Bubbles

And for our family members who live far away in Pennsylvania and Utah- here's a cute video of another bath when Isabelle was giggly. I couldn't edit it very easily-so the first 30 seconds are going to be the best to watch.

(Friends, is there an easy way to make this video larger?)

Unedited Brain Vomit

Getting Izzie to nap the last two days has been kind of like getting my Mom's hair wet when she goes swimming- nearly impossible without force. I caved this afternoon and put her in the car for a drive and she was out in four minutes. I'm wondering if she is ready for one nap a day instead of two naps? Or maybe she is cutting even more teeth? I swear if she keeps up like this she is going to have teeth like a Great White. Not that I wouldn't be extremely proud...

I'm so over SYTYCD this season. I miss Miami Asian. Billy is annoying me. Why isn't Mia doing more group choreography. I vote Lauren for the win. Or Twitch, I wish he could win. And while I'm spouting about reality tv, this may be the lamest Bachelorette in the show's history. Every week I can barely watch as Ali makes poor outfit choices and refuses to comb her hair. Cmon girlfriend, have a little dignity. Let's get some product in there and use a hot tool or two. Scragglepuff central.

My house looks like a tornado of toys blew through, then came back around for another pass. I would probably pick up the toys, but, she's just napping. She is going to want all of them out again in order to cast them aside and cry for different ones. It's inevitable. At least my toilets are clean, that totally counts for something.

Also, my Toshiba is in the hospital. It crapped out like two weeks ago, and we are still waiting on the box to arrive for me to ship it in to them. My laptops always have history of faulty power plugs, they lose their charge and can not be revived. So, this photo wall project that I have been working on/ procrastinating since about April can't be completed until the computer gets sent away, worked on, and returned to me. I'm thinking by about Christmas time I'll have that picture wall in the entry way all finished. Perfect.

Turns out, Redding is hot. Like the surface of the sun had some time off and wanted to go some place warm so it came to Redding for vacay. Can you read that? It says ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DEGREES in my CAR. Eff.

I think I'll go to bed at 8 tonight. Is that too early?

Birthday hang over.

I'm at that post-birthday crash where you realize you have eaten your year's allotment of calories within the past seven days. I woke up this morning feeling a little like Jabba the Hut- sluggish, achy, puffy, and a little bit violent. Nobody likes to feel like that. I attribute that to lack of regular exercise, weird sleep patterns, and eating much like a sumo. 100 percent my fault.

I was determined to exercise this morning, and since I missed the window of opportunity to venture outside before the sun heats up the pavement and melts the stroller wheels, I opted for living room yoga. I have a yoga DVD somewhere, but of course I couldn't find it. This is how it went.

1. Option One: Find yoga DVD. Status: Failed. Not in garage, not in DVD cupboard, likely in a  dusty box somewhere. Moving on.

2. Option Two: Use Wii to stream  a Netflix DVD. Status: Failed. Replaced Wii remote batteries. Hooked up to Internet. Netflix needed an initial hook up DVD mailed to me. Abandoned project. Tried not to to freak out and bash TV with little tykes baby's first piano.

3. Option Three: Use XBOX to stream a Netflix DVD: Status: Failed. Remotes not synced. Synced remote. Replaced battery. Lined up netflix queue. XBOX not connecting to Internet. Restarted router. Restarted XBOX. Sweating, despite not working out yet. More determined than ever to do some sort of yoga. Thinking of just making some poses up.

4. Option Four: Use the Wii Fit Balance Board for boring and slow yoga poses. Status: Failed. Balance board Mia. Possible location: with yoga DVD.

Then I quit. I figured the Yoga Satan had won.. Isabelle thought this whole process was quite funny and was entertained the whole time- which I guess is worth something.. Then I remembered that Netflix can stream to a computer! Which I own!

5. Option Five: Stop being such an idiot and view the yoga DVD via full laptop screen. Status: Success! 45 minutes and one dirty diaper later, I was feeling so much better.

And so, I embark on the familiar quest to lose some weight. It was really helpful for me to blog about it in the spring when I lost and kept off 30 pounds, so I'll probably do some more tracking on the blog. Isabelle's birthday is in 11 weeks. (Whaaaaat?!) so I'm trying to lose ten pounds by then. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week so I think that is totally achievable. Right? I think I can, I think I can. I saw some pictures from a thing I went to a few weeks ago and it was like, whoa, who invited Shamu. I really want to enjoy Isabelle's birthday party without wondering if my chin looks fat or if my chunks are showing or if I should move for a better angle. It's far too exhausting.

Here is Isabelle mid-clap, she's excited too:

BirthMonth Giveaway Winner

I'm happily eating my final piece of birthday cake, appropriately at the close of a fantastic weekend. Anyway-

The winner of the $60 BirthMonth Giveaway Winner is:

And comment number 23 was submitted by:

(For the conclusion of Adrienne's favorite birthday memory from the year 3029, please see the full comment from the original post.)

Congratulations Adrienne! Maybe CSN has some space-age year 3029 stuff you can use in the future. I'll be emailing you with details about your win. Adrienne is my dear friend from BYU, we first met in the dorms and when I met her I immediately thought, "Well, we will never be friends." Turns out, her wild blue spandex, affinity for neon, and love of cheese sucked me in and we ended up living together our first and second year. She flew all the way from NYC to attend my wedding, and just twenty days after Isabelle was born, we attended her wedding reception in SLC. Adrienne, I miss your face, come over and swim sometime. Or, take me a ride in your space ship.

Turning 26.

Phew! It's hard to find time for blogging with ALL OF THESE BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES HAPPENING.

I slipped into my bed Thursday night only to hear the crinkling of wrapping paper, the tsss-tsck of a tape dispenser, and then woke up to this:

My husband bought me shoes and cereal, he knows me so well! And really, what could beat carbs and gladiator sandals?

I spent the morning with my blue-eyed, fuzzy-haired baby.

Had lunch with some old friends. Took a nap. Scrubbed some toilets.

Got the mail. Got a package! Got excited.

Treated to delicious steak dinner with by husband, sans blue-eyed baby.

Met up with family for delicious all white cake. My favorite.

Had some help blowing out candles

Opened some amazeballs presents. Loved everything.

Stole me some birthday baby kisses

Then made it just in time to see a *free* animated birthday movie with my husband.

I fell asleep all happy last night after receiving texts and phone calls and facebook messages-I felt pretty special. I love my birthday. Thanks for remembering, everyone. (Not that I would let you forget, but still- thanks.)

*Tomorrow, check back for the winner of my birthday giveaway! Exclamation point.

Craigslist find #2389

Jazz would have a heart attack if I had purchased 2400 things off of craigslist. So I exaggerate a bit. Who doesn't.

Anyway, we have never actually had a dresser/changing table for Isabelle. In our Sandy apartment, there just wasn't room, and we put the changing pad on the spare bed in the nursery. Or the kitchen. Or the floor. Then we moved, then we were homeless, then we moved again. And on the List of Stuff to Do to the New House, it just hasn't made the top of the list.  Most dressers we have looked at are between $400 and $1000, especially the ones that match the crib we have. I have been scouring Craigslist for months and months waiting for a perfect find to pop up.

And it never did. Soooo I stopped checking craigslist twice a day and figured we'd eventually have to shell out big bucks for a nice dresser somewhere down the road.

Saturday morning we were just puttering around the house and Jazz showed me a picture of a dresser HE had found on Craigslist. I immediately said GO GET THAT THING RIGHT NOW PLEASE IF YOU LOVE ME AT ALL.

And so he did! $200 bucks and an hour later, he even cleaned the dresser inside and out and brought it into Isabelle's room. Did I mention he did this while Isabelle and I napped? Oh glorious husband of mine! It was used to stage a house, so it's brand new and has never even had stuff in it. It is perfect for Izzie's room, it is the right size and the right color and now I can organize to my heart's delight.

I'm thinking of having some of Isabelle's 9-month photos printed onto canvasses for that wall space. Thoughts?

In other news, guess who is mobile.

PS Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Scroll down for deets.

IT'S MY BIRTH MONTH. plus a giveaway.

Some of you are probably aware that I am a big fan of my own birthday. Usually, July 1st hits with a fanfare of birthday festivities and proclamations and all sorts of huffah. Since I've gotten older (not that old. just a little oldery) the celebration has been downsized a bit. Turning twenty three just wasn't quite the same as turning my sweet sixteen, know what I mean? Last year I had a GLORIOUS birthday with purple helium balloons and an amazing, legendary shark cake. Quaint, but perfect.

We have so many family birthdays in July that I can't hog it all to myself anymore, which is 30% depressing, 70% okay with me. Well, maybe 40/60.  50/50? I shall simply celebrate my BIRTH WEEK instead of my entire BIRTH MONTH! Yippee! Today is Monday, July 12th, and I turn 26 on Friday, July 16th. We have all week to part-ay.

To kick off my Big BirthWeek Celebration, I am hosting another giveaway! Exclamation point! This giveaway is sponsored by CSN Stores, and if you haven't been to one of their online stores you are seriously missing out. They have tons and tons of products- housewares and table lamps, gardening stuff, grills, mountain bikes, shoes, baby crap, you name it, they have it. Plus, lots of items are shipped for freeeeee. For this giveaway (since it is my birthday and all), I was going to pick something specific from a CSN store to give away... but then I was thinking, what is everyone going to want? MONEY! So the winner will receive a $60 gift certificate to any CSN store. Today I would buy a Kalencom diaper bag. Tomorrow maybe some Melissa and Doug baby toys- Isabelle gets bored so easily with hers.

Here are the entry rules, peeps:

1.  To enter, leave a comment telling me about your most favorite birthday memory.

2. You can get another entry by leaving an additional comment if you are a follower of micciandjazz.blogspot.com

3. You can get ANOTHER entry by posting to this bloggity blog on facebook or twitter or whatever social network you prefer and then notifying me via comment. (each social network = additional comment)

4. You must be a resident of the US or Canada. Sorry, Mexico, better luck next time.

5. Contest closes July 16th at 7 pm PST.

On my *birthday* I'll pick the winner via random generator. Sound good?

Even though I don't FEEL older, I can tell that my brain isn't as awesome as it used to be. Sometimes I do embarrassing things, like say the word "emergentness" in adult conversation, fully confident that it is a real word. Or, remember that one time I thought I could jump up the brick at the Chipman's house? And I beefed it? Fairly hard? I guess I'm not very athletic either. Aaand I just had to check with Jazz to make sure I'm not turning 27 this year. See what I mean?

K- ready set goooo!

PS I just re-read my blog and realized that I had listed the number three twice. 1, 2, 3, 3, 4. Isn't that how it goes?

Mom's 50th

Yesterday we celebrated my mom's fiftieth birthday!

Doesn't she look about 35? She is amazing.

For her birthday, we created a book for her- a compilation of letters and thoughts and pictures from her family and many close friends. I think she really loved it. I had a great time putting it together using Blurb (a really great and easy program). I have been SO anxious to give it to her! She opened the book last night and spent a good portion of the evening reading through it. We even skyped Sean and Rachel in from Irvine so they could be here with us.

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

9 Months

Dear Isabelle,

On Sunday we celebrated our country's birthday and also marked nine months of your adorable little life. At this point you have spent more time outside of my tummy than inside of it- which feels surreal since I felt like I was pregnant forever. At your check up today you were 18 pounds two ounces and a little over 28 inches long. I can't believe how much you have grown in the last few months, you really, really like solid food. You have shot up from the 20th percentile to the 50th percentile in height, and the 15th percentile to 25th percentile in weight. Well done, little one.

You are such a happy baby, constantly smiling and showing off your four little teeth. You love to clap, but you especially love to clap with objects in your hands so you make noise. Anything that makes a loud banging noise totally keeps you entertained. That, and a variety of balls- they are your favorite. One day in early June, you just started sitting up by yourself, like you could do it the whole time, you were just waiting for the perfect moment to surprise us and show off your skills. You've also started loving the peekaboo game, though no one gets you giggling quite as hard as Grandpa does (even during inappropriate times, such as church.) Your favorite thing to do is to grab on to my index fingers with your little hands and walk all over the house with perfectly pointed ballet feet.

You are so cute with your little hands and fingers, they are so graceful and petite. Your motor skills are getting so fine and developed- you love to open and close the doors on this random toy over and over and over. You are so good at picking up the small pieces of Ritz cracker off of your high chair tray and putting them in your mouth. Sometimes I find them in your hair or in the chair or on the floor and that's okay too. Those are just sweet reminders that you are here and in my life and I love that.

This month we spent a wonderful day at the temple being sealed together as a family. I know you won't ever remember how it felt to be there or to experience it, but I will.  I will remember how it looked to be all dressed in white, to be surrounded by our family in the sealing room. I will remember how it felt to hold you close, to put your tiny little hand on mine, and to be united eternally. I promise to remember as much as I can so that I can always tell you how special it really was. There is such comfort and such relief knowing that you are ours forever and ever, well beyond the temporal death of mortality.

Lately when you have trouble falling asleep, and let's face it, you are not setting any records in the sleeping department, you want to be comforted a bit. Usually this entails some back rubbing or lullaby singing, but recently you want to be picked up just for a minute. In that short minute, your head relaxes on my shoulder, your eyes droop, your arms go slack, your feet dangle, and you totally fall asleep. Then I can feel your breathing against mine- our skin cheek to cheek, chests rising and falling in syncopation. And in the morning, when I greet you in your crib to lift your sleepy body back onto my shoulder, your fingers curl around the flyaway hairs that didn't quite make it into my ponytail. I begin my day with you, and I end my day with you. It is perfection.

Love, love, love you.

xoxox

Momma

This much cuteness should be illegal.

We had some photos taken of Isabelle a few weeks ago to document her little life and to get a family picture together. Our photographer was the very talented Kara Stewart and as soon as I met her I felt like we were kindreds- the shoot was so much fun. We just got the results back today and seriously, I cried a little they turned out so well. SO WELL. They are totally my style and they fit Izzie's personality and now I want to enlarge them all and plaster them on every available wall in our house.

I don't know how I am going to choose just a few to put on this blog. Maybe twenty? Thirty? They are all so great! Exclamation point exclamation point! Can you tell I'm excited?

Okay thats probably enough. SIKE THERE ARE MORE!

Must..stop..adding..photos...can't..help it...

OK I AM DONE. I can't believe I posted that many. I just couldn't choose. Which one is your fav?