Nothin' Much

So we are still alive in case you were wondering, nothing really exciting has happened lately. We are almost done house-sitting for some friends and then we are headed up to Seattle to see my sister-in-law and go see a baseball game. The Detroit Tigers will be in Seattle on Monday so there was no question as to whether or not we were going up there to see them play. Originally I was going to ride the train up with Marlie ahead of time so I could go to Ruth's baby shower but with gas being so expensive, we decided to just leave together. We are leaving on Saturday night after Ken gets off work. So it should be a fun trip. The weather has been all over the place here in Portland. I thought it was going to finally start warming up and then the next day it was pouring rain. Then it would be sunny and then it would rain. So we are just waiting on that sunshine! This Fridan and Saturday, a choir made up of people from all over the area is going to be performing the Easter portion of Handel's Messiah. I'm really excited to go! I invited a non-member friend to go with me and she said she might come with me so it will be exciting to see if she decides to go. Other than that, not much going on. Marlie has been sleeping really well lately. She has slept through the night for the past week, so needless to say, I've been a pretty happy camper. After we get home from Seattle, we are going to try potty training, and gettting rid of the binkie, and MAYBE even the sippie cup of milk at bed time. Obviously not all at once, that would be just as fun as climbing a barbed wire fence, but over time we would like her to be able to go to sleep without any dependencies - with the exception of the blankie. That doesn't bother me too much. On another note, Marlie is learning how to say "Please." and "Thank You." and she is really good at it. She is finally understanding when to say it instead of saying it all the time. When we put her to bed, we give her her blankie and her milk and she always says "date dew" ("thank you") so its really cool to see how much she is learning now! It's crazy that she's almost 2!! Anyway, that's pretty much it!

Its about time!

So I realized that I havent posted anything in a REALLY long time so i figured it was about time for an update. At the end of feb/beginning of march we went to idaho to surprise my dad which was a lot of fun. we left on a saturday and ken left the following wednesday but me and marlie stayed another 2 1/2 weeks to hang out with grandma and grandpa. we didnt do a whole lot while we were there, just hung out. my mom had a rotater cuff repair surgery on the 10th of march so it was nice to be able to be there to help her do her every day tasks that she could no longer do with one arm. It was pretty cold there but that didnt stop marlie from wanting grampa to take her out on the 4 wheeler. So we made sure to get her a hat, scarf, and mittens and she would go out for a ride. i got to hang out with a few friends, take pictures of their new babies, and eat lots of good food. So we had a really good time but we are really glad to be home.my dad and sister drove me down to SLC where me an marlie were going to fly home. we got there around noon so we could hang out for a few hours, so we went to the joseph smith memorial building, the 2 visitors centers on temple square, the old tabernacle, toured the conference building, went to the top of the church office building, went to the cemetery where a lot of the prophets are buried and then we met up with my sister in law rachel at the gateway mall. over all we had a really good time, got to take some fun pictures and THEN... i got to go to the airport. it wasnt so bad at first. i checked my bags, so the only thing i had to take on the plane was the diaper bag and my coat... and marlie. but juggling all that crap, a child, AND trying to get through security where they make you take off your shoes (and marlies, you know, cuz i could have rigged HER shoes with a bomb), your belt, and put everything else in a little bucket... all while trying to keep said toddler from either screaming or running away. so we get through security, then head out to our terminal. we stop to get some ridiculously over priced juice and snacks, and then play at the little play place to kill some time. my plane was scheduled to leave at 7:25pm so at about 7:10 we headed down to our gate, which was only 10 miles away in the furthest corner of the airport. im all excited when we sit down cuz i only have to deal with this crazy child for another 10-15 more minutes when i over hear a lady talking to a stewardess who tells her that the flight to portland has been delayed until 9:00pm.... you have GOT to be kidding me. marlie came really close to never seeing her 2nd birthday that night but we FINALLY got on the plane and she did pretty good for most of the way until the ear popping (or lack of) and extreme tiredness kicked in. then it was REALLY fun with all the blood curdling screams and the kicking and the hitting. and then she conked out.... right before we landed. so i had to WAKE her back up and try and carry her (while she WALKED before) with the diaper bag AND the big fatty coat that i brought with me but never used. ive never been so grateful for moving sidewalks. it was so nice to feel bionically fast when i had this heavy kid on my shoulder. needless to say, ken got to carry her and the diaper bag all the way to the car, and all the way upstairs to the apartment haha. we had a good time with friends and family though so it was all worth it. then yesterday i went in for a minor surgery on my ear to get a cyst removed which was absolutely disgusting. it was on the back of my right earlobe so the doctor numbed my ear (which is still numb... should i be worried about that??) and they took me into the "O.R." which was more like a fancy dentist chair in a big room. i sat down and they laid me back and i had to have my head cranked to the left for the next hour. it really wasnt so bad since i couldnt feel anything. i think the worst part about it was since i was awake for the whole think i could hear her cutting my skin and scraping and tugging... it. was. GROSS. so now i have some really attractive stitches that extend from the back of my ear to about a cm below my earlobe. and it likes to bleed. and i cant see it which means im a walking freak show in the grocery store that the checker cant stop staring at but cant actually just tell me "hey your ear is bleeding a little bit" haha oh well. i dont really care. im just glad that nasty cyst is gone. well thats about it for us. we havent been up to much of anything else!

for the second time.

well i would like to say that marlie getting locked in the car WITH the keys was a one time experience... but that would make me a liar. SO... yesterday we were getting in the car getting ready to come home from church. i put marlie in her seat, tossed the keys in the drivers seat so i could buckle her in and then shut the door. some how in between opening the door, buckling her in, and shutting the door the door got locked. so here i am - mom of the year - who cant seem to keep the car doors unlocked when they need to be. but heres the fun part about this situation, marlie is buckled into her carseat and cant just grab the keys and push a button like she did last time. so i run in and get a friend and before you know it we have an audience trying to make me feel better by saying "its ok i did that once... yada yada yada..." and i have to keep telling these fine people that i would feel so retarded had this been the first time it had happened. but its the SECOND time its happened... and then i ad on - THIS WEEK!! and as soon as i say that that look at me wierd and say "oooooohhh," and while walking away they say "well, good luck with that" luckily i had a few who stayed there until the doors were opened. one of those friends hunted down a wire coat hanger and 2 ladles from the kitchen...not sure what those were for.... leverage?? i dont know but after about 20 minutes of wiggling a wire hanger under the rear passenger side window trying to push the unlock button they FINALLY got it unlocked, which set off the alarm and then we climbed in and hit the unlock button. it was hillarious.

Something funny.

Most of you have probably heard about this but the other day ken and i went to my grandmas to use her driveway to change the oil in our car. he had just finished, the car was off of the ramps and ken was just cleaning up so i put marlie in the front seat of the car while he and i cleaned up....not knowing that ken had left the keys in the car. i ran inside to get the diaper bag and the next thing i know, ken comes storming in saying "NIKKI! MARLIE LOCKED HERSELF IN THE CAR!" all i could do was laugh because, come on, ITS FUNNY! but ken tried to be mr. serious and be mad the whole time but as we were standing outside of the car, i would look at him and start cracking up and he couldnt help but laugh either. hahaha. anyways, im tapping on the window saying "marlie, can you push the button for mommy??" she just looks at me with the keys in her hands and laughs while waving and saying "buh bye buh bye!" and then she would pretend to turn the steering wheel. this went on for about 10 minutes and just as we were about to call AAA she pushed the button to pop the trunk and then pushed the button to unlock the door. im just glad she hit the RIGHT button and not the button that set off the alarm. i can just see her pushing the panic button and the noise from the horn freaking her out and us being stuck on the outside with a baby locked in our car screaming. we are such awesome parents hahaha.

My friends are so smart!

First of all this is a picture update. Christmas, Peacock Lane, Marlie stuffing her face, and yes my friends - mini....cows.... those cows you see up there are the size of a miniature horse. and they. are. CUTE! On another note, im sure you noticed that i somehow figured out how to once again post pictures on my blog. im not exactly sure why the idea (given to me by friends and family) was so over the top for my brain but it was SO easy.. all i did was save all my previous entries in microsoft word and then i deleted them off my blog and now i have lots more room to add more pictures!!! you can click on the pictures to make them bigger if you cant see them very well. the christmas pictures are going to look really grainy because of dark lighting situations. but they are funny either way. enjoy!

i begining to suck at blogging:

partly because it wont allow me to upload any more pictures because i have used up all of my allotted memory space and im too lazy to make another blog. but i figured i would update you all on whats been happening in our lives. first big thing: we FINALLY got an apartment! we moved in on december 22 and we are L-O-V-I-N-G it. Second big thing: Ken got a REALY job at a semi-conductor plant here in gresham. Third big thing: when we moved, we didnt have to change wards!! it was a beautiful thing. fourth big thing: marlie is in NURSERY!!! oh my gosh its so awesome! so things finally seem to be falling into place for us. ken has a really good schedule, he works every other wednesday and then every thurs, fri, and saturday and has the rest of the week off. the only down side is that he works 12 hour days. but he also gets overtime hours every day he works. so it kinda balances out. we had a great christmas. it was a little wierd having christmas with just us. but we really liked it. we just got pictures up on the walls last week so our apartment is really starting to feel like home now. we just need a dining room table and  we will be set to go. marlie is REALLY talkative now. half the time i have no idea what the crap she is saying but these are her favorite words (in order of favoritism): #1: mama (not MY favorite. im thinking about changing my name) #2: baba #3bankie (blankie) #4:puppy #5: uppie (this means she wants you to pick her up.... im not sure where she learned uppie...) and #6: moomie (movie) on top of that she does a lot of jibber jabber. the doctor says that she is tall and lean for her age. she is still not sleeping through the night... no suprize there... but other than that shes a happy little girl. ken is liking his new job and he doesnt mind the long hours. i am still adjusting to being a stay at home mom. i am trying to find or put together a play group so i dont lose my sanity. ken will come home and ask me "did you go anywhere today?" i say "nnnnnnnnnnope" he asks "did you talk to anyone today?" i say " nnnnnnnnnnnope... just marlie..." so im starting to feel like im going backwards in terms of social-ness but im sure im not the only one. anyways, all is well here in oregon, its been SUPER rainy and SUPER windy and there are landslide and flood warnings all over the place but we are safe,warm, and dry and therefore we are happy.

happy holidays

I recently learned how to make my own custom cards in photoshop and these are the 2 that i've made so far. i hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far!!