Motivation

I just wanted to say that company and going on vacation are great since sometimes they are my only motivation to clean my house. :) It sounds silly but before I leave on a trip I like everything to be cleaned, vacuumed, garbage out, and laundry done so when I get home it's clean...only to be messed up again by unpacking?! :) Oh well. It's the same with having visitors, hosting get-togethers, and I guess the fact that my kitchen is my salon. Another reason why things have to be picked up constantly. :)
Since a good majority of you haven't been here to visit and may never come, I thought I'd post a couple pics to get you a little acquainted with our town house.
Our Bedroom:



Sarah's Bedroom:

Counting Crows/ Maroon 5/ Augustana Concert

Ed and Brian put together a little date night to go to the Counting Crows concert. It was chilly, but concerts are so fun! We really need to go more often. Thanks Drummonds and thanks Kaylynn for watching Sarah. :)

Lake Tahoe Conference

Ed was given the opportunity to speak at a perfusion conference up in Lake Tahoe. Sarah and I just hung out while Ed was at the conference. Although it ended being a little boring for Sarah and I, Ed did a great job with his speech and got some good time mingling with work peeps. I think Ed is awesome at public speaking! Great job babe!! You make us proud!

^A picture of our family at the conference dinner. Sarah was a hit as the only baby there. :)

More attempts

My scones and chocolate dipped strawberries turned out wonderful. :) They may not be hard to make for some, but it was my first time making scone dough from scratch and deep frying anything. Makes me feel somewhat domestic. :)

Camping attempt #2- 8/29

Although we didn't go with the same group as we did the first time we tried, we were able to finally go camping. :) We went with the Drummonds (Brian, Lindsay, Sam & Charlie) and the Shafers (Ben, Whitney, Joel & Kadin). We went to Portola  Redwoods State Park for one night and it was perfect. Just the camping scene I imagined. :) Sarah did great for her first time camping and slept all through the night! Thanks Shafers and Drummonds!

^I need to start taking more pics so Ed can be in some shots. Sorry babe.

^Sarah crawled around in the dirt and didn't seem to mind.

^Goodmorning!

^The lovely bunch!

^Joel and Charlie seeing who could chug the fastest. :)

From months...to years!!

Since i didn't post on her birthday (August 24th), I thought today would be fitting since today was Sarah's due date. :) Here's some pics of Sarah's 1st Birthday celebration- take III. We had a small BBQ/pool party. 

^Could she be any more beautiful? 

(Special thanks to Paul Nixon who got some great shots! We're so lucky to have such talented friends! See Paul's page for more pics.)

^Since we call Sarah "bug", I found this cute ladybug cake design and duplicated it myself!

^And ladybug cupcakes to match :)

^ At one year Sarah weighs 21 lbs (50%), is 29 1/2 in. tall(60%) and her head is 46cm (75%)

^She knows how old she is. :) Her sleeping schedule is great at night. Down at 7pm up around 7am. Naps vary between one and two-usually 1 hour. Sarah loves books and now likes to hold and flip the pages herself. She's definitely trying to be more independent. We're getting a lot more attitude! :) She doesn't like her changing table or getting dressed. She loves splashing in the bath. She LOVES swimming at the pool. She loves songs with actions.

^ Sarah will eat whatever we eat now, she's mostly feeding herself, weening is soon to come, she doesn't seem to like cows milk much, but we're still trying. Sarah likes to have her teeth brushed. Sarah walks along furniture and with toys, but still shy about standing/walking on her own.
^Sarah points a lot. Mama, dada, hi and bye are her most frequent words. Ball, Book and Boat all kinda sound the same. :) She still loves peek-a -boo and will cover her own face with the blanket now. Waves a lot and loves an audience.  She can give "fives".

^The birthday loot! Thanks everyone!!

^Happy 1st birthday Sarah bug! We love you!! This last year has been the best! It went by too fast!