ElfYourself

I LOVE this. I've done it before, but, as with most things, it's much more fun with a little kid involved. :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Catching up

I took these pictures of us decorating the tree a few weeks ago, and I never got a chance to post the blog...

And our holiday (self) portrait:

Merry Christmas from Jim, Amanda, Reagan, baby Lamb and Scout!

Big Girl Bed!

Last night was Reagan's first in her new "big girl bed". The best part about the bed is that it's not new at all. It, and a matching bunkable counterpart was originally purchased for Grandpa Bill and Great Uncle Bob when they were little kids. It was the bed Jim had when he and I first started dating, and now, for the time being, it is Reagan's. She is VERY excited about it. She loves the idea of having a "big girl bed", but when it comes to actually sleeping in it, she's still a little apprehensive. She's currently taking her nap, but she was not very pleased about me leaving her alone in her bed. As you can see, there's no rail on it. I can purchase one, and I still might, but I thought we'd see how she did without it. So far so good-she hasn't fallen out! She loves that she can get in and out of it without any help from Mom or Dad. She slept in even later than usual this morning, so I think we'll be just fine.



Bill and Debbie brought the bed last night, and Bill and Mikey were nice enough to help Jim manuver furniture all over the house so that Reagan could have her first night in her new bed. So, the room that was the office/guest room is now the new Baby's room, and the office/guest room will be in the basement. After I cleaned and organized down there, I remembered what a nice basement area/guest suite we have! Perfect for guests, so come on over!



I took these pictures this morning when Reagan had first woken up.

July 19th 2009!

This is the estimated date when Reagan will become....

Wait for it...

A BIG SISTER!!!

Everything is going fine. I've had a blood test-normal- and an ultra sound-also normal. And, at the ultra sound we learned there's only ONE little Lamb growing, which wasn't a worry, but was exciting to find out. I've been feeling good for the most part, except for when I get home from work. Then I begin, well, not feeling well. But, I can't complain-at least I'm not sick in front of curious teenagers!

There wasn't much to see on the ultra sound, so when we get better pictures, I'll post them here. Reagan is excited and has learned to point to my belly when asked "where's the baby".

October Summary

Somehow, October slipped away from me! It was a very eventful month, which included 2 much needed weeks off.

Here's the month (including the end of September) summary!

September 27th:
It's official! Mikey and Julie are married! Yay, Fosters! Reagan was the flower girl, and she did a fantastic job. (I made her dress myself. The white one, not the plaid one.) It was a beautiful wedding, and a great time was had by all. Mikey got to see Julie in a dress!!! (Just kidding, it wasn't REALLY the first time...the second I think. Either way, she looked gorgeous!)






October 5th:
We broke down and decided to get our house painted. Long story short, we were able to get some of the job paid for due to some faulty siding and a warranty malfunction. It softened the blow to our wallet, and allowed us to get the job done well. It looks amazing!!! I thought I had a picture, but it turns out I don't. I'll have to describe it: it's a very light brown color with white trim and a red door. It makes the house look new, and it's very exciting!!

October 11-13th:
Each fall, something inside of me calls me back to Durango, where I went to college. It's sort of my second home, and now and then I miss it. I have a great friend, Steve, who lives down there and was nice enough to let us all stay with him. We had a great time, and the colors were beautiful!







October Sometime:
I really wanted to take Reagan to a pumpkin patch and let her pick out some pumpkins. I did some searching on the internet, and found one right by Jim's parent's house. It was great, and made complete by a hay slide and goats who let Reagan pet them. Julie was kind enough to follow us around with my camera and take some pictures of the whole family, except for Scout.






October 25th:
Falcon (the high school where I teach) boys Cross Country is 4A State Champions!! YES! First boys state championship in Falcon history. We're off to a multi-state regional in a couple of weeks, and then it's (hopefully) on to nationals! Exciting!!



Halloween!
We wanted to take Reagan somewhere good for her first time Trick or Treating. Each year, the student council at my school puts on a great event called Treat Street. They decorate the school and all the doors with a Halloween theme and hand out candy to the little kids. Rea had a fantastic time, and was the cutest Bronco's cheerleader I've ever seen. (Much more tasteful, too.) The night before Halloween we went to the Fosters' house to carve pumpkins because they got one of the last carving kits in town...and because they have a fun, new house. :) And I guess we like seeing them too.











Hope you had a great October, and that you remembered to vote today!

An Unprovoked Word (YES!)

Today I took Reagan to Target because I needed a new hair dryer.

I was looking in the toy isle for ideas for Christmas presents for Reagan (by the way, if you're an inquiring mind, she needs clothes in size 2 and 3T, and just about any toy from just about any toy isle marked for ages 2 and up. If it is a "Parents" brand, that's an extra bonus...they're my fav).

Reagan spotted one of her favorite things in the world... a ball. I wasn't sold on buying it for her, but when I saw that it was only $2.99 I decided to go for it. I let her play with it in the cart until we got to the register. When we got there, I managed to give it to the checker without Reagan noticing. He scanned and bagged it, I paid, and we left.

As we were headed towards the door, Reagan stood up in the cart (I was letting her ride in the big part) and started to whimper. I asked her what was wrong and she looked right at me and said "Ball?" with her lower lip stuck out. I explained to her that it would be ok, and that I'd give it to her when we got in the car.

She said ball all the way home. I was ecstatic! Let the talking begin.

I just want to know...

When Reagan became a toddler???
I feel like I blinked.
And no, for the record, I still don't regret being excited for her to learn to walk. She has so much fun! And I enjoy chasing her!

I got some new photo equipment--I don't know how I ever lived without it--and I took some of my favorite pictures of Reagan this afternoon as a trial run.

Last Tri

Last weekend I completed my last "tri"athlon of the season. I think this one was my favorite so far. I did it with my friend "J" (she likes to be anonymous...). I hadn't been training because school and pictures had been keeping me so busy, not to mention the icky sinus infection that I got just after school started.

The amazing thing was that my "non training" time was nearly 10 minutes faster than the one I trained extremely hard for all summer! How did that happen??? I don't know, but I know J had a huge part in it. She beat me by about 9 minutes (WAY TO GO! She had been training. Good girl!), but it was fantastic motivation knowing she was just ahead of me most of the time. We stayed together most of the time, but she pulled away from me during the second transition, and lengthened her lead during the run. I was extremely excited, and a little shocked, that my time was so fast. It's exciting to know that I've not yet reached my limits!

Here are pictures from the day:

Found our spot at the transition and we're ready to be marked!

Me and J before the start. We were wondering if it was too late to chicken out on account of the 62 degree water. A little refreshment for you early in the morning!!

Reagan standing by the sign on the beach... Jim's "irony" picture.
The finish!


Thanks J! I had so much fun. :)

News!

I have finally created a blog that will be strictly for the photography business!

I'm very excited about it... but don't worry, this one will continue on!

Here's the link, so you can see what's keeping me from posting on here! http://www.lambphoto.wordpress.com

Enjoy--and feel free to tell your friends!

:)

Oh my...

Only 1 post in ALL of August??? Sad!



We started off September with a visit to the annual hot air balloon festival here in the Springs. Reagan's attention span is definitely getting longer... she was intrigued!






Reagan is so much fun! She is starting to talk...nothing too serious, but she says a few words. Granted, she says some more clearly than others, but it is exciting nonetheless.







Today when I came home from work Reagan walked over to the "floor pad" coloring paper that I bought for her when I went to get beginning-of-the-year supplies. She got very excited when I traced her hands and her feet, so I thought, why not take it a step further. I laid her down diagonally on the paper and traced her little body. I then proceeded to give the tracing a face and some clothes. When I was finished, I hung it on the wall. I'm hoping you'll agree when I say that I'm much better at taking pictures than I am drawing them!



Reagan absolutely loved it. She has known most of her body parts for some time, but she was thrilled when I would ask her to point to the drawings eyes, hands, or mouth. She would point to the picture's body part, and then to her own. She was so proud! I suppose I was a little proud too.




Also, as you can see in the pictures, we have been painting, slowly but surely, with the help of my mom. Our walls used to match the trim, but now they don't. I love that! Hopefully it will be finished before the upcoming nuptials, so that any visiting Lambs don't have to see a work in progress.

I make no promises about the number of blogs I will or won't have this month, but will certainly make more of an effort to post more frequently! Remember, comments are fantastic motivation! :) Have a great week.

This is what happens when I get busy!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written--sorry!

Things have gotten busy. I was hoping to coach only half time this Cross Country season, but it didn't work out that way and I'm full time. Luckily my head coach is fairly flexible, so when I need a day off here and there, he lets me take it.

And of course, the beginning of the school year means senior picture time, so the business is picking up as well. But I'm certainly not complaining about that.

I did another triathlon. I still love it! I am thinking about doing a third next month with my friend Janella. It will be fun to have someone to "plug along" with!

I have some pictures of Miss Reagan to show off. I'll go with the oldest first.

A few weeks ago, the Burley bike trailer we got came in the mail. Reagan's favorite part was the box. She LOVED playing in the peanuts!



We told Reagan to "swim her arms", which is what we tell her to do in the pool, and she couldn't get enough of it once she tried.





A few nights ago the hospital by our house that has been under construction for about 2 years had their grand opening. They put on a fairly unpublicized fireworks show--some people called the police and I don't even think they know about it because they came with sirens blazing. I have been wanting to try out some fireworks pictures and I was able to get them.



We have begun a string of home improvements. We started with Jim's biggest pet peeve: the "parkways". For those of you who are like me and don't know what these things are (I do now), they are the area between the sidewalk and the street, that technically aren't your property, but that you're expected, as a homeowner, to maintain. So, we had someone come dig them up (they were full of weeds and 12 year old tiny rock that was mostly out of sight) and then had 8 tons of rock delivered. We spread it ourselves, with a little help from Mikey. Reagan's grandmas came to help too, so that they could do the grandma thing. (The grandma thing is being happy to spend time with the grandchild, especially considering time spent with their own child will be minimal. At least we know where we rank.) :) Reagan's favorite part was riding in the wheelbarrow.







My mom and I bought Reagan her own rocking chair, and I had her model it, along with her small but existent ponytail.







That's all for now! I'll leave you with the smile we've been seeing on Reagan quite a bit lately: