The Party Van and Us

The Party Van and Us

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Hmmmm.....Interesting.

Top 10 Names for 2007
Rank Male name Female name
1 Jacob Emily
2 Michael Isabella
3 Ethan Emma
4 Joshua Ava
5 Daniel Madison
6 Christopher Sophia
7 Anthony Olivia
8 William Abigail
9 Matthew Hannah
10 Andrew Elizabeth


We have been doing our homework on our girl names (and our boy names Isaac and Luke).
We don't really care if our baby has the most unique name, we actually would like it to be more common than uncommon, but we'll have to wait and see.

Here is what we found out:

Girl names (adding together all the different spellings and versions)

Utah for 2007 births:
Lilly/Lily/Lillian- #1
Olivia- #2
Isabelle/Isabel/Isabella- #3
Elizabeth- #4 (Ellie not in top 100)
Lydia- #48
Ruby- #66
Cassidy not in top 100
Jane/Jayne not in top 100

U.S. for 2007 births:
Isabelle/Isabel/Isabella- #2
Olivia- #7
Lily/Lilly/Lillian- #9
Elizabeth- #10 (Ellie was 174 in U.S., I can't search ind. names by state)
Ruby- #116
Lydia- #123
Cassidy- #208
Jane/Jayne- #426

Now for our boy names:

Isaac was #7 in Utah the year he was born (2004)
Luke/Lucas was # 5 in Utah the year he was born (2006)

We had no idea how popular our names were in Utah! We were living in Chicago...
Isaac didn't make it to the top 100 in Illinois (2004)
Luke/Lucas was #9 in Illinois (2006)

In conclusion, I guess we will just choose whatever name we like best...oops if it ends up being every other baby's name as well!:) We still have no idea, we just like to play with the names. We really won't decide until baby is born. We love the poll though. Fun to see what everyone thinks!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

What are we going to name her?



Isaac was pretty bummed about the baby being a girl. Thank goodness it didn't last very long. We explained to him that Heavenly Father was the one who got to choose if it was a boy or a girl, and that He had already decided that a long long time ago.

The other day Isaac asked me what we were going to name our baby sister. I told him what we were thinking of (see side poll) but said that we didn't know what we were going to name her.

He thought for about a second and asked in a frustrated tone, "Is Heavenly Father going to decide that too?"

Lessons learned:

Gender is decided before this life...check!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Gender REVEALED!

Stop--you cannot go any further until you watch this video.




The boys didn't really realize I was taping them.
This was their "disagreement" on the way to the doctor for the ultrasound.

And the winner is.....







LUKE!

So, Isaac and I were wrong. I was shocked (still am) but I have the huge smile on my face as evidence that I am happy (a few people I called wondered by the sound of my voice if I was excited). I assure all of you, despite my shock, my fear of having a daughter just like myself, my inability to do pig tails or any other sort of tails, that I am excited!

Isaac was extremely disappointed for about a minute. He was shouting "I don't like sisters, I don't want a sister! It isn't a girl, it is a boy." Earlier he had told Kyle that he just knew it was a boy because he knew everything. After I told him, "It is okay, you don't ever have to hold her." He kinda melted. And pleaded with me and insisted that he really did want to hold her.

Now for deciding on a name...maybe I'll do a vote on the side of my blog, that way I can have an interesting story to tell her about her name. :)

Last night I bet Kyle a large basket full of laundry that this baby was a boy...I better go get started on the folding.

I might lose a few friends but...

I think this book was just plain crazy.


I must admit, I did really enjoy the first book..second book was just pretty good...but the third one dragged on a little too much for me. I was excited for this 4th book for the end, I hate an unfinished story.
I think Stephanie Meyer is a vampire. A sex and blood thirsty vampire. But, that is just my opinion. Man, how many "pressed up against his silky body...my thirst for him could not be quenched" can you write about or read without going a little crazy!
I think this book was a little bit like mormon literary porn...maybe that is a little harsh, that is just me. And this is "young adult" worthy? What about all those teenage untamed desires?
Maybe you didn't have those feelings.
These books are fuel for you know what...and I'm not talking about the blood drinking part.
I won't even get into the blood thirsty child who bites her own mothers...

Sorry fans, I think she is nuts.
But I still like you.
I hope we can still be friends.

I don't know how long I'll keep this post up...I'm feeling bold right now,
but the chicken inside will cluck eventually.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Piano Man

My husband can now add "professional" piano restorer to his resume. Well, okay, he only sanded and repainted one piano, and he probably wouldn't do it again even if you paid him a million bucks, but he did a fantastic job! Now the piano has a home inside our home...and now our car has a home inside our garage! Life just couldn't get any better!

Kyle has tried to get rid of this piano every time we move...but I never let him. I would tell him that "This piano has HISTORY!" After we had been married about a year, we moved to Chicago and found this piano in our apartment, courtesy of the previous renters who were musicians. I always thought we would refinish it someday. I even helped sand and paint it a little bit but then I got sick, and Kyle was left to do the job solo. It has never been professionally tuned, but has carried its tune, pretty darn well, considering all the moves it has been through (total: 4). We thought since it was an old beat up one legged piano (Kyle replaced the legs), we would go crazy and make it a little fun and paint it a bright color...thinking it would make it's way into a toy room someday when a newer, nicer piano took its place. Thanks Kyle, I love my new RED piano!

Now all I have to do is recover the bench-- a blanket is covering up the ugly material. I am just waiting for a Joann's coupon...anyone have one? The material I'm looking at is 40 bucks a yard! Yikes!

Kyle hard at work...he really amazed me by figuring out how to take apart so many pieces to the piano (parts I didn't even knew came apart) AND putting it back together!

Me 4 months pregnant.

This is a random cute picture of the boys. Luke LOVES his letters AND music. One day he was telling me he was making a song and I came over to find this. These letters make a song, can you see? He would line them all up and then run around carrying his conductor stick singing, every once in a while stopping to look at his "music" and then go about singing again. Isaac tried to follow along but according to Luke, he was singing it all wrong.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Luke's old Pal

I found some pretty cute pictures of Luke and
his Pal Dylan. Luke misses Dylan!

drink water, not windex

always dirty filthy boys!

They always had a good laugh...

these boys are about 5 months apart... I have large headed children.

It is fun to see how much they grew in
these past two years while their daddies went to
school together at BYU. It is sad not to see them
grow up together ever since Dylan moved away.
Come back Dylan!!:)
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Venting Warning

NEVER, I mean NEVER NEVER take your car to
Express Collision Repair
(located)
736 Columbia Ln
Provo, UT 84604
(801) 374-8511

I will just post these reviews to show my point...the first one is from me:)1">

Rated 1.0 out of 5.0 Horrible place, should not be in business. - Emily - Today
I cannot say enough about this place. My husband wanted to give the "small business" some business to help them out...bad idea!! Besides the owner being a very friendly and persuasive guy (sure bring your car here, I can fix it up, no problem) this place has nothing going for them. After they "fixed" our car after a car accident my back door fell off when I was opening it (this is something they had replaced). They did put it back on but that was only the beginning. Then we were driving to AZ and our tail light just fell out...this is something they also replaced. Do they need some super glue?? Then we had this horrible noise coming from our car whenever we put on the ac. We took it to them 3 times and they had no idea what it was and couldn't detect the noise. These are all problems that happened in the car accident 8 months ago! We finally took it to an ac specialist because we were guessing that was the problem...nope, he opened the hood and in about 15 seconds figured out the problem "uh, this shouldn't be just dangling like this." They tightened it and now there is no horrible noise. This caused damage to the piece and now has to be replaced. It wasn't the ac just something they put back in wrong or never saw wrong from the car accident. So frustrating that we have to keep taking it back to them for insurance reasons. HORRIBLE place, spread this news and never ever go there!


All reviews
Rated 1.0 out of 5.0 Terrible - Matt - Aug 9, 2008
They towed my car when they weren't supposed to. And when I confronted them about it, they said that they worked on commission so they needed to. ... More »


They towed my car when they weren't supposed to. And when I confronted them about it, they said that they worked on commission so they needed to. I can't get a refund, so now I have to try to take them to small claims court. COMPLETELY DISHONEST OF THEM.

Rated 1.0 out of 5.0 Poor customer service! - David - Mar 22, 2008
My car was towed by this company on 2/29/2008 after I was in an accident. They didn't give me a receipt, address, phone number, or their company ... More »


My car was towed by this company on 2/29/2008 after I was in an accident. They didn't give me a receipt, address, phone number, or their company name. The only thing they told me was that they were near the Provo DI. I attempted to drive down their a week or so later, but was unable to locate them, though I was looking for an impound lot of some sort. According to their records, they had called me on 3/3/2008 and I hung up on them. (I checked my phone, and it appears they did attempt to call me on that day, at 8:20 am, while I was in class, so I did hang up on them by opening and closing my phone.) They made no other attempt to contact me until 17 days later, on 3/20/2008. I went in the next day and argued with the lady at the desk, but they refused to bug on the $15 per day "storage" fee. So, I shelled out the $315 plus the $137 towing fee. This is an example of extremely poor customer service. I feel we both had a responsibility to take care of this, but since they neglected to give me any contact info, this was pretty impossible for me. If you can avoid it, do not deal with this company!

Friday, August 08, 2008

Saw this on a blog....really liked it!

(where the HECK is Matt)
ENJOY!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Isaac likes the water!

Isaac finished his swim lessons! He did awesome (we won't count the first day) and really ended up loving it. Now we can go swimming and he can get water in his face! This is a major accomplishment and we are so proud of him! Great Job Ike!


Luke wasn't so happy about swim
lessons because he wanted to swim too!
This is him showing me how he feels
about not getting in the water.
(can you tell my camera is breaking?)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Arizona part 2

After our reunion in the mountains we got to spend about a week in Mesa, AZ. It was filled with lots of swimming with family and friends, going out to eat, and a fun shopping trip with my mom for some CUTE maternity clothes (thanks mom and thanks April for watching my boys!). I am addicted to Gap maternity now and will never shop anywhere else. Yuck to Motherhood (maybe it is okay for some of you but I am too tall for most of their things). Also, you can't beat the price--since being home I have found the prices online to be even better! 15 bucks for shorts/pants! Just shop the sales!
Unfortunately, Luke has a pretty mean black eye in most of these pictures. Courtesy of a table.
Lots and lots of swimming!





picnic by the pool

The boys had a fun time in Grandma's toy closet.



I was able to catch up with a couple good high school friends, Anna and Beka. We had fun catching up and watching our kids "swim" (although Clara was the only one really swimming). Thanks Anna and Beka, it was fun seeing you guys!

(above) Anna, me and Beka. (below) Anna's Clara and Beka's twins--Braden and Landon, Isaac and Luke


I totally forgot to take pictures when I hung out with my old roomie Sarah Berdan. I was going to try to find a picture from our college days before I wrote about her but they must be packed away in a box somewhere since our last move. She is always so much fun and I always end up laughing when I'm with her. Thanks for introducing me to the golden spoon Sarah! And introducing me to other important things:)
SWEET, I found pictures!
July 2003

Okay, so I couldn't choose just one picture...I do love this girl that I really haven't seen much in the past couple of years...she grew too busy in her exciting dating life and thought I was too "homely" to hang with:)j/k, I know you miss me Sarah!
July 2005
Sarah, Becca B., and me with Isaac

I also got to swim with my roomie Cami and her cute boys (also twins) from Utah. She recently moved to AZ so hopefully I will get to see her when I visit. She actually did a cute post on "us"so I'll put that link in here. She is a great friend and I love that we have been able to stay in contact over the years. I think she should move back to Utah though.
beautiful Camille and me. I think she cheated, she must have eye make up on!:)


We also got to visit with Candice and her family who also moved to AZ a few months ago. I have many favorite people but I think at the top is Candice Miller. I love that girl! She helped me out so much last year with my kids and our kids just love each other. One week when I was really sick she came over every single morning at 8 am and took my kids away. She didn't even ask me because she knew I would oppose and say that I was fine. She did things like that for me all the time and I tried to do the same but I'm sure I fell short. I need my Candice back!
Rub a dub, dub! Candice's kids are like fish! Jacob, Megan, Isaac and Luke had a blast!


You know those friends you don't see everyday but then when you do see them, it is like no time has ever passed? Or friends that you can get closer to than even your own family? I have been blessed to have many of those friends and miss them all terribly! I have already cried more than once because I have lost friends like Candice. I loved the women I got to know through the BYU MBA school spouse association but I am beginning to hate it because now what am I supposed to do? There were so many activities planned and so many instant friends. I miss my poor provo housing neighborhood so much! We always had a good time. I miss my neighbor turned practically sister, Poppy! Oh, Poppy and Candice why did you leave me! Shame on you. Forgiveness if far far away. Blogs just don't do justice.

I've decided that once me and Kyle settle, wherever that might be, as long as I have good friends I can not only survive, but I can survive happily. But, so far, THIS place is not that place. Maybe it will be someday, or maybe when we buy a house someplace more stable...but until then, I will remember all of those friends and be very disappointed at all of you for leaving me!!!

In other news:
  • I really am actually pregnant! I can feel the baby kick and move, I never feel pregnant until this happens.
  • Also, we have decided to find out the gender in about 2 weeks...although I promise all of you it is a boy! I feel more at peace with that anyways. I started to fool myself into thinking I really wanted a girl, and then reality set in, I have NO idea how to do girl. I only do boy. If I ever do get a daughter, heaven help her!
  • Isaac can hold his breath under water and he actually LOVES swimming lessons! The first day he screamed and held on for dear life to a pole attached to the lifeguard tower. I hid behind another mom and pretended I didn't know him. After a 10 minute one on one lesson from another teacher, who so nicely coaxed him into the water, he was great! He was so excited to show me that he can go underwater all the way and blow bubbles! This is the same boy who would cry and almost have a panic attach from just talking about swim lessons. Thank you swim instructors!
  • I started a private blog for my journals for Isaac, Luke and me and Kyle. I have kept journals for both of my boys since I was pregnant with them and Kyle and I started a journal (that has been largely neglected since starting our blog) when we got married. I was always worried that our computer would crash or we would have a house fire and I would lose everything. So, now they each have a private blog--hence, some of my posts here might be "journal" like so I don't have to do double duty. Just skip over the parts you don't like.
Over and out!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...