18 months

I've been busy posting on my other blog and therefore this one has become a little neglected.  But, I figured I should give you all a little update on our 18 month old.
What??  I have an 18 month old?
Well, tomorrow I will.  Danica turns 18 months old on February 2nd.  She'll celebrate by having a bubble bath!  I haven't given her a bubble bath yet... I know it's silly, but I wanted to give her one on a special occasion.
Mom and Dad will celebrate this Sunday when Danica goes to Nursery!  I'm almost positive Danica will do just fine in Nursery and I'm so excited to be able to listen to the lessons.

Danica has grown so much and learned so much in such a short amount of time, it's crazy to me.  I love this girl and all her personality.

she wanted to wear a hood, but that sweater doesn't have one, so she made her own

A few of Dani's favorite things -
Ranch dressing.  This girl LOVES ranch dressing.  She'll dip anything in it...including her hands and then she proceeds to lick it all off.  I don't mind because it gets her to eat more. She's all about dipping her foods in something
Taking pictures.  She got a toy camera for Christmas and ever since she's seen me take pictures (for my other blog) she's been wanting to too.  She'll press the button on her camera and she even does great poses!
Dancing.  I love to watch Danica dance and she loves dancing to Safety Dance from the Glee Soundtrack.  I'll have to take a video of her dancing... it's so cute, but it sort of resembles the Goombas swaying in the elevator in the Super Mario Bro. movie, but at warp speed.
Going for walks/being outside.  I know every kid loves this and Danica is no exception.  She gets super excited and will gather her shoes and our shoes and everything else we need to go outside.
And... reading, playing pretend, jumping on and playing with Dad, singing, her play kitchen, sitting inside cabinets, closing and opening doors over and over, people watching.

I told her to pose and here are her poses

Danica says (in her own cute baby talk) -
•dad    • mom    •baby    •danica    •pop pop    •dog    •woof    •meow    •moo    •quack quack    •blub blub blub (fish)    •tweet  (this one totally doesn't sound like tweet... it sounds more like she's gargling)    •ssss (snake)   •ooh ooh ooh (gorilla)    •an elephant noise (no idea what the onomatopoeia would be for that)    •bzzzz    •ribbit    •vrrooom    •circle    •star    •triangle    •square    •heart    •A    •C    •O    •X    •Y    •Z    •butterfly    •pillow    •necklace    •ring    •uh oh    •man oh man!  (oops... that's my fault)    •ranch    •milk    •one    •snow    •shoe    •boots    •sock    •pants    •shirt    •hat    •hair    •eyes    •ears    •nose    •toes    •teeth    •elbow    •knee    •diaper    •blanket    •bath    •bathroom    •outside    •sit    •remote    •book    •hi    •yes    •no    •bye bye    •mmmm     •boom    •bottle    •hot    •brrrr (cold)    •coat    •button    •zipper    •zip zip zip (when we use the zipper)    •cheese    •water    •cup    •drink    •spoon    •bread    •hot dog    •music    •church    •Jesus    •wallet    •light    •ball    •bow    •flower    •that    •wet    •bubble    •block    •thank you    •minnie    •kyle    •natalie    •drew    ... I'm sure there's more.
 She's actually been repeating EVERYTHING we say... usually just the last word we say in a sentence.
And she understands just about everything we say, even if she doesn't say those words yet.

instead of falling asleep, Dani found the wipes

Danica sleeps -
From about 7 or 7:30 until 8 or 8:30... so 13 hours.  She's a really good sleeper and always has been.  We're really worried about how our next kid will be.  Her naps are getting shorter, which isn't so fun... but I can't really complain if she sleeps so well at night.

"cheeeeese"

Danica is very social and cuddly.  She's very good at giving hugs (with a tight squeeze and grunt) and kisses.  And when she gets hurt, our kisses make it all better.  She loves to take our hands and help us do something or grab our hand and pull us where she wants us to go.
Every time I greet her in her crib she says, "hhhiiiiii!"
Every time she closes a door she says, "bye bye"
She's really good at following directions and loves to throw things in the trash for us, if we ask her.
Unfortunately she also loves throwing her food on the floor.  (I'm sooo waiting for that phase to be over.)
I also found out that Danica freaks out when I build her a cool fort and won't go under it.  It has to be a pretty lame fort... like a blanket hanging over our kitchen counter.  I'm sure one day that'll change.
Anytime I say, "No, Danica, don't touch that please!"  She'll say, "hot hot hot".... I usually have to explain that it's not hot, and why I don't want her to touch it.

 We're very proud parents and Danica is such a smarty.  She seriously is learning new things every day!

Comment on Crocheting

I was writing a response to my last post in the comment section... but it turned into a really long comment, so I just decided to make a little post instead.  Here's my reply to the comments so far on the post below:

I learned how to crochet from a roommate like 6 years ago.  She had me take it one little step at a time... making a REALLY long chain, pulling it apart, and doing it again and again until I got the hang of it.  Then she taught me the actual stitch and how to continue stitching lines.
I didn't really start to crochet again until like last year and, though I thought I had forgotten how to do it, it all came back to me.  Like riding a bike.  So, you might be surprised what you remember, if you've learned once before.
The more "advanced" stitching techniques I learned online.  I was looking at tutorials online and had no idea what they were talking about.  I didn't understand all the lingo so I googled them.  But I found the most helpful instructions on youtube!  I could actually see all the steps they were doing, pause or rewind it, and watch it all again.  So awesome.
I also got a book from my mother-in-law that tells me all my need-to-knows about crocheting.

For those nearby, I would love to show you what I know about crocheting.  I can't guarantee I'm the best teacher... and hopefully I'm not doing anything wrong!  But if you're interested in getting together sometime let me know.  I can organize a time to teach a little class thing.

Crocheting bug

I've caught a crocheting bug! 
It's just what I've been wanting to do in my free time.  Lately all I've made are flowers and I'm having so much fun!  (I have a how-to book entirely on crocheting flowers... so I'll be busy for a while)
I made this headband for Danica today and I had to share because I thought she looked so cute and so much older in it (sniff sniff).  She would NOT hold still long enough for a picture and she only let me take a picture of her when she was lying on the floor... haha!  (...so not the best pictures). 

 

 

(the flower at the top of her head is a little bit bigger than the side flower)

Anybody else like to crochet?

Friends

Ugh

Some of you know that I had been feeling sick off and on since the beginning of December.  I wasn't exactly sure what was going on.  I went to see my doctor a couple times and took different medications to ease the pain and nausea.  We thought that it could have been a possible yeast infection, multiple UTI's, or multiple kidney stones.  We weren't sure what was going on exactly, but my doctor (well, my old doctor, as Tyler calls her... I'm switching doctors now) was pretty sure it was a UTI, so she gave me a prescription last week.

Last Saturday (my 4th "episode"), I started feeling really sick again.  This was the worst case yet.  I was sick in bed from 8am until 8:30pm.... with fevers, back pains, nausea, vomiting... the works.  I eventually started feeling better so I thought the antibiotic was finally working.

Then Thursday rolled around and the back pain and such came back.  I called my doctor's office made an appointment for a couple hours later.  Unfortunately, I totally forgot Tyler had taken my car to work so I had to walk the 7 blocks in pain, while pushing Danica in our double stroller in the ice and snow.... not fun.  (I really should have called a friend for a ride).  My doctor gave me a prescription for a stronger antibiotic.  I then told her that I thought it was something more than a UTI because it had been going on for over a month and asked if there was a better way to just figure out what was wrong.  She sent me to the hospital (luckily not a long walk) to get a CT scan.

I got the CT scan and Tyler met me at the hospital, leaving work early, and we headed home together.  After many phone calls and waiting around we finally found out that I was experiencing all this pain and sickness because I had a kindey stone! Again! (I had 2 while I was pregnant).

This stone was 3.8 millimeters and was obstructed.  Basically it was really close to the bladder opening, but couldn't make it through.  Because of this being a problem for over a month, my kidney was backed up with a lot of fluid and was having a hard time working and so I ended up with some gallstones too. Blah.

Tyler took Friday off work and after many more phone calls we got an appointment with a urologist at a clinic close to the hospital.  For the hour we were in the waiting room, I noticed I was the only patient probably under 70 years old.  I'm a broken-down 25 year old!  But, on the bright side, I was also the only patient that didn't need assistance to walk around.  After talking with the urologist, he was luckily able to schedule a surgery to get the kidney stone removed that day. 
So off to surgery I went.

The procedure went very well.  They did a urital basket extraction.  As I understand, they basically stuck a tube up, caught the kidney stone with a little basket device, and pulled it out.  We're going to have tests done to see what caused the kidney stone and see if I need to change my diet.  Tyler and Danica hung out in the waiting room... Dani missed her nap, but she was a perfect angel.

I feel very good now recovering.  I'm supposed to take it easy... which isn't too hard to do because I've been very tired and it's the weekend so Tyler's been around.  I have to urinate like every 15 minutes (too much information...???) probably because of all the fluid buildup and also because I've been downing liquids like no other.  I was also told I need to get up and walk around so I don't get phenomena. Tyler's been a HUGE help.  He always is.

I'm so glad we finally figured out what was wrong with me!  I already feel a whole lot better and am not in much pain at all.
(Can you believe this was the quick and shortened version?)


On another note, if you've been following my other blog I finally updated that too.  I put a link in the top right of my blog... or you can click HERE

Party time!

...I mean potty time!

Danica has been showing possible signs she's ready for potty training!

I was wondering if I could get some free advice from you guys.  

What has worked for you or someone you know? 

image

November and December update...finally

Well, I have a million pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas and in between.  Posting all of them would make for a really long (not to mention boring) post.  So I'll just post a few of my favorites...
Since pictures speak 1000 words I'll let them do (most of) the talking.

Thanksgiving in CA with my family

bundling up for a walk in Grandma's gloves

Dani loved my sister's Christmas scene

Happy

Sad

Tyler rock climbing

Thanksgiving at my sister Anna's

Family pics 

First time playing in the snow

building a snowman with Dad

Hugging the snowman

Attempting a snow angel

Our gingerbread houses

Emily's

Tyler's

Back views

Christmas lights on Temple Square

 

Dani just woke up

Christmas in CO with Tyler's family

opening up stockings

Dani LOVED seeing Frosty on the front lawn with PopPop

Do not repeat

Well, for those that were interested... I've created a blog to document my personal challenge I mentioned in my previous post.

http://repeatnot.blogspot.com/

Yikes!

Challenge

Tyler told me today I have too many clothes.
Say what?
Can a girl have too many clothes?

Well, this may end up being a mistake, but I decided to take on a personal challenge.  I do feel very blessed and don't want this explanation to come across the wrong way... I've been fortunate enough to have a wonderful friend who recently gave me a bunch of clothes.  I've also bought a lot of clothes in the last little bit.  And although I went through my old clothes and gave a lot away not too long ago, I'm finding my closet is pretty full; full of clothes I'm still not wearing much.  Not because I don't like them, but because I get into clothes-moods and wear the same bunch of tops over and over.  I just can't seem to give up on some of those other clothes yet and give them away.

So... my challenge, starting the beginning of the year, is to wear a different top every day without repeating a top until I've worn all of them once.  (If needed, I can repeat pants, accessories, shoes, cardigans, jackets, coats, socks, and underwear... it's mainly just the tops that can't be repeated.)

I'm taking on this challenge to hopefully find out what clothes I actually like and would wear.  If I find I'm not digging them, then I should just give them away.

I've decided to do this with my church attire too... this one might prove to be a little more difficult because I have a million skirts (from way back when) that will need to be worn with a plain top...  and I only have so many of those.  I may have to adjust the rules with those outfits...?  But for sure the skirt/dress will change each Sunday.

In order to keep me accountable, I've decided to take pictures and document them somehow.  I'll let you know how I document, if you're actually interested... maybe on a separate blog.  Even if I don't post every day I'll still be taking pictures every day.  Yikes!  What am I getting myself into?

Memories

Christmastime always gets me thinking of tons of fun memories from my childhood and with my family.
After seeing my friend's post I thought it'd be great to follow suit and post this:
 
Answer about Emily, or Tyler, or Danica, or all 3 of us:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.