More about me. . .

I've been really excited about doing some graphic design lately and I wanted to show ya'll what I've done.
This first one is company that makes raised gardening beds and their old logo had a lot of problems with it both visually as well as conceptually. It's unclear what the product is and it's not focused towards the market they are selling to. (And I personally think it was UG-LY.) So, I made this for them:









Ahh . . . isn't that reshreshing?

The friend that got me job has a web design company. He's not like Jeffy though, this guy is more of a programmer than an artist -- our Jeffy is both! Anyway, he wasn't very happy with his logo so I agreed to make him a new one with the understanding that he will be sending lots more work my way. This is what I made for him:



BAM! That must be a cool web design company.

It's been so much fun feeling like a designer again -- I just wanted to tell my brothers and sisters, "Hey look! I made this!" So thanks for lookin'!

Surprise!

I cut my hair!

It just wasn't working for me anymore. It was time to say goodbye to the corkscrew ringlets of yesterday and ambrace the loose curls of today. And I didn't even cry! (Who knows though, maybe all I need is a good hormonal mood swing to set me into motion -- it doesn't take much.) But really, I like it! Following the good example of my sister Mary, I saved it for "Locks of Love." It's a good feeling to literally give a part of myself to help another little girl feel happy and confident. Thanks for showing me the way Mary! I wish I could say I was as good as Mary, growing out my hair for that purpose, but mine was more of an after thought.

But on the note of "a part of myself," taking this picture really weirded me out! It was the first time I had really touched my hair since cutting it off, and I know it sounds weird, but I might as well have been holding my left pinky toe detached from my body. It was strange and I was glad to put it back in the plastic bag where it belongs.

Look how dark it is now! I had no idea before! I was a little worried about how Hailey might react to the change, but when I came home she studied it, kind of smiled and said, "Pretty hair, Mommy."

Around here we have routine tornado siren tests every few weeks. The test siren sounded today and Hailey covered her mouth and said "Uh-oh," then pointing her finger up said, "It's a tomato!"

Through trial and error, I've learned the most affective ways to approach Hailey when asking her questions. The other day I asked, "Hailey, do you love Mommy?"

"No," she replied calmly.

I quickly changed my game plan, "Hailey, who do you love?"

"Mommy."

This girl is not one to be coerced. She has a mind of her own and she's not afraid to let you know.


Did I mention she loves her blankie?

Hailey loves. . .

Hailey loves her sunglasses.













She loves flying with Daddy "up in da sky!"



and flying her grocery-sack-kite (the greatest free toy ever -- it only works when she runs!)



but really, she loves her pink dress! Grammy Sherri sent it for her birthday and ever since it's the only thing she wants to wear.



She is growing so fast! Remember the yellow dress from the portraits in May? The dress was pinned in back so it wouldn't fall off her shoulders. Well, it's about mid thigh now.

Hailey has taken to raising her index finger to make statements; the same way Mary used to! The poor kid has trouble getting the sentence started though. She raises her finger definitively and says, "I-I-I-I-I-I need to turn on the music now."

Oh yes, she runs the cd player with ease. We play a cd with a variety of classical music and she skips through to find the "fast music" that we can dance to.

Summer Fun!

Summer is here and full of excitement! As soon as Brandon took his last final we flew off to Florida for a fantastic Furness family reunion! After fun in the sun with cousins in the pool, at the beach, and at Sea World, we managed to get back on the plain just before Hailey turned 2! (Her last free flight . . .)

We went crazy and painted the kitchen/livingroom walls green the second we got home.
The next day I made a beautiful butterfly cake for the Birthday Girl! She had a happy day with her new rubber duckies, purple heart necklace, rings to match, and from Grandpa and Gramma, the Little People Farm, complete with animal noises and a merry-go-round!












If mom and dad are ever invited to play on the farm, we are only allowed to touch the farmer. One of her favorite games to play with the animals is letting them drink from the little watering trough and in the process, "Dey fell in da water!" She then takes a turn pretending to get a drink and, "AAAAH! I fell in da water too!"

Grandpa, Gramma, and Mary came for a visit in June (as stated in Mary's blog). And it's true, Hailey is crazy about Mary! She still makes phone calls to her on her egg-slicing cell phone from time to time.

For the 4th of July we zipped up to Chicago to see some of Brandon's extended family. Hailey and I had never met Brandon's Grandpa and Grandma Goose and realized this would probably be one of our last opportunities to do it. So...we did. It was great to see family and Brandon's cousin showed us around the big city! We went to a museum, visited the top of the Sear's Tower, and ate real Chicago style pizza. (mmm. . . pizza.) Hailey stayed up for her first fireworks show and LOVED it! She used the most logical words she could come up with to descibe it, "Messy fireworks! Messy!" She requested fireworks for the next couple weeks and she now makes a variety of firework noises.

Dan and Jess just left our place today. It was sure fun to see them again! Hailey adores them, not to mention Ebbie! Uncle Dano taught Hailey about the army . . .



















Aunt Jess taught her about talking on cell phones . . .



















and Hailey taught Ebbie how to read.

Are we smiling yet?

A couple weeks ago a friend from the ward told me that she had two coupons for a free 8x10 portrait. She was taking her little girl to get a picture done and invited me to do the same for Hailey. Pictures can be picked up after an hour and there is a play place at the mall so we planned to get the pictures taken, play for an hour and pick the pictures up. Sounds pretty good huh. Well, not so much. We got there and they couldn't see us until 12:40, over an hour and a half away. My friend asked, "But don't you take walk-ins?" I was a little baffled, but thought, "Well, it's just as much my fault for not suggesting making an appointment when it crossed my mind." I just a assumed and we all know what that does.

Since we were there and the girls where in dresses we decided to stay, play first, take pictures and pick them up on a later date. Well, Hailey had stayed up late the night before and after playing at the play place for a few minutes I could tell she was ready for a nap. Needless to say, two hours later, she wanted nothing to do with following the directions of some unknown person in an unknown place, being isolated from her mommy. She liked a little rocking chair and seemed to be okay with that for a second. The funny part was the photographer and the other mom trying to tell Hailey to stop rocking in the rocking chair . . . "Your kidding, right?"

TANGENT: Those directions came from a mom that doesn't need latches on her cupboards.

This same mom asked me, "How do you have anything low at your house?" after watching Hailey play with all of her coffee table decorations.

"I don't."

This same mom asked me, "You buckle Hailey into the cart?" when we went groccery shopping together.

This same mom, when getting her daughter's pictures taken says, "Put your hands here Teya, put your feet together Teya, smile Teya," and Teya complies. TANGENT COMPLETE.

So anyway, we thought we might entice Hailey with a sucker. "Here Hailey, pose for the camera and you can have a taste of the sucker. Now pose again and you can have another taste." Ha! It was like taking candy from a baby. . . have you ever tried taking candy from a baby? So we have some pictures with red eye brows, tear-filled eyes and a green sucker smile.

I was actually pleasently surprised with the results. Now that the experience is over I think the pictures are pretty funny! We picked the first one. It's a mild-mannered depiction of Hailey, but pretty cute.

We've been teaching Hailey to say her name when asked. It's pretty cute to hear her say, "Hay-yee Fuw-ness." She caught onto the concept apparently because she quickly started rambling everything off with a last name. "Mom Fuw-ness. Dad Fuw-ness. Bear Fuw-ness. Blankie Fuw-ness. Milk Fuw-ness."

She learned the "Happy Birthday" song in nursery and she loves to include everone in that as well. "Happy Burfday Dad, Hay-yee, stroller, blankie, carseat, baby, blocks. . ."

Sometimes she forgets what she started off doing.