Lights at Temple Square

Last week the temperature warmed to above freezing, so we finally went out to see the lights at Temple Square. Halle loved every second of it and i'm proud to say that I have now seen Temple Square at Christmas. We went with Scott, Jill and Sam and had a good time (minus the $10 for parking). After we had enough of the 20 billion teenagers we drove around to the different Christmas streets around SLC.

{By the by.... the christmas street around 15th and 17th is so not as cool as I was hoping. All it entailed were creepy dolls, mediocre lights, and U fans..... boo}

{She looked hilarious in her hat!}

{Since when is putting 2 1yr olds in a single stroller considered a safety hazard?}

Storytime with Maga

Thought this was too cute to keep to myself

{ Sometimes it starts like this.... }

{And this....}

{However.... it always ends like this}

And this, well I don't even know what to say about this picture. It just makes me laugh. Ha!

O Christmas Tree

Since I am starting to feel much much better, and well since Christmas is about 2 weeks away. We finally got around to setting up all of our Christmas decorations. We picked out a fresh Christmas tree monday night. I don't care if Hobbes eats the pine needles and they are a pain to clean up after. I absolutely love having the smell/feel of a real live christmas tree in my house. Jonathan was as excited as I was and SO FAR Halle has done very very well with leaving the tree alone (too bad that's about all she's not touching).

{Loving on the snow globe}

She winds it and dances to the music every.single.second.

{He did most of it... you should see our lights}

yes, our condo is decked out with lights
interior & exterior

{Placing the Star}

{Falling Asleep}

Did we stick Halle in her Baby Einstein thing? After letting Hobbes out of his crate numerous times and attempting to destroy every decoration....Yes, yes we did.

Seriously, so blessed!... Seriously, so effed!

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow... you gotta put up with the rain" - Dolly Parton

The story goes a little like this...

Last Monday, Nov.23rd, Jonathan, Halle and I flew out here to Sacramento to spend the holiday/my birthday with my amazing family members we do not see nearly enough. The flight was an adventure (of course it was, we were flying with a 1 year old) but everything turned out fine and my dad picked us all up then took us to lunch down in Old Sac. We at at Joes! right on the river and minus the fact that the entire restaurant was celebrating their birthday (honestly, 4 different people did the birthday thing in the short time we were there) it was a good time. We spent a little time walking around old sac and found an awesome candy shop that we spent entirely too much time in. Later that evening we met up with my grandparents, aunt and cousin and all went out to dinner. It was a blast to catch up, spend time with everyone, and honestly I was just so happy to be here.
At about 3 in the morning I woke up in the worst pain and knew I was having a gallbladder attack (I have had a few before and knew the routine, as horrible as that may be). After throwing up nonstop and barely moving from so much pain I knew something had to be really wrong, it got to the point where I was throwing up tons of bile all over myself because I did not even have the strength to pull myself to a sitting position. My dad came over at about 8am and decided he was taking me to the ER regardless of my protests. After spending the day in the ER, getting another ultrasound, and being shot up with pain and nausea meds until I couldn't even walk they sent me home with Zofran and Percocet and said I should be fine by the next day.
The pain NEVER subsided and I was so sick I couldn't even keep down the Zofran. I still went about the week the best I could determined to have a good Thanksgiving and Birthday! Plus I was here in Cali with people I loved and I wasn't about to just lie around not enjoying it! We made it down to Stacey's house and spent some much needed time with EVERYONE there (we missed you like crazy Ari).
However, after going 6 days without being able to keep anything down (I lied, I kept 1/2 a banana down on the 5th night). Everyone decided that we really needed to head back up to Sacramento and get to a hospital asap, so Sunday morning we drove back up and my grandparents were waiting for me. They called their friend who is a retired surgeon and he told them I needed to get to the emergency room immediately. Nana and dad rushed me off and i've been here ever since. My gallstone became extremely infected and one of the stones passed into the common bile duct which caused me to get a nasty liver infection. I had to have 1 surgery to remove my gallbladder, in which they found they couldn't get the stone from my bile duct so the next day they performed another surgery to remove the stone. When they removed the stone they had to put a stent in the duct to keep it from collapsing, so as I type this I am awaiting my (hopefully) final surgery to remove the stent. My liver infection has been a very serious matter but after 4 days of serious meds things are starting to clear up. I am praying I am out of here tonight, I miss my family.

So in lieu of recent events I can't help but see the good in the bad and count my blessings, but first....

Seriously, so effed! (in no particular order)

I look forward to this trip for 2 years, we couldn't make it out here last year because Halle had just been born.... and I end up spending the entire time so sick and end up in the hospital.
It was my birthday on Thanksgiving
I didn't get to eat ANY of Stacey's amazing food
I didn't get to eat ANY of Stacey's amazing treats
I believe I am the only person ever to lose weight over Thanksgiving holiday
I didn't make it to La Selva Beach Shop to get my fav sweat pants ever
I've been so sick I have barely had the energy to "visit" with anyone
I didn't get to see Ari
I didn't get to see Nat or Paul
I didn't get to see any of my friends out here
I didn't make it to the beach, I was so excited to take Halle and it was about a mile away from where we stayed
I've honestly had less to eat in the past 10 days than I usually eat for a snack
I forgot my camera
I've had 3 different roommates in the hospital with the one i've had the longest being one of the most miserable people I have ever met!
Halle hates being at the hospital, breaks my heart that I only get to see her when she's being a little sass!
I only get to see my family for about an hour a day
My meds pass me out for hours
I've been stressing about missing work for this long
We don't have insurance
I hate feeling like I have no control over things


Seriously, so blessed! (again, in no particular order)

My grandparents, they have been so amazing the entire time we've been here. I really wish we lived closer.
Peter Carruth, the retired surgeon in my grandparents ward. He made sure I had the best surgeon available to do the surgery and even came in to assist so I didn't incur additional costs! He has even come to the hospital everyday to check on me.The man had never even met me and has been retired for years. It' s SO nice to know there are good people in this world still.
My dad, he has really stepped in! He's been so thoughtful and diligent in making sure I am taken care of!
Halle, you've been my sunshine. I love you little girl! Thank goodness you'll be too young to remember any of this.
Jonathan, he has been so wonderful through all of this. He has been "stuck" with my grandparents and dad (who he has met only about 5 times ever), playing Mr. Mom. We all know Jon doesn't have the biggest comfort zone and he has been so great this entire trip! I'm pretty sure my fam likes him more than me now!
Nick and Connie, they're my second parennts. They have been so concerned and supportive and have spoiled the heck out of Halle.
Karen, your plate is always so full but you always leave room for me. Thank you for being the best mother in law in the world!
Kia, such a beautiful girl. I wish I looked more like her and had her confidence.
Stacey, the most amazing cook ever and a mom to everyone. She should be everybody's role model.
Niko, Halle adored you and you always make Jon feel at home by watching the BYU vs U game with him!
Frank and Carol, such caring people. Thank you for pushing me to get this taken care of.
Jeanne, even though the magazines never actually made it to me THANK YOU for sending them my way. I love me some celebrity gossip.
Elisabeth, you may have thought it was boring but thanks for coming over and just talking to me for so long.
David Coven, without you we couldn't have made it out here. Thank you thank you for the buddy passes.
My bosses Doug and Mike, thanks guys for being so understanding. You're the best bosses anyone could ask for.
All my friends and family for the birthday wishes and love and support!

Fun to be 1....

{Halle's 12 Month Stats}

Height. 31.3" ... 90th Percentile

Weight. 21.3lbs ... 50th Percentile

Head Circ ... 25th Percentile

At 1 year old this little girl...

.walks all over the place, officically started taking steps on her own on Halloween (the day before her birthday).

.will tell you what a dog (woof woof), cow (moo), owl (hoo hoo), and cat (mow) says.

.still dances like crazy.

.climbs up and onto everything.

.has found her bouncy seat from when she was just a baby and loves to chill in it.

.is a sassy little monster.

.went through a "bang my head on things when i'm mad" stage.

.loves/demands attention.

.has over 10 teeth, and she loves to brush them.

.loves having her hair done.

.trys to "do" her own hair while watching me do mine.

.says mama, dada, daddy, love you(duh doo), thank you (dank doo), and jabbers her own language constantly.

.gets SO excited whenever she sees her cousin Josh, she really loves him.

.is such a good eater, she'll eat pretty much whatev we give her.

.loves to feed herself.

.gets bored in her carseat, I can't blame her.

.still loving on bath time, she even puts herself under water for fun.

.loves animals.

.understands (and ignores) when we tell her no.

.is in destruction mode, she opens any drawer or cabinet she can .

.takes everything out of where it belongs... and then puts them back in .

.however give this girl a laundry basket of clean clothes and she's entertained for hours.

.screams SO loud and SO high, not a fan of this one.

.would love to climb the stairs up and down all day if only we'd let her.

.although she's sassy, she is the sweetest little thing. She gives loves to people constantly.

We're loving our little one year old. It seems like she's growing up too fast sometimes.

{This was taken at her birthday party, what a mess}

{This post is about 2 weeks late, but things have been crazy lately(well as far as work goes anyway). }

wow.

{what a difference a year makes}

A weekend full of firsts.

Everything from Trick or Treating, learning to walk, and turning ONE!

Again, trying to take a picture of 3 small children...

{As always, had a blast up at Jen & Pat's with the cousins!}

Cutest cow i've even seen

Had the fortune of meeting this adorable Newfoundland while trick or treating. She LOVED him!

Trick or Treat

{She loved every second of it, the journey to each door, josh yelling TRICK OR TREAT at the top of his lungs, meeting new people, and getting candy.}

Happy Birthday little bug!

{what an adventure....more pics to come soon}

Ta-Da!

{yup, she walks}

Happy "Halle" ween!

We started our Halloween Festivities a little early this year.
(translation : I started decorating for fall and halloween in early September....)



Last weekend Pat & Jen invited us to the Nielson Halloween Party. We love Pat's family and LOVE Jen & Pat for always inviting us and making us feel like part of the family. We can't wait to spend Halloween with you guys trick or treating.

{lil' sis Morgan- Halle bug - Joshy boy}

This week we continued with the halloween spirit (in which some may or may not have had a choice in participating) and carved pumpkins. I was happy to start the tradition!

{Pumpkin Seeds}

Yup, they didn't exactly turn out. Why do I even try to be like Martha sometimes?

{BATMAN}

by scott

so talented when it comes to using knives

{YODA}

by Jonathan

he's a bit on the amazingly artsy side

{Jack Skeleton}

by Jill

to go with her Nightmare Before Christmas decorations

{BOO!}

by Kaity

I know, right? Don't even ask how long this crap show took me

{Scary}

ok maybe the lack of talent on my part is the only thing frightening

DESPERATE HELP NEEDED!

Yesterday afternoon, my friend, my mentor, and one of the GREATEST people I have EVER met had her life taken from her. Withing a matter of minutes some low life took around $20,000 worth of photography equipment from Heidi's car as she ran into XPEDX. To all that know Heidi, or even if you don't... you've seen her work decorate my blog. She is amazing and this is how she has supported her family.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ AND HELP!

This was taken from Dustin Izatt's blog
Today was the best of days and the worst of days. I got to shoot a wedding today for the best couple ever Hailey and Nic. Over the past few months we have become so close we are like family so today I was so excited for their wedding. A fellow photographer and instant friend Heidi Walker of Heidi J Photography was kind enough and so excited to come and second shoot for me today. We instantly hit it off and she is just the sweetest photographer i’ve met and we joked back and forth together all afternoon. Well as many of you have heard, there have been many camera thefts around the temple from LOW LIFES that will follow the photographers from the temple, and if they stop at a store with their gear in the car, the slimeballs will rush in and steal all of the photographers gear. Thanks SO much news media for advertising to the world how much our gear is worth so the thieves now know to target us.
Anyways, Long story short, Heidi got all of her gear stolen and it makes my heart ache. Read all about it on her BLOG. This was her passion and she lost everything, she invested so much more than the $20,000 in gear that was stolen. She invested time, invested money into numerous workshops, into education and learning editing skills, program skills. Then some D-Bag comes and takes it all away from her. Her gear was not insured. She used that gear to support her family in an honest way and as much as I wish I could catch this thief and give him the beat down of a life time, the only other thing I can do is to jump in and call out for help.
I would like for anyone willing and able to help Heidi out and show her that there is still good in this world. It broke my heart to hear her in tears all day and worse than the gear being robbed, I think they stole her heart and trust with it. I feel dead inside as well and I wasn’t even the victim.
I am going to start a donation fund for Heidi to help out with replacing equipment, renting equipment for shoots until her gear is replaced or recovered, etc. I am going to personally donate $200 of my own money to get the ball rolling. Also, any sales made from my album templates for the next two weeks will all go to Heidi’s donation fund. Also, any one on one mentoring sessions that anyone signs up for during the next two weeks will also be fully donated to Heidi. For any brides out there that have been thinking about booking me, the very next wedding that books, I will donate all of your wedding package (minus the cost of any product) to Heidi to help her get back on her feet and help restore her hope. Also if you would like to just donate a dollar or two or three to my paypal account dustin@dustinizatt.com and just put For Heidi in the notes, I promise every penny of the donations will be given to Heidi.

ALSO TO READ MORE PLEASE GO HERE

somebody's turning one

The amazingly talented Heidi JUST posted these to her photo blog, obviously I could not wait to share! Heidi is amazing, really she is. I love learning from this beautiful and creative person. Go check out her blog for more fun pics!

{This little girl has more attitude than most teenagers}

{See what I mean?}

{"Fun" facts about this shoot}

*The onesie was made by my lovely mother in law Karen, and myself. (the actual one pictured may or may not have been our second go around....)*

*I googled and you tubed how to make the giant cupcake cake, spent hours making a special candy mold and attempting to make the cake.... as you can see there is NO giant cupcake cake*

*SO CUPCAKE is a lifesaver in time crunch "cake emergencies"*

*Yes I really did go through all that trouble just so she could trash the cake*

*Another failed attempt was a birthday hat.... hence the adorable tiara. Somebody remind me that I am not as crafty as I think I am*

*Halle got so frustrated with me during this shoot that she started banging her head on the ground and in the cake... remember, I'm a good mom*

*Is she REALLY going to be 1 in 5 short days??*

Nearly a year

{forgive the quality of these, they were taken with my little point & shoot}

I can hardly believe it. This has been the fastest year of my life! Halle is going to be one in just a few short weeks. I find myself becoming so consumed in the everyday that I forget to slow down. When I do, I look at her and think... that's my baby? I realized I haven't taken a single picture of her in over a month. (again... i've just been busy, hardly an excuse right?).

{Stay tuned for her 1 year pics... we're totally trashing the cake}

Sometimes...

I feel like I am a bad mom.
Case in point....
I switched Halle to a forward facing carseat prior to 1 year.

My justification? She is bigger than a one year old, has been sitting up by herself since month 4, could not straighten her legs and hated being rear facing.
Halle does not have a doll

.... sorry they creep the hell out of me. She loves all of her animals and I turned out fine with just having stuffed animals.
I have no intention of taking away her binki when she turns 1.

She loves to chew on it, and sometimes it helps her sleep. The bottle is a different story.
I absolutely HATE for Halle to be dirty

tell me i'm robbing her of her childhood. I'm just not ok with her eating rocks and dirt and ruining her clothes (THIS is why I do not have a boy).

I work full time,

so does Jonathan. This means Halle is with a sitter Monday through Friday (and sometimes Saturdays). I wish I could spend more time with her, but I love the fact that she is around other people.
I have always let Halle cry herself to sleep.

Sorry if you think i'm the meanest mom ever, but hey, she's slept through the night since she was 2 weeks old. Oh and while we're on the subject, she goes to bed "late".... down around 10pm, up around 9am. It works well with my schedule, sorry if that's selfish.
She eats sweets

and she loves them! If i'm eating something tasty I always share (makes her happy and cuts down on my caloric intake, right? ).
T.V., Movies...

yup, she watches them all. She has always been mesmerized by everything from Baby Einstein to Mickey Mouse. Granted this isn't a daily occurance, but still i'm ok with the fact that I let my child watch T.V.. It's so freaking cute to watch her dance to everything.
I haven't "encouraged" walking

... i'm just not ready for it yet. She walks by holding on to things and stands alone for periods of time. I'm always there to help. When she's ready to walk, she'll walk. I'm not forcing anything on her. She already looks like a little kid(and acts like a teenager) sometimes . I'm not ready for her to be one yet.
I entered her into the GAP baby casting call

yup i'm one of those moms. I'm always being told to enter her into contests, so I did. Plus, how cool would it be if she won!!

*The list could go on..... This post was not meant to provoke pity on anyones part. Just the simple truth. Hopefully this is just first time parent un-surity(is that even a word?) Sometimes I just feel like a bad mom, particularly when my actions are being questioned and criticized by others. (Why is it that all "mothers" have the "BEST" advice?)
Bottom line, Halle is one of the happiest babies ever so I must be doing something right.

which to choose?....

I'm not saying which i'm leaning more towards....

I really love them all. Help me decide! Halle is going to be something squishy and cuddly because she has the rest of her life to be a princess/fairy/butterfly/any other girly thing she wants to be. For now she is my baby and I want her to stay that way for a little longer!

So, what do you think??

Feels like home to me

A few weeks ago we moved into this condo in Fort Union and we are loving it! The community is awesome and has a tennis court, pool, hot tub, clubhouse... everything. We love the location and there are alot of young families, plus alot of our neighbors have dogs so Hobbes has some friends.

{by the by... these are not the best pictures, lighting was horrible}

Tiny Little Kitchen

{Let's be honest, I don't need a big kitchen... I don't cook!}

{p.s. there is a new fridge & dishwasher, just didn't think it called for pictures}

Front Door & Hallways

Living Room

{still very much a work in progress}

Bathroom

Halle's Room

{psst... this dresser is over 30 years old. It was Jonathan's changing table when he was a baby, we inherited it & I refinished it. It's my favorite piece!}

Crib Bedding

{never got around to taking pics of it say 10 months ago}

Our Bedroom

{by the by... our bedding is from Walmart}

September 6th, 2006

Happy Anniversay!

Crazy how much life has changed in just these 3 short years.

Marriage definetly has it's ups & downs. Lucky for us, all that we've been through has made us that much stronger. It's a crazy life, but it's our life and I couldn't ask for a more understanding person to spend eternity with.

I love you Jonathan.... plus you make really cute babies :).

fun fun fun

Last weekend, Rori & Doug threw an amazing party for Cash's 2nd Birthday! It was a barnyard theme and they had a petting zoo come to their house! Halle loved all the animals and they had everything from ponies to goats to chickens & ducks and even a rabbit (I kid you not, it was bigger than Halle!).

Typical Halle, the second she gets what she wants... she doesn't want it anymore.

(I have no idea where she gets it from)

Some of the fellow party goers. Stevie is hilarious, Landry is fearless, Cash loves Ella, and aren't Mike and Ang's girls adorable!! Sorry for missing Elizabeth in the pic!

Thanks Cash for inviting us to your awesome birthday party!

p.s. we moved

p.p.s. i'm working on pics