to Australia to do some traveling with them before they come home. It was so weird to see her on the webcam last night in the same apartment we've been seeing mom and dad in! I'm glad she got there safely after such a long flight. I can't believe she is so far away! It will be so good to have everyone home again...

2008-06-27T07:59:00.001-07:00

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Tag!!!

2008-06-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm finally doing it, Melissa! It was a lot of fun reading yours, so I'm going to tag some of my regular blogger friends. Should be fun!

How to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog:
List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys
1-My family
2-Hearing my daughter's belly laugh
3-Good music

3 Fears
1-Losing a loved one
2-Deep water...gives me the willies just thinking about deep, dark water...ditto, Meliss!
3-Snakes

3 Goals
1-Have another baby
2-Achieve financial stability
3-Fix up my house!

3 Current obsessions/collections
1-Playing cards
2-Precious Moments
3-Clothes for Olivia

3 Random or Surprising facts about myself
1-I played football in High School (and I was GOOD!)
2-I hate shopping for shoes because the cute ones never fit
3-My main goal in life (non-spiritually speaking, of course) is to meet Reba McEntire

I tag...Heather, Kari, Jana, Jen, and Kerri (I would tag Sarah if she would ever get her own blog going!!!)

That's a big fork!

2008-06-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

One night at dinner Olivia took the serving fork out of the broccoli and for some reason thought it would be fun to eat with a big fork! It was so funny! She finished her whole dinner with that fork. I just kept hoping she wouldn't jab herself in the eye with it!

Olivia and Friends

2008-06-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves to play with her cousins and friends and she has plenty of them! She still refuses to let anyone else be Cinderella. She HAS to be Cinderella, so her friends have to "settle" for Minnie Mouse. She is so good with her little friends and we love having them at our house!

Potty Training...

2008-04-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

OK, so I haven't taken pictures of our potty training adventures (although I should...some of them would be quite humorous) but I couldn't resist telling my favorite story so far. So here it goes...(sorry to those of you who have heard this a hundred times). I was in the office on the computer when Olivia ran past me saying, "I need to go potty, I need to go potty." Then she came out of the bathroom with a defeated look on her face and said, "I tried." I went into the bathroom and found a puddle right next to the toilet. I sent her to her bedroom to get some new panties on while I cleaned up the mess, and when I got to her room, she was just standing there without any underwear on clearly upset. I asked her why she didn't have clean panties on. She sighed, then she said, "I can't". When I asked why, her head lowered, her shoulders drooped, she sighed even louder and said, "I can't do this". I nearly lost it but kept my composure and asked her what she meant. She said, "I don't want to go potty in the big toilet." I said, "Is it hard being a big girl?" She said yes, and I gave her a little pep talk so she finally put some panties on. It was so hysterical! The look on her face will forever be in my memory. I just wish we could print pictures from our minds so you could all see what I saw that day. She is so funny! I laugh every day...

Daddy - Daughter Time!

2008-04-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Olivia and Daddy had a picnic outside last Sunday while Mom took a nap. But I had to capture this moment before I decided to lay down because it was such a great picture! Olivia loves getting attention from her dad. She gets so excited when he comes home and whenever we pull in the driveway she asks, "Is Daddy home?" So cute!

This is a common site in our house! Olivia snuggled up to her dad reading books. She always has to take a turn reading it to you after you read it to her. She loves books and we are so glad. She's a smart little cookie.

Ride On!

2008-04-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

My nephews stayed at my house one night while they were out of school. The only toys we have at the house are Olivia's, so they had to make do with what we have! Ryan especially took advantage of her Barbie bike and Princess helmet! I love it!

Playing Dress Up

2008-04-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Olivia LOVES playing dress-up and loves playing in her kitchen. This day she cracked me up because she had just about everything in her dress-up box on except her Cinderella dress. She's so fun to watch! Her imagination is unbelievable. Sometimes it's a little embarrassing to listen to her because I hear words coming from her that I know she learned from me. It's especially embarrassing when she yells at her dolls!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Olivia had a great time looking for eggs and getting all dressed up for church in her new Easter dress.

O's New Bike

2008-03-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

SPRING IS HERE!!! Our first order of business once the weather started getting warmer was to buy Olivia a new bike! When I told her we were going to look at bikes she said, "And a helmet, too!" So of course we had to buy her the helmet, too. It's never too early to teach them! She took to pedaling the bike pretty quick! What a cutie!

Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere!

2008-03-18T21:06:00.001-07:00

Olivia loves her baths!!! She runs in every night after dinner and turns the water on and takes her clothes off. It's all I can do to hold her off until either Mom or Dad finishes their dinner so she doesn't scald herself with hot water! Tonight she kept yelling at us from the bathroom, "Mom, look at my beard!" Every time one of us went in she had more bubbles on her head. She is such a fun kid!

#1 reason to not fall asleep on the couch while your 2 yr old has the run of the house...

2008-03-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Don't I look Pretty mommy??? OK, so mom definitely knows better than to fall asleep with Olivia running around, but sometimes she's so tired! I walked into the bathroom (Olivia's favorite place to play) thinking that as usual she had gotten water everywhere since she LOVES playing in the water. Well, much to my surprise she had emptied my makeup drawer and many other things onto the vanity and had my eyeliner in her hand. She looked up at me and said, "My eye hurts, Mommy!" Her eye was watering and when I looked at my makeup, she had the cap off of the mascara. Sometimes it's not necessarily a good thing to have her watch me put my makeup on. I laughed so hard and of course, before I washed her eye out, I grabbed the camera. I love motherhood!

Christmas time at Aunt Sherry's house!

2008-01-13T16:36:00.001-08:00

We had so much fun spoiling Olivia this Christmas. She didn't have any Grandparents in town, so we spent a lot of time with other family members. Her cousin Britt had returned from a year in Korea with the Army for a 2 week leave, so we spent a lot of time with him. We went to Jana's sister Sherry's house for Christmas Eve, then we made Aunt Heather (another one of Jana's sisters) spend the night so she could be there when Olivia opened her presents. The rest of Christmas day was spent relaxing and playing with just the three of us. It was a great Christmas!

New beginnings for a new year!

2008-01-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

Many of you out there have been bugging me to start a blog, and even though I am more than 2 years behind on scrapbooking, I'm doing it anyway. There are a few of my old high school friends I've been wanting to get back in touch with and I figure this might help.

Here's a little info about our small family:

Gary and I have been married for 4 1/2 years and have a 2 year old daughter, Olivia. She is the light of our lives! Olivia loves anything girly: princesses, Dora, tea parties, baby dolls, dress-up, purses, lipstick...you get the idea! She also has so many boy cousins that she can also hold her own with cars, trucks, trains, and dirt! She is a very well rounded, independent, and FUNNY kid! We are so blessed to have her. She has always been such a good girl, and even in her "terrible twos" she hasn't been too much of a problem (although her Aunt Heather might disagree on that point since she took care of her for a whole weekend!).

Gary has his degree in Architecture and is working as a draftsman for a firm in Salt Lake. He has been toying with the idea of going back to school to get his Masters to become a licensed architect, but he is so happy with his current job that he just may stay there forever! We live in a great neighborhood with great schools and wonderful friends and would be content to stay in our old but nice house for many years to come!

I quit work over a year ago to stay home with Olivia but recently started watching the 4 kids (and 1 dog) of a friend of mine while she goes back to work. Olivia LOVES having kids to play with all day and I am loving taking care of a 3 month old baby again! It keeps us busy, but we love it!

That's the Actons in a nutshell. Hopefully this will help us stay in touch with our friends and family across the miles! I'll try to figure out how to post pictures and all that fun stuff soon!