Look who's talking

Every since Leilani was born Targhee has been trying to get her to say "da da da da." Well as of today she officially says her first word, which is, of course, "da da da." It is very cute and Targhee is quite proud.

at 7 months

Leilani is in such a fun stage right now. We are having a blast watching her explore her world. She's starting to find her independence and is so smiley and happy all the time. We would like to freeze her just like this for a while. Here are some of the things about her...

Stands up to EVERYTHING

Speedy crawler. Blink and she's gone.

Sits up and plays. This is the first time I've seen her sit still since she was born.

Eats all purre foods, (except peas), and anything else Mom is willing to put in her mouth. Still no teeth yet, so I'm being a little careful. I'm amazed at how well she can gum things though.

Loves her bottle

Babbles. It's getting louder and louder every day.

Plays peek-a-boo

Weighs 14lbs 13 oz

Height 25 1/2 inches

Hums with me when I sing to her

Loves to play!

Play!!

PLAY!!!

We have had some wonderful moments with her these last few months. We started her on formula so Dad gets to feed her sometimes. He loves it because she just lays on his lap and now she's starting to let him cuddle her more, which he adores. One day when he got home from work, she got so excited she speed crawled over to him and gave him a big hug. I think he was almost in tears. We are so grateful for the joy she brings to our home.

We love you little bug!

Continuing my search for hobbies

I'm really starting to like creating my own things to decorate my little apartment. We recently purchased a new couch. This was our old one. We did have a cover over it so the crazy flowers weren't as blinding, but it was time for a new one.

New couch

The new couch needed something more so I made it some pillows.

It took me forever to find the right fabric, but when I found this one, I thought, "It's kinda crazy...but I like it!" I think it adds really well to my living room color scheme.

I've also been staring at my empty walls for the past 10 months and finally decided on a wall hanging. I really like the word art and vinyl lettering but I wanted something a little more personal than "Live, Laugh, Love" and the other clique things in the stores.

While visiting my sister in Kentucky I realized something that helped change my outlook on my life. Their life wasn't perfect, they had difficult things going on, as everyone does, but they were happy. They laughed as a family and enjoyed what was happening at the moment. I realized that I needed to find more time to laugh in my own life and it reminded me of a talk given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin just before he passed away. So this is what I came up with by taking the key points from his talk.

It is a good reminder to me of the good examples I have in my life and to enjoy the journey in whatever lies ahead of me.

Anyway, these are my latest projects, and I've had a lot of fun making them. I can't say I've done them completely on my own though. I've had a lot of help. My mom came with me to pick out the fabric for my pillows. My friend, Haley, came with me to buy the wood for my wall hanging. My dad helped cut the wood and piece it together. And, my friend, JaLynn, let me use her cricut to cut out the letters. So, maybe that is why it has been so fun to do these projects because it has given me a chance to get together with people that mean a lot to me.

Thanks for all the help:)

California Love

My sister, Allison, got married July 9, 2010, in the Sacramento Temple to Tabor Ramsey. The day before Targhee had classes and tests, so after he finished we booked it to California. Leilani did great! (She's well versed in road trips now:) We got to stop at the Salt flats, which I've never done before. I don't know how many times I've driven past them and thought to myself, "at what time of night or day does a person just drive off the side of the freeway and write their name with rocks in the salt flat?" We didn't excactly drive off the side of the freeway, we used a rest stop, equiped with water tap to rinse your feet after walking on the salt, but I thought it was a fun little adventure.


Around 7:30pm Leilani had had it, so we did just have to pull off the side of the freeway.

By the time we got to Reno, we were both starving and Targhee said he felt like some Taco Bell. "That should be easy," I thought, "every exit has a sign telling you what restaraunts are available so we'll just wait for the Taco Bell." Well, half way across the city there had been no sign for Taco Bell. The GPS!! We have a GPS. I'll just type it into the GPS and have it take us to Taco Bell. Sure enough there was a Taco Bell just three miles away. So we faithfully listened to the man on the GPS tell us to "turn left just ahead" and so on. About ten minutes later as we were getting farther and farther from the freeway AND city. I said, "Targhee, this can't be right." I looked to my right and there was the Reno Airport. I said, "Is it going to take us to the airport and tell us there is a Taco Bell in there?" How ridiculous! So there we were in the middle of a commercial wearhouse area next to the airport and our GPS announces proudly, "You have reached your destination!" What?? Is this like the wearhouse that Taco Bell's are manufactured in or what? By this time, Targhee's tummy is rumbling but we are both so irritated that we just got back on the freeway and decided we would just eat when we got to California.
Right after you pass Reno there is an entrance to a canyon and then you are well on your way to California, so right before we enter the canyon, we drive around a curve, in silence, of course, and what do we see ahead?

AAAWW!! Like a shining becon there it was. Way to go GPS! Like I'll ever trust you again!
So with full tummies we trudged on to California, arriving at 1:00am that night.

The next morning was beautiful! Perfect weather. The whole family was gathered at the temple. The gorgeous bride and groom were so fun to watch. There really is a special glow on your wedding day and they wore it well!

So, while the honeymooners, honeymooded, the rest of us decided to Partay!

We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at the Crum's "bed and breakfast." It was very fun to spend time with the family in a relaxed sort of way.

Monday we headed up to Lake Tahoe for the rest of our vacation. Callie set us up with an amazing cabin. This thing had five bathrooms (although, we misplaced the the fifth one, cuz all we could find were four- the men said it must be out on the deck:) Eight bedrooms, four floors (though it felt like 20 when you were walking up the stairs) and a game room. We pretty much spent the entire first day exploring the whole thing.

We played on the beach Tuesday, and I had prepared a Minute to Win it game for us to play that night. My favorite game was "junk in the trunk" where a tissue box full of ping pong balls is strapped above your bum and you have shake to get them all out.
These are a few pictures of the "face the cookie" game.

I love my family!!

Little Shack

When we first moved into our apartment I was quite discusted by this ugly old barn directly outside our front window. But, over the past 9 months, I must say that this little shack has grown on me. I am actually quite fond of it now and am thinking about taking some family photos infront of it sometime. It has a quaint appeal to it and is actually quite beautiful at sunset when the sun shines directly on it with shadows everywhere around it. I'm sorry I was so quick to judge, little shack.

Proof she's my daughter!

Everyone always tells me how much Leilani looks like Targhee. She has pretty much inherited everything from him. Well, I have proof that she actually is my daughter! From my last post you know I love the water and boating. Well, the pictures will tell whether or not Leilani liked the boat...

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

My Happy Place

Saturday morning I got a call from Targhee while he was at work. He said, "So when I get home tonight do you and Leilani want to go to Willard Bay with me?" UH YA!!!

Ever since I can remember my family has gone boating. I love being out on the lake soaking up the sun and watching skiers, both the experienced and the not so experienced: ) While on my mission I got to serve in an area close to the water during the summer. My companion and I would go to the beach (about a 6 foot span of sand)

and write our letters. I loved that spot. I felt so peaceful sitting next to the water and thinking of memories with me and my family. I wrote Targhee a letter while I was sitting on that beach and told him that was my happy place. The first time I saw him after I got home he took me to the lake. Now this was the first time taking our sweet Leilani to the lake. I was so excited.

She loved the water and looked so darn cute in her little swimming suit I could hardly stand it! We’re going to take her on the boat for the first time this Friday. I hope my love for boating can be a part of Leilani’s life as well. Thanks, Targhee, for a perfect Saturday night:)

A New Look

My friend got me hooked on this website http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/ and now I've become a thrifty decorating machine. Ok not really. But I'm trying to make our apartment look a little more loved and she lets you know how to do it on a budget.

I made this the other night. It looks a little amateur and there were a few times I was certain I had bombed it (you wouldn't believe what I went through to try and get those colors to match:) but once I hung it up, I was quite proud.

The whole thing cost me about $12!

I bought the frame, took out the glass and spackled the back board to give it some dimension. Then I arranged embroidery hoops in a design I liked and glued them to the board. Finally, I painted! Vwala!

at 5 months...

At 5 months old, Leilani...

Rolls over from her back to her stomach, usually only to the right. Occasionally she'll roll from her tummy to her back but mostly not on purpose so she looks extra surprised when it happens.

Pushes up on her hands and tippy toes in an attempt to crawl, but ends up moving backward instead of forward. This causes all sorts of distress when the toys end up farther away than when she started.

Loves company. She giggles and laughs at almost anyone who will play with her. The ribs are her ticklish spot.

Has a special twinkle in her eyes when she plays with Dad. She's a daddy's girl!

Grabs her toes and pulls them to her mouth.

Sucks her thumb.

Will not bend her torso. If her legs are in the horizontal position, so is the rest of her body. If her legs are in the vertical position, so is the rest of her body. We're working on that.

Bed time is 8pm and she knows it. She is a grumpy gus from about 5 o'clock on and can hardly wait for her head to hit the pillow.

Awake time is 6am. Much to my dismay (I'm not the happiest early morning person) But I will gladly take a full nights sleep to be awake at 6am over waking up every three hours during the night.

weight: 13lbs (25%)

height: 25 1/2 in (80%)

Her body is ALWAYS moving. I think she sleeps so well because she uses so much energy while she's awake. She wants to see, hear, touch, chew, everything! Nothing really gets by this one.

Recently started letting me rock her. Since the day she was born, she did not like being held like a baby or rocked. She just screamed the whole time. She's starting to embrace her softer side and lets me rock her for just a few minutes. I'll take what I can get:)

Just started eating rice cereal. I'm not sure how much she actually EATS but the spoon at least gets to her mouth.

(watching a baby develope brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "baby steps" :)

We love our little Leilani Bug!