California and Seven Months!

I just got back from California yesterday, and I miss it already. It was so nice to be in a busy house with my sister's family-- tons of stuff to do and always someone to talk with. Bria and I had a great time. Ultimately, I did survive watching my three nieces, and I am left in awe of mothers-of-four (or more!). It was also great to see my brother, Scott, and his family. So here are some pictures of the trip.

Lindsay, Bria, and Lucy yesterday morning (Lindsay and Bria have the same birthday, seven years apart):


Bria right after waking up.
Bria liked to attack Stone by grabbing his face, feet, diaper-- basically anything she could get her hands on.

Stone was born three and a half weeks before Bria:


Amy, Stone, Me, Bria, Scott, and Cameron


I got baby Cameron to smile! He's so cute. And Bria loves all babies-- Cameron definitely included.


A common sight-- Sophie and Bria were buddies:


Sophie calls her Bri-Bri


A preview of what I am making on Thursday:


Sophie wanted to hug her:

Lucy, Bria, and Sophie. Fortunately, Bria loved being mauled by her cousins:


Finally, Bria is seven months old today! She tries really hard to push up on her knees, and she is getting more and more mobile and she pivots around on her belly. The day before I went to California, I slept at my parents' house. I put Bria to bed on the floor in my parent's closet (one of the few dark, quiet places in the house). When I got up to feed her that night, she had somehow gotten about three or four feet away, underneath some drawers all the way by the closet door. You probably need to see the closet to see what I mean, but I guarantee you, it was quite shocking to find her there. So, the seven month picture is a common pose. We just love to put Sam's glasses on Bria! We think it is so funny.

This Could Be My Last Post

Why? Well, I have been babysitting my oldest sister's three kids for the past two days. there's a chance i won't survive, and then i won't be posting anymore. I honestly don't know how my sister does it. her kidsare great actually-- very well behaved and very fun-- it's just so much work!

The plus side is that I am in California! My sister lives in Mountain View, so I get a nice little trip out here to see my nieces as well as my sister and my brother (who lives a couple streets away). The weather is lovely, and I am having a really fun time with everyone. i will definitely post some pictures when i get back.

Also, just a little tidbit is that Bria's favorite thing to do is to suck on her thumb through cloth. right now she has her thumb hooked through my sleeve and is sucking on her thumb. So cute. So wet. Love it.

post by numbers

My friend Liz has done some posts in this format, so I thought I'd borrow the idea.

1 -- Times Bria still wakes up at night. She'll sleep through for about a week, and then she'll change her mind. She eats and then goes right back to sleep so it isn't so bad.

2 -- Miles I ran today. I almost died because most of it was uphill (from the stadium to 9th east).

6 1/2 -- Months Bria is old today exactly.

7 -- Gifts I wrapped at my first shift at Williams-Sonoma on Saturday.

8 -- Total miles I am hoping to run this week.

8 -- Weeks left this year! I'm trying to cram in some work on those resolutions I made in January.

15 -- Books I have read since Bria was born.

16 -- Ice-cube-sized portions of baby food I was able to get from one butternut squash.

18 -- Days until Thanksgiving.

20 -- Members in my family, all of whom will be in Utah for Christmas.

1200 -- Pictures I have taken since Bria was born. No, I don't think it's excessive.

Infinity -- Cookies I have baked this year. I crave them day and night. Today I'm making cookies of the applesauce variety.

And a picture of Bria for good measure:

17 more things

I got tagged by Kelly was well, with a few additions to the eight-ness. Also, I noticed there were only SEVEN shows on my tv list. And really, I have to love eight of them. And since I love to waste time on the computer, here I go . . .

1 more tv show I like to watch . . .
8. Everyday Italian

8 things I love about fall . . .
1. The vibrant colors covering the mountains
2. Pulling out the winter wardrobe (though I will admit, I need some new clothes! Yesterday I thought to myself "what did I wear last fall and winter?" and then I remembered that I was pregnant and wearing maternity clothes.)
3. Soup! It's just too hot to eat in the summer
4. Looking forward to the holidays
5. Being cold. Yes, I like being cold.
6. Pulling out the down comforter. I LOVE our duvet.
7. Socks and shoes. I HATE wearing sandals, but I do it all summer long anyway.
8. Watching football with Sam

8 things on my wish list . . .
1. A house that I own (if someone could buy that for me-- that'd be great, thanks)
2. A second car
3. A whole set of Calphalon pans
4. To move to Virginia tomorrow
5. A maid to clean my apartment for free. BLECH I hate cleaning.
6. (I'll steal this one from you, Kelly) A shopping spree!
7. A new hair style
8. To be taller (what? none of the other things are realistic. except maybe #7)

Halloween + Patriotism = Pumpkins for America

I thought I would put up our Halloween pictures. But before I do so, I will spell out the DRAMA of Halloween this year. (Sam pointed out to me the other day that I don't use color in my posts, so I'm trying it out.) I always wanted Bria to be so cuddly and cute for Halloween. I mean, come on, it's her first Halloween! Sam was DEAD-SET on a Star Wars theme: Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Yoda. Oddly enough, I hadn't imagined my sweet little daughter as being Yoda on her first Halloween. I know, right? But Sam was so excited about it. We didn't want to buy a Yoda costume, and I just had visions of failing Yoda costumes and the ensuing frustration. I finally swayed Sam from the Star Wars theme by explaining that I would only go for Star Wars on Halloween once, and wouldn't he like to wait until we can have a more complete cast with future children? If he did it this year and then asked again later, I would just have to say, "We already did Star Wars. Sorry." He agreed this was fair.
So we thought and thought and came up with some ideas that we just weren't that excited about. So we finally decided she could be the classic pumpkin/ jack-o-lantern. Unfortunately, decisions like these should be made before Halloween. We went to Target on Halloween afternoon, and, you guessed it, there were slim pickens in the ways of Halloween costumes. Nary an orange onesie in sight! We looked at the selection of baby costumes, but they weren't so cute. But, an idea popped into both out heads. Bria is small. Bria could even be the size of a small dog. (You see where I'm going with this, right?) Yes, I dressed my daughter in a costume made for a DOG. Oh well. She was so cute. Yes, there were holes for ears in the hat. Yes, it was the right size to fit my parents dog. But look at the pictures-- it was totally worth it! (Plus, the costume was 30% off, since it was Halloween day.)




So Sam pulled out his Robin costume (of Batman and) from last year, and I pulled out my handy cat ears. We went trick-or-treating with my brother-in-law Jason and my nephew Hunter. For one of my least favorite holidays (I blame an infected tetanus shot when I was 12 for ruining it), I had a great time!

Lastly, I just watched the newly-elected President Obama's speech from last night. If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch it here. I am PUMPED to be an American right now. I'm excited to see what Obama will do for America. Here Sam, Bria, and I are at an election results party last night (for which I made Obamadoodles [snickerdoodles made with chocolate] and McCainCorn [white chocolate covered popcorn-- thanks for the recipe Jean!]):
P.S. How did I do with the color? I think I went a little overboard.

Happy Election Day!

Today marked a momentous occasion in my life: I voted for the first time. I admit that I have not been moved to vote in previous elections, but today I reconciled my patriotism with my actions. This is not a political post-- I am not saying who I voted for, but I did want to say how grateful I am to vote. My right to vote has been recently attained. In Switzerland, women could not vote until 1973-- this makes me even more grateful to be an American living in 2008. It doesn't matter than I am a woman who doesn't own any land. I have a say in who leads our country, state, city, and county because I am a citizen of this country. It's a fine thing.

I used to feel that my vote was useless. Living in Utah, it doesn't matter whether I vote Republican or Democrat, Utah is not (and probably never will be) a swing state. I'll admit that I wish I lived in a place where my vote had more weight, but it remains the same, I vote because I can. I vote because millions of humans in other countries cannot. I vote because women before fought tooth and nail for me to be able to. I vote because the founding mothers of my church (Zina D. H. Young, Bathsheba Smith, Emmeline B. Wells) fought for and gained women's suffrage in Utah before all other states besides Wyoming. I vote because I care about what happens in our public schools, in Iraq, in our economy, in our environment, and in our hospitals.

I should have written this post before the voter registration deadline to move all those non-voters to action. But if you happen to read this post, are registered to vote, but hadn't planned on voting, go vote! We are blessed to be able to vote. And whether you vote for Huntsman or Schanze*, Obama or Nader, Yes or No-- excercizing that right is a way to say thank you to all those who fought for your right.



*If you vote for Schanze, however, I'd like to know why-- unless you thought it would be funny. Which it would be.

Huit

Tagged by Jenna
8 Tag

8 TV shows I like to watch:
1.The Office,
2.What Not to Wear,
3.Scrubs
4.Heroes
5.Chuck
6. Grey's
7.Jon & Kate Plus 8

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
2. Bought some new jeans
3. Hung out with Jason, Lindsay, Hunter, and Abby all day
4. Ran two miles (I'm starting out slow)
5. Talked to my sister Whitney on the phone
6. Bought Halloween candy on sale for $1 because Sam and I felt slighted that we didn't get any
7. Watched Sam and Jason play Mario Kart on the Wii
8. Watched the Cougars beat the Rams

8 Favorite places to eat:
1.Cafe Rio
2.Cheesecake Factory
3.CPK
4.Carl's Jr.
5.Fleming's
6.Panera
7. PF Changs
8.Sub Zero (does it count if they only serve ice cream?)


8 things I’m looking forward to:
1. I am going to start working at Williams-Sonoma part-time this week!
2. My sister Whitney moving back to Utah tomorrow
3. Running a 5k on Thanksgiving
4. Going to the library this week to check-out another slew of books
5. Bria's second tooth popping through (as opposed to hanging out just below the gums as it is doing now)
6. Thanksgiving
7. Implementing the new things from IKEA I bought this past week-- some storage items to keep Bria's things more organized
8. Christmas! (I usually don't start getting excited this early, but I can't wait for all the McPhies to be together this year)


8 people I tag:
Lindsay Hickok, Maranda Anderson, Calixta Ashby, Kathleen Mangum, Jean Mangum, Jen Mangum, Kilee Nickels, Joanna Farnsworth