The Poulsen's Place

Oh, by the way...

2011-05-04T08:26:00.000-06:00

Baby boy number 2 will be joining us on August 12th!

I'm back for a minute!

2011-01-23T14:32:00.020-07:00

I planned on treating you all with a smattering of pictures from my life over the past five months. But that idea has only led me to realize that I don't take nearly as many picture as I should. That should be a New Years Resolution I suppose. But all the same, if you'd like to know what we've been up to lately, or semi-lately, enjoy....

This is us at my IHOP birthday breakfast. October 18th for those of you who don't know:)

A trip to see the witches at Gardener Village with my mom and my sis on a beautiful birthday day.

Me being 24.

Our costumes for our Ward primary Halloween carnival. ABCs and primary colors combined. Rich's hair was supposed to be yellow, didn't quite turn out:)

The actual night of trick-or-treating.

Heading up to the first house, quite excited. This was the most excitment he showed all evening. After this we hopped in the car and drove to Sandy. He fell asleep and wanted nothing else to do with trick-or-treating on that terribly cold night. But, like good parents we forced him to do it anyway.

Thanks GG!

I did have a video of Rich's birthday, but silly blogger wont let it upload. It never lets me anymore! What am I doing wrong!?

Anyway, he had a birthday (November 18th) and turned 27!

Thanksgiving in St. George. (didn't take a single picture - had to steal this one) Riding in the paddle-boats at my cousins' way super-fun house.

Temple square with the Poulsen family! Followed by 2 days of fun not documents by me! (sorry)

One of the very few pictures from Christmas. It's not morning, despite what Noah is wearing. Later in the day all the cousins came over and we let Noah open his BIG present. They're called gorilla blocks, and they're awesome, despite the fact that they're constantly making a mess of our house.

Some after Christmas sledding in the backyard.

Well that's it folks! I hope to blog more frequently. Thanks to everyone else for continuing to blog. Because despite the fact that I'm too lazy to do it, I do read yours!

Please...

2010-10-22T09:40:00.003-06:00

Why can't this happen during sacrament meeting rather than 4 minutes after....

Bees Game

2010-09-08T15:50:00.008-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we went with uncle Wil to a Bees game. Noah was so excited, I was a little worried. Baseball games are so long and I was positive he wouldn't make it through. But that little guy loved every minute! Sure he didn't spend much time watching the game, if we're being honest I didn't either, but baseball has such a fun atmosphere. It wasn't a very crowded game, so we kept moving seats to get a different view, that's probably what made it possible.
He was obsessed with the Mascot bee guy though. He'd spot him walking around the stadium and was always wanting to go over and find him. Finally I took him over to see the giant Bee. I was positive that he'd see how huge that sucker really was and run for his life. Much to my surprise he walked right up to him (he was sitting in a chair signing hats and stuff for a bunch of adoring children) and gave that bee and huge hug and a kiss. The Bee had no idea Noah was even there, he obviously couldn't feel him. In fact we sat right next to him for probably five minutes and I'm not sure he ever caught on to our presence. But Noah ate it up. He thought that huge Bee was probably the coolest thing he's ever seen. Guess it's time for a trip to Disney Land....

Uncle Wil took these awesome pictures with his iphone. Aren't they amazing! Sure love having that guy around, along with his gadgets and artistic eye:) Thanks Wil!

So, when did I get old?

2010-08-20T12:48:00.002-06:00

So I haven't been to Lagoon since our 9th grade 'Lagoon Day.' Count 'em up and thats 8 years my friends. I haven't been on any ride for that matter since I was 17, 6 years ago. For years and years I have been dying to get back on a rollercoaster, or anything that moves really.
We have our 4th anniversary coming up (actually next Tuesday) and decided that we really needed to get out and do something besides dinner, toddler free. We wanted to celebrate before school started so this past Tuesday we decided to head out of town, all the way to Bountiful. Exotic, I know, but it really was just what the doctor ordered. Noah was safe and happy with Grandma and Grandpa, and we found a sweet little deal at an Inn in Bountiful. It was SO wonderful to just get away for a night, do our own thing free from responsibility and free from people who know us:)
The next morning we headed to Lagoon. It's no DisneyLand, but it's a step in the right direction, and a bit more in our budget. We were both SO excited to have an ENTIRE DAY just to ourselves to do whatever we wanted. We were giddy.
We ran right over to the rocket and started the day with Blast Off. I was in heaven. Next we went on Re-entry. I was still in heaven and Rich loved finding out just how loud I was capable of screeming.
Next we went on the Samuri. This ride was brand new the last time I was at Lagoon and I remember it being my very favorite and I rode it like a dozen times. Needless to say I didn't feel the same about it this time. I had to sit down for a minute and let me stomach re-orient itself, but I convinced myself I was okay, just needed to the next ride to be a little less spinny and loopy.
We went on that dinky little rollercoaster next to the sky coaster, called 'the jet star'? I think?
I will never ride that one again, thats for sure.
It was everything I could do to not lose my breakfast through that entire ride, start to finish. I sat there with my eyes closed and my hands over my mouth, just praying that I wouldn't puke. As soon as our car stopped I was running down the ramp to the nearest garbage can (which was very near, thank heavens) and up-chucking over the side. I looked up to see Rich just staring at me with the most bewildered expression, not knowing what to think. He couldn't decide if it was funny or sad, but it was most definately unexpected.
I had expressed my concerns about motion sickness to him before we got there, wondering if my post-baby self would be able to do the same rides. He obviously didn't take me very seriously, and honestly I was almost positive that I would be fine. I just know that my parents can't do spinny rides anymore, so I knew eventually old age would probably limit my abilities. I just didn't think 23 was old.
Throwing up in a garbage can became hilarious to me as soon as I had finished. I couldn't believe that I was 'that girl.' So we had a good laugh and went to fetch the dramamine that I had thrown in our bag as a precaution (thank goodness!!!). I got some sprite and we walked around, wanting to be sure I had settled before riding anything else. As a way to kill time we hopped on that little choo-choo train that takes you around to see all the animals (who knew Lagoon had tigers and lions? I had no idea). It was when that little train made me sick that I knew I need a serious break from motion. So we headed to Lagoona beach for a few hours, soaked up some sun and had a great time. By the time we were dressed and fed, I was feeling 100%.
The rest of the day was spent spinning, looping, screeming, and laughing. We watched some shows, indulged in our favorite amusement park treats, played some games and won a couple of stuffed animals for Noah. We finished the day off with a ride on the Ferris wheel (where Rich may or may not have stuck his tounge in my mouth) and enjoyed the beautiful nighttime view of the park.
All in all it was a perfect day, mostly because it was us.
Now I know that dramamine is a necessity when going to an amusement park. But I blame the motion sickness on the baby messing with my insides and switching them all up. I am most definately not OLD.

I just have to say...

2010-07-18T00:00:00.003-06:00

A Tribute to My Man-Cub

2010-07-17T23:50:00.020-06:00

Two years has FLOWN by! I can't even believe it. I spent the better part of this evening looking through "old" pictures and video and mourning a little bit over my once-was baby. He really isn't a baby anymore. I've loved every single second of the past two years, and I'm excited for more to come, but WHY does it have to go so fast?

I clearly remember lying on the bed with my newborn, marveling and applauding as he learned how to reach out and grab my finger, soaking up any sound that he made. Now he learns new words everyday, and is constantly pushing his limits and trying new things. Tomorrow I'll be helping him with algebra and encouraging him to get his piano practicing done. That's the way it works, and I get that. But don't you sometimes just wish you could freeze moments and save them for later? Not through a camera or a video, but an actual memory with smells, emotions and feelings? I suppose if that was possible then eventually everyone would take it for granted just like we do now with photos and videos...but still. I'm just feeling like everything is happening so fast! And then the other half of me is far too excited for the future to desire any slowing. So I suppose things are just fine the way they are, guess God knows what he's doin':)

Anyway, I LOVE my little tike. It amazes me how he still gets cuter every single day he is alive. How is that possible? Rich and I can't begin to figure that one out, but there you have it, he does. I love him with everything that I have, and I love that being his mommy is making me into a far better person that I was before him. Heavenly Father knew how much we needed him in our lives, his timing is impeccable.

Here is a short scan over his little life, more for my sake than yours, but it's my blog so...

a few seconds old

a few minutes old1 week old

2 months old

3 months old

6 months old

8 months old

almost 1 year old

14 months old

16 months old

18 months old

21 months old

23 months old

Family Pics!

2010-07-08T11:23:00.016-06:00

If anyone is looking for an awesome and very reasonably priced photographer, they should hire my cousin Tracy Layne. Check out her photography blog here. She did these pictures for us a couple of weeks ago with instruction from me that I wanted a location that was colorful and fun, and look what we got! She found these awesome buildings somewhere random in Salt Lake and we had such a great time and couldn't be happier with the pics!
Surprisingly, Noah was a gem almost to the very end. Of course we had to bribe him with anything he has ever wanted, but in the end he was plenty happy to devour the whirly pop we brought for a prop. Those things are actually delicious:)

Thanks Tracy!

It's Coming..

2010-06-11T12:12:00.003-06:00

I'm beginning to fathom why they call them the 'terrible twos.' I still think that a two year old is probably more terrific than terrible, but I'm developing a healthy understanding of the terrible part.
Noah turns two in a month (which by the way, is just plain crazy), and he is the best, cutest, sweetest, yummiest, smartest little boy I know. But with that smartness that I so love, comes a great deal of curiosity, which in turn leads to mischief.

In one day he...

Leaned up against a wet wall of paint, managing somehow to get it all over me too
Climbed onto our counter, grabbed a glass from our clean dishes and chucked it at the floor, shattering it into a million tiny pieces. Climbed down from the counter, walked in the shattered glass, cut his toe and left little bloody toe prints on the carpet. (All while I took an innocent and necessary trip to the loo.)
Drew all over our computer screen with pen.
Shoved his toothbrush down the drain in our bathroom sink, giving it a good clog.

Not an average day, but a day nonetheless. It's very unusual that we have a day when we don't have to go somewhere. We rarely have a day when we don't leave the house. This was one of those rare days, and a dreary wet one at that. Guess I should've anticipated him to go a little stir crazy. He's typically a pretty mild child, so I count my blessings:)

Bring it on TWO!

Melts my heart.

2010-05-20T12:36:00.003-06:00

So Noah and I were browsing Deseret Book this morning because I've been meaning to get a picture of Christ to put on our wall. I was having a hard time deciding which one I liked best. Then Noah finished his snacks and looked up to see this one. Shouting in his adorable melt-my-heart voice he said...
"Jesus! an' Noah! playin'...cute!" Needless to say this is the one I bought.

Proud of this Guy

2010-05-06T23:16:00.003-06:00

That's my Brother. Adam Ruben, proud US Marine. Soon to leave for the Naga Phillipines mission! Yay!

A Day at Provo River

2010-05-06T22:30:00.007-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, back when it was pretending to be spring, we were able to go down to Provo to celebrate Rich's dad's B-day. Yay! After a fun game of bowling with all the cousins (which Noah still hasn't stopped talking about), we headed to the Provo river for some kayaking. It was a PERFECT day. Still, beautiful, perfect temperature, perfect lighting, just plain perfect. We had a good time and got some cute picks. Thought blog world would like to see how the little guy has grown since December:)

Notice Wil's bum in the background. Nice.

Thanks for the fun times guys! Happy Birthday pops!

Crazy but true, Noah's had his first flu...

2010-01-14T14:03:00.002-07:00

Noah woke up way too early this morning. So I was cuddling with him on the couch and he was being crazy cute. As soon as I sat up he reached to give me a big hug and ****(insert sound that throw-up makes)! Throw up all down my back and covering the couch cushion behind me. Yay. Poor little tike:) It's okay, atleast it was my back, not my face, could have been worse. And it was a pretty quick little flue, might have even just been something he ate.
I've been pretty fortunate up until now not to have delt with throwup (not spitup) at all. Can't complain.
Well, I'm off to the store to buy some Febreeze. I need to get rid of this stench....

Best New Years Ever!

2010-01-01T13:24:00.003-07:00

I've always had plans on new years. There is always some party to go to or friends that want to hang out.
This year? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. New years eve kind of snuck up on us actually, and though we fully intended to make big plans, it just didn't happen. All three of us have been fighting major colds all week so we've been totally lazy (so nice). Then my brother and his family have been in town so we've been hanging out with them every night and watching movies till all hours (so fun). And really, we've enjoyed ourselves so much that by new years eve we just wanted more! So although Eric and Andrea had previous engagements, we continued the movie tradition and just laid low eating popcorn. At about 12:20 we realized that we were so involved in our movie that we totally missed the new year, so we kissed and had a few seconds of celebration from our comfy position on the couch, and continued on.
So low key, but I totally enjoyed myself! I guess what I mean is that this has been the best week ever:) And I'm fully aware that it's almost over, and thats fine. It wouldn't be enjoyable forever. But this break has been just what the doctor ordered (despite the fact that we are all sickies), and after this, I can deal with school and work and real life. Bring it on.

December in a Nutshell

2009-12-27T21:23:00.005-07:00

December has flown by! By the time finals were behind us we only had a few days to squeeze in some christmas fun. The second Rich finished his last test (literally) I picked him up and we headed to Midway. It's a little Poulsen tradition. We get a couple of condos and the whole family gets together for the weekend. It was a VERY welcome getaway.
This is an ice sculpture garden that is being grown out infront of the Zermatt resort. The artist said that by February these babies will be atleast 40 feet tall and all lit up with different colored lights. We might have to sneak back up to see that, they were amazing.

This is Noah all bundled up for his first snow experience. He didn't mind the hat/coat/pants, but he fought with those gloves the entire time.

The cousins. It might look like he is upset, but truthfully he's laughing. The little sweetie on the other side...she's a little upset.Next, a trip down to see the lights on temple square. We braved taking trax down because it was free (we're crazy).

Word to the wise: never take that trip the Monday night before Christmas.

Reasons: #1 they hold that annual christmas sing-a-long at the energy solutions arena (had no idea) which equals mass crowds all by itself #2 It's family night in Salt Lake City #3 If you're thinking about taking trax, so is everyone else.

It was FREEZING and Noah wasn't quite as into it as I thought he might be. So it was short and sweet. The travel took much more time than the actual sight-seeing. Rich and I have learned that when you add children into the mix, you don't linger. Get in, get out, move on. His patience grows very thin very quickly.

This pretty much sums up Christmas morning. You just can't beat the smile that comes from opening up a bunch of balls. We had a very nice Christmas, relaxed, full of love and family. We have been very blessed this year in so so many ways:)

Not a fan.

2009-12-14T13:16:00.001-07:00

Santa came to our family Christmas party last night. Noah reacted just as I expected, but it was fun anyway.

Biggest Loser Couples, here we come!

2009-12-08T21:42:00.002-07:00

So Rich and I just finished watching the Biggest Loser finale. Can't say that I've followed it at all this season, but we caught the finale and I still teared up a little. What an inspirational show! (too bad I watched it sprawling out on the couch chugging hot chocolate)
Anyway, I later found myself in the kitchen staring at him wondering "I wonder what you would look like with an extra 230 pounds?"
Lo and behold here we are. I love my husband and his skill with photoshop:)

Pretty good at climbing up, not so good at getting down...

2009-12-06T17:20:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday Babe!

2009-11-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Love This Guy.

Drat.

2009-11-17T21:15:00.001-07:00

Noah just had his first blow-out diaper in atleast 6 months. I fooled myself into thinking I was done with them.
Now I find myself missing those runny, milky newborn blowouts, as apposed to recognizing last nights dinner smeared all over my baby's back. And I'm kind of missing what I used to think was a blow out, as apposed to a blow out-up-over-around.

Strange.

2009-11-04T10:55:00.002-07:00

Noah and I have been studying anatomy. He's really good at hair, eyes, nose, mouth, tounge, teeth, ears, hands, and feet.
And we've recently learned neck.
He has this strange fascination with it. He likes to grab my neck and squeeze as hard as he can with a scary fanatical face expression. And once I pry his fingers off he laughs hysterically. If I didn't know any better, I would be terrified. I still might be.

The First House...

2009-11-01T21:35:00.011-07:00

Here we are, walking up the driveway to our first trick-or-treating house. He thinks we are just coming for a normal visit to great-grandma and grandpa. Little does he know....Either way, he's pretty thrilled with this kitty-cat bag he gets to carry around. He's just not yet aware of how cool that bag will soon become."I got to ring the doorbell all by myself! Hey, why are you guys all standing so far away from me? Whats going on...""Here comes Grandma! Quick Noah, say Trick-or-treat! Hold up your bag hold up your bag!"
"What? This super cool bag? Okay okay stop shouting at me..."

"What is this...she's holding these out for me to take? Just for me? As many as I want? (he took 3) I wont say no to that...""Alright I'm outta here! And they're not even going to stop me! I could get used to this..."(And he did)After making a few stops around our neighborhood we went over to Rich's sister's house and went Trick-or-treating with all of the cousins. He made quite a haul! Even though we skipped almost every other house because he was too slow. Half-way through he quit walking all together and we had to take turns towing him around. He was pretty beat by the end but was as happy as a clam!

This is him with the tickle of blood that we added after dinner, I think it was a nice touch:)

I'm too proud to go without adding that I made his cape! I originally did it to save money because the fabric was half off, but it ended up being way cuter than anything else we had been looking at buying! I was pleased to say the least. I have to brag about all of my sewing conquests for the time being, maybe once it becomes a more regular thing I'll shut up about it, but till then... Here's our festive fam, I went as a witch (well, the top half of me atleast, you can't see my killer purple eyelashes) and Rich went as Danny from Greese (he had to take advantage of his incredibly long hair).

Hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween!

Finally!

2009-10-29T11:29:00.009-06:00

I celebrated a fabulous 23rd birthday last week and on Tuesday I finally got the last of my birthday presents! Rich scheduled an appointment for me to get my hair done. I've been complaining about it for months but have been too lazy and cheep to take any action. I don't know how many inches I cut off, but if was a heaping dustpan full! It was halfway down my back (and very blah). But I love this cut, it's so much easier, and faster to do.

BEFORE

AFTER

And this is the cute outfit Rich got me earlier for my Birthday. Picked it out all by himself! He's pretty good at that:)
Thanks for making my birthday great babe! And thanks for making me look pretty again! Loves!

I made this! Woot woot!

2009-10-29T11:28:00.004-06:00

I know I know, I am the queen of domesticity. Thank you thank you.

A rough couple of days...

2009-10-29T11:27:00.003-06:00

This is what happens when you try to run down the driveway and you stop yourself with your face!

Funny funny boy. This was actually a couple of weeks ago but I loved this picture to much to keep it to myself.

Then imagine, the following day he trips while hiking and adds another goose-egg/scrape on the other side of his forehead:)

Kitchen Complaints

2009-10-07T11:38:00.002-06:00

I've learned something about myself. I've noticed that the cleanliness of my kitchen directly effects my mood.
Do you ever have those really busy weekends when Monday rolls around and you're looking at a pile of dishes that began accumulating on Thursday? And you see, I don't have a dishwasher. So when I'm staring at a counter that is piled high with almost every dish we own it kind of gets me down. And I have to accept that this project will likely take all day, what with Noah clinging to my leg and screaming and me frequently running out of room on the drying rack.
When I have a bunch of dishes soaking in my sink and my stove is cluttered with dirty pans, I don't have much motivation to cook (or let be honest, I don't even have the motivation to make a PP&J). So without that motivation I scavenge for something quick and easy to ebb my hunger, and I ussually come up with something really clever like that half eaten bag of chocolate chips:)
So I end up eating crap all day and in turn feeding crap to my poor child and then I end up feeling like a terrible mother and a fatty.
So, you see... whatdaya do whatdaya do...

Noah and his Trixy Self

2009-09-16T11:15:00.005-06:00

Noah is pretty trixy these days. I left you all thinking that he was still 9 months old, but I assure you, he is the smartest little 14 month old that I know, hands down:)

Upon demand he is able to show me where his hands, feet, shoes, ears, belly and tongue are (ears down; head shoulders knees toes eyes mouth and nose to go).

He is very talented at waving hello and goodbye. He comes up with a different variation of waving almost every day. It's a handy trick, now he can let me know when he wants to leave somewhere, he just waves bubye.

He is an excellent dancer (inheriting his moves from his father I assure you), his favorite song being the intro to Gilmore Girls. I probably conditioned him into that one. I was on a pretty fanatical Gilmore Girls kick just as he was discovering his rhythm.

Out of all his toys, he treasures his books the most. We have quite a supply because we were lucky enough to get some passed down to us. All day, if he is ever feeling like he's not getting enough attention, he waddles over to me with a book in his hand. I really can't resist him, so if Daddy's not around and I can't say "Daddy will read to you! Go find daddy!" Then I automatically sit down, he crawls into my lap, and we peruse the pictures. Most of the time he doesn't have patience for me actually reading the words. But he's getting really good at recognizing animals and he likes to flip through and see if he can point any out to me (I swear about half of his books are about farm animals)

He is able to recognize and say Mom, Dad, Momma (Grandma), Poppa (Grandpa), Kitty Kat (tit-tat), Jesus (cutest one by far), this, that, uh-oh, bubbles, and he tries to bark like a dog whenever he sees one. He is at the point where he recognizes much more than he can say, so it's really fun to try to teach him to say new things. I LOVE this stage!

By far my favorite new trick is him learning how to kiss and hug. It started out as blowing kisses which was great (people at the grocery store loved it especially, he gives his kisses away like candy when it comes to blowing them). But now he gives kisses on the cheek, mouth, leg, whatever he can reach when he's in the mood really. He especially loves kissing his stuffed animals and makes sure that I do so too everytime he wakes up in the morning. He loves kissing his puppy dog slippers and I love watching him bend in half to do it:)
Now that he is secure in his independence and mobility, he is becoming much more cuddly. He likes to sit in our lap and watch movies, for a few minutes at a time, and he likes to lie in bed with us on Saturday mornings.

I've been saying this for the past year but this time I'm really serious, I DON'T WANT THIS STAGE TO END!!!

Big fat fatty FAT post (and excuse)

2009-09-10T18:37:00.036-06:00

I'm back, and I have a really good excuse for my absense. I was involved in a tragic hang-gliding accident!!! I know, who would have thought?! Anyway it was really awful, I broke 3 ribs, both legs and my spine so needless to say, I've only just begun to walk around so naturally I haven't been able to blog for the past five months. No one can blame me for that...

Okay okay, my spine is fine, I've never actually been hang-gliding, and I have absolutely no excuse for my absense. Maybe I just really wanted to hear that people were missing my blog so I went on strike. Thanks to all you people bugging me to get back on it, I appreciate it:)

So wow theres alot to catch up on so prepare yourselves, and I'll only cover the big stuff, starting where I left off...

First things first, we went to WICKED in April (just a few days after my last post) and loved every second of it. It was my second time and Rich's first time seeing it. We were both perma-grin the entire time:)

A month or so later I graduated, or went to my ceremony rather, I technically graduated in December. But it was fun. I'm not really a fan of any of the pictures from the ceremony (my ears were sticking out through my hair like an elf, I really hate those hats) but Rich did a photo shoot of my cello and I at wheeler farm and it turned out really cool. I meant to post some of those, but they are hiding from me. Once I find them I'll get them on here.

Next big thing - we went to Lake Powell for a family reunion on my moms side. This is my cousins boat we stayed on, seriously the ONLY way to go to lake powell. Noah was a huge fan...Noah's first fireworks the night of the 4th. We had barely gotten back from the Lake so we didn't have much energy for more than sparklers.Noah's first birthday! One of my favorite memories of the summer. We had a big family BBQ and it was a blast and a half. Noah LOVES playing with his cousins.He was so entertaining when it came to eating the cake. I wish I could put the video up here but I can't figure out how get it off my video camera. He wasn't shy about it lets put it that way, and he literally ate the entire thing, well, what didn't end up in the grass that is. It wasn't just a piece of cake either, it was his own little cake, so cute. (Albertsons gives you a little free cake for your baby's first birthday, awesome) This is a picture of the rocking horse that Rich was given on one of his first birthdays. He refinished it and gave it to Noah for his birthday.It turned out looking like this! He pretty much loves it:)

Literally a day after his first birthday, he decided he could do this walking thing. He had been walking around furniture for quite awhile, but I guess he just didn't think he was old enough yet. He just needs to decide he wants to do something and it happens pretty fast. This video is definately not current (but nothing stays current for very long at this stage). These days he is very sturdy and running more often than walking. But I love those shaky baby steps.

This is Noah at his first Parade on the 24th of July. This is pretty much the look you can count on whenever he is seeing something new, he's always very concerned. But eventually he really warmed up to the festivities, not so much the parade exactly, but he does like crowds.Come August we had another family reunion, this time with my dad's side of the family. We all had a nice vacation up a Bear Lake for a few days. My grandma rented this big house up on the hills. It was paradise for Noah. Easy access to rocks and dirt, and even a playground in the back. It was a really relaxing and chill getaway, and really fun to have the entire family together. It's been awhile since that's happened.

We definately had our fare share of the beach this summer.

A couple of weeks later all of the guys on my mom's side of the family took a little fishing excursion to Ketchikan Alaska. I'm told it was a blast. We now have a freezer full of Salmon and Halibut:)This town looks SO beautiful, I would love to visit it someday.This is what they caught while out at sea, there werent a ton of pictures because it was a pretty stormy day. Half of the guys were losing their lunches...

This brings us pretty much to the present. Rich is back in school and Noah and I are still doing our thing at home, he's learning a new trick everyday. It's amazing how fast they start to learn things, which brings me to my next pictures.

Noah is doing his best at using a spoon, and loving the independence. (This one is of him eating breakfast, bed head and favorite puppy dog slippers included)

Honest Scrap

2009-04-01T21:23:00.011-06:00

(be warned that this post is lengthy. I mean really lengthy, I got carried away...)

It is called the honest scrap award and these are the rules...

A) First list 10 honest things about yourself--and make it interesting even if you have to dig deep.
B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of Honest Scrap...

1. When it comes to doing laundry in general, I don't mind it so much. The loading and unloading, even the folding isn't so bad. But the thing that I hate to do probably more than any other household chore is to put the laundry away once it's folded. It's really bizarre that it bothers me so much because it takes what, like 3 minutes? And that's including hanging all of my shirts and pants in the closet (definately the Worst of the worst). Silly, but I can't deny it. I really hate it.

2. Lately I've taken to brushing my teeth with my eyes closed. My friend Mari told me once that she always closes her eyes while brushing her teeth, and although that was almost a year ago, it obviously stayed with me:) Because a few days ago I remembered it and gave it a try. It's great! It's just a nice quiet moment you spend with yourself, focusing only on getting those teeth minty fresh, making it even more satisfying when the job is done. Give it a try!

3. You know how some kids want to grow up to be a fireman or a ballerina? My secret ambition was to be a Marine Biologist.
Okay, so I didn't exactly say that when asked. But I always wanted to be one of the trainers at Sea World who jump off Shamoo's nose. Come to find that's the degree you need and I watched that fantasy spiral down the toilet. Biology is my worst subject. But Orca whales have always been my favorite animal, even before I went to Sea World. I don't really know where that came from. And it's ironic now because Rich is pretty much terrified of whales. Guess it just wasn't meant to be...

4. The smell of cigarette smoke mixed with sunshine always makes me feel like I'm on vacation. I can't exactly explain why that makes sense, but I'll give it a try.
You know when your someplace where smoke isn't just something you wiff as you pass someone, but it actually seems to be everywhere, part of the air? That has never been the case with anywhere that I've lived, I've most often experienced it on vacation. And I'm ussually on vacation during the summer when it's sunny!
That's the only explanation I can come up with. Weird. But even when we go somewhere like the Gateway, I feel like I'm on vacation and it makes me really excited. Call me crazy, I know, it's just one of those weird flashback sort of feelings.

5. I was trying to think of my favorite food, and I've narrowed it down. Peanut Butter and Cheese. Not by themselves, but in things. All of my favorite candies and ice creams have peanut butter (reeses pieces, peanut butter panic, etc) and all of my favorite foods involve cheese of some kind (cheddar sun chips, cheetos, cheese-its, pasta with parmesan, the list goes on forever). So that pretty much sums things up. Besides the fact that I LOVE avocados, and they involve neither PB or Cheese.

6. One of my earliest childhood memories (well not earliest, but earlier):
My brother Eric had a best friend whos name was Tyler. Tyler was dreamy. Blond flowing hair and blue eyes. And more importantly he was very nice to me, which is really saying something because I can't imagine I was in the 'pleasant company' stage of life. I'm thinking I was maybe 6 or 7.
I was quite the artist in my young age and I decided to win Tyler over with my talent. I was going to make him a very special card (for what occasion I don't know, maybe halloween?) I spent a good part of my morning crafting his card that had a special pumpkin pop-out in the center. I was so excited for Tyler to come over so I could give it to him, but when the time came the card was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low and in my despair collapsed in a crying heap in front of the sink, just as Tyler was coming up the stairs. He sat next to me and asked me what was wrong. I told him, and being the NICE boy that he was, he helped me look for it and we eventually we did find it:) His kindness won my little heart. And that is the tale of my first love.

7. Ever since I got married and have my own space, my own fridge, my own front door, etc. I have become obsessed with crafts. (this is probably neither surprising or interesting, but it is honest) I love all sorts; sewing, card-making, painting, scrapbooking, home decorating. It is truly one of my favorite pastimes, I should have majored in crafts. Not that I don't LOVE playing my cello, but compare the amount of time it takes to make a masterpiece craft to the amount of time it takes to play a masterpiece on the cello. See what I mean? I love them both for different reasons, but when it comes to quick and satisfying, crafting takes the cake.
I'm thinking of making my own craft blog, what do you think?

8. My right leg is about 1 inch longer than my left leg. Who knows why. I first discovered this in 8th grade when I made pajama pants. These were the types of pants where you couldn't really tell which was the front and which was the back, and every once in awhile I would put them on and the right pant leg would be so short! I finally laid them down on the ground to investigate and I realized that there was an inch difference in my hem job because I pinned the hem while I was wearing the pants. So that's how I found out, and it 's been annoying me ever since.

9. I am clumbsy. I didn't realize this about myself until I started to try and do things like cook. I am always spilling, spattering, smearing, and knocking things over. I think I've finally gotten to the point where I can just laugh.

10. My most memorable birthday was when I turned 17, heres the story...
Me and a bunch of my friends went and had dinner or something (thats not the memorable part) and afterward we went up to our favorite park that is up in front of the capitol building. This park has a huge field in which we liked to play our favorite game. The game is simple and wildly entertaining: two people stand apart from each other in a field. One yells "GO" and they both start twirling in circles as fast as they can. They other yells "STOP" and they each immediately try to run across the field and hug each other.
Needless to say I was laughing so hard and I really needed to relieve my waters, but there was NO restroom to be found, ANYWHERE nearby. I had to go so bad that finally two of my guy friends took me to a neighboring house and bravely knocked on the door. An old grumpy man opened the door and when we explained our need he looked at us and said "are you kidding me?" We werent kidding, I was very serious. He let me in to use the bathroom but he made my friends stay out on the porch.
So the reason that this is my most memorable birthday is because of the humiliation, terror, and the aftermath hilarity.

Thats the end, are you relieved? I dug deep and tried to make it interesting.

I dub the honest scrap tag to these 7 people...
Mari Lowder, Dani Brant, Kelly Brown, Steph Brown, Sami Stanton, Laura Moffitt and Lisa Moore.

funny.

2009-03-24T21:30:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry, but this pictures makes me laugh so hard. May not be funny to you, but I thought I'd post it just in case it is...

By the way that is the lid of a candle that he's looking through.

Mom! Help Me!

2009-03-24T21:12:00.007-06:00

Oh hey mom what's up? Me? Oh I'm just laying here ruining my bumper pads while I'm supposed to be taking a nap. What, you want to play?Sure I'll play with you! Give a kid and hand and help me out of this thing. Uh, why are you sitting there pointing a camera at me? Aren't you going to get me out...

p-p-p-please, you can't keep me in here! Can't you see that I'm tired of rolling, jumping, grabbing, pulling, and climbing everything in this tiny rectangular space! uh, now that you mention it, that did wear me out a little bit. *yawn* I am a bit sleepy.

But that doesn't matter! Jokes over! I'm REALLY seriouse about you GETTING ME OUT!!!

(The striped pajamas are a nice touch aren't they?)

The Living Planet Aquarium

2009-03-24T21:01:00.008-06:00

Rich had Thursday off of school for spring break so we decided to do something fun. We went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy and it was awesome! They had the coolest stuff! It much exceeded my expectations. Most of the things pictures didn't do justice, but we got some cool shots.

I mean look at this thing, who came up with that? This was Noah's expression most of the the way through. But as long as I kept shoving KIX in his mouth, he behaved himself quite well. He only had interest for the BIG fish who swam right in front of him, and lets be honest, that only happend liked twice.

St. Georgy George

2009-03-24T20:26:00.012-06:00

Last weekend Noah and I got to spend some time in St. George! (Rich couldn't come because he was too busy with school) We threw a surprise party for my Grandpa's 80th birthday so the entire familiy was there! It was a blast. Then my sister and her kids, my mom, and me and Noah stayed until Tuesday and partied hard (with 4 kids under 4). It was a blast.

While we were there Noah had his first swim! This is pretty much my expression the entire time. I would walk around with him and he would slap the water as hard and as fast as he could. He LOVED it, and has been infatuated with all water ever since.We tried this little floaty thing but it didn't fly. He couldn't reach the water.

This was the clan we hung out with. 2 year old twins is always an adventure:) A trip to the park and a crawl through the wood chips. (oh yeah, he's crawling by the way)

This picture pretty much sums up his feeling about the swings, and his life in general really.

I know, I am so SO crafty

2009-03-10T12:28:00.004-06:00

Here is the other new addition to Noah's room. It's my new thing to just come up with new ways to decorate his room because I have absolutely nothing to do with my time.

Just kiddin', I keep myself pretty busy, but this is something I love to do so I make time for it. Actually, I made this as a model because we are doing this with our 'Activity Days' girls this Thursday, and we wanted to be able to show them what the finished product looks like.

It's another really easy one. All you do is cut different size blocks out of 2x4s. Lightly sand them and paint/stain them whatever color you want (I painted them brown). Cut out some paper and modge podge it onto the wood. For the letters I used my cousin's cricket machine and just had them cut out of brown paper. Thats the easy way, but if you don't have a cricket, I'm pretty sure they sell individual letters at the craft store. You can even buy them made out of chip board or wood. Modge Podge the letters onto the paper covered blocks, and then add a few embelishments! Ta-Da!

Special thanks to my mom. She did all the wood cutting and the cricket cutting. We love those Activity Days girls together!

(next time I blog I will try to write about something non-crafty, but I make no gaurantees. I'm brimming with ideas:)

Yes, I am so crafty

2009-03-02T22:29:00.016-07:00

Today I'm mimicking some of my favorite blogs (Moda Bake Shop, Make and Takes, etc) and giving you a craft idea and a step by step tutorial. I am very proud of myself, mostly because I came up with this on my own (well, I combined a few different ideas into one project). So if anyone reads this and has seen this somewhere else, don't tell me, I'd rather think that I am somewhat original.

And if you don't care what I did and how I did it, skip to the end and you can see the finished project, smile, and move on.

I started out perusing Roberts for an assortment of 12x12 scrapbook paper that matched Noah's bedding. I then made some simple designs using the paper and keeping the 12x12 size. I made four of these sheets, each one different. Very simple, no embelishments or anything (although you certainly could do that and it would be darling).

While at Roberts I also bought some foam core. They had the regular thickness, but I tried out this jumbo kind. It was about twice as thick as the regular foam core, which made it much harder to cut, but I thought it would look cooler. Taking a utility knife (very important that the blade is new, otherwise it's very hard to get a clean cut) I cut out 12x12 squares in the foam core.Even with a nice clean cut I still sanded the edges of the foam core a little bit to make them nice and smooth. I even thought about putting ribbon around them or painting them. I didn't, but I still think those are nice ideas.

Then I used spray mount to mount the 12x12 designs to the foam core. Next, to mount the square I used velcro, applying a small piece on each corner.

Then I pulled off the plastic so the sticky side was exposed, did some measuring, and stuck them on the wall!

Ta-Da! Here is the finished product! And it was so easy! Once I figured out the best way to cut the foam core, I think I could do this entire project in an hour, maybe an hour and a half!The idea is so versitle. You can do as many square as you want for the space you have, you can do several rows, you can do different sizes. I even thought it would be a really cute and inexpensive way to display photos if you added some pictures. The project total (including way more paper than I actually used, velcro, and foam core) was about $17! We already had the utility blade and the spray mount. But its much cheaper than buying frames or canvas art. It just adds a little color and pizzaz don't you think? :)

baby boobs

2009-02-18T10:56:00.002-07:00

He just hasn't quite figured out how to get that food to his mouth. We're working on it...

Happy LOVE Day!

2009-02-18T10:00:00.005-07:00

Valentines Day Morning Rich surprised me with a bouquet full of...candy! Original huh? I thought so. Saved us a bit of money as well. It was really sweet (literally! hee hee!). He also got me a couple of great chick flicks to add to my collection. We Spent the day being totally lazy and sleeping in, and then we spent a couple of hours delivering Valentines to our friends and family. I had made some yummy goodies for the occasion, both of which I forgot to take pictures of, which saddens me greatly. I like to have my work documented. But I swear that my chocolate covered strawberries looked just like this!(okay so not exactly like this, but honestly I did try all those fancy things with the coconut and the nuts, both milk and white chocolate. I got kind of crazy. And even though they weren't quite as perfect as these ones, the idea was the same and they were deliciouse)

I also made these really yummy little treats that I don't know the name of, but we'll call them 'Deliciouse Salty Sweets' (because thats what they are). All you do it put a bunch of pretzels on a cookie sheet on top of wax paper. Set a kiss on each pretzel and put the them in the oven at 200 degrees for ten minutes. When you take them out the kisses will still have their shape but they will be all gooey. Then you take M&Ms (or any candy I guess, but I like M&Ms because there are usually M&Ms the color of the upcoming holiday) and squish them on the kisses. Then put them in the freezer until the chocolate is hard.

I'm sure you could come up with a million variations of this, but it's really yummy and in the end they look like they took a lot more work than they did!

Later in the day Rich made me a DELICIOUSE steak dinner!He's pretty much a wiz in the kitchen.

He we in charge of dinner and I was in charge of dessert. I know I already shared a "recipe" but this cake was SO good and SO easy that I have to share. I got it off studio 5...

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Ingredients:

2 small (3.4oz) packages French vanilla instant pudding

1 package graham crackers

3 cups milk (don't use skim milk)

8 ounces Cook Whip (don't use fat free)

1 (16oz) container milk chocolate frosting

Method:

Add the milk and pudding, stir, and fold in the cool whip.

Grease a 9*13 pan with butter and layer graham crackers along the bottom of pan. Use 1/3 of the pudding mixture and layer on top of the graham crackers.

Continue the layers until there are 4 graham cracker layers (grahams should be on bottom and top) and 3 pudding mixture layers.

Warm the Container of frosting for 30 seconds in the microwave, or until slightly runny. Poor frosting over last graham layer and spread with spatula.

Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours (overnight is best). You can also freeze the cake (making it a little better for presentation)

We wrapped up the day watching the movies Rich bought me. It was a perfect, relaxed, and comfortable day. Thanks babe for the best LOVE day ever! XOXO

Introducing...

2009-02-11T12:17:00.003-07:00

This is our friend Sammy. He lives...well, on either end of the stone wall that fences in our backyard. Noah's window and the window behind our computer both face that wall. It is a favorite past time of ours to sit on the little twin bed that we keep in his room and stare out the window, especially when it's snowing. And then both Rich and I spend our fare share of time sitting in front of our computer.

Sammy brings much joy to our lives when we spot him (several times a day) scurrying back and forth across the top of the wall, holding something that I cannot identify. (believe it or not he JUST ran by to say good morning, no joke) You know the simple joy (atleast for me) that comes with spotting live wild animals habitating so close to your habitat! Even when it is something so small as a squirrel. To be honest this is not a real picture of Sammy, I wish we were that friendly, but I swear it looks just like him.

Confession

2009-02-06T12:44:00.003-07:00

When it comes to cracking an egg, I am hopeless. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I made something involving an egg and I didn't have to pick a shell out. It's kind of embarassing seeing as this is a skill we were supposed to have mastered in 8th grade homemaking. I must have been in denial all these years, but I have finally come to the realization that this really is a simple skill that I should be able to do. Especially with my recent aspiring ambitions to become a great chef.

So, I must be doing something wrong. I know I know, theres nothing to it right? What is there that I could be doing wrong? Well I ask you, do you have to pick out egg shells every time you crack an egg?

If you know a secret please let me in on it. Maybe I should take video of myself cracking an egg and post it for critiques.

Thought

2009-02-04T22:18:00.003-07:00

The best part about doing dishes is Definately when you reach for the soap so you can squeeze some onto your sponge and all those mini magical bubbles squirt out and fill your face with a lemony aroma. I think it happens more often when your soap is full. I just bought a new bottle of soap and it happens every time I grab it. Love it.

thank you Costco.

2009-01-27T20:32:00.006-07:00

Doing my grocery shopping this afternoon, Costo gave me the privilege of running into this lovely lady..... She is currently in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the grossest fuzziest fro hair! Can you believe it! You'd think they would have noticed her nails...
Yeah just kidding, it's for her nails. Can I say ew? Ew. ew. ew. ew. ew.
She was doing some shopping with her lady friend who really should have owned the world record for the fuzziest fro hair. Hers was long black and curly, and walking past them her hair proved to be such a distraction that I didn't even notice this lady (Lee Redmond is her name). Even without the nails they were quite a pair with their matching velvet jogging suits. But I tried not to stare and I moved on with my shopping.
It wasn't until I was at the checkout line and I noticed a large commotion up front that I realized whose presence I had the privilege to be in. There she was posing for picture after picture with her adoring fans. And honestly, I was a little jelouse. What I would have given for a camera phone at that moment.
I spent the rest of my time in line with my new friends (I'm sure you're familiar with how peculiar situations suddenly turn everyone around you into friends so you can talk about it) wondering about how she functioned. How does she do her hair? How does she itch herself? How does she pick her nose? How does she even get dressed?!
I'm guessing that her crazy jogging suit friend helps her out. Gee I wish I had a picture of her.
And thats my adventure for today! Hope you enjoyed!

Six Months Ago...

2009-01-20T18:23:00.012-07:00

Sixth months ago he drank this...Now he drinks this...This onesie used to drown him...Now he is stylin' in this...He used to be all floppy with no control of his neck or any of his limbs...Now he's rolling, sitting, and attempting to crawl...Six months ago this is pretty much what he did, all day long...

but to get him to hold still enough to capture this picture, was a small miracle...

What Happened!?!?

Oh yeah, six months happened. Whoa.

But. One thing I don't miss about six months ago...

(this is me two weeks before he was born. Really don't miss this.)

A Holly Jolly Christmas

2008-12-29T10:52:00.011-07:00

We had a fabulous Christmas this year, filled with lots of good times with family, which is the most important thing. We spent about an equal amount of time with each and loved every minute of it!

This is Noah on Christmas Eve riding a decorative rocking horse that was just his size!Check out his darling Christmas attire, he's pretty thrilled.This is him looking a little bit bleary-eyed waking up at Grandma Poulsen's Christmas morning, it was a pretty rough night...His favorite present was the magical wrapping paper. You just can't beat that wonderful noise that it makes.And then his second favorite present, but one that gets to stick around for awhile. He loves his toy garden (thats not what it's called, but I can't remember the name of it, and toy garden sounds much more fun anyway) just as long as someone is close enough to watch him and all the cool stuff he can do. Once you leave the room he doesn't think it's quite so cool. The boy enjoys an audience.And last but not least we ended the holiday with some sweat moments under the Christmas tree. Come to find Noah really LOVES christmas trees and he's the happiest boy on earth when he is lying beneath them. It was a great way to conclude Christmas Day.

The Midway Excursion

2008-12-29T10:29:00.009-07:00

The Poulsen fam is forming a tradition of gathering at a condo in Midway the weekend before Christmas. As we are all having to share families and some come from out of town, this assures us a time that we can all be together. Rich and I were in charge of planning it this year and I think it was a big success! It started out with a family picture. There have been a few additions (including myself) to the family since the last portrait, so it's good to finally get an updated one. I think it turned out rather nice, especially since we were just using the timer on our very non-fancy camera. Noah enjoyed reuniting with some of his cousins for the first time since he was a few days old. Aden loved Noah and was constantly trying to give him open mouthed kisses. As cute as it was I had to put a stop to it since all of the kids were carrying around sicknesses.
A few of the group took a major snowshoeing hike and had a jolly good time. It was snowing pretty bad up there!
We had tons of fun for a couple days and it was good to see everyone together.And we ended the gettaway with sledding. Thanks for everyone's help in making the magic happen!

Whoops

2008-12-16T22:23:00.002-07:00

Sometimes when your changing a diaper and your in a hurry to get back to watching 'The Biggest Loser' finale, you forget to button up your sons onesie before you put his pants back on. Oh well. This way he wont be able to pull those sweats off and run around pantless, because he's always tryin' to do that! Leave it to my babe to make me laugh

Running out of Patience

2008-12-04T20:54:00.001-07:00

Sure am hating this drive by now. Can't wait to be done.
9 more days!!!

It's my Babe's Birthday!!!

2008-11-18T17:32:00.001-07:00

He turns a quarter of a century old today!!! And he's still as cute as ever:)

I Love you babe, I hope you have an excellent day!!!

Tagged by Laura

2008-11-18T09:49:00.003-07:00

5 things I did 10 years ago...
1. entered Young Womens
2. started wearing make-up
3. got to go to good old Junior High
4. broke my leg
5. started taking private cello lessons

5 things on my 'to do' list today...
1. grocery shopping
2. laundry
3. dishes
4. practice cello
5. Celebrate Rich's B-day! Yay! Something exciting!

5 snacks I enjoy...
1. Goldfish crackers
2. tootsie rolls
3. french fries
4. guacamole
5. milk

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire...
1. buy a nice home
2. take a really nice vacation with Rich
3. buy Rich a subaru outback
4. buy myself a Toyota Camry
5. save the rest!

5 places I have lived...
1. Mesa Arizona
2. Murray Utah
3. Orem Utah
4. Provo Utah
5. Murray Utah, again

5 jobs I have had...
1. Police Cadet for Murray City :)
2. Server at the Brick Oven
3. Call center
4. McCoy's Furniture Sales Assistant
5. Personal assistant at Envision Lending

5 people I tag...
1. Dani
2. Kelly
3. Steph
4. Mari
5. Kim (c'mon Kim, you can do it!)

Handsome

2008-11-07T16:48:00.001-07:00

I just had to post this picture because I think it's so adorable. Check out his little dimples!

HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-07T16:06:00.011-07:00

I know these pictures are a little bit overdue, but they're worth a look. We had fun putting together costumes this year.
Don't be confused, we did mix eras a little bit, but oh well. I ended up looking like an 80's disco dancer (thanks to this gem of a shirt, compliments of Savers). Rich has got the fro with clothes more from the seventies. And Noah is our little Hippie child! His costume is definately my favorite. So hardcore. These are some pictures from our ward Halloween carnival. Noah was sleeping through most of it unfortunately, but if you'll just take a look, yes.....that is a onesie...Tie Dyed! Compliments of me! It took me three tries to get it right, but if anyone needs lessons on tie dying, just ask the expert. I may have come up with my own method, but it worked out in the end.Rich tweaked these ones in Photoshop. Makes a pretty handsome afro man huh?What do you think? Do you think I could go blonde?Finally, Noah woke up long enough to say "was up." Look at those muscles!!!Now this is our pumpkin. We bought the sweetest pumpkin and by the time we got around to carving it (Halloween Night) the top of it had started to mold. So we had to cut it off. Making it perfectly acccesible to put on your head of course! We don't really know what it is, but it looks pretty cool!

99 Things...

2008-10-30T22:03:00.004-06:00

I found this tag while I was blog-stalking people (we all do it!) and even though I'm not officially tagged, I wanted to do it because it makes me feel good about all the things I've done!
All you do is bold/change color of the font of the things that you have done. It's a nice trip down memory lane!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower - blind date - worst experience ever
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - well, okay not at see, but on the beach, close enough
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - If you consider Tye-dye on art, I just taught myself to do that and I'm mighty proud!
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping - only kind of, long story...
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - so proud of this one!
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - hm, not officially, but I am teaching privately. I guess that could be a business...
58. Taken a martial arts class - haven't done this but kind of want to...
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - oh BOY do I have childhood toys!
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - for my baby! so Proud!
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - it was only a fish, but it was awful
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - Happen to KNOW David Archuletta!
92. Joined a book club - Okay I shouldn't count this. But I've tried so many times!
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - yep, gross.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

M.O.M.

2008-10-03T15:27:00.004-06:00

Today is one of those days when all I have to do is make eye contact with Noah and he will inevitably give me one of his biggest eye-crinkling grins. The sound of my voice will make him giggle and squirm. It's days like this that make me feel like I don't give him enough attention, because he gest so excited as if he is deprived! But I really do my best, he just an unbelievably chill baby! Really, he will just sit and stare at me, watching me do whatever it is I'm doing, even something as uninteresting as typing on the computer (like this very moment).

Although, he is pretty good at letting me know when he wants some lovin'. He "yells". There really isn't another word for the little sounds he makes, very boyish sounds too. And they really just sound like yelling, only very quiet because his lungs are still pretty teeny. But it's funny the little combination of letters that come out, some of them actually making sense. Sometimes it sounds like he's saying "HEY!"

And that brings me to the point of this blog today. Today he yelled "MOM!"

It was the most amazing little sound I've ever heard, and it was totally by accident I'm sure. But I immediately whirled around and stared at him, and of course he gave me his best eye-crinkling grin.

If that doesn't warm your heart, I don't know what will.

Premature

2008-10-03T11:34:00.005-06:00

So yesterday morning the Lady on Fox 13 news (I think thats where I heard it) said that there was a storm coming and that all the rain and the wind was going to blow all of the leaves off. She said, and I quote, "This morning might be your last chance to sneak up and see those autumn leaves." So all day I am scanning the sky, praying that it doesn't rain before Rich can get home so we can "sneak up and see the leaves."

So we go as soon as he gets home, and I kind of feel like it was premature! I don't know maybe I'm wrong, maybe it was a combination of the gloomy day and just not finding the right spot. But we felt like the leaves just hadn't done enough changing yet, there was too much green. So that put me at ease. I feel like we've got atleast another week, maybe two!

All the same, we did capture some pretty cute pictures nonetheless.

Whoa! Does he not look like he's 4 months old! Sheesh!

This is Me on Monday Morning.....Ugh

2008-09-29T22:43:00.002-06:00

Attending school would seem to be equivalent to a weekend getaway...

Babies change things.

Long Long Ago

2008-09-26T16:30:00.011-06:00

Once Upon a Time....my baby was this small.
These are some pictures we had taken of Noah when he was just two weeks old. It's amazing what a long time ago that seems, and how much he's grown since then.

Livin' the Dream

2008-09-19T17:48:00.005-06:00

So...we haven't been doing a lot of terribly exciting blog-worthy things lately, but we do keep ourselves entertained!

This is Noah's first fort...You can tell by the look on his face that he is ecstatic. I mean, what little boy wouldn't be! (we'll show him these pictures later on in life and he'll be sorry he was so indifferent to this amazing creation)It may have looked big on the outside, but we pretty much demolished it while Rich and I were trying to join in the fun, we had to rebuild it around ourselves:)And thats the latest!

I Hereby Tag, All Who Read This

2008-09-15T10:30:00.003-06:00

1. What is your occupation right now? Cello Teacher, Mommy, Student

2. What color are your socks right now? All of my socks are white, except for some pink ones with hearts that I wear on Valentines day

3. What are you listening to right now? Colbie Caillat – Oxygen

5. Can you drive a stick shift? No, and it sometimes makes my life pretty difficult because one of our two cars is a stick. I really should learn, but it’s a tiny truck, therefore Noah can’t ride in it. And it just seems like a waste of an outing to get a baby sitter so Rich can teach me to drive stick.

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mother in Law, one of the 3 people who call me (Rich, my mom, and my mom-in-law! I should probably get some friends…)

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? No…just kiddin’ I love you Kelly Jean!

8. How old are you today? Almost 22! …but yeah today, 21.

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Hm…I guess I’d have to say soccer, because I played it so I can understand it and get into it. But I’m really working on basketball and football for Rich’s sake.

10. What is your favorite drink? I LOVE MILK!!! But ever since we moved into this apartment that has a fridge with the ice thing that makes crushed ice and has instant cold water, I drink a lot more of that than I used to. It’s not so bad.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Actually, no. I’ve only gotten weaves, some people may consider that the same thing. But believe it or not I have always had atleast SOME of my natural color.

12. Favorite food? I don’t know that I have one favorite. If you asked my favorite type I would always say Italian, but I’m kind likin’ Tai food now too. My favorite thing these days is the Tomato Potato chip sandwich that Rich introduced to me a couple of weeks ago (Tomato, Mayo, and Potato chip between bread, it’s Delish!)

13. What is the last movie you watched? The Holiday, but I only made it through half, then I fell asleep.

14. Favorite day of the year? Hm. That question is impossible to answer. I’m skipping it.

15. How do you vent anger? Well, this may make some people question my sanity. If I’m angry with a person than I just have imaginary conversations with them in my head and say everything that I need to say. Those of you who know me know that what I want to say will almost never get to the person who needs to hear it. It’s probably not healthy…
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My sis and I were obsessed with stuffed animals, they all had names and birthdays, the works. But I also loved my American girl dolls.

17. What is your favorite season? Fall hands down. My dad says it’s an awful season because everything is dying. But it’s got both Rich and My birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the anticipation of Christmas, it smells good, it’s beautiful with the leaves, the temperature is perfect, and school starts after a summer break so it doesn’t seem quite so terrible!

18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries, I don’t so much like blueberries

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Of course.

20. Who is the most likely to respond? Um, maybe Dani? (no pressure)

21. Who is least likely to respond? Probably Kim since she hasn’t blogged for forever (but I know she'll read this, so there some pressure:)

22. Living arrangements? In my sisters basement right now, but we’re looking…

23. When was the last time you cried? Actually, yesterday.

24. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes, and my backpack.

26. What did you do last night? Took a walk to wheeler farm and then feel asleep at like eight thirty so that I couldn’t sleep once I really wanted to.

27. What are you most afraid of? Someone in my family dieing. That’s a little morbid, I should have found something light and funny to say, but it’s true.

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheesy. Everything is better with a little cheese.

29. Favorite dog breed? One day I’m going to get a Yorky Poodle. I love those little dogs.

30. Favorite day of the week? Probably Thursdays, because I love Fridays….That may only make sense to me.

31. How many states have you lived in? Just good ol’ Utah!

32. Diamonds or pearls? Pearls

33. What is your favorite flower? I love lilies. But it’s probably tied with Roses. I say lilies because it seems more original. Rich thinks roses are overated, and he’s probably right, but I just can’t shake it, I love Them!

34. How did you meet the person who sent this to you? I don’t really actually remember how I met her, but she’s been a good bud for a long time!

Bless that Baby!

2008-09-13T13:17:00.006-06:00

Noah was good as gold the day of his blessing. He didn't squirm or cry while the blessing was being performed, of course that might have been because of the extreme bouncing he was experiencing.

This is the adorable little outfit, made especially for him by Grandma Poulsen. Thanks!

Spit-Up

2008-09-12T13:18:00.003-06:00

So Noah and I were playing on my bed this morning. Playing meaning smiling at each other. If he's happy and fed, than any little bit of attention will ussually get him pretty excited. And when he gets excited he sticks his arms out straight, flails them around in every direction, bicycle kicks his legs at a rapid rate, and snorts.
So there we were 'playing', and he spits up. Now normal spit up would be nothing worth mentioning, the kind that just over-flows out of the mouth or even occasionally spills all the way down his chest. But this was pretty extraordinary. Somehow he managed to make a fountain! I kid you not this spit shot straight up and out of his mouth, 2 maybe 3 inches, so straight that I thought it might land right back where it came from! It wasn't as exact as it seemed because it ended up covering the rest of his face.
What I wouldn't give to have had a camera right then as he furiously blinked through the messy discharge to stare confusedly up at me, laughing my head off.

I DID IT!!!

2008-09-11T12:31:00.003-06:00

Today is a monumental day in my not too terribly exciting life. I've done something that I never thought I could do, and handled it just as horribly as I imagined I would have. This is my story...

It started out as a normal Thursday morning. I had just put Noah in bed for his "nap" that ussually lasts till noon (it's really more of a second nights sleep). I was feeling ambitious this morning so reguardless of the fact that I was not planning on going anywhere or doing anything special I thought I would put on some makeup and, believe it or not, do something cute with my hair! This forced me to be in front of the mirror much longer than is usual in my average day. So there I was in the middle of putting on my mascara when something tiny and black caught my eye from the top corner of the mirror. I quickly realized that i was seeing the reflection from behind me and had just witnessed a GINORMOUS spider crawl from over the top of the shower curtain, I turned in time to see him darting rapidly toward the ground.
So when I mentioned the "tiny" black thing, I had not at the time known this was a spider. In spider speaking this was, as I said, Ginormous. Not the little wimpy spiders with the little bodies and the thin legs, this sucker was thick and black. And fast. And HUGE. And thats all I'm going to say about it because my hands are starting to shake.
I was now forced to face one of my worst fears. You can even ask Rich! When we first moved into our new apartment we must have disturbed some homes because we found quite a few of these giant beauties. But in that first week, Rich was home with me and all I had to do was scream and the mess would be taken care of. I recall the night before Rich went back to work. I expressed to him my fear that I would find a spider while I was home alone and I wouldn't be able to kill it so I would run away and then we would have to move because I wouldn't be able to live in a house with the knowlege of a huge spider lurking in every dark warm place! So far I had been safe, but now, I had to decide...
Well, in the 16th of a second that I paused to consider, I believe it was my mothers instinct that saved the day. I had to give my baby a bath when he woke up, and this beast would have to be dead for me to do it.
I quickly reached for the plastic bucket that I keep all of Noah's bath supplies in, hurridly dumping them on the floor, (it was the object with the most surface area on the bottom to increase my chances of actually hitting this speedy demon), and just as the culplrit was reaching the bottom of the curtain I smashed him and then shook the tub around to break up the pieces. If you can imagine, all this did was wound him. I then reached for the conditioner bottle to apply more pressure and repeated the gesture many times until I knew the spider was mutilated enough that atleast he couldn't run away. All this time I was squeeling at a pitch only dogs could hear.
As soon as I was sure I was safe from the fiend, I ran from the bathroom, jumped on my bed, grabbed my phone and called Rich, near tears, asking him to come home. I knew he wouldn't really come home, but I needed to talk to someone to calm my hyperventilating. He told me how brave I was and that he was so proud of me. Little did he know it would be a couple hours before I could go back in the bathroom to finish putting on my make-up, and that I would only hide the black pulpy spider mess under the bucket so he could take care of it later.
I wanted to take a picture of it for proof on this post, but, thats just going too far. Maybe with my next victory. Maybe.

Another Growth Update

2008-09-02T14:18:00.009-06:00

AH-CHOO!!!

2008-09-02T13:52:00.003-06:00

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I don't think there is anything more adorable than a baby sneezing. Ever since Noah was born we have been trying to catch him sneezing on video, and we finally succeeded! So I publish this post for all to enjoy:)

Sorry the movie is so much longer than it needed to be, we were hoping he would do it again...

Back to Where the Magic Happened

2008-09-02T13:27:00.017-06:00

To celebrate out anniversary Rich and I decided to we wanted to spend an evening where the deed was done 2 years ago, seeing as we are so conveniently close now.
We ate at The Garden restaurant on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It was a fun little place to eat, the food was not amazing, but the atmosphere was great. We were leaving just as the sun went down and the temple lights turned on. It was gorgeous!

Rich snapped some really beautiful pictures of the temple. It was really fun to simply walk around the square and actually look at the statues and landscape and things. I've taken it for granted having lived so close to it most of my life, it really is an awesome place.

We had a super fun time reminiscing:)

(The flash made this picture look a little bit like Elphaba's palace or something. For those of you not dialed in, that was a reference to WICKED)

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2008-08-24T20:16:00.007-06:00

I just want Rich to know on our special day, that I love him more than anything. Life has thrown us some interesting surprises, but look at how much we've grown together! Through thick and thin, we're better together, and I know we can handle anything. Two years ago today was the best day of my life. I love you babe!

Love, Rachel

In honor of our anniversary and expressing our love (or knowlege), I'm going to fill our this tag I got from Danny.

1- Where did you meet? A women's appreciation luncheon at the Orem institute, ditching my sociology class. He was honored to be my server.

2- How long did you date before you were married? 6 months, 3 dating, 3 engaged (I know, crazy!)

3- How long have you been married for? 2 years today!

4- What does he do that surprises you? He can be very romantic. Not that thats surprising...but you know, he does it in a surprising way...

5- What's your favorite feature about him? I love that he has squishy cheeks, lots of extra skin so I can squeeze them like he is five. I love the dimple resembling a crevice on the right side of his face. And I love his forearms and hands.

6- What's your favorite quality about him? He is really great with kids, especially our own. And he makes me laugh.

7- Does he have a nickname for you? What is it? Babe, Baby Doll, or Rach. And then every once in awhile he will come up with some crazy random name he says he is going to start calling me, but they never stick.

8- What's his favorite color? I ask him that every once in awhile, and he always says he doesn't know, he doesn't think he has one.

9- What's his favorite food? Hm...he loves cake and milk and cookies, he loves homemade bread (which I never make, i'm pretty much the worst), he loves the tortilla soup that I make, and he always seems to be craving stew (which we never have, again, I'm the worst)

10-What is his favorite sport? probably baseball, because thats what he plays the most, but it's hard to tell, he loves all sports, basketball, golf, rugby, frisbee, football...

11- Who said I love you first? He did

12- When and where was your fist kiss? About four days after our first date, in my apartment

13-What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Pretty much anything, we just love to go on dates. Outdoor active things, making gingerbread houses, carving pumpkings...

14-Do you have kids? How many? yep! just one little guy

15- What's a hidden talent that he has? He has got some serious dance moves! He can even do the splits! Seriously, I tell him that with a little bit of training he could rock on 'So you think you can Dance'

16- How old is he? 24
17- What's his favorite type of music? Who knows, he likes everything. But I know he doesn't like twangy country. Who does?

18- What do you admire most about him? He is a Go-Getter. He can be very determined when he sets his mind to it. And he's very athletic, a talent I pray he passes on to our children because they wont get it from me.

19-What's his favorite past time? Anything outdoors. He loves to be active and outside.

20- Do you think he is going to read this? I sure hope so!

I LOVE YOU RICH!!!

These are my Boys!

2008-08-19T12:31:00.006-06:00

Here is a tribute to the most important men in my life!I snagged this picture last night at about 1:30. He finally went to sleep! (But don't worry, he woke right back up)

Watch Him Grow!

2008-08-16T21:14:00.005-06:00

I guess it might just be due to the fact that I'm with this little kid 24/7, but I can see him change every day! He is officially a month old now and the time has FLOWN by, it's a little bit frightening. He is actually smiling at me now and let me tell you, there is nothing in the world more rewarding than that. I live for it.
I've compiled this slide show of some pictures we took on two different days within the last week or so. The ones in the stylish hawaiian get-up are from today and the other ones are from a week ago. Be amazed as before your very eyes you watch this little man plump up and develop baby acne!

Trial Lake!

2008-08-11T21:14:00.011-06:00

Every year my family goes on their annual camping trip up to Trial Lake in the high Uintahs. We were only able to go up for an afternoon this year what with the new bambino and all, but we had a blast! It was so good to get away, and so fun because my whole family was there! (besides Nate. He's a little tied up right now, but we missed him).
This lake is so beautiful, and so stock full of memories for me since we have been coming here for years and years. I know it's a huge pain for my mom to get this trip ready every year, but I just want her to know how much we appreciate it!

We started our outing with a short walk around the Lake. (Okay, we really only made it like a fourth of the way, if that, but give me a break I just had a baby!)

Noah had his first ride in his "snugglie" carrier (Thanks Grandma Poulsen!) and despite what his face may suggest in this picture, he loved it.After passing on the baby to the many eager hands, Rich and I went for a canoe ride. It was SO peaceful and beautiful, and the fish were jumping everywhere!In my younger years of camping I always kind of felt the pressure of having to fish because all of my brothers and sisters were always fishing, so I did it, but to be honest, I never really enjoyed it all that much. So once I decided that I really didn't care what everyone else was doing, I kind of gave up on fishing.

This year I decided to give it another try, and I loved it! It really is quite relaxing, even when you don't catch anything which I rarely do. Rich and I have decided that we want to get some fishing poles for ourselves.

I didn't expect to catch anything this time, but lo and behold on my second cast in I pulled out this little guy! And really, he was tiney enough that I didn't even feel him on my pole until I was dragging him through the mud and I noticed him flipping around on my hook. He's pretty cute isn't he!

While I was catching my fish Rich was patiently waiting for his turn to use the pole. My 4-year-old neice Sydney was kind enough to let him use her princess fishing pole from Walmart, accompanied by very detailed instructions on how to use it:)Rich also caught a little guppy! Although he wasn't quite as excited as I was about mine. He has higher expectations for himself. A little while later he actually caught a pretty decent sized one but our camera was out of batteries at that point...

The day was perfect! Finished off with a beautiful smokeless fire, roasted bread-sticks with honey butter, and my brother's playing their guitars while we all joined in. You just can't beat that:)

Where's Noah....Here he is!!!

2008-08-05T15:24:00.033-06:00

I would like to begin this post with my sincere apologies. For those of you who know me or Rich at all, you are probably (hopefully) aware that we have had our baby a couple weeks ago! A beautiful baby boy whom we named Noah Brett Poulsen
I apologize that it has taken so long for us to put up any pictures (especially to those of our friends who have moved recently and are probably wondering if I am really 2 weeks overdue. Thank heavens that is not the case), I really don’t have a reasonable excuse for this other than I’m not really good at this blog thing yet, and I just couldn’t muster up the desire to figure it out, I’ve been a little preoccupied.
I’d also like to give a shout out to my little brother Nathan who has recently entered the MTC and will be serving in the Arcadia California mission. I want him to know that I’ll be blogging for him! (My mom prints out the recent blog posts of any of our family member and sends them to him each week so he’ll know how everyone is doing) I send a special apology for him although I know he has already seen pictures of our little boy. And I want him to know how proud of him Rich and I are. We love getting your emails each week and we love you!

This is Noah on his birthday (July 19th, wow how time flies!). He was a healthy 8 pounds 10 ounces, 20 inches long with a 38 centimeter head. Everything went great during the 12 hour labor. I was a much more emotional experience than I was prepared for, he is such a little miracle. We couldn’t be prouder parents!

Here he is waving hello to the world! It might not be evident in this picture, but he was born with very large hands and feet. He has since grown into them a little bit and then don't look so odd, but this kid is cut out for something great. Famous basketball player...cellist...

I believe this is him on his second day of life, or maybe his third, I'm not sure I just know we were still at the hospital. Isn't it amazing how much they can change in such a short amount of time! Look at how much his little birth-mark has faded!

He's giving a little wink, what a heartbreaker.

This is him on his original due date, the 24th. Looking even older! He was pretty much sleeping all the time at this point, but look at that double chin developing! I'm predicting he's gonna be a little chunk!

This is him a few days later, I'm not sure how many. He's probably about a week and a half old in this picture. Rich and I have decided that he definately has my mouth, those distinct curvy lips, I hope those work out for him...

There just simply isn't anything sweeter than a baby, and I have to say I think we've produced the cutest one (sorry to anyone who has ever had a baby, but we win). I could just watch him for hours, and I do. I just marvel as I watch him learn and take things in. I can't help but wonder what he's thinking and how his brain works. It's so fun to interact with him, I didn't think babies could really interact so young, but his little personality is very evident. He already has all these funny little quirks. Rich and I are so blessed, and I love being a mommy!

Mesa Drive

2008-07-07T01:34:00.000-06:00

And just when you thought all the fun was done. Rach and I went downtown before the Stadium of Fire and listened to this new band called Mesa Drive straight from SLC. They were so awesome that I bought their CD had them all sign it and get a picture with them for when they are famous. They are on schedule to tour with Maroon 5 and County Crows.

2008-07-07T01:28:00.000-06:00

Rich, Mckinley and Grandpa. Good Times!

2008-07-07T01:23:00.000-06:00

While playing some Bocce Ball, Steve, Tanner and Jakob found a nest of baby birds. Their heads had this sort of bobble-head action going on every time we brushed up against the tree.

2008-07-07T01:15:00.000-06:00

After playing a game of softball we went through Hobble Creek Canyon and ended up at Jolly's Ranch. This was a nearby river with a man made water fall (It made for a nice action shot).

2008-07-07T01:10:00.000-06:00

See now doesn't that make it all worth it?

2008-07-07T01:07:00.000-06:00

Thats what I call a huge ball of gas!!! You can feel the heat from that one.

Rich vs. Stroller

2008-07-07T00:22:00.000-06:00

To prove how tired we actually were from not going to bed until 1:30 that same morning, watch this video. While Rich is awed at the bags under Kyles eyes he is to distracted to take the impact of the stroller waiting to take him head on.

2008-07-06T22:40:00.000-06:00

We kicked off the day at 5:30 am at Fox Field just east of the hospital to watch the hot air balloon competion. If you haven't seen this before, definately a must in the future. you'll be tired but the sight is well worth the effort.

2008-07-06T22:36:00.000-06:00

Well, we have had a lot of people ask us about what we did for the 4th of July, and since our day began at 5:30 am and ended at 12pm instead of telling the same stories over and over, i decided to blog about it.

Hello Everyone!

2008-02-21T15:58:00.001-07:00

Well, Rich and I have been married since August 06. We are both in school at UVSC. He is pursuing a degree in graphic design and I am ALMOST done with my Bachelors of Music (one semester left!). Our most exciting news as of late is that we are expecting our first baby on July 24th! We are so thrilled we can hardly wait. We don't know the gender yet, but we eagerly await the ultrasound on March 19th. So thats a little bit about us, just wait for more to come!