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!

Class of 2000

My High School Senior Year

1. Who was your best friend? Sarah Gish and probably Dawn Sanow, I don't even know what happened to Dawn since HS, haven't even heard from her for about 5 years.

2.What sports did you play? Um, Cheeleading, Stunt Squad (that one counts) and Caprielles- dance team

3. What kind of car did you drive? 96' White Nissan Altima. I loved that car....

4. It's Friday night, where were you? At the game of course! That of Kelli Olsen's house just hanging out!

5. Were you a party animal? I loved parties but nobody could really be called a party animal where I went to HS.

6. Were you a flirt? Very much so

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? nope

8. Were you a nerd? I'd like to think I wasn't but you never know what everyone else thought:) 9. Did you get suspended or expelled? No. I just got in trouble for talking too much, always.

10. Can you sing the fight song? Please don't remind me! It's been burned into my brain for eternity!

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mrs. Obray was tops and then also probably McMillan(although I was terrible in Chemistry)

12. Where did you sit during lunch? In the lunch room a lot but we would go to Pizza Plus, Subway and sometime all the way into "town" to Mandarin Garden.\

13. What is your schools full name? Mountain Crest High School

14. School mascot? Mustangs! or as we often said: Stangs

15. Did you go to Prom? Yes, the first time was rather disappointing but Senior year was fun.

16. If you could go back and do it over, would you? I don't think so, I loved it while I was there and was sad to see it go but collage was a nice sequel.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? oh, about nothing. I remember worrying that my hair would look lame after wearing that cap for so long. Also that it was not as cool to have graduation in MC's new gym rather than the Spectrum.

18. What was your favorite class to skip? Biology, it was an easy class that tri for some reason. Also seminary, my grades didn't suffer when I skipped that one.

19. Did you have a job your senior year? For the first month of so, leftover from summer, I worked at Buckle in the mall.

20. Where did you go most often for lunch? Lunch room (everybody did for some unexplainable reason...) Pizza Plus

21. Have you gained weight since then? yeah I have

22. What did you do after graduation? All-night party at the Fun Park.

23. Did you go to your high school reunion? I did, it was unfortunately lame. I don't know how it could have been better though. too bad.

Now it's your turn!

Too Much

I've been having too much fun this summer to post much lately on this blog.

I have all these good ideas or just things I want to get in writing but never seem to be able to grab a few minutes all together to make them coherent!

I'll be taking a few weeks off, maybe just a week if I'm ultra organized but we'll see.
We are leaving for Lake Powell tomorrow morning and will be there baking in the glorious sun for a whole week! yay! nice tans for everyone. Not that Naomi needs any help.

Next Thursday when we leave good old Antelope Point (new marina that we are launching from this year) we will be heading West to St. George. Talia is scheduled to have her baby boy that day sometime and we are hoping to get an eyeful of him before we haul ourselves back East. His name is still up in the air. I like the nomination for Ezra. It's got a nice edge to it and it's after quite a wonderful guy.
We'll only be there for a day and will drive back home Friday to pack up and clean up our place for Zach to leave on Sunday. I'll chill at my moms with Naomi until Tuesday am when we fly out.

As you can imagine, it's going to be a little crazy.... I'm searching online today to see if I can get a jump start on getting us some internet service in D.C.

So, without any further ado, I'm going to post a few last pictures from this month before I drop off the face of the earth!

I'm being Sarcastic here, just so you know:)

So I've been banished from the computer for the past few days and I have to admit, I've been having withdrawal symptoms... yeah, so. Anyway. I finally managed to sneak it away from Zach for a few minutes and look at my pathetic blog. I've been neglecting it.
Zach's been busy reading and doing other stuff on this computer that I don't care to find out all the details out about since Thursday morning at about 9 a.m. He's in the middle of an exam of sorts, or rather an assessment of his writing and analytical whatever abilities in an attempt to "write on" to the law journal at Georgetown. He has officially one week. TO THE MINUTE. It's driving me insane. He's been at his dad's office for the quietness most of the time but today he was here so we had to be not here. I ended up going shopping and buying a shirt. For shame:)
Other than that fun detail, we are just baking here in the Logan heat. I thought it was supposed to be cooler here in the mountains than a balmy 100 degrees! You'd think I haven't lived here my whole life! :)
The 3rd to July fireworks were great, as always. I'm partial, the same way I think Beaver is the best ski resort, ever.
Naomi LOVED the fireworks. She kept on looking at me and then pointing to them in absolute awe. I didn't get any good shots of her watching them, Zach tried but we all know how pictures of people in the dark turn out, like they got a light bulb flashed in their eyes.... But she had a wonderful time. I think we had as much fun watching her as we did watching the fireworks!

Oh Naps!

This was written about two weeks ago...

I'm currently in the middle of a potentially wonderful or equally horrid situation. Ok, that's a little dramatic. Naomi is awake, and sad/mad in her pack and play, she woke up after 45 minutes and I'm not getting her out. She's taking one nap a day and on our new schedule that IS GOING TO WORK, she will "nap" for at least 1 and 1/2 hours.

Sigh.

Yesterday was day one of my new enforced nap schedule, I had been kinda winging it for the past week or so since she dropped to one nap, getting her down for a nap anywhere between noon and 3!!! I needed some structure, so did she.
She woke up yesterday too, I went in and calmed her a bit and told her to go back to sleep, like magic, she did! Today I am trying the "don't go in there'' approach. So far, um.... indeterminable results.

My goal is to have nap time start between 12:30 and 1p.m. (for now) and like I said above, have her nap at least 1 1/2. That's not too much to ask is it???!!

ooooohkay. I think I'm going to have to go in there. be back in a sec....

Well. I started this post and then never finished it! I decided to post it anyway, it's a little bit of a journal entry type post, for me anyway. Naomi is now officially transitioned to her one nap a day, it's usually about 1 and 1/2 hours, sometimes 2 or more. Looks like it worked out.

Natalie's Birthday & Summer Stuff

My little sister Natalie turned 23 on Saturday. It was her "golden" b-day, 23, on the 23rd. She's living it up in SLC and currently has a cute new boyfriend whom she likes rather a lot:) We had a little party at Mom and Dads yesterday. Ginger, one of my older sisters came with her 3, Emily, Leia and Max. The girls had fun playing with Naomi and they treated her super special, it was adorable to watch.

Natalie

The CAKE! It was a cookies and cream ice cream cake. Leia and Emily watching it all.

Zach & Naomi

Emily & Leia

Mom!

Dad, soon to retire and turning 62 on Wednesday!

Birthday girl and her dad, note the 8 foot tall hollyhock plant in the background!

Natalie, Ginger, Trisha

Emily giving Nominomi a ride, what a cute little red wagon.

And, more fun- on Friday we were at the Champlin's for an informal get-together. Dylan and Naomi were the life of the party (of course) as they jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath.

For dinner I made my new specialty, california rolls! This time I had the help of a bamboo mat, that helped the final product's look quite a bit. Too bad we ate them before I could get a picture! My sister-in-law, Talia (very pregnant) is trying her hand at them tonight, Wes is total sushi addict:)

Naomi, Talia and Dylan

Cute cousins!

Natalee, Jeff & Linda (background) & Tal

Weird..... do I know him??

All those cute Champlin girls: Talia, Linda, Naomi, Trisha, Heidi, Natalee

Almost all those cute Champlin Boys: Jeff, Dylan, Luke, Chad, Brock & Zach.
Wes was finishing up his last hole at the golf course...