I got a new CAMERA!

YAY! I received my new little (and I mean little) camera yesterday. I had been photo-less for a whole month now.

It's been fun stuff.

It's a Cannon ELPH. After much debate we, I mean I- decided on the less expensive camera, going for a super compact rather than a SLR very cool and bigger one.

This little elph is tiny, seriously it's less than an inch deep and about 3+ inches wide. LOVE it:)

It takes nice pictures too, decent megapixals and enough zoom to use if I need to. But most importantly, it slips right inside my already too heavy "diaper" bag without being noticed!

So here are a few new shots I took today: Naomi and her BOING-Y

Running!

What a cutie!

Anticipating the FLASH!

Such a daddy's girl!

Giving Cheetah "Lubs"
Loves and hugs are shown by placing one's head near something.....

That's what she said...

So I wanted to document a few things Naomi says and how she says them. I feel like I could never forget but I do.

"I bub bu" when we tell her we love her she says it back! It's so adorable.

"wed, reeen, yahlow, boo, back" these are her colors that she just magically mastered.

"oh-I, Oh-I, Oh-I" I have the letters to spell Naomi on her wall. When I put her to bed she points and tells me the letters. We go through that it's "N-A-O-M-I" and she knows it's for Naomi!

"a tiddy, a tiddy!!!!!" this is for Cheetah our cat, previously and sometimes called: "Mow-mow" (like the word "wow") for what a cat says and thus, the cat's name!

"dah-koo" means thank you in Naomiese

"new-nees" for noodles

and lastly "ooh-tah!"

Who are you?

When did you get so smart?

Last night I told Naomi to "please close the phone and put it in the purse..... thank you." She was in just her diaper and Zach was going to get her ready for bed, read stories etc while I ran his suit and shirts to the cleaners to be pressed. (he needs them Monday.)

So I told Naomi "I'll be back in just a minute, OK! Daddy's going to put your jammies on and read stories and then I'll be back."

"purse" said Naomi. She loves purses and everything she finds in mine. Especially my wallet with assorted cards, keys and the coveted phone.

"I need to take my purse, I'll be back in just a minute and you can play with my purse."

"OK" she says, like we made a serious deal.

I zip out and then home again and Naomi meets me in the hallway.

"Purse?"

Oh yeah, duh. "Oh, let me get it." I remove my wallet and phone and then hand her the purse as we re-enter her room.

She didn't see me remove the contents and begins searching only to let out a frustrated little whine and push the purse back at me and say "phone!"

"It's time for bed, let's read a book." She considers and lets me redirect her attention.

As we are reading the book Zach says quietly to me, "Seriously, when did she get so smart? A few minutes after you left she looked at me and said: "Mama, purse, cards, phone." I told her "yep" and that you would be back in just a minute with all that."

Sheesh. She's only 1 1/2. She knows too much.

If you like to waste ALL your time please click below....

Well. I am not one for internet games. Seriously, I've played a few rounds of solitaire back when I didn't have Naomi and was for some reason sucked into winning that game just one more time:)
BUT, yesterday on a message board at one of my favorite websites: babycenter.com I happened to click. I thought I would just try it out. As pathetic as it sounds, it's true. I was up 'till 1a.m. last night. So was Zach, he's got a book he just can't put down. I wish I deprived myself of sleep for something so worthwhile as a book.
Anyway. It's called the Impossible Quiz. You might have already crossed it's path and avoided it's sticky trap. I admit. I'm a total addict! It's sooooooo beyond unbelievably lame but SO MUCH FUN. My message board, it's the Feb 06 birth club board has a thread going on with everyone asking questions about how to pass suchandsuch question, I've used the help a few times:)
So. by all means, feel warned, but here you go! click HERE

Congrats!

I'm taking the liberty of congratulating my own husband for a job well done! Since he would never brag himself I get to do it all:)
He found out the results of the G-town law journal write-on competition today. He got an email telling him the results were in, from there he needed to log into the school website to see them.
Well, he was so funny, all nervous and he made it after all! He was "invited" to be on the Georgetown Journal of International Law. There are several journals and he is very excited about this one.
So, Congratulations Zach!

So many movies, so little.... babysitters?

So there are about 50 new movies I want to see but for various reasons that I can all rationalize away, except we have no babysitter- we can't go. We basically know nobody here in Maryland (except for a few ward members who I don't feel comfortable enough to dump my toddler on) and therefore have exactly ZERO babysitters.

It's a far cry from our comfy situation in Logan. We had grandma's (and grandpa's), several aunts and a few young uncles all more than willing to watch our little nominomi should we ever want to go somewhere alone.

sigh...

Even in Illinois I had a nice little list of teenage girls (all from our wards YW of course) that were proven fantastic babysitters.

I just want to go to a movie!!!!!

So, on a nicer note, I want to see, in no particular order:

Becoming Jane
Bourne Ultimatum
Hairspray
Harry Potter

I really, really, really want to see Becoming Jane. I love Jane Austen's books. It's what real romance is made of:)

My sister Aimee just got into town (from Switzerland) with her husband and two toddlers. She's at her in-laws about 30 minutes from here and we are getting together tomorrow. I'm going to see if she'll hit the silver screen with me this week for the mushy romance movie. AND therefore effectively fixing the babysitter problem! Zach and Mark can watch the babes!

So that still leaves us with Bourne Ultimatum, Zach's movie of choice. We'll have to see if we can be extra chummy with some of our new ward friends tomorrow.....

Visiting D.C.

A little back-tracking but I wanted to share some fun pictures from our first week here in D.C.
Chad drove (rode) the U-haul out with Zach from Illinois and stayed the rest of the week with us and toured D.C. a bit. It was horribly hot but we had fun.

Naomi spacing out, the Capitol is lit up by the setting sun.

Zach and Naomi taking the steps down from the Capitol. Naomi was very much a "big girl" wanting to do everything herself, even push the stroller.

The statue in the foreground is of President Ulysses S. Grant. I'm not sure what he's famous for, probably tons of great things, or oh yeah- winning the civil war as the General of the Union army. Anyway, it made for a beautiful shot of the D.C. Mall (the grass area, I didn't know it was called that:) and Washington Monument.

WHEW- we walked to the Washington Monument, and then on to the Lincoln Memorial. It's all MUCH further than it looks. But I think I'm just out of shape...
Chad, Naomi and me

Zach takes some great shots if I ever let him hold the camera! This is me, Naomi and Chad again at the Washington Monument

This was a really pretty memorial, the World War II Memorial was about 1/2 way between the Washington Mnt. and the Lincoln Mem. (I didn't post any of the later, they all ended up a little too blurry, it was dark by then and I'm no good with in-the-dark pics.)
Anyway, it was a circular monument and around the inside each state, district or territory was inscribed on the wall. In the center was a beautiful fountain and pool. Really it was worth the walk. Naomi loved the water, she really wanted to hop in!

Pretty isn't it?

Zach on the Supreme Court steps. Chad and Zach hit the town the next day while Naomi and I stayed home and went to our apartments swimming pool instead! It was a good break for us.

We went to Arlington and Mount Vernon on Friday. This is Naomi and Zach at the amphitheater. The other side is the Tomb of the Unknowns where we watched the changing of the guard. I don't know how much I would like their job...

Zach and Naomi in Arlington National Cemetery.

hold your own hand

Naomi is getting so smart lately and she lets us know it too. She tells me what she wants most of the time, like "miwk" or "boo-baies" and she answers honestly with a "no" or "yes/yah" depending on what you asked her. BTW, "boo-baies" is blueberries:)
Well lately we've been walking outside a bit more than usual and I say things like: "You need to hold my hand.." etc when she isn't in her stroller.
WELL
She's smarter than us all. She will be attempting to walk up a flight of stairs and when we reach for her hand she will say "hand" and then securely HOLD HER OWN HAND. Giving us a look like, "I got it mom, see I'm holding my hand!"
It's seriously the funniest thing to watch because she will hold the pinkie finger of one hand, like how she holds onto our finger when we walk together.
I love it!

Hey Hey, we made it!

We made it here, that is Silver Spring, MD last Tuesday.

Zach and Chad drove all night from Carbondale with the moving truck to make it here before me and Naomi. They did and have been recooperating since:)



Anyway, we are still in boxes quite a bit but getting there. Naomi's room looks great. I wish I could say the same for ours.... Our matress is still currently on the floor and my clothes are a never ending pile....



Our internet should be up and running officially soon. Right now I'm across the hall at the apartments resident computer center.



Our apartment is spacious and in great condition and on the main floor- I like that. I don't have to take anything (or anyone) up and down the elevator/stairs.



So just a few pics for the update and then I'm off to bed:) Lake Powell was tons of fun and Talia's baby is darling! Trey Ryder Vaughn is the official name.

Mom playing Gidget

Opposites... Naomi and Dawson

The whole gang, almost (Dawson was sleeping)

Annie, Josh, Tommy, Naomi, Isaac, Alyssa, Jonathan

Kisses

Naomi (looking worried about sitting with Talia) and Talia and Trey. Trey is just an hour old here!