Another reason why I love Shutterfly.

Drumroll please my friends, because Shutterfly has an amazing announcement!

Shutterfly.com is giving out 50 FREE Christmas cards to anyone who blogs about how amazing they are! Merry Christmas, right? This offer rocks for a number of reasons- 1. Who doesn't love free stuff, 2. Shutterfly is my go-to source for all photo printing and project needs, and 3. I was planning on ordering my Christmas card from Shutterfly anyway, so this will just save me some bucks.

 I use Shutterfly for so many projects: photo books, calendars, prints, party invites, and Christmas cards. In fact, I just ordered a photo book and am in the process of creating a photo calendar. 

Ever since we had our family photo session in September I have been envisioning our family's photo Christmas card (yes, I really do think of these things months and months in advance) and the first thing I did when I got our photo disc was click on over to Shutterfly.com to peruse the photo card selection. I thought that picking our photo card would be easy stuff, but it's harder than I thought! Not because Shutterfly is difficult to navigate- hello, how user friendly can you get- but because there are so many adorable cards and I can't pick just one!

Check out the link to jump in on this amazing offer!http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/Here are some of my favorite designs (although I can't share my very favorite- you'll have to wait for that one in the mail):

Thanksgiving 2010.

This year we spent our Thanksgiving in Denver with Ben's family. The visit seemed too short, since we were having a great time during the entirety of our visit. 

We flew in early Wednesday morning, which really is a story in itself, but I won't bore you with the details of waking up at 3 am and getting to the airport by 5 am. 

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving in Denver. We stayed at a swanky guest suite in my father in law's girlfriend Pamela's downtown Denver complex. I wish that I would've taken pictures, because it was awesome- better than any hotel I've ever been in. 

We spent Wednesday in Parker, at the family home and had a Christmas celebration, since we wouldn't be together for Christmas. We read from Luke 2, opened presents, and played games. 

 Silly Dylan and his rosy cheeks. The air was insanely dry, which caused the poor boy's cheeks to chap and get ridiculously red. 

 Dylan and his cousins. By this time, Dylan had been up from 3:30 am until 8 pm with a few little catnaps thrown in. He was one tired boy.

 He perked up for opening presents and fell in love with the hammer and peg toy that Grandpa Carl got him. Dylan is all boy!

 Thanksgiving Day he was a little more rested and was in great spirits. He kept getting into cousin Lucas's jumparoo.

 Here's the cool room where we had Thanksgiving dinner. There were probably about 30 people there with Ben's family plus Pamela's family and neighbors.

 Me and my red-faced boy.

 Ben chasing Dylan around in the theater room.

Love birds.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends! Hope you had a great one!

Saw it. Loved it.

There were so many things to love about this movie:
-The amazing Seven Harrys
-Bill and Fleur's wedding and Fleur's gorge dress
-The elimination of the Horcrux
-Ron and Hermione's tender love/hate relationship
-Dobby's rescue and death

The only things I don't love?
-Part two is not coming out for waaaaay too long
-Idiot sitting behind us did not turn her cell off. And it rang. Loudly.

Oh, and all the hullabaloo about the nude scene? Whatev, it showed nothing. Take a deep breath and move on.

Commercial Joy.

Ben and I reenact this commercial on a regular basis... we crack ourselves up.

I now call Ben a jackwagon as much as possible as well.

Date day + worst movie ever?

Hello friends! I'm just wrapping up a fabulous 4 day weekend (Veteran's Day on Thursday + no work Friday + regular weekend = 4 day wknd) and I am sooo not ready to go back to the daily routine of work and whatnot. This weekend was great though- I got to spend tons of time with my boys and just enjoyed some extra relaxation time.

Dylan and I didn't do anything crazy or out of the ordinary on Thursday or Friday, but Ben and I got a day date on Saturday! Hooray! Thanks to my pal/boss Jorden for watching Dylan while Ben and I hit the town! Well, not really hit the town... more like drive 1/2 mile to grab a burger at Five Guys and see a matinee.

We decided to see "Morning Glory" the new Rachel McAdams movie. I absolutely adore Rachel McAdams, so I usually end up seeing all of her movies.

I thought that the movie was ok. Probably would give it a B- in my book. Enjoyable, but could've waited to get it on Netflix. Ben, on the other hand, thought that it was one of the worst movies that he's every paid to see. Other than the 30 seconds that we were both laughing so hard that we had tears in our eyes, Ben was grumbling throughout the whole deal.... which leads me to my big question...

What is the worst movie that you have paid to see in the theater?

Mine would have to be this one:

Surprising, right? Great cast and seemingly hilarious plot. Nope, I found it awkward and offensive. Please share your least favorite movie experience! 

13 months.

I ended up skipping Dylan's 12 month update due to my laziness and lack of follow through with all things blog, but here is what Dylan is up to at 13 months (!) old.

Here are Dylan's stats from his 12 month appointment:

Weight: 20.35 lbs (15th percentile)
Height: 30 inches (59th percentile)
Head: 18 inches (31st percentile)

At 13 months, Dylan is turning out to be a fiesty little man. He has definite opinions and is one picky little eater. He does not hesitate to tell me or Ben "No!" and getting him to eat is a daily ordeal. Well, he is always willing to eat junk food or drink a bottle, but we're trying to get away from the bottle and only use a sippy cup. He is also becoming a little climber and is still in his "destructive baby" stage. Everything comes out of the bookcase on a daily basis and he is always taking things out of drawers. On the upside of things, Dylan is a better sleeper than ever. He sleeps for at least 11 hours every night without waking up, and takes two naps each day for about two hours apiece. Nice, right?

Here is the list of foods that he will eat: rice, beans, oatmeal, cheese quesedillas, cheese ravioli, pasta, bread, applesauce, pears, grapes... and that's about it. The only way that I can get him to eat vegetables is to give them to him in baby food form. I'm trying not to let his pickiness drive me crazy, although I admit it does some days.

Dylan is getting more verbal as well. His regular words are: mama, dada, kitty, Boo (what he calls Moo), Ocar (Oscar), bye, wow, no, hi and hello. It's so cute to hear him say more words! He has the cutest little voice!

Dylan has also fallen in love with Elmo. Whenever he sees that my laptop is on, he wants me to go to youtube to watch Elmo videos. It's the cutest thing.

Dylan is also super affectionate to me and Ben and is always running to me to give me hugs. It's precious to see my little guy running towards me with open arms and then falling into me for a hug. Cue melting.

Help a sister out.

Specifically, help my sister out.

My sister Sarah is having baby #3 in February and it's her first girl! Hooray! The current issue is the name. She doesn't have any idea what to name her baby and would love any suggestions.

Sarah is super picky and has definite ideas about what her baby's name should not be. Here are the basics:
- name must be more than one syllable. Since her last name is only one syllable, the first name needs more so things will sound how she wants.
-name cannot be super common. No to Madeline, Madison, Maddie, or anything equally common. Sarah likes things unique but not too crazy like Apple or Audio Science.
-name cannot have a "hard r" sound- for example, she'd never go for Darcy, since her last name is Clark. Too many hard r's.

Let the naming begin!

Meet my new assistant.

If he keeps sleeping on the job then I'm going to have to let him go.

Blame it on reality tv.

Ben and I have a really great relationship. We're best friends and we both really try to be kind to each other. We try to avoid being rude and snarky with each other, and  are usually successful. The times when the snarkiness typically takes over? When we're watching reality tv. Not even kidding.

Here's an example:

Ben is addicted to this show on the Golf Channel. I know, the Golf Channel. Uh-oh, the snarkiness is already escaping...
Anyway, he watches this show called Big Break and it's a competition between male and female golfers for all sorts of golfy prices, money, etc.
I think that it's a ridiculous show and I like to add my own commentary during the show to illustrate how silly I think that the contestants are and how they seem to say idiotic things all the time. Those who know me know that I'm not one to make fun of others and I really try and be nice for the most part. But this show? It brings out the worst in me!

And Ben?

Poor guy gets roped into watching America's Next Top Model with me most Wednesday nights. He always ends up doing the same thing that I do with his shows- spends the hour making fun of the show and the contestants AND sometimes me.

For example, the girls on the show were being snotty to eachother and just having some normal female drama. I turned to Ben and said, "I really like all the girls on the show and I wish they would just be nice to each other and be friends." And how did my sweet husband reply?

"You know what you should do? Make them a cake full of rainbows and smiles so they can all be friends like they were in middle school..... you freak."

Who is this snarky person that I call my husband?!? Of course we both laughed about it, but I'm telling you- reality tv is not bringing out the best in our personalities!

*10 points to the first person to name the movie that Ben referenced!

Let the holiday season begin!

Despite what the majority of the American public may think, the holiday season does not begin with Thanksgiving... it begins with Halloween. That means... drumroll please... the holiday season has begun!

There is so much to look forward to over the next two months... let me tell you. And if you're me, there are two extra holidays during the season.

1. Veteran's Day

While Veteran's Day is obviously a perfect day to honor our Vets and thank them for all they have done for our country, there is also my personal excitement for the day. Veteran's Day = State holiday = no work for me = 4 day weekend! Score!

2. Thanksgiving

This year we will be heading to Denver for Thanksgiving. We weighed the options of driving vs. flying, but decided on flying in the end, since neither of us wanted to deal with a cranky baby in the car for 9+ hours. We're wimps who would much rather get on a 75 minute flight and call it good.

3. My birthday!

I can't believe that I'm going to be 26 next month! That's just one year away from my "scary" age. As a teen, I always thought that 27 was the first year that actually seemed old and now it's quickly approaching. What happens when you reach your scary age? Do I push the "scary" age back to 35 or do I just accept the fact that I'm getting older? Hmmm. Let's save all the contemplating for next year and enjoy 26!

4. Christmas

We're heading to Indiana for Christmas, so in a word Icannotwait! I haven't been home for Christmas since 2006 and I would say that it is definitely time!


5. Anniversary time!

Unfortunately we won't be together on our 6th anniversary, although I think we'll be ok. Since our anniversay is on December 28th, we're usually a little holiday'd out and make our anniversary celebrations low-key. Either way, it's fun that we're coming up on our 6th anniversary.

6. New Year's

Unfortunately, hubs and I won't be together for New Years, as I will still be Indiana and Ben will already be back in Utah. It's not fun being apart for New Year's, but I'm excited to spend a long holiday in Indiana.

So if you actually made it to the end of this post (sorry, it got a little long) then you realize how much there is to be excited about over the next two months! Wahoo!

Ebay Amnesia.

Does anyone else randomly peruse ebay for good deals on things? Lots of people, right?

How about randomly bidding on clothing items that are from normally very pricey brands, but are currently at a reasonable rate on ebay? Again, lots of people.

How about promptly forgetting about the handful of things you bid on, since the auction would be going on for another week and figuring  that you would definitely be outbid during that time? Maybe just me?

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from ebay congratulating me on winning this top:

My first thought was "Whaaaaat? I didn't bid on anything on ebay!" And then slowly remembering my random string of bidding last week.

In case you were wondering, no this is not the first time that I've had ebay amnesia. Luckily, it seems that this amnesia is only related to reasonably priced clothing items on ebay and has not spread to other stores, websites, etc. Good thing I don't have Pottery Barn amnesia or something, because then there would be some problems.

Yes, please.

Oh J Crew, how you taunt me.