Cute Picture and Pumpkin Patch

This is just a cute picture of Shyla from our weekend in Pinetop!


Last weekend we went to Buckalew Farms! Stevie, Chelsea, Karen, Kim, and I ran in a 5K through the farm and corn maze while grandma took care of all 3 kids! It was fun and we were all successful runners! After the race we got to hang out for awhile.


This is a picture of the 3 of us taking the "hay ride" to the pumpkin patch!

...And this picture shows us in the pumpkin patch with the Shyla-sized pumpkin we picked! Look for more pictures soon of the carved pumpkin!

I Heart SD

This past weekend we went to sunny San Diego for the most beautiful wedding of the century! Dan and Erin tied the knot after 8 years together (and apart in Colorado & South Bend). As you know, Dan was our best-man, Stevie was honored to be his best-man, and they are Shyla's god-parents. We LOVE Dan and Erin! They are an amazing couple and we have such good memories with them and can't wait for the future as we know there will be lots of fun to be had!

They put together awesome welcome bags for guests at the various hotels and this door-tag was included. How cute is that! They also left a onesie for Shyla that said "I heart SD"!!!
We really did party all night long! It was our first night out since Shyla came (with the exception of the premier of Blood Moon Rising that I have blanked from my memory) and we had a great time! It was such a fun wedding! Everyone had a blast!
Erin looked stunning and was glowing the whole time! Digital Dan had the biggest smile on his face and in all 11 years of our friendship I have never seen him look so comfortable! We are so happy for them both.
Stevie gave a nice best-man speech and Erin's sister, Meaghan, gave a superb maid-of-honor speech.
The bottom line is they got married and now, if I may say, Shyla is ready for a playmate!

On Monday, October 12th Stevie and I "celebrated" our 2 year anniversary! I put celebrated in quotation marks because I went to my sister's in the morning while Stevie slept and then he went to work until 11 pm. Classic.
People always say that marriage is hard. Well, at least so far, Stevie and I think it's pretty easy. We just get a long. We enjoy each other. We think the fact that we were such good friends first helps and we know that it will be just as easy for Mr. and Mrs. Digital Daniel Joseph Francisco Carrillo-Gunning-Burke III. :)

Shyla with the beautiful bride-to-be at the rehearsal! Sadly, I don't have any pictures from the wedding itself because I was having too much fun!

Shyla looked kind of like a convict in this outfit but this was the view from our balcony! A big thank-you to my parents for "taking one for the team" and going with us to take care of Shyla. We really had to twist their arm to get them there!

The hotel receptionist gave Shyla this yellow whale/dolphin/fish thing that we named "schmoo." Look at that smile!

Shyla really loved San Diego! This pic shows her looking very happy in an outfit from Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Jim. So cute!

Me and Shyla in a garden at Balboa Park. Shyla really enjoyed her time at the park because she loves to be outside and she loves to look at plants and flowers.

Shyla with Daddy in the garden! Everyone at once say, "ahhhhhhh....."

OMG!! No caption needed for this one!

Me and Shyla with the San Diego city-scape!

Forgacs/Falsey Family on Coronado!

Some Shyla Firsts!

Some exciting "firsts" of our little girl! Enjoy!

Shyla is big enough for umbrella strollers! This is the one that is kept at Grandma and Grandpa Palmer's house. I won it a few years ago at a baby expo. Yep, I wasn't even pregnant! I felt kind of silly accepting the prize in front of all the about-to-pop moms-to-be!

This was her first time in her very own umbrella stroller that Grandma Palmer bought her. We took it to the bookstore and to the zoo!

It was definitely NOT Shyla's first time at a bookstore; however it was her first "retail therapy session." She had been feeling lowsy with what we found out later was an ear infection but she was very happy at the bookstore looking at all the books. She really is my daughter! If she gets anything from me, I hope it's my love of literature. We went a little crazy! The picture above shows all of her new books!

Shyla's first time wearing a bib! She generally doesn't need one since she still just gets bottle-fed but we've been giving her really messy, pink antibiotics and tylenol so I put a bib on her to keep her clothes clean. Doesn't she look cute? She's ready for school too! She's already practicing raising her hand!

Scavenger Dash 2009!

On Saturday, Chelsea and I participated in Scavenger Dash Tucson!  It was a mad dash around Tucson, trying to complete 11 tasks as quickly as possible, taking pictures or completing challenges along the way!

It was SO much fun!

Karen and Kristen were also a team.  Kim and Brian were another team.  Out of our friends we were the only ones wearing matching clothes but other teams went as far as wearing pirate costumes or weird princess shirts.  There was fun to be had by all, but especially us!

This is before we left for the hunt!  Like our matching outfits?  Yes, creepy McDonald's Man, we DID plan it!

We knew our day was off to a good start when we put Stevie's sun-shade up in his car and this was the result.

Task #1: Find the MLK quote at the best cafe (Epic/4th Avenue).

Task #2: Find the big, red, lawn ornament (4th Avenue).

Task #3: Find the Power of Kindness benches (University Avenue).

Task #4: Find at least 3 people wearing UofA gear (Cafe Pariso/University Avenue).

Task #5: Look like a fat-kid.

Okay, Task #5 was really to eat 15 Saltine crackers (Cereal Box).

Task #6: Find the weird sculpture (UofA Mall and Campbell).

Task #7: Find the tribute to The Crocodile Hunter (Tucson High School).

Task #8: Find the bridge that looks like a snake (Broadway and Aviation).

Task #9: Find Mayor Bob Walkup's Star (downtown).

Task #10: Find the mode of transportation coming out from the wall (downtown/La Placita).

Task #11: Enjoy some beverages with your friends (The Hut/4th Avenue).

Not pictured was our rendition of the YMCA at the YMCA.  This was only after we returned to The Hut (in what would have been 2nd place) looking for Victor, David, Alex, Felipe, David, or Glenn.  How were we to know that they were the Village People and NOT Scavenger Dash volunteers.

We finished in 5th place with a time of 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The website was right, though, and we gained a year's worth of memories.

A BIG shout-out to our "phone-a-friend" and Command Center Chief, Stevie.  He manned the phone and computer while taking care of Shyla and never led us astray.  Over and Out.

Mr. Good-Intentions Strikes Again!

Let me begin this post by saying that I love my dad! My sister and I were blessed with the best dad in the world! We are so lucky!

My dad has the very best of intentions.

That being said, it's important to point out that he does numerous thoughtful things for us and other people routinely; the majority of which go unnoticed. Not unappreciated, but sometimes unnoticed.

This post is NOT about those things.

This post is about two thoughtful things my dad has done for me, the most recent being this week, that have backfired.

In chronological order:

Backfire #1:

My dad knows that I like soda. He, being the thoughtful person that he is, decided that I needed a 24-can case of soda. Not normal soda, albeit, but grape soda. So, my dad loaded said 24-can case of grape soda into the back on my car. There it sat.

Did I mention that this was last April? Why is the date important, you might ask? Well it's important to note that since Shyla hadn't been born yet I was very rarely opening the back of the car. It is also important to point out that temperatures inside of cars in April in Tucson are HOT to put it mildly.

So, to make a long story short, the cans of grape soda got hot, too hot, and exploded in the back of my car. Thus sending grape soda soaking through the back mat. Thus sending me into a fit.

See, he has the best of intentions.

Backfire #2:

Last Monday I had a dentist appointment. Stevie had one right before me but had to go to jury duty instead (that boy will do anything to get out of the dentist). I knew Shyla was starting to get sick and I was afraid that I would be in the dentist chair and she would go nuts and need to be held and it would be a loud, awkward cleaning. So my dad offered to meet me at the dentist to take care of Shyla while I had my appointment (Thanks again Dad!).

My appointment lasted a lot longer than I had anticipated (about an hour and a half) and Shyla slept the whole time (who knew?). But my dear ol' dad kept her company by driving the car around the parking lot and then parking and sitting next to her while she slept. When I finally got out he was chilaxing with her in the shade of a store with the windows rolled down. What a guy!

Now allow me to tell you about my Friday: I woke up at 1:30 AM to a screaming baby (turns out she had an ear infection but we didn't know it at the time). I never went back to bed. I was tired. I tried to upload some pictures for a new blog post and, in my haste, used my she-man strength to force the Kodak USB cord into our Nikon Camera. It did not fit but I forced it. I ruined the USB port of the camera and was a little upset. 8:30, baby still screaming. I still hadn't slept and I was more tired than before. Stevie was golfing. I was upset.

I quickly put Shyla in her car seat and loaded her into the car knowing that the movement of the car sometimes calms her down. Thankfully it did. We stopped for gas because I did not want to be sitting on the side of the road with a crying baby. I decided that since she was so happy in the car that I would prolong the outing so I bought a $4 car-wash along with the gas.

Into the car-wash we went. After a few minutes I heard dripping. I noticed that the car was leaking where the driver's left leg and the passenger's right leg would be. "Cool" I think to myself and I text Stevie (even though he's on the golf course...okay, especially since he's on the golf course). No sooner did I send the text then a gush of water shoots down from the middle of the car, you know from where some cars have a sunglass holder or a garage door opener holder. "Sweet" I think to myself and I text Stevie again.

And then I laughed.

It wasn't a laugh-out-loud-until-you-cry-laugh.

It was a I-must-laugh-otherwise-I-will-cry-laugh.

And I laughed and laughed and laughed until the car wash finished, I pulled foward, and I closed the sunroof that my dad had opened during his date with Shyla.

See, he has the best of intentions.