Watchdog

Now this is what I call a watchdog. It doesn’t sit around the house all day waiting for someone to walk up to the door or pass by the street; it climbs to the top of the wall to be vigilant in keeping its house protected.

My Valentines

We shot a wedding today from 1:00 to 9:00. It was a long day but very fun. In fact, this was my favorite Valentine’s day ever. Being around a bride and groom helped me realize what life is all about...love. I am so grateful to have found my true love. Elyse is beautiful, talented and funny as hell. I thoroughly enjoyed being with her all day. I did however, get more action from the bride’s grandma than I did from Elyse. The grandma could not climb herself into the bus that transported us from the hotel to the chapel, so I was the lucky one who got to push her from the “rump.” After we Elyse and I got into the bus, she asked Elyse if she was mad.

Asleep...Finally

Today has been one of those days, where you want to rip your eardrums out. Olive has another ear infection, her nose is runny, and her RSV is making it hard for her to breath. She has been cranky and verbal about it. After putting her in 50 positions, we finally found one that was comfortable enough for her and she finally fell asleep. The blinds were shut when I took this picture so it’s a bit fuzzy. She kind of looks like an Angel.

18th Hole

Daniel got his first baby sitting experience while I was golfing this morning. Luckily for him, my mom picked up Olive right when she started getting fussy. After golf, I spent the rest of the day chauffeuring my mom’s brothers and sisters around town. We went to Carolina’s, downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale, then to Nando’s for fried ice cream. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them all.

Study Partner

I finally figured out how to get Olive to behave while I study; I put her in the bumbo and set her on the table next to me. She kept on knocking down the water bottle, pushing the box into my book, and dropping the bib she uses as a teething toy, but those distractions are far less obtrusive than the crying and screaming.

Shars

Olive and I spent the day with Grandma Hall. Our agenda was supposed to include baking wheat bread and cinnamon rolls and cleaning Grandma’s house. We did a little cleaning, got the cinnamon rolls started but never made it to the wheat bread. We did buy some wheat and other ingredients for the bread at Shars. This happens to be Grandma Mackelprangs’ favorite store as well. Olive usually goes in the shopping cart and when there is no room for groceries, Olive gets to hold the goods.

Baker Man, Baker Man

One of my favorite memories was waking up to the smell of homemade bread. I want Olive to have those same memories so I learned how to make bread from my mom. This is my fifth batch and I am getting better each time.

Mr. Hall

I started my internship at Arcadia High School in north Phoenix. I was a little worried if I was going to like teaching or not, but after today I’m confident that I will. It was fun to identify the “usual suspects.” The class clown was the easiest to identify. I really hope that I wasn’t as obnoxious as this kid was.

Without a Shadow of a Doubt

Today was fast and testimony meeting at church. A lot of my favorite “Mormonisms” are spoken during this meeting. After hearing “without a shadow of a doubt” for the umpteenth time, I dropped my head, and in a moment of irony, I noticed my shadow on the hard wood floor. I must admit that it wasn’t 11:11 at this moment, but I knew this photo would be much more interesting than the one I would get sitting in Sunday school. So, I snapped this a little early.

We Are Family

Grandma keeps Olive occupied with Ruby as Olivia watches and as I make up a batch of homemade red enchilada sauce. It’s nice to have family close. This last week I was able to “pawn” Olive off to various family members as I recovered from my implant surgery. I can’t imagine how I would function if I didn’t have family close. Elyse and I have flirted with the idea of moving from Arizona for a few years but it’s times like this that keep us grounded here. Thanks to all for your support.

One Man's Junk is...

When your junk drawer wont shut it’s time to clean it out. The usual suspects are there: pens, tape, finger clippers, sticky notes and measuring tape. I don’t know how the hot pads make it in there. Now that Daniel is living with us again, Elyse has her scapegoat. When he wasn’t here, the hot pads grew legs and arms, walked to the drawer, opened it up and jumped in.

Moments Before Throwing a Fit

Olive’s teeth are coming in which means that she is seemingly in a bad mood all of the time. We spent a few minutes on T’s bed this morning playing with Teddy Bears. Two minutes later she was arching her back, kicking her legs, and screaming at the top of her lungs. I can’t wait for all of her teeth to come in!

Cowboy T and Baby O

Timothy loves Olive. He was the only nephew or niece who came to visit it her in the hospital when she was a newborn. I used to tease Timothy that I was going to take Lincoln home with me to live. T would get so upset that he would come to tears then tell me that Lincoln was his baby. After Olive came, T inquired, “So now that you have baby Olive you don’t ever have to take Lincoln home, right?” Hopefully he is always that fond of his little brother

Bloom's Taxonomy

I have been trying to study all morning but it is extremely difficult to stay focused when you are doped up on pain pills. This morning I am studying children’s psychology and how it pertains to education. I don’t think Bloom ever studied the effects of vicatin on the cognitive process. I have a feeling that I will be re-reading my assignments in a few days if I really want to grasp the concepts. In the mean time I will finish my homework and hope that it is cohesive enough to get me a good mark.

Out and Not About

It's been three days since my teeth implant surgery and I am still filling out of it. I didn’t think I would need the pain pills the doctor prescribed but I was certainly wrong. Elyse likes me when I’m on pain pills; she says that I am much sweeter and affectionate. My mouth is so sore. It doesn’t help when Olive’s flaying hands hit me on the face. Yesterday she hit me so hard I thought I was going to pass out. I woke up this morning swollen and uncomfortable. Thankfully I have great family close...Aunt Niki picked up Olive this morning. I hope to get some rest today.

First Real Meal

Olive gets her first home cooked meal. Sara and Dick gave us a baby food recipe book a few months ago and I have been looking forward to the opportunity to make her some of the recipes. We purchased an awesome food processor from Craigslist and it works great! Her first meal was sweet potatoes puree. I also made her sweet peas puree, zucchini puree and apple sauce. I used ice trays to freeze her daily portions into little cubes. Our little baby is growing up too fast.

Bye Bye Kiki

Today is a sad day for the Hall family as we say goodbye to Kiki. We had her for five years and we love her dearly, but she was not able to adapt to our new family dynamics. We can’t trust her with Olive and she and Sophie fight like, well, dogs. I was able to detach emotionally from Kiki a lot easier than Elyse. Elyse’s brother John and girlfriend Iris are going to adopt Kiki. This morning they brought over their dog Bob to see how the two would react. So far so good. They are going to take her for the weekend for a trial run. Here Elyse watches as the two dogs get acquainted.

Gappy

If you haven’t seen me smile much in the last few months it’s not because I'm unhappy or grumpy; it’s because I lost a tooth and when I smile the gap is exposed. That all changes today, at 11:11 I was under the dentist’s knife getting two implants (I lost another tooth a few years back.) I look like a total tool in this photo but I felt compelled to add it. I chose to be put under so I wasn’t able to take a photo during the surgery so I snapped this shot just before going in.

Shooting Rob

Rob Bird is one of my greatest friends. I always refer to him as my Phish buddy. We have been to many Phish and String Cheese Incident shows among many others. Rob is a doctor, and specializes in weight loss. Today we shot a video for his web site on how to administer one of his diets. We turned my front room into a mini studio.

Camera Happy

Olive is used to being photographed. She might be the most photographed child in the history of the world. Whenever we pull out a camera she looks right at it. As you can see in this progression, she was upset until the camera was placed in front of her face. With each click she gets happier.