Car Keys ARGHHHH!

I have the most rotten luck with locking my keys in the car. It all started two years ago. Scott and I attended a friends birthday party. We put our keys in our camera case and the next think we knew, it was stolen. We had to call the locksmith to get into our car where the other set was waiting, but we needed to make doubles of all the ones we lost. We kept putting it off and putting it off.
Shortly after Paige was born, I was at her doctor's apt. I had left her diaper bag (which contained: her blanket, bottle, binkie, and formula) and my car keys in the car. After calling a locksmith, I returned to the doc.'s office and asked the nurse for formula and then I went next door to the dollar store for the rest of the items. I strongly encouraged Scott to get another key made for the car. We went to the locksmith but it would cost $60 dollars to make the key which contained a chip in it. Scott didn't think we could afford it :). So we didn't get it.
Then I accidentally locked the car while it was parked in my driveway. I locked the doors just like Scott was encouraging me to do but picked the time that he was coming back out to the car to run an errand and so he didn't bring the keys into the house with him (this episode was technically Scott locking the keys in the car). Once again, he called the locksmith and I once again insisted on a new set of keys. Procrastination prevented the purchase of the car keys once again.
At Christmas, our work party was up the canyon and I had a few people riding up with me. I went on auto and put my keys in my purse and then locked the doors. The only problem with that was that I then placed my purse in the trunk of the car so I didn't have to carry it. Luckily some engineering friends were able to break into my car and help me out.
Then finally today, I dropped off a package at the post office. That still small voice told me to leave the doors unlocked but I didn't listen and locked it anyways with the keys sitting on the passenger seat. Once again the locksmith was called. Since Scott could not beleive I had done it again, he drove immediately to the locksmith to have all the keys made. I am greatful for a forgiving (although teasing) husband and all of you locksmiths out there. PS- I have to clarify that it wasn't just Scott's fault that the keys were never made. I too had the responsibility to replace them but procrastinated.

Happy Birthday Scott

Yesterday was Scott's birthday. We tried to do a full day of celebrating so here goes the play by play. At 745am he got up to play basketball with his buddies. He played for 2 1/2 hours and was pretty sweaty when he got home. He did say he hit a few lucky shots but I think he's got skills. When he got home, I made him eggs and french toast with peanutbutter and syrup on top. Not to mention his beloved orange juice. Then on his birthday, Scott got to work by installing the toilet on our newly tiled bathroom. He was truly the plumber while doing this. He then put the framing back up around the door. After working hard for most of the day, we got cleaned up and went to dinner at Boston's in Layton. It was yummy. Scott had the jumbalya pasta with shrimp, chicken, and sausage. Scrumptious. He was also a good distractor to Paige, who kept trying to steal the pens out of the waitress' apron. After dinner, we stopped for a movie. He's a big Simpson's fan and even got me into them (much to my mother's chagrin). So he picked out the Simpson's movie. We put Paige to bed and popped in the movie. He got some workout pants and jazz tickets. Not too bad of a day for him. Happy Birthday, Scott!

Snow Day!!!

We had some major snow today. It kept coming and coming. Paige and I had a front window view of 3 different cars getting stuck in the snow. I attempted the shoveling but only got about 3/4 done. It was frustrating to see another 3 inches where I had already shoveled. Idecided Scott could attempt the rest. It was fun to bundle Paige up and sit her down in the drive way. She tolerated it and even enjoyed it for awhile then she went down for a nap after half of it. Here are pictures of Paige watching Scott shoveling from her perch in the bedroom. She was jumping and pounding on the window. She thought it was fun to watch Scott shovel buckets of snow. We couldn't even pull the car into the driveway. We measured and though it seemed like 2-3 feet, it was only 13inches. The pictures don't quite capture the full magnitude or depth of the snow but it was amazing.

New Year's sledding

Over the new year we were able to take Paige out sledding for the first time. It was really fun to bundle her up and brave the cold for all the fun snow. We had snow pants and boots from my sister and we then purchased a warm coat for her to wear that reminded us of the Christmas story. On the way out the door, Scott thought she needed a matching hat and gloves so they were added to the order. Now accessorized, we were ready for the sledding hills. We joined friends, at a house by Snow Basin, on New Year's Eve. The hill was nicely groomed with the surrounding snow so deep it took us back to our childhood snowcaves and snow games. Paige wasn't sure about flying down the mountain but I think she liked it once she got past the surprise. The next day, we joined my sister and her family in Logan for more sledding fun. The first time I took Paige down that hill but got going a little too fast and I lost Paige towards the bottom (face first). I thought for sure that was the end of our sledding day. Dad came to the rescue and safely took her down some smaller hills. Her favorite part was the ride back up the hill on all fours on the sled. We were also greatful to my brother-in-law Eric and his four-wheeler that hauled us back up the hill (the lazy way to sled (or smart, however you look at it)). A fun day for all of us. Here are some pictures.

I love you, Grandma

On Christmas Eve, we lost an amazing lady. My grandma died at the age of 90 after an amazing life filled with hard work, happiness, and love. I was able to live with her for four years while attending Weber State. During that four years, I realized that she was: extremely humorous, she liked pizza and ice cream, she was an amazing cook and taught me some great recipes, we'd watch movies galore, we'd grocery shop together and she showed me how to pick out produce, she was very intelligent (read 2 newspapers a day), she was very loving and showed compassion to me on numerous occasions, and best of all she was my friend and companion. We shared a very close and special relationship.

For 6 more years (after marrying Scott), I was able to keep that relationship by helping her with many of the duties she was unable to carry out in her older age. We'd take road trips to Logan, trips to doctors, and stop for shakes at artic circle (her favorite was carmel cashew). I'm glad that she was able to meet Paige and form a close relationship with her. I know that there's alot I can teach Paige about her Great-grandma and also all that I learned from her. I loved her and will miss her humor, her concerns, and yes, even the tedious duties I sometimes had to do for her. Thank you, grandma. I love you!!

Carseats and necklaces

Paige has 2 new fascinations: carseats and necklaces. Aunt Ginger was the first one to introduce the necklace. While babysitting, Paige found one of the twins plastic, beaded necklace and took an immediate interest to it. After falling in love with the necklace, grandma and grandpa Armstrong found some mardi gras beads at the dollar store. The first time we tried taking them off, she threw a tissy fit. Needless to say she has them on at all times of the day and no worries to you worrying mothers, I am always around when she has them on so she won't strangle herself!! She also thinks anything with a strap is also a necklace and thinks the camera case is just a big pendant:).

The next fascination is the car seat. She loves to climb in it and try to buckle herself in. The ironic thing about it is that she doesn't like to get in it when we have to go anywhere. Now we have the new front-facing carseat and she loves it. She gets to see us and talk (boy is she a talker) to us all the time. She can also see the cars in front of us and I think she likes the tail lights. It's just as amusing to Scott and I because we can see her too.

Throw-up everywhere

Tonight was a night of mopping up Paige's throw-up. You're probably wondering why I'm sharing the wonderful story of her night throwing up. One simple fact, she's never thrown-up or been really sick before. It's ironic, because everytime we babysit my sisters' kids, they are almost always sick under our care. She's been a little fussy tonight. She didn't want any of her lunch or dinner so we've given her the sippy cup full of milk and left it at that. Then right before bedtime, she crawled over to her toys. She hugged her Care Bear then looked up at me. I knew it was coming and got there right in time to cup my hands under her mouth (like I could catch it, what was I thinking). She then spewed the largest amount of throw- up, for such a tiny person, I have ever seen. The Care Bear didn't have a chance!! Poor thing (Paige, not the Care Bear) was thrown in the tub and proceeded to throw-up in the tub (she was afraid of the bowl I was shoving under her mouth). The sad thing about it is that her mother, the nurse, panicked and called her own mother trying to find out how to help Paige and save her from further retching. Anyway, we finally got her settled and put her to bed when we heard the coughing signaling the repeat performance of being sick to her stomach. After a bunch of dry heaving and sips of water, she is down for the night and hopefully feeling better. Hopefully your stomach is as strong as mine as you read this and kudos to Scott who had to clean up the mess. What a great dad!!