Sunday, March 30, 2008

Toys, Books and Babysitting

It was another beautiful week in Arizona. This time of year and October are my favorite in Arizona since it's usually great weather in the 80's. Although now that we are about to start April - I know the temperature is just going to get hotter and I wonder what I'm doing living here!

Ellie has enjoyed playing with this new Easter present from Grandpa White. It's the Busy Ball Popper and it provides hours of enjoyment. It plays music and the balls shoot out in time to the music. Of course it came with 5 balls and we're down to 3 already! I've been doing some spring cleaning this week and thought for sure that the missing balls would show up but no such luck. I did find out that you can get a new set of 5 balls for only $4 (including shipping). I might need to order a few back ups since we've only had this toy a week!


Anyone else have a problem with their children EATING board books? We kind of skipped this stage earlier but for the last couple of weeks instead of wanting her board books read, she would rather bite off parts of the book spine. . . You can tell by her chubby cheeks that we do feed the child so I'm not sure what the deal is. But any ideas?! Other than taping up all the spines since she is ruining them all - I'm not sure what to do. She still loves books and reading but now I don't want to leave books out because they are eaten.

We babysit my nephew Steven and my neice Shar for the afternoon one day this week (Rob's sister Brett's youngest children). Steven is almost 3 and Shar is 3 months. Ellie was very sweet with Shar when they were first there. I had Shar laying on a blanket and Ellie kept staring at her and giving her kisses. Well, after Ellie woke up from her nap . . . she was NOT happy at all that Shar was still there and didn't want me to have anything to do with her. It was a good birth control reminder for me! I love babies but am definitely not ready for my next one anytime soon.



Rob finished painting the front of the house yesterday and I love our new color. I don't want to post any pictures yet since we still need to pick out a trim paint color and paint the shutters and the trim so it doesn't look good yet! Hopefully next week we will have a more finished product to show.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Weekend

Easter snuck up on me this year with it being in March but it really made it feel like spring was really here! We had a beautiful sunny weekend that was wonderful and we were able to spend a lot of time outside enjoying it. It's hard for me to believe that a year ago on Easter Sunday we were blessing little Eliza. Where did the time go?

We started off on Saturday trying to paint the outside of our house. But due to some problems with the paint sprayer . .. we are going to have a funny looking house until next Saturday when we attempt the project again. We'll be the ghetto house on our street for a little bit but give us a few weeks and there will hopefully be some good pictures to post. On the positive side - my in-laws came over to help with our problem with the paint sprayer machine and my mother-in-law was nice enough to weed my flower bed that runs along the front of the house and trim my roses for me. As you know - that is a task I detest! It's nice to be able to see some of my plants again.

Sunday morning Ellie got her Easter basket along with a couple books and a new dress. She most enjoyed the plastic eggs. My dad sent her a cute stuffed bunny and a stuffed animal puppy that she has been carrying around and even took to bed last night with her.


We had Easter dinner over at Rob's parents house and took a picture with all of Ellie's cousins. Only Davis is missing! Lots of cousins on this side of the family which makes up for none of mine (no one else is even married on my side).

The kids went on an Easter egg hunt which Ellie didn't really get the concept of but held onto her two eggs that we gave her.



We had a wonderful dinner.After dinner the men played Boccie ball and the kids ran around and played with bubbles for a while. I tried to capture the expression on Ellie's face because she thinks she can blow bubbles!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Dobson Ranch Park





Almost a weekly activity in our house is going to the Dobson Ranch Library and then walking over to the park. The park is great since it has a separate little kids area and of course the little lake with lots of friendly ducks that we like to go and feed. This week we met up with Christina and Elaya at the park and Christina captured some cute pictures for us!

Ellie has been up to her usual amount of trouble. It started off when I was cleaning her bedroom and had moved her crib which gave her access to a new area. I had a candle warmer turned on but completely out of reach. Well, she somehow managed to pull that down and get wax all over herself, me, Roxy (our dog), and the floor! Thankfully the candle wax was warm so no one was hurt - it just left a HUGE mess. It was almost like getting a parrafin wax on my hands and feet - ha ha. We have wood floors in her room so I just had to scrape all the wax off. Roxy had to endure a 30 minute scrub down to get all the wax out of her fur. And our clothes went through a couple rounds of the wash (that new Tide seriously works wonders!!).

She has also decided to try and scare me a little bit by attempting to climb out of her crib a few times this week. I'm amazed at how high up she can streth those little legs. We already have the crib on a really low setting but I think we are going to have to lower it to the toddler crib setting! Ellie got her leg stuck for a little while when she attempted her acrobatics - still didn't learn her lesson though since she keeps on trying! Sometimes she has no fear.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

All About Rob

I was tagged a while ago to do this post and finally got around to finishing it. Not sure why some of these pictures turned out soo tiny ... sorry!

What is his name? Robert Andrew Bodine

How long did you date? Technically only 6 weeks. We met July 25, 2004 and went on our first date the following week (after a couple times of hanging out) and we were engaged on September 18, 2004. Of that time - we didn't talk for a week since I was on a cruise with my family. We were married a little over 3 months later on December 30th, 2004.

Picture from the first couple of weeks of dating


Who eats more sweets? Definitely me! Rob doesn't have a sweet tooth (unless it's for sugary cheap candy) and so I have to give away or throw away a lot of treats or I will eat them all.

Who is taller? Rob. He is 5'9-10 and I'm 5'3.

Who is the better singer? I would have to say me since I have a little more training through singing in choirs growing up. But I wouldn't say this is either of our strong points! Although we can both belt it out during Rock Band.

Who does the laundry? I do. I've seen Rob do it a few times - but he doesn't fold and I have to have things hung and folded at some point!

Who pays the bills? He makes the money - I pay the bills. It's a team effort.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Rob does. I hate sleeping on the side closest to the window . ..

Who mows the lawn? I wish we had a backyard lawn to mow but it's weeds and dirt right now! We put in desert landscaping in the front to avoid the mowing.

Who cooks dinner? Anyway who knows Rob already knows that he does not cook.

Who drives when you're together? Rob. Unless he is really sick of driving and then I will.

Who is more stubborn? I am very stubborn but Rob can hold his own when he wants to.


Who kissed who first? Rob kissed me. After he spent hours fixing the broken water in my house and getting completely soaked in the process. I felt like he deserved a kiss. :)



Who asked who out? After a couple of nights of some group hangouts (where I had no idea he was even interested), Rob invited Nicole and I to go to the lake with him and his roommates. We hung out with them that night and then he asked me out on a real date the next week.

Who proposed? Rob proposed and completely surprised me. I knew he had ordered a ring but everyone (including Rob and my friends) had me convinced it wasn't ready. Nicole and Jen helped him set up the site at the Desert Botanical Gardens at a lookout point with a couple dozen red roses with the ring box nestled in them. He was rushing me to get to this spot in the garden before it started raining and I was annoyed that we were going so fast - until we finally reached the spot and I saw the roses and he got down on his knee.

Who is more sensitive? I am.

Who has more siblings? I do - I have 4 brothers. Rob has 2 sisters and a brother.

Who wears the pants? I think we take turns!

Monday, March 17, 2008

New Laundry Favorite - Tide with Dawn StainScrubbers


Many of you know that I love cleaning products but for laundry products - I usually stick to Tide and don't venture too far away from that brand. So, I was excited to try a sample of the NEW Tide with Dawn StainScrubbers. I was a little confused at first because Dawn is normally for dishwashers! But the Dawn StainScrubbers is an extra way to pre-treat your clothes with stains on them. What a great invention for those of us with kids (since I know Ellie always manages to get stains on her clothes no matter what bib I put on her). I tried it out tonight with a pair of pants that had a grease stain on them (along with some of Ellie's stained clothes) and it worked great without me even having to put Spray N Wash on them. Anyway - just thought I would pass along a new great product.

P.S. I know for sure Wal-mart is carrying this particular version if you are looking for it!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Zoo Fun

Ellie and I took our first real trip to the zoo this week! (I don't count Zoolights since we couldn't see any animals then). I realize that Ellie is not quite ready for me to take her to the zoo regularly! She had fun - but I think that is more because of watching people and seeing her little friends than the animals! And it made me realize how different the Arizona zoo is from the one I grew up with. Pt Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, WA had polar bears, penguins, etc. I guess I had never thought about how a different climate changes what you have at your local zoo!

We met up with my friends Rachael (and her little boy Jace), Nicole (and her little girls Shayli and Lexa) and Amy (and her little boy Wyatt). Wyatt and Ellie are 8 days apart or something (they had the same due date) and Jace is 6 weeks older than Ellie. It's really fun to see how they interact! And then Nicole's little girls are just too cute - every time you look at Lexa she smiles at you. She spent most of the time in the stroller so we didn't get any pictures with her though.

Picture taking is always fun with active kids but we managed to catch a couple of cute ones on our lunch break.

Wyatt, Jace, Ellie & Shayli


And they are off again!



Overall it was a great day. A perfect sunny day in March in Arizona and a chance to get outside and spend time with good friends. What more can I ask for?
Can't resist the big gorilla

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Beautiful Lengths

Last year I was watching Oprah (which I rarely watch) and saw Hilary Swank chop off her hair for the Beautiful Lengths campaign. It's sponsored by Pantene and takes donated hair and makes it into wigs for cancer victims. I've always thought about donating my hair for cancer wigs but found out that Locks of Love (the most well known cancer wig donation company) sells a lot of the hair that is donated to them. Which made me pretty mad. I was excited to find another company that does use all of their donated hair to make wigs and doesn't sell it! Plus - Beautiful Lengths only needs a minimum of 8 inches. It takes 6 ponytails of hair to make one wig. So I encourage you to grow it out and donate!! Check out www.beautifullengths.com for more details.

Next month is coming up on the 3 year anniversary of my mom's passing away from cancer. I can still remember going with her to try on different wigs and what an emotional experience that was for both of us. Although she had a great attitude about it - I know how hard it was for her to have to shave her head and lose her eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. I feel like cutting my hair and donating it is the least I can do to help someone else feel a little more normal through that difficult time.

It was time for a haircut anyway so I figured now was as good as of a time as any to make the cut! Below is the result. I ended up cutting 10 inches to donate and then another couple after that for the cut. I'm not in love with the cut yet (it will take some getting used to) but it does feel a lot lighter and I feel good that I was able to do a little something in honor of my mom.



Friday, March 07, 2008

Spring Training

I missed going to any Spring Training games last year since Ellie was just way too young to be going out in public. But I wasn't going to let that happen this year! I looked at the schedules in January and noticed that on a Friday afternoon, the Mariners were going to be playing the Chicago Cubs in Mesa at Hohokam Park. PERFECT since we live maybe 5 minutes from that stadium! So I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale for the lawn section (I knew Ellie couldn't handle a regular seat).

Rob was able to take the afternoon off so we could have a nice little family afternoon at the ballpark. It was a really crowded day with tons of Cubs fans but we were able to eat lunch, sit on the grass for a few innings, walk around and enjoy the beautiful sunny day. Of course Ellie didn't last that long but she did pretty well. Next year I will remember to bring sunglasses and a hat for Ellie.



Thursday, March 06, 2008

I think we are finally back to healthy at our house! Well, I guess not completely since Rob did have to visit the Urgent Care this week for a hairline fracture in his foot. . .. But - fevers are gone. And runny noses have stopped for the most part. And sleeping has resumed. So all in all - I am a much happier person!

Ellie has been back up to doing her crazy things! She found balloons in the house that we still had leftover from her birthday party and for hours walked around holding onto them. Even took them with her to eat! She loved them.

She's also really into saying "hi" to everyone and waving - only she has this cute little pagaeant wave. I got it on my camera phone but I'll have to try and get it with the video camera. It's so funny.

And showing off her teeth! We are now up to two on the top (with a cute little gap inbetween) and two on the bottom.



Walking outside is another favorite activity. Since our backyard is not done - walking outside is usually done in our front driveway and sidewalk area. Ellie loves to walk up and down the driveway and along the sidewalk but I have to pay close attention because she also loves to try and eat our red rocks. I think the backyard has moved up on the list of projects for our house! I want some grass.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Think Again

I naively thought we were past the sickness stage with Ellie after her flu bout last week. I'm very blessed to have a normally healthy baby! The flu was her first REAL sickness and she was over a year old. Well, Friday night I noticed that she had a little bit of a fever of 100 but she wasn't acting sick at all. I gave her some medicine and she slept through the night and woke up with a similar fever. Saturday she was her crazy busy self until the middle of the afternoon when we noticed that she just wanted to sit and be held and her fever had spiked to 104.6 (only a couple hours after I had given her medicine)! Even knowing that high fevers aren't really that big of a deal and are the bodies way of fighting infections - it was still scary to see it go that high that fast. The on-call doctor at my pediatricians office suggested we take her to urgent care just in case since she didn't really have any other symptoms and he was concerned it might be a bladder infection.

We tried out the new Phoenix Children's Urgent Care that just opened in the East Valley and we loved it! It's very bright and colorful with very friendly staff. Now - I hope I don't have to visit very often but all things considering, we were glad we could take her there instead of a regular urgent care. Her fever was still really high when we got there and the doctor checked her out and decided he better get a urine test, blood test, and x-rays done. I had no idea how strong Ellie was until we had to hold her down for the blood to be drawn and for her x-rays! It was so sad. I'm glad Rob was there with me or I probably would have been crying the whole time. They concluded that more than likely Ellie has another viral infection that just needs to run its course but they will know a little more on Monday when the blood culture is tested. They gave her an antibiotic shot just in case to hold her over until Monday. So 2 1/2 hours later - we were finally able to go home!

Ellie woke up ready to go this morning and after some more medicine this morning - she is down to a regular temperature and you wouldn't think she was sick. So not sure what was going on yesterday but it gave us quite a scare! I think we'll still lay low for few days just to make sure. Too many nasty things going around right now! Although this 80 degree temperature in Arizona is making it really hard to want to stay inside. . .

*Update on Monday morning: Well, we're not through with it yet! Her temperature was all over the place on Sunday - from not having one at all to well above 100 again. I woke up in the middle of the night to her whimpering in her bed to find that she was around 103 and shivering like crazy. So sad! Hopefully whatever she has goes away soon.