Sadie's favorite things

Sadie enjoys many activities. Lately she has loved throwing rocks in the water whenever there is any body of water near by. We went to Old Town Alexandria and threw rocks into the Potomac River. Sadie thought that was pretty awesome.
We also love squirrel hunting. They are especially friendly in the park by the White House. They came right up to her and she fed them some of her granola bar. Lucky squirrels.

Sadie is really growing up!! She brushes her teeth by herself and can play on the playground with out any help. She LOVES the slides and will often specify which one she wants to play on (twisty slide or tube slide). Whenever she is having a bratty day (which is often with four new teeth coming in) I stick her in the bath to calm her (and myself) down. She could sit in the bath forever. She loves Nemo and plays with her Nemo and Dude (crush the turtle) toys saying "righteous..righteous" whenever the turtle slide down the side of the tub. She's hilarious!! Righteous is her new favorite word. She'll scream it while running down the hall way or when I go in to her room to get her int he morning. Another one of my favorite things is because of my nickname she hears Chase call me all the time, Sadie has been calling me Toots. Out of the blue I'll hear a "hi toots" and it totally cracks me up.

Potty Time!!!

For a couple of weeks Sadie has been a "little" interested in the potty. She saw her friend Lizzie use one and was fascinated from that moment on. Thanks Lizzie for being such a great example!! I of course jumped the gun and bought a potty, big kid pants, and books to help her along the potty training path. She LOVES sitting on the potty but has never actually "used" it until tonight. We just got back from a little get together and because of the late hour we rushed her through teeth brushing and diaper changing. She was insistent upon sitting on her potty even though we wanted to just put her to bed. But she asked us to take her diaper off and she sat on her potty. About 5 minutes later after she ran all over the house naked (on her tippy toes I might add) Chase noticed that there was a little pee in the toilet. How stupid are we to not notice her first time using the potty? We finally acknowledged her accomplishment and gave her a big "hip hip hooray" accompanied with a most coveted gummy bear. Hopefully we weren't too late to correlate the two acts (that being the potty and the gummy bear.) I'm just glad Chase noticed. I won't post pictures for this one seeing Sadie (and we) like to keep these things somewhat private. But good job Sadie Lady for using the potty for the first time!!!

CHASE!!!

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   Lets give Chase a big round of applause for his first blog entry. I never thought I would see the day. I often tell him that it would be nice for him to record a few things seeing that all of our blog entries are in my point of view. How sweet of him to write so many nice things about Sadie and me. Now it's my turn. Here are ten reasons why I think Chase is top notch.
   1. If I am ever in a negative mood he can always turn everything I say around with a positive reply.
   2. He is THE best dad to our little Sadie Lady and they have so much fun together.
   3. He hides the fact that he drinks coke behind my back (even though we've agreed that we both won't drink soft drinks anymore...and has even hidden cans of the poison in our closet).
   4. When I think he's studying I'll look over his back and find ESPN on the screen. He always has to check the latest scores and stats.
   5. Every time he sees anyone wearing a red sox hat, shirt or sticker on their car, he has to acknowledge them and give them a "word up", honk, or an occasional scream out the window..."go sox."
   6. He loves fruit loops more than any kid you will ever know.
   7. Even when I'm half asleep he'll whip out our scriptures and read ten verses to me.
   8. He doesn't ever seek revenge when I throw cold water on him while he's showering.
   9. He is always the last person at any event because he can talk any one's head off. He's also the person you can take anywhere and is bound to run into someone he knows.
   10. He will watch Americas Next Top Model with me makes sure it's "DVRed" so he doesn't miss an episode. Sometimes I think he likes it more than I do.
   Bonus. He has hobbit toes, is an IRONMAN, and can fit into my skinny jeans.
   
   

Two Ladies

:::Chase's First Ever Blog:::

Exactly one week after Luv-Day, I wanted to surprise Toots and SadieLadie with a blog reporting the Top Ten Reasons each is the greatest to ever roam planet earth:

TOOTS:
10) She only showers one out of every three to four days, and still looks like a model.

9) She only showers one out of every three to four days, and still smells like a petunia!

8) She can crochet a beanie in less than two hours.

7) She checks out other hot guys (see previous post entitled "Be Still My Beating Heart"), but then always reminds me that I "am way hotter" than any of them.

6) She can make an angel food cake with chocolate frosting just like my mom.

5) She is a classics-lover, from movies to music. Lately she has DVR'd all the oldies-but-goodies-movies being shown on AMC and TCM, and watches them while Sadie naps in the afternoons.

4) Her "walk" is better than any future model on America's Next Top Model. (you should see it, it's FIERCE!)

3) She can play cards with her toes.

2) She tickles my neck more than once a week (as compared to never previously).

1) She is Toots!

SADIELADIE
10) She likes to "shake her sillies out" by dancing all around her room.

9) She eats her oatmeal even though her mom likes to load it up with kale and flaxseed oil and other nutritional additives that make it look like green puke.

8) She makes her mom sing "Little Mermaid", "Jungle Book" and other Disney tunes while driving.

7) Despite all the cute disney characters she knows, including Nemo, Dori, Baloo, Mowgeli, Arial, and all the other princesses, her favorite is "Bruce", the scary, teeth-baring shark from Finding Nemo, and she loves the shark meeting. (Every morning when we enter her room, she immediately yells, "BWUCE, BWUCE, NEMO, NEMO, BWUCE, SHAHK!!!)

6) She can't go to sleep without laughing wildly over the 'caterpillars' who attack her legs and feet while she lays in her crib.

5) She can give "bones", or the rock, and immediately asks to give you "five" afterward.

4) She likes WATCHING ba-keyball, or basketball both live and on t.v. (Oh blessed March Madness will be enjoyable for at least the two of us!)

3) She can say "Manny", "Papi", and "Schilling". (We're still working on "Bucky Freaking Dent" and "Aaron Freaking Boone", as well as "Jeter is a Pretty-Boy.")

2) She can say "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie" in a low and raspy cookie-monster voice.

1) She is the Little Lady.

Be still my heart!!

I just finished watching American Idol and I have my new favorite. I know I'm a married woman but lets just say..."he's not ugly" and he can sing too. Michael Johns, you have my vote.

Piper's Quilts and Comforts

Connie gave me a gift certificate to an adorable yarn and fabric store. I used the credit to learn how to crochet. Seeing that I was in Utah for about 2 months I had a lot of time to learn. Jeanette (the owner) has classes every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. I took every single one of them and look what I learned how to make!! If you live in Utah, you should take these classes. I had so much fun learning a new skill. I only wish I lived there so I could learn how to quilt. Maybe next Christmas.

Discovery Zone

Leslie and I took our girls to the Discovery Zone to play. It was so cool!! Sadie loved everything. I won't go into details but she and lttle Lucy had a great time.

Go utes

We went to a basketball game with Pops and CC. She sat on Pop's lap the whole time and loved watching the "bakaball." In fact she went to a couple of games while we were in Utah and she loved them both. It must be all the action on the court that grabs her attention. She also just loves hanging out with her Pops and CC.

Hogle Zoo

It's been a long time since I've been to Hogle zoo in Utah. They have made so many improvements and I was very impressed by all the new animal exhibits. I was especially amazed by how close you could see the cougars and other cats. Sadie was a little timid at first but after our second visit she warmed up to them. She at first kept saying goodbye to them to let us know she wanted to get as far away from them as possible.

Bi Bi and Bahh

Sadie has always had her binky and her lamb blanket for as long as we can remember. We have officially been through about a dozen of each by misplacements or forgetfulness. We keep several handy because if they weren't around for Sadie in her desperate times of need, life would be grave indeed. She has simplified life by calling them Bi Bi(short for "binky") and Bahh (short for lamb blanket, hence the sound of the lamb). She's even gone as far as shortening it to a simple "biba" when she desires to find these "essentials" as we call them as code so she doesn't know what we're talking about. It isn't so much the lamb attached to the blanket that she likes but more so the tag. She strokes the tag all around her face and sometimes sticks it in her eyes. If you are one of the lucky people in the world who have had the privilege of partaking of a little "tag" then you are also favored by our little lady. Once she warms up to someone, she likes to share "tag" with them and gives them a similar stroke on their face. When in Utah she desperately tried to give our cat Walter some tag from which resulted many bites and hisses. Lately she's been sharing tag with her books, stuffed animals and even a nearby wall. We caught on tape Sadie in a daze with her "Biba" busy at work. The kid is hilarious. I never thought she would ever get so attached to something. As of 10 days ago we have officially implemented the rule that "Biba" is only allowed during nap times and night time. She's been a real trooper about it and amazingly understands. However, right around story time we hear our favorite little sound "bi ba bibi ba ba, bi bi ba ba." She sounds like a regular Hansen groupie.

Hike to the living room

In rain or shine, Dad can always get us into the mountains. He, Emily and I went hiking in the snow up behing the University of Utah to what most natives call the "Living Room." I love being around these guys. We had such a great time. Emily is still nursing her little guy so she called to make sure he wasn't hungry. Cracks me up that she was able to get reception up on top of a mountain.

Two kids!!

My dad is such a wonderful grandpa. Ruby and Sadie are obsessed with him. This is an after thought post seeing the movie was shot on Christmas eve. This is Dad singing one of his "self composed" songs. Here's "Two Kids."

Eating blueberries with Ruby. She is so dainty. Look at her fingers. She usually eats with her pinky finger straight up.

President Hinckley

I've been meaning to post this for a week and now that I've heard the news of President Hinckley's passing I find there isn't a better time. Last Sunday Garden Park Ward (my home ward in SLC) was re-dedicated after a lengthy restoration. I was fortunate enough to be in town and attended with my family. It was an amazing event but very subtle at the same time. President Hinckley attended along with Elder Oaks, and Elder Wirthlin. Garden Park Ward has a great deal of history being the home ward to President Joseph F. Smith, Mirium G. Romney, and Bruce R. McConkie. We were all very pleased to hear that President Hinckley would be attending to re-dedicate the building. I was surprised to see him being pushed in a wheel chair and he looked very frail. His son (our stake President) Clark Hinckley spoke as well as Elder Wirthlin and Oaks. President Hinckley re-dedicated the building with a prayer. He had a difficult time speaking and often paused to catch his breath. There wasn't a dry eye in the building as I heard sniffles all around me. I think a lot of us knew he was giving one of his last public prayers. A week later at around the the same time as the re-dedication (6 p.m.) he passed away. I thought about him passing away last week and it made me very sad. However, now that the news has reached me, I am happy knowing that he is reunited with his sweet Marjorie (probably the cutest little lady that ever lived). I love knowing that he is in a glorious place and happier than we can all possibly imagine.

Here are a few more

I thought these were pretty cute. I can't decide which ones I want to enlarge. Let me know what you think. Personally I think the one of her on the chair in the sweater is the cutest.

Photo shoot

The Children's Hour needed some models for a couple of adds so we decided to make a photo shoot out of it. Sadie needed her 18 month pictures taken and even though she is 20 months now, we decided it was just as well. I love the photographer. Her name is Angie and she is from Simplicity Photography. I think she did a great job. If you want to check out the rest of the pictures they are at: simplcityphotography.com/diane
These are the ones she posted on her website.

Snow Days

We went to Sugarhouse park and went sledding for the first time with Sadie. We thought she was going to laugh her head off but she was pretty indifferent to the whole experience. She kept saying "car, car...go." I think she didn't like being so bundled up that it was hard to move. We had fun watching her. Her arms were permanently raised because the bulk wouldn't let her lower them. Pretty hilarious.


We also built a very sad looking little snow man. Sadie thought it was so fun putting berries on it for eyes and buttons. Every time she sees a snow man she says "mi ma." I have no idea where that came from but we love it!!!

Christmas 2007

Here's some photos of our Christmas at the Etherington home. We ended up eating breakfast first this year (a new thing for us sticky fingered children) and opened presents afterwards. Sadie thought everything was pretty cool. She enjoyed hanging out with Ruby and Walter the cat..of course. She walks around the house saying "Wally, where are you." And if she can't find him she says, "where kitty go?"
Listening to her talk is so much fun. This morning she said "Bye bye daddy, he went up stairs." It's amazing to finally have her speaking in sentences. Afterwards we went to the Cannon's and opened presents. My favorite gift of the year is definitely a gift certificate to Piper's Quilts. I am officially a knitter!! I am taking classes there three times a week so I can read patterns by myself by the time I get back to D.C. Thanks CC for the great gift!!

Second time's not the charm

We keep hoping that one day Sadie will want to sit on Santa's lap or even want to be with in ten feet of the guy. Here's a picture of last year's Santa attempt and below is this year's. We had Santa come to the Children's Hour which made it a lot more convenient for us. However, Sadie wouldn't have a thing to do with him even when I gave him gummy bears (her favorite) to give to her. She couldn't be bribed. She couldn't even be persuaded to have me hold her and stand by Santa for a photo. Pretty hilarious actually. I'm just glad I didn't wait in line at the mall. That would have really ticked me off!!

Here's a close up of that lovely face. The sheer terror is similar to the first years, don't you think? Maybe next year she'll be more interested. You know what they say...third time's the charm.

Gingerbread Houses

After our lease was up at our apartment we moved in with the Todd's for a week until we flew to Utah for the holidays. Staying with them was a blast and always entertaining. Sadie loved all the attention she received from her cousins and there were many new toys to share and play with.
We made gingerbread houses with them and their friends one night. Chase and I decided to have a competition to see who could make a better one. We stayed up until midnight putting on the final touches. The test was the next morning when we asked Nathan (an unbiased 7 year old) to judge. He chose mine and I did a very annoying victory dance. What do you think? Which one is better?