Another Birthday!

I saw this photo on Anna's blog and loved it so much. I had to rip it off and save it on my computer. Isn't he cute?
Happy Birthday Micah!!!
We all can't wait to see you. Especially Jonah.
Love you tons.
(He's 8!)

Happy Birthday Ella!

Lots of birthdays lately! Ella is one of the sweetest little girls you'll ever meet. She is just an angel. (Like her mother :) We love you Ella and hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

Yeah, it's true.

I have nothing else to talk about so here goes....

My mom posted a message on her blog last week about our "exciting news". She didn't specify, but it kind of gave it away. I'm pregnant! We weren't being terribly secretive about it, but not announcing it to all either. Steve finally gave me the go-ahead to share.



The truth of the matter is, I'm getting fat. In fact, I had some lady from church ask me if I was pregnant. I asked her how she knew before I realized it was because I'm gaining weight. But by golly, I'm gonna let myself gain weight. The reason is, it shouldn't be too long before I'll be puking my guts out. I'm actually surprised I'm not puking yet. In my previous 4 pregnancies, I had about 8 months of severe nausea. So while I still can, I am enjoying food. So now the world knows...world wide web that is.
It's crazy. But it's true. And what is even better is, I am thrilled about it! I'll be due in August.
Guess who else is pregnant? Brittney Spears' little sister Jamie Lynn Spears, who is 16. Pretty cool! I thought if she could be courageous enough to come out with her news to "OK!" then, I can come out with it too.

Maybe we can be pregnant buddies?

Happy Birthday "Cracker"!

Wanted to wish this freakishly cute boy a very happy birthday! I believe he's 7 today. I think he is so adorable and he has got the personality to match. We'll see him next week and will have to bring his gift to him personally. Can't wait!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Sammy. She's our TWO year-old neice! Isn' t she a doll? We just love her so much and wish her the happiest birthday. We'll have to count on her mom and dad to give her a birthday kiss and hug from us. Love you Sammy!

Happy Birthday Allie!

I wanted to wish our neice Allie a very happy birthday. In honor of her, I'm gonna post my video of her doing her tap dance. She's the one in the black leotard. She's now 5. It was sheer delight to watch her dance. Hope you all enjoy too. Love you Allie!

Happy Birthday Sam! Pause my playlist now everyone.

Sam's English Project

Happy Birthday Sam! You are such a cool guy. I'm proud you are my brother. Hope you have a great day. In honor of you, I'm publicizing your video. (As a side note everyone, this video stars Sam and Molly's fiance Scott.)

Bailey party

You missed out all you Bailey's out there! We had a ton of fun last night at our annual Bailey Christmas party. Thanks Amy for hosting it again! Here are a couple of highlights. Pete's White Elephant gift was a hit. Here's a photo of him in his new Christmas vest. He loved it.

Here's a photo of Amy having the time of her life.

Here's Becca doing what she does best. Being cute.

And the highlight of the night was the gift that Morgan brought. He had it wrapped in a medium sized box. Uncle David chose it. When he unwrapped it, it was a pet box from PetsMart. Uncle David opened the box to find....


























Yep. A big rat! Amy just about lost it and spent the evening trying to make sure it stayed in the box. Unfortunately it did not go home with uncle David. And despite the pleadings of Amy's children, she didn't let it stay either. Morgan and Sara decided to reuse it at another gift exchange this weekend. Let us know how it plays out guys.
Thanks for the good times everyone! Merry Christmas and can't wait until next year.

Symphony

Last night we all went to the Symphony. It was a Christmas concert and it was fabulous! We had such a nice time. I love the symphony! Santa even came and the kids got to sit on his lap. Wouldn't life be sad without any music? I love music. All kinds. So glad I have some hearing left after that Googoo Dolls concert in college!

Eden

I found this video by chance on YouTube. I never even knew this video was taken or when. Crazy. I love how she doesn't even bother to stand up. I think the whole point of Wii is to get people off of the couch. Leave it to my kids defy that. It's great how she leans to the side to try to get the ball to go where it needs go also. Thanks Sam for making Eden famous.

My brother Tim.

I just felt like making a little post about my brother Tim today. I want him to know that I love him so very much! I am so grateful that he is my brother and I really admire him. I feel a connection with him that is unique and I appreciate that. Tim you are in my thoughts and prayers. I love you!

I love Steve!

Yesterday was an awesome day! It was our 10 year anniversary from meeting each other. So we got a babysitter and spent a day on the town. Last night the kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a slumber party with their cousins. That was super nice of them and we were very grateful for that! So yesterday we got to do a bunch of fun things. We went to the temple, did most of our Christmas shoppping, went out to lunch, went to the Botanical Gardens where this photo was taken, went to Festival of Trees, dinner, watched the BSU game, (until it wasn't looking too good,) and went to Barnes and Noble until it closed at 11pm. It was one of the best days of my life! I am extremely happy that Amy and Dwight hooked Emily and Steve up. It worked out great for me. Thanks Amy!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma and Paige! Happy Thanksgiving EVERYONE.

I want to make a call-out to my Grandma Bailey and Paige Bishop, our niece. Happy Birthday ladies! We love and miss you and are thankful for you today. Paige has really grown and become quite pretty. I had such a nice time with you last time we were down there. Thanks for playing a game with me and riding with me in the car. It was great getting to talk to you and get to know you a little better. You are an awesome girl! And this picture of my Grandma is my favorite. She's gorgeous. This woman is a complete inspiration to so many people. She is so loved and adored. We hope you both have a fantastic day.

It's a Wonderful Life

Last night I got to see part of "It's a Wonderful Life" at my inlaws and I just have to say that I love that movie!
This week has been a good one for me. Last week, well, was bad. This week, good. Steve has been able to be off work. So we've got to spend more time together. While the kids were at school on Monday, Tuesday and today, we had a nice time together. Steve's brother Brian and his wife Kamber were here in town the last few days too. They left this morning. They brought their darling Samantha with them. We had a great time with family Sun, Mon and Tuesday nights. Yesterday Steve and I went to the school to have lunch with the kids. We brought them some pizza, then we hung out on the playground together. After that, Steve and I read to Eden's class some books. I get to go to the school a lot with the kids but yesterday was so wonderful because we all got to be together as a family. As I was sitting there in Eden's class, watching Steve read to them, I was overcome with joy. I am so happy to be married to him! I am so happy to have the kids that we have! I am just very grateful for my life. Every sentence he read roused laughter in the kids. It was beyond fun to see. I am just a happy and grateful person today.

Mr. Snowman

Let it snow

We woke up to a beautifully snowy morning. It's the fun snow. You know, the fun flakes that are big and fluffy! The kids forgot about getting ready for school and catching the bus. The bus passed us by unnoticed. It's gonna be a great day! I love these people more than life itself.

It's official.

All of my siblings have blogs now that Sam is in on it! Crazy stuff. Check him out. He's my baby brother and I think he's swell. It's Sam and he's on my sidebar.

Hi everyone

Well, my new rules are going ok. It's been hard though! I just read back my posts to myself and was embarrassed with my typos and such since I've been in such a hurry online lately. Anyhow, just thought I'd mention that growing up I had some amazing times with the Morgans and now they are getting in on this blogging thing. I already announced Amy and Jenny's blogs. Now I've got a link to Erin and Sara. More great cousins. And their parents too! Pretty cool stuff everyone.
ps. Our mouse death toll is only up to 6. We are still working on it.

One of the best mistakes ever.

Happy Birthday Tuck man! Sorry my timing is off here. But I love you little man. You are pure delight. I hope you are enjoying your life as much as you are enjoyed. Love, Aunt Lucy

What's up.

Steve has worked really hard the past few weeks to get this shed built and it's done! I am really happy about it. It was my birthday present. (My birthday was in August.) So I've been waiting a long time. I told him when he got it that I'd clean out the garage. That was before I knew about the mice infestation. The past couple of days I've been working on the garage. It's gotten really bad for two reasons. One reason: I am kind of creeped out by the garage so I haven't been going in there if I don't have to. Instead, I just open the door and throw things in. A huge pile was mounting. It was really messy!!!! Problem two: MICE. I can't believe what these mice have done. We had this tupperware bin filled with MRE's they got into. Meals Ready Eat. It's military food sealed air tight in thick foil packs. They got in the bin and had a feast. Then they left the premesis and called all their mice buddies from all over the neighborhood and had them come over to eat too. They liked the chocolate covered oatmeal cookies best. They chewed into the foil and ate whole cookies. There was shredded foil all over and a bucket-load of poop. I wanted to vomit. I just threw it all away. We also had water packets that had teeth marks in them and they were empty. Nasty. Those are all in the garbage too. I feel unclean. I feel unchaste now. I just wanted to scrub my whole body when I was done. With an SOS pad. But the work is almost done. It's been terrible to say the least.

New Rules

Rule #1-

Hello. My name is Amanda Bishop and I an internet addict! Today is a new start for me. I think my time on the computer has gotten out of hand. I have way too many things that I need to do and should do and could do. I have gotten in the habit the past few weeks of spending too much time online. It's become an addiction. So starting now, I have a new rule. I will only allow myself to spend a maximum of 30 minutes a day on the computer. I will let myself carry time over to another day if I don't use all the time though. However, I can't carry over time for more than one week at a time. The slate clears. I am posting this because I had told myself this about a week ago but didn't follow through. If I announce it to everyone, then I'll stick to it.
Rule #2-
No more TV. At least for the month of November. The website above is interesting. You could check it out. When I went to Utah a few weeks ago I started watching TV. I always do on trips because I don't normally have time at home. But I got hooked on some shows and enjoyed the time to just be lazy. Now I've got to stop! So I am going on a TV fast. Exceptions: I can watch one movie a week with the kids or Steve for a date or family time or something if the opportunity arises. That's it though. Sometimes we go to the movies on the weekends or rent a movie.
Rule #3-
No more desserts. Steve decided last night that he isn't going to eat candy anymore. And in order to encourage him in that, I told him I'd join him. I didn't think it would be too hard because I figured I'd just compensate for it by eating desserts of other types. But I ended up telling him that. So he suggested we give up desserts. I agreed. Yikes! We don't know how long we are going to keep this up. It will be hard. But we'll try. Exceptions: if we give the other person permission. That works for me!

So wish me luck people!

Amy's a blogger now!

Now my way cool cousin Amy has started a blog. It's about time. Check her out. She's got a link on my sidebar. Same with my cousin Jenny! Except Jenny started long ago but hasn't done anything in months. Get on her case people.

Amanda Bishop

I thought I'd do a search on Google on my name to see what I found. It was cool! Guess what? Amanda Bishop is:

The name of a dance school in England. Check it out http://amandabishop.co.uk/

A famous (well sort of) actress.


A music student who passed away in 2000. She had a beautiful obituary. Seemed like a nice girl. Sad :(



I am also found on adoption websites where Amanda Bishop is being searched for after having been given up for adoption in Texas in '79.

I am also an author of some great books. Real page turners like "The Life Cylce of Lion."



I've also worked as a Tech support at Dell, an analyst at Hewitt and Associates, Sales Exec at Telme Farebase,Pharmacy Intern at Walgreens Pharmacy,MIss at Goldensource, Account Executive at Hargraft,MBA Student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, entertainer, and much more!

What an amazing woman I am!

It's a living nightmare!!!!

This is a real photo from our garage! I am gonna have some serious nightmares tonight. A couple of days ago I went into the garage and heard some rustling around. I looked up to see a mouse running along the shelf. I involuntarily screamed! I really don't like mice. I am like those wimpy women on TV that freak out over them. And despite my annoyance of those type of people, I am finding myself to be the same way. Then yesterday I was on the phone with Molly when I was telling her about how I saw a mouse the day before. I was out in the garage to get something and while she was on the phone, I saw a mouse again in a different spot. I screamed again involuntarily. So today I decided I'd go buy some glue traps. I bought 4. It was this afternoon and after only a few hours of a noisy household and going in and out of the garage, we already have caught 3!!!! I didn't realize what a problem it must be until I was hunting around for the best spots for the traps. There was mouse droppings EVERYWHERE! I think we must have a multitude of mice out there and we never noticed a sign of them until a couple of days ago. I am so disgusted! Even as I went out to check the traps, I saw another mouse running around. So with the 3 I found in traps, that makes at least 4 rodents in our garage. I have a feeling it is just the beginning. Help!!!!!

Here's the after photo of Becca

She's a cutie.

Random news

Just a couple bits of random news.
1- Jonah let me pull a tooth of his out tonight after FHE. He was really brave about it. I like pulling teeth.
2- My best friend Megan Mattson moved in to a house really close by! I am excited about that.
3- Celeste's friend (who is also 8 years old) left a note for her saying that she wasn't feeling well because she "started her period."!!!!! I don't believe it.

Jehovah's Witness

So I can't sleep. I'll tell you why. I can't stop thinking about my visit with the Jehovah's Witness ladies I had today. They've come over a few times and I actually get amused by it. I told them straight up the first time they came that I would welcome their visits because I'd like to share my beliefs with them. It's been an interesting experience. I think I've grown from it. Today was a bit frustrating though because I wasn't able to express myself the way I had hoped. And now that I've been thinking about things more since they've left, I want them back to tell them what more I've thought of. And so I can't sleep! Let me tell you some of the things I've learned since I've been meeting with these lovely ladies.
#1- The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints is DEFINITELY true!
#2- I need to increase my understanding and knowledge of the Bible. How can I claim to be a member of Christ's true church and not know the Bible as well as they do? Bad girl!
#3- The Spirit is the best teacher.
I guess I already knew these things, but visiting with the J.W. makes this knowledge even firmer in my mind.
There is no disputing one thing. That is the distinct feelings I get. When I study the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I feel peace, happiness, comfort, enlightenment. When I learn about other religions, I get all kinds of interesting feelings, but none of them are the ones that I have come to enjoy and crave. I find other religions to be fascinating and curious. But frankly when these ladies have taught me their beliefs, I feel blah, confused, and not really happy. So to me, this is a no brainer. Follow the beliefs that enrich my life and bring me joy.
I just feel like telling everyone that I do have a strong testimony of my church. I love it. I could go on and on about the experiences I have had that have confirmed this knowledge to me, but I'll spare you. I am grateful for my church. I really do love it!
I do have a deep respect for the Jehovah's Witnesses though. I appreciate their devotion to their faith. They know the Bible better than most people I think. They are asked to do a lot of door to door preaching. They do not celebrate holidays or birthdays. That can be tough for a kid in school. Celeste has a girl in her class that is Jehovah's Witness and it can be a challenge for her I am sure with all that she passes on at school and among friends. I respect that. They are very good people.

Stars

Yesterday was the Primary Program at church. It was awesome! I love the Primary Program. It is my favorite Sacrament Meeting of the year. We laughed so hard we cried. The kids all had parts. Eden in particular was hilarious. She had the whole congregation laughing pretty hard. And she was the talk of the rest of the meetings that day. She got up and during her part she talked about Family Home Evenings and how she likes when we sing our family song. My siblings and parents know what I'm talking about. This song has been sung in the Bailey family for 3 generations now. Grandpa Bailey started it I believe. Eden showed everyone how we hook thumbs together and then proceeded to sing the song. At the end of the song it says "Oh family, we love you and you and you...." as we point to each family member. She kept singing "you and you and you and you..." over and over again as she pointed out to the audience. It was great. We were proud! That's our girl. Becca roused some laughter too. She stood there and breathed in the microphone like Darth Vader, then saw us and waved. She was pretty adorable. Celeste was quite serious but did her part great. And Jonah said his well and had it memorized. I hope I never forget these glorious days of my children at this stage.

Bye bye hair

I knew it would happen sometime. Becca would cut her hair. And she did it yesterday. Fortunately she didn't cut a whole lot off and it made it easy for me to take care of. Unlike Celeste and Eden who cut theirs really short. I was sad to cut her hair. But truthfully, I had been thinking about cutting it anyhow. It was getting so long and she didn't like getting it brushed out. So here are some photos for you to see our little Becca Boo's new look.

Here she is before. You can see the sides that she cut.

During the cut.

The after photos seemed to have been lost from my camera somehow. Sorry! We'll get some up later. She's at preschool right now.

Sam

I just killed time on YouTube. But I have to justify myself a little by saying that I mowed the lawn, trimmed the edges, and weeded. The house is very clean and all the laundry is washed! Plus I went grocery shopping. I can be a bum for a little bit right?
So anyhow, for some reason I decided to type in my brother's name to see if he had videos up. (Sam Waite.) I know he likes making movies. He has a couple he did for English projects that I was impressed with . But, I found this prank call that made me laugh pretty hard. It is only about 3 min long. But the last 30 seconds were funny. Check it out.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=v1p-AzaJ1JA
I am not sure how to do the whole link thing. So if this doesn't work, Tim, tell me how to make links to comments. You do it all the time. Otherwise, just highlight it guys, then hold down Ctrl "c" then paste it in the navigator Ctrl "v"

I'm it!

So Anna got "tagged" by Becky, (Emily's sister in-law), which made its' round to me. I have to now post 6 random things about myself. Does anyone care? But I will go for it anyhow.
1- I like to keep my toenails really short. It started from dancing on pointe and needing to keep them that way. But now, even years away from the real dance world and toe abuse, I still cut 'em short. I don't want any space allowed for crap to build up under the nails. Anyone got a problem with that?
2- I keep 8 journals, 5 videos, and 5 scrapooks. I am a believer in record keeping. And I am a self diagnosed OCD sufferer. I keep a journal for various things. I have one for each of the kids, one for me and my happenings. I have one for exercise, one for service and one for diet. I've got a video for each child and one family video. Same with scrapbooks.
3- I need lots of hugs, kisses, hand holding, words of affection and so forth to thrive. Fortunately, my family generously oblidges.
4- I've got a multitude of "issues". But I guess I was supposed to say something new and random. You all knew that already.
5- Steve and I have been married for over 9 years and I just recently decided that I will no longer let him see me go to the bathroom. I want to be attractive to him and I was running out of ideas of how to do so.
6- I like and need change. I like change of all kinds. Big and small. I get tired of things the way they are often. I even like to change the way I sleep in bed. Currently Steve and I have been sleeping in our bed with our heads at the footboard instead of headboard to shake it up a bit. I know I'm a freak.
Ok. Now I have to tag 6 people.
Anna already tagged most of the bloggers I know. So we'll see what happens with this.
Dalana, Kamber, Mimzy, Sherod, Mom and Emily you are now "IT".
(Have you been tagged already Emily?)

Happy Birthday Blythe!

Our princess Blythe is now 6. What a woman. This girl has got pizzazz! I never use that word. Blythe is the definition of it though. Blythe, we love you and hope you have the greatest day ever!

Brenda's got a blog now.

Check out my sister in-laws blog. What a wonderful week for the blogging world. It's like a revolution!

Giddyup

Here are photos of the kids riding ponies at Thanksgiving point. In Utah we also got to see Brent and Jen too. No photos unfortunately. But we got to go to Tyler's football game and see him score a touchdown! That was awesome.

Photos from our trip to Utah last week.

This is Allie at her dance class. This was so cute and fun to watch!!!
I've got video that's great.

The kids and I went to BYU's Bean Museum and creamery on Thursday with Janice and kids. This museum was pretty cool and the kids had a blast! I recommend this place. It's free too.

We went to Thanksgiving Point's farm/petting zoo on Tuesday with Anna, and her preschool kids. She has a little group in her ward that trade off doing preschool. It was her week. This was a lot of fun too!

The lucky winners are here!

I had a drawing and these are the names that were pulled fair and square. Andy, Anna and Emily M. Congratulations! You are in for a real treat. Watch your mail boxes.

PIF last call

I'm doing my drawing tomorrow for my PIF. I don't have half the popularity of my beautiful sisters obviously. But if there is anyone out there that wants a lovely package of my favorite things, leave me a comment.

Another blogger joins the crowd!

I can't believe it! My MOM has a blog. She needs to get some interesting things up. But I've put her link on my side bar. Now get to it Mom.

Sabra Solo-Top 10 Week

I love this dance! And I love this dancer. I had to go back and pick it up. Enjoy.

New bloggers!

I am so thrilled to announce that my brothers have joined the blogging world! (Andy has had one going kind on for a while.) But Tim and Sherod and wives have them now. Pretty cool! Go to my side bar and check their links. I have the best brothers and their wives are pretty awesome too.
Sam if you are out there, you are the last sibling to join the blogging world. We are waiting for you!

PIF

Ok. So it is time for me to do my own Pay it forward since I won Anna's. Yippee! Here's how it will work. I'm gonna do it the way Anna did. If you want to enter my PIF, you only need to leave me a comment. I will do a drawing with the names of the people who commented on this post on Sunday. I will only choose 3 names. (I am not expecting a whole lot of comments anyhow.) But the winners will receive a package from me with some of my favorite things. Anybody can enter! I will be fair with my drawing. You do not have to do your own PIF if you win, but I encourage you to do so. It's fun!
Good luck people!

I'm getting out of here!

I am so excited because tomorrow I am leaving for UTAH! I am anxious to see family and get away from responsibilities at home. The kids are coming along but Steve has to stay home :( We'll miss him. I think I'll be back Friday. While I'm there I'll have to start my PIF. Keep watching.
I'm outa here! Whoohooo!

Happy Birthday Tim!

It is my brother Tim's birthday! He is an amazing person. He is one of the funniest people I know. I love being around him. He makes me laugh so hard. I really love and admire him. He takes such good care of his wife Brenda. She is unable to do her hair and makeup because of her health and he always does her up so beautifully. He works hard and lives a good life. He is a joy to anyone around him. I love him and hope he has a fantastic day.

John turns 12!

What is wrong with this world, that kids grow up so fast! John is our nephew and we just love him so much. We are very proud of the person he is. He is such a good person. So pure and gifted. I stole this photo off of Dalana's blog. You'll have to check out her post about him. It was sweet. Happy Birthday John. We love you!

Emily

Still want long hair? I think this is the funniest picture!!!!!!!

New Family Photo

Last time we took a family photo was over a year ago. I didn't want to go to a studio so I had Megan come over yesterday and shoot us.

Anna

Anna is my oldest sister and she rocks! I just want to advertise for her PIF. That's Pay It Forward. If you've seen the movie, you'll know about it. But go to her blog and enter her PIF. It's gonna be great!

Aren't they perfect?

I got bored today and decided to have a photo shoot with the kids. It was fun. Now I have something else to post.
I love my kids to death. They are wonderful.