The Huntingtons

2010-09-03T12:36:00.002-05:00

FIVE new posts on my new blog. Check it out...
http://www.huntingtonfam.com/blog/
(and update your bookmarks!)

New Posts

2010-07-29T20:22:00.002-05:00

If you haven't updated your bookmarks/reader yet.. do it!

Several new posts on the new blog!

http://www.huntingtonfam.com/blog/

New Blog

2010-06-27T00:33:00.000-05:00

I have FOUR new posts on my NEW blog!
http://www.huntingtonfam.com/blog/

(because that is way cooler than houseofhuntington.blogspot.com!)

Check it out!

(I'm still working on formatting and stuff... be patient!)

Little Mover

2010-06-16T12:52:00.001-05:00

My life is about to change forever! She does not stay where I put her anymore!

Video

2010-06-16T11:54:00.001-05:00

I finally got it together and uploaded some videos.

Before you get to see what you really came here for you get a quick little recap of how we’re doing here in Vegas.

We go swimming All.The.Time. Almost everyday. So many people have been so nice to let us come over and play in their pool. And we have a fun little pool/waterpark two minutes from the house.
Piper is loving all the attention she gets here. So many hugs and kisses!
Yesterday we went to visit my old roommate Crystal and her cute boy Matthew. It was so fun to catch up and I’m so glad to have them close.
I’ve gotten to know a few young families in the ward. It’s hard since I’m only in this ward for the summer but it’s nice to have people to get together with. There are a few other families with babies.
I’m finally starting to know my way around. Lucky for me Vegas is a grid so I only need to know a few main streets.
Really, we’re good. Just hanging out and playing.

Here’s babe’s first taste of real food. Rice cereal, and she loved it as long as she was in control of the spoon. In fact, she’s still not a huge fan of being spoon fed. She’d much rather do it herself. I got some little crackers that I can just put on her highchair and she likes eating that way much better. I still only feed her about once a day because she only eats a few bites no matter what it is. *(And I have to say – you don’t have to watch the whole thing, nothing exciting happens. Calder isn’t very good at knowing when to stop.)

See the date on this? May 21. Only a few days after we moved, so go ahead and ignore the disaster in the background and enjoy the cuteness.

Baby giggles – no explanation needed!

Stay tuned – there’s one more from yesterday but it didn’t format correctly so it’s taking a really long time to upload. I’ll be up soon though!

5 Months!

2010-06-07T14:49:00.001-05:00

Miss Piper has gotten so big and her little personality is starting to really shine through.

She is so DETERMINED. She’ll see something across the room and want it so bad. She’ll try so hard.., but can’t get anywhere yet. This little lady is ready to move!
She loves to EXPLORE. When I give her a bath she’s always trying to dive over the sides of the baby tub to get to the shampoo/soap/whatever she can see. She wants to grab and figure it out.
She is HAPPY. (well, sometimes, and way happier than she’s ever been before). She gets so excited and squeals with delight. She has a cute little giggle and is so fun to play with.
She is FOCUSED. She’ll sit with the same thing for a long time trying to figure it out. Her favorites are water bottles and spoons.
She is LOVED. She is getting used to having so many family members around to give her attention. It’s going to be rough on this little one when we move to our own place and she' doesn’t have so many people to play with all the time.
She SLEEPS! For the first time ever Piper is sleeping good at night and taking long naps. She can even put herself to sleep in less than 10 minutes. We love this!
She is HUNGRY. We started giving her some baby food but she’s not really into it. Every time we sit down to dinner or go to a restaurant she gets so mad as soon as the food comes out. She just wants big people food!
She GIGGLES. It’s adorable.
She had ALLERGIES. Last week we broke out in hives. It was so sad – I’m not sure what caused it but think it might be citrus. She’s all better now.
She is STRONG. She can sit up all by herself now. She can really put up a fight to get something she wants (phones, food, hair). She weights 18 pounds!

We love our tiny Pip-face!

It’s Summertime!

2010-06-04T00:26:00.001-05:00

Piper’s New Bed!

2010-05-27T13:33:00.001-05:00

Miss Piper had a rough time adjusting to her new home. During the move we let her sleep with us a few times and she was loving it. She’s always slept in a pack and play but I had planned to get her a real bed when we moved. She loves it! Now she’s sleeping all night long, can go to sleep on her own (only cries for 5 minutes!) and wakes up so happy! We all love Piper’s new bed!

Moving Days

2010-05-27T13:16:00.001-05:00

For anyone who wasn't aware - we're now in Las Vegas, Nevada! The move was WAY easier than we had expected. I started packing up boxes a long time ago and really never felt overwhelmed about it at all. It definitely helped that Calder's parents came for graduation and were a huge help packing and playing with Piper. We used Movex so we basically loaded up the truck in Minneapolis and unloaded it in Vegas. The driver even stayed with the truck while we loaded up so he could help arrange things. We also had some great friends to help us load up (and they each left with a load of food and stuff we weren't going to take with us). I wish I would have taken some pictures of our sad little empty apartment but I forgot :(

I flew with Piper and Mary (because if we drove we'd probably still be on the road - little miss doesn't like her carseat very much). I'd never done first class before but HOLY COW I don't know if I'll ever be able to fly like a regular person again. The food was delicious and it was so comfy I felt like I was sitting in my living room. Even with a wiggly baby I didn't feel squished even once.

Calder and Ric drove our car. They left Sunday morning and got here Monday night way earlier than we had expected. They listened to audiobooks the whole way!

The truck and all our stuff got here Thursday. It didn't take long at all to unload all the stuff to the garage and send the driver on his way. We also had some great family and friends to help us unload.

We're living with Calder's parents for the summer until I find somewhere else. This worked out well especially since I didn't have any time to come down and look for a place to live. And since Calder doesn't start working until August.

Piper's had a blast meeting all of her extended family. Here she is with her Aunt Becca and Uncle Davis, Great Grandpa Jack, Lexi and Aunt Becca again.

And on another completely unrelated topic - how ADORABLE is this dress!?!? It had matching shoes and headbands (that don't quite fit yet but luckily we had something else that looked perfect!) She sure did get a lot of attention at Sam's Club yesterday!

We Love Our Moms!

2010-05-08T23:28:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother’s Day! It’s so fun to think as we’re playing with Piper that not very long ago WE were the tiny babies and YOU were the excited new moms - someday Piper will be a mom and I’ll be the grandma!

5 Things About My Mom (Ivy)

She’s a great friend and loves to talk on the phone. When I was at BYU I’d call her everyday when I was walking back to my apartment and she’d always listen to me talk about my day.
She loves to have people over for parties. Our home was always open to anyone who wanted to be there. We’d always have big Halloween Parties and Superbowl Parties. Somehow we always ended up with tons of people at our house. She taught seminary when I was in High School and she really seemed to enjoy having so many people feel comfortable being in our house every morning (even if she wished it wasn’t so early)
She’s great about keeping in touch with old friends – and is a facebook and blog stalker! She’s always excited to reconnect with people from the past. She always knows what old friends are up to.
After living in the same city for her whole life (minus a few years here and there) she up and moved to Saudi Arabia. Ok, maybe she was brought there against her will, but either way – left all her friends and family and the comforts of home to start over – and she’s loved it!
She was so helpful when Piper was born. It was no nice to have someone here to show me how to be a mom. She showed me how to give the baby a bath and helped with the middle of the night stuff.

5 Things About My Mom (Calder)

She’s wise. Plain and simple, my mom is smart and can always help me figure things out. Well, not regarding tech – but everything else.
She knows the gospel. This kind of falls under the prior but is so important that it supersedes the general. Anytime I have a gospel question or idea, my mom has thought about it before and can discuss and help me find some new insight.
She is kind. I am not as aware about the importance of being kind as much as my mom is and she is always able to help me figure it out and help me be better.
She is helpful. I can’t wait for her to get her on Monday and help Ivy and I prepare to move. She has also helped make the move easy for once we get back to Las Vegas. I can’t even begin to number the other things she helps with all of the time.
She can do everything – even if she forgets soon thereafter. I am always amazed by how much my mom has on her plate. Sometimes she seemed busier with her varied activities than I was in law school – and I was at the law school almost 12 hours a day.

Thanks for everything Moms! We love you so much!

4 Months Old!

2010-05-08T22:37:00.001-05:00

Head: 16” (38%)

Weight: 16# 2oz (92%)

Height: 24 ¾” (66%)

She’s always making silly faces – her favorite is sucking in her bottom lip. She can copy faces too – we’ll both stick our tongues out and she gets so happy!

She loves toys now and we don’t leave home without making sure we have some with us. She’s learned to bring everything she can reach to her mouth. One of her favorite things is the washcloth when I’m bathing her – which is fine unless I just used it to clean her bottom – GROSS!

She’s so cute to play with (when she’s in the mood for playing). She seems to sense that something is a little ‘off’ with us packing up all our stuff and she isn’t thrilled about it. She still likes to be swung around and thrown in the air. I got her a little jumping thing to put in the doorway – she hasn’t really gotten it yet but I think she’ll love it when she figures it out.

And she’s learning to sit up! She can stay up for a few seconds before she either faceplants or tips over. She has fun until she plops over on her nose – she HATES when that happens!

At four months:

Goes to sleep around 8:30. Sometimes she’ll still wake up a time or two before we go to bed (she hates to be left out) but will usually go back to sleep relatively easily. She' still wakes up to eat at night, then will sleep until 8ish.
Still struggles with naps but they are getting more regular. Every two hours she needs one but often only sleeps for 20 minutes. And she only takes naps in her swing – something we’re going to work on once we get settled in Vegas.
She likes to be outside.
She is starting to giggle, just a little.
Her hair is still CRAZY. It’s so fine that it falls back when she sleeps so it’s all sticking straight up when I get her in the morning.
She gets frustrated on her jungle playmat because she can’t get the toys down.
She babbles for minutes at a time. She has lots of stories to tell!
Reaches for our food when we try to eat. I don’t know how she knows what’s going on but she sure seems to. I think we’re going to start with some rice cereal once we get to Vegas.
She’s so social. Even when she’s in a terrible mood for us she gets so happy and smiley with strangers. It makes it hard for us to talk about her being cranky! Everyone says “your mommy says you cry a lot but it sure doesn’t look like it!”
She loves to look in the mirror and especially at other babies.
I call her ‘Silly Bee’ and Calder calls her ‘Bucket’ We don’t know why.
Sometimes she’ll cry until I pass her to Calder, then she’ll look back and smile. A few minutes later she’ll do the same thing to get back to me.
After her doctor appointment we started her on medicine for reflux. It seems to be helping, she’s been much happier.
She kicks herself around in her bed so her head and shoulders are up against the edge. One day she had turned around so her head was on the other side than it was when we put her down.

Packing

2010-05-05T23:52:00.001-05:00

After spending a few hours hardcore packing tonight, our bed looks like this.

We're sleeping on the couch.

We found tons so stuff to get rid of (mostly clothes, shoes, purses, coats, etc.) It's so refreshing. Some friends are having a garage sale Saturday with a bunch of families so hopefully we can get a little back for our all junk.

I still haven't taken more 4 month pictures of Piper (I worked Monday and Wednesday this week) but here are some I took yesterday.

She wanted that burger!

And just relaxing after getting shots. She was so pukey I decided naked was fine (and I just like to see her yummy fat rolls).

2010-04-30T19:30:00.001-05:00

Can you believe my baby is four months old today? I tried taking her pictures but she was in this kind of mood.

So I got a few while she was sleeping. There's nothing cuter than a sleepy baby anyway. And she has the sweetest lips!

And an intense double chin.

More 4 month pictures (hopefully) and stats coming soon!
Her hair is looking really scraggly again - any suggestions?

Calder is officially DONE with law school. He picked classes with no final exams this semester and he turned in his last assignment yesterday. We both took the day to hang out and relax - NO housework, NO laundry.

2010-04-18T23:25:00.001-05:00

Busy Friday

2010-04-16T23:36:00.000-05:00

This morning we went to school with Calder. He had his mock trial for his evidence class. He was a witness and wanted to use Piper as a sympathy plea to the jury. She was a great little actress (until she realized that class went past her naptime and wasn't thrilled about that) Luckily the law school has a GREAT little 'infant care' room with a rocking chair that we could hang out in.

After class was over Piper crashed on the way home. Since she needed a nap so bad (and I swear that's the only reason) I turned around and drove to Sonic in St. Paul for lunch and a diet strawberry limeade. I had one almost every day in Louisiana and was missing it. I might be in trouble when we move to Vegas and I have it close by again - happy hour every day!

We got home and snuggled for awhile before we went to a playdate with Piper's cute friend Elodie. They did tummy time together and Piper played with all Elodie's toys. We walked to the park and they played on the swings and slid down the slides (on mommy's lap of course).

(two chubby girls!)

We came home, Piper took a little nap and then daddy came home! Later we went back to their house for yummy Apple Spice Cake with homemade caramel sauce - delicious! We stayed late and watched the Transformers movie. Piper was so sleepy but was having a hard time dealing with not being at home. Brett had the magic touch and got her to sleep by bouncing her on the exercise ball, but in true Piper fashion she was wide awake after 20 minutes. It was so fun to hang out with other people - we get so caught up in school and baby that we forget to have lives. We're really going to miss them when we leave - it would be so fun to watch these girls grow up together!

2010-04-16T23:19:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday I finally gave in and cut off Piper's tail. Since she was born she's had long hair in the back but once it got long enough to braid I decided it was time. I also cut it above her left ear - for some reason her hair was way longer on that side.

Before

After

I cut it a little too short (and crooked) but it grows fast and looks better already! (And seriously, check out that chubby shoulder and tell me you don't want to kiss it)

It was a lot of hair for such a little baby...

After her first haircut she got her first shower

She wasn't sure what she thought of the shower at first, then decided she definitely did not like it. I think maybe we had the water too cold.

2010-04-13T00:26:00.000-05:00

Thursday Calder came home from school and said "go get ready, let's take a walk!" We have a cute little park only two blocks from our apartment that he had taken Piper to a few times the week I went to work. It was so nice to get outside and spend some family time together.

A nice lady offered to take a picture of all of us - I really wish I had more pictures with me in it. Piper loved the swing (no surprise there - she loves her swing at home!) It was so fun to play outside with her - she loves being outside. The only part she didn't like was getting back in her stroller to leave! After the park we walked to the grocery store to get some things that I forgot when I went the day before. It was further than I thought (I had never walked there...) but I enjoyed the evening away from the TV with my hubby.

Louisiana!

2010-04-13T00:15:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind and a little overwhelmed now at all the things I need to blog. Me and Piper went to visit Louisiana for two weeks. My mom was in town, Taylor was home from his mission, and Whitney came for her spring break. My grandma and Grandpa came down from Arkansas to hang out too! The flight was great (I just nursed Piper the whole time - hopefully the girl next to me didn't mind, I didn't really talk to her). When we got of the plane Piper was smiley smiley for a few minutes. It didn't last long.

The next day we got busy introducing Piper to everyone. (Click on it!)

Some highlights of the trip included...

Nana's bathtub

Being bossy on the trampoline (and no matter what do NOT stop bouncing)

Easter morning and her first visit from the Easter Bunny - he brought some clothes, puzzles, Winnie the Pooh DVD and bunny slippers. Piper HATED the peep we were so excited to giver her. She did enjoy watching General Conference from the Bumbo (for awhile)

Eating crawfish. I was SO excited to be in Louisiana for crawfish season! Unfortunately it turns out Piper isn't a big fan of crawfish and cried all night so no more for me :(

Meeting her great grandparents

Playing on the cute quilt that her great grandma made

Watching cartoons

Meeting friends

And sitting in her little red rocking great that her great PaPa passed down to her. We found a picture of me in the chair and are still looking for one of Nana in the chair!

(Do you think we take enough pictures of her?)

Piper's new trick!

2010-03-20T20:22:00.002-05:00

Look what Piper learned today! This is her second time - the first caught me by surprise! She hated tummy time - it looks like she figured out a solution!

Hopefully you can ignore the spitting up and then rolling in it. We're so proud!

I tried to get another good one (without puke)... here it is! She almost gave up halfway through.

I almost didn't post this because of the disaster of apartment in the background, but I decided to just explain (justify) instead. This past week was Calder's spring break and the company I worked for before Piper asked me to come back for the week and work on archiving some old projects. Of course I jumped at the chance to make a little extra money and having Calder experience staying home with the baby seemed wise. Poor Calder - she screamed all day every day. He spent almost the entire day (every day) on the elliptical with Piper in the sling. Any time she slept (which I hear wasn't much) he spent studying. So there - it was a terrible week and nothing got cleaned. (but I did enjoy my time away from home doing my own thing even though I missed my girl!)

She's started to coo and babble! It's so fun to have little conversations. I've had a hard time getting it on video since she usually stops and stares at the camera when I get it out but here's a little taste of the cuteness. Again, ignore the spit up! Eventually she'll grow out of it - we hope!

For the grandmas...

2010-03-12T13:32:00.004-06:00

(and anyone else is is in love with Piper)

As always, ignore my annoying voice and focus on the cuteness.

Here's Piper dancing with her daddy... I promise her head wasn't bouncing around as much as it looks like it was.

This morning I just took some video of us playing, nothing special.

She usually HATES being on her tummy but now that she's a little stronger it's not so bad.

She loves herself already! Sorry for the quality here, it's fine on my computer. I tried to upload it again but it still wouldn't work.

A humble moment

2010-03-11T19:13:00.000-06:00

I made three pairs of the cutest little leg warmers for Piper! They are ADORABLE stretched over her fat legs and make diaper change easier! They're also way cheaper than pants! I skipped my shower and lunch to do it - here's how.

Look at those fat little legs - I'm in love!

Our fun weekend

2010-03-08T14:54:00.000-06:00

Friday

On Friday me and Piper went walking at the Mall of America with our new friends Amy and her baby Karina. We've talked to them a few times in the nursing room at Nordstrom's (our favorite hangout) and invited them to go walking - it was fun! It's amazing how long you can talk to a complete stranger about babies. Piper and Karina are the same age but Piper is 2 pounds bigger (and a little shorter!).

Friday night or friends Anthony and Stephanie and baby Nathaniel came over. The daddies went to the law school musical and the babies had a little play date. Nathaniel showed Piper how to use her rattle and loved to touch her face and hair. She didn't seem to mind at all! Thanks for playing with us!

Saturday

We had a lazy Saturday. We played at home and did laundry. We planned to go on a walk since it was pretty outside but never got around to it. We did take a trip to Costco for diapers (and a few other things)

Piper did get to take a run on the elliptical with her daddy. She LOVES this and always falls asleep as soon as they get going. My favorite is how the holds on tight!

Sunday

Piper was feisty at church! She was just not in the mood. We spent sacrament meeting in the mother's lounge nursing. We spent Sunday School standing in the back and then walking around the dark gym trying to get Piper to sleep. Calder tried to take her to Priesthood for the third hour so that I could stay in at least one meeting but she decided she was hungry. She fell asleep right when church ended and slept for three hours after we got home!

Monday

We went to baby story time at the library! Piper was by far the littlest baby there but we had a great time reading stories and singing silly songs. We'll definitely be going back!

It's Springtime!

2010-03-03T19:38:00.000-06:00

(or that's what we're calling it!)

These are our friends that we go walking with every week. We usually walk laps around the Mall of America but went outside this week (40 degrees!) It was SO nice to get outside and get some sunshine!

2 Months!

2010-03-03T19:27:00.001-06:00

I can't believe my baby is two months old already - it's been so fun!

Weight - 12lb 5oz (84%)

Height - 22-3/4” (63%)

Head – 15-1/4” (48%)

She's a big girl!

She's learning to stick her tongue out (we've been practicing)

When she's happy she is HAPPY! (And when she's mad she's MAD!)

Loves to snuggle. I love to bring her in my bed and snuggle in the morning.

Her hair gets crazy in the morning and after naps.

She used to sleep hours at night but has been having rough nights recently.

She's really into toys, especially on her jungle playmat. She'll lay there and smile!

She's so alert and interested in everything going on around her.

Click on it to make it bigger!

We put this toy in her hand every so often, it has a tiny handle and is easy to hold. She has no idea that it's there (or that she even has hands) but gets really confused when she drops it and her hand stops rattling.

Sleepy Baby!

2010-03-03T19:02:00.003-06:00

2010-02-25T16:36:00.001-06:00

What makes a great day?

2010-02-24T22:05:00.001-06:00

A bed full of clean, folded clothes and a cute baby waking up from a long nap!

Calder doesn't have classes on Wednesday so he studied at home today! It is so much easier to get things done with him around to cuddle with Piper.

I also finished writing thank you notes which I have been putting off since November.

And I went to Target to get some more swaddler things since Piper had figured out how to get her arm halfway out of hers.

Pipsqueak waiting on us to get ready for church on Sunday. Her feet are tiny - shoes still don't fit. (Zoom in and look at those eyelashes-amazing!)

2010-02-17T23:36:00.000-06:00

This morning this cute dad took some time to teach his baby girl about something he considered to be very important.

Star Wars Spaceships. And she was really into it.

And it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I love my little family.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T22:19:00.003-06:00

I'm going to be so sad when she's old enough to have an opinion about her clothes - she's so fun to dress up! My favorite part of today - a long nap with my baby girl.

She wasn't really in the mood for pictures. I tried.

Happy Valentines Day!

Grandma and Grandpa Week

2010-02-14T22:17:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun this week with Calder's parents in town. Piper was cranky a lot of the time but did have some happy times.

She got lots of stories from Grandma.

And snuggles from both Grandma and Grandpa.

We went out to dinner (which Piper was not very happy about - me and Calder ended up eating in shifts), to the Mall of America, and to our favorite breakfast place. On their last night here they played with Piper while me and Calder went out to dinner. We had so much fun with you here and can't wait until we live closer!

Blessing Day

2010-02-08T00:02:00.001-06:00

This morning we blessed Piper in church. It was a beautiful day.

You'd think I was asking Calder to run a marathon with the reaction I got when I made him scoot the table out of the way to take this picture. Of course we have to take a family picture at the church.

Her Grandma Mary made this beautiful dress out of the lace from her wedding dress. The dress was huge on her (she looked so big in all the pictures!) but we got it all pinned up with safety pins and added some ribbon left over from her Aunt Mayce's wedding. Piper looked like a princess!

We got up early and left from church at 8:30. We got there and got Piper all dressed up and ready. I fed her one last time hoping that she'd stay in a good mood.

As soon as we heard church starting we hurried up and went into the chapel. Just a few minutes until it was time for the blessing. Her daddy blessed her that she would be able to recognize light from darkness, be obedient to the words of her Heavenly Father and have knowledge of Him, and recognize her great heritage - among other things. It was a short but very sweet blessing.

Piper did great and did not cry at all. She looked like a little angel when her daddy carried her up to the front.

Then after she was so good for all of sacrament meeting. She was wide awake and staring at daddy for a long time before she fell asleep in grandma's arms. She slept there all through Sunday School and half of Relief Society.

We were sad that her Grandpa Ric was sick and had to go back to the hotel after Sacrament. But we were so happy that he was able to make it to hear the blessing.

Everyone loved her pretty dress.

After church we came home and took tons of pictures. About 200 (you know... just to make sure we got some good ones). Piper was a good sport, only a few tears. I think she'll appreciate it when she's older.

Later Grandma and Grandpa came back over and we watched the Super Bowl. Go Saints!

Then she got a bath and went to bed. She gets a bath every night. Partly because it calms her down and helps her get to sleep. Mostly because I love snuggling with a clean, wet, lavender smelling baby.

(Is it just me or do I have the prettiest baby ever?)

2010-02-07T21:24:00.000-06:00

Piper is one lucky (and very spoiled) little girl! Here are a few of her favorite new presents!

Calder's Aunt Linda made her this awesome blanket! It's super soft on both sides. One side is furry white and the other is adorable dots that match her bedroom. She's only had it for two days but has cuddled with it constantly and brought it to church today. Thanks so much!

So comfy!

This soft blankie is making me sleepy!

Aunt Becca sent her this cute outfit. Juicy Couture Baby - seriously, have you ever seen anything cuter? I don't think so.

And just is case you thought you have... check out the little feet.

That's right. Sooo cute! Thanks Aunt Becca!

And Aunt Mayce made Piper this ADORABLE little dress. (I stole the picture from Mayce's blog) It's still way big but Piper can't wait to wear it! Thanks Mayce!

And not pictured is the cutest little Juicy swimsuit that her Aunts got her. Picture pink and white stripes with lots of ruffles. We can't wait to take her swimming - we might have to take a swim in the bathtub to try it out.

She's got a TON other SUPER CUTE outfits from friends and family and LOVE all of it - thanks everyone!

All smiles this morning!

2010-02-05T10:39:00.000-06:00

We're so excited for grandma and grandpa to come tonight!

2010-01-30T19:24:00.001-06:00

My baby is one month old today! I can't believe it's gone by so fast (and at the same time it feels like she's been with us forever)

A bit about her:
Our new favorite thing about her - huge open mouthed gummy smiles! I almost die every time.

Also - she slept in her own bed last night. She decided early on that she wasn't into it and has been sleeping in her carseat in our room. The nature sounds on her bed only last for 2 hours, and she woke up exactly every two hours so we're working on finding a new source of noise.

We love (and I think she loves) to read books to her. If it's a good one she'll really look and focus on my face and smile when she finds it funny.

She hates to feel along and loves to be snuggled, even when she's asleep.

She does not like garlic flavored milk. Fair enough.

Here's some pictures of the smiley face. They're not the best - it's hard to catch!

2010-01-24T21:38:00.003-06:00

We're not very happy.

This is what freedom looks like...

2010-01-24T18:59:00.004-06:00

Last night we went to my company holiday party and I wanted to be able to stay awhile without finding a place to hide out and feed Piper so we tried out the bottle for the first time. As you can see, she didn't mind at all. Hopefully we can have lots of milk ready for when her grandma and grandpa come to visit in two weeks because we're looking forward to a date night!

Piper did awesome at the party - I was hoping she would sleep the whole time but in true Piper fashion she woke up grumpy right when the food was brought out. After she ate she never did really go back to sleep but was in a good mood and didn't mind being passed around. We had a great time and love that she's so easy to take places (so far) even if she is grouchy at home.

And another video just for fun...

19 Things About Our 19 Day Old

2010-01-18T13:39:00.000-06:00

We love the sound she makes after she sneezes. SNEEZE SNEEZE SNEEZE AAHHHHH. I'm so disappointed when she sneezes without making the sound.
She's so relaxed when we give her a bath. She'd sit there all day and hates when it's over.
She likes the swing on as fast as it goes. Sometimes that's not good enough and we have to push it higher.
LOVES jungle sounds - on her swing and bed and jungle playmat.
LOVES to eat. She's all about the milk.
She's very snuggly. We still argue over who gets to hold her.
She doesn't like to be left out of anything. Somehow she knows when we're starting to eat and is suddenly so hungry she can't stand it. My eating is postponed.
Squeaky. She makes the cutest little noises all night. About half the times I get up to feed her at night I bring her in the living room to realize she's still sound asleep when I thought she was making waking up noises. It's fine, we cuddle on the couch until she starts to wake up for real.
Loves the monkey mobile on her bed.
Loves being read to - our favorites are Goodnight Moon and The Going to Bed Book.
Makes funny faces - sometimes she looks like an old lady. Sometimes she looks like a turtle.
Nicknames are: Pipsqueak, squeaker, squeaky, Pipes, Bagpipes, Polywog, Chumba, Chubs, Pied Piper, Punk, Poopstar, Big Pooper, Milky, Milk face, Milk breath, Squishy face, Squishy, Gulpy plus some more!
She's a loud eater and an all-star burper.
If you hold her up when she's asleep her arms will flop down at her sides but she'll hold her legs straight out.
Eats a ton from 9-11ish then will usually get through the night in two 4-5 hour stretches.
Sleeps a ton (except when we want her to. It's so hard to get her to sleep after her middle of the night meal)
Has been shopping at the mall, Target and Joanns. Has eaten at Chili's and Timberlodge Steakhouse. She visited Encompass and went to see the Blind Side. And slept through ALL OF IT!
She's not very patient. Wakes up and demands to be fed immediately.
She gets thousands of kisses every day. We love our squishy face!

2010-01-18T12:54:00.001-06:00

Calder LOVES watching football with his baby

Her favorite way to sleep - superman arms and frog legs

Daddy dressed her... He did say that it seemed wrong.

Trying on her dad's hats

Sleepy baby!

Really the sweetest thing ever - snuggles after bath

This pretty much sums up that day. Blah. The worst part was waking her up to change her clothes.

The day Nana went home...

2010-01-12T18:24:00.001-06:00

I always hated when people had babies and took forever to post pictures. My mom left this morning - Piper protested by puking on her twice (should smell AWESOME after a 20 hour flight) and setting some personal records for the most poopy diapers in a 1 hour period. Then there was a little breakdown in the airport. After we got home and Piper ate and took a nap we had bathtime.

She LOVED it this time.

Sooo relaxed.

It was so cold so we had some snuggle time.

Then she was in such a good mood we did some tummy time on the bear rug.

Exercises with daddy.

Then she decided she was DONE.

So she played in her swing for awhile.

Next she spit up a ton all over her clothes and blanket. After cleaning up we played a really fun game of acting really hungry then falling asleep as soon as she started eating. Repeat three times.

Back to the swing.

We'll keep you updated.

Piper is Here!

2009-12-31T20:25:00.002-06:00

Piper Elizabeth Huntington

8 lbs, 1 oz

21 inches

December 30, 2009

9:24 pm

Welcome to our family! We love you so much already!

2009-12-05T22:36:00.001-06:00

I love my Christmas tree! It's a little bigger than I would have picked, I think, but for some reason there weren't many to choose from - I could either get teeny tiny or big. It's fine - I love it!

The presents are for baby. Calder thought it was silly, since she won't be able to unwrap them or even play with the toys, but I didn't want her to be left out of Christmas if she comes early. and we can save them for her if she comes after Christmas. I'll unwrap them - it'll be fun.

They say "To: Piper Elizabeth" - it's so much fun to have a name picked out!

I also got this out.

Calder just studied - 1 week until finals. He did help pick out the tree and set it up straight.

The tree from the couch.

Ignore the mess.

After the tree was decorated and the nativity out, the tree parts vacuumed up and the boxes put up, I remembered that it's been awhile since I took a picture of me.

I tried to take one of myself but I didn't think it really showed my 'baby bump'

There it is! Calder took this picture then giggled and said "you're so big!"

Ignore the double chin.

And yes, I know my shirt is too small. What do you do when maternity clothes don't fit anymore? I usually wear Calder's sweatshirts.

25 days until due date!

A Big Announcement!

2009-11-15T12:01:00.001-06:00

Calder has been applying and interviewing for jobs all over the place. Some places we wanted to live, some I'd have to bite my lip and deal with. Finally last Monday he got a call - a job! We celebrated with Papa Murphys Pizza and Cinnamon Wheel. It was our top pick. Any guesses?

Here are some hints...

(YUM!)

(Really yummy fried jalapeños)

(Really tasty shakes)

(I'm such a nerd - but I'm so excited to visit this new bridge...WOW)

(I took this from your facebook... sorry Becca!)

Calder was offered (and obviously accepted) a two year federal clerkship position in Las Vegas! We're so excited to be moving back closer to his family and for this great opportunity for Calder. Since we'll be there for two years it also means I can finally finish school! He starts in late August so it's still a long time away - so nice to know where we're going next! It was definitely not out doing but the result of many many prayers. We're so excited!

2009-11-15T11:06:00.000-06:00

Saturday I had a super fun baby shower hosted by Melissa and Tiffany.

It was a combined shower with another friend who's having a baby girl a week before me (or that's the plan.) She's going for an all natural 'non-medical' birth - I can't even imagine. That sounds really painful - I'm all about the drugs.

I'm posting pictures that are cuter of me - not necessarily my favorite things (but really, I loved everything!)

Cute clothes, books, sleek sack, blankets, grooming kit...

Boppy, baby carrier, washcloth

I asked Calder what his favorite thing was - the carrier because it's not pink.

Really neat diaper cake. It was a lot cuter before I picked it up and the stuff on the bottom fell off. I tried to put it back together but of course it wasn't the same. I don't want to take it apart, it looks so cute on the dresser.

And a present that I bought for myself at the craft fair to hang in her room.

It was so fun!

2009-11-02T08:43:00.000-06:00

I'm officially in countdown mode - 2 months!!

Boo!

2009-10-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

I spent all Saturday baking and finishing my Halloween costume. I've been really into baking cute festive treats lately and I've been excited all week about making these. I got the idea from here. They didn't come out as cute as hers (they never do) but were a HUGE hit at the ward Halloween party. They were cute and delicious. The actual pumpkin pie part wasn't my favorite (but really good), probably my fault somehow since they didn't look as orange as hers. Next time I'll find a new recipe for the filling. I also made tiny pecan pies, the same as the pumpkin but without the stem. I used this recipe and they were AMAZING. Next time I'll do those exactly the same! I'm so bummed I didn't get a picture of those cute little things. I brought all the pumpkin and pecan pies to the ward Halloween Party/Chili Cook-off last night, I brought at least 50 and they were gone so fast. Really, like gone in 5 minutes. Next time keep lots at home for myself - I can't wait to make these again!

And here's our costume! A bun in the oven - I thought it was pretty cute. We won most creative :). Calder did have an apron later on in the night - we didn't have one so we had to borrow.

Thoughts for Today

2009-10-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we left church early because I was feeling sick. Kind of like "It's so hot in here I might pass out and die" kind of sick. Nevermind that half of the ward was still wearing coats inside. So we went home and I laid down to take a short nap. I came back out in the living room a little later and Calder was sitting on the couch in sweats and a big hoodie bundled up in blankets. He had opened the door so I wouldn't be hot when I came out. It was perfect. I love him.
It's snowing today. Big fat fluffly wet snow. If it were November 12, it'd be thrilled and think it's lovely. Since it's October 12, I'm a little grumpy about it. It's way to early to have to brush wet sludge off the car. Merry Christmas. (It is pretty, but the kind of pretty I like to see much later in the season) I took a picture, I'll try to remember to add it later.
I absolutely must learn how to sew. ASAP. I found this site and I want everything. Can I please sew ruffles on the booty of every one of my little girl's onesies? And she probably needs lots of those cute scarf leg warmers. Anyone want to teach me? Maybe if I had a sewing machine, and space for a sewing machine, and wasn't working and going to school, I'd be doing this already. It all looks so easy and cute!

11 weeks. 4 days.

2009-10-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

Only 11 more weeks until the baby comes!

We're getting so excited! I love to watch loud action movies now because she goes a little bit crazy when there's an explosion. And I have been craving rice krispy treats.

I haven't blogged much because really, there's nothing to say. We go to school (I finally bought a rolling backpack. I look awesome.) I go to work. We come home and watch TV.

2009-09-10T22:16:00.000-05:00

Belly! Here's a 24 week 1 day picture. Gigantic!

This morning I was painting my toenails and was just shocked at what an ordeal it was. Really, remember when I could just put my foot on the floor and lean forward? It's uncomforatable now.

I still feel great, just tired. And hungry all the time! I've mostly given up on all clothes not maternity, which has been a little sad for me. I can still get into most of my normal pants (unbuttoned of course) but I'm scard that I'm going to bust the seams in the booty!

School started this week and I felt a little like a freak show walking through campus. I'm only taking 13 credits and one is an online General Biology class that I'm hoping to finish up a little early. My last final is a week and a day before my due date which makes me really nervous - I hope they would help me out somehow if baby girl decides to come early.

I love sitting in class and feeling little kicks in my belly. The baby doesn't move much yet, it's still really subtle and I usually only notice when I'm laying really still at just the right time. Calder still hasn't felt it but I make him put his hand on my stomach every time she gets going.

I went to a party last week and one girl there said she was SIX MONTHS pregnant. Turns out she's due the day after me! Can you believe I'm in my SIXTH month already?!

My ward is going to be full of new baby girls. One is due late this month (or next, I'm not sure), one December 22, and me on December 30. So fun!

Seriously, where is the spellcheck on blogger now?

2009-09-10T21:59:00.000-05:00

While Calder's mom was here she helped us get seriously organized. It was great to have another person's perspective in our tiny apartment.

(Ignore Calder's huge box of gross NutriSystem food)

She moved our loveseat into the baby's room which I NEVER would have thought to do, but I love. We also got a stroller/carseat combo and playard.

It feel so good to have these thigns out of the way. School ends about a week before baby's due (I know - I'm really cutting it close!) so we're not going to have much time later to be doing much. We still need plenty but it's nice to have the big stuff taken care of.

Thanks for EVERYTHING!

State Fair

2009-09-10T21:30:00.000-05:00

I LOVE the State Fair! This year Calder's mom was in town and went with us. My favorite part is the Miracle of Life Birth Center which was pretty lame when we went. We were there the first weekend and only a few babies (some lambs and pigs) were born. Lots of preganant animals but not many babies!

The food was great (as always) and the weather was perfect. Good times!

I'll just post pictures... no explanations needed really.

I couldn't help but post these cute little piggies with their wrinkly snouts!

Twins Game

2009-09-10T21:21:00.000-05:00

Each year my compnay gets tickets to the Twins game - each employee gets to go to a game and they use the rest for clients. I LOVE going to games - even if I don't like the sport there's something about the food and atmosphere that I really enjoy.

I walked all the way around the stadium to find the perfect nachos, but couldn't really enjoy them because of the two cute kids glaring at the the entire time I ate them. I felt like such a jerk-face eating delicious food when they didn't have any! I had bought cracker jacks too, but didn't eat them unil the kids left.

Cracker Jacks aren't nearly as delicious as I remembered. They were pretty gross actually.

Calder had a super long hot dog.

The seats were great and it was a good game. It came down to the last inning and we won!

As promised...

2009-08-27T18:49:00.001-05:00

The shower!
A few days after I got to Louisiana I had a baby shower - so much fun! It was perfect, tons of friends I haven't seen in a long time, delicious food, and lots of pink baby stuff. Here's some pictures...

I was so happy to have both of my grandmas there!

The party planners - thanks again! Everything was so fun!

I LOVE the little hats and headbands with the huge flowers/bows. So cute on a little newborn's head!

Really cute (and surprprisingly super soft) Levi's outfit - jeans, shirt, and jean jacket.

Soft bear rug from my mom- These girls held it for the rest of the shower, it's too soft to put down.

Here's everything - look at all the pink!

Since we've used the extra bedroom as a storage room, and we don't really have anywhere else to put our 'stuff' (Calder uses that closet for his dress clothes and the dresser in there is filled with winter stuff and miscellaneous computer stuff) Anyway, he turned one of the bookshelves into a closet thing.

(I had a picture but my comptuer is apparently no longer reading SD cards, I'll figure it out later)

We took out one of the shelves and put a bar across to hang all the baby clothes. I'm trying to find some cute baskets/boxes to put everything else in. It looks really cute and nice to have everything accessable.

Calder is a little sad to part with his books but I've assured him that he'll see them again someday, and he can always walk to down the hall to our storage room and look at them if he needs to.

I'm a little behind on posting belly shots... this was last week. Let's call it a 21 week picture. I feel so much bigger.

(what happened to the spell check button at the top?)

Louisiana

2009-08-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month we went to Louisiana for a week - so much fun!

We made Vegetable soup...

Hung out with friends

Had a baby shower (which will be a post of its own!)

Ate at Steamboat Bill's.

And had a birthday barbeque.

In case you haven't heard...

2009-08-03T19:16:00.009-05:00

And she looks 100% healthy and weighs 8oz! The December 30th due date looks like it's right on. We're so excited!! Here's some pictures...

A profile...

More profiles...

Some bony little hands!

And a booty!

So cute! Now it's time to go shopping for girl stuff!

2009-08-01T19:52:00.003-05:00

It's time! Monday morning we go for our ultrasound! We're SO excited to know the gender of this little baby (and start buying things for it!) So let's hear it - what do you think we'll be having? I haven't decided yet if I'm going to tell on Monday when I find out or wait until Wednesday

Also - here's an 18 weeks belly picture taken last Wednesday. Getting big!

Calder got home last Sunday and we've been having so much fun! One day this week we went to a restaurant that we had a coupon for. It was good, not great, but in a Mexican neighborhood that we didn't know about. There were tons of shops and restaurants. We walked around for a while, bought some salsa at the super mercado and headed home. The salsa was DELICIOUS (I may or may not have eaten over half of it this afternoon). Today we went back to the area because we were in the mood for tacos. We had discussed going to taco bell then remembered about the "Taco Taxi" that we saw there (just a restaurant, don't know what's up with the taxi, but they did have a taxi... it said taco taxi... I don't know why a taco joint needs a taxi). We went there and there was a little festival outside celebrating one of the big markets 10th anniversary. Fun music, lots of people, yummy smelling food. The tacos were delicious, very authentic. The menu included things like tongue and cow head, which makes me feel a little sick. I don't like eating something that was in the same fridge as cow head meat. Ek. I got a plain jane beef taco.

Then we went to the library, target, Costco. Home to watch TV and read. I love having my husband back!

What happens

2009-07-30T10:33:00.002-05:00

When I go grocery shopping...

Yes. That would be one pound of marshmallow fluff. And I couldn't be happier. The graham crackers say low fat - that means it's ok, right?

2009-07-24T17:05:00.006-05:00

From this...

To this...

And it only cost $20! Sure... it's pretty dinged up, and the table's a little wobbly, and one of the chairs has a broken leg (which I fixed myself with wood glue - hopefully it worked). But it's actually wood and has four matching chairs. I'm a happy woman!

I wanted to put the old stuff on Craig's List but don't really feel comfortable with strange people coming over here to get it when it's only me here, so I put it in the baby's future room, which currently looks like this...

We have a lot of work ahead of us!

17 Weeks!

2009-07-21T22:45:00.004-05:00

It's a little round belly now! I love it!

And some cute baby shoes I got at Target for $3.50. The looked like something Calder might wear.

One last weekend trip...

2009-07-19T22:32:00.008-05:00

Last weekend I went to Delaware to visit Calder for the last time before he comes home! I got there Friday evening and we had all of the other summer associates over for a barbecue that night. It was so fun to meet all the people that he's worked with all summer.

The next morning we slept in and then headed out for a fun filled Saturday with Calder's high school friend Molly, who lives in Philadelphia. We met for lunch at Marathon on the Square and I had some really delicious blueberry pancakes.

We walked over to the Museum and walked around. Super fun. Crazy what some people consider to be art. I liked a lot of it (the real art that is). Lots of walking. Here we are at the top of the steps.

I wanted to see the historic Philadelphia stuff so we took a cap over to that area. Most of the sites were closed but we did get to see the Liberty Bell!

and... I think it was Ben Franklin's house. There's nothing there now, they have areas where it's dug out like an archeology thing, then big frames of where the house was.

We walked a few blocks to an awesome ice cream place called Franklin's Fountain. Wow. Holy Guacamole it was delicious.

Next, I think, after sitting and chatting for a loong time, we walked. and walked. To eat dinner. The first place we wanted to go didn't have a table available until like... 9:45. No thank you. I don't remember where we went but it was delicious. After dinner we got gelato (lots of eating this day) and headed back to the car.

This is what we found.

Our car was on the right side (which was filled with cars when we got there). Gone. Towed. Very Expensive. HUGE waste of money.

By the end of the day my feet were puffy and tired but we had a great time! Thanks Molly for showing us around!

Love is...

2009-07-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

finding two boxes of your all time favorite candy in your husband's dresser drawer. Then having the following conversation

Ivy: I found sweethearts candy in your drawer. Thank you :)
Calder: Those are for when you get mad at me. Leave them alone.

I ate one box. Let him keep one for a get out of jail free card.

5 months old and they were still delicious.

Busy Summer!

2009-07-08T16:31:00.010-05:00

I have two suitcases at home that need to be unpacked so I can repack one of them for another trip on Friday!

Calder's sister Becca got married on June 27th in Las Vegas. It was such a fun wedding! Me and Calder both got in pretty late Friday night and Saturday was busy busy. Calder left Sunday morning so we didn't get to see much of each other at all :( I stayed a few days after to hang out with Mom Mary and go shopping for maternity clothes! It was such a fun trip - I didn't carry my camera around so I'm stealing pictures from other blogs and facebook (sorry and thanks!)

And the dance...

I got back home on Tuesday night, repacked Wednesday and flew to Louisiana Thursday after work. I hadn't been back in a YEAR so it was super fun to see everyone and go to the civic center to listen to the band and watch fireworks. Again, I didn't carry around my camera but here are some pictures from my mom.

She bought 9 flavors of bluebell ice cream and two bags of zapps cajun crawtator potato chips! Yum! I also ate at Casa Manana (which wasn't really as good as I remembered but it's a classic) and steamboat bills (where I ordered and ate gumbo, boudin balls, pistolette, and a fried shrimp dinner).

Sometime between Vegas and Louisiana the baby started growing and I got a cute baby bump! I think it looks way bigger in real life.

I got back Sunday night and went back to work on Monday. Both Monday and yesterday I fell asleep as soon as I got home so I haven't even started cleaning/washing clothes/packing to go to Delaware this weekend. I did realized that all the food in my apartment was rotten. Bread was moldy, milk was way expired, vegetables were gross, and I had nothing to eat. Calder called and woke me up around 8:10 and I made a mad dash to Costco for a salad last night.

Calder's last day is July 24th - it's gone by so fast! I can't wait to have him around to help me start cleaning out the baby's room. I married a major pack rat and tons of junk doesn't mix well with a 700 square foot apartment AND a baby. I am determined that this kiddo will have a cute real room and not share with piles of junk. Calder doesn't agree. We'll see how that goes.

2009-06-19T11:27:00.003-05:00

Part of being pregnant is finding things online that my baby absolutely must have. MUST. I came across this on Amazon... it's one of those things. I've found that since I like everything, it's really fun to look for things I Calder would like. If we had the space it would have been Calder's Father's Day present... since we don't it'll have to wait until baby is a little older and we live somewhere else.

A few other things I found...

Ok... the book is for me... I love Winnie the Pooh!
Hopefully this kiddo won't be too spoiled.

Yikes!

2009-06-04T22:02:00.005-05:00

For Mother's Day Calder bought me (and him) webcams so we could video chat while he is in Delaware for the summer. I didn't think I'd be into webcam chatting but I can now say I LOVE it! We've made a habit of getting on Skype every night, chatting for a few minutes, saying our nighttime prayers together, and doing "goodnight babe I love you" kissy faces.

(enjoy the picture since I'm sure he'll make me take it off when/if he notices!)

I miss him so much but it is somewhat refreshing to feel 'grown up' and doing lame things because it's what's best long term for our family.

Since he's been gone it seems like bugs have been invading my apartment. I've sucked up two spiders and a bee in the vacuum.

I had my 10 week appointment on Tuesday and heard the tiny little heartbeat! Such a cute little sound and the doctor said it sounded perfect(: Meanwhile I'm trying to resist the urge to buy tons of stuff for this kid. I've done pretty well (mainly since I don't know if I want pink or blue yet) except I lost it for a while when I saw some University of Minnesota onesies on sale. He/She has to have something to wear to visit daddy at school right? Or to wear to graduation? I can't handle the cuteness.

I finally went on a much needed shopping trip this week. I got one pair of shorts, one skirt, two shirts, 2 pairs of flip-flops, one swimsuit, and one swimsuit coverup thingy, and socks. Every single thing was on sale. I love Kohls.

I'm going to Delaware tomorrow and haven't packed yet!

2009-04-25T21:33:00.003-05:00

Ok... you can't... although I wish I could say that my chubby belly is in any way related to this little baby. At 4 weeks he or she is smaller than a grain of rice and definately not showing!

I haven't gone to the doctor yet (other than the clinic at school to verify my two postitive home tests) so I don't have a known due date yet - but we're figuring end of December.

Apparently four weeks is a little early to spread the good news but we're both SO EXCITED there was no way we could keep it to ourselves!

I'm inviting any and all advice because I'm clueless! A friend of mine (who is expecting her first baby in July) gave me a "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book that I'm already obsessed with.

Drink or Go Home!

2009-04-16T09:12:00.004-05:00

After the Justice Thomas thing we went to the opera with some friends that Calder goes to school with. I've never been to an opera but have been trying to do some more 'grownup' things lately and wanted to give this a try. We saw The Barber of Seville at the Ordway Center. HOLY COW. I have never disliked anything more in my life. So.. definitely not an opera person. At intermission we were walking out and poor Calder thought we were done. His friend said something about how much he liked it and Calder was like, "Wait... is there something after." "This is intermission..." "OOHhhhhh....." We discussed for a minute and decided we needed to either start drinking (the drinks were expensive but since we haven't ever before it probably wouldn't take much) or get the deuce out of there. We went back in, explained to our friends that we just realized we really don't like the oprea, and left. Leaving something so expensive in the middle never felt so good! Here's a picture we took on our way out, it pretty much sums up our feelings on the opera. Never again but it was worth the try, now I know.

Since we were already in St. Paul I had Calder take me to Sonic. I'd been craving a Strawberry Limeade since I realized how close we were. It kinda made up for the lame hour and a half before :)

A Conversation with Justice Thomas

2009-04-16T08:57:00.003-05:00

Finally something blogworthy! Sorry I've been so lame with updating but really, NOTHING has happened. I just can't bring myself to blog when all we do is go to school, work, come home and eat frozen pizza while watching Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, 24,or Dollhouse (or whatever else our TiVo has ready for us!)

This week Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at the law school to visit with students, speak with some classes and give a presentation. I've been listening to his memoir in the car when I drive to work and really think he's a great guy. Calder got to meet and chat with him on Tuesday and I went over for his presentation on Wednesday. It was a question and answer format where the Dean of the Law School had gathered peoples questions on index cards and picked the best. Justice Thomas answered a few then started taking questions from the audience, which we thought was very commendable, especially at such a liberal school.

He was very interesting and VERY entertaining. I really enjoyed it! He made a lot of comments that I liked a lot. One of my favorites though, at the beginning he was asked what his hardest case was. He said that there wasn't one hardest but a category of hardest and those were the ones where his heart said one thing and the law said anther. The others where he wants to help the person but just doesn't have the authority.

I'd definitely recommend his book, My Grandfather's Son. I'm impressed at how he has become what he has having been born and raised in Savannah, Georgia during segregation. He is also against Affirmative Action because he believes that it is keeping blacks and minorities from really progressing, which I agree with.

You have to see the cake I made

2009-03-22T10:06:00.005-05:00

I went a little crazy last week. It was Spring Break and even though I was sill working I felt like I had tons of time. Enrichment was on Tuesday and I decided to undertake baking a 12 layer cake.

The pictures went in backwards and I don't really want to fix it so enjoy... finish to start! Yum!

I got the idea from Bakerella who used this recipe. It was fun and I'd definitely do it again!

Look at My Cute Family!

2009-03-22T09:59:00.002-05:00

Family pictures we took while we were in Las Vegas over Christmas! (Stolen from Mayce's blog since I haven't seen the rest yet!)

2009-03-13T15:16:00.002-05:00

How can be be below zero on Tuesday and be this by the weekend? I have no idea but I'm super pumped! No snow this Easter!

Yummy!

2009-03-07T17:44:00.003-06:00

We have a new favorite food.
Pesto Chicken Pasta
We love it because, well, it's delicious. And all of the ingredients are things we always have on hand (except pesto sauce, although now I keep it frozen for this) and it really only takes 20 minutes to make.

I don't follow the recipe at all - just throw it all in until it tastes right. A box of pasta, some chicken breasts (cooked with Italian season and red pepper flakes), lots of pesto, some garlic and lots of sun dried tomatoes. More red pepper because we like things to have a little kick!

Maybe someday I'll make it with homemade pesto... unlikely... but maybe.

Check Yes or No

2009-02-21T18:19:00.002-06:00

(If you're reading this from Google Reader or similar - go check it out on my real blog - I've added some background music that's vital to the following story)

Here it goes

Thursday after my Probability Concepts in Civil Engineering class as I was getting up to leave, the guy sitting to my left handed me a note and said awkwardly "This is for you."

I become immediately curious, take the note and start reading.

"You probably think this is really weird but I think you're really cute..."
HOLD UP! This is the part I regret. I didn't read the rest of the note. My eyes skipped to the bottom and focused on three boxes.
Box 1: Yes let's get together sometime (or something to that effect)
Box 2: No, this is pathetic
Box 3: No for some other reason ___________

Why didn't I read the rest of the note - it was about four lines long. Hopefully it offered some information as to why he is doing this in a note and not talking to me like is the custom after third grade.

Meanwhile guy sitting next to me was standing there watching me read his heartfelt note that I was staring at with amazement.

Then he hands me a pencil. You know, to check a box.

I checked box three and wrote in the blank "MARRIED!"

I hand him the note, he looks at the response, nods, and says ok. Then he says, "Well, thanks for not putting that I'm pathetic."

Me: "...Sorry"

You probably have a lot of questions about this guy. Well, I can't answer them. I was so taken aback by the awkwardness of the situation that I didn't even get a good look at him. I can tell you however that he was normal looking, no mole, no abundance of pimples. He was also dressed normal.

So now I'm feeling pretty sorry for this guy. True, we all got a good laugh about it at work, then at home, but I can't help but feel a little embarrassed for him. Honestly? A note? With boxes?

I was sitting there before he got to class, so maybe this was all planned out ahead of time and he got lucky with there being an open seat by me. Maybe he even had the note prepared before class. Maybe he wrote the note during class (I really wasn't paying him any attention.)

So now he has to be in class with me, twice a week this year, probably more in later semesters, and will never forget that he wrote me a "check yes or no" note and will probably feel like an idiot for a good long time.

The sad part? I don't remember what he looks like and never knew his name. Maybe I'll never know who it was. Maybe I'll recognize him on Tuesday.

With any luck he'll write me another note.

Now let's hope he doesn't Google my name and find this awesome blog.

Look what I found in Minnesota!

2009-02-21T18:09:00.003-06:00

I'm so excited! I started to get a little sad that I didn't have different flavors to choose from (I'm assuming it's just plain) but then I remembered - this is a miracle!

I also found some really tasty spicy sausage that I'm planning on making jambalaya with on Tuesday (the king cake isn't going to last that long). Does anyone have a good (easy) recipe?

I love everything about today!

2009-02-15T00:30:00.005-06:00

I love Valentine's Day, I really get into the pink and the hearts. I love that there's a holiday about being in love. I love that the whole country can have a 'date night' on the same day.

I love everything about today.

We slept in.

Woke up and exchanged gifts. I gave Calder come cacti and a little bonsai tree decorated with things I love about him.

I had planned to get him an awesome little bonsai tree that was growing out of a lava rock. I waited to order it until this week because I didn't want it to get here early, then a I got a call from the store saying they wouldn't ship it because it's too cold here. I was SO bummed! Then I did the best I could with what I found at Home Depot.

He gave me Mamma Mia! on blu-ray and a pink water bottle (that I'm super excited about) filled with my favorite candy (sweethearts - yum!).

We ate lunch. I made my burger into a heart and drank water with heart shaped ice cubes. I get really into holidays.

We studied.

We left for our big date. We had planned to go to the Water Street Inn in Stillwater for dinner. Stillwater is a cute little town about 45 minutes away with fun antique shops. Most were closed when we got there, but we were able to get into one big store and did plenty of window shopping. We showed up to our dinner reservations an hour early (window shopping isn't very fun at 15 degrees) and were surprised to find that they had plenty of open tables (we had to get reservations for 9:15 because they were completely full). We sat down and they gave us the menu.

A special Valentine's Day menu with their special Valentine's Day 5-course meal, $50 per person menu. Yikes, not really what we had planned on!

We whispered about it for a few minutes and decided since they didn't have anything on their website to warn us that we'd be guilted into spending $40 more on dinner than planned, and they hadn't mentioned it when we made reservations, we didn't feel bad about walking out. Normally I'd leave a little money on the table, since they'd brought us water and they'd have to re-fold the napkin or whatever, but we didn't have any small bills. Oh well. If we ever go back we'll make the reservations under my name.

Given all the open tables I don't think we were the only ones who weren't thrilled by the surprise special menu.

We ended up at a pizza and ice cream joint down the street that had a sign out front for a $20 three course heart shaped pizza dinner (salad, pizza, dessert)! Talk about all dressed up and nowhere to go!

They had some delicious looking ice cream that I wanted but couldn't bring myself to eat it after they had just watched me eat blueberry cheesecake. We went to Cold Stone on our way home.

It was tasty, not what we had planned, but a fun and memorable night for sure. So we drove 45 minutes to get a heart shaped pizza? We laughed a lot then came home, snuggled on the couch and watched "How I Met Your Mother" while we ate our ice cream.

Did I mention that I'm so in love with this guy :)

The Problem

2009-02-10T20:33:00.002-06:00

Here's the problem...

This is one of the cups for our blender, filled with a week old protein shake. Attached to the cup is the blade for the blender. And it won't come off! We've tried everything (and by everything I mean I turned it over to Calder figuring if he couldn't get it then I didn't have a chance).

We figure if we don't get it open soon we'll have to either buy a new blender or try to break the cup hoping we can get the blade part off. Somewhere we do have two more cups...

Anyway, I was hoping somebody could tell me how in the world to unscrew this!

Jan 2009

2009-01-24T00:50:00.005-06:00

Since I'm so far behind (it's too cold to blog) I'll just give a short review of the month so far.

We got back from vacation January 6th and I went back to work. Calder played lots of video games.

Not many days later it got cold. Really cold. One evening when I was leaving work my car looked like this...

Then the next morning it said this...

The next three days experienced sub-zero temperatures - from Tuesday morning to Friday it never got above zero. OUCH! We had this conversation Friday morning...

Calder: How cold is it today?
Ivy: High of 3
Calder: Positive?!
Ivy: Yeah
Calder: Awesome
Calder: It's really sad that I'm excited about a temperature of 3.

Indeed

We got Rock Band (a Christmas present for me) and I'm a little obsessed. We both like the guitar best, but I can really only do it good if I'm standing up dancing around, or jumping on the couch. Super fun. Notice how hard I'm concentrating, like I said, I'm really into it.

School started on the 20th and it looks like we're going to have a busy semester. I have class until 8 on Monday and Wednesdays - Calder has class until 8 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We really only see each other in the morning and an hour before bed. It makes me really excited about weekends! I miss my man!

Tonight was my company Christmas party (I don't know why they do it a month after). They had it at Fogo de Chao downtown. It's a Brazilian steakhouse where they walk around with meat and keep serving you. There's a disk that you turn to green telling the waiters that you want more and red when you need a break. Delicious. We stuffed our faces. We ate, people drank, then we had dessert. Calder and I decided that since we weren't drinking we could get an extra dessert to make up for it.

My Favorite Time of Year!

2008-12-29T11:36:00.009-06:00

I've been having way too much fun to blog! For Christmas this year we're in Las Vegas visiting Calder's family and it's been busy busy busy since we flew in last Saturday. Warning: REALLY long post to follow.

Sunday night was the big Christmas party. Tons of family and close friends came over for some delicious food. It was really fun to see everyone and get to know some people a bit better. I discovered Calder is really bad at introducing me to people - several times I was standing next to him when he started a conversation with someone I had never met before - and just left me standing there! He has gotten better. Unfortunately I didn't pull my camera out for this event :(

Christmas Eve we went over to Calder's aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner. We had the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry deliciousness. After dinner we played a fun game of Christmas Bingo (I love anything 10x more if it has the word Christmas in front of it) and Aunt Catherine read us all a cute Christmas story. Again with the no pictures - sorry!

Christmas day is a day that I'm used to spending hanging out and relaxing - this year it was busy and fun filled all day long!

Christmas morning - we slept until 9ish and got up to open presents. It was so nice to not have any kids around to wake up super early. We got lots of great presents including a beautiful nativity set from Calder's parent's recent trip to Israel, Turkey, etc. Also I can say that being in a jewelry family pays off and we're anxiously awaiting going home and playing with our Playstation 3 (a combined gift from my parents and his). I did get some fun pictues here. We were going to a brunch and Calder's grandmas house right after so we didn't have any gross Christmas morning pictures.

An Obama book for the family liberal

Zoe in the cute "Santa's Little Helper shirt" we got her

The fam

The pre-opening

Next was breakfast at grandma's house! More delicious food. We also watched a really nice slideshow of family pictures throughout the years. I really like things like that - I'll have to get a copy. It was fun to watch Calder evolve from a cute happy kid, to a big grump, to happy again.

After brunch we went over to Calder's Aunt Linda's house for Christmas dinner with the Huntington side of the family. More delicious food (are you seeing a theme here?) Highlights included a super cute reenactment of the nativity story and some pretty Christmas music. I also got to meet a few family members that I hadn't met yet, so that was nice.

Saturday we woke up and took a family trip to the temple and had dinner at a yummy mexican restaurant.

Sunday was Coulson's mission farwell. He's preparing to serve in the Lima Peru mission. He goes into the MTC late January but was kind enough to have his farewell a few weeks early so that we could all be there! He gave a great talk and we enjoyed more hanging out with family and friends.

And that brings us up to today! We're here until January 6 and have lots more fun things planned!

Just Wait Until Calder Sees This!

2008-12-15T17:12:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Math 2374 - Multivariable Calculus (Calculus 3)

2008-12-04T13:47:00.004-06:00

Wednesday Dec. 3 - 3rd Midterm Exam
Friday Dec. 5 - Homework Due
Tuesday Dec. 9 - Lab Report Due
Wednesday Dec. 10 - Homework Due
Wednesday Dec. 10 - Pre-lecture quiz
Friday Dec. 12 - Final

GIVE. ME. A. BREAK.
I'm supposed to study for this final when?

2008-12-03T10:40:00.004-06:00

1. I like to study in the law school - it's more serious.

2. Calder studied at school Sunday and I stayed home and cleaned and watched Lifetime Christmas movies. I loved it.

3. I really like the Atkins Advantage vanilla shakes.

4. I'm not putting up Christmas decorations at all this year. I won't notice them at all during finals and we're leaving right after.

5. I didn't go to work today so that I could study for my two tests today. Now I'm blogging.

6. We bought a TV on Black Friday.

7. We got massages last night - found a massage school about 20 minutes away - $20 for a one hour massage.

8. Also got pizza last night. I bought a coupon book for $20 a few months ago with buy one get one deals for places all over the twin cities. We use it all the time and are trying to find where to buy one for next year.

9. We eat out a lot, but always have coupons. Love this website.

10. So excited for finals to be finished - a break and a vacation.

11. I'll have a double commute next semester. School in the morning (15 minutes from home), work (30 minutes away from school), then school at night. I'll do this at least two days a week, maybe three. I'm happy that I have a job and that I can go to school.

2008-12-03T10:34:00.002-06:00

Before:

After:

Side View:

I LOVE it! The pictures don't do it justice - and it looks a little crazy since my bangs are still 'learning' to go to the side and to stay flat. Now if I didn't have to put on a hat to walk up to school everyday I'd look awesome.

(Do you like my Halloween decorations still up in the background?)

New Hair

2008-11-22T15:43:00.003-06:00

I need a haircut and I'm having a really hard time making up my mind. Right now it's just long, flat and straight. It's not bad except that it's always in a ponytail by 9:00. I've narrowed it down to a few options... let me know what you think. Calder likes long hair... I told him that when he starts shaving his face everyday then he can have some (small amount) of input in my hairstyle.

Option 1: Heidi Klum Hair

Cute but doesn't really solve the 'long and annoying' problem.

Option 2: Hayden Panettiere Hair

My hair is straight and thin - so it could actually look like this.

Option 3: ... 'Random Girl With Cute Hair' Hair

I like this one, but I don't know if it would work well with my hair.

Option 4: Kimberly Caldwell Hair

I like this, but I think it's too short. I also don't think my face is round enough.

Let me know!

The Best Procrastination EVER

2008-11-16T20:53:00.002-06:00

I have a paper due this week, another due early next week, two lab reports to do, math homework, and two tests coming up. What do I do?

LAUNDRY.

I haven't folded anything since school started. It had spilled over the first basket, spilled over a second, and had found a resting place at the foot of the bed. I was taking my life in my hands to get out of bed every morning. Now it's done.

Now back to work...

Crafty!

2008-11-16T15:06:00.004-06:00

I went to a HUGE craft fair yesterday morning - I didn't buy much but found so many things that I want to have 'someday'. Most of it was decoration type stuff that I just don't have space to store right now but really loved.

My absolute favorite was the artist Randal Spangler. This is how I want to theme a kid's room... someday - a boys room more specifically. I love all the prints with the little dragons reading books. They are so colorful and really illustrate the love I hope any future child of mine will have for reading. He also had some paintings of awesome libraries. Really, really neat and whimsical. Check it out if you have a chance.

Also, and this isn't anything new, but they had some really cool felt play sets. I really liked the Bible Costumes and Costumes of The World sets.

2008-11-09T16:51:00.003-06:00

I finally got to wear my new coat! I bought it a few weeks ago on a 50% off sale and loved it! Of course, the weather got warm again so I had to wait until today to wear it out of the house. Sorry for the dorky photo, I wanted one outside with the fall leaves and such, but when we pulled in the parking lot Calder had to dash upstairs to watch a replay of something that had just happened in the Vikings game.

I also feel the need to clarify my last post, just in case anybody was jealous. I thought he had folded the laundry. I later realized he only folded the whites and sweats and things that don't need to be kept unwrinkled. All of the actual clothes are still in a laundry basket that I will now need to iron. It was a nice try I guess.

2008-11-08T21:53:00.003-06:00

Today I am Thankful that Calder did laundry (and folded it!) while I was working on a group project. Thanks babe!

Tripe

2008-11-07T20:57:00.003-06:00

Ok, somehow I have lived the past 22 years without anybody being kind enough to tell me about tripe. I, before tonight, was oblivious to the fact that I shouldn't order it. Never. Nobody told me this. I'm blaming you.

Calder and I went out to a Thai restaurant that we've been to a few times, and every time previous I've had pad Thai. I really like it and am of the mindset that if I know I really like something, I don't want to risk getting something I don't like. Especially when I have to pay for it.

This said, I decided to act out of the box tonight and try something new. I saw Beef Laab on the menu and it looked delicious. Lime, green chilies, mint, cilantro, beef tripe. yum. I told Calder he pretended to look at it on the menu and said it looked good and I should get it.

My first hint that I was making a mistake was when the manager came out and described it as a very authentic dish just to make sure I knew what I was getting. I figured it is Minnesota and we weren't exactly in an area that I consider to be very open minded about food (I know, I'm one to talk) so I didn't think that much of it. Until my food came out and large chunks of something gross were all in it. I, still not understanding, tasted one. It was VERY SQUISHY.

To me, texture is huge. So I went through, and picked it all out of my food, and gave Calder one. Calder then, as I am starting to choke down the rest of my food (which still had small bits of the squishy stuff) decides to tell me what he things it is.

Intestine.

Not ok.

I covered up the bowl that I had put it all in and couldn't take another bite of my food.

Luckily and thankfully, Calder was nice about it (since I tried it with an open mind) let us get dessert (delicious banana egg roll things with ice cream) and then got me some egg rolls to eat so I didn't starve.

So now I feel an obligation to warn everybody about tripe. If you see it on a menu, be really careful and don't order it. Gross.

I'm thankful for...

2008-11-07T20:48:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I'm a copycat. But today I'm thankful for the snow. I know I'll hate it in a month, but it snowed all morning (then melted) and it was so pretty and peaceful. It made me want to listen to Christmas music, then I decided that if I started now I'd be tired of it by Christmas, which would be sad.

2008-10-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

If it were Obama, they'd be in jail.

2008-10-18T20:53:00.003-05:00

It's official! Calder called yesterday and accepted a summer associate position at Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, Delaware! They focus on corporate law, which is exactly what Calder wants to do. Delaware's law is such that many businesses throughout the country are incorporated in Delaware, so he's excited to be able to work that environment. With the economy in its current state, we feel very blessed and excited for this great opportunity. Many of our friends have had a hard time finding jobs since many firms have significantly cut back on their summer hiring.

Of course we had to celebrate - if you know me at all, you know that I love any excuse for a celebration. There's a seafood and steak restaurant called Alaska right by our apartment that we've been curious so we stopped in. Calder had a rack of wild boar and I had a bison rib-eye. Mine was definitely better than his (I think he just got sucked in by the idea of eating wild boar) but both were delicious. The best part about the dinner was the Parmesan truffle fries. Holy cow - delicious. If they sell just the fries to go I'm in deep trouble!

We're excited to see what Delaware has to offer! It's another place that I've never considered living, but seems to be nice. Wilmington is about 2 hours from DC, 45 minutes from Philadelphia, and 2 1/2 hours from New York City so that's three places (where I've never been) that I'll get to visit for sure!

Hurricane Ivy?

2008-10-04T10:54:00.004-05:00

I usually try to keep my blog positive and free of complaining and whining, but I've had this incredible bad luck streak these past few weeks and it is actually starting to by funny. Here it goes (some of my days might be off a little...)

• Sunday - rolled over and smashed the end of the printer cable with chair so we had to print everything at school for a week until we got a new one
• Monday - Spilled water bottle in my purse - Everything was ok, Calder pulled the car over so I could dump it out...
• Tuesday - Dropped and broke laptop - Luckily Calder had accident protection on it so it's at Dell getting fixed now.
• Skip ahead a week…
• Wednesday – Mixed up the time for my Chemistry test and missed it completely - The professor is giving me an excused absence so no real harm done
• Thursday – Desktop computer (which only I use) mysteriously wouldn’t turn on - This isn’t my fault, but it was just one more thing wrong. Calder said it’s something about a power supply
• Friday – On our way to a nice relaxing dinner Calder asked for his credit card that I used for gas on Tuesday.- Looked everywhere, haven’t seen it since Tuesday

Stingy?

2008-09-22T19:15:00.003-05:00

Is it bad to make food to bring somewhere, while secretly hoping that nobody likes it (or is even inclined to try it) so you can bring it home and eat it all yourself? I made some crawfish cornbread for enrichment tomorrow and already I can't stop eating it! It'll be amazing if any even makes it there, but if it does, I don't want anyone else to eat it. It's one of my favorite things and I don't have any more crawfish to make more!

(This is a picture from google, but mine looks similar)

Just for fun...

Cajun Crawfish Cornbread

2 c. cornmeal or 1 ½ c. meal and ½ c. flour
1 T. salt
1 tsp. soda
6 eggs
2 med. Onions
½ sliced jalapeno pepper (or more)
1 lb. cheddar cheese
2/3 c. oil
2 (16 oz.) cans cream corn
2 lbs. crawfish

In a large mixing bowl combine cornmeal, salt, and soda. In a medium bowl beat eggs thoroughly. Chop onions and peppers. Add grated cheese. Add to eggs, onions, jalapeno peppers, cheese, oil, corn and crawfish. Combine this mixture with cornmeal mix and mix well. Pour in a 12 x 14 inch baking dish. Bake at 350º for 55 minutes or until golden brown. 12 servings.

2008-09-20T12:08:00.002-05:00

Since my mom linked to my blog today - I figured I'd better update! We've been busy busy busy and it doesn't look like it's going to calm down anytime soon. I'm sill working part time at Encompass and going to school in the afternoons and evenings. Calder's back in school too, as well as traveling around interviewing for summer jobs for next year. Generally the firm/company where you work the summer after your second year offers you a job after graduation, so it's a pretty big decision. So far he's been to Delaware and he's in Phoenix right now. He still has Dallas and some here left. I've been trying and failing to find time to do things like clean the apartment and enjoy myself. Some things I've just given up on, like folding clothes. Since school started, we've been grabbing clothes out of a basket of clean laundry that sits in the hallway. I wash every Sunday, hang up the stuff that will wrinkle, and everything else just sits there. Dishes pretty much sit in the sink until a weekend.

Here's a few thoughts on school:
1. I miss the BYU dress code. Some things I'd rather not see.
2. Everyone is really early to classes here. If I show up 5 minutes before class starts, it's hard to find a good seat and I actually feel like I'm late.
3. Nobody uses laptops in class. In some large classes, I'm the only one with my computer open. Super weird. I've actually seen people pull them out to look something up, then put it back in their backpack. So I guess people have them - just don't take notes on them?
4. People smoke here. Something I never thought about not seeing at BYU.

I am really enjoying being back in school - and it hasn't been too bad so far since I'm really excited to be there.

In my 'spare time' - I've been making thank you cards for Calder to send to his interviewers - look how cute!

Convention Thursday Night

2008-09-07T21:35:00.001-05:00

Wednesday Night Convention Pictures

2008-09-07T21:20:00.001-05:00

Sorry!

2008-09-06T21:25:00.006-05:00

It appears my link for my last post didn't work out quite like I had planned - Sorry!

Here's some pictures from Wednesday - they're all pretty self explanatory I think!

!

Republican Convention

2008-09-04T00:29:00.004-05:00

I went to the Republican Convention tonight and had a GREAT time. We have a good friend who's been working for the convention all year and she got us some passes to get in. I have to be at work at 7:30 so no time for a real post, but I did upload the photos to shutterfly for you all to see! Sorry I took so many - I just got a new camera (Happy Birthday to ME!) and was trying to figure out how to work it.

(The McCain is cardboard but Carly Fiorina is real! We ran in to her in the call and had to get a picture. We didn't have the flash on (Dang new camera and me not knowing how to work it yet).

PHOTOS

Hopefully this works and I promise more details will come - I might get to go back tomorrow!!

First Day of School!

2008-09-02T19:35:00.002-05:00

Today was our first day of school!

I had Philosophy 1003 - Into to Ethics first. I actually went to the wrong class and got the first part of a Linguistics 4009 class before I realized that was definitely not where I wanted to be. My class is a big class taught by a grad student who seems like he'll be a lot of fun, but maybe not the best teacher. We'll see. It seems like a great topic, so I'm excited.

Next I had Math 2374 - Multivariable Calculus. It was the lab so we worked on computers and I got my first introduction to Mathematica. I'm pretty scared for this class since I struggled so much in my previous calculus classes, but I know there are a few freshmen in my class, so that does make me feel a little better.

Calder had Accounting & Finance and Tax. He's not much for details, but apparently the classes are fine - maybe more info later?

(I won't tell you what I had to do to get him to take this picture)

End of Summer Celebrations!

2008-08-24T20:20:00.009-05:00

We took these past few weeks to have tons of fun before school starts up September 2. Both of our jobs have offered to let us stay part-time during the school year, so we're not going to have much time to do the things that we'd like to when that starts up.

Earlier this month Calder's parents came to visit for a week. We had a great time! Some of the highlights included seeing Mama Mia (Which I LOVED and am so glad we went - Calder never would have taken me otherwise), a delicious birthday dinner at Zelo (Thanks Grandma Hyer!!), a bus tour of the twin cities, and some time at the Mall of America. Ric also helped Calder install some lights in our living room so we can read at night now (Thanks!). I didn't take many picures, but here's some at Minnehaha Falls, a stop on the bus tour.

We had such a fun time with them!

A few days after they left, I had my company's tickets to a Twins game and we invited our friends Jason and Allison to come with us. We won, but it was a pretty fast game. Of course, the most important part of the baseball game is the ballpark food! Calder got a HUGE hotdog and I walked halfway across the dome to find some delicious nachos, which didn't disappoint. I didn't get the cracker jacks I was so looking forward to because the game was almost over by the time I finished the nachos :(

Early the next morning we left for Louisiana! The night before our wedding, we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Los Cucos and it was the best food we'd ever eaten, no lie. So we've really been looking forward to going back, which we did first thing after flying into Houston, and it didn't disappoint! It was so good we wen't back again when we were flying back home. Excuse the terrible picture of me.

Of course we went to the Creole Nature Trail hoping to see some gators. We saw some babies in the beginning, but nothing else the whole way around. When we got back around to the babies, we attempted to lure out the mama with a Fiber One bar. We never did see the mama gator, but we did lure out some more babies!

And of course we ate at Steamboat Bills!

And we went fishing! I haven't gone fishing in years, but luckily I have a great dad that would put the worms on my hook and take off the fish (I caught 10 but they were all tiny). Most of these pictures were on my mom's camera so I don't have them :(

We did a lot of other fun things - but that's everything I have pictures for!

And We're Off!

2008-08-12T00:58:00.002-05:00

Yikes! I can't believe how fast time flies - summer is almost over! We've had a pretty busy couple of weeks. Calder's parents were visiting from Vegas all last week and we had a great time! I'll hit more on that later...

In 5 hours our flight leaves for home! I definitely wasn't planning to stay up all night tonight, but I just can't stand to go on vacation with a dirty house, and I didn't even start packing until after 10! We don't have a lot planned to do while we're there but it'll be fun to see my family.

We're still alive and expect a good long blog when we get home!

My Turn!

2008-07-20T19:05:00.001-05:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory or two 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 what memories people have of you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. I would love to hear what you guys remember about me!