Stop the Snow, Stop the Snow, Stop the Snow!

We have been dumped on by snow the last week. Christmas Day we had to have Sam come pick us up in his Jeep because we didn't think we could make it out of the circle, and we were right. He even got stuck. We had 3 foot snow drifts by our car, and it just kept coming!

Our car early Christmas morning. There was snow stuck to all the windows of the house because of the horrible wind.How much snow we woke up to the day after Christmas.

Walkin' in a PINK Wonderland?!

Pink threw up at our house on Christmas. No joke. Joey got lots of great toys, and I don't think there are any that she really doesn't play with. She thinks they are all great and has alot of fun the last couple days, as have we.

Some highlights of our Christmas were: Seeing the goofy kid react to all her neat new toys,a big girl carseat she likes SO MUCH better, a couple of beautiful paintings of Joey and I that Josh gave me AND a cute purse with husband coupons I'm looking forward to cashing in, Josh got a lot of stuff he wanted and a couple of great surprises.

What to say with Christmas days away?

I feel like I haven't said anything too substantial lately, and that could be because I haven't taken any pictures with a real story behind them, but I feel the need to post something.

I am so excited for Christmas with Joey! She has had so much fun pulling at bows, shaking presents, and trying to rip corners off of some. (I only taught her the shaking part, but she's gotten quite good at it!) And the last couple days now that she can get closer to the tree (we cleared some of the presents out Saturday with Cory and Annie's family) she has had fun attacking the ornaments at her level as well. It'll be fun to see how she reacts to some new toys, she seems to have gotten a little bored with her toybox lately, at least that's what I keep telling myself the reason she feels the need to unload the bookshelf onto and hang out on the stair from the kitchen to the family room.... We go through this at least 10 times a day, I'm sure. Some of her other current favorites are standing up to furniture (or anything she thinks is sturdy enough), walking around with adult fingers or furniture, and crawling as fast as possible and laughing when I tell her to come here!

I had fun the other night breaking in my KitchenAid making a tasty treat, and I'm sure we'll do some more. I just couldn't believe how evenly (and quickly!) mixed the dough was. Fabulous! I'm sure we'll get our moneys worth and then some with this investment!

Ok, I feel better now! Check back the end of the week for Joey's First Christmas!

A Season of Giving

After becoming increasingly jealous of the many compliments I've received on my new-found-do, my baby sister decided she wanted to be just like me! J/K But she did a very honorable thing this past weekend. She chopped off 10" of her hair and donated it to Locks of Love. For her I think it was just a nice change, but I just think its so cool that she was able to help someone else out.


Before After

(this picture was taken on vacation in July, so it was actually alot longer, this was the best I had)

Amazon, my new best friend!

Ok, for a while now Josh and I have been going back and forth trying to decide whether we should just spend the money and get a Kitchenaid. We had finally decided to wait, when out of the blue Josh turns to me and says, "We need to get a Kitchenaid, because I want to make cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning." Music to my ears! I already knew I wanted black, so we started looking to decide what model we wanted. Now my online shopping skills come into play. I looked on the websites of ANYONE I could think of that would sell Kitchenaids, and discovered Sears was having a sale. We went over Monday night after Heroes and they were already closed. Who closes at 9 during Christmas? So yesterday morning I got online and ordered it there, that way we were sure to get the sale price we were looking at. I received an e-mail a little while later saying my item was ready for pick-up. So when Mikaela got home from school I went to get it (didn't think I could carry a Kitchenaid and a baby, that'd be tricky). Turns out someone screwed up, and after a mess and trying to satisfy me (I knew what I wanted, and they didn't have it), I walked away with my money back. Devastated and frustrated I went back to my online shopping to find the next best deal. I was too angry to give them the satisfaction of having my money again.

Hello Amazon! Turns out on Tuesday they went on sale. $40 cheaper than Sears sale price, and I had purchased Christmas gifts from them for Josh recently, and was happy with their quick deliveries. We're talking over $100 less than the listed MSRP. I decided to pay $20 in shipping to get it a little faster, although free was an option. But with no tax and saving so much, I was all for it. So with any luck, I could have it by the end of the week, with extra cash in my pocket. Thanks Sears, for being so dumb and sending me back to my friend Amazon!

Busy Holiday Weekend

Its amazing Joey hasn't been sleeping day and night considering all we put her through this weekend. Before her Wyoming cousins came for Turkey, she "helped" Grandma decorate the tree.

Throughout the weekend we had lots of fun. I think Joey tried a little bit of everything at Thanksgiving dinner, and loved it all, including the cranberry sauce. She didn't even hesitate, which I must admit was a bit of a let-down for me, I had my camera posed and ready!

Then Friday morning there were some last minute changes, and Josh and Joey came out shopping with Annie and I. She was very tolerant. We came home for a while for a morning nap, but had her out most of the day.

My little snow bunny in one of our Black Friday deals

Then Saturday we decided to take all the kids to see Bolt in 3D, which Josh and I enjoyed, neither of us had been to a 3D movie before, but Joey was pretty bored. That evening we went and visited the other Granny, where she was the center of attention and knew it!

Sunday we decided to go see the lights at Temple Square while it was nice and warm. Joey was mostly unimpressed. But we enjoyed walking around, got some fun pictures, and she got to go on her first Trax ride. We parked at the Gateway so we could do some window shopping there as well, and parking ended up being free. Wahoo!

Prest-O, Change-O!

For awhile now I have been wanting some change from my once-again Ponytail hair-do and to surprise Josh, so yesterday I took action! And just in time for the Carrie Underwood concert tonight, woohoo!

Here is my transformation

Before

Haircut

My lovely assistant

The coloring process

Final Product

What do you think?! Oh boy was Josh surprised! He stopped dead in his tracks before he could get into the car when I picked him up from Trax after school! Of course, as intended, he was expecting something. I changed my facebook status to "Mandy Coffey hopes Josh likes her surprise and that part 2 turns out as good as part 1 did!" (That was while the color was setting, it looked slightly purplish on the box, so I was nervous, but I like the way it turned out!)

A Growing Monster

I use the word "monster" carefully, because lately my sweet princess has turned into one. She picked up this growling thing, that honestly can become annoying after awhile, but most of the time you just have to laugh at her and wonder where on earth she picked it up!

The kid is growing like a weed! I can't believe she's 10 months already, and that as I shop for Christmas I get to split her gifts with her birthday which follows close behind. She is quickly outgrowing her carseat, so she'll be getting a big girl one for Christmas. And my nightmare is happening....she taught herself to climb the two stairs between the kitchen and family room, and thinks she can cruise right down them, which is really scary! She wants so badly to walk, if you'll walk around with her you're her best friend. She hasn't quite figured out she can use the furniture to her advantage for this, you have to entice her with a cell phone or something else she wants. But she does use the furniture and sometimes less stable things (last night was a package of toilet paper) to stand up multiple times daily.

A couple weeks ago we went to her cousin Matthew's 1st birthday party, where she had fun playing with his toys and took notes on how to eat cake. As her Uncle Ben put it, "She didn't need to take notes on opening presents because she's a princess and has servants to do that for her." So true, but I don't think we'll have any problem there, once we show her that ripping paper is ok, she'll be in heaven.

Halloween and Stuff

HALLOWEEN

Our first Halloween with the little munchkin was so much fun....for mommy. Jocelyn looked adorable in her little cow costume complete with bell, and tolerated it well, but she wasn't overly thrilled by much of anything throughout the day, except all the people we got to go visit. Trick or Treating she could have cared less, good thing we only went to 3 houses. I had my own little photo shoot with her in the morning and got some cute shots because 1) she had just barely been put in her costume, and 2) I had the shiny silver camera out and that means cheesy grins!

The camera face

The face we saw most of the day

STUFF

Saturday Josh got alot done. He finished clearing out the booxes in our room and hung our pictures and such. It looks much better with deocrations and floor. Then he went outside and helped my dad level out a dirt mound next to the driveway so we can have more places to park. Since it was a nice day Joey and I went out to visit them a couple times, and she looked so jealous she didn't get to play in the dirt or ride in the wheel barrel.

Now my woe, and I'd appreciate any advice any of you may have. At Joey's 9 month appointment a couple weeks ago the Pediatrician recommended giving her Stage 3 baby food for the texture, and also said that she could eat most of what we are eating now. So we've let her sample more stuff from our plates, and of course given her the stage 3 foods. At first I thought it was choosing things she didn't like. But yesterday we tried to give her sweet potatoes- a favorite, and the same consistency she's had before- and she wouldn't even eat those. So she'd rather eat her baby snacks and big people food, which is fine for the most part, but she needs the other stuff too. *Sigh*

Joey going through her candy bucket

Picture Tag

Ok, so there's tags people do on blogs, and they're so much fun to read, but I've never been tagged. :( Until now.... Mandy tagged anyone who read hers, and its a good one! Its just a random chance to see what you end up with.

Here's what you do:

Go to your 6th picture folder, and post the 6th picture in it.

This was taken at the beginning of October just after I quit work. I was avoiding packing, so we started going through stuff in Joey's room, and I decided to try a ponytail, and I made this tiny one. It doesn't stay in long, but its oh so pretty!

Now to tag, I tag Annie, but she's the most likely to do it!

Happy Halloween!

First....

Goose-egg. With our dear princess's ever-growing mobility and curiosity she has also increased the her bumping into stuff, and this morning it left a mark. She lunged forward at me while someone else was holding her at the table and she whacked her forehead on the back of the chair. I felt so bad even though she didn't cry long at all. The bump is already going down, but there is still a red mark where the impact occurred.

Our big girl went to the doctor for her 9 month appointment on Friday (Daddy got to come, too because he had taken the day off to help take care of moving stuff), and she's doing great and finally doubled her birthweight (and then some)!

Weight: 16 lbs, 3 oz - 8%
Height: 27 1/2" - 45%
Head: 20%

The most important thing is her percentages have been pretty consistent all along, but I was pleased to see her above 5% for weight. :)

And finally, the big day I've been anticipating, for both good and bad reasons (can I tell you how much I hate moving) has come and gone. We are in the house, and are slowly trying to organize our room (and re-claim our closet, it filled up fast). It was a long day, but went without any major problems, which you always pray for.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, Josh is asleep (exhausted), and I have no idea where the camera ended up.

Still alive

After a busy week of packing and chasing an ever-continuing mobile and hammy princess, I am taking a breather to tell you we're still alive, and very anxious for this move on Saturday. Joey has handled it pretty well considering her playground (living room) seems to be over-run with boxes. Of course this means a whole new jungle to explore and keeps me on my toes even more, but I digress. I'm loving the chance to be with her all day, and if I wasn't so stressed about everything being done in time (its in my nature) I think I'd say forget it and play with her all day.

Josh has been amazing, supportive, and patient through it all, despite my nagging for him to finish his big term paper. But he managed to plan an excellent date for my birthday, and he gave me a new wedding ring. He's wanted to get me something a little bigger from day one, and I came across one I wanted, so he bought it with part of his bonus a couple months ago, and has been planning this big evening ever since. It was perfect. He made me laugh hysterically, gave me bling, then took me on a carriage ride, which I've always wanted to do. I love that the three circles are actually made up of a bunch of smaller diamonds that look kinda like flowers. I love it!

Ok, here's a bunch of pictures of our silly little girl. Most of them are pretty goofy. I've had to get a little creative in keeping her entertained so I could get stuff for the move done. That and I frequently find her getting into interesting things. I'll be glad when this week is over.

Being a mommy is so great, and I'm sad I missed out on when she was still tiny, but I'm loving this interactive stage.

She's crawling!

Our little princess is crawling! I'm coming to realize I posts blogs about her ALOT, and not everyone needs to know every little thing she does, but hey, this is my way of journaling, and she's the first child, its to be expected. But this is a major milestone! I can't believe how much better she's gotten the last couple days, and find it hilarious she won't ever do it when Josh is home. So I caught some video last night and he was surprised she had improved so much so quickly. Then I got some different video this morning and she's going to be unstopable soon! She already loves to go for all the things she can't have. Like right now she's trying to get under the desk to all the cords! Anyways, without further ado, here's Jocelyn crawling!

Ok, so I meant for this to be a short blog, but then I realized how many cute pictures I've taken the last few days... I'm still not used to all this free time, and still putting off packing.

1-Big Yawn

2-Our little Material Girl

3-Cheesy Grin

4-Pooh hat that was way to big last winter and fits great now!

5-Her hair is barely long enough for bows! I'm so excited!

6-Who couldn't love that face?

Not so different...yet

Let me just start off by saying, TODAY IS MY FIRST REAL DAY OFF! It really doesn't feel that different from any other day off I've had during the week, though, probably because its my first one, and I've decided I shouldn't have to start packing/de-junking until AT LEAST tomorrow. All I've really done is dishes, laundry, normal baby stuff, and tried out a new granny square pattern to see if I liked it enough to continue with the blanket. Still deciding on that one. I just can't find any patterns I like that aren't just the same two straight lines over, and over, and over, and.... well, you get the idea. But I'm really wanting to get more into crochet if my princess will let me. It seems to be the best motivation to get her to crawl, she wants to eat that yarn! Speaking of which I think we're getting close. She's getting much better at going backwards, and is slowly getting better at the forward "army crawl". She also had her 2 top teeth that she was working on come in. She's getting so big! I'm glad I quit when I did. THIS is the stuff I was afraid I was going to miss! Anyways, I'm sure I'll adjust, but for now, I'm actually just a little bit bored as she's napping (I need to go buy more yarn).

Anyways, as I was loading the pictures on the computer I noticed I'm way behind! So here are a few of my favorites with short descriptions.

This was us playing around one night while daddy was gone... So tell me, is she ready for bed or a day out?

This was at Trace's 4th birthday party a couple weeks ago. This is him saying, "Oh my gosh I wanted that!" or something close to it, which came with each present. Funny kid! There were also a few more of these dart guns, and well, you guessed it.....The 3 big kids - Papa, Cory, and Josh, ended up having a dart gun war outside later on.

This is Joey sitting in their cute little chair. All 3 of their kids fight over it, so Annie was hoping to get more for Christmas, and I might even do the same for Jocelyn, except we haven't seen any cheaper than $60! If you do, let us know!

Joey and Jaxson playing together, with a little refereeing by Papa.

Trace and his requested red Jellyfish cake.


This is the box left over from the Pampered Chef stuff that we didn't get rid of because we're moving, and Jocelyn is often trying to get to it from down low, so Josh decided to help her out. What goofs.