Today...

Kiely and I went on a walk. And I loved it! :)

I've been having a hard time exercising and getting out pretty much ever since we moved to Blackfoot, and it's been tough for me... I went from walking to class every day (or running...) to pretty much nothing. I did go on walks a little and we went on a few bike rides after we moved here, but with winter, it's been harder, and I haven't really had anything to motivate me. (No classes that I have to go to, etc.) I've really wanted to, though, and I think today I motivate myself a little... The weather wasn't completely perfect. There was a slight breeze when we started, and then the wind picked up pretty good when we were about 1/3 done, but it was nice.

I'm really looking forward to spring/summer... So here's to warm weather!

This is from when James & I went to California last summer just over 2 months before Kiely was born.

Haha... I had to put something with Kiely in, and this is the best I found from spring. You can see the beautiful sun shining through, and she was in a t-shirt, so obviously it must have been pretty warm! (It was last April.) She slept in some strange positions... still does occasionally! :)

Can't wait for it to stay warm for more than a couple days!

Happy V-Day a little late

I know this is only almost a month late, but I haven't sent these to mine or James' parents yet, and I know that some people would like to see some pictures of Kiely. So, here's what I did for James and also for our parents for Valentine's Day. I emailed some of them to James while he was at work on Valentine's Day, and never got around to emailing them to parents. (Oops! Sorry!) Well, here they are! It was kind of hard to get Kiely to hold still (and obviously to even look at the camera sometimes) but we had fun! Hope you all still remember how much you love your sweethearts as well as your families! :)

Checking out the pictures she had been "taking" on the camera.

She hasn't quite figured out which direction to hold it to take the pictures.

Sweet smile for her daddy! :)

She doesn't look too enthused anymore, but she loves her grandmas, she was just getting sick of posing for me!

And a big kiss for her grandpas! MUAH!

Some of My Favorites

These are some of my favorite photos I took for Blackfoot Jr. Miss. I felt like overall, it's been pretty successful. I've learned a lot, and look forward to learning more! :)

What do you think? Which one's your favorite?

**These images are for viewing only, please do not take for your own use for any reason unless you have gotten consent from me. Thank you.

P.S. Anyone have advice on how to upload images to the internet so that they look good without them being super huge? (Kelsie Christensen?...) Oh, and they do look better if you click on them...

A BIG deal!

A few weeks ago, my visiting teachers were over. One of them is an advisor for the Blackfoot Jr. Miss. She asked me if I'd want to take the girls' head shots, as well as a few others throughout the preparation/event. At first I was pretty hesitant... 18-21 girls! That's a lot!... Especially in one day! The photos would mainly be for the judges, the slideshow, and they also sometimes would put up 8x10s in the foyer... All done as non-profit. (Donation--Basically it would just have to be 1 headshot of each girl for this stuff...) Still, I know how much time it can take. However, from this, it wouldn't exactly be free, I would get advertising out if it. Which I need here. I don't know very many people in Blackfoot. I told her I'd take on the challenge, and she informed me that I could also make CDs for the girls, which I could charge for, that way, I could make back, and earn a little money. (I've been really wanting to get a new lens and a tripod. I should hopefully be able to get both out of this!) I've gotten more and more excited about it, which has also helped me gain more confidence for this big event. I've felt like it's a risk that I'm willing to take, and it will help me get my name out there pretty good, I think! Yesterday, I did my first photo shoot for one of the girls that will be out of town tomorrow, when I will photograph the rest of the girls. It went pretty well, I think. We always have room to improve, and we can grow by taking risks! Tomorrow is 4 straight hours with one 15 minute break! I'm actually really excited... a little nervous, but excited. I hope the weather is good to me and that my hands don't freeze off! Wish me luck! :)

I should have listened...

*Note, there may be some details that you won't want to read in this post... fair warning!

So this morning I was giving Kiely a bath. She was just playing in the bath, splashing around. There were a couple times when it seemed like she needed to go potty, but I'd ask her, she'd say no, and she'd keep playing. I let her know that if she needed to go potty, to tell me so I could put her on her potty. (I told her to say "potty" or "poop" if she needed to go.) Well, there's this tiny little problem, you see... When Kiely says, "food" it sounds more like "poof" or "poo." Yeah. That's where it came in. She was standing up, splashing, holding onto the handle thing and sorta marching, saying, "poo, poo, poo" and I honestly didn't think anything of it... I thought she was saying, "food" and I think I even asked her if she was hungry and wanted some food. Nope. I turn around, and she was doing her classic pooping face, so I ran over to her... Luckily nothing had dropped in the water. (I hate digging it out of the bath water... done it a few times. Then I have to proceed to drain the water, wash the tub then fill it up again to wash her.) Well, or so I thought I was lucky. I picked her up, and right as I did, she pushed it out. YUCK. It wasn't exactly solid, but at least it wasn't diarrhea. Some dropped on the closed toilet on the edge of the lid and the seat, most on the floor, and some got on her leg. YUCK. I think I would have preferred cleaning the tub. Not sure though... Anyways, all is well. I cleaned and sanitized her and the floor, and made it very clear that she needed to say "potty" if she needed to go. The moral of the story is:

1. Listen to your gut instinct. Even if they don't need to go right then, maybe they'd go on the potty if you stuck them there long enough.

2. Listen to what they say. If you told them to say "poo" or "potty" if they need to go, and they're saying it, don't assume any different!

Oops! Maybe it's time to start potty training?

S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G!

James has recently started training for the Ragnar Relay that he will be participating in in June with a team of 11 other people (He got invited to participate by my sister, Jamie, who is also running). He started out running 1 mile and trying to get a good pace, but then learned that he needs to just run as long as he can, and try to run for 30 min. then go from there. Last night, he did it! :) When he got home, he was stretching, and Kiely likes to try to do the stretches with him. I thought it was so cute, and couldn't help taking a few quick shots of them. (I was making dinner at the time...) Here they are!

She wanted to sit on James' shoulders. Maybe to give him a little more work?!

I love this one. It takes her NO effort to reach her toes! :)

I think it's awesome that James is doing this! He has really enjoyed getting out there, and how great it feels when he's running!

Caught You Doing Good!

This is very unlike me... to have 3 posts done in the same week! But, I wanted to write this down and share it before I forget about it! Yesterday I was in the bathroom doing my hair. Kiely was sitting on the floor looking at this little notebook planner thing she has that she likes to draw (or scribble) in. She was talking to herself as she was looking through the planner... after a minute, I looked down at her and saw that she was folding her arms, and had her head on her arms-- she was praying! :) I was so happy! I thought it was so cute, and also just thought about how important it is that we are good examples to our children. They truly are little mimickers! Kiely has been really good about when we say prayers lately, and will even "remind" me by folding her arms at lunch that we need to bless the food. She is great at folding her arms, and is learning to become more reverent. Oh how we love our little Bug!