MORE RANDOM PICTURES

Not sure who's running, but this is from the Firecracker softball tournament in 2008. They are doing the base running relay. I wasn't able to play since I was pregnant, but it was fun to see everyone again. They made a mostly ex-Provo High team.

Here's Eliza Slingerland (can't remember her new married name) in the hitting competition.

Here's Amber in the pitching competition. She won, of course. :)

Here's Kimmie Cat really working for a base hit.

Amber showing off her huge muscles.

The team. I can't remember everyone's name, sadly. I know Becky, Amber, Maria, Eliza, Allison, is that Misha? I don't remember her playing, but that sure looks like her. :) Kimmie Cat, and I can't remember anyone else's name. :(

Cute little Isabelle with her new toy.

She's saying, "Stop taking pictures!!" Ha ha.



These next few pictures are on her blessing day. I absolutely LOVED the dress I bought her, and her hairbow I got from a guy at work (his wife makes them). Amber made the jewelry for her, so she was all sorts of decked out for the big day.

This is her first bath after her umbilical cord FINALLY fell off. She loved bath time....still does. :)

My beautiful sister Kae. Looking hot, lady. :)

A short update:

Isabelle is 7 months old today, and she is growing up so fast. She crawls all over the place and climbs on everything. We try to keep her corralled in the living room, but she often tries to climb over our barriers. We have had to keep everything off of shelves & tables because she is always pulling herself up to a standing position & trying to reach everything. She is even trying to stand up on her own already. She can't quite do it yet, but I don't think it will be too much longer. Crazy!! Why can't she stay a baby longer before she starts trying to stand by herself & walk?? She can say dadda now, sometimes she even says daddy. She just loves Matt so much. This morning she woke up at 6:00, much to Matt's horror, but he couldn't help but smile when she just kept touching his face & hair saying dadda, dadda, daddy. So cute!! It's so hard to leave for work every morning, especially when they're cuddled up together still asleep when I leave. Everything else is still going really well. Both of our jobs are still stable for the moment. My Mary Kay business is doing well. I sold my first roll-up bag last week & that was very exciting. I still win prizes every week for being one of the top consultants, and that's always fun. :) I'm really working hard to try to earn my first car. Maybe I will go on target next month....we'll see. I'm playing softball in a city league now. It's fun, yet scary at the same time. I'm always so nervous that I'm just going to play horribly, but luckily that has only happened once so far. :) We've got another game tonight, so hopefully that goes well. It's just hard since I didn't play last year because I was pregnant with Isabelle. I guess it will get easier as time goes on & I get used to playing again. Matt & I took a mini vacation to Wendover on Monday night. It was so much fun!! We got a coupon in the mail for a free room, $20 in gas, $20 in cash and a free buffet, so we took full advantage of it and went. We paid to upgrade our room to a suite with a jacuzzi tub and it was soooo worth it. We got a poolside suite, which means we had a private patio that opened up into the pool area. We had a big room with the jacuzzi tub, a steam room/shower, a huge flat screen TV (which we never watched), and a big bathroom. We spent the night out on the town and then relaxed in our jacuzzi tub when we got back to our room. I also spent some time in the steam room. It was awesome!! We're hoping they'll keep us on their mailing list and send us more coupons. :) Little Isabelle stayed with her aunt Lora and didn't really seem to care that we weren't around. That's a good thing, I guess. :) I suppose that's it for now. Have a great day!!

Random Pictures: I emptied out my camera a few weeks ago and put all the pictures on a CD. I just added some randomly, since I can't figure out how to see the thumbnail pictures. If anyone knows how to do that, let me know. :) Enjoy!!!

This is my sister Jana & baby Mekhi at my baby shower last November.

Me, Kae, Becky Dennis & her son at my baby shower.

Some cute little turtles. I can't remember where we saw them.....maybe in Nauvoo?

The Freedom Festival hot air balloons from this year. We took Isabelle. I was afraid she was going to sleep through the whole thing, but she woke up as soon as we got to the field, and she liked watching all of the balloons get filled with hot air and take off. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we can still continue our tradition of watching them every year, even with Isabelle. I know Matt doesn't really like getting up that early, but to his credit, he never complains because he knows I enjoy it.

Isabelle inspecting her new toy that Matt won for her at Lagoon.

Opening presents at my baby shower!! Presents are the best!!

Matt's cousin's wedding last June. That wedding was so much fun!! I think it was my first non-LDS wedding (the only one I can remember, anyway). They got married in a Catholic church which had beautiful stained glass windows. Her dress was AMAZING!! I'll have to post the pictures I took of it when I can figure out how to see the thumbnail pictures. As you can see, her flowers were beautiful, everything was beautiful. The reception was awesome!! It was at an Italian restaurant, they had a cocktail hour before with waiters carrying hors d'ouvres around, an open bar, and tables full of champagne....very fancy. We had tables with name cards done by a calligrapher, I'm pretty sure I saved mine somewhere. Anyway, lots of fun!!

While we were out there for the wedding we took a trip to Nauvoo for a couple of days. I loved it!! The temple was so beautiful. The construction company I work for did all of the plastering on the inside walls, and it was cool to finally see all of the work they did. We did a couple of sealing sessions and an endowment session while we were there.

Finally a new post!!!

Sorry, it's nothing too exciting. :0(

News of my little family:

Isabelle is now crawling!! I can't believe it!! Matt always said he couldn't wait until she was more independent & able to crawl around.....I'm not sure he still feels that way now that she is moving around and getting into everything. Ha ha!! Little Isabelle is not so little anymore. She's now 18 pounds and 29 inches long, and 6 months old. She's growing up so fast!! She's still the cutest baby ever, I think. :) We have been trying to get her to go to bed earlier, and finally got her to bed before midnight last night.....that made me VERY happy. I know Matt likes it when she sleeps in until 11:00, but staying up until 1:00 or 1:30 was just really draining for me.

Matt is still working at Verio, which is great. I know so many people who have lost their job or are scared that they are going to lose their job, so I am grateful that both of our jobs are safe for now. Matt officially gave up on his garden this week. Poor Matt just never had time to do it since he watches Isabelle all day, plus he was waiting for a tiller. He finally borrowed one from his friend Adam and as soon as he started to use it, the belt broke, then we had to order a new belt (it was $20 cheaper to order it on-line) and wait for it to be delivered. Anyway, I feel bad that Matt doesn't have his garden, we'll have to work harder earlier next year to get that done so that it doesn't go by the wayside again. We did plant some strawberries that we got from my mom and those are delicious. :) I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who takes such good care of us. He makes the yummiest food and does so much around the house. I probably need to tell him more often, but I really do appreciate all he does.

I signed up to be a Mary Kay consultant in the beginning of June. I had always thought about doing it over the years, but was always too scared. Well, when my director talked to me about the business opportunity, I was willing to take a chance this time. Having Isabelle really makes me think about our financial future a lot more. I saw Mary Kay as a way to pay off bills sooner, build a college education fund for Isabelle, and just to be more financially stable instead of always living paycheck to paycheck. Plus, I get all of my personal products at 50% off!! It is going really well so far. I got my first recruit last week, and I am really excited about that. I am going to be working really hard towards earning my first free car, and I am so excited!! It is kind of scary at times, but I have a great motivating factor.....my family. It's a lot of fun too, I get to meet new women, and we get to play with makeup & body care, what's more fun than that?? :) Anyway, if you ever want to order something you can either call me, e-mail me or order off of my website www.marykay.com/lannahunter I have specials every month, so if you want to be on my e-mail list just e-mail me at lannahunter@marykay.com I'll just get my little plug in there. :) Other than work & Mary Kay, there's not much time left. My extra time is spent with Matt & Isabelle. I also play on one softball team (as opposed to 2 or 3), so that takes one night a week as well. Needless to say, I am always busy, but at least it's a good busy, things that I enjoy.

I think that's all the news for now. Have a great day!!!

Some good volleyball fun!!!

New Dave Matthews Band CD tomorrow!!

I am so excited for their new CD, it's going to be great, I know it!!! They did a little segment about the band yesterday on "CBS Sunday Morning". I thought I'd share it.



Watch CBS Videos Online

Baby Blessing

Baby Isabelle was blessed yesterday. It was wonderful, Matt did such a good job. I know he was so nervous, but he really did a great job. Little baby Isabelle was promised some great things in her blessing. She is such a sweet baby. We blessed her in our old ward, which is also the ward I grew up in. We just felt more comfortable doing it there since we have so many friends in that ward. It was good to see everyone again. I loved Isabelle's dress, it was so fluffy!! We got it at Dressed in White, right next to the distribution center in Orem. I absolutely love it. We got her hair bow from Jason's wife, I work with Jason & his wife has made a lot of money off of me with her cute hair bows & barrettes. We had lunch at my mom's house afterwards, and that was so good. It was kind of sad, Matt had made a really good meat sauce the night before, he had been working on it for a few hours & then it burned during the finishing process. He read on-line that you could get the burnt taste out by cooking a potato in the sauce so he went to Wal-Mart to get some potatoes & the sauce burned again while he was gone. I'm sure it would have been really good, it smelled delicious, until it burned. :) Poor Matt. We ended up just buying some bottled sauce at the store. It was still good. Matt's brother Pat came down from Logan for the blessing. It was good to spend some time with him. He came down on Saturday & is leaving this afternoon. He stayed in our guest bedroom, which now has a bed in it, thanks to Matt's parents. My sister Jana came to stay last weekend. She came up to see my cousin Anthony's baby who has been very sick and in Primary Children's Hospital for a couple of weeks now. I am happy to report that Anthony's baby is doing a lot better, and was even smiling & laughing the other day, so hopefully she will get to come home soon. Jana also got to spend some time with little baby Isabelle while she was here. Jana would hardly put her down. :) She even came in to steal her from our bedroom in the morning. Ha ha. I know this entry is just a big rambling mess, but hey, at least it's an update, right?? We had Isabelle's 2 month well baby check up last Friday. She weighed 12 lbs 1 oz and is now 25 inches long. She was in the 94 percentile for her weight and she is off the charts for her height. They just put 99% because that's the highest they can go, but they said she is way off the chart. So we've got a tall girl on our hands. Hooray!! It will be a sad day when she's taller than me, but hopefully she will put her height to good use. :) I always wish that I was a few inches taller every time I play volleyball. Anyway, the 2 month appointment also meant that she had to get her first round of immunizations. She got 3 shots & took one immunization orally. She only cried for a minute, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She was definitely cranky that night, but she was ok as long as I didn't put her down. She slept for a really long time both Friday & Saturday, and she finally started acting normally again Sunday morning, just in time to get blessed. Well, I guess that's all the news for now. Have a great day, everybody!! Here are some pictures Lora took after the blessing. Enjoy!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Here's a little update for everyone. Little Isabelle is 7 weeks old today, and she is growing so fast!! She has also started eating a lot more...which I guess she needs to do to grow. Anyway, we are trying the Wal-Mart brand formula starting today. Hopefully she likes it. It only costs $14 as opposed to $25 for Similac, and at the rate she's starting to go through formula it's definitely worth a try. She is awake more during the day now, and she likes to play. She is starting to smile a lot more now, and we're thinking she will laugh any day now. We need to take her to my parents' house more often so one of them can make her laugh. It's a Navajo tradition that whoever makes a baby laugh for the first time has to have a party & make dinner for everybody. It's a fun tradition. Anyway, she can pretty much hold her head up by herself now, and she likes to stand up & hop up and down. She also likes to play with her little toys that Grandma Hunter gave her. They're little bugs that are all sorts of different colors. She likes to touch their antennae and she likes the bee's wings because they make a crinkly noise. It's fun to watch her. I'm still waiting for all of her fuzzy hair to fall off...especially the hair on her ears (there's a lot of it and it's really long). Ha ha. I know it will fall off eventually, but it's still just really weird to have a baby with hairy ears. Anyway, I guess the good thing is that she has a lot of hair on her head. Our friend Larry's baby is 7 months old and she barely has a little fuzz on her head so I guess I shouldn't complain. Isabelle is doing really well at night. She sleeps 4 to 5 hours at a time, so it's not so bad. Matt's dad made a beautiful cradle for us and I'm trying to get her used to sleeping in it. She has been doing really well the last couple of nights, so hopefully she will continue to get better at sleeping by herself. It's just hard to stay consistent at it since I get so tired & I still have to go to work in the morning, so sometimes I think it's just easier to let her sleep next to me than to fight with her all night. :) I miss her so much when I'm at work, but I go home for lunch every day to give Matt a break & just so I can see her. She's so cute I could just stare at her all day. It's getting more & more fun every day because I can tell that she recognizes me & she is always interested in what I'm saying to her. I taught her to wave yesterday. She didn't really remember how to do it today, but that's ok, it was fun to watch her do it yesterday. One of the really funny things she does is she always turns her head when Matt goes to kiss her. It's hilarious!! Matt & I always laugh when she does it so now she thinks it's pretty funny too, so she always smiles when she does it.

We are going to bless Isabelle in my parents' ward on March 29th. You are all welcome to come. Their ward meets at 1:00. Just e-mail me if you need directions. Have a happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Introducing Baby Isabelle!!

Finally!! Our cute little Isabelle was born on January 27th at 12:31 PM. She was 9 pounds 1 oz and 21 inches long. When I went in for my non-stress test on Monday the 26th my amniotic fluid level had dropped to 3.8 (between 14 and 15 is normal), so they said that I needed to be induced. They had tried to induce me the week before because my fluid level was at 5.1, and they let me go home after 21 hours of labor where I was having contractions every 2 minutes because I only dilated to a 3. They let me go home because Isabelle was fine the whole time, no signs of stress during that long night. However, since the fluid level dropped even more & she was 2 1/2 weeks overdue, they said that no matter what I would be delivering the baby this time. So again, we were checked in to the hospital around 11:00 am and they had me hooked up to the pitocin by 12:00. I started having contractions every 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, so then we were just waiting....again. My water broke around 7:00 that night, and things started getting harder after that because they kept turning the pitocin up. By 10:00 I was on the highest dosage and there was no space in between contractions. I was still doing ok, using my hypnosis cd's, but by midnight, I was so exhausted & with no time to recover between contractions I was done. I had an epidural soon thereafter & tried to rest. By that time I was only dilated to a 4. I finally was fully dilated by 7:00 the next morning and started pushing around 9:00. Poor Isabelle just didn't want to come out, so the doctor came in and used the forceps to get her out. Luckily she didn't have any bruising or anything from that, just a small mark on her neck that went away within a day. It is such a surreal feeling to see your baby for the first time, knowing that's what has been moving around inside you for so long. She was doing just fine as soon as she was born. I don't really remember much about when she was first born, I lost a lot of blood and was pretty out of it for a while. Anyway, I was so happy when I could finally see her again, it was quite a while because they had to do blood tests on me to make sure I didn't need a transfusion & it took a while to get the results back. She was so cute, the nurses in the nursery had fixed her hair & put little bows in her hair. This picture is from soon after they gave her back to me.

Needless to say I absolutely love her, she is the cutest baby ever!! I know everyone says that about their own babies, but I really think she is the cutest. :) We had to stay in the hospital until Thursday, but it was kind of nice being waited on by the nurses. All the juice I wanted. Ha ha. Their cranberry/grape juice was my favorite. Anyway, then we took our cute little girl home. It was very strange to be by ourselves, but it was so nice just having our little family together at home for the first time.

We had her 2 week check up yesterday, and she has gained 1/2 a pound and grown 1 1/2 inches, which puts her in the 98th percentile. I think she'll be taller than me by the time she's 12. :( She has been a pretty good baby so far. She gets fussy in the evening, but we're trying to figure out how to help her. We switched formulas & bottles, which helped some, and the doctor said we can get some gas drops, so hopefully that will help even more. She has been a little calmer the last couple of days, so hopefully it will keep getting better. Matt's mom is staying with us to help out. It's nice that Matt doesn't have to worry about cooking dinner every night. I've been back at work since the 4th. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but it's nice being back at work. I miss Isabelle like crazy while I'm at work, but it's only a short while before I get to go home & see her. I usually go home for lunch too just so I can see her.

Kae's friend Kelli took pictures of Isabelle on Wednesday, and here are some of them. She did such a great job, I can't wait to see the rest.

Finally, a picture for all of you!!! I got a new Blackberry that has a camera, so I can at least add pictures that way for now. I just need to go buy a new cable for our camera, I don't think I'm ever going to find our old one. Anyway, here is the first pregnant picture I have of myself. I had my friend Rocio take it on Monday in my office. It's a little blurry, but that's ok.

Sorry there's no exciting baby news yet. :0( People ask me every day if I'm going to have the baby today. It's a bit annoying, but I know everyone's just excited for her to be born already. I also get the question, "When are you going to be induced?" all the time. The answer is....I'm hoping to avoid getting induced if at all possible. Obviously if there's a problem with me or the baby I won't object to it, but I'd much rather let nature take its course, even if that means I still have to wait a few weeks. I'm feeling great, so that's probably why I'm not anxious to get induced. I'm even sleeping really well at night now because my back doesn't hurt anymore, so I have no complaints. I know Matt is starting to go out of his mind waiting for baby to come out, but he'll have to be patient. Poor thing. =0) We have another doctor's appointment tomorrow so hopefully all goes well.

My parents came over last Saturday & helped out a lot around the house. We got the baby's room completely set up which is a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders. It's so cute!! I'll post some pictures tomorrow, assuming I don't have the baby tonight. Ha ha. Matt & my dad also installed our new medicine cabinet, which I am very excited about!! It's been sitting in our garage for a few months now and our old one was way outdated & gross, so it's so nice to have lots of storage space & an updated medicine cabinet. Now our pink tile really looks out of place. Ha ha. We're thinking of just painting it for now until we can take the time & money to replace it. They have special tile paint you can use, so I'm thinking that will be the cheap alternative for now. My dad also put up all of our curtain rods & we got all the curtains put up.....FINALLY!! Now our neighbors can't stare at us anymore. Ha ha. My mom was also nice enough to hem & fix a few of the curtains that weren't quite right, so that was great!!! I know Matt's really happy about the curtains in our bedroom since he hates any light in the room while he's trying to sleep, and we had all the lights from the church parking lot behind our house shining into our room all night. He seems to be sleeping a lot better now, which is good.

I guess that's all the news for now. Have a great day, everyone!!

The List.

I got this off my friend Lynette's blog, and thought it might be fun to do. All the things I've done are italicized.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited the Bahamas
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Solved a Rubix Cube (I've tried many times, but never succeeded.)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Went inside a pyramid (The Luxor in Vegas counts, right??)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Performed a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Flown a kite on the beach
14. Met a US president
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's The David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Fainted
53. Drove over 100 mph
54. Visited Grauman's Chinese Theater
55. Learned Sign Language(The songs in Primary count, don't they?)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Watched a space shuttle re-enter the Earth's atmosphere
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Earned an Eagle Scout award
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating(I think fish counts.)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someones life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (Any day now!!!!)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own ...Your turn!

This has made me realize that I really need to start traveling and seeing the world.

Hi, I'ts Matt, my back hurts from carrying dog food.

Hello, Everyone!!! I'm finally writing again....I know I've been really bad about it. Anyway, no exciting baby news yet, we're still waiting. My due date is on Saturday, but everyone knows first time moms usually go over by at least a week, so we'll see. I am going to avoid getting induced if at all possible. I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow, so hopefully everything goes well there. At my appointment last week the doctor said I'm fully effaced so now we're just waiting for me to dilate. I keep thinking "open" thoughts. =0)

Well, the holidays were a lot of fun. Thanksgiving is always good, I love turkey & all the mashed potatoes. December always seems to be a blur of shopping, parties, dinners & what not. Christmas was great, I got everything I asked for. I just asked for baby stuff and everyone cooperated, which was great! I'm thinking we have nearly everything we need, but I guess we won't know for sure until we actually have the baby & find out all the things we forgot. Matt's mom has been shopping like crazy the last few weeks. It seems we get a new package every other day with new baby stuff in it, it's a lot of fun. Matt finally finished painting the baby's room yesterday so I can't wait to get home today & start setting up the nursery....finally!!! Yeah!! I've been stressing out about it for a while now, so it will be great to finally get it done. Poor Matt, he was probably so sick of me bugging him about it, but it's not like I could do it myself, since the fumes are bad for the baby. Anyway, it's done now, and I'm so glad.

We got a dog the week before Christmas. He's such a nice dog, I can't wait until I can actually get out & play with him. His name is Knight. He's an Australian Shepherd/Lab mix. He's 1 1/2 years old, we got him for free off of KSL.com. The people who had him before had to get rid of him because the neighbors were threatening to shoot him because he kept chasing their cows & horses. He just wanted to herd them. Anyway, he seems happy, he has a lot of room to run around in our backyard, but we do have to keep him on a chain or he jumps the fence & runs amuck in the neighborhood.

Other than that I guess there's not really anymore news. We're just patiently waiting for the baby to come out. =0) I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas & that we all have a great year!!!