The moment you've all been waiting for...

Last week I took Kate to her very first (official, anyway) photo shoot. Wow! Those are a lot of work to get a few smiles out of your kid. She did really good, all things considered, and we got some really great shots.

The one to the left here was my absolute favorite. I know it's a little early for bathing suits but she just looks so cute in hers and I 'm afraid it won't fit her much longer. I had it blown up and framed and I hung it right inside the door as a surprise for Daddy. Mike didn't know we were doing a photo shoot, so he was truly surprised.

Oh! Today Kate is 9 months old. We had her well child visit last week and she is still just doing awesome. 19 lbs (70th%), and 29 inches tall (95th%). I had been worried about a lingering cough but the doc said her heart and lungs sound great. Always a relief.

She is a REAL little person these days. She has so much personality already! I know I don't have too much to compare to, but she is just an awesome, pleasant, EASY baby! She is crawling now, pulling herself up on everything (which, of course, comes with bumps and bruises, unfortunately), and making fun sounds with her mouth--except still no Ma Ma's. :( She is sleeping through the night again, and longer than ever. She is sleeping a lot the last couple of days--perhaps a growth spurt? She loves to eat our food. She's very aware of the fact that what she gets from the jar is truly disgusting in comparison to what she gets from our plates! But she still only has two little bottom teeth, so that desire goes unfulfilled for the most part.

Her little laughs and smiles and facial expressions make us so happy!

Here is a slideshow with a few of the other pictures from the shoot. This place we went to had really bunnies to take pictures with. The look on Kate's face for those shots is well deserved, as the bunny bit her! Not until after it bit her did the photographer mention, "yeah, the bunnies are kind of at their wits end." Thanks, for the warning.

tagged: the second

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Let's see...I was 17 years old, a Junior at Layton High School. I was in Laytones, and like Shann, getting ready for California, hoping for a CTR, no doubt. Who would I have liked then?? Hmm, I'm not sure. Dustin Hall and I kinda had an on again off again thing all through high school, and I think we may have been on around this time. I was working at Blockbuster Music and already suffering from Senioritis.

5 things on my "to-do" list today.

1-Make an appointment for Kate's 9 month Well Child Visit.
2-Register for the Ogden Half-Marathon.
3-Watch Survivor.
4-Clean up, make dinner, and all the other usual chores.
5-Play with Kate!

6 Snacks that I enjoy.

1- Anything Chocolate, but especially Chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Shanna introduced these to me right after I had Kate and I'm totally hooked!
2-Mrs. Call's licorice flavored caramels.
3-String Cheese.
4-Edamame's.
5-Fresh Fruit, especially pears and peaches.
6-Fresh Veggies, especially straight from the garden. (Which I am planning to try my black thumb at this year.)

3 bad habits. (Only three?)

1-I'm a picker. Pimples, ingrown hairs, scabs....anything that has topography doesn't last long on my body! I realized it was a major problem when I started picking at Kate...
2-I am not very punctual, and especially late for church. It's something I know there is no excuse for, but try as I may I just can't be on time!
3-Blog Stalking. Need I say more on this one? I love it, but man! The time sucking effects it has are out of this world! :)

If I were suddenly a billionaire I would...

First of all, I'm glad it says billionaire instead of millionaire because sadly there's not much room for creativity with only a million dollars! So if I were a billionaire I would definitely try not to broadcast it so I can share the funds with family and friends as anonymously as possible. I think that Mike and I would both LOVE to finish up school, including our Masters', without having to worry about making ends meet. I would put enough into a high yield savings account for a comfortable retirement including a couple of missions, college savings funds for 5 kids. Then the rest will probably go to gasoline.

5 Places I've lived. (why not all 7?)

Kearns, UT (1980-1983)
Layton UT (1983-1999), Layton (2003-2006)
Chagrin Falls, OH (1999, 6 weeks)
Suffield, CT and Plainville, CT (1999-2001)
Provo, UT (2002, 10 weeks)
Thailand (2002-2003)
Roy, UT (2006-present)


5 Jobs I've had.
Happijac: packager, assembler, manager (too many years of my life!)
Blockbuster Music
Claire's Boutique (for like 1 week!)
Nanny
America West Bank: New Accounts, Draw Department

5 Things people don't know about me

I want to be a carpenter! I took a woodworking class a couple of years ago, but unfortunately the timing was bad (work and school full time) so I only made a shelf. I hope to get back into it one day.

I am content with my body to the extent that I haven't ever thought (seriously, anyway) about plastic surgery. The only thing that I plan to change someday is to get laser hair removal in a few areas. The sooner the better!

I'm kind of the "jack of all trade, ruler of none" type. I am ok at a lot of things, but I don't feel like I have any truly mastered and impressive skills.

While I was in Thailand (as a missionary) I held a very large, very live, very venomous King Cobra around my neck. It was "trained" but seriously, what was I THINKING??

Most of you know this already, but I used to have a significant gap between my two front teeth. Also while in Thailand. my companion lost her retainers and while we were at the orthodontist I saw that to get my teeth bonded was only going to cost like $25! I figured for that price it was worth the risk and I could just get it taken off if it was terrible.

Are you bored yet? There are a couple more to come....unless you're bored. Don't be afraid to say so; I respect straight forwardness!

Middle (Maiden) Name Tag

I’ve been tagged! Here are the rules. You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list something about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

I was not given a middle name at birth, however I was given several in high school--pretty much any "H" name (Helen, Helena, Helga, etc.) so that my initials would be LHS. But, for the sake of the post, I'll just use Scothern-it's more official.

S-Spring Fever! I've got it bad! I have loved going outside to get the mail or put something in the trash with no shoes on! I never thought that a year and a half in a hot humid climate would change my feelings on winter, but it had a lasting effect and now I get Seasonal Affect Disorder!

C-Cheap. As in frugal, not easy. (Maybe it depends on who you ask :) ) I keep a pretty tight budget and things that I consider non-essential--new clothes, salon haircuts, etc--tend to get neglected.

O-Outgoing. This is a funny thing about me. I consider myself an Extroverted Introvert. I don't get nervous meeting new people and I can hold my own around people I don't know. I think most people would consider me outgoing, but really I am quite satisfied just spending time on my own.

T-Thinker. I kind of over-think things sometimes, and I analyze everything! I consider myself a good free thinker and open-minded.

H-Hard Worker. I have always been proud of my work ethic, and I am happiest after I know I have worked my hardest for a desired goal. I feel I am reliable and dependable as an employee, wife, mother, and friend.

E-Envious. I tend to get "green" more than I like. I try to keep things in proper perspective, but I do get envious at times. It usually only lasts a few minutes and then I realize how good I have it!

R-Rambler. I can't tell a story without it going into WAY too many details and taking about 10 times longer than it should. Many times I don't even get around to finishing the story without some reminders and prodding from the recipient.

N-Nocturnal. Try as I may, I RARELY get to sleep before 1 am. I am getting better at this, and I know that my days would be much more productive if I got a good night's sleep, but there's just something about those nighttime hours...

As far as tagging 8 people goes, (one for each letter of my name) I don't think I could come even close, so if any of you who are reading this post haven't done this tag yet, consider yourself tagged!

Coming at me from all sides!

So I have been tagged a number of times over the last couple of weeks and I guess I better do something about it. So I will be posting one tag a day for the next, let's see...at least four days. By the time I am done I will officially have no secrets! Enjoy....

But first, can I just brag about how I have the absolute BEST baby in the whole world? Of course I can.

On Friday night, Mike's brother Shawn and his girlfriend Jordan came up from Provo for a double date. We decided to go bowling at Sparetime in Roy. We left the house about 7:45--Kate's bedtime--thinking she would fall asleep on the way and, knowing what a great baby she is, probably stay asleep for most of the time. When we arrived she surprised us by still being awake. No biggie, I thought. She'll fall asleep before too long.

We had to wait over an hour to get a lane and the whole time she stayed awake! She didn't make a sound, just looked around sleepily. Shortly after we got our lane they morphed the place into a disco--black lights, disco balls, LOUD hip-hop, etc. Kate was more visually stimulated than ever, so I decided to take her out of her carseat and let her enjoy it all for a bit. To say she enjoyed dancing with Mommy and Daddy, Shawn and Jordan to the likes of Justin Timberlake, Outkast, and other "well-known" hip-hop/rap artists would be a class A understatement!! We all had a blast dancing together for about a half hour, trading Kate off to someone else when it was our turn to bowl. She really was the life of the party!

Now, by this point it was about 10 pm, over 2 hours past bedtime. The only sounds out of Kate all night were giggles and squeals of delight, but I knew she must be tired. I decided to try putting her back in her carseat and just rocking her 'til she fell asleep. To my amazement, she was out within minutes, don't believe me? Look at the picture I took with Mike's phone!


p.s. I bowled a career high 156.

Does everything happen for a reason?

With all that has gone on with Zeus over the last three weeks, I am left pondering this popular cliche.

Recap: Just over three weeks ago, Mike and I decided it was time to find Zeus a new home. Posted the add on KSL which produced about 800 page views, about 15 phone calls/messages, and five interviews in less than 24 hours. We were stunned by the interest and had a tough decision on our hands.

Following the interviews there were really only two families we were having a hard time deciding between. Leslie's family had a 7 yr. old boxer named Dexter, two older children, and someone was almost always home. Negatives at this home were that they didn't have a fenced yard, and with both Zeus and Dex being male, it took them a little bit of time to get used to each other. Oh, that and they lived in a brand new house in Saratoga Springs (which is on the west side of Utah Lake).

Patrick and Kristi also had a boxer named Xena. She is two and looks like she could be from Zeus' same litter. They got along great from the get go, as they didn't have to compete for Alpha. Patrick and Kristi don't have any children, and you can tell they just love Xena. And they live in Clinton...less than 10 minutes drive. The only thing we were concerned with here was that they kenneled Xena for 5-6 hours a day while they were at work, and we were worried Zeus would have a hard time with that.

After a LOT of thought, we chose Leslie's family. We missed Zeus instantly, though within the week we could see that this really was the best decision for our family.

Then on Sunday, Leslie called. "I'm sad to be having to make this call," she said. Things weren't working out. Zeus was having accidents all the time, running off when they let him out to go to the bathroom (to the extent that one time Aaron, the dad, had chased him for over a half hour but had to leave or he'd miss a flight. Luckily, Zeus was on the back porch when Leslie got home over two hours later.) I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when Zeus, jealous that he was locked in the bedroom during a social event, chewed at the baseboards in the bedroom. I apologized, and said that we would come and pick him up.

As we were making the drive down south, we gave Patrick and Kristi a call. Our hopes that they hadn't already found a friend for Xena were realized, but they said that they would think about it and call us back. So we brought Zeus home. It was actually kind of nice to have him back, as weird as that sounds, but the idea of going through the whole ordeal again was making us anxious. Patrick called yesterday afternoon and said that they would like to give it a trial run for a week or two. We packed up Zeus' things and headed over there last night.

So last night as I was getting ready for bed, I was thinking, maybe Zeus was meant to be with Xena all along but he just needed this other trial run first. Maybe Leslie's house wasn't a
"wrong" or a "bad" choice, just a preparatory state. Although I feel terrible that Leslie's family had to go through that, maybe it was just what had to be, and that everyone was better off because of it. I guess we'll see how it goes at Patrick and Kristi's this week, and then, maybe we'll know for sure.

Mike just sent me this picture he took with his phone of Zeus and Xena. See what we mean about how they look alike?

Colbie Caillat next Friday

Thats right, she'll be in concert next Friday night (the 15th) at in the venue for $20.50 a pop.

Wondering if any of you ladies (and gents too, if there are any of you that read my blog other than my husband) would like to go with me.

Blackest of black

My thumb, that is. I seriously can't keep a plant alive for a week! All you green thumbs out there...HELP!

Marylin, I swear I watered it and gave it indirect sunlight and everything else just like the little tag said. The only thing I didn't do was take it out of the decorative wrap and put it into another pot. Is that what killed it???

More importantly, is it beyond hope? I sure hope not, because it was one of the most thoughtful gifts and I was so looking forward to thinking of Zeus every time I saw it. But you can't think of the pet you miss while looking at a dead plant. It's just plain morbid.