Screen Shots

I wanted to blog about something tonight. I thought: "Maybe the fact that we recently got a piano (yay!), or that Lydia has started climbing onto things and jumping off of them hoping that you'll catch her, or maybe that David's birthday is this weekend and I am so excited to celebrate that I might have to retrain myself from jumping up and down on a daily basis." But then I decided that I didn't want to get the camera and upload my photos to my computer - so I did the next best thing. 

Here are some screen shots of things that are happing in life/on my computer right now:  

Our last blog book that we printed was large. The largest to date. However, it's only October and we already have twenty more blog posts (twenty-one including this one) than we did last year. And we still have all of the Fall/Winter Holidays to blog about. I'm hoping that everything will still fit into one book! 

I got this e-mail from David yesterday. Such a true life lesson. *Sigh* the life of being a contact-wearer.  Poor boy. (However, I loved the email and think that we should start doing posts titled "Life Lessons.")

Speaking of being a contact wearer - I haven't been for the last several weeks. I always am surprised when Fall comes around and my allergies start acting up so much that I can't wear contacts. You'd think that I'd remember that this happens every. single. year. We've been talking about getting me new glasses for a while (the ones I wear now are the same ones that I got in middle school). But I've kind of been dragging my feet because I don't wear them that often (apparently, except during the 2 1/2 months of fall allergy season), and the prescription has still been decent. But I'm to the point that I really do need new glasses. It's hard to read signs from far away (even ordering at a food place), I can't see very well in the dark,  and my eyes just have a hard time focusing. So I'm all in - we are getting new glasses for me soon. I've been doing some research - but I have no idea what style to go with. I wish I could just by my exact same glasses in a silver finish. (The frames bend all crazy like, so they won't ever break.) I just want something simple and stylish and umm... simple. I don't know. 

My little sister is awesome. She's also famous! I love that she goes to UVU and lives so close. 

Her twin- Elder Matthew Walker is currently serving in the New Jersey Morristown Mission. He gets home in three short months! (This counts as a screen shot because as I was loading my other screen shots this one popped up that has just been sitting on the desktop since... Christmas? Wow. But it was a screen shot and I've been thinking so much about him lately. I can't believe he comes home so soon.

) Look at how happy he is, and look at how happy our family is talking to him.

Studio C just started up with their new season! We haven't actually watched the first episode yet, because we've been busy - but I'm hoping we see more of the shoulder angel. The last skit of the end of last season was my absolute favorite skit ever. 

David and I are having a friendly competition choosing the best NFL teams each week. David is winning, but I'm close behind. The winner of each week gets a backrub or footrub. Needless to say, I'm motivated to win. Plus, David loves sporting and I love him - so it's win, win, win!

My facebook profile picture? Still my favorite picture of us EVER. I love it so much. 

And that, my friends, is another random post from this blogger.  Goodnight!

Lydia Elise: 16 - 17 months

This girl is 17 months old. She is such a happy little person and enjoys life to the fullest. Her sense of humor has expanded so much this month, and so although I don't have a posed picture for her main picture this month - this is the perfect representation of this past month. Full of giggles and happiness. 

As far as stats go for this month: she is in 12 months clothes - although most of her fall clothes happen to be 18 months. Some of the 18 month clothes are obviously too big. Some of them seem to fit fine. She is in size 4 shoes. Size 3 diapers. I put her on a scale at David's grandma's house and she weighed almost 22 pounds. She has two top teeth (the other front tooth is just coming in) and three bottom teeth.

Lydia loves lots of things: Climbing. Dogs. Food. Her Dad. Not necessarily in that order.  

--We had our ladder out to hang some curtains over our glass door and Lydia climbed to the top all by herself. It's really just lucky that we looked over and saw her making her way up because she would have been at the top before you could say "Is that baby climbing a ladder?" David stood by her the whole time to make sure that she was safe - but she did it all by herself. 

-- She loves to run all over the place. Sometimes the only way to contain her is to put her on my shoulders. Otherwise she runs ALL over the place. Luckily she tends to enjoy the ride (although sometimes she thinks it's funny to pull my hair and try to get my glasses off my face). She rides like this a lot because she is so. darn. fast. that it's hard to keep up with her otherwise.

 --Lydia has started to be very opinionated. She gets an idea in her head and then wants to do it that very second. (I wonder who she gets that from?) If I'm not fast enough she stands behind me and pushes me to where she wants me to be. 

--She's so curious about the world around her. She finds weird things and then hangs on to them for hours at a time or sees something out of the ordinary and fixates on it. Two examples below: she found this little toothbrush in her toy bin and wouldn't let it go. She just liked it. We also happened to be going out for breakfast at Ihop (it was my birthday) and she saw the giant blow up polar bear across the street. It took us several seconds to even figure out what she was looking and pointing at. Because for us - it was just background. However, she was amazed at this giant polar bear and kept looking and pointing at it through the window all during breakfast. She loved it. 

--Did I mention that she likes climbing? She does. A lot. She learned how to climb on top of the kitchen table by pulling herself up onto a chair and then onto the table. Which means that the tech center is fair game as well. She can even climb up onto our entertainment center by climbing up onto the leather bench and then stretching her body out to reach the entertainment center and then pulling herself around onto it by holding the side. This picture is her climbing on my parents entertainment center. She just likes climbing up as far as she can go. Also with climbing, she likes to go up and down stairs all by herself. She briefly went through a phase where she was okay going down the stairs backwards, but she is back to trying to go down forward. She scoots all the way to the front of the step and then drops down landing her bum on the step she was just standing on. She is surprisingly fast using this method. 

--Did I mention that she likes dogs? Especially my parents dog Dante. We've been able to spend some time in Morgan this month and Lydia absolutely adores this dog. It's ridiculous.  But really cute. She also loves any dog that we see walking down the street or while out and about. She just likes them. 

--Once again she made the cutest little pirate. It's fun now that she is able to interact with her environment a little bit more. 

--Lydia somehow found a pencil and decided that she is going to become an artist. I was strangely proud of her (which I'm sure I will never feel that way again) and felt like it marked a milestone in my life as a parent. Mostly I just laughed and then took the pencil away. Mother-of-the year award goes to me. Oh well. I'm sure there will be more times to try to teach her that drawing is not for walls.

--She's started to say more words! It's kind of hard because I think that I'm pretty strict as far as what qualifies as a word goes. I think that she says a lot more than what I give her credit for, but I don't really count things unless it sounds very similar and/or she repeats it several times. Otherwise, I usually just attribute it to my imagination. However, she says Dante, airplane, peach, Mom, Dad, and Grandma. My very favorite thing that she says (she just started doing this) is that she says "Uh-huh" to pretty much any question that you ask her. She responds in the sweetest little voice- "Do you think mama looks pretty today, Lydia?"  "Uh-huh". I love it!  However, if you ask her something that she really doesn't want - she will smile and then start shaking her head side to side violently. Often this shaking of her head actually knocks her over because she is so vigorous. She is also really good as signing food, airplane, all done, and myriad of other signs. I love that she is communicating. 

There are so many things that I wish I could record - but I told myself that I would just do what I could do and not beat myself up if I couldn't record everything. Most of all I just wish I could create a snapshop of how sweet and happy she is. We certainly love this girl. 

Overheard

These are just some things that you may have overheard if you were a fly on the wall of our lives.

Shantel: (while planting flowerless shrubs in our flower beds) "Move along little bee, nothing to see here."
David: "Yeah, move along - no flowers for you in this yard!"

(While getting ready for bed.)
Shantel: I love it when I'm wearing my glasses because then at night I can just go to bed. I don't have to take out my contacts!"
David: (groaning) I have to take out my contacts! Noooo.

Shantel: Secretly, I really want to go to the Salt Lake Comic Con this weekend.
David: What's that?
Shantel: (Mouth agape) You don't know what the Comic Con is?
David: Ummm.... no. Why should I?
Shantel: *tries to explain what a comic con is*
David: But we don't even like comic books.
Shantel: But! We like Doctor Who. And Star Trek. We would totally fit in.
David: How do you even know about this stuff anyway?


(At the store, running errands.)
Shantel: Ooh, look at this pretty shirt. Do you like it in the blue or the yellow?
David: I like it in the blue. And the yellow. Any of them would look nice.
Shantel: Well, just remember that this is here. I have a birthday coming up!
(Later on in the same trip.)
Shantel: Follow me. *Takes David to the Jewelry department* See these earrings? They match my new yellow sweater perfectly. That's all I'm going to say.
David: And... you have a birthday coming up?
Shantel: That's all I'm going to say.

(Also at the store, running errands.)
Shantel: Ooh, look at these cute skirts for Lydia. Clearance for $1.50 each? I already got her some 24 months ones when they were clearanced for $3 each - but do you think we should get some for her in 18 months so they fit her right now?
David: Yes, yes I do. Put them in the cart. *Starts walking away with a happy Shantel.* You really have this figured out don't you - you know that I'll say yes to anything because there is a football game on that I really want to get home to. (Quotes himself) "Yes! Put them in the cart. Lets get them. Anything to get us home faster!"
(Later on in the same trip.)
Shantel: Should we get some popcicles?
David: Yes! Put them in the cart. The best thing about popsicles is that once they are in the cart you have to leave soon or else they will melt.

(Driving home from running errands and having a very interesting conversation.)
Shantel: in a shrieking voice I... I think thats... our exit!
David: Slows down to analyze where, in fact, we were and makes the correct exit. Why did you say "I think" if you knew it was our exit.
Shantel: giggling I wasn't sure! But if you miss the exit you have to wait until the next exit to turn back around.
David: I know! That's the worst. It's not just like one minute down the road - it's like 5 1/2 minutes. So you have ten minutes to think about what you'd be doing at home if you just hadn't missed the exit. I'm glad you warned me!

A recent text conversation:
Shantel: I miss you! Let me know when you are on the way home.
Ashley: Me? Or someone else? :)
Shantel: Haha. David. I'm so sorry!

While at my parents house:
Melissa: Dad, do you have a lint roller?
Dad: Yeah, let me find it. *Shuffles through a few drawers in the kitchen, then opens the refrigerator.*
Melissa: Could you not find it so you looked in the fridge?
Dad: Someone left the drawer open so it wouldn't shut all the way! *Goes back to shuffling through the drawer.* Oh, look Jenna, I found your gun. *Holds up Jenna's glue gun that she was asking about earlier.*
Jenna: I have a gun???
Shantel: I love this family.

After sleeping in while David got up to watch Lydia.
Shantel: That was so wonderful to be able to sleep in.
David: I'm glad that it was nice.
Shantel: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that in my dream I was hanging out with Lord Voldermort.
David: What?
Shantel: He's actually a pretty cool guy.
David: Oh no...