..and Shelby makes 3.

Grandma Bryson's 1st visit to Vancouver

2010-06-28T17:15:00.002-06:00

My mom came out to visit us from May 24-June 3rd. We had a blast showing her all the sites. The only bummer was it stayed in the mid to upper 50's the entire time she was here with little sunshine. Usually by end of May its the mid 60's or so. Oh well,such is the weather in Vancouver, unpredictable! (except for July and August hopefully!) Nevertheless, we still had a great time and can't wait until we have more visitors! So when are you coming? :D

(Click on slideshow to view in full size and watch video)

Shelby is 2!

2009-12-27T22:09:00.017-07:00

(I know I'm a little behind in posting this, but as you all know December is a VERY busy month--so you'll have to forgive me.)

Where did the last year go? My little baby girl isn't so little anymore...she's now the big 2 as of December 1st! It's insane how fast the last year has passed and how much Shelby has bloomed into the wonderful girl that she is now.

Some highlights of Shelby are, she...

recognizes most all colors and doesn't hesitate to let you know when you've picked the wrong color shirt, pants, or hair clip-etc.

knows her ABC's (although she'll skip a few every now and then) and loves to sing the song-- especially in the tub (just like her daddy--hehe ;)

counts to 10, and counts down from 10

loves to laugh to herself at random moments or laughs along with us while saying "that's funny", even though most times she has no idea what's so funny.

she's working on her manners--anytime she burps or toots or if anyone else does for that matter, she'll say "excuse me, I burped" or "scooze you daddy". She'll also excuse anything in her way, i.e. "scooze me chair" or "scooze me shoes"

anytime she sees anything that reminds her of football, no matter the team she'll say "B--Y--U...B--Y--U...Cougars!" (Scott began the indoctrination early,can you tell? ;)

gives really big hugs & kisses, as she pats you on the back--especially when she thinks momma or daddy is sad

She'll repeat pretty much anything you say--needless to say we've learned this quickly the hard way. Her current favorite word to say repeatedly is "BOOBS!" (sorry Grandma Wells) or "NO BOOBS, chest" as she pats me or her own after I try and correct her. (Oh well,it could be worse I suppose-lol )

She loves "reading" books and adores anything that has to do with Dora the Explorer.

I just love Shelby to pieces and thank God everyday for allowing me to be her mother, especially when I am so undeserving. She is our world and brings so much love & joy into our lives!

For Shelby's birthday this year I decided to have a big shindig with all our friends, since it's likely next year we'll be on the other side of the world in S. Korea on her 3rd birthday. We invited 15 friends from around the neighborhood and church. We held it in the activity room of the commons-block which is shared by all of family housing here on UBC campus. The kiddos had a blast jumping around in the bouncy castle, creating with playdough, coloring, bubble popping and of course decorating and eating cupcakes. Shelby loved all her gifts and still talks about it. It took a lot of planning but in the end it was definitely worth it. It wouldn't have been possible without such wonderful friends! We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many great people. We only wish we could've had all our loved ones here to celebrate with us.

Enjoy these pics from what you may have missed! (Click any pic to see in full size & video)

Our Last Supper in Alabama

2009-12-13T21:38:00.014-07:00

Mid-November Shelby and I made our way down to Birmingham to go visit my mom,brother and sister and their families for Thanksgiving. It was our last chance for Shelby to fly for free before she turned 2 and a good time to get away from Vancouver since the weather is now cold,dark and wet most of Nov/Dec. Unfortunately, Scott couldn't come with us because of school. Thanksgiving in Canada is October 13th(Columbus Day)so life goes on as usual the last Thursday in November here. Even so, Scott somehow managed to have 9 people over for a good 'ole American Thanksgiving dinner celebration so he didn't feel left out. From what I heard,I think it went over well for the most part :)

In anticipation of our big trip, I had alot of anxiety about our flight, as Shelby was going to be in my lap. She ain't no tiny-tot at almost 32lbs and decided to join the exclusive terrible two's club a few weeks early, just in time for our trip. I could just see myself ending up on the evening news as one of those parents who gets thrown off a plane b/c their kid was too much of a "disturbance". I hardly slept the night before our flight!

Thankfully, she was a super-star on both flights and didn't cry one bit--not even one tantrum, hallelujah! It definitely helped to be prepared. Thank goodness for portable DVD players,sticker books, and let's not forget left over halloween candy! I also was extremely blessed to sit next to some decent people who traded seats with me in order to open up an extra seat for Shelby. It really helped for her to have her own space. Especially when she needed to get her wiggles out. If it weren't for that I'm sure you would've seen us on the evening news--lol.

Once we were safe and sound in Alabama, we spent most of our time low-key, just hanging out with my mom and family. It was important to me to just enjoy the time we had together with my mom and not worry about all the craziness going on in her life at the time. Without going into too much detail, due to unfortunate circumstances my mom will soon be moving out of the house that I grew up in. I moved into that house when I was 10yrs old and have a lot of memories there, especially of my dad who passed away in 2005. It's also the spot where Scott proposed to me in my living room over 6 yrs ago. I didn't realize how attached I was to that house until this last visit. I was quite overwhelmed the first night there as I was staying in MY old bedroom. I was caught by surprise at the mourning I suddenly felt for my mom and her loss, my own loss, and really our entire family's loss. It's a very strange feeling, but it's just a part of life I suppose. After all is said and done it's probably what is best for my mom and hopefully she'll be able to move on with her life. I know Heavenly Father is watching over her and it will all work out for the best.

Anyhoo--Sorry to get all mushy and emotional on ya....
We really did have a wonderful time in Alabama. I'm extremely grateful that Shelby and I were able to visit my mom and family. It was really a blessing see everyone and show her where I grew up. Thanksgiving dinner (or "the last supper" as my mom half-jokingly called it) was held at the house of course and was a huge success. Nothing makes ya feel better than eating, eating and more eating :)

Being at my old house made me especially aware of all the blessings I've been given throughout my life. I have so much to be thankful for--all the LOVE in my life, my forgiving husband and sweet daughter, our health, our families, our dear friends and neighbors, plenty of food, shelter,clothing...the list could go on and on but I think you get the point. :)

I hope that everyone had a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Now for some pics!Check out the photo album from our trip in Sweet Home Alabama
**Click on any pic to view pics in full and watch the video clips**

Halloween '09

2009-11-02T14:01:00.002-07:00

Last year when Shelby was almost 11 months old, Halloween wasn't very eventful. We dressed her up for as long as she could stand, took a few pics, and then called it a night. This year the weather was perfect for her first full on experience of trick-or-treating and she loved every minute of it! She didn't know quite what to do at first, but after the first few knocks and getting free candy, she was a trick-o-treating machine. She and her best friend Kaylen knocked on doors non-stop for an impressive 1.5hrs! Shelby couldn't get enough candy and we couldn't stop taking pictures of our cute lil' ladybug!

We hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Click on the pic to see the entire photo album :)

Halloween 2009

The Pumpkin Patch '09

2009-10-22T21:15:00.005-06:00

Just thought I'd share some photos from our trip down to the local pumpkin patch with some friends. The little girl in blue is Gretta, my neighbor's daughter. I take care of her 9.5 hrs a day, 3-4x a week. Shannon and her daughter Aurora are also our neighbors, as well as members of the church. We are still loving Vancouver and are so blessed to have great neighbors and friends.

Hope you're having fun this fall season!! Enjoy :)

View all

Get your own

Munch & Mingle

2009-08-21T10:01:00.003-06:00

Shelby says "I love you" and a few other things

Click here to see video

How Shelby starts her day...

2009-08-20T22:43:00.004-06:00

(Make sure to click on VIEW HQ VIDEO in the upper right corner to view in full quality!)

Click here to see video

B-Square Museum

2009-08-09T20:11:00.000-06:00

In June, we spent a good amount of time in Scott's home town of Kirtland, New Mexico. It's about 20 minutes outside Farmington, near the Four Corners area. After a few weeks we were running out of things to do, not to mention money too. Well if you ever find yourself in Kirtland and need to get the kids out of the house without spending any money, the Tom Bolack "B-Square" Museum of Fish & Wildlife is the place to go.

It reminded me a lot of the Bean Museum on BYU campus, except everything in this museum was actually caught by Mr. Tom Bolack himself,a former governor of New Mexico. He definitely had some serious free time and money to have traveled around the world and gather all those creatures. I've never seen so many animals on display in one place. It was especially enjoyable for Shelby to see such a wide variety of animals that she could actually touch without worrying if they'll scare or take a bite out of her. We also definitely appreciated the extra bonus of avoiding the stench that usually comes with the sightseeing of the "live" critters at the zoo.

Thanks Grandma and Papa Wells! It was great to get out and see more of Kirtland and spend some extra quality time with you :)

Click on pic for a closer look

A Scary Thought

2009-07-26T10:34:00.000-06:00

While we were visiting Scott's parents in June, we got a glimpse into the future of Shelby at 16...

Shelby's 1st test drive w/ daddy

So much sass, already!

If that isn't a mischevious face, I don't know what is. I love this little girl!

Some things to ponder...

2009-07-24T15:35:00.006-06:00

Elevated Expectations « By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog

WHY GIVING MATTERS By Arthur C. Brooks

Shared via AddThis

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!

2009-07-04T10:45:00.001-06:00

Our trip back to the good ole US of A

2009-07-03T23:19:00.018-06:00

Towards the end of May, we were fortunate enough to be able to fly home to Utah and New Mexico and visit both sides of our families for a month. We flew into Utah for a few days and then were driven down to New Mexico for 3 weeks to attend a few festivities, Scott's 10 year high school reunion, the annual Wells family reunion(just the other siblings, their families and Scott's parents) and just some good ole quality time with Mama and Papa Wells.

First on the agenda was Scott's 10yr class reunion. There is much to be written about Scott's class reunion, but I'll leave that to Scott to post the exciting details on his blog. Thanks to Scott's parents who watched Shelby, we had a lovely night on the town in Durango, Colorado where part of his reunion was held. Durango is Colorado's "Park City" for those of you who don't know anything about it. It was really nice to walk around historic downtown and window shop completely childless, although half the stores we ended up going into were children's stores. I guess I just couldn't get her completely out of my mind. Even so, it was so great to go somewhere new and just enjoy spending time together.

Thanks again Mama and Papa Wells!

Scott thought this hotel was pretty cool, its over 100years old

This was on the side of the hotel

The rest of the days prior to the family reunion were spent at Scott's parents house. Shelby just had a ball with her grandparents getting to know them and enjoying all the animals in and around the house, including the 50 stuffed bears and bunnies. She absolutely adored the kittys, cows, roosters, horses, and even the obnoxious donkey. She had a lot of "firsts" while we were there. She had her first time...

eating a popsicle, marshmellow, hotdog, and sucker

jumping on a tramp

riding on a tire swing

feeding a cow, horse, donkey

holding a kitten

gardening

cooking(little tykes kitchen)

running in the sprinkler

riding in a go-kart

seeing a HUGE toad(almost the size of a softball, not kidding!)

I think that is most of them, although I'm sure there are some that I'm forgetting. Needless to say we all had a wonderful time with Mama and Papa Wells. It was really nice to get away from the hussle and bussle of life and just relax in the country. There is definitely something calming about that place. We are so grateful to them for taking care of us for so long! (Thank you for everything!!) The next item on the agenda was the family reunion, which I'll have to save for another post.

Until next time...enjoy these photos from just hanging out around the house. (Remember to click on it for a closer look)

A Confession

2009-07-03T22:05:00.003-06:00

Shelby last year at 6 months

It's no secret that I am way behind on this bloggin' thing. I'd much rather spend my free time reading everyone else's than trying to come up with my own. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist and control freak and don't like just posting without editing or writing something but in the end I just let it take WAY too much time. It's time to just start posting pictures and videos without any explanation. I dunno if I can really do that but if I'm gonna catch everyone up on what we've been up to since May 1st then I'll have to just do it, no regrets. Sometimes I really hate bloggin' but I know there are a few people out there who want to see Shelby grow so I must press on. I hope you are happy...you know who you are! ;) A post will follow shortly, so stay tuned...

Progress

2009-05-05T20:43:00.015-06:00

A few months ago feeding Shelby was my most dreaded time of the day because it had become a huge battle. She would be so hungry, but absolutely refused to let me spoon feed her. She had just begun the stage of wanting to do everything herself, but not quite having the skill or patience to do it. One night after what seemed like an eternity of going back and forth and having yogurt hitting everything but Shelby's mouth, I'd had enough! I gave up. I pulled her high chair as far from any walls as possible, removed the rug from underneath her, handed her the spoon, and walked away, upstairs. Needless to say, we were both feeling pretty frusterated by this point. If she really wanted to eat she would have to figure it out on her own or finally realize she couldn't do it and give in. (Ha-that'll teach her!)

As I made my way back down to check on her, instead of crying, there was silence. For a split second my thoughts turned to worry and guilt...what if she had choked and I hadn't been there to help her?! I'll admit probably not the smartest thing to leave her alone while eating, but I quickly rationalized and thought she couldn't possibly have choked on yogurt. I know Shelby well enough by now and usually her silence only means one thing...she's up to something naughty! I turned the corner and found this,

Shelby just squealed with delight at the mess she had made,

as if she was so proud of her creation.

Such a goofy girl!

Even though she had made a huge mess which is not fully captured in these photos,I couldn't help but laugh with her. After this incident, I realized it'd probably be awhile before she was ready to spoon feed herself...at least yogurt anyway.

Fast forward a month or so later and I'm happy to report Shelby is doing much better! Here's the proof,

(notice the bib is gone now--that's our new battle, getting her to keep it on!)

She may have learned to use her spoon better, but she's still just as goofy!

That's my girl :)

Time flies when you're having fun...

2009-04-29T22:37:00.010-06:00

Where did April go? Seriously? I can't believe it's almost May! The last time I blogged was St. Patty's and I really have no solid excuses. Sorry folks! Could my absence be due to the glorious and brilliant sunshine returning after a cold,dark,wet winter and a rather chilly spring?

YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT!

If we aren't sleeping or eating you can find us outside--walking, strolling, riding, rock/shell/pine cone hunting, climbing, falling down-ing, sliding, swinging, sand castle building, squirrel chasing, bird watching, flower smelling and zooming or rolly-pollying(actions to a song Shelby knows).

Life is good!

Until another rainy day here are some pics to hold you over until the next post :)

MARCH

APRIL

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2009-03-17T14:47:00.003-06:00

I sure hope this is a joke. If not...well I guess, it speaks for itself.

May we all find our own 'pot of gold' :)

Cheese! Part 2

2009-03-08T22:12:00.001-06:00

SAY CHEESE!

Take 1

OK...Take 2

Let's try again...Take 3

I guess third time's a charm!

A Slightly Overdue Valentine

2009-03-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

We heart you!

A clip from Shelby on Valentines day...

Cheese!

2009-02-26T22:11:00.003-07:00

I'm a bit behind on bloggin' and eventually may write about what's been going on with us lately,but until then, here are a few pics and a video of Shelby from last month. Enjoy!

Click here to see just who Shelby belongs to.

Just Monkeying Around

2009-02-10T20:57:00.004-07:00

"White Trash" Entertainment

2009-02-09T14:51:00.004-07:00

This video was captured a few weeks ago while I was trying to change out the trash bags. Shelby was laughing histerically at me for a good 3 minutes, until Scott tried to capture it on video. But even so, you can see a little bit of her new found joy with white trash bags. Who knew white trash bags could be so much fun?

Dancing Fever

2009-01-27T22:32:00.007-07:00

After returning home from a little over 3 weeks of warm, sunny Alabama, Shelby and I both came down with nasty colds. Unfortunately, Shelby had it much worse than I did. I guess the difference in temperatures, along with all the stress of our trip was a shock to our immune systems. Having a sick baby sure is miserable for both mommy and baby. They don't really make anything other than infant Tylenol or IB Profen that's safe for children younger than 2yrs old, so we had get a little creative. You know what they say,DANCING is the best medicine...

well at least it is in our family ;)

When this clip was taken Shelby had a fever of 100.5 F. A few hours later, her fever was gone. Who needs tylenol when you can dance your fever away?

(PS-No jokes about my awesome moves...I was merely trying to encourage Shelby to keep dancing...seriously :P )

What do bumble bees and owls have in common?

2009-01-23T21:46:00.001-07:00

Not much, but Shelby sure does like to tell us what they say :)

Introducing...

2008-12-11T20:05:00.009-07:00

Shelby, the Yellow-nosed Reindeer

(Click for a closer look)

Yes, I said yellow and no, you don't need to adjust the color of your computer screen. You might have already noticed but Shelby really does have a bit of a yellow-ish tint to her skin, especially her nose.

A few months back,I was a bit perplexed when I started noticing her yellowish nose. At first I only saw it when I viewed pics from our then,new camera. I just figured it was the camera. Then a few days later, while out on a walk with Shelby, an old Scottish lady asked me if Shelby was jaundiced. Shelby had newborn jaundice for a week or so right after she was born and it had been long gone since then,as far as I knew. She then asked me if I fed Shelby a lot of carrots. I answered no pretty quickly feeling confident it wasn't carrots. Before we moved here, I had made sure to buy a wide variety of baby food with all kinds of veggies and fruits. Besides, since we had moved to Vancouver, Shelby had been mostly breastfeed with the exception of a few snacks and jar of various flavors of baby food,IE, Chicken Noodle,Turkey &Veggies, Beef&Veggies,Lasagna,Spaghetti,etc, for dinner each night. She's eaten carrots a few times before, but definately not enough to make her skin turn yellow. Or so I thought...

When I got home, it was really bugging me that I wasn't the only one now who noticed her yellow coloring. So I immediately went to the cupboard and pulled out all her baby food searching the ingredients on every can. Turns out almost every single jar of baby food we had read as follows, "Ingredients: Water, CARROTS,..." then beef, or turkey or chicken and so on. Even the Lasagna and Spaghetti listed carrots as the second ingredient! Carrots must give some good flavor or be pretty dang cheap as a filler. I felt so stupid and pretty guilty for being so oblivious to it. But who could blame me? Not one jar had a picture of carrots on it! To ease my mind and just to make sure the cause of her yellow nose was the carrots, I googled "yellow nose" and found this article on Wikipedia, CLICK--->"Carotenoderma" (I don't know what's up with the black bar across the baby's eyes. I guess her parents didn't want her identity disclosed-lol) Thank goodness for google parenting and Wikipedia! What would I ever do without them?

Thankfully carotenoderma is harmless and only temporary. Hopefully it will go away soon, as we have run out of baby food and are now feeding her what we eat, for the most part.

So long yellow-nose!

And now a brief clip of Shelby's latest accomplishment,

The Birthday Cake

2008-12-02T19:08:00.012-07:00

I am no artist and and am definately no cook. However, on occasion, I will bake some cookies or brownies only to satisfy my own selfish craving for something sweet or because I got suckered into bringing something for a potluck. I highly admire anyone who can spend hours in the kitchen preparing anything and enjoy every minute of it. Growing up, I admit I was a bit spoiled being the youngest. Instead of laboring in the kitchen with my mom (heaven bless her!) I was with my brother and dad watching football or whatever sport was on that day. I guess I just always figured I would love cooking once I became a mother....haha, boy was I ever naive. Well my friends, the day has finally come...the tables have turned.

For the first time, I Lindsay Bryson Wells made a cake all by myself...

well almost by myself. I had a little help from my friends, Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines ;) And I even did it knowing I may not get to enjoy any of it. Aren't you proud of me? ;)

I'll be the first to admit it's no work of art and I got a little crazy with the sprinkled dots, but it fufilled its purpose. Turns out baking isn't so hard when you have an easy to please 1year-old. Hopefully I'll get better at this cooking/baking thing with practice. Either way,any effort is totally worth it for this face,

Don't you agree?

To Little Miss Shelby

2008-12-01T09:04:00.007-07:00

We can't believe it's already here. Shelby, you are 1 year old! From the moment we found out you were coming we knew our lives would be changed forever, for the better. It's been one heck of a year since you arrived; from sleepless nights, endless feedings, poopy diapers, and crying (by all of us), to the present with more restful nights, less frequent but more stinky diapers, and more grins and giggles. You have really blossomed this past year and are becoming more fun and beautiful everyday. Sometimes we look at you and wonder, "How is it possible? Not only are you a real, living and breathing little human being, but you are healthy, happy, and you are OURS. Shelby, you are our greatest blessing, our joy, our little miracle.

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Shelby's 1st Halloween

2008-11-20T20:39:00.003-07:00

If I would've known what Shelby was going to be like on her first Halloween, I would've purchased a monkey costume for her. She loves to crawl, cruise, and make monkey-like sounds everywhere she goes. Instead of dressing up as a monkey, we were fortunate enough to have my oldest sister donate a pink cheetah costume that her girls used. Shelby was just a tad big for it, but as soon as we put it on her, she quickly acted the part. She became a feisty feline, ready to lash out at whomever or whatever got in her way.

We decided it was best not to take her trick-or-treating this year as she was already tired and a bit cranky, and with the weather being cold and wet that evening, it didn't seem to add up to a good combination. Instead, we let her prance around in her cheetah outfit for about 20 minutes, took some photos and then changed her into her PJ's and she was off to bed by 7pm. Oh well, not much of a Halloween for her first, but I figure next year she'll appreciate it more because she'll actually be able to eat the candy.

Caught in the Act

2008-11-16T23:02:00.009-07:00

Fill in the blank...

"Oh _____!"

One of Shelby's favorite things to do these days is to, when I'm not looking, crawl as fast she can to the kitchen, open whatever doors are within reach, and empty it's contents. With her mobility I find that she is becoming more mischievous by the day...hmmm,

I wonder where she gets it from?

Fall at UBC

2008-11-09T18:49:00.014-07:00

It's seriously crazy how fast 2008 is passing by. I guess that's the case every year, but it seems especially so the last 11 months and 8 days. Fall is almost over and most of the leaves have turned various colors and fallen off already. We wanted to get more pics of our surroundings with all the beautiful colors, but only managed to snap a few here and there. Hopefully there are enough to give you a good idea of what we've been seeing for the last 3 weeks.

Here's a snapshot along 16th Ave where I go walking with my neighbor and friend Hyun-Ju.

Scott on campus near the Asian studies building.

At first Shelby was just loving playing in the leaves, but then her fun quickly turned to curiosity.

She literally tried to digest her new surroundings

and just couldn't get enough of the colorful "candy"

I guess I should've warned her to save room for the real stuff with Halloween just around the corner-oops!

My Man's Blog

2008-11-05T22:40:00.011-07:00

Some of you may have already noticed, but for those of you who haven't, my hubby Scott has his own blog called My Girls and Me at UBC. So being the sweet and wonderful wife that I am, I'm going to do what I can to promote his site. I know, I know, I'm so awesome right?

Rrrrrrrright....the truth is I'm just too darn tired to do my own post tonight. Here's a good one to start with, CLICK HERE. It's an older post, from before the election, but it still makes me laugh. Go ahead,you know you want too, just check it out!

Hiking Adventures

2008-11-04T11:10:00.007-07:00

Before we moved here I had no idea that we'd be living right in the middle of a beautiful forest. Access to the Pacific Spirit Regional Park is less than a 5 minute walk away from our back door. It's funny because I feel like we are more "active" here than we ever were in Utah, although Utah had just as many, if not more, opportunities for us to be so. But on the other hand, I must say the weather here is much more mild and cool so it makes it easier to get out and about most of the year. Needless to say, I am extremely grateful that we have such opportunities here, especially now as Shelby grows older and can appreciate it more.

Scott trying to figure out the best trail to take
The trees here are huge!
We were fortunate enough to see this owl sitting here a few feet away there waiting to have his picture taken

Our sad attempt at a family portrait

Here is a video of the beginning of another hike we took nearby. It kinda shows the way into the trails and the surrounding area.

Shelby's new "toys"

2008-11-03T21:33:00.010-07:00

Shelby seems to be pretty excited about two recent purchases over the last month. The first is her new car seat we bought over the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday. She's heavy enough to be in it now(somewhere around 23 pounds) but everyone tells me I'm supposed to wait until she's had her 1st birthday. Until then it's just a really expensive source of amusement for her, sitting upstairs in her room.

Shelby also loves to spend a good amount of time playing with the straps on her highchair. Give her a baby toy and she'll be amused for a few seconds, but then quickly drops it like it's hot and makes a b-line to the dining room to play with her chair. I guess she's just too good for real baby toys. Give her anything with a strap and a buckle and she'll act like its the coolest thing since sliced bread.

I want more,more, MORE!

2008-11-02T23:10:00.006-07:00

After Shelby just turned 10 months old, I almost gave up on trying to teach Shelby this because I had no idea what I was doing and felt like it would never happen. I only knew that it might help lessen Shelby's frusteration and help us communicate better. Well folks, after months of what I thought were failed attempts,something finally clicked and the stars aligned...

Now, if she could only understand "NO"...any pointers on how that works?

My First Marathon

2008-11-02T22:42:00.002-07:00

So I know what you're thinking...

Lindsay and a marathon?? Aren't those complete opposites?Well, yes you are right if you're thinking of the type of marathon where you run...run.... and then run some more, but that is not what I'm talking about here.

I've decided to do a different kind of marathon; one we can all participate in and hopefully, by the end, not feel like you have to pass out or puke your guts out. I'm going to post a video or picture of Shelby everyday for the next week or so until I run out of things to post. There are just too many from this last month to chose from,so I'm taking little baby steps and posting one at a time. Hopefully by doing it this way it will be a little more interesting rather than boring.

So stay tuned folks for the beginning of the SHELBY MAKES 3 Marathon!

Just Because

2008-10-06T22:26:00.001-06:00

Tonight Shelby was being extra fun so we decided to film her just because she was being so cute. Enjoy!

Da Beach

2008-10-05T22:28:00.009-06:00

I've been told by the locals that around October you can pretty much expect to not see the sun for weeks on end, and that it rains almost everyday until February. Fortunately, the weather has been fabulous since we moved here, and we haven't seen too many rainy days. So last week, in anticipation of sunless weather to come, I decided to be spontaneous and drive to the beach to soak up the sun with Shelby while we still had the chance.

Shelby seemed to enjoy herself for the most part. She had fun watching the seagulls fly around and the dogs run with their owners. She was having a grand 'ole time sitting in the sand, letting it run through her fingers. Then I stood her up to put her feet in it, and she suddenly FREAKED out. You would've thought I'd put her feet on hot coals the way she reacted, screaming and diving towards me with outstreched arms. But after a quick assesment of her feet, she wasn't hurt at all, just surprised by the new feeling of sand between her toes.

In this video clip you may find it a little cruel to put her back in the sand again, but I thought she just might like it the second time around.

Obviously, I was wrong. Luckily, I was able to distract her with a yellow leaf I found. She quickly forgot how upset she was and spent the rest of the time sitting on this log waving her leaf around. I guess Shelby isn't my little beach bum...yet. Oh well, I can always try again next summer :) Goodbye warm sunny weather! We'll miss you!

September Fun

2008-10-02T21:18:00.008-06:00

Wow, I can't believe another month has passed since my last post! Shelby is just a few days over 10 months and she is getting smarter and cuter by the day. It's been a lot of fun watching Shelby discover new things and seeing her personality unfold more and more. Some of the things she has been doing the last month are:

*She waves hello and goodbye to random strangers and especially to daddy as he leaves for school. Its really cute because she kind of does it in a Miss America motion but not quite as fluid and graceful.

*She really loves to smile with her whole face by squinting her eyes and sticking out her chin while giving a huge wide cheesy grin. I have yet to capture the complete essence of it on camera, but people really get a kick out of it--especially old Asian women.

*She is just as stubborn as her mom and dad and still refuses to crawl on her hands and knees. However, on a few occasions she proved she could do it with proper motivation, ie. hunger and jealousy (I was holding another baby). Instead of crawling, she's taken to other ways of getting around. She'd rather scoot, army crawl, or cruise along furniture and anything else that will support her.

*She now has 4 teeth on top and 4 on bottom and loves to use them...to my dismay(yup I'm still nursing. My goal is to make it to 1 year but some days I wonder if I'm going to make it!)

*She has been sleeping 12-13 hours through the night without any feedings pretty much since the second week we moved here. HALLELUJAH, its a miracle! Must be something in the Vancouver air...

*Tonight I noticed that her balance has improved over the last month so I thought I'd see if she could stand on her own. To our surprise she actually stood with no support for an impressive 5 seconds or so until we ruined it by startling her with our excitement.

That's all I could think of for now but needless to say, she's growing up so fast! It's already getting hard for me to remember what it was like to hold a wee little newborn.

And now some more pics from last month...(don't forget to click for a closer look :)

9 months going on 18...

2008-09-02T21:21:00.014-06:00

...months that is. You'll see what I mean later.

It's hard for me to believe, but as of the 1st Shelby has been outside of me as long as she was inside. My little baby girl isn't so little anymore. Toting her around this summer has been a good workout for me. At her 6 month checkup in June she weighed 17lbs and was 24'' tall. A few weeks ago at her "9 month" checkup she weighed in at 21.4lbs (92 percentile) and was 27'' tall(50 percentile). I'm a bit curious what her stats are now considering her checkup was 3 weeks early due to our move.

Well so now that we have the majority of our things unpacked and somewhat presentable, (I say somewhat because I'm still not happy enough with it to take pics yet-sorry Heidi :)) I had time today to focus on Shelby's wardrobe. Needless to say, she has quickly outgrown her 6-9 mo. clothes, and I spent a good chunk of time going through two tubs of 12 - 24 month clothing my sister generously donated. And I thought women's sizes were annoying. Well, baby clothes are way worse!

It's understandable why sizes vary so much but it makes it REALLY hard to organize a child's closet. So according to OLD NAVY's sizing Shelby is 12-18 months old...well at least her bottom half is. My daughter seems to have a lot of junk in her trunk and voluptuous, ever so squeezable thunder thighs. So how does it work when your bottom half grows faster than your top??? Then again at least it's the bottom half and not the top. I'd hate to be buying her a bra at 8 years old.

But seriously, how in the world do other moms out there know what size to buy for their constantly growing and ever changing kids? I've had a hard enough time figuring out what size I am, post-baby, and now I'm supposed to be figuring it out for Shelby? Thank goodness for sisters who have kindly donated practically all the clothing and shoes Shelby has now. (Don't even get me started on sizing for shoes either!) I have no idea what I'm going to do when Shelby has outgrown everything and the bins are finally empty.

Anyone feeling charitable? Alms, alms for the poor? :)

And now for more pics of Shelby sporting one of her "new" outfits

Shelby likes to stand with support and pick things up now. She's starting to show interest in "cruising" too.

This last one is of Shelby concentrating really hard while she "bakes some brownies" :)

It's Official

2008-08-31T22:36:00.003-06:00

Well, after months of anticipation and a little anxiety, we are finally here in beautiful Vancouver. I must apologize upfront for the lack of blogging, but its been a little crazy in the Wells household the last few months preparing for this move, getting here, and unpacking everything.

I never realized how dependent we've become on the internet until I had to go without it for the first week we were here. I kept wanting to "google" things to find the best place to shop, set up utilities, pay bills, email, etc., but was quickly reminded we had no way to do many of those things without an internet connection. Its hard to imagine how our parents ever managed to get anything done without it. Hehe.

Anyhoo...

So getting here was a bit tricky in the beginning. On Tuesday the 12th we had plenty of help from our ward and neighbors (THANK YOU!!) and emptied our apartment of 4 years in just one day. It is amazing how much stuff/junk we've accumulated over 5 years of marriage. Even more amazing is how Scott managed to pack it all in a 17' UHAUL. Halfway through the day the truck looked plum full but we still had alot of stuff waiting to be loaded. I was worried we'd have to take everything out and go exchange our truck for a larger one but somehow (by a miracle or pure genius) Scott was able to rearrange things and make every last thing fit.

The next morning Scott, with all our belongings in tow, headed for Ontario, Oregon to stay with his Aunt Paulette. After Oregon, he was only 11 hours from our new home here in Vancouver (Thanks again Aunt Paulette for letting Scott stay with you--what a lifesaver!) Shelby and I stayed behind to spend our last days in Utah with my sister, and say our last goodbyes to other friends. The plan was to have Scott pick us up from the airport in Vancouver on Friday evening. When planning the move back in May, I figured Shelby would do better on a 2 hour flight than 20+ hours in a truck. She was a great traveler in the car at 5 months, but not knowing how she'd be at 8 months, I wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

Unforunately, the last days I spent in Utah were not quite as relaxing and fun as I'd originally imagined. Shelby seemed to have an allergic reaction to my sister's new cat and hardly slept, resulting in a fever which didn't go away fully until the night before we left. I'm not sure if it was the cat, teething, the stress of the move or what, but Shelby was not her normal self for the remainder of our time in Utah. Her daddy says it's because she missed him so much. Thank goodness for my wonderful sisters Sarah and Melissa, and my awesome friends from Provo for feeding us, babysitting, giving rides, cleaning, etc! If it weren't for them I never would've made it through that last week. (Seriously--THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! I really can't thank everyone enough for all the love and support! THANKS AGAIN!!! LOVE YOU!!)

On Friday, Shelby and I said our last goodbye's to my sister and her kids, and headed towards our gate. I didn't know how to feel at that moment. I was too exhausted from the previous days' events to feel or think about anything really. The only thing I could think was to pray "please Heavenly Father just let me get through this 2hr flight with Shelby, peacefully" I was shouting hallelujiah by the end of the flight because she did actually sleep and didn't cry like last time. Just a few whines on take-off, but after she had her bottle she passed out for most of the flight--phew!

Nothing really hit me until we landed and I was getting off the plane. I had said goodbye to my life in Utah, the place I'd spent the last 7 years since highschool, and I was now in a completely foreign place. Plus, Vancouver airport is HUGE! I mean GIANORMOUS! I felt a bit overwhelmed at first, but felt good at the same time. As I walked to baggage claim and through customs, the signs were in at least 4 different languages and then I heard several different languages being spoken as I passed different groups of people. The anxiety I had felt about moving and coming to this new place melted away, and was quickly replaced with excitement. It was clear we weren't in Provo anymore, and yet it was strangely refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I am very greatful for all the experiences I had living in Provo. I loved it there, and miss alot about it, especially our friends and family. But I must say here in Vancouver the diversity and the change is really refreshing. I can't think of a better word to describe it. It's definately the beginning of a new adventure--a new chapter in our life.

And now, what you've all really been waiting for...some pictures of our place and Shelby since moving. Enjoy :) (Don't forget to click to see them closer mom!)

Shelby at 6 Months

2008-07-12T11:19:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to take a minute to share some pics we had taken of Shelby when we went up to Idaho in June. They were taken by my sister-in-law Katie Wells. She is AMAZING! She also did Shelby's portraits when Shelby was just over 1 month old. We are so grateful to her for capturing Shelby's personality and expressions so well! To see more of Katie's work go to www.katieportraits.blogspot.com. Here's a preview...more pics to come soon!

Shelby's 1st Boyfriend

2008-07-08T12:50:00.013-06:00

Last year when I was about 5 months pregnant we became friends with an awesome couple in our ward, Erin and Bridger Field. They were also expecting in December, but a boy instead. Erin and I were due 1 week apart, she on Dec 15th and myself on Dec 9th. As nature would have it our babies ended up 3 weeks apart, Shelby on Dec 1st and Forest on Dec 19th. It's been alot of fun watching our babies grow and develop,each with different personalities. We try to get together often so they can have plenty of opportunities to play and interact. As the months go by, they really seem to be taking a liking to each other. The video and photos are from May, but you can see how they've become buddies for yourself.

At first they were apprehensive, "What are you doing to us guys?!"

and then just stared at each other and weren't quite sure what to do...

Then Forest inched a little closer to make the first move...

And soon enough they didn't waste anymore time...

"Shelby and Forest sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G",lol

Sadly in August, Shelby and Forest will be going their seperate ways, Shelby to Vancouver, BC and Forest to Portland,OR. Who knows...maybe Shelby and Forest will actually get to date someday???

Wells Family Reunion

2008-07-08T12:01:00.005-06:00

The first weekend in June we made our way down to Cannonville, right outside of Bryce Canyon National Park for the Wells Family Reunion campout. I was a bit nervous at first because it would be the first time camping on my own with Shelby (Scott had to work the first night) and her first time ever camping. On top of that, the first night was supposed to get as low as 38 degrees and Shelby had a nasty cough.

All I can say is thank goodness for family! Thanks to them, we camped in an RV the first night and a cabin the second night, instead of freezing our buns off in a tent. It was definately a life saver and made our first campout with Shelby a breeze (THANKS AGAIN)! The next morning we went on a family friendly hike with beautiful red rock as the back drop and a nice stream to cool off in.
Aunt Rebecca with us on the trail. Thanks Aunt Sarah for the backpack for Shelby!

We also had a chance to drive through Bryce Canyon for the first time and snap some photos. The views were breathtaking! If you ever have a chance to visit that area, make sure you plan on going through Bryce Canyon. You won't regret it!

Scott and I were very grateful that we were able to go and spend time with everyone as it may be our last campout for a while :( Maybe when its our turn to plan it we'll do it in Canada, eh? ;)
Thanks so much Heidi for planning it and making it possible. We had a wonderful time!

And it wouldn't be a complete post without some more photos of my Shelby...

You know you're a Mom when...

2008-07-04T09:20:00.008-06:00

You are at the Hot Air Balloon Fest at 6:30am!!

The Hot Air Balloon Fest is one of the many events of the Freedom Fest that goes on every year here in Provo. It has always been on my list to go, but I, being the morning person that I am (haha yeah right!) end up missing it every year because it goes on way before I want to be up. Every 4th of July for the past 4 years Scott and I say we're going to go, but have never managed to get our lazy butts out of bed. The closest we've ever come is one year waking up just in time to see, from our porch, the last 1 or 2 balloons land. Well I must be a mother because I wasn't sleeping in this year--oh no! Shelby must have been wanting to go too because she woke us both up at 6:10am, for the first time in a long time. Since we were up and at em, I figured we might as well mosey on down to the Balloon Fest and check it out! It wasn't as fun without Scott there (he had to work) but we enjoyed the scenery. And just incase you don't believe that I, Lindsay, sleeper in-er of all sleeper in-ers, was there THAT early, I took pictures to prove it!

This is from the parking lot of our apt on my way to the car.

Up above us at the launch site...

A flattering close up I know, but its the best I could do by myself. Besides its 6:45am,give me some credit :).

I convinced a nice lady to take this one. I was hoping for more balloons in the background but at least she got one--not to shabby.

HAPPY 4th EVERYBODY! ENJOY IT! :)

Our Canadian Adventure

2008-06-04T20:11:00.012-06:00

After Scott's graduation, we had this crazy idea to fly to Seattle and then drive from there to Vancouver, British Columbia in CANADA to stay for a few days. Yeah that's right, I said CANADA! Why Canada might you ask? Well my wonderful handsome husband was accepted to the University of British Columbia (UBC) for grad school back in Feb. We thought it would be a good idea to go and check things out to make sure Canada was to our liking.

Our flight to Seattle was short, around 2 hours and not too shabby. It was our first one with Shelby, and she actually did quite well. I was expecting her to cry a lot more but she only did for 5 minutes during takeoff because of the pressure on her ears. Once she had her "bottle" she was as happy as can be and slept the rest of the flight. After the flight we made our way to the car rental place and had to take a ferry to get to Hansville where we were staying. It was a 20 minute ride, but a fun new experience with a beautiful view.

We stayed with the most wonderful people in the whole world (next to our own parents of course:), Audrey and Bruce Grant. They treated us like their own kids and totally went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed before we ventured out to Vancouver. Thank you so much Bruce and Audrey for everything! We had such a wonderful time and were so relaxed.

They will definitely be our home away from home once we're in Canada (if they will have us again of course).

The following morning got off to a great start with a yummy homemade breakfast. We left around 9:30 to catch the 10am ferry back to the mainland and then made our way up to Canada. We got to the border in less than 2 hours and had no trouble with border patrol. Shelby was sleeping like an angel up to this point, after which we only had 25 miles or so to go until we were at UBC....or so we thought. Once we were in Vancouver we took the exit the Mapquest directions said to take and took a right turn heading east on Marine Drive. We went a mile or so when the directions started to get confusing. I was navigating and wasn't seeing the road it was telling us to turn on, but Scott said he had been looking at the map before our trip and was pretty sure we were on the right road. At first I was hesitant and wanted to pull over or ask someone to be sure,but this time I decided to not put up a fight and just let him drive. We were having a good time thus far and I didn't want to ruin it by being a backseat driver. After all, we were in Canada and Mapquest directions are NEVER wrong, right? Rrrrrrrrrright.....

So we kept driving.... and driving....and driving.

Now keep in mind, when we told people we were moving to Vancouver anyone who had ever been there before would always say "Oh you're lucky, you'll love it there. Vancouver is soooo beautiful and green. Its breathtaking." After driving for what seemed like over an hour, and seeing nothing but dirty concrete, and industrial scenery, we were really beginning to wonder if everyone was just full of you know what and trying to make us feel better about moving to Canada. Well Scott started having second thoughts about the road we were on and was finally convinced he needed to pull over at a gas station to get directions to UBC. Of course he wanted me to do it for obvious reasons. Heaven forbid a man should be caught not knowing where he was going. By this time our little Shelby was on the verge of a crying spell after not eating for 3 hours or so. I needed to take care of her. Besides,being the woman that I am, I'm terrible with remembering directions and he was the reason we were in Vancouver in the first place,right? Right. So he went in and asked for directions. (Love you babe :) He came out satisfied and off we went again. Somehow we had gone a little too far and were off of Marine Drive but the attendant said we just needed to turn around an look for Marine Drive again and it would take us straight to UBC. It turns out we should've gone WEST on Marine Drive not East. We had gone over 45 minutes in the opposite direction of UBC.

A few U-turns,another stop to ask for directions, a million times of singing Itsy Bitsy Spider and I am a Child of God to keep Shelby from freaking out, and an hour or so later we FINALLY arrive at UBC--all three of us on edge, ravenous, and definitely more grumpy than when we left earlier that morning. By this time it was around 3:30 or 4pm and the UBC financial aid offices were already closed. There goes our plan for the first day at UBC. Next on the agenda-- get some food and get the heck out of there to find out hotel and get our baby to sleep for the evening.

So there we were walking on campus, which is HUGE and spread out, totally opposite of BYU. We were exhausted and famished so we settled for the first place we could find on the campus map. We go down some stairs and find out it is a Pub. A Pub, serves alcohol, no biggie right? We obviously don't drink but we still go to restaurants that serve alcohol. Besides the place was a ghost-town being the end of the semester. I had no problem with it. I just wanted some grub. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not very fun to be around when I'm hungry and tired. Okay so that's an understatement, but who isn't grumpy when they've been lost for hours on an empty stomach with a fussy baby. Back to the Pub...

We sit down to order our food and to kill some time I start nursing Shelby while we wait. Finally our waiter brings our food and we start chowing down. I hadn't even taken two bites into my chicken fingers, when the waiter comes back out to us and says, "I'm so sorry. I totally forgot, but you can't have your baby in here because we serve alcohol. It's against Canadian law, you'll need to leave. So sorry". Oh of course! Duh, stupid me for not knowing that you can't take a baby into a Pub. I should've known better because I frequent pubs all the time back in the States. And with that Scott and I were quickly reminded we weren't in Provo anymore. ARGHHHHHHHH!! I wanted to scream,but by this point all I could do was laugh it off. So we went upstairs to eat our meal on a bench outside the grad office. I felt like everyone on their way to the pub just starred at us wondering what the heck we were doing there eating our food from the pub.

After a long day, we got back into our rental car and drove downtown to find our hotel. Fortunately it was easy to find and not too far away from UBC.. Our room was teeny, but I can't complain, it was a place to rest my head which was much needed. Scott set up Shelby's porta crib and we all passed out for the night at 6:30pm. Thank goodness Shelby slept so well through the night with only a quick early morning snack, and then back to sleep until 8am. That morning Scott decided to go back to UBC on his own so Shelby and I could get some R&R until lunchtime.

The rest of the day was wonderful. I stayed at the hotel and read the rest of New Moon by Stephenie Meyer while Shelby slept the morning away until Scott came back to pick us up. We met Dr. Ross King ,a super smart and very nice professor that Scott will be working with at UBC, at a authentic Chinese restaurant. The food was delicious and the rest of the day was fabulous. Everywhere we went people would comment on Shelby and say "Congratulations," or "NICE JOB!" with a thumbs up. Its not Provo where babies are a dime a dozen, although we did see some young couples walking with strollers on the streets. It was fun to see people go gaga over our daughter. After all she is a cutee, wouldn't you agree? Just look at those baby blue eyes and chubby cheekies!
Even though we had a few kinks here and there on our first day in Vancouver, we didn't let it ruin our trip. We actually came away from the trip with a great first impression. It really is beautiful and really green like people said. You just have to know where you are going and be on the west side of town-lol :) The neighborhoods are quite pretty with lots of trees and parks. The homes are also very quaint and cottage like. I liked that they weren't your typical cookie cutter homes. Overall, we had a great time and are really excited to be living in Vancouver for the next few years. We still don't know exactly when we're moving because we don't have a place yet but, in time, we will have more details. Until then, we'll enjoy the time we have left with our family and friends here in good ole Provo!

I wish I had more pics of Vancouver but with the craziness and all, we only managed to snap these few. This beach is just a few steps off campus from UBC . The pictures don'tt quite do it justice and the weather was actually quite sunny most of our trip. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Summa What? Cume Who?

2008-05-18T16:26:00.028-06:00

For almost five years Scott and I have been living in good ole' Provo, Utah -- in "Happy Valley." This is the place where we began our life together. Just after three and a half years of marriage I walked into our bedroom and woke Scott up at 6am with a positive pregnancy test. The first words out of his mouth were "our lives have changed forever". Well that was just over a year ago. Now we have a beautiful, sweet and fun-loving daughter,Shelby Lynne. She definately changed our lives forever but in the in the most wonderful way.

On April 24th, 2008, our lives took another turn...

WARNING** BRAG MOMENT COMING

My husband, William Scott Wells, graduated SUMMA CUME LAUDE(top1%) from Brigham Young University!!!

I usually am not one to brag,but I just wanted to say how proud I am of you Scott for sacrificing your time and working so hard to not just get your degree,but finish with a 4.0 GPA. He is the most determined, hardworking man I know and never even complained about all he had to do to graduate with his degree in Linguistics and Korean.

WAY TO GO SCOOTER!

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!

Also thanks to all our family for their love and support and for traveling here to celebrate with us!

A few highlights

2008-05-15T19:32:00.010-06:00

So I'm still a little behind on bloggin' but its been a crazy month with Scott's graduation and our trip to Seattle, WA and Vancouver,BC,Canada. Those pics will be coming soon,but in the meantime enjoy a review of what we were up to before the crazyness began :)

3.26.08 Shelby's 1st TRIP TO THE ZOO

Here we are at the Hogle Zoo in SLC right before Shelby turned 4 months old. My sister Sarah has season passes because her kids love animals so much and let us tag along on her guest pass. It was supposed to be nearly 75 degrees that day, but of course with Utah's crazy Spring weather it was cold and windy. Shelby was bundled up most of the time and probably was more amused by the tiger ornament in her stroller than the actual animals. Even so, we all still had fun.

4.16.08 Shelby's Day at the Museum

Here we are at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum on BYU's campus. It was great to get out of the house and hang out with our good friends from our ward. Here is a pic of us in front of Shasta the Liger...and you thought they were fictional animals from Napoleon Dynamite!

Erin and I have been friends since our ward campout where we both found out we were due only 1 week apart, myself on Dec. 9th and Erin on Dec. 15th. Of course our little babes had different plans and Shelby came 1 week early and Forest came 4 days late.

Shelby was a ball full of energy after her day at the museum...

more of Shelby playing with daddy!

Shelby winding down in her swing after a long day of fun. (Thanks Heidi for letting us borrow it!)

For My Mother

2008-05-11T20:08:00.011-06:00

Mothers and Daughters

Author Unknown

We're daughters and mothers

Not so long ago.

We give and take

And take and give

Along time's endless row.

Love is passed

And love received

To be passed on again:

A precious heirloom

Twice, twice blessed,

A spiritual cardigan.

I'll put it on

And treasure it,

The me I have received,

And when the roles

Reverse again,

I'll have what I most need.

So may our love

Go on and on,

A hundred thousand years;

Mothers and daughters,

Daughters and mothers,

Through joys and other tears.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!

I'll always be your baby--I LOVE YOU!

Catching up...well sort of

2008-05-04T19:27:00.002-06:00

So about a month ago I told Scott that I was going to take over this blog for several reasons. For one,we finally got a laptop so I didn't have the excuse anymore that I couldn't get on the computer for fear it would wake Shelby up(she's a light sleeper). Secondly, I am trying to pick up a new hobby(obviously, I'm not doing so good on this one but I've managed to take up reading, kind of :) However as I have been typing this, I just realized that the main reason I wanted to do this was because I am a control freak and somewhat of a perfectionist. I know what you're thinking..."Lindsay, a control freak?....rrrright".

OK, so maybe you aren't thinking that exactly. Maybe some of you already know this about me, but if you don't, ask anybody who has worked with me. Usually anytime I'm given something to do or even if I ask someone what I should do, in the end I tweak the ideas I'm given to fit MY plan or completely ignore the advice and just do what I want. This is all to true especially if you're name is Scott...my poor husband. He has gotten used to it though. He knows me all to well and has just given up trying to tell me what he thinks....actually let me rephrase that. He has given up telling me what he thinks only when I solicit his advice.

So back to my MAIN reason--I'm also a perfectionist. One might think this is something good to be sometimes, BUT I am an INDECISIVE perfectionist who is overly thorough--the worst kind! Being thorough can be a good quality to have at times, but not so much when you only have a half hour here or there. And after losing so many brain cells post pregnancy I've realized that it totally slows me down and leads to alot of unfinished projects. Hence the reason why this blog is already taking me 30 minutes to type this far(I've already tried to edit and re-edit what I've written already,I'm obessive I swear) and I haven't even gotten to the pics of Shelby, Scott's graduation or our trip to Vancouver.............SIGH.

Well now you've gotten a little sample of how my mind works...a bit scatter brained I know, but its me :) Good thing my husband loves me for it. I've heard that with every kid you lose even more brain cells which means I'll become even more scatter brained and since I was pretty much born this way....I'm totally screwed! Oh well...there is always cooking or scrabooking,right? Hahaha.....rrrrright. I'll stick to reading and maybe this for now :)

SO ANYWAYS...I'll get to the real reason you are on this page, not to read my rambling, but to see pics of my Sweet N Sassy Shelby. Here we go...

This is about 2 weeks ago. Shelby is in her first sun hat that I got basically for free...$1.79...jealous? Yeah buddy :)

Click on pics to get a closer look at those chubby cheekies.

Shelby sportin' her BYU gear that Uncle Casey gave her for Christmas. Shelby has another one exactly like it in blue from Aunt Missy too.

These are my favorite. They are over the last few months so in some she is younger than others. The one in the sink was taken like a week ago.

Shelby is never happier than when she is completely naked. She came out that way so I guess it makes sense :) Check out those rolls!!

Well I'm all blogged out for tonight. I'll post more next month or so-j/k

Hopefully sooner than later :)

Shelby's 1st Easter

2008-04-06T14:49:00.000-06:00

Shelby's first Easter came and went so quick. We had a great time at church with her where she wore a cute pink spring dress with bunnies on it that her aunt Heidi gave her (I think it was her cousin Lexi's). After church she was being so cute and we snapped these few photos of her. I just can't get over how cute her smile can be.

These pics are proof Shelby enjoys being held by her momma much more than her daddy.

Our Little Chunky Monkey

2008-03-30T21:29:00.000-06:00

We thought it would be funny to make a post showing Shelby's progression from being our sweet lil' monkey to the chubby chunky monkey she is now.

Despite being 1 week early, she was still a good size to start with, weighing in at 8lbs 1oz. The nurses referred to her as the chubby cheeked one (before they knew her name of course). Even at only 2 days old you can see her chubby potential...I wonder where she gets it from???? :)

In this pic Shelby was about 3 weeks old. She was happy daydreaming after a short photo session.

This next one is right before her first day of church when she was 6 weeks old. Can't you just see her holding her breath with anticipation? She was so excited she literally peed her pants.

Here is another one of her a few weeks later, after church. I guess you could say she was pooped from taking in all the new sights and sounds.

This is one of my favorites from the day we blessed her at just barely over 2 months. She was 12lbs 130z and counting!

She just loves being held by her cousin Emily, who is just as cute, but not quite as chubby ;).

In this next one she is almost 12 weeks old,in the wrap with me. She was so happy...then I started to take pictures and I guess she didn't like that too much-lol. I was just trying to capture her then, new trick of blowing spit bubbles. If you look closely you can see the white "spit gotee" she made.
Here's Shelby at just a few days past 3 months old. She was being so cute in her carseat right before a short errand with Mommy.

Here is Shelby at 3.5 months just chillin' on her favorite blanket on a cold March day.

and finally the best for last .......drumroll please.....

at 3.5 months, weighing in at nearly 15 lbs......

Shelby "Mini Jabba-the-hut" Wells (Scott's nickname for this pic)

She's all Smiles

2008-03-02T20:52:00.001-07:00

These are just a few of our favorite Shelby smiles.

Shelby was less than a month old here. This was right after a bath as we dried her off on our bed. We're pretty sure its more gas than giggles.

She looks like she's smiling, but we're pretty sure she was actually just trying to take a chunk out of her arm.

This is one of Shelby on Christmas day. She's being held by Grandma Bryson and is reacting to her new baby cougar hat. The truth is she had just passed gas when Lindsay snapped this one.

Here's Shelby in her wrap with her dad. Yawn or smile? You make the call.

These two were taken on the ottoman in our front room. If these aren't exactly smiles well at least we can be unequivocal in saying she was definitely happy.

Here's Shelby on daddy's lap as he trys to coax a smile from her. She actually was smiling, we just happened to barely miss it with the camera.

There's no denying these two are smiles. She's definately got her dad's lazy crooked smile.

Smiling for momma as she's teased with her binky.

Smiling in her swing. Thanks again for the swing Heidi.

Shelby was in an insatiable smiley mood in these pics taken shortly after church.

Arrrr, me likes me spinach!

Ah, shucks.

Shelby sporting her valentines bib Grandma Wells gave her.

Here she is smiling on the floor at Great-grandma Wells' house.

Shelby with momma after church.

She never smiles more than when she's on the washer getting her bum changed.

Our Burgeoning Baby Model

2008-02-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Just after New Year's and right before the winter semester started Lindsay and I took Shelby up to Idaho to visit Brad and Katie. While there Katie took some pictures of Shelby in her studio. Here are some of our favorites.

Video Killed the Radio Star

2008-02-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos of Shelby either sleeping or smiling. The fact that we don't have any of her crying or otherwise fussing makes me realize just how selective we are of our memories. We only want to remember the good things.

Jaundice

2008-02-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Shelby had high billiruben levels for the first week after birth. Here are some pics showing just how yellow she got.

The solution the doctor came up with was to stick her under blue lights. It came with this little covering that hung down to her neck to protect her eyes from the lights. She hated that thing and hardly slept a wink (and neither did I) the first night she was in it.

Finally they gave us this super hero mask-like contraption you see below and she did a whole lot better. Personally I think it was vanity. Not a week old yet and already worried about her tan lines.

Lindsay thought it looked like Spiderman's mask. Our little spider girl.

Time with Grandma

2008-02-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

Both of Shelby's Grandmas came and spent a week with us to help out with the baby. Grandma Wells came the week after she was born, and Grandma Bryson came just before Christmas. These are some of the pictures we took of Shelby with her Grandmas.

Here Grandma Wells is changing and then bathing Shelby.

Shelby on Christmas day with Grandma Bryson and two days later enjoying a bath.

Day 3: Bringing Shelby Home

2008-02-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Wells had more than an adventure trying to make it up to Utah, but on their second attempt they made it to the hospital in American Fork just before Shelby and mom checked out. These pics are from the check out and Shelby's first day at home 3 Dec 2007.

Our early Christmas all wrapped up and ready to take home.

Getting Shelby and mom in the car.

Grandpa and Shelby at the house.

Day 2

2008-01-25T19:06:00.001-07:00

This series of pictures were taken on day two in Lindsay's recovery room. Those in this series with dates on them were taken with Melissa's camera. You may notice the date was off as these were actually taken on 2 Dec. Interestingly enough Lindsay had hoped Shelby would be born on 24 Nov. as that is her late father Lynn's birthday. She says the date slip up was actually his way of showing he was there with us.

She's a bit swollen here. And you can start to see the yellow in her face that would end up as jaundice.

Shelby and aunt Missy.

Mama and baby

Our first family photos

Later in the day Lindsay's sister Sarah and family visited. Can't you tell Shelby's so happy to meet her cousins Savannah, Talia, and Caleb. She met Sarah's husband Chris as well, but he was being camera shy.

Day 1

2008-01-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here we go.

Shelby arrived just after 3 pm on December 1, 2007. She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches.

That's Lindsay's sister Sarah weighing and measuring her. One of the reasons we chose American Fork Hospital is that Sarah is an L&D nurse there. She happened to be scheduled to work at 6 am on Dec. 1st, 3 hours after Lindsay got to the hospital--one of several coincidences that day. Shelby's birthday also happens to be 35 years to the day that my parents were married.

When she came out she had the craziest cone head I'd ever seen. She had spent about 10 minutes with the crown of her head sticking out before the rest of her finally came, and here's the result.

But cone head or not we were both taken with her as evidenced by these shots.