Garrett~Leslie~Harley

New Posts!

2012-01-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

4 New Posts Below People!!!!! Yes, I know it is hard to believe!

Harley's 2nd Birthday: The Party!

2012-01-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

Singing Happy Birthday to Harley

Before the party: Look at the darling skirt my mom made for her party!

I had a bunch of activities for all the kids to do during the party, but all they wanted to do was play with the outdoor toys!

Opening presents....

The Sunday after Harley's actual birthday, we had a family dinner at my parent's house to celebrate Harley and her cousin Jane's birthdays. (Their birthday's are one day apart). My mom decorates the table special for everyone's birthdays. Jane chose a Michael Jackson theme :)

The Michael Jackson table

courtesy of my Mom and Dad

Harley's 2nd Birthday: The Decorations

2012-01-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

Harley's favorite children's book character is Olivia, so what better theme for a party than Olivia!!! Every table had an Olivia doll and book.

I made all the decorations: tissue poms, table runners, name banners, etc....

My darling signs....

Dessert table. Olivia doll, Olivia book, Olivia cake......all things Olivia!! For those of you unfamiliar with the Olivia books, her favorite color is red, so all the desserts were red! Cake, red licorice, and red strawberries (the were in the clear bowl on the right)

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

2012-01-14T16:48:00.001-08:00

More out of order updates.....

For Halloween, Harley dressed up as Shirley Temple....complete with her own tap shoes!!! Here she is showing Garrett her stash at our church Trunk or Treat.

The back of her beautiful Shirley Temple dress.

This is the best shot I was able to get of the front of the dress.

We went to the best pumpkin patch around! We had so much fun we decided to go twice!

I didn't get great pictures with everyone, but we went once with my family and once with Garrett's parents.

Her two favorite parts of the pumpkin patch: the giant slide and the pony rides!!!

Petting the animals...

Updates...

2012-01-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

Let's just tell our story through pictures, shall we?

In September we visited my dad at work. Harley loved the fire trucks....

Did I mention we were there with cousins??

They all had the chance to sit inside and climb all over the fire trucks.

Harley and Papa

She loved Papa's hard hat and the fireman pin he gave to each of the kids.

In July (yes, these are out of order....I'm ok with it lol) We went to the Orange County Fair with our great friends Justin, Stacy, and Adalie. We even saw Jaime, Rebecca, and the twins there as well! Here we are watching the pig races...

Harley and Adalie

Harley and Daddy

Riding around in style. It has become tradition for our two families to go to the fair and have our own parade of wagons!

Weight Update

2011-08-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I got tired of updating every week. You were probably tired of reading about it every week too. so I decided to just update when I felt like it! *wink* Well, right now I feel like it! Lol

27 pounds lost!! I lost track of the weeks once I stopped posting, but I decided to start losing weight on May 4th. Sooooo.....

27 pounds lost since May 4th!!!!

Week Eleven

2011-07-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Lost half a pound this week again. 23.5 pounds total. This is going to take forever!!!

How did YOU do???

Week Ten

2011-07-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

Another half a pound lost. Total of 23 pounds. It is getting a lot harder now. I'm down to the end though...thats good news! Ideally I would like to lose 13.5 more pounds, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. As of right now I weigh less than I did the day I found out I was pregnant with Harley....WOOHOO!!!!! Since my body still looks so different and things are not getting as tight as they used to be, I would still like to lose that last chunk of weight. If I can do that....I will be back to my skinniest "adult" weight. Wish me luck!!!

Do YOU have updates??? I want to know how YOU are doing too! Let's all support each other and do this TOGETHER!!!

Week Nine

2011-07-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

2.5 pounds down! I'm finally back on track. I still don't feel like I did all that well though. I didn't work out as much as I would have liked, andI didn't keep track of my calories every day. I still ate well, I just don't want to get in the habit of not recording everything. If I do, I just know I will slowly start eating more than I should without realizing it. Well here's to a better week and 22.5 total pounds lost in 9 weeks!!!

PS.....how is YOUR weight loss coming?? Let's all do this together!!!!!

Week Seven and Week Eight

2011-06-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Week Seven- i lost two more pounds for a total of 21 pounds lost.

Week Eight- I gained a pound back :( BOO

For the last two weeks I sort of lost motivation. I wasn't keeping track and I slipped a little bit into old habits. UGH! I'm really upset with myself. and to think, I could have been at 23 pounds lost, but instead I sit here at 20 pounds. That is still great, don't get me wrong...I'm happy just a little discouraged. Oh well, I'm going for a run right now to try and get myself back on track.

Sorry for the typos and punctuation errors. I'm on my phone and it is too hard to go back and fix it!!

Three Years

2011-06-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today I married my best friend and love of my life. I love him more with each minute that passes. We have had good times together and bad times, and each day that goes by we get that much closer. I am truly grateful for the man, husband, and father he is and I could not imagine my life without him. We were blessed to be able to be married in the temple for time and all eternity, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you Garrett!!
While we were dating. Snowboarding in Tahoe.

Engagement Photos.

Our Wedding. On our honeymoon. :)

Week Six

2011-06-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

I lost 2 more pounds!! I was nervous about this week because I had 3 kind of bad days. I tried to make up for it in the last few days and I guess it worked! 19 pounds total!!!!

Week Five

2011-06-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

3 more pounds gone!! Total of 17 pounds in five weeks! I hope you arent annoyed with these posts, I just never thought I could do this so I wanted it documented :)

Splash Into Summer Boutique

2011-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Splash Into Summer Boutique is only 7 short days away! This is your reminder....be there or be square!!!!!Along with my bags, blankets, and taggies, I have several new items to sell at the boutique:

Taggie Puffs (sorry, my computer won't let me rotate the picture for some reason)

Messenger Diaper Bags

And Zipper Bags!!!!!

Week Four

2011-06-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

2 more pounds gone! Total of 14 pounds in 4 weeks! woop woop!!!!!!

Week Three

2011-05-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have lost 3 more pounds! This makes a total of 12 pounds in three weeks! I know you probably dont care, but I wanted to record it somewhere!

Week Two

2011-05-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Project "I Can't Be Fat Forever" Week 2

-3 pounds! Grand total of 9 pounds in two weeks!

Week One

2011-05-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Project "I Can't Be Fat Forever" Week One

-6 Pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get Ready....

2011-04-28T16:25:00.001-07:00

Get Excited.....I am!!!!! Come and enjoy the fun!!!! Tell your friends :)

Splash Into Summer Boutique!!!

2011-04-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well.....here it is! Splash Into Summer Boutique is now in the works! My mom and I are planning a boutique and we would LOVE to have YOU join us! If you have a little business, or are crafty and would like to sell your merchandise....NOW is your chance!! Please fill out the application below and email it back to me at: littlemissandlittlemister@yahoo.com

"Splash Into Summer" Boutique Application Form

Friday June 10, 2011 5:00-8:00pm

Saturday June 11, 2011 10:00am-3:00pm

Boutique will be located at: 5313 Autry Ave, Lakewood, CA 90712

Dinner on Friday and Breakfast/Brunch on Saturday will be served to all vendors.

Name: _________________________

Business Name: ___________________

E-mail: _________________________

Address you prefer check mailed to following boutique (if accepted):

Description of item(s) selling:

_________________________________________________________________

Please check which category best describes your craft. Check all that apply:

____ Baby/Children's Items ___Cooking/Baked Goods

____ Fashion ___ Fine Art

____ Fourth of July ___ Home Decor

____ Jewelry ___ Paper Crafts

____ Religious ___ Summer Theme

____ Other

*Please Note: We are trying to have as wide a variety of items to sell as possible. Duplicates will be limited.

Booth Space:

____ Card Table - $20

____ 4ft. Rectangular Table - $20

____ 6ft. Rectangular Table - $25

*Once your application is accepted, please mail the booth fee to secure your spot.

Some tables will be outside under a covered patio or under an EZ Up. We will do our best to accommodate your wishes.

Do you prefer:

____ Indoors ____ Outdoors ____ No preference

Do you need Electricity? _____

Thank you all! Feel free to share this post and application with anyone you feel may be interested!!!

Craft Night...

2011-01-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

...is back! I had to take a break for awhile because I was wwaaayyyy too busy, but we are back! Next craft night is this thursday the 20th at 6:30!!! Emal me at: lesattwood@yahoo.com for directions to the NEW LOCATION!!! Let me know if you can make it....hope to see you all there!!

1 Year Portraits

2010-11-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Last month when my brother Dusty and sister-in-law Melissa were in town, Melissa offered to take Harley's one year pictures! Melissa and I went down to the pumpkin patch in the morning with Harley and she was not having it! We came back later that day with the family and she did much better!!! I LOVE how the pictures turned out!

This is the tutu I made for her Halloween costume. I thought it would be cute to wear part of her costume at the pumpkin patch! We left the rest at home because I didn't want to push it! ha

Thank you so much Tante Missy!!!!!!!! We love you!!!!!!

New New New!

2010-11-04T09:42:00.001-07:00

Four new posts below!

September and October

2010-11-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm a little low on pictures for September and October. I was out of town like every other weekend and I just didn't take any pictures! Here are a few that I do have.....

Korben got baptised and we went to Utah to celebrate!We had a few cold and rainy days and I took advantage to dress Harley in her super cute outfit!

I seriously love this on her!

For Halloween Harley dressed up with two of her little friends and was Merryweather (Blue Fairy Godmother in Sleeping Beauty) Scroll down a few posts to see their picture. There are more, but I need to get them from my friend first and then I can post!

July

2010-11-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

In July, Uncle Ian, Aunt Melissa, and Cousins Korben and Karsen came to visit.....

We played in the fountains at the Town Center

Karsen cracks me up in this picture!

Played in the Exersaucer

Went swimming in the mini pool with Korben and Karsen. Don't you just love her wetsuit!

Walked through Shoreline Village and ended up at the light house

Went to the Aquarium....I think Karsen was more interested in Harley!

(I did have a darling headband and flower on her, but she took it off before we even got inside!)

With our friends at church on the 4th of July

Boston, Harley, Brighton, and Adalie

Sleeping like an angel! I thought she was so cute I had to snap a picture!

August

2010-11-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, July should be first, but after I uploaded the pictures from August I thought the post would be too big.....so August!!!!

We got our wagon out of storage and Harley loves it!

We went to the OC Fair

We took our wagon with us to pull Harley when she fell asleep (and to also put all our stuff in!)

This fabulous family met us at the fair with their wagon too :)

Harley has been getting into all sorts to trouble!

We celebrated Daddy's birthday

She discovered taking all the shoes out of the basket is her favorite thing to do each day.

She danced with her walker thingy

Lots of fun in August! NOW for July......

May and June

2010-11-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been slacking on my blog, so I will just update with pictures!! These are the happenings with Harley from May and June. (No, I'm not going to write everything she discovered in those months....just cute pictures!)

6 month photo shoot with Tante Missy in May

First time in the backyard mini pool with Daddy in May

Cutest Bathing Suit that ever lived!

Trip to Arizona Father's Day weekend

Uncle Dusty and Tante Missy just moved there that weekend and Harley wanted to test out their pool with Uncle Dusty :)

Next up.....July and August! We did lots more, but I don't want to overload on pictures! ha

Are you ready.......

2010-10-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

.....for Halloween?????

Because we are!!!!

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are definitely ready!!!!!

(Three Fairies from Sleeping Beauty....for those of you who are confused as to who they are!)

2nd Craft Night!!

2010-09-11T19:13:00.001-07:00

Hello Ladies!

The next craft night will be this THURSDAY September 16th.

Same place, same time - 6:30pm - ?????

Let me know if you can make it! Remember, you don't have to have a craft to come! We can help you think of something to make, or you can just come to chat!!!!

Email me if you need the address

lesattwood@yahoo.com

Craft Night Here We Come!!!

2010-08-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

Alright all you crafty ladies out there! We have a date for our first craft night! I wanted to plan it soon while we are all still excited about it!!! It will be a week from today.....

Thursday, August 19th

6:30-???

At the home of my parents :)

Feel free to come at 6:30 and leave whenever you like! We will provide some treats (not a full dinner) and desserts. If you would like to bring some food just let me know so I don't duplicate anything. I am so excited! Bring your project with you and be ready for a great time!! Remember, you don't need to be working on a craft to come, you can just come to hang out and chat!!!!

Email me at lesattwood@yahoo.com if you need the address

Monthly Craft Night

2010-08-10T12:20:00.001-07:00

So, I'm thinking about starting a monthly craft night. We can pick a night that all of us can get together and finish up all those crafts we have been working on for ages: sewing, scrapbooking, crosstitching, knitting, whatever! And not only can we craft, but we can eat yummy appetizers or desserts and just visit! You don't even need to be working on a craft to come....you can just come and chat!!!!

Anyone interested???????

New Products!

2010-07-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Updates and new things available over at Little Miss and Little Mister!

http://www.littlemissandlittlemister.blogspot.com

Where's Harley?

2010-07-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

I spy with my little eye.......little eyes!!!!

Peek a boo!
There's Harley!!!!!!

Little Miss and Little Mister!

2010-06-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

Finally!!!!

I have posted on my Little Miss and Little Mister Blog. Go check it out! Be patient with me as I expand both blogs and add special features!

littlemissandlittlemister.blogspot.com

2 Wonderful Years!

2010-06-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

2 years ago today I married my best friend and the love of my life...

Los Angeles Temple
June 28, 2008

Here's to eternity together! I love you Garrett!!

Sneak Peek!!!!

2010-05-28T22:30:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek to the stuff I will be selling! I'm still getting details figured out and coming up with great stuff to add, but here is a little tid bit of what will be available!!!

Diaper Bags

Can be made in whatever colors/pattern you like! Custom orders will be taken, or you can buy a pre-made bag like this one!!

Complete with cell phone pocket on outside

And plenty of pockets on the inside for all of your baby's needs!

*The above bag is available for purchase: $40* (Inside material is pink with small white polka dots)

This bag was made for a friend of mine who just had her baby. CONGRATS!

I love how unique this material is!

Rag Quilts

Super soft, and super comfy! Great for baby to roll around on when they are young, or snuggle with as they get older!

One side will fray as you wash it to create the "rag" look and the other side will stay nice and clean cut.

Cars, cars, cars quilt! Available for purchase: $35

Just like the diaper bags, custom orders will be taken, or you can purchase a pre-made quilt!

Coming Soon!!!

Stroller Rag Quilts

Rag Quilts with scalloped edges

Super cute embellishment options for bags

Stay tuned for updates!!!!

6 months!!! Warning: lots of pictures

2010-05-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Six months......half a year......26 weeks.......182 days.......

On May 14th, 3 days after my birthday and 1 day after my mom's birthday, my little girl turned 6 months old! I can't believe it! This has been such a wonderful dream. Sometimes I still just look at her in awe that she is mine and wonder what my life really was like without her. I cannot imagine my life any other way right now! Let's not pretend, however, that it is all fuzzy and happy and warm. I haven't slept more than 5 hours in a night, or 3 hours in a row since July. I am so sleep deprived and I can no longer cover the bags or dark circles under my eyes with make up. Last night, for instance, Harley woke up around 1:30, again at 3, and then every half hour from 4:00 on. This is not terribly unusual. She is 6 months old and has yet to sleep through the night. She also still only takes three 15 minute naps a day. But I love every minute of it. Also, I get spit up on, peed on, or pooped on almost every day. But I love every minute of it! I am blessed to have a baby that hardly ever cries, but she does get mad at me! I have a feeling she will have a bit of a temper because when she doesn't get what she wants fast enough, she seriously sounds like she is lecturing me! It is the funniest thing! Here are her stats for this month and some fun things about her....

~14 pounds 6 ounces and 27 inches long: She gained an inch and almost 2 whole pounds in 6 weeks!
~Favorite foods: carrots and squash
~Least favorite food: Peas! I don't blame her for that one!
~Favorite time of the day: First waking up in the morning. She is always soooo happy when she wakes up for the day!
~Favorite new activity: Grabbing her toes and putting them in her mouth.
~Personality: Sassy!!! She figures out she can do something (like roll around the room) and then says "alright, I know I can do it, I don't have to do it again." That is, of course, unless no one is paying attention....then she will do it like crazy!!!
~Smiles constantly!
~Started making these deep throaty noises....it sounds like she is possessed!
~Loves: Mommy, Daddy, Exersaucer, Bumbo, new toys from Mormor, blankets, squishy blocks, grabbing onto faces, trying to eat everything that comes close to her!!!

WARNING-----Lots of pictures below!!!!

My friend from high school got married May 14th, and in April Harley and I went to her fantastic bridal shower! Harley loved meeting Karin for the first time!

Me, Karin, Sara, and Harley at Karin's bridal shower. These girls were my very best friends all through high school! I love them to pieces and miss them terribly!

Garrett is fixing up a Harley Davidson, so of course we had to take pictures of our Harley with it!!

Our Future Ballerina

Daddy and Harley

We had a Decade Party at church, so I decided to dress Harley up like an 80s workout girl!!!

Harley and I after the party. We love the 80s!!!

Mother's Day. I love being Harley's Mommy!!!! I have the best job in the world!

ATTENTION ATTENTION.....

2010-04-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

6 new blog posts below!!!

Rice Cereal and Bathtime

2010-04-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

Waiting......

What's this.....

Mmmm, I like this. Give me more.....

This stuff is good!!!!

I love my bathtime!!

Easter

2010-04-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy Easter!!! Our Easter was so much fun. When I was a kid the Easter Bunny used to leave my basket by my bed. Luckily the Easter Bunny still does the same thing, because Harley's Easter basket was right next to her crib when she woke up!!! We had a great day finding Easter eggs, watching Conference, and having a wonderful Easter dinner with my family and Garrett's family.

Garrett trying to help Harley walk

Goodies from the Easter Bunny!!

Hunting for Easter eggs in Mormor and Papa's backyard

Beautiful Easter dress

Isn't she just a doll!!

Build a Bear

2010-04-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

Also in March....

We went to Utah for a couple days for a friend's wedding. While we were there we of course had to visit Ian, Melissa, and the boys and take a trip to Build a Bear. This was Harley's first time and Mormor (my mom) was so nice as to buy Harley her first Build a Bear! Sorry these pictures are out of order....

Cousin Korben gave Harley's bear a bath for her because she just couldn't do it alone!

So soft!!!

Harley watching her bear get stuffed.

I wish I took a picture of Harley's bear with her pretty outfit on! I'll have to take one with Harley sitting next to it and post it later!!

First Beach Trip!!!

2010-04-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

In March Garrett and I took Harley to the beach for the first time. She really liked it!! I think she liked the feel of the sand and the sound of the waves. We didn't stay very long because it was a bit cold, but this is what we did....

We watched Daddy surf

We took pictures by the ocean

We sat in the sand and rubbed it inbetween our toes

We had sand everywhere and just had to take a picture of that too!

We just loved the beach and can't wait to go again! Who wants to come???

St. Patrick's Day

2010-04-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

I think I'm creating a bit of a monster....I get Harley a special outfit to go along with each holiday. I'm going to have to do this for the rest of her life!!! Naturally I bought her a dress for St. Patrick's day, although she didn't wear it on the 17th. She wore it the Sunday before because we were celebrating my brother and sister-in-laws birthdays that day.

Such a sweet face!!! I just want to kiss her all the time!

Playing with Daddy before dinner.

Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patricks Day!!!!

Random Harley Pictures

2010-04-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

I know I've been slacking lately on blogging...I've just been super busy. Here are just a few random pictures of Harley from the past couple months....

Harley and her friend Jade. Harley always sits like such a "cool kid". lol

She enjoys being on her stomach so much more now! She used to just scream until I picked her up, but now she will lay around and play on her tummy. At 5 months she can roll from tummy to back, and back to tummy. She only does it when she feels like it though....she's sassy that way! ;)

I made this super cute blanket for Harley. It is the really soft and fuzzy minky fabric on the front and striped silky fabric on the back. It is great! Harley loves both sides of it and just rubs her face all over it.

BUMBO!!! Most of the time Harley would rather sit in this (or stand) than lay down. I swear this girl is going to walk before she crawls!!

Tagged

2010-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Melissa tagged me, so I guess I have to do it now!!!

ABCs

A- Attached or single: Attached, 2 years this June
B- Best Friend: Garrett....although I do have many WONDERFUL girl friends!
C- Cake or Pie: Cake...I don't like pie, yuck!
D- Day: Saturday
E- Essential Item: Shoes and now a diaper bag! lol
F- Favorite Color: Aqua, but I also like pink
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Sour Worms definitely
H- Home town: Lakewood, CA
I- Indulgences: Buying fabric in LA, at JoAnn's or Tall Mouse haha; Shoes; and clothes for Harley
J- January or July: Most definitely July
K- Kids: Harley 3 months
L- Life is incomplete without: Garrett, Harley and my family and friends
M- Marriage Date: June 28, 2008
N- Number of Siblings: 3 brothers- Sean, Dusty, and Ian
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples. Since being pregnant the acid in oranges makes me sick.
P- Phobias or Fears: Losing my family and ending up alone
Q- Quote: I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it. And.... Love like you've never been hurt, Dance like no one's watching, and Live like it's heaven on earth.
R- Reason to smile: Harley and Garrett's sense of humor.
S- Season: Summer
T- Tag Three: Stacy, Jodee, Megan and Jess....yeah, I know I did 4. I would also say my mom, but she never updates her blog anyways!
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I have 6 toes on my left foot.....Just Kidding, but I got you freaked out didn't I???
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I love my meat!!!
W- Worst Habit: Procrastinator
X- X-rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds. X-rays remind me of broken bones!
Y- Your favorite food: Hmmm....there are so many. I love Italian probably the most, but I also love Mexican and basically any way to cook chicken.
Z- Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Three Months

2010-02-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

Harley is 3 months old today!! Here are some of the things she can do at three months...

Sit on her own.....if she's is propped in the corner of the couch...haha

Play with her favorite dollie. She hugs it and holds it under her arm. Today at church she was squeezing it so hard...and all on her own too! I didn't even put her arms around it! lol

Harley loves to smile, and she smiles a lot! She loves to be talked to and she loves to sit up and look around at everything and everyone around her.

She loves her swing, and considering the fact that she won't nap more than 15 minutes at a time during the day....I love her swing too!!!

Harley still loves her mommy and daddy more than anything! She is always so happy when Garrett and I are holding her. She has been a bit of a Mommy's girl lately. Sometimes (usually at night) when I hand her off to someone else she will scream and scream! When I take her back she calms down immediately. What can I say.....she loves me!! ;) She has found her hands and sometimes just stares at them while she opens and closes her fingers. She has also realized how much fun it can be to suck her fist instead of her binky! Don't worry, I'm determined to make the binky win.

And the highlight of her first month.....HARLEY LAUGHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME LAST NIGHT! It was the cutest sound I have ever heard in my life! Garrett and I were just putting her in the bath and getting her all wet and she started cracking up! She laughed for a good 5 minutes...I got it on my video camera. I'm so proud of her and amazed everyday at how much she is growing and learning!

~~~~~ Look to the previous 2 posts for more pictures of Harley at 3 months old~~~~~

The Battle

2010-02-14T15:06:00.001-08:00

In one corner:

The Fist!

In the other corner:

The Binky!!

Which is it gonna be? Let the battle begin!

(Bets will be taken)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2010-02-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Garrett and Harley the day before Valentine's.

So happy!

Daddy's little lady!!

Harley is my girl, so naturally she had to have a new outfit for the holiday! (I know, I'm creating a shopping monster!) Thanks for the bow Aunt Melissa!!

Garrett made Harley and I bouquets for Valentine's Day! These are perfect...they will never die and they are one of a kind! We love them!! (Ignore how terrible I look in this picture. I just woke up from a nap!!!)

Harley's Blessing Continued....

2010-02-04T14:28:00.001-08:00

Again, these pictures are out of order....but I'm too tired to really care to fix it!!!! haha The weeks leading up to Harley's blessing, I was a little bummed because I wanted all my brothers to be there, and Ian couldn't make it. The night before her blessing, I came home to my parent's house and TADA.....there was Ian!!!! My parents and my brother wanted to surprise me and flew him out for the blessing! It was so great. The 4 Monroe kids haven't all been together since my wedding, so it was really REALLY great to have everyone there.

We had to get in the traditional game of Scrabble! We all are pretty competitive, but I'm just happy I came in second place!!! Ian won of course! He is the reigning champ and won by a landslide!

Naturally we had to take a silly picture!

But we actually got a good one! Surprise surprise!!!

Yum yum!!

Oooooo, cookies, cakes, and cupcakes!!!

Family picture!!

Harley's Blessing

2010-02-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

On December 27th, our sweet baby Harley was blessed in our church. We were grateful to have a lot of family and friends there to share in her special day. Harley did so well. I was a little afraid that she would be one of the babies that cries during the entire blessing, so I tried to get her to fall asleep. The little stinker would not sleep, but she was so good during the blessing! She had the hiccups the whole time, but you couldn't hear them outside the circle. Here are some pictures of the day...

This was taken outside our church after the blessing. Princess Harley fell asleep after the blessing and slept through the pictures!

This is everyone that was in the circle when she was blessed (minus Levi, he had to leave). Yes, we had a lot of people, but I don't care!! We had both grandpas, my 3 brothers, my sister-in-laws father, 2 of Garrett's best friends, my Uncle Greg, and my cousin Clay. My dad's brother, my Uncle Elliot, passed away years ago, so I asked his son Clay to stand in his place. It really meant a lot to me that he did this. It was really sweet too because he looks so much like his father and when he walked up for the blessing, he walked up side by side with my dad and Uncle Greg. It was a great day. Also, my sister-in-laws father, Jerry, was in the circle when Garrett was blessed as a baby, so it meant a lot to Garrett to have him there.

The family and friends that came to support Harley.

Isn't she perfect!!! Thank you Melissa for taking these pictures for me!

Such a sweet face!

Here is Harley's dress. I love how classic it looks on her!

I love this one!

Details at the bottom of her blessing dress.

This was such a great day, and I was so happy so much of my family was able to be there. There were a few very important people that were unable to make it. I really missed having you there Melissa, along with Korben and Karsen! Also, Garrett's brother Thomas is on his mission and couldn't be there. It wasn't the same without you guys!!!!!

Two Months

2010-02-04T13:21:00.001-08:00

So I'm a little late with this post, but I was waiting on some pictures to be sent to me, so I have a tiny excuse!! On January 14th, Harley turned 2 months old! She is changing so much so fast, I feel like I can't keep up!! She smiles constantly, and loves her mommy and daddy!! Here are some of the things we did in her 2nd month of life!!! (They are out of order....sorry!)

We went to Big Bear for New Years, and Harley got a new outfit to keep her warm in the snow! It was a tad big, but look how cute she was! What movie is this guys, "I can't put my arms down!!!"

The second weekend in January we went to St. George because 2 of Garrett's cousins are going on missions. We took advantage of the trip to drive the extra 4 hours to Alpine to visit my brother Ian, sister-in-law Melissa, and nephews Korben and Karsen. We had a great time hanging out with them all day and going to dinner. Harley loved her cousins and they couldn't get enough of her! Korben wanted to hold her the whole time and Karsen just wanted to entertain and shove her binky back in her mouth whenever she dropped it!

For Christmas, my mom bought Harley a Baby Einstein play mat. She loves it so much! She stares at the octopus that hangs above her and hits the rattle to her side!

This month Harley as been spending time getting to know her first friend Jade! One of Garrett's best friends Danny and his wife Lindsey had a baby girl 7 weeks before Harley was born. We get together for little play dates and the girls are really getting to know each other! And by "get to know each other" I mean they stare at each other and wave their arms until they hit one another in the face!!!

On December 27th, Harley was blessed! (See next post for more pictures) Here is a family photo of us at my parent's house for the lunch following the blessing.

My sister-in-law Melissa took some pictures of Harley in her blessing dress! Isn't she sweet! Again, look to the next post for the rest of the pictures!

My family and I are very involved in an organ and tissue donation organization called Donate Life. Every year they build a float for the Rose Parade. My dad is on the committee that designs the float and he is one of the people in charge of the volunteers decorating the float. I have volunteered to help decorate every year since 2004, but couldn't decorate this year because I had Harley. That didn't stop us from going out to see the floats being built 2 days before the parade!!! Harley loved looking at all the floats and smelling the flowers!!!

We have had a great time with you this month Harley! Daddy and I love watching you grow and learn new things every day!!!! I know we are a little biased, but we think you are the sweetest and most beautiful little baby girl ever!!!! We love you!

Twinkling Tutus

2009-12-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!!! I want you all to check out www.twinklingtutus.blogspot.com. My sister-in-law makes the cutest gifts for kids including custom made burp cloths, wipe cases, and tutus! She can custom make what you want for a boy or a girl and send it to you! My sweet Harley and I have burp cloths, a wipe case, and now this adorable tutu made just for us! If you have a child, are expecting a child, or know someone who is....check out her website!!!

One Month!!!

2009-12-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

My sweet little girl is one month old today! Sorry this picture isn't better quality. It was emailed small and then gets blurry as it gets bigger! I'll get a better one to put up, but this will have to do for now!

I can't believe how time has flown by since she has been part of our world. She is such a good baby. When Harley is asleep, she is ASLEEP! There is no waking that girl when she gets into a good sleep. Even when you pick her up, her arms and legs fall backwards off your arm like a monkey sleeping in a tree! It is just the cutest thing. When laying on her stomach, she can pick her head and part of her chest up and look around for awhile. She absolutely LOVES to be on her stomach (I think because she likes to hold her head up on her own so much). Two of her favorite things right now are staring at the lights on the Christmas trees and taking a bath! When Harley is put facing the tree, she will just stare at it for as long as you let her! It will usually calm her down when she is upset too. Harley gets her bath every night, and I think it just might be her favorite time of the day! Even if she is crying before I bathe her, she gets so happy as soon as the water hits her. She always has the brightest eyes and happiest look on her face when she is getting all clean! Harley absolutely loves her daddy. He is very sweet with her, and plays/talks to Harley whenever he has her. Even when he hands her off to someone else she will just stay staring at him as long as he is around!!

Harley, we love you so much and are soooo happy to have you here with us! Daddy and I are excited to see how you grow up!!!

The Labor Story!

2009-11-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

Well, some of you have been asking to hear about the labor story and how our beautiful girl got here....so here ya go! On Friday the 13th, Garrett and I were taking it easy and decided to stay home and watch a movie we rented. Just that night I was telling him how I wish she would just get here because I was soooo uncomfortable. Well, halfway through our movie, I was on the verge of falling asleep when my water broke! Be careful what you wish for right!! Because I obviously have never experienced that before, I was second guessing myself. I pulled out my "What to expect" book and ran to the bathroom. As I suspected....my water did indeed break! Garrett was so sweet. As soon as I said "I think my water just broke" he jumped out of bed, got dressed, grabbed the keys, and was ready to go!!! This all happened just before midnight.

Twenty minutes later we were walking into the hospital and my contractions were no more than a couple minutes apart. At this point they hurt, but were still managable. They got me all checked in and changed and were ready to put an IV in. Apparently, there is a new system in place for Long Beach Memorial and the instruments used for the IV. The nurses hate it, and now so do I!!! It took 3 nurses and 7 tries just to get it in my arm!!! By the time it was in, I had 3 holes in one arm and 4 in the other! And let me tell ya....it did not feel good! Not only did they stick me 7 times, but each time the needle was in they were moving it around inside!!! OUCH!

After the IV was in they checked to see how I was moving along and found I was dilated 4cm and 100% effaced....time to go to the delivery room! As they wheeled me down the hall, my parents showed up and my contractions were less than a minute apart and sooo incredibly painful! After a couple minutes in the delivery room, the contractions were so bad that I couldn't stay still, kept forgetting about my breathing, squeezed Garrett's hand so bad he had to take his ring off, and was moaning out loud without even realizing it. I knew they were going to be painful, but JEEZ!!!! Time for the epidural!!!

They called the doctor in and cleared everyone out. This was the bad part. Everyone knows how BIG the epidural needle is and hears about how painful it is as well. I totally hated this doctor! It took her 4 TRIES to get the epidural in. Not only did she stick me 4 times, but she stuck the needle ALL THE WAY IN 4 times. It was awful! And it wasn't just that....I was contracting about 30 seconds apart by this time and couldn't stay still when I was contracting. I had to tell her when one was coming on so she could try and hold the needle still in my back while I was contracting and a nurse could hold my shoulders in place. I didn't get a break from the pain at all for the 20 minutes it took her to get the right place, and just like the IV...she moved the needle around while it was in my back trying to find the right space!!! After it was in and the tube was taped, they checked to see how far along I was. OOPS...10 cm dilated and Harley was at a +2 (basically coming out when at a +3). Too late for the epidural to actually do any good, so they decided to give me a bolus instead. After asking a bunch of people questions, I found out the bolus is the same medicine used for the epidural, but instead of giving it to you in a steady, constant drip, they give it to you in one large dose. Effective, but doesn't last as long. I was in heaven when it finally kicked in!!!! I could hardly feel my contractions anymore, which was good because the nurses said I basically went straight into transition (the most painful part of labor) instead of slowly building up to it like every other woman does.

Well, since I was progressing so quickly (4cm to 10cm in an hour), they were very much trying to slow me down to give the doctor time to get there. We waited about 40 minutes for the doctor and a couple contractions later....WELCOME TO THE WORLD HARLEY! She was born at 3:48am on November 14th. Yes, you did the calculations correctly....water broke at midnight and Harley was born at 3:48am....less than 4 hours!! I'm so happy that I took after my mom with the labor (her longest labor was 4 hours and shortest was 1 hour). Lets just hope our other kids come out as quickly as Harley did!!

It was all worth it because I now had this beautiful girl to bring home!! Daddy and I love you Harley and cannot imagine being without you!!!

Harley Ann Attwood

2009-11-16T21:55:00.001-08:00

Harley Ann Attwood

Born 11/14/2009

3:48am

7 pounds 6 ounces

21 inches long

Garrett and I are sooooo happy to welcome our new addition to the family! She is such a great baby and we just love her to pieces! I spend all day just staring at her! I'll post more pictures later!

35 Weeks and Counting!

2009-10-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well everybody...I'm now 35 weeks!!! Only 5 weeks left! I had an appointment on Tuesday and they told me I'm already dilated to 1cm and 80% effaced!!! They don't think she'll stay in there for more than a couple more weeks, so it looks like Harley might come early! I have another appointment tomorrow, so hopefully I'll find out more. I am feeling pretty uncomfortable now. My back hurts constantly and I can never sleep! I feel some contractions sometimes. Apparently I have been feeling more than I thought. I was under the impression they would hurt at least a little bit even in the beginning like this. After my appointment the other day they explained it to me a little more and I HAVE been feeling them!! I know that sounds kind of silly, but I had nothing to compare it to, so I didn't know if I did something to make it feel that way, or if they really were contractions!

Me at 35 weeks. Again....a bad picture.

Also......my stork has been coming faithfully every week!!! After the cds and the books came, I got the CUTEST winter coat ever!!!! It's hard to tell by the picture, but the pink is all fuzzy and the top part is leopard!! The inside is the same and there is a leopard hood that folds into the collar. But don't worry, the sleeve is complete with what my mom likes to call a "cellphone holder".

After the cutest winter coat ever, I was given the cutest little backpack ever! My stork was really sneaky with dropping this one off. Garrett and I were eating dinner at our front table with the curtains open and the front door wide open when my stork snuck up and dropped off the package! I don't know how long it was there, but we didn't realize it until after dinner was over and Garrett was going back out front! Inside the backpack was a Cinderella Sticker Activity Book, pencils, notepads, and a pencil sharpener!

After the backpack, the next two weeks I was given 2 very practical and very much needed gifts. The first was a gigantic box of diapers. When I say gigantic....I mean GIGANTIC! I think there are almost 200 diapers in there! The following week I got a gigantic box of baby wipes! This box might not appear as big as the diaper box, but if you think about how small wipes are compared to the box....HOLY COW! I don't think I will ever have to buy wipes again!!! YAY!!!!

The next week I was given a cute little sleep outfit consisting of a paisley tank with matching shorts. I can just see Harley wearing that to bed when she gets a little older!! Also in the box was a cute green onesie.....

...take a look at what it says....

That's right!!! Never too young for DIAMONDS!!!! So true. I love it! With 5 weeks left in the pregnancy, I got another gift yesterday! It is a cute little book of poems about motherhood. There are funny poems and sweet poems. I haven't had a chance to read them all, but the ones I have are really cute! Also in the package was the movie The Velveteen Rabbit. I love the book The Velveteen Rabbit, but have never seen the movie. I'm excited to watch it!!! I forgot to take a picture of these, so I will have to include it in the next post! Thank you so much stork! You are so thoughtful. I love it all!!!!

The Stork has Struck Again!

2009-09-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I was exactly 28 weeks pregnant, which means I had 12 weeks left. I came home from work to find a little present on my doorstep. I was so shocked! It was wrapped really cute with a little note on the outside and this on the inside:

It is 2 cds for babies. One is a night time cd with songs from our church, and the other is for Christmas. It was so sweet! Here is the note attached to the front of the package:

AAWWWWW so clever!!!!!!! I have no idea who my stork is, but I love her! It was so sweet, but naturally I thought that was the end of it. Boy was I wrong! When I came home from work today I found this on my doorstep:

This stork is so thoughtful! This is what I found when I opened it up:

2 baby books!!! And they are so cute! The pink one in the front is a touch and feel book. I am loving whoever my stork is!!! She is so thoughtful and sweet! It was such a surprise to find these presents waiting for me and my baby girl. And you know me....I am doing my best to figure out who it is! I have some theories, and I have narrowed it down a bit. I'm not going to tell you what my theories are, but I will find out!!! lol One person is really sticking out to me, but I haven't even told her yet I was getting these each week, so we will see!!!!! Thank you stork....whoever you are!!!

Truths at 29 Weeks....

2009-09-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ok...so this is a terrible picture, but I'm putting it up anyways because so many people have been pestering me about it! haha This is me at 29 weeks. I am exactly 29 weeks today!!! Only 11 more to go!!!! Woohoo!!!!! I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a few of the truths I am experiencing at 29 weeks.....

~I don't recognize myself in the mirror anymore unless I just look at my face. Luckily that hasn't really changed yet!

~I feel Baby Harley moving around so much!! She is definitely going to be a dancer because she does not like to sit still. She does however sit still when she knows someone else is trying to feel her move. Sorry Mom!

~ I'm feeling pretty good most of the time, except for being tired.

~ I have found out that I can't really eat meat. Red meat especially! Garrett likes this because whenever we have a steak night he gets to eat mine!

~I still can't eat certain other foods as well. Not as much because they make me sick now, but because they made me sick before and I really can't bear to even be in the same room with them! (IE: pancakes)

~ I get the worst pain in my side sometimes. It is on my right side under my ribs. It comes on all of a sudden and for no apparent reason.

~ I am really enjoying making things for the baby's room, however now that I know I only have 11 weeks left, I'm a little stressed that I won't get them all done!

~ Sleeping is really hard for me. You wouldn't think so because I'm so tired all the time, but I'm lucky if I fall asleep before 5:00 in the morning!

~ If I'm not asleep before 2:30 in the morning, Harley starts going crazy inside and she keeps me up!

~ I'm starting to be able to actually see her move!! I have felt her move for a long time now, but now I can see my tummy going up and down when she moves around.

~ I feel like I get bigger and bigger by the minute!

~I get so hot so easily, and when I do I get so dizzy that I feel like I'm either going to fall over, or throw up!

~ It is becoming harder to do my job. Working at the school I interact with the kids a lot and in the past I was able to bend over their desks or kneel down when they needed help or when I was talking to them. I can't do that so well anymore!

~ One day someone will come up to me and say "Wow, you are so small for how far along you are!" and the next day that same someone will say "Wow, your belly really grew over night didn't it?" Hmmm....don't know how I feel about that!!!!

~ I dread the moments when I drop something on the floor and have no one there to pick it up for me!

~ My favorite thing in the the whole world right now is when Garrett gets home from work. This isn't a sappy "oh because I love him so much and am so happy to see him" I AM....but it is my favorite for one other reason now. When I am home alone for awhile getting some things done, Harley tends to settle down a bit. BUT.....when Garrett comes through the door and starts talking to me, Harley goes nuts and starts moving around like crazy! It is as though she is saying "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" Gosh, I can't wait to meet this girl!!!!!!!

Baby Shower Number One

2009-09-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last month, my mom and my sister-in-law Mel threw me a small baby shower. We wanted to have one with my side of the family and just a few friends before Melissa went back to Utah. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the day! (There is only one of me because I was sweating like a pig and look really bad!)

Opening presents

The food table...before the food haha

Flowers. You can't tell, but there is a pink pacifier hanging from the bow.

One of the game prizes

The beautiful chandelier!!! Melissa tied all the bows because my mom's just weren't good enough! lol Just kidding Mom! (But not really)

The best thing was the cake!!! My mom went to Great Dane Bakery to get it. They did our wedding cake and this cake was just as good!!!

Way Back in May.....

2009-09-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

It is well established that I am terrible at updating my blog, but this is REALLY BAD......even for me! Way back in May, Garrett and went on a weekend cruise with some friends. We drove down to San Diego to catch the cruise ship going to......Catalina. Yes, that's right...Catalina. We were supposed to go to Ensenada, but because of the Swine Flu, they sent us to Catalina instead. Here are some of the fun things we did.....

Garrett joined the Harry Chest Competition and slid down the banister while dancing for the entire cruise....

"And then..." Justin and Garrett played almost life size chest for an extremely LONG period of time....

"And then..." Stacy, Divina, and I learned how to make the towel animals left on our bed every night....

"And then..." Garrett posed with the 'professional made' animals on our bed.....

"And then..." We all went to Catalina where we rented a 6 person golf cart and drove around Catalina.

We had a great time! I was a little over 3 months pregnant when we went, so I was a little nervous about getting sea sick...but I was good!! I just couldn't really eat much of the food prepared for dinner each night, but that's ok because there was a buffet!!!!

My Husband is so Crafty!

2009-09-03T14:33:00.001-07:00

Many of you know....Garrett always has a project going on, kinda like me. However, our projects are vastly different. ALL of Garrett's projects have to do with cars. Whether he is fixing a car, or just using the parts for something else, I always love the finished project! Here are some pictures of things Garrett has made for our house out of metal and car parts!!

The picture above is the side of the DVD shelves he made for our bedroom. I wanted more space on the dresser, so we got rid of the shelves we had there and mounted these on the wall! The side is made from a timing chain. (I have to admit, I came up with the idea and Garrett made and designed them!)

Front shot of the DVD shelves. The sides are made from timing chains, rebar, and extenders.

This is one of the knobs we have on our closet doors. Instead of using the wood ones that came with the doors, Garrett thought to use valves from a Volkswagon. If you look closely you can see the VW symbol.

When we moved in, our toilet paper holder was broken so we just had to put the roll on the back of the toilet. Naturally Garrett came up with a solution! This is made from a cam shaft from one of his bugs. Whenever a car part breaks he doesn't just get rid of it, he finds some creative way to recycle!!

We also needed somewhere to put our keys (we have a lot!). Garrett used this...I forget exactly what it is...oops! Anyways, he welded the little rods sticking out onto whatever this is called so we have somewhere to hang our keys! Inbetween each "hook" there are grooves in the metal as well. It looks really neat on our wall! (Garrett was moving cars around when I took this picture, so the key rack looks really empty!)

Then comes the lamp. This was the crank shaft in his oldsmobile before it broke. He fixed it so the wires are strung from the bottom all the way to the light bulb on the top. This is one of my favorite creations of his. It is at least 60 pounds and we don't have a shade for it yet....but look how cool and unique!!!! We are thinking of buying an air filter for a bug and fixing it to the top for the shade...what do you think??

Lastly is the hat rack. Garrett made this from 8 connecting rods. I believe they used to be in his olds as well. (Don't worry, everything has been thoroughly cleaned!)

Front shot of the hat rack. When he first made it, it was connected and just one really REALLY long piece. I made him cut it in half so we could put it here by the front door.

I love that he comes up with all of this to put in our house!! I think it makes our house more "us" and not just a place to put all our stuff. This is just what we have inside the house. He made a water hose reel from an old rim and hub cap and I have various old/broken car parts throughout my garden. I really think Garrett should make more of these things and sell them. What do you think? Any guy interested in cars would want at least one of these!! When he has time, he is going to make a rocking chair for me to use with our kids. We are thinking the legs should be made from cam shafts (what was used for the toilet paper rack).

Perspective

2009-08-08T18:01:00.001-07:00

So...I have been a little down lately. A few unfortunate things have happened in the past few months (I won't bore you with details) that have put me in a little bit of a...well a bad mood. It has seemed that whenever I finally get happy again, something else happens (or I find out about something else) that pushes me right back down again. It has been very hard. I try to keep my spirits up, but I end up just feeling bad for myself and for Garrett all over again.

This has been going on for a few months now, and my perspective changed a little bit last Sunday. We were in church and the sweetest 9 year old girl walked up to bear her testimony about how much she loved the church. This little girl broke her leg badly about 2-3 months ago and is still on crutches. Being on crutches for a few weeks was enough to send me over the edge, so I can't imagine the last 2-3 months for her! As she was talking, she told everyone how grateful she was that her leg was broken. GRATEFUL!!??!! I couldn't believe I heard her correctly!! She explained that her and her family were out to dinner and a little boy around her age walked in and was missing his arm from the elbow down. As she thought about how hard it would be to never have that part of her arm and do the things she loves doing, she became so grateful that her leg was only broken and no pieces were missing from it! She had faith that one day she would be back to normal and this was only a short trial in her life.

I was so humbled by her! Here I was feeling so sorry for myself and the things happening in my life, that I didn't even bother to count my blessings! It took a sweet 9 year old girl to teach me that as bad as things might seem right now, there is always something to learn from and room to grow. I am so grateful to her for waking me up out of my little mood! I am so grateful that my foot is only broken and no pieces are missing from it! I am so grateful to have Garrett in my life and the joy he brings me. I am so grateful to have a healthy baby girl joining us in a few months. I am so grateful to have a wonderful family that has always been there for me. Thank you for all the long talks, girls nights, laughs, and advice. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful and sweet puppy. I am so grateful for so many things in my life, that when I concentrate on those, the unfortunate events, information, and experiences seem like nothing anymore!!! It really is true that:

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!"

To Mel, Love Leslie

2009-08-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Mel,

I am sorry I have not kept up my blog to your satisfaction. I will try my best to keep it updated at least once a day (on a slow week) and three times a day on a normal week. Please accept my humble apology for not updating sooner.

Sincerely,
Leslie

P.S. We are going shopping in 5 minutes...are you ready? If you are one second late we are going without you!!!

OOPS!!

2009-07-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I spend a lot of time doing dance jobs around the country. Well, being pregnant I had to cancel a lot of jobs this year because I'll be too big and too uncomfortable to be of any use out there. Because of this, Karl (the man I travel and choreograph with) and I planned for me to go out to Minnesota for the past couple days with him to do a quick job. I was taking it easy because of the baby and things were going really well. Until the second day....

Karl was filming me do a combination we made up for a dance camp he would be teaching at when I did a teeny tiny jump and SNAP!!!!! Instead of landing on the ball of my foot like I'm supposed to, I landed on the side. It was really bad!!! After icing and elevating it (and a lot of praying and wishing it was not broken), the pain kept getting worse and Karl drove me to the closest Urgent Care Center.

Yes, yes....it was in fact broken. I basically broke the bone that connects to the pinky bone. It is a clean break right in half, the shorter of the two halves is pushed to the side a bit, and there is another crack above the break. They didn't put on a cast, they gave me an airsoft cast, but I have to use crutches and keep all pressure off it for the next 4-6 weeks!!!!! Yeah...this isn't fun at all! OOPS!!!!!!

Don't worry, I do have it on video, and I will post it as soon as it is emailed to me for all of you who would want to see it! This wasn't the best thing to happen just hours before I had to get on a plane!!! That was an interesting ride!

It's a.........

2009-06-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!!!

Garrett and I are so happy to announce that on November 25th, we will be joined by a beautiful baby girl!!! Garrett is out looking for a pink plastic tool set as we speak!! ;)

Macy's Flower Show

2009-06-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

While we were in New York, Melissa took us to see the fabulous Macy's flower show. It was absolutely beautiful! Every fixture and every open space was covered in the most beautiful floral arrangements. Again, my camera isn't the best, but I tried to get a few pictures to show you how truly wonderful it was. (It smelled great too!!)

Alright, this one isn't from Macy's it is from Central Park. I just thought it was pretty!

Sorry...lopsided. It was a formal gown made from flowers.

Bottom of the dress.

"It's Up To You New York, New York!!!"

2009-06-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

In mid-April (I'm late, I know) Garrett and I went to New York to visit my brother Dusty and sister-in-law Melissa. Besides the morning sickness, we had a great time!!! We went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, walked down Broadway, walked down Wall Street, saw Trinity Church, The New York Stock Exchange, Rockefeller Center, the NBC Store, 5th Avenue, Central Park, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Times Square, Garrett Popcorn, Serendipity and so much more!!! New York is is a beautiful place and I would love to go and visit again! We could have spent another 2 months there and still not see it all! We are so grateful to Dusty and Melissa for letting us come and visit and stay in their apartment. Thanks guys! We had a blast!

Rockefeller Center. I must say, this was a lot smaller than it looks in all the movies! It is smaller than your average ice rink.

Garrett Popcorn. We went there because of the name (obviously!)....but they had great popcorn! I couldn't stop eating!

On top of the Empire State Building. If I look cold, tired, and sick it's because I was!! *wink*

Tiffany's. What can I say...I wish I were rich!

WALL STREET! This is also really tiny and just kinda pops out at you all at the same time!

Ellis Island. Garrett and I both like old trunks like these, so it was really hard for us just to look and not take!!

I didn't take that many pictures that turned out. (I need a better camera) If you want to see more pictures of our trip go to Dustin and Melissa's blog on the side of my page!

Thanks Stacy!!

2009-05-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing I have a friend who takes pictures, because now I can prove I was there with the rest of them!!!!! Thanks Stacy!!!

Garrett and Rizzo by the fire.....I think this was when Garrett was making our pretend grill :)

Shooting....this gun is heavy!!!

Ok...you can't tell, but when it picture is bigger you can tell that I'm the one on the quad! lol

Calico

2009-04-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of April, Garrett, Rizzo, and I went to Calico with Justin and Stacy. We all had to much fun! We arrived really late Friday night and after getting everything set up, were a bit hungry. Well, for some reason, Garrett and I were really forgetful this trip and we forgot to bring the grill that we always cook on. Clever Garrett looked around our camp site and found some metal we could use instead of the grill...

It worked pretty well too!

The next day was spent shooting and riding the quad and dirtbike. Here's a picture of a few things we shot. This was before we set them up obviously.

The day before we left for Calico, Justin came over to our house and he and Garrett spent a couple hours making some targets to shoot. This is one of the targets they cut, welded, and painted. At one point, Garrett shot the target in the upper left hand corner and instead of the bullet going through, it turned 180 degrees!

Here is the spent bullet that turned the target around. After looking at all our pictures, I realized that I didn't take any pictures of myself....so.....here is my hand!!!

Shooting clay pigeons. I must say.....Stacy and I were pretty good at hitting the targets and the clay pigeons! We were so proud of ourselves! I only wish I took pictures or made videos to document it!

Fall in love, Get married, then...

2009-03-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

You guessed it! Our family is expanding! Garrett and I are happy to announce that we are having a baby!!! We are very excited and can't wait to welcome Baby Attwood into our happy family!!

Who needs a saw when you have a TORCH!!

2009-02-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

Garrett bought this really trashy 1990s truck from his friend that was trying to get rid of it. Since we have had it, Garrett has had a lot of success taking it apart and selling various parts of it to people on Craigs List. After he sold everything of worth, he was going to take it apart and sell the metal. WELL, you need a torch to do this, so I thought....'Hey, I could do that!' It was so much fun using the torch and taking parts of the truck apart. Garrett failed to warn me that after I cut some of the parts they would fall down. I guess I should have seen that coming, but it scared me every time! Here are some pictures of me using the torch for the very first time. I must say, I really got the hang of it and had so much fun!! I was pretty good at it too. Garrett said I cut a straighter line than most people do!

Getting ready to use the torch.

I'm so hard core! haha

Cutting one side. I had to cut the same spot on both sides and then straight down the middle. That's when the sides fell down! I did kind of the same thing to the back as well. By then I was a pro and didn't need Garrett telling me what to do or where to cut!!

Look at the sparks! It really was cool! Ladies, don't ever let a man tell you that you can't do something because you are "just a girl" *wink* This proves we can handle it! haha

25 Things about me!!

2009-01-31T17:29:00.000-08:00

I was sent this on Facebook and I thought I would carry it over to my blog!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I have a not-so-secret obsession with the store Michaels. I go there all the time and clean out the dollar bin.
2. The reason I have the obsession with Michaels is because I love to scrapbook and make my own cards and invitations. I have so much stuff to scrapbook with its ridiculous...but I continue to go to Michaels anyway.
3. I have been dancing for 20 years and still absolutely love it. I haven't performed since high school, and hopefully that is about to change!
4. I had super long hair for the longest time and then cut it off and donated it after high school. After keeping it short for awhile I missed my long hair and grew it out again. I just cut if off for the second time about 6 months ago and now I miss it being long....again.
5. Most people don't know this, but I really like working on and learning about cars. I have always wanted a 1967 Mustang fastback with a 351 Cleveland motor. I now have the motor and I am looking for the car to put it in.
6. Since I was a kid I wanted to open my own dance studio. Also, I wanted to own a little book store like the one in You've Got Mail. I still hope to do this one day.
7. I love to read and go to the library every time they have a sale, however, I buy so many books and now have run out of places to put them. I have 3 large bookshelves completely full, and a million stacks of books stashed around the house. I don't think I could possibly finish all of them...but I buy more books every time.
8. When I was younger I used to go over to Lauren's house all the time and we would have stamp wars. We each had a stamp with our name on it and would try to get each other. Consequently, we went to our dance classes with stamps all over our arms, legs, and face.
9. I would spend most summers with Sara at her house. Everyday we would swim in her pool and almost every time I would throw up over the side. Gross, I know, but I had my own corner that everyone would avoid.
10. My most embarrassing moment was when I flipped backwards out of the jacuzzi at our 8th grade promotion party in my bikini and landed on my head in the dirt.
11. My husband and I bought a house right before we got married and I have learned that he can do just about anything in the world! We hope to stay there for about 5-ish years and move somewhere bigger. We both want to stay in California and eventually end up owning a house in Huntington Beach.
12. The problem with #11 is that Garrett is a car guy and we currently have 14 cars on our property and a very large dog. It is hard to find a place with a big enough driveway, garage, and backyard to fit everything.
13. We own the best dog in the world. Her name is Rizzo and she is part great dane, part blood hound. She is only 8 months old and is going to be taller than me in a couple months I'm sure. Garrett built her a gigantic dog house and I am going to paint it hot pink whether he likes it or not!
14. I made 85 Christmas cards this year for our families because...well...see #'s 1 and 2. I put a letter inside each telling everyone what we are up to, but forgot to mention Rizzo. I felt terrible, but didn't want to re-print 85 letters. Sorry Rizzo.
15. In high school we went to Florida every year for competition. One year, 6 of us got together and played the best prank on the girls across the hall. It is too horrible to describe to you, lets just say it involved pretending to be the front desk, dressing Britney up as a man, and catching our coach's angry face as she exited the elevator. We all thought we were going you know where for doing what we did. haha
16. I love my parents tremendously. My dad is my hero and the most self-less person I have ever met. My mom is my best friend and one of my favorite shopping companions.
17. I have the 3 best brothers anyone could ever ask for. I am a very girly person, but because of my brothers I also love doing the things that guys do. I love snowboarding, riding ATVs, shooting guns, sports, cliff diving, camping.....and so many more.
18. My best friends all through high school were Karin and Sara. We had so much fun together and I miss them a lot. We were obsessed with the movie Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and each played our parts. We learned the dance at the end of the movie and would practice.
19. I went to Utah to visit some fantastic friends a couple years ago and we made the best dance video. It was supposed to stay just with us because it is a little embarrassing, but a lot of people have seen it by now....thanks Megan and Corinne!!!!!! haha
20.I am obsessed with the shows The Office and Friends. My whole relationship with my brother Dusty is comprised of quotes from these 2 shows.
21. In high school, Lauren had a toy dinosaur named Stephan that we all knew and loved. After he went missing I bought a blow up dinosaur named Sinclair and left it on Lauren's bed annonymously with a letter explaining who the dinosaur was and said that he was sent by Stephan to watch over her.
22. I am a dancer and choreographer and travel all over the country choreographing for high school and college dance teams. I owe everything to Karl and would not be where I am today with dance if it weren't for him.
23. Because I am a dancer, I cannot listen to a song without choreographing to it in my head. I come up with really cool stuff, but I usually can't remember exactly what it was later.
24. I am a pretty good cook, but I don't particularly enjoy it. I do it because I don't want my husband and I to starve, but if I were rich I would soooooooo higher a cook before I do anything else. I do, however, enjoy looking for cool/new recipes, but hardly ever use them. I just put them all in one of my many recipe books.
25. Although I do not enjoy cooking....I LOVE making desserts. I make some fantastic, and extremely fattening, Lava Baby Cakes and Strawberry Shortcakes. Those two are my favorite. I recently just got 2 new cook books all on making cookies, cakes, and cupcakes. I just need to get more of the tools to create the designs the recipes require. Who knows, maybe I'll make my kids' wedding cakes when they are older.

I tag YOU!!!!!!!!

Christmas Tree and Christmas Cards!

2009-01-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

Ok ok...so I know I'm a little late with the Christmas posts...but better late than never!!! Garrett and I went Christmas tree shopping the first weekend in December to pick out our first Christmas tree! We were so excited! It was funny to do that with Garrett. He is such a macho guy, but is really particular when it comes to this stuff!! Here are a couple pictures......

Have a TREEMENDOUS holiday!!!

Rizzo LOVED the tree! She really liked the smell of it. Isn't our tree the perfect shape!

All decorated!!! We didn't really have ornaments other than the ones Garrett received from his mom while growing up...so we just bought Target ornaments to tide us over this year. In Utah after Christmas we went to some stores that my family goes to every year and we bought the most perfect ornaments for our tree next year!!!

I was the idiot that decided to HANDMAKE all of our Christmas cards this year. I started at the beginning of November and didn't finish until a week before Christmas. I made 85 cards in 12 different styles. I was so happy to see them leave my sight by the end!! haha

Studio "C" Reunion

2009-01-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

In December, Garrett, my mom, and I went to my Studio "C" Reunion. Studio "C" was the dance studio I went to as a kid. I have been dancing for 20 years and I owe everything to the Caspary's and the studio they ran. It has been 10 years since the studio closed and just as long since I have seen some of these people. The picture on the left is of me and Shea. Shea and I met at 7 years old and were good friends through high school

Above: Ryan and Tina Cyphert. Tina is the daughter of the studio owner and one of my old teachers.

Brenda Caspary. Owner of Studio "C"

Dee Caspary. Son of Studio owner and quite possibly the best choreographer I know

Dennis Caspary. Oldest son of studio owner and has the best Adam Sandler impression!!!

Chrissy, Shawna, Lacy, me

Me, Ava, Alisa, Lacy, and Kristi

Calico Videos

2008-12-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

Be sure to turn the sound off at the bottom of the page so you can hear the videos! On my defense, my finger slipped on my first shot before I was totally in position!

Watch the pumpkin in Garrett's video. What can I say, my baby is a good shot! haha

Calico!!

2008-12-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

Every year after Thanksgiving my family goes to Calico to camp for the weekend. Garrett, his brother Thomas, and I decided to drive up Thanksgiving night after all the yummy turkey to get a full day of ATV/dirt bike/off-roading in. My family has done this every year since I can remember and I can honestly say that this time was one of the most enjoyable trips! Because it rained right before, there were patches of mud that made riding even more fun! We got a full day of riding in on Friday and a full day of riding and shooting on Saturday! I didn't take any pictures of the shooting, but I do have video! I will post those shortly!

Garrett and our dog Rizzo

My hair after only a few hours of riding! We found a lot of mud! This was after I got most of the mud out too!

Yeah, I was really dirty!

I always borrow my dad's quad and have so much fun with it! It wasn't as much fun trying to wash it though!

Garrett's brother Thomas' jeep. This was a lot of fun! Too bad it broke down on the first day! Good thing we trailored it!

"No! No! Nooooo!!!!"

2008-11-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

This is a really funny story. Yesterday (Sunday) Garrett and I were getting ready to go to my parent's house for dinner to celebrate my nieces birthday. We were taking our puppy (remember...she's a BIG dog). I was inside the house grabbing the present and Garrett was outside with Rizzo (our dog). Garrett put her in the back of the truck but didn't close the tailgate before he ran inside to pick something up. We were both only inside about 10 seconds when we hear this guy SCREAMING at the top of his lungs, "NO! NOOOOOO!". Both of our hearts skipped a beat while we were thinking, 'Oh no.....the dog'.

Well...this guy was across the street walking his dog on a leash. His dog was really tiny...chiuaua size-ish. My dog, who is the FRIENDLIEST dog on the whole planet and would never hurt a fly, saw the dog and jumped out of the truck. Rizzo ran across the street, barking and wagging her tail. Because we know our dog, we know she only wanted to play and not maim the other pet....but of course the other guy didn't know that. He was an idiot and started SWINGING his dog by its leash around in circles above my dogs head. This poor animal was choking and its legs were flailing about! Rizzo, of course, thought it was a game and started jumping around trying to get to the other dog!!! It was really funny to see. Garrett was running across the street to grab our dog and the other man decided to throw his little dog on top of a STRANGER'S CAR in order to get away from Rizzo. Big mistake! Rizzo was still trying to play with the other dog and began trying to jump on top of the car.

Anyways....we got to our dog and took her back to the truck and other guy just walked away! We felt terrible because Rizzo scuffed our neighbor's car, so we went across the street to talk to the car owner. He was really cool about and said it was no big deal, but we are going to fix the scuff anyways. The idiot with the small dog, never came back and that dog did more damage to the other car that ours did! We will fix that anyways because our dog was the one that ran over.....but still! Who swings their dog around in circles by it's leash and then throws it on top of a stranger's car!????!!! My goodness!!!!!

Crafty Crafty!!!

2008-11-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

So, I've been in a really crafty mood lately! I have all these projects I have started for Christmas that will be displayed around our home and I'm making all of our Christmas cards. (Kinda wish I didn't start the Christmas card craft because we have like 70 cards to send out to family alone!) Anyways...back to the reason for this post....my friend's baby shower was on Saturday and I really wanted to make her gift. I have seen this done a bunch before, but I really wanted to make it so I decided to give it a go! Here it is: A baby birthday cake! This is the front of it. It has 3 layers of fun! (and yes, I was watching the Office while I was making it haha)
The back side.

I made the tag as well. Isn't it cute! I like that the stickers look like baby building blocks!

On the back I put a tag listing everything that was in the cake. I really like the "She's expecting" stamp!

Happy Halloweenie!!!!

2008-11-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I know it's been a long time since I have written a post...and I have no excuse!!! For Halloween Garrett and I had a couple different costumes. At work, everyone in the building I work in dressed up as baseball players. I didn't really have a baseball outfit, but I was able to borrow a jersey from Cal State Fullerton and wore my trusty "Donate Life" baseball hat! That night Garrett and I had our Ward Halloween Trunk or Treat and we dressed up as Bonnie and Clyde! I don't really know exactly what Bonnie and Clyde actually wore....so I guess we just looked like a couple of gangsters. We still had fun though!

The day after Halloween we had a Murder Mystery Party to go to. Technically it was for the Young Single Adults from our church, but Garrett's sister was putting it on and needed a King and Queen. Garrett jumped at the opportunity and we both got really into it!

Sorry these pictures are so late, but Happy Halloween everyone!!!!

I couldn't resist....

2008-09-25T15:32:00.001-07:00

So, I had to take and post this picture. This is what I see every night while cooking dinner or rightwashing dishes. I wish I could fix Rizzo's eyes in it...but oh well! I love it anyways!!!!!

Rizzo

2008-09-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, my mom has been begging me to put pictures of our puppy on here so here they are! (haha I ratted you out Momma!!).

This is from when we first got her almost 2 months ago. Rizzo was five months old here! I know...she's huge!!! She is part great dane and part blood hound.

We took her to the dog beach and she just loved it!!! I took more pictures, but they didn't turn out so great!

Doesn't she just have the cutest face!!

Paw prints at the beach!

This was Rizzo on Labor Day. We took her camping with us and she LOVED it! She was able to run around because there wasn't anyone else around. She did get a little scared when we started shooting though!!!

Garrett's Birthday

2008-09-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well...it has been a long time since I have posted anything, and for good reason! I couldn't find the cord that connected my camera to the computer and my memory card wasn't compatible! ARG!!! After a long time of looking I finally found it!

Anyways, Garrett's birthday was August 30th and he is now 24!! He had a weekend long celebration including dinner with his family on Friday, dinner out with me on Saturday :), dinner with my family on Sunday, and camping/riding/shooting all day Monday!! It was a lot of fun. Here are a couple pictures of our weekend......

My mom turned a Tonka Truck into a flower pot for the center piece and matchbox cars into flowers!!

Garrett was really excited to say the least!!!

This is from our day of camping on Monday. We were packing up. I didn't get any more pictures of the day because we were too busy having fun!! Our puppy is laying on the rocks in the background by the way!!!

Wedding pictures (out of order...oops)

2008-08-27T17:13:00.001-07:00

Wedding cake and grooms cake
Our families outside the temple
The bridesmaids. From top left: Hillary, Jessica, Janessa, Genna, Brittney (maid of honor) and Hannah. From bottom left: Becky (my niece), Melissa, me, Melissa (matron of honor) and Janey (my niece).
The groomsmen. From top left: Sean, Ian, Danny, Nick and Thomas. From bottom left: Levi, Korben (my nephew), Dusty, me, CJ (best man), Alex (my nephew) and Danny.

My brothers and I

Coming out of the temple. Garrett was so excited to wear this hat!!!

Posing for the camera! Obviously these aren't the professional ones! Just ones my dad took.

Another week in the life of the Attwoods!

2008-08-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I am terrible at this! Alright, so it took me forever to figure out how to do the cute backgrounds! Everyone told me how easy it was and I must have just been an idiot because I couldn't figure it out. Well...I finally figured it out today and guess what....it was easy once I just opened my eyes!!

Anyways, Garrett and I have been pretty busy this past week. I spent almost every day driving to either USC in Los Angeles, or Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana working. It has been a blast though. I have always loved dance, but I am motivated now more than ever to keep striving for some career in dance. I just love it so much and have such a passion for it! Garrett has been extremely busy this week as well. He works so hard as a mechanic all day every day and comes home and works even harder around the house. I am just so blessed to have someone as wonderful as him in my life. I feel really sad for him sometimes though because he gets so tired at the end of the day from all the hard work that he does, and then just when he is about to fall asleep he gets a road call and has to get ready and drive out all over again. At least his birthday is coming up this Saturday and I will have yet another chance to show him how grateful I am to have him in my life.

Also, Garrett and I have been working really hard on our house! My mom has been coming over the past couple Saturdays and gardening with me in the front yard while Garrett is busy digging out this stupid stump in our backyard! This stump is literally about 4 feet in diameter with really nasty roots almost as big as the stump itself! Well....the stump is now removed and my garden in the front is beautiful! I will post pictures as soon as I have a chance to take them and upload them on the computer!!!

August 15, 2008

2008-08-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, after much prompting from certain family and friends, I have decided to set up a blog! I'm still figuring things out, but stay tuned for updates on Garrett and I! For now I will just give you a brief overview.

Garrett and I are getting settled into married life. We are busy working and getting the house finished. We have almost all of the boxes unloaded, let me rephrase: all of my boxes are unloaded and now I'm going through Garrett's boxes. He has been so busy with the garage that he hasn't had much time to get his boxes finished. Garrett spends his days working for General Petroleum, and I spend my days working with either the USC dance team or Mater Dei High School's dance team, as well as doing little things around the house. That all for now! As soon as I figure this thing out some more, I will get pictures up!!

Garrett~Leslie~Harley

New Posts!

Harley's 2nd Birthday: The Party!

Harley's 2nd Birthday: The Decorations

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

Updates...

Weight Update

Week Eleven

Week Ten

Week Nine

Week Seven and Week Eight

Three Years

Week Six

Week Five

Splash Into Summer Boutique

Week Four

Week Three

Week Two

Week One

Get Ready....

Splash Into Summer Boutique!!!

Craft Night...

1 Year Portraits

New New New!

September and October

July

August

May and June

Are you ready.......

2nd Craft Night!!

Craft Night Here We Come!!!

Monthly Craft Night

New Products!

Where's Harley?

Little Miss and Little Mister!

2 Wonderful Years!

Sneak Peek!!!!

6 months!!! *Warning: lots of pictures*

ATTENTION ATTENTION.....

Rice Cereal and Bathtime

Easter

Build a Bear

First Beach Trip!!!

St. Patrick's Day

Random Harley Pictures

Tagged

Three Months

The Battle

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Harley's Blessing Continued....

Harley's Blessing

Two Months

Twinkling Tutus

One Month!!!

The Labor Story!

Harley Ann Attwood

35 Weeks and Counting!

The Stork has Struck Again!

Truths at 29 Weeks....

Baby Shower Number One

Way Back in May.....

My Husband is so Crafty!

Perspective

To Mel, Love Leslie

OOPS!!

It's a.........

Macy's Flower Show

"It's Up To You New York, New York!!!"

Thanks Stacy!!

Calico

Fall in love, Get married, then...

Who needs a saw when you have a TORCH!!

25 Things about me!!

Christmas Tree and Christmas Cards!

Studio "C" Reunion

Calico Videos

Calico!!

"No! No! Nooooo!!!!"

Crafty Crafty!!!

Happy Halloweenie!!!!

6 months!!! Warning: lots of pictures