Welcome to the Circus

My little guy is 2!

2009-12-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

Micah made it to TWO! HOORAY! I cannot believe how big he is getting. He talks non-stop all day long. When I listen closely I hear all the phrases I repeat to the kids all day long. "It's ok", "All better", "No, time out" the list goes on and on. It is quite humourous to hear your words come from the mouth of a 2 year old as he is talking to his sister. He also started asking WHY? the day after he turned 2. I hear it at least 50 times a day but I don't mind. It is so fun to get to talk with him instead of guessing what he wants or needs. He asked Garret for a piece of gum the other day and when Garret said he didn't have any the string of whys ended up at about 12! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY! We love you.

Funny Quotes

2009-08-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Isabelle has been coming up with some good ones lately.

1. One day mommy, I'm gonna be on that TV!

2. I have a great idea, put ice cream, sugar, syrup, and hot chocolate (chocolate milk) ...shake

it up and then JUICE!

3. so WHATS UP, Noah!!!!

4. I can't remember, don't worry when I'm bigger then I can remember.

There are more but I can't think of them... I will have to do part 2.

Dry Erase Marker does come off walls but not skin...

2009-05-29T23:17:00.001-07:00

Isabelle decided to color herself the other day. She used a black dry erase marker to color her "ENTIRE" body. She then proceeded to color the walls of her room. After using the entire marker she casually came out of her room and asked why the marker wasn't working anymore. I think I almost fainted. I put her in the tub to soak while I scrubbed her walls for an hour! I proceeded to scrub my daughter however, dry erase marker does not really come off. She had black armpits and fingernails for almost a week! Gotta love her.

Amanda and Noah are the best.

2009-05-25T20:40:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to tell my sis and her hubby that they are the best. I had so much fun Friday night laying sod. OK so I didn't lay any of it, but I was there as moral support. It was fun to watch the kids basically mud wrestle and be covered in mud. It was fun to see your yard become a yard and not a weed garden (BTW the flower lady could have come to your back yard and picked some dandelions:) Talk about Redboxing someone. The BBQ today was fun as well. Thanks for the hard work and for cooking for us. I felt lazy. The kids had a blast. AND it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY as Amanda said about 100 times!

Momma needs a new pair of shoes...

2009-05-16T22:31:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about getting a part time job (I was more thinking 5-10 hours a week max) but didn't think I could find something that would be flexible enough that I could ensure I wouldn't have to find a sitter for my kids. And then one of those wonderful coincidences (or blessings) happened. I ran into someone I used to work with and the next day the perfect job fell into my lap. I LOVE IT! I work from home and I get to check things off a list. (it is my little OCD joy). It is only temporary but that works out great for me to. We will see how joyful I am after a couple of weeks working :)

How bout SLC and a Cheeseburger...

2009-05-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

I was driving home with the kids today and it was time for lunch. They were both whining and wanting to eat so I told them that we were going to get home and eat lunch. Isabelle has started to tell us she, "wants to eat somewhere else" meaning she wants to eat out. I explained that we weren't going to eat out and were almost home. Her response was to casually say, "Lets go to Salt Lake and how bout a cheeseburger?" I'm not sure were that comment came from but I got the YES grunt from Micah. Of course there were protests when I said no but I have to admit, with the weather so beautiful it was tempting to turn the car around and drive to Salt Lake to find a cheeseburger.

"WICKED" Cool

2009-04-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

This post is to say THANK YOU to Noah, my husband's BFF (haha). Yes, my sister is lucky to be married to him. He is such a great person and I am so happy they found each other. Noah had 2 tickets to Wicked and stayed home so that I could go with my sis to the show. I LOVED IT. I love the Wizard of Oz and to see another side to the story was so cool. I have now been inspired to decorate my daughters room in a Wizard of Oz theme. Ok so the theme room will have to wait until other rooms in our house have been painted but it will be fun when I finally get to do it:) Anyway, Noah your are the best but don't let it go to your head.

5 Things Tag

2009-04-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

5 things I was doing five years
1. Working ALOT of hours at an adoption agency
2. Planning to move and be done with renters
3. Helping Garret plan next semesters schedule
4. Who the heck knows...I'm old and that was a long time ago....hahaha
5.

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Take kids to Easter Egg hunt
2. Take A NAP (didn't happen)
3. Go shopping for dinner tomorrow
4. Stay warm (hello it is april...why am I freezing)
5. Blog :)

What I would do with a million dollars?
1. Help start Garret's business
2. Help out my brother with his new home
3. Send my mom on vacation for however long she wanted
4. Invest
5. Save

5 places I have lived:
1. Taylor, MI
2. Riverview, MI
3. New York, NY
4. Springville, UT
5. Spanish Fork, UT

5 Jobs I have had:
1. File Clerk at Doctor's Office
2. Quality Control at Ford
3. Waitress in NY
4. Case Worker at Adoption Agency
5. Mortgage Loan Processor

5 Things I want to be doing in 5 years:
1. Be done having kids...if we are having anymore :)
2. On my way to my nursing degree
3. In a house that we might actually stay in for more than 3 years
4. Taking a dance class
5. Planning a really fun vacation with my husband

5 people I tag
1. Karina
2. Amanda
3. Steffanie
4. Alicia
5. Kara

Isabelle's 1st Dance Recital

2009-04-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Dance class at our house was getting a little stressful. Ms. Debbie assigned Isabelle to orange (each girl was assigned to one of four colors). Each week however Isabelle would always be dancing around the purple scarf. Ms. Debbie was more than patient but the kid just would not go to orange. Finally about 2 weeks before the recital and too late to change colors Isabelle announces to the class that she does not want orange she wants purr purr (purple). Well we talked alot about what had to happen on stage and she resigned herself to go to orange (even though she wanted purple). After getting that out of the way I should have known that Isabelle would have been unconcerned about being onstage with lights and an audience! She loved it. Everything went well and she went to orange on stage...HOORAY! GOOD JOB.

Happy 3rd Birthday

2009-03-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Thank you Lofgran family for the great weekend. We had so much fun. I think Isabelle was in heaven. Who wouldn't be playing Pretty Pretty Princess with cousins and eating Princess cake. Our family knows Isabelle well! She is now outfitted in every thing Princess and pink...not to mention she got a pink monkey wearing a pink dress from Uncle Noah and Aunt Amanda!

Isabelle's First Dance Class

2009-01-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Isabelle went to her first dance class last Thursday. Now it was not my idea, the owner of the studio where I teach asked if she wanted to try it and she yes so we went! She loved it. Isabelle is a ham and wanted to volunteer for everything and do everything first (even if she didn't know what was going on). It was hilarious to watch. We will go a few more weeks and see if she still enjoys it.

Have a Rock Band NEW YEAR!!!!

2009-01-01T19:27:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! We spent New Years Eve rocking out to rock band surrounded by other influential 80's rockers...or whatever you want to call us. It was a blast. I can't carry a tune so I didn't sing but we put together a great girl band until the boys took over.

Merry Christmas

2009-01-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. We just kicked back and relaxed. Grandma MacArthur spent the day with us which was very fun for us and the kids. A few days before Christmas Santa "a neighbor" stopped by to wish us a Merry Christmas. Micah was already asleep and not even Santa gets to wake him up but Isabelle got to talk to him. It was precious.

MICAH IS 1

2008-12-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

Micah had his 1st birthday party on Saturday. We just had family stop by for cake and ice cream. It was a Mickey Mouse theme. Micah actually was quite impressive with his attack on the cake. Today we took him for his 1 year check up. He is a tall, skinny kid with a big head. The doctor said he looked great and he screamed when getting his shots but was fine as soon as I handed him a sucker!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2008

2008-11-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! I think that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It is low key, you don't have to dress up and can come and go as you please. Also when the kids are asleep the parents get to raid the Halloween candy! (Hey I know there is a limit to how long we can do this b/ eventually the kiddies will catch on) We decided to trick or treat in Aunt Amanda and Uncle Noah's neighborhood. The kids had a blast. We then ran over to the Grandparent's house to say hello and then home. Isabelle was still ready to go so Mommy took her out for another 5 or 6 houses before we called it quits.

Granny Came to town...

2008-11-06T20:02:00.001-08:00

Granny Shupe came to town to visit. It was so much fun. Isabelle cried when we took her to the airport. As Granny walked around the corner Isabelle yelled that she wanted to "go with Granny to her house". What did we do while she was here? You should ask what didn't we do! We were able to attend Rachel and Scott's sealing and also perform temple work for the grandparents which was really awesome. We babysat "Baby Sawyer" and went to story time with our Halloween Costumes. We took the kids to the petting farm at Thanksgiving Pointe. They had a blast although Micah preferred to watch and talk to the horses rather than actually ride them. We also had a girls day on Saturday. We went up to Gardners Village. It was still decorated for Halloween. You could go on a Scavenger Hunt to find the 16 life size witches that were dressed in different themes. We also just kicked it and cooked at home and hung out.

Michigan Trip 2008

2008-09-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Michigan! Granny and Pappaw spoiled the kids rotten. We went to Micah's first Detroit Tigers game and had a blast. Isabelle loved to cheer, as we sat down she yelled " Hit that ball". Is she her Daddy's girl or what? We also spent lots of time with the cousins, uncles, and aunts. She loved to play with Joey. She and Joey got to go to Chucky Cheese. They both just liked to climb on and off the rides. It didn't matter if we put a coin in or not. Justin, Jake and Joey really taught Isabelle how to play hard. They ran from morning to night. I can't wait to get them all back together in a year or two for round two. Micah and Madison chilled on the floor the whole trip just watching the madness run around them.

The Plane Ride from ...

2008-09-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

Well as everyone knows we (Isabelle, Micah and I), flew to Detroit at the beginning of July. I was hopeful that it would go smoothly. Well we checked in ok and had a direct flight (thanks Noah and Amanda) so I thought we could do anything for 4 hours. The plane ride turned into a 7 1/2 hour plane ride because we diverted to Milwaukee and sat on the tarmac for 2 hours. It was horrible. The man in the aisle seat didn't want to get up EVER to let us out so Izzy peed her pants ( I had a pull up on her but didn't know they leaked) then finally I got her to the bathroom to change her and Micah threw a huge fit b/ I had to have a flight attendant hold him. We missed dinner so the kids were about to fall apart by the time we got off the plane. Oh and Isabelle refused to keep her seatbelt buckled and of course the seatbelt sign was on almost the entire 7 1/2 hours! I was not sure that we would make it home to Utah b/ I was not about to get on the plane with my kids EVER AGAIN. Thankfully 3 weeks erases some (but not all) of the anxiety I had to get on the plane. We flew home and it was a totally different experience. Isabelle got the whole seatbelt thing...the movied kept her attention for about an hour of the 4 hour ride and the man sitting in the aisle was a great-grandpa flying with his 55 year old daughter and was delighted to have us by him. He talked to Isabelle and Micah and was the sweetest person to sit by. We made it home in one piece but I am still not sure that I would fly unless each person flying had thier own seat!!!

MILKING A COW...

2008-09-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

Now, for some of you seeing a cow up close would not be a big deal but for me it was. Let's just say I didn't grow up around a lot of animals. Garret's coworker and friend Janice is related to someone that owns a dairy farm. We were invited to go and see the cows. We first milked cows right before they were being hooked up to the milking machine. Then we got to see a one day old baby cow. Pretty cute huh. Then we went on to hang out with the tween cows. They liked to suck on our fingers. Isabelle thought it was hilarious. I wanted Micah to get to do it too but I didn't want them sucking on his hands so we let the cow suck on his foot. Not sure what he liked it but he didn't scream. We then saw the teen cows. They were a little skittish but Izzy kept trying to get them to hang out with her. It was so much fun.

Summer Update to be continued....

2008-09-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone...it has been so busy the last month I have hardly had time to breath. We are going out of town for a few days and then I plan on being a blog-o-maniac.

Micah's First Plane Ride

2008-07-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well after Garret accepted his new job it was now my responsibility to decide if I dare take a trip to Michigan without him....I decided to try. July 7th I will be boarding a plane with a 2-year-old and a 7 month old. (I think I am crazy) I know people do it all the time but I just have anxiety about being stuck in a two by two foot area with my kids and strangers with no escape for hours. Hopefully people will be understanding. The other day at Seven Peaks I had to take Izzy to the bathroom so Micah was in the stroller. He started wailing but I was busy getting Isabelle situated so I couldn't do anything about it. We then proceeded to wash our hands and he was still crying despite my efforts to calm him without being able to pick him up (I was helping Izzy wash her hands). From far in the back of the bathroom someone yelled at me, "Can't you get that kid to stop crying?"... not knowing what else to say I told her the truth I said, "No, can you?" She didn't respond. I'm guessing she didn't have kids or her kids were perfect and never cried. OH WELL

Swim Lessons

2008-06-15T19:01:00.001-07:00

Swim lessons was a blast! Isabelle has once again shown me that she has no fear of the water. Her favorite part was the slide as seen in this pic or going under water. She was the class example b/ she would go under without batting an eye. She loved searching under water, for the little frog toy the teacher gave us. We can't wait to see the cousins and swim with them.

Not Much Going On...

2008-05-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in awhile so I thought I would let everyone know that there is nothing exciting going on :) Isabelle is pretty much potty trained. I still put a diaper on her at night b/ they say it takes quite awhile for kids to hold it through the night or wake up to go however she did wake up around 1 the other night and ask to go so maybe it isn't that far off. Micah is a big little guy now. He sits up really well. I keep a pillow behind him just in case. We are having a good time playing together. Isabelle and I will have swimming lessons this week. It should be fun. She is not afraid to put her face in the water.

I'm Fired!

2008-04-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Isabelle proceeded to tell me today that I am fired! Sweet I said, I will be gone by noon. I couldn't actually get myself to leave so I'm sitting her later the same day typing this. It's funny how much she is quoting us lately. She has always repeated things we have said but recently she has been using our quick little comments at the correct times as well. This is making it very hard not to laugh as I try and discipline her. Micah is just watching the ride at the moment. Poor little guy is just a spectator but I can see in his eyes he knows he is in for it when he gets a little older (from Isabelle).

2008-04-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was able to go visit my roomie from college and her new baby last week! It was so fun. She is just barely 7 weeks old. Isabelle had a blast holding her and wanted to see the baby again after we left. I asked if she wanted another brother or sister and she said NO. I guess Micah is enough for now.

Poor Micah...

2008-04-20T20:40:00.001-07:00

Micah has been a good sport during his short 4 months with us. Isabelle has tried her best to drag him off the couch and across the floor by his head :( She energetically says Good Morning Brother at all times of day and night at a volume level that should have surely deafened him by now. Not to mention she does this at about half an inch from his face. All the while he still smiles at her. Tonight however it was not his sister he needed to worry about. Mommy bonked his poor little head against the light fixture in the living room trying to play with him. Like I said Poor Micah. He now has it coming from all angles. I hope he survives.

Sky Diving

2008-04-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

So, you know me...I like to read and educate myself on what I am supposed to do next for my kids. I had read that it is normal to leave your toddler in his or her crib until about 3 years old or until they start to climb out. The article I read did not however warn me that my toddler would take a flying leap the very first time she tried to climb out. I found her sprawled across the floor about 3 feet in front of her crib. (obviously screaming her head off). So tonight after an hour and a half of taking her back to bed she is now sleeping in her big girl bed. This is huge. Now she is wearing under-onies and sleeping in a big girl bed...I don't think she is my baby anymore.

Black and Blue

2008-04-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

OK, I thought having a girl meant frilly dresses, dolls and tea parties! I was wrong, way wrong. I think Isabelle is a close second to Justin and Jake in the number of black eyes she has had in the short two years she has been alive. This makes at least 4 black eyes. (No, we did not beat her, she ran into the bookshelf) She is quite the handful. I guess the dress part of my idea has been realized. Izzy refuses to wear pants. She wants dresses 24/7. It is quite the ordeal to get jammies on at night. We can only coax her to wear jammies b/ we let her pick a dress for the next day. Boy have we had some "outfits" and yes we go out in public because I take pictures and will show her when she's sixteen. Micah is getting cuter and cuter every day. He has a look of terror when he hears the shrill shriek of his sister's approach but has survived every attack so far. I am looking forward for him to meet and play with cousins when he gets a little older. I had my first rehearsal today for our recital. It was fun, crazy and interesting. I forgot how much work goes into a show. I was spoiled all the years I just showed up to dance. I never had to worry about all the stuff that goes into getting a theatre ready for the show.

SUMMER FUN

2008-03-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

I am excited for the summer to get here. We bought a season pass to Seven Peaks so I expect to be there at least twice a week. Isabelle loved going last year. She would "fall" under water on purpose and just look up at me from under water. This wouldn't be a problem if she was able to stand back up but she couldn't so I was constantly running to grab her and get her head above water before she drowned. I also signed Isabelle and I up for a Mommy and me swim class. It should be fun. Micah isn't old enough yet so we will wait patiently for next year.

2nd Blog Ever....

2008-03-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

OKAY...I have been told numerous times now by numerous people that I need to write in my blog more often or ever...so I'm trying. We have had an uneventful week. Isabelle is still trying to potty on the toilet however I think she does it just to get the ice cream so we are going to have to rethink our strategy or I'm going to gain 100 lbs eating ice cream with her all the time. My recital for the ballet class I teach starts next week. YIKES. I don't know how all of the rehersals are going to work with me toting Micah around everywhere. The recital theme is Disney's Lands. My class are Tinker bell fairies. The girls are adorable. Hopefully it will be fun.

My first blog ever

2008-03-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

This is my first post...is everyone excited? We want to have something that everyone can read and see updated pictures of the fam. Myspace wasn't cutting it b/ it was much more difficult to update for me.