Danielle and Payton Griffith

Sheesh!

2011-07-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hello blogger world, is anybody still on this thing? I used to be obsessed with blogging..I don't know what happened. Well, not a whole lot has happened with us (okay let me rephrase that, not a whole lot has happened that I'm ready to put out there for the whole world to see ;) ) We are definitely enjoying the warm weather and spending a lot of time outside. I have made it a personal goal to keep the backyard in decent shape so Payton has somewhere nice to play. Payton is getting so big and surprises me everyday. She is so stinking smart, and has just become aware of a lot of things. My favorite thing right now is she constantly asks "whas dat?" and points to the most random things. I love that she is so curious and wants to learn. Thank goodness she got her intelligence from me.

I have been busy with cakes, work, Payton, housework, yard work, and basically just trying to keep myself sane. I got really into couponing, and I am never turning back. It's crazy how much money you can save!

I really can't think of much else to update, other than we are still here, and still kickin'. Life is stressful, but finally....good. Great even :)

closet re-do!

2011-03-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure I can call this post "closet re-do" as much as I should just call it "closet clean-up". Either way, I am loving my closet now and I have decided I have an insane amount of shoes. That's where this all started....the shoes. I was sick of them being piled up on my shelves, never being able to find the match, and then all of them ending up on the floor. With an entire closet to myself, I felt it was time to take back the control from my shoes. My jewelry was being a little unruly too. I have been hating this closet since buying the house because there is no door. I didn't want to look at the clutter, and it would be really nice to be able to shut Payton out of there. So I came up with this:

I bought the most amazing thing for my jewelry. It was so annoying to sit and pick apart necklaces that had gotten tangled in the drawer I kept them all in, so I bought a handy canvas rack thingy that keeps them nice and tangle free. You can hand it on a clothing rack, or because my closet has to many unnecessary walls, I just put it there.

I Love Projects :)

wow

2011-03-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

One of my goals this year was to blog more. Now here we are, two months after my last post, and I am finally sitting down to update. Payton is doing fantastic. She is talking so much now, and it really seemed like just one morning she started saying sentences. It still amazes me something when she will come running up to me and just blurt something out that I can actually understand. We are both super excited for summer, especially her, and we have really taken advantage of the few days the weather has been decent to play in the backyard. A couple weeks ago I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with some friends. I can't even being to explain what a blast that was. I really needed a vacation too. It was only over a weekend so I was back to reality quick, but it was totally worth it. It was even worth the harassment I received from Josh about going. Here are a few pictures from our trip...

The cake adventure is going great and growing. Everybody has been so nice and great, and I have been able to try out a lot of fun and new things. I have gotten so many referrals and average about a cake a week, which is much more than I expected and I love it!

You all know that I love projects, and my latest is my project. I have become obsessed with reorganizing it and making it more functional. There isn't a door on my closet so I feel like it always needs to look clean and organized. I'm not doing anything crazy, just a few hooks, shoe racks, and extra hangers sort of stuff. Pictures to come soon when it's complete.

I'm hoping this summer will be great, and I have lots of fun things to look forward too. I really need to make more of an effort to update this, so once again I am setting that as a goal :)

my baby's party

2011-02-05T00:11:00.000-08:00

Lots of pictures that are completely out of order. Payton's birthday was so much fun. Not only did I have a fantastic time planning it, her face the entire time was priceless. She is quite the animated little girl. One of her favorite shows is Yo Gabba Gabba. She has this funny dance she does at the beginning of it, and she jabbers with excitement during the whole show. I wanted to have a theme she would recognize, so this show seemed like a great choice. I originally wanted to make 5 cakes (one of each of the characters) but when Josh's family had an emergency and was not going to be able to make it to the party, I cut back and just went with one. I made the shirts the kiddos and I were wearing with some felt and iron-on adhesive. Super easy, super cheap, super cute. I made them way back in like, November but wouldn't let the kids wear them til the party. Payton would find them in my closet, get way excited, gather them up, and play with them like they were stuffed animals or something.

We had pizza for dinner then filled up on some sugar. Time for presents! As if she weren't spoiled enough at Christmas, this little girl got more fun toys and clothes. The it of the night had to be from my parents, the new power wheels jeep. I love the pic of her in the jeep with her new toy puppy. Her and Romes bundled up and took it for a spin in the backyard for a bit, then we cut into her Muno cake. She blew out her candles like a pro, and devoured the cake and ice cream. In the end, it was a lot of work but totally worth it. She had a great time, and that's whats important. I am glad I have some fun pictures to share with her forever, and a jeep in my living room I don't know what to do with til summer.

Sparkles

2011-02-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

Over here, we like shoes that sparkle

I am really going to try and update more, but not tonight. I can't think of anything interesting to blog about except our cute shoes :)

See? Epic

2011-01-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sayonara 2010!

2011-01-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

Wow I have really slacked on this blogging thing. Lots has changed, I have grown, Payton has grown, and it is about time for an update.

Lets start off with the most important.....Payton. This little spit-fire is headed to the terrible twos, and fast. I can't take my eyes off of her for 10 seconds or she has drawn on the furniture, climbed up to the tv, or dumped all her toys out on the floor and then ran them over with her power ATV. I was able to have her for Christmas this year, and what a little nut she was. She has the most exaggerated expressions I have ever seen. Her reaction to her gifts (and everyone elses) was priceless. She looks and acts just like me when I was a toddler, and I am loving all of the time I get to spend with her. She is turning two on January 28th, and be prepared for a party of epic proportions :)

Now on to the never-ending divorce. Seriously, I am pretty sure we are going for some kind of record here. We have settled on custody (joint legal custody, but I have the final say and sole physical custody) but are still not seeing eye-to-eye on a few other things, mainly the house. We recently went to court and Josh lost even more time with Payton because he thinks he writes the rules and that I am going to allow him to do that like I did for the years we were married. I wish we could just be divorced and have everything final so that I can move on as he says he has. One would think he would want this divorce over even more than I do, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

As far as my feelings towards them, I am honestly at a point where I can say I wish them the best. I went through the grieving process, the hatred, the name calling, the tears, and the pain. They clearly wanted so bad to be with each other, and now they can be without lying or cheating. Trust me, I did not feel like this a few months ago, but I am so much happier now and can finally be myself. While I certainly do not promote divorce, it was truly the best option for us. I am so much better off without him dragging me down, and I never would have been as happy as I am now. So really, I have to thank Josh and Christine, because I would have never considered divorce on my own. I was not strong enough. I have learned so much in the past year about myself that I would not have learned, and I will be a better wife to my next prince charming when that time comes.

Speaking of prince charming......I am having a fantastic time in the dating world. Quite a lot has changed since I was 16! Because I met Josh at 16, and wasted 2 years waiting for him while he was on a mission, I have missed out on a lot. While I would much rather just be a wife and a mother, this has been a whole new experience. My time is limited (see paragraph 3,) but I have met some great guys and have learned from each of them.

I have the most amazing friends. It's funny who you keep in touch with, even when your lives turn out nothing like you thought. I love my friends who I have known since potty-training, and those I have met, or re-met, this year. I have such a fun bunco group that I look forward to partying with every month, and it is so fun to see Payton playing with kiddos of my friends I knew at her age.

I am so excited for 2011. While the unknown scares me a little, I figure it can only get better from here right?

**UPDATE** spoke with my attorney today and the divorce was signed on the 27th so I am officially single!! BOO YA!

the dentist

2010-11-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

My little munchkin took her first trip to the dentist the other day. She has a mouth full of teeth, and healthy teeth is a huge thing to me. We went to Little Peoples Dental and they were fantastic! Dr. Stewart was fantastic, and gave me really good tips. The whole staff was so cute with Payton. She got a new toothbrush, and now lets me brush her teeth much better than before!

Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

This year Halloween had to be a little different since Josh had Payton. I made the most of it though, and was able to do some fun things with her. Besides the haunted train ride, Payton and I went to our ward Halloween party. They had a chili cook-off and lots of fun activities for kids. I have a new love for my ward, and I am really glad we went. Next Halloween is mine, and I am already thinking about our costumes and a party.

Haunted Canyon Train Ride

2010-10-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend we headed up Provo Canyon and took the kiddos on the Heber Creeper Haunted Canyon train ride. It was a little silly, but perfect for the young kids. Payton kept saying "Choo Choo!" while we were waiting for the train. It was so cute. This is definitely something we will be doing again next year.

Utah State Fair

2010-09-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

We visited the Utah State Fair today. Payton loved the pony rides the best. Ponies, sheep, goats, and frozen lemonade. A great way to end the summer.

look what I found

2010-09-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

While mowing my lawn this summer I noticed fruit on the two trees in my backyard. I am pretty sure there was not fruit on them this large last year, but maybe I just don't remember. These pics are a few weeks old, and the apples are huge! Kinda fun.

Just a quick update on how we are doing, not like anybody reads this anymore though.

Payton is doing fantastic. She is talking so much and I love to hear what she comes up with next. She has her favorite bear that goes with her everywhere, has to try food before she does, and everybody has to give him a kiss before you can give her one. She is quite stubborn, but still has the sweetest personality. She amazes me more and more every day.

I am doing....well okay. Today has been a really bad week, and it is only Wednesday. I made the decision to take Sergeant to the Humane Society, and for those who know me well, this was not an easy decision. I am still crying about it and probably will for weeks, or months.

The divorce is moving along slowly, but hopefully we will be officially divorced in a few weeks. This hasn't come without weekly drama, for example today Josh and I spent 6+ hours arguing in text about a 3 hour visit. This is how my life will be until Payton is 18. Awesome.

The cakes are going really well. I would love to do more, but they seem to come in spurts. I love the practice and the expression on peoples face when they see them. I am so glad I put myself out there and decided to do this.

Well, that is just a little bit of what is going on with us. Any further explanation would not be something I could write out. I am really hoping for the day that I can write on here, "well, nothing much has happened lately" I miss the boring days.......

Bathroom Re-Do

2010-07-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

I warned this bathroom that it would be next. The best part? I was able to redo it without any input from Josh! This was the last room upstairs that had not been touched since we moved in, and I was ready for some color. I am changing the accent color throughout my kitchen and family room to this bright turquoise, so I decided to carry it into this bathroom. New accessories and an amazing new granite counter top, and I love it!

Summer

2010-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

What says summer better than watermelon on the patio?

Pink Chair and Piggytails

2010-06-12T01:51:00.000-07:00

           Alright, I have neglected my blog long enough that half of you probably don't even check to see if I have updated anymore. I'm telling you, this whole private thing really annoys me.
          We have been quite busy with the warm weather we have been having. I took Payton to the splash park that is just down the street from my house and she LOVED it. As we were walking up to it she squealed with delight. So cute. She is becoming such a little lady I can't believe it. It is amazing how fast she picks up on things. My mom got her that cute chair for her room in the picture above. I have found Sergeant sitting in it more often than I would like, but Payton likes to climb up in it, eat snacks, and yell, "mama!" until I respond from wherever I am in the house. I can't even explain how much I love her.

          I have been working really hard on my goals from my last post, and I am proud to say I am still going strong. I may however wear myself out because I am trying to accomplish all of them at once. I am just so glad I have a lot of positive things going on to keep me busy. Just don't look at my yard today because I have not had a chance to weed this week yet. The rain is not helping the morning glory stay out of my flower beds.

          I started a cake decorating class this week and I can already tell I am going to love it. Lots of the things we learned our first day were familiar, but there were so many little tips that can really help. If you haven't already noticed, for fun I started a blog for my cakes and added the link to my blog list. I had a lot of fun designing the logo and Aubrey came and took some pictures. (thanks again Aubs!) I wanted a name for this blog so I asked my clever dad who immediately came up with DoodlePie Cakes. He has called me DoodlePie ever since I remember, although I have no idea why. I thought it sounded whimsical and cute so I went with it. Check out the blog and let me know what you think!

Goals

2010-05-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

So lately I have been trying to focus on things that I can control rather than things (or people) that I can't. When I get an idea, I have started entering in my phone things I would like to work on or accomplish. I'm going to share this list with you so you can make sure I am doing it. :)

1. Exercise-and really do it, not just talk about doing it

2. Be a better friend

3. Practice the violin and piano to play in a symphony again

4. Don't be "that house" on my street with all the weeds and overgrown yard

5. Focus on the positive

6. Get a pedicure every 6 weeks

7. Be more outgoing and try to meet new people

8. Run my own decorative cake business*

9. Keep my house clean

10. Work 35 hours a week

Here is 10 to start me off. Some are defiantly easier than others, like the pedicure. The hardest one on there for me is totally going to be meeting new people since I am unnaturally shy. I'm trying really hard to work on myself so that I can be the best example for Payton. Obviously some of these things are going to take years, like he cake business and perhaps keeping my house clean, but I have all the time in the world. It is really crazy (and scary) not knowing what the future holds for me and Payton. Perhaps a little exciting.......

* Remember this?

I had toyed with photography before my camera got hijacked, (and yes folks, I WILL be getting that back one day) but I had so much fun with cake decorating that I would like to try my hand at this. I need your help though. I need practice, and lots of it. I don't even want to expose my thighs to the possibility of cakes piling up in my kitchen, so for $25 or less I would like to make a cake for your celebration. I am charging only for supplies (hence the "less" part) because I am not a professional. I really would just like the practice and to start a portfolio of samples. So for your next birthday, baby shower, anniversary, graduation, holiday, a Wednesday, but no weddings, (I'm not confident enough for that...yet) give me a call or send me an email and we can work something out. Dani (801) 856-4452 danielled17@yahoo.com

Update

2010-05-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling unmotivated about my blog for no good reason. I think it is the whole private thing. I dunno. As most of you know I spent last weekend in the hospital having surgery. I have been having stomach pains for quite awhile, and the past few months it has gotten pretty bad. I assumed it was stress related and would eventually go away as soon as my life calmed down, but I decided to get it checked out anyway. I went to my doctor and a CT scan later I was told he was referring me to a surgeon to have things checked out because he was concerned about my liver. Also, if I had the pain again it would be wise to head to the ER. Awesome. The next day I headed to the ER. Another set of tests later, a new doctor told me I have gallstones and I would need surgery to have my gallbladder removed. My response? Of course I do. This is just the kind of thing I need right now. I tried to keep in good spirits, hey some more time off work isn't too shabby right? Two surgeries later (apparently there was a gallstone lodged in some sort of valve that required a second surgery) and I was recovering in the hospital for the night, then sent home the next day.

I'm feeling pretty good now. I'm back to doing my normal routine. I guess this was a blessing in disguise that this happened now while I am still covered by Josh's amazing insurance. Payton was a rock star during the whole thing too. She had no problem spending a few nights at my parents. I'm so grateful she is such a happy little thing.

In other news, Josh was finally served with divorce papers. This has brought a whole new wave of emotions for me. I knew this was coming, I filed a month ago. It has started to really sink in that this is actually happening and the life I thought I would have is no more. He needs to make the next move now. He now knows what I want and expect out of the unfortunate divorce.

Hopefully things will just kinda move forward now and I can figure out what my new "normal" is going to be. Thanks again for all of your support during this crazy time. Love you all!!

Easter Dress

2010-04-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

I love this girl, and she is loving the recent warm weather. (however as I write this, it is snowing outside. whatever) These are the only pictures I got from Easter because my Nikon is being held hostage. It doesn't matter though, cuz I think she is the cutest thing anyway.

Private

2010-04-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

As most of you can see from the comments on the last post, Josh's family views what happened quite differently than I do. I think it is one thing to post your opinion on your own blog, but to start harassing somebody by making annonomys comments on their blog, well that is just sad. Luckily I have a pretty good idea of who it was. I have no idea at what point they all turned on me. A few weeks ago they were all telling me how horrible this all was that this was happening and that I deserved so much better than their son and brother. Who knows, and at this point, I really don't care.

Thanks for everybodys support. That's what has helped me so much. Regardless of what Josh's family thinks my marriage was like, it only took a few times meeing Josh and I to see who the problem was. They used to believe that too.

So...

2010-04-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Due to recent biased and untrue remarks made by someone who thinks they know everything and has all the right answers, I am going to have to do something I never wanted to and make my blog private. I am learning there are less and less people I can trust to have access to where I can write my thoughts and opinions. If you read my blog, please leave your email address as a comment, or send me a message with it on facebook. I plan on going pivate this ~~Wednesday~~ Friday.

I've got to laugh about it though, cuz I should have realized that this was going to happen sooner or later.

Anyway on the bright side, when my blog goes private, the gloves really come off, cuz I can react to Josh however I want to.

The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them

2010-04-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know what my problem is lately. I felt like I was doing really great considering my situation, but for some reason these past few days I have felt like bursting into tears at any minute. I filed for divorce this week which was such a bittersweet thing. I know that it was the next step in moving on, but it just doesn't seem real. I kinda feel like I'm having a horrible dream. Josh is going to be furious when he gets served because our idea of what is "fair" is completely different. Poor Payton has been sick with a cold for what seems like forever. Tonight while I was trying to get some sleep before work she was coughing so hard she threw up all over in her crib. Poor thing. She is such a trooper though and luckily being sick doesn't affect her mood. Which reminds me that I came back to work about a week ago after a leave of absence, and adjusting to my horrible schedule is getting the best of me. Working 1am-7am four days a week is tough, but thankfully that will change in June. Although I don't know how much better 9pm to 530am is. I'm thinking my lack of sleep has had some contribution to my thoughts. Also, Josh has told me things that he has been doing that I would probably be better off not knowing (like inviting her to dinner with his family and their welcome of her with open arms), and I think that is what got me into this funk. My family (especially mom) has helped me out a ton. I'm so glad Payton is as young as she is. Thankfully she isn't old enough to understand what is going on and the bad choices her dad continues to make. Anyway, I don't mean to sound whiny and just complain. I do have a lot of things I am happy about. The things in my previous post for example, and this has really given me a chance to step back and see how my relationship with Josh really was. My mom told me the quote on the title of this post the other day by Maya Angelou "The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them." I just wish I would have believed him two years ago when he showed me who he was.

5 things

2010-03-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

5 things I can smile about

1. Payton

2. Support of friends and family

3. Cutting myself some bangs

4. warmer weather

5. Karma

the truth

2010-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come to explain what has happened to me in the last 2 weeks. Well, the last 2 years really. I wanted my blog to try and tell the real truth about what has been going on in our lives without unloading too much personal stuff, but also not acting like our lives are perfect and you should all want to be us. So since my life has changed dramatically in the last 2 weeks, it would be best to explain why. Josh and I are getting a divorce. Many say it was a long time coming, and I guess now I can see that too, I just really wanted things to work out with us. I felt like I had the fairytale life. High school sweethearts, waited for Josh while he went on a mission, married in the temple, bought a home, found out we were pregnant. It was when I was about 3 months pregnant that this idea I had of our lives came crashing down. Josh and I became very distant, and I found out he had been having an affair with a coworker. We had considered divorce then quite a bit. Josh could not decide if he wanted to stay with his pregnant wife, or continue his relationship with this *insert bad word here* he had been cheating with and claimed he loved. I felt it was at that point that I really lost who I was. I had lost Josh too. I couldn't understand how he could do this to me, especially after he knew I was pregnant. This girl and I are also complete opposites. She is on her second marriage, 2 children from different fathers, enjoys getting drunk, and is a smoker. I still don't get it. I started to question everything I had ever believed in. Marriage, the church, myself, everything I had such a strong testimony in became something I no longer felt was important. Josh moved out for about a month and then we decided to try and make things work between the two of us. I honestly felt like things got much better. We decided to move to get a fresh start. We thought a new ward would help us get back to church. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. To my huge surprise Josh came to me and said he was really unhappy, and did not think he could be happy with me for the rest of his life. This was a huge shock to me. I had been depressed about my job and still had insecurities about the previous affair because he still worked with her everyday, but I did not feel like our lives were headed down this road again. Josh moved out saying he was very confused about what he wanted, but assured me over and over he had not been cheating again, and that he hadn't even talked to her. I believed this until I found an email he sent about 3 days after moving out to this same girl talking about how they were going to afford bills, ideas on how he wanted to remodel her house, how he wanted to be able to take care of her and her kids, that he couldn't stop thinking about her, and that he just wanted to "wrap her in his arms". I couldn't breathe for about 5 min. I confronted him and he said he had never stopped loving her. He also later admitted he had spent the night at her house after moving out. Once again, my world came crashing down. I knew this time we would be getting a divorce. At this point I have no idea what will happen. For some reason, Josh has become so hateful towards me, and I don't know why. I am working on my feelings towards him. I want to hate him, and I at least have a good reason, but I was with him for 8 years and I still care about him. He is the father to Payton, and a good one, so he will always be in my life. I'm so hurt by his actions and don't understand how anybody could cheat on the one they stood next to in the temple. I have a huge support system in my family and friends. I would not be doing as well as I am today if I didn't. I am so thankful for them who stood by my side during this whole disaster. I'm sure Josh and some of his family members are going to be furious that I have put all this on here, but I am just telling what has happened, and not my personal opinions about Josh or his girlfriend. I don't feel I need to protect Josh and what he has done to our family. He blames me for the ending of our marriage, and I know there are 2 sides to every story, but I have just given the facts.

For now I am just trying to be the best mom to Payton as well as working on myself. I have been through a lot at the age of 23. I am working on rebuilding my relationship with my Heavenly Father, and trying to get past all the hurt. At this point I just want to look forward.

I'm still going to blog here about what is going on with Payton and I. I have lots of fun plans for the upcoming summer. This is a new chapter of our lives we are still adjusting to it, but I am excited for what the future holds for us.

Tile back splash....check

2010-03-04T01:17:00.000-08:00

We really like projects. Well, at least I really do. I think Josh does, or at least he just lets me start them. We have had a lot of fun with this house. It needed a lot of work when we moved in. (that's what you get with a foreclosure, along with an amazing deal) At our last house we felt we had done a lot. Painting small upgrades to fixtures and things like that. We did completely gut the master bath, but my dad really did most of that. When we bought this house there were lots of things we needed to change, so we decided to go big (and when I say "big", I mean credit card debt) and do the things we really wanted, not just cheap. We love doing the projects ourselves, and frankly, we couldn't afford to hire them out. We have learned how to do so many things too. In our new house we have painted just about every wall, changed out almost all the fixtures, re-did the basement, and the biggest one was laying over 700sq feet of hardwood floors. Whew! It was exhausting. i had a list of all the things I wanted to get done to the house after the move, and almost a year later, we have finished the last project on that list. Tiling the back splash. Josh and I have never tiled before. We decided that the back splash would be a great start, and I am pretty dang excited with how it turned out. I am so ready to start making a new list of projects, and you can bet that tiling something will be on it.

Our guest bathroom better watch out. It is totally next.

this girl with the messy hair*....

2010-02-22T00:12:00.000-08:00

is very sick. A few days ago she just had a stuffy nose, which we could handle. Today, she is acting like she just can't go on. The poor thing spent most of the day like this:

cuddled in a blanket, on her daddy's lap, eyes half-closed, and brownie on her face. (she was not about to let me wipe that off. After 3 days of wiping her nose, there was no way I was gonna get close to that brownie) I am really hoping she is doing better tomorrow. I just feel so bad for her when she is sick.

*on a side note, her hair doesn't always look like this. I was just looking through my pictures noticing there was a lack of pictures with her hair actually done, if any at all. I actually had it cut a few weeks ago, so when I style it (which sometimes causes tears from both parties involved) it looks way cute. Just thought I should explain why in most of the pictures on this blog, she looks like a homeless child. I love her to pieces anyway :)

Boardin' with the Boys

2010-02-11T00:41:00.001-08:00

For a well needed break from life (mostly work, it is really stupid right now) we headed to Wolfe Mountain for some snow boarding. I haven't been since middle school, so I expected to be a little rusty. I got back into my old groove pretty quick, or so I thought. I am sure paying for it today. I am so stinking sore. I can barely walk, and for some reason, my arms are killing me. Really? Why are my arms killing me. I don't remember using my arms that rigorously for snowboarding, but apparently I did, or maybe because the rest of my body is in pain my arms felt left out. I don't know. We had a big group going, but most dropped out so we ended up with Cody, Jeff, and Josh and I. So fun, and something I would love do be able to do often so I can practice, but certainly not anytime soon. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go find the heating pad.

Big Changes!

2010-02-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

And no, I'm not pregnant. (It is seriously insane how many people ask me that. My baby just turned 1, and I am only 23. yeesh!)

So here is the reason we have been so busy. We have been working on our basement getting things ready for my sis to move in. The basement was finished when we moved, but like the rest of the house it was kinda a mess. So we used our DIY skills (and a lot of help from my dad) and made it look great.

One of the 2 bedrooms

Full Bath

Family Room

This originally was a 1/2 bath, but we turned it into a laundry room

Kitchen-we are waiting for the island counter top because it had to be special ordered.

It is so nice to know that the basement is just done, and that it can be nice for Nicki. We are certainly excited for the extra money, and she gets to save some as well. Win-win for everybody! She moved in last weekend and things seem to be going great so far. She has her own separate entrance so everybody gets to have their privacy, and the cousins get to play!

Birthday Celebration!

2010-01-30T02:02:00.000-08:00

What a crazy night! We started with dinner at our house with my family to celebrate my Dad and Payton's birthday. Yum! Josh's family joined us later for cake and ice cream. Payton was a little unsure about the cake at first. (I think she thought it was too pretty to mess up) She got the idea after awhile, then just sat happily in her chair munching on it. We were so happy for everybody who came. It was great seeing everybody! Payton got lots of great gifts I think she was pretty happy about too. The night was a lot of work (especially making that cake) but totally worth it! Happy Birthday dad and Baby Girl!

Guess what today is?

2010-01-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

It's this girls first birthday

And I am so stinking excited. My mom and I spent all day making a phenomenal cake for her party tonight. Yup, phenomenal. I can't believe she is already one. Aside from the whole being pregnant thing (cuz for some reason that part feels forever ago) I still feel like she is my new baby. If the rest of my years with her will be half as good as this one, I will be one happy mama. Happy Birthday and love you Payton.

1st Birthday teaser

2010-01-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

A preview of what me and my mom worked on today :)

Many faces!

2009-12-21T21:47:00.000-08:00

I am completely aware that I have become one of those bloggers who only posts pictures of their kids, but I am always behind the camera, and Josh runs away from me when he sees me coming with it. Besides, I think this girl is pretty cute, and it's my blog so I can post whatever I want. Right? Right. ANYWAY, I got some cute pictures of Payton's first tooth. The second one on the bottom has come through too, and so has one on top. Also, do you see that glimmer on her ears? Yep, I got her ears pierced finally and I love it! She didn't even cry when they did the first one, and after the second one she pulled a face, but a cookie fixed that right away. She hasn't bothered them at all and she lets me clean them with no problems. Oh, and we did have some family pictures taken, (a couple of different times, long story) and here are my favorites..

Bangs, a tooth, and walking..

2009-11-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

I feel like within the last week or so, this girl has grown up. Her first tooth finally broke through, I cut bangs so her hairstyle actually has some purpose, and she started walking. (not like, running through our house or anything) She is so determined and can take several steps completely alone. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I love seeing her chubby legs being put to good use, but I miss my newborn who used to cuddle and fall asleep in my arms. However, she is at a fun age because she is learning to much and I can't wait to see what she will do next!

Sometimes...

2009-11-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

this guy thinks he is a cat

and as I was going through my pictures I remembered I had taken this to post, but never did. So, here is our home we bought in April...

yay!

Happy Happy Birthday...to me!!

2009-11-10T23:28:00.000-08:00

The big 23....dun dun dun. Just kidding. 23 doesn't sound old to me. Perhaps that is because I still feel like I am 16. Who knows. This year was great! Josh told me he wanted to surprise me about where we were going to dinner. Now, for a brief explanation, one of my favorite TV channels is the food network. (yup, I admitted it. Josh makes fun of me because he doesn't understand why I like to spend all day watching other people make food) anyway, a show I love is Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. So he did some research online and found the address to Moochies, and funny little dive we had seen on an episode awhile ago. We headed downtown for one of the best Philly cheese steaks ever. Delicious. While we were there we snapped some pictures of me and baby girl to document this momentous occasion, (my birthday, not Moochies) and Payton is just too cute not to take pictures of

Josh's photog stills aren't too bad if I don't say so myself........

Later we had family/friends over for some cake and ice cream. Good times!

9 months, a little late

2009-11-06T22:51:00.000-08:00

Miss Payton turned 9 months on Oct 28th. She weights 18.5 pounds and is 28.5 inches tall. She is such a busy girl, which she totally gets from her daddy. She has way more energy than me, but I love to watch her learn about everything around her. She is so curious about everything, mostly Sergeant, and crawls as fast as she can to explore. She has been standing on her own now, and tries really hard to take a step, but loses her balance and falls. Still no teeth, but there are 2 bumps on her bottom gum that look quite promising. She babbles all the time, but doesn't really say words yet. She always had her own way of showing her excitement, and this week when she sees something she really likes, she starts flapping her arms as fast as she can. I love it. The Halloween photos I took of her were supposed to be for her 9 months, but I snapped the above one of her today cuz I think she is so cute. (and cuz I have a new lens that I absolutely LOVE)

Now I also have to mention a little man who turned 3 on Oct 25th. I can't believe we have had Sergeant for almost 3 years. (we got him in January 2007) He is such a part of the family and so patient with Payton. I was so worried about how he would be with a baby, but he really is great. Most of you know how I am about dogs. I don't know how I would have been able to get through the passing of Lacey if I had not had this little guy. He has is behavioral problems, but he has the funniest personality.

(In this picture, his head is resting on my knee because I was eating a cookie and he really wanted me to share)

Party!

2009-11-04T23:33:00.000-08:00

We had our own celebration this Halloween at our house to prevent us from doing absolutely nothing on this holiday. Josh was a creepy clown (a costume he put together about an hour before the party) and I went as a 50's girl. We had lots of food, sat by the fire, and then watched a movie. Fun!

So proud...

One tiny witch...

2009-10-26T21:36:00.001-07:00

He he he...

2009-10-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Look what I just made...

2009-10-25T01:52:00.001-07:00

I saw these at the mall but they were the wrong colors for Paytons witch costume I made for Halloween. So being the creative genius I am (ha), I custom made one to match. It is not just a wand, but a spell caster. Is that right? It doesn't sound right. It is 2:30 in the morning so it sounds right to me. Anyway, I love it and kinda want one for myself. She is gonna be the cutest little witch ever!

Pigtails...

2009-10-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

What do ya think?

8 Months

2009-09-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow my baby girl will be 8 months old. I can't believe How much she is learning everyday. She started crawling a few weeks ago, and she now pulls herself up on EVERYTHING and walks along furniture. Just yesterday, she let go of the couch that she was balancing on and stood alone for a good 20 seconds!! I screamed I was so excited. She still loves to play (harass) Sergeant, and although most days I am so exhausted, I really am lucky to work graves so I have the whole day to spend with her. Here are the rest of her tutu photo session. I am still trying to figure out my camera and photoshop, so any of you photographers out there, if you have any tips about how I could make these better, I am listening!!

(I started off with bad lighting, and even photoshop can't really fix that)

Tiny Dancer.....

2009-09-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

A teaser of Paytons 8 month photos we worked on today,

more to come......

So excited

2009-09-10T07:40:00.001-07:00

Recently got this:

Better photos, here I come!!

now if I can just figure out how to use it...

Cousins

2009-09-04T23:38:00.001-07:00

To start off, I had the opportunity to take some pictures of my new niece Akasha the other day. She was quite cooperative. Her only job was to lie there and look cute though.

Then it was Paytons and Akashas turn.....

So far so good, lets try some with all three......

As you can see, that did not go so well.....

.............I give up

7 Months

2009-08-27T14:06:00.001-07:00

Um, how did this happen? I couldn't have asked for a better baby. At 7 months this girl is just so happy and content. I can set her down on the floor and she crawls around keeping herself busy. She can't quite sit up, she one-cheeks it. All you have to do is make eye contact with her and she grins like she hasn't seen you for days. She absolutely loves her baby food, bananas and peas especially, and on more than one occasion she has eaten a whole jar+ in one sitting. Her thighs show it too. Every night she goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up singing in the morning at 8am. (for those counting impaired, that's 12 hours. boo-ya!) She things Sergeant is hilarious and that they are best friends. I kinda think he finds her an annoyance. I'm sad I don't have a newborn anymore, but I am loving how much she is growing and learning everyday.

Love ya girlie

I took these pictures at the park the other day with no intention of them being her 7 months photos. However, as you can tell from the lack of 6 month, 5 month, 4 month, okay you get the idea, I think these will work perfectly.

These two make me giggle

2009-08-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share

I just got the chills

2009-08-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-new-moon-jacob-preview.html#watch

Must have been...

2009-08-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

one serious nap

I love this cute girls hair. I can't, however, figure out what the heck to do with it. Some of it is so long products don't seem to work. I have tried just water, hairspray, mousse, and baby lotion. I don't want to cut it because I'm afraid she will look like a boy with the little mans haircut. Oh, here is what I got with the mousse:

I'm open to any other suggestions

A Swim?

2009-07-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty great weekend. It started with the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house on Friday. We met up with some of Josh's family and headed out. One car accident (not us) and keys locked in the car (us) later, we finally made it. Payton screamed her way through the temple, so Josh took her out on the lawn. The temple was beautiful. Here are some pics in the car on the way when Payton was still happy....

Saturday my sister-in-law had been telling us about a beach that was practically in our neighborhood, ummmm pretty sure if there was a lake and a beach in our neighborhood we would know about it. Or not. Up the street and practically overlooking the valley is this great man-made lake. (okay so apparently it is the storage for the secondary water for the homes up here, but I am going to call it a lake) So they put nice sand around it and BAM, a beach!! Tucked in the middle of our neighborhood. So fun!!

Pretty much this is where we will be spending the rest of the summer :)

Hilarious

2009-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

This girl makes me laugh. First we had this......

(sorry for the terrible quality. thats what you get with a cell phone)

And then just moments later, we had this.........

So sleepy........

4th of July bash

2009-07-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Okay so it wasn't so much a "bash" but we had a good time! We invited the whole family over for a potluck thing and to watch fireworks on our front lawn. My family brought over an amazing dinner of homemade fried chicken (courtesy of my 8 month pregnant sister standing at the stove for 3 hours turning it. delicious and totally worth it) potato salad, jello, biscuits, cupcakes, and homemade strawberry ice cream. yum. We had a quick fire and roasted marshmallows, then moved the party to the front where in Rosecrest, we have an amazing view of the valley. My plan was to take amazing pictures of the food and the fireworks, but all I ended up with was pictures of Roman and Payton. oh well. that's what happens when you are busy having fun. enjoy!

Family Pictures

2009-07-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to have family pictures done I can't even stand it! My friend Aubrey from Every Little Moment Photography did a great job for us. I have updated our layout a bit and added a few to show.

mmm....rice cereal

2009-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

First taste, she wasn't quite sure...

can't decide...

mmmmm.....yummy

gimmie more!!

Payton had her first taste of rice cereal tonight.... and loved it! She kept trying to grab the spoon (which made it very easy to feed her) and was licking her lips a lot. So cute. She looked so big sitting in her bumbo eating from a spoon. Love her.

3 Years

2009-05-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

On Monday, May 25th Josh and I celebrated 3 years of marriage. Holy crap we made it. Now, I'm not going to write about how these 3 years I have been in complete bliss and couldn't be happier. It would be a lie if I told you all that these three years have been the best of my life and I would want to relive them over and over again. I wouldn't. Oh no I wouldn't. The truth is, this last year has been the hardest year of my life. Josh and I have been through what I am hoping is the hardest time in our marriage. Right now however, Josh and I have a better marriage than we did before, proof that trials can make you stronger. Now I don't want to sound like I am just complaining, I am so grateful we were able to work things out and be the happiest we have ever been. This last year also had one of the best times of my life. Our beautiful daughter Payton was born, and I don't think either one of us could imagine life without her. I love Josh so much and I am so happy we were able to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. (which we did by seeing Angels and Demons and lunch at Rubios) Love you hun. Happy Anniversary!!

Italian Nachos

2009-05-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

yum yum yum. Food just should not delight me as much as it does. I inherited my love for cooking from my parents, and since I now have a family of my own, Josh always makes fun of me for the dinner menus I insist on making. He says all the time we should be eating raman noodles every night not pasta carbonara, (which is my current fetish) fettuccine alfredo, or chicken enchiladas. Now I am hungery. Awhile ago my mom introduced me to food blogs, and my favorite http://www.thepoineerwomancooks.com/ has some of the most delicious recipies ever. I decided rather than just try other peoples recipies, I was going to try and duplicate on my restraunt favorites. I am obsessed with the italian nachos at Johnny Carinos. While I was pregnant I ate and entire family size platter all myself. Don't judge. Yesterday the most amazing miracle happened in my kitchen. I made italian nachos. Seriously, if I had not made them myself, I would have thought they came from Johnny's kitchen. I can't stop thinking about them. Delicious.

Summer

2009-05-21T07:41:00.001-07:00

We are just loving this warm weather. I love how in Utah you have to keep switching between your furnace and your AC. Hopefully we are on the AC for awhile now though. Herriman has so many parks all over the place, so we decided to take advantage of that and have a picnic the other day. (and when I say "picnic" I mean we went through the drive through at Kneaders. yum) We had such a good time, and even Sergeant got to join in on all the fun.

Getting so big

2009-05-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

How can she almost be 4 months? It feels like Payton was just born and we are still trying to get a hang of this whole parenting thing. I can't believe how much she changes everyday. Even just the little things she learns to do. She has been rolling from her tummy to her back for weeks, and is really close to rolling from back to tummy. She love sitting up in her bumbo so she can see what everybody is doing. She is trying so hard to sit up by herself it makes feeding her quite fun. I realized the other day that we have been so crazy with the house stuff I keep forgetting to take pictures of this cute growing girl. Here are some I took yesterday in her church dress.

this is what she does to all her dresses as soon as I put them on her. so modest

Finally!

2009-05-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I promise. We have been crazy busy with house stuff. However, we are actually at a point where I can post pictures of our new house!! Basically we had to re-do everything. (and I mean everything. we were sleeping on the sub floor in the family room for 2 nights. It was awesome) We are so happy with how everything turned out, and we are just loving the neighborhood and the ward. I didn't take pictures of the master bedroom or my office because they are still a mess. I am pretty sure we are never going to be fully unpacked and put back together. Here is what we have so far though!!

Oh, and Payton after her bath. I can't believe how big she is getting. She is loving the new house. I am pretty sure of it.

But anyway, that is what we have been up to. Since the weather has been so nice we are just trying to clean up the yard. Pictures of that are to come if I ever get a chance to go out there and finish weeding.

we are getting close...

2009-04-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

I am getting so excited hat this moving thing just might happen. We are just waiting to close and should be able to move in the same day. (we'll see) If we do, we are so ready. We have our carpet picked out, the wood floor ordered, and we are picking up paint tonight. We are hoping to get the bedrooms painted Thursday so we can get carpet Friday and start moving our stuff in. Here is a preview of what we have planned...

pretty.

So anybody who has some free time this weekend and is just dying to help us move, we will let you.

oh, and my new favorite picture of Payton. She makes me giggle.

(I love the drool. It just makes the photo)

Frustrations...

2009-04-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

Grrrr! Heaven forbid home buying/selling go smoothy. We were supposed to close on the sale of our house and the purchase of our new one on monday, but I just heard from our realtor that there are problems with the buyers loan and we will not be able to close until the 9th. thank you bank. thank you. So we will be in West Valley for at least another week. awesome.

cute smiles

2009-03-16T21:18:00.001-07:00

It seems like Payton has been smiling ever since we brought her home from the hospital, but for some reason it didn't occur to me until the other day to try and capture this cuteness on camera. Well, for your viewing pleasure......

(sorry about the high quality of the photos from my camera phone. it was closer to me than the camera. I know, lazy.)

We are under contract!!!

2009-03-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

In January I posted that we had put our house up for sale, and amidst the excitement of Payton, I totally forgot to update how all that is going. Well, a couple weeks ago our house went under contract, which was way faster than we thought in this market so after a moment of panic we started looking at new homes. I don't want to be homeless, I don't. We found an amazing home in Herriman that had everything we are looking for. We put in our offer, and 2 weeks later we finally are under contract with that house!! Now I am really trying not to get my hopes up because I know how many things can go wrong in the sale/purchase of a house. We are still super excited and are just keeping our fingers crossed that everything works out and we will be moving April 7th!!!!

Paytons Blessing

2009-03-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Payton was blessed today, March 8th 2009. I was given an amazing idea by my friend Heidi to use your wedding dress to make a blessing dress. My mom went to work and made an incredible mini replica blessing dress out of my wedding dress. I am seriously in love with this thing. It turned out amazing! Payton looked beautiful. She slept through the blessing which was given by my wonderful Grandpa. We had an open house after with a ton of food! Lasagna, spaghetti, salads and cookies. It was all delicious! We are just winding down now and going through all the pictures of her wonderful day.

I think she looks like an angel

Payton and her great-grandparents

Just like mommy

first day at church

2009-02-22T12:16:00.000-08:00

I decided to see how Payton would do at church today, and she did awesome! She slept the whole time. She had a cute new outfit, and I was jealous so I got a new post pregnancy outfit and shoes. I love shoes.

I just love her...

2009-02-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

We didn't have any plans for Valentines, and we were supposed to have a showing on our house on Saturday, so we packed up the crew, (Sergeant included) and headed to Josh's parents house for the evening. Josh played xbox with his brother, and Josh's mom, Debra, and I made bracelets for baby girl Payton! Do I feel another impromptu photo session coming on? I think so.

(As you can probably tell I am still trying to figure out my D80. If anybody has any tips, or know of a good photography class, let me know)

whew! 2 posts in one day!

2009-02-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

Payton is sleeping, so I should be too, but I don't feel like I do anything anymore but feed her, change her, rock her to sleep, then pump. Then she wakes up again and we start the whole thing over! She is so dang cute and I love her so much that I am happy to do it. Everybody keeps asking me for more pictures of her because they change so much so fast, so here are the most recent ones...

(and Sergeant just makes me laugh so I had to include him)

And on a side note I really want to go to Jamaica. That is all.

Photo Tag!!

2009-02-13T13:16:00.001-08:00

I have never been agged before, so I am super excited. Thanks Austin for the tag.....

1. Go to My Pictures
2. Go to the 6th file folder
3. Select the 6th picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 people

This picture is when Josh was in Korea on his mission. It sits on my desk because I think he looks so cute in it. It was scanned into the computer because he wanted to upload it to facebook or something. I think that was the side of a bus, but I am not sure. He looks so young! I like it.

I tag Heidi, Mom, Jennifer, Abby, Aubrey and Katie

more Payton pics

2009-02-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures of the best day ever! On our way to the hospital I was screaming in complete agony and I kept yelling to Josh that we were never going to have anymore children, and all of those people who say it is worth it are crazy. Well I know know exactly what they are talking about. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Being a mom is amazing. Definitely something you can't try to describe or explain. The moment I saw her I loved her even more than I had when she was in my belly, and I didn't think it was possible to love her even more. It was such an overwhelming feeling. I am IN LOVE with her red hair. I really hope it stays that color. She has been here almost 6 days, and we are still trying to get a hang of this whole parenting thing. She is an amazing baby, so she makes it really easy. Before we went home Friday they told us she was a high risk jaundice, so we had to take home the lights for her to be in basically 24 hours a day. She was such a trooper though, and slept most of the time so it was easy to leave her under the lights. We had to have her blood tested again Saturday, and she had improved drastically! No more lights! She changes so much every day I never get anything done because I just want to hold and cuddle her. If you would like to come and meet her just give me a call. We love visitors!

Payton Griffith

2009-01-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

So our beautiful baby girl is finally here! Tuesday afternoon we went to the hospital because I was having major contractions. We got there about 5pm, had the epidural by 6:30, started pushing at 12:15am, and she was born at 12:44am January 28th! She is a healthy 8lbs 15oz and 21in long. A big girl! I seriously had no idea she was going to be that big. (Especially after my water broke at the hospital and the nurse kept saying there was so much, she couldn't imagine there could still be a baby in there) I am still at the hospital now, but should be going home tomorrow. (thank you wireless internet) I have lots of fun pictures to post so check back for more updates, but you can meet Payton now.....

Well.....

2009-01-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

Is she here yet?

NOPE!!!!

(I am fully aware of how horrible I look in this picture, but can you blame me?)

40 weeks and counting. I have removed the pregnancy ticker because the large 0 days was just mocking me. It was rude. I went to my doctors appointment today and I have STILL not progressed any. Apparently she is just happy where she is and has no intention of going anywhere else. On the bright side, they did schedule me to be induced next Monday. There is an end in sight!!!!!

Also, we put our house up for sale. I know, what the crap are we thinking. With home prices and interest rates now we figure we can get something with a lot more room closer to South Jordan, which is what we wanted all along. We aren't in any hurry, so we plan on getting what we want out of our house, and if we don't get any offers high enough, we just won't be moving! Our agent put together an awesome virtual tour you can look at online at utahrealestate.com and our MLS number is 858502.

JetBlue Shower!

2009-01-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

Last night was such a blast! The girls from JetBlue got together at the Cheesecake Factory for my baby shower. We always laugh so hard when we get together. I got such cute stuff and had a great time. Thanks girls!!!

Mmmmm.....cheesecake

Mallory, me, Heidi

Katie and my Mom

Ummm..ya. Full of cheesecake.....and baby

Such Generosity!!

2009-01-09T07:34:00.001-08:00

Last night was my very first baby shower!! It was thrown by some of my mom friends and included my parents ward, my friends from that ward, and some of my family members. There were lots of people there and we got some amazing gifts. I came home and Josh brought everything into the nursery and I just sat in the middle and was just so amazed at how generous everyone was! Our little girl is already so spoiled. Here are some of the highlights of the night:

Leslie took tons of pictures for me. Thanks Les!

Lots of gifts. So spoiled!!

Roman is not going to be okay with sharing his grandma with Payton

This is exactly how I feel and look.

thank you again so much to everyone who was there. I am so blessed to have grown up in a ward and family who is so giving. We are ready for this baby to come!!! (which by-the-way at my last appointment my dr said I am probably going to go over my due date. so that is just awesome)

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!! Hopefully everyone had a great holiday. This year we did something a little different. I had to work from 1215am-0615am. Not fun. I really didn't think I would have to work the whole thing, but I did. Luckily that kind of shift doesn't interfere with any Christmas plans, but it sure makes for a long tired day. Which you can tell from the pictures that I am in. We started Christmas morning with breakfast at our house with Josh's family and my parents. Oh, and a lovely picture of the 8 month belly in front of the tree:

(see, don't I look sleepy? I was)

Josh's sister Randee and nephew Riley

Josh's mom Kathy and sister Jessie

Me and my mommy!!

My beautiful Christmas tree

Josh, me, and the baby in the belly

Me and my dad

Later I headed over to my Aunts house for some more Christmas festivities (and presents) and then to my Grandmas. We ended our holiday for some good old N64 Mario Cart at Josh's sisters apartment. Yea for the holidays!!! Bring on New Years!!

fit for a princess

2008-12-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

So the nursery is finally finished! I am really happy I changed my mind and redid some things. I love the way it turned out. Sorry there are lots of pictures, but you have to try and get the full experience.......

Sergeant really wanted to be in one picture. He doesn't like the nursery. He tries to get the stuffed animals in the crib and the one on the shelf. He is helpful.

These pictures are not in the order I wanted. Oh well

The plaid wall!! It turned out so cool. Lots of paint and time. Totally worth it!!

I can't decide if I like the plaid wall or the crib better. Okay, I love them both.

It is crazy that it is done. We have had the crib and the dresser for over a year (both were amazing deals I just couldn't pass up) and I had made the bedding while Josh was on his mission. (as previously posted, the quilt I made last week) So excited she will be here in just over a month!! We are ready!!

A Nursery Sneak Peek

2008-12-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

We are getting so close to having the nursery finished it's crazy. I did however decide about a week ago to change several things, and Josh decided to paint a wall plaid. Yup, you read that right, plaid. It is starting to look awesome. I made a new quilt because the one I had based my original idea on just wasn't doing it for me. So, here is the new quilt......

Yup. All the pink, black, and white you can dream of. Talk about taking an idea and running with it. It is all coming together and I am loving it!! I just have the curtain, the plaid wall, and we have 20 yards of tulle we have to wrestle with. (seriously) This nursery is going to be insane. I am so excited!!

we have officially picked her name!!

2008-11-18T12:47:00.000-08:00

Everybody keeps asking me if we know what we are going to name our little girl, so I figured I might as well post it since we knew what we were going to name her the day we found out we were having a girl. Ready for the big reveal?

yep! Payton Griffith it is! We have talked about that name long before we were even pregnant, so when we found out it was a girl, we knew we were going to name her Payton. We decided not to do a middle name because I never had one and didn't miss it. Whoo hoo!! Time is going by so fast. I have to finish some things in her nursery and then post pictures of that too!

i'm 22!!!

2008-11-17T11:52:00.001-08:00

So last Monday was my birthday, and what a crazy day it was!! We didn't have any major plans, just some shopping and probably dinner. Well, Saturday night Josh was complaining that his stomach was hurting really bad. I figured he had just eaten too much or too little, and this was the source of the problem. He didn't get any better after taking some tums and then started throwing up and couldn't keep anything down. At about 9pm he decided the pain was not going to go away on its own, and he wanted to go to an insta-care. So a trip to insta-care and $40 later, all they had to tell us was to go to emergency because they thought it was appendicitis. About 3am Sunday morning, the ER doctor told us he had a blockage in his small intestine that could only be removed by surgery. He told me to go home and get some sleep, and I could pick Josh up at about 9am after he was in recovery. So this is exactly what I did. When I went back to the hospital in the morning (thinking we were both going home) they told me that there was some sort of bump or something on his intestine that they had to remove and the surgery was a lot more serious than they thought, so he was going to have to stay in the hospital for at least 2 or 3 days. WHAT???!!! it was crazy. So Josh was in the hospital, bored out of his mind for 3 days. He is doing much better now, and we ended up celebrating my birthday his weekend. I did however get to go to lunch and shopping with my mom on my actual birthday, so that was a lot of fun. Isn't life unpredictable?

I am a dork...and so is Josh

2008-11-07T13:01:00.001-08:00

Halloween fun!!

2008-11-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Halloween party

2008-10-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

We got invited to a Halloween party tonight by a friend Josh knew from high school. Weeks ago we had this brilliant idea that I was going to be a WWII nurse, and Josh was going to be a WWII marine. We ordered authentic outfits online (2 weeks ago may I remind you) and started planning our costumes. Mine came quickly, but due to my large belly, my dress would not button up. It was a sad day at the Griffith household. I made it work though. Two angry emails and no responses later, the ebay seller had still not shipped Josh's marine uniform. We had to improvise a hour before the party, so Josh got a great deal at the army surplus store. Here is the result......

I know, my belly is much larger than the last picture of it. It seemed to double overnight. Seriously. So we will be dressing up again on Halloween to make use of Josh's costume that shipped YESTERDAY. Yes, for those of you that were following along, the seller did not ship it for two weeks. I see no reason for that, and am quite annoyed.

Gardner Village

2008-10-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

Bunco and 99 days!!

2008-10-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

So friday night I had such a blast. My friend Tauni started a bunco group and our first game was friday. Who knew rolling dice and counting numbers could get so intense!! It was so much fun. I got to meet some new people and laughed my head of all night. I am so excited she invited me to be in the bunco group, and I already can't wait until next month! BUNCO!!!!!!

And we are down to 99 days! CRAZY! As we were talking about bunco and arranging whose house it was going to be at in January, I realized just how quickly this baby is going to be here. Like, 3 months away! The holidays always seem to make time fly, so she is going to be here before we know it!! Luckily, we are ready. I am just so excited I can't even stand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big News!!!!!

2008-10-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

I got text back!! It's true. Unlimited. Super excited. However my phone is having issues and is acting like it still can't send them even when it can, so that is going to take some time on the phone with customer service trying to fix. I love being charged for something I can't even do. LOVE IT!

My quilt and my belly

2008-10-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. I am huge. I can't move, sleep, sit, or even get up off the couch without my belly being in the way. I know the worst is yet to come, but it is so WEIRD all of a sudden having a stomach that you can't suck in. You just can't. Trust me, I've tried. It doesn't go anywhere. It is cool now though because you can feel her moving if you put your hand on my stomach, and when I lay on my back, you can see my stomach move. It is kinda crazy. I have developed a new love for KFC fried chicken though. Yesterday I got myself a 7 piece dinner. Yep, 7 pieces, plus mashed potatoes, gravy, and 4 biscuits. mmmmm gravy. Have I ever loved KFC so much before? Not at all, but boy was that 7 piece dinner good. So here is the belly's big debut......

See what I'm talking about?

Because I am not working enough hours between my two jobs and trying to feed my belly, I decided it was time for a project. I made this quilt which I love! It turned out even cuter than I thought. Now, it may look simple, but don't let it fool you. But after unpicking it twice and a trip to my moms almost in tears, it is complete.

and no, this is not what the nursery colors are. More to come on that later. It is close to complete!

Lunch with Aubrey

2008-10-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

So the other day I finally got together with my friend Aubrey. We have known eachother forever. I'm talking since joy school forever. We went to Olive Garden for lunch and talked for hours. It was so much fun! Thanks Aubrey for a great afternoon!!! We have to get together more often, and hopefully Tauni can join us next time!!

Friends

2008-09-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

I just wanted to post how greatful I am for my friends support and for friends who have been there for me and have not judged me no matter what my choice is. It is such a comfort to know that no matter what kind of a mess my life may be in, I still have friends and family who will always be around. To me, those are true friends.

Love you guys!!

Finally made it to the Bahamas

2008-09-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

So we were supposed to go on the 2nd, but our flights were canceled because of hurricane Hanna. We finally made it there last week and it was great! I was really worried about the weather, but it was perfect. We relaxed at the resort, snorkeled, and I got to do some shopping downtown at the Straw Market. A well needed vacation!

Farewell to text messages

2008-08-20T17:46:00.001-07:00

Today is a sad day. I had to block my phone from sending and receiving text messages. So for all of you who may ever have the urge to send me a "hey, how r u?" I will not receive it. I will not be able to respond to your friendly messages. To all my friends who may sign a contract with a phone company and think that $0.15 a message doesn't sound like that much, so you decide not to purchase the $10 a month unlimited text plan, learn from my $180 phone bill and know this, $0.15 a message does add up. You also cannot just change to the unlimited plan unless you would like to renew this contract for 2 years. This has lead me to my unfortunate decision to block messages so there is not a temptation. Lets have a moment of silence........

It's a...

2008-08-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!!!

So yesterday we went to the Fetal Studio at South Towne Mall and found out we are having a girl! We are so excited!! Josh has been saying we were having a girl for a long time now, but I really felt like it could go either way. Time for pink shopping!

Another Appointment

2008-07-31T19:34:00.001-07:00

I went to my second dr. appointment today and actually got to hear the hearbeat this time! It is still just so crazy to me that there is a baby growing inside me. They said everything looks great and I am 14 weeks and 4 days along. I scheduled my official ultrasound appointment in 6 weeks, but if I decide to do the FetalFoto thing at the mall, then we can find out next week what we are having! CRAZY!!!!

Baby update!!

2008-07-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I went to my first appointment yesterday. Everything looks great! They gave me a due date of January 26th, which puts me at about 10 weeks a long. They did a really quick ultrasound so we got to see our baby, which was crazy because it made the whole thing seem more real. We saw the head and the start of the little feet, and the best part was to watch the heartbeat. It was so neat! It just made us even more excited!!

Bahamas...here we come!!

2008-06-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

So last night I booked our trip to the Bahamas!! Whoo hoo!! We were trying to decide where to go, and it seemed like the Bahamas was the only place that was going to work out. (I decided it is my goal in life to travel to all the places in the Beach Boys song Cocomo) We aren't going until September (which seems so far away, but we did just go to Cancun last month) but I am so excited!! We are going for 3 nights and are going to try to stay in the Sandals resort. If that doesn't work out, then I don't know. Anybody want to join us?

"Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama. Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go down to Cocomo......." Two down, 5 to go!!

Baby count down

2008-06-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

So I just added the pregnancy ticker to my page with a guess on my due date, and I gotta be honest, I am a little creeped out. Does it have a tail? huh.......

Exciting News!!

2008-06-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

So, I just can't contain it any longer. I just have to tell everybody. I'm PREGNANT!! We are just so excited. I am not very far along, probably only about 5 weeks, but my first appointment is June 30th so I will update again then. We were so excited when we found out because we have been wanting this for awhile, but when it actually became a reality I was a little scared. I just thought we would be so prepared for this and now that it is happening, all I can think about is the list of things we need to do. I know we will be fine and I just keep praying that everything will go well. We really are thrilled!! (and I think even Sergeant is excited)

tHe ZoO!!!!!!

2008-06-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nicki and my mom invited us to go to the zoo!! I haven't been probably since middle school, and how it has changed!! We had a great lunch at the downtown Hires and then headed to the zoo. I loved the baby giraffe, which was probably my favorite part of the zoo.

2 Years Down, an Eternity to Go!!

2008-05-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

then...... now.....

Happy Anniversary!! I can't believe we have been married for 2 years as of yesterday!! That is just so crazy. We have been married for the same amount of time I thought would never end while Josh was on his mission. I have to say, these 2 years have gone by MUCH faster. In honor of our anniversary, and my new blog, I thought it would be fun to make a list of some of the things that we have done or have happened since we got married. Sorry this is long, but hey, you just might learn something about us.

-Bought a house!!!

-Went to Bermuda

-remodeled our bathroom (before, but after demolition)

and after!!

-Josh switched jobs..... 3 times

-new puppy Sergeant
-new nephew Roman was born

-We have had different callings in our ward: 15-16 yr old class Sunday school teachers, Josh was Elders Quorum Secretary, and I am currently Young Women Secretary.

-Took Josh's brothers to Disneyland for the day

-My amazing grandpa had a heart attack and wasn't expected to live. He was in the hospital for weeks, but he pulled through and we are all thankful that he is still with us today.

-Lacey passed away at 17

There are lots more things that happened of course, but this is what I can think of right now. I will add more as I think of them.

See what happens when I go to work?

2008-05-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

So Saturdays are my center days, and I get home about 2pm. Josh works Saturday mornings, and he gets home about noon. It is a very rare occasion that Josh is home and I am not, and this is what our backyard used to look like... (which is a very old picture)

and this is what I came home to......

Apparently he has plans to put a shed in, but I kinda liked the shade that the tree provided, and I really like that it blocked us from seeing our neighbors house. I love my husband.

We made it to Cancun!

2008-05-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

We had such a good time. I felt like we did so much stuff, but we had plenty of time to relax too. We loved our resort, snorkeling, swimming, laying out, shopping, and so much more! Cancun was awesome!!

Lookin' Sharp

2008-05-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

He can actually see! Sergeant doesn't like getting his haircut, but he does like the way he feels afterwords. He struts his stuff, and you can tell he feels much better with how hot it has been the past few days.

My new hair

2008-05-03T18:10:00.001-07:00

So I had a major haircut once, and I felt like I had a mullet. I decided to chop some more. Now it is crazy short. Sergeant however, is scheduled for a haircut next week. I didnt realize how terrible he really looks until I loaded this picture. Poor guy.