Fun videos

I am trying to record Brody more because, though pictures are great, they don't fully capture Brody's personality. Plus looking back when he is older I am sure I will want to actually see Brody at this age. I think on some level I don't do it becasue I want to narrate a bit and I don't like the sound of my voice (I am sure many don't) but I will just have to put up with that.

This video is of Brody doing his favorite thing in the backyard (he is wearing his bib because we had just finished eating dinner at the table on the patio and then he went off to play and I forgot to take it off - I don't know why I feel like I needed to explain)!

This one is me trying to record Brody eating his first popsicle. It doesn't go so well but I tried!

Brody and (gasp) Sugar!

So I am sure there are parents out there who never give their children sugar and some who give their kids lots of sugar. There are no judgements here. A parent can do what they want with their child's diet. True nutritionist and doctors would advise to give very little sugar to children. I had a goal to make sure Brody had very little if none at all before he was two years old. I have been pretty good with Brody and that goal. He will occasionally have some bits of ice cream or cookies but he never has much of it and I am proud to say that at those times he doesn't freak out if he doesn't get more. He will have a couple bits and then walk away to go do something else. Even his juice is watered down A LOT. But the following pictures captures Brody partaking in having some sugary snacks (probably the most in one sitting). This will not be a new habit for Brody.

That is not dirt on his face but the remains of an Oreo cookie (he only had one)!

The entire time he ate it he was so serious and almost had a curious facial expression (I can't believe I didn't get pictures or video while he was eating it). It was as if he wanted to say, "what is this that I am eating...it tastes SO good. Its incredible". Yes Brody that is sugar. Fatty foods are what tastes good and the stuff that doesn't taste as good are healthy for you.........welcome to the real world!!

Okay so this is Brody's first popsicle. Okay its the bottom half that has the stick. He held onto it for a while before he started to put it in his mouth (it was difficult for him to grasp the licking). He didn't even finish it and I found it melting outside on the patio. But still it was fun to see Brody eating his first popsicle. Perhap we will have more this summer and buy the sugar-free kind so that I don't feel so guilty!

Our Getaway!

Jake and I were lucky and fortunate enough to have a little getaway earlier this week. It was so much luxury for us that I just had to share our experience. Our dear friends Shannon and Glenn very generously gave us a free overnight stay at the Four Seasons Resort in North Scottsdale. For those who don't know, Four Seasons is probably the most luxurious and high-quality hotel and resort in the world.

Jake and I were just happy to have a night away from work, school and (though we love him) Brody. Then to go even further this place was amazing (pictures to follow). The service you get from the moment you step outside your car door makes you feel like you are someone of importance, rich or famous (good for us no one that worked there knew we were none of those). The hotel is located pretty far away from the "cities" of the valley so the temperature is about 5-10 degrees cooler and the air seemed clearer. Normally I hate desert landscape but flowers were in bloom and all the colors of the desert were beautiful and it smelled so good. We ate some amazing food at the hotel restaurant and also had some room service which made us feel even more pampered. We slept on 600 thread-count sheets and goose-down comforter and pillows. There were huge flat screened TV's in our room with a DVD player. I know this is silly to tell everyone about but when you pushed down to have the toilet flush it would do it three times in a row! Now I realize that is a bit of a waste of water in this day in age but still it was so cool. The bathroom was gorgeous and though it was one of those bathrooms that you picture would be wonderful to have everyday the brief time in which we used it again, we felt spoiled. We walked around the hotel and enjoyed the wonderful weather during this time of year and the amazing scenery around the hotel. It was nice to not have to wake up so early - to me a true treat is sleeping in and even more so not having to rush and get to some place. Then to top everything off as we left we were given for free two bottles of water and two huge cookies (chocolate chip and macadamian nut)!

After everything was said and done it was wonderful Jake and I were grateful just for the experience and pampering. If we ever are able to afford to stay at that hotel again it probably won't be for years and years (standard room is $565 per night during the peak season which is right now).

Jake and I rarely get away and its been a while since it has been just the two of us for an overnight. It was so nice just to be with each other, talk, relax and not think about the more stressful things in life.

FYI - I was totally absent-minded and forgot a camera but I was able get these pictures off the Internet.

This is an excellent picture to show how the hotel looks. That little mountain is right by the lobby and the rooms are referred to as casitas. It felt so very private and exclusive!

As you walk around the hotel there are parts where if you look out this is what the view looks like!

This is a picture of one of their rooms. Our view from our room wasn't like the one in this picture and the bed was in a different place but it looks a lot like this picture and our room did have a fire place that, at a push of a button, would turn on the gas fire!

This is a picture of the Crescent Moon Restaurant. It is the hotel's casual dining (though you wouldn't think it was that way)!!

This is a view of the hotel from the pool area (it is such a large area with an adult only area and a place for families with children). You could go sit down a one of their huge pool chairs and you get service like you do at a restaurant!

Ivy Sunshine Smith!

Our friends Amber and Chad had a beautiful baby girl on March 30th. Since my Mom and sisters couldn't make it to Amber's shower we stopped by to see the new arrival. Ivy is lucky enough to have a big sister, Brooklyn, to help out and have fun with. We are so happy for their family. A new baby is always a wonder and a joy (not to mention life-changing)! Here are some pictures.

This picture is a little out of focus but she still looks precious

Mommy and baby, nothing more lovely!

The two beautiful girls and the Mom who doesn't even look like she had a baby!!

Poor little Ivy is so tired from eating - its a hard life!

I am trying to be better about not putting myself down about my weight so I am including a picture of myself (no further comment)

The day we've been waiting for is almost here!

I wanted to update everyone about a big event that is about to happen in our family. No its not baby #2 - its an event that has been in the works much longer - JAKE IS GRADUATING next month with a bachelor's degree in Business Management. Jake gave his last presentation on Thursday night. He has a couple things left to do in a couple classes but he is pretty much done by the first couple days of May.

I have been telling everyone that I feel that I am graduating as well. Now I FULLY realize that I did not do any of the work and I don't have even a small amount of the abundance of knowledge Jake has learned in his classes over the years. But being a wife of a college student you hear about classmates and teachers, you hear about class projects and help edit papers and more. Like college students you constantly fantasize about what it would be like after graduation. Also, as we are experiencing currently, whats its like to search for jobs and interview and such.

Anyway enough about making Jake's graduation all about me (I can say this because Jake never reads this blog)!!

Jake has worked for about 5 years to get this degree (he thinks it more but if you round the number it has been about that long). Plus, unless college is paid for by an outside source or there are scholarships, I personally think that people don't get a bachelor's degree in 4 years anymore. Jake has worked so hard to accomplish this and for anyone who has gotten a degree I am sure you would agree, its a big deal. Unlike a job, working hard at school does not get any monetary rewards until after graduation, therefore I think students have to have a lot of determination, motivation and dedication to finish.

I have so much more to say and brag about Jake getting this degree and how brilliant and wonderful he is but I guess I will save that for the post I write for the actual day of his graduation (that way I can include great pictures with the cap and gown and all)! I just wanted to give an update!!

Brody pictures

Here are some recent pics I took of Brody just being himself. He is 22 months so just a couple months away from 2 years old! He is just a fun little kid and so wants to be his own person and do his own thing. But at the same time he is such a Mama's boy and his attached to my hip. He loves being outside so most of these pictures are of him outside.

Brody is a skinny boy - especially when you look at him from the back

But he still has a bit of a tummy. I love his gut!

You can still sort of see his gut stick out from the front view (this is rare that he is looking at the camera!)

I love this face he makes, its like he wants to say, "uh, what you doing"

Sittin' back in his chair

I took this picture to capture Brody's red cheeks that he constantly gets and also to show his sweet little face!

As you can tell from all the pictures of Brody all over this blog - I am obsessed with my little boy. I love Brody so much and he is my world!

Brody did a bad thing!

You know how some babies and toddler go through a phase where they get into their diaper and either take it off or play with whats inside? If you do I hope you are one of those people who have only heard stories and not experienced it first-hand. I have heard in some of these stories that sometimes the children will try to take off their clothes as well. For both of these, before today, Brody has done neither. He almost never messes with his clothes or tries to take them off. Also Brody very rarely plays with his diaper and NEVER played with whats inside. There is the occasion when I have his clothes off and he is just in his diaper and he will start to mess with the sides a little bit.

So today Brody did something that he has NEVER done before. He was watching Dora the Explorer and I noticed he was pushing, grunting and he was red in the face and I guessed he probably pooped. I finished what I was doing, which really probably only took a minute maybe two, then I got the stuff out to change him (wipes, powder, changing pad, diaper and all). While I am doing this I notice Brody is licking his fingers. I know I didn't give him any food. I then just shrugged it off and assumed he found a crumb on the floor or something. When I laid him down to change him I looked at what was on both of his hands and around his mouth --- POOP!!! My son was eating his poop. Now from the looks of his hands he didn't have that much so he probably couldn't have eaten that much off of it BUT STILL, EATING ANY POOP IS BAD. I was so mad, I mean he had his shirt and his sweats on still but he must have reached down with his little hands and at least touched enough to get on his hands. Then Brody must have proceeded to think that he would eat what was on his hand, even though just five or ten minutes earlier I offered him a banana and yogurt!

I know that this happens and I know that it is pointless to be mad but it was so unexpected. Brody has never come close to doing anything like this before. Now I am paranoid and want to go back to dressing him in onesies as much as possible because I am sure it would be extremely difficult for him to get his hands in his diaper if he is dressed in a onesie.

So that was my interesting incident from today. If nothing else being a mom keeps you on your toes and there is always new things happening!!

favorite pictures and important pictures

I love pictures and more importantly I love that pictures can express whats important to us or what we like. For example, the pictures I put on the side of my blog. I have pictures of my friend Brooke performing on American Idol. I have a cute picture of Brody pointing to the sky. I put pictures of bands Jake and I love. I included places Jake and I have been too. I also made sure to include a picture of the last Harry Potter book. So I decide to post favorite pictures of mine. One captures a period of my life. Some are of the people that are important to me and some are just pictures that I like! They are not really in order.

A picture of my family we took in December of 2006 just a couple months before my brother came back from his mission. I love this picture because not only does it include my whole family (except my lil' bro) but because it includes recent and big additions to the family (The Lewis family don't take family pictures very often). My sister Jada married her husband Jarom in Aug 2005 and they had a baby girl, Eva in Aug 2006. Also my other sister Kinsey just about a month after this picture was taken married Jordan. And of course Jake and Brody are additions to the family - Brody obviously a recent addition.

This is a picture of Jake's family. This is the Miller family as of December 2005. Unlike the last picture, this picture captures the past of the Miller family since so much has happened since this picture was taken. Biggest change and most difficult is the loss of the father of this family, Cliff Miller. But also some happier changes has been the addition of two grandchildren. Sarah and Jared welcomed Evan in Nov 2006. In this picture I am about 3 months pregnant with Brody and he arrived in June 2006.

I don't have lots of friends and never really have. Throughout my life I usually only have a couple close friends. Starting in Jr High these beautiful girls in the picture above saved me from the abyss of no social life and not only no social life but no fun social life. Several years ago these girls were my life. I lived with them and spent all my time with them and talked with them for hours a day. Times have changed and we have all since married and had children and have less time to devote to each other. That's life and I am happy we have all found wonderful husbands and have cute children. But when we get together again or talk its like old times but we are just talking about poopy diapers! This picture was taken of the girls while they were waiting for me when I was getting my wedding pictures taken at the temple the day before Jake and I got married in December 2003.

This picture is of the most adorable golden retriever that Jake and I bought for my birthday in February 2005. His name was Topher. It was a lesson learned by Jake and I that when people are working and not at home very often they should not buy a puppy. We loved him very much and in the end we found a very loving couple who were great with him and were able to train him and give him the time and attention he needed. I love dogs so much so it was a bit heart-breaking for me (I know that might sound crazy to some). It was a situation that Jake and I learned a lot from. Think decisions through, even ones that don't seem that big of a deal!

This is a picture I took of my desk a week before I quit working full time. Before having Brody I worked at a place called Rider Hunt Levett & Bailey in Scottsdale. I include this picture because working at Rider Hunt, as silly as it sounds, really helped to form who I am as an adult. I learned endurance, patience, self-control, professionalism, organization, gained knowledge and many other qualities. I had to work with people who were horribly rude to me at times, I gained respect from my managers and I worked with some wonderful and great people. I made lots of friends who I dearly miss. I worked there for five years and considering my age I feel like it was quite an accomplishment. So this picture is a tribute to those years!

This is one of the few pictures that I don't mind how I look and I like how Jake and I look together. It is from December of 2005 (man a lot of these pictures are from 2005). Jake and I are about to go out for our 2nd year wedding anniversary. So I like the picture and how we look (which is rare that I feel that way about pictures I am in) and I like the occasion we are celebrating!
In this picture Brody is not yet a day old. Brody is giving us the one eye look. It's almost like he is looking out of one eye to see if he cares enough about what he is seeing to open both his eyes.
Brody is around 7 months old in this picture. I am on the couch making sure Brody doesn't fall and his Aunt Becky is playing peek-a-boo down the hall. She was able to capture his adorable and cute face. I love it because it is a reminder that Brody is a very happy child (aside from ear infections and teething pain and such).
This is one of my most favorite pictures of Brody. He is about 6 months old in the picture. We are getting ready to celebrate New Years with Jake's family. Not only is Brody wearing an extremely adorable onesie (thank you Auntie Amber) but his facial expression is priceless!

So those are some of my favorite pictures capturing great memories and showing some of my favorite people who are so important to me.

Brody and his ear infections!

I just wanted to vent about a frustrating aspect of parenting - when your child is sick!! It sucks for so many reasons. Firstly, the compassionate side of you just feels so badly that they are miserable. Brody's eyes are bloodshot and his cheeks are red. His nose doesn't stop running and is so stuffy that he has to breath totally through his mouth. The other frustrating part of when your young child is sick is (now maybe not all kids are like this but Brody is) he feels so lousy but can't communicate it and doesn't know what to do so he just has a couple points throughout the day that he just whines and cries and stumbles throughout the house. I go to him and try to do all I can to cheer him up - I read to him, put a video on, put toys in front him, have him play outside and NOTHING helps.

As an adult we all just handle being sick so differently. Most of the time, if we can have a good sick day, we try to sleep through the illness. Well I think Brody is so miserable that falling asleep takes a while and sometimes the pain wakes him up in the middle of the night. Also to add a cheer on top to all this suffering, Brody is also teething so he is drooling so much and both his hands are in his mouth all the time (doesn't that just help spread the illness).

All this is thanks to Brody's daddy, he was the one that has brought the ear infection genes to this little boy. According to Jake and his Mom, Jake had a lot of ear infections growing up. No one in my family ever really had ear infections so this is all really new to me. Brody is just one of those children who are prone to ear infections and 9 times out of 10 even a little cold will go to his ears! Since Brody was born (so almost two years) he has had 6 or 7 ear infections and that isn't even enough to warrant tubes in his ears, I can't imagine how miserable it would be for Brody to have more.

I don't want anyone to think Brody is experiencing a really bad ear infection at this moment. Actually right now Brody is having a mild one. But the whole thing just reminded me how frustrated I get as a parent that when my child is in pain I can't really do much to relieve his misery.

These pictures are actually from Sept of 07 it was the sickest Brody has been so far. I didn't get a picture from this week when he looked bad.