NEW ART

Today, Brian and I had gone to an art gallery at a hotel downtown because they were selling a bunch of art paintings anywhere from $19-$99.00.
We bought these two pieces because we just fell in love with them. It's kind of odd that we bought these as apposed to landscape paintings which I'm usually more into. I don't know why but for some reason the picture of the woman just captivated both Brian and me. I also loved the smaller painting of the couple.
We saw many paintings that we loved; landscapes mostly. Some of them reminded us and Thomas Kinkade, Van Gogh, Picasso, Michael Angelo or Monet. There were some REALLY nice ones of Paris that I would have LOVED to buy, but we couldn't afford all of them.
Brian and I want to eventually buy more art to hang around our house, but I guess we'll just have to do it a little bit at a time.

ADDICTED TO TWILIGHT

Okay, so I have crossed over and joined the dark side!

I started reading the Twilight series of books. My friends Chelsey and Martha......and a bunch of other women from my ward told me about them and said I had to read them. At first I wasn't really into it. My friends Chelsey and Martha had taken me to the book release of Breaking Dawn (the fourth book). I thought they were crazy getting so excited over this book. I wondered what all the hype was about. It reminded me of the whole Harry Potter craze. I thought the books seemed so juvenile. Chelsey told me I should just read them and give them a try. She decided to bring over the first three books. I'm so glad she did! I started reading Twilight and I got sucked in. THANKS A LOT CHELS! It's okay. I still love ya!

As I was reading the books, I had to laugh at myself because songs would just pop into my head that seemed so appropriate at the time. Songs like Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis and No Air by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown. I know. Like I said, pathetic. I think I'm a little obsessed.

I am currently about half way through Eclipse (the third book) and so far I LOVE it! This is really embarrassing to admit, but I think it was either last night or the night before I had a dream about vampires and werewolves. How pathetic am I?

I seriously cannot wait until the movie comes out November 21st. I was thinking about getting a big group together to go see it. If any of you are interested let me know. I'm SO excited!

SUPERSTAR!!!

Watch out Hollywood! Here comes Tali! Yesterday, Tali and I went to take some corn from our garden to my sister. I saw Tali's cousin's sunglasses on the counter and I wanted to see if they would fit her so, I put them on her. I took these pictures because I thought she looked so cute and funny! She looked like she was some fabulous movie star. I got a kick out of the pictures."

Hey good lookin'! How you doin?"

"Who's yo' baby?"

I'M HOW OLD???

Are you serious?!? Three months already? Let me see.....In the three months I have been here, I have grown so much! I can now lift my head, roll over, laugh out loud, scream really loud, smile, and pull at my parents heartstrings......he he he!

At my last appointment with my doctor, I weighed 10 lbs 11 oz. I'm 24 1/2 inches tall! I've been getting my shots which hurt, but my daddy was there to comfort me and wipe away my tears. Mommy had to have daddy hold me because she couldn't watch the nurse hurt me.

I think I like my family so far. They always give me lots of loves and tell me everyday how much they love me......and how cute I am. With a face like this, can you blame them?


























Mommy likes taking my picture. Here are some more pictures of my 3rd month birthday.

BABY GENIUS!

In the beginning, I thought this whole schedule thing was a breeze. Tali slept really good and I don't mean to brag, but it seemed like a piece of cake........that's were I went wrong!

I never thought motherhood would be a piece of cake by any means, but Tali was doing so good with a schedule she went into it with such ease. It was like she was a natural pro at conforming to a schedule. Now her constant refusal to take naps is exhausting! I lay her down for her nap a little sleepy, but she wakes up a half an hour later. I go in to check on her and she just looks up at me smiling hoping I'll give into her and go play with her. I've made this mistake before. Don't let those bright eyes and smile fool you! She knows how to play the game! The one time I gave into her, she was SO incredibly cranky 5-10 minutes later that I had put her back down because I could tell she was still really tired. It's so hard to try to be firm when your baby looks at you like that. She really knows how to play on the heartstrings!

Okay, I know Tali is still a little young for this, but it was fun anyway. Yesterday, when she was supposed to be napping (of course) I decided maybe a little classical music would help. So I decided to play simplified versions of Pathetique (by Beethoven) and Canon (Pachelbel). She seemed to like it. I then got the thought that maybe I could give her a little Music 101 course. I put her little fingers on the piano so she could tell that when you push the keys they make noise. Her and I then played around for a few seconds and then we started playing a mean version of Mary Had A Little Lamb and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I really enjoyed it. It's just a bummer that she won't remember it. That's okay, there will many more memories we can build at the piano together.

FAMILY PHOTOS & CELEBRATIONS!

Earlier this week we took our own family photos at the park. Here are a few of them. It was a really nice day for pictures. Even if Tali didn't want to cooperate.

It was also Grandma Dianna's birthday yesterday. We went over for a really yummy dinner with vegetables from their garden as well as peach pie with vanilla icecream. While we were there, we were talking and playing with Tali as usual. While we were playing with her, she rolled over!!! I was SO excited and so proud of her! I decided to get out my camera and video record it. Tali (as you can imagine) didn't like it so much. She was crying the whole time I was recording her rolling over. It was so funny! Here are some photos of Grandma Dianna and Tali.

"Hello everyone!"

Tali trying to roll over. Ah, so cute!

TRIBUTE TO GRANDPA WHITE

This is a picture of my Grandpa White who passed away on July 31st. We had his funeral this past week. It was a lovely service. So many beautiful tributes were made. The ones that stuck in my mind were those made by my brother "Scott" and my sister Melisa. So many forgotten and fond momories of Grandpa resurfaced; from camping/fishing trips to BBQ's to Christmases as well as his love for Patsy Cline music. He always went on his "forever" long walks with his dog Pepper. He loved his dog so much that in his final days, he would wake those taking care of him just to ask where Pepper was.

He was always genuinely interested in what was going on in our individual lives. I remember one visit with him. We just spent the afternoon together talking and then going out for lunch. I enjoyed itso much and apparently he did too. He said he was "tickled" to have me there. I can even remember picking "nightcrawlers" with him in his backyard at night before a fiahing trip to Payson Lake the next morning. My brother "Scott" one time were walking around the lake holding Grandma & Grandpa's hands singing the "M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E" song. And also sitting out on their front porch un their laps eating popcicles. I loved that! Just being there with Grandma & Grandpa was such a treasure.

He was always there for my family growing up. Grandpa was more than just a grandpa. He was the father we never had. He was such a huge influence in our lives that my brother "Scott" changed his last name to carry on his legacy.

Grandpa always put his family first. He taught us that the most important people in our lives are our family. He loved his family very much. The last words I heard my grandpa say were "I love you." I will treasure that always. I love my grandpa and he will be sorely missed!

In the Wink of an Eye

In the wink of an eye I'll be home.

Just you wait, it won't take all that long.

And though I'm not very sure what's behind this new door,

Ill cling to your love while I'm gone.

In the wink of an eye I'll be home,

and I'll show you the treasures I've found.

And I hope that you'll see that the changes in me

are ones that will make you proud.

And as I'm leaving I feel sure

I have gone through leaving home brefore.

In the wink of an eye I'll be home,

and we'll laugh and we'll hold and we'll cry.

For this veil of tears isn't measured in years;

it's all in the wink of an eye.

The wink of a heavenly eye.

OFF THE MARKET

This past weekend we went to see a long time friend of mine. My friend had her little boy just days after I had our little Tali. We went up to Idaho for the baby blessing. It was great......well other than the fact that Tali gave me a huge scare. While we were waiting for the Sacrament meeting to begin, we fed Tali about 4 oz. I went to burp her and she spit up as normal....and then more kept coming out of her mouth and literally drenched Tali and myself. I was so shocked. I couldn't think. Finally Brian had to actually tell me to go to the mother's room to clean her up. I was so scared! Brian thinks it was just car sickness. Yes, I may be a little over protective, but she really scared me! I was so scared I was shaking and almost in tears from the whole ordeal. I didn't know what to do. She'd NEVER spit up that much.

After the baby blessing we went back to my friend Laura's house. We ate and took some photos. Sorry boys, it looks like our little Talitha is off the market. I would definitely say there was some chemistry there!

See what I mean? What a flirt!

NAPTIME & THUMBSUCKING

Here is Tali at naptime. Yes, she often crosses her legs like that; which would explain why we weren't able to find out her gender when I was pregnant. That and the fact that we didn't want to find out.

Notice the binky?

I've been trying to break Tali of the "thumbsucking" habit. I had been giving her the binky instead. Yes, she might be a little young, but I figured if I broke her of the habit now, I won't have such a hard time with it later. So far, so good.......

Or so I thought. Notice the binky in the top left of this picture. I guess I should just admit defeat. She always manages to find her thumb no matter what I do. What is the appeal to the thumb? Does it just taste better than the binky?

I guess for now, she wins the war between binky and thumb. That doesn't mean that I won't continue in my valiant efforts to break her of the habit.

CHILDREN OF THE CORN

I think I figured out where Amy got our Talitha.

After comming to the revelation "where babys come from" I decided to do a corn dance.

For some reason Amy keeps looking at me like I've gone off into left field. I think I'll have to figure that one out next

I was trying to unlock the secrets of the universe using my mind powers on Tali.

She seems to have more persuasion than I do when it comes to the secrets of the universe.

SWEET DREAMS!

Our sleepless nights are officially OVER!.....well at least for now until we have our next child. Tali has been sleeping through the night since last Saturday! She was exactly only 7 weeks old too I might add. I hate to brag....who am I kidding, I LOVE IT! I think we have a right to gloat. We are finally getting Tali on a schedule. She definitely loves her sleep just like her parents!

Tali is so funny! As she's been growing, she's developed the really cute habit of snorting when she's upset and sometimes even when she laughs. It's really hilarious! Today, I was putting her down for her first nap and she just started laughing. I mean really laughing. It was so freakin' funny! Then, yesterday we had placed her on our bed on her belly to help her try to lift her head and strengthen her neck muscles. Just to give you an idea about how much she loves her daddy, we were all on our bed and while she was on her belly, she started scooting closer and closer toward Brian. It was so cute! She's a total "daddy's girl." She's doing really well and is accomplishing so much!

WHO DAT?

Today we "officially" gave our baby girl a name!. I bet you didn't know what it was going to be... It's now Talitha McKenna Monson, surprise! Yeah, I know it's anticlimatic with everyone in the know and all. It just sounded better than hey you.

We had an "Anywhere USA BBQ" afterwards where Talli behaved the whole time. I think she likes socializing. Now you might be able to tell in the photos that Tali had quite a dress to show off. I think it was as big as she was. It only took one miracle to fit her into her car seat. I think it works like those love sacks where you can just swim in it until you get confortable. It almost makes me jealous. I think next time we encounter a situation like this one we'll downsize on the dress department.

SMILE!!!!

I promised I would try and get pictures of Tali's smile because she's just so darn cute! And no, it wasn't just gas....at least we don't think so. When she smiles, it just makes our hearts melt! She is growing so fast! She now weighs in at a whopping 8.5 pounds (well, at least the last time I checked). She's even got daddy's cute curls! In order to know that, you have to look at his high school pictures when his hair was long. Well, anyway here are the photos. I know they may not be very good, but when you're trying to get pictures of your kids' being cute and playful, you have to be quick.....at least at this age.

4TH OF JULY

The day began with a flag raising ceremony and program with Brian's parent's stake. We spent time with Nanna & Pappy Monson and Matt & Abbie as we enjoyed eating chocolate doughnuts and milk for breakfast! MMMM....CHOCOLATE!!! We decided we couldn't get enough of the festivities so we then spent some time with Tali's Aunt Melisa and her cousins Simmone and Mossimo at a park near Melisa's house where we enjoyed some face painting, bean bag tossing, inflatable bounce houses and yet again....more food! Later in the evening we had a BBQ with Amy's side of the family. After dinner we began the wonderful tradition of fireworks. Tali enjoyed her first 4th of July....with the exception of the loud noises from the fireworks. Once the fireworks started, Tali decided she had had enough! We ended up watching the fireworks in our car to get Tali to go to sleep. All in all, it was a pretty nice day.

TRIBUTE TO AN AMAZING TEACHER!

Last Saturday, we went to a tribute/benefit concert for Cyprus High choir teacher, Mr. Moore who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The concert included the choir alumni from 1985-2008. There was also an appearnce and performance by SHeDaisy. It was a wonderful concert! He was still just as witty and good natured as ever. Mr. Moore was the BEST choir teacher ever! He instilled in his students a knowledge,love and passion for music. He inspired and encouraged his students to strengthen their talents in music as well. He is a great man! He was always willing to do what he could to help his students. He is loved and respected by many! Here are some photos of the concert.

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ROCK ON!

Yesterday we were introduced to the wonderful world of rock climbing by our military buds. Who thought it would be just as fun with safety equipment . We even brought Tali along for the fun. Don't worry we didn't take her up with us no matter how much she might have wanted to. Instead she stayed back just watching from the shade with her refreshing beverage and a cool wet rag (or sock in some countries) on her head. I think she's getting this summer relaxing thing down.
It might be fun to buy the family a set for some fun FHE's in the future or what ever comes up.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers!

Brian has really enjoyed his first father's day......with a nice nap with Tali. He is such an incredible father! He has taken Tali for a nice long drive at one o'clock in the morning just to help her go to sleep. He has also taken over in the middle of the night when I've been so exhausted to the point of tears. He has such a way with Tali that I can't even begin to imagine. He always has such a soft soothing voice when he is talking to her and she is throwing a fit. He's never lost his temper and he's just one heck of a father! Here is an adorable picture I took of Brian and Tali's naptime. I also wanted to share this picture of Brian's dad, Brian and Tali on Father's Day because I thought it was just precious.