Nursery

Anyone willing to help me out? I am having a really hard time deciding which direction to go for my girl's "nursery" (or space rather, as we live in a 1 bedroom condo!) I have put together these inspiration boards thinking they might help me make a decision. Unfortunately, I feel like it has made me fall more  in love with all 3 looks.

What do you think?

HELP!!! Please tell me which you like best and why. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Ma Belle Evangeline

Check out this beautiful video my brother Chaz created for Justine Green, who is a darling "Professional Princess" and is licensed with Disney to portray Disney Princesses. Justine does children's parties and Chaz helping her create a new web series.

He video taped her in front of a green screen, created the animated world for her background, recorded her singing while he played the guitar, and edited it all together. Talk about being multi-talented!

Here, she is portraying Ariel but is singing "Ma Belle Evangeline" from Disney's Princess and the Frog. What a great collaboration between 2 very impressive young people!

To see more videos, get great ideas for throwing little girl princess parties, or learn how to schedule Princess Amerah for a party check out her website and YouTube page!

Our Sweet Puppy

One week ago today, Saturday June 9 around 2:00pm our Matilda left us suddenly. She spent the day doing what she loved, lounging in the sun and chasing the birds at the Heywood’s home. As she and I left to pick up Mason, she decided to chase a truck and unfortunately got caught under the back tire. She only made it a few feet on her journey back to me before collapsing in the road. Her poor sweet body convulsed briefly and then lay limp. As I picked her up and got her in the car, I think she was breathing, but before I reachedthe animal hospital less than 5 minutes away, she had stopped and she was lifeless.

I called Mason on my way to the hospital, and he raced to meet me. Of course, he arrived to find her dead on the seat of my car.

My parents were kind enough to let us bury her in their backyard. They loved her and she adored them. She would be so excited when she realized we were headed to their home. She received so much love and attention when she arrived and loved having space to run, windows to look out of, plush couch cushions to snuggle up on, and chickens to tease. Therefore it seemed fitting that this should be her final resting place.

When we arrived, my dad and Robert had begun building a special box for her to be placed in. Chaz, had was digging a hole and my mom had picked out a soft blanket to line the box and beautiful linens for her to be wrapped in. I so appreciated their kind efforts and support as I was not handling things very well.

Mason and I were able to spend a few moments with her as she lay in her casket and then we all said a family prayer together. The lid was screwed on and she was lowered to her final resting place. My mom and dad suggested we get some nice plants to commemorate her so the four of us left while my sweet brothers completed the burial.

We selected a beautiful purple spotted foxglove plant and some lower delicate white flowers. Both of which are perennials so that they might return year after year and remind us of our precious puppy buried there.

I am so grateful to have the wonderfully supportive family I do who rallied around us in our time of need.

To our sweet Matilda,

Your unplanned arrival  into our lives, blessed us more than we ever could have imagined. What started off as a foster situation to help out a friend quickly turned into a love affair.

To us, you were more than just a dog, you were our baby. After 4 years of struggling with infertility, you came into our lives and gave us purpose. You gave us something to love, nurture, and care for. In return we also felt your love, attachment and trust in us grow.

We became each other’s therapy.

Slowly, we watched you turn from a scared defensive dog who would snap at anyone who came near you (especially children) to an animal who loved people and was learning to be tolerant of little ones. We were so proud of your progress!

The consistency of routine, security, and love blessed all of our lives.

The joy you brought spread far beyond the reaches of our small little home as everyone who met you fell in love with you. We had people stop and talk to us about you all the time telling us how pretty you were, asking what kind of a dog you were, and if you happened to have any brothers or sisters. We were proud parents of our pretty puppy.

Our families lit up when you entered the room. You would make your grand entrance running laps as if to say “look everyone, I’m here!” My parents and brothers doted on you and were always competing for your attention and your snuggles. The nieces and nephews loved when you came to play and would chase you around yelling, “Tilda!” “Tilda!”  Asking “where’s ‘tilda?” and you even helped the babies learn to crawl as they would want to chase you. It always warmed our hearts though when you would come running to us knowing we would provide you protection when it became too much.

Your presence will be sorely missed! I find comfort in picturing my twin baby girls welcoming you back to heaven with open arms, playing with you, and holding you, knowing that we might all be back together again some day.

We love you! 

Our Announcement

I got a call from my doctor early on May 29, saying she got the results of my genetic lab work back and something wasn't right. She scheduled an appointment for me to go to the hospital that day and have an emergency ultrasound. She told me my baby was at risk for a few things most likely being spina bifida and early placental aging (or placenta calcification). "Or," she said, "it could be nothing, so we just need to get you checked out."

Well even though she said it could be nothing, I started to panic. My mind was racing with questions about what all this would mean for my pregnancy and my baby. With my emotions raging I begged Mason to come with me. Saying "I can't do this alone!" My sweet husband assured me he would be right there by my side as we were in this together.

I went to work, but couldn't concentrate. I researched and resarched about what Spina Bifida and premature placental aging are. I created my list of questions as they applied to each of these situations and braced myself for what was to come.

As we sat with our hands intertwined and trembling together I said to Mason, "I am so so sorry I am not able to give you a normal healthy family," as my heart was once again broken with our challenges. But we discussed that it didn't matter what the issue was, it wouldn't change our situation. We would love this baby with all our hearts and make the best of whatever challenges our little family would have to face.

I was so glad he was with me, as we not only were going to find out the fate of our baby but also the sex. We had been waiting for this day for years. Waiting to see if we would have a boy or girl first regardless of whether or not they would be completely healthy and normal, there was still the excitement and anticipation of finding out which type of spirit would soon be blessing our home.

Here is how we told our parents the news...

(Please forgive my extremely poor recording skills. One day I will learn how to do this better!)

Announcing to the Heywoods

Announcing to the Walgamotts

Obviously, the reason our levels were so skewed was because there were 2 babies, 2 sacks, 2 placentas and once they ran the tests again (indicating that there were 2 babies and not just 1) and studied the spines in the ultrasound, they shared the good news that both babies were healthy and that my hormone levels were perfectly normal.

Why my doctor didn't mention that twins could be one of the possiblities, I don't know, but we will take it! As I said before, we knew that whatever challenge was presented to us that we would face it head on. These results were definitely different than what we expected but it is such an amazing blessing and challenge that we could not be more grateful! 

We have recieved such love and support from our family and friends. Not only do we feel blessed to be welcoming twin girls to our home, but also by all the love that is already around us. Thank you all!

Have you seen this?

Wow! Mason and I are totally diggin' this cover of LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It"

Noah Guthrie..you've got talent!

USU Jazz Weekend

Mason was in charge of Valentines day this year, and as always he did a fabulous job! As the holiday fell in the middle of the week we decided to wait for the weekend and make it "an experience." I knew we were slipping away to Logan, just to get away, but I didn't know what all he had planned.

First we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants on the way up:

Maddox! That would have been thrilling in itself, but it just kept getting better!

Then we checked in at the University Inn where the attendant spilled the beans as she gave us the room key, tickets to Jazz night, and for our special breakfast. While I didn't what all that entailed, I got really excited!

It was lovely to get to spend some time reminiscing about when we lived in Logan during our first 6 months of marriage and we hit all our favorite hot spots.

Mason also has 2 cousins living up there so we made arrangements to spend time with them and ended up helping one of them move into their beautiful new home and meeting their new little baby! It was so much fun!

Then came time for Jazz night. Even though he didn't tell me what we were doing, Mason had suggested I bring my cocktail dress, "just in case." I was so glad I did!


The evening started with swing dance lessons

We were treated to yummy Italian Cream Soda's and an amazing gourmet menu...

The Bands were great and played some of our favorite Jazz songs as well as introduced us to a few new ones.

Check out the great band stands. 

I am so lucky to be married to a man who likes to dance and appreciates all types of music. We had such a ball and I felt very spoiled. It was a wonderful way to get away and celebrate our love for one another. Love you Mason!

Oscars 2012

(I can hardly believe its been so long since I posted. I am so behind! Hopefully I can play a little catch up here. )

This year's Oscar party was the best yet! We had nearly 30 people crammed in my parent's front room. My dad got risers from the theater to create stadium seating of sorts, so almost everyone had a place to sit. It was so smart and made it extra special. Pictures were snapped by the papparazzi as each guest walked the red carpet and they stopped by the popcorn stand to set the mood for the movie clips to come.




Rob and Steph dressed for the occassion



Chaz and his cute girlfriend, Annie




Dressed representing their favorites: "Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" and "My Week with Marilyn"



The food was also amazing as we had a competition to see who could bring the best dish to represent one of the "best picture" nominees. The winners were: the soft pretzel wrapped hotdogs for "Money Ball" and Chocolate Pie as per "The Help" I can't believe I didn't take more pictures!



The award winning Chocolate Pies. They were amazing!



Did you have a favorite dress? Surprisingly, my favorite dress of the night was worn by a woman whose name I didn't even know, but I do now...Louise Roe. She was one of the hosts and everytime she was doing an interview I found myself studying her dress more than the celebrity's.

 

I love the juxtaposition of the structured top with the ultra feminine dusty rose color, the peplum, and layer skirt. Not to mention that elegent belt tying it all in nicely together...and sleeves! (Thank you Princess Kate for reigniting that trend)

My other favorites include:
Jessica Chastain

Octavia Spencer

Viola Davis

Emma Stone (maybe I just like The Help!)

Gwenyth Paltrow

To be honest, I was a little diappointed there wasn't more color this year. It seems we have seen the neutrals, metallics, and dusty tones a lot in the past couple years, so I thought this year was going to blow it all out of the water with color! I guess it a way, all the white did make it seem a little different, but I think I must be ready for spring and some more color to hit my world.