aaahh pictures!

The un posted picture.

I finally transferred all of our pictures to my newest laptop. Thank goodness! So these are random and old but enjoy!!!

We did get the halloween costume on for a little while. The kind lion wanted to share the morning news with mommy:)

Canyon usually wants to hide in this corner. ENDLESS possibilities!!! A nightstand with lots of things to pull out, cords to wave around and a bed to crawl under. I usually hide behind a post and watch him, quietly giggling.

Cruising...yes cruising..EVERYWHERE. He smiles so big when he pulls himself up. I'm pretty sure that's the most innocent pride there is!

We loved riding on the chairlift this fall. Wish it wasn't so cold so we could do it again!

hope you enjoyed catching up with us. more excitement to come!!!

2 years

Zach might disagree because he's served a mission but these last two years have been the best of my life! I have enjoyed every minute of being with the sweetest man. I can't believe it's already been 2 years but then I can't really think of how life was without him. I'm so glad I found him when I did. He helped pull me out of a confusing time in my life and straightened it all out for me. I have no doubt in my mind that I married the right man! YIPPEE for eternity:)

I wasn't expecting much for our actual anniversary seeing as the cruise is our celebration, but alas my sweet Zach had to do something:) Saturday night my aunt watched C and we went to Rodizio Grill. It was great to have some alone time with my sweetheart. Today, he came home from his first two finals with a bouquet of flowers and in the best mood. So far it's been wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better day. Zach's getting off work early so we can relax and enjoy the rest of our day.

I love you babe. you make all the hard times worth it.

PS. sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll post some of our vacation!

wait a minute...

Someone told me yesterday that it's December....

Speaking of time flying...Canyon has surprised me almost everyday this week. He now has two, yes two, teeth! I kind of knew they were going to make a debut, the lack of sleep gave away the surprise. While feeding C the other morning he started rolling his arms like you do in patty cake. So cute! Needless to say we sing patty cake about 100 times a day now:) He's also clapping and cruising. One day he's going to let go and be off! hopefully not too soon. I hear that once they start walking it's a hop skip and a jump away from high school and a mission...and I'm not ready yet.

In other news, Zach is finishing up the last two weeks of the semester...yikes. It's going to be a little tense in our house but we have a fun vacation to look forward to. We are heading down to Flag the 22nd and then to LA on the 2nd for our cruise:) I.can't.wait. C is going to spend some quality time with G'ma and G'pa Russell while Zach and I celebrate two wonderful years of marriage on a cruise to Mexico! Bring on the mariachi band!

Duh da da dun!

You guessed it...we moved...again. Now I'm sure we'll find more faults with this new location as time goes but as of right now...it's the bees knees:) Our last place proved to be a bit, well, scary. We got out of the contract and into a townhome in a better area. We were in a 3 bedroom and now we're in a 2 bedroom but it's the same square footage and we're making it work! I had a few requests for pictures. Now mind you, we haven't completely unpacked and we're selling some of the furniture seen so don't worry...it'll look better soon:)

This my dear friends is my new best friend, sort of. The kitchen is probably one of my favorite amenities in our new place. Not only is the fridge awesome and the counter space would be good of a catering company but where you cannot see is a pantry! Yes a pantry!!! We have yet to have one and so far....I LOVE IT!

This is a little bit of a distorted view of the living room. We're selling the rocking chair and I'm sure those boxes will be gone by morning. I'm really excited that we put the amiore downstairs as an entertainment center. It'll be nice not to worry as much about the baby falling on the sharp corners of our last TV stand.

EW embarrassing closet picture. Please forgive me :) The bedroom is bigger than our last and the bathroom is too. There are 2.5 bathrooms total. One in each bedroom and a half bath downstairs.

This is Canyon's room. He's going to be gracious enough to host any of our overnight guests:) Don't worry...they won't have to wake up for the midnight feedings. It's a little tight but I think it'll work just fine.

Oh I almost forgot. There's a backyard for the dog! Thank goodness for less dog hair in the house:)

Come visit us. We'll make dinner!

The weekend

Fridays are refreshing. I'm going home to clean and make Chicken Parmesan for the hubby. When he gets home we're watching Toy Story 3 and enjoying a moment of no stress. I'm grateful for the weekdays...they make the weekend so much sweeter.

Oh and I planned out all the Christmas gifts I'm giving this year...wonderful feeling. Now I need to head to Hobby Lobby:)

Oh November

I'll admit..I hate to play favorites, but October is mine. Yes March is nice and May brings the sun but October is still my favorite. Now for November...I'm excited for this one too:)

I still need to post our Halloween pictures. I'm a little embarrassed by them so I may or may not add them to this post later. We got together with our dear friends Jessi and Cesar for dinner and pumpkin carving. I picked out the wartiest pumpkin I could in hopes it would make a good witch. when we got home we started on the pumpkins...well everyone else did and I went to put the little man down. When I came out Jessi and Cesar already had their pumpkin cleaned out with eyes, while Zach hadn't even got the top off ours.... Turns out my husband in not a weakling but pumpkins with lots of warts (or at least ours) have shells like steal. We abandoned all intricate patterns and an hour later had what Jessi called "a confused alien pumpkin". It's embarrassingly ugly. Still debating whether I should give you a good laugh or not:)

Canyon was a lion but too young for trick or treating...he sported the outfit for a while but it was a little bulky for the army crawl. I'm excited for next year when we can get a little more into it.

In other news...WE'RE MOVING! yes again. I wish it weren't so but we decided to fight our way out of our lease in order to get into a better part of town. We'll be out by the 4th of December but we're looking to move the week of Thanksgiving. We have some really good prospects and don't fret, we have looked at reviews and police reports of the neighborhoods! Hopefully this will be our last move before Zach graduates. We'd love to stay put a while. At least until Zach finds a more permanent line of work.

Canyon is growing up a little too fast. He's pulling himself up on EVERYTHING! We're in the market for a new TV stand, ours has too many corners and has been a little dangerous. Here's where I found him last night as we were putting the books away in his room.

He crawled into the bathroom across the hall. I followed him and peeked around the door to see what he would do. The little man pulled himself up and started to sing while drumming on the toilet. I sure love his personality.

UPDATE: here are the pumpkin pics..

.

The ugly one on the left is ours...the brilliantly cute one on the right is Cesassi's.

Marriage is about love:)

Short story:

Yesterday just didn't feel right. A nauseous and tired Bailee makes for dull company. Upon arriving home I found the surprise (or should I say surprises) that our dear black lab, Bruce, had left for me. I won't go into detail about the actual mess but I will say they are bodily functions most don't desire on the carpet. Not knowing where to start, I did the only logical thing I could think of...called Zach. Yes the one person who had absolutely no power to do anything about the

situation. Poor man, listened to me freak out about a mess he couldn't even see.

After an hour of carpet cleaning I headed off to get groceries. I hadn't heard from the hubby so I worried he was upset that I had not handled the situation a little better. (ps I can't really stand him being upset with me. I ALWAYS have to fix the problem asap). I came home from shopping, unloaded the groceries and started organizing the house, all the while wishing he was home.

I was in the nursery feeding my little monster when Zach came home. He came in and I started in on apologizing for the way I acted. He cut me off and kissed me, thanking me for cleaning up the mess. After I put C down for bed I came out to a bouquet of roses and lilies.

What a man. I'm lucky.

Other news, you may have noticed I'm a little obsessed with the borders around my pictures, sorry.

We're all registered for classes.

I'm working on getting the California pictures up...there's a lot of them and I'm trying to edit and narrow them down.

oh Canyon's 9 month check up....(this is proving to be a HUMONGOUS post...oops!)

Height: 28in (39.9th percentile)

Weight: 20lbs (40th percentile)

Head circumference: 48cm (95th percentile)

what? he's just got a little extra room up there ;)

Canyon at 9 months:

Crawling...EVERYWHERE. The other day I left the room he was in and he followed me like a puppy. I love him

Eating, Eating Eating....he eats everything and is drinking more formula than thought possible.

Jibber Jabber: the boy talks up a storm. Mama when he's sad and dada all other times:)

Still.no.teeth....hmph

loves to watch me clap and or clap his hands together...refuses to do it himself..

I'm sure there's more but my brain is failing me...still :)

Are you ready for Halloween? I'm not

We're on the plane...right now...

I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back!!

I've got that feeling again...

[alert: this may not be the most exciting post ever but I needed to get it out...it's long...don't be afraid to X out now:)]

Ever get that feeling? You know, the one that makes you want to thank everyone you see? Or the one that makes you feel so insignificant compared to all the wonderful people that surround you?

Well I've got that feeling...right now.

I've been hit. Hit by the realization that alone I will never amount to anything, let alone be enough. I think in the back of my mind I always know this simple fact...but every now and again it really overwhelms me.

I promise this won't be another one of my long, boring, sappy post. I just want to express the gratitude I feel. I feel it for my husband, son, family, coworkers and even the strangers that I run into. You know, the ones who point out that you dropped your sweater or wallet, or the ones who let you get over on the freeway. I'm even grateful for the ones who aren't so nice...they teach me a little more about patience and kindness.

Today "this feeling" mostly revolves around the gospel. It's easy to wonder where I'd be without out it but today I'm wondering where I am with it. Am I embracing it to the fullest giving myself the chance to grow with the light it holds? I guess there's always room for improvement but today I think I have found that I hardly take up any space at all. Here's to growing.

I know religion is a touchy subject. I grew up learning how stand for what I believed in while respecting the person next to me. Most of the sweet friends that read this dull blog already carry the light of the gospel in their lives but maybe just maybe this will reach someone who is looking for a little illumination.

The gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is true. It's perfect. The people are not...but the word of God is. I know this as sure as I know my own name. I know that I am a treasured daughter of God. He wants the world for me and to achieve that he has given and will give me trials and tribulations. Honestly, I don't want to think about what I may face in my life time, but I know that what will come will come for my own good. I know that I have a brother. A brother that is so dear to me. He gave his life so my silly and serious mistakes could be washed away. That is the kind of elder brother everyone needs, and coincidently, everyone has. Getting to know him will take a lifetime but it will be worth it in the end.

I'm about to spend the weekend with my husband, baby, mom, dad and sister. I hold these five people closest to my heart. There is no job, electronic, home or other worldly treasure that could ever mean more to me than they do. Thankfully temples have given my family eternity. Nothing is worth more than knowing that I'll be with them forever.

I'm sorry for this little blerg. I broke my earlier promise of a short and exciting post...but I guess this was as much for me as for the reader. I love the gospel and I love my life. What a spectacular realization.

love you all

this is the week

aaaahhhhh..vacation.

We're flying out early Thursday morning to enjoy a little off time. Zach sure needs it. My family will be meeting us at the LA airport and the 6 of us [yes 6, the Russell clan has doubled since 2007] will be heading to Disneyland. Thank you mom and dad for the trip...it is oh so appreciated. I can't wait to spend some quality time with my parents and the adorable Bethanie Marie.

My mom and I have been riding the phone lines constantly trying to plan which attractions we'll be most interested in and that will keep the 3 year old entertained. Our list so far includes:

Peter Pan's Flight

Matterhorn

Space Mountain

California Screamin

Pirates of the Caribbean

Indiana Jones

Nemo Submarine

Soarin' Over California

It's a Small World

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Toy Story Mania

Minnie Mouse's house

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Haunted Mansion

Jungle Cruise

Mark Twain Riverboat

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

Splash mountain

and hopefully more... :)

My mom bought Canyon and Bethanie matching shirts for both the days we spend in the park. She was telling the neighbor how excited she was about the outfits because she never had had multiple kids to do it with before. Kay's reply..."you mean you bought matching clothes for Bethanie and Bailee or Bethanie and Canyon?" I told my mom that I would be up for it but she said no...and Zach agreed.

Shhh don't tell but I might just have the guts to pack red and orange shirts for Zach and I...

I like to Move it Move it...I like to .....MOVE IT!

I get this line all the time,

"All babies develop at different rates...don't worry that yours isn't (insert milestone here)"

Then why are doctors always hounding you about things? Every time I tell someone C's age the response, "Oh is he crawling? At that age my son/grand baby/friend was getting into everything."

He wasn't crawling. Hardly even moving around on the floor save

a few rolls here and there...

Yesterday, C saw something he just had to have (a door stop if you must know:) and whoosh...a little scoot here, a little scoot there and BAM! He's a movin'!

Why on earth was I so worried? Moms...:)

Today, Zach and I haven't been able to stop laughing at this little moving man and all his crazy antics. We are in for some trouble. He's already pulled the DVDs off the shelf...twice.

To see a video of our cutie click here.

um...

ever feel like you'd like to update your blog but have nothing to write about?

Yeah...me too.

So....

I've been reading a ton lately. On average about a book a day.

Here are the latest. Some I like more than others but I haven't really hated any of them.

Mockingjay

City of Bones

Tuesdays with Morrie (again...for the 25th time)

The Sunflower

The last Promise

A Perfect Day

Last Song

Charlie St. Cloud

The Help

5 people you meet in Heaven

The Book Thief

Shiver

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

There are other's I'm sure but I can't remember them at the moment...

I'm excited to start school again. It'll be stressful but I miss the learning.

I'm sure I'll change my mind when the semester starts...

On a more exciting and intriguing note...

We're going to DISNEYLAND!

The trip has been planned for a while but it's getting close and we're getting excited.

October 14-16

Woop Woop:)

Oh and the munchkin started walking while holding our hands...where does the time go?

Anywho...catch ya when I have more to say.

Mom, don't judge...

I.love.dogs.

My sister and I share this problematic infatuation with the species. Greg and Dione Russell will most likely be facing the same things with her as they did with me in

a few short years. They say the second time around is a little easier...

A little history...

My first pup was Jasmine. She was a purebred boxer that was given to us from a family friend. Jaz was an Alpha female that dragged me through many a yard. We put her down my junior year of high school. Still a little sensitive when it comes to that big lapdog...wish she had had a couple more years with us.

There was TJ. Australian Shepherd/Lab mix. A gianormous rescue that my parents begged me to give to a family with a bigger yard.

Libby was the last of my "childhood" hounds. She's still kickin' it in Flag, fiesty and sweet, as usual.

The May after Zach and I were married, Bruce joined our family. It was tough being pregnant and training a puppy but we did it. I didn't realize this till this morning but he's not much of a puppy anymore. I can trust him with just about anything (except maybe an extremely tempting abandoned pacifier:).

This is the part my mom is going to just die. No judging.

On Wednesday I brought home Bella. She's beautiful. 10 weeks old and meant to reach about 50 lbs. I felt like Bruce needed a pal...and really how much more work could the second one be? A LOT! Within 5 hours I realized the magnitude of my mistake. Maybe if I had brought home one that was potty trained. Anyway I set to work trying my hardest to make it all ok. Honestly, it was probably the stupidest moment of my entire life. Go me.

Meet Bella, I'm not kidding, this is her. Isn't she BEAUTIFUL?!?

The stress was a little much and early this morning I decided that one very large black dog was enough for our little family for now. I found Bella a great couple that will be able to give her the attention and SPACE she needs. I can't help but cry. 48 hours and I fell in love with her sweet face and her cuddly nature.

I think having a child made my attachment to little ones that much stronger. I don't want her to go but I sure can't chew what I've bitten off.

Here's to living and learning.

PS I'm excited to take on a new puppy as soon as we have a house...a yard and a son that isn't so young:) For now I'll enjoy my three boys:)

C A K E

So, Last week I found out I was in charge of bringing a dessert to a family baptism on Saturday (aka yesterday). Friday at work I decided I wanted to make a two tier fondant cake. It's far from perfect but I'm happy with the results. I want to keep practicing so when the big 1st birthday (yikes!) comes around I can make a fun one for C.

rub a dub dub and other lovely images:)

So I don't know if I told you a while back that Canyon hated water...but he did. He'd freeze up the minute water was in sight. It took a couple of weeks of me playing in the tub with him and making it the "happiest"part of the day, but he officially loves the bath!!! We now have pictures to prove this momentous achievement:) (much to my satisfaction) Are you ready?

words cannot describe his cuteness...I love him:)

lack thereof

I like pictures. I like to share pictures. So I will venture to say that the reason I haven't posted anything in the last eleven days would be the fact that we no longer own a camera (I sure hope the five finger discount is treating the man who took it well).

Other than a few material possessions that once were ours and are now no more, we are lacking so little in our lives at present. I'm thrilled that fall is closing in and we will shortly be enjoying some of my favorite weather (which will unfortunately be followed by some of my least favorite). Zach has started classes...only 3 more semesters and I will have one edumacated hubby:) I deferred this semester...long story short I couldn't get into any classes in my major...they were all full. My free time is now filled with giggles, singing, dancing and home improvement projects.
Canyon is growing like a weed. He really wants to skip crawling and start walking but it's not working out so well. He's pretty frustrated that the only way he scoots is backwards. The other day I found him half way under the couch while I was cooking dinner. He gave me the look of "mom...why on earth is this so hard?" I've loved having extra time with him. He is all smiles and laughs. The one thing that he loves more than toys, baths and food is his daddy. They'll sit across the table from each other and just grin. It kills me...I wish I could be as cool as a daddy but I'll be happy being the mom:) Canyon also really likes saying "dada". Zach sure likes it too.

As soon as we get a new camera I'll be sure to capture the moments I've been wanting to and share them.

On a quick, mushy note I want to say how great my hubby is. Not to brag, but the man is taking 20.5 credits in school and working a full 40 hours a week. Not to mention he is a full time listener, comforter and nose blower (not my nose, Canyon's:) Those are just a few of the many things he does in a day. I think after a week of his schedule I would collapse and refuse to get back up. I love him. It's amazing that everyday I find my love growing and I am at peace with my decision to marry young to such a great man. It's hard sometimes but we work it out and are better for it. Thanks honey. You.are.great.

So I included a picture anyway...I couldn't help myself. This is one of our engagement pictures. Yes I used to be THAT skinny:)

Isn't he just the cutest?

Where to start...

***Warning...long post ahead. I've gotta catch up:)***

In an effort to be a better mother and wife, I've cut down my computer/blog time...It's a work in progress. I just know that when the baby's napping I could be getting so much more done if I wasn't checking out blogs and facebook. So the new goal? I'm only going to blog, surf the web and such while I'm at work. When I'm at home I have two very important boys that I want to take care of. The World Wide Web will continue on but with a little less Bailee surfing it's sites.
To play a little catch up, my family came up the first week in August to camp at Lagoon. They came in Saturday evening and stayed the night with us. I think everyone in the apartment complex was surprised to find a very long camper trailer parked in the parking lot. Fortunately the camper survived the evening and so did my parents (Bruce likes to torment them to my dismay). It was fun having them come to church with us. As you probably know we are in a student married ward. Upon arrival many of our fellow students supposed my sweet family to be students as well. I can only hope I carry the gene that keeps them looking so young.
They headed up to Lagoon and I met back up with them on Wednesday.
Canyon trying to help Grandpa with the extra large pepsi.

Canyon enjoyed his first theme park visit from the comfort of a Graco stroller. I am always amazed how fascinated by her he is. Canyon will just watch her for hours...he especially loves it when she dances. Oh I'm in for a treat in the teenage years:)


Last weekend we met up with some friends who were camping up American Fork Canyon. We were really up for camping that evening so we just stayed for some campfire fun which included my favorite, smoldering dessert...S'MORES!! Thanks goodness for toasted marshmallows, graham crackers and gently melted chocolate. Zach will tell you that often he'll come home from work to find me making one in the microwave...not as good but it is a close second.

Earlier this week we won a cutest kid contest on the facebook page of a local photography. It was a close call but we pulled ahead for the win midnight Monday. The prize is a free photo session, 1 8x10 photo, 1 5x7, 8 wallets and 5 digital images with print release. I went out and looked at her prices and it's worth about a $450 value. Thank yous are in order for each and every one of the 183 friends who voted...we are blessed to have such great friends! Our photo session is scheduled for August 28th and I'll make sure to let you know how it goes and when I get the pictures they will be posted:)

So now that I've helped lull you into your afternoon nap...I'll leave you to enjoy sweet dreams of Lagoon and cute babies.

Summer Lovin'

The moment you have all been waiting for has finally come. I've been putting it off, waiting for an opportunity to put all the pictures onto my laptop. Well the pictures have finally been added so here it is.

Mid July, our little family flew out to New Hampshire to spend the week with Zach's dad and family. It's hard to sum it all up in a little itty bitty blog post but to try...IT WAS AWESOME!!! I sound a tad like a child, I know...Zach would've told you the same thing in the weeks leading up to said trip.

We flew into Boston Saturday night. I'm sure Zach was dying to punch me in hopes of getting me to stop jumping up and down in my chair with anticipation. When we landed we met up with Zach's dad and sister, Skylar. (Side note: at the airport the had little fenced off patches of land for dogs...AWESOME...we should've taken Bruce...) We drove to New Hampshire, taking in all the pretty trees...one might say we almost drowned in the ever greens:) Zach's family lives near a beautiful lake, Lake Sunapee. Did I mention there are lots of trees? Over the next day or two we spent most of our time on the lake wake boarding, swimming and getting gellato at the harbor (yum).

Zach, in all his awesomeness, went wake boarding for the first time out on Lake Sunapee. He was a little frustrated at first because although it looks a little like snowboarding...it's not. He quickly got the hang of it and had a blast. Thanks to some old friends, the wake board and I had a happy reunion. I'll admit, Zach's family showed us up. Skylar, Zylis and Mike really know how to ride that wake!

On Tuesday; Skylar, Zach, Canyon and I went up the freeway. We stopped in some of the major cities on our way up to the Joseph Smith Birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. I must say that the minute we stepped on that soil I could feel the spirit so strongly. It was amazing to learn a little more about the prophet that brought about this dispensation. I'm so glad we took the time to go up and experience it. I hope we can take Canyon back when he's a little older.

Wednesday, the whole family loaded up and headed to Maine. We spent the day on the Ogunquit beach. The water was chilly and Canyon didn't like it much but it was so beautiful. The shore was very different from what you'd see on the West coast and oh how refreshing. Zach, Canyon and I took a nap in the sand while Hilary and Zylis went kite flying, and Mike and Skylar walked down the shore. After we packed up at the beach we headed out to dinner. We went to a seafood restaurant and ate lobster. I'll admit...it was hard for me to rip that little bugger apart but I did it and loved the meat.

Thursday we relaxed and ended up driving to see Dartmouth. I decided that Canyon is going to be IVY League someday:)

Friday we headed to Boston early for our flight. We spent the day walking around Boston with Mike and Skylar. Throughout the day we transformed into a Boston Red Sox family and bought baseball caps for Canyon and myself. We also found our new favorite pastry shop. It's located in the Italian neighborhood (For the life of me I cannot remember what that neighborhood is called). Mike's Pastry is busy, loud and home of the finest canoli ever! They had about 15 different types of canolis and boy did we enjoy the two we tried. I assume their other pastries and gelato were just as scrumptous. I can't wait to go back.

All in all it was the vacation of a lifetime, thanks to Mike and Hilary. We had such a good time and can't wait to go back.