Arrrgghhhh!!! Thar be pirates!!!

I am soo excited!!! If you can't tell!
Pirates of The Great Salt Lake is FINALLY released on DVD!!!!
This is the first official job I had on a movie, set costumer. My cousin designed the costumes, but she had to go work another job, so I got a baptism by fire experience and learned a lot. We shot the movie in 18 days and worked 18 hr. days. It was absolutely exhausting but we did it and I think it turned out well! I got to see it at the Ogden Film Festival last January. Jason said it was the funniest Utah based movie he's seen. I got a trip down memory lane so I was real distracted about how I felt about the movie. I even made the behind the scenes feature! I thought I would share my top 20 favorite ( or worse! )memories of working this show.
1. Being Kissed on the lips by Kirby Heybourne. I fixed his pants pocket that he ripped at lunch. He kept saying things like "Mary I could kiss you right now!, You're so awesome to fix my pants!, I 'm sorry I ripped them." and a group of us were playing around after lunch and he started play punching everyone. The next thing I knew he grabbed my face and kissed me!!! Scared me half to death, I just thought he was joking! He said he felt bad afterwards. Thought I was going to get after him for Sexual Harassment!
2. My Teva tan that lasted over a year. Yeah, it looked really funny when I wore different shoes, nice big tan square smack on the top of my foot.
3. The something degree burn half way up the back of my legs from standing in behind the sun all day. It blistered and bled and peeled...GROSS!!!
4.The tan that I got for being out in the sun for two weeks. Aweseome! It was the best I ever had! I never tan!
5. Shooting all night at McGrath's in orem, the day after I sunburnt my legs. Wore pants (BAD idea, that's what made it blister! )
6. Rushing to my Neice baby blessing the morning of the all night shoot. Falling asleep immediatly after the blessing. Oooops :S Leaving the blessing lunch early because my legs started to swell and puff from the sun burn to buy aloe vera gel.
7. The comments I got from that lovely burn.
8. That Heavenly Father answers prayers. I lost some rings that were let to us for the shoot. Prayed and cried my little heart out while trying to find them, half way through the prayer my cousin annouced the props guy found them!!! One of the biggest lessons I learned on Pirates.
9. Brine Flies are evil. The only way you can avoid them is to keep moving. They would land on anything that stayed still, and moving is something could'nt do while they were filming! DAA!!! I have no idea how many I ate!
10. Laundry. I can't remember how many dead Brine Flies I would find in the folds of clothes, thank goodness we lived still in our aptartment, where I had access to all 3 washers/dryers at once. Laundry would have lasted much later than 12:30 a.m. if not! And believe me when you get home at 9pm after being in the sun all day that's late!
11. The friends I made. They have been awesome connections for more work! As well as good friends outside the film world.
12. How much I learned in a short time. And that it only drove my love for working film instead of dissolving it.
13. The darn buffalo on antelope island! One remote location we shot at, we had to use ATV's and travel 1/2 hr. to get to it. Had to drive though a herd of buffelo! I was so afraid they would charge the 4wheeler!
14. Talking to the electrican that accually got charged by a buffalo
15. Getting the 4wheeler stuck in the marsh. Which is how my pants got rolled up in the first place and how I got that nasty sunburn.
16. The Rangers getting mad at us for using the wrong path to the beach. (the story was we had two different ways we were told to get to that beach. The marsh apperntly was'nt the one we were supposed to use...oops)
17. Clipping the stories out of the newspaper after shooting on the GSL
18. Getting out of that remote location, removing props, costumes, electical stuff, grip flags etc... in the dark. And the 1hr. ATV ride back to base because the 4Wheeler I was on was so loaded down.
19. The pawn shop that we shot at. The faided painted signs on the front window that spelled "porn good" instead of "sporting goods" and that it made into the movie.
20. The Utah premiere, getting to see cast and crew again. Getting to see my name on the big screen. Just being able to see it!!!
Ok just one more...
21. That my cousin believed in me to do this, I was so nerveous! Thanks Deb for teaching me everything! I'm so glad that you've introduced me to the world of film.

Wow, remembering all that makes me hungery for working on film again!

I've been tagged!

My friend Michelle tagged me to play this game: Go to your photo's. Pick the 4th file and then pick the 4th picture, post it and write! What fun! I tag the following: Andy, Christine, Melissa,
Heidi, and Rick.
Looking forward to your posts!

Okay The story to my picture.
The empty table is picture #4 but I want to write about picture #3 since there isn't much of story with that empty table.

This is the last day of shooting Yankels, a movie I worked on last summer. It was tradition for the caterer's to lay out a white Linen dinner the last day and serve things like Fillet Mignon and King crab legs. We were shooting outside and all night. Our base camp was a empty parking lot downtown Provo. It was September and surprisingly cold. I remember as we ate dinner at 2 am, we got several honks and stares.."what are these crazy people doing eating a fancy dinner in a parking lot with flowers and candles at 2am?".. I remember being so exicted that King crab legs were on my list of seafood safe to eat while pregnant.

Anyways the main thing I wanted to write about is my friend Natalie who I am pictured with in picture #3. Natalie ran the wardrobe trailer, she was also a good friend who help guide me through another "Baptism By Fire" movie experience for me. I love working on film, and I was so excited when I landed this job. They originally wanted me as designer, but heavenly father knew my limits of what I could handle. Pre-produciton prep time clashed with our trip to Australia..something I was not willing to pass up. So I got hired as Set Costumer.

Natalie was so paitent with me as she taught me how to run a smooth wardrobe dept. the right way. Re-teaching me how to do continuity books, setting trailers, extras, amoung other things. She was a super trooper and took on a lot. I am kinda glad this was the picture that was choosen. Because I feel like I can never say thank you enough to Natalie and Christie who were willing to take a chance on me and try me out.

Yankels was the biggest movie I've worked on and my greeness glowed neon bright the first day. These two girls helped protect me from those who were less willing to be paitent with a greenie and stuck by me the whole time. Knowing I could keep up with the high expectations. I am so thankful for all they taught me and I hope I can re-pay them by rembembering all they taught me in the future films I work on. And Boy did I learn a lot.

So here is another sincere thanks for Natalie and Chirstie...Thank you!

Speaking of movies. I got my frist gig since Yankels. Its just pick-up shots for a small local film. Nothing fancy. Since Lily has been doing super with solids and is at the point were she nurses just for comfort. I felt comforitable leaving her for a full day. Not that it was easy, poor Jason got calls from me every two hours to check up on her. Tomorrow is the last day and she will be with Grandam Rino. I've enjoyed working film again, but I've had a hard time missing my little girl. I got the biggest smiles and giggles from her this morning. Reminding me that the joy of her surpasses any other I've known.

Witchie! Witchie! Screamie! Screamie! Did You Have a Happy Halloweenie?

Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf!


Uuuggg!! MOM! NO MORE PICTURES!!!













Happy Halloween! I know its late...but I've just now had time to post Halloween pictures. Here is my Little Red Ridding Hood. I made her dress, I wanted to make something that she could wear again...no problem there, the pattern I wanted to use was for toddlers! Tee Hee..That dress will be hanging in her closet forever! Good thing I think its cute!
I didn't dress up much this year. No time to make myself anything due to the fact I was busy making costumes for the rest of my family and planning a Halloween dinner that we totally went over board on, but it was well worth it. We (my friends Jenny and Stephanie) hosted a How to Host a Murder party for 16 people. Anyways I was up until midnight gluing rhinestones on Jason's costume. So all I wore was a Halloween Tee and funky tights and shoes. Next year I am starting in August.
I saved the best for last Jason decided what he wanted to be Thursday and I don't think I did too bad with such short notice. But then again its always the hair that makes his costumes.




Sweating to the oldies! I wish I had pictures of Jason's friend from work, who bought 4x clothes and then stuffed them with pillows.












Grandpa Rino and Lily...Grandpa really wanted to wear Lily's costume.



Daddy and Lily..aww how cute!


Other updates! Lily is now a pro at army crawling and she is fast! She also has 5 teeth and the 6ths is making an appearance. Her dexterity is getting really good, she of course finds all the small things she shouldn't play with. I find my self baby proofing the house all the time.
This little girl has the loudest shriek I've ever heard and she lets me hear it when she is really mad. My ears are left ringing a lot. She still thinks the dog is hilarious and loves to chatter and babble to her self in the mirror. We are also sleeping through the night (knock on wood) FINALLY! It took two nights (one really bad one). She wakes up at 6am (5 now 'cuz of DLS) feeds and then sleeps with us for another 2 hrs. Its not bad but at least its not twice anymore! Now we just have to work on self soothing for naptime (my music now is tired baby screams by Lily Rino on the monitor) That first night I had to call my mom and talk with her while Lily fussed for 45 min. but things went much better after that. I can now lay her down, she'll fuss for a few minutes and she's alseep! Ahhh a few hours of sanity before the next day! As much as I am relieved to have time to my self, I find myself missing her company even if it means I don't get anything done.

Just feelings to get out there.

Ok first off I just have to say I really don't like election years. I never can keep up with the debates, issues and promises of each candidate. I hate the seemingly endless pettiness of the bickering and put-downs constantly thrown at each other. Its hard for me to look past these issues long enough to study them and choose. I know its important to vote, but all that turns me off. I'll admit I didn't vote last time because it was right after my wedding and for the same issues above. But now that I have a kid, home and things seem to be going south, I should really make an effort this year and get a move on it soon, since its just around the corner. So any one got some good sources put in Lamen's terms for my right brained mind?

My other thought was about this book I am reading. Parenting Inc. For parents I think it is a must read. Yeah I am reader of parent mags, book, sites etc.. But this book is nice balance to help filter the fluff and remember that parenting is about trusting your gut or taking how you were raised and relying on that.

Today's parents it talks about, are all about a product to fix the solution, early education, products replacing the time spent with your children. I'm supposed to be reading my book for my book groups (we are thankfully reading the same book) but I'm really sucked into this book.

The last chapter I read was about how we have all these toys that do things, lights, movement, music, singing. Supposedly meant to entice our children into early little geniuses but in reality it can make our children respond like mindless factory workers "yay! you pushed the right button, you're a brainy baby!" What about the simple toys that inspired the imagination?

Today I was watching my neighbor boys play in the back yard. They were playing some sort of war/action game. Weirdly as it sounds it made me miss those days when I could pull some sort of story like that out of my mind and act on it for hours.

It talked about kids in Dr's offices not wanting to play with any of the toys because they were "too old" and didn't do anything. I don't know what sort of fear I would call this as a parent, but I want my child to be able to take anything and be able to entertain themselves. Besides have you ever walked into a Toys "R" Us and tried to pick out a toy for a 6 mo. old? Its mind-boggling!!! I can't do it, I just get so over welmed. And really the things that will keep Lily occupied for hours are my old necklaces, spoons, pencils, small boxes and baby food jars.

I'm really glad that I am stay at home mom, yeah it was hard at first but being able to teach my child and see the reaction and have her learn from my actions, I know is the best education I can give her. Its nice to know what stage I will be facing next with reading parent media, but I also know that my child grows and develops at her own rate, giving her every single toy to promote that skill to be developed on time is not necessary. Something I felt from the beginning, but Parenting Inc. only helped confirm for me. I'm the best teacher for my kids, not some loud obnoxious toy.

Body World

I've been meaning to post about my trip to Body World: The story of the human heart. What an experience! I first heard of this in my anatomy class a few years back. I went on a whim after seeing it advertised its opening week. It was so cool! I thought I would be grossed out. But to see real human bodies was breathtaking. I kept thinking it was some sort of Hollywood trick. The beauty of our bodies is amazing. The difference between a male and female body (besides the obvious) what I mean to say is after seeing the first full female plastination figure, there was a different fluidity to the muscle structure that was very graceful. I'm having a hard time finding the worlds to describe my feelings in seeing this exhibit, so I'll just let things flow.

I've done a lot of thinking after seeing it about the respect God expects to have for our bodies. Its pretty basic. Take care of our bodies and they will take care of us. Its a beautiful place for our soul to be. Again proof for me that he asks very little of us for something so grand. It makes me want to make sure I do the things I need to do to keep my self healthy. After seeing some of the things that can happen to the body if not well loved.

This machine so to say, is capable of so many things, its some thing that I use everyday to express my love to my child and husband through touch, hugs and kisses, its the muscles, ligaments, bones and tendons in my hands and arms that allow me to sew and create, it was the safe haven for my unborn child, the blessing it was to experience the growth of my baby inside was beautiful. To feel her movements and know I was entrusted to protect something so precious inside of me blows my mind. And to see that process from the inside was amazing. To know that my body knew how to do everything it needed to create this little person that is now the best thing in my life. (no, I only saw pictures of pregnant platinationed figures from other exhibits, there was none at this show. Still cool though.)

After seeing some of the hardships that can happen to the body weither pre-excisting or brought on by them selfs was hard to see. There wasnt' a lot of deformities. But to be the person to have to deal with something like Socoliocs, I dont' know how I would deal. And seeing things like the lungs of smoker's and Livers of heavy drinker's made me wonder how could someone decide to bring that damage upon them selves. ( I know I can find someone with their good reasons why they started doing either activity, but we'll avoid that converstaion) Like I said before this made me feel like I really needed to get a move on the take care of this body of mine.

It was facsinating to see all the blood vessels in the shape of hands, feet and heads. (they acomplised that by pumping the vessels with a plastic and then removing the surrounding tissue) voice boxes, the bodies tinyiest bone from the ear, an anthlete's heart next to a normal one, the criss-crossing of ligaments, muscles, bones and tendons in the arms and legs, the power of the stomic muscles in figures that were posed in action, the main organ of the body neatly packed in the torso.

oops. Baby's calling..gotta go. But if you do get a chance to go this exhibit is well worth the price. I have a hard time thinking about the human body the same way, i.e. I went to the Dr's last month and kept thinking about the tiny bones in my ears as he checked them and the lungs as he checked my breathing. Visit www.bodyworlds.com for info or www.theleonardo.org

What a cool thing, these bodies are.

Life's Awesome. Rock on!

I love having a girl

In the beginning of our journey to parenthood. I wanted a boy as my first. I always wanted an older brother and I hoped the same for my children. But nope, God had a different idea. And I got Lily. I can't imagine having boy at all! Not that I won't want one when and if God blesses me with one. But there are many things that you just can't do with boys. Like dresses and bows, and clothes...oh my the clothes. I can't help my self. I justify it by saying I had lots of clothes growing up, why can't she? Yeah bad idea, and my Mom doesnt help either. She is just as bad as me! Thank goodness they are kids who will be kids and on a rare and good day we only have to change clothes once.
Anyways I had to post this picture because it's too cute. Mommy has dug out the bows again! 'Cuz baby's got enough hair to put in elastics...I really hope she doenst hate me for this when she is older....watch all these cute girlie clothes and I'll end up with a tomboy...(LOL I'll love her just the same tomboy or not)

"My! Lily! What big ears you have?!!?"

Friends. I had to post this, even though it is almost two months old. Its just so funny! (thanks H for letting me post it!)
This is Lily's friend Anna, who recently moved 'cross the country. We are so sad! We miss our bench buddies!
Lily and Anna are four days apart and are good friends. My friend and I took these picture while we were having a sewing party. The girls were rolling around and over each other, it was pretty comical. Then Anna who has super good fine motor skills discovered that she could grab Lily's hair and ears. Lily as you can tell did not like it! I had to grab a shot before I rescued her! But even after separating them Anna would still roll to find Lily.
Before our friends moved, it was so fun to have girls the same age. In church the girls liked to stare and coo at each other. Both mommies hoped that they would be good friends! We miss you D&H!!! But way to go on the new school adventure! We are rooting for you!

Long time no write!

Yummy!! Strawberries!!
Lily now 8 months, is loving eating solids! She is doing really well with new things and mom is having fun making baby food. So far we have tired and loved: Sweet potatoes, Strawberries, Peas, Watermelon, Pears, Carrots, Bananas, Apricots. Lily can make a really good "What the heck is this" face with each first try but usually ends up liking anything I give her. Except green beans...way too bitter! Or she could be just like daddy and HATE them. I've tried several times to get her to eat them but NOOOOOOO...she won't have anything to do with them! I even made them myself and they were fresh from my friends garden!
Lily is sitting up by her self now and has sprouted her first tooth! (bottom left) and one is slowly making its way out on top. She hasn't been too grumpy during the process, which is nice. And she is REALLY good at grabbing now, you have to watch anything you hold because she is fast! She loves to grab at the keyboard and phones.



Lily is a pro at rolling, she now rolls to where ever she wants to go. And she is quick at it too! Its hard to keep her in one spot now, she know she can be on the move and let's me know! Lily plays on the floor in my sewing room while I work, after we are done in there both of us are covered in threads! Me from sewing and Lily from rolling around on the floor!
She has pulled her self onto her hands and knees a couple times now, so before I know it she will be crawling! Its been harder to sew with her since all she does is want to play. But I get my work done. Here are pictures of my first major alteration! I am so pleased with it!


I shortened the sleeves from a 3/4 length, brought up and lined the sleeves, front and back. Re-laid all the lace back down and then re-beaded it. It was a process, but it turned out really well! It wasn't as scary as putting sleeves on a strapless because this dress had sleeves and shoulders already. I was so glad to have it done though! The dress cost over $1,000!
Anyways my business has been going really well. I get a few dresses a week, its nice to have the extra income, which means I'll get my kitchen sooner! It also helps me feel like I am completing my goals while getting to be a stay at home mom as well.

I need to sign off, but hopefully I will be better at posting again more consistently!

Look What I did!

Ever since I cut off over 20 inches of hair Oct. 2006 I can't stand to have my hair go past my shoulders. I just did this two weeks ago. ( I know, I know...I'm SO behind on my blog.) It hasn't been this short since I was in Grade school. But I love it! Its so easy, grant it that it doesn't look like this everyday. (imagine a slightly poofier version) I am enjoying the ease it brings to my morning getting ready routine.

Zap!

No I didn't stick my toe into a electrical socket. Its that darn flash on the camera! Makes me go all CRAZY!!!

Lily Laughter

Having Lily watch Chezabell has been the best way to get her to laugh. Now all we have to do is show her Chez's face and she goes into fits of screaming giggles. It tends to work best when she hasn't seen the dog for a couple hours, I took this video after a full day of quilt store shop hopping with my mom. Jason had sat down to play with her while I was cleaning out the car. I came in to them playing. She was screeching so loud that I could hear her outside!

Shop Hop was a lot of fun! I usually go with with Jason's mom and sisters but with my babe and Shannon's kids we all don't fit in one car anymore. So I opted to go with my mom. For those of who don't know what shop hop is, its driving from Logan to Springville hitting 15 store in 4 days. Its really a lot of fun, each year they do a theme and they give out prizes and play games at the stores. I'm not really a quilter, I have only finished 1 quilt, but I like to go to look at the quilts on display. This year I did get inspired and plan to make a 74" x 85" quilt for my self. We did 5 stores the first day and 10 stores AND the bead show the next. It was crazy! But I had a lot of fun hanging out with my mom.

My Dress!

This is my Jane Austen tea dress! My friend is the president of the Costume Guild here, and she invited me to a tea party at Elizabeth's Tea House. All the ladies of the guild were planning on coming dressed up to have tea Jane Austen style. I was so excited! I made my dress and tried to do my hair some what period like (it didn't do too well, its too short to do anything fancy) I even had Lily in a dress too! And when I got there I was the only one in costume! Every one was looking at me like I was a polygamist, even though I felt a bit funny I did have a lot of fun and the ladies promised me that they wouldn't let a thing like a sci-fi convention get in way of finishing their dresses for the next one.
Empire waist its one of my favorite period dresses, but I do have to say its not the most flattering after having a baby. Oh well, the front shot of me I look grumpy but the other front shot I look even more chunky. Grumpy....chunky...frumpy...sigh..oh well.
The thing that I thought was cool about the fabric I picked is that I was watching a Biography of Jane Austen and they were showing a lot of shots from the Collin Firth BBC movie and the Lydia character wears a gown almost exactly like the one I made! Am I good or what?

My Monday Adventure

So I think I am not cut out to run a whole house by myself...I had a very eventful Monday here at the Rino house.
Jason is with the young men hiking the Narrows this week, which I am totally jealous of! I have never been and he has shown me pictures and it looks beautiful! Anyways Monday's are always my busy day, food shopping, laundry and cleaning house. Monday is also a water the lawn day, which usually gets taken care of by Jason. The back yard has 4 Rain Birds ( you know those big spraying ones that go "pfft...pfftt...pfftt" ) and the front you have the big long hose with the sprinkler heads attached to it. Anyways to turn the back sprinklers on there are two holes in our back deck that you have to stick the key down into, which I have done before to let the dog run in them. But this time there must of been backed up pressure because when I turned it on, the head of one Rain Bird ROCKETED up past our huge rose bush followed by a fountain of water. It blew up and all I did was turn it on! It was also the sprinkler that Jason fixed and replaced a few weeks ago. All I could do was stand on the porch and laugh as I watched the water go.
Mind you I still have Lily in my arms. So to water the front I had managed to hook up the hose with Lily, but before I could get any farther. Chezabelle came charging at the gate barking like mad and with her hair all up on ends. Chez is a good dog for people but when it comes to other dogs its not happy. I though she has seen another dog. As I ran to back to her to make sure she did'nt ram the gate open to go chasing after it, which she has done before I noticed what she was barking at. A deer! a full grown deer with a rack!!! I freaked out because I have heard they have charged people before! So I put Chez back in and finished setting up sprinklers while watching this huge deer watch me from across the street. I was glad I didn't see it again last night. But after telling a neighbor about she called me this morning about a friend who lives a few street up and over who had let her dog ( a pug) out this morning and a deer started and attack and stomp on it! The dog is fine. But just proves we all have to be on the look out for Bountiful's mad local deer!

Finally!

I have been trying to catch Lily when she laughs with the video, but each rare moment she did and pulled out the camera, she of course would stop! So tonight with Jason's help got a decent clip of it. Yay! She is laughing more often now. It sends both of us into fits of laughter our selfs because it sounds so funny. Some of the stuff we have tried to get her laughing is pretty silly. (i.e. what Jason is doing in above video) I just watched another video of me holding her up above my head and shuffling across the living room, she of course before I had Jason film us was giggling like crazy, but pull out that shiny camera and that's the end of that!

Is this cute or what?

Girls are way too much fun! Lily and I went for a walk with a neighbor this afternoon and needed a hat. I found this bonnet in her hat drawer. I about died when I put it on her! She looked so cute! I never thought I would be that mom who would make their daughters wear silly accessories like the bow in below picture.
But I can't help my self. I don't make her wear them all the time. Just for church and special outings. I figure that this is maybe the only time she will wear them with out too much of a fuss. And I do have to admit it is kinda fun to dress her up with accessories to match her outfits.


Lily has grown so much! We had another Dr's apt. Friday. 15 lbs and 27" long! That's a whole pound and 3" since our last visit. We also got more shots (*whimper*) She still is kinda grumpy.
She is starting to roll, mostly when you put her down she tries to, but her arms get in the way. She has also learned to laugh, its so cute! Chezabelle really gets her going, she likes to watch her play outside. I don't blame her, watching that dog streak across the yard is one of the funniest things I've seen.
How funny it is to me that we had to learn these things. Laughing just seems so second nature after I have been doing it for so long. I also think its funny on how excited we get after she learns a new skill, like reaching for toys or my face. Its such a cool experience to watch her discover her world around her and learn to use her body. I can't believe this is my job, I get to stay home and play! I told Jason that I finally have a job I don't come home and complain about for a hour!

Back on track (hopefully)

"Whatever Dude!! I am like the hottest movie star ever!!!"








"Oh Hello, You handsome young thing! You wanna be my date?"









" Hurrah! Simply fantastic! I am like the hottest movie star ever, have the best date and we're off to my premiere!"









"Wow! a Oscar nomination?? Thank you so much!!!"









5 Reasons why I have not been blogging as much as I used to.
Pick your favorite excuse!
1. I am 4x4 1/2" coloums away from finishing a (aprox) 6x14" cross-stitch I have been working on for almost 3 yrs
2. I found all 3 LOTR 4 disc special edition DVD's at Costco and Jason and I have started a marathon.
3. I am going to a Jane Austin tea next saturday and I'm making my dress, period corset and underclothes, its soo pretty! Will post pictures!
4. (not a reason yet, but soon will be) I am busy altering beautiful bride's dresses for Mary's Bridal...simple alts. though...I still need to learn how to put sleeves in a strapless gown, and other complicated jobs. But hems, Bolero jkts, side seam take in's, shoulder lifts and beading I am you're gal!
5.WiiFit! I got it for Mother's day! I know not the traditional M. day gift, but I love it!! I got it today and played it for almost an hr! This Wii thing is pretty cool, I love how they are really getting people off the couch! If any of you are thinking of getting it..do its sooo worth it. But I think we will be moving our T.V. upstairs, there is no room to do push-ups!

Lily

Book Worm

This month I have been a big book worm. Our library is maybe a 15 min walk from the house so Lily and I go a lot. I like to get movies there because its free. The only thing this library has lot of old titles and only lets you check out 4 a time (the Sweet library would let you have 10 and had tons of new stuff to choose from) but check out time is 2 weeks so it kinda makes up for it and I can usually find some interesting titles. I've read some good and not so good books, so I'll do reviews!

"The Princess Diaries" vol. 1-4
Cute, but I've got to stop reading them and then writing (see below blog) I end sounding like a teenager writing. Grant that I don't have the best writing skills but I do try to remember what I was taught about grammer etc.. I like them because they are a quick read and before said, cute. There are like 5 more books still to read...I have them on tape.

"The #1 Ladies Detective Agency" vol.1-2
Really good, I first had to get used to the style of writing because it is very close to the way you would envision people from Africa to talk and tell a story. I liked the visual picture it paints in my mind. Makes me want to go to Africa to meet people like the characters in the books.

"The Sight"
I picked up the sequel first because it was in the just arrived section. "The Sight" is the first book. I had to push my self to finish reading. I have a hard time enjoying books when I can imagine the author writing it as I read. The idea of having a fantasy with wolfs as the main characters sounded interesting. But I felt I was reading a book that was chosen for a book club of those fantasy geeks in high school, the ones who were so in to Dugens (spelling?)and Dragons that they practically lived it? It was hard to keep up with all the made up jargon for the story.
I did read a bit of the first chapter of the second book, not sure if I am going to read it.

"Into The Wild"
Good book. Its about that guy who went into the Alaska wild to try and survive just off the land and ended up starving to death. It was a lot on his out look on life, his travels and how he died. His view of society is interesting, I don't think I could enjoy life the way he lived it, fascinating none the less. The only thing I didn't like much is the author broke off in the middle of the book to write about his own experience and that of others. Interesting but I thought it should of been more about the guy who died. But I guess it would be pretty hard to piece together the entire couple years this guy spent hitchhiking around the west coast, and he wasn't in contact with his family, so they wouldn't of been much help anyways.

"Anne of Green Gables"
Loved it, no wonder why its a classic. Makes me want to watch the movies. I listened to this one on tape and the gal who read it was pleasant to listen to. Books on tape can be ruined if who is reading has awful diction.

I mostly read when I feed Lily, which is quite often so if you got any suggestions. My couch is scattered with books and I can read two at time and listen to a book on tape as well. (look at me go)
p.s. I know its been a while since I have posted Lily pix. I will soon. I got some supper cute ones and I just relazed its Aussie Tues. oops..will have to post that later. I'm not writing anymore I've got a very tired babe!

Two Freak Outs

Ok so my first freak out was last night when I settled down to watch "Scrubs" Since I can now squeeze it in before Lily's bedtime. If you guys don't know I am a huge fan, I only relgiously watch two T.V. shows "America's Next Top Model", "Scrubs" oh yeah and during the summer its "So You Think You Can Dance" I try not to be one of those all day T.V. stay at home mom's so I pick my favorites and try not to get sucked in everything else. Which itsnt that hard since our T.V. only gets the infomercail, spanish and channels 5,7,11,13,14, and 30 and the picture is pretty fuzzy.
Back to my original story my dyslexic brain flipped series with season. I thought last night was the end of Scrubs! And what a horrible ending to that, even for a season, it all didnt make sense. Why was Dr. Kelso still chief and what was Nurse Roberts doing there thought she died a season or two back? I as so confused...I'm not the only I went on the shows web site to make sure I wans't going crazy and yes they are there for another season and many people had the same questions as me. Anyways so a bit of relief to know one of my favorite things will at least still be here for a bit.

My other freak out happened a few weeks ago and I have been meaning to write about it, but havent gotten the chance.
So I was checking up on the "Pirates of The Great Salt Lake" myspace page and saw they had posted a behind the scenes at the GSL video. As I was watching it suddenly there was my face and I was talking! I had made the behind the scenes video! It totally threw me off guard and I started to squeal and act like I just won Miss America I was that excited! Jason made so much fun of me! But I really didn't expect to hear my self talking let alone see my self in the video. They ask me what its like to take care of all the clothes while shooting at the GSL, which thank goodness I didn't say anything stupid, I think I did a pretty good job. I talk about all the salt water lines all over the clothes and staying up until 11:30 doing laundry, which I know doest sound that late but when you are in the hot sun all day being attacked by Brine flies and you get home at 9 and all you want to do is sleep, believe me 11:30 is late when you have to stay up to do dirty, stinky, salty laundry with dead Brine flies stuck in all the folds of fabric...gross. I was really glad when were done shooting at the lake. If you want to see the video its www.myspace.com/potgsl and its the behind the scenes video...
Its kinda exciting to have a few seconds in the Limelights!

Aussie Tuesday Delayed

Sorry guys. I got wrapped up in my cross-stitch (I'm almost done! its only taken me like 3 yrs!) and watching the 4th season of "Scrubs" which is one of my favorite shows. I got it for my birthday which was really pleasant by the way, we had family over for a BBQ. Jason was so excited to give my presents that he wanted to give them to me the night before. But I told him he could wait, he did...He gave them to me at 2:30am when Lily woke up to eat...he couldn't wait. I got as said before season 4 of "Scrubs" and season 1 of "Arrested Development". Which we finished watching first because its my most favoritest!
I really wish they didn't cancel it. There are so many people I talk to who enjoyed it as much as Jason and I did.

"This is the last time you're ever going to see these!"
~Kitty

So my Australia post will have to wait until tomorrow!

Thanks!

Thanks to those who posted in the group blog! Keep posting! It was fun to check it and see that people had left stories! Some of them I don't even remember happening! Who else remembers the coconut?

Teaching

Lily likes to look at the collage I made Jason for Christmas of our pictures from our Australia trip. I don't know if its just the reflection in the glass or if she is really memorized by the photos. He would point to each picture and tell what it was, it was cute because she was just starting at it wide eyed and attentive. He then pointed to the picture of the Sydney Temple and told Lily and said "This is the temple, its a special place. The temple means that you get to be with Mom and Dad forever and you'll get to go there someday." What a neat feeling it was for me to listen to him tell her what it meant to him. It got me to thinking that we as parents get to teach her the blessings that things like the Temple bring into our life.
I am excited I get to be teacher to her, but on the other hand it makes me nervous, this small person is totally dependant on me to show her what is right and wrong. I've noticed I have become more thoughtful of how my actions can effect those around me. I know soon enough she will be wanting to imitate every thing I do and I want to make sure when she does its not something I would be ashamed of. But then I think about how I don't want to create this being who is so 100% concerned about only making the right choice that she won't allow her mistakes to teach her. Of course I want to do everything to keep her from making choices that will hurt her. Sometimes that can be one of life's best lessons is to let mistakes teach us what not to do next time. Reading what I just wrote makes me laugh, I tend to worry so much about the future issues that I just have to remind my self that I know I will figure it all out when I have to deal with it, right now the only choices Lily has to make is to decide when she is hungry, tired or decides to give Mom the biggest diaper blowout she possibly can.

So Cute!

This is Lily's new favorite game. Its funny because it surprises her and then she laughs and smiles! I love this age! Its way more fun than the newborn stage, she loves to play especially with daddy Jason always has Lily time after work (and after he says hi to Chez or else she won't leave him alone) Its so cute to watch them play.
Last Sunday while visiting Grandparents, Lily thought Grandpa Rino was so funny! She kept smiling, laughing and cooing for him! So cute!

Aussie Tuesdays 3

The Taronga Zoo is one of the coolest zoo's I've been to. Its across the harbor, so you first have to take the ferry. Then after you get there and buy your tickets you climb into these sky car things...like the ones at Lagoon that take you across the park, its the same thing, it was really cool to see the whole zoo from above. All the habitats were well designed. The animals were really active too. Something it seems to me you don't get to see much at our zoo. Of course they had lots exotic animals, things like Dingo's, Tasmanian Devils (which I think look and move like the R.O.U.S's from Princess Bride) Kodak bears, Condors, Monitor Lizards, lots of super poisonous snakes and spiders, (another thing I was mad about I really wanted to see a Australian Funnel Web spider but they had taken the exhibit out) Anyways not much else to write about but lots of animal picture to share! (this might take more than one week:) )

A poem I wrote in church

Sometimes I am proud that I smell like baby...as long as it is the good baby smell. Not the sour spit up smell, which is most of the time...sigh...but once in a while like on Sunday I smell like the good baby smell. Soft and warm, those are the days I just want to hold Lily and take it in, because I know in the next 2.5 seconds that could change. (Jason! I need a burp cloth!! or a towel will work too!)

Here's my poem or what ever you want to call it.

Smelling softly sweetly sour.
Blotchy spots upon my sweater.
Such obvious proof of a mother.
This scent of Parfume de Spit-up

p.s. That last part is supposed to be said with a slight French accent. Like those fancy ladies who sell perfume in high end department stores.

Aussie Tuesdays 2

This is Marilyn, (far right) Jason met her while on his mission. They have been good friends ever since, she calls and chats with us for hours every couple months. I love it! Even before I met her we would talk for ever, once for two hours straight! I think meeting her was the thing I was most excited about. We went to visit her our second day there. Jason didn't remember which apt. they lived in so we knocked on a neighbor's door, who showed us the right one. And as luck would have it she didn't answer. Jason had emailed that we were coming. We thought we would go to a beach to see if she was just taking her kids to school.
I think we went to Maroubra beach first and then Bondi. Jason has a different memory than me and says this pix was taken on Maraoubra, but why would I want a pix of me there and not on the famous Bondi? Whatever beach it was I think its a cute pix of us.
All the beaches we visited (3) every one was windy, being winter they were VERY empty! We got lots of strange looks from the locals because we were so thinly layered for such a cold winter apparently it was their coldest winter in 20 yrs!....yeah right cold ! 60-70 degrees I kept telling every one there that that is nothing and normal spring weather for us. If they want a cold winter they should of been here a couple years back when we had a huge storm in Feb. '03and the heater at my mom's house went out...yeah that was cold.
Apparently the third time is the charm, Someone was home the third time! She asked who was at the door and when Jason said "its Elder Rino" (Marilyn still calls him that) she screamed! When she finally opened the door she was covering her face and laughing and then shut the door on us! She really couldn't believe it was us! It took her a while to calm down after she let us in and we stayed for a good while chatting. It was really good to finally met this awesome lady. I felt like we had always been friends with how much we would talk over the phone.
It turns out she never got our email, that's why she was so surprised. Her youngest boy was also getting baptized the saturday after we would be leaving, she really wanted us to change our flight so that Jason could baptize him. Jason blessed her daughter while on his mission, so it would of been really cool that he could of done that for her, but there was no way that we could change things around. Also the Saturday that we were there was the wards temple night...yeah and guess who forgot their temple recommend? Me! I was so mad! I had left it home!!! That was one of things on my list of things to do there..a temple session with Marilyn. grrr.....that WON'T happen next time.

Next week: A visit to the zoo!

Remember?

Remember back in the days of Jr. High and High school how we used to brag about how much sleep we didn't get? And isn't it funny that when you become parents you start to brag about how much sleep you got?
What sort of high octane fuel were we running on, and most importantly where can I get some now? I remember doing lot of silly things to stay awake and now its any little trick to get baby to bed, so we can too.

Aussie Tuesdays

I want to post about our trip to Australia, since many have not seen pictures yet. So Tuesdays are now Aussie Tuesdays!

We decided to go as our last Hurrah before baby came. It was expensive but WELL worth it. We went July 17-27. I know so short for such a trip...but hey at LEAST we made it!
We flew SLC to LA and then LA to Sydney, when we got on the plane to LA we sat on the tar matt for over and hour and never moved! The SLC airport was experiencing micro burst storms and they were limiting the amount of planes taking off at a time. We were the last plane to take off before they shut down the runway! We barely made it for the connecting flight, when we got to LAX we only waited 1/2 hr. before getting on the next plane! Talk about cutting it short!
We arrived in Sydney at 6 am and our hotel room was not ready yet so we went exploring. The harbor was only a 30 min walk, so we went there first...What a thrill to come out of the city and BAM! There's the Opera House. What a rush to see a famous landmark in real life. I had a hard time accepting I was really there. (See above proof, I touched it!) We ended up walking around the city for most of the day and ate dinner at the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe. Where I of course purchased a Hard Rock Tee.

Comming up next week on Aussie Tuesdays...Surprising Maralyn and lots of beaches!

Ten favorite things

1. Lily, her laugh, smile, and "pheww!" sound after she eats or gets picked up.
2. Jason because he's still nice even after I am a grump.
3. Sitting in my sewing room listening to books on tape, while being creative.
4. Chezabelle because she is so entertaining.
5. Being awake enough to watch "Scrubs" again...its almost like reuniting with old friends.
6. That I can wear normal clothes now! And actually made it back in to my sz 8's!!! No more preggie pants!!!
7. Warm sunny days after winter and going for walks
8. Cadbury mini eggs
9.Watching Jason laugh hysterically at funny things. (right now its the fail blog website)
10. Getting to stay home with Lily and do what ever I want.

Lily's Visit to the zoo!

Monkey see, Monkey do.

Did you know Giraffes are my favorite animal? Such a funny design for an amazing animal, but somehow they move so gracefully. Even running.

I can't help but think of gowns when I look Peacocks, their tails move just like that of train of a real gown..makes me want to design dresses!

We went to the zoo yesterday! It was of course Lily's first and ours in about 4 years. Boy has it changed since the last time I went and since I was a kid, they took out a lot of things and have re-built most of the habitats. It was nice to walk around in the great weather and spend time with our friends, but I find it disappointing when things don't impress you as much as when you were kids..you know all those fun memories you have of all the cool places you've been and then when you go back to visit them they lost their charm? That's what this visit felt like to me.
Lily is still too young to get it but she had fun anyways playing with dad. (watch the cute video!) and slept though most of it. Its nice that admission is so cheap. When Jason and I were in Austraila last summer we went to the zoo and it was like $60 for the both of us! Now there is a real zoo if you ever get the chance to see it.

Thoughts and Mo hocks

This is my new favorite picture of Lily. I like to give her baby mo hocks after her baths..I think its cute. This was the first day I did it.

An entry from my mother's journal.

Apr. 7th
Today my heart is full of much gratitude for my Heavenly Father that he has blessed me with such a beautiful daughter. I love and cherish (almost) every moment with her. I find that I long for her playfulness after she goes to bed and can't wait for tomorrow's morning smiles that greet me in dawns waking hours, its our time to share smiles and "coos" like little secrets between that mother/daughter bond that has become my life support.

*Sniff, Sniff, Whimper*

Lily had her first set of immunizations today. I've been dreading her getting them for days now. But I have to say it went much better than expected. She was really happy at the beginning of the apt. smiling for the Dr. and imitating my "cooing" noises. She is now 14 lbs and 25" long! Way to go kid!
The look of shock that she gave me when the nurse gave her the shots was too much for me! I wanted to cry as hard as she did! Real tears and she clung tight after I picked her up, as well as most of the day, she would not let me put her down! Crying ANYTIME I got her with in 6" of her bouncer or crib. She finally calmed down early evening after sleeping on me, Anya (grandma Hammond) and my aunt Nancy who was visiting all day, we then went to a mom and baby massage class. Lily loved being massaged! What fun to hang out with other mom's and babies. I learned a lot about the benefits of baby massages. Like they of course sleep better, have less separation anxiety, gain weight faster, and offers good bonding time for both mom and dad. It was nice to learn it on a day that Lily really needed extra TLC.

Babies are awesome

The other day I was feeding Lily while my mom and sister were over for a visit. Suddenly she pulled off and let out a belch that you would think only a grown man could..not a little baby. It was one of those that echo and have that deep crackle sound to it. We busted out laughing.
"Babies are awesome" my sister replies.

Sleep

I took this picture Easter Sunday, she was out cold. I couldn't resist taking a picture in the middle of Primary... :s

Becareful what you wish for...Last night I was feeling pretty good about being a mom and was so excited for the next day..Lily is always really playful in the morning and her smiles and laughs make the 6:30 wake up call bearable. As I was getting ready for bed I was wishing it was morning so that we could play. Well it came true when I went upstairs to go to bed she was awake...dang it..I've got to be more careful about those things. Luckily she went right to sleep after a minute of rocking. As much fun as I have with her I am VERY jealous of my sleep time...no one messes with it (except for when Lily is hungry...then I am ok with being woken.)
she is starting to sleep more that 6 hours it seems at least once a week. Although its nice, I do freak out in the morning " oh my gosh!!! Lily didn't wake up at 4 a.m. to eat. Jason check to make sure she is ok!"
Lily is a noisy sleeper...snorts, whimpers, sometimes she wakes up screaming for no reason (can babies have nightmares?) which is really sad..tears and everything. I can tell when she is almost out...she laughs out loud, smiles big and then her head falls a slight degree lower with her smile changing to a very serious look. Once in the middle of sacrament when she was asleep she let out one of her long whimper/warble noises in the middle of the prayer..Jason and I had to control our laughter. Every time she does that we have to stop and laugh..its just too cute!

Someone's Special

I had the camera sitting on the microwave for weeks ready to go on movie just to get this because she always stops when she notices you are watching her. Watch in the middle of her chasing she stops and changes directions.
Once when she was chasing it in the T.V. room she went lopsided and crashed into the T.V. stand. She gave me a very insulted look like I had made her crash into it....yeah someone is special.
Chezabelle has actually adapted very well to baby Lily. She was very curious at first to what the heck was making all those noises and smelled so funny. But now she just ignores Lily and every once in a while will give her a kiss and thats it...Which is nice one less thing I have to worry about.

I am hoping that trying to write everyday or at least once a week will get me in the habit of posting more often.

Baby Oh Baby

Lily on her Birthday
She always wiggles her arms and hands out of her burrito
Big Yawn!
I have a picture of me like this when I was a babe...She definatly has more of me in her face, Jason gave her her ears and feet. This pix was taken 3 wks ago...now she really has her own look and you can see more of Jason there.

Ok so I just spent a hour and a half writing this whole hour by hour story of her birth and then I got to thinking...Most of you have heard it anyways..She's now 2.5 months old, all of that is old news and if you really want to hear the whole story I will gladly email it you!

Being a mom is lots of fun. She really is a happy baby and is really content. She only really gets mad when she is hungery. The time has flown by really fast I can't believe we are already 2.5 months! She is holding her head up for longer period of time and loves to look around, she plays peek-a-boo, laughs and plays with daddy.
My mom's friend said "Kids are the best thing that ever ruined your life" Yeah I don't get to do much of what I want to do anymore..but I don't see my life as ruined. I get to stay home and play with Lily and she let's me sew!!! What could be better! We wake up in the morning, get dressed and hang out down stairs and sew! I've made easter dresses, things for her room, clothes for me. I love it!!

I've learned a lot in these last two months:
Multi-tasking..women seem to naturally master this fine talent but it up-grades to super grade when you have a babe. I can push the foot peddle on my sewing machine, rock Lily in her bouncer with the other, while with my hands sew fast and pin. All while listening to books on tape! When I finish a project I feel really good I've done way more than just sewing project!
Being lazy is ok! I used to feel fustrated when I would sit around and do nothing. Not so with my little one. I have given my self permission to relish doing nothing but holding Lily, playing and watching her...who cares about if my chores don't get done..she's only this little once and I am taking advantage of it.
Patience I find I have much more of it except when it comes to getting her to bed when she is wide a wake. I am firm believer in bed times...8 hits and we start our routine. She was sleeping 5-6 hrs before 8wks! One night last week it was almost 8 hrs! What a good sleeper!
She's her own person. Already she has strong likes and dislikes. I really didn't have a problem learning to love her. I always thought that was funny that you don't automatically love this being that you gave life to. I mean it would seem obvious wouldn't it? Its like making a new friend you have to learn how they work and think to be a good friend.

One of my goals is to write more..I need to be better so I can keep all those who live out of state up to date!