Okay, I need your help. It seems that more and more people are going private with their blogs. I was against it before because I really enjoy blog surfing and I hate it when you think you have found on old friend, and click on their link only to discover you can't "spy" on them because their blog is private. Some people have mentioned that they are going private because they were getting lots of random people looking at their blog, and some would look several times a day. I must admit that I am probably one of those "scary blog lookers" who shows up a ton on the blog trackers because when I get bored, I like to go to a blog and check out all the links they have on their blog. Which, requires visiting the same blog several times a day. I love to check blogs a lot that have fun craft ideas, recipes, or links to other cool sites and stuff. I would assume that others are doing the same. So, for me, the blog tracker statistics are not enough to scare me into going private. If people really find my life that interesting, I really don't care how many times a day they check my blog. :) I don't know, maybe I am too trusting or something because I really just don't care who looks or how often. So the question is, should I care? Do we all need to be more careful in the blogging world? What things do I need to take into consideration as far as going private or not? Has anyone out there had a problem with identity theft or other problems because of the information on their blog? What is your opinion? Of course everyone needs to do what is best for them and their family. For me, i have not felt the need to go private, but seeing so many others doing it has made me think twice about it. Please share your thoughts!!

Photoshop fun

We just downloaded Photoshop (Andy gets the professional version for free from his school, how cool is that! ) and I am trying to learn how to use it. I think I might be messing up my pictures more than fixing them :) Here are a few attempts at black and white conversions. It is a good thing my kids are cute because you will be seeing a lot more of them now! ;)

Hoppy Easter!

Big and the Magic Washing Machine

***Sorry this is a long post for journaling purposes. Feel free to skip it!


Avery slept in our bed for the first few months of her life. One of my FAVORITE things was that she would hold on to my finger while she slept next to me(she still holds my finger while she falls asleep. so sweet!). After a few months, we decided that is was time to transition her to the crib in her room. I read on line that you can make the transition easier by putting something familiar in the crib that has the mother's smell on it. She loved the soft blanket that we had on our bed under the comforter. It was a pink velour type blanket, so I decided to put that in the crib for her to lay on. Well, she became very attached to this blanket and it officially became her "Blankie." Until she was about 18 months old, she carried around a QUEEN sized blanket everywhere she went. It finally occurred to me that, duh, why don't I just cut a piece of the blanket off to take places with us so we don't have to lug the whole thing around. And thus, "Big" and "Little" were born. We called the piece I cut off "Little", and the rest of the blanket was referred to as "Big." Well, after lots of lovin',both Big and Little started to get very ratty. I knew it was time to do something when I repeatedly got comments like "Wow, you can tell that blanket it is really loved." We were getting ready to go on a trip to my parents' house in California (summer '07) and my mom had recently purchased some of those big ol' new front load washer and dryers. I was trying to think of a way to switch out Big which was not going to be an easy task for a 2 year old who is VERY attached to her blanket. The idea came to me of a "Magic Washing Machine." Before the trip I started telling Avery that Gramley had a Magic washing machine, and that if we put Big in, it would come out brand new. She was a little hesitant, but started warming up to the idea, and actually got excited about it. When we got to California, we put Big in the washing machine, sprinkled some magic fairy dust(glitter) on it, and started the washer. We watched it spin around for a few minutes and then headed off to play with some toys. While we played with toys, Gramley snuck into the laundry room and cut a heart out of Big. She then sewed that heart onto the new and improved Big (a cute new cuddly blanket that we bought), and put it in the dryer for a few minutes. When the dryer beeped, we ran back upstairs to see what happened to Big. Avery opened the dryer and was excited, but a little perplexed. We showed her the heart, and she started to gently rub it on her face. A few minutes later she came to me and in the sweetest voice said "Mom, can we ask the magic washer to give me my old Big back?" A part of me wanted to give in and just give her the old blanket back, but I didn't. She never cried or complained. She carried around her new Big and constantly rubbed the heart on her face. When she went to sleep, she always made sure the heart was right next to her face. It took a few days of "talking up" the new blanket, but it actually worked! She still talks about gramley's magic washing machine and how it made her blanket new again.

This is Avery Showing what is left of Little

This is her New Big
(sorry I took this picture at kind of a funny angle)

P.S. How funny is this girl! She sleeps with a sleeping mask on!

I finally got my new camera(Canon Rebel Xti) and I am having so much fun with it! I have so much to learn though. Photography is a lot harder than it looks. I'm trying to figure out how to use manual mode so the exposure isn't quite right in the photos, but I'm working on it! Here is the first round of shots. What do you think?

My little artist

Hi this is Avery. I just made some pictures for ya and it is a picture of a snowman and I just want you to come over and look at my pictures on our blog. :)


This is a picture of me

Another Week

This week was pretty uneventful again. The kids have both been sick so we haven't really left the house much. I am starting to get stir crazy and I'm just about ready to buy a ticket home to California. Enough with the snow and cold already!! I know I am always complaining about the cold and lack of sunshine, but listen to what the newspaper had to say about this blasted city last week...

"If the sun does not shine today, we'll set a 5 year record for the most SUNLESS days in a row - -eight -- and the National Weather Service says we will probably get through 10 before we get a chance of a glimmer, on Monday, when the prediction is mostly cloudy."

"The Cleveland area has enjoyed only two perfectly clear days since Nov. 1. That leaves the other 97 DISMAL DAYS since then either cloudy or partly cloudy."

"Cleveland ranks among the CLOUDIEST CITIES in the nation "

"Cleveland averages 202 CLOUDY days a year."

Oh Mister Golden Sun PLEASE shine down on me!!!!!!!

On to some happier news, here are a few highlights from this week.
1.I got to see WICKED on tuesday. Andy got me tickets for my birthday/V-day present. . It was AMAZING. The writers are seriuosly geniuses and Elpheba is my hero. The girl who played her was incredible to say the least. I LOVED it and I think everyone should go see it. Thanks for going with me Andy!!

2. Andrew is sleeping through the night!! Yes, he is a year old and I probably should have let him cry it out a LONG time ago, but the truth is I LOVE nursing and snuggling with my babies even at 12:00, and 2:00, and 4:00, and 6:00 in the morning. It is exhausting, and I know I'm crazy, but I kind of like it. They just grow up too fast. But, I am very happy that he is sleeping now.

3. I got a new camera on Ebay (different than the one mentioned in the last post. I returned that one to get a bigger and better one :)! I have always thought it would be so fun to be a child photographer, so I decided to add it to my never ending list of things to do. I have been reading a ton on the internet and trying to learn as much as possible. I can't wait to actually get the camera in my hands and start shooting. Anyone want to volunteer their kids/babies to be my guinea pigs, i mean models?? :)

And now for the weeks lowlights

1. Andrew hates getting his hair washed in the bathtub and totally fights me every time. Well, on Friday he was trying to get away from me and banged his mouth on the side of the bathtub. He totally chipped his front tooth!! Poor kid! He chipped a pretty big chunk off too. Good thing Daddy is an almost Dentist. As soon as Andrew can hold still, not bite off his Dad's finger, AND stop drooling long enough to let the composite dry, we can get it fixed. I don't think I can wait that long. Am I totally vain for caring that much?!? Don't answer that.
2. Avery got her first Cold Sore. Who ever heard of a 3 year old getting a Cold Sore??? I have never had one and Andy hasn't had one for months so I have no idea how she got it. Now she will have them for the rest of her life. SO SAD!! She has been a pretty good sport about it though.

Well, maybe this week wasn't uneventful after all. I hope I haven't bored you to death. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I'm sure I will be posting LOTS once I get the new camera!

Look Ma!

...but not TOO close. I made some curtains for our kitchen! I love sewing, but I am not very good at it. I think I am physically incapable of sewing a straight line! They still turned out pretty cute though. I just need a little more practice I guess.

On my last post my friend Jess suggested I take more pictures of my kids to entertain myself. I just got a new camera, so I have been having a lot of fun. So for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures of Andrew. My camera has this feature called Color accent. It takes the picture in black and white and then randomly picks out some colors to highlight, mostly yellow. I don't have photoshop so I can't do any editing. We are going computer shopping soon. I'm trying to decide between a MAC or a Dell. Any recommendations?

Sorry I'm turning into a once a week blogger. Life is just so incredibly boring right now. There is absolutely nothing going on. Is it just me or do January and February seriously last FOREVER?!? Anyways, my friend Lindsey tagged me. It is kind of similar to the one I already did, so I'll just answer the new questions. And, if anyone is lacking for things to post on their blog, consider yourself tagged!

10 years ago...check here

5 Things on my To-Do List Today...1.Laundry,Laundry and more laundry 2. Grocery shopping 3. Make curtains for kitchen 4. Give kids a bath 5. Etsy stuff

5 Snacks I Enjoy...check here again

5 Places I Have Lived...1. Morgan Hill, California 2. Encinitas, California 3. Mission Viejo, California 4. Provo and American Fork, Utah 5. Cleveland, Ohio

5 Jobs I've had...1.Los Hermanos-server 2. EFY counselor for 3 summers (Yes, I was one of them. I know they can be annoying, but I had some seriously AMAZING experiences.) 3. A million Temp jobs doing secretarial stuff 4. Center for Change- A treatment center for girls with eating disorders- we basically watched their EVERY move to make sure they weren't hiding food or barfing or anything (not to sound insensitive) 5. Mother of 2

5 Things People Don't Know About Me...1. I am totally afraid of the dark! Andy went out of town a few weeks ago and I slept with almost all the lights on and I left the TV on the BYU channel all night in my room 2. I love scary roller coasters. I remember going to Magic mountain with my fam when I was little and crying because I couldn't go on the scary rides with my siblings 3. I love to play the guitar and sing ( that doesn't mean I am any good, I just like to do it). 4. I took a bowling class at BYU. It didn't help much, but I once bowled a 179. 5. I LOVE to drink bottled water. andy thinks it is a waste of money, but I just think it tastes better and is so convenient. Plus, in the winter I leave it in the garage and it is always the PERFECT temperature

Well, there you have it. Any one have any ideas of something I can do to make life a little more interesting?

Our Dear Prophet

President Hinckely touched not only my own life immensely, but the lives of millions of people through his dedication and service to the Lord. He is my Hero. I love that man! His love for all radiated from his smile. Even being thousands of miles away, I felt his love. Every time I saw him during conference or read his words, the spirit testified to me that he truly is a prophet of God. His strength, sense of humor, humility, and testimony will be missed, but never forgotten.

I saw this picture on my friends blog and fell in love with it. Thanks Holly!

Let it Snow!

Yesterday we got our first snowfall since we've been back in Ohio. And, it was actually kind of fun. This January has turned out to be way more mild than last year, so it doesn't seem so bad. Last year it was below zero for weeks. I guess I shouldn't speak too soon though because I heard it is supposed to be like 15 degrees this weekend. YUCK! Anyways, I decided to be adventurous and take the kids out to play in the snow. Avery loved it and Andrew, well, hated every minute of it.

Happy Birthday Buddy Boy!!

Andrew turned 1 today!!! He is such a fun happy boy and makes me laugh on a daily basis. I don't know what I would do without him!!

Here are a few things he likes to do:
Chase the vacuum
Sweep the floor
play the piano
took his first steps on Christmas eve
loves to dance
loves to get his sister in trouble
loves to sleep by his mom
can say Mama, Da, Soda, Ball, Uh-oh (minus the uh)
Loves to play with balls and cars
loves to eat
go up and down the stairs
he can wave bye-bye
gives great loves
loves to make me laugh
loves to try on his sister's princess shoes
Happy 1st Birthday Drew!

We love you!

p.s. Did you notice the recurring them in all of his pictures? Ha! Mouth wide open. Silly boy!

Christmas Outfits

Here are a few snapshots of the kids in their Christmas outfits

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Sorry for all the pictures. Here are a few random ones from Christmas.

Drew in the overhead compartment on the airplane

Candy Cane lover
Santa brought Avery a Pink Sewing Machine!


Drew checking out his new monkey toy

Christmas at the Ingersoll's
Thanks for the hats Andrea and Austin!
We love Uncle Aaron

Thanks for taking care of me Grandma

Back to Life,Back to Reality

Well, after an AMAZING 5 week vacation, we are back in Ohio and my flip flops are back in the closet. sad. I haven't been very good at keeping my blog updated, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I know it is kind of late, but better late then never. SO, I'll start with Avery's cute Princess birthday party. She was so excited and talked about it for weeks. She wanted everything to be pink. She even picked out a strawberry cake and strawberry frosting (which I wasn't too excited about, but it ended up being pretty good!). We invited just a few friends and had them dress up in their princess dresses. They looked so cute!! It was a lot of fun! Happy 3rd Birthday Avery! I love you Sweetie!