The Daily Peacock

JessicaSprague Bloghop Stop #29

2011-06-24T20:00:00.001-06:00

Note: Thank you for joining our bloghop! We had an awesome time and we hope you did as well. The links have now been disabled. If you were unable to collect the kits from the designers, you will have a chance to purchase them in the JessicaSprague.com store in a few weeks. :)

Are you having a blast downloading all of the awesome goodies? :D You are on stop #29. If you arrived here first, make sure that you go back to the beginning of the bloghop and collect all of the awesome freebies and all of the parts of the quote. ;) Click on the image below to go to the beginning of the bloghop.

Here is my little contribution to the bloghop. It is a mini-paper kit with a funky geo-twist. ;) I hope you enjoy!

JessicaSprague.com Bloghop!

2011-06-23T14:21:00.002-06:00

Tap, tap, tap...Is this thing on? Wow! I can't believe it has been a year since I have posted on this thing. Just in case there is someone out there who still believes in my little blog and is still reading it, I wanted to let you know about the bloghop celebrating the 4th birthday of JessicaSprague.com. :)

Friday June 24th at 10pm Eastern - Sunday June26 10pm Eastern, you can hop on the blog train and pick up 47 delicious scrapbooking freebies. Start at Jessica's blog and follow the train down the buffet of goodness and fill your hard drive with amazingness.

Don't miss it! :)

Beating the Summer Heat

2010-07-15T16:13:00.003-06:00

It has been hot here. Our air conditioner has been running 24 hours a day and is not keeping up. Hot temperatures make for cranky, anxious kids. So Tuesday we went to check the new Spray Park. The kids had a great time.

Brogan was a little apprehensive in the beginning.

But with the help of his cousins, he started to get into it and have fun.

Review from the kids: two thumbs up! We will definitely be going back before the end of the summer.

Six Years Down...Eternity to Go!

2010-07-09T11:43:00.002-06:00

Six years ago I married this man. So much has happened in these last 6 years - Our first house, a cruise to Mexico, our first baby, a temple sealing, a broken car mirror, changing of jobs, our second baby, lots of laughs and a few tears. I love this man! He is my best friend and my partner in crime. Happy anniversary, my love! Here's to many more! :)

4th of July

2010-07-08T21:20:00.002-06:00

We spent a few days up in Farmington during the 4th of July weekend. We had a great time with family. We watched movies, went swimming, went to the lake, and had a great BBQ over at Lindsey and Adrian's cute new house. These are some pictures from that night.

Could these two be any cuter in their Independence Day gear? I think not.

Auntie Lindsey and little Liam.
Their house was perfectly positioned to see the city fireworks. Brogan was still scared of them this year, but we at least got him to watch them from the window. Last year he wouldn't even look at them from the window.
Here is Allie playing with her sparkler. That girl was so stinkin' excited to set off some fireworks.
I am so grateful for the country that we live in and the freedoms that we enjoy. I am so thankful for those who paved the way to allow me to enjoy those freedoms and those who continue to defend freedom.

Thank you to our family for such a great weekend. We love you!

Misc. Pics of the Rugrats

2010-06-24T15:04:00.006-06:00

Who wins the lamest blogger of the year award? That would be me. I thought I would at least post some random pictures of the kids in hopes that the grandparents won't disown me. ;)

My favorite picture lately. Love these two goofballs.

Check out Liam in his jumper. He loves this thing, and so do I. I don't know what I would do without it.
Liam has started solid foods. He likes the food, but it is tough competition with his fingers.

Brogan, AKA The Cat in the Hat, cooking up some serious artwork.
Note the tongue. This is how you know he is serious.

Liam sporting a new blanket 'do.
Love this kid and his old man comb over. Could he be any cuter?

Creative Team Call!

2010-03-29T11:56:00.003-06:00

Calling all scrapbookers! The hunt is on for the 2010 Creative Team at JessicaSprague.com. Check it out by clicking on the image below.

Cat in the Hat

2010-03-18T16:49:00.002-06:00

Brogan received a Cat in the Hat hat (whoa, does that make sense?) when he was a baby to go with his nursery decor. Lately he has taken a special liking to it and wears it around the house. Today was a sunny warm day and Brogan decided to go for a ride wearing his hat. These were a couple of the pictures I captured. Silly kid.

Liam Update

2010-03-17T23:14:00.002-06:00

Since I haven't blogged in a couple of months, Liam is going to look like a completely different kid in this post. He has grown so much. He has even outgrown some of his clothes, which makes me sad. I love his little chubby checker cheeks.

Brogan has been taking good care of him. He loves his little brother - so much so that we have to make sure he doesn't love the poor kid to death.

Here are a couple of recent pictures. I promise I will add more so the grandparents don't beat me. Liam was talking to me and smiling. I grabbed the camera hoping to capture some smiles, but I wasn't very successful. The kid is pretty camera shy. We have only been able to capture a few smiles on camera and video.

Brogie Snuggling Liam

2010-01-15T17:05:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I said I would post this a couple of days ago and I still haven't. I think we have already established that I am a blog slacker. Here is Brogan holding his baby brother for the first time on Monday. He kind of zones out at the end.

Brogan Meets Liam

2010-01-11T20:22:00.006-07:00

We got to take Mr. Liam home last night. Here are some more pictures of him in the hospital, getting ready to go home, and meeting the rest of his family.

Don't worry, we didn't leave the strap this loose for the ride home.
A picture with Mom and Dad on the way out the door. Wow! Mom and Dad look like they could use a good night of sleep or at least a caffeinated beverage.
Catching some zzz's in Daddy's arms.

Posing with his Mama.

Watching some football with Daddy. Is he calling a touchdown? Future career as a ref?

Meeting big brother and hanging out with Auntie Jen.
Snuggling with Grandma Duke.
Brogan wanted to do what Liam was doing so he got his blankie and monkey and snuggled up to Grandma.

Here is a short video of Liam coming home and Brogan welcoming him home.

I have one more video to post of Brogan and Liam, but it is getting late and Blogger is taking forever to upload these videos. So I will post it tomorrow. :)

Making his blog debut

2010-01-09T12:40:00.005-07:00

We have had an exciting week in the Pecotte household. Here is a shot of me the night before our second boy came into the world. Check out that Buddha belly.
We had to be at the hospital bright and early at 6:30. Everything was rolling along as planned and then we got bumped for a couple of emergencies. Jeremy and I passed the time by taking pictures of our sweet outfits. I know you are jealous of the sweet maternity moo moo gown.
Check out Jeremy's scrubs. Wait, is he the one pregnant?
At 11:51 AM Liam Riley Pecotte was born. 8lbs 2 oz 20 inches. He was kissed by the stork that delivered him.
I love this picture. Looks like he is winking at the camera. "Hey ladies." Jeremy thinks it looks like he is trying to bite his ear.
Getting his first tubby. Rub a dub dub, a Liam in a tub.
Getting to know mama. Wow, mama looks tired! (or maybe under the influence?)

Whazzup?!?

Look at my big bright eyes and my chubby cheeks.
Where's my spigot? (The nickname that Jeremy has given me. That is ok since I call myself the cow. LOL!)
MMM! That was some good milk.

Meeting Grandpa Pecotte.
Meeting Grandma Pecotte.
He is a sweet baby. We are having a lot of fun getting to know him. Brogan wasn't able to come onto the unit due to the H1N1 and RSV precautions. My parents brought Brogan to the hospital and we introduced him to his little brother through the glass of the door. I am sure it will only become real to Brogan when we bring Liam home.

New Year, new projects

2010-01-05T11:13:00.004-07:00

The longer I have put off updating our blog, the more I have felt like my first post back had to be spectacular. Well, it isn't spectacular, but at least I am back. I am planning to go back and add posts to the blog for my journaling purposes. I have lots of pictures from Christmas. I also got a Flip camera for Christmas and I am planning to add some fun videos. So any of you that spent Christmas with us, your video and pictures will be making it onto a Pecotte blog near you soon. He! He! He!

I have decided to take on Project 365 this year. I might need to have my head examined. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is where you take a picture a day for the whole year. At the end of the year you will have a glimpse into the everyday musings of your life that you might have otherwise missed. I have enjoyed looking through other people's projects for 2009 and decided that I will attempt to do this. So here are the first four days of 2010. The one thing that I am learning is that I probably won't pick just one pic some days. It is just too hard to choose. So I am going to have to figure out my album method to accommodate more than one picture on some days.

January 1st: Jeremy and I took Brogan to The Princess and the Frog. This was kind of his last hurrah as the only child. We wanted to do something fun with just the three of us before things got crazy with a new baby. These pics are taken with my phone, so the quality is awful but the moments are still captured. :)

After the movie, we went and ate ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Brogan had his first taste of bubble gum ice cream. He didn't quite know what to think of the frozen pieces of ice cream. I had a yummy reeses peanut butter sundae and Jeremy had his standard -- rocky road. January 2nd: Brogan likes to cuddle with us in bed in the morning. This morning he curled up with monkey and his daddy and went back to sleep.
Later that night, Jeremy and I went to the Melting Pot for our last hurrah before the new baby comes. Jen and Kevin gave us gift cards their for Christmas. It was oh so yummy. There is nothing better than the flaming turtle for dessert. MMM! (We also learned we are not good at self portraits with camera phones. Ha!)
January 3rd: Time to put up all of the Christmas decorations. It always makes me sad to put away all of the decorations. The house feels so bare without them. Brogan kept asking what I was doing with the village or with the Christmas lights. I think he would be happy to leave them up all year long.
January 4th: Getting ready for the big day! I did some last minute organizing of baby clothes in the nursery and packed the diaper bag for the hospital. I can't believe baby boy will be coming Thursday!

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this. I doubt that I will be able to keep up with it on the blog--as evidence by my super awesome job at blogging this past year. :P Hope that everyone is having an awesome New Year!

Christmas

2009-12-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas, as we do every year. It is so nice to be able to relax with family. We stayed in Albuquerque this year because the due date of the new baby was so close to Christmastime. Everyone came to us this year.

Christmas Eve the boys received their traditional jammies. Brogan was so excited to have his Micky jammies. He must take after his mama with his love for PJs. We ate lots of food, watched movies, and played games. My mom and I also started our traditional jigsaw puzzle. Last year my sister gave me a 2000 piece puzzle of candy. It is a beast. We didn't even get the border done. Good thing my mom is coming back in January so we can attempt it again.

Click on the image below for a closer look at the festivities. :)
Christmas came and so did Santa. Santa was pretty good to a certain 2 year old. Brogan got a Thomas the train set. His cousins were so nice to give him their train table. Brogan was in heaven. He loves to go to Barnes and Noble because they have a train table set up in the kids' section. He calls it the "train store". He was excited to have his very own train set.

He also got a Mickey Mouse train from mommy and daddy, lots of clothes, the Curious George movie, a Curious George quilt made by Grandma Duke, and lots and lots of other stuff. He was spoiled for sure.

After presents and playing, we all took a nap. Then we ate, played games, and watched movies.

My Christmas present from Jeremy and Brogie was a flip camera. I love it. It is so fun and small and easy to carry around in my purse. I thought I would share some videos from Christmas.

My nephew Jonah got a fun race car track for Christmas. Brogie and Grandpa Duke raced each other. Here is a video of their race.

Here is Brogie playing with his new Thomas the Train set. He loves it!

Jeremy's family came to visit us a couple of days after Christmas. They broke out the Wii and had a fun time playing it. So much fun that Grandma Pecotte got one for her birthday. What a hip grandma. Here is a video of Lindsey and Tracy (Grandma Pecotte) boxing each other. So stinking funny. Hopefully I won't be in too much trouble for this one.

FREE class at Jessica Sprague!

2009-11-01T13:17:00.004-07:00

I am coming out of blogging hibernation to help announce a new FREE class at Jessica Sprague. Registration starts tomorrow and is unlimited. This class will focus on documenting your Holiday stories. Everyone has a story, right? You do. So sign up. It is going to be awesome.

Click on the following image to make it bigger.

The New Little Bundle

2009-08-28T11:29:00.005-06:00

This summer has been a busy one. Between being sick, swimming lessons, anniversaries, weddings, and vacation, it has been a whirlwind. We are looking forward to things slowing down, but we will miss the nice sunshiney weather.

We had our ultrasound on the 25th and found out that we are having another baby boy! We are continuing the tradition on the Duke side of the family of nothing but baby boys. We were excited to see pictures of him. His 3D pictures remind us a lot of Brogan's, so it will be interesting to see if they end up looking like each other.

So here are some pictures captured of the new little tyke. You have to ignore the chopped off look of his head in the 3D pics. They are a little creepy.

I love this one because it looks like he is flexing his muscles.
We took Brogan with us to the ultrasound. He was totally unimpressed with seeing his baby brother. He did want to know why mama had a bunch of gooey stuff on her tummy though.

Hopefully now that we are back to a more normal schedule, I will be able to get pictures edited from this summer and post them.

Guitar Hero Baby

2009-06-24T11:14:00.002-06:00

These are pictures from over a month ago. I am just now getting around to posting them. We borrowed Guitar Hero from our brother-in-law and Brogan loved the guitar. Jeremy got a new acoustic guitar for Father's Day and a new electric guitar for our anniversary. He has been playing his new guitars a lot and Brogan has been loving it. He loves to sing along as daddy plays his songs. I think we might have a budding musician on our hands. Now if daddy would just learn how to play Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, Broggie would be in heaven.

This is a picture from our weekend in Farmington for Jeremy's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. I have a ton of pictures to go through from that weekend. So more to come soon...hopefully.
In baby news, we had our doctor appointment this morning. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which is always cool to hear. Brogan was not impressed. We asked him again today if he wanted a brother or a sister and he replied, "cars." I have lost a little bit of weight due to all of the nausea, but nothing to worry about. I am still crossing my fingers that we are on the downhill part of the sickness now that we are getting closer to the second trimester. :)

Guess what?

2009-06-17T09:29:00.002-06:00

Ok, I know, I am the world's worst blogger. What has it been? A month now? Things have been a little crazy. But hopefully I will have a little forgiveness after this post.

Most of you already know, but there are some out there who don't know.....there is a little baby Pecotte expected next January. Here are a couple of pictures of the dating ultrasound. Where the dotted line is positioned it where the baby is at. Use your imagination. ;)

I am 10 weeks pregnant today. The official due date is January 13, 2010. I was hardly sick when I was pregnant with Brogan and was hoping for the same luck this time around. Not so much. I am hoping that I am on the downhill portion of the 24 hour a day nausea.

Brogan doesn't really know what is going on. We ask him all the time if he wants a brother or a sister. He used to just say no. Smart kid. Then I think he realized he had no choice. Now he answers by saying whatever was last. ("Brother or sister?" answer-"sister." "Sister or brother?" "Brother"). We have some friends who have a baby girl and he loves her, but we figure it will be a whole new ballgame when he figures out this baby is here to stay.

So we are now taking official bets as to what this baby will be. I am going with a boy because we don't have a single girl on my side of the family. Jeremy thinks it is a girl. Hopefully in 10 more weeks this baby will cooperate so we will be able to settle the debate.

Meet the newest gadget addition to the family

2009-05-25T11:56:00.003-06:00

I have been drooling over this camera for awhile now. It is the Canon 50D. We have had our Canon XT for 4 years. It has been a great camera, but we have been itching to upgrade. We finally took the plunge and spent the weekend trying to learn all of the amazing things it can do.
We are already in love. All weekend Jeremy and I kept saying to each other how much of a difference we see in our pictures already.

Here are some of our favorite pictures we captured of Brogan over the weekend.

Making faces for the camera.
Brogan saw an airplane in the sky. He loves to watch them fly over our house.
Brogan loves to lay on top of our patio table and soak up the sun.
A little after nap attitude.
"Enough with the pictures, Dad."
Playing with his dump truck after the rainstorm.
Enjoying a Capri Sun. Those things are yummy!

Brogan's Truck

2009-04-25T17:21:00.003-06:00

Every night when Jeremy comes home, Brogan wants to go see "My truck". So every night, Jeremy and Brogan go to the garage and Brogan plays in Jeremy's truck. He loves it. He hates when he has to go inside. Last night, Jeremy took this video of Brogan while I was at work. My favorite is at the very end when Jeremy is trying to get him to say, "I love you mama" and he won't. Typical. Of course he says love you to daddy. It is kind of a long video, but cute (in our opinion anyway. :))

Easter

2009-04-21T16:18:00.005-06:00

We spent Easter in Farmington with family. We drove up Thursday afternoon so that we would have a little bit of extra time up there. We went up to Durango Friday with Jeremy's parents. Durango is not what it used to be, in terms of shopping. Durango is still the hotspot for outdoor adventurists (in other words, not me). When I was growing up, Durango had a bunch of outlet stores. Now, for the most part, it has turned into trinkets and trash stores. There are still a few cool stores, but not what it used to be. We walked down Main Street and took Brogan to see the Durango Silverton train. He loved seeing a real train. (I forgot my camera. I could kick myself!)

This is a picture of Brogan playing with an Easter toy he got from his Grandma and Grandpa Pecotte. This may be my favorite pic of the weekend.
Saturday we went to see Monsters vs Aliens and then came home and colored Easter eggs.
Sunday morning the Easter bunny came to visit before church. He hid Brogan's entire Easter basket. Once Brogan found that he had cars in the basket, he didn't want anything to do with hunting the real eggs. Didn't the Easter Bunny talk to Santa Claus? Surely the Easter Bunny would have learned that the cars are supposed to come last.
Brogan got a bubble gun in his basket and loved it. He has become obsessed with bubbles.
Here is a pic of us after church.

These two pics crack me up. My sister took these, so I am not sure what is really going on here. But these two were next to each other in order on the camera.
This is the only pic of Brogan smiling at the camera while the other two make frownie faces. Apparently Brogan didn't get the memo.
After dinner with my family, we went over for dessert at Jeremy's parents. There they had another Easter egg hunt. This time, Brogan got it. He totally got into hunting for the eggs.

We had a great time. Brogan was so tired from all of the fun. Shortly after the egg hunt, he walked over to his Auntie Lindsey and cuddled with her until he fell asleep.

Every puppy needs a boy

2009-04-09T09:00:00.000-06:00

We have a weird dog. It's true. Ask anyone who has met her. She is not your typical dog. She does not like to be petted. She only likes to be petted at certain times of the day-- right before bedtime and right when she wakes up in the morning. If you try to pet her any other time, she will back away from you and look at you like you are an alien.

The other thing that is weird (and annoying, I might add) is that she doesn't play fetch like a normal dog. She loves to play it, but only by her rules. She likes to bring you her toy and wait for you to grab onto the other end. Once you do, you are almost certain to lose an appendage. She loves to play tug, and she isn't very nice about it. So the only way you can play fetch with her and not risk losing your arm is to wait until she drops the toy and backs away before you pick it up. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of re-directing her to play this game. Annoying.

So imagine our surprise at Brogan's fun new game he likes to play with Nala. He likes to grab her rope and run around with it while Nala chases him. He simply walks up to Nala and takes the toy out of her mouth. She hands it over without a fight. I think somewhere in that pea-sized head of hers she actually understood that he is small and he is fragile. Brogan thinks it is hysterical. He laughs so hard when he plays with her, and Nala loves it too. She has been enjoying playing outside with him just as much as he loves it.

A little sunshine and a little dirt

2009-04-08T15:38:00.002-06:00

Those are the ingredients for a happy little boy. This week has been really nice outside. Brogan has been having so much fun playing with his dump trucks and four wheeler (or "motorcycle" as he calls it). He has been loving it so much that it is a fight to get him to stop and eat or come inside. Now, for those of you who know this little boy's appetite, that is saying something. He eats like a teenage boy. I am glad that he likes to be outside so much.

I was surprised I was able to get him to slow down for a minute to take a picture with his momma. And no, his tongue is not green. He is eating a "no-no" or what most people would call a skittle.
I am dreading the end of his afternoon nap. In typical NM springtime fashion, it has started getting really windy outside. He is not going to be a happy boy if he doesn't get to play outside. I guess I will just have to bundle him up and see how long he lasts.

Feeling Fishy

2009-04-06T19:00:00.000-06:00

My friend and old college roommate Jaime came into town with her husband and little boy Aidan. We met up at the aquarium and botanical garden.

This is Brogan getting his first up close look at birds. He enjoyed their tweeting, but didn't care so much for the flying. It freaked him out when they would fly out of a bush all at once.

Here are the busy boys together. Let's just say that these two are somewhat of a bad influence on each other. They don't want to listen to their parents when the other one is around. They would rather be in their own little world. But I am glad they have fun with each other.

Checking out the fish. The last time Brogan went to the aquarium, he wasn't really into it. He is now old enough to be interested...at least until his toddler ADD kicks in.
They both loved the stingrays. They would have stayed here all day if we let them. There was a lady feeding the fish and stingrays and Aidan thought it was hilarious.
Brogan was a little scared of the big tank at first. I had to show him that there was a glass wall and that the fish couldn't get past it. After that, he was cool with it. He liked to run back and forth along the glass chasing the fish and trying to pet them.

After we were finished at the aquarium, we went for a walk through the botanical garden. My favorite part of the day was when Brogan tried to call a duck over like it was his dog.

The Look

2009-03-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

Doesn't this picture just scream, "I am up to no good. I have something up my sleeve and my momma is not going to like it." ? Yeah, I thought so too.

I wear my sunglasses at night

2009-03-26T13:14:00.003-06:00

Jeremy and I took Brogan and our nephews to Burger King for lunch a couple of weeks ago. They were giving out Pink Panther toys in the kids' meals and one of the kids got these cool pink glasses. They were a hit with Brogan.

Brogan learning what matters

2009-03-05T15:24:00.005-07:00

Last night Brogan joined his daddy at the table while daddy was loading some music onto his iPod. Jeremy was sitting there with his arms folded waiting for iTunes to finish. Brogan took that cue of his daddy's arms being folded that it was time to pray. So he folded his arms and squeezed his eye shut as hard as he could and waited for Jeremy to say a prayer. So sweet. Afterwards he came up by me on the couch and did the same thing and didn't move until I said a prayer which at the end he triumphantly said "Amen!" with happy conviction.

It is little times like that that I think we might not be such bad parents. Maybe we are doing something right. But then I think of the incidents that tell us we might need to work a little harder.

Case in point: a couple of weeks ago Brogan was hanging out with me in the spare bedroom while I was organizing some of my scrapbooking stuff. He kept pointing at a basket I had taken off of the shelf and saying "Jesus". I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. In the basket I just has some various tools and nothing related to Jesus. Finally I saw at the very bottom of the basket he had stuffed a playing card down there. On the card is not a picture of Jesus but of Elvis. When I took it out and showed it to Brogan he again proclaimed "Jesus". Hmmmmm....... I don't know how I feel about that. (and don't even ask why we have Elvis playing cards. I have absolutely no idea). I guess we will just have to work a little harder at this teaching thing and find victories where we can get them.

Eye Popping

2009-03-02T16:18:00.006-07:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted, but we have nothing new and exciting to report. I thought I would share a picture I just edited. I have really been into pictures lately where the eyes really pop. I came across this action from MCP called Eye Doctor and Dentist from my friend Noel. I just downloaded it today and have played with it just a little. But look how cool it is.

This is the original photo:

This is the edited photo. Notice the difference? Click on the picture for a larger version.

What I love the most is how the catch lights are intensified. I am just learning all of the features to this action, so it isn't perfect. Note: This picture is from September 2008. Sorry it isn't a newer one.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hope you are enjoying the day with those you love. We love you!

Proof

2009-02-05T13:58:00.003-07:00

Here are pictures of Brogan's room for all of you out there who haven't seen it in person. (And why haven't you seen it in person? You must take a trip and visit soon!) These pictures were all taken when Brogan arrived home for the very first time. They are straight out of the camera with no editing, so you will have to forgive the lighting.

These stuffed Dr Seuss characters we got at Khols. Khols has different books and stuffed animals every couple of months for $5 each (what a bargain for a book!). The money they raise goes to a charity. We were totally lucky because when we were painting his room, they switched to Dr. Seuss.
This picutre is blurry. Sorry. I will have to take some better pictures of his room. On the left is a character from Go Dog Go. The middle is from Sneeches and the right is another character from Go Dog Go. Of course we changed the colors of the characters to match Brogan's bedding.
The closet doors are from Fox in Socks.
This is the other wall. This is before we got his crib. The crib is up against this wall now. The left is Lion licks a lollipop from the ABC book. The middle is the Cat in the Hat and the right is pup in cup from Hop on Pop.
This is evidence of me painting the room. Check out that belly.
Here is a pic of the Cat in the Hat in progress.
Here is how we did it. We made transparencies of our favorite pictures from various Dr. Seuss books. We borrow a projector and used it to project the image onto the wall. We had to paint one color entirely at a time and wait for it to dry. Most colors took two coats, but some took more. The overhead had to stay in one place the whole time, so we had to finish one image before we went on to the next one. After all of the paint was done, we went back over the image with a black paint marker to draw in all of the details. Paint markers rock. That was the part that made the images really come alive.
So there you have it. Proof that Brogan really does have a Dr. Seuss room and that we thought of it BEFORE Pottery Barn. :)

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

2009-02-04T06:00:00.001-07:00

Today is this little boy's 29th birthday. That's right. Take a second look at these pictures. That is Jeremy not Brogan.

In honor of your 29th birthday, I thought I would do a list of 29 things I love about you.

1. I love that your favorite place to be is at home with Brogan and me.
2. I love that you make up songs all of the time about everything. I don't love that they get stuck in my head though.
3. I love that when you have a goal, you work really hard to achieve it.
4. I love your laugh. You have a contagious laugh.
5. I love how you play with Brogan and make him laugh so hard.
6. I love that you took me and Brogan to the temple and that we were sealed for all eternity.
7. I love that you still act as goofy as you did in high school.
8. I love that you support my scrapbook addiction. :)
9. I love that you work hard to support our family.
10. I love that you love to read. I don't think I could be married who someone who doesn't like to read. It's not right. :)
11. I love that you love your family.
12. I love that you love my family.
13. I love that you walk around saying "Laurie, I love you" in the accent of Desmund from Lost.
14. I love that you let me tell you what is wrong in medical scenes on tv, even if it does annoy you.
15. I love it when you snuggle with Brogan.
16. I love it when you snuggle with me.
17. I love it when you do silly dances when you do well on the Wii or Xbox.
18. I love that you let me rub it in when I beat you at Wii bowling (probably because we both know I will never beat you at any other game).
19. I love that you like to hang around in your pjs, just like me.
20. I love that you will run errands with me just so I have someone to talk to.
21. I love that you give me the best hugs ever.
22. I love that you call me to tell me goodnight when I am working.
23. I love it when you read to Brogan.
24. I love when you sing songs to Brogan.
25. I love it when you do little things for me, like plug in my side of the electric blanket when I am getting ready for bed.
26. I love that you tell me you love me many times throughout the day.
27. I love that you are willing to help out your friends or family.
28. I love that you have the best heart of anyone I know.
29. I love that you are my best friend and I am yours.

Happy birthday, my love! Brogan and I love you and we are so grateful for everything you do for us.

Let the terrible twos begin!

2009-02-03T10:13:00.004-07:00

Oh wait, they started about a month ago. This weekend made it official. Brogan turned 2 on Sunday. We celebrated Saturday with family and friends. We are so lucky that our family is so close that they can come down and celebrate with us.

Brogan had a Cars birthday cake. He was super excited about the new cars he could add to his collection.
These are cake pops that I made. My friend Kari and Tori make them and I tried my hand out on them. I still need some pointers, but they turned out good.
Here is the birthday boy in action opening all of his presents. What a spoiled boy!

Brogan got a Lightening McQueen chair just his size from his Grandma and Grandpa Duke. He loves it.

Here is Brogan blowing out his candle.
Yay for Brogan!
"Daddy, there are cars on my cake!"
Here he is trying out his new dump truck.
This is Jeremy's side of the family that came down. We were so excited to see everyone. I forgot to get a picture of my side of the family. I could kick myself for forgetting.
Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Brogan's birthday. We had so much fun with everyone.

Happy birthday, Broggie! We love you and we are so glad you are part of our family!

Pottery Barn is stealing our ideas!

2009-01-26T09:25:00.002-07:00

That is right! You read correctly. Apparently someone in the Pottery Barn Kids design world caught word of how cool Brogan's room is and they are copying it! Okay, so they stuck with the traditional primary colors while we used bright colors, but they still ripped off our Dr. Seuss idea. Check it out for yourselves. They even made a wall decal of the same image of Cat in the Hat that we painted on Brogan's wall. Do you know how long I searched for Dr. Seuss accessories while we were creating his room? They were nowhere to be found. I still think Brogan's room is cooler. (But I still love you, Potter Barn, even if your prices are ridiculous.)

Reading

2009-01-12T19:48:00.001-07:00

Brogan spent the night reading with his Daddy. Part of the reading consisted of putting the book on top of his head. Is that reading by osmosis?

Truck Sweaters

2009-01-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, my mom made Brogan, Noah, and Jonah truck sweaters. My mom is an amazingly talented seamstress. I inherited none of that ability. All three of them wore there sweaters to church. We attempted to get nice pictures of them in their sweaters to send to my mom. My biggest mistake was that I waited until after church to take the pictures. Brogan was in melt down mode from being left in nursery. Oh, the horrors! Jonah was being a spaz. Noah was the only one cooperating for the pictures. At least they are entertaining.

This is why they call it addiction

2009-01-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

For New Year's, I whipped up a batch of addiction that my friends Tori and Kari turned me onto last year. It is some seriously yummy stuff. I made it last night and Brogan was not at all interested in it. The sticky consistency of it while it was setting up freaked him out. But today, it was just right. Before we knew it, he climbed up on the coffee table and was digging in with both hands. Yummy!

Here is the recipe, courtesy of Kari:
3 Sticks Butter
2 C. Sugar
2 C. Karo Syrup (light corn syrup)

Boil for 3 minutes and pour over:

1 large box Rice Chex
1 large box Golden Grahams
4 C. Coconut
3 C. Sliced Almonds

Stir until cereal mixture is coated with sugar mixture. Spread onto parchment paper to cool.

The Day After Hangover

2008-12-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is what the excitement of Christmas does to a little boy. This was him today. He was laying low and playing with his toys, or er, his cousin's toys.
Noah and Jonah spent the day laying low too and playing with their new video games and toys.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Santa was very good to us this year. I guess he didn't get word that we are in a recession.

Here is Broggie playing with his new Sesame Street Restaurant. I know I took a picture of the whole thing, but I can't seem to find it. It might be on my sister's camera. Since we have the same camera, we accidentally switched them. I will have to post it later.
Broggie got lots of new cars in his stocking from the movie Cars. I would like to draw your attention to the car he is playing with in the picture. That is actually Jonah's car from Santa. Brogan assumed any car left out was actually meant for him.

After Brogan opened two gifts, he was off playing around the house. He still had a pile of presents to open. We finally got him back and he opened this truck. We got it from Pottery Barn Kids when we were in Salt Lake. It may be one of the coolest toys ever. We are convinced it was made especially for Brogan. It combines his love of pushing things and trucks. It also has a little generator in it. When you push it, it creates energy to power a light and play music. Pretty darn cool. I need some better pics of this toy too. You can see a better view of it here.
Brogan also got a portable DVD player for the car from his Grandma and Grandpa Duke. That may be my favorite gift he got because it keeps me sane. He also got a cool ball popper from his Auntie Jen and Uncle Kevin.

After opening presents, we went over to Great Grandma and Grandpa Pecotte's for breakfast and Great Grandpa's famous cinnamon roles. MMM! Then we headed back over to the Duke clan. We spent the day eating, relaxing, playing with toys, watching movies, and eating some more.

We are so grateful to have such a wonderful family to spend Christmas with and we are thankful for the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, who gave us the ultimate gift. We hope everyone enjoyed a special day with family and friends. We love you!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2008-12-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

We spent the day with the Pecotte side of the family. We had dinner and had a gift exchange with the extended side of the family. Brogan got a race track with cars from his cousin Jadie. He loved it.

Brogan enjoyed some delicious homemade egg nog that his Grandma made. Yummy!

Broggie taking Monkey on a ride around the house before the party began.
After celebrating with the extended family, we had a gift exchange with Jeremy's immediate family. Grandma and Grandpa spoiled Brogan. He got a four wheeler to ride around the house on. He LOVED it! He did have a little trouble figuring out the whole steering thing, though. He also got a dirt devil vacuum from his Auntie Lindsey and a remote control car from his Uncle Brandon. Brogan loves it when I vaccum and he likes to pretend he is vacuuming too, so he was pretty excited to have a vacuum just his size.

Hanging out with his Daddy.
Judging by this picture, I think that Brogan had a great time with his family.

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today we went outside and enjoyed the freshly fallen snow. White Christmases are rare in New Mexico, so we were happy we had one this year. Brogan wanted to go outside because his cousin Noah was outside playing. So we got him all bundled up and headed outside. He must have inherited his love (read dislike) of the cold from his momma. He was not impressed by the snow at all. He didn't even want to touch it. I think play time lasted all of 10 minutes before we headed back in.

The snow didn't bother Noah. He had a great time playing out in the snow.
Later that night, Broggie snuggled with his Auntie and cousin and watched a movie. What a perfect way to end the day.

Wearing Santa Hats is Not Cool!

2008-12-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of days I have been attempting to get a picture of Brogan in a Santa hat. Does that seem like is should be a hard thing to do? He is usually pretty cooperative with me when I take pictures, but not with these. Oh no! He did not like the Santa hat. I don't know if it was to itchy or he was afraid that the other babies in the nursery might see the pictures an make fun of him or what. These were some of the pictures we got.

This first one is the one we ended up sending out. He thought it was pretty funny that monkey was wearing a hat. I guess it is okay if HE looks silly, just not Brogan.

Visiting the Beehive State

2008-12-06T20:25:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went with my family up to Utah. I haven't been there for a good ten years. Utah is where we always went for family vacation in the summer. We would go to Lagoon, Seven Peaks, and go shopping. It was so much fun to go back for a visit.

We went to the Festival of Trees. It is a fundraiser benefiting the Children's Hospital. It was huge. There were so many creative trees that people had put together.

We also went to Temple Square and saw it all lit up for Christmas. Jeremy had never been there before, so I was super excited to take him. The Salt Lake temple is amazing in person. Here are some of the pictures we got of the night.

Jeremy took this picture. It is pretty cool. I think he was pretty proud of his artistic talents (so was I).
The Christus in the visitor's center.

The nativity outside the Tabernacle.

Jeremy and Brogan inside the Tabernacle. He wouldn't cooperate long enough for me to get a picture with him.
Checking out Moroni from the bottom up.
And I had to include this picture of the biggest ham of the family Jonah. He totally staged this picture and then wanted me to capture it.
I also got to indulge in some awesome pre-birthday shopping in the scrapbooking mecca of the world. I have wanted to go to Archiver's for a long time now. My sister gets to go when she visits her in laws in Denver and I have just had to live vicariously through her. Luckily for me, I got to make a trip to the Archiver's inside of University Mall. Ahh, it was like heaven. So much goodness. So many yummy papers and embellies. Afterwards, we went to The Spaghetti Factory. Yum!

We had a sweet little surprise when we saw a sign close to our hotel for the American Crafts Warehouse sale. So I looked it up online, and sure enough, the sale was scheduled during our stay. Even better, they were right down the street from our hotel. You cannot believe the loot we got for SO CHEAP! It was amazing. I can't wait to dig my new stash!

We even indulged my sister in a trip to the BYU campus. I really wanted to sport my UNM gear, but I decided to behave. :) (I love you, Jen! But don't forget, you are currently a LOBO!)

We had a great time hanging out and shopping. Jeremy loved Utah just as much as I do. It is quite a bit more upscale then the ghettoness of Albuquerque (but we still do love it here).

Elmo undergoes surgery

2008-12-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today we decorated the Christmas tree. Brogan tried to help, but didn't really understand how to hang the ornaments on the branches. Every year we get him a new ornament for the tree. This year he got an Elmo dressed up as an elf. Brogan has been pretty obsessed with Elmo this year, so we thought it fit him well. Needless to say, he loved it. Unfortunately we made the mistake of letting him carry it unsupervised. Next thing I know, in a fit of excitement, he launched Elmo across the kitchen and he landed on the tile floor in little bitty pieces. Elmo underwent some major surgery and it is safe to say, he will never be the same again. Poor Elmo. The following pictures with Elmo are before the accident.

Brogan is helping Daddy hang his new ornament from his Great Grandma and Grandpa Pecotte.

Turkey Day

2008-11-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful day and have enjoyed a wonderful week with our family in Farmington. We spent Thanksgiving at Great Grandma Pecotte's house and ate until we were ready to pop. There was so much great food!

This picture of Brogan pretty much sums up what he did on Thanksgiving and also shows one of his two obsessions-- pushing things. He loves grocery carts and vacuums because they can be pushed. His other obsession is, of course, cars.
Here is one of, I think, two pictures of just Jeremy and I this year. We will have to be better next year about taking more pictures of the two of us, whether they be individual pictures or together.

This is us with my parents. They came over and had Thanksgiving dinner with us.
This is the Pecotte side of the family. We were so glad to see everyone there. We had a great time catching up with everyone.

Toddler Time

2008-11-26T13:51:00.001-07:00

Today we went with Grandma Pecotte, Great Grandma Pecotte, Allie, and Auntie Lindesy to Toddler Time at The Children's Museum in Farmington. They have a little play area set up with slides and fun stuff to climb on. They also had some cool exhibits in the museum area that we checked out.

Here is Grandma and Allie trying to catch the ball.
Allie and Brogan playing a song.
Brogan checking out the "baby" in the mirror.
Brogan found a train, or I should say a "car" and didn't want to leave it.
Brogan loved the slide in the play area. It was just the right size for him to crawl up and slide down all by himself.

I love this picture. I love the diaper hanging out.
Allie climbing in the house.
Afterward, we went back to Grandma Pecotte's house. The kids love Grandma and Grandpa's big backyard. They conned Jeremy into pulling them around on the wagon for awhile while they ate a snack.
Auntie Lindsey learns not to share with Brogan. He will shove the entire thing in his mouth. There is no taking dainty little bites with this kid.

Brogan Entertains the Masses

2008-11-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today we got together at Grandma and Grandpa Pecotte's house for dinner. Brogan got to play with his cousins Allie and Gavin and his second cousins Hailey and Gavin (yes, there are two Gavins). It was fun seeing all of the kids run around with each other and have a good time. We lined them up in front of the fireplace for some quick pics. Out of nowhere, Brogan started being a complete goofball. He was dancing up a storm and laughing his head off. He liked showing off for everyone. Notice in the sequence of pictures that the number of kids dwindles off while Brogan continues to entertain the family. I particularly love the one of Allie where she looks at him like he is a goofball.

Check out these teeth

Catching Up

2008-11-08T22:00:00.001-07:00

Yes, I am aware that it is the end of December and my last blog post is from Halloween. What can I say? It has been a busy two months here. We have done more traveling in the last two months than all the other months this year combined. I am going backwards in attempt to document all that has happened. So my posts from here on out will be back dated to when they happened. We will just pretend that I wrote them then because I am that organized.

November 8th, my friend Erin got married to Daniel Watts in Carlsbad, California. Erin has been my friend for literally all of my life. We grew up next door to each other. She was beautiful and Daniel looked like he was the luckiest guy on Earth. I am so happy for them. Now, if we can just convince them to move back to New Mexico...

These are my college buddies. From left to right it is me, Lisa, Erin, Jaime, and Becca. Jaime, Becca, and I roomed together in college. The five of us spent a lot of time together. I love these girls. I wish everyone still lived close. The best thing is when we all get together, we pick up right where we left off.
This is my little buddy Aidan. He is Jaime's little boy. Since I went solo to the wedding, I had to have a little boy to love on. I was having Brogan withdrawals. Thankfully, he let me love on him as much as I wanted to.

Trick-or-Treat!!!

2008-10-31T10:22:00.008-06:00

Happy Halloween! We have some pictures to share from our Halloween week so far.

First, here are some pictures from this morning. Brogan was playing in his room. I went to go check on him and this is where I found him. He was all snug in the rocking chair with his cars and a blankie.
A couple of minutes later, I realized it was REALLY quiet, which is usually not a good thing. I went to go check on him again and he was asleep like this:

Poor baby! He is sick again. He had a fever and runny nose yesterday, but I thought maybe he was just getting a tooth. This morning he is croupy. Yucky! Hopefully he will feel well enough to go out with his cousins tonight.

Earlier this week, we spent family home evening carving our pumpkins. I bought some crayola paint brushes for Brogan to decorate his pumpkin with. We don't trust him with a knife. Call us crazy. Those paints are so cool! All of the paint is contained right in the brush and the paint washed off so easily. Brogan liked the "colors". That is what he calls any crayons.

It is a good thing those paints are non-toxic:

I am pretty sure more paint ended up on him than the pumpkin.
Check me out with my pumpkin.
Jeremy with his pumpkin:
Brogan models his pumpkin (and then promptly threw it. He still thinks they are balls)
Jeremy's finished product:
My finished product:
Tuesday was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. Brogan got to try out his costume. He was Elmo. The kid is an Elmo fanatic. He didn't know what to think about the whole thing. After going to three cars, he just wanted to sit down. So I had to carry him around to the rest of the cars.

Here is Noah, Jonah, and Brogan as Indiana Jones, Bumble Bee, and Elmo.
Jeremy and I didn't dress up this year. Our first year in this ward we dressed up and none of the other adults dressed up. This year, a whole bunch of adults dressed up. Go figure.

Jeremy played a little game with Brogan. Every time Brogan touched the brake light, Jeremy would hit the unlock button on the remote, which made the lights flash. Brogan thought he was doing it.
As a side note, Jeremy's branch is dressing up today. They have a competition every year between the branches. This year they are dressing up as the characters from the Alltel commercials. Jeremy is going to be Chad. I tried to get him to bleach his hair, but he wouldn't go for it.

We hope you all enjoy today!! Have fun!

Me Want Cookie!!

2008-10-28T11:25:00.003-06:00

Is there anything better than sitting with your monkey and watching Sesame Street after your nap while snacking on a yummy snickerdoodle and some juice? Brogan doesn't think so. Ahh, the good life!

A Lesson in Climbing

2008-10-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

Broggie here to give you babies out there a few pointers in climbing. Now, I have just discovered the art of climbing in the last two weeks. Who knew it would be so much fun to cause my mom and dad such grief? You all were holding out on me.

My first tip is to climb up on a chair and act like you are content being there. Then, when your momma is not looking, slowly ease yourself onto the table.
When your momma catches you, just change the subject by pointing at your juice or start reciting the names of your cousins.
If she is not falling for your attempts at distraction, just keep going like you don't hear her. Live it up, because it will soon be all over. But don't worry, she has to turn her back again sooner or later.

Caramel Apples

2008-10-21T10:23:00.002-06:00

Last night for family home evening we got into the fall spirit by whipping up a batch of caramel apples.
Jeremy's job was to unwrap all of those little caramels. He wasn't very excited that they were individually wrapped, but he was a good sport about it.

Jeremy trying his hand at the apples.
Broggie making his apple.

The final product. Look tasty, don't they? Unfortunately they had to sit in the fridge for an hour and it was close to Brogan's bedtime when we finished, so we will have to wait until tonight to try them out.

Are you registered?

2008-10-20T09:28:00.004-06:00

The day is here for registration for Jessica Sprague's Stories in Hand class. Her classes are absolutely amazing, and did I mention that it is FREE?? Registration is open until November 8th and the class size is unlimited. So come join the fun! (Instructions for registration are on the homepage)

Things I am loving right now

2008-10-19T21:04:00.003-06:00

Today was a particularly troubling day at church. I teach Sunbeams (3-4 year olds). That in itself is a challenge every week, but lately our kids have been better. That is, until last week. We got a brand new Sunbeam in our class. To say she is a handful is the understatement of the century. It takes two of us to try to handle her, and at that, we do a poor job. Our class was in charge of Sharing Time today and it was a complete disaster because this little girl would not cooperate, making it very painful for us. So needless to say, I came home feeling frustrated and defeated. But it only took me a few at home relaxing with Jeremy and Broggie to put me in a better mood. So, I thought I would make a little list of things that are making me happy right now.

I love...

...that my mom came for a few days this week and we got to hang out with her.

...that I got to go to the temple last week. It always makes me feel better.

...that I got put on call last night. A nice little treat!

...that I showed a friend some recent pictures of Brogan and she said they looked professional.

...that I got to go shopping with Jeremy, my mom, and my sis yesterday.

...that my sister can easily talk me into buying two pairs of shoes when I felt guilty about buying one in the first place (oh, but Jeremy doesn't like that).

...every night Jeremy and I snuggle up in bed and read until we fall asleep.

...Brogan's jabbering. He is cracking me up with it lately.

...that Brogan loves to read books. I love it when he snuggles up next to me with a book.

...when Brogan calls Jeremy "Jeremy" instead of "Daddy"

...that it is fall so that means I can get a pumpkin spice steamer at Starbucks.

...that our new church building is almost done. We will be the only ward there which means: NO MORE 2:30 CHURCH SCHEDULE!!! I know we are only 2 months away from a change anyway, but the sooner the better.

...that Brogan actually made it through a complete Sunday at nursery (Poor Auntie Jen who has to put up with his antics. Your check is in the mail. ;))

...that little boys all seem to know how to make car noises. Is it something in their DNA that codes for that? I am not sure we ever taught Brogan to do that, but it still makes me laugh to watch him play with his cars.

Ahh, feeling better already. Maybe next Sunday won't be so brutal. HA!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-14T11:01:00.006-06:00

It is another rainy day here in Albuquerque. No where near as crazy as it was on Saturday. Brogan keeps going to the door wanting to go outside. He doesn't understand why Nala can go out, but he can't. I keep telling him it is raining so he will go to the door and say "een". That is what he is doing in this picture. It is definitely a stay in your pajamas kind of day. I need to clean, but I am thinking how much better it would be to snuggle up with a book or work on my week in the life album. Yeah, that sounds much better. :)
I have LOTS of pictures to share of our trip to Farmington the first week of October. Here are some pictures of Brogan and my nephews Noah and Jonah playing out in the backyard at my parents' house.

Don't let them fool you. They aren't as sweet as they look. Especially the one in the hat.
Brotherly love. Can you tell which one annoys the other one?

The boys got to help Grandma put out her Halloween decorations. Here is Grandma showing Brogan the pumpkin.
We spent Saturday out at Sutherland Farms picking out pumpkins and seeing the animals. Here is Broggie snuggling up to his Auntie Jen.

Good looking family, huh?
Again, don't be fooled. And I am sure you can't tell who the biggest ham of the bunch is.
Whoa! Here is an odd looking couple.
Broggie snuggling up with Grandpa.
Farmer Duke and his wife. What a cute pair! (Don't write me out of the will for posting this!)
Kevin and Noah feeding the Eeyores. Noah didn't want to get to close.
Broggie snuggling up with Grandma on the hayride.
Noah learns the art of bunny ears.
The great pumpkin hunt. Notice the sky in this picture. Yeah, it rained on us. Good times.
Here is a Broggie size pumpkin and a sequence of what he proceeded to do with his pumpkin.

Apparently pumpkins are the same as balls and they must be thrown.

The pumpkin hunt continues.

Brogan trying to pick up the pumpkin. It is heavier than it looks!

We had a great time hanging out with the grandparents and the McDonalds. Hopefully next time Brogan won't be such a grump, though.

Now hopefully this makes up for me slacking off with the blogging last month.

Crazy weather and a tag

2008-10-13T12:52:00.003-06:00

We had a torrential down pour this weekend in Albuquerque. It was crazy. I am surprised our roof didn't blow off or get damaged by hail. I don't think I have ever seen so much rain here in such a little time. We live in the desert. We aren't supposed to get storms like that.

Anyway, I was tagged by my friends Natalie and Katie. Here goes:

8 TV Shows I love to watch.
1. The Office
2. Criminal Minds
3.Dancing with the Stars
4. CSI
5. CSI:NY
6. Without a Trace
7. House
8. Lost

8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Got off work at 7:30 AM
2. Went home and crashed
3. Got up and at a bowl of Captain Crunch. Yum!
4. Went to church
5. Got worn out by those little Sunbeams
6. Went home and ate enchiladas.
7. Played with Brogan.
8. Read my book before bedtime.

Favorite Places to Eat
1. Macaroni Grill
2. Flying Star (the best desserts ever!)
3. Rose Garden (chinese food)
4. Los Cuates
5. Olive Garden
6. Texas Roadhouse
7. Tropical Smoothie Cafe (but they just closed. So sad!)
8. Spare Rib BBQ

8 things I look forward to...
1. Going to San Diego to see my friend Erin get married.
2. Playing with Brogan. He loves it when I chase him and tickle him. I love it when he laughs his little Muppet Baby laugh.
3. Christmas. I love Christmas time. Love the music and the decorations.
4. Dropping down my hours at the hospital. Man that place gets old.
5. Having more kids.....someday.
6. Snuggling up in bed at night and reading a book.
7. New classes at Jessica Sprague.
8. Hanging out with my family.

8 Things on my Wish List...
1. I wish I could scrapbook for a living!! That would be my ultimate dream job!
2. For things to work out for Jeremy. Something big is happening, but I can't say what until it is for sure. A lot of you already know what it is. I'll keep you posted.
3. For Brogan to be a healthy boy. Every shift I work makes me thankful to have a healthy family and I hope they stay that way.
4. To have more time to read and scrapbook!
5. To travel more. I would love to see Greece and Italy. Someday...
6. I wish I had no bills!!! Wouldn't that be great?
7. To be able to see my friends that live far away more often.
8. I wish that my house would clean itself and the laundry would do itself.

There you have it. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. :)

FREE!! Heck Yeah!!!

2008-10-10T09:31:00.003-06:00

The amazing Jessica Sprague is offering a FREE class at her super cool website jessicasprague.com. If you haven't had a chance to experience her classes, this is your perfect opportunity. Jessica's classes are so much fun and packed with goodness. Even if you don't think you are a scrapper, you still have a story to tell. You do. Admit it. So mark your calendars for registration October 20th and get ready to have some fun!

There is a reason God makes babies cute...

2008-10-02T10:21:00.003-06:00

...and all of you out there who have kids know what I am talking about. We are having one of those days today. Brogan woke up super early and has been nothing but whiny all morning long. *SIGH* So to help me get through the day, here are some pictures of him playing outside on Monday.

In this one he is trying to whistle.
The count down begins for nap time. I think I may have to reward myself with some scrapbooking time. :)

New Pics

2008-08-12T10:47:00.003-06:00

Here are some recent pictures of Brogan to share.

I love it when he will cuddle on the coach with us. Since he won't let me cuddle him very often, these are my favorite times.
Anyone watching the Olympics out there? Who watched the US men's gymnastic team last night? I love it when a team or an athlete is so excited to WIN a bronze metal and not mad they didn't get the gold. Case in point, the Japanese men's gymnastic team. I don't think I saw one team member smile and be happy that they got a silver medal. Anyone notice that a member of the US team was from NM (Joe Hagerty)? Way to represent! See, we aren't all a bunch of losers here in NM.

Look at this handsome guy!

2008-08-10T10:07:00.003-06:00

Isn't he a looker? I just had to show off how hot he is and my new found photography skills. I took this completely in manual. Can you believe it? This has very minimal editing. I was so proud. Jeremy told me it looked professional. He knows how to melt my heart. :) Taking this picture also made me realize how few pictures we have of us since Brogan came along. I think the totals are Brogan: 20,000 us: 5. Ha! Ha!

DONE!!!

2008-08-07T21:07:00.002-06:00

Today I re-certified in PALs (Pediatric Advanced Life Support). This was my third time taking this course, but I still get nervous every time. It is all about knowing how to play the code game and what questions to ask. It was a little intimidating this time around because I had some very seasoned nurses in my group. But I was able to hold my own as the team leader. So I am done for two years (and man, those two years fly by!). I rewarded myself with a long bath and I just cracked open my new book.
There is nothing better than snuggling up in bed with a brand new book. :)

A Broggie Language Explosion!

2008-08-01T11:17:00.003-06:00

Today Brogan is officially 1 1/2 years old. Crazy! The last couple of days he has been picking up on a lot of words. Of course, Jeremy and I may be the only ones who really know what he is saying at this point. Here are some of the words he is saying right now. Some he has been saying for awhile.
Momma
Daddy
Nala
baby
please
thank you
more
knock, knock (along with the action)
Jesus (said that one today. Totally melted our hearts)
Juice (everything in a bottle is juice, including soap and shampoo)
cracker
nana (banana)
shoes
belly (while lifting up his shirt and pointing to it)
beep, beep
grandma
up
Jeremy (although he doesn't say that very much anymore)
He tries really hard to say vacuum but it sounds more like bad guy.

He also sings la la like he is singing the theme song from Elmo's world. It is so fun to see how much he is learning right now.

Tagged

2008-07-17T15:17:00.002-06:00

I was tagged by my super cute friend, Ann, who I haven't seen in ages. Love this girl. I have so many great high school memories with her. Remember the sweet Kelly Green spandex? Ahh, those were the days.

Here goes:
1) LAST MOVIE I SAW IN A THEATRE?
Indiana Jones

2) WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
I am re-reading Wicked. I read the book when I was pregnant and working. When I work nights, I usually have some down time at about 2 or 3 in the morning. The first time I read this book, I hated it. I think I was expecting a really easy read. The book was not at all what I thought it would be. I recently saw Wicked in Chicago and loved it. It was more what I expected of the book. I decided to re-read the book to see what the differences are between the book and the play. I am also reading The Beginning Runner's Handbook. My sister recommended it. I love it.

3) FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Scene It. It is a Duke family favorite. I think we own almost every version of it. I can kick some serious booty in the Friends version.

4) FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
That is a tough one. I subscribe to A LOT of magazines. I love Bookmarks, Creating Keepsakes, and Simple Scrapbooks.

5) FAVORITE SMELLS?
Clean laundry. I guess it is a good thing I like that smell because I sure do a lot of it these days. :)

6) FAVORITE SOUNDS?
The ocean. The sound of Brogan sleeping. (LOL!)
7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
When I feel a situation is out of my control. (Does that make me a control freak?)

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
Seriously? Already? When is that kid going to learn to sleep in?

9) FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Dion's, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Sonic

10) FUTURE CHILDS NAME?
We aren't having anymore!! JK! I can't tell. It is a secret.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D......
pay off all of our debt, quit my job, and by a house with a really big room that I could fill with all of the scrap supplies my little heart desires. (Is that selfish? Ha! Ha!)

12) DO U DRIVE FAST?
Faster than the speed limit, but not really what I consider "fast".

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
I already have to share the bed with Jeremy and the dog. There isn't room for anything else.

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY?
Very cool...except for tornadoes. Not so cool.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
The sweet Mazda MX3. Good times in that car. Good times.

16) FAVORITE DRINK?
Raspberry Lemonade and Dr. Pepper.

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…
Scrap more, sleep more, read more, clean more (ha! ha! Yeah right! Who wants to do that?)

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Yes

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
Dark Brown

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Farmington, NM
Springfield, MO (for three months. Does that count?)
Albuquerque, NM
21) FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Ice Skating or gymnastics

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Ann is one of the funniest and funnest people I have every met. I wish we lived close to each other still.

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
Lots of crap

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN??
Yes. I love my life. I love my family. I love my sweet Jeremy and my baby boy.

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Night owl

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP
Sunny side up

27) FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX?
In bed. I love snuggling up under the covers and reading.

28) FAVORITE PIE?
I will eat any kind of pie. Pumpkin is probably my favorite. But I would rather have cheesecake any day.

29) FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Mint Chocolate Chip and Strawberry Cheesecake.

30) OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
I don't know!

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged! :p

Proof

2008-07-15T20:01:00.002-06:00

Here is proof that Brogan is officially up and running! He didn't just take a step or two. He is walking like he has been doing it for weeks. Stinker! I knew he was holding out on us! The funny thing is this little video has become his coach. He has heard this video a few times while I have been uploading it to the computer and then to the blog. Every time he hears it, he pulls himself up and starts walking. Silly baby! It's about time!

On your mark, get set, GO!!

2008-07-15T11:37:00.002-06:00

Brogan is officially walking! Yesterday he stood up without the aid of a piece of furniture and took one step. Then he realized there was music on and decided he would rather dance than walk. He did it a few more times last night. Jeremy tried to capture it on the camcorder, but as soon as Jeremy got it, he stopped.

This morning I turned around and Brogan was taking several steps to get to his sippy cup! Little stinker! I almost missed the whole thing. The funny thing is that he has to do it completely on his own terms. We cannot get him to stand up unless he does it on his own. We cannot coax him into walking. If we try, he immediately goes down on all fours and crawls.

Hopefully he will cooperate and we will be able to share some footage of our new walking boy.

More Chicago Pics

2008-07-15T11:22:00.003-06:00

I have some more pictures to share from Chicago. Sorry if you are sick of these. I use my blog as a journal too, so recording these memories now helps me to journal them later in my scrapbooks. If you are sick of hearing about Chicago, you can just skip over this post.

There is some amazing shopping in Chicago! We had to stop off at the Lego store so I could get something to bring home to Brogan. He got some little Bob the Builder Lego tractors. He loves them. The cool thing about the Lego store is they have all sorts of things made entirely out of Legos. It is pretty amazing. Here are just two of the many things they had at the store.

We also got to see some amazing buildings in Chicago. Here is the Chicago Tribune building. Such a cool building!
My favorite thing I got to do in Chicago (besides meeting all of my super cool friends:) was going to see Wicked. It was so good!! These pictures were taken with my Iphone because I couldn't take my regular camera in with me. That is why they are so blurry. Better than nothing though, right?

This is inside the Oriental Theater where we saw Wicked. This is Deb and Tori.
We had dinner at Fulton's on the River (which I have mentioned before in a previous post). Look how cute my little coke bottle is!

Good times! I can't wait to go back!

Weekend Pics

2008-07-14T14:03:00.003-06:00

This weekend we went to Farmington to visit our families. It was fun to see everyone. Brogan got to go swimming in Grandma's pool. He loved it. Here are a couple of photos I got this weekend. I used the Photoshop Friday tutorial from Jessica Sprague to give the photos the ShaZam treatment. (You will see what I mean ;))

Here is the original photo of Brogan straight out of the camera:

Here it is after giving it the ShaZam treatment:
Here is a picture of Presley (Jeremy's cousin's baby):
Here it is after. This one is a little dark in places, so I need to spend some more time working on the opacity. But I think the shadows almost give it a vintage feel.
Pretty cool stuff, huh? I love the vibrant colors!

Four Years Ago...

2008-07-09T00:05:00.002-06:00

Jeremy and I were married! We met when I was a junior in high school and he was a senior. We dated all through college and we were engaged after Jeremy graduated college and one semester before my graduation.

Jeremy proposed to me in a scavenger hunt that lasted over a couple of weeks. He delivered clues to me at work and at home. The night of our engagement, Jeremy had left me a key to his apartment. I went over there and he had decorated the whole apartment in balloons. I had to go through the apartment popping different colors of balloons and follow what the clues said. He bought me a pretty dress and some pretty shoes for me wear. The last clue was to go to the laundry room. He was sitting on the washer waiting for me with a sign that said, "Will you marry me?" and the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. Of course I said yes (and not just because of the ring ;)). To celebrate we ate take out chinese and we went to the Santa Fe Opera.

We were married one year to the day that we got engaged-July 9, 2004. We were married in our hometown on Farmington, New Mexico at the Lakeshore Reception Center. Our single's ward president from our church married us. We had such a great time at our wedding. We laughed, we cried (even Jeremy did), and we danced. It all flew by so fast. Here are some pictures of our wedding day.

It is hard to believe that we have been married for four years already. So much has happened in our life since then. We bought a house, bought two cars, Jeremy has changed jobs within Charter twice, we have lost loved ones, we have welcomed a new baby into our family, and we were sealed as a family for all eternity in the Albuquerque, NM temple. I am so thankful for the wonderful man that Heavenly Father has sent to be my husband,my companion, and my best friend. I couldn't ask for anyone more loving or a better father.

Happy Anniversary, my love!! Here's to forever!

More pics..

2008-07-08T10:21:00.004-06:00

...from Chicago!! I thought I would share some more pictures of the awesome people I got to hang out with in Chicago.

This is the Project Posse with Jessica Sprague (yep, the same one I am always talking about that I am taking classes at her website). The project posse got its name back in November when we were taking Jess's Now We're Rockin class. We decided we wanted to make a book where everyone would contribute a layout about themselves. It took all four of us to pull it off. The results were amazing!! We were even able to get a copy to Jessica, with the help of her awesome husband Jared, as a surprise. From left to right it is me, Kari, Liv, Tori, and Jessica. It was so cool to meet up with these girls who I grew really close to during this project. We shared hundreds of emails and lots of chat hours together.
This is me and cute Tori!! Love this girl!!
Jess and me!! Soooooo cool!! I am still in shock that I got to hang out with her. She is such an awesome, genuine person and she is definitely the life of the party. (Along with Kari, of course)
Me, Jess and Tori at Fultons on the River. Those were some good eats that night. I had a yummy pork chop and some of the most amazing mashed potatoes I have ever had. Then to top it off, a little creme brulee. Mmm-mmm!!
Michelle, Tori, and Me. Michelle is super awesome!! She was dubbed the den mother because she was so good at keeping track of everyone. Love her!
Me and Kari!! She totally pulled one over on us with a little help from Michelle. We were trying to convince Kari to come to Chicago and she told us she decided not to. Saturday after we went on a boat tour, we walk back to the hotel and there she is standing there waiting for us. It was such a cool surprise. We spent less than 24 hours together before she had to go back home, but it was so worth it to hang out with her for a few hours.

And last but not least--my roomies. Deb and Tori. These girls were so much fun to stay with. Deb is from Georgia and brought us some delicious peaches. Loved meeting her in real life! And like I have said before, love little Tori!! So cute she is!!
More pics to come of the things we did and saw as well as more people I met in real life!

Fourth of July Fun!!

2008-07-05T11:14:00.003-06:00

Happy late Fourth of July!! Brogan got to start the festivities early this week with a red, white, and blue cupcake from his auntie. It was mmm-mmm good! He scarfed that thing down in a matter of minutes.

Last night we lit some sparklers and some fountains. I learned some tricks to photographing fireworks from my photography class with Candice Stringham at Jessica Sprague. Jeremy wrote Brogan's name with a sparkler. Not bad, eh?
Brogan liked the sparklers and the fountains. He wasn't so sure about the smoke from the fountains, though. A bunch of people in our neighborhood spent some big bucks on the "real" fireworks. Brogan was not a fan of those at all. The sound of them going off would make him shake. He had the death grip on me the whole time. I know it will be just a matter of time before he is begging me to spend more money on fireworks.

We hope you all had a fun-filled fourth of July!!!

Chicago!!!

2008-07-01T12:21:00.004-06:00

I know, I know!!!! I am seriously behind on posting. I have so much to catch up on.

I just got home from Chicago on Sunday night. I got to meet some of my friends that I have met at Jessica Sprague's website and I actually got to meet Jessica in person! Wow!!! It was so much fun! We did lots of shopping, eating, talking, eating, talking....and so forth. I have never met such a genuine group of people in my life. I think I averaged 3 hours of sleep a night while we were there, but it was so worth it. Here is a pic of all of these fabulous girls. We are getting a little blown away in the picture.

I wish I had more time to post, but I have to try to squeeze in a nap before work tonight. I promise to post more pics of Chicago and little Brogan soon.

A post just to prove...

2008-05-14T10:35:00.002-06:00

that I did not shave the kid's hair off. This post is dedicated to you, Grandma Duke. I told her that I took Brogan for his first professional hair cut yesterday. He is at the point where he will no longer let me cut it. She thought I was crazy. So here are some pictures just to prove that he still has hair. This is the only picture he sat still for.
"I am too busy playing to take pictures, Momma!"
I love the tongue hanging out in this picture.

Mother's Day and Yummy Doughnuts

2008-05-12T14:22:00.004-06:00

I had to work Saturday night. I came home Sunday to this little surprise:

Jeremy helped Brogan make me a card. I loved it! What a great thing to come home to.

We had doughnuts for breakfast. Brogan had a great time eating them.
Here he is pretending to share with daddy:
Brogan is really weird about drinking milk out of a sippy cup. He will drink water or juice, but he won't drink milk. He will only drink milk out of a bottle. We had some chocolate milk for breakfast and thought we would see if he would drink that. He was not impressed. We even tried giving him a little out of our glass and he still didn't like it. His cousins would be so disappointed if they knew.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there!

Wedding Bells

2008-05-06T12:57:00.004-06:00

This weekend, my cute friend Becca got married. She was such a beautiful bride. This is her with her new hubbie Chandler. Isn't she just radiating happiness?

Jeremy took this picture of us over the shoulder of the photographer, so that is why we are looking somewhere else. Do you like the nice hand holding pose that she made us do? We were giggling the whole time.
This is Erin. I have seriously known her since I was a baby. We grew up next door to each other. She was a grade ahead of me and went to college first. She met Becca at orientation and then I met Becca through Erin. About a year after I moved to Albuquerque for school, Becca, Jaime and I became roommates. Good times!
These are all of Becca's bridesmaids. Starting from the left is Leah (Becca's cousin), Erin, Becca, me and Jaime (my other roommate). I have no idea what is going on with my hair in this picture. Looks like I have a mullet. Yikes!
Me and Jeremy:
Jaime and her husband Zach and baby Aiden:
We had such a good time seeing everyone. Becca is the only one that I see on a regular basis anymore. We work on the same unit, so it makes it a lot easier to see each other. Jaime and Zach live in Farmington (my old stomping grounds) and Erin lives in San Diego. What I absolutely love about my friends is that every time we see each other, we pick up right where we left.

Next stop on the wedding train: San Diego. I have a strong suspicion that I will be getting a call soon from my friend Erin telling me that she is engaged to Daniel. Ah, young love!

Finally!!

2008-04-16T12:21:00.004-06:00

Finally I had a little time to scrap. Brogan and I came down with a cold virus. Two and a half weeks later, I am finally feeling like it might leave. I swear I might have broke a rib or two with all of the coughing I have done. Can I just tell you how behind I am in this class? It makes me sad that I haven't been able to participate as much in this class. A few days ago I told Jeremy that I was really behind and had not even looked at my week 2 lesson. He said, "Too sick to scrap? You must be really sick!" Does that sum me up or what? I was finally able to finish my week 2 assignment last night. I even tried to start on week 3, but my computer was plotting against me. I had to put it in time out for the night for misbehaving. Oh well. At least I got one done. I totally loved this layout. So much fun to do!

Click on the layout to get a bigger view and to read the journaling. :)

It's time to scrap!

2008-04-02T16:28:00.004-06:00

I am so excited! My new advanced digi scrapbook class started this week with Jessica Sprague. It is so much fun to learn new techniques, meet new people, and catch up with friends I have already met. This is my first layout that I did for this class (click on the layout for a bigger view). These are pictures of me as a baby. I have been working on a project for my parents. They lived through the slide craze, so most of my baby pictures and a bunch of other family pictures are on slides. I have been scanning them in to the computer so they can be saved on CDs. It was supposed to be their Christmas present, but I am a little behind. Maybe Christmas 2008?

I completed it at 2 in the morning--hours after I started it. Why did it take me so long? Yes, the LO is more complex and there is so much new stuff that I learned, but that was not what consumed the majority of my time. You see, there is this little 14 month old running around our house now. (Ok, not really running but he crawls at lightening speed). He pulls himself up next to me and gives me a sweet smile, he may even tilt his head into my lap to pretend he wants to give me a hug, but then out come these little fingers. They go crawling right for the keyboard. Let me tell you, the kid must be a computer genius. He doesn't just hit a random "a" or "b". Oh no! He knows the good keys--Esc, backspace, delete, and all sorts of other key combinations to completely demolish whatever I am doing at the time. The other thing is that he has discovered that if you hit certain keys many times in a row, they turn into hotkey commands. Did you guys know that? I didn't. Genius, I am telling you. So I have resorted to scrapping only when he is asleep or is being well entertained. Where is my sweet baby going?

Aquarium

2008-03-26T16:11:00.000-06:00

My mother-in-law, Tracy, my sister-in-law, Lindsey, and my niece, Allie, all came down to visit for a couple of days. We had a lot of fun. We ate, we shopped, we ate, we went to the aquarium, and we ate some more.

Here are some pictures I got at the aquarium. It was so funny how quickly we saw the whole exhibit. I think with babies they are like, "Ah, another fish. Big deal." I guess when you are 18 months and 13 months you think if you have seen one fish, you have seen them all. I think the big fish in the big aquariums freaked out Brogan. I parked his stroller right up next to the glass so he could see the fish. They had some big fish and some sharks in there. Anytime one would swim by, Brogan would turn to me and whine. Poor kid just didn't understand why I was subjecting him to such abuse.

Here are Allie and Brogan. Brogan is really just wanting out of the stroller.
Lindsey and Allie
Jellyfish! Aren't they cool?
More jellyfish
I have always loved seahorses. I remember I had to write a report on seahorses in the sixth grade. I thought they were cool then and I still love them. Did you know that the male seahorses give birth? Maybe that is why I like them so much.

We also went for a walk through the botanical garden. It was such a beautiful day. All of the daffodils and tulips were blooming. It was so pretty. I want to take Brogan back in the summer when the butterfly pavilion opens. There is an enclosed area that you go into and there are a bunch of butterflies flying around you. Hopefully Brogan will be a little tougher at that point. If enclosed fish make him upset, loose butterflies might put him over the edge.

They Call Me Tater Salad

2008-03-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

March 24th marked the one year anniversary that we were sealed in the Albuquerque, NM temple. I can't believe how fast this last year has gone by. It makes me sad to look at these pictures and see how little Brogan was and how much he has changed now.

For our family celebration we decided to go out to eat at Chili's (yes, we are a wild and rowdy bunch). Brogan has always loved french fries, but this night he was chowing them down as fast as we would give them to him. I think he finally figured out how to use his new chompers to his advantage. The rest of the night we called him Tater. I am sure that I will hear from grandma about how I shouldn't be giving her grandson the same nickname as Ron White from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Ha! Ha! Is it sacrilegious to mention the temple and Blue Collar Comedy in the same post? Hmmm.....

MMMMM! Crib!

2008-03-24T09:18:00.003-06:00

Brogan is a little stinker! Yesterday Jeremy went and got him from his crib and noticed that he had black speckles all over his mouth. Brogan had been chewing on his crib. He now has two teeth on top and one on bottom. There are perfect little teeth marks in his crib. I got him out of his crib this morning and there are two more spots in his crib with teeth marks. He is like the baby from the Lemony Snicket books whose talent is that she can bite and chew anything with her sharp teeth. Hopefully the crib company won't come back later and say that the crib was made in China and therefore full of lead. Reminds me of Tommy Boy when David Spade asks Chris Farley if he ate a lot of paint chips as a child.

So I have come to the conclusion that if ever have a furniture company that I will provide parents with touch up paint. That would really come in handy right now!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T12:01:00.008-06:00

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!! We hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. The Easter Bunny came to visit Brogan this morning. We thought we would share some pictures. There are lots of them!

Check out what Brogan got! He got cookies, bubble bath, an Elmo's World DVD and a new book!
Here is a picture of Brogan's Easter basket without all the stuff in it. Brogan and I went to Target Friday. I found a cute Elmo basket. I tried to show it to Brogan and he just pushed it away. So I picked up this monkey basket and he tried to push it away too until I showed him that it had a tail. Then he thought the monkey was pretty cool. He loves any stuffed animal that has a tail. He has a stuffed monkey that he sleeps with and he always goes straight for the tail.
Here are some pictures of Broggie in his Easter outfit.

Here is Brogan checking out the Peeps that momma got. Notice the tongue sticking out of the mouth.

Brogan discovered this morning that he has a third hand. He had fun crawling around with the lens cap in his mouth.

Doesn't he look like he has a mustache in this picture. I think he looks like a baby Super Mario brother.
Brogan sends hugs and kisses to all of his family and friends!!!!
Of course we are so grateful for what Easter really stands for. How amazing it is that we have a Father in Heaven who loved each one of us so much that he would send His son to save us. I have a testimony that Jesus is the Christ. I know that he suffered for my sins. I know that he was resurrected and that he lives today. How amazing is that? He lives! Happy Easter everyone!!
Just in case you were wondering what Easter eggs and bunnies have to do with the resurrection of Christ, here is a cool video I found on MSN today.

Feel the Sting!

2008-03-19T10:43:00.003-06:00

Two posts in one day? Whoa! Hold onto your seats!

So I lied in my previous post when I said that Jeremy and I hadn't had a date since Broggie was born. We had a date on our anniversary. My sis and her hubbie kept the munchkin overnight and we went and stayed at Sandia Resort. That makes me feel a little better.

We went on our second date of the month last night. (Two in one month!) We went to a Scorpions hockey game. We had so much fun! I had never been to a hockey game, so it was quite an experience. My favorite part--people watching. Hockey fans are a wild bunch, especially those who sit in front of the partitions. They can heckle like no one's business. Now, usually when I think of hecklers, I think of the UNM football games or the Isotopes baseball games. The hecklers at these events are usually college age and are usually male. Well in hockey, hecklers come in all ages and both genders. There was a lady that could have been my mom that was banging on the partitions and yelling at the referees. Somehow I can't imagine my mom doing that. :) Another favorite was the 60+ year old man across the rink from us that would blow a horn and shake his fist at the refs. Ha! Ha! Good times!

Another big laugh of the night came from the high fivers. Why is it when your team makes a goal that you feel the need to high five someone? It is like we feel we have helped make that goal instead of what we were really doing-sitting on our duff and stuffing our face while the players do the hard work. Well, Scorpions fans take high fiving to a whole new level. They would actually wander into other sections to high five people before returning to their seats.

As for the game, holy smokes those boys can skate. I was just fascinated by how fast they moved on the ice. There were three fights in the game. It wouldn't be a testosterone filled game without a fight! Unfortunately, in the end, the Scorps lost. They kept up a good fight.

Here are a couple of pics. I forgot to bring our real camera, so I had to use my Iphone camera. That is why the pics aren't the greatest quality. But we got pics, and that is all that matters. After all, if it isn't scrapbooked, did it really happen?

Ice cream! Get your ice cream!

2008-03-19T10:02:00.003-06:00

So I found this fun little quiz on my friend Kari's blog. Turns out, if I was a flavor of ice cream I would be coffee flavored. Now for any of you who know me pretty well, this should bring you a little chuckle. I hate anything coffee flavored and I hate the smell of coffee. Bleh! Maybe it just means I am a complete spaz? Probably.

Date Night!

2008-03-11T12:25:00.002-06:00

Jeremy and I had our first date night since before Brogan was born. Pathetic, isn't it? One of our New Year's resolutions was that we would have date night at least once a month. Three months into the year we are actually implementing it. There always seems to be some reason that we can't go out. We went to Olive Garden and ate a 5000 + calorie meal. You think I am joking. Seriously. I almost needed to be rolled out the door.

After gorging ourselves on carbs galore we went to see The Other Bolyen Girl. Some of you asked me to tell you what I thought of it, so here is my Roger Ebert review. I guess I should preface this review by telling you that I have a fascination with Henry VIII. I started reading Phillipa Gregory's books last year (which I totally read out of order btw). It was around that time that Showtime came out with The Tudors and you could watch the first two episodes for free. Lately I have been watching the full season which Direct TV has been offering. Now, I am no historian and I know that some of the events have been fictionalized in the books, but the movie was totally different then the book. The basic plot was there, but there was sooooooooo much that was left out. I hated how the movie took what happened over the space of many years and made it seem like it happened in a matter of months. I probably would have liked it more if I had not read the book. The book is 50 times better. So there you go. My two cents. Take it for what it is worth (which isn't much. ;) )

Oh, and good news, we have our next date night planned for Tuesday. Two in one month? We are going to see the Scorpions (the local ice hockey team here in Albuquerque) play. We have never been, so it should be fun!

Popsicles- Yummy!

2008-03-07T10:27:00.006-07:00

So maybe I need to change the name of our blog to "The Monthly Peacock". I have been deep in wedding land and working too much. My friend Becca is getting married in May and I have been making her wedding invitations. I am also helping to throw her bridal shower next week at my house (which is a complete disaster). So I have had little time for blogging. But I better post something quick before a particular aunty goes postal on me. ;)

Brogan is cutting his second tooth. He currently has one on the bottom and is getting one on the top directly above it. We think he is going to look like a funny baby with those two teeth in. Yesterday was a rough day for him. Nothing we did for him seemed to help him at all. Throw in a couple of daily bumps to the head, and it was almost non-stop crying. I tried to give him his teething toy, but he wanted nothing to do with it. So we tried a Popsicle, and it was a hit.

"Wait a minute, why is my head cold?"
"I'll take it from here, Mama. You can let go now."
So remember in Brogan's birthday post when I discussed a certain toy that Grandma and Grandpa Duke gave him that would be finding its way to the closet? Here it is--the popper. Remember these? Yep, they still make them. Apparently my parents are trying to pay me back for the countless hours I spent running with mine all around the house. I can't imagine that I would do something so annoying. Surely I have been an angel all of my life. Right? Since Brogan isn't walking yet, he likes to scoot it around the living room floor. The only downfall to this is that he sometimes runs it into a wall or furniture and can't get it turned around. Then it is melt down city.

One more picture of Brogan, just because I think it is stinkin' cute.
I have to give a shout out to my friend and fellow project posse mate Liv! She is currently in a contest to become the next designer at Little Dreamers. I like to think that it is the American Idol of the digital scrapbook designing world, to make it a little more clear to all non-scrappers out there. She made it through the first round of cuts (which is no surprise) with her super cute kit which I used in this LO. I am not really sure I did her kit justice. I seriously threw this together in about 20 minutes. Every LO that is posted with her kit goes to support her in winning the big crown. So, congratulations Liv!!! I am so proud of you!
So am I off the hook now, Aunty Jen?

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-14T15:06:00.003-07:00

We hope that everyone is having a great day! We love all of you! And because everyone needs a little stud muffin on Valentine's Day, here you go:
In honor of Valentine's Day I changed our playlist. You will notice that most of the songs are from Moulin Rouge. That is our favorite movie to watch together. It is where our song ("Your Song") came from. We danced to the Elton John version at our wedding, so that is why there are two versions of the song.

I am very thankful for the two guys in my life. How much more lucky could I be? I love you, Jeremy and Brogan!!! And I love all of my family and friends. :)

Birthday Fun!

2008-02-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Brogan's first birthday and Jeremy's 28th birthday. Brogan had his grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all here to help him celebrate. Here is a picture of 4 generations of Pecottes.
Brogan was super excited to have a toy that he could open and close. Opening and closing doors has become his favorite thing to do in life. Now he has a toy that allows him to do just that. It is like my mom said, we should have just got him a door on a frame. He gets so mad that we won't let him open and close the doors. I always worry about him getting his little fingers smashed when the heater kicks on because it creates a vacuum and slams doors shut. At least he has his trusty laptop now that he can open and shut all the day long.
Books!! Brogan loves books! Of course, it might be going back to that old open and shut thing, but I like to think that he has inherited our love for reading.
Here is a picture of Brogan's very own birthday cake. (Keep this picture in mind for later)
He was very ginger in the beginning. I think he was waiting for me to take it away from him.
YUMMY!!!! Brogan took his sweet time eating his cake. He wanted to savor every morsel.

The aftermath: (Remember I told you to keep the other picture in mind)
No, this isn't Brogan. This is the other birthday boy!! In honor of his son turning one, I thought I would post a baby birthday picture of Jeremy. Isn't he so cute???
Jeremy's birthday was on Monday Feb 4th. Since we had family down this weekend, we decided to celebrate on Sunday while everyone was here. Happy birthday, Jeremy! I love you!
We are so grateful to everyone that made this weekend so special. We had so much fun! Brogan got way too many presents and I know of a certain gift that is going to be making its way to the closet to never be seen again. (Popcorn popper. But that is a whole other story for later). I am hoping to be able to upload some video from this weekend soon.

Birthday Boy!

2008-02-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Remember this sweet baby? Where has the time gone??? I have been working on some scrapbook layouts lately with pictures of Brogan when he was newborn to a couple of months old. I can't believe how much he has changed. Looking at this picture reminds me of everything we went through to get him into this world. He was so battered when he finally arrived. You can see the cut on his right eye from the forceps in this picture. I am so grateful for modern medicine! As hard as it was, I am so thankful that he made it here healthy. It is so scary to be in labor and have 7 doctors and a million nurses in the room, including the NICU staff. We are so blessed that he didn't have to spend a minute in the NICU and he could go to the Mother/Baby unit with us.

Brogan is such an amazing little boy. We couldn't have asked for a better natured kid (although mom would like it if he would cuddle like he used to). We have loved every minute of this last year. Jeremy and I still have moments where we look at each other and say, "We have a kid". I guess we still feel like we are high school kids dating. We shouldn't be old enough to be married and have a baby (or I guess I should say toddler). Again I will say, where has the time gone???

Here are a couple of pictures of the birthday boy.

We have an exciting weekend planned (if the weather cooperates for everyone to travel, that is). Brogan will be celebrating his birthday with grandmas, grandpas, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. What a lucky boy to have so many people that are willing to travel to party with him! I can't wait to see what he is going to do with the cake. I am sure he will be in heaven. We will take lots of pictures and share them soon.

God be with you till we meet again

2008-01-28T10:50:00.001-07:00

Gordon B. Hinckley, President and Prophet of our church died last night at the age of 97. I am sure that he is happy to be with his wife again, but I am sad to see him go. He was the prophet for 12 years, so I was 15 when he was ordained to office. I loved his down to earth nature and his sense of humor. He was genuine. He will be greatly missed. If you want to learn more about the amazing life that he lead, click here.

Rocker Baby and Brogan funnies

2008-01-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Brogan has discovered the Ipod craze. Jeremy put one of the earphone buds in his ear tonight and he was hooked. He especially loved to look at the Ipod screen. It is clear that he has inherited his love of gadgets from us.

A couple of funny moments I want to remember:
This morning we were playing with Brogan on the bed. He was sitting up when suddenly he threw back his head and let out a howl! Apparently he is part wolf.

Brogan hasn't said his first word yet, but he is starting to mock the intonation of our voice when we say words to him. The first time he did this was when Jeremy tried to get him to say "uh-oh". It is so funny to hear him mock our voices with his little voice. He can almost say momma, but he only mocks the sounds of our voices when we try to get him to say dada. He hasn't quite figured out the "D" sound yet.

Bowling Fun

2008-01-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

We spent Monday afternoon with my sister, brother-in-law, and our nephews bowling it up. We had a lot of fun. I, sadly, came in last place. I guess I should quit that quest to become a professional bowler. Yes, even my 7 year-old and 4 year-old nephews beat me. There were lots of jokes my way about putting up the gutter rails for me. Maybe next time.

Here is Noah getting some tips from Dad on how to bowl.
Now it is Jonah's turn. Sorry the picture is so blurry, but I knew the grandparents would want to see it.
Jen is showing us how to get it done.
Kevin, who took home the second place trophy:
Me. Look at that form! Beautiful isn't it?
And last, the grand champion-Jeremy. I wanted him to bowl three strikes in a row so that the screen would flash that he was a turkey. That is the one thing I remember about score keeping. He is a turkey so it is only fitting, right?

I HEART Baby Gates!

2008-01-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for baby gates!!! We have been using our rubbermaid containers that hold all of our Christmas decorations to corral him in the living room for the last month.(Yes, seriously). Well, we finally broke down and put them in the attic yesterday. Our decorations have been down for a couple of weeks, but we couldn't live without those containers. So yesterday was a completely unproductive day for me. I spent the day chasing Brogan. He particularly loves the white hutch that has our glass goblets in it. He thinks it is really funny to pull them out and listen to the sound they make as they clink together on the floor. Luckily, none of them have broke....yet. He also has a fascination with Nala's dog food. Yesterday he crawled to her bowl, grabbed a handful of food, spit out his binkie, and shoved it all in his mouth before I could grab him. Yucky! So we broke down and made a trek to Babies R Us last night and we are now the proud owners of three baby gates.

So the instillation of those bad boys was not fun. I learned in the process that our walls are uneven. That makes for good fun getting those gates just right. But now, they are up and they are holding securely.

Brogan was happy as a clam today because he got to crawl wherever he wanted to and wreak havoc on anything his little heart desired. I was happy because I actually accomplished things today. Imagine that! Oh, as an added bonus, it keeps Nala out of the kitchen too so I can sweep and mop without her stomping around on my clean floor. Works on babies and dogs! Yeah! Now I just have to figure out where I am going to put Nala's food so she can get it but our little puppy chow eating baby can't get it. Hmmmm......

Someone please feel sorry for me!

2008-01-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

Please? Someone? Anyone?

Girls Night Out

2008-01-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

I had a fabulous night out last night with my sister. We went and saw Atonement. Great movie! Can't wait to read the book. I know I am doing it in reverse order, I just didn't have time to read it before it came out. My sister and I have been trying to go to this movie for over a month.It isn't often that we have a night out with just the two of us and no children.

Right now I am reading Love in the Time of Cholera which is a great book also. If any of you are a member of Good Reads and want to share books, let me know. If you aren't a member, go sign up. It is lots of fun and I love finding out good books from other people.

I have been tagged!

2008-01-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

My friend Liv tagged me. I was tagged a couple of months ago by Samantha and did this post. I am not sure if I can come up with 7 more random things about me, but I will give it a whirl.

1. I am named after my mom's favorite cousin-Laurie. She named one of her daughters Kim, after my mom. But we hardly ever see them anymore.

2. I get called Larry A LOT! Seriously! Do I look like a Larry? For some reason when I say my name, people think I say Larry. So the proper way to say my name is like "sorry" but with an "L". Got that? Not Larry. Not Lori.

3. I love fuzzy socks!! Pair it with some PJs, and I am in heaven.

4. One of my new favorite places to eat is at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I thought they just had smoothies, but I went there for lunch one day with some friends and fell in love. They have amazing sandwiches and smoothies. If you have one in your town, you should definitely check it out.

5. I play the piano. I am not as good as I used to be. I took lessons for 10 years until my teacher passed away. My skills got a little rusty over the years from not practicing.

6. I love cheesecake!!! I actually love anything sweet. I have an incurable sweet tooth, but cheesecake is my weakness above all other weaknesses. MMMMMMM!!!!

7. Jeremy and I are home bodies. We love to stay home and watch movies or watch shows that we have recorded on Tivo(which, BTW, is the greatest invention. We hate watching live tv now). Throw in some PJs, fuzzy socks, and some cheesecake and that is my idea of a great night. :)

I don't really know who to tag now. So if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged! ;)

Here comes the bride!

2008-01-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute? This is my good friend Becca. She got engaged on Christmas Day. We spent yesterday morning looking for a wedding dress for her upcoming nuptials on May 3rd. This is the first dress she tried on. This isn't the one that she chose. In fact, the one she chose looks nothing like this, but I don't want to ruin the surprise or steal her thunder. Let me tell you though, the dress she chose is absolutely stunning! She is going to knock Chandler's socks off! I am soooo happy for you, my little Becca!

P.S. I took this picture with my phone so that is why the quality isn't the greatest. I didn't even think to bring my camera because most workers at wedding dress boutiques turn into demons when you even mention a camera. This lady was so nice and encouraged us to take pictures. Gotta love good customer service!

Just for laughs

2008-01-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Merry late Christmas and a belated Happy New Year!

2008-01-06T15:49:00.001-07:00

So sorry that I have not kept up with blogging. I am surprised that I am not getting threatening e-mails from grandmas and grandpas. So to make up for it, I posted my latest favorite pictures of Brogan. He started making this face during Christmas. If we would make this face at him, he would do it back. Luckily we caught it on film because now when we try to show people, Brogan just looks at us like we are crazy.

We spent Christmas in Farmington with both of our families. It was so nice. I think it is the first time since college that we were able to spend an entire week in Farmington for Christmas. We were able to relax and watch lots of movies.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Pecotte's. Lots of yummy food and lots of laughs. Here are some pictures:

Children are taking over the family. Seriously! There is a baby boom happening on the Evans/Pecotte side of the family. There are 9 kids ages four and under right now. (One of the babies is not in the picture). Craziness! But they all had a lot of fun with each other. Brogan loves other kids. He will just watch them and smile and laugh. And I know what you all are thinking out there. Just because Brogan likes other kids does not mean we need to have another one to keep him company.

Here is a picture of Brogan getting some playtime and cuddle time in with Grandpa Duke. Later this night, Brogan fell asleep in Grandpa's lap. He is not one to usually cuddle up and fall asleep. He would rather sprawl out in his crib by himself.

Jeremy caught this picture on Christmas morning. Brogan and I are sharing a morning yawn. He wasn't quite sure why we woke him up or what was going on.
Look what Santa brought us! A baby Broggie!
"Thanks for the present guys, but I would rather just chew on this piece of paper. And would someone talk to my momma and tell her to quit taking it away from me!"
We had such a great Christmas! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and such wonderful friends. Most of all, we are so blessed to have such a loving Heavenly Father that would send His son to save us and bring us back into His presence. We hope that each of you enjoy this new year and remember that we love you!!

Blogging?

2007-12-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

What's that????? For all of you who are wondering, yes I am still alive! I am just knee deep in a million in a half projects for Christmas (I am sure you all can relate). Can't tell you what I have been doing because I don't want to ruin the fun. There was one major project that I am not going to be able to finish before Christmas. I am a little bummed about that, but I want to do it right, not just half way. KWIM? More details on that after Christmas. It will be a good one!

We leave tomorrow for Farmington for Christmas with both of our families. We can't wait. Christmas is always such a fun time with both of our families. Plus, it is Brogan's first Christmas. Okay, so he isn't really going to know what is going on, but it will still be fun for Jeremy and me.

I have been trying to keep up with the Journal Your Christmas class. Contrary to what is posted on my blog, I am actually done through December 12th. I just haven't had a spare moment to share what I have done. So hopefully, I will be able to post more of those later.

One of my friends since birth (literally) flew in today from California. We went to dinner with her and one of my other good friends and boyfriend tonight. So much fun! I love my friends and I love the times that we can get together and laugh and reminisce about how stupid we used to be (because we are way mature now. Right?). I am looking forward to getting together with them again over the holidays.

Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the Christmas season!

Day 3 Journal Your Christmas

2007-12-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here is my third LO for Shimelle's class. I went hybrid with this one. The patterned papers are all digital papers from Jen Wilson Designs. I resized them so I could print them out and then used them with regular cardstock. The cards are from Creating Keepsakes' Kit of the Month by Becky Higgins. I have a few put together but we still need to do a family picture. I don't even have a list of who I am going to send them to. Sounds like a project for while I am at work tonight. I put the journaling inside of the tag. It reads:

This is a sample of one of the four cards we will be sending out this year. I would love to send out cards that I made entirely myself, but I have too many projects going on this Christmas. So with a little help from Becky Higgins, I still get to send out unique cards that look like I made them myself.

Day 2 Journal Your Christmas

2007-12-04T11:35:00.001-07:00

Here is my second LO for Shimelle's class "Journal Your Christmas". I returned to my paper scrapping roots with this one. I have been doing so much digital scrapping lately that it was nice to change it up. I like being able to scrap in both formats because it keeps the creativity flowing. I am a little late getting it posted. I just finished it last night and had to wait for some good light to take a pic. I didn't feel like messing with scanning and stitching. The LO is about weather during Christmastime in your part of the world. I included a picture of a tumbleweed snowman that was built in Albuquerque. I thought it went perfectly with my LO. I just wish his scarf wasn't so red. Oh well. The journaling reads:

Oh the weather outside is….

frightful? I guess. Depends on how you look at it. New Mexico has very unpredictable weather during the winter months. Last year we had record breaking snowfall and the city about shut down. Seriously! Stores could not keep snow shovels and ice melt in stock. This year we have yet to see any snow. In fact, Jeremy and I passed a snowman made of tumbleweeds yesterday. We had an unseasonably warm fall but it turned abruptly cold before Thanksgiving. The cold weather has not brought any snow with it.

Another tricky thing about New Mexico is the sky. You could look out your window and see a pretty, clear sky and think it is warm out. Think again! It could be extremely cold outside. You better bring a jacket!

As much as I want it to snow this season, I would like to enjoy it from the comfort of my own home. I love to be snuggled up on the couch with a blanket and a good book or a good movie. I hate going out into the snow. I easily get cold indoors so going out into the snow is usually a miserable experience. I am sure the day is rapidly approaching when Brogan will want me to go play with him outside. I guess then I will have to grit my teeth and bare it, but until then, pass me the blanket and my fuzzy socks. I like the view better in here.

Newest Addition to the Family

2007-12-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me! Merry Christmas to me! JK! This weekend I got my birthday and Christmas present. I know what you are thinking, my birthday isn't until the 9th and Christmas is 22 days away. What can I say? I think I have the best husband who likes to spoil me rotten. My sister told me last night that she didn't even know I wanted one. Neither did I.

It all started with me thinking I might like a shuffle. I have an Ipod mini (which they don't even make anymore but is still super cute pink). Then it progressed to the new nanos. I am a sucker for the cute colors, and have you seen how thin those things are? Then I followed the progression to the Ipod Touch. I loved the idea that you could access Itunes while you are out. The only downfall of that, you have to be in a wi-fi hotspot. So it was Jeremy (yes, I will blame my infatuation on a pricey gadget on him) that said I should just get an Iphone. We got onto apple's website and watched a video on the Iphone. We were sold about 2 minutes into the video. Super cool!!

I put a movie onto it last night to play around with it. Jeremy and I were amazed we were watching a movie on a phone!! So cool. So, if you haven't seen them yet, you should go check it out. But I warn you, you may end up buying one.