Same Old Same Old

We had a pretty uneventful week.  Mostly chores, cleaning the house, and boring work stuff nobody wants to hear about.

Sloan is starting to look more grown up every day.  Now that her hair is [finally] getting longer, she is starting to look like a toddler rather than a baby.
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Zach was recently called to be in the Young Men’s presidency – which is the perfect calling for him – and so he is gone Wednesday and Thursday nights.  While he’s been gone for dinner, I have tried to make some things that he doesn’t particularly care for.  One, being crepes.  He likes them in Paris, but not when his wife makes them, apparently.  I haven’t made them in years, so I thought it would be fun for Sloan and I to have them this week for dinner.  I made one batch, which made 18 crepes, and figured we would have enough for dinner AND breakfast.  Turns out Sloan dislikes crepes as much as her dad does.  She wouldn’t even keep them in her mouth, just kept spitting them out.  Like father – like daughter, I guess?IMG_2258

Friday Zach took a long lunch and the three of us went up to Park City.  We are going to Targhee in a few weeks for a family ski trip with the Hendos, so Zach thought it would be a good idea to get Sloan up on the slopes again for a refresher course.  Turns out she did better than 95 percent of the other kids (and adults) on the bunny hill.  Ski instructors kept stopping me and asking me how old she was, some recognizing her video that went viral.  IMG_2255 We only took a short break for some snacks (cheese and wheat bread – her fave) and then went back at it.IMG_2254 Zach tells me EVERY SINGLE DAY that he is going to teach Sloan to ride the half pipe.  Every day I tell him the same thing, like a drone:  “I believe you.  I just don’t want you to get disappointed if she doesn’t love the sport as much as you do.”  I haven’t seen Zach this proud in my entire life.  The way he smiles when he is with her, teaching her how to snowboard, is different than any smile that I’ve ever known.  He’s such a sweet and fun dad.  I’m lucky we’re partners in this whole parenting thing… IMG_2227

Since the weather has been so wonderful the past few days, Sloan and I took advantage of it.  We went for a four mile run this week and she was all smiles the WHOLE time.  This girl is her happiest when she is outside.  Sloan running

Saturday Zach watched Sloan so I could attend one of my sweet friend’s weddings.  AJ is the last to be married out of our Interior Design Program and we could NOT be happier for her.  She found someone that perfectly compliments her and you can tell by just glancing at her that she is incredibly happy.  I am so glad she let all of us be a part of her big day! FullSizeRender-1

Saturday Zach and I went out on our date for dinner and a movie.  We went to Current and got tickets to Eddie the Eagle at the Sugarhouse theater.  It was such a feel-good movie, I highly recommend it!  (Plus, I love Hugh…he wins the gold medal if you ask me.)

Sunday we woke up, made blueberry muffins, and got ready for church.  Praise you, 11 o’clock church.  You are my favorite.  FullSizeRender

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to all three blocks – there was an applesauce incident that I won’t bore you about.  Let’s just say it nearly required a shower on my part.  We went on a family drive, had dinner, and then put Sloan down for bed so we could watch the Oscars (with leftover popcorn).

Dear Leo:  I’ve been devoted since your Titanic debut…and I really haven’t stopped loving you since.  Even though the Revenant nearly gave me my first anxiety attack, I’m still a diehard fan.

 

Catching Up

Before Mexico [and trying to currently] I was on kind of a health kick.  Eating super clean, doing BBG every day for 6 weeks, and trying to make all around healthier choices.  I get in a groove and I become kind of obsessed – I thrive in a routine.

I’m addicted to homemade protein bars.  My friend Lindsey got me hooked on her recipe for protein balls…and then I found a very similar one that translated to protein bars.  I triple the batch and eat them for breakfast almost every day.

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I also tried a new recipe for homemade brownies that I am hooked on.  You replace vegetable oil with strawberry puree.  It’s not perfect, but as good as you can get when trying to eat healthier.

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Before we left to Mexico – our friends at GoPro hooked Sloan up with some major swag.  We can’t wait to try it out on the mountain with her in tow.

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For my birthday, my family asked where I wanted to eat.  So I chose my favorite, J&G Grill up in Deer Valley.  We spent the evening up there all together.  It was a gorgeous day and the food was amazing.  Literally, the red snapper blew my mind.

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Sloan loves spending time with her grandparents and aunt and uncle.

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Sloan got sick a few days after we returned from Mexico…probably from someone on our return flight home.  She’s not been herself and it’s breaking Zach and I’s hearts to watch her so sluggish and sad.

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I thought a mini cupcake [her first ever cupcake, actually] would lift her spirits.  Turns out she doesn’t like frosting.  She is definitely Zach’s child.  She liked the idea of the cupcake more than the actual taste of it. IMG_2190

The only upside to her being so down is that she is a little lover.  She will cuddle, hold my hand, and rest her head on my shoulder forever.  Never moving, just making sure I stay close to her at all times. IMG_2185

Zach and I have had some good date nights the last month or so.  I’m telling you:  getting a sweet babysitter [bless you Hayley] for date night is the best thing Zach has ever done for me.  I need my Zach time.  Even if it is scarfing down fish tacos at Lonestar.IMG_2192

This week I finally nailed down the almond pastry I’ve been attempting [6th time is the charm, I guess?] when my neighbor emailed me her family’s version of it.  It worked – although it’s not as pretty – and my entire family is excited we can now make this a Christmas tradition.  Yes…it’s February, but pastries never get old.  And yes…I said I am TRYING to continue to eat clean.  These babies had half a pound of butter in just one batch…

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We’re looking forward to the next few months:  packed with family events, a couple of vacations, and some holidays!  Besides, spring is my favorite season of all.

Mexico 2016

I’ll be totally honest:  I have not had the best experiences in Mexico.  When Zach and I talked about going somewhere for my birthday this year, my only request was to go somewhere warm.  Since my birthday is at the beginning of Feb, we decided to forgo getting each other Valentine’s gifts and just take a family trip.  When Zach suggested Mexico I was skeptical [Don’t all my stories start out with me being skeptical?  Geez, I am a total jerk.] but I’ve always trusted Zach.  And how could I dislike Mexico so much when my husband thinks it is one of the greatest locations on the planet?  So he found a resort, that was kid friendly, and as soon as I saw the photos of the joint, he had won me over.  We were going to Mexico, all three of us.

Zach planned the flights perfectly so that Sloan would take a nap on the way there AND back.  She slept for a portion of the flight and we were both relieved.  4+ hours on a flight with a newly walking baby is not for the faint of heart.
Sloan and I on Plane

sloan asleep

We arrived late afternoon.  Zach had arranged a car service to pick the three of us up from the airport [and they even brought a brand new car seat] and I couldn’t have been more grateful.  Our driver picked us up in a brand new blacked out SUV.  From the second we arrived in Mexico this resort had won me over.  It was a 30 minute drive to the resort from the airport and Sloan couldn’t hang.  She fell asleep within the first couple of minutes of the drive.

When we arrived at the resort I about died.  Not only was it beautiful, but the service from the moment we arrived was incredible.  While I checked us in, Zach and Sloan roamed the lobby.  FullSizeRender

The first views of our room were pretty jaw dropping.  Zach got us a swim-up junior suite so we had access to a pool and our very own hammock 24/7.Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 5.06.01 PMWe changed our clothes and made our way down to dinner.  It didn’t take me long to realize my beef with Mexico.  It was the dining experiences I had had in the past.  I have stayed at all inclusive resorts before…and frankly the food was less than average.  Eating at a buffet three meals a day can be wearing on a person.  But Zach convinced me that this place was far different.  Not only did it have a 24 hour Marketplace Restaurant, but it had 6 different restaurants [and room service included] to chose from.  We ate at the Mexican place the first night and it did not disappoint.  Sloan could have eaten her own shrimp taco and quesadilla by herself.  IMG_2041

At night our room looked even more dreamy.  The shared lap pool lit up with colored lights – we couldn’t wait to test out the waters in the morning.  Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 5.05.03 PM

The first night [and every night, really] Sloan slept like a champ.  I scooped her out of her crib and took her out on our deck in my robe.
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Just me, my babe, and a Coca Light to start out the day.  Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.22.41 PM

We had breakfast, I hit up the gorgeous hotel gym, and then we geared up for the pool.  Sloan enjoyed relaxing in the hammock for a lot longer than I guessed she would. hammock

both in hammock

We splashed and played all morning – until it was time for her to go down for a nap.
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The best thing we packed was Sloan’s baby monitor.  We put her down for a nap, closed our sliding glass door and blackout shades, and relaxed on our little patio while she napped.  I laid in the hammock with bottle of Coca Light until she awoke.  It was the most relaxed I have felt in months.  FullSizeRender-2

We had lunch at the Marketplace – which exceeded my expectations.  I had fresh grilled salmon and grouper every. single. day.  After we our food had settled we put Sloan in her rash guard for the beach.  This was Sloan’s second time at the beach, but she acted like it rocked her world.  Maybe walking on her own with her toes in the sand sent her over the edge – because she refused to leave when it was time for dinner.
Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.23.34 PM Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.23.43 PM We spent our evenings watching the sun go down from our little shady spot on our patio.  Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.24.05 PM

Zach hit up the Sweet Corner [unlimited ice cream and baked goods] every afternoon…mostly for strawberry ice cream.
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The second night we ate at the Lobster restaurant.  The meal was out of this world – and Sloan ate more than Zach and I combined.  I don’t know if it was the ambiance or what…but our girl played hard and fueled hard. us at dinner

The next morning was slow and relaxing.  I went to the gym while Zach and Sloan ordered room service.  By the time I got back and showered – we were all ready to hit the pool for our second round.  IMG_2099

Sloan discovered she liked floating atop a mat rather than actually being in the water.  Apparently the view was better. Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.31.29 PM

During Sloan’s nap – well, every nap she took – Zach would swim over to the swim-up bar and get himself not one, but TWO tropical drinks.  He goes hard while on vacation.
Zach and his drinks

I enjoyed the endless amounts of tropical fruit goodies the resort had to offer. FullSizeRender-3

When Sloan woke up we made our way over to Sombrero Land.  I have no clue if that’s what it is actually called…but I deemed it so.  Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.32.00 PMSloan had such a great time, she probably swallowed more water in that span of time than the entire trip.  Her wide smile was so big she nearly drained the pool.
Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.32.17 PM The slides and activities were a little more intense than I imagined, but Sloan couldn’t get enough.  She’s fearless.Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 4.33.12 PM

Sombrero Land wore her right out.  She went down for her afternoon nap and slept deep into the evening.  Zach and I enjoyed our patio.  My main form of entertainment was watching Zach vs. the hammock.  The hammock won 4 times in a row…

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Saturday morning I hit the gym for the last time and Zach took Sloan to breakfast at the Marketplace.  Afterwards Sloan met a new friend, who was a huge hit!  (That poor human was probably roasting in that getup.)
IMG_2137 IMG_2133Afterwards we hit up the pool for our last full day.  We were going out with a splash.
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Sloan took another extra long nap – and I even took a nap myself in the hammock.  I didn’t move a muscle for over 1.5 hours…well, except to turn over. IMG_2115

Then we went for round two at the beach.  Sloan was all smiles and tried to dive head first into the water repeatedly.

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As I was taking photos of Zach and Sloan walking along the beach I snapped this photo of Sloan’s baby footprints in the sand.  It made me extremely grateful to have been blessed with the family that I have. IMG_2116

After we managed to remove all the sand from all of our crevices, we made our way over to dinner at Brass, the resort’s steakhouse.  brass It was one of my favorite meals of the trip.  Surprise, surprise.  Grilled fish.

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Sloan ate like a Queen the entire vacation, it’s probably another reason she slept so well.  sloan eating

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On the weekend nights of our trip they had a new theme each night.  The first night was the “White Party”, “Casino Night”, and Saturday night was “Cantina Night”.  There was live music, hoards of food, and activities for all ages.  cantina night

The next morning we woke up and had our last meal at the resort.  I already miss the unlimited fresh juice bar.

juice bar

We made our way to the airport, had dinner once we made our way through security, and boarded our flight.

Sloan slept for the first THREE HOURS of the flight home.  I kept pinching myself.  As if she couldn’t have been any better, she decided to one-up herself.  She was only awake for the last hour and 45 minutes of the flight home.  Just when I thought I couldn’t love and appreciate her more…IMG_0672

A lot of people gave us flack about taking Sloan to Mexico.  Fact:  taking a baby on a vacation is double the work.  Fact #2:  going on a family vacation is money well spent.  It’s different, traveling with someone who still craps their pants and eats freeze-dried yogurt melts.  But this is one of the best trips we’ve been on together to date, and I wouldn’t have changed one thing.  Even though we were traveling on actual Valentine’s Day, I think I’ve convinced to make this our new family tradition.  I can’t think of a better Valentine’s present to each other.  Besides, I feel like we made money on this trip if you count all the Coca Lights and tropical drinks we consumed.  We hit the beverage lottery.  And also…the baby lottery.  Because no other baby would sleep and eat BETTER on vacation than she would at home.

 

 

What does VIRAL mean?

I’ll be honest:  the last week or so has been absolutely crazy.  I usually blog Monday morning about our week and sum up what we did and things I want to remember.  I want to remember this week/weekend because we have made some crazy memories and learned some valuable life lessons in the process.

We had a wonderful week.  It was slow and fun at first, mostly laundry and running errands.  On Thursday Zach decided he wanted to take a long lunch and head up to Park City with Sloan to test her skills up on the slopes.  FYI – Park City lets kids 5 and under ski for free – so it was a no brainer.  I fed Sloan her lunch and then Zach picked us up.  We drove to PC, found a killer parking spot, and bundled Sloan up in her snow gear.  While we were walking up to the actual resort – people were laughing and pointing at us, some even said, “Good luck with that” and “Is she really going to snowboard?”  We just laughed and had her wave at people.  It was pretty entertaining.  Once we got her on the hill Zach let her go down the mountain with him holding on to the Riglet the whole time.  She didn’t fall once and kept her balance each time.  We filmed a few bits of her going up and down and then Zach let her go down without the rig while he ran beside her.  She did a lot better than we both expected.  She was having a blast so we kept doing a few runs with her until it was time for her snack – which she ate on the snow in her snow clothes.

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Sloan on Magic Carpet

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We drove home and I put her down for a nap.  While she slept I downloaded the videos off the camera and put the video on Facebook.  It was terrible quality, so I decided to upload it on YouTube (because the quality is so much better) and share it on Facebook instead.  I didn’t have a YouTube account, so I had to set one up.  Then I did laundry and other chores while Sloan continued napping.  People were really sweet about the video and a lot of people were viewing it on Facebook and making nice comments.

The next day KUTV picked up the story and asked Zach for some information and photos.  He obliged and they posted it on their online page.  Within minutes the views went from a few hundred to THOUSANDS.  We thought it was hilarious and didn’t think a thing of it.  Then, Fox13 called.  Then Channel 4.  Fox 13 came Friday to our home to interview Sloan (even though I told them she could only say “mama” and “dada”) and it was pretty hilarious.  Let’s just say it didn’t go very smoothly.  Sloan was more interested in jumping off the chair we were seated on or grabbing the interviewer’s microphone.  Regardless, they ran a cute story about Sloan.  Other stations started picking it up and running the story and video in their evening news.  That night, after it aired at 5 on Fox, Zach started getting phone calls.  A ton of phone calls.  FOX National News, CBS, and even CNN.  We couldn’t believe it.  Saturday morning CNN did a phone interview with Zach and it exploded after that.  It went from 3 million views on KUTV’s site to over 13 million views in a matter of hours.  We had a date night planned with Zach’s family, so our sweet Hayley came over to tend Sloan while we went out to dinner with some of Zach’s siblings.

When we woke up the next morning, CNN had run it on all of their affiliates and everything was going crazy.  The response was incredible.  Here are some links that we’ve kept track of [my favorite being ABC National News, KSL, and Zach’s favorite…the New York Post video] and this is the perfect place to store some of them.

CNN

ABC National News

Time Magazine

People Magazine

TODAY Show

Scary Mommy

GrindTV

Mashable

KUTV

Fox 13

Good4Utah

KSL

New York Post

PopSugar

Huffington Post

Snowboarding Magazine

The Weather Channel

It’s now been played all over the country and even other countries like Jamaica, Argentina, China, the UK.  Some guy from Norway even interviewed Zach about Sloan and her “next steps” when it comes to her snowboarding skills.  Hundreds of people have emailed me the past few days.  Some saying sweet things about how we are getting our daughter outside and teaching her to have fun – some asking about her equipment.  Park City has sent us some Smith gear and GoPro [this is where Zach lost his mind] even contacted us about sending us some new stuff for Sloan – including a brand new Hero Session 4!  Burton, Salty Peaks, and several other companies also have contacted us.

Monday was by far the most bizarre, when Good Morning America contacted Zach AT WORK.  How they got his work number is both creepy and impressive, but they got a hold of him.  They told him that Sloan’s video was the first thing they discussed in their production meeting and they wanted to run the story.  They planned to run the video and do a Skype interview from our living room.  It all was very surreal.  Monday morning ABC National News also called for a phone interview, which was my favorite interview we’ve done thus far – and one of my favorite stories.  The sweet reporter, Stevie, who interviewed me about Sloan was one of the best interactions we’ve had above all.

Tuesday morning we woke up at 4 am to get ready for Good Morning America.  We set up my laptop on the coffee table of the front room and woke Sloan up at 4:45 to get her dressed.  Waking up a 14-month-old at 4:45 is risky business.  She wasn’t her normal sweet self, and we were hoping all would go well.  I think considering the circumstances, she did pretty good.  We had to sit and wait for the interview from 5:00 am until 5:45, when the actual live interview took place.  Keeping Sloan sitting still that long was no picnic [just ask everyone in our ward during sacrament meeting – they know Sloan well] but with a little help from some yogurt melts, stacks of toys and books, and in the end – my phone – it all worked out.

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It was most definitely a stressful experience, but something we both know we would do again if we had to do it over.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’re glad we did it, and that it is over.  The link is here if you want to watch it for yourself.

We were also live on Channel 2 later in the week, where Sloan tripped and fell...but thankfully they edited it out on their website and social media.  It was a fun experience and people were so excited to see the little girl that got almost 70 million views in 4 days.  They kept saying how far the story had reached and how grateful we let them run it first.  Here is the link to our live spot if you want to check it out.

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With all the positive and sweet things people have said and done to reach out to us – there have been the negative things as well.  Surprisingly, nothing negative has been done on any news or media stations directly.  How sad is this:  the only negative backlash we have received is from Facebook.  Mostly comments on the KUTV article about her not wearing a helmet and us being “irresponsible parents”.  It didn’t bother me [because I have a helmet in my hand during almost the entire video – even the smallest one I could purchase was too big for her and she couldn’t see beneath it] until I read a comment criticizing Sloan’s appearance.  Some guy called Sloan a “fatty” in a comment and I about died.  Truthfully, I was so hurt and upset that I decided I would never read a single comment after that one.  I’ve been tagged in hundreds of comments since and I haven’t even given them a second glance.  Make fun of me – that’s fine, I can brush it off.  Make fun of my baby – I’ll go mama bear on yo ass.  So since then, it’s been very enjoyable.  Not looking at the negativity on Facebook has made me realize that anyone can turn anything into something bad.  The video was meant for family and friends to see how Sloan has progressed, something fun and hopefully enjoyable to watch for others.  But it has exploded and we can’t help but laugh about the whole situation.  Who knew that such a silly video would be watched by so many millions of people.  As a parent, you obviously think your child is adorable – but to see others enjoy her and get to see her personality a little bit, that makes you very proud.  You can tell by the video how much she truly enjoys it, and how proud Zach is of her.

One of the most enjoyable things about this whole process is how people have reached out to me.  All kind messages – flooding my Yahoo and Gmail and Facebook Messenger.  Some have said how sweet it is to watch Zach be such a sweet, loving, and proud father.  Some that they love that we are teaching our child to enjoy being outside and teach her a sport that will bring her joy in life.  Others have said how they admire the patience and love it takes to teach a child to snowboard – let alone get her snowboarding clothes on.  Most of all, I am glad to know that people respect the fact that we are enjoying being a family outside, not plopping our baby in front of a TV.  I know there have been comments about her not wearing a helmet, that we are careless for teaching her such a dangerous sport…but all I have to say to that is they just don’t know Zach and I very well.

So what have I learned from this experience?  How lucky I am.  I am a mother of a sweet, fun-loving baby girl.  Who loves to be outside – whether it be playing, snowboarding, or going on walks – with her parents.  For me, it’s not really about how great of balance she has or that she can actually ride on a snowboard.  It’s the joy you see in her smile when she’s doing it.  That’s what makes me the proudest parent of all, seeing my little girl smile like that.