yo valerie and sarah p.

did you know that our good ol' toy had the potential to be a RAD new toy. jill loves to crawl through when i'm on the other side. one complaint though, when jill sits in the middle her head rubs the top. i wish it arched a little higher. still fun though.

i'm melting. .

i scream you scream from Alisha on Vimeo
it has been a (to quote from my fav show) HOT TAMALE TRAIN in az lately. since jill turned 8 months this week, i thought it okay for her to eat some sweets. everyday we this week we have shared a milk shake. today was especially fun. this is my kinda cooking. recipe for the perfect milk shake: take a small glass. fill the glass full of scoops of rocky road ice cream by breyers all natural (the ice cream could also be a brownie one). then pour milk over the ice cream until the glass is 3/4 the way full. take a metal spoon and slowly stir, making sure to taste it every few spins of the spoon. after you are done eating (note i said eating, not drinking) your milkshake enjoy the chocolate covered peanuts (or brownie chunks) at the bottom. this is a no-fail recipe if you like thick, spoon not straw, "cool me off it's hot out" milkshakes.

p.s. this is my fav bib for jill. it's like a turtle neck-bib. full coverage for the extra stainable clothing and food comb.

My Top 7

well, due to popular demand i have been stewing over "my top 7" for a week now. i think i've finally narrowed it down. however, these are not in any particular order. before i get started...jills new favorite spot to hang out is the sink!! every time i walk toward the bathroom she starts kicking and giggling etc. its a cute little sit for her!

1. Being a Mommy
who would have ever thought that being a mother could be so fun? i love the smiles, giggles, diapers, "baba's", etc. i especially love nursing jillian. now that my milk supply is less, i am realizing what a relaxing, bonding, special time it is for me. jill is always finding ways to amaze me. today while i was getting her bath ready she crawled over to me and began to pull herself up. how can you not love that?!! i didn't' even notice until she touched my leg and then promptly fell onto the floor. then she began to cry...oh man i love that cry! as you can tell i could go on and on.

2. Working in the Yard
i really love being in my backyard. i love to mow the lawn and smell the sweetness of freshly cut grass. i love to pull weeds. why? you might be asking yourself: a)i'm outside b) it makes the yard look better c)it reminds me of waking up in fallon at 7:00 during the summers and pulling weeds as a family d)it makes me feel strong when i see the earth (dirt) move and i pull out these huge roots!! i really do enjoy it. in fact, on my walks with jill, it's not uncommon for me to bend down and pull a few weeds from the neighbors yard. i love to plant flowers. even though i have yet to plant any that last longer than a week or two i still love it. i really like to water all my plants with the hose and then spray me and jill. it's so hot here now that were pretty much dry by the time we get back into the house. lastly, i love to watch my plants grow and bloom (i'm good with other plants, just not flowers:).

3. Tahoe and surrounding area
Lake Tahoe was my refuge (along with fallon) while i lived in Reno. often times i would drive up there alone and just spend the day on the sand or a rock and read and book or just breath. this is still number one on my list of places i want to live. i love the summer, i love the winter. the trees are awesome, the water is clear green/blue, the mountains are big. tahoe has it all, waterfalls, coves, beaches, islands, hiking, swimming, snow fun. i also love the truckee river and all the little lakes around truckee. i've been rock sliding, cliff jumping, fishing and camping. i really love any outdoors, but Tahoe and surrounding areas' are number 1 for me.

4. Coming Home after a long Vacation
i really love to vaction! jeff and i have been on some pretty sweet vacations. however, as much as i love being on vacation i almost enjoy coming home more. i love that first night back in my bed. can't get better than that.

5. Dancing/Working-out
i still love to dance. in high school and college my favorite activity was the church dances. i've been bugging our activities committee to get an adult dance on the schedule, but it doesn't seem that too many others are as enthusiastic about it as me. i'm going to start taking classes again and i'm thinking about teaching from home. anyway, i don't think that i will ever tier of dance.
if i'm dancing regularly than i'm working out in other ways. i love a good sweat session. give me 1 hour a day to run/swim/bike/tennis/b-ball/jump rope etc. and i will be happier, sweeter, healthier, more energetic. if i go a week without working out i seem to get into a funk. i just want to lay around, be rude and eat bad. not a good combination. when i run(this is my most steady workout) i'm outside and i love the outdoors!!

6. Laughing until I have to pee
sorry for being blunt. i really love to laugh hard. (it's also a good workout:).

7. The Primaryi love my church calling. i get to spend church with the sweetest little people ever. i know that i've spouted off about this before but it's the truth. i can feel my testimony grow as the children sing and bring the spirit into the room. this is my dream calling!!


phew, that was a lot of typing. i'm sure you're bored out of your gored. i'd like to now call out sarah p., sarah w., mom and dad, britta, monica. (did everyone else already do theirs? if not i'm calling you out too!) what's your "Top 7"?

there she goes

crawling from Alisha on Vimeo




if i were as computer savvy as sarah p. i would have that song "there she goes, there she goes again. . ." (you know the one) playing instead of my awsome voice in the background. alas, i haven't taken the time to learn how to put music to my videos so just sing that song out loud as you watch the video.
jills been working on crawling and last night she got it. she's been able to go foward for a couple of crawls but nothing too crazy before she falls or is distracted. well, we were at hayley's baby shower and jill crawled from me to hayley (approx 6 ft.) without pausing, straight forward. she didn't do quite as-well for the video but you can imagine. you'll notice that she has a little hitch with her right leg, i love it!!

Wet n' Wild

Jeffs aunt Lisa has the coolest tradition. Every summer she throws Wet n' Wild days. On Wed. we went to her home for the first one this summer. She started this 8 years ago and has held over 26 of them. We eat lunch, swim, and have fun with the cousins. We're so excited to have Jill participate now. Wed.'s theme was "Happy Birthday". Jill won the cake walk/swim so she got to pick the first cupcake. The group picture is the cousins that got to come this week. On the swing Jill was joined by sweet cousin Chole. The theme for next time is "itsy bitsy". I have to bring a small snack (i.e. little smokies) to share. Any ideas?

baba from Alisha on Vimeo

jeff is 27 as of yesterday. we didn't get to party hard like we wanted to. his family came over for desert and he did hit the best 9 holes of golf in his life: 37. he was 1 over par!!! jeff has been working really hard lately and it tuckers him out. not to mention that he's on the phone with customers all day and night. he really enjoys his work and we wouldn't have it any other way.
jill is 7.5 months old now. she crackes me up on a daily basis. her newest thing is saying "bababa". she will do this all day long. it reminds me of the "YUP, YUP" puppets from sesame street. it's funny because right when she wakes up she makes the mouth but doesn't make any noises. after a few tries out comes "bababa". she is so close to crawling!! it won't be but a few days. she gets to all fours, then up into a plank position, back to all fours, moves one knee, then to her belly, then moves her arms. it's almost there!!!