WaTeR BaBy

The weather was so awesome today, so we headed to the pool.

Looking at this picture of me and Kai, I realized just how bad my posture really is.




We had a blast! Kai does really well at the pool and never really gets fussy. He loves to watch all the little kids around him.
I am so glad he likes the water.

One Small Step for Makai, One Giant Leap for The Michaelsons!!!

Makai has been teasing us by taking a few crawling steps, but today it just seemed to click and he has been crawling all day.


Notice how we have to entice him with a bottle...

Ricco Suave

Today for church Makai wore his new suite...







What a stud!!!

Kai's "Six Pack"

My neighbor, Jackie and I were hanging out again with Kai. Here are some more fun shots we got of Kai standing up in the backyard...






I think these pictures would look really cool if we would have been standing in the middle of a field.

Blue Eyes

Still messing around with Photoshop Elements...

Photoshop Elements

Ben bought me photoshop elements today and I am so excited to figure out how to use it. Right now I know nothing, so be patient.
I installed the software and messed around with the lighting on one of Kai's pictures. The lighting on his face looks better but the sky is totally messed up now.
Hey, everyone has got to start somewhere...

Mark Your Calendars!!!

Our friend Spanky, (aka Adam Hansen) will be on Deal or No Deal on June 11th. We are so excited for him. He can't tell us how well he did, the only thing he has told me is that they "are set". Can't wait to watch him!
Here is a preview of the show. Check it out!
(To hear the video better pause my music player at the bottom of this page. You will have to hit pause twice.)
Enjoy!

TAG~4

~Tagged by Krista~
4~Jobs I've had...
~Retail Sales at The Buckle
This was my first job ever and I never made any money b/c my paychecks all went to clothes from the store.
~Basketball and Track scholarships in college
Yes, these were totally jobs. It was still fun to play, but it turned into more of a job than a sport to me.
~Bank teller at Far West Bank
Probably the coolest thing about this job was when I was robbed. I bet Carly and I will never forget that day. It's a good thing he didn't have a gun and just passed me a note...
~Resident Director's Assistant at Merrill Lynch
Best job ever!!!

4~Movies I can watch over and over...
~Cloverfield
~Million Dollar Baby
~Zoolander
~Best of SNL Chris Farley and Will Farrell

4~Places I have lived...
~Flower Mound, Texas
This place is one of my all time favorites. I have so many good memories of High School. I seriously was so lucky to have such great friends growing up.
~St George, Utah
I could live in St George again. It is so close to everything, and you can't beat the weather.
~Draper, Utah
This is where I lived with Morgan and Cicily and then lived with Ben when we got married.
~Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Our first home

4~Shows I HAVE to watch...
~24
~Lost
~The Office
~Days

4~Foods I can eat anytime...
~Sunflower Seeds
I don't have to be at a Rockies game or on a road trip to crave these...I love them!
~Artichokes
My favorite food (I wish Ben shared my passion for these)
~Chocolate
Because I am a girl
~Watermelon
Nothing better than cold, juicy, sweet melon...

4~Places I have vacationed...
~Hawaii
~Acapulco, Mexico
Funny story about Acapulco...My parents took me and my little brother to Acapulco one Spring Break (the Spring Break I turned 18) and for my birthday dinner Dad thought it would be a good idea to go to a fun little place called Senior Frog's. (You may have heard of this restaurant) So there we sat, a little innocent Mormon family at Senior Frog's in the middle of Spring Break. We stuck out like a sore thumb. My dad was oblivious and I was so embarrassed. There were so many college kids all looking for a good time and totally wasted. My dad... still oblivious, told the entertainer that it was my birthday. So, the entertainer stops the music (which makes everyone stop dancing) and announces it it is my birthday. They bring me out some free booze and tilt my head back to pour some in my mouth. Everyone was cheering and when I refused, I was booed. So, the lovely entertainer took the free piece of cake he was going to give me and smashed it in my face...
Happy 18th birthday to me!
~Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
~New York

4~Places I'd rather be right now...
~Hawaii
~Mexico
~Texas with my Mom
~Sitting by a pool

4~People I tag...
~Carly
~Tami
~Kristina
~Jena

The Kai-Hawk

The weather has been wonderful lately, so we had our neighbor Jackie over for a BBQ today. I do believe that Jackie is one of Kai's most favorite people. She walks into a room and he smiles so big, that his nose wrinkles. We had a blast enjoying the outdoors, good food, and took a few pictures of Kai.
Kai still has "barely there hair"...but today for church we attempted his very first mohawk. We so lovingly refer to this as the Kai-Hawk.

Kai can be so expressive with his eyebrows at times...

...still tasting everything...

Look at that beautiful Colorado sky...

Another excited face...

Date With Kai's Girlfriend...

We went to the park today and met up with Kai's girlfriend, Lily.




I was so bummed when I saw how dark these pictures turned out, but we had to keep thier faces shaded...
Kai is only 8 weeks older than Lily but I feel like he is so much bigger than her.
It's amazing what 8 weeks can do.
Isn't Lily adorable?!!


I know they don't look very excited in these pictures, but they had fun. Kai was kicking his legs and smiling and Lily fell asleep. It was a great day at the park. Thanks for meeting up with us Jena!

SLeePiNG LiKe a BaBY

I put Kai to bed tonight and when I checked on him 20 minutes later, this is what I found.
I have found a whole new appreciation for the phrase, "Sleeping Like a Baby"...

Don't mind the pile of clothes laying in the background of this picture. I pulled these out of his hamper to do laundry...

It's Official...

No longer a baby...
Today I stood Makai up to pull his shirt down in the front and he grabbed onto the crib (probably holding on for dear life). The thing that surprised me was he loved standing there. I stood back and just stared at him b/c he is getting so big so fast. I feel just recently he has grown the most.

More news...
Makai has cut his first tooth! I have been able to see the two bottom teeth trying to come in recently, but today I noticed that one of the bottom teeth has actually cut through his gums. Ben and I were so excited, but Makai has been kinda whiny. He loves to put things in his mouth still, but if it is hard he just starts to whine. I think it hurts him...poor guy.

The Story of Mr Mouse...

Let me just start out by saying that I am not afraid of mice. What I am afraid of is walking into my garage thinking I am alone and seeing something run across the floor.
So, this is where our story begins...
Several weeks ago, I went into the garage and saw something scatter across the floor. I had no idea what it was so I turned the lights on and found a mouse running through our garage. I immediately went back into the house and told Ben we had a mouse problem. (I am not exactly sure if Ben believed me, but he humored me and bought some mouse bait to put out.) I hadn't seen any mice since that night so I thought Ben had fixed the problem.
Today I went out to the garage (while talking on the phone with my mother) and noticed a dark spot on the garage floor. I thought it was probably dirt left over from when I planted my pots and was standing barefoot about 4 inches away from it when it started to run across the floor. I started screaming like a little girl and took off towards the house. It was a huge rush, I was terrified. I still don't think I am afraid of mice, I just didn't realize it was there.
I am sure my mom thought something awful had happened to Makai b/c I had totally let out a scream. I quickly got off the phone and took Willie out to the garage with me (I must have thought he was a hunting dog). He was of no use. I showed him where the mouse was and he smelled the spot and then just looked at me like, "You are such a stupid girl." I stood there trying to figure out what I was going to do and then I saw Mr Mouse hiding in the corner. I took Willie back inside and grabbed a cup.
After several attempts and much screaming on my end, (I can't believe my neighbors didn't call the police) I pinned him in my clear, plastic, 4-inch high cup.
Then, I did the only rational thing I could think of...I called Ben, still screaming and begged him to come home and take care of Mr Mouse. My pleading had no affect of Ben, he told me to put something heavy on the cup and leave Mr Mouse there until he got home tonight.
As many of you know, I am a HUGE animal lover. As much as I didn't want Mr Mouse in my garage, I didn't want to be responsible for his death. "What if he sufficates in the cup? What happens when Ben comes home...he is for sure going to kill it!"
So, I sucked it up and decided I had to take care of My Mouse myself. I put on my rubber gardening gloves (for some reason I felt safer wearing them...maybe I forgot for a minute that a mouse could bite through my flimsy gloves) and tried to figure out how to scoop Mr Mouse up without him biting me.
After losing Mr Mouse again, more screaming, and recapturing him I finally scooped him into the cup.

Since I am the crazy pet lady, I'll be honest, the thought did cross my mind that I could keep Mr Mouse as a pet. This thought quickly passed as I remembered what a handful Makai is quickly becoming and how much Ben would freak out...
I said farwell to Mr Mouse and dumped him into the open space behind our house.

After calling my mom to reassure her that Makai was fine and all was well, she reminded me that where there is one mouse, there are more.
Hopefully we won't find any Mr Mouse Jr's running around.

Baby-Proofing at 8 Months

Kai is just about 8 months old now and is into everything. He is not exactly crawling yet, but is army crawling all over the house. His favorite things to play with are anything electronic (i.e. expensive), electric outlets (yes, we have finally taken the plung and bought covers for our outlets), and door stops. I have had to take the white pads off the door stops (so Kai won't choke on them) but Kai has figured out how to take the door stop off the wall itself. He is fascinated with the noise the door stops make and makes beautiful music all day long with them. Kai's newest trick is sitting himself up. He has gotten so good at it and is usually quite pleased with himself. I love that he becoming independant but miss my little baby.

Isn't he getting so big?
Today I went into Kai's room to wake him up from his morning nap and this is what I found...



He was just sitting there waiting patiently for me to come in. He had sat himself up and managed to get his little legs through the bars of his crib.
How can you not love this kid!??

Mother's Day

My Mother sent me a Mother's Day package and in it there was a card that said, "Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for taking such good care of my Grandson." My Mom is always doing such thoughful, selfless things for me. I love her so much!
This Mother's Day I have spent a lot of time thinking about how much my life has changed in the last year and how much I have learned. Last Mother's Day I was about 6 months pregnant and had no idea how to be a mother. Over the last year I have learned that being a mother is not difficult, simply because I have such a great example to learn from. My mother is my best friend...I love her more than she will ever know. She always knows just what to say (or send) to put a smile on my face. It always amazes me that she knows when to call or send a sweet gesture...those are the days I really need it. Hopefully I will be able to be as wonderful of a mother to my children as she has been to me.
Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Me, Grandma Allred, and Mom
This is a picture from my freshman year of college (2000-2001) in Grandma Allred's backyard. We all miss Grandma Allred.

SuRF'S uP

We went to the pool today with Makai. He had the same expression on his face the entire time. I think he was just trying to figure out what was going on...maybe he was wondering where his bath toys were.
Getting into a swimsuit made me realize just how much I need to lay out to get rid of all my tan lines. I get a new tan line everytime I go for a run outside!



This picture was taken after he got out of the pool and dried off. Doesn't he look excited? :)

Sad to say it, but I think Ben and I had more fun than Kai today.

"...All You Gotta Do is Hold Him and Kiss Him and Love Him, and Show Him That You Care..."

I just love this kid...

Classic Kai Pose...arms straight out...But look how blue his eyes are.

Hanging out in my basketball shorts on Sunday cause I want to be just like my dad...

I am not sure what is so funny about our dogs but Kai just cracks up when they are around him...
Kai has man-boobs in this picture!



I love this picture of Kai. He is so interested in the camera now...always trying to grab it. This picture looks like he is winding up for a punch b/c the only thing really in focus is his fist in the background...

Ben and Kai playing...