anyone going to camille's reception saturday??

i can't BELIEVE that camille's getting married this week!

we LOVE you cam-cam, and are so proud of you for living

worthy, and for getting married in the temple!

woot, woot! we are excited for you!

CONGRATS CAMILLE & ROB!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

Thanks for the Christmas dress, Grma Hurd! Sheilah got this dress for Tenley at after Christmas sales last year, right after we told her we were pregnant. She was soooo HOPING it was a girl. Now she is always buying things here and there for the little girls. We love it! Thanks mama Hurd, you are the best!

COUSINS: McKenley & Tenley, 3 weeks apart. The Simmons are down for Christmas, and we are having so much fun hanging out with them! Tenley & McKenley are so cute together, they smile and talk to each other, and link arms. When we first set them next to each other this weekend, Tenley put her arm around her cousin, it was too cute!

Grma's snowman doubles great as a toy and lounge chair!

Positive things about living in a small house...

1. We can wash the dishes, pick up, and vacuum in about an hour.
2. We can "deep" clean in 3.
3. Doesn't cost a fortune to keep our house nice 'n toasty warm!
4. We've never spent money on a baby monitor.
5. Perhaps we can eventually turn it into a rental, and use as an investment.
*And... we live less than a mile from Scott's job!

hands taste yummy!

T-Dawg Attacks Aunt Vanessa

GIGGLE TIME

to my babysitter,

jen, rewind your life about 3-4 weeks ago.

now, does this pic look familiar to you?

I'M SO SORRY!!! :)

Before I went back to work part time, I was pumping and practicing with the bottle once a day. tenley was doing GREAT! i was very impressed, so slacked off a bit as far as the "training" went. BAD IDEA! the first week and a half with the babysitter, tenley was absolutely REFUSING the bottle! she would have rather starved. in fact she did a few times. went 5 hours w/out eating. i tried about 6 different bottle brands, and was getting so upset. about to quit my job. finally had a crazy intuition to try a sippy cup my friend had given me at the baby shower. tenley LOVED it! THANK YOU KATIE HONE! funny baby! so poor jen has been thawing out breast milk, and giving it to my crazy picky baby ever since. now we are practicing with the bottle again at home, preparing her for "weaning" sometime in the future, and as you can see, she is doing much better. good girl tenley!! it is going to be one wild transition. i'm scared. i'm sure jen is too! ha! poor babysitter. :( jen, you are the greatest! so patient. thank you so much!

couch potatoes.

this is how me and Tenley watch TV.

we "DVR" our favorite shows, and then usually watch them when Tenley is eating, or wants to stay up late, which is always a REAL TREAT.

need to hit the gym.

ever wonder how many people's pictures you're in and don't know it? and whether or not you look stupid? or ugly? or fat? well....... HERE'S one of those wonderful pictures! found it on a friend's blog. :) it's a good reminder that it's time to hit the gym! no one wants a stretchy baby tummy forever, right?!
come to think of it, NO ONE in this picture appears to know they are in it! ha ha! this was a really fun night, though! we carved pumpkins and ate tons of yummy halloween snacks! thanks, wards!

monkey business

Thanks cousin Camden for letting

me borrow your monkey costume!!

Love, Tenley

PuMpKiN sHaKeS!

this yummy recipe is thanks
to my awesome friend Katie (hollaaa!)
who used to work at Jamba Juicestole the picture from marthastewart.com (not joking)

I'm going to just give you the ingredients,
and let you eyeball and taste-test the rest,
because that's what I did. And then of course
Scott added more sugar to his glass. :)

-Canned pumpkin (100% pumpkin)
-Vanilla Ice Cream
-Ice
-Milk, or Soymilk
-Brown sugar (or white)
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg (SO yummy if you have it!)

Ok fine I'll tell you my "Rachael Ray" style measurements:
Personally, I like a lot of pumpkin (like half a can), two large
scoops of ice cream, a cup or two of crushed ice, enough milk
to your consistency preference, several tablespoons of sugar (taste
first, you'll probably end up adding more), about a half-teaspon
of cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg. Blend her all up, and enjoy.
SO flippin' YUMMY!!

Who do I think is most likely to give this a whirl? Heather Gunnell.

brave baby? MEAN MOMMY.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Tenley got her ears pierced today! I've been wanting to do it, but was soooo scared, because when she had her 2 month shots done, I was pretty much hysterical. :) Anyway, thanks to all my friends' great pep talks, I mustered up the courage to take her in! It was not even NEARLY as bad as I had prepared myself for! She cried right at first, but I popped the binkie in her mouth, gave her loves, and she was cooing and smiling before I knew it. I'm mean. :) PAIN IS BEAUTY, TENLEY!

babies sleep at the most inopportune times!

example A: crashed AFTER we got home from church sunday.

example B: NOT crashed that night at 1 am.

Tenley's Blessing Day - 10/12/08

It was so neat to have Scott bless Tenley!

It's something I have looked forward to

my whole life, listening to my husband

give our child a name and blessing. This is

the dress I was blessed in, my mom made it

for me almost 25 years ago! Anyway, It was

a special day, and thank you to everyone

that came. and we are sad that we live so

far away that the rest of you missed it. :(

but we will see you all in a month!!!

Cute pics from when we babysat Syd and Mal...

cuddlin' cousins!

finger paintin'

mallory was more interested in throwin' rocks.

crashed with aunt vanessa, and jack too!

Weird.

still can't believe THAT...

came out of THAT...
it still blows my mind. :)

How To...

HOW I MAKE MY "BALD BABY'S BOWS":
i've had several people ask me, so i decided to just create a post on it. i do sell them for $3 and keep about 20-30 on hand. (also can customize for $4) call or email me rachellejhurd@yahoo.com
buuut if you're feelin' crafty, here's a quick how to...

go clearance shopping. find silk flowers and/or ribbon by the yard (one yard easily makes a bow), as well as toddler tights size 24 months or larger. i've found that the "okie dokie" brand works best. some brands have too much spandex or lycra in them, and the edges roll up.

iron out the tights, use starch if you have it, and cut down the leg in a very straight strip. i like to double up if i can (depends on how many i am making out of one box of tights). to do this, leave the fold on the leg of tight, and cut right down the middle, leaving a raw edge on one side. as long as you have a clean cut, the raw edge looks fine. if you hem the raw edge on a machine, you will lose the elasticity of the tights. you can hand stitch here and there to finish off, but i don't. :)

pop the flower off the stem and cut off any greenery so it lays very flat. you may have to tacky glue or hot glue the layers together so they don't fall apart. you can then glue your flower or bow right onto the tight strip and be done, or follow the rest of the steps for a nicer finished look.
take a needle and thread, and sew the flower onto a piece of wide ribbon, like shown above. sew several stitches right down through the flower and knot off underneath. (ribbon side)

then sew the headband strip together to make a circle. wrap the ribbon around the headband, hiding the seam. then either glue or sew a hem to close off the ribbon.

then the funnest part... model them on your baby!

poor tenley has a bow or flower for every outfit. but she will only model a few. :)