Just Posted

I just posted pictures on my photo blog… and this will more than likely be the last photo shoot I do before the baby comes. As of this morning I was dilated to a one and 85% effaced! Hurray…we are getting close. I keep thinking every night I need to take a pregnancy profile picture or something, but I just can’t bring myself to it…. This is a call to Brian, I need your help you "photographer" you! Brian has been taking lots of pictures of Sadie. He has captured so many cute moments already!

And like I said a few weeks ago, we are really into smoothies lately (not to mention chocolate drizzled popcorn)!

I'm A Winner

... and boy does it feel good! Here is my name and here is what I won! It is just the pattern, but still it is pretty fun to win anything!

Numbers

Sadie has been jabbering constantly for about a month or two and sometimes I don't even try to make out words because it is seriously a language of her own, but today after the opening song in sacrament meeting Sadie starts making sounds that sounded exactly like counting. I have heard her count to three a bunch of times, but this morning I distinctly heard her count to nine. I leaned over and told Brian and he did not believe me! Then she did it again and we were both floored. I guess I just figured she would learn to count to four before she started counting all the way to nine.

Brian just made this little video, and as he was editing it she counted to TEN... all I can say is GO SADIE!

I just had to add this second video. She is seriously cute!

My lofty list...

I can't let Kelly think she is the only one with goals...here are my 10 "to dos" in 1001 days...or whatever.

1. Figure out how to put at least 1 outfit together for Sadie that Kelly approves of.
2. Not hurt myself (i.e. chop my finger on the table saw, hit my funny bone, stuff like that) for a good, solid month.
3. Make Kelly's photo site.
4. Stock our fridge with some dang kimchi, already.
5. Take on a second job (in order to pay for Kelly's list).
6. Become the most amazing photographer in the world...yes me...cause that's apparently the thing to do right now!
7. Help Sadie realize I can't put two shoes on at the same time...yet.
8. Bench press a truck.
9. Help Kelly realize there is a difference between snowman snow and "you just can't make a snowman with that kind of snow" snow.
10. Make myself a large wooden stake and find Edward Cullen!

A little ambitious are we?

I decided to take the whole New Years Resolution thing a bit further... I've been working on this list for the past week and I think it may be ready to unveil...
Here is my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days (I've got a lot of trips on here and realistically they all can't happen in 1001 days, but I just couldn't leave them off, so expect to see them again on the next 101 list I make :)
1. Have a healthy baby girl
2. Make a photography website
3. Complete the new Personal Progress program
4. Go to Disneyland and take pictures of the firework show with the castle in the background
5. Take some incredible newborn pictures of Emmy
6. Teach Sadie to sing a primary song
7. Go to a Jazz game with Brian and Sadie
8. Make a huge strawberry trifle for my birthday
9. Lose all pregnancy weight and maybe even a little more...
10. Go on an Eastern Caribbean cruise with Brian
11. Take pictures of the SLC Temple and make a canvas print
12. Read the scriptures everyday for at least five minutes for an entire year
13. Take a photography class at the college
14. Go country dancing with Brian
15. Run a 5k this year. I am thinking the one on the 4^th of July
16. Plant a peach and apple tree in the backyard
17. Go see Wicked again but this time in California I think
18. See Grease, Hairspray, or a Disney production on Broadway too
19. Take pictures of the Arches in Southern Utah.
20. Memorize a hymn to play on the piano
21. Get a hammock set up in the backyard
22. Plant a garden
23. Go on a nature walk with Sadie
24. Visit Devin and Neesha in Colorado Springs
25. Get a trampoline
26. Hike the Narrows with Brian.
27. Visit Nikki and Matt in California
28. Exercise faithfully three times a week for three months
29. Setup a photography studio in my basement
30. Design a better business card
31. Have a photo shoot once a week for six months
32. Plan Sadie's two year birthday party
33. Plan Emmy's one year birthday party
34. Attend a photography workshop
35. Read one book a month for six months
36. Go on the Sundance Full Moon Lift Ride
37. Display pictures at the Eastern Idaho State Fair
38. Get my photography equipment insured
39. Get my hair dyed back to brown and grow it out
40. Find thee wedding photographers that will let me do a photo shoot along with them
41. Organize my house so EVERYTHING has a place
42. Have a canvas print made of a picture of Sadie and Emmy
43. Go out to lunch with old HS friends like Melissa, Courtney and Aimee
44. Write in my daughter's journals every week for a year
45. Visit my extended family in Oregon
46. Go skiing at Mt Hood Meadows
47. Go inner tubing down Provo River
48. Take Sadie and Emmy swimming at Seven Peaks
49. Design a new logo for my photography business
50. Potty train Sadie
51. Go to Lincoln City Beach
52. Buy a 15mm fish eye lens
53. Wash all my windows including the basement ones
54. Get family pictures in an apple orchard
55. Do something special for Brian everyday for two weeks
56. Find a really fun step aerobic video and buy the step equipment
57. Eat at Blue Hashi
58. Get enough food storage for our family of four
59. Sew a car carrier cover for Emmy (I love this new corduroy fabric I found)
60. Go to photography club faithfully three months straight
61. Have a new family over for game night/dessert once a month for six months in a row
62. Learn to cook all of Brian's favorite Korean meals
63. Do a photo shoot underwater
64. Finish our basement
65. Go to Korea with Brian (please, please, please)
66. Find some fun props for photography
67. Do five mini photo sessions in one day
68. Get to know all my neighbors on a first name basis
69. Take our parents out to dinner
70. Paint an accent wall in my house
71. Go on a family fishing outing (and actually catch something)
72. Learn how to take HDR photos
73. Go snorkeling somewhere exotic
74. Hike Devil's Staircase
75. Write an article for a national publication
76. Go to Mesa Falls
77. Give The Melting Pot a second chance
78. Go white water rafting (whose game?)
79. Jump off the big rock at Waimea Bay
80. Design a photography portfolio book
81. Scan in my writing portfolio
82. Play on the playground at Happy Valley Elementary
83. Finish converting Thurman family VHS to DVD's
84. Hike Table Rock
85. Take light writing pictures
86. Go to Bear Lake
87. Buy a jogging stroller
88. Splurge and eat a polish hot dog
89. Go camping with my little family (I know I am crazy)
90. Visit my brother at the "big house"
91. Learn how to use some of Brian's tools
92. Type up all of my journals
93. Throw Brian an awesome 30^th birthday
94. Go on a European vacation
95. Hike Mt. Timpanogos
96. Sleep out on the trampoline
97. Cook dinner every night for a month
98. Reduce my worldly possessions by 100 things
99. Take Sadie and Emmy to get a photo shoot at JC Penny's to see what it's like
100. Buy Brian a BBQ
101. Make another 101 list for 2011

Keeping Christmas Alive…

I have been meaning to post pictures of Christmas in Utah and here I am finally getting around to it! As always we had a great time with family. The day after Christmas we drove down to Utah and here is an array of pictures of that fun weekend. On Sunday a bunch of my cousin’s came to visit (we didn’t take a single pic oops) and we had a grand Mexican meal my Mom prepared that night. Later on we did our traditional singing and pulling out old instruments we played in HS (i forgot my clarinet too bad :). We started opening presents a little later in the evening and all the babies were running around the place wild and tired, but it couldn’t have been any more fun!

My sister’s family got a Wii and Rockband for Christmas and I am still craving to play it all the time, but alas I don’t know of anyone here in Idaho that owns that game! (anyone…anyone?) I was surprised how fun the drums were to play. My sis Lisa had to help me with the foot pedal on a few songs because little Emmy was kinda getting in the way of me lifting my foot up and down. Brian must have been a guitar player in a previous life because he was ripping it up and got a really good score during his first performance.

I think this is the last of the Christmas update post, so we will consider it over… how sad!!! Until next year!

Brian’s First Day of School

Today is Brian’s first day of classes at ISU! He is working on getting his MBA and we are super proud of him (and I am secretly jealous because I LOVE business classes)! It is so weird to be back in the college mindset, but I guess it will keep us thinking we are young. Brian is taking two classes, an Operations Management class on Tuesday from 6-8:45pm and a Finance class on Wed at the same time (but sadly in Pocatello so he has to commute an hour each way). Luckily his work is paying for his tuition so we just couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. Now that we are a Bengal family we are looking forward to going to some football games and maybe even buying Brian a new orange and black wardrobe.

18 months old!

It is so great to have a one and a half year old. Sadie is constantly cracking Brian and me up! Every night before we go to bed we like to repeat all the things Sadie is saying to us in her little twangy voice. Her favorite things to say are “I need this”, “I got you”, “watch Elmo”, “tank you Mommy/Daddy”, “bideo Sadie” (which means she wants to watch family videos), and “I love lou”! She is also such a little parrot repeating everything we say. Sadie has been to nursery for two weeks now and she just seems so much more grown up to be in her own class. It breaks her little heart when we leave her in class, but I am sure she will get to the point where she won’t even look back when we drop her off. We are so lucky to have this little girl in our family!

Sadie has discovered how amazing smoothies are (and I have been craving them) so needless to say we have been drinking them a lot. We went to Sam’s Club today and picked up a big back of mixed berries with pomegranates (what a great combination)!

Skyline Alumni Tournament

Ever since moving to Idaho (about five years ago), Brian has gotten call after call about playing in the Skyline Alumni tournament in December. Usually we have been down in Utah or Brian just is indifferent about playing, but not this year. He was really excited about getting back in that old gym and showing off his basketball skills. The first game was really close and Brian made two three pointers in the second half to put his team ahead. They won all four games and two of them were nail bitters (which always makes it more fun)! It was a long day for everyone involved and Sadie was so grateful when everything was over she just rolled and rolled all over center court! This was the first time his graduating year had won the tournament so it was cool for Brian to be apart of! Starting this Thursday Brian is going to be running the Stake Basketball program and playing on one of our wards three teams so don’t be surprised to see a few more basketball posts in the future!

Welcome 2010!

Here is just a few of my New Year’s Resolutions… what are some of yours?

It was MERRY

On Christmas Eve we made a cute little gingerbread house and bought all the treats for our feast later that night. The tradition goes that everyone gets to pick out whatever food they want, so I got sushi and three different types of Martinelli's, Brian got little smokies and boneless buffalo wings, and Sadie picked out pineapple and shrimp. After bath time, Brian read to us How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Twas’ the Night Before Christmas, and Luke II. After Sadie went to bed, Brian and I watched Elf and a little bit of A Christmas Story. Then we got some of Sadie’s toys set up for the next morning. Sadie was having a strange eye bacterial thing going on that luckily my Dad diagnosed the day before and prescribed her some eye drops that cleared it up pretty fast. I am still very thankful to him because she was suffering!

Christmas Morning started at 6:30am which is kinda strange because usually Sadie sleeps in until 7:30 – 8am, but she must have felt the excitement in the air. I remember last year opening presents seemed to go by really quick, but this year Sadie wanted to play with each toy and read every book after we opened it so everything took about two hours. Brian had spent the week before making Sadie some really fun blocks and even sacrificed the tip of his finger. For breakfast we had our traditional monkey bread and cuties. Here are some highlights from the day. It was such a great Christmas!

Merry & Bright

I didn't send out a Christmas letter this year only because it was so much easier just to slap a picture in an envelope and send it off, but I have finally got around to writing one (just because I bet it will be fun for posterity reasons) so here goes nothing...

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope you have had a wonderful 2009! Here is an update on the past year at the Stewart home.
Sadie is 17 month old and on the verge of going to nursery. All three of us have been looking forward to this day ever since she turned one. Sadie day consists of running all over the house and climbing on whatever is in site. She is a very happy, healthy little girl that is constantly talking and repeating everything we say (sometimes to our dismay). Our biggest challenge is getting Sadie to eat anything other than fruit snacks which she calls “Emily” (we're not sure why).
Brian is in his fourth year working for Nitro Security as a software engineer and really enjoys finding and destroying “bugs”. He has been kept busy as the Stake Athletics Coordinator and Ward Activities Chairman (Brian was actually just released today). He's also been keeping up his basketball skills with old high school buddies. He is such a great dad to Sadie and has completely drained all her energy by the time it is ready to put her to bed which I am always grateful for. They have got a pretty good circus routine (as I like to call it) that consists of Sadie balancing on one leg and flying through the air. He is going back to school in January to get his MBA from Idaho State University and we are so proud of him for all that he be juggles.
Kelly is big and pregnant and expecting baby girl, Emelia aka Emmy, sometime around Valentine's Days. I am having so much fun being a Mom to Sadie and watching her learn new things each day. This year I have spent a lot of time taking pictures for friends and family and am excited for this little girl to come some I have another subject for my little photo shoots.
We are so grateful for this time of the year to remember the birth of our Savior and hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas season!
All our love,
The Stewart Family