my girl anni

Catching Up

2012-01-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so here's a totally random catch up post :)

Anni got a fish over the summer (we're surprised it's still alive too). I wish I could tell you its name, but it changes every time you ask her about it.

Annika lost her first 2 teeth! Her permenent teeth came in quickly though so she only had a toothy grin for a week or two.

For Halloween Anni was a mermaid and loved trick or treating this year

We have a cute 5 year old in the house now

For her birthday she chose McDonald's for dinner, Menchies frozen yogurt (instead of a cake) and going to Build-A-Bear Workshop

We also had a great Christmas up in Idaho and are enjoying a very mild winter

Shhh, Don't Tell Anyone But...

2011-12-01T12:48:00.001-07:00

Annika is Santa's secret elf.

He came to her the day after her 4th birthday to ask her to come work for him.

She goes to the North Pole every night while mom and dad are sleeping.

She's been tired because lately they've been working late.

Her job is to make all the Christmas decorations (she made the ones in our house last month)

Her other job is to help Santa with his Naughty or Nice List.

Today she had to add two of her preschool classmates to the Naughty list

Santa pays her with secret money that she puts in her secret piggy bank.

Remember, don't tell anyone because if anyone finds out she might get fired!

2011-10-21T16:36:00.000-06:00

So I just haven't felt like writing up a recap for the blog, but if anyone wants to, you can read the recap I wrote for DailyMile here.

I've been cycling this week and I'm feeling almost back to myself and am hoping to get a run in tomorrow :)

2011-10-17T11:11:00.002-06:00

Full recap coming, but I did it! 26.2 miles in 4:36!

In case anyone's bored...

2011-10-14T20:38:00.001-06:00

You can follow along with my marathon progress HERE
We should be starting at 7:15am

One More Sleep

2011-10-14T08:12:00.001-06:00

So tomorrow's the big day

my first marathon

26.2 miles

I used to have goals...

other than just finishing the race,

but training hasn't been injury free,

and so I guess I'll just hope to finish

under 5 hours would be great

4:45 would be even better :)

Paper Bag Princess

2011-10-11T07:39:00.000-06:00

On a slow day I brought out our creativity box and Anni went to town making herself a paper dress. I helped her tape it on when she was done, but she did all the rest!

New York, New York

2011-10-09T18:30:00.002-06:00

Last month I got to tag along with Carlos on a business trip to New York for a couple of days. Annika got left at home, but was super excited for Grandma to come babysit!

We had to take the red eye, so we spent our first few hours crashed on the hotel couch waiting to be able to check in to our room. I woke up to a room full of Asain tourists staring at me. Not my proudest moment, haha, but we were desperate for some sleep.

We went to a Yankee's game, caught a home run ball and ate hot dogs.

We ate at the famous Lombardi's Pizza. Carlo's loved it, I wasn't as impressed. But then we found this...

The Annual Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. It was so much fun and such yummy food we came back the next day too. Mmm, I'm craving some Gelato now!

Speaking of yummy food, we went to the Shake Shack twice too :) Such yummy burgers, fries, root beer and shakes. Oh and we tried custard for the first time too. Definitely worth the line.

We also visited Central Park, Grand Central Station, China Town and Times Square .

We took the Staten Island Ferry and saw the beautiful Statue of Liberty and the New York Skyline.

And of course I can't forget to mention how we got around everywhere. The lovely Subway system. I definitely won't miss it and was happy to come home to my car (and of course my baby girl!).

Oh and just kidding about that home run :)

Little Fishie

2011-10-02T10:30:00.000-06:00

I took Anni swimming in the neighborhood pool several times this summer, but it's always fun when Daddy comes too. He can toss higher than I can :)

Lagoon

2011-09-25T13:45:00.000-06:00

The long overdue Lagoon post :)

It's been a couple of months so about all I remember is that we had tons of fun and that Annika is always asking when we can go again.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We had a great time.

Water Polo

2011-09-09T10:57:00.000-06:00

Carlos finished up his 3rd year of playing water polo in a summer league here in Utah. His team finished second and they only lost one or two games. Anni and I were able to go to a few of the late games after work and she loved cheering for daddy's goals!

Canyon S'mores

2011-09-02T11:50:00.000-06:00

We made it back up the canyon for the originally planned marshmallow and hot dog roasting. It was amazing the change in the river since we tried last time. My mommy nerves were much calmer this time around and we had fun exploring and enjoying nature.

Good Bye Summer

2011-08-23T14:44:00.000-06:00

Well, we managed to cross almost everything off our Summer Bucket List, so I guess that means it's time to send her back to school. (Lots of blogging to catch up on though) She's going to a new school this year and the first week was a success. So much so that I tried to drop her off yesterday and only remembered that there's no school on Mondays after knocking on her teacher's door. Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that nap I had planned wasn't going to happen.

Mountain Biking

2011-08-21T18:21:00.000-06:00

Carlos has really gotten into mountain biking this summer. He's discovered some awesome trails not too far from our house that he goes to a couple times a week while Annika and I are still working at the daycare. I've gone with him once and took a nasty fall in the first couple of minutes, so I think I'll stick to cycling on paved roads :) Click HERE for a video of one of his rides.

Rainbow Anni

2011-08-19T12:15:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we spent a fun morning body painting outside. We made our own paint using water, corn starch and food dye and then we got messy! Sorry, no pictures of me this time :)

Downpour

2011-08-16T20:02:00.000-06:00

In the middle of a hot summer afternoon it started to rain. We were headed upstairs for some quiet time, but who can resist a good rainstorm?

Anni headed out and danced and splashed to her heart's content.

It's always so nice to see your child enjoying the simple things in life.

Of course there was raindrop catching on her tongue.

Definitely worth delaying quite time for

Cousins!

2011-08-12T15:02:00.000-06:00

The Rockwood clan came to visit us last month. We were excited to see everyone! Anni only gets to see her cousins Max and Maddie once a year, so she has been looking forward to the visit all summer. We went to Lagoon (future post), the movies, a splash pad, and had lots of playtime at our house. After a few days at our house, Anni got to go up to grandma and grandpa's to spend even more time with everyone.

Bridal Falls

2011-08-01T08:52:00.001-06:00

We took a bike ride up to Bridal Falls. Carlos had planned the trip so the waterfall was a surprise when we got to it. The water felt nice and cool on that super hot day.

Annika loved getting in the stream and walking over to the waterfall. There were people climbing up the falls and she was ready to climb up too. Too bad mom and dad weren't up for it :)

While Carlos and I do all the hard pedaling, Anni relaxes in the trailer with her drink and snacks.

We had planned to visit Krispy Creme after we were done, but the snow cone shack was calling our name. We got a huge one to share. It was supper yummy and reminded us of our Matsumoto Hawaii days.

Movie Night

2011-07-31T11:50:00.001-06:00

We spent a fun Friday night at one of our local parks for a Movie In The Park Night. One might think that we actually watched a movie...but it went a little more like this - Dad was on his phone, Mom was asleep under the covers, and Anni never stopped talking. Everyone had a good time, but I think we ended up leaving halfway through :)

Splash Pad

2011-07-27T08:40:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I pulled Annika in the bike trailer to a splash park about 5 miles from our house. Not easy since it was mostly uphill and hot :)

It was worth it though. Annika had a ton of fun frolicking in the water

Apparently she got a little thirsty too

Who knows what she's up to here :)

After a while the water would turn off and so she'd run and turn the wheel until the fountains started sprouting again

She said she was going to jump over the water...looks like she didn't quite make it

She loved to come and give me hugs to get me wet. Where do kids learn that?

S'more Love

2011-07-25T08:06:00.002-06:00

Since our trip up the canyon to make s'mores didn't work out, we improvised with a backyard roasting session.

Anni didn't mind, she just loves spending time together as a family.

After our roasted hot dog dinner, it was time to get to the good stuff

Dad was standing by with the chocolate and graham crackers

We bought those jumbo marshmallows...they turned out to be a little hard to handle :)

But oh so delicious

We'll try another mountain cookout someday, but I think we all loved our backyard version just as well.

A Few More Things...

2011-07-24T14:57:00.001-06:00

A few more things we've been crossing off our list

At the beginning of summer Carlos took Anni camping in the backyard. She loves to do this!

Also at the beginning of summer, Anni got her hair cut at Cookie Cutters. She loves to sit in the car and watch a movie while they cut her hair.

We made pink and purple salt play dough...

Which somehow led to an impromptu trip to the grocery store in search of a good "bubble blowing" gum so Annika could learn to blow bubbles. She got the first part down, but no bubbles yet.

We met Daddy at the park for a lunch picnic complete with cucumbers with chamoy. Whenever we go to a park or play land, Anni isn't shy and is always asking kids if they want to be her friend.

One hot day we headed to a splash park. We think these are so fun. Kids can run around and cool off without worrying about some of the stuff you would if they were in a real pool.

We drove up one of the Canyons to make s'mores in one of the fire pits. Our plans were thwarted, but we stopped to see the river and it is still crazy!

Stewart Falls

2011-07-23T16:12:00.000-06:00

Over the Fourth of July weekend we took a hike up to Stewart Falls

The pathway was nice and shaded and everything was still so green

Annika was a great hiker. It was about 4 miles and she walked most of it. I think I was feeling it more then she was after the 7 mile run I did before we left.

Annika is all about posing for pictures these days

We made it! (Although there's always the hike back :) It was so nice and cool by the waterfall and there was still a lot of snow in the mountains. I think we still prefer cycling to hiking, but it was a beautiful hike.

Daddy Daughter Date

2011-07-18T08:19:00.001-06:00

Annika has been really into finding dinosaur bones lately so a trip to the dinosaur museum was in order. Carlos took a few hours off of work and the two of them spent the morning together.

We drove by the museum the other day and Annika went off talking about how great it was and how "you just have to see it mom".

Fruits of Our Labors

2011-07-16T08:16:00.001-06:00

We got a late start on our makeshift garden...the peas we planted are officially dead, but the first (and second) strawberry has been picked and eaten by our strawberry hype.

What's Summer Without Water Balloons?

2011-07-15T19:50:00.000-06:00

We've had several water balloon fights this summer. I'm not sure who likes them more, but both Carlos and Anni seem to get a lot of satisfaction smashing a water balloon on each other heads.

This is Anni's "bring it on" face

As long as everyone's still smiling in the end, it's all good!

Half Marathon

2011-07-10T12:00:00.001-06:00

Bright and early Saturday morning we headed out for my first Half Marathon. We woke Anni up at 5:45 and she kept asking if it was still night time. I told her she could just go back to bed and come watch me finish the race, but no, she said she wanted to come cheer for me.

It was a very small race (I think because normally they give out medals for finishing Half's and they weren't as this one). We were able to just get there a few minutes before hand and then we were off.

It was nice to just be going. I've been looking forward to this race for a month or two now.

The course was really hilly and included some trail running. It was fun, but definitely challenging.

It was so nice to have my little cheering crew every couple of miles. They would just drive to a spot, wait for me, cheer, and then drive to the next spot.

We spent a couple of miles running around Daybreak. I spent a lot of my training runs up there so it was nice and familiar. I like to drool over the cute houses :)

Waiting for mommy at the finish line

Anni came out to run across the finish line. I had to leave her in the dust though, there was no way I was slowing down at the end.

Wahoo! Finished! And look at my time 2:08, way faster then I thought I was going to be.

I did it! Lots of emotions. Happy its over. Happy I didn't fail. Sad that it's over too. Tired :)

Ah, that's better. I think I was thinking of cold water for the last 3 or 4 miles.

This little cutie needed a drink after her little sprint across the finish line. Some nice guy gave her his bib number to wear too.

Of course she needed an orange too :)

I told her about the little kid runs they have at some of the bigger races and she is so excited to do one.

Thanks again to Carlos and Anni for cheering me on. Love you guys.

Crossing Things Off

2011-07-03T18:37:00.001-06:00

We have been busy, busy, busy with our Summer bucket list and I figured I'd better get blogging before I get too far behind.

Annika likes to save up her money (loose change she finds around the house) and then I take her to the store so she can buy a toy. We went to her favorite store, Target, but she really wasn't seeing anything she (I) wanted to get. So I took her to an old fashion toy and candy store in Provo and after playing there for over an hour, she choose a music box and then we picked out some candy.

We had an ice treasure hunt. It was a favorite from a couple of years ago and she loved it again this year.

A couple of weeks ago we spent the day park hoping (going from one park to another, to another) she was able to overcome some of her fears and surprised me with how well she can navigate the playgrounds these days. I'm sure we'll be fitting a few more park hops into our schedule this summer.

With all the hot days and summer fun we've been having, Annika has needed a lot of baths :) So, another item we've been able to cross off our list was bathtub painting.

Shaving cream plus food dye equals hours of bath tub fun

And it wouldn't be summer if we weren't doing lots of bubble blowing

And Kung Fu (panda) popping

Preschool Graduation and Super Duper Fun Summer

2011-06-12T16:46:00.001-06:00

Our sweetie's school picture

Annika finished up her first year of preschool with a last week full of fun activities and a graduation program.

She was such a cute little graduate and really loved her teachers.

With preschool out of the way it was time to implament our summer plans which Annika named "Super Duper Fun Summer I Love You"

Annika and I made a huge bucket list and have been busily crossing things off the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping to take at least one picture of each thing we do and then make her a book at the end of summer. A couple of things we've done are...

Plant a garden - we turned her old baby pool into a garden. She has been LOVING watering her plants everyday. We haven't managed to kill anything so far :)

We baked pink sprinkle cupcakes to celebrate her 1/2 birthday

She has been saying that she wished her birthday was in the summer, so we surprised her on her 1/2 birthday with decorations and a new watering can for her garden.

It has been an adjustment having her out of school but we are staying busy and having lots of fun. It already feels like it is going by too fast and she is getting bigger and older each day.

An Earth Day Race and Easter Hunt

2011-04-30T12:09:00.000-06:00

I recently ran my first 10k race and I was lucky enough to have Carlos and Annika there to cheer me on.

"Go Mommy, Go!"

And 59 minutes 33 seconds later I was done.

Easy as that ;)

There were even freshly picked flowers waiting for me at the finish line.

On to Easter...

Nothing too exciting, we dyed Easter eggs and then we just had a low key Easter Egg Hunt at our house and in our yard.

She loved wearing the dress and bow I made her and she LOVES candy!

At the Dinner Table...

2011-03-06T15:26:00.001-07:00

Anni announced that "Colton said that I'm his girlfriend and I miss him".

After a trip to Home Depot with Carlos she said, "Daddy was talking but all I heard was blah, blah, blah."

Disney, Disney, Disney!

2011-03-02T11:34:00.002-07:00

I'm so bad about actually writing up my blog posts...I just hate that part haha. So in the interest of just getting this post done, all you're going to get is a quick summery of last months trip to California :)

We had a great time at Disney Land. It was Annika's first trip and she had "the best time ever" and was such a trooper. The lines weren't to bad and the weather was great.

She had a special Disney chant and dance.

"Disney, Disney, Disney"

She loved the Princess Castle

We accidentally got in the Tinkerbell line thinking it was for a ride, it turned out to just be a photo opp and was actually the longest line we waited in.

We spent some time with Carlos' family and also got to see my Grandma Kelson and the Johnsons, but I was terrible at taking pictures for the rest of the trip. Annika also ended up being sick and needed a trip to the doctor. Overall a good trip, it was so nice to fly instead of drive, and Annika is already asking when we can go back to Disneyland.

Zac the Rat!

2011-02-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking on blogging, but here's a video of Anni reading a couple of library books. I love that she's so proud of herself and still in amazement that she's reading.

Flower Girl

2011-01-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

This week at preschool Annika's theme is careers. She's decided that she wants to be a florist when she grows up because she would love to sell flowers all day and make people happy. She also said she's going to build her flower shop right next door to our house and ride her bike to work everyday.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

We've been having a rather relaxing holiday season which is just what I needed. I actually enjoyed a healthy Christmas and New Years (aside from pain from a cracked rib) after being sick over and over again the past six months. We have been enjoying having Daddy around the house a little bit more.

We spent Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma Rockwood's house. Here's Anni and Carlos on Christmas morning waiting for everyone else to wake up.

Stocking fun

Anni with her new travel pillow

Carlos with his stocking stash

Anni and her new pillow pet from her Great Grandma Kelson (I'm pretty sure every child recieved one of these this year haha) She has been sleeping with it every night since Christmas.

She got a squinkies gumball machine that she loved.

Squinkie Squinkie Squinkie a tiny surprise in every one :)

She also got a bright pink barbie bike from Grandma and Grandpa Rockwood that she can't wait to ride outside.

Grandma and Uncle Collin serenading us with the Sing-a-ma jigs

We had fun taking Anni ice skating for the first time (I just had to watch)

Anni never really got the hang of it, but she said she had a great time.

For New Years Eve we had Aunt Katie and Uncle Jeff over. We just ended up playing Wii all night, but it was fun. (We're excited they are going to be living near us for a couple of months while Katie does her student teaching)

Anni stayed up until Midnight. She loved blowing the noise makers, but wasn't a big fan of the silly string. She likes being on the giving end, just not the receiving. :)

Family Photo Shoot 2010

2010-12-31T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures done in November, but we were giving some away as Christmas gifts, so I've been waiting to share them. I'm not a fan of having my picture taken and it was a really cold day, but we survived and I think a few of them turned out pretty cute.

4th Birthday Fun!

2010-12-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

She loved the Tangled stuff she got and going to see the movie in 3D with Mom, Dad, and Grandma

Since we don't have family close by, we celebrated Anni's birthday with my family while we were in Idaho for Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure she doesn't mind celebrating more than once :)

On her birthday morning she went on a scavenger hunt for her presents and found a laundry basket full of surprises.

She got an old ipod and speaker set for her room. She loves to dance and listen to music while she's going to sleep at night.

Her big present was a kitchen Carlos and I made for her. We snuck it in during the night and she didn't even notice it when she woke up in the morning. Stay tuned for a future post about how we made the kitchen.

Instead of having another birthday cake, we took her to her favorite frozen yogurt place. She loves cherries!

Just being silly with her birthday outfit on.

4 Year Stats and Interview

2010-12-09T09:19:00.002-07:00

Still working on her birthday post but for now...

Anni's most recent stats

38.5 inches

30 lbs

both about the 30th percentile

She definitely had some interesting answers again this year.

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

We carved pumpkins - I made a polka dot pumpkin and Carlos and Anni made a Snow White pumpkin. Anni was only a little bit better this year about helping to scoop out the insides. She thinks they're "disgusting".

Anni was Rapunzel for Halloween. She's VERY excited about the new Disney movie coming out at Thanksgiving.

Anni had a Halloween preschool program. They sang songs and then went trick or treating around their classroom.

We also had a little Halloween party at the daycare

Anni and my boss's son Boston. They are good little friends.

We also went trick or treating around the neighborhood and unlike last year she wanted to keep going and going. Then she had fun handing out candy to the kids who came to our house.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

We took a trip to a little corn maze and pumpkin patch a few weeks ago

We thought it was lame, Anni thought it was "wonderful"

She still likes to try and hold grasshoppers

She picked out a huge pumpkin and then we told her she had to carry it home :)

Puppy Surprise

2010-10-24T16:57:00.001-06:00

Anni likes to torture us...her preferred method is a little game called Puppy Surprise also known as Puppy Present. It has been going on all day, everyday for months. The torture begins with the dreaded words "I wanna pretend..." Basically she hides under a blanket and then we get to open our present and surprise! we just got a brand new puppy. Then we get to play pretend puppy for however long we can last. Repeat over and over.

Carlos and I had finally had enough, so she had to switch tactics. First she tried to disguise Puppy Surprise as a "new" game called Puppy Present. It hasn't been too successful, so she's moved on to Kitty Surprise, Fishy Surprise, and Birdie Surprise.

Repeat over and over.

A Weekend Off

2010-09-19T18:09:00.002-06:00

Carlos rarely has a weekend where there isn't something going on at the stadium, so when he does we try and take full advantage of it. We took Friday off and headed up to Idaho to visit my parents.

It happened to be the last weekend of the EISF and Grandpa and Grandma treated us to a day at the fair. I haven't been to the fair in 8 years, but it felt like everything was exactly the same. I even convinced Carlos to ride on my old favorite ride with me.

Annika had tons of fun going on the rides, but her favorite was a jungle gym kind of like the free ones at fast food places.

We also visited the petting zoo. I am officially afraid of animals. I don't want to be near them and I really don't want my little baby putting her fingers anywhere near them, so I had to step away for a bit and let her have her fun with dad :)

Grandpa was sweet enough to set the tramp back up for Anni. They were taking it down for the summer thinking they wouldn't see her again. She spent a lot of time jumping on it and even more asking to go jump on it. She even convinced Grandma to jump with her.

We even had time to do some four wheeling and golfing. All in all another short but fun visit. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Shh...It's a Secret

2010-09-18T21:39:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we took a hike up to a "secret" lake (you can't see the lake until the very end of the hike). We had read that it was a really easy kid friendly hike. It turned out to be a bit more challenging, especially for a three year old, but she did really great and walked the whole way.

We made it!

Of course Anni's favorite part was throwing stuff in the lake (she almost whacked Carlos with the stick in this picture).

I think it was about a mile up and a mile down. We took lots of breaks -mostly because Anni is easily distracted :)

Oh and we saw three more moose on the way up.

PrEsChOoL!

2010-09-09T15:03:00.000-06:00

The LONG awaited day has finally arrived! Preschool! Wahoo! We have been counting down the days for a long time. She looked so cute and grown up and happily said good bye to us.

Terrible picture, but here she is meeting her teacher with her new backpack on. It's hard to get details of her day (she's gone twice now) but she seems to be having a great time.

Out of Towners

2010-08-27T20:41:00.001-06:00

Carlos' family drove up from LA to visit us last weekend and we had fun having them here. I haven't seen Polly Pocket (my niece) since we met them in St. George for my 5k a year and a half ago. She's changed just a bit :) She and Anni had lots of fun running around screaming together.

We went up to Snowbird and rode the tram up to the top of the mountains

It was a beautiful ride...

and a beautiful view from the top

Some of us did better than others with the thin mountain air :) But that person who shall not be named didn't want to pose with the oxygen mask for me.

They were having Oktoberfest up at Snowbird

We bought the girl's princess wands from one of the vendors there. Paulina didn't know quite what to do with hers :)

My mom made Annika this princess dress and she loves showing it off for everyone

We spent one of the nights bowling, it was polly pocket's first time

Annika loves to bowl, but she also loved being able to drink the soda that came with our pizza

Annika got the top score our first game

We also went swimming a couple of times in our townhouse pool

Before they left we went mini golfing

Polly's such a cutie she's got a huge mop of curly hair and it was fun seeing her wearing some of Anni's old clothes

Thanks for making the long drive to come see us!

Beach Bums

2010-08-14T14:00:00.000-06:00

Annika and Carlos took a long weekend trip to California to do some surfing and see his family. So in no particular order, pictures from their trip...

Annika is a great traveler but she was worn out after a full day of travel and beach time and ended up with a headache that night.

Luckily a band-aid made it all better.

She discovered she likes gum now...bummer

Hanging out in the huge tub with her buddy Victoria

After a long drive - ocean spotted!

Beach bums

At Abuelita's house with a plumeria from her tree

Buried in her wet suit

Tried plums for the first time - she likes them

LOVED the condo hot tub!

Caught some waves with Daddy

Making sure to plug her nose

All in all a great vacation!

To Grandma's House We Go

2010-08-04T19:53:00.001-06:00

My brother Josh and his family came to visit from Ohio so of course we had to drive up to Grandma and Grandpa's house to see them for a couple of days. We only get to see them about once a year, so it was really fun for Anni to have playmates in Max and Maddie.

What could be better than fresh pea's and raspberries from grandpa and grandma's garden? Anni ate a ton of these!

Monkey's see as monkey's do

My parent's bought a pool for them to play in and they loved it

Annika brought along her trusty boom box so she could dance for everyone. This is Anni and Max dancing.

My parents also set up their tramp this year. It was Anni's first time on a tramp and was a hit. The kids were always asking to go outside and play on it.

More pool fun with grandpa

Along wiht all the playing we also spent some time just hanging out, watching movies, playing boardgames, puzzles and rockband.

My dad took his singing job pretty seriously :)

My parents put in a nice new patio and fire pit. What? Can't you see the fire? I promise we weren't just pretending. I guess the flash just faded it out.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Meghan

Cuddling with Grandma

Finally passed out. Anni and I were sleeping in the family room, so she got to stay up late every night. On the night we were making smores she fell asleep in my arms outside. I loved it! She never does that!

We had a great time and wish everyone lived closer.

Bear Lake Camping

2010-07-20T08:11:00.078-06:00

We took our first family camping trip to Bear Lake last weekend. My parents and Collin met us there and we had a great time boating, playing on the beach, camping and visiting the Minnetonka cave.

My parents brought their boat and we had great weather. The water in Bear Lake is absolutely gorgeous.

Along the beach the water is shallow and warm for a long ways out.

Annika played on the beach for hours. She loved to throw sand in the water, collect seashells, play with her beach ball and make sand castles.

Anni and I went for a very slow relaxing tube ride

And I tried water skiing for the first time in a LONG time.

Carlos had fun doing some wake boarding

Our campsite was right on the beach and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset while roasting some hot dogs and smores.

It was so nice to have my family come with us. Annika loves them all so much.

We had a rather long night camping with some air mattress problems and noisy neighbors (I'm glad it wasn't my kid crying all night, but I really didn't want to hear someone elses' either!) I ended up sleeping most of the night in the car, but we still had fun the next day with some more beach time and boating and then we headed up to the cave.

Silver Lake

2010-07-19T08:06:00.001-06:00

We took a trip up to Silver Lake for a "hike" around the lake. It ended up being more of an easy walk, which was great because Anni was able to run the whole way herself and we didn't have to carry her.

Anni found lots of spot that were just her size

She loved to climb up and sit on the big rocks and would say "okay you can take my picture right here"

We heard a snort in the bushes and I said that it was probably a moose. I was halfway jokeing because we had been watching When Moose Attack the night before. Turns out it was a moose. There were lots of people standing around watching him and he could have cared less.

We had a lot of fun and saw several more places to come back to visit

Dress Up Station

2010-07-18T15:00:00.001-06:00

Anni's new dress up station. All her dresses and accessories, now easily accessible

She's supposed to be little red riding hood (my mom made the cape for her) but she looks a little bit more like a vampire or something :)

In her "swimsuit" (a cape from my mom's dress up days) jumping off her "diving board"

My little ducky duck

Choose Your Adventure!

2010-07-09T16:39:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I planned a "Choose Your Adventure" activity for Carlos and Annika. I had planned to make cute little signs but I ran into some technical difficulties. I improvised and just used post-its which turned out to be even better. I really can't draw, so on some of them they really didn't know what they were getting into.

I had them choose one activity from each category and then had to tell them what they had chosen :)

They ended up choosing a bike ride, seafood, and miniature golfing.

Annika brought along her own putter she got for Christmas and did pretty well with it.

Of course Annika loved the waterfalls!

We (Carlos) had seafood at Sizzler's for lunch.

We decided we had time to add in another activity, so we drove up to park city and did some outlet shopping and then drove the scenic (the regular route is beautiful too) route home.

I forgot to get pictures of our bike ride, but we rode our bikes to a firework stand and bought a couple fireworks.

Then I had Anni go change into the dress I've put her in for three 4th of July's now

We bought the dress for 99 cents when I was pregnant with her and it's been fun to compare how she looks in it each year.

2009

2008

2007 - who knows? I didn't have that blog back then :)

We had a lot of fun! Annika kept telling us that "This is the best day ever!" and how much she loved being with us.

Halfway Between 3 and 4

2010-06-25T15:54:00.001-06:00

Anni's Happenings List

Loves to eat strawberries, chicken nuggets, and tacos

All about pretend play

Can read (has memoriezed) about 10 words

Is going to a summer craft preschool once a week

LOVES to play computer

Still loves dresses but will finally wear other stuff too

Favorite color is pink
Likes The Pink Panther and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Is a great helper

Grrr Bear World!

2010-06-13T17:35:00.000-06:00

We spent a weekend up in Idaho with my family. While we were there we went golfing in the rain, enjoyed my parents new kitchen and addition, played croquet, helped them set up their sound system and then spent a day at Bear World.

We got to feed the bears which was really fun.

But Annika's favorite part was definitely the carnival rides they had!

I don't know what this pouty face is about, she did get her Uncle Collin to ride with her.

Even Grandpa and Grandma couldn't resist the roller coaster.

She didn't get scared on any of the rides...Lagoon here we come!

New Creativity Blog

2010-06-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

Come join me in my new blog

Creativity Finder

Domesticity

2010-05-30T19:29:00.000-06:00

Now that Anni is getting older and more independent, I have more free time to pursue hobbies. I have been having fun

teaching myself how to sew
baking homemade bread
making strawberry jam
learning how to use my new Cricut Carlos got me for Mother's Day
making cards
cutting vinyl
making all sorts of hair bows and clips for Anni

We've also converted part of our guest room into a craft room for me which has been really nice. Anni and I have fun working in there together. She works on her preschool art projects or plays with my "pretty stuff".

It's funny because I really don't consider myself a crafty person, but now my favorite store is hobby lobby and I'm developing a bit of a addiction to ribbon, buttons, and scrapbook paper.

Smart Cookie

2010-05-16T08:39:00.003-06:00

Anni saw a picture of a planet and said "Mom what planet is that?"
and I said "I don't know probably Saturn"
and she said "But then where are its rings?"
Turns out it was Jupiter. Maybe I should have her teach me the planets again. I have no idea where she learned them though. She is one smart cookie...which brings me to my next idea. It's time to teach her how to tell time and put a clock in her room so she stops coming out so darn early. She never really made the time switch over and now that it gets light so early shes coming in to crawl in our bed asking for cartoons way before we're ready for her :)

The Children's Museum

2010-05-08T12:38:00.000-06:00

While my parents were here last month, my mom took Annika and I to the children's museum while the boys went snowboarding. It was packed! But it was still a really fun place and I'm planning on taking her back again sometime soon.

Under The Sea

2010-05-05T12:29:00.000-06:00

Anni and I got a steal on year passes to the local aquarium and have been putting them to good use.

She was a little nervous about touching the star fish but did it after watching me. I've always loved starfish. I never saw any when we lived in Hawaii and I would love to take a vacation to some tide pools sometime soon.

The penguins are really playful and a lot of fun to watch.

This is Anni pretending to be a seahorse. She kept it up all day, but it was a nice change from the princess routine. Maybe the aquarium is expanding her horizon just a bit :)

Chopped

2010-04-21T21:17:00.000-06:00

First hair cut...chopped 8 inches off and she still has long hair!

New Home Made Bed

2010-04-18T08:56:00.005-06:00

Carlos built this cute Pottery Barn look a like bed for Annika from plans made by an awesome blogger named Ana from Knock Off Wood and saved us a couple hundred dollars.

She loves her new bed and didn't have any trouble making the transition. Plus now her bed is big enough for us to get in a cuddle with her which we all love.

My Daddy's 30!

2010-04-17T19:42:00.002-06:00

Anni and I delivered this to Carlos at his office. She helped me make it and amazingly was able to keep it a secret even when Carlos asked about it.

Snow Bunnies

2010-04-14T22:15:00.006-06:00

Easter weekend we got snow...we haven't had that much of it this winter, so it was definitely time for a last of the season (hopefully) play day.

She was defintley excited to get out and play

And it was fun to have two extra playmates

Snowball fight

That included grandma

Uncle Collin in the "princess chair"

I think she had summer on the brain though because she was much more interested in playing on the slide

and trying to fill her pool up for swimming than she was in building a snowman

and once again she was the last one to come in.

Hunts!

2010-04-11T09:47:00.008-06:00

We had to have Annika's Easter Egg hunt indoors this year due to snow (post coming) so we decided to do it in her room (new bed post coming too :) )

She enjoyed all of the attention with everyone watching her hunt.

My Mom, Dad, and brother were also staying with us for the weekend and they planned a scavenger hunt for her.

Her new tiara my mom gave her. Now she looks like a little bride :)

She found her treasure in the oven and had to dump it all out to see what she got.

Spelling Bee

2010-04-06T12:08:00.002-06:00

Annika has been all about spelling lately...she wants to know how everything is spelled and she also likes to pretend to spell out words herself. She also surprised me a few weeks ago by writing her name by herself (she was signing one of her paintings). Now we spell words out loud for her and she writes them. She's pretty proud of herself and mommy is too :)

California Trip

2010-04-04T13:01:00.007-06:00

Carlos and Annika took a trip down to Southern California so that they could visit Carlos' side of the family and help coach water polo.
Yicel and Annika sharing a yummy milkshake at Fuddruckers
Catching some zzzz's between activities

Yicel gave her a fountain she used to have in her office and Annika has loved playing with it.

Annika got to go to the beach for the first time...I'm sad that she wasn't born while we lived in Hawaii...maybe we can take her back someday.

Annika did a great job on both long rides, and they had a great, quick trip, while I enjoyed my alone time :)

The Doughnut Factory

2010-03-26T14:28:00.005-06:00

We took Anni to the doughnut factory aka krispy kreme a couple of weeks ago.

She thought it was great and even took off her crown for a few minutes to wear the krispy kreme hat.

What Are You Laughing About Mommy?

2010-03-23T08:37:00.002-06:00

She couldn't figure out why I was laughing at her

Another Project

2010-03-14T17:36:00.004-06:00

Carlos has been buying new tools, so I have been putting him to work :)

I wanted to have these windows framed, and he did a great job.

Thanks Honey!

Randomness...

2010-03-05T17:48:00.005-07:00

Just a few photos I wanted to save but don't really need their own posts :)

A valentines project that never really happened...maybe next year

Finding ways to entertain herself at the rec center daycare

Making herself at home at Ikea...waiting for her prince to come kiss her.
She loves to take pictures with my camera, occasionally she actually takes one of my face :)

Nap Time Drama

2010-02-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Annika and I were supposed to be taking a nap today when I heard cries of distress coming from her room. I turned on our spy cam to see what was up, but she was out of the picture. Her noises were so unusual that I had to go investigate.

This is what I found.

And look what I get to brush out later

P.S. This was her 4th or 5th outfit change of the day (all dresses of course) but at least she's getting lots of practice on changing herself.

Closet Organization

2010-02-21T10:54:00.003-07:00

This is a picture of how Annika's closet used to look (taken sometime last summer). In an effort to organize her stuff better and also to take her dresser out of her room to make room for a full size bed we headed to...ikea.

I love how it turned out!

I hated her closet doors because you could only have half the closet open at one time and they came off their tracks easily. So we replaced them with curtains. Anni loves to close them and fall asleep in the closet now. We bought the middle storage system from ikea and put the clothes that were in her dresser in the buckets. Then we added another closet rod so there wasn't so much wasted space at the bottom of her closet. I also decided to hang all her dresses and dress up clothes down at the bottom so she could get them herself. I'm jealous, she's got the cutest room in the house :)

*I just read over my post and I should probably mention that when I say "we" did this and that, I actually mean Carlos :) Thanks babe.

Princess Tea Party

2010-02-20T18:46:00.013-07:00

We went to Idaho for the weekend last week and my mom and I took Annika to a Disney Princess Tea Party put on by a local high school's choir as a fundraiser.

Annika in the middle for the "princess says" game (simon says)

She had to have her hair braided becuase her current princess obsession is Rupunzel. We aren't allowed to call her Annika, only Rupunzel.

This was about a third of the girls that were there.

They decorated tiaras, had their nails painted, and makeup done.

With cinderella and prince charming

At the tea party they had little sandwhiches, sugar cookies, strawberries and sprite for the tea.

They also had a ball for everyone to dance at. Annika tried to chase down several girls to dance with and then they would just spin around in circles together.

I Heart Back Splashes (And My Hubby)

2010-01-22T11:08:00.015-07:00

For Christmas I asked my parents for a gift card to Lowes (haha I know right?) and this week my wonderful husband helped my dreams of a beautiful back splash come true.

We did have a little bit of a back splash that was here when we bought our house, but I wasn't that into it.

The demo (I bribed him with Del Taco)

Anni spent the demo time on the couch with her ears plugged.

The project actually didn't take that long, but with both of us working and waiting for things to set, it took us almost a week start to finish. Because our kitchen was a disaster during this time we had picnics with a blanket on the family room floor every night which Annika loved.

Ta Da

I love how it turned out! I think it looks great with the granite and I've always just loved the look of slate.

After the back splash was finished, I just couldn't handle how the white outlets and covers looked so we ended up switching them out for stainless steel ones.

We also added some accent lighting under the cabinets.

And a sneak peak at our upcoming projects...

SuPer DuPeR AdOrAbLe

2010-01-22T10:33:00.004-07:00

This was seriously the cutest thing ever! And she only almost ran over 2 or 3 people.

It Never Ends

2010-01-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Annika never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday we were in a parking lot and she asked me "Why does that sign say 'No'?" When did my baby learn to read?

Old Navy Clearance

2010-01-15T11:40:00.001-07:00

Old Navy has their clearance for an extra 50% off starting today! This should be nationwide.
Anni and I made a quick run this morning and got $173 worth of clothes for $23 (we bought 17 things)

Pajama Party

2010-01-12T10:09:00.003-07:00

Annika and I often have "pajama parties" together. I'm Ruby (from the cartoon Max and Ruby) and she's usually Princess Ann Elise from one of the barbie movies she watches. The entertainment is usually dancing - somehow I change from Ruby to the prince, and a board game. She likes candy land, the ladybug game, and hungry hungry hippos.

Annika has also become obsessed with nightgowns. I have even turned some of her dresses into nightgowns. I have a feeling she won't be wearing any of her other pj's before she grows out of them.

I love ~~all~~ almost all of the little phases Annika goes through. They add variety to our life and you just never know how long they are going to last.

Holidays 09

2010-01-10T17:40:00.019-07:00

We spent Christmas at our own house for the first time this year and we had Carlos' mom and cousin Rose come visit us for a few days.

We spent Christmas Eve at Temple Square and then went to a Mexican Market to pick up some carne asada for dinner.

Anni's new roller skates

Carlos and his new best friend

Carlos spent a lot of time making annika a big toy box and storage cubes for her room. They turned out great and she loves jumping off of them.

This was a rock that Annika picked up at the granite quarry and Carlos saved for her.

Annika is a funny cheerleader she's doesn't act all high pitched and girly, but she loves to cheer for our family when we play wii together.

Rose did her hair really cute a couple of days...I should really learn how to do stuff like this. She looked adorable.

We took a trip up to Idaho for New Years, but I was really sick so we ended up coming back home after a day. (I am still not 100% and it has been two weeks) So...the holidays have quickly come and gone and the January blahs are starting to set in. Last year I had my 5k and cruise to look forward to, so I'm still trying to think of something fun to be excited about to help pass the winter away. Belated Christmas and New Years wishes to all our loved ones!

3 Year Stats and Interview

2009-12-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

35 1/2 inches tall
27.5 lbs
About 35% in both

We decided to interview Annika yesterday and hope to do this each year. Her answers were kind of funny, I'm pretty sure if I did the interview 5 times, I would would have gotten 5 different answers. But that's what you get with a 3 year old :)

One. Two. THREE

2009-12-03T15:38:00.009-07:00

Happy Birthday to our dear sweet Annika. We love you to pieces!

Good Luck Real!

2009-11-21T17:21:00.003-07:00

Real Salt Lake made the playoffs, won all their games, and are playing in the MLS cup tomorrow! Wahoo! Go Real! You can watch it on ESPN at 6:30 Mountain Time.

Update: THEY WON!

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-05T15:38:00.018-07:00

We never got around to carving pumpkins last year, so this was Anni's first pumpkin carving experience. She wasn't too into it and didn't enjoy the "yuckies" inside. Carlos ended up doing all the work and then Anni enjoyed looking at it :)

Real Salt Lake ended up making the playoffs and they had a home game on Halloween so Annika and I ended up going to my parents house without Carlos. Before we left we went trick-or-treating at the Stadium and Anni cleaned out all Carlos' coworkers. Then we went to lunch. Annika loves chicken nuggets these days.

While we were at my parents house we went to a cornmaze out on the reservation.

She got to feed a horse - I was afraid she was going to lose some fingers.

What a cute little cow!

Anni loved leading the way in the maze.

Her first face painting.

Driving a tractor.

Grandma was such a sucker for all of Anni's whims :)

Our spider cupcakes.

Off to trick or treat

We tagged along with my cousins Olivia and Jackson

She wasn't interested in going for very long, but Anni had a great time trick or treating and just asked the other day if we could go again.

2009-10-23T10:50:00.004-06:00

Annika and I are still doing our tot school activites, but I haven't had the time to write up posts on what we've been up to. That being said, I've decided not to worry about that aspect anymore. I just don't have the time and want my focus to be on spending time with Anni, not the blog. So...I want to pass along a few of our favorite places we go to for ideas and I'll occasionally pass along more stuff I love.

http://abcand123learning.blogspot.com/

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/

http://totschool.shannons.org/

http://totallytots.blogspot.com/

Each of these sites have loads of ideas to keep you and your little one busy!

Wake Up, Wake Up

2009-10-19T09:12:00.002-06:00

Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of frantic footsteps and Anni shouting "Wake up, Wake up, the sun is up, the sun is up". She had jumped out of bed and run to the window to check if it was light outside. She's such a silly goose sometimes. Lately, every night before bed she says "I can't wait til the sun comes up again".

Our Annual Cottonwood Canyon Trip

2009-10-15T13:31:00.013-06:00

Must be Fall?

2009-09-29T15:28:00.003-06:00

It may be 80 degrees in my house right now, but I refuse to turn on the AC when I will be running the heater tomorrow!

Panty Party

2009-09-27T12:59:00.007-06:00

After a perfect week without any accidents (day and night) we decided to throw Annika a panty party to celebrate. I took her to the store to pick out some new panties so she could have a little more variety and then let her choose what kind of a treat she would like. She choose pink sparkle cupcakes, so we made and ate those and then we got rid of the changing table and diaper pail. Wahoo!

Where's My Little Girl?

2009-09-25T15:42:00.004-06:00

Annika has been asking for Barbie things lately...I don't think I'm ready for Barbie!
But...I think we are really close to claiming success over this whole potty training thing! Only took us about 6 months :) but I think we did it!

Closet Fun

2009-09-20T12:25:00.000-06:00

Thankfully Annika's closet currently looks like this...

But this is what it used to look like...during "nap" time she would pull stuff down and throw stuff out into her room. She was having tons of fun playing in there and I knew that I would have time to clean and organize it when she went up to my parents house so I just left it.
Then one afternoon I found her like this.

I loved it! It's just such a cute kid thing to me...to fall asleep in random places and this is the first time she's done it.

Tot School - Home Made Playdough

2009-09-19T17:12:00.001-06:00

I'm finally getting around to catching up on blogging, we are recuperating from a nasty stomach bug we picked up at the daycare :(
Anni often asks if we can do a "preschool project" together so I looked in my bookmark folder and found this recipe. We made this playdough a few weeks ago and it was definitely a hit. It was fun to make and fun to play with.

Uncooked Playdough

Materials

Bowl
1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Tempera paint or food coloring
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

In bowl, mix water, salt, oil, and enough tempera paint or food coloring to make a bright color.
Gradually add flour and cornstarch until the mixture reaches the consistency of bread dough.
Store covered.

A Vacation With Out Mom and Dad

2009-09-04T10:15:00.003-06:00

I haven't really felt like blogging lately. My work schedule has been taking a toll on me lately and I'm tired! My mom invited Annika up for a visit to grandpa and grandma's house and she has been anxiously waiting for the day to come (she leaves tuesday). It will be nice to have a little break and I have lots of plans of things I would like to get done while she's gone. Although the idea of spending my time sleeping sounds very appealing too. Maybe a little of both. I sure will miss her though! She's my little buddy and we have fun spending time together.

Monster Trucks and Carnival Rides

2009-08-23T18:31:00.013-06:00

Rio Tinto stadium was hosting a Carnival and Monster Truck show this weekend so I took Anni over after work Friday night. She liked looking at the trucks and kept saying how beautiful the green grave digger truck was. Then it was on to the carnival rides.

I actually thought she was going to freak out a bit on some of the rides, but she did great and actually looked a little bored at times. There were hardly any people there, so she would get on a ride and then when it was over she would choose another car or boat or animal and ride the same ride over again.

And just for fun, this is a picture of her first merry-go-round ride.

A Home Made Christmas

2009-08-21T08:17:00.000-06:00

I want to give Annika a home-made Christmas or birthday (her bday is in December) or maybe both. I didn't think Carlos was going to go for the idea, so I didn't even mention it to him for a long time, but when I did, he was totally on board and had some ideas of things he could make for her too. This is going to be so fun! I'll keep you updated on our projects.

A T-Shirt Bag

2009-08-20T15:32:00.004-06:00

I saw this idea in a Family Fun Magazine and knew it would be perfect for Annika and I.
Find an old t-shirt you don't want anymore.
Cut off the sleeves and neck.
Turn inside out and sew the bottom closed.
And...you're done. Easy Peasy!

Tot School - Stick Puppets

2009-08-19T08:58:00.002-06:00

Annika and I have been making stick puppets to play pretend with. I love to hear her make up stories, she comes up with the funniest things. We have been making them out of pictures from coloring books and magazines and then gluing them onto Popsicle sticks.

Tot School - Fishie Counting

2009-08-17T08:37:00.002-06:00

This is a great activity to help your little one practice counting. You can make your own number cards, or buy some from the dollar store or dollar spot at target. It's very versitile too, they can use just about anything to count with.

Backyard Camping

2009-08-15T12:30:00.003-06:00

Carlos took Annika camping in the backyard Friday night. She was looking forward to it all week and was so hyper the night of the campout. Carlos said she slept great and kept on telling him how much she loved him :) She's already asking when they can do it again.

Tot School - Edible Bracelets

2009-08-15T08:18:00.005-06:00

This is kind of a classic kid's activity, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
These were easy bracelets to make. We just used pipe cleaners and Apple Jacks. Annika had a lot of fun threading the cereal on and then wearing her bracelets when we were done.

It didn't take her long to figure out the "edible" part of our activity.

Next time we do this activity I plan on talking more about the patterns we can make on our bracelets.

If you are ever in Salt Lake City...

2009-08-14T10:47:00.010-06:00

You need to stop by Liberty Park.
Beautiful for the adults.
Loads of fun for the kids.

Ducks to feed.

Water to play in.

Trees to climb.

Swings to swing on.

Sand to play in.

Tunnels to explore.

Views to be seen.

Picnics to be eaten.

And lots and lots of room to run.

Four Long Years

2009-08-10T07:35:00.000-06:00

Just kidding baby. Happy Anniversary. I love you.