I Lied

THIS is the last book post. My eShow is ready. If you want to order books, please go HERE. If you want to get $80 in free books, let me know. Next post--camping...I promise.

Dear Mrs. S,

I know you wanted to look at some books before the party. So here's the website. www.myubam.com/j3712 (Please don't order until I have my eShow up and running! That would help me out very much.) I thought I'd share it on my blog in case anyone else wanted to look at some books too. My next post will not be about books. In fact, it will be about our very first camping trip. Our very first camping trip that went terribly wrong. Stay tuned!

Love,
Amy

It's A Party!

I will be hosting my first Usborne Book Show on

Tuesday, September 21st at 7:30 PM

If you would be interested in coming to my house in Lehi for a show (and free treats--don't forget that!) then please leave me your address or email it to me and I will send you an invitation. amy_madeo@hotmail.com

If you would like to buy some books, but you won't be able to make it to the show, you can still get books from me. Just let me know, and I can bring you a catalog or you can order online.

Thanks!

And here's a picture of Kellyn wearing her favorite boots and no pants. Doesn't she look like she belongs on a runway? After she had me put on her boots, I found her watching TV sitting on the enormous pile of clean laundry in our living room. I have a laundry folding problem. I'm glad Kellyn is taking advantage of it.

We Heart Books

I love books and I hate salesmen. Hate is a strong word--I don't hate the person but I hate it when someone is trying to get me to buy something. It usually seems too shady for me to feel good about. We just purchased a new car and that experience solidified my anti-salesmen sentiments. I never thought in a million billion years I would join their ranks. I mean I even have a no-soliciting sign on my front door.

Well, it turns out that my love for books has catapulted me into the world of sales. But I totally have a good reason so hear me out!

I really REALLY REALLY want to have a big home library for my kids. Jared and I both love to read, I was a teacher, and I know how important literacy is for children. So I've been trying to buy books gradually--nice hardback books that will last, that are engaging, educational, and preferrably on sale. For Kellyn's birthday I told everyone she needed more books cause I just can't afford to buy that many and she is a book-aholic. (Thank you everyone who got books for her--she loves them all!)

Then someone told me about a chance to sign up to be a "consultant" for Usborne Books. (Okay, yeah, a salesman.) I was so not into it. Then they said I could pay a small fee to start and then I would get lots of free or discounted books and I was only obligated to do one book party. So I said "sure, what the heck." I got my starter kit in the mail yesterday with a bunch of new books that I ended up paying less than $2 a piece for. As I started looking at them I realized they were amazingly high quality books for a really low price. Seriously, I'm not being a salesman here! So I read the stuff they sent me and watched a couple DVDs and now I'm totally into it!

I was originally planning to get my cheap/free books and then drop off the Usborne Books radar so I didn't have to be be one of the annoying salesman that I despise. But I think this could be a really great opportunity for me to get a lot of books to add to my library and to offer my friends and family the same. Oh my gosh I totally sound like a salesman! NOOOO!!!! Anyway...

I'll wrap this up--here's the deal. I am going to be throwing a kick-off book party in the next couple of weeks. If you are interested in getting books for kids of any age, I can help you get them for cheap or for free. 80% of the books from Usborne are less than $10 and they are really great quality.

I'm really excited about doing this and would be so happy if some of you could help me get started! If you come, there will be free treats and no pressure.

IF you think you are interested in getting some of these books, PLEASE leave me a comment and I will send you an invitation to my first show. It will be at my house in Lehi. If you can't come but might like to buy some books, let me know and I'll get you info on how to do that.

If I were you I would be rolling my eyes and thinking how much I did not want to go to another sales party cause there are a million other things I could be doing with my time. But, if you are planning to buy books for your kids, this really is a great way to do it.

Thanks everyone!

My Baby Turned One

Putting on her new shirt...

Couldn't believe I was letting her eat her own cake.

30 great people

2 failed cakes

5 trips to the store

3 emergency borrowed items from a neighbor

Nowhere to have the party

And 1 nervous break down later...

We had a party!

Okay, so it wasn't that stressful. Okay, actually it was. But once the party actually happened it was all okay. Seriously, not many more things could have gone wrong in preparations for the big party. But then it got rolling and I realized all the things I was worrying about were silly. (Except for the fact that I ruined two cakes the morning of, or that we almost didn't have anywhere for the 30 people to go...that was real stress.)

ANYWAY, Kellyn is one. She is beautiful and happy and we love her so much. Here are a few more fun Kellyn facts:

• She LOVES dogs
• She is going to be very independent and stubborn--she is already even trying to dress herself
• She LOVES shoes
• Her hair grows in a perfect pony tail pattern--who knows why but it's super cute (except not so cute when it's not in a pony tail, then it looks like a bad comb over)
• Kellyn LOVES her daddy
• Kellyn calls any man with a shaved head "dada"

You know when you get married you are excited and think you couldn't love each other anymore? And then a couple years later you realize how much more you really love them? That's how it's been with Kellyn. When she was born I was in love. Even though I was a bit traumatized by the birth and nursing and no sleep, I totally loved her. But every moment I'm with her, every diaper I change, every story I read and song I sing, I love her even more. It's like my heart is growing. Motherhood is so hard yet so beautiful. I hope this year doesn't go by quite so fast.

Happy Birthday Kellyn--we love you.

Happy Anniversary to Us

Three years ago I married this guy. I really love him. Marriage is a lot of hard work. It REALLY is. But it's totally worth it. Three years down, lots more to go.

Kellyn

Kellyn definitely takes after her mom. She's going to be a talker! Here is her vocabulary list so far. All of these words are not completely discernible to the naked ear but we know what she's saying because of our super parent senses.

• Dada
• Mama
• Nana (Banana)
• Jees (Jesus)
• Lithe (Light)
• Daw (Dog)
• Fafafafa (Dog barking--see video below)
• Yeah
• Uh-Uh-Ooh-Uh-Oh (Uh-Oh)

She says all of these words a lot. Over and over. And then she says lots of nonsense words. She talks constantly and we love it. A few of her other favorite things include:

• Dancing--especially to hymns during church
• Swimming
• Walking
• Eating--especially bananas
• Dogs
• Jumping and rolling in big piles of blankets and pillows
• Books, books, and more books
• Watching dumb Baby Genius movies (like budget Baby Einstein movies)
• Playing with her friend Maeva
• Playing and chewing on whatever she's not supposed to

This age is so much fun. The first few months with her as a new baby just about did me in. Honestly, I didn't enjoy it like I thought I would. It was so hard and I wasn't sure I could do it. So here's a shout out to new moms who are struggling--it's really hard at first but it's okay because it gets better! I love it now. I feel so blessed to stay home with her and look forward to all the stages to come. She will be ONE this month. I really wish time wasn't going by so quickly. But I'm just trying to soak it in and enjoy every second with my baby, while she's still a baby!