Nielsen, Party of Three

A Beautiful Day for Pictures

2012-02-04T18:00:00.004-07:00

{We took a quick trip to Provo Castle today and

snapped some fun pictures of Avery}

{posing for her close-ups. :) }

{the weather was great for pictures and we just couldn't resist}

{walking with daddy}

{love that smile!}

{I'm not quite sure what this face is

but I love that I caught it on camera!}

I promise to play blog catch-up later, but for today I wanted to share some pictures. Life gets away from us so fast, especially being busy with these ten little fingers. More posting to follow, so come back to see what we've been up to!

1st Birthday Party

2011-11-05T19:09:00.004-06:00

Last night we had a great birthday bash for Avery's First Birthday. We had a bunch of family over and celebrated with ducks- Avery's favorite animal! Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate Avery's first year of life! We are so happy she is part of our world!

{cake, cake, and more cake}

{Avery's cake}

{cupcakes for everyone else}

{duck pond drink}

{Avery was completely spoiled with gifts and was
grateful for cousin Abbie's help unwrapping them!}

{Avery wanted this duck all day and kept saying "Du- EE!"}

{So we were completely surprised when she was
scared out of her mind at the first touch!
I think she thought it was a stuffed animal at first.}

{With a little encouragement she started on the frosting
(on the back of the duck)!}

{We tried turning the ducky back around but she got upset as soon as she saw its face}

{I can't believe we have a 1 year old!}

{Happy Birthday Avery! We love you!}

Birthday Girl

2011-11-04T11:52:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that a year ago we were holding this angel in our arms for the first time! Looking back at old pictures of Avery has gotten me pretty emotional and I am so grateful that she is in our lives. As much as I miss her tender tininess, I love the stage she's in now. There are giggles and singing, dancing, and talking. She is growing so fast I can hardly stand it!

{Happy Birthday beautiful girl!}

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:58:00.000-06:00

This was Avery's first Halloween! Last year I was doing sprints around my parents' neighborhood trying to put myself into labor. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I like dressing up and I LOVE fall! So we had fun getting Avery all dressed up in her monkey costume and we even ended up going Trick-or-Treating with Grandma Nielsen!

{I love her grin here!}

{posing with her monkey after trick-or-treating}

{Happy Halloween! We hope yours was as great as ours!}

Autumn Walk

2011-10-22T18:19:00.000-06:00

This weekend we took a family walk to enjoy the fall leaves and the gorgeous canyon! It was a beautiful day and Avery did great! We got a little cold but we had a great time looking at leaves and just spending time together.

{bundled up in the stroller}

{Avery and Daddy at the waterfall}

{Mommy and Avery}

2011-10-19T19:03:00.000-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN!!! Brian received an internship offer to work for DELL today! The internship is for next summer and will start in mid-May. We have had Dell at the top of our list since early on in Brian's internship search and we are SO excited that the stars aligned!

Brian, I am so proud of you and your hard work to get this internship! I can't wait to see what Austin, Texas has in store for the Nielsens. You are simply amazing!

"Business" Trip

2011-10-18T18:39:00.000-06:00

This past week Brian has been out of school. The MBA program gives the students a week off to go on business trips and secure internships. Brian took a couple days the week before to go to Anaheim, CA for a business conference and ended up spending his week off home with us!

Now, I don't want to complain, but I miss my hubby during the week. He is usually good at coming home around 5 but then there's homework and studying and internship stuff to do. I struggle to leave him alone during homework time and I think I hover too much, so this week off was splendid for us!

Since my parents were spending the week in St. George, we decided to use their house as our vacation. We had a great time watching scary Halloween movies and roasting hot dogs and marshmallow over their new gas fire pit.

{Avery loves playing with Grandma's toys!}

{dinner time}

{Avery is still really loving the dishwasher. She loves to
unload it, especially when we are trying to load it!}

{little helper}

On the way home from Farmington I started feeling a little sick and by the time we got home I had full on chills and aches all over. I spent the rest of the week (Thursday- Sunday) on the couch being sick while Brian took care of Aves and cleaned the house. I'm glad Brian was home, but I wish we could have enjoyed the rest of his week off. Thanks babe- you're wonderful!

Three Muskateers

2011-10-02T18:44:00.000-06:00

{best looking crew around!}

Go Cougars!

2011-10-01T17:46:00.000-06:00

Tis the Season! Of BYU Football, that is! We have had so much fun going to games this month and even got to take Avery to one of them! Sure, the BYU vs. Utah game was HORRIBLE, but we've had a great time supporting the Cougs through it all!

{Avery loving the game- thank you earplugs!}

{We even ran into Nick and my parents at the BYU vs Utah State game!}

{Rise and Shout!}

{Strawberry footballs- yummy!}

Playtime

2011-09-30T16:46:00.000-06:00

I am loving this stage with Avery! She is so much more talkative and has really started to play on her own. She usually likes to know where I am, but she loves her new little playroom that daddy made her!

{I peeked in on her today and this is what I found}

{dolly}

Tess's Blessing

2011-09-27T14:51:00.000-06:00

{picture courtesy of David}

This past weekend we drove up to Boise for Tess's baby blessing. We left on Friday night and got there pretty close to midnight. Beth was gracious enough to travel with the three of us and Avery did great on the drive up. I know I'm horrible at picture taking, but really? I didn't take one picture of Tess or Avery or anyone? We had the entire Nielsen clan together which is saying something when you take into account that we have Boise, Denver, DC, Utah, and even Grandma in CA. It was so great to see everyone and to hear the beautiful blessing David gave Tess.

{celebrating Beth's birthday}

If the Shoe Fits!

2011-09-19T19:05:00.000-06:00

Avery has really started to love shoes. We can always find her by our front door playing with, sucking on (yuck), and even trying on our shoes. I love to see her try and put her feet in our shoes. She is learning so much- I can just see those cogs moving!

Amazing!

2011-09-17T20:08:00.000-06:00

How else can I describe this wonderful man? While Avery and I were away this past weekend in St. George he did some home improving around our house.

He turned our little Harry-Potter-cupboard-under-the-stairs into a playroom for Aves! You have no idea what a transformation this was considering I never took any pictures of our overly cluttered 'storage unit' that was previously inhabiting this space. He cleaned it all out, found new homes for all our items, and even textured and painted the walls! Yeah, AMAZING!

He also made me this awesome shelf for our bathroom. I saw a similar shelf and immediately thought of tic-tac-toe with toilet paper and X's. Brian took the initiative to make this without mentioning it and did everything from cutting the wood and fitting it to painting and decorating it. Yep- AMAZING!

Brian also hung up the shelves that he gave me for my birthday and decorated them. I'm pretty sure I have the most AMAZING hubby in the whole wide world. Yup- pretty darn sure!

St. George

2011-09-16T17:11:00.000-06:00

Avery and I got to spend some fun time with Grandma and the cousins in St. George this past week. We had such a great time playing and shopping with grandma. Thanks so much for letting us tag along, mom, even though we slow you down!

{Abbie & Avery playing with the ball}

{Avery rocking Emma}

{Note: This is what happens when grandma forgets
that your child's food is too close and walks away,
leaving said child with said food.}

Doggie!

2011-09-03T13:40:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Avery met Mozzie, her cousin's puppy. She was terrified at first sight, but soon warmed up enough to get closer to him and sneak a little touch. She loves dogs, but has never really been that up-close with one. Usually when we see our neighbor's dog or hear him barking she perks up and yells Doh! DOH! and gets really excited.

{I love this picture}

{I think Mozzie slipped her a big kiss on the
face right before this picture}

Dinner at the Nielsens

2011-09-02T22:25:00.000-06:00

Avery is starting to insist on feeding herself. It seems convenient in theory- Brian and I actually get to eat our dinner instead of feeding her and eating ours cold, etc. But when Avery is done 'feeding herself' we just have to either make more dinner or scoop hers off her body and the floor to make sure some of it ends up in her mouth!

{We've learned that bowls are over-rated}

{and plastic cups ROCK}

{and that Avery is the cutest thing in our world}

{even when she's covered in spaghetti sauce}

Big Girl

2011-08-29T16:04:00.000-06:00

This little lady is growing so fast! I am continuously in awe at how much she is learning. She is super into the 'cruising' phase of pulling herself up on the couch and coffee table and walking around. We just got a new music table and she is loving it! Despite a few hard falls from her new love of cruising, she is still going strong.

{love}

{hard at work}

{all ready for our walk- today was such a gorgeous day!}

Day 1

2011-08-29T10:02:00.000-06:00

Brian started real school today! For the past week he's just been doing Orientation for the MBA program- getting info and doing team building stuff, etc. This morning I got up early with him and snapped a few pictures- classic mom style. Brian even called me mom while I was doing this. I suppose it was quite embarrassing, especially when our neighbor walked out to their car and Brian was posing at our front door. Call me crazy, but I HAD to snap a quick memory picture of him starting the MBA program.

Good luck today babe! I'm sure you'll be amazing!

Stair Master

2011-08-21T12:59:00.001-06:00

{Look who's finally discovered the stairs}

{the only problem is now we can't keep her away from them!}

{She's getting really good but I think we're gonna need a gate!}

Orientation, Here He Comes!

2011-08-16T12:55:00.000-06:00

Brian started MBA Orientation at BYU today! We got up early to wish him a great day and make sure to snap a picture of him heading out the door looking all snazzy!

{Bye-bye snuggles and Avery's thumbs up}

{Good luck babe- you'll be great!}

Vegas Vacation

2011-08-15T12:47:00.000-06:00

This wonderful man starts school in a week so we decided to spend our last bits of summer on a family vacation. We drove down to St. George and stayed in my parents' house for a couple days and then headed to Vegas to visit some of our best friends: The Howarths.

We had a great time in St. George relaxing and sleeping in. We also spent some fun time with my brother, Dustin, and his family. Somehow we didn't manage to pull out the camera while we were with them.

We drove onto Henderson, NV to visit Crystal and Michael Howarth and their 2 sweet little boys. We have made plans for Avery to marry Matthew someday and thus, have to keep getting them together as often as possible. Okay, so really we just wanted to visit with the Howarths, but if there is a resulting marriage, none of us would complain! We didn't get any shots of the adults, but did snap a few of these cute kiddos.

{Avery loved playing on Matthew's big kid toys- so did daddy}

{Learning to share}

{Bathtime! Avery had fun swimming with a buddy}

{I love this picture of Avery looking up at Matthew.
She is in complete awe of his toys.}

{playing together}

{Matthew making a yummy breakfast!}

{Back on the road home!}

HAZARD!

2011-08-05T18:44:00.000-06:00

It's official, Avery is a crawling machine! I need to get a video up of her really moving, but suffice it to say that we are in a state of baby-proofing in our house!

#25

2011-07-28T09:36:00.000-06:00

Brian did a great job with my birthday this year. He bought me an exercise bike and some gorgeous shelves for our house! He even pulled of a magnificent breakfast in bed! And to top it all off, a red velvet cake from Smith's (my absolute favorite)! Thanks babe!

{Happy Birthday to me}

Swimming

2011-07-15T12:31:00.002-06:00

Avery took her first swim last week! We went up to Grandpa and Grandma Anderson's to get in their neighborhood pool with the cousins. Daddy had to work at the shack so he couldn't come but we took lots of pictures for him.

{Watching the cousins swim}

{floating with mom}

{We had a great time with all the cousins}

{drying off}

{Avery loved swimming and didn't even mind some of the splashing.
She started to kick under the water too.}

{Today we went swimming again and this time took daddy}

{Avery did great and so did daddy- I, however, insisted we
leave after getting stung by a bee on my chin. OUCH!}

Happy 4th

2011-07-04T12:21:00.000-06:00

Little Fish

2011-06-28T21:56:00.000-06:00

{Avery is really starting to LOVE her bathtime!}

{She splashes around and loves
getting mommy and daddy wetter than she is}

{Fish Kisses}

{This is really her favorite part of bathtime-
seeing the 'other baby' in the mirror!}

{All clean}

2011 Anderson Family Reunion

2011-06-28T13:34:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we had a family reunion with my side of the family. We headed up to a gorgeous house in Herriman, Utah and had a great time with everybody! Nick & Elisa were in charge and did a wonderful job with the activities. The theme was CLUE so we each got a banner of our family's characters and put them on our respective doors. Our shirts were color coded to match our characters. Our family was Ms. Scarlet so we got red shirts!

{Gorgeous view!}

{We spent a day at the park doing all sorts of fun activities}

{Avery loved sliding with Daddy}

{We had a girl's night filled with facials and massages!}

{These massages were just what we needed}

{Wow, we look pretty scary!}

{Grandma had all the kids dress up cute and we took pictures-
this ended up to be a bit of a crazy mess since all the men were
gone golfing and keeping all 11 grandkids within a picture frame!}

{The highlight of the entire reunion was the 'Shows'
that were continuously put on by the older kids.
Ranging from church hymns to dancing and even
a streaker at some point in the family talent show!}

{one big happy family}

Smiles with Daddy

2011-06-22T15:25:00.002-06:00

When we were on our trip to Orlando, Avery stayed with Grandma Anderson. She did such a great job while we were gone and was introduced to grandma's walker. She loved it and starting being able to really move so we thought it would be a good addition to our toys.

{She is quite the walker in this thing- maneuvering and moving all over}

{It also enables her to get to a lot of places that she couldn't before}

{A new-found love of dishwashers}

{Today daddy stayed home with Avery and mommy worked at the shack.
They had a picnic in the backyard and enjoyed some gorgeous weather}

{cheese!}

{I love these two!}

Happy Monday!

2011-06-20T15:20:00.000-06:00

Graham Crackers

2011-06-12T15:15:00.001-06:00

{Avery's first graham crackers}

{yummy}

{we're still working on the sippy cup idea}

{this is what happens when the graham cracker and sippy are gone}

{oh, and had to throw in the cute bedtime picture with daddy}

Swing Life Away

2011-06-08T20:27:00.002-06:00

We took Avery to the new park in Spanish Fork for her first ride on the swings. She might be too small to really enjoy it, but we had a great time with her!

{Daddy pushing}

{Beautiful girl}

{swinging with mommy}

On the Road

2011-06-07T11:03:00.002-06:00

{This wonderful man took Avery and me on a
roadtrip to visit Tara, David, and Tess in Boise}

{learning to drive}

{unfortunately we didn't take any pictures while we were actually
in Idaho. Lame, I know. Thanks for letting us stay guys!}

May Flowers

2011-05-31T16:02:00.002-06:00

I can't believe May is over already! Where is the time going? Avery is growing so fast and it's been wonderful to have Brian home in the mornings before the shack opens. Actually, he's been home more than that since the rain has kept the shack closed for way too many days this month. We're hoping June is hot, Hot, HOT!

{drink up}

{these are my favorite moments- rare and wonderful!}

{Avery's new favorite toy is daddy's computer. She LOVES keyboards.}

2011-05-09T11:44:00.001-06:00

Avery's 6 Month Stats:

Weight: 14 lbs- 16th percentile
Height: 26 inches- 72nd percentile
Head: 16 inches- 47th percentile

Grand Opening

2011-05-07T20:49:00.001-06:00

We're OPEN! Today we opened Sumo's for business! We are still figuring some things our but the day went pretty well! I still can't believe people are buying something from us. Brian's family all came by in the morning and got shave ice together. Besides all the bees, the day went off without too much of a hitch. I'm so proud of Brian for his hard work on this. It's so fun to see it come into fruition!

{Getting ready to open!}

{Brian's family enjoying our delicious shave ice}

{place your order}

{Emil sharing with Jakob}

{Mmmm... so good!}

{The amazing man behind it all}

Six Months

2011-05-05T21:43:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that Avery is already six months old! In some ways it seems like we've always been a family of 3 and in others I can't believe how the time has flown. I was reminiscing this weekend and looking through her earlier pictures. I can't believe how tiny she was!

{a week after she was born}

{getting so big}

{we had a little party for her 1/2 birthday}

{Orange cupcakes (her favorite color) ;) }

{Thank you to everyone who came to her party!
We had a great time!}

Universal Studios- Harry Potter World

2011-05-04T10:05:00.002-06:00

And now... the day we've all been waiting for... HARRY POTTER WORLD! We had such a great time here, I can't believe we only planned for one day at Universal Studios. I think that was our biggest flaw. Harry Potter World was great and we spent our majority of time there and missed some of the awesome rides in the rest of Universal. Please enjoy the billions of pictures (they are just a handful...)!

{We arrived early and headed straight to HP World.
We rode the Hogwarts Ride first and LOVED it!
The line winds around the castle and you go through all the
classrooms and such, and the ride was great! Pure awesomeness!}

{Hogwarts train- Platform 9 3/4}

{Monster Book of Monsters- so many awesome pieces of Harry Potter in the shops.}

{Candy inside Honeydukes}

{Window display at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes}

{More of the Weasleys Products}

{Hagrid's Hut}

{We even found the Mr. Weasley's car in the Forbidden Forest!}

{Waiting in line for the most awesomeness ride ever!}

{Dueling Dragons- This ride was my favorite of our whole trip.
There was a separate line to get in the front seats and
I'm so glad we rode up front for our first time. This rollercoaster
has two separate coasters that 'duel'. They do a great job of making
you feel like you're going to crash with the other coaster.}

{Cheese!}

{Yes, this was crazy- feet dangling crazy!}

{Deliciously famous Butterbeer!}

{This was amazing! We had it frozen which was
much appreciated on such a hot and humid day!}

{Did I mention that I love Harry Potter?}

{everyone say cheese!}

{Owl Post}

{3 Broomsticks}

{Posing like Sirius Black!}

{Train Conductor Magic}

{Please Respect the Spell Limits}

{We did manage to ride some other great rides including this
monster- The Incredible Hulk! I may or may not have blacked out
a few times in this one due to the high velocity turns!}

{Heading out at the end of a fabulously filled day}

{Enjoying dinner and wishing we could start our adventure all over again!}

Disney World Day 4: Magic Kingdom

2011-05-04T09:57:00.004-06:00

Day 4 was a bit crazy. I woke up to find that one of my contacts had ripped. BAUGH! Since I am legally blind without contacts or glasses, this was a huge problem. AND, since it was Sunday, it was an even bigger problem because most eye doctors weren't in. Because this was our biggest Disney day, we headed to the park super early and waited in line for almost an hour. I was so smart and decided just to wear my almost-ripped-in-half contact. Genious!

{Magic Kingdom, here we come!}

{Classic castle shot}

We managed to get an appointment at Target Eye Center for around lunch time. Before that we hit up Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, It's A Small World, Big Thunder Mountain, and a few others. My eye was bothering me so bad that I had Brian snag me a Pirate eye patch so I could take out my contact. I'm glad we rode these rides, but the loss in depth perception made me so sick on both Space Mountain and Splash mountain. Man, I'm sick just remembering it!

{Splash Mountain}

After those rides we hit up Target- or was it Walmart? Anyway, with only a dozen more setbacks at the eye doctor, including but not limited to a 30 minute late manager and the fact that there was no doctor there, we got some trial contacts and headed back to the park.

{Riding the Tea Cups with Rob and Cheryl}

{Main Street Disney}

{These little red cards are the way they estimate wait
times in the lines. Also, the water at Disney World, and in Orlando
in general was NASTY! This little Mio bottle only helped a little}

{Racecar Track}

{Cheese!}

{Resting on the wall... Cheryl had a hard time
getting the rest of us off this wall.}

{More resting}

{We squished into the Main Street crowd to watch

the night fireworks and to see the parade}

{Goodbye Disney World! We love you!}

Disney World Day 3: Animal Kingdom

2011-05-03T19:27:00.003-06:00

We spent day three at the Animal Kingdom. This park only stayed open til around 6 and we didn't even end up staying that long. We had fun looking at all the animals they have there and wandering around. There were a few great rides there. We hit up Dinosaur Land first but we mostly just wandered and took our time here.

{Animal tree}

{Safari Ride. We really loved riding around and
seeing the animals. It was super relaxing and fun.}

{The lovely Johnsons}

{Brian and Rob rode the water ride.
Cheryl and I enjoyed an ice cream on a bench. :) }

{This was easily our favorite ride at Animal Kingdom.
Expedition Everest. We rode it with a fast pass and then
again when we waited for an hour in line- totally worth it!}

{Cheese!}

Disney World Day 2: Epcot

2011-05-03T18:44:00.001-06:00

Happy Anniversary! Friday was our 2nd Anniversary and we spent it at Epcot in DisneyWorld. We had a great time wandering through the different countries and just hanging out. Brian surprised me by getting a cute picture frame for me to remember our trip together.

{Driving in to the most Magical Place on Earth!}

{After stumbling our way through a pitch-dark line,
we rode the Finding Nemo ride}

{Wandering through different countries.
Rob and Cheryl spotted us and snapped a picture}

{This was in Canada I think. We asked a guy to take our picture
and he said he would but we had to kiss. We were obliged.}

{England: Being Bobbies}

{There were character bushes EVERYWHERE!
It was so neat to see them throughout all the parks}

{After a wonderful dinner and a boat ride
we headed over to see the characters}

{Quack Quack!}

{And we got to meet the Mouse, himself!}

{We met back up with Rob & Cheryl for the show over the lake}

{great show}

{What a great way to spend an anniversary! Thanks babe!}

{Man, Cheryl, what am I going to do without you?}
{PS: do you remember how long it took us to get this picture? :) }

{We had such a great time at Epcot!}

{Happy Anniversary Brian. I love you!}

Disney World Day 1: Hollywood Studios

2011-05-03T17:41:00.001-06:00

Okay, so in order to really capture our trip, the next few posts with have LOTS of pictures. We had SUCH a great time with our friends Cheryl & Rob Johnson but we're so glad to be back home with Avery. It seems like she has grown so much faster since we've been away. The Johnsons are moving to Texas this weekend so we pushed this trip in to make sure we got one last adventure with them.

{We headed to the airport early to catch our 6AM flight}

{Our beautiful and air conditioned rental car!}

We got to Orlando around and then checked into our hotel before heading to the Hollywood Studios of Disney World. It was most cost-effective for us to do one park per day and HS was voted to be the one we wanted to spend the least amount of time at so we used our half-day there.

{riding the tram from the car to the gate}

{The first ride Brian and I went on was the Hollywood Tower.
I very conveniently lost my cell phone on this ride
which proved to be a bit of a theme for Brian and I.
Luckily it was continuously turned in!}

{Then we hit up the Toy Story Trams ride}

{This line was especially long so we
spent our time playing I Spy with the Johnsons}

{Rob & Cheryl}

{Do we look cool or what?}

{wandering the shops and trying on all the Mouse Ear hats}

{Cheese!}

{Leaving the park... Until tomorrow!}

Wish Us Luck!

2011-04-27T21:01:00.000-06:00

{We're off to meet these mice}

{And relish in this amazing castle}

{Florida, here we come!}

Our House

2011-04-25T23:02:00.000-06:00

We have the keys!!! We got the keys a day earlier than we expected so we started driving a few things over tonight! We crammed our little car as full as it could get and drove down to south Provo!

{On our way!}

{I should have taken a picture of my leg room. Or the lack thereof!}

{Avery loved helping us move. Such a great little helper!}

{Walking into our new place!}

{Home Sweet Home!}

{I got most of our kitchen put together but the rest will
have to wait for the actual moving truck tomorrow!}

Start Up

2011-04-23T19:34:00.002-06:00

Brian is officially DONE with work at One On One Marketing! Funny how you think things would slow down after that. Nope, we're heading in the exact opposite direction and getting busy with the shave ice shack! And when I say that we've been busy, I really mean Brian's been busy with the shack and I've been busy with the usual.

Exibit A:

{Brian took this}

{and turned it into this}

We also finally have a name for the shack. After much deliberation (and a strong will that would not bend for anything), ~~Brian~~ we decided to go with SUMO's Shave Ice. Brian drew up his logo by hand and cut it out of our TV box to paint on the side of the shack.

He also drew this Sumo guy and then made him up on the computer for advertising and whatnot. I know, I know, my hubby is pretty skilled! ;)

{We have made up all the flavors and they are ready
to be poured on delicious shave ice}

{All our syrups}

Oh, and if you're wondering what the rest of my house looks like, here you go! While the hubs has been diligently laboring to get the shack put together, I have been packing up our apartment for the move! PS: Having baby stuff makes moving a BAZILLION times harder!

Introducing: Sweet Potatoes!

2011-04-13T21:24:00.003-06:00

Avery weighed in yesterday within the first percentile so we are working at fattening our little girl up. She is doing more solids and taking bottles in between nursing. Wish us luck and weight gain!

{I love this face!}

{She's already trying feed herself}

{We finally gave up and just handed her the spoon}

{She must have liked it because she was literally

licking her tray when we were done!}

We're Moving!

2011-04-10T13:25:00.001-06:00

Hooray! We have found a new place and signed the contract! We are really excited for this move. Well, maybe not the actual MOVE, but we are in love with our new place and I can't wait to show it to you so you get to see the pictures the owners posted on KSL.com.

{The front of the town home.
Notice our cute little tree!}

{The front room- love the floors!}

{Kitchen- jealous of my gorgeous cabinets?}

{And here is the shared backyard!}

We won't be moving until the end of April, but we are getting excited!

Happy Thursday!

2011-04-07T15:20:00.000-06:00

Feeding Frenzy

2011-04-06T14:55:00.002-06:00

Our little monkey has mastered the art of holding her own bottle! Even though she only gets a bottle here and there, it sure does make the task of feeding her much easier!

And (drumroll please...) today Avery got to start SOLIDS!
Yummy!

I mean, I guess you could call this solid.
We sure had a difficult time keeping in her mouth
as the next few pictures attest!

I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

Catch up...

2011-04-05T11:32:00.004-06:00

I've had a few people ask me about my super long streak of no blogging. Not here, not on my craft blog, and let's face it- I haven't even been looking at other blogs! I don't feel like I need to explain myself since I blog for myself, but I am SO ready to blog and I've been itching to put up new posts for weeks. Now the only issue is facing the 'catching up' part.

Avery is growing so fast! She is five months old and the cutest thing in our lives!

She's been rolling over from her back to her tummy for the last little bit
and it's so fun to see her want a toy and roll to get it!

Her smiles get cuter and more frequent every day and she

giggles all the time- especially when being tickled!

She loves to snuggle her stuffed animals.

And she makes the cutest faces!

Reading stories before bedtime with
Daddy is one of her favorite parts of the day.

We sure love this little cutie!

Birthday Boy!

2011-04-04T12:16:00.001-06:00

Brian turned 27 today! We had such a fun time spending the day together. We had waffles for breakfast and Avery and I went to Brian's work to eat lunch with him. Brian only worked the morning so we headed to Cabela's for some shooting range fun! I think we'll be doing a lot more of that in the coming months. It was SO fun and cheap too!

Then tonight we got chinese take out and made shave ice! This was our first try on the new machine and we had fun making {and eating} them. We made up some Lime and Strawberry flavors and enjoyed eating our shave ice while watching a redbox together.

Avery can't wait to taste her own shave ice. Haha!
Maybe we'll try rice cereal first!

Happy Birthday Brian! I love you so much and I'm so glad I got to spend your special day with you and that I get to spend the rest of forever with you too!

Two Feet

2011-03-28T13:59:00.001-06:00

This little nugget found her feet this week!

As soon as I lay her down, they come up like giant magnets into her hands.

I love seeing my little girl learn and grow and change! She gets cuter every day!

Snuggle Time!

2011-03-26T15:09:00.000-06:00

Can I just say I LOVE weekends? I mean, even though we spent the majority of today getting our apartment clean and ready to show to get new renters, I love spending so much time with Brian. And Avery loves spending so much time with her daddy!

{Playing on the couch together}

{Snuggle time}

{Big smiles}

{I love these two!}

New Toys!

2011-03-25T14:26:00.000-06:00

Our Stake President brought some toys to the church this weekend that his grandkids have grown out of. A sweet girl in our ward snatched this prize up for Avery and we are so grateful!

Avery loves standing up in this and reaching out for the toys!
She is really enjoying the view of the apartment that it gives her too.

But mostly she loves sucking on the toys she can reach! Love it.

All Bundled Up

2011-03-16T15:49:00.000-06:00

A lady in Brian's home ward made this cute little wrap to keep Avery bundled when it's cold. It's great because it has separate things for each leg so she can even wear it in her car seat. I finally took some pictures of her in it today and I just couldn't resist posting them!

{SO cute!}

Emma Joelyn Caldwell

2011-03-14T14:48:00.001-06:00

My sister Cami had a new little baby girl this past week and I got to go up and take pictures of the little nugget. Look how cute she is and all that hair!

Four Months!

2011-03-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

Eeek! This little nugget is growing up so fast! She had her four month check up today and got two more shots. :( I hate that part. But she did really well and I'm hoping she is a little more tolerant of needles than her mommy!

Avery at 4 Months:

12 lbs 8 oz(29th percentile)
25 inches long (79th percentile)
16 inches head circ. (41st percentile)

Sleep Shopping...

2011-02-11T11:11:00.004-07:00

NOTE: I figure some of you don't look at my sweetbabyhiccups blog, so I thought I'd re-post this here too!

__________________________________________
So, what if I told you that I'm not allowed to shop
in the middle of the night anymore?

Would you wonder why I was ever allowed to do this in the first place? The truth is, I had never actually done it before. You see, I have a new baby and frequent the wee hours of the night to feed her. I also happen to be the lucky wife of a husband that won an iPad at work. Now, you may wonder how these two things go together, or you may see the obvious- I use this little 'toy' all the time. I look at yummy fabrics and keep up with my ever growing blogroll and twitter friends. Seems pretty harmless right?

Well, last weekend I caught wind of a 50% off sale on some fabric. I had looked at it before, but wasn't over-the-top, have-to-have-it-now about it. Which usually means I will wait for something better. I mean, we're on a budget here! But for some reason, that sale, in the middle of the night, with credit card handy, was the
perfect storm. And I caved.

Funny thing is, come morning, I had no recollection WHAT FABRIC I had actually purchased. Seriously, I was panicking! I remembered buying something, but I couldn't remember what. What's more, I somehow deleted the email with the details so I really couldn't remember. GENIUS!

So this morning this arrived on my doorstep:

{a pretty little package from the Fat Quarter Shop}

{with half yards of these six delicious fabrics!}

{pink bubbles}

{delectable chocolate cupcakes}

{and a pretty pink recipe print!}

{all in favor of me doing ALL my shopping by moonlight?}

Arm Warmers...

2011-02-08T14:27:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when Daddy dresses you...

Daddy- Daughter Time

2011-02-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

{I love to see these two giggling together!}

Movin' On Up!

2011-02-02T04:37:00.004-07:00

This little nugget is growing like crazy! Today I put her in her first 6 month outfit. Sure, it's big on her, but it fits much better than her 3 month stuff. Yikes!

{love her big smiles!}

Nielsen News...

2011-01-23T22:01:00.005-07:00

It's funny that I go a couple days without updating my blog and I feel like I'm a total slacker. Remember when I used to update {maybe} once a month? Well, we have had an enjoyable weekend just hanging out at home.

{I made Avery some baby leggings}

{you can see how over on my craft blog, sweetbabyhiccups}

On Saturday Brian and I played "the tank game" on our wii for a couple hours while Avery took a nap. It was so fun to play one of our favorite games together and just have some 'us' time. The three of us also made a mess with some cheesecake making a yummy treat!

{cheesecake pops!}

{also found on my craft blog}

We had a great time making and decorating the pops. I kept telling Brian how grateful I was that he would let me make these, but after tasting them, I think we're both grateful we did! SO good! We made a bunch and only gave a handful away- here's to sticking to our goal to lose the baby weight... someday!

Two Hands

2011-01-20T14:52:00.003-07:00

{This cute little wiggler is discovering her hands!}

It's so cute to watch her stare at them and swing her hands objects in range!

Not so fun when her hands join in the diaper changing routine,
but I think we've got that under control!

1000 Words

2011-01-17T15:15:00.001-07:00

Introducing:

2011-01-13T21:23:00.006-07:00

I have officially started my very own craft blog! I have been holding off telling you all about it because I haven't nailed down a header and whatnot, but it might be a while. Take a look and let me know what you think. Any suggestions or encouraging thoughts are welcome! :)

A Morning of Pictures

2011-01-12T14:05:00.002-07:00

L.O.V.E.

2011-01-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Sabbath!

2011-01-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

I had to show off the cute new dress Grandma & Grandpa Anderson gave this little sweetie!

We Have a Winner!

2011-01-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Brian flew to California for another MBA school interview. This time at USC. He said he loved the campus and felt really good about the interview so wish us luck in that area. He has another interview next Wednesday with BYU and I'm keeping my fingers crossed! But that's not really what this post is about. When Brian was in California, his work did a drawing for an iPad and GUESS WHO WON! Yup! We He did! We have had fun trying to figure out all the cool features and apps this weekend. Even Avery has joined in the fun!

{Even she can't believe we daddy won!}

Also wanted to show off this cute picture of Avery in her new BYU hat she got for Christmas! Rise and Shout!

Two Month Check-Up

2011-01-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Avery had her two month check up today and did so well. I have to admit that my biggest fear is needles. I hope I don't instill that fear into my children, but I'm not quite sure how to avoid it. Avery had to get three shots today and I'm still cringing over it. The nurse just whipped them out and stuck her without hesitation and it TOTALLY caught me off guard. I have to confess, I cried. And so did she, but only for a few seconds and then just looked up at me with a why-in-the-world-would-you-ever-let-somebody-hurt-me look... it crushed me! I need to work harder at my poker face though or all my kids will hate the doctor as much as I do!

{So brave!}

Avery at 2 Months:
11 lbs. 8 oz (67 percentile)
23 inches long (73 percentile)
15.4 inches head circ. (59 percentile)

Other things she's been doing:

{Smiling}

{a lot!}

{sucking on her fingers}

{Playing with her toys}

{and lots of snoozing in her swing!}

And sleeping much better which allows me more rest as well. :)

A Name and a Blessing

2011-01-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

We blessed Avery on January 2 in the same blessing dress I was blessed in. Brian gave her such a beautiful blessing. We were so glad that all the men in the family could be there to stand in the circle. Avery did great during the blessing too. I am told she just stared at Brian the whole time!

And these cute handmade booties that Brian's mom gave us, made by a girl in their ward

The proud parents:

Thank you to everyone who could make it to Avery's special day!

Two Months

2011-01-04T16:10:00.001-07:00

Two month of the most wonderful addition to our family! Brian and I have loved watching Avery change and grow every day over the past two months. She is cooing and grinning at both of us all the time! She even took a 10 hour snooze on New Years Eve and allowed us some good sleep! With all these changes, it's so crazy to think that it was only two months ago that we were in the hospital room, holding our new little girl for the first time. I also realized that I never posted any of her newborn pictures. Enjoy!

{So small! This is Brian's favorite.}

{Such a sweetie!}

{I love this one! Brian is such a tender daddy.}

{Another favorite}

{And another!}

I absolutely love being this little girl's momma! These have truly been the hardest, best, most rewarding months of my life. Thanks little Avery!

2010-12-27T11:38:00.001-07:00

We didn't get these out in time, so Merry Christmas from the Nielsens!

WARNING:

2010-12-21T18:09:00.002-07:00

If this is what you see when you look out your window, you may be susceptible to dressing your child in over-large clothing just to see how cute they look in their warm, winter attire!

I just couldn't help it! She looks so cute!

Happy Snow Day!

Guess Who Slept Through the Night?

2010-12-18T12:55:00.002-07:00

Yup! 16 hours of sleep with just two feedings! Can I tell you how amazing that is? And it wasn't just any sleep... this little angel spent the whole night in her crib and very own room! We are excited for both of these changes and about getting some much needed sleep on our end as well!

Happy Sabbath!

2010-12-05T16:40:00.001-07:00

Daddy - Daugther Time

2010-12-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Avery has had Brian wrapped around her finger since they laid eyes on each other. I love seeing them together and I can't seem to pry her away from him in the evenings when he's home from work. I have loved seeing Brian become the daddy he is and I'm excited to see these two continue to bond.

{she was absolutely demanding his attention}

{snuggle buddies}

{daddy's favorite outfit}

{getting ready to leave the hospital}

{after-work hugs}

{she was quite enthralled in the Christmas tree lights at the time}

{daddy in training}

One Month

2010-12-04T17:49:00.004-07:00

One month of diapering, midnight feedings, crying, snuggling and burping, that is. :) We are in awe of this little angel each day and we can't believe she is a whole month old. I guess that means we are doing something right. Or at least not too many things wrong.

{big blue eyes}

{snuggle buddies}

{we love this little outfit from the Simmons- hood and all!}

So remember how I said we must not have too many strikes against us...? Well today was definitely one [huge] strike against us being any kind of parents. Brian and I decided to get some Christmas shopping done this afternoon and got all bundled and ready to go. We finally got Avery all packed up into her car seat and Brian headed out to put her in the car with me close behind. Just after I shut and locked our front door I heard Brian shut the car door and then he shot me an alarmed look. After tossing the keys into the driver's seat, Brian had put Avery into the car and shut the passenger door just to hear the car automatically lock itself. I really don't understand why my car has that feature, but regardless, we had a locked door in the cold weather with our little girl inside. Big oops!

{Brian felt so horrible and wouldn't leave her side the whole time}

{she did pretty well considering how cold the car was}

As soon as we realized she was locked in the car and that we were locked out of our apartment (the keys were also in the car), I headed to the neighbors to call a locksmith. Luckily there was one just down the street and we only had to wait a few minutes for him to arrive. He used a little contraption to unlock our car and she was contently sleeping when we got back in. We felt like such horrible parents! Hopefully we can have a little more success in the coming months!

A Day of Jammies!

2010-12-02T16:16:00.004-07:00

So we're moving on into the 0-3 Month clothes. As sad as I am that our little Avery is growing, I love some of the outfits she's starting to fit into. These footed jammies are high on our list (thanks Julie!)

{I have the cutest baby in the world. I mean, seriously!)

{She's getting so big- I love those chubby cheeks!
}

{tummy time doesn't last too long around here. Avery has rolled over within 30 seconds of being laid down each time I try}

{And this is what she's doing right now! Allowing me to get a bite to eat and work on fixing this little problem...}

{Notice the very large hole. It's the size of my pinkie and sent loads of water under the sink this afternoon when I [finally] got to the dishes!}

Christmas is Happening

2010-11-30T10:13:00.004-07:00

On Sunday I went to church for the first time since Avery was born. Brian and I did the tag team for different meetings since we're not taking Avery to church for another couple months. When I was at Relief Society Brian and Avery put our Christmas tree up to surprise me. :)

Last night for FHE we decorated the tree and put up our other Christmas decorations. I made gingerbread men for our tree this year with real gingerbread. It was supposed to be a gingerbread house that we do in October but with the pregnancy stuff, it never got past the dough making. I'm glad though because I love the feel it gives our tree and the smell of gingerbread in our house!

{Brian also hung lights in our window. What a sweetie!}

{There were some extra gingerbread men so I hung them on a string and we used them as garland above our window.}

{Brian hanging the garland}

Avery also had her first bottle last night. She was skeptical at first, but soon got the hang of it and drained the whole thing. It was fun for Brian to be able to feed her.

My First Bath

2010-11-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Avery had her first bath on Sunday night. Her umbilical cord stump came off over Thanksgiving allowing us to have a real bath instead of the sponge baths she's been getting. She did pretty well for such a new and foreign experience and we had fun getting her clean.

{I love her little chubby cheeks!}

{She started getting cold near the end and decided she was done. I think next time we'll steam up the bathroom before we give her a bath.}

{Getting dried off and warmed up with daddy}

{Such a proud momma!} :)

Two Weeks Down- A Lifetime to Go!

2010-11-20T19:00:00.001-07:00

Well, we have successfully survived two weeks of parenthood. Sometimes I feel like I'm just keeping my head above water between feeding her, changing her diaper, and getting her to sleep. And then there are the times I just sit and marvel at how perfectly beautiful she is. A tiny miracle in my arms. I learn a little more about love every day. Unconditional love- the kind that doesn't change even when she poops all over me in her nighttime feeding/changing and then pees all over her clothes so I have to change them too! Isn't parenthood great?

The second night that Avery was home from the hospital we had to put her in the bili bed. Her bilirubin levels had gone up a few points from where they were in the hospital and to be safe they wanted to have her on the bed as much as possible. So besides feeding her, burping her, and changing her diaper, she was in the bed. She made this sad experience a lot easier by sleeping the whole time and by looking so cute in her protective eye wear!

A week ago we took Avery to get some photos taken of her and we are so happy with how the shoot went. She slept for two hours of a photographer positioning her body and only peed on Brian once. :) We don't have the pictures back yet, but we do have a family photo that she shot for us.

{I shot this one from my phone}

So far Avery has been a pretty good sleeper. In the first two weeks she slept for 6-7 hours straight at night and after one feeding would sleep for another 3-4. In the last couple of days she has been a little more alert at night, but she's still an angel.

Avery at 2 weeks:
8 lbs 2 oz (43 percentile)
21 inches long (75 percentile)
Head is 13.75 inches around (23 percentile)

We love this little wiggler so much and already can't imagine life without her in our family.

Introducing: Avery Mae Nielsen

2010-11-08T15:06:00.007-07:00

Baby Avery Mae Nielsen
Born @ 10:09 a.m.
November 4, 2010
8 lbs 0.5 ounces
19 inches long

Another Finish and a Baby Shower!

2010-10-08T10:57:00.001-06:00

With only three weeks left in the pregnancy, we finally pulled the nursery together. I really love how it turned out and I'm so grateful for a helpful husband who was willing to take his 'day off' from writing school essays to put this together with me. :)

Brian stained the pieces of wood to match the crib (and the changer that will arrive next week!) and then we attached the ribbon and letters. It's strange to have her name on the wall. It makes this so much more real, which I probably need at this point, haha.

The little shelf by the door with some added wall decals. :)

We got it all put together just in time for a baby shower at our apartment. Two of my best friends, Crystal Howarth and Sherstin Pearce threw the shower for me and we had such a great time! Thank you girls for everything. You are wonderful!

I don't have all the pictures from their cameras yet, but I will be sure to show more pictures when I can.

Freshman roommates

Sherstin, me, Christa, and Crystal

Finished!

2010-10-05T10:39:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we headed up to Farmington to watch conference at my parents'. We had a great time visiting with them and everyone else who came and really enjoyed listening to the wonderful speakers. I took initiative to finally get my LOVE quilt bound! YAY! An actual finished product? I know this was just my learning quilt, but I have to admit that I am pretty proud that I now know how to do binding. I spent three of the sessions hand stitching it on and I think it turned out pretty good for a first-timer.

{such pretty colors!}

{hanging outside for a pic because I just can't get enough of it}

{and another picture to show the backing... did I mention I love this?}

We had a great weekend and of course, I couldn't come home without more projects from my mom's stash. :) Hopefully I can get to them between editing Brian's application essays and before the baby decides it's time to come.

T Minus One Month

2010-09-30T10:45:00.002-06:00

Happy September 30th! You know what that means, right? It means that our little princess is due in a month! I couldn't let today go by without posting a shot of my 8-months-pregnant belly for all of you to see.

I am still feeling great and getting anxious to meet our baby girl. Hopefully we'll find some time to put her nursery together amidst all the MBA school applications going around over here! Anyway, have a great day- and bring on October!

Over Our Heads

2010-09-28T10:54:00.005-06:00

You know that lesson on priorities where you have big rocks, pebbles, sand and water that is all supposed to fit into one bucket? The trick is to put the big rocks in first, then the pebbles, the sand, and the water. If you start with anything but the big rocks, they will never fit, but somehow when you do it right, all of that stuff gets in together. Well, we are surviving on big rocks and a couple pebbles right now.

Brian is up to his elbows (or maybe his neck) in applications for Masters of Business programs. He has been working diligently on essays and application materials every night for the past little while and I try to be as helpful as possible. With applications taking up our evenings, and working during the day, we are struggling to find time for much else, but it will all be worth it, right?

Anyway, I pulled some of my morning time out today to start sewing my circles! Aren't they pretty? I only got about 20 of them sewn, but hey, it's a start!

I also put up my (make-shift) Halloween decorations and we are enjoying the fall season in our little apartment. Most of the stuff I use to decorate is just ribbons, tissue paper, and fabric that adds the spooky colors of Halloween, but it works for us and it's cheap!

Wonderful Weekend

2010-09-28T10:33:00.005-06:00

Have I mentioned before how absolutely wonderful my husband is? I hope so. He deserves all the credit he can get. Over this past weekend, Brian surprised me with a beautiful hotel room in Park City. I have been telling him how I want to get away before the baby comes and he took that idea and ran with it. On Thursday night as we were falling asleep, Brian asked if we could "stay in" the next night. I said that was totally fine and that I would love to plan something for our Friday night if he wanted me to. His response was that he wanted to "stay in" in Park City and that he would like me to pack a bag. How FUN! :)

We headed up after work on Friday and went swimming at The Lodge pool and then just hung out in our sweats and watched some redbox movies together. I LOVE lounging in hotel rooms. Seriously, such a welcome break from 'normal' life. :)

Our room had a full kitchen, a family room, two bathrooms, and a very large bedroom.

The view from our balcony (notice that we are overlooking the alpine slides).

On Saturday morning we headed out for a gorgeous drive up Guardsman Pass to see the autumn leaves. The bright yellows and vibrant reds made me giddy. I love this season!

And did I mention I love this guy? Well I do!

On Saturday night, we met up with my parents and Tara & Ryan for dinner at The Garden at Temple Square and then went to The Lion King. Brian and I slept in line for tickets about 6 or 7 months ago and we were so excited to finally see it! Dinner was delicious and the show was even better!

Our seats were on the first row of the Grand Tier. That means we basically had the best view ever! Thanks again for a wonderful weekend babe! I love you!

The Era of Naps...

2010-09-20T15:01:00.005-06:00

I came to the conclusion over the weekend [with a little help from Brian] that I am wearing myself out. I know I've been busying myself with projects and whatnot, but I have had a whole mess of energy inside me that has been put to good use. The problem now is that my energy storage is getting smaller. With our little girl coming in just over a month, my body is starting to need more rest and more naps. So, while I didn't promise Brian I would stop doing my projects, I did promise to take more time to sit and relax with my [swollen] feet up. He, in return, is doing everything he can think of to give me more rest. What a wonderful husband!

Now, I have some good news, some great news, and some bad news. Let's start with the bad... I did not get my quilt bound this weekend while I was at my parents. It was the one project I brought, but my mom's rotary cutter needs a new blade and I only brought enough fabric to cut it just right.

Good news? I went to Brook's Fabric [probably my favorite fabric store ever] AND made my very first trip to Hobby Lobby over the weekend. My mom and I had a great time going through fabrics and home decor- especially the new fall stuff! I love spending days like that. Just walking through craft stores and looking at project ideas. Inspiring.

And the truly great news? I didn't spend a penny at either store! My won derful mom bought me a yard of 2 fabrics from each store. THANKS MO M! I already have one of the projects from these nearly finished and I plan on getting them both done by the end of the week. Too ambitious? I promise to take a nap in between! :)

Also, I got to spend time with these two cute little girls! They played dress up and danced around in these dresses for a long time. So cute! And on Saturday night, Abbie had a surprise visitor. I'm so glad I got to be there to see her reaction. Priceless!

100 Days...

2010-09-17T10:05:00.005-06:00

YUP! One hundred days 'til Christmas. Does it feel like it snuck up too fast to you? Not to me. I am fully in the Christmas spirit already. I think part of that is realizing that I won't have time to do as much Christmas preparation after our little girl gets here in SIX WEEKS. I have already started my Christmas list- comprised of some craft supplies, as usual, and more importantly, I have started my Christmas crafts list. Some of the to dos are:

Make stockings for Brian, myself, and our unborn little princess

Create a pillow after this idea to go in our front room

Hopefully get around to making some fun blocks for our kitchen that say "Let it Snow!"

And try my first attempt at making a table runner.

This one is super cute and doesn't look TOO hard...

So, I'm definitely in Christmas preparation mode, but don't worry, I'm not letting my favorite season (Autumn) pass buy without fully enjoying it. Yesterday, I surprised Brian with a picnic dinner that was ready to go when we got home from work. We headed up the Provo Canyon and looked at the pretty changing leaves and just enjoyed the gorgeous weather. I neglected to take any pictures of the picnic, but I did get some shots of a mouse Brian was feeding our dinner to.

I snagged this quick shot of a spider web on the bridge at Glen Park. I didn't even notice the spider at the time. Probably a good thing!

After our fun trip up the canyon, we headed to Spanish Fork to grab some penny candies at a place Brian used to go as a kid. We each got a paper bag and filled them with these goodies.
I love my hubby. Really, he's so wonderful to me and is always up for one of my crazy adventures. He is very supportive of my crafts (even when I spend a little money on them) and even gives me ideas to work on. I am so proud of all he does and I can't wait to see him as a daddy! Love you honey.

QUILTED!

2010-09-16T10:51:00.002-06:00

YAY! I finally have this blanket ready for binding! For a while last night I thought I was going to have to take my machine in to get repaired because the bobbin tension was too tight and none of the regulators were working. But after a quick cleaning under my plate, I got right back to work. I finished up the tail end of this before work today and just decided to go with squiggles on the pink part. I like how it turned out. Now, I just have to make the binding. :)

One quilt ready, one more to go (as if I will actually get 2 ready to be bound this weekend...). Here is the beginnings of the next quilt.

Other news: We are just a month and a half away from meeting Baby Nielsen. We are getting more and more excited as the days (and the aches and pains of the third trimester) go by. Brian's nose is doing pretty well for post-surgery and we are so glad he was able to get it done. Hope you all have a great day!

Took a Break...

2010-09-13T09:17:00.005-06:00

I know, I know... how dare I not blog for a whole week and a half!?!?! Well, the truth is, we took a little bit of R&R over last weekend and I figured it was a good time for me to sink into a good book (Mockingjay) and give the sewing machine a little rest as well. Thursday, Sept 2, Brian had his nose operated on to fix his deviated septum. He has had some trouble breathing easily through his nose and getting surgery now versus when the baby comes sounded like a good idea to us. Well, that 'good idea' turned into this:

... for a week straight. He slept on the couch to stay elevated and to not wake me up. For the whole week after surgery his nose was blocked up and he had to breath through his mouth. No fun at all. But he was a good sport through it all, even with the added pain of canker sores in his mouth and throat.

So, he got to spend a lot of time playing his Gran Turismo racing games and just chilling/working at home for a week. A week later we headed back to the doctor and took the splints and (most of) the stitches out. Brian is breathing through his nose much better now, but there is still lots of healing for those broken bones and the raw skin.

So, after the weekend was over, I dove back into some projects to keep busy. I finally hemmed the curtains I hung in our bedroom:

I took a razor blade to our crib box:

Taped pieces of it together for thickness and painted them:

{ignore the spill down the front of me... I blame it on the baby.}

And then added paper to them to hang on our bathroom wall. These still need to be mod podged, but I didn't have a sponge brush to do it with. Maybe after work today....

My sewing machine got busy again and I started quilting on this quilt. Notice the walking foot on my sewing machine? Thanks for letting me borrow it mom! As for the actual quilting on this quilt... it's a challenge. I am all done with the white portion and I almost finished up the top brown part, but my bobbin tension got all messed up and I was not in a mood to deal with it, so we'll see when I get back to this one. My goal was to have two quilts ready for binding by this weekend... I'll let you know how that goes.

My new inspiration is this little roll of preciousness. Doesn't it just make you giddy?

And I know exactly what I'm going to do with it. The only problem is, I can't start that one until I get my project with this fabric going.

Look how ADORABLE those turtles are! :) I guess that's inspiration enough.

Ode to

2010-09-01T10:48:00.005-06:00

I know, I know, it's only the FIRST DAY of September... But the way I see it, September is the gateway month. It always leads to the holiday months which starts with OCTOBER! Oh, how I love October. I love the fall leaves and the halloween decorations. I love the corn mazes and haunted houses. I love wearing light sweaters and jackets. I love the BYU football season. And I love the feel that the holidays are here!

So call me crazy, but I'm jumping into the holiday feel. I even had a cup of hot cocoa last night to get in the mood of fall! You know, that excitement and all the planning? That's what I'll be experiencing all month long- and all next month too! I'm already picking out my holiday projects. LOVE IT!

Speaking of projects, I managed to get my rag quilt washed and mostly dry this morning before work. Due to the massive amount of lint, I took it to a laundromat and the dryers took too long so I just hung it up before work to let it finish. Here is a picture of the finished product:

{Not too bad for a quilt from mom's scraps!}

And another little tidbit of a project I did. I decided I love these flowers and I made a little one for our baby's headband. Super cute! I am planning to make a bunch of these with clips on them so I can change out the the flower colors with different outfits.

{oh my goodness! I'm having a baby!}

2010-08-31T10:35:00.004-06:00

Introducing the newest member of our family:

Clarise "the clean" Nielsen

Yes, Clarise is our new (used) portable dishwasher! HOORAY!!! Our apartment didn't come with a dishwasher so ever since April we have been keeping our eyes our for something other than elbow grease to clean dishes with. Who am I kidding? Brian does the dishes. But at least now I don't have to feel guilty about not scrubbing down the dishes by hand!

We ran our first load of dishes last night and I have to say, I've never been so excited to empty a dishwasher!

Sorry if you're bored of my blogging. I think I'm making up for lost time.

A party, a picnic, and a play

2010-08-30T10:44:00.010-06:00

We had a great weekend here at the Nielsen home. Our ward party/"camp" out turned out great despite the bad weather we were hit with on Friday. From traffic to detours, we finally made it to our spot and set up our tent just in time for the rain to start pouring. The inside only got a little wet before we managed to get our rain fly on. Most of the ward came up for dinner and then headed home for bed. Only about 6 brave couples stayed the night. I have to admit, as much as I love camping, we will have to put our tent on the shelf until next summer when I can actually get some sleep.

We enjoyed a leisure Saturday just playing wii and getting the laundry done. I love Saturdays like that. We also managed to have a picnic in our front room as a little stay-at-home date. Yeah, yeah, we're silly, but we like it that way.

On Saturday night we headed down to Payson to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Brian's parents. We had such a great time together and really enjoyed the music and fun performance. Even our little girl joined in the fun with some pretty amazing cartwheels inside my tummy. She loves to move to the music.

And, of course, the weekend wouldn't be a weekend without more of my projects. All the sewing I did this weekend was hand stitched stuff. I stitched around two of my onesies to give them the homemade look they deserve:

And I made some flowers for my quilt top. I'm not sure yet which ones to go with, or if I should do a combination of the three. Here is general idea of the final product:

But maybe with a button:

Or two?

And last, but definitely not least, today marks 7 months pregnant! I am getting so excited to meet our little baby girl!

Brownies Anyone?

2010-08-27T17:00:00.004-06:00

I made THREE batches of these delicious brownies from scratch today. It was my first go at a recipe rather than boxed brownies because let's face it, box brownies are still super good, amazingly convenient, and loads cheaper to make. But ever since I tasted these goodies at one of our friends', I've been dying to make them. And our ward camp-out tonight is the perfect place to take them (so I don't end up eating the whole batch myself). They are called "Gotta Have It Brownies" and here's the recipe!

First you bake them....

Then you put a whole bag of marshmallows on top and bake 'em some more...

And then you frost them with yummy frosting...
and EAT them!

Now I just need to clean up this.

The Crazy Nester...

2010-08-25T13:57:00.007-06:00

So, it's becoming pretty apparent that I am enjoying this whole "nesting" phase thing. Ever since we broke down and bought our crib, I have been exploding with projects! Brian thinks I'm going a little crazy on him, but I absolutely love how I feel. I have so much energy and a drive to get so much done. Take Monday for example... I dropped Brian off at work by 8am and then headed to Walmart where I picked out a curtain rod and some brown bed sheets. I went straight home, unstitched the edge of two sheets to change them into curtains, ironed them, installed the curtain rod above our bedroom window, and hung the curtains. I haven't hemmed them yet because I wanted Brian's input and he didn't exactly know that I was doing any of this. (SURPRISE!?!)

My morning didn't stop there though. Before I headed to work I managed a stop at the fabric store to buy the rest of my supplies for my first quilt. I took some fabric from my mom's cupboard over the weekend and decided I could make a cute quilt out of some of it. Hopefully it will turned out as cute as I imagined. Last night I ironed the pieced and sew the backing pieces and the top pieces together and then laid them out with the batting between. I also purchased some curved safety pins yesterday (another trip to the fabric store) so I will be able to baste this so I can get it on the machine to do some stitching in the ditch (there's a first time for everything right? wish me luck!!!). Here's the top so far.

On Monday night we also added a new baby item to our list: the travel system! We got the Chicco Cortina Travel System. It includes our car seat, base, and stroller. Brian was such a proud daddy and put the whole stroller together when we brought it home.

{just look at that smile!}

While he was piecing that together, I saw our new purchase as an opportunity to make a car seat canopy! I've been waiting for that project until I could measure the handles for strap placement, but I think it turned out cute. Thoughts?

{me at 30.5 weeks}

So am I going as crazy as Brian says I am? Did I mention I have onesies ready to have applique added to them? Hmmm... yup, this nesting business is for real!

June...

2010-08-19T09:36:00.004-06:00

I don't remember much about the month of June. However, two major events stand out in my mind: Tara and Ryan got married and we sold Brian's car....

First of all, congrats to the newlyweds. We are so excited for you guys and all that is in store for you. Sorry for the delay on posting about this one.
And last, but not least: goodbye dear car! We loved having this Subaru for moving things and camping. Now we are just down to the little red Honda (much better looking than the Subaru, but not quite as versatile). Sniff, sniff, tear!

July in One Post

2010-08-19T09:06:00.002-06:00

July, in a nutshell, was a fun and busy month. We had two family reunions and my birthday. Not to mention fireworks for both the 4th and 24th of July. In the second week of July we flew to Oregon to have a huge Everton Family Reunion with all the cousins on my mom's side. We had a blast spending time with cousins and siblings on the beach and at the beach house. I have to admit that although the Oregon coast is one of my most favorite places in the US, I failed to take very many pictures. Here are a few from the day we went to Cannon beach:

{haystack rock}{a cool coastal shot that we stopped on the road to snag}

{who could pass up a sign that ACTUALLY spelled our name right?}

We got our crib on the 24th and set it up that very day. There was some difficulty in getting the box to fit in our little honda, but we managed to borrow Brian's parents' car and it got the job done (thanks again guys!)

{my baby 'bump' is getting larger by the minute!}

For my birthday my mom came down to Orem and spent the day with me. We went to lunch at Rumbi with the sisters that live down this way and then spent the afternoon shopping for some maternity clothes. Up until that point I was stretching out some non-maternity clothes in between wearing my 3 maternity shirts. THANKS MOM! I love the outfits we found and now I feel cute even with this (constantly moving) tummy.

Brian did a great job with my birthday. He gave me some chocolates (my very favorite) and a pregnancy massage certificate. He really knows his stuff! We hit up the Old Spaghetti Factory after that and then went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" and LOVED it! Definitely a cute must-see. In the spirit of the movie, Brian got a dragon pinyata and filled it with candy for us to hit. We had a blast in the park together with only a few questioning looks from strangers.

Two days later we headed to Park City for the Nielsen Reunion and spent three days with Brian's family. We had a bunch of activities planned that kept us busy and we really loved seeing everyone. I regret that because so many people had their cameras out, I didn't even snap one photo over the weekend. Hopefully I can snag some of Jenny's to post.

Dreaming...

2010-08-19T09:01:00.002-06:00

I dreamed about sewing last night. I was picking out fabrics and designing a quilt layout. Seriously? Most pregnant woman dream about their babies or strange things (I guess I have some of those too), but I'm dreaming of projects.

I did buy some fabric the other day (when all I meant to buy was thread for the rag quilt) and I'm still deciding what exactly to do with it. I think I'm going to use the yard of pink and yard of yellow for a car seat canopy but I'm not ready to decide on the fat quarters and charm pack yet. Any ideas?

Catching Up

2010-08-18T16:09:00.009-06:00

We've been busy. Really busy. But why am I apologizing, I am probably the only one who even views this blog. Nonetheless, a new post is FINALLY here!

We have been enjoying a WONDERFUL summer together. My stomach is getting increasingly larger and we are preparing to meet our little bundle of love. We found out on May 24th that we are having a baby GIRL! And we have been looking forward to life with her here ever since! Here are a few pictures of our little girl:

{her cute little foot!}

People keep asking me if I have any weird cravings. Yes. Is it weird that I crave good books and crafty projects? I am obsessed with beautiful fabrics (that I can't buy) and the potential quilts I can make with them. I am just finishing up my baby girl rag quilt that I made from my mom's scraps (thanks mom!) and it has completely opened a can of worms: sewing.

Here is a picture of the (almost finished) blanket. It's fun that it's out of scraps even though the colors may be a little off. I'll try to post another picture of it after I wash it.

Other baby news: we have a crib! A gorgeous, cherry colored crib. Did I mention we have bedding too? Well we do. What do you think?

We also got this cute swing from my parents and are starting to feel more ready to have a baby. Another project we took up (no, it doesn't stop here) included painting our apartment. Well, maybe more like Brian painting the apartment. He was insistent that I not be too exposed to paint fumes so I was sentenced to the back room (with my sewing machine and the movie Emma to keep me company) while he did the painting. He did a great job. Thanks babe!

{how in the world are you supposed to tape off a ceiling like that?}

{oh how I love the RED wall!}

{my next 'home improvement' project will be to make curtains}