Merry Christmas!

I was able to upload some pics (read the blog for explanation). Here are some from this month- I included this picture because of the other baby in this picture. He was born with this much hair. No joke. It KILLS me!! He is so cute!
Don and me at a Christmas party. Our white elephant gifts on display.
This was at a YW party. Chloe was exhausted as she refuses to take naps unless she is at home in a completely quiet house. She fell asleep in my arms. She is actually asleep in this picture.
Just another high chair picture. She likes to eat.
So we took our neice and nephew and my little sister to this place called "Amazing Jakes." It truly is amazing. It is a little indoor amusement park for kids. This is my favorite ride there. I am really wimpy, this ride sort of scared me. Notice my 3 year old nephew also on the ride. Ya, I am really, really wimpy.

My Kone.

Well Christmas has come and gone...so sad...but we had a terrific holiday! I'll have to add pictures later, although I don't really have any pictures since we lost our camera just in time for Christmas! But we found it again...Christmas night. So we missed taking pictures of the real stuff. I LOVE how that kind of stuff always seems to happen! Don has already headed back to work...and Chloe and I have resumed our daily schedule of eating and roating rooms in the house. It is a welcome change however. I got pretty pooped out from running around and doing all the Christmas preparations. So the best gift I got this year was my fabulous Kone Hand Vacuum. It might sound strange, but I was very excited to get it! And Don gave me a homemade coupon for a professional carpet cleaning. I am a little obsessed with dust bunnies and clean carpet. Maybe for my birthday I can get my grout cleaned. Also a little obsession of mine.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I would not recommend two movies that I just rented. The first one Is the 3rd Installment of Pirates. I am porbably the last one in North America to see it, but I just wanted to say, what the heck? Did ANYONE understand what was going on? That movie had so many "twists" that the only way I knew it was supposed to be a "twist" was the dramatic music that would play in the background. I just kept going "huh?" and Don fell asleep. So I just skipped the last half and forwarded it to the end to find out the only thing that I really cared about finding out- If Will and Elizabeth got together. To which I still say "huh?" So I looked it up on Wickepedia (sp?) and now I sort of understand what was going on. I should have read that BEFORE I watched the movie. So either I am not that smart or that movie was really impossible to understand.

And the second bomber was "The Holiday." Really boring and annoying. The whole love story between Camera Diaz and the other guy was really, really stupid. I'm sorry, when did they fall in love with each other, or get to know each other?? Because it seemed like the only thing they did was kiss and talk about how complicated everything was.

Anyway I just wanted to share. And that is all. Hope everyone had a delightful Christmas!

Thank Goodness

News Flash worthy of a blog in and of itself:
After 12 hours of being awake, yes I said 12...Chloe has FINALLY decided to go to sleep. She better be getting a tooth tomorrow because it took a lot of restraint not to scream today.

And secondly...Don is officially out of school for almost a month.

And so I am very, very, very...relieved. And tired.
Good Night.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

It's beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas too. Too much to do, and not enough time. Well here are the latest happenings in the Mortensen Household.


Dad and Chloe take some time out for a little R&R. Football is the order of the day.




Chloe has decided she likes this toy. Thank goodness. It is the only contraption she will stay put in, otherwise she is rolling around the whole house. Oh and she got a front tooth this week.




Mrs. Clause is coming to town with her husband. Doesn't she look so cute! Thanks Aunt Jeanie for the super cute Christmas outfit!


Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Or afternoon or morning...you know, whenever you are reading this.

Christmas Family Pictures

So we tried to take our first ever official Family Pictures...However we might have to do a re-do because we neglected to get outside before the sun starting going down. Man the sun goes down fast these days! Check out the Chloe's thighs in this picture!
And this picture cracks me up too-Chloe has a grandma face in it! She is making funny faces these days and saying "Mama." She is so smart. She can already say my name. Okay just kidding, I am pretty sure she doesn't know she is saying me name!
Don has been gone so much lately that I was beginning to feel oeverwhelmed. So I contacted a Genetic Specialist and had him cloned. It's been really great. The Don on the left does dishes, washes clothes, and runs errands. The Don on the right takes me to nice restaurants and buys me jewelry. It is a very nice arrangement.
Did I mention Chloe has two very nice (and sharp) teeth? Well, she does.
P.S. these pictures were taken at The AZ temple.

This Week in Pictures

This week was slightly uneventful but nice. This was really funny in person because she was snoring and drooling. I think Chloe is outgrowing her swing and her other toys. And I am scrambling with ideas of what to do with her now! In other Chloe news, she tried (and liked) peas for the first time this week. Which surprised me because I was disgusted by the pureed peas color and stench. She just doesn't know what GOOD FOOD is yet!
And I put up my Christmas decorations. Our friend Debbie GAVE US this beautiful artificial tree. Thank you Debbie! I have always been opposed to fake trees, except my mind starting changing last year when I put up the dead tree a week before Christmas and then took it down a week later. It was so much work and all I did until we took it down was lie awake at night planning my escape route out of our house when the tree decided to go up in flames. So anyway, I am enjoying my tree which I put up right away and can be enjoyed for a whole month without worrying that it is a huge fire hazard. AND it will be just as pretty when I take it down as when I put it up. AND I don't have to vacuum up pine needles all over my house. But for the record, if the above reasons were not factored in, I would still favor a real live Christmas tree. Oh and a miscellaneous question? Why are tree toppers impossible to stick on top of the tree? They have like this weird spiral thingee that is supposed to hold it up. What? I just don't get it. It doesn't work. I had to use string.
And lastly, it rained all day yesterday. Glory, glory Hallelujah! And lots of snails came out to play. That was kind of gross, especially watching them slither up the window. I just imagined having to eat those on Fear Factor and almost threw up thinking about it.
Oh and one last thing, saw Enchantment last night...pretty cute and very clean movie. A little cheesy...but still enjoyable. Don told me not to tell anyone he went to see it with me. Oops. He loved it. : )

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well it is hard to believe Thanksgiving has come and gone. So sad. I love Thanksgiving. This year we went To St. David, AZ, where Don's parents live. His mom made a delicious feast and we had a great time relaxing on the farm. It is so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of a big city. Time goes much slower there. So anyway, there are a lot of pictures of Miss Chloe Jean. I guess I am a little obsessed with this little kid! The picture above is at IKEA with a little 49 cent hippo in her mouth. Did you know IKEA charges 5 cents for every plastic bag you take home?????
Here is my dad, Chelsey and Chloe of course. Notice the jackets. It finally cooled down here. Thank heavens!
Chloe with a ridiculously large flower headband. I got it off the internet. Go to Etsy.com for some really fabulous homemade items, like this headband! For those of us un-crafty people, there is a place to find the things you wish you knew how to make!
My favorite time of the day!



Notice the green thing she is sucking on. You put food in it and they can get the flavor without choking. A superb invention.

Here we are on the farm. As you can see, Chloe really enjoyed the swing.

Okay sorry for all the pictures. I look like one of those crazy, obsessed moms. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Mawwiage is what brings us together...today(actually yesterday)

Well we just got back from our whirlind trip to San Diego. Don's cousin got married. The person who was supposed to perform the marriage ceremony backed out at the last minute, so Don's cousin asked Don if he would fill in. And being the the marrying kind, he of course said yes. It was the first time Don has ever married anyone, although Don has gotten married, so you know, he knows a lot about giving advice for how to have a successful marriage and everything. HaHa. We were flattered by the invitation though, and Don did a really great job. It was kind of fun watching him be all offical and stuff!

So anyway, we got to the beachfront ceremony spot just in time. We didn't leave Phoenix until about 8 PM and we drove until about 2:00 AM. We stopped at a hotel and crashed. We were very, very tired. I tried my best to stay awake while Don drove, but it was extremely difficult. My spirit said, yes! But my body said, No! I remember I tried having a conversation and I fell asleep in the middle of my sentence, woke up a couple seconds later and tried to remember what I was talking about. As a sidenote, one time Don and I were driving and I got sidetracked for a second and I forgot what I was talking about, and so I asked Don if he remembered and he said, "I don't know, but next time when you are talking, at least one of us should be paying attention." After he got smacked, I laughed. Good one, Don!

Here is Don reviewing his material before the bride makes it up the isle.

And here is Don again. Looks like the bride made it up the isle.










































Chloe found out that she really enjoys sucking on sugar coated almonds. I found out I enjoy when someone else holds her and I can eat without her grabbing all my food and getting salad dressing on her cute new sweater. Yes, that really happened.






Here we are at the reception. It was really fun. I have a hard time getting Chloe to smile for pictures. She always looks like a deer in the headlights.

Chloe got a little tuckered out.

I think she had fun too....

But she didn't like the suitcase/pillow fortress we created for her at the hotel.

And now we are back in Mesa and getting excited for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately we never made it down to the beach, which is a shame when you drive all the way to California! We were just too tired! But besides that it was a great time! I love weddings. I wish more people were getting married so I could go to more weddings! Well I guess that is all. Oh and one more thing, Chloe turned 6 months old. Yeah!

More Random Shots of You Know Who

"Check Please!"

I wear Spring colors because it is 85 degrees!

My mom wishes she could still do this.

Bigger Hips= Smarter Kids and Longer life-check it out for yourself!

Perhaps validation for our big hips has gone a little too far???? Check this article out if you need to feel good about your "curves."http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,310636,00.html

Blah Blahg

Well I have no news, but I feel like blogging, so let me see if magicican Melissa can pull something out of her magical hat!



I know- I will do a Top Ten List about the things I have liked about this week so far. I used to do Top Ten lists in Junior High with this friend of mine...not sure why, just a little nerdy something we liked to do. So here goes.



The TOP TEN Things about this week:

1. I finally put up the curtains in my bedroom.

2. I had a fantastic milkshake from Jack in the Box.

3. I got a headband for Chloe for a Dollar at Target. And a Christmas Bib.

4. Don's antibiotics seem to be kicking in.

5. I had Peruvian food for the first time today.

6. I saw a preview for a movie I want to see( "Enchantment") and it is only rated PG.

7. It was only like 90 degrees today.

8. There is a new episode of "The Office" on tonight.

9. I did a really great job cleaning the bathroom. I got a real kick out of scraping soap scum off the shower walls. No, I seriously did.

10. Chloe goes to sleep on her own now!

Happy Halloween!

Well hope everyone had a spooky Halloween. Let me tell you a little about ours! The night started out at The Church Trunk or Treat. I did not dress up in our trash costumes because Chloe was hard to carry with that thing on. Chloe looked pretty darn cute in her costume. Except her hat would not stay on her head and was always in her eyes. She couldn't figure it out and keep reaching to the sky trying to grab this weird pink think in her line of vision. She also thought her little shoes were delicious. I thought my hot dog and cupcake were delicious.

And here she is in her car seat on our way to the next Halloween Party. This party was for Don's Real Esate Masters Program. It was quite the swanky party. Delicious Food and nice people. We made quite the splash with our entrance. The fellow party goers liked our trash costumes and Chloe always makes a nice accessory. People thought she was pretty cute and she was the only baby/child there, so she had no competition. It is nice going to a place where babies aren't a dime a dozen, because I have realized people really like babies! Especially when they don't see them very often!

This is a picture of one of the nice people we met at the party. She gushed over Chloe, which pretty much is the best thing you can do for a new mom. Unfortunately I did not get many pictures of Chloe's first Halloween. BUT...a couple people told me that her costume looked like something a baby in an Anne Geddes Photograph would wear, so I am thinking of putting her in it again and trying to copy some Anne Geddes Photos. What do you think?

After the party we drive down the street by ASU known for its excellent people watching, and saw some "tasteful" costumes. Note to girls: If you are trying to look trashy, at least be creative and try something different besides a bunny, devil, or an angel. Then we came home and went to sleep. And well, that was our Halloween!

Halloween Part 1 and Random Chloe Shots

This week I went and visited my good friend Robyn and Aunt in Flagstaff, AZ. It was a fun little trip. I decided to try out my black and white and sephora (?) features on my camera. So here are the results. If you would like me to take you pictures I only charge a minimal fee, or I also accept a plate of baked goods.


Last night we went to a rocking Halloween Party. The people who threw it go all out. They probably spend more on their parties than I did on my wedding. We drank our lemonade and sampled the delicous buffet. Then we boogied on the dance floor. Our costumes were however quite difficult to dance in as you can see. Also, quite difficult to sit in. Actually impossible. We got lots of compliments (thanks Robyn) and we thought we had a chance at winning the Costume competition. But then some people showed up dressed like the hosts of the party, which was pretty funny, and unbeatable, so alas we did not win. We hung our lids (heads) low, and swaggered out of the party, only to return to our car in utter defeat. As my grandma would say, "fun was had by all."

It's a bib! I remember I got a bib for my baby shower and I thought to myself....hmmmm, I should return this and get something else because I can't imagine what I would need a bib for....WRONG!! Now I am obsessed with cute bibs. So anyway, this is going on my Christmas list. Along with a new bathroom. That's all.

Ground Breaking

Yesterday Don and I went to a Ground Breaking Ceremony for a client he helped find a property to build his gym. It was indeed Groundbreaking as it was freezing outside. This is a normal occurance for other parts of the country during Fall, but for us we were a little shocked. Plus it was really windy. So it was fun feeling like it was Fall! Our friend took some pictures which I love so I want to include all of them. You realize your camera is not that great when someone with a really nice camera takes pictures. But I am not complaining, I am happy with our camera. Chloe loved the wind-she was getting tickled with every gust that hit her face.