A Bunch of Bishops

Christmas Preparations and Christmas Eve

2010-12-29T18:29:00.001-08:00

Christmas has been really exciting this year because Bailey is beginning to understand the season a little better. We went to Hobby Lobby one morning and she stood in front of a nativity set for about 5 minutes in awe of the whole scene. It was so fun to see people stop and smile at Bailey's excitement. She has learned who Joseph, Mary, Jesus, camels, Wisemen, Shepards, and Santa are, the use for stockings, the love of Christmas trees, excitement for presents, and the joy of seeing Christmas lights. We went to our annual ward Christmas party and Bailey and Maddie met Santa. Amazingly once again Bailey had no problems sitting on Santa's lap. She is just curious as you can tell by her face. Bailey enjoyed olives and a lovely green cupcake! We also went shopping for our Christmas tree. Although it is getting more expensive, it sure is a fun tradition! On Christmas Eve we spent the day together as a family. As odd as it may seem, we went on a picnic for lunch. (Odd because it is so warm on Christmas Eve when Dave and I are so used to it being cold.) Bailey was so excited to be in the little house and to look out the window.
Bailey, Maddie, and I went on several walks in Decmeber. One walk, Bailey decided she would collect several treasures in the bottom of her stroller. The treasures included "cone pines" as she called them, acorns, leaves, and who knows what else. We decided to make a snowman out of her treasures and it is still hanging on our Christmas tree. It was so fun to see how excited she got. She even colored the face of the snowman.
We also got a 1000 piece puzzle which Dave ended up doing pretty much by himself while I worked on Pajamas. The puzzle is also a tradition I enjoy and hope to continue.
The night of Christmas Eve we read the nativity story, drove around the neighborhood looking at lights, and openend our Christmas pajamas. I think Bailey's favorite gift of the whole season was her pair of Lightning McQueen slippers. She plays with them every day. It was so fun to see how excited she was about her slippers and PJ's.
Sorry these pictures are all over the place because I do not really like this new set up. Maybe I am doing something wrong but the images once they are downloaded are just a bunch of letters, numbers, and sybmols?!? So enjoy the random assortment of pictures. The one of Maddie is just showing how fun her hair is. I can't believe that at two months I can do her hair in two pigtails! I love it and it is still red!

Blessing and Tea Party

2010-12-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

December has been a fun and busy month. The first weekend of December our parents came into town for Maddie's blessing. It was such a delight to have both sets of parents here. We had a lot of fun. We had a girls day out shopping at the fabric store and a guys day hanging Christmas lights. Dave blessed Maddie on Sunday at church and it was a beautiful blessing. I find it interesting that with both girls service was mentioned. Maddie did a good job not crying but managed to spit up and poop out in her blessing dress but thankfully after church was over (at least the poop out and thankfully spit up is white!!). Thanks to Sherri for the dress, the bow and the bracelet. It is truly such a blessing to have such beautiful daughters.
We also had a Grandma and Bailey tea party. Bailey was so excited to wear all of her jewelry and her hat and skirt. She also was quite excited for all of the mini treats, she started eating them before we even started. We have the best Grandmother's in the world. We couldn't ask for better examples for our girls. Thank you for all that you do for Bailey and Maddie.

A Busy First Two Weeks of Life

2010-11-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be my official first day of being alone with the girls. Incredibly, one of my great friends asked if she could take Bailey for the day. She is wonderful. Thanks Erika!! It has given me a lot of time to relax and wow, yes, even blog! We have had so much fun with Grandma and Papa here. Bailey and Mom have been spoiled for the past week and a half. Thank you so much to Mom and Dad Jackman for coming to visit. You were such a big help. Here are just a few of the fun things that we have been up to:
We went to a Pumpkin Patch with Bailey and she loved picking out a pumpkin for Bailey and a pumpkin for Maddie. We went to the Temple with Grandma and Bailey loved the water most (of course). We made sugar cookies and carved/painted pumpkins. There were fun trips to the Butterfly Museum and the Blue Bell Factory. It has been a great few weeks.

She is here!

2010-10-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well our precious bundle of joy is here! We are so excited for our new addition and are enjoying all the cuddle and snuggle time we can. To start, we would like to thank all of our family and friends who have prayed with us throughout this pregnancy for a successful VBAC because it was! We are so grateful to not have to worry about the C-section recovery.
For details: Madelynn Jo Bishop was born on Tuesday October 19th at 5:38am. She was 7lbs. 10.8oz and 20.5 inches long. If you are not interested in details just skip to the pictures!
I had been having pre-term labor since Saturday night and needless to say it left me quite sleep deprived. On Monday night harder contractions started at about 11pm then by midnight they were coming around 2-5 minutes apart. We decided to call the hospital and let them know. They said to come in so we got all of our things and headed out the door. (This was such a surreal moment. It happens in movies all the time but it is strange when it is really happening!) Before we left obviously we had to get someone to our house to watch Bailey. Oddly enough all the people we had lined up for the evening were deep in sleep. Thankfully our neighbor was able to come on short notice and sleep at our house.
We were admitted into the hospital and I was at a 3! Yipee, all on my own. I felt so blessed. The doctor said he would not start me because we were trying for a VBAC. We got all situated and I started moving quite quickly. I got an epidural and it was wonderful despite the violent shaking. Luckilly the shaking went away after about an hour. A few hours later I was at a 7. Throughout this the doctor came in a few times worried because Maddie's heart rate was up and down. However, she calmed down again and things were going well. At about 4:45am the doctor came in and my labor had slowed a lot. I was to an 8 but wasn't making much progress. He said if I didn't have the baby in one hour he would do a C-section because there were too many variables. I prayed and prayed and prayed. Miraculously at 5:38am she came into the world crying. This is one of my favorite moments as a new parent is to hear her first cry.
She is a very healthy and content baby. She has dark red hair, it almost looks copper. When we were getting her dressed to go home I put on a pair of socks which were 3 month size and they were too short!! Our little girl is really long and skinny.
Bailey is doing well with Maddie. She is quite protective of her and worries when Maddie cries. Gratefully she is not that interested in her at the moment which makes things a little easier. She loves to give her kisses and point out her different body parts. I think her favorite is her belly button. It is so fun to be a family of four. We again are so grateful for the prayers and support of wonderful family and friends. As so much has happened in this past week, I plan to do more posts in the next few days when Grandma and Papa take Bailey out on daily adventures. More to come in the next few days.

Our little girl is growing up

2010-10-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well, this has been a long time coming and I figure since our little one is due in three days that I should catch up before it gets too crazy around here.
Our precious Bailey turned 2 on Thursday September 23rd and we had a great time celebrating her. She actually made it through opening more than one present and we feel so grateful for the generosity of friends and family. Her actual birthday was full of family fun including a yummy breakfast of her favorite: waffles with fruit and yogurt, a trip to the zoo just Mom and Bailey, swimming and splashing in the back yard with Daddy, and a yummy dinner of pigs in a blanket. There is no better way then that to spend your 2nd birthday :).

Friday night we had a mini birthday party for Bailey. She had a tea party with two of her great friends, Kara and Evelyn. They were so cute and were very careful about the water filled cups. Bailey did take one of the containers full of yogurt covered raisins over to a little corner as if to say, "These are mine and no one else can have them" only to come back a minute later and share with her friends. She and Kara enjoyed the birthday cake and ice cream especially when they were able to eat it off the floor! Thanks again to our good friends for supporting our first attempt at a birthday bash. We had a great time.

Turning two also means going to the doctor. She was an angel the whole time. Usually she screams from the moment we walk into the office until we leave. She only cried briefly when she got her shots. Her stats are as follows: Height 36 3/4" 98%, 28 lbs. 68% so she is tall and skinny! Everything looks great.

Bailey has grown and changed so much over the last few months. She is turning into our little toddler. She is not our little baby anymore. She has begun in the last few weeks to speak in complete sentences, stringing several sentences together. Some of our favorite phrases, words, and Baileyisms right now are "Oh goodness....", "What's Daddy doin", upadupt (I have no idea how to spell it but that is how she says elephant), "Stop Bailey stop" (yes she says this to herself!), "Sit by You" when she wants you to sit down by her, she fills in words to some of her favorite songs such as Scripture Power, I love to see the Temple, Sunbeam Song, I'm so glad when daddy comes home, and Miss Mary Mack. She continues to read to herself while walking in circles. She loves going for walks and swinging on the swings. When we go swing she will ask me to push Maddie's swing as well (her little sister's name).
Because her sister will soon arrive, we had to make some changes to the bedroom situation. Bailey is now in what was the guest room and has been sleeping in a big girl bed for about two weeks. The transistion was not an easy one for any of us but she is doing much better. Currently she is kicking the wall and singing to herself instead of sleeping, but hey, she is still in bed! That is progress.
This last week or so we have been trying to spend a lot of quality time with Bailey and perhaps spoiling her a little more then we should. As I realize the one on one time with her is going to be gone soon it makes me reflect on how much love I have for her. Despite her funny tantrums she is such a sweetheart and melts my heart. She is truly such a joy to us and we are so grateful that she joined us two years ago.

Well, I was so excited to finally upload pictures for all to see with our "working camera" but there is something wrong with the connection to the computer. Oh dear, maybe I will give up on cameras forever. So, sorry this update will just have to do for now.

Finally somewhat of an update

2010-05-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

I know that it has been a long time coming sorry! There has been a ton going on. I finally got a new camera and as of a few weeks ago, it stopped working! I think I have a curse. I cannot get the images off the card so once we get a new camera hopefully we can put some fun pictures on here. Here are a few updates for you:

Bailey continues to grow and is loving every minute of our hot summer. Her favorite things are to color in our back patio with sidewalk chalk, swing (which she calls "wing"), eat gogurt on her "sit", go for walks, and play with any kind of water. She is quite the water girl we are so excited for our pool to open. She is talking much more now but continues with her Bailey talk with a few words we understand mingled in here and there. She is a true joy!

We are expecting baby #2 and just found out on Friday that we are having another girl. We are excited for Bailey to have a sister. She is due Oct. 14 so please help us out and pray that a hurricane doesn't come around again! I can't afford to dig fence post holes after being a week late again!

Here are some random pictures for your enjoyment. I was able to get a few pictures off my camera before getting a lens error. We have planted our garden (this is our attempt at an herb garden), Bailey loves to read her books on her reading blanket from Grandma, Bailey's hair is getting longer so I have to get more creative, and life is just good here in Houston.

Vomit on a page?!?

2010-02-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been quite a while since I have updated so here goes a quick version of vomit on a page! Sorry about the grotesque nature of the title! So much has happened. It snowed in Houston! It was real snow too. We enjoyed a great Christmas at home just the three of us. Bailey was excited about her baby "Sally" and Tacky her penguin. It was so fun to celebrate with a little one. We had a racquetball tournament which was one of my gifts to Dave for Christmas. It involved several people from the ward and Dave won! It was a lot of fun. We headed to Utah for Justin and Amber's wedding. It was so nice to be with family. The ceremony was incredible and it was fun to get to know Amber better. She is a sweetheart. Bailey and I stayed in Utah for 10 days so it was fun to spend a lot of time with family. Bailey loved her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, and all the attention they gave her. Thanks for a great trip. Sadly for all of this minus Christmas morning (post to come soon) my camera started acting up again. I took it to Utah in hopes that it was just a fluke but no!! I don't have any pictures but thankfully my sisters are great at taking pictures and promised to send a CD soon.(If you want to see pictures go to Nelson Nothings blog!) So for now enjoy the few things we do have pictures of. Life is good and we are enjoying our busy lives here. (Sadly, this is how my journal entries often are because I have so much catching up to do.)
On a positive note, we have decided to invest in a new camera for my birthday, so TONS of pictures to be had in the future!

The dancer

2009-12-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

Fun Things

2009-12-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been full of food, crafts, and fun family time. We had a great Thanksgiving this year with just the three of us. Although it was sad to be away from family we sure enjoyed the relaxing Thanksgiving we had. Needless to say with three of us we have had a TON of leftovers.

Also, Bailey took her first step a few weeks ago and has since then taken up to five steps at a time. Her progress is kind of slow but she will get there. We have learned that Bailey has to completely do new things on her own schedule!

I realized that although awkwardly, I can run with this stroller so Bailey have gone on a few outings despite the cold weather. I think she actually enjoys being so bundled up!

I have also had what has seemed like a million projects in limbo the last umm...year or so. I decided to get to it and finish them. Below are a few of them: our bathroom wall which some sort of plant will accompany the art and the laundry room bag holders, thanks to a good friend of Dave's who gave us the wood to sand, stain, and hang!

I made this blanket and burp cloths for a sister in our ward who is having a baby. It sure is fun to do.

Dave has been working on our garden and our first pepper of the fall has come!

Motherhood

2009-11-20T07:41:00.001-08:00

While starting yet another load of laundry and finishing the dinner and breakfast dishes at about 3 in the afternoon, I realized that mother's have the most important and the most incredible job in the world even with the monotony of what we do. The other day I was filling up the tub for Bailey to take a bath and I went back into her room to find her reading stories next to her book box. Bailey has started loving to brush her own teeth, has learned what the comb does for her hair, learned to sign a few words, and has started to cover her mouth when she coughs (even if they are fake)! There is such power and fulfillment watching children learn things that we teach them. What a blessing Bailey is to me to show me the incredible blessings I have in my life. Motherhood is such a blessing.

An update post cont.

2009-11-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! Yes, it is a bit late but here it is. We had a great week celebrating. Bailey and I went to two story times that were parties. At both she made crafts and had a wonderful time. She dressed as Pebbles for one of them, just in case you can't tell that she has a bone on her head!! We had a ward trunk or treat which Bailey dressed up as a farmer for. She looked so cute despite the overalls being size 3-6 months and giving her a perma-wedgie. We had a fun Halloween and look forward to next year when we will take Bailey trick or treating.

I am not sure where she got the looks but I think this is a beautiful picture of Bailey.

For a playdate with the ward we went to a pumpkin patch/petting zoo. Bailey LOVED it all.

Our prize pumpkin Bailey picked out herself.

The Kroger pumpkin patch, authentic I know.

Bailey was again helping with laundry and I just couldn't help it...wearing her first pair of nylons!!

Some of October

2009-11-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

Just too cute to pass up!

The month of October was full of fun and adventures. Dave and I were lucky enough to get away for a weekend. Bailey had a delightful time with Grandma and Grandpa. (Thank you so much.) She actually had a hard time seeing them go. I don't blame her! I think she gained about 5 pounds over the weekend but what are grandparents for!!

Here are some fun pictures of all of their adventures.

Her first experience with McDonald's

Dave and I went to San Antonio. We camped on Thursday night and then stayed in a Bed and Breakfast the rest of the trip. We seem to have this uncanny ability to find places where no one else is because both the campground and Bed and Breakfast were empty . What a delightful weekend it was. We went to the San Antonio temple, The Riverwalk, Six Flags, and took some wonderful walks around the neighborhoods. I would encourage all married folks to find a way to spend some time away from the hustle and bustle that is all around us and just enjoy your companion! We had a wonderful time.

There is nothing like breakfast in the fresh air. It was so nice to be in the woods although still not quite like the mountains.
Sorry this is the only way to get pictures when it is just two people!

Bumper cars. They were hillarious. I love that Dave is just a little boy in a man's body. It made six flags an awesome trip.

A Tribute to of course Bailey

2009-10-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a while sorry. This post is dedicated to our darling little girl Bailey. She has changed so much and continues to change everyday. What a joy she is to us. It is a long post mostly for the grandmas!

Happy 1st Birthday to Bailey!!

These pictures are on Bailey's birthday. Since I scheduled her doctor visit on her birthday, Dave and I ended up unwrapping a lot of her presents. Mean mom I know. Then that night at mutual we celebrated her birtday with singing and with cake. Sadly, I had spent all this time trying to make Bailey's mini cake look like a beach ball. I thought it turned out pretty good. We all went to opening exercises, came back and some little fingers had found the beach ball and it must have tasted good because the finger marks were all over the cake. I was sad but what can you do. We had a fun evening and feel so blessed to have Bailey in our lives.

Bailey's first experience with blueberry muffins. She loved them! However, that isn't unusual, we gave her grapefruit the other day and she LOVED it.

She is old enough to have a forward facing carseat but as we found out at the doctor, she doesn't quite weigh enough yet.

Bailey has started trying to be more "helpful" around the house. She takes things out of the dishwasher, whether clean or not, she helps take clothes out of the laundry basket, whether folded or not. The fun thing is no matter what Dave and I are doing, she just loves to be with us! Who could get mad at a face like this?!?

Bailey has also started gathering "treasures". She will find things around the house and hold on to them while crawling throughout the house. She literally took these foosball balls all around the house just like this.

She loves shoes!! She is my kind of girl.

The end of August we went to Utah to visit family. It was a blast. Bailey just loved uncle Bean!

We went to the zoo as a family to celebrate Bailey's birthday and her favorite part was definately the water feature. She had a great time as did we. She got to pet a goat, see the elephants, and see her favorite, the giraffes.

Celebrations with pictures to follow

2009-09-25T08:05:00.001-07:00

I know that we have been out of the blogging scene for a while. Well, this month there has been so much that has happened that a few hours worth of posting and uploading is required. Therefore, since we are headed to Wyoming tonight, this will have to suffice for now.
First off, Bailey is officially crawling now and has been for about a month. A few days after learning to crawl we put her on the stairs and up she went! Funny story, Dave and I were talking about some things at the kitchen table and just figured Bailey was playing downstairs. We heard her playing with an air filter vent and went to check on her only to find her all the way upstairs and having a grand old time. She didn't make a sound going up the stairs and needless to say, we don't forget the stair guard anymore!!
We celebrated Bailey's first birthday on Wednesday. It is amazing to think that a whole year has gone by. It has been a wonderful experience for all of us. We opened presents then quickly took Bailey to the doctor for her physical. (Yes, her mom is mean to take her to get shots on her birthday. Trust me, it will not happen again!) Then we just played all day. For her "party" we had mutual so she got to celebrate with all her favorite youth. She enjoyed an up up cake and we had a great time. We are so grateful to our family and friends for being so supportive of our sweetheart and her special day. Thank you all. We love you.

11 months on the 23rd

2009-08-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

After her first bath.

As Bailey is 11 months in a few days I thought I would post some updates. Sorry there will not be any new pictures this post as I finally sent my camera in to get fixed! Hopefully that will solve all of the problems. Anyway, updates:

Bailey continues to scoot but is getting much faster. She will chase the volleyball around the floor and love it. She is also going in her push up position with greater ease. For those of you who do yoga, she is now a pro at downward facing dog! It is so fun to see her progress.

Dave has named a little stuffed animal rafee (I am not sure of the spelling) and Bailey loves him. The other day as we were playing on the floor, I asked Bailey where Rafee was, she looked around for him, then proceeded to scoot over to him and grab him. I was impressed because she had to move several toys out of the way to get to him. It is amazing what babies can understand even at a young age.

Bailey also still loves books. She will cry if we stop reading. It is one of her favorite things to do.

We continue to enjoy Bailey. She is such a joy to us. It is crazy to think that it has almost been a year. Time flies! These are just a few pictures from a long time ago. It is sure fun to look at them.

Can you ever be too proud of a mother?

2009-08-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would have a proud mom moment! I thought Katie and Sherri would enjoy the pictures of Bailey's hair. I think it helps that she holds still pretty well. Also, Bailey loves to dance. Her favorite is Salsa with her daddy. It is so cute to hear her giggle.

It looks almost as if she is posing for the picture!

Bailey likes to help around in the kitchen and can fit perfectly under the cabinents. Don't worry, we do watch her and she doesn't sit up here much.

For an update...Bailey as of yesterday figured out how to move forward. She is using her right leg and her hands to scoot along the floor. It is definitely not the fastest mode of transportation but she is moving in the right direction! We are pretty excited although not oblivious to the fact that as soon as she is completely mobile our lives will change.

Utah visit and the HEAT

2009-08-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Bailey and I had a surprise visit to Utah this last week. Brian was going through the temple for the first time and Dave was gracious enough to let us go...thanks honey! We got there Wednesday night and flew home Saturday night. Quick trip, but we sure had fun. I think it was a miracle because on the way there, the only available seat in the plane was first class and the seat next to us happened to be empty (SCORE!). Then on the way home, the entire plane was full except for the seat next to us. I was most grateful for that seeing as we were back in coach and Bailey had to eat dinner on the plane. As you see in the pictures, it would have been quite difficult to feed her with someone next to us. I think they would have also been covered in sweet potatoes!

First Class for the first (and probably last) time

She didn't sleep at all on the way home even though we got home at 10pm. She was this happy the ENTIRE flight. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful baby.

We were able to go to Thanksgiving Point and see the animals and Bailey even rode a horse for the first time. She loved it, a Texan (or Wyoming :)) Cowgirl at heart! Bailey also was able to enjoy a cool wade in the water feature with Grandma. She loved most of it!

Thank you for a wonderful trip to the temple. It was incredible to have so much of the family there. We did miss the Daves and Hezz! Thanks for the wonderful week.

An update on Houston: Guess what...it is HOT!! It is so hot that when Dave mows the lawn he has to find any way to keep the sweat from dripping in his eyes! Thank goodness he is an engineer. I love ya babe.

Our precious little cupcake

2009-07-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but post these pictures. Dave was grilling for dinner, so we put Bailey in her chair next to daddy. Like Father like daughter...Bailey LOVES to read. She has started really getting into touchy feely books, for lack of a better description. Bailey is also such a happy baby. One of her favorite things is to breath really quickly with her mouth wide open and her arms and legs moving all over the place. She was apparently really happy for these pictures! We love Bailey so much and are so blessed to have her in our lives.

We have designated one book for Bailey to "read" to herself. Yesterday for the first time she actually ate some of it! Family reading time from here on out!

Swimming and Poison Control

2009-07-13T17:28:00.001-07:00

Bailey went swimming for the first time in our neighborhood pool. She just loves the water. We had a great time.

We had our first and I am sure not last incident with Poison Control. Bailey often enjoys playing with things that are not meant to be toys. We usually will give her pretty much anything to play with as long as it isn't breakable and it won't hurt her...well, oops! This compass seemed to be an innocent toy, but we soon found out that there was permanent marker along the straight edges. She soon had marker everywhere. Poison control was really nice and said she should be just fine. Maybe permanent marker has extra iron which could be nice for Bailey!

Harmless enough right?!?

If you look closely at her right hand you can se it is also covered with marker. Daddy doesn't look too happy about this!

Family events

2009-07-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

Dave played in a Raquetball tournament about a week ago and we came along to cheer. It was a lot of fun. Bailey is truly a social butterfly. She was smiling at all the men playing in the tournament!

Bailey and I went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory this past week with some friends. It was so much fun and Bailey loved every bite of ice cream she got. She sure loved Blue Bell's homemade vanilla. If any of you have not tried it, you need to come visit us and we will get you some. It really tastes like homemade ice cream!

This past weekend has been a lot of fun. Mom and Dad Bishop came to visit. We were able to read a lot of stories, go on walks to the ducks, eat some brisket, enjoy the farmer's market, go to the butterfly museum, and just enjoy each other's company. The greatest thing was that Bailey loved spending time with grandma and grandpa. Thanks for the awesome trip.

There was a pendulum clock in the museum and Bailey loved looking at it, just like her daddy.
Bailey loved all of the butterflies flying around. It was a nice sunny day so the butterflies were quite active.

Also, Bailey is training to be the next volleyball star! This video is of her chatting. She just loves to talk. It is so fun to listen to. We love her so much and are so lucky to have her as part of our family.

Life is crazy sometimes

2009-06-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

We have had a wonderful few weeks. It has been busy but full of family and summer fun. We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on June 8th. Since both of us were leaving the morning of the 8th, we celebrated on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. We went to some fun places where we went when we were dating. Sadly, the picture of the arboretum with all three of us didn't work out (silly camera!) but the one with Dave and Bailey did work out, so that is what you see. Afterwards we were able to go do sealings at the Houston temple (I recommend this to anyone celebrating an anniversary) and then went to dinner and a movie. It was a busy but super fun day.

One of our favorite burger places to go was Southwells. It is really yummy. We went there often.

We were going to visit the Bishop sign where Dave proposed and I was going to talk of how "sweet" our love is but it was too far out of the way. Another time I guess.

This is Dave's old apartment and this is where we first kissed. I gave him a big bag of hugs and kisses!
This is our church building we went to when we were dating. There are a lot of fun memories at this building.

This is the arboretum where we had our first "DTR".

Then Bailey and I went to Utah for a week. That was a blast. We were going non-stop but we sure had a good time. Bailey did well with all of her aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and she especially loved her nieces. Sadly once again, my camera was funny so I only got a few pictures. If you are interested in seeing more go to Sherri and Dave's blog. Thanks Sherri, I can always count on you getting great pictures. You are a life saver.

Grandma J. and fun tubby time in the sink.

Aunt Hezz and Bailey. She loved all of her aunts and uncles.

This past weekend Mom and Dad Jackman were here. Despite the super hot weather, we had a great time. Friday we enjoyed BBQ and games on our back patio. I think we killed at least a dozen June bugs-gotta love it! Saturday, we went to the zoo and made it through about 1/3 of it. I guess it will take three trips. We also celebrated Grandfather's Day on Saturday. Thanks for the fun weekend.

She was quite tired at the zoo but did a great job. It was super hot, I think that is what made us all so tired.

Grandpa Jackman is known for his crazy toes. He is always picking things up with them and handing things to people in his toes. He tried to teach Bailey the trick of the trade and I think she may have some Jackman toes!
Father's Day was a fun day to celebrate Dave. He is such a good dad. I asked him what he likes best about being a Dad and he said the kisses. Dave has taught Bailey to give kisses. It truly is the cutest thing. In the picture that is what she is doing although you cannot really tell. Bailey loves her dad so much. We both are so honored to be blessed with having Dave in our lives. Thank you honey for all you do.

Bailey got daddy some popsicle molds and a popsicle recipe book. We will definately enjoy those cool treats in this weather!

Also, Bailey is 9 months old today. It is crazy how fast time goes. We went to her doctor's appointment today and she is 28 1/2 inches tall (82%) and 18lb. 2.5 oz. (30 something %), I guess she is still tall and thin! It is time to make a switch to a different car seat seeing as her feet touch the seat in the car. She is growing so fast but we are so blessed to have such a wonderful child. She is truly such a joy to us. We are reminded every day what a blessing she is to us.

Bows, Bows, and more Bows

2009-05-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

To all of you interested in Houston or Utah or wherever else you may be:
My sister has made some really cute bows and flowers. I have what is in the pictures but I am also heading to Utah the week of June 8th and can hook you up with pretty much anything you want if you are interested. There are also several different colors of headbands. The bows and flowers just clip onto the headbands so you can switch them out at any time. For girls with longer hair, they don't need a headband but these just clip into their hair. She sells them for a lot cheaper than you can find in many stores so let me know if you are interested. Also she has some "military hats" that you can add flowers or bows to for you Moms! Just let me know.

You can also check out http://www.shindyz.com/ and see if there is anything you like there and I can get it for you!

It is a wonderful day

2009-05-30T08:02:00.001-07:00

Our garden has been quite fruitful this year. We have enjoyed a batch of homemade salsa and many sandwiches and BLT's with all of our tomatoes.

We enjoyed a great trip to Arizona to see family. We were able to do a lot of fun things. Sadly, I only took one picture, so if you are interested in other pictures look at Beth and Chris Will's blog, Beth is better at taking pictures then I am. The one picture I took was of Bailey and Ashlee eating together. They shared so well that they took each other's food. It was really funny to watch.

Bailey has been learning a few things this past few weeks. One thing she has learned is to eat Cherrios. It is nice to keep her occupied while we get dinner ready. She is still learning to get them in her mouth though. That will come with time. Also, she has learned to turn the pages of the books that we read. She can only turn the board book pages but it is the cutest thing.

A Bailey Post

2009-05-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

I am not a photographer but I just couldn't help it. I cannot believe how fast Bailey is growing up! Also, I am kind of tired of having people ask if Bailey is a boy despite whatever we do to dress her to show otherwise. I am hoping that the piggies can help with that. Also, I figured Sherri would be proud that her sister is actually doing something fun with her daughter's hair!

I took out the little bows so you could see her cute piggies!
I think we may have a future model on our hands :)

I went to wake Bailey up the other morning and she was sleeping like this. She is so funny, she loves to have a soft blanket over her and she will pull it up over her face, I guess she likes the feel of it.

Bailey has been teething pretty bad the past week or so and I think that by next week she should have a total of 4 teeth. Poor girl, her teeth seem to come in pairs. The next set almost here are her two front teeth. Goodness, she is growing up so fast.

Pool, Patio, Personal Progress, and an Amazing Husband

2009-05-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on this week. Bailey had her first pool party! It was a lot of fun. Although the girls only stayed in the pool for a few minutes, they had a good time. Sadly, they wanted to eat the pool more than play with the water. It is nice to have friends nearby.

We have been wanting patio furniture since we moved into this house. It has been on our wish list and finally we were able to save up and buy some. It will be so nice to be able to do more outside!

I have set a goal to not buy any bread and just make my own. Well, so far so good. However, I have been trying to make this new type of bread for months. Out of nothing more than sheer determination, I have stuck with it. Dave likes the bread I used to make and suggests since it is easier and just as good to stick with it. I guess my pride gets to me. Anyhow, I feel like this last batch is probably the best yet (at least on the outside, I haven't had a piece yet!). It is a whole wheat bread that doesn't taste like whole wheat and is light and fluffy (when made right.) If you are interested in trying it go to http://www.kneadfulthingsnow.com/ and look under the recipes for yeast breads. It is a little more work but I think it tastes good. Since I am in Young Women's and can work on Personal Progress again, I thought this would be a perfect project for that! I am all about developing my talents, and sharing them too :).

Today!
My attempt a few weeks ago!

For Mother's Day, Dave and Bailey were so sweet. They made me a homemade card, which I couldn't wish for anything better. Dave even got Bailey to write a little something in it. Also, they got me a beautiful flower to wear to church Sunday. Bailey loved it :). We celebrated the day with no meetings and a Sunday afternoon walk which I have been wanting to do for months but with our busy schedules have not been able to. Then to close off the evening we enjoyed chocolate dipped strawberries and some fun games. I am such a lucky girl. I have such a wonderful family. Also thank you to our Mothers who are such a good influence and example and amazing Grandmothers. Bailey is a lucky girl!

If you look closely on the left you can see Bailey's note to Mom. How cute is that.

And why not a picture of our cutie!

Mangos are Messy

2009-05-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

She is being trained to catch fish with her hands!

Grandma and Garden Post

2009-05-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Mom Jackman came to visit. It was such a blast. Although we didn't do much but enjoy Bailey and chat, we sure had a wonderful time. Bailey was a little hesitant at first with Grandma but by the end of her visit Bailey was chatting, playing, and even cuddling with Grandma. She bought a pool for Bailey and Bailey loved it. Also, Dave and Mom went to the farmer's Market and bought some of the most amazing mangos I have ever tasted. Bailey apparently loved them too. We decided to give her the seed so she could suck out the juice, goodness, she LOVED it.

Our Garden continues to grow. I had no idea that lettuce grew up! Anyway, we are planning to harvest the lettuce this week so the squash and ressurrected cucumbers can grow. We have a few green beans and several tomatoes. It is so neat to have a garden.

Mom's birthday is this month and since we will miss celebrating with her, we thought we would have a little party. Our friends came over and Susan actually had a recent birthday as well, so double the fun! We also had Key lim pie Blue Bell ice cream. If you ever find it in the store, buy it because it is so good.

We had to use a regular diaper for this and although you may not be able to really tell, the diaper weighed about 5 pounds. It was full of water and you can kind of see an extremely pudgy back side and tummy. It was too cute to pass up taking a picture. I was crying from laughing so hard and poor Bailey just wanted to get out.

If you notice, the pink ring on the pool is not inflated...well Mom tried to blow it up and couldn't so we left it this way. Then Dave came home and in about 1 minute had it blown up. Honey, thanks for the lungs of steel!

Rainy days in Houston

2009-04-29T12:08:00.001-07:00

I thought I would post these pictures because I thought it was crazy. On Monday night, we had an incredible thunder storm. Apparently we got 6 inches of rain in one night. If you look at the pile of leaves strategically left in a line, that is how high the water level was. Our neighbor said he looked out at 3:30am and there was a raging river running down our street. I am so grateful for our safety and that Bailey didn't even wake up at all. Needless to say, I was awake from about 2:30am-5:00am with the loud thunder. Maybe she didn't wake up because of the book , Oh, The Wonderful sounds Mr. Brown can do. He makes thunder BOOM, BOOM, BOOM :). A children's book comes to the rescue again!

One thing is the rain has sure made it nice and green here!

Just for fun!

It is Finished

2009-04-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, two posts in one day! I just wanted to show the finished product! It is fun to finally finish something that was started so long ago.

Oh the joy of being a Mom

2009-04-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Bailey got a new swing from Grandma and Grandpa Bishop for Christmas. Now that she is better able to sit up we have set it up and she loves it. It has also been wonderful because the weather has been so nice.

Bailey likes to help out with laundry! We also put her in this basket when we play tennis. It works well!

I think Bailey might have a little bit of naturally curly hair. The other day it was raining all day, so we went for a quick run in the rain and this is what her hair looked like after!

One thing I love about our neighborhood is that there are parks (yes with an s) within walking distance. Bailey loved her first experience on a park swing. (Don't worry she wasn't in it long, I know she doesn't have a hat on!)

Also, I have been working on a kitchen project. It is an idea that I found from Michael's. It is made of styrofoam and scrapbook paper. We purchased some vinyl lettering to fit in the blank spaces and I will post a picture of that when it is done. It may not look professionally done, but it was a lot of fun to make.

A Tribute to My Family

2009-04-20T08:14:00.001-07:00

I have such a wonderful family. We do so many fun things together and I am so grateful for them both. It gets hard to be so far from extended family but I am so blessed to have these two with me. What a blessing they are to me.

I want to let my sweet husband know how much I love him. One thing I love about Dave is his ZEST for life. He is always so enthusiastic and happy with life. These pictures are just fun memories.

Our one tomato from the garden last year. Now Dave has magically grown more than 10 so far!

What can I say, we just love our little angel. She is changing so much every day. This past week she rolled over from her front to back pretty much every time we put her on her tummy. She also has two teeth...yikes, she is getting so big. She has also continued to eat well. We went on a picnic a few weeks ago and played frisbee and dad and Bailey had some fun times.

Bailey's first experience on grass and surprisingly, she loves it.

Fun at our picnic.

We have a lake right by our house with ducks, so Bailey and I went for a walk and played on the grass while the ducks ate our corn flakes (the only thing we had other than homemade bread, and I am sorry but the ducks don't get to eat that!)

She was all tuckered out after a fun evening with Dad and Mom.

Bailey enjoyed the cucumber although it was hard for her to keep in her hands.

I love this picture, it shows how much Dave loves daddy daughter time!

Bailey is always such a happy baby.

What would I do without my wonderful family?!? They are the greatest.

Wonderful Houston

2009-04-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

It is crazy to think that a month has already passed by. Things here are great. Sadly, several of the pictures I planned to post got erased from my memory card! I really am not a fan of this camera. Anyway, I figured I would update with words and some pictures. Bailey continues to eat well. We have tried bannanas, sweet potatoes, apple sauce (thanks Mom Bishop), rice cereal, and avacado. She has liked them all. Also, she has started to sit up which she learned quite quickly from watching her cousin Jaylee. One of the pictures we lost was when Bailey was sitting in the laundry basket. She sat there for about 30 minutes playing with her toys while Mom and Dad played Killer Bunnies (you can ask Dave). It was the cutest thing! The pictures below are my meager attempt to put her hair into a small elastic. At least she doesn't have boy hair that is plastered to her head :)!
Also, our garden is doing awesome. We have learned of a few things that do extremely well in Texas: lettuce and peppers. It is fun to make a sandwich and use your own lettuce!Sadly we have also learned what does not do well, which is my favorite garden treat, cucumbers! As you can see they are not doing well and this is our third try!
We feel so blessed for Dave's good job and a wonderful life.

Her bowl got stuck on her ear!

We have already tripled the number of tomatoes we got last year (we have 3!)

squash apparently does well too.

She looks like a little who.

Good week

2009-03-03T08:48:00.001-08:00

This week has been fun for us. First off, we planted a garden. You can tell we do not live in Utah or Wyoming :)! Who would have thought Feb. 28th to be such a good day to plant a garden. We are hoping for more tomatoes this year and are trying out lettuce, peppers, and cucumbers. Sadly, in the picture we have already managed to kill our cucumbers from lack of water oops, so we will try those again today.

Also, Bailey had her first taste of rice cereal the other day. She did much better than we thought she would. There is definately a learning curve but she is doing well. The video is kind of long and more for the grandparents' sakes! Life is good here in Houston.

Bailey likes to do things with her hands. She was even grabbing the umbilical cord in the womb :). I guess that hasn't changed.

Our new shower

2009-02-18T12:22:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, I know, two posts in one day is a little much. However, I couldn't help it the shower is complete! We just can't shower for a few days in it. We love it and can't wait to try it out. It looks much different and we are pleased.

Busy as Bees

2009-02-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

These past few weeks there has sure been a lot going on: a birthday, Valentine's Day, Decorating, and remodeling. Below are some pictures of all of that. Although we are busy it sure has been fun. Also, an update on Bailey, she rolled from her back to her front yesterday (although it was a complete accident!). Also, she has started this new trick where she will push up with her feet and it moves her around in a circle, it is so funny. She is loving to move and we are sure she will be rolling all over the place in no time.

Dave made a fabulous Valentine's Candelight dinner. He smoked Pork and grilled pineapple and mushrooms. It was fantastic!

For my birthday, Dave got me some supplies to make my own cards. This was my first card. As it is a basic starters kit, there are only thank you stamps, so if you get a card from me saying "Thank you" for being born, you will understand. This was a card I made for Dave to go along with his Valentine's present.

This was the funnest gift to make! I would encourage anyone to make one of these for someone else!

Birthday cake! The white candle represents 20 and the blue candle represents 7!

We are redoing our bathroom because the tub was leaking into the foundation. The second shower curtain was keeping the water from leaking into the foundation and sadly the brick did fall on Dave one time. Needless to say it is time to get this shower fixed! This is the beginning of the remodeling.

We also were able to get an entertainment center for Christmas, which the greatest thing about it is the hiding of the chords! Yes it is small, but we love it!

Before

Now

And lastly, one for kicks- this is Bailey's first boo boo. I trimmed her thumb nail or should I say her thumb a little too much!!

Play Date

2009-02-14T07:50:00.000-08:00

Bailey and I have enjoyed the last few weeks meeting with our friends Erika and Kara. We have decided to meet together once a week and do something new or fun such as make bread, make jam, crafty things, etc. I am really excited about it. This past week we got together and although the girls don't really interact quite yet, I thought these pictures were sure fun.

I have a blessed life

2009-02-09T07:03:00.000-08:00

I saw this cartoon and just wanted to share it with all of you fellow mom's. Sometimes days can get this way but we are all so blessed to be women! I am so blessed to have a darling little girl that I love so much, even when things get tough. I love my husband more than anything and it is such a joy to be a mom. I have such a blessed life!

Bailey is blabbing

2009-02-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't resist, Bailey is starting to talk more now and I think it is so cute. Also, Dave got me a 1000 piece puzzle for Christmas and on February 1st we finished it! It was fun bonding time, I even got to put in the last piece.

Exciting things happening in Houston

2009-01-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

We have had a busy few weeks and some exciting things. We have decided to start decorating our master bedroom, so we decided to add an accent wall. It took several coats and sadly when we finally got the tape off, some of the 3 coats of red and one coat of primer came off. Needless to say, we understand the value of spending a little extra money to get the good stuff. Anyway, we are excited about the color and look forward to more decoration adventures.

We also got a piano this last week. Our Jackman parents sent us their 30+ year old piano which is perfect for us. Dave has already played Love at Home for Bailey, a request from her grandparents. She seems enthralled by the piano and we are so grateful and excited for the opportunities we will now have with a piano in the home. Thanks Mom and Dad.

I have a favor for any reading this that may have ideas, in the piano picture you can see some shelves above the piano. I am not all that great at decorating yet and could use some ideas as to what classy things I could put on those shelves. Any ideas, send them this way. Also, we seem to be having a hard time with Bailey and tummy time, as is evidenced by the clips, any advice there would be helpful as well.

Primer Coat

Final Coat (Before tape removal)

Updates

2009-01-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been a while since the last post. We had a great vacation in Arizona and Utah for Christmas and New Year's. Sadly once again the Cannon camera fails to impress. It only worked for a little bit and it was the day after Christmas!! Anyway, we had a great time. Also, in the last few weeks Bailey has changed so much. She rolled over on Christmas Day, I think it was an accident. She has started "playing" with toys i.e. holding them and quickly putting them right into her mouth. She is also kind of starting to laugh. It is such a joy to be parents and Bailey gets more and more fun everyday.

Thank you to our families we had such a wonderful time with you!

Bailey is such a blessing

2008-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

So I know that there is a lot on Bailey on our blog but I just can't resist. I finally was able to get a few pictures of her holding her head up. She seems to change everyday and I can't believe how much she is growing. She is also sleeping better. Last night she slept from 7:30pm to 5am then went to sleep again until 9am. We are so blessed! We love her so much.

Funny: These mittens were from Starbucks gift cards! Hey they work

Tubby time is Bailey's favorite time of the day

HELLO

2008-12-01T17:57:00.001-08:00

I thought I would post this picture of our family bread that is made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I made this bread for the first time by myself and I made it for Nate. We had a wonderful time with the Gregory's for Thanksgiving. Also, Dave organized our garage, it looks fabulous. I love how organized he is!!

Of course a post wouldn't be a post without a cute picture of Miss Bailey...she is learning to hold her head up it is a lot of fun (although I just missed it here in this picture)!

Go UTAH and WYOMING

2008-11-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

Congrats to the Utah fans for a great win over BYU on Saturday...yes, we were cheering for Utah!! Bailey was also cheering for Utah and Wyoming at the same time. Also, today is her 2 month appointment, which is apparently the worst appointment. Here are a few photos of her while she is still content today. She is learning to smile and is interacting with us more and more every day. She is truly a joy to have in our family!

Some updates

2008-11-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been a while. We are still waiting for pictures of Bailey's blessing but we did take a few which are posted. The brisket also was fabulous thanks to Dave!! Thank you so much to those family members who were here we loved it and for those who couldn't make it we missed you and thank you for your love and support. Also, thanks to Sherri for providing the dress and the darling bow! Check out Shindyz!!
Also, we have been wanting a nice reading chair for Dave since we moved into our house. We finally found the perfect chair. It is a fun Daddy Daughter reading chair as well and Bailey loves it!

Somehow babies can be comfortable in any position!

Thanks Big B for your help. Sadly after she ate this bottle, we realized that she had a MAJOR blow out on Brian, then she spit up on his shirt. That takes true love to deal with that!

2008-11-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!! We had a fun evening. Dave invited the teachers and leaders from the ward over for a party. There was pumpkin carving, chili and breadsticks (of course), and games. We had a great time. Also, Grandma J. gave Bailey this darling costume. Funny enough, she almost didn't fit in it because she is getting so tall.

It is a miracle

2008-10-28T10:18:00.001-07:00

So I couldn't stand the thought of losing these pictures, so I tried one more time. Miraculously, the pictures were back on my camera!! I don't understand digital sometimes. Anyway, here are some of her "FIRSTS" and just some other cute pictures!

My Heart is Broken

2008-10-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to post a bunch of pictures of Bailey's "FIRSTS" but I went to download the pictures from my camera and there is only one picture on it. There were pictures of her first trip to the temple, Dad's first day of dressing her, and some others that I cannot remember. I guess that is why cameras with film are sometimes better. Well, I do have the one picture that I will post. She was really fussy and we had a million things going on so I put her in the snugli, she wouldn't take her pacifier but ended up falling asleep sucking on the snugli. I guess whatever floats your boat!!

Go Wyoming Go

2008-10-06T12:30:00.001-07:00

Sherri made some really cute bows for Bailey to wear. One of my favorite is the Wyoming bow. She wore it on Saturday to support her Dad's Cowboys. Hopefully with another fan cheering them on, they can improve their record. Anyway, here is a clip of her and her stylin' bow. Thanks Sherri.

More of Bailey

2008-10-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

Bailey is here

2008-10-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken me so long but here are some pictures of our sweetheart. Now that I feel up to walking up the stairs I can post some pictures!! Bailey is doing well, she is now back up to her birth weight and is 21 1/8 in. long. I think the first doctor was wrong but she is a growing girl. Both Grandma's have been here to visit and it has been so much fun. Thanks to both our grandma's, we are so lucky to have you. We love Bailey and are so excited to have her here.

2008-09-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

2008-09-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here's Bailey. She was born on Tuesday, Sep 23rd at 8:51 P.M. She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz, and was 19 3/4 in. long. She is cute!

Hurricane IKE

2008-09-19T10:29:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are wondering, we managed to make it through the hurricane fairly well. Although we were out of power for about a week, we are grateful for food storage and good neighbors. We lost part of our fence, some branches fell, and we have a lot of leaves but other than that we turned out pretty good. Here are some pictures of our home. We really were blessed. Also, last Friday night, the night of the hurricane we were going to have Chinese takeout from our kitchen :) and we were in the middle of making Orange Chicken when the power went out. That is what the picture of the dark kitchen is. Needless to say, we had a romantic candelit dinner!

The Nursery

2008-09-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

We are still not 100% finished with Bailey's nursery but since she still hasn't come we still have time hee hee. Here are some pictures of before, during, and now. It has been a lot of hard work but also a lot of fun. We are excited for Bailey's arrival and will let you know when she does decide to come.

Brisket and Football

2008-09-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Dave decided to try a little good ol' Texas BBQ. He woke up at 5am on Saturday to start smoking the brisket. As we do not have a real fancy Texas style grill, he had to do his best with what we have. The brisket smoked for 12 hours and this is what it looked like coming off the grill. It was tasty! For Bailey's blessing we are looking forward to another day of smokin' BBQ! Also, college football has begun, which means Wyoming football radio will be on each Saturday in our home. Gotta love the fall!!

Also, on a pregnancy update, nothing yet. We will let you know as soon as she comes!

Pregnancy Update

2008-08-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some pictures of Bailey's growth. Also, I got my (hopefully) last ultrasound. She seems to be healthy and growing. They are still hard to see but I thought I would post some. Despite all of the ultrasounds I have had, she has yet to be in a good position with her head to get one of those cute profile shots. So she may look a little like an alien but we still love her! She even opened her mouth for us and blinked at one point. It was so cute. What a fun time.

I know it is hard to believe

2008-08-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

Family and friends. It is crazy to believe that I have actually set up a blog but it is true. Obviously there is a lot of work to do on the blog but I thought that since there will be a lot happening in the next few weeks that I would start. There will be more to come.

I am officially 36 weeks along today and will post some pictures later!