TDF

Ryan leaves today on his 2 week Tour de France adventure. If you want to see his happenings, you can check it out here. Ella and I are holding down the home front, with a quick trip to Minnesota and a weekend in Idaho.

Video for the Grandmas

These are for the Grandmas who can't get enough.

Good Morning Ella



Walking with the Laundry Basket

The second half of this one is funny because Ella is spinning around with the basket, just like she spins around when she is sitting on the floor.

Fancy

My sister Kimmy works for a company called Maggie Soterro. They specialize in wedding dresses, but also make prom dresses. Well, this week they had a warehouse sale for their Flirt line. They took the dresses that were one-of-a kind designs that didn't make it to production or left over from trunk sales and blew them out. Originally these dresses sold for $400, but for a few hours on Thursday night every dress was $25. It was CRAZY. Teenagers (and their moms) running around like mad women, hoarding dresses right and left. I felt like I was in a sitcom. I literally walked by one dress, paused to look at it, and a woman shouted (mostly nice), "That one's taken!"

Kimmy and I both got swept up in the fun, and between us came home with 5 dresses. So if you ever need to dress up as Ms. America or the Queen, just let me know.

My dress. Lovely, isn't it?


The color didn't come out great on this. It is Shimmer Moss in case you couldn't tell.

Le Tour

I really love watching the Tour de France. I love the athleticism, the competition, the tactics, Phil,Paul, Bob...little Tommy Voeckler.

But what I love most is the Podium Girls. At the end of every stage the winners are presented their jerseys by girls in outfits that match the jersey they represent. They can be a little over the top...Cracks me up every time.

Here are a few examples (Sorry, couldn't find the Green or White jersey girls)

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains)






Red Jersey (Most Aggressive Rider)


Stage Winner


Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader)

(Ben Stiller is not a podium girl, but made a guest appearance.)

Get Away

FYI, Southwest is having a 48-hour sale that ends today. Fly anywhere for $30-90 one way. Good deals to be had.

Our Fourth

I had big plans for this Independence Day. Breakfast at Terigo. Park City Parade. Fireworks. But...life with Ella doesn't lend itself to plans.

We had a good time anyway. Breakfast at Jeremy. Park City Outlet Mall. Sparklers.

I wouldn't have it any other way.


Yes, Jamie, I know that if I had the new iPhone I could have made a video of Ella on Ryan's shoulders. Or at least had better quality pictures. Maybe someday...

365...

...days have elapsed since I finished residency. Life in the real world is good. Real good.

10 @ 10

1. Early on Ella learned that when she is nearing the end of her bottle, she needs to tip it up to get the last few sucks. She can't figure out why that doesn't work with her straw sippy cup. It gets low, she tilts it back. She looks at me like, "Mom. What is going on? This is supposed to work!"


2. She loves balls. I picked up a watermelon in the grocery store to weigh it. She was enthralled--and cried when I put it back.

3. She can stand for about 15 seconds. Sometimes she thinks it is fun, but most of the time once she realizes she is standing unassisted she plops down or grabs onto me for dear life.

4. She shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want something. We think it is cute now...

5. She has finally learned a sign. "All done" may like a wave to you, but to the discerning eye there is a distinct difference.

6. She had her first swim! She wasn't sure about it. A little scared, a little enthralled.

7. "Mom" and "Dad" are starting to take on meaning, and she understands some of what we say. "Can you wave at the bus?" produces a wave. "Put your binky in the crib," results in a quick binky drop. It absolutely amazes me to watch her little brain develop.

8. Ever since she saw her friend Avery race up the stairs she thinks she is a climber, too. She can do about 4 stairs. Again, we think it is cute now...

9. She thinks it is really funny when she sneezes. She laughs and laughs.

10. She had her first taste of sugar. A snow cone at the 2009 Granite South Stake Family Fun Day with Aunt Kimmy. She did like it.

Good Story

A few weeks ago my sister Jamie cracked the screen on her iPhone. She tossed it onto the bed where it proceeded to bounce directly into wall, somehow hitting the screen. She was upset but hopeful that she could get it replaced for free. After all, both Kimmy and I cracked our screens and got new phones out of it.

So, she called up her friend who works at the Apple Store. No luck. She made an appointment at the genious bar. They couldn't help either.

Luckily for her new iPhones had just been released, along with newly slashed prices. So she got a new phone for 200 bucks instead of 400. When she went to pick it up the folks at the Apple Store turned off her old phone and tried to activate the new one. But they ran into a little glich. Then they ran into a big glich.

6 hours later Jamie finally left the store with her new phone. During those 6 hours she never got upset or impatient. She just hung out and politely surfed the web. At the end of the day the manager pulled her aside and said, "I noticed that your old iPhone has a cracked screen. Because you've been so great I'd like to replace it for you." When the clerk asked the manager what to put down as the reason for the exchange he stated, "Most patient customer EVER."

Now she has the new 3GS iPhone for $200 and a brand new replacement for her old phone, which she listed on Craigs List for $200 (and quickly heard from a boatload of interested buyers.) She is going to come out ahead on this deal.

So you see, patience is a virtue.

Father's Day

Little Red

Last Saturday I did the Little Red Riding Hood ride up in Cache Valley with my friends Jess, Beth and Brook. We did the "Metric Century" (which sounds cooler than the "63 miler"). The Little Red is a women only ride, so it was fun to not have to worry about the boys flying past us. The girls pulled me through, and we had a great time. Maybe next year we'll do the real century...

Darling

My friend Danielle is giving this away.




Or you can make your own with the pattern here. We tried it on Ella last week, and it as cute as it can be.

Some things that have been on my mind that I thought I'd share

• If you are thinking about traveling abroad, 2009 is the year. I thought tickets were cheap when we paid $720 (including taxes) to go to Italy. I was wrong. On a whim Ryan checked the going rate for our tickets.......$558. Man, oh, man. Woulda, shoulda.

• I am not a great gardener. My main goal with my yard is to not be an embarrassment to the neighborhood (seriously). But somehow, through no efforts of my own, I can grow Peonies. I have blooms upon blooms. If you'd like any to brighten your kitchen, please stop by. I'm giving them away right and left.

• I've been seeing tons of strep and H1N1 (swine flu). I'm not a huge proponent of taking kids to the doctor when they are sick because 90% of the time we can't do anything about it. But if your child has fever with any other symptoms, especially sore throat, cough, aches, vomiting, and just looks sick I would take them in (at least if you live in Utah; I can't vouche for outside the Intermountain West). Swine flu has been relatively mild, but there is a treatment that shortens symptoms by 2-3 days, so it's probably worth the trip.

• Last night Ryan and I celebrated 8 years of married bliss (well, mostly bliss.) If you know me at all you know that there is ALWAYS room for dessert. Last night was no exception. I boxed up most of my meal, but finished dessert. We were introduced to Amano chocolate. Heavenly. One of the best chocolate creations I've tasted. Oh...I'm salivating now just thinking about it. Yum.

funny girl

Ella learned a new trick. Watch her tongue.

9 at 9

Ella had her 9 month check today. I realized that my pediatrician understood my proclivity to overthink things when after 2 minutes of watching her play he stated, "There is no way you could convince me that there is anything wrong with her."


Just for the record, I had no intention of trying to convince him that there was anything wrong with our perfect little girl.


1. Stats: 17 lbs 14 ounces (22%), 28 1/4 inches (66%)

2. Tricks: waving, crawling, standing for brief (very brief) intervals

3. Sounds: da-da-da (happy sound), bababa, mmhu-mmhu-mmhu (sleepy sound), mamama, ye-ye-ye, ka (I've only heard it twice)


4. Dependencies: Miralax & the Sleep Sack (seen above)

5. Favorite book: Charlie Harper ABC's
6. Worst behavior: While dad was trying to change a dirty diaper she crawled away and peed on the rug. What a way to start a Sunday.

7. Favorite new toy: the door jam. Listen to that excited breathing.




8. First cheese roll-up:


9. Cuddling: It's rare, but when it happens...she could ask for the moon and we'd happily oblige.