The Infamous Russells

Balloon Festival

2011-09-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to check out the Balloon Festival in Plano. We thought since Lylah is a little older she would really enjoy it. We got there a little late and there were TONS of people. It was really neat to look at all the different kinds of ballons. They had a ladybug which was my favorite! They decided not to let the balloons up in the air because of the weather but it was still neat to see them all light up. Overall it was successful and that was my first time to see a hot air ballon in person. Wow, I am sheltered!

As of Lately

2011-09-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Life has been a bit intense lately and so much is going on in our lives that I find little time to actually sit down and blog. Sean is still working at Popcorn Papa and really liking it. I figured that if I am going to work I might as well make it worth it and so now I am the assistant manager at Palm Beach Tan. I am making my way to becoming a manager. I really enjoy what I do and love to SALE the product. I have been thinking a lot lately about how our life now is not really what I planned it to be. At first it was kind of hard to accept but now that I have accepted it I am ok with it. I know it sounds so selfish. We found a babysitter who really loves Lylah and her kids love Lylah. She is very flexible because we both have retail hours and she is willing to watch Lylah anytime. She has her on a few times a week sometimes for 3 hours and sometimes for 6 hours so not too bad.

Now on to the craziness in our household. So a couple Sundays ago I had to work from 3-9pm. I got a phone call from Sean at 7:40 that he was trying to make fried chicken and was heating the oil and while that was happening he went to the restroom and came out finding it on fire and about 4 ft high. (Side note: Sean has cooked with oil like once when he sauted some veggies with were delish and thought it would be fun to try something different with oil.) His first thought was to get it out of the house because luckily on the pan was on fire. He grabbed it with his right hand to take it out the back door, but while doing that the flames and grease burnt his hand pretty bad.Once the flames were out he couldn't do anything to his hand for about 30 min. because the fire alarms where going off, which then woke Lylah up and freaked her out.

I called a friend whose husband is a Dr. and we were able to go over there when I got off for him to have a look at it. (Side note: I was freaking because I wasn't sure how bad the whole situation was and knowing that Sean and Lylah's new insurance hadn't gone into effect yet.) Sean ended up having first and second degree burns on his hand. Poor guy was and still is miserable. It's been two week and went through a bottle of Naproxen. Sleeps on the couch every night because one night when he tried to sleep in the bed he hit his hand on everything. He has to wear a plastic glove over it at work and that doesn't feel the best. His had finally looks like skin instead of open flesh and the burns are healing pretty well. We were very lucky that the house didn't catch on fire and that we only had to replace our microwave and a piece of wood and two air filters. I was able to get the black off the walls and wood with magic erasers. Love those things. We do want to really thank Stephanie and Gerardo because when this happened Sean called his dad and they called Steph to pick up the burn ointment to bring over immediately and watch Lylah so we could go to the Dr. That really helped out a ton.

What is the saying people use? When things happen they all happen at once! All of us are under the weather right now with a mild cold and on drugs. Poor Lylah has had a rough week, bruise on her face from running into the table, blister on her foot and she wouldn't walk for a day, then she had some kind of rash under her arm pit and luckily the Dr. said it was only contact dermatitis and the cream is working wonderfully. Sean and I just had to sit down and laugh about everything the other day because this is life. Its not perfect and never will be. All of the experiences we go through teach us and we learn and some times it helps put a lot things into perspective. I know The fire could have been much worse but it wasn't and now it will be a memory that we can look back at and laugh about Sean cooking with oil.

Here are some pics:

This was a couple hours after it happen. The white is the burn medicine. Not too bad right?

Poor microwave

Good thing the flames didn't get to those cook books or we might have been in trouble

Bottom of microwave

Before the clean-up besides Sean cleaning the stove

This was the next day much worse

And new microwave and cleaned the paint and wood next I just have to repaint the ceiling

The 4th of July

2011-07-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

What a busy day we had! It was a great day and had a blast. We started our day off by attending our ward activity at 9am for some breakfast.

I was to over see the Young Women in face painting and they did a great job.

Lylah got her face painted and that wasn't the easiest thing to do, but she looked so cute with a little firework on her cheek.

Then are noon Stephanie and "G" came over and we headed to the pool. It was nice having them and Sean around because I never get to lay out because it is always just Lylah and I, but this time Sean was there to tend to her so I could soak up a few rays.

After a couple hours of swimming we went home and started preparing the food for our little BBQ. I am terrible at remembering to take pics , so sorry. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and a yummy watermelon and grilled some zucchini and peppers. Mmmmm

At around 6:45 we arrived at our final destination, Rockwall, TX to watch the fireworks. I new that there was a spray ground there but didn't think that Lylah would get in it since we went swimming earlier that day. Well we happened to see a few people from church and one of Lylah's babysitters was there and took her to the spray ground. Any guesses on what came back to me? A wet baby. Lylah loves water so I should have known so she got to walk around in her diaper for a while until her dress dried. haha I love that little girl!

Finally at almost 10 the show started and we had a cranky baby, but we made it through it. We love this tradition we started last year with Stephanie and Gerardo on the 4th of July and hope to continue it.

Summa Time!!

2011-06-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

I love LOVE love summer time. I hear people complain all the time about the heat and humidity here in Texas, but I love it. Ok I don't care for the humidity, but I would rather it be hot outside than cold I know call me crazy. This summer has been busy and fun thus far.

Seth graduated from high school, so he is no longer hanging out at the Russell house on the weekends as he has moved up to Utah and we miss that. It was fun having him around and I know Sean loved it and misses it. I mean how many episodes of Scrubs or That 70's show can you really watch?! I think I checked the other day and there are 8 Seasons of That 70's Show. Anywho, Pat and Kim came for a visit when Seth graduated and we had fun having them at our house. They are great to have around and we miss seeing them all the time.

Lylah and I go swimming about 2 or 3 times a week with friends. A friend has a pool at her house and invites people over all the time and I love it. I love soaking up the rays and getting out of the house and socializing. Lylah LOVES the water, but is kind of out of control. I put her in a blow up toy and she hates it she wants to be out and do her own thing. The problem with that is she is toddler and can't swim. She loves being outside and tries to get out the door anytime we open it. She also loves going on walks around the neighborhood.

Also this summer I got to go to girls camp. I was only there for one night, but I had a great time. I have never been before and I really wish I would have gone. What a great experience it was getting to know the youth better. I love the girls and they try so hard to do what is right. We really have a great group.

There are more things coming up this summer like going to Utah next week and then Andy and Anjelica's wedding in early August. I will really try to take pictures and actually blog. The problem is that I need a new SD card because mine is full and so I have been a bit limited.

Love Love

2011-04-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

THIS little girl! She is so much fun and full of energy. She has quite the personality and is a social butterfly. Updates to come on her birthday bashes. I can't believe I have a 1 year old.

Shocked....

2011-04-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

So I talked to Sean the other night and mentioned to him about writing a post about some changes in our family. I am not so sure how to put it or what to really say, so to just lay it out there Sean is no longer working for the Buckle. This has been super difficult on our family because we feel like a piece of us died. I also feel like we are back a square one. We have been with Buckle for about 4 years since we got married and it is really of we have known. We thought that Sean would move up in the company and we relied on it for many things. Example buying clothes at 40% off, them paying our entire insurance premium, getting an annual bonus, monthly bonuses and more. We don't really want to go into detail because we are sick of talking about it and if you want to know call Sean. In short, he was treated poorly and done dirty. We don't want to talk negative about Buckle because we love it, but things don't always turn out the way you want them. This happened on Friday, April 1st and no it wasn't an April fools joke. I wish though.
Over the years Sean has networked and had several opportunities and decided to work for a friend hopefully soon managing one of their stores. He started that next Tuesday so we really didn't skip a beat. We feel as though this has actually been a blessing because now he can finish his education and realize how important it is. Also he gets to be home more which we love of course. It is crazy how life changes so fast. I look back a year ago and it was so different not necessary in a good or bad way just different. One thing I am grateful for is our Heavenly Father and how he watches over us and that if we are doing our PART, then he will step in and bless us.

Colten's Bday Party

2011-04-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

So the night before my sister's wedding rehearsal my nephew Colton had a birthday party. It was a cool little place with 6 or 7 little blown up slides. Lylah had fun in the little kiddie one and I had fun in the kid one! haha I am pretty sure I wasn't suppose to go on the but my niece just insisted that I got with her. Then my sister and I wanted to act like kids again and went down together. Ooohhhh suck rebels. It was great besides that fact that I forgot to raise my arms the 1st time and burned my elbow, that little sucker hurt. I love getting to spend time with my family and we always have so much fun. Cindy did a great job throwing the party!

Nephew Mason

Timber and I

Birthday Boy

Samantha and I

Continuation of wedding

2011-04-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so I don't have any pics from the wedding on my camera, but just go to my Facebook if you really want to see them!

My sister did everything very traditional so we had a rehearsal with a dinner afterward, well more like a BBQ. A ton of Brandon's family came from Georgia so there were about 30 of us total. It was a great time with everyone and Lylah had everyone cracking up. She is a silly girl and would growl like a tiger at them. She scored major brownie points with me at the BBQ because she gave me kisses. Anytime I ask her she just acts like she has no idea what I am saying well not that night. I think she knew everyone was watching!! He had some friends that also came and it was fun chatting about our kids and the things they do. I think I was chasing Lylah around most of the time, but I still had a great time.

Sean wasn't able to come because of work and we sure did miss him. More like I stressed hard core. I always want things to be perfect and I didn't want anyone else to have the responsibility of watching her, but it all worked out great and she was a great little girl.

Samantha's Wedding

2011-04-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

On March 19 my sister and Brandon got married!! YAY!! I am so excited for them, they are so happy and in love. They met while he was stationed in Wichita Falls going to tech school. For of those of you who don't know what that is it is the step after basic training I think. They dated while he was there and then he got stationed somewhere on the East Coast and now he is stationed in Japan. My sister has done so well with him being gone, but it has been hard because she knows that Timber (my niece) , her dad won't allow her to move to Japan so, therefore, my sister can't go. But, when they got back from their honeymoon Timber's dad sat down and talked with them and is letting them move to Japan. I am so happy that she gets to move and be with her husband, but I am going to miss her terribly. They will be stationed there for 4 years. I get sad because I think about when she has another baby, I won't be there or for birthdays and what not. If you know much about me then you know that I grew up in a small town and didn't really see much of the world until I moved to Utah. Well let's just say my sister hasn't seen much of the world until Brandon and I love that. I love that she gets to experience different cultures and see the world and that is what she is going to do being a military wife. I am going to miss all three of them, but so happy because the are just a perfect little family!! I love you sister, you are my best friend. Pictures to come sorry

iPad = laziness

2011-04-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

So I realized tonight just how lazy I have gotten with having an iPad in our home. For one i never go up stairs anymore to get on the computer because I can get on the Internet just chillin on the couch or in bed. The bad thing about not going upstairs is that I never upload photos which leads to never posting on our blog. I know ridiculous, huh? I mean get on my blog everyday to see who has updated theirs and what not. My goal is to get a blog and put pics of some things we have done lately within the next two days so stay tuned and I will try not to disappoint.

Bridal and Baby Showers!!

2011-03-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like everyone I know right now is either getting married or having a baby! My sister gets married in March and my sister-in-law gets married in April. Then our friends Andy and Anjelica are getting married in August. Several of our friends just had or are having babies so it seems like its either a bridal shower or baby shower every month.

A couple weekends ago I threw my sister's bridal shower. It turned out great and had a lot of wonderful friends help out. We played a few fun games, but everyone's favorite was when my sister, Samantha, had to answer questions about Brandon and if she got one wrong she had to put a piece of gum in her mouth. It was hilarious!

I love torturing her, paybacks from when we kids. Yes, she had that much gum in her mouth I started with multiple choice, but she kept getting those right so then I changed it to just having to answer with out any help.

Right when the shower was over, Lylah and I packed up and headed back home for a friend's baby shower. Audra is from Clovis and that is how we know her. She moved to Dallas and worked for Sean and threw my baby shower. They now live in Colorado, but came to Texas for a visit and we loved having them stay with us. I can't believe she is having a little boy, we can't wait to meet little Jaxon in August! Congrats Audra and Eric.

After that baby shower we headed to Teresa and Craig's house (Sean is best friend's with their daughter Tayler) to play the XBOX connect. If you haven't ever played it you have to, it is amazing! Their little dog was obsessed with Lylah and kept jumping up on her and following her every where she went. It was pretty cute. When we laid her down for bed the dog just waited outside the door until we left.

Seriously, this game is awesome, you don't even have to use a remote. This is me bowling and Sean is having a dance contest with Lacy. That was pretty funny to watch to bad I didn't record it. Anyway more to come. Aren't you exhauseted from this post because I was pretty pooped when we finally got home and I could go to bed. Enjoy

My other little doggy!!

2011-02-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Lylah is now 10 months and we STILL have ZERO teeth. The other day Kim asked where her little teether toy is? (the ones that you put in the freezer and they chew on) I hadn't been giving them to Lylah because she never really showed any interest well I think they are exactly what she needs. She crawls, stands, goes where ever she wants with it in her mouth. She has a pretty good technique at holding it in there with her tongue wrapping around the other side of it. Anyway she is so funny and just cracks me up!

By the way my floor isn't really that dirty as it looks. Note the blanket on the couch well it has lots of fuzzies after washing it. I know I am ridiculous!

Texas and Snow.... not a good mix

2011-02-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks have been insane. On Feb 1st, it iced over pretty bad and school and jobs was canceled for four days and then last day it was cancelled we had about 4 to 6 inches snow. When this happened they did what they call "rolling blackout" so every few hours we would got without power for about 30 min. Well this killed our internet and cable. So not only were we stuck at home but we didn't have internet and cable. Pat, Kim and Seth were staying with us so it wasn't that bad because we got to visit and just relax a little.

Yesterday at work I had a lady that just moved from Michigan and she pretty much told me we are WIMPS here in Texas. She couldn't believe we closed our schools down because I guess last week in Michigan they had 19 inches of snow and still went to school. My only excuse is we (Texas Peeps) A) don't know how to drive in snow, B) we don't have snow Plows, and C) our buses probably don't know how to drive in it. Also in Texas it is ICE not just Snow.

9 months

2011-01-18T14:43:00.000-08:00

I know that most of my post are about Lylah these days and what she is into to, but I have forgotten to write down each month and what she does except for in her little baby book, but I figure you all might want to know as well.

She takes (2) 2 hour naps each day. One from 10-12 then the other from 2-4.
Goes to bed pretty much every night around 7:15pm
Sometimes wakes up around 3 or 4 to have a bottle, we have tried braking this, but it is so nice to just feed and go back to bed.
She has been on formula for the past 2 months and seems to like it.
She has breakfast, lunch and dinner with a total of (3) 6 oz bottles.
She weighs 19.13 lbs (65%) and is 27 3/4 inches (60%)
She loves her dad more than anything and has to be with him from the minute he is home till she goes to bed.
She crawls everywhere, but loves to sit on one leg and have the other one either straight out or bent with foot on the ground.
She pulls herself up and starting to walk along the edges and even likes to crawl stairs
She loves her bed and typically goes right to sleep when you lay her down. Only falls asleep in bed or carseat.
She is a chatter box. Wonder where she gets it from?
We started watched Baby can Read and she knows the word Clap and does it when looking at the word.
Loves the itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle, popcorn popping and many others, but those are her favorites.
Bathtime is her favorite time of the day and could be in there for hours.
Hates when we change her and when we are getting her in her jammies.
She has a short tension span, and moves on the the next thing after only a few minutes.
Loves going to the grocery store with mom and looking at all the people
Her hair is finally long enough on top that we can put it in a ponytail since she pulls off headbands.
Church is exhausting with her because I never really get to stay in the class room
She waves when we say "Hi"
Very happy baby and is a joy to be around.
Still has NO Teeth

We have been so blessed having Lylah in our lives. She has taught us way more then I think we thought. We love being parents to Lylah and are excited to teach her all the things life has to offer.

Decorations at last

2011-01-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

Finally after a year and four months I finally have my living room and dining area somewhat decorated. Some of you have been asking for pics so here they are. I love it and everytime I walk inside I tell Sean,"its perfect and it feels so complete!" I know I'm a cheese ball.

Sorry about the fan chains dangling.

This has been finished for a while now. So simple, but I love it!

Bumps, Bruises and Cries.... Oh my!

2011-01-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

Now that little miss Lylah is all over the place and trying to stand up by herself she falls or runs into something quite often.


This is one of her favorite spots and positions. She loves to look outside and see whats going on, but this happens!

She tries to stand up and this time she fell forward instead of on her bum and got her first little bruise on her forehead . I am sure there are more to come.

Where do I begin...... Christmas!

2011-01-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

I am so behind I have been a total slacker, but for good reasons. One, Sean's parents were in town, second, we had friends in town and come over a few times, plus getting all wrapped up in the craziness of Christmas. All in all we had a fabulous holiday and enjoyed getting time to spend with family and friends. Get ready for lots of pictures and lots of randomness that you all need to be caught up on.

As most of you know Lylah is crawling everywhere and has been for about 3 weeks now. She loves playing with Abby and following her around, getting into her dog water and just going about anywhere she wants. I will say to her "go get Abby out of her kennel" and she starts crawling right on over there. What a smart baby.

Not only is she crawling, but trying to stand. She has done it twice without holding on to anything and pushing up from the floor.

We made it to my Mom then Dad's house for Christmas Eve. Last year there was a big snow storm and we weren't able to make it. It was nice to see everyone and my nan got to come home from the nursing home that day to spend time with everyone!

The next morning we woke up and headed to Grand Prairie to spend Christmas day with Sean's family. It was nice to relax and not have to worry about much. Lylah was a spoiled little girl this year!

I love this picture! She sat on a tag and crawled around for a while with it on her booty. I guess I could be the only one that thinks it is cute and that is ok!

Thank you grammy for my adorable outfits!

Thank you Great Grandma and Grandpa Jensen for the High chair, We ALL love it.

Finally, I was so happy today I finally bought some small ponytail holders to put Lylah's hair up. She has a mohawk and so I thought we would try something till she gets some more in.

I will try to keep the post coming especially know that Sean has created his own blog, how dare he?!

Santa Clause

2010-12-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we decided to finally take Lylah to get her picture taken with Santa. We had a great first time experience. There were no lines and she loved him. She kept staring at his beard and I was just waiting for her to get a handful. I kept trying to make her laugh, but I love the picture that we went with. My baby is getting so big!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

We had two Thanksgivings this year and we really enjoyed them. Pat and Kim came down the week before Thanksgiving because Seth had a big swim meet and that Sunday we all went to Sean's grandparents ward and then had Thanksgiving dinner afterward with everyone. It was nice having them in town and staying with us. This is another reason I love have my own house. We all went out to eat a couple times and just enjoyed relaxing evenings with everyone. Then Thanksgiving day we drove to Burkburnett/Wichita Falls to be with my family. Our families are so OPPOSITE. That isn't a bad thing I'm just sayin. My dad had us over and all the guys eat out in the garage watching football and the girls eat inside and chit chat. I think this was my first year celebrating Thanksgiving with my dad. Usually we would have it with my mom and then Christmas Eve with my dad, but my mom worked and my dad asked us over. We had to drive back that same day because we all know that working retail you never really get to enjoy any holiday. So that wraps it up hopefully I will have pics for my next post I am a little on the lazy side lately!!

Really.......Really

2010-12-01T12:58:00.000-08:00

I know weird title for what I am about to tell you all. For those of you who don't know I am no longer working at Buckle anymore and started working at a tanning salon from 5:45am to 1pm. I love the hours because Sean and I get to be with Lylah most of the day. We try to work our schedules, ok Sean tries to work his schedule so that she doesn't have to be at the sitter's house very often. Last Monday I was working alone as I usually do until about 11am and then another employee comes in for the last two hours I am there. I had a girl customer come in and say " my account is all messed up I know I owe a lot, but I am going to go to the bathroon will you look it over and I will be right back." I do of course and I thought she was a little shady so I stayed up front where all the lotions were because I didn't want her to steal any. On a side note some of our lotions cost up to $140. Also note that our office is only about 5 ft behind where I was standing. I look over everything and she comes back up front and I tell her there is really nothing I can do, but she can come back when our manager is there. She seemed ok with that answer and left. That was at 10:45 at 11:45 I took a break in the office to realize that my purse was missing. I asked the other employee to look to make sure I wasn't going crazy and I wasn't. So I went searching our store for and and I found it in a cabinet across from the girl's bathroom. My wallet, keys, and spare car key were all missing. I immediately called Sean and asked him to go home because she knows where we live and has all my keys. He left work, went to Target to get all new locks for our house and headed home. I went to the bank to freeze all my accounts and cards, but it was too late she had already spent money. Ok to finish up this long story that could be longer. I had to re-key my car and open new accounts. Come to find out she did it to another one of our stores and came back to ours yesterday to try it again. The police are definitely involved and I hope they catch her. I can't describe the way I feel inside. I am angry, sad, but blessed to know that it could be a lot worse. I have actually learned a lot from this experience, but that will have to be in another post. You really can't trust anyone these days and it stinks.

what happened

2010-11-09T13:32:00.001-08:00

So I am not sure what happened to the bottom of my blog and I am not sure how to fix it. If you know PLEASE help me out!! Thank you

Halloween Festivites

2010-11-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

A week before Halloween our ward had there Trunk or Treat! Lylah didn't really care to be there because she was so tired, but we put her in her mermaid costume and had a great night. Sean sat in our trunk and passed out candy to all the little kids On Halloween day we finally decided to carve our pumpkin. Again we thought Lylah would just love it and have a great time, but she didn't really care too much and went to sleep before we even finished cleaning it out. We always have next year!! Sean on the other hand had a lot of fun carving our pumpkin. Abby and Watson wanted to help out a little or see what Sean dropped so they could eat it.

BoWS

2010-10-24T15:09:00.001-07:00

I know that I am a little excessive when it comes to Lylah wearing bows. Anytime we leave the house I usually put a bow or flower on her head. I know that I have put huge ones on her, but that is not an everyday thing. My point of this blog is that anytime she doesn't have a bow on people always mistake her for a boy and I hate that. Nothing against you moms with boys, but I have a daughter not a son. I know that is silly, but when she is wearing pink I figure that would give it away that she is a girl, but obviously NOT. So there you have it. I have been wanting to get that out because I love when Lylah has bows on... thats all.

Yum Yum

2010-10-23T08:04:00.001-07:00

So lately Lylah is obsessed with Sean's necklaces. I don't wear them very much anymore because Child + Jewelry = Bad News. Well Sean's necklaces are really simple just one chain and something at the bottom of the chain. Lylah will start putting it in her mouth and the minute he takes it away she starts screaming bloody murder. So the other morning when he was changing her she saw it and he took it off and put it away. Well she starts crying so what does he do? Yes, it is what you all are thinking he takes it out of the drawer and tries to give it to her and then of course the mean mom I am says "No Ma'am" and doesn't let him do it. See that already shows you that he is going to give her whatever she wants.

Lions and Tigers and Bears.... oh my!

2010-10-23T06:32:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday we decided to head to Ft. Worth to check out the Zoo. We have never been since we lived here and since it was half price Wednesday we thought lets go. It was a nice little family outing and we went early in the morning so the weather was awesome. Lylah didn't care too much and probably didn't even notice the animals. She is perfectly happy with her dog at home!

These were African Elephants that throw mud on themselves. All four were trying to come through the entrance all at the same time

Sweet little deer just chillin in the bamboo trees

She is for sure a daddy's girl! Sean just loves her to pieces. I asked him the other day if he wished we would have had a boy and his reply was "No, I love my little girl".

The zebras were so close to the fence, they were really beautiful

Pumpkin Lover

2010-10-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to take Lylah to a small little Pumpkin Patch in Rockwall to pick out a couple pumpkins. I was so excited and then when we got there I realized I forgot to bring the camera. Sad I really wanted to get a picture of Lylah for the first time with all the pumpkins around her. Sean got a cute one on his phone, but we haven't figured out yet how to put that on our computer. So when we got home I set them outside and took a couple of pictures. She loved looking at them and to my surprise didn't try to put her mouth on them. Every now and then she would look up for a split second and I would caught one or two good ones out of like 15 or so.

Presenting our little Pumpkin lover Lylah.... I love the little out fit Sean got her a few weeks ago.

4 generations

2010-10-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

So I just had to post this because I love this picture. My nan, my mom's mom, is getting on up there in age and not doing so well. She is in a nursing home where my mom works at so when I go home I try to stop by for a visit. I have been once before with Lylah, but forgot the camera and this time I remembered it YAY!! So here is my nan (81), my mom (59), me (26), Lylah (5 months at the time). One thing that has been hard about seeing my nan this way is that I remember her when she was active and independent, but as she has gotten older things have obviously changed. I love her so much and I have loved being around her growing up. She taught me how to paint many things, she hates when I smell things before I eat them, crack my soda can or fidget with things. Oh and I was the only grandchild that she ever spanked, not sure why I am bragging about that, but I guess I was a handful. Love ya Nan!

Half a year old

2010-10-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Lylah is already 6 months old. She is growing like a weed and getting more fun everyday! We love her to pieces and couldn't imagine life without her.
Here are a few things she can do:

Sit up by herself
Finally likes her tummy some
Always wakes up on her tummy
Pushes up on her knees (a little)
Loves Loves Oatmeal Cereal
Has tried Peas, Squash, loves Sweet Potatoes, hates Carrots, bananas, and loves peaches.
Takes two two hour naps
Still loves Abby
Has to always be looking at her daddy
Makes lots of noises especially when playing with toys
Loves being in her big girl stoller and going for walks
Loves bath time/water
Went to the Zoo for the first time
Went to her first football game

Splish Splash

2010-10-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

So none of this is really in order of events, but before the Independence Day Party we decided to take a little swim. The boys (Sean, Luis, Dan and Spencer) had fun flying into the pool trying to catch a football while the girls played with the little ones! Both Lylah and Kylee seemed to like the water and loved having everyone's attention. They are such good babies for a little while we were able to lay them down on some towels and they just played with their toys. Here are some pics

Finally.....

2010-10-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

Back to our Vegas trip! So while we were there Natalia and Luis invited us and a few others to a Brazilian Independence Day! They are always to creative and thinking up things to do. We all wore green and yellow and all pitched in on decorating. Natalia is awesome and literally spent all day preparing food for our party. During the party we had a Samba dance lesson and you had to be there because it was pretty dang funny! Does anyone remember her website? (haha)

The Brazilian Prince!!

We were so glad that my friends Bethany and Doug were able to come also

In the meantime....

2010-10-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know I quit working at Buckle a month before Lylah was due and have been at home with her since. Well starting September 10 I went back part time. I work Wednesdays when Sean is off and Fridays and Saturdays. I do like Buckle and what I do but I am so sad to be away from Baby Lylah. The time while she is little is so precious and I love watching her grow and do new things each day. This is just a temporary thing, but it is so hard. My goal is to recruit a few more people under me for Scentsy and really get that going. My team is doing great and I love their enthusiasm about the product I just need people that love Scentsy. If any of you know someone who is interested let me know. NO, they don't have to be a salesman, just love the product! Anyone can do it, even if it is just to supply yourself with the product! So what I really wanted to get at is how busy life is at the moment. When I am not working, I am home cleaning and being with Lylah! But it is always something, which I love I just wish life would slow down just a little!

P.S. I hate when Sean is out of town! Hurry and come home we already miss you dang it!

And it begins....

2010-09-30T17:35:00.001-07:00

Finally, I am getting around to our reporting on our Vegas trip! It is not necessarily going to be in order, but more about the things that we did. I first have to thank Natalia and Luis for letting us crash at their home the entire time. We had a blast with all of you!

One of the funniest parts of the trip was Spencer's reaction to the BABIES. He was really terrified of them and did not want any part of them. Well we made them a part of him instead and put the babes on him and just made him deal with it. Get over it Spencer they are sweet little babies who love their Spencer!!

Look how cute these are!

2010-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love the Fall/Winter warmers and scents! Here are a few of them!

Also here are the Holiday Warmers that are now available!

Let me know what you think

San Jose, California

2010-09-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

So today Sean's brother Stephen entered the MTC to serve a 2 year mission for our church. We are so happy for him and know he is going to be a wonderful missionary. We are really proud of him and his choice to do this, it is not easy to set 2 years aside, but worth it. We are excited to write him and hear all the stories he is going to have. Good Luck, Steve we are going to miss you!

Where did this month go??

2010-08-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty this month with back to school for Sean and me doing Scentsy and other things here and there. To update you all on our volleyball, it has ended! We really loved playing this season, but neither of our teams made it to playoffs. There is always next year and I think more people will play because our teams got good at the end because we had more players show up.

Sean's brother Stephen got his mission call and will be serving for 2 years in San Jose, California (Spanish Speaking)! We are so excited for him! Sorry I have no pictures! We said our goodbyes to him on Saturday because he left for Utah yesterday! My mom, sister and niece came to watch Lylah so we could be at the Temple while Stephen went through. It was so great having most of his family there. It was nice of my mom to come and watch Lylah and we had a lot of fun with them!

We have been in this game playing mood and so has Lylah as you can tell. She was studying the numbers trying to figure out which on to lay down, haha!!

Water.... Lylah loves the water these days we have been swimming several times and play in the back yard in the sprinklers.

My BIRTHDAY!! For my birthday we went to On the border with Sean's family and then went back to their house for dessert and presents. We all had fun and as you can tell Lylah is always the focus point. Also Pat gave her a taste of a lemon and her facial expressions were so funny, the picture doesn't capture it so well.

Andy and Anjelica come every summer to watch the Red Sox play the Rangers and we love that because we get to see them. Monday night we went to dinner with them in Rockwall and Tuesday we went to their hotel and swam all day! I got a couple good pics of Sean playing in the water! Isn't it suppose to be Lylah playing in the water, not the grown up, haha!!

Back to School has been crazy, I helped out for a few days and I am beat!! Kim was so nice to watch Lylah for us so I could roll in some money!! Thank you Kim we really appreciate it!! I have a feeling next month is going to be just as busy!!

Month 4

2010-08-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

Today Little Lylah is 4 months. She is getting so big and becoming less and less of a baby and it is already making me sad. I have mixed emotions because I can't wait till she can sit up and crawl, but then that just means she will be older and I still want her to be my little baby. We went to the Dr. today and her weight is 13.95lbs and height is 24 3/4. She is 70th percentile in weight and 50th percentile in height. He said we can start cereal in months 4 and 5 and so I think we are going to give that a shot. Now a question for all you moms out there, the Dr. gave me some forms to read about starting a baby on cereal and to only start with a tablespoon in one feeding. Which feeding have you done it on, the one right before she goes to bed or what? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Pictures will come soon!

Here are some things about her:

Loves bath time and is learning to splash with her hands and feet.
Hates getting out of the bath and being cold
Loves for Sean to pick her up out of her bed in the morning
Likes being in whatever room we are in, if I am cooking she has to be in her bumbo watching.
Loves sitting in her bumbo
Likes watching her Baby Einstein video
Hates being on her tummy
Drools all over the place
She thinks its funny to laugh while she is eating
Rolls over every now and then from tummy to her back
Sleeps like a champ
Naps like a champ
Grabs toys and puts them to her mouth
Loves talking to people
Laughs really hard when you shake her or tickle her tummy
Laughs when someone blows noises
Loves kisses from Abby
Freaks out when someone she doesn't know messes with her.
She loves being in a pool or sprinklers
Shes a go with the flow kind of gal!

Can you say growth spurt

2010-08-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

So Lylah has always been a great sleeper, but today is extreme. She went to bed last night at 7pm and fed a couple times till 8 this morning, but went right back to bed each time she ate. So this morning I am playing with her and she falls asleep at 8:45am so I take her up to her crib and she sleeps till about 11am. She wakes up and I feed her and play around some more and then what does she do fall back asleep at 12:15pm and is still sleeping and it is 2:29pm to be exact. I have checked on her a few times just to make sure everything is ok and it is, she is sleeping away! Usually she takes naps during the day, but they only last about an hour or so and this two hour nap thing is nice, because I have time to organize some closets and clean up. I know this is totally random, but for some reason I love my house to be spotless on Sundays! It could be because its the Sabbath, but I love not having to do anything and because that is one of Sean's only days off.
On Tuesday she will be 4 months and we got to her month check-up and get shots. I will update on how is all goes!!

For those of you who don't know!

2010-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Uhh... I guess that title makes it sound like something serious! Well I just wanted to let everyone know that I am a Scentsy Consultant now. I started selling back in July and absolutely love it!! I love that I can work and make as much or a little as I want and get to stay home with Lylah! I truly feel like this has been a blessing to our family. It is a great company to work for and the product sells itself. Anyway, if I can help any of you out for birthday presents, Christmas gifts, or what not let me know. August is a great month for it because everything besides a few select items are 10% off. My website is https://srussell.scentsy.us, tell everyone you know I am really trying to network and let everyone I know about it!! Thanks to all of you that have already helped out I appreciate it a ton!!

Wonderful Thursdays

2010-08-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when I found out our ward was having a volleyball team. When we lived in Clovis I played pretty regularly with some ladies and absolutely loved it. I became more familiar with the game and learned some techniques to actually play a decent game. So like I said I was pumped that our ward had a team, the only thing is that only 4 people ever come (well once we had six people) and so far we have lost 2 and won 1. I think we get better each week because that is the only time we "Practice." So last Thursday I met Sean up at the Stake Center because the women were playing at 6:45 and the guys at 7:30. So he watched Lylah while I played and vice versa. We won our game and played all three sets and the guys lost playing only two sets. One thing I don't get is that it looks so easy when guys are playing, maybe because they take up more room I'm not sure? Anyway we had a lot of fun and plan on it from here on out.

Our little Swimmer

2010-07-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

So I know that every post since we had Lylah is about Lylah, but what do you expect everything evolves around her these days. So on Friday the 23rd we decided it would be a great day to take her swimming since both Stephen and Seth would be working. It was a perfect day to pick because it was cloudy and I was nervous that she would get sunburned. The water was a little chilly but overall Lylah loved the water. Her and Sean swam around for a while and she was just kicking away. She was obviously just kicking her legs not knowing what she was actually doing, but we as her parents like to think that she is so smart and knew what she was doing all along. haha!! She went under the water a few times and had no problem getting use to the water. I guess that means she is a Russell, not a bad thing just sayin. I am taking her swimming again tonight at mutual and see if she still likes it. She is becoming such a big girl and would love for her to slow down a little!! Here are some pics of her swimming and I will put up the video a little later.

Fourth of July Weekend

2010-07-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

I really love not working a retail job anymore because I get to be off on holidays that normally I would have had to work. And because Sean is a manager he makes his own schedule so we are able to do things when we want.

Saturday Sean got off work at 6pm and his mall had a little festival going on, but that didn't last long for us because it began raining and I was so sad because I wanted to watch fireworks. So we switched things around a little bit and had Stephanie and Gerardo over to watch the UFC fight and that was a blast. We all love it and people think I am crazy because I am screaming at the TV like they can really hear me. They stayed the night and went to Sean's parents ward on Sunday.

Sunday we had a family BBQ with Sean's siblings because his parents where in Utah. We had burgers, hotdogs, chips, watermelon, ice cream and strawberries. Very simple, but we all had a great time. Stephen and Seth went and did fireworks with friends and the rest of us went to Harry Myers Park in Rockwall to watch the firework show. We got there about 6:30pm and played card games and I NEVER. Lylah was so good and had her own little toys to play with. She feel asleep right before the show started and I was nervous the noise would scare her, but it wasn't too bad. She only opened her eyes a few times. Then we came home and got ready for Monday.

Monday the four of us again and Lylah went to the Dallas World Aquarium. Sean has been dying to go since we moved back and he finally got what he wanted. It was so awesome and will have to go to the Ft. Worth Zoo when it cools down a little. After that we went to Chuy's and had yummy fajitas.

It was a great weekend spending time with family and being stress free for a couple of days. I really loved it because I got to get out of the house unlike every other day during the week.

Where to Start

2010-07-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

So much has happened that I haven't blogged about that I feel overwhelmed and that makes me put it off even more. Life has been a bit crazy for the past three weeks.
I went to Wichita Falls June 15-18 to visit my family and see my sister get married. She met a wonderful military guy while he was stationed at Shepperd Airforce Base and have been dating for the past two years. Since he was getting stationed in Japan for the next few years they decided to get married at the Justice of Peace and then do a ceremony in March of 2011. They wanted for her to be able to go over to Japan with him so that is why it was so soon and quick.

Tuesday - picked up Brandon from the airport and got lost exiting the South entrance of DFW. He thought I was crazy and that is Ok because it is probably true. That night my family had an engagement party for Samantha and Brandon with all of our family and friends there.

Wednesday - Samantha and Brandon got married and we all went to lunch at Deli Planet! I love that place. Mom and I went to Nina's house and hung out for little bit.

Thursday - I just hung around the house and took a nap.

Friday - Was very emotional and crazy, but a little too personal to share.

Saturday - Went to visit my Aunt Susie for her to meet Lylah and then headed back to Dallas before Father's Day.

Sunday - Father's Day started with Sean having yummmy waffles made by Chef Sarah! haha!! We went to church and then headed to Grand Prairie to enjoy a day with Sean's family.

Yep there is more craziness!!!

Monday - I took Sean to the airport. He had manager meetings in Kearney, NE till Thursday night

Tuesday - Samantha, Brandon, and Timber came and stayed the night. So I cleaned most of the day

Wednesday - Took Samantha and Brandon to the airport at 5am. I kept Timber from Wednesday - Friday... That was an adventure, but we made it and she had fun playing with Lylah

Thursday - We did crafts and all sorts of things. Picked Sean up from the airport.

Friday - Timber, Lylah and I headed back to Wichita so she could go stay with her dad for the weekend. Lylah and I went to dinner with my dad and Teresa and I stayed at their house.

Saturday - My dad made an awesome breakfast after the electricity came back on. We found out a squirrel got in the transformer. Poor thing. My aunt Susie came over for a while and then later that night I went over to Brittney's to see friends

Sunday - Sean picked Samantha up at the airport and brought her home. I had a bridal shower to go to and then we headed back to Dallas.

NOW we are finally home and are staying home for a while. It has all been fun and crazy, but I missed Sean and Lylah is glad to be back home and on her routine again.

2010-06-20T04:30:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T04:19:00.000-07:00

This is Sean's first Father's Day and so I thought I would make a little slide show for him. He is so great with Lylah and loves to in his words "chill" with her. Lylah and I have been gone since Tuesday and Sean could not wait for her to get back. I love to watch him play with her, love her, and smile with her. He is going to be a great DAD to her as she gets older. He is a wonderful man, provider, and husband. He is understanding with just about anything and I know he will guide Lylah in the right direction as she gets older and he is going to beat off all the boys that come around her. We love you so much Sean and are so glad you are in our lives for eternity. Here is the slide show I put together, if it uploads correctly

I love this LiTTlE girl

2010-06-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

So on June 2nd we had made an appointment at Babies 'R' Us to get Lylah's pictures taken. We tried them out because they just reopened and had a sale going so I thought what the heck lets do it. We get there at 10 am perfect timing because Lylah didn't have to eat again until 11:30am and I thought for sure we would be finished. Well was I wrong, when we got there the lady was really nice and very talkative and I was ok that they were having camera problems. After waiting an hour and ten minutes wasn't so fun and Lylah was awake and starting to get grouchy because she was hungry. I finally told the lady never mind we were leaving. So we left and I swear steam was coming out of my hears I was so frustrated. As most of you know I plan out mostly everything and if it doesn't go that way then I get upset. Most the time I am just upset with myself because NoTHIng or NoONe is perfect, but I feel like I have to have some kind of control. We get back to my mother-in-laws house and my wonderful husband calls JCPenneys and they can get us in at 1pm and on top of that they are having a 50% off sale on all packages. SWEET!!! So we head there are one and it was a wonderful experience and I was happy Sarah again. I learned a very good lesson that day that sometimes things happen not the way we think they should, but it is for the better. I have learned this lesson many times, but it just clicked and I realized I was making everyone miserable around me. So here are some of the pictures we took:

Friendship

2010-06-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

During the last week of May, Sean had to go to New Mexico for a work issue and I thought why not go with him. So we packed everything up and headed out. Lylah was so good she slept the whole way there and back and only woke up to feed. We really couldn't ask for a better baby. She is usually pretty content with whatever we are doing as long as she has her pacifier.
We were really excited about returning to Clovis for a visit because we made so many friends there and most of them are still around. Clovis has a military base so people are always coming and going. We really want to thank the Bunker family for letting us crash at there "love shack" even though they were out of town. We miss you guys so much!! Let me explain "love shack" as we get to there house there is a note that says "Hey Russell Kids" we hope you enjoy the Bunker Love Shack and then we walk into their bedroom and there is dove chocolates all over the bed. I love Carlee she cracks me up.
Thursday morning we met at McDonalds with some of our friends from church. We felt so loved and are so grateful for the friendships we have made. So there were eight adults, but only six families total which consisted of 16 kids. Oh my!!! Let's just say we had a long table. Then later that day we hung out with Andy and Anjelica and went to dinner at Kellys.
Friday morning Sean had to work till 3 at the Buckle there so I just relaxed a little and met up with Anjelica to do some shopping. Later that night we met up with The Westwoods and the Chappells for Cotton Patch and went and watched Price of Persia, then to Bahama Bucks. I was really nervous because we took Lylah, but she slept the entire movie. After that we stopped back by Andy's house to say goodbye, we already miss you guys.
I love having great friends! It was really nice to meet up with everyone and make more memories that we will remember forever and talk about when we are older. Hopefully, we can start making friends where we live now and cherish those

This was the night before we left at Andy's house

Here is Andy playing Nintendo in the middle of his floor. It is pretty funny to watch he play sitting Indian style
moments. Here is Andy and Anjelica with Lylah

At last

2010-05-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was such an exciting day for us, we finally got our TAXES. I know can you believe it after filing them in February we just now got them back. What had happened is because we bought a house this year for some reason it wouldn't let us file electronically so we had to mail it in. So we did that and then got a letter back after a good six weeks saying we also need to you send in Form whatever. We did that and waited patiently then after 35 days Sean calls and they tell him that it has gone to the errors department and that it sits in there for 40 days and after that we should get out money. Well it was a lot longer than that I am not sure how many times he called them, but I know it was a lot and it was very irritating because everyone had different answers for us about where our taxes were. Well the money is finally in our little pockets and are so excited because now we are going to do a little updating in our home.

We knew that once we got our tax money we wanted to get a semi formal dining table. The table we have is small and only has four chairs which is fine, but not when you have family or friends over for dinner. Also two chairs have broken legs and that table fits perfectly in our kitchen. So yesterday morning we get up and head to the "DUMP" with Sean's mom. For you who don't know what the "DUMP" is they sell furniture, but they are only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So we find a table that we absolutely love, but it was a little over our price range, but we were definitely sold on it. This is why I love Kim I knew that she would help us think rationally about the purchase. She told us "now that you know what you want, take sometime and look around everywhere else and let it soak in." That is exactly what we did and Sean was not happy because those of you who know Sean knows that when he goes to a place to find a table he plans on buying a table. So then Sean heads to work and Kim, Lylah, and I go to a fabric store then to Havertys. I had never heard of it before but I am in love now. We look around and there it is our TABLE and it was in our price range and better quality than the other one. I call Sean and he comes back on his lunch break and he loves it also and so we bought it. I just love it and love that eight people can sit at one table together, although we only got six chairs for now. I feel like a grown up now, haha!!! I will post a picture of it when it gets here and gets assembled which should be in approx. a few hours....good day!!!

Summertime

2010-05-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

I love summertime! Is it weird that I would rather be hot than cold. I know that this is our second summer back in Texas, but it still feels weird to be here. I still have to get use the the humidity all over again. That is one thing that I did not miss when we lived in Utah. I really hope to enjoy this summer because unlike any previous summer I will not be working. Hopefully, I will be able to be outside a little more, although, I tried that yesterday and every time I tried to lay out it was either something with my dog or Lylah so that didn't work out. So I came inside and started to workout and that didn't work either. Who knows maybe it will get better and I might have some luck with these two things. Usually Lylah will be awake the first hour and a half after she eats and then sleeps the last hour and a half so I try to get in the work out and doing things around the house. I am still having trouble having motivation to workout. On the BYU channel there is a total body workout every morning at 9am. I realized I can't do it every morning at nine due to feedings or what not so I have my DVR set to record the whole series. So anyway this is my first step to get motivated to work out I mean I have it right there in front of me it shouldn't be that hard, but it is.

Also I have a couple of pictures of Lylah! Sorry everyone you are going to be seeing and hearing a lot about her now because I am with her all day everyday and because we LOVE her!!! These are on the day that she turned one month. Is it bad that I haven't gotten professional pics taken. All you moms please tell me your opinion, I don't want to spend a ton, but I do want them and what age should I get them taken?

I just love her little bum!

3 Grand Years

2010-05-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

So I am really last on posting about this, but Sean and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on May 5th. What a great three years it has been! It is crazy to believe that it has already been that long because it has gone by so fast. It is really neat to see how much we have grown as a couple. In the past three years we have moved from Dallas where we lived for 6 months, then New Mexico and lived there for a year and nine months, and then back to Texas but we lived with his parents for 4 months, and finally moved to Rowlett, TX where we bought our first home. Lots of moving for two people who had lived in one town for 20 years! Also during this time Sean found a job that he loves and is turning it into a career and we just had our first child! We are really enjoying all that we have been given and are so grateful for it all. We love having our families so close and love building those relationships. I love Sean so much and he is such a great husband and father and I can't wait to see what the next three years brings us.

On another note: In Young Womens on Sunday we had a lesson on Journals and it was great. I kind of felt bad that I am not so good of keeping one like my sister in law, but I thought what if I just write on my blog more. I really feel that this is a different way to document our lives, but I need to get better at it! So from now on I am going to try and post about more things that we do or on things that happen in the Russell family.

This was our first date July 27, 2006. We went on a scavenger hunt with Luis and Cherisa at the mall in Orem and then had dinner a P.F. Changs

Our Wedding May 5, 2007 in the Dallas Temple

This is now! What joy it is! I love my family

3 weeks

2010-05-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Lylah was 3 weeks. It is kind of crazy to see how fast it has gone. The last month of being pregnant you think that is can't go fast enough and now that she is here you want it to slow down. One thing that is nice is that she is a great sleeper. She will feed at 11:30pm and then wake up anywhere from 4 to 5 in the morning. Then she wake up again at 8am and do our daily routine of feedings. This week she has been focusing more on people and smiling from ear to ear. She typically only cries when she is hungry, has a dirty diaper, or just wants to be with mom or dad. She loves to have her arms free and not all wrapped up, she is a wild sleeper. She hates the big flowers on her head and pulls them off every time, so I guess I need to find some smaller ones till she is a little older. She definitely loves her daddy. She loves to lay on his chest and just sleep away. Sean loves to hold his little girl. She will be sleeping to peacefully in her bassinet, but he will always just go and pick her up to have her by him. Sean has been great help with night feedings when I get frustrated. I feel bad because I know that he has to get up for work, but I have really appreciated the encouragement. We love being parents and are so blessed that we get to have this little girl in our lives.

Giving Birth over Being Pregnant Anyday

2010-04-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

By the title of my post you can obviously tell that I hated being pregnant and loved being in labor. I had an awesome experience giving birth to Lylah.
To start off my actual due date was around April 20th or 21st, but I was going to be induced April 12th so that my family could plan on being here when Lylah was born. Well by April 9th when I went to the Dr. I was still dilated to a little past a 3, which sucked because we were really hoping i was dilated further so that he would just induce me that day! Well that didn't happen so we came home and went about our day! Then the next morning at 3am I woke up thinking did I really just wet myself, haha! I thought man this is weird I always wake up in time to get to the bathroom. Well when I got up I realized my water broke. I woke Sean and my mom saying umm... I think my water just broke. Sean said "no just lay back down and go to sleep." So I went ahead and called the Dr. and told him what had happened and he said go ahead and go to the hospital because if your water broke we need to monitor the baby's heart rate. So we load up and head to the hospital which is about 30 minutes away. Well at 3:28 to be exact I start having contractions 4 minutes apart and not to painful. Then by time we get to the hospital and in my room all hooked up I am dilated to a 6 and my contractions are 2 minutes apart. It was really funny because my nurse told me that the she made a bet with the other nurse that I would deliver my baby before her patient would and that lady was delivering her third child and had been there before I had gotten there. So at this point my contractions are getting stronger, but my nurse was awesome and helped me relax. I was ready for the epidural at anytime, but first they had to get some info from me, get blood work done, and get my IV started. Once that was finished I finally got the epidural thank goodness. The epidural wasn't bad either, I was kind of worried that it would hurt, but the only that was uncomfortable about it was having to stay bent over and very still while she was doing it while having contractions. By 5:20 I was then dilated to a 8 and 100% effaced so things were moving very quickly. Then at 7am I was dilated to a 10, but we waited till 8:15am to start pushing. We pushed for a while until we had to stop because the Dr. wasn't there yet and was further away than the nurse thought and Lylah was ready to come out. One really cool thing that might be gross to some of you was that we asked for a mirror so I could see what was going on and they roll in this huge mirror for us to see everything. Once the Dr. got there I only had to push once and she was out. There was no pain and I wasn't too numb that I couldn't feel anything which I liked a lot. Overall it was an awesome experience and I just hope it will be that good with all of my children. Sean was great through all of it. I was a little worried about him just because I wasn't for sure how he would react to things but he loved it.
We are having so much fun with our little girl!!! I am so excited to have the opportunity to get to stay at home with her and see her grow and teach her new things.

Picture Time

2010-04-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Lylah, I just can't get enough of her so be prepared. I don't have time right now to post the exciting story of giving birth and all the details, but I will later on. Sometime!!

Coming to an END

2010-03-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy that is! We are so excited to meet Lylah, but I am so ready for her to be here. I guess you could call me a wimp with this whole pregnancy thing. I haven't enjoyed it at all! What I thought it would be was definitely different than the real thing. So to update you all on how I am progressing..... Last week when I went to the Dr. I was dilated to a 2 and this week I was dilated to a 3. He said this is awesome especially for a first time baby. I am being induced on April 12th at 7:30 AM and can't wait, however, many people keep telling me that I may not even make it that long. I go to the Dr. again this Friday and we will see if he has any new info. I am so glad I don't have to go until my due date, I am so uncomfortable and I am sure Sean is tired of all the complaining. Here are a couple of pics at 36 weeks and 5 days! The dress isn't spring at all, but it is the only one left that fits me comfortably

Infamous

2010-03-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

So today I got on facebook to check the usual and I notice I have a message. I open it up and it is from a friend explaining to me what Infamous meant. I guess when I titled our blog " The Infamous Russell" my thought was that I was making it sound cool or something. Let me give you the definitions he gave me

in·fa·mous
1.having an extremely bad reputation.
2.deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable.
—Synonyms
1. disreputable, ill-famed, notorious, disgraceful, scandalous, nefarious, odious, wicked, shocking, vile, base, heinous, villainous.

Therefore, I decided to change our blog title to the boring Russell Family! I need help I am not creative and I want a different title if you have any suggestions let me know!

Also thank you Alex for the definition of infamous! haha

Lylah's Baby Room

2010-03-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

I just love the bedding that we picked out. I know its not your typical baby bedding but I am just in love with it. I am not finished decorating, but this is what we have so far!!!!

Baby Shower #1

2010-03-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I went home for my baby shower with family and friends. Sean drove me an hour which actually took 2 hours due to leaving Dallas on a Friday at 5pm. Not sure what we were thinking! My sister met us half way and picked me up so that I didn't have to drive by myself. So we got in about 8:30 and just relaxed and caught up with my mom and sister since they have only seen me twice since being pregnant. Saturday was a blast for starters I took two naps one before and after my shower which never happens so I loved it. My sister did such a great job putting my shower together and making he decorations, who knew she was crafty. I am so glad that my friends were able to make it, it has been years and it was great catching up with all of you. Thank you all who came and supported Sean and I have a baby we are so excited and just can't wait.

29 Weeks

2010-02-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

So here is an update on the past month of my pregnancy. I feel like every week something different starts happening differently with my body. To me that is weird, but to all of you who are already mothers that is probably normal because you have experienced this before. The past two months I had gained 6 pounds and then 5 pounds, I know ALOT! Well this month when I went in for my normal appointment I had lost a pound. I know that it is nothing to freak out about however I haven't been able to digest my food very well so it worried me a little. I would go to sleep every night hoping to be able to sleep and not have my stomach hurt or get sick.
Anyway the Dr. asked me to come back in the following week just to make sure Lylah is getting the food that she needs and growing. So I go in and have my sonogram and not only is she growing, but she is big. She weighs 3lbs 6oz. At the time I was only 28 weeks and she is measuring at 30 weeks. I am just so glad that she is ok and getting the nutrients that she needs to grow and be healthy. She is moving more than ever these days especially at night since I am up walking all day long.
This week I have noticed that I am a little more tired than normal and am always ready to go to bed. Anyway here are a few updated pics of me at 29 weeks.

Baby Russell

2009-11-17T04:09:00.000-08:00

Things are still going well with Baby Russell. I don't really feel like I am prego anymore which is nice. I love that I can eat really whatever without getting sick. I love that I walk around all day long hoping that the only thing that will get bigger on my body is my stomach. We find out what the baby is the day before thanksgiving. It is so exciting and we are ready to find this out so that we can pick out a name, decorate the room, etc. I can't wait till i get bigger because right now i just look bloated all the time. No one has asked if i am pregnant so I obviously don't look it. I hate walking around just looking fat instead of looking pregnant. I am sure my thoughts on this will change once I actually get bigger I will say how I want to be smaller.

Random story for you. So Sean and I had out date night last Saturday. Went to Olive Garden then to watch 2012. So while we are eating and talking about work and things that happened that day. Sean randomly says " so its kind of weird that we are going to be parents!" He is totally right it is so WEIRD. I guess we really haven't thought about it too much because we have been really busy with work. We are excited to be parents to this little baby and hopefully be able to teach him/her to the best of our ability.

Everything else is going pretty well. We love the ward that we are in and feel right at home which is a good thing because we will be here awhile. We both have the wonderful opportunity to serve with the youth. I am not sure if most of you remember, but while we lived in NM Sean taught the 15-18 yr old Sunday school. He loved that calling and loved teaching the youth well he still gets too. He has the same calling in this ward except there are two teachers and they alternate weeks. Me on the other had get to work with the Mia Maids. It has been a blast so far and keeps me pretty busy. They are a great group of girls and youth altogether. We had a fireside on Sunday and everyone gets along. There don't seem to be groups that they all break off into. So needless to say we both are loving the opportunity that we have been given.

Just Pure Laziness

2009-10-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in a while 1)because I have a broken camera so there a zero pics and that is just boring 2)just pure laziness. I get on everyday and look at everyone else's blog. I know it is ridiculous! Anywho there is not much happening in the Russell household. We are all moved into our house which we love and this Thursday I will be 14 weeks along. It is getting really exciting knowing that we are having a baby just not reality yet. I think once my stomach gets bigger it will be reality. For a few questions y'all might have. No we haven't really picked out any names, work has kept us really busy and on opposite schedules. We have found a girl name that we really like though. We don't care what we have I think we are both cool with having a boy, but that is because we don't think it will be fair for Sean to have to put of with two of me. HAHA I can't wait to find out what it is so that we can start buying things and painting it's room. I wake up about 2-3 times in the night to go pee which is really annoying. One night I counted and I woke up 7 times, poor Sean! He got a kick out of it the other night. Our bathroom has folding doors that we just leave propped open. Well I got up to use the restroom and BAM! right into the door. Sean didn't laugh right then, but the next morning he was like " Do you remember what happened last night?" "Yes honey I ran into the door" and now he loves to make fun of me for it. Ok let me get back on track, I crave anything Italian. I am in love with pizza sauce, tomato sauce and kind of tomato like thing, even though I can't stand tomatos. I would post of pic of me 12 weeks but i dont have one and there is nothing to really look at! Any other questions just ask. Hopefully, we get a camera soon

September 21, 2009

2009-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Yes! This is the day that we close on our house. We are so excited that we finally found one. We had a tough time with people accepting our offers. We finally realized that we should probably quit putting offers on foreclosures and short sales and just buy one from a seller. We can't wait to move in, but are def. not excited about buying a refrigerator, lawn mower, edger, and all the other things that are necessary. The house is in Rowlett, TX, just a few minutes from where Sean grew up. We will actually be attending the ward that he grew up in except that it has split into two wards so not everyone he knows will be in that ward.

Also this weekend is Tax Free here in good old Texas. For you who have no idea what that is it is where you can buy clothes and other things worn on your body for ZERO tax only if it is under $100. You actually on save about $8 for every $100 that you spend, but people love it and work has been great and crazy. Sean's store is also doing exceptionally well. I am just so proud of him! I think I say that in every blog, but seriously he is doing a great job!!!

So life is just Rockin and Rollin for the Russells!

What the future holds

2009-07-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

So as you all know Sean and I moved to Clovis, NM in November of 2007. We were not exactly thrilled about this, but we were excited that Sean became a manager and was progressing in his job so of course we would go where ever they told us to. The point of this blog is that we have already seen so many great things come from us living in Clovis. One being GREAT friends that will be life long. On Sunday, Andy and Anjelica came in from Clovis to watch the Red Sox play the Texas Rangers. So was a blast seeing and hanging out with them again.
Then on Thursday of this week we are bringing them over to Plano and to see Seans new store. Then as we were looking at houses yesterday we got a call from our friend James who we met in Clovis. He is the manager of Alltel who is now Verizon. He told us that he is moving to Plano. CRAZY!!!! Sean and James are great friends who love to play video games while i just watch TV. The one thing that we really loved about Clovis was the people we met and I love that fact that we will see a lot of them again sometime in the future. As I was talking to Sean's mom yesterday I told her how cool it is that we are already running into people from other places we have lived. I know that this is going to happen a lot through out our lives and I am so excited about it. This is just another reason why Clovis was a blessing in our lives and were so grateful that we had the opportunity to live there for a year and a half.

P-I-C-T-U-R-E-S

2009-07-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

I went up to Sean's store this morning to take some photos for everyone to see. It was a great time to take some pictures because they had just opened which means the store should be really clean. Anyway here are some photos of his store!!Love it

Our Lives = Buckle

2009-07-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ok ok I know it has been a while and I wish I had pictures this time, but I will add some hopefully tomorrow. Exciting news is that Sean's store officially opens up tomorrow morning July 16. On Tuesday night we had a friends and family night which turned out great and we even had a ton of people who just wanted to shop come in the store. The turnout was better than expected. Also he went ahead and opened the store up this morning just because of the turn out the night before and had another great day! It is so awesome watching Sean do his thing a work and you can see the excitement in his eyes about this new store. We really are blessed with how life is going right now and are extremely grateful for all the opportunities we have been given with Buckle. Yesterday I actually got to go to Sean's store with other Assistant Managers and Manager Trainees to learn from each other as well as team all of Sean's new teammate. Those poor kids their brains were thinking INFORMATION OVERLOAD! We love Buckle and now our families love Buckle, its just so much fun, sorry, but you are going to be hearing about it for a while because that is really all we have time for right now.

We also have to thank Sean's parents for letting us chill at their casa while we are searching for a house. We put a bid on one, but knew we probably wouldn't get it and we didn't which is fine that just means I can save more money!

Today is Flag Day!!

2009-06-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Life has been busier this week than normal. Sean drove into Plano Wednesday night and thankfully he arrived here safely after the horrible storm he drove through for six long hours. What a trooper! Earlier that day I had gone to reserve us a storage unit since we are going to be living at Sean's parents house while we are looking for a house. Typically the storage unit stays open until 9, but she said that she would keep it open for us till midnight since we really didn't know what time Sean would be arriving. So we go up there at 9:20pm and guess what it was closed, I was very frustrated just because I wanted to get it all done before the next day of having to work. So the next morning we tried at 8, but then system was broke because of the storm we had that night so again we had to drive back. Finally we just decided to call and then later that day Sean and his brothers unloaded everything in the storage unit. I did feel bad because for one Sean had to move everything into the truck without me, drive here without me, and then unload it into storage without me. All in all I think he actually liked it better that way to so I wasn't telling him how to do everything he could just do it him self.

Anyway life is good here in Dallas. All of Sean's siblings were here today for church and it is a lot of fun with all us kids around. We are still getting use to no nap on Sundays because church is from 12:30 to 3:30.

Sean is already working as best as he can. His store will be finished this Tuesday and he gets all his fixtures on Thursday. He is already setting up interviews and making game plans for the store opening which is July 16th. Me on the other hand, well work is good but tough. They are going to name a new manager this week hopefully and almost everyone is quitting because their manager quit. I think it is good though because now we can get people in there and teach them from scratch. I really like working at the Buckle in Dallas opposed to Clovis because for one people do not reject you as bad and second they are very open minded and will be a good sport about trying on clothes.

Dallas here we come!!

2009-05-27T07:21:00.001-07:00

This past week we were on vacation with Sean's family. (I will blog about that later) We were hoping to have already heard something about Sean getting the new Buckle store in Garland, TX. The 3rd day of vacation we were at the beach and we must have been in the water because we never heard our phones ring. Finally when we got to the car we checked our phones and we both had missed calls from his area manager. So Sean calls him back and they FINALLY OFFICIALLY offer him the store. Of course he accepted!! His store opens up July 22 or 23 and he moves back to Dallas on June 17. I am staying here in Dallas with his parents because I am going to be working at the Buckle in Plano. We are both excited and ready to start this new journey. I know Sean is going to be busier than busy but he likes that kind of stuff. We have been so blessed living in Clovis even though we didn't think so when we first moved there, but it has been a great place with wonderful people. We are really going to miss it and our great friends.

Craziness

2009-05-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well I would have to start out by saying that things have been a little crazy lately. First off, Sean was in Las Vegas from April 30 to May 3. He had a blast and called me numerous times telling me that we have to come back and shop. I love it that I have a husband that loves to shop and loves clothes. It is nice when I am in a hurry and I ask him to pick me out an outfit to wear and it actually looks great. Good thing he gets paid to do that for a living. Any how he had a blast in Vegas, except for those dang taxis that were so expensive, I think that is where most of his money went. I will post some pictures but he didn't really take any of himself doing things so they are kind of lame.

On May 5th we celebrated out two year wedding anniversary. We kept it really simple by having dinner at Dakota's Steakhouse and then returning home to watch Yes Man. This past year has been awesome together and we have really enjoyed being together. Good thing because this marriage is for eternity. Both our dog(abby) and our kitty (Watson) have brought a lot of joy and good memories to our lives. It is funny to think because they are just animals, but they have very strong personalities do crazy things. We are definitely looking forward to the future and who knows what is in store for us.

This is how Sean proposed. For some of you that have not seen our wedding video I have the link to the right on our blog.

I have been packing up things because Sean is hopefully going to get a new Buckle store in the Dallas area. I already quit my job so lets hope that he gets it. I have been kind of bored here all day every day with nothing to do. I go workout, clean , pack, nap, help Sean out at his store, but there is only so much to do before I run out of things to do. As most of you know I am a stressful person. I stress over the small things so you can only imagine my stress level on this. I thought we would already know by now and that is why i quit my job so early. I am now regretting that decision, but I am just glad that Sean is not rubbing it in my face. We have been truly grateful for the opportunity we have had to be here in Clovis and we are really going to miss all of the great friends we have made.

Also some of our friends are moving to Salt Lake. She got into a doctorate program. I am so excited that she is getting to do what she wants, but Sean and I have become great friends with Rami and Stacey. We are really going to miss them and all the fun we have. Here are some pictures we took the other night. Beware we get a little crazy together and start acting really immature. I am just glad that Sean and Rami let us be and do the weird obnoxious things we do, like ummm.... decide to have a dance party with just the two of us. Enjoy!!

Observation Time

2009-04-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago I decided to go home and visit my family. Sean had to stay in Clovis to keep work flowing nicely and also because he is in Las Vegas till Sunday! Jealous need I say more. It was really nice being able to see how much my nieces have grown since Christmas. My sister and I had a blast as usual when I visit and whats funny is we really don't do that much. I am so lucky to have a great sister. I just remember when we were young and we would pull each others hair out, kick, fight, and punch each other. I am so glad things are not that way anymore. We are very opposite people and when I was younger I thought that meant we just weren't suppose to get along, but now we just work. Things she won't say, I say them for her and when I say too much she stops me. I am just so proud of all she has accomplished in just these past few years, she has changed her life tremendously and I think it is because of my niece Timber. Samantha is such a good example to her and is teaching her everyday. My mom on the other had is a nut. She has never been the one to do things for herself and lately she has. I know this sounds silly but she now gets her nails done. Why does she need her nails done she is an older women and it just isn't necessary, but it makes her so happy. I love seeing my mom happy because she was so unhappy for a long time. Another thing I observed while at home was that my dad is becoming healthier. Growing up we always at fried chicken, chicken fried steak, fried squash,okra, pretty much anything fried. Now my dad has cut that out and takes vitamins and eats fruit and salad. The last day I was there we attended a baseball game for Josh, one of my nephews. Both my brothers, their wives and kids, my sister, dad, and step mom were there. Not very often does that happen besides Christmas or Thanksgiving. I just loved every minute of it watching my nephew play baseball with my brother coaching him. My dad and brothers standing up at the fence yelling for my nephew to watch the ball. My sister, sister-in-law and step mom playing with my new little niece Emma. All in all i love my family and I know we disagree on a lot, but they are my family. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Fun and Games

2009-04-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Life has been really fun lately. Sean and I have made many great friends here while living in Clovis. Every weekend there is something to do. It's kind of funny because you have all of these families with three or four kids and then Sean and I. At first it was a little weird, but now its normal. We love being around them and getting great advice about the future.
Sean is still busy with work and we are hoping to get back to Dallas soon. Soon like the next couple of months. I am loving my new job, but temporary job during tax season. I love the people I work for because the are so organized and have a good system going. We are pretty stoked because Sean got his bonus from the Buckle and we are planning on being home owners this year. That should be pretty interesting, I am not sure who is going to be more picky me or Sean. He is on the computer all the time looking for good deals on houses.
We both really enjoyed conference last weekend and heard exactly what we needed to hear, funny how that happens. We went over to a friends house and grilled burgers and played some rummy cube during the break. This was the first time since we moved from Utah that we got to watch it on TV and not at a church building or on the computer.
Since I work at an accounting firm the day after April 15 we have off. I am going home that weekend to have a little visit with my family since I missed my niece's birthday. Poor Sean has to stay home and work, but don't feel to sorry for him because the last week in April he is going to Vegas for work, lucky him. I am sure he will have fun especially because he has never been. I am pretty sad that I don't get to go with him. We also have a mini vacation coming up last week in May. Sean's parents asked us to go with them to South Carolina. I am so pumped to go because I am never been to the east coast. I will definitely have to post some pics of that.
Sorry about all the rambling it has been a while since I got on this thing. Also sorry there are no pics, next time I will have some. Peace Out

Life is just dandy

2009-03-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

So life is just dandy right now. We both are busy with work and church callings. The original plans for my new job was to just work M-F, but because it is tax season and we are super swamped with different deadlines to meet and so I have been working Saturdays as well. I really enjoy it and I love learning all about taxes and other accounting stuff. My weeks just fly by because I am never not doing something at work. Sean's work is going great for him as well. We are really lucky because the Buckle is one of the stores in the world right that is still growing and not suffering from this economic turmoil. I know that this is going to sound very ldsish but we have been so blessed lately, and we couldn't be more grateful. Other than that nothing else to interesting has happened I would have to say that we are pretty boring people with the same routine everyday. Although I am going to post a couple pics from last night. We had a friend over who works for Sean, but he is also her Sunday School teacher at church and she is the bishops daughter. She is a great girl and we love hanging out with her. She had to come over and challenge us to some sing star.

Way over Due

2009-02-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Lots of things have been going on lately in the Russell household. Sean had manager meetings Monday thru Thursday and it is so nice to finally have him home. I have started a new job at an accounting firm, so that is different because now I have a 8-5 job opposed to working till 9 at night. Here are some other things that we have been doing.

In church, I was called at the beginning of the year to be the Activity Day Leader. It has been a blast working with these young girls and seeing all of there different personalities. It reminds me a lot of Sierra (Girl I nannied)because she was that age and being so dramatic. We have been able to do some fun activites so far like heart attacking the Bishop's Office and doing Pedigree Charts for Pedicures. Here are some cute pictures from their pedicures.

Also, one of Sean's favorite missionary just got transfered to Lubbock and so we had them over one last time. Two of them took pictures of themselves and with us and framed them, so on our living room table we have pictures of missionaries. It's kind of weird, but its not like we have kids with their pictures so this will do. Elder Makin is one funny guy and I am sure Sean and him will be buddies for a long long time. Let's just say this, in January we fed them 5 times. Anyway here are some pictures of us with Elder Makin!

Lastly, this morning our Relief Society had a sewing group that was making aprons. We did not get to finish, but it is always fun to go because we love to talk. That is what it is for anyway right? I will have to post a picture of the complete apron when it is finished, but in the meantime here are some pictures of us ladies. I have noticed that the only people that come to these activites are the same group of women. These are the women who play volleyball twice a month, and who go to the movies together. They are lots of fun and I am really going to miss this ward when we leave. (Not saying that we are) HA!!

Stupid People

2009-01-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

**By the way this is Sean writing this. "A" I don't want Sarah to claim this masterpiece of a blog, and "B" I NEVER write on this thing and therefore want to clear up any confusion.**

First off, I have a problem with stupid people. My brothers and I strongly believe that there should be a population control on people with a high level of stupidity in their genes. And second, I have a problem with shoplifters. Unfortunately they usually go hand-in-hand and this is what I had to deal with this last week.

Case #1: The rich and the infamous
We had a young lady come into the store the other day and she decided that it was one of those lets try to see if I can get away with stealing today type of days. So she went straight for the Ed Hardy table, which for those who don't know have quite an expensive taste to them. So she grabbed two of them and decided that she wanted to see if our "sensor" system was working. So she took a little trot to the front of the store and began to "look" at the shoes in the gateway. Well as soon as she realized that our security system did indeed work she all of the sudden had the sudden urge to try on every shirt in the store. At this moment Sarah was clearly on the same page as she was to her loss. When she exited the dressing room none of them miraculously did not fit, BUT guess what was missing??? You got it, the two Ed Hardy shirts totalling a whopping $194 were all of the sudden missing with two sensors sitting on the ground of the dressing room. After Sarah called her out on the missing product the cops were called and she was arrested. She also was found with a prescription drug that was clearly not her name. You know it always interests me on how stupid people are. First off she came in at the SLOWEST part of the day when all we had to do for the rest of the evening was watch her!!! Smart.

Case #2 I swear I don't live here!!!

This one takes the cake. So this customer comes in and decides to exchange something that did not work for her. Well she wants to try one some jeans so I get her about 8 pairs of jeans to get started as she did not really know what she wanted. Suspiciously she was in the fitting for around 30 minutes and I started to question her motives. I went to ask her if I could take any of the jeans out of there that did not work. When she handed me about 5 pairs I realized that in two of the pairs had a total of 3 sensors left in them. So I am sure that they magically appeared in there. So after she got out of the dressing room I called her over to the counter and asked her where my product was. Go figure she played dumb. I asked her to empty her purse onto the counter so she decided to show me the littlest section of her entire purse and swear that it was nowhere to be found. Then she claimed that she did not even live in Clovis. She was now from Houston. She then ran to dressing room to ditch the "missing" jeans. After I followed her and confronted her again this time spotting the jeans in her purse, she threw the jeans onto the floor and ran for the front door of the mall. I ran after her and grabbed her purse to stop her from leaving as I knew that she still had my product on her. After struggling with her for about 10 minutes I dragged her to my backroom where we waited until the cops showed up. When they finally showed up they emptied the purse to find another shirt, meth, and marijuana on her!!!! Plus, like I thought, she was wearing a pair of our jeans underneath her own!!!! And guess where she was from. Clovis!! Stupid!!! It later came to 2 felonies and a misdemeanor. WOW!

Moral of the story: Don't be stupid....please...

I wish there were something new

2009-01-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well, there nothing new really going on here. We have been super busy with work and just finishing up inventory. Last Tuesday Sean and I went to Amarillo to help the manager there do his inventory (need I say that his store is twice as big as Seans) then Wednesday drove back to Clovis and prepared our store for inventory Thursday night. And now Sean and his other assistant left Sunday and will be back on Tuesday to help out the manager in Lubbock with moving his store for remodeling. Sorry if this is boring to some of you, but the Buckle has now comsumed our lives. Thank Sean for that one. Anyway, hopefully the next couple of weeks can be somewhat relaxing and try to get some things accomplished. We are hoping to be able to visit Utah sometime soon and then we are planning a trip to carmel, California. YAY

2009-01-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

Ok so for some reason the video did not show up at all maybe I am doing something wrong. Here is one more try at it. If you know what I am doing wrong please tell me.

Obsession

2009-01-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

Lately, Sean and I have noticed that Abby is obsessed with Sean. When he is home she has to be sitting on his lap, if he gets up she has to follow him. For example, if he is playing the Wii Fit she has to be sitting right next to it. It is kind of funny on my end to watch, but he really gets annoyed with it. This video I am about to post might have a lot to do with it. He is feeding her goldfish from his mouth. I know weird, but that is what we do on Sunday afternoons. Again, while he is on the computer. I try to get the pictures while she is just laying there, but she sits up every time when she sees the camera.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it is already 2009, were does the time go. Well just a short recap on 2008 for Sean and I. At the beginning of the year we moved to Clovis, NM because Sean became a manager for the Buckle. While he was busy with that I had to find a job and was working at a car dealership, but then Sean and I felt that I should start working for him at the Buckle and so that is what I did starting in April. It has been a lot of fun working there and I just love it. This year has been very interesting because we have been away from everyone that we know and love and so we have had a lot of time learning about one another and I have to say I am very grateful for that. Another thing this year that was new was our little kitten that Sean brought home one day. I will have to post some videos of the cat and dog wrestling. Anyway we are really excited for 2009 and know that there are going to be lots of changes coming our way and are super stoked. Stay tuned to find out! No I am not pregnant!!

Super Saturday

2008-11-17T10:43:00.001-08:00

On Saturday we had Super Saturday in our ward. There were amazing foods for breakfast and about 11 different soups for lunch. Last year I made a Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus craft and a dish pan with Russell carved in the bottom of it. There were lots of things to chose from this year like FHE flower pots, but I thought no I dont have children and I would have blank ones besides Sean and Sarah. Anyway, I painted 3 little snow men and I just love them. I thought to myself if I attend super saturday every year I am never going to have to buy Christmas decorations. I also made a Journal Jar. It has 365 questions and each day you get a new question and write about it in your journal. Pretty neat. I am really enjoying this ward. We play volleyball on Tuesday nights, Girls night out once a month, usually a group date night every so often. There are just a lot of great people in the ward and one thing I have learned is that you just have to put yourself out there and GO.

Also here are so pics of Abby and Watson, they seem to be getting along well.

A new ritual

2008-11-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

Sean and I started a weekly ritual with some friends of ours. Once a week we have a date night with them. We never see them during the week because they are both in school and working. It started around Halloween when we asked them over to cut pumpkins. I will be posting some of the pictures. Anjelica and I are working out buddies so we have gotten to know each other well, but I wasn't sure how the men would get along. It isn't hard for Sean to talk with people so I figured it would be easy and it was. Andy and Anjelica are loud just like us so it works out perfectly and there is lots of laughing. The week before last we went to Dakota's Steakhouse which is good, but def. nothing compared to Texas Roadhouse. Then on Saturday we went to Cotton Patch. Yummy.

This is Anjelica and Andy, what is andy doing?

New addition to the fam

2008-11-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I got a phone call from Sean saying that Paula (the manager of Regis) had found a kitten in the middle of the road. He didn't mention keeping it or anything he just wanted to tell me how cute it was. So several hours had passed and I was just doing things around the house on my day off and waiting for Sean to come home from lunch. Well he gets home about noon and guess what he has, yes it was the kitten. I have never been a fan of cats, but Sean has grown up with cats and loves them to death. So that day I took the kitten to the vet and he was healthy but he only weighed 13 oz. Then this week I had to take him back to get a check up and he know weighs 1lb 3 oz. He is a cute little thing and abby cannot get a enough of baby Watson. Here are some pics of us just getting him and of Abby playing around.

This is right when Sean had brought home Watson

New Phone Numbers

2008-10-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

hey yall! Sean and I just got new phones and we had to change numbers. My number is 575-218-0081 and Seans number is 575-209-1188. Also I have a lot of pictures to post, but I am not sure where my cord is to move my pictures onto my computer.

Sorry it has been way too long.

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

Hey everyone sorry it has been so long and guess what I still have no pictures for you. Ok well I have them, but I am not sure where Sean put the cord to transfer them to our computer. Lots has happened and so I will have to post pictures later. First off, Seans family came for a visit and we had a great time. It was good seeing them and letting them see where we have lived for the past 11 months. Then two weekends after that Sean and I headed to my house to visit my mom for her birthday. We had a blast and can't wait to get back to Texas. We miss our families so much, but we are being blessed beyond belief being in Clovis.
The buckle is doing amazing! Last month has been the best so far since being here. Hard work definitely pays off. I hope you guys don't think I am a brat for bragging, but we have earned it. Sean rarely ever takes a day off, sometimes we are lucky if he can get a full Sunday off without people calling in. Sean has hired some great people lately, so hopefully for the holidays we can get out of this place.
Abby (our dog) is doing good, she is such a turd sometimes. She always has to get what she wants and is a pester until she gets it. We had found a new toy that she absolutely loves. I wish we could have found it a year ago. Any guesses on what it is?? A hanger yes a plastic one from Sean's closet, it keeps here entertained for hours.
Also Sean and I have been reading the twilight series. I am on the 4th book and Sean is almost done with the third. Sean thinks it is good, but def. a chick book and he loves Jacob, stupid boy. I love it and can't get enough, I am so excited about the movie.
Ok I think that is about all that is happening these days. We want to let all of our friends up in Utah know that we love and miss all of you. We are grateful for y'alls friendship and hopefully can see you soon!!

Big Brother 10

2008-08-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

So my all time favorite reality show right now is Big Brother. This season is absolutely crazy and the people are so mean to each other. This is how the show goes. First, you have to have a Head of Household competition, which is usually just questions, but whoever wins that gets to have a room upstairs all by themself. They also have to nominate two people who could possibly be evicted or put up on the block as the shows terminology. Then there is a Power of Veto competition, which is usually physical, and who ever wins that has the option to use it and take one of the nominees off the block or not use it. Now if they do use it then the Head of Household has to pick someone else to go up on the block. Then eventually one gets kicked off. Now this all usually happens in 3 days. The HOH is on Sunday or Thursday night after someone gets kicked off. Two nominees are put on the block on Sunday, then Tuesday is the Power of Veto and last on Thursday someone get sent packing. What is so crazy about this is last night they did a double eviction and you have to watch it just go to CBS.com. Also if any of you do watch it I would love to hear who you think is the best player. My opinion is that Dan has got it in the bag!!

CONVICTS on the loose

2008-08-28T22:27:00.001-07:00

Sunday night on the news here we found out that 9 prisoners escaped the Clovis jail through the roof. It is kind of scary because one is in there for murdering a 10 year old boy. It makes you think twice about going places, going anywhere after dark, and locking your doors. Four out of the nine have been caught, but there are still some out there. Hopefully, they will be caught before anyone gets hurt!

Yes we are still ALIVE

2008-08-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, sorry i know it has been a long time since I have posted anything. Sean and I have been super busy with work the past several weeks. Here are some things that have been happening in our lives.

1. We went to the Curry County fair yesterday night and had a grand old time. We decided that next time we go we should not eat McDonalds before we go because we were on this ride that spins so fast you get stuck to the wall and it was not fun. There was so much pressure to my head that I felt sick awhile after. We did enjoy the funnel cake and kettle corn.

2. Sean went on a business trip to Lubbock and Amarillo to meet up with his area/regional manager and it looks like we will be here for about six more months. Sean was pretty upset about it because he really wanted to get a store in Dallas, but we found out that we will be going there in six more months. That is very exciting for both of us because we realized that we love being close to our families.

3. Sean is starting school next week and that is very exciting for him. I am so glad he decided to go back to school and further his education. He is going to be a busy man, but hopefully it will all work out ok.

4. Sean's Dad and Stephen are coming to visit us next Sunday before he takes Stephen to BYU. (Guys you better make him feel at home) Then the next weekend his parents, Seth, and Stephanie are coming out to visit. I can not wait for them to get here because it gets pretty lonely out here.

5. Sorry I know these are so random! Umm... the rain here has been awesome here lately and everyday is getting cooler and cooler.

I am not sure what else is going on, but if I remember something I will put it in another post. Sorry there are no pictures I cannot find our camera charger and it is dead.

Sean is going to kill me for this.

2008-07-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if many of you know this, but ever since Sean and I met he has always written me peoms. One thing in all the poems that he is good at is using specific things that are happening in our lives. Well, since we have been married I think I have only received one poem. The other night I had to close the store and Sean had been home since 6 so I could only imagine what he could be doing since he just bought a WII. Well I walk in the door and yes he is playing the WII but there are roses and a letter that says Sarah and of course it was a wonderful peom. I am going to write what it said because my husband is so amazing! If y'all have any tipes on what I could do for him that would be great.

I know its been a while
Since I've written one of these things
So I will try to make it good
Cause I know a smile it brings
Marriage is a challenge
You and I both know
However we work together
Through all the rain and snow

If you would have asked me
A few years ago
Where I would be in my life
Two years down the road
It would have never crossed my mind
Not in a million years
That I would be married
And work in the same building as Sears

So I thank you for your patience
For not going insane
And putting up with Clovis
Even through all the pain
You do a great job
Whether at work or at home
And I want to say thank you
By writing you this poem

So trust me when I say
That you are the only girl for me
And even when you get mad
I can't help but see the pretty
This is only the beginning
So get ready for the rest
Cause after this
Only comes the best.

Way past my bedtime

2008-07-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

Ok so yesterday Sean and I decided to get tickets early and watch the midnight showing of The Dark Knight. Living in Clovis you never really know what to expect so we decided to go an hour early to make sure we get good seats. When we got there we were really surprised because there were tons of people in line already, well not really a line just a crowd of people. In normal cities and at normal theaters they usually have ropes and everyone gets in a line, obviously not in Clovis, NM. Anywho, it was ok that there were a lot of people because they were showing the movie in 3 different theaters. Another quick thing to through in is that our bishop and his wife were at the movie which Sean and I thought was awesome!! Overall the movie was amazing and kind of weird watching Heath Ledger acting knowing that he is dead. He really did an amazing job and something very different from his other movies.

Out of shape

2008-07-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

So this morning I woke up and went to the gym with Anjelica. I don't have a gym membership, but because Anjelica works at the gym also I can go for free when I workout with her. Anywho, well lets just say that it has been a couple or since we got back from Utah that I have worked out. So there we were on the eliptical going our normal 30 min and when I got to 28 min I had to quit because my stomach started hurting like I was going to throw up and I was super dizzy. I have come to realize that I just need to work out more. Once I was over the sickness we continued with all of our other workouts and now i feel great. Hopefully, I can keep up the working out, but it is so dang hard!

4th of July

2008-07-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

In Clovis every 4th of July everyone goes to this one park to watch fireworks. They have live bands that play all day and night, tons of games for little kids and our friend, Joel, painted the cute animals or whatever on the kids. Anyway, so we worked till 6 then went out there to meet everyone and just relaxed alittle bit. I did not realize there were this many people in Clovis. Here are some pics.

Trip to Utah

2008-06-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

So needless to say Sean and I have been in turbo mode for the past three weeks, so be prepared for a long post. We first started out by visiting all of our wonderful friends up in Utah from June 13-15. We had a blast and it was so great seeing everyone at the BYU 157th reunion. While we were there I finally got to see Heather who had been on a mission for a year and half and we have been longing to see eachother. It was really crazy because the first night we got there I stayed the night with Heather and Cherisa and Sean stayed with the boys. It was a little weird because I was in a routine and then all of sudden I felt like I was single again. It was funny because the girls were talking about boys as usual and I am so thankful I am married and all that decision making crap is over. Anyhow on Friday I went and say Sierra, she is the little girl I use to nanny, we had lots of fun watching kung fu panda. Her family is not doing to well right now and she is having kind of a hard time, but there is really nothing i can do. She is a strong girl and she will be fine.
That night we went to PF Changs and had dinner with a bunch of friends.
Saturday we went longboarding and had a wonderful lunch at Tucanos. Later that night we had the reunion and let just say my team kicked butt at volleyball.

I finally got to see Julie and her beautiful baby. Julie, "she can just start calling me Aunt Sarah." Also all of my roommates from 2005 were there and it was neat to see them again.

Finally, sunday came and we went to church and the had a picnic with Natalia, luis, and Amy. So the 13 hour drive was totally worth it.

The Buckle

2008-05-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, many of you already know that Sean is the manager of the Buckle in Clovis. Last week some shady things were going down at my job so I quit. Right around the time that this was happening Sean manager asked if I would consider working at the Buckle. So Sean and I weighed out the pros and the cons and decided lets give it a shot. This has been my first week so far and I really enjoy it. The only thing I hate is that I have to look at new cute clothes everyday that I can't buy. Poor Sean he is the only guy and there are about 6 girls, but it is a really positive atmosphere and the store is growing more and more every week. Many people tell us it is not good to work together, but we have done that before in Utah and there was no prob. So far we are good, I think that main thing is that I have to realize that Sean is my boss and I can't give him attitude. Anyway Sean and I are doing great and life is good.

One Year Anniversary

2008-05-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sean and I had our one year anniversary on Cinco de Mayo. I cannot believe that we have already been married for a year. Since being married so many things have happened. First, we lived in Dallas, then Sean moved to New Mexico in December, but I could not leave because of school so I lived with his family for almost 2 months. Finally, at the end of December I moved to New Mexico to be with Sean. Let me tell you about change, we go from living in a huge fast pace city to a small whole in the world called Clovis, NM. Anywho, we also have a dog named Abigail, who we have had for about a year. Most of all we have learned so much about each other and realizing that compromising is a good thing, not always easy, but good. I am so grateful for Sean and everything he does for us. He works very hard everyday at work and it is so much fun watching him grow. (That kind of sounded weird) Sean is very patient with me and teaches me something new all the time. Lately, we have started doing more fun things together like playing guitar hero, some sing along thing, going to the batting cages, playing catch, going to softball games, watching movies, and playing board games. I am so excited for this next year, I think we are all going to be suprised as to what is to come.

Movies

2008-05-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

I realized this last night as Sean and I were walking into the movie theater that we go to the movies usually once a week. Living in Clovis, New Mexico is not the most exciting place in the world to live. Some of our friends are on a softball team and we watch them play on Friday nights, but other than that you have to drive 2 hours to Lubbock if you really want to enjoy yourself. So this week we actually went to the movies twice because last week it was too late after we were finished with our productive day to watch a movie. Anywho, on Monday we saw "Baby Mama" which was pretty funny, I liked it. Then last night we saw "Made of Honor". I absolutely loved it and so did Sean. Patrick Dempsy is one of my favorite actors. He acts in my favorite movie from the 80's called "Can't buy my love". We know it is kind of pathetic to always go to the movies, but there really is nothing to do here. If you want to know what Clovis really is like go to youtube and type Boycott Clovis. Hope you enjoy

Gloves, Balls, Bats, Clothes, & Hair

2008-04-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was a very eventful day for Sean and I. Most Saturdays are busy, but usually I am alone all day because Sean works from 12-9 so I only see him on his lunch break. Yesterday he worked from 10-3 so we were able to do a lot together, which was a lot of fun. We hadn't bought clothes in a long time, so we needed to get Buckle satisfied again. So we ended up buying several things. Then Sean did not have a baseball glove and we have been watching some of our friends play and we went to Big 5 Sports and bought Sean a glove and a softball so we could play catch, which we ended up doing later in the afternoon. I have been wanting to go to the batting cages lately, so we thought heck lets just got hit balls. It was a lot of fun because Sean said he had never really played ball before and I grew up playing so needless to say I was very impressed by his mad softball skills! Later we came home and did my homework and decided we wanted to get our hair cut, one thing we forgot is that it was prom night, but we found a place and now we are ready to rock in roll. To top the night off we red boxed Cloverfield. To bad everyday could not be this fun!

2008-04-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

The next day was Timbers party and we had so much fun, she is the cutest little girl in the world. Here are some pics, I will put more pics up from the weekend.

Birthdays and Family Time

2008-04-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Sean and I headed to Wichita Falls, Tx to celebrate my niece's first birthday! We arrived Friday night around 6ish and my sister had us an agenda. First, we had to got to hobby lobby, then the Buckle for her an outfit, then dinner at On the Border, then to Target to buy so curtains and several other things. Finally, when we arrived back home we had to hang the curtains we just bought. Then my sister and made these cute "Thank you for coming gifts" they were baby jars filled with hershey kisses and then we put glitter on top and put them in cute plastic clear bags with ribbon. It was so much fun helping here with them. I think that was the first time in our lives we have done something like that together.

A couple pics from this weekend

2008-03-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Bobby, his niece, and Sean
Simple Incredible!

Eventful Weekend

2008-03-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well we have finally made friends in Clovis, New Mexico and it is so exciting. Friday night we went to the movies with this girl named Crystal, who works at the Buckle with Sean and her boyfriend Jesse, who owns a part of a sport store in the mall. Then Saturday Sean and I woke up early and we were very productive. We made breakfast together, deep cleaned our house, and then washed my car inside and out. Then later that night we went to Jesse and Bobby's softball game ( Bobby owns the sports store in the mall) which was really fun, but the game did not even start until 11 pm, which is way past my bed time. You know you live in a small town when you have only lived here 4 months and knew about 5 people at the softball park. Then Sunday, we went to church and had a potluck dinner afterwards, then later that night we watched wrestlemania. Lately, Sean has been addicted to wrestling. Anytime I am watching tv, he just goes to the computer and watches wrestling. Anyway it was a lot of fun meeting new people hearing about their background. The Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes he puts us in places we necessarily don't want to be, but teaches us very important lessons.

Spring Time and Tanning

2008-03-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days have felt so amazing outside. Yesterday it was 82 outside and today it was 81. Oh how I love it being warm outside, but that means that I get to start wearing shorts to work. Well today as I was at working wearing my shorts this guy comes up to me and says "girl you need a tan" I guess that is a hint that I am pretty white. So tonight I went to this cute place in Clovis called Body Mystique Salon and signed up for a month of tanning. I love being tan, it makes me feel so much better, that sounds kind of silly. Anyway I am so excited about spring and being able to tan. Yeah!!!

The Best Decision of my Life

2008-03-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was able to attend a baptism of a young 15 year old girl. I always love going to baptisms because it makes me think of my own. This one however really touched me because she was the same age as I was when I made the choice to be baptised. I sat there the whole time just staring at the girl just remembering back how I felt and what I was thinking. I am so grateful for that decision made 8 years age because my life has been blessed in so many ways for things I probably do not deserve. Life has not always been easy, but I have learned a great lesson and that is when you do what you are suppose to life runs a little smoother. How grateful I am for all of you who have helped me stay on the straight and narrow so that I was able to be with my husband and family forever.

A New Beginning

2008-03-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

So here we are.... I am as we speak being forced into writing this blog. Sarah has a knife to my back and I have no option but to write this blog. In all actuallity she has threatened to take away my PS2 unless I help start this thing. I have also heard that this is the new "in" thing for married couples to do, so therefore it has begun.
Where do I begin? First of all we have moved to New Mexico about 4 months ago and let me tell you, I have NO idea why this place is called the "Land of Enchantment"! It has taken some adjustments but we are enjoying ourselves. Sarah is working at a car dealership in Portales, NM and I, of course, am still pursuing a career with The Buckle. All is well in the Russell household.
On the church side of things, Sarah has been called to the nursery which has created the sudden urge to have kids..... No comment. And I have the opportunity to be a ward missionary and just got called to the Sunday School teaching the 15-18 age group.
We will try to keep a regular post on this thing so ya'll can keep updated.....