Here are some more pictures that I took of Kylie in the front yard two weeks ago. She was defying all of my attempts to get her to smile. I can't believe she's already seven months old! Time sure has flown. She's going to be running around and getting into everything before I know it. She's an expert at rolling around now. I've seen her start to scoot herself backwards so crawling can't be too far from the horizon.

We spent Memorial Day with my family. My parents spent the night at my house and we met up with my sisters and their spouses (Jordan & Vaylene and Steven and Emily). We went to lunch in American Fork at Chili's and Vaylene had Kylie absolutely drooling over the chips and salsa we were eating. She kept watching every chip that Vaylene would grab from the bowl and would follow it until she ate it. Poor baby just wants some chips and salsa! We were laughing so hard watching her. It's was raining so hard all day. The whole reason my parents had come up was because my dad wanted to see Thanksgiving Point. It rained on us but we walked around the gardens and atrium for an hour and then got some ice cream. What a stormy and wet memorial day. The good news is that it rained so hard I shouldn't have to water my lawn and flowerbeds for awhile!

So I still can't believe David Cook won over David Archuletta for the American Idol title. What's up with that?!?!? I haven't even been watching this season, but have managed to catch a few of their performances nevertheless over the last week or two. They obviously will both have fabulous successful careers ahead of them with their talent. I think David A. is a better singer, but I think David C. is a better performer. Hard call. I'm still miffed that David C. took the title but not enough that I wouldn't buy his album when it comes out :). Can you believe David A. has that kind of talent and he's sixteen?

On a side note Kylie really enjoyed watching the finale last night with me. It's rare for me to watch anything on television anymore. And Jared usually only keeps check on his sports games and The Office. So for a rare treat Kylie was sitting on my lap watching the finale with me and it was a total tractor beam moment. She must love American Idol too.

So the spring cleaning itch is apparently getting to me. I'm working on switching up my blog again. Pardon the dust. I don't know why, but I always seem to get so many glitches with blogger. Drives me batty. I tell it to do one thing, and it decides to do another.

So I've been going through my folders trying to organize my pictures better and I forgot about these two pictures I took last month. You've got to love the first one. Mom was trying to be artistic. Baby was sticking out her tongue and looking like I had sneaked a little something into her bottle. Nice.

I can tell its springtime. I haven't been updating my blog as much, but hey... neither have my friends! So I'm setting a new goal for myself to update my blog more. It hasn't been helping that my laptop has been giving me fits this week. Every time I try to opn up a new browser my internet crashes and whatever I've been working on disappears into cyberspace. Speaking of that... I need to backup the files on my laptop. So much to do, so little time.

Happy Mothers Day! Like my friend Barry mentioned in his talk today, usually most people are lucky on this day to end up with french toast and a dirty diaper. In our ward they don't give out the usual token of appreciation *cough geraniums* but they did give us a yummy See's chocolate candy bar wrapped in beautiful pink and green ribbons. I loved the note they wrote on it and I thought I'd share.

Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels. As daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as daughters of Eve, we are all mothers and we have always been mothers. And we each have the responsibility to love and help lead the rising generation.

Love that. Jared buys me a rose bush for my yard every year for mothers day. And I love that this years gift will be no different than others past. I also have to give a shout out to Abbie if she is reading. I could not enjoy this day if for not the tremendous sacrifice she has made. Kylie has brought so much happiness and love to our family and friends. I know that as much as she loves us, she didn't make her decision because of our family, but for Kylie's benefit. If it were up to me I'd give all birthmothers a one way ticket to the celestial kingdom for the sacrifices they have made. We love you Abbs. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be a mother to the most beautiful little girl ever.

We had a rough start today as Kylie woke up and has been extremely irritable all morning. I think those jaws of her may be working on sending up some more chompers. But I'm not really sure. Could also just be a genuine case of the ornery's. Jared is going on a fishing trip to Lake Powell and will be gone almost all of next week. So I'm doing what any self respecting person would do. I'm packing up and will spend some time at my mom's house in Logan this week.

Other good news- the landscape company I hired is planning on starting this next week. Let's hope they stay on schedule. I'll have to take some before and after shots. Though I warn you I don't plan on going all out on this backyard like I have for some of my clients. #1. I don't have 30K to spend on landscaping like some of my clients do, or even a fraction of that. #2. We don't plan on staying in this home forever. I'm excited to be able to plant some raspberry bushes this year and to build a raised garden box on the side yard. But before that happens we need to remove the last bit of chain link remnants that are in the yard. I'll be so thrilled to be one hundred percent rid of chain link. Last week I went shopping with a friend in my ward and we bought annuals for our pots. So I had a fun time planting up the four pots that sit on my porch. I think they turned out nice. Lots of red, magenta, lime green and blues. I love flowers!

Well today Kylie's six month check up has come and gone. Our little munchkin now weighs 19 lbs 1oz and is 27.5 inches high. She's in the 90th percentile for weight, 90th for head circumference, and 65th for length. Way to go! I have no idea where she gets it from. Kylie's birthmother (Abbie) is just a petite little thing and her birthfather isn't a big guy either. I love her rolls, she's got the funnest cheeks to kiss. She had to get six immunizations today, poor baby. She wasn't very happy about that. Thankfully she usually sleeps the day away... her way of recovering I suppose. Last week we found a bottom tooth that has decided to daylight.

I am still in recovery mode from a very busy week. Kylie's birthmother and her family were out here last week for Womans Conference. It was so much fun to see them again. Last Wednesday we walked around Temple Square and on Friday I went to Womens Conference with them. On Saturday Jared came along and we drove up to Park City to my old stomping grounds. We hit the outlet malls for some clothes for Jared, and had a yummy lunch from my favorite, Chubbies (El Chubasco). Abbie had never seen mountains, and she loved them. I'm so glad I live near the mountains. Granted I wish there were more trees, but I guess that's what I get for living in a desert.

I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately. I've been busy with my Kennecott work. Yesterday I spent a long time weeding the front yard and convincing Kylie that bark mulch isn't tasty. I should have taken a picture. She had a cute blue sunbonnet on and was lying on a blanket in the shade on the sidewalk. She kept rolling around and I'd turn around finding her munching on a large piece of bark mulch. Yum. My motto is if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger. Anyways, come September I always loose my motivation to get out in the yard and clean out the flowerbeds for winter. So I pay for it in the springtime. Tomorrow one of my friends in my ward and I are going shopping for annuals to put in our flower pots. Can I just tell you that I love springtime? It's by far my favorite season of the year.