Short Vacation

We went on a much needed vacation this past weekend to St George. We have some friends that have a condo down there, so it was really nice that we didn't have to pay for a hotel. We took a couple days and went around to see some beautiful homes. Some of the homes can get pretty big and fancy and I like to joke around with Colby that I would actually buy one of them. They are completely not necessary for ordinary living, but all joking aside, I really would buy one if we had money we didn't know what to do with. Colby says he'll make sure we never have that much money, just so I don't go overboard! But just in case we ever do become super wealthy, I picked out this house in St George. I'm pretty sure it would meet our needs. It was absolutely amazing!

What's Korina been up to?

Pretty much eating "treats" and posing for the camera.


When she holds out her hand, whatever we give her becomes a "treat". So she always thinks she is getting something special when we put it in her hand. And a treat always comes with a big smile!

And as you can see, she gives just the biggest smiles for the camera. That definitely wasn't me when I was a little girl. I absolutely HATED the camera! I still do to some degree these days, but it has gotten a lot better.
A few other random things... She loves to wear my shoes and she's gotten pretty good at sneaking into the pantry and stacking soda cans. She was quite proud of her accomplishment!

Merry Christmas!!...A Month Late

Let's see.... For the past two months, pretty much every day I think, "I should write on our blog (or in my journal)." And for whatever reason, I decide there is nothing important or interesting to write about and it doesn't happen. Then it gets to the point that it's been so long that I dread having to write so much in one sitting because things actually happen around here that I should write about! So my new goal is to write more frequent, but shorter posts. Maybe it won't seem so daunting that way. But since it's been a while since that last post, I guess a lot has happened, especially with the holidays and all.
So Thanksgiving was a disaster, we covered that! Thankfully Christmas was a whole lot better. We had about a week of celebrations with Colby's family since his siblings came in from out of town and there were a lot of activities going on to make sure that we got to spend quality time with each other. I can't believe how time flies when we think about how long they have lived out of state, but luckily they always fly in around Christmas so it's fun to catch up. We were able to get some box seats at a Grizzlies hockey game. The game wasn't so great, but it was fun to be there with a lot of friends and family. And of course Christmas Eve and day were really fun. Korina knew more of what was going on this year and was able to unwrap her presents. The only problem with that is she thought every present was hers to unwrap! Maybe next year we can work on reading names on the presents. Probably her favorite toy was a stroller for her doll that my mom gave her. She pushes it all over the house and we even took it to the mall and she covered a lot of ground. We also discovered a train and the carousel at the mall that she loves to go on. It's a great Friday night activity to get her out of the house and not spend too much money. She loves it and ends up saying "Choo Choo" for the rest of the week. Here's Korina with all her Christmas loot:

For New Year's, we got invited to a party so it was probably the first time since we've been married that we stayed up until midnight. I know, we are super boring! It was such a fun party though. We got to know our neighbors maybe a little too much by playing the Newlywed Game. There are no secrets left after playing that game. And the food was delicious. We got to taste an authentic Australian hamburger and we will definitely be making them again! It seems like we were just at that party a couple days ago and now it is already February. I certainly won't complain though because January is my least favorite month of them all. The weather is so cold and bland and it just seems to go by so slow. I guess now that I am looking back on it, it went kind of fast! Once we hit February, it seems I can see a little bit of summer ahead and that makes me happy. So hopefully you will hear from me in the near future. That is, only if you enjoy reading this blog.

Craziness

That's how I feel the past month has been. And we only have one child! I can't imagine what it will be like when we have more. I have always wanted four, but I am being tested with just this one. Good thing they are so super cute!!
My plan was to post a picture of Thanksgiving, but that won't be happening. First off because I forgot to take our camera to the dinner. And second, because this year was pretty much as bad as last year. Which means I would like to forget that they ever happened! Last year, Korina started getting sick on Thanksgiving day while we were at my mom's house. Not to mention, as we were running out of the house, the juices from the pie I was carrying spilled all over the front of my shirt. So she was fussy the whole time at my mom's and we ended up leaving early. The next night at around 11:30, we were driving up to Primary Children's because she had a fever of 103. I just wish that she could have told us how miserable she was. She had come down with a mild case of RSV so we spent the next few days going back to a respiratory therapist so they could keep clearing out her nose and airways. It was torture on us having to pin her down to the table and hold her head still while she was screaming. I never want her to have to go through that again!
This year, luckily she was only teething so it wasn't quite as bad as the year before. Still, we didn't have what you would call an enjoyable time at dinner. We drove up to my cousin's house in Midway, but she was pretty good in the car. Once we got there, her nose was running non-stop, so we would have to get a tissue. Then that would make her cry and her nose would get even worse and the cycle continued like that the whole time. So again, we ended up leaving early even though there were family members there that we only see once, maybe twice, a year. The frustrating part was that as soon as we got in the car to drive home, her nose stopped running completely and she was as happy as could be! It seems she knew exactly what she was doing because once she knew we were going home, she cheered right up. We know that she is definitely a home body just like me, but at some point she will have to learn that she can't act up when we go places. We can only hope that next Thanksgiving will be a more pleasant experience.
Things are getting exciting with the company! Colby has put me in charge of internet orders to try and do some advertising and increase our online sales. November was our first month of trying out some advertising and giveaways and we have tripled the amount of our last highest month. We are very excited! As long as we always have some sort of promotion going on, our sales have really picked up. We are hoping to put something together with Groupon in the next month or so and that should really drive some traffic to our website.
As for the rest of our life, we are just staying busy getting ready for the holidays, but trying to take a moment every once in a while and just enjoy the season. I do love the holidays, but they are a little stressful at times and they pass by so quickly. Of course, when they are over, I am happy for a new year and the chance for a fresh start.
I caught this picture of the sunset a couple days ago, and I am glad it showed how beautiful it was that night.

And here is where Korina spends her time these days since she seems to be getting into more messes lately.

She's just a little too spoiled I think!

4 Months Already?!

Well, it's definitely safe to say that I have failed on my resolution to post more often on this blog. And let's just say that it doesn't really surprise me. If I am really horrible at writing in my journal, then you can assume that I will be horrible at writing on the blog. So much has happened, I'm not sure what to even write about. I'll just highlight some of the miscellaneous things going on in our life and some milestones that Korina has reached.
First off, Korina is definitely walking. She did take a little longer than other kids, but we certainly didn't mind since our house is always a mess now with everything she finds and thinks that it belongs in the middle of the floor. She is good at putting things back though. She is also talking and has a vocabulary of around 10-15 words, depending on the day and if she feels like cooperating and showing off her skills. She really understands what we are saying though, which is very helpful in asking her to do things. She is such a great helper!
She loves her bunny, her babies and Winnie the Pooh. And she insists on kissing everything and everyone, as long as she has known them for at least five minutes!
She loves putting my shoes in the hamper. I'm not sure I love this game as much as she does, but it's not that big of a deal to put my shoes back when I know she enjoys it so much.

As far as Colby and I go, we are just staying busy as usual with the company. Trying to expand and get the company as efficient as possible takes a long time and a lot of effort and thinking. Good thing Colby likes to think about that stuff and figure out solutions because it is certainly not my strong point.
I try to still craft when I find an idea that is easy enough, I have enough time and we have some spare cash that Colby generously lets me buy fabric with. You can never have too much cute fabric! I never know what the next favorite craft will be. Lately I have made this wreath for my cousin for her Christmas present. It's hard to see because of the lighting, but the main color is a dark purple. I really like how it turned out.

I also found this very simple pattern for making receiving blankets, so that is the craft that I am currently obsessed with. So easy and super cute!

And I still love getting a good deal and finding surprises in my mailbox. This is just some of the recent free samples and coupons that we have gotten in the mail. You can't beat FREE!!

And a picture of Korina because she is just so cute!

Forget about the last post...

I was right when I said she was probably close to pulling herself up to standing in her crib. The next day, we went in to get her and she was standing up. Now it's a regular occurance so we had to lower the crib to the final setting, I can't believe it. It's fun to see her progress and see how happy she gets when she does something. And of course she claps for herself! She is such a funny girl. Can't wait to see what she does next.

You can see she was pretty happy about her accomplishment!

Not much to write about

So this is one of those times where I wonder why I have a blog because I feel like nothing exciting is going on in our lives and I really have to think hard for something to write about. I guess things are happening, but they just don't seem that important to actually write them down. One thing that has finally happened is that Korina is crawling. Before crawling, she was perfectly happy to scooch around on her bum, but I guess she realized that it's much more efficient to get on her hands and knees and crawl. We are also going to have to lower her crib again since we go in there and she is up on her knees looking over the side. Luckily she can't pull herself up to standing yet, but I'm sure that she's getting close. It's fun to see her become more independent and interested in everything around her.


On another note, I decided to chop my hair off and donate it. I was getting tired of the way it looked and I wanted to keep the length but just get some layers cut into it. I have a friend who donated her hair and I thought this would be the best time to do it since I didn't really have any layers and it wasn't dyed. I am really happy with the way it turned out and it will be nice to have it short during the summer.