A beautiful day in the neighborhood

And I had a camera...so why not?!

Jealous that I don't have one wave on my head, and she has all of these...

I love my job, as her mom...99.9% of the time!

Happiest Place on Earth

I have a ton of pictures I need to upload of our trip to Disneyland, but it's going to take a while! So, in the meantime I just wanted to document the experience we had before I forget all the details!

Oh my gosh, what a fun day! Luke, Traci, Bailee and Maddox were all in town to go to Disneyland for a week, so we tagged along for a day. It was both Tylie and Bailee's first time so they were sooo excited to say the least! Bailee was dressed as a beautiful princess and was so into the whole "princess thing." To my surprise Tylie really wasn't. She was all about the Disney characters! She LOVED them! There is something so amazing about the magic that is created there, especially to a child. I loved seeing Tylie's little face lit up all day. Shane and I kept commenting to each other about how her expressions were worth a million bucks and how we would have paid any amount of money to see her so excited and ridiculously happy like that! She was so cute! Singing and dancing all day long...until about 11:00 p.m. when she crashed. It was the perfect day that I know we will keep very close to our hearts...I know it sounds lame because it was just Disneyland, but this trip was different. It was perfect, no whining, no crying, no complaining...just sunshine and happiness all day long! At about 11:00 when Tylie couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, we took one last stroll down Main St. and got Ty a few souvenirs. She loves babies so we got her a Minnie baby and an Ariel doll. When we put her to bed that night we laid Minnie beside her, I wish everyone could have heard what I heard when she woke up! "HI MINNIE!! MOMMY LOOK IT'S MINNIE, SHE'S SLEEPING WITH ME! OH MOMMY THANK YOU."

She would not stop kissing Mickey!

I wish I could have been in her head and knew exactly what she was thinking!

Still stoked on Minnie and Ariel and she asks to wear these little ear barrettes almost everyday...I'm going to have to accidentally loose those soon!

Los Angeles

DODGERS! We went to a Dodger game and it was probably the best game I have ever been to. Field level seats, Dodger dogs and good company. Doesn't get much better than that! These are a few pictures I took with my phone. My dad had a bunch on his computer, but it crashed before I stole them! So of course, just a few of T.B...

A high of 81 degrees!

Summer is knocking down our door and we can't get enough of this weather! We spent most of our afternoon poolside and loving it. Tylie is fearless of the water which confirms, I need to get her in swimming lessons stat. Anyone know of a good place for lessons? Anyone want to join us?!

As soon as I asked if she wanted to go swimming she could not get out of the house fast enough.

The waiting place

Last night as I was laying in bed reading this book to Tylie...I realized how much of this book reflects our life as of late. Particularly in the bold places...

Oh! The Places You’ll Go! by the incomparable Dr. Seuss Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go. You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street. And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too. Oh! The Places You’ll Go! You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights. You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t. I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch. You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump. And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done. You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win? And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind. You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place…for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting. No! That’s not for you! Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy! Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV. Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t. I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you. All Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot. And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on. But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are. You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.) Kid, you’ll move mountains! So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!

We can't wait to make it out of the waiting place and on to bright places where boom bands are playing! Hopefully we will get there soon. In the meantime, I am so very grateful to have an amazing marriage and husband where we are able to lean on each other when the days seem extra long and rainy. I have so much to be grateful for. I am lucky.

Strike a pose

This is what happens when you leave my sister and Tylie alone for more that 15 minutes on a lazy Sunday afternoon. First they had a tea party and were talking in British accents. Then they got all dolled up.

OH GORGEOUS DARLING, JUST GORGEOUS.

Tonight when I got home from a fireside (which was incredible) I told Tylie it was time to get ready for bed and say our prayers. She said "No Honey" I told her it was very important to tell Heavenly Father what you are thankful for. I asked who she was thankful for and she replied "Titi" (short for auntie, which she calls Bri). I asked her who else? "Jesus Christ" again, who else? "TITI!" okay okay, geese!

I see London, I see France

This is what we've been up to for the past week! Its been a big success and we are proud parents of this little pantie wearing princess...literally. We found this book Princess Potty, and it has to be the cutest little book ever. It comes with this tiara and jewel stickers so each time she goes, she gets to wear the tiara. If she actually does the deed, she gets a sticker to put on her tiara. She chose to put them right on her potty. Hey whatever works!

I never knew how much you could do in a bathroom! We have read about every book, played every game and sung every song I know, all while sitting on the pot!

On a side note, is anyone else's kids terrified of public restrooms? How in the heck do you get over that? The toilet is so big for their little bums! This is the only time she'll have accidents, and it's not because she won't tell us, it's because she won't sit on a public toilet! I don't like them myself but I've been trying to explain that when a girls gotta go she gotta go!

It been a lot of hard work...ask Ty! She has NEVER just fallen asleep like this. She won't even fall asleep to a movie, but after half a day of potty training this is how I found her.

P.S. Anyone in need of size 4 diapers? We just bought a big box about a week before we decided to potty train! Going once, going twice...