We're Livin' the Good Life

Potty Mouth

2012-01-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

Courtney-I pooped and peed!
Me-Yay!
C-It hurt opening the gates
M-(quizzically) Um, I'm sorry?
C-The gates are really called my bum
M-Oh...

Quick Update

2012-01-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

Courtney has been as cute and fun as ever, I just don't always have a good camera handy to capture it all. This story though doesn't need a camera. Last night we started teaching her how to pray. I told her we need to say what we're thankful for, which is for things that make us happy.
Me-"What makes you happy little fetus?"
Courtney(without hesitating even a second)-"Jesus Christ!"
Be still my beating heart

A Message From Courtney

2011-12-30T05:14:00.000-08:00

Thank you Grandparents Mitchell and Tartini for all my cute dress up clothes! All of which I am simultaneously wearing :)

Chinese Fakeout

2011-12-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

What you are about to see is a plate of food for which I'd like to extend a special thanks to my favorite, older, red-headed brother, Jordan. Without him, I wouldn't be eating these...

...POTSTICKERS!!! They are an Asian (Jordan learned to make them in Japan, I've seen them in Chinese restaurants, so I'm iffy on the origin) delicacy that are so delicious! There was another plate, but I burned them. That's when I called Jordan and he saved the day. So anyways, thanks for being awesome Jordan.

2011-12-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

My mom makes the BEST peanut butter bonbons. I decided to give them a try yesterday, and they turned out great! I wanted to add a little flair by drizzling white chocolate over top, but it wouldn't melt; as it got hotter it just got crumbly. Oh well, my taste buds can't tell the difference :)

Also, this morning, I turned my back for just a second, but it happened to be a second when Courtney decided she was dirty and needed a "bubble bath". So she climbed into the ottoman and lounged in the "bubbles" made by my pom poms :) What a dorkus.

Christmas

2011-11-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

In the previous post, I forgot to mention how helpful my mom was to my Thanksgiving success. I must have asked her about a thousand and one questions, and she still answered the phone when she saw my name in the caller ID. If being a homemaker was a toddler pageant, she'd take home Ultimate Grand Supreme :)

Also, we did some Black Friday shopping, lazy style. We went out at about 11 am and didn't buy a single thing. Bass Pro Shops had Santa photos for free (random right? They didn't even dress Santa in camo or fishing gear), so for your enjoyment, our little stinkpot. I swear she was excited and happy the whole time we were waiting in line.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was a success this year. Below you can see my homemade pies. The pecan pie isn't burned; I put chocolate chips in the bottom and some made its way to the top. Also, people always moan about how hard it is to transfer the pie crust into the pie pan; I agree. If you try to move a formed crust into the pan it's rough. I just put the crumbles in the pan, and then smooshed it with my hands to fill the pan. And you know what? It turned out AWESOME!

I found this old video of Courtney as a baby playing around on my keyboard; she's always following in her mother's footsteps :)

In case you're wondering how Devin is doing, he's surviving with much stress. I try to get take care of all the other problems and routines of running a house. He really needs a break from having to deal with any problems or drama. I feel so bad for him; he hasn't even started his actual job yet. He has more on the job training, but before he even starts that he has the equivalent of a college level course to complete. Poor guy. He's made a lot of friends though, and that really helps a lot. Plus he thinks it's pretty cool to work in a job that's top secret and he's not allowed to tell me the details. I consider him my secret agent man :)

Halloween

2011-11-10T05:26:00.000-08:00

Our ward Halloween party was fun. They served us a soup dinner, followed by games, and then the trick or treat! Some people really went all out decorating their classroom with life size crows, headstones,spooky looking apothecary bottles full of who knows what. It was pretty awesome. Courtney also had a very successful trick or treat at home. We went to only 8 houses, but we still had to go home in between to drop off her candy because everyone kept giving her so much! Yesterday was my birthday and it was pretty awesome. I felt the baby move for the first time :D Devin got me flowers, rubbed my feet, and made dinner. And by "made dinner" I mean I made him go get me a pizza! Anyway, I hope to have pics of the house up soon.

2011-11-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Virginia is treating us well. We love our ward and our neighborhood, and Devin is enjoying being with his work buddies. I went to the doctor on Wednesday, and she said I'm carrying a mini Tartini man inside me :D We are so excited to know! Now we just have to choose a name (To our male family members, yes, we are accepting bribes). I am on day one of week 19, so we are almost halfway to a new little baby! I wish I had pictures for you, but one of the many things we lost in the move was the USB cord for our cameras :( I will work on getting pictures up though. Love you all!

Graduation

2011-09-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

It finally happened! Devin graduated yesterday! This picture shows him receiving his certificate, and you can see his rank, name, hometown, and assignment behind him. Courtney wasn't very cooperative; she insisted on laying in the aisle where the graduates were marching, and she even ran up front, almost on stage!! She was really happy to have Devin home for the evening. We went out with Devin's class to Shogun's Teppanyaki. It is expensive, but sooo tasty! Courtney loved the show the chef put on using the hibachi grill. Every time he lit a big fire, she would push her hair back and yell, "Fire!". Everyone thought she was pretty cute. Then one of Devin's classmates paid for EVERYBODY! It was a blessing for us especially, because our fun money is low. Devin started DGS training, which is training done here, but it's specific for Langley AFB. Less then three weeks now! The video below has/needs no explanation; enjoy!

2011-09-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

The third picture, where Courtney is holding the vacuum tube, has been posted before, but that tube plays an important role in today's story. On Wednesday, I got a really bad headache, and the poor fetus had to entertain herself while I was laying (lying?) on the couch with a wet washcloth on my forehead. She did pretty well for a while, but I guess she can only take so much. She comes up to me, says, "Mommy", so I opened my eyes and took off the washcloth. WHACK! She slammed that tube down on the pillow right next to my head! Luckily, I was too weak to punish her, plus she didn't hurt me; she just scared the poo out of me. Here's a cute video from a couple of weeks ago. I was watching Wipeout, and I turned around and noticed Courtney was diapering her Baby Bear.

And here's Courtney putting on a show at Best Buy!

2011-08-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

My Sleeping BeautyShe likes to stick her foot in a glass and call it her pirate boot, it's really more of a peg leg
Dora and Diego wear headlamps on their adventures, so Courtney does too:)
And this is how she dances sometimes

This pregnancy is definitely kicking me around. I feel nauseous all day, but never to the point of throwing up. It really kind of sucks, so if you want to see three or more Maran/Devin babies, you will pray like you've never prayed before for this pregnancy to lighten up :) Life is going well otherwise. We are anxious to leave and get to Virginia. We have a house for rent that we've set our hearts on, and we can only hope and pray it remains unrented like it has been for the past month or so. This week our ward had a relief society meeting about healthy eating, One lady talked specifically about healthy snacks for kids, and one was so cute; I just had to share it! Dye cream cheese blue, dip in a small stalk of celery, and use it to "reel in" a goldfish cracker! I can hardly wait to have Courtney try it out!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-08-12T08:07:00.001-07:00

Today is my Dad's birthday! I'm sure I'm missing out on a crazy rave back in Spokane ;) To celebrate, I want to share a story about Dad that he would never tell about himself. When I was in 7th grade, ward boundaries were realigned, and in this new ward was a guy named Jason Sevy who was a Sunday School teacher. Years before we were in the same ward, he worked with Dad at Telect. Well, they both worked at Telect, but they didn't work in the same department or know each other. But Bro. Sevy told me that he could tell, just from seeing Dad, that he was Mormon because of the Spirit that he felt. I think that's the coolest thing about Dad, his testimony. In fact, a friend ofours, Sis. Tucker, keeps telling us he's going to be prophet some day! I wouldn't be surprised Sis Tucker. Happy Birthday to the best Dad I could ever ask for!

2011-08-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I started getting the most awful chest pains throughout the day. They would come while I was laying down and either linger for 15 or 20 minutes, or if I stood up they would leave immediately. Although I thought I was dying, I suffered through them until deciding to go to the ER this past Tuesday. The doctor didn't find anything wrong with my heart or lungs, so she thought something must be going on with my liver or gall bladder. I miss the part where either of those causes chest pains, but it led Devin and me to think her a quack. She did have some good news...we're having a BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Due 30 March 2012. Yay for a baby! Also, when Devin found out I was pregnant, he was able to diagnose me with heartburn. I've never had it before this, and I hope to never have it again. But at least I could figure out what the pain was, and now we know we're having a baby!

2011-08-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

Those things on her arms are toe socks! So ingenious. Here, she fell asleep in this bridge position!

We now have less than two months left of tech school! We are so excited to be getting out of here and going to Virginia. Along the way we will stop in Utah to see Becky and meet up with mom and dad. We are really excited because we plan on attending an endowment session in the Salt Lake City temple!!!! It's really going to be a once in a lifetime experience for us. Who knows when we'll ever get back? So we are excited about that, and about going back to Saint Anthony to see our house and pack up our belongings. We fully intend to visit our absolute favorite restaurant, New Fong's! They have the best food and they're cheap! So Courtney loves wearing anything and everything as a hat, including underwear if I don't keep an eye on here. She used to call all hats cowboy hats, but now she calls them "yeehaw" hats, because that's what a cowboy says while wearing a cowboy hat. Also, she is pretty much potty trained, and she loves using her potty. She also loves to change underwear every time she goes. One day, I was crouching down next to her to keep her company, and when she was done she ran into her room to get her underwear. It took her a while, so I called to her to come back, and she ran in with every pair of underwear she could find and she threw them in my face yelling, "Here you go!" It was too funny to be upset for even a second. This is a hole in the wall at the library which Courtney loves, and she looks pretty cute in there.

2011-07-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Another great weekend with Devin has come and gone too quickly. We went swimming, we went to the gym, we went grocery shopping, we watched movies; we did all the fun stuff we wanted to do. We also reviewed our budget with a fine tooth comb once again, and confirmed that somehow we are going to be ok. Seriously, we know miracles are Heavenly Father's specialty, but it's still unbelievable. YAY :D

Like I mentioned earlier, we went to the gym on base, and Courtney and I found this...

When we first saw it, it was just sitting in the middle of the floor, not moving at all, while people were walking by!

I also found out lds.org has a sweet new feature. When you sign in to your lds.org account, you can read conference articles and magazines and highlight it and take notes! Then you can add tags and file it into different folders, and it will be saved in your account!

And of course, how could I forget your dose of Courtney? This is chunky peanut butter, but it looks pretty gross.

Courtney

2011-07-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

In the first picture, I caught her brushing her teeth in the boat, kind of weird. In the second picture, she's holding a shoe while she sleeps. 'Nuff said. In this last one, she keeps putting this tub on her head and calling it her cowboy hat!

2011-07-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

I realize how negative yesterday's entry is; that's just the way the cookie crumbles I guess. I thought today I would do a fun, entertaining post to balance it out. Courtney has learned a new song in nursery, POPCORN POPPING! She won't perform it when I am taping her though; she's kind of a goober that way. Devin thinks I've lost my marbles because I tell him about all the cute things she does, but she won't do them when he's home. At least she chose me to be her lucky spectator :) She is potty training, but she still isn't quite at the point she was in Spokane. Yesterday though, she went to the bathroom all by herself without telling me! That made me proud. She only peed herself once yesterday too; I can definitely see the end is in sight. Today we went to Walmart and the post office without any accidents either. Although, she went to the bathroom today, and I left to text my mom, and she decided to try and empty her little potty into the toilet, but instead spilled on the floor and her shirt. I hope you enjoy the videos! Also, I do not condone immodesty, just laziness when pee is involved.

Life Kinda Sucks

2011-07-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

Our renters have run out on us. They didn't pay; they didn't even leave the keys! Who does that? I am just grateful that somehow, someway, we were always able to save a little bit of money every month. We are grateful for a great family, the Hinckleys, in the ward that is anxious to move in next month, and they've been monitoring the house from the outside and through the windows, and they said that looking through the uncovered, back windows, it doesn't look like the tenants did any damage, thank goodness! I have a house key, so we will mail it, and hopefully the Hinckleys will find everything in the rest of the house and the garage in order. I still feel in the angry, reactive stage, but we feel blessed to have a savings account to cover us until the Hinckleys move in. Also, the bank decreased our mortgage payment $30 starting this month, so that is going to help out. We were so shocked; we've made it so easy for those guys to live there this past year! But everything happens for a reason, and we have seen blessings in this trial. We won't really feel this financially, the house is in the same condition we left it to them, and now we have a trusty family in there. Is this beginning to ramble? This whole situation has just jumbled my mind, so I guess I better stop writing about this and move on to cute Courtney stories.

She has a cute, but pathetic dance she loves. She hangs her head, leaves her arms at her side, stands with her feet a little wider than hip width apart, and just sways side to side. Last night, Devin and I were watching 30 Rock while Courtney was playing in her room. Every time we'd watch the next episode and the theme song would come on, she would run out, stop short, and do that pathetic dance!

We went swimming Saturday, and as always, Devin was splashing and torturing my poor Fetus. He wanted to swim with her, so he picked her up. She wagged her finger at him and said, "Be nice Daddy!"

On an episode of Diego that she watched a couple weeks ago, his sister comforts an animal by petting it and singin "Calma" (that may or not be spelled right; I didn't care enough to check). I saw Courtney today carrying a puzzle piece with Dora's face on it, petting it, singing, "Calma."

So as you can see, our like kinda sucks, but it's really a bright, happy life, with ugly, teeny tiny pock marks. Yay for blessings like the Fetus!

Right at the beginning of this video, you can see her dance.

2011-07-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

Andrea Forsyth Bodine has a blog with pictures or baby! To see little Callie, go to www.garrettandandrea.blogspot.com. She posted some pics and a cute video of her! Courtney is in the midst of potty training again. It's been hit and miss; mostly miss, but it's only been three days, and she is definitely improving. Thank goodness. That's all for this post!

San Angelo Wildlife

2011-06-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

Texas is full of interesting wildlife, so I thought I would share it with you, in all its disgusting glory. Trust me, your skin will be crawling. First, the cutest of wildlife, armadillos :)

This nasty bug has an equally nasty name, Tarantula Hawk! I haven't seen one, but a girl in my ward saw several of these in her parents yard! And of course, what do you think a Tarantula Hawk eats......
...Tarantulas of course! Here they are duking it out!
And lastly, scorpions. Devin has found more than one IN his classroom. Yuck. If you live somewhere that is not here, count your blessings!

Sleeping Beauty

2011-06-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

This can't possibly be comfortable, but she's been in this position for a while now! Also, I found this flowerpot on my patio, and I thought it was too awesome of a find not to share with you all :)

Courtney-isms

2011-06-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

-Courtney was watching Wordworld on the laptop today, and the desk chair spun her around backwards and she started whining, "Be nice chair!"

-When she doesn't want me in the same room as her (I thought that didn't happen for 14 more years) she'll point at the door and say, "Go free!"

-During Sacrament, Devin was blessing the water, and Courtney ran up the aisle loudly saying, "I'm coming Daddy!"

Thrifty Tartinis

2011-06-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

I have found the best thing since sliced, thrift bakery bread. The Economides Family! (Great name right?) Reading this book has gotten me all fired up for saving money. They talk about how to get out of debt, and they have a bunch of money saving ideas. It's like Dave Ramsey and Amy Dacyczyn had a baby, and they baby was an entire frugal family! I just started reading it on Saturday, and it saved me $50 so far! One of the topics it covers is auto insurance, and they say to get rid of medical expense insurance if you have your own, good health insurance. Turns out our policy DID include that from our BYU-I insurance days, so we were able to take it off, for $50 a year; I love saving money :) Another idea for saving on food that I like; when bagged produce is cheaper than "bag it yourself" produce, weigh a bunch of bags. They sell them by a certain poundage, but not every bag is exactly 3, 5 or whatever lbs. Some weigh a little more, and some a little less. Anyway, there's my spiel for the day; it was just too good not to share!

And of course, your dose of Courtney

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

First off, sorry everyone that is not family, but it doesn't matter what you've heard about other dads; Douglas Mitchell is THE BEST dad. Ever. Thanks for taking us camping, and building us a fort and playhouse, and taking us sledding every winter, and providing for us, and being a strong priesthood holder, and especially thanks for letting Becky and me do up your hair, girly style :) I love you!

And thanks to Devin for providing for our little family, and bringing entertainment, fun, and happiness to the family. Courtney and I wouldn't know what to do without you; Courtney wouldn't even be here!

I think dads are under appreciated. In every ward I've ever been in, mother's day always means nice candy, one ward even hand makes chocolates for the moms! And then on father's day, the women pool together the gum and tic tacs out of their purses and give those to the men. Ok, that may be an exaggeration, but at the same time, kind of not. And mother's day is more commercial than father's day; commercialism is America's way of rating the importance of an event. So I hope if you're a dad, your family made this day special for you!

Happy 31st Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wave your hands in the air like you just don't care!

Videos/Pictures

2011-06-16T10:54:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pictures from our road trip back in March. Courtney's swimsuit isn't this pink anymore; spending every day in the pool has really faded it :(

I don't know what happened, I guess I lost the sound on these? But I think they're still pretty cute, and if you're in Spokane, I'm sure Jordan will entertain you with his own ad libbing of what's going on :)Sorry that I haven't blogged much, I have a lot to say, but I also have a pool outside that beckons to me every day. So I will try and catch you all up on us Tartinis

Prayers Please

2011-05-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

As you know, Devin is going to school on the night shift, but I do not like it one bit. He is in the process of getting switched to the day shift so that I can see him more, but it's not as easy as we thought. We welcome all your prayers for this, and thank you in advance. Also,I know I haven't been posting much, so here's a picture of Courtney from Saturday. She is sooooooooo stylin'

Makes me wonder

2011-04-19T12:46:00.001-07:00

why do I keep Courtney around?

The heat is getting to us!

2011-04-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Basic Military Training (BMT) Graduation

2011-03-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

Devin did so great at BMT. In the newspaper, right above the word "Gateway" is Devin's name, although it is rather small. He was in the top 10% of all 738 BMT graduates! They are divided into flights, and each flight of about 50 or so occupies one dorm area. Then they have a brother flight that they don't share a dorm with, but they do trainings together. Devin was #1 in his flight AND in his brother flight :) But my poor baby caught a flu bug that had been making its way around the dorms, so he was really struggling with marching and standing at attention for the 40 minute ceremonies on Thursday and Friday. But he made it, and I am happy to report that he is feeling at 100% today! Even though he was sick, we trekked all over Lackland so he could get his picture with a modern plane. Thank goodness we found the F-16 above, because we's been walking for a looooooooong time! He had his first day of tech school today, and he said it still has a lotof rules, but it's more chill than BMT. Some guys were singing Ke$ha songs, and someone else got into Devin's room and hid his and his roommate's stuff. But at least tech school is relaxed enough to allow for that, and not result in 1 million or so push ups.

Road Trip Pictures!!!!!!!

2011-03-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

This Is my visiting teacher who gave courtney and I road trip survival kits, thanks carly!

Road Trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-08T06:47:00.001-08:00

Well, From Friday morning to Sunday night, I traveled through 7 states (WA, ID, MT, UT, CO, NM, TX) and 2 time zones! It was a marathon trip that I would never do again unless I could take more time, but it was a blast! My dad drove with me from Spokane to Orem on Friday. We had some "fun" roads in the Idaho mountain passes, but we made it safely and in good time. Plus it was nice to have so much time with my dad and talk and get advice from him. He's a pretty serious guy, but he has fun too. Here we are in Lookout pass! This was piled up all along the side of the road!

Courtney was very well behaved. She slept twice every day! She was also entertaining for us!

Once we got to Orem, dad stayed the night with his sister and flew to Spokane the next day, and Courtney and I stayed the night with Becky. We had fun visiting Aunt Cindy and Uncle Steve, and even got to take some of her snickerdoodles! They were yummy :) We were up late, and Courtney didn't sleep very well, but we still were up, alert, and ready and left by 10:30. It was a pretty drive, and Courtney did well again; she hardly fussed at all! It was a very long drive though, about 10 hours or so. Sunday was much better, we only had 6 and a half hours to drive, which meant we could spend some extra time in ROSWELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think the locals are as into the aliens as the rest of mankind, because there was hardly any alien stuff in the city. We did pass a sedan with a metal, UFO body! It looked kind of like the alien ships from Independence Day. And we had some out of this world waffles and pancakes at Ihop! It was nice to get to Midland Texas, and have it still be light out. We watched Despicable Me before turning in for the night. At the continental breakfast, the had a waffle maker that made texas-shaped toast! I didn't get a picture, but as you can imagine, it was pretty awesome! I finally got to San Angelo last night after twice getting lost. I am just so excited to be here, and even more excited to see Devin on Thursday! More pictures will be up soon!

2011-03-01T15:43:00.001-08:00

This may exceed your daily capacity for cuteness...

Oops, someday I will learn that tilting the camera does NOT tilt the video

Cat Tales

2011-02-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

Courtney has taking a liking to one of my friends, Becca Norman. They're birthdays are both in March, and we were looking forward to a celebration in the middle of their two birthdays next month, but since Courtney and I are leaving in just 2 weeks, we decided to go out yesterday. We went to Cat Tales, a zoo her in the Spokane area with big cats! I was looking forward to seeing the liger, but I couldn't find him anywhere! When I went to Cat Tales for the first time, they also had a tigon! What's the difference? A liger has a lion for a dad and tiger for a mom. A tigon has a tiger for a dad, and a lion for a mom. No joke. Wikipedia it if you want. We did have a good time otherwise. We found the freezers where they keep the meat...

...and Courtney tamed a lion for her own...
...but the best part was when Courtney was with my dad, whom she calls papa, and was roaring at a lion!

Other than being freezing cold and windy, it was a fun day!

All Washed Up

2011-02-11T11:10:00.001-08:00

Courtney is quite the rambunctious personality. She really shouldn't be left alone ever, so it's been nice to be home where my family can help watch her while I do whatever I need to do. Such as shower alone. Well today I got a late start to my day, so no one was home to keep an eye on Courtney. I brought her with me to shower and sat her on the toilet seat. When what to my wondering eyes did appear but little Courtney, naked, holding a box of candy hearts, IN THE SHOWER! I only closed my eyes for a second to rinse the shampoo out of my hair! She was just so darn cute I had to take a picture to share with you all!

Happy Valentine's day!

2011-02-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

Air Force

2011-01-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

I still haven't received a call from Devin, so I decided to just call Lackland's Basic Training office so i could get his address. It is certainly a hefty address:

AB Tartini, Devin, W

331 TRS/FLT 205 (Dorm A-8)

1320 Truemper St. Unit 369570

Lackland AFB, TX 78236-6408

You need to have all the commas, the parentheses, and the slash. Like I said, it's pretty hefty. But I know he would love letters from home! So send them!

It's the Holiday Season!

2010-12-15T09:04:00.001-08:00

Devin and I have been done with our Christmas shopping for about a week now and it feels great! We had a lot of fun buying presents for everyone and trying to find the perfect gift for everyone; hopefully we did well! We also got out Christmas cards for some old friends from Idaho, and here's what they got

We also had the privilege of playing Mary and Joseph for our ward's Walk Through Bethlehen, and that was really cool too

2010-11-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

Life has been so weird. Living at home is very relaxed, but it still seems like the time is just flying! Halloween was wonderful and Courtney went trick or treating and trunk or treating for the first time. She went to the ward party as a pirate and then trick or treating as yoda! Both costumes were too cute, thanks Emily! Courtney is getting smarter every day. Living with so many big people is really helping her vocab and speaking. I'm trying to teach her the alphabet, and she can trace them and say them when we're working on them, but it's out the window if any sort of distraction comes up, such as her Dora doll. This doll is so fun! She sings and dances the "We Did It" song, and Courtney dances right along with her! Grandma (Courtney's g-ma) is doing her best to make my life miserable. Who taught Courtney how to say "Mine"? Grandma. Who taught her to yell at the refs on TV? Grandma. Just kidding mom, I think it's cute :)

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

2010-09-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Need I saymore?

Updates

2010-09-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

As you may have already heard, I quit Melaleuca on Sept 6. And we couldn't be happier. That was a Monday and for FHE we went to the Eastern Idaho Fair. This was Devin's dinner. You may be thinking, a donut for dinner? But it's more than a donut. It's a donut sliced in half like a bagel. In between is a burger, bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce. And it actually tastes really good. This donut burger alone is going to give me bad cholesterol, I can tell. I got to ride the zipper and the spin out. The spin out is this sweet ride where you'resuspended in a chair with your feet dangling, and it's spins you! It'll tilt so that you're sideways and upside down! It was awesome! With all our free time we've been working on getting out of the house. Our new tenant is coming today to sign the paperwork. Then we're going to Salt Lake City on Saturday to visit Becky and go through the temple. We are also spending a week in Vegas for a honeymoon/last vacation of freedom before the Air Force :) and It's unbelievably cheap to stay in Vegas on the strip. Can't wait!

Sillyness!!!!

2010-09-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

This picture is of courtney with the bloomers from a dress on her head. The rest are self explanatory in that they're just silly.

Old videos

2010-09-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

The first video is from our camping trip in July. We always drove by this town called stanley, population 26. This is a video from one end of Stanley to the next. The next video shows courtney with a shirt on her legs after she tried to dress herself :)

I think this one speaks for itself. Sorry about the videos being sideways, i couldn't figure out how to flip them

Mormon.org

2010-09-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

Just finished my very own profile on Mormon.org and I got the cool yellow widget below. I'm hoping for some missionary ops and I hope if you feel so inclined that you make a profile of your own!

2010-09-05T19:34:00.001-07:00

2010-08-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

My precious baby wearing her (clean) panties on her head, and taking a rare nap in the car. She also got a kick out of drinking "without" hands, for the most part. She is just too cute!

In other news, Devin is leaving for basic training in January. We don't know where he'll be going for that,after that we do know that only certain bases have certain jobs, and the selection is smaller when you're new. We will either be in Neveda, California, Nebraska, Florida, Virginia, or even outside the states in Germany or Korea! We'll keep you updated as we get updates, but for now this is all we have!

The Spokane Song

2010-08-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Jewel visited Spokane and was so impressed, but who wouldn't, with all Spokane has to offer, so she wrote a song all about Spokane! It's called, The Spokane Song. So funny and raw! Enjoy

WAAAAAAAAAAAY BEHIND

2010-08-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since I last blogged! We took a week and a half off from work towards the beginning of July for family vacations. We started with a week of camping in Challis, ID. We went with Devin's brother, Dominic and his family. It amazes how you can be unbearably during the day, then at night you sleep in the car with the engine running to avoid frostbite at night! We ate so much junk food too! S'mores, candy bars, chocolate milk, pop, it was heaven! We spent a lot of time in Challis, the city not the campgrounds, wandering and exploring. We saw the missionaries all over the streets of Challis, and we also went into a bed and breakfast where the owners were melaleuca customers and we saw melastuff all over! Devin and I did some fishing too, and one day Devin caught (and kindly released) 6 fish! That prompted him to take up fishing here at home, and he caught us trout for dinner! After camping we drove up to Spokane to see mom, dad, brady, jordan, ginanne, and emily. We had a lot of fun swimming, going to the mall, playing five crowns, and just relaxing with the fam. I wish I had pictures, but I forgot to bring a camera on our first real vacation! But we look forward to many more spent with family! Love you guys!

The Fam

2010-06-23T20:00:00.001-07:00

What a great weekend I had! It started with a trip to the zoo courtesy of melaleuca, and a cool classic car show. Then we met my parents, Brady, and Becky at the Idaho falls temple visitor center, where they had a collection of enlarged and enhanced photos from the Hubble telescope! They had fun fawning over Courtney, but we were only able to visit for a little bit because they were taking Becky back to Provo. They stopped by yesterday for a while on their way up to Spokane. The battery in my camera died after one not so great shot, but she definitely was being her cutest to impress! We went to DI and Pizza Hut before they had to depart again. Tomorrow Devin and I are going to see Brian Regan live in Blackfoot, should be an awesome show!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

Becky is in town for a few days WOO HOO!!!!! Today while i was at work she took Courtney to the park and they had a fun time watching people on the carousel and sharing a lunchables. I was let off work early, so went back to the park and rode the carousel too. Becky took Courtney on a bench and I took her on one of the horses! She had a death grip on me the whole time. It was cute though. We also played on the swing and slides, but she always grabbed the sides and tried to climb back up before she got very far!! On the way to the park we stopped off at a farm where we saw two llamas!! Devin even got to pet one before we scared them off! Courtney broke Becky's sunglasses, so we went to wal mart so she could get new ones. We also took the time to buy Courtney her pair of tennis shoes and church shoes! She'll definitely need practice because she tripped all over the place! More pics and videos to follow.

Curb Appeal

2010-05-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

We've finally done it. We painted the outside of our and it looks so much nicer! We did several layers of primer so the wood looks smoother and newer, and the color scheme is so cool and modern. We're about ready to paint the garage to match, and with the new roof on the garage, it's like a whole new home!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

2010-05-09T06:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the fantastic mom's, especially my own mom, who aresuch a great influence on my life! And another special Happy Mother's Day to Carol Tartini, affectionately known as Llama for being a mom to my Devin! I had a great celebration yesterday. We went to Fong's, a little chinese restaurant that we love and visit all the time, with or without cause for celebration! Then we went to Idaho Falls and Devin let me wander the mall and buy whatever I wanted. I got a sugar scrub from Bath & Body Works; it's been a long time since I was there, and I forgot how much I love it! While at the mall we sat down to take a little rest, but the Fetus was restless. So we put in her a toy bus and she loved it! What you can't see on the video is that when it stopped, she shook it to try and get it going! She is also walking all over the place! She still gets tripped up, like by clothing laying flat on the ground :) but she has improved so much!!

2010-04-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today, Devin went to Idaho Falls to take a test to get into the Air Force. He did so well he can get pretty much whatever job he wants. I started Working full time so that Devin could stay home with Courtney. I wanted him to have a break before he signed his life away for 4 years :) We have had visitors just about every weekend for a month. We first had Devin's brother, Dominic, and his family over 2 weeks before easter. Below you can see Courtney with her cousins Leesy and Rachel in matching dresses that they got from Grandma Tartini.

Then we had mom, dad, and Becky over the week before general conference. Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell had professional pictures taken of her which we just picked up today. They look very cute and I will post them ASAP. Becky came over the day after general conference because it was her spring break. I had to work, but we still found time to go visit the temple, fit in some fine dining and shopping, and watch 4 whole Barbie movies!!! My favorite series:) Below is a picture of the fetus passed out on the floor. This was taken while I was at work, and it was the first day that I worked full time and Devin stayed home. She was soooo tired, but it was sudden, and Devin thought she'd died! Poor guy, I guess it's just part of parenting. If you don't have 1 premature heart attack, you're doing wrong!

2010-04-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some late birthday pictures for you to enjoy. I shall write again with news and goings on of the Tartinis.

2010-04-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

These are the outfits that grandma mitchell made for the princess and me. Unfortunately, no one attends gerneral conference at the stake center, so I'll have to wait to show them off. Last weekend we had mom, dad, and becky visit us. We went to have pictures taken of Courtney, played Five Crowns, visited campus, and visited. And ate a ton of red licorice of course. I have finished my first month of work under the radar. That's right, although I get paid, they have lost me in the system so they don't know my call handle time, what I say on the phones or anything! I can say whatever I want...bwahaha!!! It's nice to be able to work without the pressure. Becky is coming to visit me again this week, and she is driving on her way as I write!!! Woo-hoo!!

Feliz Cumpleanos

2010-03-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, March 18th, Courtney will be a year old! G-ma and G-pa Mitchell sent her some presents and I couldn't contain myself; I had to let her open them!

Melaleuca

2010-02-24T09:57:00.001-08:00

The times they are a-changin', and money doesn't stretch as far as it use to. I have therefore gotten a job with my old employer Melaleuca. I always knew Melaleuca was the best employer, and now I remember why. I've been for a year, and they are giving me my old position back with my old pay! We were expecting more than a dollar less an hour, so this job is going to be an answered prayer! It also means I can work 4-9 instead of a full 40 hr a week job! It also unfortunately overlaps with Devin's schedula, so Courtney will be watched by the Drapers for several hours. Hopefully, by the end of the summer I'll be able to quit and return to my post as full-time mom, which is what we're praying for! I'm excited to be back though, I'll even be with my old team, or at least what's left of them. In other news, Courtney has taken exactly two steps all by herself and I can hardly wait until she justs walks on her own; I'll think she'll be able to entertain herself more if she's walking everywhere. Three weeks ago our ward boundaries were realigned to create a new ward, but I think our ward is still the same size! I am still leading music in sacrament and taking care of attendance and bell ringing as Sunday School secretary. Devin is Sunday School president and is still in the process of choosing counselors. This weekend I am going to a seminar about using rental properties for income. This is another reason for me going to Melaleuca. If we can get a decent duplex or triplex, it might allow Devin to quit work completely and focus on school. But enough of the serious stuff, here's the babe and I playing peekaboo, for those of you not fortunate enough to hear the sounds of a baby laughing everyday...

And her first sucker...what a mess

blowing raspberries...

2 Years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow will mark Devin's andmy two year anniversary! One kid and a house later and we're still going strong. We have a lot of fun and he always makes me laugh. One of our things, which I keep slipping and saying to people is "the fetus". You see, when I was pregnant we took a long time coming up with a name. In fact, we didn't pick it until about a month before she was born, if that. So instead of referring to her as "her" we called her the fetus. And we still call her the fetus at home and sometimes slip up and say it to other people. She's been the joy of our like and is just too cute for words. Here are some videos of her "singing" and dancing, and trying to eat snow on an outdoor excursion.

Devin and I have been through team teaching in primary, working full time and going to school, and of course parenthood and home ownership. We've set our minds to get out on a honeymoon this summer (babysitting....any takers?) so hopefully we can buckle down and get the money for it!!!!! We've lived in four different apts/houses, but only been in two wards, blown through one car because all the good date activities are in idaho falls, and just had alot of fun, like when we went to a park late at night and had the cops called on us! Or when we went fishing and I got a hook through my thumb :( Through it all we've managed not to strangle each other and love each other more than when we were married:)

Family History

2010-02-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

I always thought my name was so unique. Then in high school I went to EFY and met other Marans or people who knews Marans. Then, tonight during a session of geneology I found Grandma Jean's mom's mom's dad's mom...or my fourth great grandma, Maren Jorgensen! And to think, I always thought I was such a trendsetter!

2010-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

I guess the videos haven't been uploading...if this doesn't work it'll be back to the drawing board and I'll try again

2010-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

We've had a new couple in the ward for a couple of months now, the Garlings. They're from Idaho Falls area and Boise, and they are so much fun. We've had get togethers I think every week with them, the Drapers, and the Roses from our ward. The garlings are expecting a boy in April, so hopefully they'll join up with our babysitting co-op with the Drapers. The apartment that they moved into came with dishes from the previous tenants that they couldn't keep. We took them and they are pretty! There's 4 place settings so I guess we'll have to have a fancy schmancy party or something :)

Courtney has graduated from scratching the outside of her nose to scratching the inside unfortunately. I also walked in on her stuck in this unusual position...

She also finds interesting positions to sleep in...

She has her little bum in the air like Sid from Toy Story.

She also learned to dance. I forgot I was taping so it runs for about a minute even though she's not dancing the whole time.

And we're working on solid foods, but she's hasn't quite got the hang of it yet

Recreation

2010-01-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here in Saint Anthony, there's not much to do. So you get bored. Then you get desperate. Then you get creative and make baby sleds out of diaper boxes wrapped in a garbage bag. The snow is several inches deep so she kept tipping over, poor baby. So I pulled her around the car path Devin shoveled and she had a blast!

2009

2010-01-02T08:18:00.001-08:00

What a year 2009 was! Courtney was born on March 18th, after 2 moves we were settled into our very own home, Devin fulfilled a lifelong dream of seeing Metallica live, we got a new-ish car (merci beaucoup becky), and we got called to the sunday school presidency together! For 2010 I have no resolutions except to have weekly resolutions! It's a lot easier to keep if you only have to keep it up for a week; I can't fail or get discouraged! In 2009 I did set a late resolution for myself at the end of August, and that was to read the Book of Mormon from "I, Nephi" to "the eternal judge of both quick and dead. Amen." I was doing very well until finals in December. With two weeks to go I had 7 pages a day to read to meet my goal. Then came vacation, I even packed my scriptures in my purse instead of my duffle bag and I didn't read. December 30th rolled around and I had 80 pages to read! So I buckled down and read 50 pages on the 30th and the last 30 on the 31st. So I have learned that I can do anything I put my mind too, no matter how daunting, and I got to spend some quality time with the Spirit teaching to me. I've posted pictures of Courtney in some of her presents from grandma and grandpa Mitchell as well as Becky. There's also a video of Courtney playing with her seahorse from g-ma and g-pa. Enjoy!

2009-12-30T14:24:00.001-08:00

Sharpay I worship you!

Bow to me loyal subjects!

With Colonel Sanders in Montana

Most of the pictures are Courtney and Emily in matching drsses from Grandma and it was so darn cute I had to take as many pics as possible!!!!

We had a great week in Spokane last week for Christmas. We did everything we wanted to do, like geocaching and getting out for a date. Christmas was awesome, all our gifts were just perfect, like slippers and movies. On Monday we were able to get together with some couples from our ward for FHE. We played an hour long game of chinese checkers and it was so much fun! Not too much other excitement this week. It's month end for Devin which means he has to work 8-8 on Thursday. It's actually a really nice schedule because he usually works 12-12 on month end. This is going to be the first time we get to count down to the new year together, so I'm way excited. Here's some pics of the princess for you to enjoy!

Duggar baby

2009-12-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to use this time to brag about Josie Brooklyn Duggar. On TLC's website Michelle set up a blog asking for baby names for #19, and I suggested Josie. I don't know if I was the only one, but I did. Because I'm awesome. Really awesome.

Caldwell/Metallica

2009-12-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well we were back in Caldwell this weekend. Devin and Dominic have been longtime Metallica fans, and they came through Boise on Monday. MaryRuth and I tagged along. Well, she tagged along; I wanted to go. Probably the best rock band out there since they sing about political stuff, not vulgar, inappropriate stuff. It was so cool! Since the show wasn't sold out we were able to move to the first row of the arena, just not down onto the actual floor. I could lean over and almost touch the cases for their stuff (pictured below). They had crazy laser lights and pyrotechnics that were so big we could feel the heat blast by us! The lights were hung from large metal coffins (because of the new album they're touring for below) and they would start up at the ceiling and then drop so low I thought they could reach up and touch them!The music was even better live than on CD. Lars the drummer and James the singer/rhythm guitar have little kids, and before Metallica came out, the kids came out and had their pictures taken "playing" drums, and everyone cheered for them, it was so cute. It was crazy though, the crowd down in the pit was so crazy that when metallica came out, they had to run to the stage because people were trying to jump the gate and stuff. We left yesterday at 12 to go to the mall and start xmas shopping. We finally got on the road to head home at 4:15, but we were so tired from the concert (we didn't get home til 1) that we pulled over to try and nap. We also stopped in Burley for dinner at a chinese place. It was so, I don't even know a word for it. Some of the walls were wood paneling, the other walls were gray CARPET!! If you needed to go to the bathroom, you had to walk outside around to the back. But the food was cheap and tasty and the hostess was so nice, she even let us sit by the kitchen so we could watch a home design show with her. We got home at 10 to a huge disaster because we forget to leave some water running; the water pipes had frozen! Luckily they didn't burst, but we had to move courtney's space heater to the cellar to defrost the pipes and blasted the heater in the living room to 90 to try and defrost the pipes up here. We opened up the curtain to the kitchen, so the house didn't ever really warm up to 90, but we slept on the couch next to the heater anyway. It was crazy though, we were checking the faucets, the kitchen and tub didnt work, but the bathroom sink did turn on. When I went back in a minute later, the water I had run froze in the sink, and the water in the toilet was frozen too. This morning the kitchen was running at half pressure, and the cold water in the tub was working. Today I have a lot of cleaning because the house was a mess before we ever left, and now it's got gifts and duffle bags all over. So off to work I go.

Spotlight

2009-12-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

I'd like to highlight myself this week for finally being able to wear a pair of pants from high school! Yay me!

Life in General

2009-12-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

This week, on Monday, was month end which meant Devin was scheduled to work 8-8. When the company offered overtime, he stayed until 10! It was so busy the rest of the week that overtime was extended so Devin worked 8-11:30 on Wed, and 8-12, 3-11:30 on Thursday. Needless to say it was a little lonely this week, but since we're going to Spokane it'll be good to have some extra money saved up. Courtney is as cute as ever. She now crawls more than she drags, and she even used the couch to pull herself up to her knees yesterday! I've included a pic of her first visit with Santa at the ward dinner last night, one of her wearing a cute bow, and yesterday while she was sitting next to me at the computer I looked over and she was looking down her shirt! It was so random! I've also included a video of her "High School Musical Happy Dance". She shuffles her feet and kind of jumps around whenever I put in High School Musical!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

Friday night we left for a weekend in Caldwell, ID (west of Boise). We went Saturday morning to the Boise temple. Fun fact, I have wanted to go to the Boise temple since I was in elementary school. It was the first temple I saw in real life and I thought it was so pretty! And it's even prettier inside! I actually even wanted to get married there, but that didn't pan out. Devin and I were the first couple again, so it was another great, involved experience at the temple! There's only one room before the celestial room, so that was a neat experience to do it differently than Rexburg. Saturday night we went and visited Uncle Bob and Aunt Betty. Most of their kids were in town too! Brian, amber and Megan. Lacey lives in Kansas City so she couldn't make it. Courtney was so good and they all thought she was so adorable! Another fun fact, Uncle Bob served a mission in Argentina, so he and Devin talked for a bit in Spanish together. Devin told me later that Uncle Bob speaks better then the guys he served with who've only been back for a couple years! They've moved since we visited them for the reunion at Roaring Springs, and he's sold Roaring Springs, and they seem to be doing well. They have a really pretty house and it was decorated for Christmas too! Sunday was pretty calm, we went to church and then went to look at a house that Dominic and Maryruth are considering buying. It's a 1600 sq ft, 2 story house. It's way cool! The owners are leaving the swingset in the back; it's pretty big and I even wanted to play on it! We got back at 8 and Courtney went right down. Now I'm just messing around on the computer, waiting for the heater to warm our room before I go down!

Baby Bach

2009-11-26T08:40:00.001-08:00

We have found Courtney's talent and it is piano! She is so cute and just loves banging, er, i mean playing on the keyboard.

Bored

2009-11-23T13:35:00.001-08:00

Lots of excitement last week, but now I have a quiet week to get things done, such as catching up with you all! Devin and I finally got to the temple last Thursday after almost a year hiatus! Yikes! What a great feeling to be there that night, and then again Saturday morning. We were the first couple there on Saurday, and you know what that means! It was awesome to be involved in the session that way. Together again at the altar! We spent alot of time in the Celestial Room talking about the session, and having Devin answering my questions I threw at him; he is too darn smart! We traded babysitting with our friends the Drapers, and their girl, Tiffany was clingy! My back is still sore from carrying her and courtney all over the house! Our house has only 1 central heater in the living room, and even when we'd turn it up to 80 the house was still chilly! So Devin got the idea to hang a curtain in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. I guess because of the door and windows in the kitchen, it was sapping all the heat! Now the heat circulates all the way to Courtney's room and I keep it down on 65. We're in the process of sealing the windows with shrink wrap. We've done our bedroom and it's way warmer than before! Courtney learned how to clap and will clap at whatever she sees fit; it is too cute! And I finally finished the tour of the house, so I'll have that up too!

Birthday!!!!!!!!

2009-11-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

Monday was my birthday, and what a great birthday it was. Our friends from church, the Drapers, babysat Courtney while Devin and I drove to Idaho Falls for lunch and to go shopping. My favorite gift was my Wii Fit Plus!! As you can see we all three enjoyed it! I also got a nice black pencil skirt and two dress tops, all for just about $35 dollars! Yay clearance racks! Devin also surprised me with a gorgeous autumn bouquet. Now it's even prettier because the yellow roses have opened and they're red inside! They're way pretty. Last night I took a turn watching the Draper's baby, Tiffany, and tonight they will again take Courtney while Devin and I attend the Collegiate Dancer's Showcase. It should make for a fun night!

cleaning is done

2009-11-08T16:32:00.001-08:00

2009-11-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

my nephew benjamin got hold of my camera and he was a natural with it

she used to get stuck on her side while attempting to roll to her back so cute

first words? courtney's a sheep

holding her own sippy cup

i had to do dishes, she had to eat...

still clearing out the camera...

2009-11-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

she used to grab for stuff out in front of her and get so angry!!

hold to the rod....

I should clean out my videos more often!

2009-11-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

this is courtney's early attempts at crawlingi stuffed courtney in the ottoman and now she has hiccups! poor girl

she's eating her feet!

even swaddled up she can roll over...no more SIDS risk (pretty much)

nothing makes her happier than a bottle

Happy birthday to moi!

2009-11-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

tomorrow I turn 21 and I am so excited! Not that anything will be different since I don't drink, but people will see me as older. So this week and I rented our cellar, attic and garage for storage space to 2 people. I got another email for someone needing storage space...this could be my true calling. Storage manager. Cool. I have so many pictures and videos of Courtney. One I don't have yet is of Courtney spinning in her green toy she got from the grandparents. She can only spin herself halfway around and only to the right. I guess she's not an ambi-turner. I finished one of my online classes and should finish the other in just a few weeks, meaning my winter break starts early! Devin is also doing well in his classes and we both really love the classes we're in. Tomorrow for my birthday we're dropping off Courtney with some friends of ours and then heading into town to buy my Wii fit and also get some new shoes and maybe some church skirts!!! Devin and I were called to sunday school 2nd counselor and sunday school secretary respectively last wekk and I was called to sacrament chorister today. Devin's job is to make sure the teachers are present on sunday and fill in for any that are absent. I take care of the attendance and I get to ring the bell :D

2009-10-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

2009-10-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to get up some pictures of the babe!

2009-10-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

2009-10-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got more than an inch of snow! It all melted away by last night, so now we're stuck with a slushy mess everywhere! Courtney is going to be crawling anyday now. She can do like a weird turtle move when she's on her belly and eventually she'll figure out to bring her knees up, then there'll be no stopping her! She is also very talkative; she babbles mostly, nothing intentional. She'll say stuff like mama, gaga, dada, baba, she can blow raspberries, it's all very cute. School is going well. I have my first real test this week, and Devin got a B on his test last week. Here are a bunch of pics and videos that have been sitting on my phone, the cake photo is from the county fair modeled after a bridal gown, I also have a video of her turtle move, balancing on her side, and her first try with the sippy cup. Have a good week!

Courtney

2009-10-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

We went to WIC this week, and found out Courtney is 15 lbs and 63 cm. Why the switch between metric and standard? I don't know, but after she was measured she peed...alot...on the table... Here is a cute little video, she's wearing a little sailor outfit which is very cute.

Celebrity

2009-09-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Cami Nelson on the homepage of BYU. AWESOME

2009-09-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to taping a tour of our house............and the batteries died. I don't currently have any, so you're going to have to wait to see the bathroom and the master, sorry. Courtney has her two, front, bottom teeth coming up together, but she hasn't made a fuss over them yet. She's been a very easy baby; I'm lucky to have her. Devin is hunting for another job. Two years at any job is more than enough, and Melaleuca is definitely getting old. Although I do love the free products. School started last Thursday, and both of us are taking classes online since the city of Rexburg decided to make public streets around campus permit only and construction takes up most of the other parking lots. Someday we're gonna transfer to Provo...I hope.

2009-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it got way cold today, 42 actually. I started a walking program just like mom because it worked so well for her. I have to walk inside because I have a baby and I don't have a walking partner. I know it gets way cold everywhere, but I found a great book at the library. It's called "Walk away the Pounds" by Leslie Sansone. She has good tips for boosting your walk and good moves to add that won't throw you off balance. She only uses a 2 pound weight for each hand, but she suggests a water bottle in each hand too. It is so easy, I would definately check it out.

2009-09-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Courtney and I have had alot of fun around the house while Devin

is at work. I have been working hard to get the house cleaned up and I promise I will have an "after" video posted this week of the house. I was bored today, but Courtney was having fun playing with a teddy bear I got from my parents in high school. I decided to see if she could fit into the bear's cheer outfit and took some cute pics. The top is short and I couldn't fit around her tummy to velsro it, but it's still adorable nonetheless. Devin's brother, Dominic, and his family came to visit this week as well. I posted pictures of Courtney with Sammy and Leesy, and also one of her with Benjamin. We went to the State Fair Saturday. I guess I didn't wear very good shoes because my back was sore all day sunday, yesterday and still today!! Hope you enjoy this week's pictures!

Trojan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Our laptop contracted 2 nasty trojans this week, and these are some of the few pictures that somehow escaped being deleted. Work is going great on the house. All the rooms are painted, living/bed and kitchen brown, bathroom dark red, and Courtney's is bright pink (we thought it was lighter)!! The light fixtures are up except for the back porch, and the floors has new tiles that look like marble as well as the sink. We are going to paint the walls around the bathtub and also do some mock granite tiles for the kitchen counters. It is going to look awesome. I'll put pictures up ASAP once it's finished. Here's a look at our house before we started on it!

Courtney is still sleeping through the night, but she's going to bed much earlier, 8 instead of 9, so my days start earlier too. She isn't crawling yet, but she's almost there. She'll start pushing with her legs and run her face into the ground because she hasn't quite figured out what to do with her arms. Devin's brother, Dominic, and his family are coming up this weekend and we're going to go to the Eastern Idaho county fair. I've never been to a fair without performing so it'll be so much fun to wander around in normal clothes without the heavy stage make-up.

Update

2009-07-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long. Alot has happened. We took a vacation up to Spokane to visit family over the 4th of Julyimmer's lake cabin which i haven't been to in years. Although I didn't swim alot. Devin and i took out the canoe and almost got hit by a boat! We even course corrected and they still came at us! The important part is that we lived. We also got to see Jordan and Ginanne's house, even their creepy basement. We're actually alot alike. We have a dilapidated garage like they do, we have a small creepy basement, it's weird! Well I still can't figure out how to get the darn pictures to show up, so it's another round of Maran's Picture Lottery! Enjoy!!!

Big news, good and bad

2009-06-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

We have very exciting news........WE ARE GETTING A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost anyway. We have signed an offer on a 750 sq ft house in st anthony, but the seller doesn't want to close before the end of july. she doesn't even live there, she just wants to wait, urgh! But Courtney is as cute as ever. She can almost roll over, but she gets stuck on her arm, then she's like a beached whale. she is kind of sort of crawling with alot of help from devin and me. And can you believe the week we're having? First ed mcmahon, then farrah fawcett, next is Michael jackson, and today billy mays! No more shouting at us to buy Oxiclean. And what a classy discovery show he had. I will be forever faithful to watching "Pitchmen" everyweek. well, enjoy the pictures and video! Again, I just had to choose based on the numbers, so hopefully we'll get some good ones.

2009-06-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just had family over this weekend, my parents and most favorite sister ;) We played rock band, went shopping, played with Courtney, and had a BBQ. We also went up to the Gardens on campus as well as the temple to take some pictures. For some reason, when I pull up the "Pictures" file, it won't show the image just a file #, so i just picked five that were far apart numerically. Enjoy!

2009-06-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Courtney has started smiling and "talking" more, so I thought I'd post a few videos to share. Life has pretty slow down here. Devin is working full time of course, and I'm a mom full time. President eyring is speaking at devotional this week, but I didn't get tickets so I'll have to watch from TV again.

2009-05-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Courtney is getting so BIG! We weighed her and she is 11.7 lbs. She can push herself up pretty far. We're training her by placing her on her stomach in front of a mirror and because she likes to look at herself she will push herself up to see. We took another trip to visit Devin's family in Caldwell. We were able to leave Courtney with Grandma (who was visiting Dominic's newest daughter, Rachel), and spend 5 blissful hours by ourselves at the mall in Boise. We did alot of shopping and were really able to unwind. Enjoy Courtney's newest videos!

2009-05-17T22:29:00.001-07:00

courtney is growing so fast!!! she can kind of hold herself up if she propped. Heaven forbid she sneeze though, if she is sitting in the corner of the couch and she sneezes she will fall over on her face! Too cute. She has also learned how to pull my hair. She can also smile and laugh along with you and not just when she's gassy :) Enjoy the little one!!!! So, the sad face is how I feel when courtney cries, and the last was a grocery list. I don't know how to erase a picture once it's on!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

2009-05-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Turn down the volume before starting video!!!! This is a video of Courtney crying. What I'm saying is basically that I'm trying to get a picture of Courtney's pouty, puppy dog face. It's really cute but she wouldn't do it.

2009-04-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little picture crazy, but she's my first! She is now 9 lbs 3 oz. We went to visit Devin's brother, Dominic, and his family over the weekend in Caldwell, ID. Courtney is so much fun! If I support her under her arms she can stand up. I'm trying to get her to take a step, but she isn't very good yet. Devin has started working fulltime. It helps alot since I no longer work at Melaleuca, but it is so lonely without him. The weather is much nicer though, so when he is home we all go for walks. Enjoy the little one!

2009-04-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, my baby finally arrived, and she is so adorable! Her name is Courtney Lynn Tartini. she looks just like her daddy in my opinion. She has so many facial expressions that are all so funny! I haven't laughed so hard as I have just sitting and watching her. As for stats, she was 7 lbs 11 oz, 19", and she was born at 11:11 am. I was in labor for about 11 hours, which is fine with me. I was going to be induced and the doctor said I probably would've been in labor all day!!!! Yuck! We left the hospital almost exactly 24 hrs later, which was the earliest they would've let us leave. Devin was really anxious to leave, as was I. It took a long time though because, i kid you not, almost every nurse attending to me was a student nurse; it was really annoying because they didn't know the answer to anything we asked, they always had to leave to find someone to ask. They were really nice though. They said (which I'm sure they say to everyone but the thought is nice) that courtney looked like a little doll. Anyways, here are some pics which are all pretty self explanatory. The one of courtney bent over in her swing is a picture of her asleep! She really is like her dad, he'll sleep anywhere in any position!

2009-03-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

Becky Came up for a visit this weekend. We had a Skype baby shower with all my friends from Spokane. It was great! Down here in Rexburg we had cheesecake for dessert and watched the Spokane attendees open my presents. Becky and I also got lots of great pictures. They'll probably be up on her blog first, but check both!

We're Livin' the Good Life

Potty Mouth

Quick Update

A Message From Courtney

Chinese Fakeout

Christmas

Thanksgiving

Halloween

Graduation

Happy Birthday Dad!

Courtney

Life Kinda Sucks

San Angelo Wildlife

Sleeping Beauty

Courtney-isms

Thrifty Tartinis

Happy Father's Day!

Happy 31st Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Videos/Pictures

Prayers Please

Makes me wonder

The heat is getting to us!

Basic Military Training (BMT) Graduation

Road Trip Pictures!!!!!!!

Road Trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cat Tales

All Washed Up

Happy Valentine's day!

Air Force

It's the Holiday Season!

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

Updates

Sillyness!!!!

Old videos

Mormon.org

The Spokane Song

WAAAAAAAAAAAY BEHIND

The Fam

Curb Appeal

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos

Melaleuca

2 Years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family History

Recreation

2009

Duggar baby

Caldwell/Metallica

Spotlight

Life in General

Thanksgiving

Baby Bach

Bored

Birthday!!!!!!!!

cleaning is done

still clearing out the camera...

I should clean out my videos more often!

Happy birthday to moi!

Courtney

Celebrity

Trojan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update

Big news, good and bad

More Videos!!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!