Christmas was wonderful!

Just thought I would get on here and give a little update about our holiday. We stayed at home and had no visitors but it was really relaxing...aside from the fact that Isabelle was sick (translation: vomiting and runny diapers) for over a week and now has a cold. We all felt a little down at some point for a day or two. But it was still so nice to be home! I almost wish we could do it every year and have grandparents come here...but I don't think people are ready for that idea. We did miss all the Simon family fun and getting to see granny and papa and being with other family members...but relaxing was what we needed. I missed my family, too...but I will always maintain it is easier for any of them to come here than to bring us to them wherever that may be. COME VISIT!!!!

Our girls got spoiled, For being so young though, they didn't need half of what they got. Thanks to the grandparents for the entire new wardrobes! I know the girls don't find clothes that exciting, but I appreciate it more than you can even know!

Santa Claus came...which we had been telling Riley he wouldn't if she didn't start obeying. Oh the two's are fun!!!!!!!!!!!! Riley got Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse and The Little Einsteins figures that ride in Rocket. She is thrilled. The new toys have kept them happy and busy thus far. I wonder how long until they get "old". I actually think they will play with them for a long time. Isabelle got her own little car to ride around because they were always fighting over Riley's Winnie the Pooh one. And she also got a Mickey Mouse keyboard. They of course got lots of other small things, some DVDs, new earrings, socks, Riley got Elmo underpants which she BEGS to wear....but she is still not wanting to learn to use the potty 100% of the time so no luck.....YET. I made a promise to myself that if it isn't happening by February, I am going to put my foot down, grit my teeth, and force it upon her. I know she can do it. She has the communication skills, can pull her pants on and off, and tells us when she needs changed most of the time.
I bought Travis a set of new scriptures that he wanted and seasons 1-4 of THE OFFICE. and he got me a PINK iPod nano and had it customized on the back with a neat design and it says, "Jenna my wife who rocks my life" I love it! He also bought me the game Apples to Apples which I had wanted for a long time! Thanks babe!

Anyway, here are some photos to go along with our Christmas...

This first one of Riley...I cannot believe how much she reminds me of Travis in this picture. Although normally I see more of Travis in Isabelle.
She can't get enough of herself when she gets to be in the mirror

I just love Riley's long, silky hair!!! It is so pretty


On Christmas eve the girls exchanged gifts from each other. Riley bought Isabelle stacking bowls that you can put together to make balls or stack to make a tower and Isabelle got Riley a leotard and a purple Tutu.
Christmas morning. Presents are hidden behind couch arms in this picture though. And Trav and my gifts are way back under the tree in the corner
Riley in her own world opening gifts from Santa
Opening clothes from grandma Barb on Christmas morning while grandma watched via webcam
Sisters with popsicle sticks
MmmmMmmm 'Sicle!
Isabelle having her first popsicle (feeding herself a popsicle for the first time, really) She did really well. We were desperate to get her to eat anything since she was sick.

Isabelle on her new princess car
Riley with Rocket and the other Little Einsteins characters. Except Leo is not in his seat. And if you asked Travis, Qunico is missing too. He made up a fake character named Quinco (a combination of Quincy and Leo and just about had Riley convinced that Qunico was a real character....)

Mickey's Clubhouse!
Sweet girls playing together in matching outfits from our friends Marie and Tyler.

Here is Isabelle in an adorable new outfit courtesy of Grandma Debbie. Thanks! I love pink and brown combinations!
And now for some videos that I promised Sky when he called us on Christmas. Thanks for calling us, Sky! Your last three months will fly by! We can't wait to see you! Keep working hard!

I have to say I am sad to see Christmas is over. Riley LOVES Christmas music, and as you can see Jingle bells was a favorite. But she also liked ANY Christmas music. As soon as she would hear it she would run into the room and pause...or dance/sing along. She also had an advent calendar with chocolates. Everyday she asked for her "Santa Chocolate" and we explained when she ate the last one, Santa would come. I worried she would ask for them even after Santa came but she hasn't, not even once! So I guess she understood the whole concept after all! I think I will try to spend this afternoon putting away Christmas decor since we will be in Las Vegas this weekend for my brother and Kim's wedding! And then Monday I go back to school...wow. This break went too fast!

One last thing, Travis bought me a boom box speaker/dock for my iPod for my birthday yesterday and I love it! He also bought me Taylor Swift's new CD and had our friends Megan and Matt watch the girls so we could go out to dinner. Thanks for everything you do for me, Travis. And thanks to Megan and Matt for being great friends and always being willing to watch the kids so we can get out!

A post about our baby

Who is no longer a baby. Isabelle turned ONE on December 10th. Yes, it is hard to believe we have a toddler and not a baby anymore. SAD! But still fun. So I just wanted to post a little bit about what she is doing these days.
From this...

To this...in one year. This picture was taken after she dug into her birthday cupcake.

A couple weeks ago she began walking. It was about time, she had teased us for months, standing on her own and attempting a step here and there. Below I have posted a video of her walking around. She sort of walks like she has been riding a horse with a little cowboy-type look. I love it! She is pretty steady on her feet.

The last year with Izzy has been filled with fun. She has added so much joy to our lives. And although it's only be a year, it is impossible to remember life before she came along. Her first few months were a challenge...she was colicky and never let me sleep between the hours of about 12:30 and 3:30. It was rough. There was even a time when I wasn't even sleeping in our bedroom but instead on the couch with Isabelle. It was tax season, after all and Travis was working for a CPA at the time so he needed sleep :)

At birth Izzy weighed about 6 pounds 14 ounces I believe. And now at a year she is almost 23 pounds. I think Riley weighed about 18.5 pounds at a year. So Izzy is our chunky monkey. She is beautiful and fun-loving. She likes to cuddle and wrestle.

She is so different from her big sister. But at times they are really great friends and it is fun to watch them play together. I often hear giggles coming from their bedroom...but as soon as they hear me coming, the giggling stops. I will catch it on video someday, I promise myself. Both girls play well on their own as well. Both like to dance. But differences include the fact that Isabelle never took to a pacifier and Riley was attached to hers until she turned 2. Izzy has hardly any hair, compared to what Riley had. I think Isabelle has at one year about as much hair as Riley had at 4-6 months old. Riley was never into baby dolls, it has always been about stuffed animals but Isabelle loves babies (dolls). The size difference... While both girls have measured tall Isabelle is thicker. She has a fun personality that is unique to her and I couldn't do it justice by just writing about it. She loves her big sister. She has always been a little more serious, making most work to get smiles or anything else from her. Although just in the last couple weeks it is like a switch has switched and she is warming up to people a lot faster. She loves her mom and dad.

I don't even know what else to say. She is starting to try talking more. Her vocabulary includes: ma ma, da da, ba ba, wa wa (for water), walk, step, tickle tickle tickle, WOW, hi....nothing too impressive I guess but those are some of her words. I am sure there are more that aren't coming to mind right now. She imitates a lot of the sounds and words we say. Before too long she will be just as talkative as her big sister I am sure.

Anyway, that's a little about Isabelle Jane and what she is like at one year. Now its on to year two of life and more new adventures!

Just about done!

I have only one last class to pass off before Christmas break officially starts! And since I don't keep a journal, I figured I better get on here and post my AMAZING grades from my finals so far!!!
In my first-aid class I think I had 100/100....yeah. 100% A
Reflexology: Written 98/100 and Hands-on: 99/100 A
Anatomy: 97/100 (on the final) THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had many quizzes and graded homework assignments during the quarter as well...my final grade for the course: A
Massage Therapy Basics: Written: 97/100 Hands-On: 95/100 Other assignments during quarter included a hands-on evaluation that I scored a 24/25 on and a written assignment called Therapeutic Boundaries which I scored 50/50 on! YAY...ANOTHER A!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow (today, really....it's after midnight) is my Professional Development presentation (speak, write, and visual parts), and one other small assignment. I am hoping for another A.
I am an over-achiever, I can't help it!

Finals

So this week is my big finals week for my first quarter of school. School has been a huge contributing factor to the lack of blogging. So if I am not posting regularly, you know I am busy. Hopefully during my couple week break from school I will play some catch up. I am looking forward to the break!

Friday night I had my second cadaver lab at the University of Utah. It is really a disgusting place. But it is interesting because we get to see dissections that allow us to see the different layers of muscle groups. This is beneficial because it's hard to see how the muscles lie by just looking at a drawing on a piece of paper. So while I am standing there thinking I may vomit or pass out or I need to go sit down, I am trying to convince myself to look past the smell and whatever else is bothering me to get the learning experience.

I had my reflexology final this past Tuesday and did really well. For those of you who don't know what Reflexology is, it is the manipulation of reflex areas of the feet and hands. These reflex areas correspond to different body parts and organs. I got a 98% on my written exam and a 99% on my hands on. The written was 100 points. and I only missed TWO questions. Then for the hands-on I gave another student a 50 minute session on their feet while the instructor comes around to watch and ask questions and make sure I know the different techniques and areas. The one point that was deducted was for not having my shirt tucked in. Yep...it wasn't
"professional" oops. Lesson learned!

This week may just kill me though. I have my Anatomy final tomorrow night and I am cramming, cramming, cramming!!!!!!!!! I need to score an 83% on the final to get an "A" in the class. And that is one of my goals, to get a 4.0 in school all year. So basically if I get a "B" on the final, I can still have an "A" in the class. a 4.0 is considered 90-100% in all classes. And I believe anatomy is the hardest of all the classes, so I am super super stressed!!!
On Wednesday I will have my massage basics final which will consist of a hands-on and written exam like Reflexology. Then Thursday night I have my final Professional Development class. I have 3 assignments due. The first is a paper. It is part of an assignment called out speak and write vision. The paper is the write part of that. Then I have to make a vision board or book or some type of visual to give a presentation (the SPEAK part of that vision), the final assignment is fairly small...but everything that I am facing this week adds up to stress me out more than I wish it would.

So bear with me on the lack of posting and say prayers for my finals (thanks!), and have a Merry Christmas!!!

CRAP

I was posting about how Isabelle is now one. It was long and had all sorts of pictures attached...and then it disappeared. I was in Edit Html arranging things and boom, it was all gone. I good hours worth of work AT LEAST. So who knows when I will try to re-do it. But Isabelle is one as of yesterday :) And I am in a bad mood. Stupid computers.

Ok Randee, just for you!

My new hair. Excuse the ugly face :\

Sorry if the pictures sort of seem off center...it isn't exactly easy to take them without help.
I love it!! Now if I only had the face to go with it...I have been having the worst skin issues...breakouts and that type of thing. It's like I am stuck in Jr. High school. And I am lacking in the color department. My color is pasty white. Travis knew I wanted my hair done but I didn't tell him I had an appointment...so I went and got it done then went to visit him at work and surprise him. He said he likes it but that now it looks like I need a tan....UNLESS (and I quote) "Unless you like the vampire look" Um...YEAH...don't you know who you are talking to? I have been known to be obsessed with vampires. ha ha. I wouldn't mind a tan...but it's not worth the money. So I will stay pale!

Update...

So in case anyone hasn't given me their email addresses yet, I am giving you one more chance! A month ago I said I would be setting our blog to private. So get me those email addresses this week!!

Thanksgiving was alright. We needed the vacation but I always get so excited to go out of town, forgetting how hard it is to be away from home with little, busy children who are off schedule. So vacation=exhausting. We took a few pictures and I promise to post some soon. We were pretty bummed about the Thanksgiving dinner we had. We ate at a buffet and it wasn't very good at all. It was the first year I haven't made Thanksgiving dinner since we have been married....

So I promised Travis since we will be home in Utah for Christmas I would make up for it. Holiday food! I am looking forward to it. Speaking of Christmas...if any one will be in Utah/passing through/etc. we would love to see any friends and family!! Let us know!

I am as usual quite busy with school right now. The end of the semester is December 18th. Then I don't go back for my next quarter until January 5th so I am really looking forward to that break. I am still loving it...but it is hard work! I have my Reflexology final on Tuesday so my weekend will be consumed studying for it. I have set some fairly high goals for myself as far as grades and school attendance goes. But it helps keep me motivated. And there are awards at graduation time...and they look good on resumes. So we will see.....

Anyway, not much else is new...except that on Wednesday Isabelle will be 1 year old!!!!!!!!!! Where does the time go?!?!!!!!

I will try to post again sooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

This is something to celebrate...

This Christmas will be the FOURTH we have celebrated since getting married...but it is our FIRST time ever putting up a tree. Christmas #1 was spent in Coeur d'Alene pre-kids. No need for a tree if we won't be home. Christmas #2 was in Pennsylvania when Riley was 4 months old. We still felt there was no need for a tree. Last year Isabelle was born December 10th. And we were spending the holiday back in Coeur d'Alene...so again...we felt it wasn't worth the hassle. This year we decided to stay home for Christmas...which meant it was finally time for us to invest in some holiday decor. We bought a tree, some lights, and ornaments at Wal-Mart...and we were super excited. We planned to wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our tree. But then Sunday afternoon rolled around and it felt like the perfect time to have some family fun. So we put up the tree!!! I cannot take much credit though. Travis did most of the work. And I took pictures :)
Early in the process. This is the part I helped most with, sticking the branches in and spreading them out...
I think Riley was pretty excited.
The tree together pre-decorating
Isabelle thinking the tree box is cooler than the tree itself. That's kids for ya!
Travis put lights and balls on the tree but left the bottom branches un-decorated so we could let Riley put some on. The girls were in their room for this part until we were ready for them.
Isabelle with some decorations that we have collected in past Christmases; finally a place to display them!

Riley helping decorate!

Check out all these ornaments!

Izzy checking out the tree. She was pretty interested.
This is Riley when we let the girls back out of their room. She was super excited to get out and help with finishing touches.
Daddy and girls decorating
Mommy and girls. We have to keep the couches over-lapping for now. Too big a temptation for the girls. Thankfully only ONE glass ball was lost in the process. Riley broke it and was not hurt luckily.

Not bad for our first time huh? Or not bad for Trav's first time, really! I feel really fond of it :)

Isabelle is so into the tree. And Riley has been in time out a few times today for trying to take off ornaments. Not bad though.

Zoo Membership

Yep, we decided to get a membership to the zoo. And so a few weeks ago we went and enjoyed some nice weather for early November. We are loving Utah weather!!

Can you say precious??




Riley on the train





We love the zoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't you see it in her face??