What's the hype?

Well I finished the Twilight series of books, and I have to say "What's all the hype?". I guess I just don't get it. They were good books, and I finished all four of them (even though the last one dragged on for awhile). I enjoyed the love story (who can resist a good love story), but the vampire/werewolf stuff was hard to digest. This is the first fantasy series I have ever read. I've never read Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia, and I think this just confirms that fantasy books are not my cup of tea. However, that being said, I will probably end up watching the movie. I just feel like I've got to truly follow this thing to the end.

Now I guess I need to find another book to read!

Crummy Week

I know that my last post said that the removal of the binky had been easy and successful, but over the last week things have totally gone downhill!!! Abby will go to sleep fine when it's time, but almost every night she has woken up in the middle of the night, and just played in her crib for HOURS. I have tried giving her stuffed animals to comfort her for when she wakes in the middle of the night. I have tried to wait it out, thinking it will get better, but it was getting worse. And finally I reached my breaking point. I was tired (more tired than I can remember in a long time), Abby was tired, and I no longer had the patience. SO, I gave in. She has her binky and her bear, and we both got a restful nights sleep. I guess we will try again in a month or so. I think that the most frustrating part was that I couldn't understand what the problem was. She easily fell asleep at the beginning of the night, but was unable to fall asleep in the middle of the night. Whatever, it might just remain a mystery.

So on top of that, Cameron's been sick. And I seem to have developed shin splints putting a stop to one of my favorite things, running. I am trying to train to run a half marathon, but this sore leg is holding me back. It's kind of funny to think that running has become something that I enjoy. Several years ago, I couldn't fathom why ANYONE would ENJOY running. Now, I can't wait for the hour that I get to run and sweat.

Anyway, just needed to complain, and update on the binky situation (which I'm sure isn't all the interesting).

No More Binky!

Well, Abby is now 18 months old, which has always been that magic number for when the pacifier would be taken away. She really only uses it for sleep and if we are going out and I know she is going to be tired or cranky. I have totally dreaded this day for SO LONG. I was afraid there would be many tears, little sleep, and tons of frustration. We took it away on Sunday night, and it really hasn't been that bad. She will cry for a few minutes, and always ask for her "mimi" (translation: binky). But we have explained in words that she understands that the binky is no more. SO, there have been few tears, plenty of sleep, and only a little frustration. Now I'm wondering "why did I wait so long?"

Las Vegas

Well, I finally made my maiden voyage to Las Vegas. In all of my 26 years, I've never been, and the opportunity arose and I took it. I went with Jolynne for three nights. Just us girls. It was SO MUCH FUN! We stayed at the Stratosphere hotel,



which isn't that exciting unless you ride the rides (which we didn't) but it was a comfortable place to sleep each night. We went to a lot of the classic Vegas destinations. The Belagio Hotel to see the water fountain show, lots and lots of casinos, M&M World, tons of stores and it all required SO MUCH walking. We went to FAO Schwartz in Cesears Palace and played on the big piano that was like the one in the movie "Big".



I wasn't able to play any real tunes, but it was awesome to see it.
We even were able to catch a Cirque Du Soleil show "Mystere".



It was amazing and totally made the whole trip. Those people do things that human body's aren't meant to do! We saw other shows too, but the spontaneous ones that the drunk people put on, forgetting what room they are in, passing out, throwing up and they were all FREE!



This is a picture of me in front of Trump Tower. We saw some pictures of the hotel online, and knew we had to see the inside. Unknowingly, we slipped past the employees into the area for hotel guests only. It was absolutely beautiful and amazing inside.

I enjoyed my time away, but was very excited to return home to see Cameron and Abby. And it actually was quite an ordeal trying to get home, it involved about 6 hours stuck at the airport and a delayed flight, which finally got us home at midnight.

Thanks Jolynne for suggesting this trip!

Color Me Mine!

We kind of had a day out today! We went to the mall and I have totally fallen in love with the tree house play area for kids. Abby LOVES it! She runs and really enjoys watching all the kids. Its a great FREE place indoors for her to play until it warms up enough for outdoor playgrounds. Then we went to Color Me Mine and attempted to paint a few pieces of pottery. I thought it would be something that Abby could "help" with, but it quickly turned into a disaster. Abby was tired and cranky, and I totally bit off more than I could chew. I was trying to entertain and keep Abby under control at the same time, painting. I finally put her in her stroller and strapped her in so we could get stuff done and not have to worry about Abby breaking something. Cameron painted a mug and I painted a plate for Abby to put her hand print on, which I think turned out really cute. When I finally finished and moved onto MY piece, Abby's patience had really run thin (so had mine), so I quickly painted something and we packed up and left. Although we pushed Abby to her limits, it was a fun day that we spent as a family.

My Valentine

I really wanted to do a post dedicated to my Valentine.

Cameron Alexander Monahan is the amazing man that I have been married to for 4 1/2 years. He grew up in Hemet, CA, served his mission in Minnesota,



and then moved to Provo after his mission. We met at work, and it didn't take long before I knew I wanted to marry him.



He now works at the Orem Fire Department, and also Eagle Mountain Fire Department.



He is such a hard worker, and extremely dedicated to providing for our family. It seems sometimes that he is ALWAYS working, and NEVER home, but I can't recall him ever saying a single complaint about it. Cam is such a good dad, and Abby just adores him.



Parenting came naturally to him, which I was grateful for because that wasn't the case for me. He helped me learn the basics of caring for an infant, and spent many nights up with her, feeding and rocking her. I know that our success in our marriage can be attributed to the fact that Cameron takes all his responsibilities seriously and does his best to be a good husband, a good father, a good priesthood holder, a good son, and a good brother. I truly believe I married the BEST MAN EVER!

Well Cameron works today, so we celebrated Valentines yesterday evening. We went to see the movie "He's Just Not That Into You".


It was so cute, and very funny. Lately I have become addicted to going to the movie theater. When I was in high school I worked at the local theater, and totally got my fill of going the the movies. For several years, I actually hated going to the theater. But I now enjoy it again.



I also made some Valentine cookies. I love to bake and will use any holiday as an excuse to make a sugary treat. We ate a few, then as usual I sent the majority of the cookies with Cameron to work. If I leave them here, I will eat them all, so it's best if they aren't in the house. Besides, I think the firefighters deserve a little treat every once in a while.

And, unrelated to the holiday, I attempted to make some wheat bread. I have no idea what happened, but the bread looked kind of funny. I used the breadmaker, and I'm still stumped as to what went wrong. Needless to say, I ended up getting bread from the store instead. Oh well!

Goin' Bowlin'!

Cameron signed up for a bowling tournament that Orem City put together for it's employees. So the whole family went to Miracle Bowl in support of Cameron. He bowled great! Much better than I could ever hope to do. Abby loved to cheer for Dad and was great at giving everyone high fives! They played a total of three games, and between the four guys he was playing with, he had the second highest score. Pretty good for not having bowled in over a year. He's never really even played that much. It just seems that he is good at EVERYTHING that could be considered a sport.




It was fun to go and watch, but the games lasted 2 1/2 hours. A little long for Abby to sit and watch. So she wandered all over the place (even tried to sneak behind the snack counter a couple of times). She found this arcade game that she loved to "drive".

All in all, it was a great day that our family got to spend together!