watch out, i'm gettin crafty

so last week i was feeling the need to create, ya know bake something or make a craft or something. i started off with a new bow/flower clip holder for paisley, she just had some plain ribbons on the wall before and i found one similar to the one i made on a this site. i am super happy with how it turned out, especially being able to make it for so much less then it sells online. i also made her a few new flower clips. when i was putting them all on the new holder i realized that i need to stop, i mean does a baby really need 45(yes i counted them) different hair accessories before she even has hair more then an inch long?? it sure looks pretty though huh??

some of you have heard of my recent obsession with cakes. i have never really liked cake, i have said for awhile that cake just isn't for me, i love ice cream, cookies and other sweets much better. none the less i have an infatuation with cakes lately, watching food network challenges, and even attending a cake show here in san diego. i am more interested in decorating the cakes, then really eating them or baking them, so i made a cake for paisley's six month birthday (that post coming soon) and had lots of leftover icing so i make some cupcakes and gave them to my visiting teachers, i think they turned out cute and i loved the little boxes i found at michael's that they fit just perfect in.

more of my crafty/baking week will be shown in paisley's six month b'day post. here are a few random pics of paisley that are too cute not to share.

paisley really wanted to play with ava (her cousin once removed) when tommy and amy came to visit, ava wasn't so sure. ( isn't ava's little belly cute!) clearly paisley is like her momma in being a social butterfly, we love to chit chat and be with friends:)

sometimes when i am on the computer i put paisley in her crib to play with some toys and lately this is what happens, she smashes the bumper and looks out at me with those big blue eyes like a prisoner. i never last long with that cute face looking at me.



i love this picture. i think it is so funny, she looks very like 'don't mess with me,' with one hand on her ball and the other holding onto the swing. also, for some reason her face here reminds me a lot of some of my baby pictures. what can i say, she is a cutie!

2 paisley stories

last week while shopping at walmart, i was in the hair aisle looking for some clips and also possibly some new head bands for paisley. i held the headbands up to her and realized that they were just to big, oh well moving on.....

so the next day at home i am getting ready to put paisley in her car seat and there is a black shape in her car seat....i say to myself what in the world is that, pick it up and discover a walmart headband. yes, my six month old stole a headband from walmart by hiding in under her tush! we tried it on for a few pics and quickly went to walmart to return it, i think she learned her lesson...hopefully:)

so a few days later, paisley is wearing a headband with a paper flower clip, sometimes, when the little miss is extra tired she will pull the head band down and chew on it. she did that with this one and once i realized the flower was dead. she had ripped off several petals, we've got plenty oh well moving on....

the next morning paisley had a stinky diaper, only there was this orange looking lump on the side of the diaper, so being a mother, i investigated. it only took a moment, i realized that the orange lump was two paper flower petals that my daughter ate and now are in her dirty diaper, it was pretty funny and i wish (although not counting on it) that this will be the only non-food item that i will find in her diapers. (and no, i didn't take pics)

its never too early to learn good teeth hygiene.

hair, new faces, saints & mom

last friday i had a hair appointment, yeah! it had been too long and i was really looking forward to a trim and some darker color. i really wanted to wait until utah for the one and only julie kaye, but for several reasons, it wasn't going to work so i went ahead with a different stylist. i always do 2-3 colors of low lights on just the top half of my hair. i have only done partials for 2 reasons, one i have tons of hair(well normally, not since i had paisley!) and it would be expensive to do all of it and two, something about always knowing my natural hair color appeals me. well, after a conversation with my new stylist i dyed my hair! yes, all of it, for the first time ever-it was scary, and to make it a bit more scary, i dyed my eyebrows too! crazy i know.

i have been wanting to try something really dark, chris thought it would look good too, so in i dove to the dark side.

i'm smiling, but inside i was knots. i kept telling myself hair can be changed back and color fades. my hair looks black when it is wet, and that first day i wasn't really sure about it, but now that i have had time to adjust to seeing myself, i really like it. the dark looks really healthy and it hides some of the "baby fuzz" that is growing back on top of my head. so what do a think?!?

don't mind paisley looking drugged, it was the best one of me and worst of her, sorry paisley!

lately paisley has been pulling a new face, and she does it constantly, i thought it would be tricky to catch on camera. however, the little miss was oh so kind and gladly held the face at varying stages for me to document, she is a crack up. lets hope she develops more of my sense and humor and not her dad's and grandpa's!

i have never really celebrated st. patrick's day except for wearing green-this year we had an irish feast with family and it was tasty. i think it might need to be a new tradition. we had corned beef, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and onions, awesome irish soda bread and homemade shortbread for dessert, it was all so yummy-good job to kel and jan!



so many of you responded so sweetly when everything was happening with my mom last month and i wanted to give you an update. my mom has been moved home and is doing pretty well. she meets with a speak therapist, has rehab for her leg and dialysis several times a week, so she is busy. she talks pretty well now, still has a hard time with large words and stuttering. her leg is healing, very slowly, but that's what we expected with my mom's track record. she still has the systemic infection in her blood, they are doing some different treatments to try and combat that. she trys to stay positive, and faithful, doing her best to heal and be happy. most every time i think of her i am deeply saddened because i am not closer to her. i fear that it will be my one big regret in life. i wish so badly to be with her and help her, i am so thankful for the wonderful family and friends that are close and help and love her so much. we are hopeful that her leg will heal, the infection will clear up and she can once again be cleared for a kidney transplant. thanks for all your prayers and concern.

video update

here are a few videos of paisley from the last month. you can see below if she likes the ocean water or not.

she has been laughing more and more, it is so fun! we didn't get her best laugh on tape, but here is a pretty good one. chris is great and getting her to laugh.

since we made this video i have resorted to using two washcloths for each bath, one for her and one for me.

we love all the new and different sounds that paisley makes, so entertaining and so cute!

we visited grandpa and work last week and paisley did her part to help with all the paper work. paisley loves her grandpa jensen.

hawaii part 2

ok, picking up where we left off on thursday we headed to the polynesian cultural center. it is a bit of a drive, but so much to see and do there. paisley was like a celebrity there, large groups of japanese girls would come up and touch her cheeks and say "ohhh, eeee" it was crazy, they took pictures of her, several of them posed with her to get there picture taken. paisley is so famous! i loved seeing the japanese style, it is so different and very interesting to me, i would love to visit japan someday.

robin was in the drum show and he was very funny, played the part well, we all got tattoos in samoa, chris and i opted for leg and not arm.

overall the pcc was fun, it was a long day for paisley which made it a bit stressful for me. chris and i left the night show early which is sad, but paisley just hadn't slept and she was so overtired so we went home and put her to bed.

one of the nights, some of the group, myself included went to the international marketplace which is just down the street from our hotel. for the very first time i got a spray on tattoo, so did steph...i decided i am still firm that tattoos aren't for me, but fun to try one out for a week! (i got a little crown on my foot)

friday we made it to hanauma bay and after lots of hassle(no parking, waiting in lines, watching an instructional film) we finally got to the beach. snorkeling was so fun there, chris and i saw a big sea turtle and chris swam next to it for awhile, i loved it!

paisley modeling her cute swimsuit and cover up. and our awesome beach set up, we found a spot of shade for the tent.

cute sandy toes:)

saturday we did the swap meet(no pics sorry) always a good time, and good deals, love that! then we played on the beach more where chris went swimming with his cell phone in his pocket-awesome. on sunday we went to church at a local ward and then took some pictures out front by and big tree, paisley really turned it out and gave us some good smiles, she is such a doll!

i love that pailsey and i are doing the same silly face. no, i didn't even plan it.

chris and paisley have a bout the same attention span for pictures....about 1 minute.

after church we went and sat on the beach, chris and i read while paisley played with her aunt and uncles. she loves them all!



just had to add this picture from getting lunch at l&l on monday, look at her hair grow! it is only growing on top, so she can have a nice little mo hawk.

waiting to get on the plane to go home, isn't she cute?!

we had a wonderful time in hawaii, it went by too fast but we loved spending time with the jensen family:)

hawaii (part one)

ok, here we go just a fair warning that this is going to be long...it is our family journal. i totally will not be offended if you scroll through and just look at the pictures and then move on to the next blog!
the trip started early monday morning-3:45am-yikes! we woke paisley up(yea) and headed out to the la airport. 2 hours later we arrived and waited in long massive lines to make it to our flight. ( i decided la isn't the city for me, or at least the airport for me!) we barely made it on the plane and then had to wait to leave, so all in all we were on the plane for 6 1/2 hours--that was long with a lap baby. paisley did pretty dang good, she doesn't sleep well unless she is in her crib or car seat so that was tough, but she was really pretty happy and did take 2 small naps on our laps. once we got there and gathered all the luggage, we traveled with chris's parents and two younger brothers so we had a LOT of luggage we got 2 rental cars and went to the condos. once settled in we went to costco to get some food for the week and hit the hay early. paisley had a crib, so that helped but it was still a bit of the trick with the time change and all.

tuesday was a wonderful day! we woke up and headed to diamond head for a hike, it was a great little hike.

yes, this is just one the staircases to get to the top and yes there were tons of japanese women who did the hike in wedges and heels. it was crazy windy on top, paisley's sun hat was so funny!

then after lunch and a nap for paisley we headed down to the beach in waikiki right by our condos. paisley experienced sand and ocean water for the first time(we have been to the beach in san diego but she has never touched the sand or water). she wasn't to sure about it a the start, and the water was too cold for her liking but overall she enjoyed it and she looked super cute! several people stopped on the beach to take pictures of her. i love her rash guard and shorts.

tuesday night steph and dj arrived from ut, yeah! we were so excited to have them there. wednesday we tried to go to hanauma bay, but it was closed because of jelly fish so we went to a new beach that a friend recommended, kailua beach. the water was beautiful, but it was windy. we enjoyed snorkeling and just playing at the beach. we took a tent for paisley and that was great, much better then just an umbrella.





paisley enjoying some grandpa time, testing out the water and uncle dj with the snorkel gear.

on the way home we stopped at valley of the temples. it was really quiet and peaceful, but started to rain so we cut the visit a little short. it was fun to see and learn more about that culture, paisley slept through it in the car. chris and i sang her "every party has a pooper and that's why we invited youper!"

pailsey loved having uncle dj and aunt steph in town--they always play with her, so cute!

ok, that is part one, i've got a baby to take care of! part two coming soon:)