Following Foxley

sending our love

2012-02-14T13:47:00.003-07:00

Last Friday we did an impromptu photo shoot for last minute Valentine's Day cards. It wouldn't be Valentine's Day if we didn't send all of our friends and family our love!

Today's Favorites

2012-02-09T21:42:00.007-07:00

Anna singing the ABC's at the top of her lungs (which is her normal volume) in the car all the way to preschool.

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The octopus Anna made in preschool. On the way home, she asked me if octopus have ears. I think I need to google that one.

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Owen copying everything Anna does - good or bad. In the bathtub Anna was pouring water on her hair with a cup. Owen tried too. He didn't put it back far enough and poured it right in his eyes. He looked completely shocked!

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Anna recently learned about Nephi. This is a great thing because she now wants to be like him. Obedient. Whenever she does sometime I ask, she runs back to me and says "Am I just like Nephi?" I love it. Sometimes she even calls herself Nephi-Girl.

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I love that Owen belly laughs at my bad sound effects. I was doing a "glub glub" noise every time he would pour water out of his cup into the tub. I love that boy's laugh. I can't help but smile.

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Tonight, when Trav got home from school, he opened the freeze and plopped the Sam's Club sized bag of chocolate chips on the counter.

"You've been into these! Busted!" he accuses me. (It is crazy how he knows these things!)

"No. I have to explain."

Owen was throwing a fit during lunch, so I finally just took a handful of chocolate chips and gave in. Not to me, but to him. He was happy and quiet for the rest of the meal. Sometimes that is all I need for a few minutes.

Travis: "Oh, so if I throw a fit during meals, you'll just give me chocolate chips? Cause I'll do it!"

Dream on, Trav!

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Oh, how I love my family!

too much

2011-03-03T20:57:00.003-07:00

How do you know when your two-year-old has seen too many episodes of Dora the Explorer and Go! Diego, Go!?

#10. When she wants me to follow her somewhere, she says, "Come on, Momma! Vaminos!"

#9. She yells "Animal in trouble!" and "rescues" all the animals one by one off the floor and onto the table. (I use the term "animals" loosely. This is not just stuffed animals. It basically includes anything that is not too heavy for her to lift.)

#8. She insists that you call her Diego.

#7. She carries around her special camera, "Click", in her armpit. (Yeah. I don't know where the armpit thing came from.)

#6. Her longest sentence is, "Use our special camera, Click, [to] help find the animal in trouble." (And she can say it all pretty fast!)

#5. She counts all sorts of things at the hardware store...in Spanish.

#4. She is frequently demanding Travis and I do things in Spanish - salta, parada, vaminos, suba, etc. Most of the time, we have no idea what she is saying.

#3. She can't go up our stairs without holding someone's hand because they are too slippery. Even her Ikea train has to put on it's "sticky wheels" to go over the slippery hill. Thanks, Dora.

#2. She will pull items out of her toy baskets and ask us one thing at a time "Is this the flashlight?...No!...Is the flashlight?...No!...Is THIS the flashlight?...Yes!"

#1. And the number one reason I know Anna has seen it too much is because I know all the words to all the songs!

the date

2011-02-18T13:18:00.004-07:00

Travis is taking me on a date tonight. I am excited, to say the least. We don't go out alone very often, and we rarely get a sitter. Ahhh. An evening where I don't have to feel like a tired mommy...where I can get out of the house without distraction...where I can feel a bit more like a young little thing on a hot date! Just me and my man! So, I took great care in getting dressed this morning, making sure my outfit was perfect (not the usual jeans and t-shirt) and that my accessories (which are neglected more and more these days) were laid out and ready. As I twisted and curled my hair into something other than a pony tail, I was looking in the mirror thinking, "Wow. Travis is going to be knocked out!" I finished the last touch of mascara, gave myself a "well, hello there" look in the mirror, and then my eyes locked on Owen. No, not on his beautiful, big blue eyes—which he has—but on his diaper. Now, I wouldn't say I am a seasoned mother, but I have had my share of blow-outs to filled the spectrum. Everything from, "oh, that onesie is still fine" to "Just put it all in the trash". This, however, surpassed them all. I even contemplated just throwing away the highchair in which he was sitting. Seriously. Owen was only wearing a diaper, and that could have been part of the problem. I won't go into more detail, but even Anna started dry-heaving and saying, "Make Anna sick!" over and over.

Now, forty-five minutes later, I am looking in the mirror again. My black dress pants are...let's just say...not clean, my hair is flat due to the small bit of perspiring that occurred during the ordeal, and my perfect makeup seems to have faded with all the futile attempts at keeping my hair out of my face. Needless to say, I don't feel the least bit hot and sexy anymore. Oh, well, I am a mom. And I am happy to know, that being is a mom is one thing that Travis loves about me. Even if I am not a knock-out—I am going out tonight with my man!

Missing Something...

2011-02-17T08:59:00.003-07:00

Over the last nine months, I feel like I have been missing something...in many different ways.

First, I am missing the opportunity to record the precious and hilarious moments I share with my family each day. Like when Anna fell out of her big girl bed, and then claimed through the streams of tears that the "wall pull my hair". Now, I have been sleeping in a big girl bed for quite a number of years now, and I have never had the wall pull my hair. Or, when Anna starts telling me "good job" after I go potty. These are the things I don't want to forget. These are the things I don't want to have missed recording.

Second, I am starting to miss other things too. Like, one day, I couldn't find my wallet. I frantically retraced my steps of the day, calling the restaurant where we had lunch, searching the car...three times...and feeling the pit in my chest grow larger and larger as I thought of canceling my credit cards, getting a new driver's license, and on and on. Travis and I started searching the house again. I felt like I should check my closet. Why? I have no idea, but I checked anyway. And, behold, there behind all of Travis's hanging shirts was my wallet. Now, this little spot behind Trav's shirts is one of Anna's favorite hiding places. That little trickster!

A few days later, Travis came home from work and put his socks on the bed. After dinner we decided to go to the store. Travis went to get his socks...and they were gone! We started looking around, and Anna piped in "I find them!". She ran over to Trav's nightstand, opened up the top drawer, and pulled out his sock from the very back of the drawer. She held them up triumphantly, and you could tell she thought she was pretty hot stuff for finding the missing socks! Trickster!

Since then, I have noticed several other things missing... the keys to the mail box, several toys, sippy cups, etc. I have no doubt in my mind that our mischievous two-year-old knows exactly where all of the missing items are located. The trick is going to be getting her to talk. :) Let's just hope that the missing sippy cups aren't filled with rotting milk, that there is nothing important in the mailbox, and that the missing toys are nobody's favorites.

So, here is hoping I find all the missing items, and remember all the fading moments!

owen

2010-05-28T12:42:00.003-06:00

We are so excited to announce the newest Foxley arrival! He joined us on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, weighing in at an impressive 10lb. 9oz! Our new baby boy has already captured the hearts of all his family members, including Anna, who always insists on hold, hugging, or kissing him. We are so thankful he has come to our family.

anna's apron

2009-12-15T21:35:00.004-07:00

Anna is at the age where she loves being in the kitchen and watching everything I do. So this year for Christmas I decided to make her an apron. I found some adorable fat quarters at Material Girls Quilts, but I couldn't find a pattern online that I loved, so I designed my own instead. My friend Paula is super talented in every way, so last week she helped me make a pattern based on my apron design. (Thank goodness for Paula! I can't even imagine how it would have turned out with my long neglected (and not that great in the first place) sewing skills. It actually looks professional thanks to her! She is amazing! :) It has four little pockets in the front to hold anna's stirring spoons and spatulas. It only took a few hours to make the pattern and sew it! I was beyond thrilled at how it turned out!

If you love it like I do, check back after the holiday craziness for the pattern and instructions.

baby foxley

2009-12-02T13:22:00.004-07:00

Wow. It is like November never even registered with my blogging brain. Can I blame it on the approaching stress of the holidays? Or maybe...can I blame it on...our brand new baby foxley due to arrive this spring? Travis and I are so excited for this new addition to our rapidly growing family. Once again, we won't be finding out the gender of the peanut, so don't try to convince us otherwise! ;) Anna has no clue what is about to rock her world, but she does love being around other kids and babies, so we think this will be ok with her (cross our fingers!). Once again, this pregnancy has left me pretty sick, tired, and I feel so blessed to have a good sport and support like Travis by my side through it all. (Although, I am not sure how blessed he feels at the moment! :) )

Here is the first picture of the peanut: (It looks exactly like a little teddy bear to me!)

picking apples

2009-10-27T20:13:00.005-06:00

Anna and I took a much needed break from the day-to-day grind and went with Aunt Jen and cousins to pick some apples. It was the most beautiful fall day—sunny and warm—perfect weather to enjoy a long sleeve shirt. Anna loved the goats and she was actually a pretty good little helper. She picked up all the fallen apples off the grass and put them in her own little bag. She loved it.

Here are a few more pics of our great fall day…

the smell of grapes and fire in the fall

2009-10-19T20:37:00.001-06:00

You'll never guess what I actually did this week... I did some CANNING!!!!! Yes. It is true. I went last Saturday to pick grapes at Aunt Jolene and Ralphie's house. They were delicious concord grapes, and I got about two grocery sacks full. I borrowed a steam juicer and was able to get 11 quarts of juice concentrate! Only Mom will understand the satisfaction that comes from hearing the tiny "pop" as each one self-seals. Ahhhh.

Anna tried dusting the stove today while I was steaming grapes and caught the duster on fire. No one was injured, and no property was damaged (besides the duster). Phew! She is now not allowed to dust in the kitchen anymore.

dancing anna

2009-10-18T20:40:00.003-06:00

Anna has become quite the dancer lately…the radio, tv commercials, the hymns at church…anything will get those little arms moving. Here is Anna's choreography to The Office theme song. Enjoy!

Dancing Anna from Travis Foxley on Vimeo.

open for business!

2009-10-05T20:30:00.004-06:00

For the last few months I have been working feverishly on a new, exciting project…and it just went live TODAY! It is a site called myLDSmemories.com, and I am so pleased with how it turned out. It is a site with free software so you can make your own hardbound, personalized photo Memory Books! You can make books from scratch, or simply drop your own photos into the pre-designed themed pages. You can have a beautiful, hardbound book in minutes! ;) Ok. I sound like a salesman now, but I truly am genuinely excited about this site and the products available. So, check it out here, if you like what you see, spread the word! (You can click through some sample books right on the home page.) EVERYONE also GETS 50% OFF DURING OCTOBER…so you should all make a book now! ;) Ok. I'll stop.

pot stirrer

2009-09-19T20:45:00.003-06:00

Thanks again to Jen (Travis's super talented sister) who did this cute photo shoot with Anna. Love the pics!

so much to do...

2009-09-13T21:47:00.009-06:00

so little daylight.

Another month had flown by, and I have to admit I was shocked when I checked my own blog and saw I was a whole month behind. I am a blogging disaster. In my defense, the summer can be a little crazy. Here are some of the things we have been up to...

This year I tried my hand at gardening again in our community garden. It started off strong. The little plants looked so promising, but unfortunately, my blog was not the only thing that has been slightly neglected this summer. It did ok. Maybe next year. Here is a picture of the happier times in the garden.

Anna finally started getting her teeth this summer. Here is a rare glimpse of the first snaggletooth. It performed solo for quite some time, but now it has been joined by another snaggletooth and two buckies on the top.

Anna LOVES the water. Here she is with her cousins at the splash park.

Anna has so many great facial expressions. Here are a few.

She refuses to walk most of the time now...she likes to run.

If you can't tell from the picture...Anna LOVES to swing.

And anything that she knows she shouldn't get into...she does it anyway. What a trickster.

happy birthday

2009-08-12T21:21:00.003-06:00

watermelon

2009-08-03T14:41:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow Anna turns one! I can't believe it has been a year already! It is amazing to think how much she has grown up and learned in just one little year. She is such a blessing to Travis and I, and we love her so much. She makes us laugh, smile, roll our eyes, and yes...she even makes us a little crazy! We love being parents to our cute and sweet little girl. Happy birthday, Anna!

waving & walking

2009-08-01T21:42:00.003-06:00

Anna must be practicing for the pageant runway already. Waving & walking—two of her most favorite activities. Now, if she can chew gum at the same time, we might just have a genius on our hands. :)

She is pretty much a pro at walking now. She is back and forth, and into EVERYTHING! She gets REALLY excited whenever we put her shoes on because she knows she is probably going to get to walk outside—which is so much cooler than inside. Duh! Chasing her around is a full-time job. It makes me tired thinking about it.

Anna also likes to wave. She has several different types of waves. Two of my favorites are the the full-arm swing and the one where she puts her hand by her cheek and while keeping her arm tucked close to her, just moves her hand back and forth just slightly. The latter is usually accompanied by a cheery and drawn out "Hi" sound.

My favorite though is how Anna waves at everyone and everything that she sees—people sitting near us in restaurants, cars driving down the road, and heavy machinery building houses in our neighborhood. Every morning she even waves to all the people she sees on tv waving to the camera on the Today Show. At least we know she's friendly!

Here is a video taken two months ago of Anna taking her very first unassisted steps. Enjoy!

Anna's First Steps from Travis Foxley on Vimeo.

studio j

2009-07-21T14:04:00.004-06:00

My great and talented sister-in-law, Jen (of Studio J Photography) took these family pictures of us. She is amazing! We now have family pictures in our home! Thanks, Jen!

sunny days

2009-07-11T10:03:00.004-06:00

In May, Anna and I were lucky enough to go to St. George to spend a week with my sister, Lindsay, and her kiddies, Drew and Dawson. We had so much fun hanging out, laughing, swimming, and eating. The kids loved playing together, and I loved having the time to catch up with my awesome little sister. She is the bomb! :)

Here is a music video I made in iMovie of the "Sunny Days" highlights. Enjoy!

Sunny Days from Travis Foxley on Vimeo.

favorite things

2009-07-07T22:35:00.006-06:00

Travis made this cute movie of Anna and her favorite things. We chose this song because every time Anna hears the Lagoon ads (featuring the song "You're So Good For Me" by Sonnett) she gets super excited and starts friendly-yelling lots (where she yells REALLY loud in short repeated spurts, but she is not mad—hmmm—actually, very similar to her behavior in sacrament meeting—which is why we spend most of the time in the hall). Anyway, she loves it. I do too. Enjoy the movie!

Anna's Favorite Things from Travis Foxley on Vimeo.

happy 4th!

2009-07-05T09:20:00.002-06:00

a little fishy

2009-07-01T22:08:00.003-06:00

We have always called Anna our little monkey, but I think we need to rethink that nickname due to recent events. We just finished mom & tot swimming lessons, and we both had a ball. Anna is now our little fishy! She LOVES the water like nobody's business. Anna loves to go underwater, bob up and down, "jump" into the water, and, boy, does she love to splash! Needless to say, there was always quite a bit of distance between Anna (the splasher) and I (the splashee) and the other moms and tots. I don't blame them one bit! :)

sweet & sour meatballs

2009-06-27T20:33:00.006-06:00

Yes. It is true. I live. And, finally, I am posting to my long neglected blog...about meatballs.

Here is the recipe for the Sweet & Sour Meatballs that so many of you raved about at card club! ;)

1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/4 C bbq sauce
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1 green pepper, diced
1 bag herb seasoned meatballs (I just used the frozen Italian meatballs from costco. Worked like a charm.)

Fill the crock pot with the meatballs. Whisk first five ingredients to make sauce. Pour over meatballs. Cook 4 to 5 hours total. Half way through cooking time, add pineapple and green pepper.

Easy.

Yum.

easter dress

2009-04-14T19:33:00.009-06:00

Happy (late) Easter! I love taking photos, and Anna is always right there and (usually) looking so cute! :) I can't help it. She is an easy target. Here are a few of my favorites.

Photo shoot is over, Mom!

disappointed

2009-04-07T20:48:00.002-06:00

Everything was all lined up and ready to rock and roll this week. We had the final walk-through on our house last Wednesday, closing scheduled for yesterday, furniture to be delivered this Thursday, and family to arrive on Friday to help us move. Here's where the disappointment comes in...

Yesterday we woke up excited for the day. Travis had taken the day off because we were finally closing on our new house! Yea! We were just about to jump in the car and head out when Travis received a phone call. Our loan wasn't ready. This was odd because I had called the mortgage company on Thursday to make sure we were set for Monday. Everything looked good, they assured me. They blamed it on the huge numbers of people refinancing and applying for the Home Run Grant. Hmm. We were bugged, to say the least.

After a few phone calls, and explanations, we were able to call everyone and reschedule all the moving events for next week. One more week amongst boxes and clutter. Next week doesn't feel like it will come fast enough!

headstands

2009-03-29T20:40:00.002-06:00

Here is the video I promised of Anna doing her famous headstand. I am not sure why she does it, but she seems to like it!

Headstand Anna from Travis Foxley on Vimeo.

belly laugh

2009-03-27T12:51:00.002-06:00

Those of you who know me well know that I have what I refer to as the "belly laugh". It doesn't come often, but every once in a while, some web video, joke, situation, or yes, even the occasional America's Funniest Home Video music montage will send me into the belly laugh. It makes me happy. The latest YouTube video that had me rolling was this one. Enjoy!

two down...

2009-03-24T19:33:00.003-06:00

I am designing a photo book for each year that Travis and I have been married. So far I am done with 2004 (the year we were married) and 2005. (Yes, I still have 06, 07, 08, and now 09 to be working on, but sometimes I struggle most with just getting started—so, in my opinion, I am over the biggest hurdle already!) I sometimes forget how much I like designing when there is no client involved. Don't get me wrong, I love designing for others, but this way I can do whatever I want, even if it is not perfect design! I don't have to please anyone but me (oh, yeah, and Travis :)

Here are the covers for the first two books. 2004 is designed to look like our wedding announcements (pretty simple), and 2005 is just because that is what I felt like designing that day!

catch up

2009-03-22T11:56:00.008-06:00

Hopefully after reading this post there will be increased understanding and forgiveness for my terrible blogging habits (or lack thereof). Let me just play a little bit of catch up for you on Anna's exciting life. (Keep in mind that Anna just turned seven months on March 4th.)

NEW SKILLS SINCE MARCH 4th:

• Sitting up by herself

• Crawling (3-9-09-ish)

• Pulling self up on things (3-16-09)

• Clapping—she claps after she does ANYTHING! (3-16-09-ish)

• Started "kissing" (Mid-March)

• Cruising—walks around while holding onto stuff (3-17-09)

• And this weekend she pulled herself up to standing, and then let go, and held it for about three seconds!

Slow down, girl! I don't have time to adjust to one thing before she is a pro at the next! I am really needing to watch her close! She is so curious about everything! She watches everything around her like a hawk. She is pretty tricky, too. She all of a sudden started loving her binki (she despised it for the first six months of life), but most of the time she puts it in up-side-down. She doesn't seem to mind though. She also started doing these weird headstand things. I will try to post a video of it later.

I'd like to say that I am going to be better about blogging, but tomorrow she will probably start walking and be running around by Friday. :) Crazy girl! Things seem to change so fast that everyday I am re-figuring out how to fit it all in. Thanks for being patient! Enjoy the pics!

bitter sweet

2009-03-14T11:11:00.009-06:00

We are in the final stages of building our new house. We closed on the sale of our current home this last week. It is a bitter sweet string of events. We are so excited as our new house nears completion, but I can't help but feeling so sad when I think of leaving our ward and our neighbors. We have loved our ward and feel very blessed to have met and made friends with such wonderful people around us. Hopefully, we will be just as lucky in this new chapter of our life.

Here are some photos of how our house has progressed over the last few months.

march madness

2009-03-09T20:41:00.006-06:00

Ok. So this post has nothing to do with basketball—at all. But it describes my life very well right now. We are closing on the sale of our house tomorrow, and our new house we are building is scheduled to be finished on April 1st. We have been working with the designers, trying to keep up on household chores, chasing around a CRAWLING and curious six month old (more on that later), trying to keep up with Elder's Quorum, Young Women and a slew of baby showers, and trying to get things organized for the move. Yep—March Madness at it's finest.

But, even with the madness, I had to take time out to document Anna turning six months old last month. I just got these pictures back today, and I must say...I LOVE them! They seem to capture every aspect of Anna's budding personality. (I just go to the Picture Me! Portrait Studio at Wal-Mart in Centerville. A girl named Catherine takes them, and she does an AMAZING job with kids! She is seriously awesome! I highly recommend her to anyone. Look online for great deals too!)

For Family: If you would like copies of any of the pictures or collages below, let me know in the next 48 hours so I can order them for you.

i just don't know...

2009-02-20T17:47:00.005-07:00

I have been thinking for two days now about how to comment and explain these pictures. And after two days, I still just don't know what to say...or know what she was doing. I guess I will just have to let the pictures speak for themselves. (They have a lot to say!) The only introduction I will give is, this is what Travis saw when he walked into Anna's room yesterday morning.

peas & push ups

2009-02-17T19:43:00.004-07:00

roller derby queen

2009-02-03T21:17:00.003-07:00

Anna is a total "roller derby queen" and has been rolling ALL over the place. I am beginning to think that she will never learn to crawl or walk—she will just roll everywhere she wants to go—forever. The other day, however, she found out that being a roller derby queen isn't all "glitz and glamour" on the derby circuit. ;) She was taken down hard core—by the corner of the wall. Here she is sporting the battle wound.

little laundry helper

2009-01-27T19:00:00.007-07:00

It seems these days Anna is doing something new every time I turn around. One day, for example, Anna tried out this new trick to help me with the laundry.

Special thanks to my NYC brother-in-law, Trent, who reminded me about my new year's resolution to keep up with my blogging. I am all about the support system! Thanks for not giving up on me, Trent!

parker's dilemma

2009-01-15T15:50:00.006-07:00

Over the Christmas holidays, Parker had a dilemma. That dilemma was named Drew. Parker and Drew are cousins. Parker is four years old and Drew is two years old. Drew LOVES Parker. Drew wanted to do EVERYTHING that Parker did. During hide-and-go-seek, Drew followed Parker around and hid with him everytime. Drew wouldn't let Parker out of his site. Parker wasn't a fan, as you can see.

As Christmas approached, it started snowing in St. George. Parker put on his gloves and headed outside to play. I might be mistaken, but there seemed to be a small glimmer in his eye knowing that he finally had something to set him apart from Drew. Gloves! Drew didn't have any gloves to put on, but he wanted to be just like Parker.

He ran to the kitchen drawer...

Now he had gloves too. Take that Parker! There is no escaping Drew! :)

cookies for santa

2009-01-07T20:41:00.005-07:00

A few days before Christmas Eve, I received a phone call from a very anxious five year old. It was Gracie. "When you come down, will you help me make cookies for Santa?" (said in the sweetest little five year old voice you've ever heard). This was one of the moments before going to St. George where I just almost overflowed with excitement to be there with everyone else. Phil and Mandi arrived the Saturday before Christmas, but Travis and I weren't able to go until Christmas Eve day. There were many moments when I almost burst with anticipation while I was waiting to drive to St. George. It seemed it would never come! (My "Christmas morning" was when we finally arrived in St. George and the whole family was finally together!) But sure enough, Christmas Eve day Gracie, Parker, Drew and I made sugar cookies for Santa. I am grateful I have such a wonderful family to share the holidays.

"...and fell down and worshipped him..."

2009-01-06T20:05:00.015-07:00

I was lucky enough to catch one of my favorite moments from Christmas in a photographic "play-by-play".

It is a tradition in my family for my dad to read the story of Christ's birth from the Bible while we, the kids, act it out. Now that we ("the kids") are older, it is the grandkids' turn to do the honors. My dad began by reading the familiar verses.

Everything was going smoothly until a small, unsuspecting shepherd entered the scene and noticed that his blanket and pillow were being used to cushion the uncomfortable manger.

"What? Where are the gold, frankincense and myrrh? Those are supposed to be the gifts! This isn't the gift I brought for the baby Jesus! Give it back!"

Panic engulfs the small shepherd as Mary and Joseph look around and wonder what to do with the self-destructing flock herder.

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him." —Matthew 2:11

Drew gave us a new and literal meaning to the story of Christmas this year. :)

However, my mom moved in, and the show went on despite the missing shepherd. (I am still trying to figure out how Mary ended up wearing a doo rag.)

Ahhh. I love traditions! :)

first christmas

2009-01-05T19:53:00.008-07:00

My 2009 New Year's Resolution is to stay caught up with my blog! So, over the next few days you are going to get a post a day a la 2008.

This year Anna enjoyed her first Christmas. We spent the holiday with my parents in St. George. We were blessed to have my two brothers and sister and their families there to celebrate with us. Even though Anna didn't understand what was going on, it was so fun to see the excitement and wonder in her eyes.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Anna Christmas morning.

She had quite an unusual unwrapping technique: grab...tear...eat...repeat.

Anna posing in front of the Christmas tree in her new jammies. (Note the tongue rubbing her gums. Its true...she is teething.)

would it work?

2008-12-22T11:12:00.003-07:00

Travis and I have been a bit sleep deprived lately. Anna has decided that she likes to wake up and talk (...loudly...to no one in particular) every two hours or so. At first we would wait for her to fall back asleep on her own, but we ended up waiting...and waiting...and waiting. (She likes to have REALLY long conversations.) And then, inevitably and eventually, she would end up rolling onto her stomach and then get upset because...well...she is on her stomach.

Last night after her third time waking up (around 3:00 am) Travis came up with a brilliant idea. We are going to try installing a rabbit water bottle dispenser to the inside of her crib, fill it with milk, and then when she decides she is hungry, she can just roll to the side and lap herself back to sleep. Brilliant! :)

mesmerized

2008-12-07T23:04:00.004-07:00

We finally decorated our Christmas tree tonight. I tried to get some cute pictures of Anna actually looking at the camera, but she was mesmerized by the tree lights. My camera flash certainly doesn't compete or compare with the glowing wonder of tiny colored bulbs at extremely close range.

my girl

2008-12-07T23:00:00.004-07:00

nyc diva

2008-12-03T21:46:00.005-07:00

Anna wore her new hat from NYC on our walk today, and, as you can see, she totally rocked the block! She even paused for a moment to pose for the paparazzi.

Thanks, Grammy and Pup!

attack of the monkeys

2008-11-23T21:03:00.006-07:00

Anna has many nicknames: Anna Banana, Miss Banana, Munchkin, Crazy Legs, and, our favorite, Monkey. We recently introduced her to Socko, her sock monkey.

They are now bffs.

They like to hang out together.

Sometimes they play nice.

Sometimes they don't, and it turns into an WWF attack of the monkeys.
(Note the classic "bite to the bicep" move.)

She must hang out with Travis on Tuesday nights watching WWF while I am at Young Womens. I don't know where else she could pick up her moves. And all these years I thought that Travis wasn't a WWF fan. Hmmmm. It looks like his secret is out now. :)

cowlicks

2008-11-19T12:19:00.004-07:00

I took this picture of Anna because I was so excited about her holding her head up so well by herself. But... honestly... do you notice anything other than the enormous cowlick? Anna is only three months old, but I decided it was high time for the first hair cut.

The professional cut.

The sleek, new look.

s'moreos

2008-11-16T22:47:00.004-07:00

Travis told me earlier last week that the Elder's Quorum would be having a Cookie Cook-Off on Saturday night. I quickly started searching my brain trying to think of the best cookie in my arsenal of baked goods. Nothing spectacular came to mind.

Later that night, as I was trying to fall asleep, my mind drifted to a beautiful place... a place of divine cookie thoughts. That is when it came to me. S'mOreos. I would make a unique and creative combination of double cake mix cookies filled with the scrumptious gooey taste of creamy marshmallow goodness... and of course dusted with graham cracker crumbs. It would be unique. It would be intriguing. It would certainly win first prize! It had to be done.

Saturday came, and Travis and I spent the afternoon baking perfectly round chocolate cookies, mixing marshmallow frosting (thanks to sewdarncute.typepad.com for the frosting recipe), and crushing graham crackers into a fine powder.

SIDE NOTE: I used regular Marshmallow Cream this time instead of the Fluff which I used last time. I HIGHLY recommend finding and using Fluff. It is just so much... more... um... fluffy. Mmmm.

We took the invention masterpiece to the party, and we ending up tying for Most Original. Yeah! S'mOreos—it'll be a household name one day! :)

kohls crash

2008-11-08T21:31:00.004-07:00

It's true. I don't know how the rumor spread so fast, but yes... I did crash and burn—big time—inside Kohls Department Store yesterday. I am opting out of posting pictures of the injuries because photos of little bruises will not do justice to the pain and embarrassment I truly suffered.

It was a Friday afternoon, and I was bored. It was a little too chilly for a walk with Anna outside, so I came up with a great alternative. Shopping! I would get out of the house, and Anna would get her afternoon walk too. So I loaded Anna up in her car seat and headed down the road to Kohls.

As we walked into the store I became extremely excited about the prospect of new clothes. I was holding Anna's car seat in both hands. (Despite the "mommy muscles" that are supposed to develop, I still have a REALLY hard time lifting the Anna/car seat combination.) As I started heading towards the women's shoes section, I think I became a little too focused and excited about new shoes, and forgot all about how to walk in them. In a split second, I was face down on the floor of the aisle with a sore ankle, a bruised and throbbing knee, and poor Anna skittering across the floor in her car seat (luckily it was still right side up, and luckily we had the five-point harness secure!)

I quickly pushed myself up off the floor and glanced in every direction to see how many people had witnessed (or heard) my amazing disaster. (Look left, look right.) No one made eye contact... but I knew it was impossible that the noise of the skittering car seat, Anna's screams, or my face smacking the floor hadn't peaked the curiousity of shoppers in the vicinity. I just figured it must have looked so bad that people didn't want me to feel any worse by letting me know they witnessed the whole thing.

I picked up the car seat, turned around, and headed straight out the door. I was beyond humilated, and Anna wasn't too happy either. That was enough "shopping" for one day. We went home.

scary skeleton

2008-10-31T19:10:00.005-06:00

ok...not so scary...but dang cute! I can't help it if I'm Anna's biggest fan. Happy Halloween everyone!

Ok, Mom. Seriously. Enough pictures already!

(we call this face "the snarl".)

2700 miles...

2008-10-26T22:56:00.024-06:00

...in eight days... with a five year old, eighteen month old, and a three month old. Call us crazy? That's ok. We had a great time!

Day 1: Salt Lake City, UT to La Grande, OR

Day one was...um...interesting. First of all, I need to make note that only Travis, Anna, and I were coming from Salt Lake that day. Jen, Duane, Carter and Dalan were coming from Green River, WY...on the first big snow storm of the season. They ended up in a absolute stand still on I-80 which was closed because of the weather...FOR FOUR HOURS! Dang. I think I would have turned around, but they waited it out and made it all the way to Burley, ID that night.

Day 2: La Grande, OR (or Burley, ID) to Seattle, WA

Anna loved the top of the Space Needle.

We all finally met up in Seattle the night of day two.

Day 3: Seattle, WA to Vancouver, B.C. (Canada)

We followed some pretty sketchy Google map directions to Vancouver in the dark after hanging out in Seattle for the day.

Anna became best friends with the weird blue dog hanging from her car seat.

Day 4: Vancouver, B.C. to Port Angeles, WA

We took our car on a ferry ride to Vancouver Island to spend the day in Victoria. Dilly Dally loved the ferry ride, and the views were spectacular. We also visited this cool castle in Victoria.

Day 5: Port Angeles, WA to Portland, OR

The drive down the scenic coastal highway 101 was beautiful. I absolutely love the driftwood on the beaches and the towering rocks peeking out of the ocean.

Carter loved collecting beach treasures.

Anna loved the scenic highway.

Day 6: Portland, OR to Crescent City, CA

One of my very favorite things about the Pacific Northwest in the fall is, of course, the beautiful leaves! On our way to Crescent City (still on Highway 101) we stopped at the Sea Lion Caves. The sea lions must have been on vacation, but the scenery was amazing!

Day 7: Crescent City, CA to however far we can make it towards home.

We spent the morning among the giant Redwoods. Amazing! As far as we could make it turned out to be Winnimucca, NV.

Anna loved the Redwood Forest.

Day 8: Winnimucca, NV to Salt Lake City, UT

It's always nice to finally be home! (and to have Anna back on a somewhat normal schedule :) Thanks to our travel buddies who endured road side feedings, freak snow storms, and endless hours in the car. We loved creating this memory with you!

say what?

2008-10-21T23:33:00.002-06:00

You're taking me where? Seriously?

Stay tuned for Anna's first big adventure.

new tricks

2008-10-01T20:18:00.015-06:00

Anna has some new tricks she wants to show off to everyone. She has been working hard every day to perfect these exciting, new skills. We have been so busy practicing that we haven't blogged for a whole week! Here is the first picture as she mentally prepares to astound us all...

The first trick is being able to lift up her head to a whopping 45 degrees...by herself! Get ready... It only lasts a second...

The second trick (which is an Anna specialty) is that her legs go just as high as her head. Whenever she tries to lift one end, the other magically follows. (Wow! Check out that extension! :)

Too tired to try again!

The third trick is that Anna is now smiling! I must say, every morning when I go in her room it helps me know I can make it through the day after I see her smile at me. What a reward!

artwork for anna

2008-09-20T22:06:00.000-06:00

Anna's room is decorated in a hodgepodge of some of my favorite things: Pop Ink Pattern Paper Dolls from French Paper Co., the pennant banner from my SU! shower (seen on the crib), tissue paper flowers that I made from a Martha Stewart kit (see the baby blessing post), and just great patterns like the crib bedding. I love all these things—but I had two problems. All the colors didn't exactly go together, and we didn't want to hang anything on the walls above where Anna sleeps—you know, being paranoid first-time parents and all—just in case.

So, here is my solution...I painted 12" x 12" squares directly on the wall with acrylic paint (I probably spent $25 on different colors of $1.99 paints before I found the perfect three colors—Travis is so patient with me! :) And then, the white numbers are from Stampin' Up!'s new line of Décor Elements (self-adhesive vinyl art). They were so quick and easy to apply! And there you have it! If it weren't for the bazillion coats of color changes, this would have been a pretty quick project. Ta-da! And now my little Anna has a focal point that ties everything in her room together. (It is what ever six week old girl dreams of! :)

Thanks, Trav, for being patient through yet another of my many "wrench in the routine" craft projects.

wrapped around her finger

2008-09-16T17:37:00.000-06:00

So, it's official. Judging by this picture— Anna has Travis completely wrapped around her finger (or I guess Anna is completely wrapped around Travis's finger). Whichever way it goes, they seems to be each other's biggest fan. There is definitely something about watching the guy I married with our baby that just gets me right there. I love it!

So the other day, Travis got up early with Anna so I could sleep in a bit. (What a sweetie!) When I finally got up a few hours later, I found Travis and Anna hanging out together, and Anna dressed in this
onesie—which was definitely picked on purpose!

Ok. We all know no relationship is perfect all the time! :)

the best gift

2008-09-14T22:29:00.000-06:00

Before I left on maternity leave I was working at Stampin' Up! as a product designer. I didn't know beforehand if Anna was going to be a boy or a girl, so my friends at work decided to throw me a baby shower after the baby came. Last week I packed Anna in the car and made the long commute once again to Riverton for the baby shower. (I don't miss the commute! :)

Anna received a ton of CUTE things, the lasagna (my favorite) was amazing, and the party favors and decorations were nothing short of SU! creative team's best, but I have to say that I received the best gift of all! When I arrived at SU!, I took the elevator down to the Atrium. As the elevator doors opened, I was welcomed with hugs and smiles from some of my very favorite people—people that I have really missed being around every day. The best gift ever is knowing that people care about you. I sure felt that this last week! Thanks to all my SU! friends. You are the best!

blessing day

2008-09-07T20:16:00.000-06:00

On Sunday we were able to bless Anna at church. Travis, Anna, and I were thankful to be surrounded by a lot of family and friends. Anna sure has many grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins and more that love her very much already! Travis gave her a beautiful blessing. She is a lucky girl to have such a wonderful daddy.

As you can see in the picture, Anna wore a very poofy satin and tulle dress. As you have learned from a previous post, Anna is a bit wiggly. Let's just say that wiggles and slippery fabric are a dangerous combination. But, dang, she sure looked cute.

Travis served a mission in Portugal, and while his family was over there visiting, his mom bought these adorable knitted shoes. Anna wore them on her big day. Why is it that all tiny baby clothes are SO cute?

A big thanks to everyone who came and to everyone who helped make the day unforgettable. We love you all!

one month old!

2008-09-03T13:57:00.000-06:00

Today Anna officially turned one month old!

pine valley camping trip

2008-09-01T11:53:00.000-06:00

Each year our family gets together in Pine Valley for our annual Labor Day camping trip. For several years we enjoyed this trip with only the company of our aging family, but now we have added kids back into the mix. What is camping without kids? ... Far too civilized, I must say! :) This year we had Gracie, Parker, Drew, and Anna. It reminded me of how much fun camping can be!

It's a good thing germs don't exist when you are camping.
(The tear stain through the dirt is my favorite!)

Can I share with you, please? Yummy!

Mom, can you help me wash off my unibrow?

Parker seems to be the cleanest of the bunch!
Don't let him fool you! :)

Gracie loves taking care of Anna.

One of many camping casualties...

Camping cousins: Parker, Gracie, and Drew!

daddy's girl

2008-08-31T21:21:00.000-06:00

I love this picture of Travis and Anna relaxing. Could she be any more relaxed? I have enjoyed watching Travis grow into his role of dad these last few weeks. This is what Travis wrote the week Anna was born: (I think it is super sweet!)

I am really loving being a daddy and am so happy to have Anna in our home. Niff is a great little mother. I am impressed by her patience and love. Watching Niff go through labor gave me a respect and appreciation for her like never before. Wow!

I was able to fully participate in the labor process. It was an amazing experience. I was right by Niff's side and did my best to help coach and encourage her. I was able to cut the umbilical chord and be the one to announce the gender of the new born baby to everyone in the room. I knew it would be a cool experience, but I never imagined it would touch me so profoundly.

Now that we have Anna home we have been attempting to learn to be parents and develop a routine in our dramatically changed lives. I was fully expecting these changes and they have been very welcome. There have been a few changes/adjustments that I never anticipated, but Niff is very patiently helping through.

I am finding it a bit challenging to find what my role is and how I fit in the big picture. Mom and baby rely on one another, but how does dad fit in? I have loved spending this past week at home and not having any worries other than my family. I have been able to make meals for Niff, massage her feet while she feeds Anna, do laundry, keep the house picked up, etc. It has been really nice. As I attempt to prepare for returning to work (and soon school too) I begin to feel a bit selfish. I feel that I should participate in all that mom and baby are doing, but that is not realistic. If I am off doing something else I feel as though I am not doing my part. Niff and I had a nice talk and I am feeling much more comfortable with my role. I am responsible for working and providing for the family. In the evenings I can help Niff out with Anna in any way possible and provide Niff with a little bit of time to herself as necessary. The talk with Niff helped me out.

I also have a hard time doing things that I want to such as go for a jog, developing MyFoxBox, and working on other computer projects. I feel guilty doing what I want to do when Niff is busy meeting Anna's needs 24-7. I have participated in almost all of the feedings, changes, etc so far which has been nice, but some times I am there and not really helping that much; there really isn't all that much that I can do during a feeding :) I feel like I am not doing my part if I wander off and do something else (even if it is a chore). As we find more balance and adjust to Anna's schedule and needs this will definitely improve as well.

I know that I will adjust and feel much more adequate in the weeks to come. Conversations with Niff have helped me a great deal. I am absolutely loving being a father. I just thought I would share with you some of the challenges of being a new father that completely blind-sided me.

Note: This may or may not make any sense at all, but it is my best attempt to put recent feelings into words.

See. I told you he was cute! :)

wiggle worm

2008-08-27T21:03:00.000-06:00

So I figured out why Anna was so active in my belly...because she is the biggest WIGGLE WORM EVER!!!! She has shimmied out of blankets, onesies, and yes...even diapers. (Trust me. You don't want to see a picture of THAT!)

This is usually how we find Anna after a nap. This is actually a very cute and sweet little footie pajama outfit, although it doesn't look much like it anymore. (I have no idea where the legs and feet of the pajamas have disappeared to in the photo).

So much for the early lessons on modesty. She is a little magician that has turned this adorable pink outfit into an off-the-shoulder cocktail number! We call her our monkey. Those legs and arms never stop!

milk mustache

2008-08-25T17:23:00.000-06:00

Anna and I have decided to take the milk mustache to the next level. Ok. So this is not entirely by choice, but why not look at the bright side of an awkward situation? Breastfeeding is going pretty well. Anna and I are getting used to one another, but we still have our less than graceful moments. At least once a day, poor Anna gets milk in her eye...or her ear...or her hair...or her nose. Milk mustaches are for the weak! Try a full-on milk FACE! :)

anna has arrived!

2008-08-10T21:12:00.000-06:00

I decided to title the blog Adventures with Anna, because in the last week that Anna has been here, she is quickly demanding the focus of our life...AND she is providing us with A LOT of comic relief, frustration, happiness, etc—all of which will be documented right here.

Everyone told us that having the first baby changes your life forever. They were right. On Monday, August 4th, 2008 it happened—Anna Foxley joined our family. She has been here a week and already our lives are much different than they had been. Travis was working and going to school, and I was just working. Now we are trying to figure out the roles of mom and dad.

Anna has brought a lot of excitement and laughter to us though as we have started to figure things out by trial and error.

IT ONLY HAPPENS ONCE...

It didn't take us long to commit the cardinal sin. As we were changing a particularly disgusting diaper of Anna's, we quickly and absentmindedly moved the mess to the side so we could focus on cleaning her up—WITHOUT putting the new diaper in place immediately after. Inevitably, the second the diaper was removed from under the bum, all &%$# broke loose! When the pee began to trickle all over the blanket, Travis and I both started panicking. As the reality of the situation hit us, the second bomb was dropped (literally). This sent us both over the edge. Travis was holding her legs up, and I was running around trying to find a towel or something...ANYTHING! I have to give kudos to Travis for being able to get the onesie off Anna without getting poo all over in her hair. Needless to say, we NEVER remove the diaper until the backup replacement is all ready to go!

OR TWICE...

Mere days after incident #1, we thought we were in the clear. We had learned a valuable lesson that day...one that would not soon be forgotten. And I guess the lesson wasn't really forgotton, another dimension was just added. Travis was changing her (with the replacement diaper ready and waiting). What we didn't anticipate was, as Travis was getting ready to wipe, she shot it across the room...right over the still stationary messy diaper...right at poor Travis. We started the washing machine AGAIN right after.