9 months

 My sweet lady Aves is 9 months old today.

There are no words to describe the love I have for this girl.

For the first time in my life I wish I had a reality show with cameras taping my every move

so that I could go back and rewatch the last past 9 months.

Avery is the happiest little girl ever.

She lights up a room, and 

demands that everyone stop what they're doing and pay attention to her.

She's one of the only people in the world who enjoys when I sing to them.

(someday she'll realize i'm not good. that will be sad)

She plays peek-a-boo.

She loves going on walks and playing outside.

She dances.

She, along with everyone else, hates being tickled longer than 3 seconds.

She smiles and kicks her legs wildly when dad comes home.

and my personal favorite,

She talks and sings to herself every morning in her crib.

She is my favorite.

(well she's tied with Brandon)

PS: Supposedly I should be skinny by now. You know they say it took 9 months to put it on so it will take 9 months to get it off. They lied. I think it takes 2 years. 

Thank goodness for elastic pants!

Love

Ok so I know that I haven't blogged in a while,

(Instagram is the new blog)

 but I just had to take a few minutes to gush about my Valentine

How cute is he?

(so cute)

Today is our engagement anniversary!

I love that we got engaged on Valentines Day.

It was so special then and its so special now.

Saying yes to that ever important question has led me down a path of 

love, excitement, fun and happiness.

The other day I was looking through my emails to find a recipe, and I came across 

an email that I sent to my mom right after I met Brandon...

Hi Mom, 

I hope you are having a wonderful day. Ok so I just had to tell you that I like a boy. 

He's so nice and so cute...but he's younger than me. What do you think?

Her response...

I'm fine with it. If you're happy, I'm happy!

He made me happy then,

he makes me happy now,

and I know he'll make me happy for forever!

I'm a lucky girl

*

*

*

*

*

Now onto the keeper of the other half of my heart!

Yes I am one of those mothers who dresses their baby up in holiday colors 

and then has a photo shoot.

I can't help it

She melts my heart every single day.

new year

Well 2012 came and went and I don't know about you...

but I'm exhausted!

It was quite a busy year for the Moores

and right about now I'm wishing that my resolutions for 2012

were to...

work out as little as possible,

drink more diet coke,

and

  be unable to fit into my pre pregnancy pants,

because...

check.check.check.

Lucky for me I get to spend my days with this cute girl

and she doesn't care what size my pants are.

Dear 2013,

I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but its going to be pretty hard for you to top 2012.

Its not your fault that you have to follow the year when I became a mother, Brandon graduated from BYU, we moved to California and were introduced to Downton Abbey.

I'm excited to see what you have in store for us.

Please make it good....and warm.

Sincerely,

The Moores

ps) I was sorta kinda hoping that this year we might be able to go to Hawaii. Its just an idea...

 but see what you can do.

lucky

So I'm super lucky because my very favorite photographer in all the world

is my brother in law,

Ashton Rodgers

Normally he's busy taking pictures for famous athletes and fancy companies

but 

on Thanksgiving he took a little break to take some pictures

 of me and my cute little family.

 taken at my parent's home on a quilt my mom made

Aren't the pictures of Avery amazeballs?

They melt my heart.

(Mom-amazeballs isn't a dirty word. Its just a word people are using these days to say

that something is extra extra amazing.) 

Dear Ashton,

Thank you for taking pictures of non NBA players, we really appreciate it. Also, thank you for letting me pay you in haircuts. I asked Nordstrom and they said they wont accept my haircuts as currency, which is a little disappointing.  Please remember me when you're rich and famous.

Love,

Sarah

ps) We're headed off to Utah and Colorado tomorrow and I'm so excited. 

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

dry shampoo

Ok so a few people texted me about the dry shampoo I mentioned in my last post, 

so I thought i'd give everyone the run down on my new favorite product.

I should start out by saying that I don't normally encourage people to buy Suave.

Since going to beauty school I have definitely seen that in general

 the nicer the product, the better your hair looks and feels.

However, after working in a few beauty supplies, and literally trying every dry shampoo,

 I found myself less than impressed with most of the upscale brands. 

So one day my sister told me that she loved the Suave dry shampoo.

At first I thought she was a little crazy,

(sorry Becca)

but after one use my life changed forever.

I was finally able to wash my hair as infrequently as i'd always dreamt.

(who says dreams don't come true?)

Since then i've been religiously dry shampooing my hair and loving every minute of it.

So,

This is what it looks like....

Its seriously under $3.00 at most grocery stores.

It smells amazing, which is awesome because sometimes hair can smell dirty.

(don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about)

Its also super volumizing, so if you have fine hair this will give it a little extra umph. 

(umph= something awesome that will make your hair look bigger and fuller)

Do's and Don'ts

Do feel free to use it as many days in a row as you can possibly before your husband asks, 

when was the last time you washed your hair?

Don't hold it too close or your hair will look white.

Do use this after you've had a good work out and you're a little sweaty, 

(or if you are like me and you get sweaty lifting your child's carseat in and out of the car)

Don't feel ashamed if after a while you can't remember the last time you washed your hair.

Do rub it in after your spray, especially if you have dark hair.

Don't freak out if you feel it in your hair after a couple uses. 

Its not hurting it, it will just wash out.

and

Do enjoy this new amazing dry shampooing phase in your life. 

Happy Spraying

ps) last week I went 5 days (yes I said 5) in a row without washing my hair, 

and on the 5th day Brandon told me how cute my hair looked and took me on a date. 

Just sayin. 

Facts

I can't sleep. 

I'm tired...but I can't sleep. 

So I've decided to blog some random facts about myself....

(this post will most likely be boring to everyone but my dad who pretty much enjoys all things and never complains)

1) I almost never watch tv. I only watch 3 shows and I watch them on Hulu. I mostly use the tv to rewatch episodes of Gilmore Girls, and when B's home we watch The Office and Parks and Rec.

 Oh and we rent movies on Netflix

2) We eat steel cut oats almost every morning for breakfast. They are delicious and good for you.

3) I am pretty much always drinking water. But it absolutely has to be cold. 

I can't drink luke warm water, it grosses me out.

4) Brandon wakes me up approximately 4 nights a week because he's a sleep talker/walker/laugher/singer/runner. It makes for good stories.

5) My hands and feet are always cold. I hear that means I could have bad circulation. It usually makes Avery giggle when my cold hands touch her cute little belly...its adorable.

6) Avery is now 6 months old...soon she'll walking, talking, driving, and my heart is breaking.

7) I've already forgotten most of the bad/annoying parts about being pregnant.

 I never believed I'd forget the 24/7 heartburn. But I have.

8) I make Brandon do lots of things with me that I know he doesn't want to do just so we can have a good laugh! like yoga, or play leap frog, or read books in accents. 

9) I am a super thrifty person. I love finding good deals and I hate spending lots of money on unimportant things. 

10) I met Wayne Gretzky at the Olympics and I got his autograph.

11) When I was little I either wanted to do hair or deliver babies. Those are two very different jobs.

 I think I chose wisely.

12) There's a good chance Avery knows all the words to "All I want for Christmas is You" 

by Mariah Carey, since we dance and sing along to it at least 2 times a day.

13) At least once a week Brandon and I reminisce about our honeymoon in Maui and how we wish we were back there, but this time with Avery Mae. 

14) I only wash my hair 3 times a week. Hopefully you think this is awesome and not gross. 

I use Sauve's dry shampoo (yes, I said Sauve, best $2.50 I ever spent)

and

15) I love eating chocolate covered raisins and diet coke....together....or separate. Both delicious

Ok now that i've shared a few facts about me,

 I'll leave you with some cute pics of my Aves trying homemade baby food. 

She did not love it. 

Which is weird because it looks delicious and who wouldn't want blended watered down peas?

Enjoy

NOTE- yes her cheeks are just as fun to kiss as you are imagining...probably even more!

gifts

Well Thanksgiving came and went

and my pants are definitely tighter.

"A good time was had by all in attendance"

( Deniseism #538)

(this picture is priceless)

I was sad to leave my family

but now I'm ready to begin my countdown to Christmas!

(18 days I believe)

Christmas is very different when you have a child.

Its so much more magical.

Even though Avery doesn't have a clue whats going on

we sing Christmas songs to her,

we show her Thomas, The Elf on the Shelf 

and she wears her Christmas jammies!

(compliments of GeGe and Papa)

Because we'll be out of town for Christmas day

we decided to give Avery a few of her gifts early.

Brandon and I assembled them while she was taking a nap,

and after all her toys were complete I found myself wanting to wake her up

so that I could see her excitement as she played with them!

(She did not disappoint. Lots of drool and squeaks!)

I now understand why my parent's Christmas wish each year was for their children to be happy!

My cousin shared this video and I thought was just so adorable!
plus the little boy in it reminds me of a young Brandon.

Now if that doesn't melt your heart, I just don't know what will!

Happy Giving!