Baby Names

Last week our whole family got together (well we weren't there, but pretty much everyone on my Dad's side was) in Roosevelt for Thanksgiving. After the turkey was eaten they all got out slips of paper and wrote down 2 boy names and 2 girl names they liked and sent them to us in the mail. It was really funny to see who wrote down which names. Thanks everyone! Ty's were actually the worst....don't worry he knows it ;) ...and we really liked a few of the others. We had a blast reading each name. River even picked her favorite, as you will see in the videos below.

TAKE 1

TAKE 2

However, she who wears a bowl as a hat may not pick a baby's name. It's an ancient rule.

ps. We had an awesome Thanksgiving with friends who should seriously think about becoming professional chefs. I forgot to take pictures, because uh, I was busy eating, but I did manage to take a picture of the leftover pie we brought home. Yum diddly um.

Like Sand Through the Hourglass

So Are the Days of our Lives

MONDAY

It snowed!!!


TUESDAY

We made this Christmas ornament for family home evening. It was really fun once we convinced River that the clay was NOT EDIBLE.

WEDNESDAY

Started crocheting this octopus. River and Cameron played Super Mario and Tetris!


THURSDAY

Made this delish garlic loaf.


FRIDAY

Finally gave in to my pregnancy craving of Necco Wintergreen Lozenges. You know, the candy that tastes like pepto-bismo? They are divine, by the way.

SATURDAY

We had girl time and put curlers in River's hair.

SUNDAY

The Red Smurf goes on potty patrol.

You done? You wash your hands again? Ta Da!

Hope your week was as eventful as ours!

The Big Reveal

We, by choice, did not find out River's gender until she was born.

It was a huge struggle for us to decide if we wanted to know the gender of our second baby before the birth. However, after much debate, and a few 'rock-scissor-paper' contests, we decided to take the plunge and find out.

And we now know that the baby is...


a girl!





a boy!

That's right my friends, we have deduced through the superior technology of modern medicine that our baby will be either male or female! Isn't it amazing what ultrasound machines can do?

Seriously though. We were thwarted by our very own baby, who was curled up in the most adorable little ball you've ever seen. There was no peeking between those legs!

(I thoughtfully created this 'key' for those of you who aren't adept at deciphering the crystal clear images an ultrasound can produce ;) )

And the little stinkers' legs were even crossed. I have proof! Look at these cutsie crossed feetsies.

This is my favorite sequence of pictures. Here, the baby seems to be waving. It's a profile picture of the baby laying on it's back, cute little nose and chin visible...and there's the hand right above the nose.

The good news is, the baby is perfectly healthy.

And we'll be having another ultrasound Dec. 3. Because of the baby's position there were a few other things the doctor still needs to check on. Well, wish us better luck next time!

Scat! Halloween Cat!

River loved trick or treating this year. She would say "Trick or Treat" and get her candy. Then, as soon as the door closed she would say, pointing to the next house, "That house, mommy! That house!"

I crocheted our costumes this year for about two bucks total. River was a teddy bear, I was a panda bear, and Cameron was a lumberjack. Sweet beard, eh? There's no picture of me, but trust me, my baby belly made the perfect panda pudge.

And Cameron won the pie-eating contest at the church party. Really, though, I knew he would win the whole time. I mean, this is Cameron we are talking about. And he sweetly marched River around the gym for the costume parade. He's such a great dad. Happy Halloween everyone!

Bonus video:

The Master Multi-Tasker

River cooks dinner while putting teddy down to nap.

....Mission and Vacation...

First and foremost.

Cameron's parents received their mission call to the Washington D.C. Temple Mission! The best part is, Washington D.C. is only a quick 7.5 hour jaunt from Buffalo. We just have to drive through Pennsylvania and Maryland and we're there!

The D.C. Temple is absolutely gorgeous. When we were engaged, Cameron and I saw this temple on a military field trip. It was really breathtaking. I can't wait to see it again.

Second.

My Mom and Dad flew into Buffalo to see us! River already misses them. She got spoiled silly with candy-corn, a new dolly and fancy new pink boots. ;) Not to mention reading through River's entire book collection three times. Hey, what are grandparents for?

Anyway, we did tons of fun stuff.

We went to Niagara Falls.

And to Palmyra, The Sacred Grove, the Smith Farm and Hill Cumorah. My parents came at the perfect time to see all the beautiful fall colors of New York.

We also went to a pumpkin festival and to the mall to decorate Halloween cookies. If you look at the middle picture carefully you can see the 'pumpkin' that River picked for herself. It's actually a tiny yellow squash! She wouldn't let it go, and kept saying 'no. my pumpkin!'-'River's pumpkin!' , so the nice farmer man let her have it for free.

We dressed River up and met some friends at the mall festivities. Look at their cute costumes....

Parker is a soccer dude, McKenzie is a biker chick and River is a country bumpkin. While River got to scribble a face on a pumpkin and even got a 'Halloween Cat' painted on her arm, her favorite part was decorating the giant sugar cookie with Grandpa.

And by request. The newest addition to 'Wheels on the Bus'. I guess Cameron was feeling left out.

And animals noises. I love the 'baby sounds' face! (by the by, River is saying 'cat' in sign language while she says meow....just in case you were wondering what she was doing.)

Who is supercool? Explora Dora!

I've been trying to think of a super cool Halloween costume for River. Skunk? A bag of wonder bread? Fleur Delacour ? Or perhaps the more traditional Mummy? All I'd need is toilet paper, after all. Then it hit me. Who is cooler than Dora the Explorer? No one, that's who. And River adores Dora. It may be the only cartoon she can watch without getting scared.

However.


Turns out the Dora costume looks more like a 6 year old Go-Go dancer. Sorry Riv. The wig is just too weird. Not to mention the fabricated shoes. Yikes.

Back to the drawing board.

Feel the Dora Love.

The Birthday Surprise

APRiL 4th, 2009

Yip Yip Yip

My little brother (who is, as you can see, not so little) earned himself a 4-year, full ride scholarship playing free safety for SUU football. Just when all his hard work and dedication is paying off, I have to live 3000 miles away, of all the rotten luck! While my family is tailgating and enjoying each other's company, I'm listening to the game via the radio. BOOO! But, I love it! Blake is playing so well. Still, I'm stuck scrutinizing every comment made by the radio announcers, and analyzing every picture my mom sends me. In this picture, for example, I am assuming that Blake is running fast. Very fast. So fast in fact, that in a moment he will catch up to his opponent and knock the poor fellow right out of his socks.

In this picture Blake is obviously thinking, "Aw Mom, would you quit taking my picture already? I wish my super cool sister where here to take pictures instead."

And that guy Blake just tackled? Toast. With jam. Ah, and there is a flag on the play. That could mean something. See how observant I am? I just don't know what it was for since I live 3000 miles away!
These next two pictures are my favorite! I chuckle just looking at the top one. Blake has him by the scruff of his neck and the seat of his pants,...kinda like he's throwing a drunk guy out of a saloon or something. Or a dad throwing his kid in the pool. It's just funny.
And the bottom one here. Blake is on the far left, all 200 lbs of him. Call me crazy, but I would not want to be running towards something like that.

Tyrell, no matter how sneaky you are, we can all see you are using the 'smile or I'll disembowel you' kung-fu move on Blake. Hey, it worked. Ps. would you update your blog already?! please?

Isn't my Mom's long hair so great? I adore it! Just lovely.



Praise for the Stillman-


"SUU freshman safety Blake Fenn is among the nation's leaders in interceptions and tackles per game. "


"Safety Blake Fenn had an outstanding debut in his first collegiate game at Air Force. Pressed into full-time duty after senior Troy Osbourn left the game with an injury, the redshirt freshman from Roosevelt, Utah (Union HS) led the team with 16 tackles, 11 of them solo. Fenn followed that performance with seven tackles and an interception vs. Adams State."

Ps. Blake, if you are reading this and are embarrassed, good! It's my way of cheering you on. So there.





TheWheels on the Bus


( INTERPRETATION: The monster on the bus says "Cooookies, Coookie, Cookies" all through the town. The baby on the bus says "waa, waa, waa" all through the town. The mommy on the bus says "Shh, shh shh" all through the town. The wheels on the bus go "round and round" , the aliens on the bus go "yip, yip, yip". A fire. (it was just a candle, don't worry.))

(she can sing this straight through, without prompting, if the camera is not pointed at her.)