The Mickelsens

Paisley & Leighton

2010-09-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

New pics of Pais and Leighton on my photog blog. I'm too lazy to post in both places :) So to see more go here www.pinkpaisley1.blogspot.com. There...Done...Finally updated my family blog!

Paisley's Easter and birthday pics

2010-04-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

Taking pictures of my own child has turned out to be the biggest challenge! You'd think that with what I do I would have tons of pictures of Paisley.....but nope! She knows what I am trying to do and wants nothing to do with it. And it always ends with tears. She did a little bit better with this shoot. This time it started out with tears and ended with a few smiles and at least a few glances. But if any of you saw the rediculous shananigans I was pulling out to get her attention.......You might think twice about claiming me as an aquaintance. :) I must say I looked pretty rediculous! Whatever it takes, right?!

My amazing talented cousin made this birthday cake for Paisley's birthday pics and I love it! Thanks Heidi! Paisley loved this cake too. She kept calling it her big cupcake. Getting a picture of her with it was so hard because she just wanted to hug and kiss it the whole time. Heaven forbid she turns her head and smiles for even half a second!

Paisley turns 2!

2010-04-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

My baby girl turned two last week! I can't even believe it. How do they go so quickly from being a baby to a toddler! She is already 2 going on 16. She is miss independent and has to do everything on her own. The most common thing out of her mouth is, "Paisley do it!" And lately she has been telling me, "Paisley need dat!" I'm in trouble when she's older!
We had a little birthday party for her last week. And we are so luck to have such amazing family and friends that came over to spoil her. She is loved and lucky to have all of you!

So proud!

2010-03-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures that my mom and dad were given of my brother Cody in Afghanistan. Are they intense or what? I have to admit that at first glance my stomach kind of fell to the floor to see my brother armed like this and in that setting. But that feeling was quickly replaced with pride. I am so proud to have a brother who is brave enough to fight for our country.
We miss him so much!!

Something else to be proud of...... This little cutie is potty trained! She still has an accident here and there but is over all doing so well with the potty thing. I LOVE this little stinker to pieces!

A Christmas post in February?

2010-02-08T14:19:00.001-08:00

Yep that's right! I am just now getting around to posting pictures from Christmas. I had good intentions of posting them so much earlier......But nope!

We had a great Christmas this year. I loved that Paisley was old enough to open the presents and have fun with it. This was also the last chance we had to spend time with my brother Cody before he had to leave for Afghanistan. :( So we got lots & lots of family time in.

I just had to throw this picture of Shane on there :) We had the funnest Christmas Eve Party mostly thanks to him! I chose not to posT the one of me and Hailey trying to join in with the heel stretches. Let's just say that my BROTHER now has a better heel stretch than me.....Man I'm getting old!

And yes....My mom still get's us all matching pajams!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

I actually took some pictures of my own child and it was so much fun. If the poor thing looks a little beaten up it's because she has a major cold and pink eye! But her mean mom made her get her pictures taken anyway. She really was a trooper. And I photoshoped out as much of the pink eye as I coulde.
When I asked her if she wanted me to take her pictures she ran to the floor, posed, and said, "cheese mile." She must have seen me pose other kids like that. But it completey caught me off guard and I missed it. I didn't even have my camera turned on yet. I just love this little cutie pie!

These tears are because I whiped the goobers out of her eyes. Which of course made the goobers worse
NAUGHTY!

NICE :)

She was doing so good so I decided to take some of her in a couple other outfits. But I should have done her Christmas dress first because she pooped out shortly after that. So after the pink eye clears up I will have to get some of the Christmas dress.

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Online auction for Benson & Claire

2009-10-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

There is an online auction Monday November 2nd for Benson & Claire. For those of you who aren't familiar with this cause click on this link below. http://bensonandclaireauction.blogspot.com/
It is for a good cause and I encourage all of you who read this to get online and check it out Monday. They have lots of fun stuff and will be auctioning off a photography session with me. The auction begins November 2nd at 8:00 a.m. and closes November 16th at midnight.

Craft fair

2009-10-29T13:22:00.001-07:00

My friend Kate is doing a craft fair at Rigby High school on November 14th from 10:00am to 5:00 pm. There are already over 85 vendors! Lots of fun stuff so come check it out!!

More of Mya

2009-10-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

Okay.....so I know that this is probably way too many pictures to post. But what can I say? She's my niece and I think she is so adorable!

Halloween Portraits

2009-09-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

Click to see a bigger picture

Baby Mya

2009-09-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

My new niece Mya has finally arrived! Isn't she adorable?! I had so so so much fun taking her pictures. I just couldn't wait to give Becca a little peak. It's just a peak though. There are many more to come :) Enjoy Becca! I'm so glad you got your girl!!

Halloween mini sessions

2009-09-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

I am going to be doing Halloween mini sessions on October 8th and 10th. Bring your kids all dressed up and get their pictures taken for $15. This includes up to 5 edited images on a CD with the copyright release. That way you can print off your favorites and have them to display in your home through October. I am working on the set up right now and it is going to be SO cute! Sample picture and more details to come soon. If anyone is interested call me at 569-3554 or email at cassc23@hotmail.com

Change of plans...

2009-09-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that many of you have noticed my recent obsession with photography. I work as a nurse every other weekend. And inbetween I have been keeping myself busy taking pictures. I have decided that for some crazy reason photography is much more fun than nursing. I am so grateful for my degree but have decided to let it take a back seat for now and try to do photography full time. But I need some help getting my name out there......(thus this blog post) :) So check out my photography blog at www.pinkpaisley1.blogspot.com (named after my daughter because her cute little face is what inspired me to start taking pictures). I also have a link here on my family blog just to the right. So take a look if you have time. If anyone is interested e-mail me at cassc23@hotmail.com for prices and availability. Here are a couple pictures from my most recent session with Bronwyn Petersen. Her parents are Mike and Whitney Petersen. There are more of her on my photography blog. ENJOY!!!

Paisley's 15 month pictures

2009-07-29T16:09:00.001-07:00

I finally finished editing Paisley's 15 month pictures. To show what a procrastinator I am.......She will be 16 months on the 1st! Better late then never is totally my motto!
I am loving the age that Paisley is right now. She is constantly making us laugh and such a joy in our lives. I am so amazed at how much she learns every day. She is the biggest copycat ever. Apparently she has caught on to the fact that you are supposed to wipe after going to the bathroom because the other day she grabbed some toilet paper and tried to wipe me! I just love her to death.
I have to apologize for posting so many pictures. But I am going to be a proud parent and say I think she is just too cute to narrow it down to a few pictures.

Showing me where her nose is...

The 4th

2009-07-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to see how Paisley would react to the parade and fireworks this year. Well she loved the parade because of all the "horsies" but HATED the fireworks! She cried for about the first ten minutes of them trying as hard as she could to get me to get her away from them. Then........she fell asleep and slept through the rest! I thought the fireworks were amazing and we had an awesome spot. but Pais was NOT a fan!

After the parade we went over to the Mickelsen's and all of the kids played on the slip n' slide. Paisley wasn't a fan of that either.

Staring at the slip n slide hoping that daddy doesn't try to take her down it again.

paisley Jo

2009-06-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

I Just wanted to share this picture of my baby girl. She absolutely LOVES playing outside. It is such a challenge to keep her in the house. And once we take her outside it is an even bigger challenge to get her back inside. She is just so much fun! I love this little girl so much!

Hai & Chan

2009-05-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures of Hailey and Chandler quite a while ago. But as I have said many times before I'm a procrastinator so I am just getting around to posting them. I'm only going to put one on this blog but to see the rest click on the Cassie Jo photos link to your right.

Time for a post

2009-05-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

There's hasn't been much going on lately and I have been neglecting the blog. So I decided to share these pictures of my favorite little girl from last Sunday. I just thought she looked too dang cute in her church cloths and piggies. So I had to pull the camera out.

Paisley loves to play with her grandpa's guitar......even though she's not supposed to :)

Miss Payton Jayne

2009-04-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have been working on these pictures of Payton and I just wanted to share a few. I love taking pictures of Payton. She makes it so easy because she is an awesome little poser. Most of the poses she just pulled out on her own. She would say, "How about this one Cassie" then strike a pose. Then she'd say, "Oh, I know another good one. How about this?" Then strike her pose. She cracks me up. I love this little girl!

Easter/Paisley's 1st b-day party

2009-04-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun dressing Paisley up in her little Easter dress for church today. In fact.....We might have been a little late for church today because the zipper got stuck and I couldn't zip it up all the way. But i was bound and determined to get it zipped up so that she could wear it to church. Heaven forbid I take her to church in something other than her Easter dress on Easter Sunday!

Confession: The candy was for me and Lorin :)

I got her the cutest little singing bunny. His ears flap up & down while he sings tootie fruitie oh Rudy. She got a kick out of that.

I've been a procrastinator and am just now posting pictures from her birthday party last Saturday.....Story of my life. But here they are. I know that Paisley won't remember her little party. But I figured that someday maybe she will look back at the pictures and know how much her mom and dad must have loved her!
Again....I know that Paisley isn't old enough to understand or appreciate my efforts but I had so much fun decorating for her party.

I had to pull out my rusty poster making skills from my cheerleading days for this poster. We did a cupcake theme. By the way...I do know how to spell little. Wittle is her nickname. It's baby talk for little. We have been calling her that since the day she was born. I didn't expect it to stick like it did.

This is my first attempt at decorating cupcakes. I can for sure say it will be a long long time until I decide to make a mess like that again.
Tasha taught me how to make these tissue paper balls. They were fun and so easy! The birthday cake.

I think the balloons were Paisley's favorite part about the party. She carried this yellow one around all day.

Say it's not so.....

2009-04-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

My baby is one today! I used to say that the day she was born was the happiest day of my life. But with her around each day just get's better & better! Happy birthday baby!

These are some of the things I am just LOVING about you Paisley Jo.

You can't fall asleep without playing with my hair.
You love to cuttle
When you find the dog food you try to grab as much as you can and shove it in your mouth as fast as you can before you're busted.
Your favorite word is "Mia".....That's grandma Connie's dog
When music comes on in the car you try to sing along
When music comes on the t.v. you bounce up & down in slow motion. That's your version of dancing.
You look so cute walking around the house like you own the place.
Your favorite toys are my phone and my wallet. Uh oh....starting out early!
When someone says hi, you say hi back in a high pitched voice and a big cheesy grin on your face.
You love to blow kisses. But sometimes you get confused and blow them from your ear.
You have everyone who loves you wrapped around your cute little finger!

This is a video of Paisley on her 1st birthday

Please ignore the high pitched baby voice I'm talking in :)

I did it!

2009-03-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

It's about 1:00am and of course I am completely enthralled in my photoshop program. I have been trying all night to figure out how to apply a texture to a photo. Well after watching many many on-line tutorials it finally clicked! I was so excited so I just had to share!

This is cute little miss Leighton Snow. She is Rachael Snow/Peterson's baby. Could you believe that this cute little stinker is about 8 months old and only 10 lbs?! She is such a cutie. Thanks Rach for letting me practice on her. I had so much fun.

Proud moment!

2009-03-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today my mom brought me the newspaper and showed me the baby parade section and..... Paisley won April! It's kind of hard not to feel a little proud of that. Okay, a lot!

Spring fever!

2009-03-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was in the kitchen and heard Paisley cracking up by the sliding door. And when I went over to the door to see what she was laughing at this is how I found my husband. All decked out in his winter boots, sweat pants, t-shirt, and swinging a golf club. Something tells me he just can't wait until the snow is gone.

Too much growing up for one day!

2009-02-21T20:37:00.000-08:00

My little Paisley is just growing too fast. This last week she started walking a little. But it was pretty shaky. Today she has just been taking off on her own. It is so fun to watch this tiny little person who looks way to tiny to be walking... walking! It just doesn't look natural. I love it! When Paisley was born she didn't have much hair. In fact she had a mullet. (you know...Business in the front. Party in the back). Lorin used to call her mullet head just to drive me crazy. Well today we finally have enough hair for pony tails! She was also upgraded to a forward facing big girl car seat today. See what I mean? Too much for one day!

My baby sister is engaged!

2009-02-16T19:43:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that my baby sister is getting married! Her boyfriend Chandler came home from his mission about 3 weeks ago and he purposed on valentine's day....Is anyone else wondering what took him so long? :) I am so excited for you Hailey!

The ring

Playing with photoshop

2009-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

I just got a new photoshop program and have been having so much fun with it! I'm addicted. The only problem is that it takes me so long to figure out how to do one simple thing. So I spend forever on my computer and only get one picture edited. It's complicated stuff......Or maybe I'm just a little slow. But it's fun. If anyone knows of any good photoshop classes in the area or books or anything that could help please let me know.

Tasha Price was nice enough to let me come practice using my new camera on her cute kids. Paisley is just way to mobile to wait for me to figure out the camera. By the time I do the moment is gone.
I love this picture but does anyone know how to remove shadows on photoshop? There's got to be a way.
Aren't her eyes amazing!

We were mostly taking pictures of Halle but Payton wanted to get in there and pose for the camera too. She is a good little poser isn't she! Thanks Tash for letting me practice on your kids!

I need some help

2009-02-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

I was thinking that it would be fun to put a picture of Paisley in the Babies Born in 2008 in the post Register. But there's just one problem. I am the most indecisive person in the world. I know it's not that big of a deal. Just pick a picture and put it in, right? Well I have a tendency to over analyze everything. So I have narrowed it down to three pictures and I would love some input from everyone. Thanks!
1)

2)

3)

Girls' weekend!

2009-01-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend me, Paisley, my mom, and Hailey had a little girl's weekend and took a trip to Utah. So of course that means shopping...shopping.....and more shopping! We had a blast. These are a few pictures from our trip.
On the way there we stopped in Malad to see my Grandma & Grandpa so that they could see Paisley. I can't believe that this is the first time they have met her!

After a long day of shopping we relaxed in the hotel pool and hot tub. And even though the pool rules said no children under 2 years old; I bought Paisley some cute little bath toys and a new swim suit so she could swim too. She loved it!

Poor Paisley had a bit of a rough weekend. She was playing by the night stand and slipped and hit her head right on the corner of it! She got quite a shiner from it.

I took this carrier thing so that my hands would be free for shopping. She actually really liked it. She took some pretty good naps in that thing....but my shoulders and hips were killing me the next day!

Aunt Hailey LOVES zebra print. So she couldn't resist buying Paisley this adorable coat from gymboree. Thanks Hai! I love it.

I know this is turning into a rediculously long post but here are some pictures I couldn't resist sharing of my favorite little girl in the world.

I know that the green pacifier looks kind of funny in this picture but Paisley just loves her green pacifiers. For the last 10 months I have been desperately searching for a cute pink one that she would like as much but she always goes back to the green ones. She loves them. I don't even want to know how much money I have wasted on cute pacifiers that she hates!

New camera on the way!

2009-01-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

I am so excited! For the past few months I have been dreaming about a new camera and researching like crazy to decide what to get. With a big thanks to Camille Roskelley for educating me on cameras I finally found the one! I ordered it today and can't wait to get it (due to arrive on Jan 21st).

Paisley is growing like crazy as usual and into everything! She's all over the place and on the verge of walking. I enjoy more than anything in the world being her mom and playing with her everyday. She is such a happy little girl and I can't get enough of her!

We recently used the "cry it out" method to try and get Paisley to sleep better through the night......And I am a believer! It only took two nights and she was sleeping through the night. I haven't felt this well rested in months! The first night she had been crying for a few minutes and stopped so I went in her room to check on her and this is what I found. She was out cold with her head resting on her bumper pad. I couldn't help but grab the camera and take a picture of her.

Family pictures

2009-01-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

While Cody was home for Christmas we had some family pictures taken. We just got them back today and I was excited about how they turned out. Especially the one where Paisley is clapping. What a little cutie!

Baby's first Christmas

2008-12-30T11:53:00.001-08:00

This was such a fun Christmas for us. Even though Paisley isn't old enough to understand I think she had a blast. She of course loved playing with the wrapping paper and everyone spoiled her! It was so much fun for Lorin and I to have a new member in our little family to share Christmas with.

Christmas Eve

My uncle surprised Lorin with a crown for his present. Lorin kind of figured his present would be a joke so before he opened it he told everyone that my uncle told him he had to share whatever was in it with him. So he kind of got him back. Lorin wore it with pride.

Paisley got a tickle me Elmo for Christmas. She was a little scared of it at first but she is slowly warming up to it. It still startles her when he sits up.

Christmas day
This is Paisley with her new pony from Grandma and Grandpa Jones. This pony is so cute. It talks and sings a song. Paisley has figured out that if she bounces it makes it rock. She loves it!

Lorin and I bought paisley a cute little stroller to help her learn how to walk. I thought it would take her a while to figure it out but she is walking all over the place with it.

Paisley was having fun watching her dad and cousins play Indiana Jones

Paisley got a kick out of this singing Alvin the chipmunk doll.

Staring at her cousin Nea. Can you tell that she likes her?

A couple of days after Christmas me, Tasha, Rachael, Stephanie, and Jocelyn met up for lunch. It was so fun to catch up with everyone! Sarah was in Cali for Christmas so she wasn't there. We missed you Sarah!

Why did we take this road?

2008-12-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

My cousin Traci got married. When it was time to go down to the wedding there was a lot of snow on the ground but it had stopped snowing and blowing. So I got Paisley all dressed up and went to Idaho Falls for the wedding. Lorin met me down there and Paisley and I went with Hailey. After the wedding the wind and the snow picked up and we were driving home in a horrible blizzard! We couldn't see a thing and I was so worried about having Paisley in the car. There were so many people sliding off the highway so we decided to exit and take a side road (even though my mom made us promise that we wouldn't take this side road because it always drifts over). We almost made it to our house and got stuck in a drift. When Hailey opened the door to her jeep the snow was up to her door! Lorin ran down the road to help us and some nice snow machiners went and got a truck to pull us out. From now on we are going to listen to our mom!

We got a little bored waiting for some help so we decided to take some pictures.

The heros!

Paisley's new pictures. And Cody is home!

2008-12-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

I took Paisley last week to get new pictures taken for Chritmas. She is crawling all over the place so I thougth that it was going to be a little rough to get her to sit still. But she was so good. The photographer pulled out the camera and she starting posing. I was so happy with how they turned out.

Cody has been at boot camp for the military and military job training. We have missed him so much! He finally made it home last night. The base that he is on right now shuts down for two weeks during Christmas. He brought back the cutest little army teddy bear for Paisley. We are so happy to have some time with him. Welcome home Cody.

Santa

2008-12-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

I didn't really have any plans to take Paisley to sit on Santa's lap this year for obvious reasons.....She can't talk to tell him what she wants. But we were shopping in the mall the other day and there was Santa sitting in his chair with no line to go see him. So I couldn't resist. I decided that I really needed a picture of her on his lap. I thought that she would scream when we left her sitting there on some strange looking man's lap but she was actually pretty amazed with him. She just kept staring at him then looking at us, then staring at him and looking at us. I could see it in her eyes. She just wanted to get a hold of that beard and pull on it. But we snapped our two pictures that we were allowed and grabbed her off his lap just as she was reaching for it. Lucky Santa. We almost blew his cover!

She's crawling!

2008-12-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

Paisley has just learned how to crawl! I thought it would take her forever to learn because of how much she is held (we live with grandma & grandpa). But as soon as she figured out she could get on her hands and knees she was crawling soon after. Now she is all over the place! It's time to baby proof the house. She is into everything she can get to. She still moves pretty slow but I have a feeling that won't last for long. She is just growing way too fast. Everyone told me to cherish every moment because "they grow so fast". I wish they were wrong. But at the same time it is so fun to watch her learn and grow. She is such a fun and happy baby and Lorin & I are just loving her to death. There is nothing better in life than being a parent!

She has also learned how to stand herself up to this laundry basket. Then it slides across the carpet and she takes little steps to follow it. It's so cute!

This is Paisley sitting in her new little chair. It has some fun toys on it so it is a good little distraction when mom needs to get some stuff done. It get's a tricky sometimes trying to feed her in the chair because she would rather suck on the toys than put the spoon in her mouth.

These pictures are from Paisley's first Thanksgiving.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to our nephew Jesse's basketball game then out to dinner at Olive Garden. Paisley sat in a big girl high chair and she loved the alfredo sauce.

This is just a picture of Paisley and her Papa Jones with his horse.

I am officially one of those psycho fans!

2008-11-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a reader but I really got into the Twilight series when I was pregnant with Paisley. Poor Lorin didn't have my full attention until I finished them. And Just when he thought it was over her new book The Host came out. Then soon after came The fourth Twilight book. I think he was finally thinking the obsession was over and then the movie came out. I was a little skeptical of some of the actors they picked (Edward). But I actually ended up thinking that he was the perfect Edward when I watched the movie and I loved it! In fact I loved it so much that I am going go see it again tomorrow night with Lorin. I'm a sucker for a good love story. Even if it involves a teenage vampire!
Me, my mom, Hailey, and my cousin Courtney went to see it Saturday night. And just like a crazy fan would I bought t-shirts with Edward and Bella on them and made everyone else wear one too.(Lorin thought that was one of the dumbest purchases I have ever made). It was hard to convince my mom to wear her's but she finally broke down and wore it.

My cute little fairy

2008-11-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

So this Halloween Lorin and I didn't go to any parties. We didn't dress up. And we stayed home all night......Yet it was the most fun I have EVER had on Halloween! It was so fun to dress Paisley up. She was a fairy and I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into her costume....Okay actually all I made was the tutu and it wasn't that hard but I was pretty proud of it. The night before we dressed her up and took her to her grandma and grandpa Mickelsens. Then on Halloween while Lorin was at work I dressed her up and took her to see my mom at work. It turns out that across the street at Inkly's they were taking free pictures of kids if they were dressed up. So I did that. Then that night we sat around the house ooh-ing and ah-ing over Paisley and taking about a million pictures of her. It was so much fun!

I made her and Hailey matching tutus and they got to be the same thing for Halloween.

She had so much fun playing with her tutu. It was in her mouth most of the day.

She even got a treat for dressing up. She loved this sucker and threw a fit when I tried to take it from her!

Miss Tri-counties pageant

2008-10-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend me, my mom, Paisley had Hailey took a little trip to Boise to watch Hailey in the Miss tri-counties pageant. She did so good. She won Swim suit (an honor in it's own), evening gown and she was the first runner up! We are so proud of her. Good job Hai! These are some pictures from that little trip.

In these pictures Me and Paisley are sitting by a window in a store. She kept spitting and then laughing at herself spitting. It was so cute! Then I looked behind us and she had drawn a crowd. There were a bunch of people watching through the window and laughing at her laughing at herself. She is just so much fun!

These pictures aren't from the trip. I just thought they were cute so I wanted to share them.

Picture update

2008-10-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

I finally got the time to add the pictures I wanted to put with my previous post!
This is when Cody was sworn into the army. It was hard to say good bye but we are so proud of him!

The first night I went back to work I was SO sad to leave Paisley. But my cute little husband surprised me and brought her to work later that night so that I could feed her and put her to sleep. She was in her car seat with a blanket over her and when I pulled off the blanket she was holding three little roses! Isn't that so cute?

Paisley started eating some baby cereal and she loves it! But I did cheat a little bit and add some banana baby food to it to give it a little flavor. Now she'll probably never eat her vegies!

Back to blogging!

2008-09-27T23:50:00.001-07:00

It has been over a month since I have done any blogging. So I thought I better let everyone out there know that I haven't been trying to be rude by not checking out your blogs or leaving any comments. I have just been so busy! So much has happened since my last post. I will start from the beginning.
Lorin has always meant to go back to school and finish his degree. So we decided to take the plunge. He has to finish school at BYU-Idaho because that is where he started and it is too big of a pain to transfer.... So we leased out our house, packed up and moved back to Rigby Idaho about three weeks ago.
We are currently living in my mom's basement. I know that doesn't sound like the ideal situation but I love it. My mom is alone in her house most of the time because my dad works out of town. So it is nice to be able to be around to keep her company. And she has worked so hard to make us feel at home. We have the whole basement to ourselves. There is a family room, a bedroom for us, a bedroom for Paisley, a bathroom, and a laundry room. She even let me paint Paisley's room just like her nursery in our house to make us feel at home. So we are so grateful for all she has done for us and we love living here.
A couple of other major things have happened. I went back to work 1-2 days a week. That was so hard to leave my baby girl! And my brother Cody joined the military and went off to boot camp! I have pictures but it is too late and I am too tired to post them right now. We finally have our computer set up so I will try to do it tomorrow. I just thought that I would give an update. Sorry.....I didn't think it would end up being SO LONG!

New pictures

2008-08-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I had new pictures taken of Paisley and I finally got the prints back that I ordered. I was so happy with how they turned out. Thank you so much to Lorin's mom and sister's who pitched in and gave me a gift certificate for these pictures for my baby shower present. You guys are awesome!

Growing So fast!

2008-08-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Paisley is four months old now and I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. I wish I could slow it down! Althought is makes me so sad to think that someday my baby girl will be all grown up it is fun to watch all the new things that she does. Here are some pictures and a video that are proof she is growin way too fast!
She's just started laughing at us the last coupld of weeks. For some reason she thinks it is so funny when we startle her. That used to make her cry.
I don't usually buckle her into her bouncy seat but now I have to. I left her sitting in it the other day while I went to grab something out of the other room and when i came back she was halfway out of the chair.

Paisley on her 4 month birthday

I didn't think this dress would ever fit her.... Now it is almost too small :(

Her legs are getting so strong (yet so chubby) and most of the time she would rather stand than lay down.
She's rolling over. She just started and now she is a rolling machine! The first time she did it she flipped over so fast that it startled me. I yelled for Lorin to come see and that startled her and she flipped right back over. So Lorin missed it. I had to roll her over to get this picture. So it is a little staged but you get the point.
I just thought this picture was cute. See what I mean?....Growing too fast!

My cousin Tom, his wife, their new baby and my cousin Kristi came down from Reno for the week. Look at Paisley compared to his new 3 week old baby. She could eat him!

Family reunion

2008-07-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was our family reunion. This is one of my favorite parts of the summer. Every year we go camping at Warm River. It is the perfect spot. Right next to our camp site is a river and it is not even close to warm. We just spend the weekend camping, floating the river, hanging out, and eating(which I think is the best part) We have tons of extended family that goes to this and I really enjoyed hanging out with them all weekend. We have such a fun family!
I was really worried about taking Paisley camping. She is still so young. I was worried that she would get bitten by mosquitoes, get a sun burn, hate the Idaho wind, or not sleep well. She didn't do any of those things. She was so good!

The weekend before the family reunion we were also in Idaho. Lorin and his family went and did some white water rafting. I stayed behind with Paisley because I'm just not ready to leave her for that long yet. I'm way too attached! Lorin said it was a blast and I hope that they do it again next year so I can go. I made him take his camera to snap some pictures but they wouldn't allow them on the boat. :( I spent the day with my mom, Hailey, and Tasha & her girls. We went to Heise swimming. These are some of the pictures from that trip and some random pictures of Paisley that I just couldn't help but share.

I know this is already a long post but I have to add one more thing. Maybe if I didn't procrastinate so much I wouldn't have so many things to post!
Everyone always tells me and my sister Hailey that we look like twins. We are seven years apart! I've never been able to see it until I saw these pictures. Maybe it's the matching outfits that my mom got us for Christmas but when I saw this picture I thought I was Hailey! Love ya sis!

I'm the bigger one. I probably should have been holding her up. Sorry Hai.

Trying to be cute. TRYING is the key word!

4th of July weekend

2008-07-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

So I never get my posts done in time. The fourth of July was a week ago and I am just now posting my pictures. I am such a procrastinator! But we had such a fun weekend in Idaho. We hadn't been there for a while so it was nice to go back and spend time with family. I am always so bummed to come back to Utah!
On the fourth Lorin was in a golf tournament with his dad and my uncle. So he missed out on the Menan fair and parade. Something tells me he might have planned it out that way on purpose. Everyone else's husbands said they wanted to know how Lorin got out of going. To tell you the truth I'm not sure how he got that one past me. So I just went to the fair and parade with my mom, Hailey, and Paisley. After the tournament we all went down to the river for the fireworks. My Mom's side of the family ropes off an area down by the river so we always have an awesome view. We had a little grill and BBQ'd while we waited for the fireworks to start. And they were amazing this year! But poor Paisley didn't like them at all. She screamed until about the last ten minutes. I felt so bad for her! We had so much fun and I can't wait to go home again! I have turned out to be such a homebody.

Dad and his girls

Me and Hailey hogging the sparklers from the kids. We went through like ten of them just trying to get this picture. By the time we would get the second one lit the other one would burn out! But we finally got it.

Paisley and Sadie finally met! It also took us a few tries to get this picture. They didn't want to cooperate.

I was so happy I got to see my long lost friend Traci at the parade and the fire works. We made up for lost time by making our husbands sit and listen to us talk about all of the dorky things we used to do when we were younger.

On Sunday Greg and Tasha blessed their little girl and we were able to go to that. But I was so mad I forgot to bring my camera. So This is just a picture of Paisley when we got home from church. I wanted a cute picture of her in her new dress but every time I took the pacifier away she started to scream. I think I'm in trouble because she is pretty attached to that thing!

Paisley and Grandpa Mickelsen

Paisley and Grandma Mickelsen

Leighton Snow

2008-06-30T20:18:00.002-07:00

Our friends Rachael(Peterson)&Davis Snow had their baby girl!
Leighton Snow made her dramatic entrance into the world on Sunday June29th and weighed in at a whopping 2 lbs 7oz! No that wasn't a mistype. She really is only 2lbs 7oz. She was born about two months early. Rachael developed preeclampsia and had to deliver her early. But the beautiful mom and baby are both doing well. They caught it early enough that they were able to give Leighton steroids to help mature her lungs and that is helping her breath a little better.
Today Lorin and I had the chance to go see them in the hospital. We got to go in the NICU and see little Leighton. She is so tiny and so precious. Words and pictures can't even explain how small she is. Her head is only about the size of a fist. She is such a cutie and already has more hair than Paisley! She is doing as well as can be expected and the doctors say she will be in the hospital for about 5-6 weeks.
Congratulations Rachael and Davis. Our prayers are with you and we love ya!

These are just some random pictures of Paisley that I wanted to share.

Red polka dot bikini!

2008-06-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend me, Paisley, my sister, and my mom took a little trip to Eureka Nevada. For those of you who are wondering where that is; it's a little town in the middle of no where in Nevada. This is where my mom grew up. It is so small that there were only 12 people in her graduating class. We went there because my grandpa who is 76 was baptized. It was so awesome! I am so happy that I was able to be there to witness that. It was such a special day for our family. While we were there we took a trip to the local pool and Paisley went swimming for the first time. She cried when she first got in but then I think she actually ended up enjoying it. It was so fun to see her kicking her little legs around in the water. So here are some pictures from our trip and Lorin's first father's day.
As soon as Paisley's aunt Hailey found out that I was having a girl she went out and bought her this cute little red polka dot bikini. It was so fun to put it on her for the first time. She looked so cute!

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After swimming

Paisley and her great grandpa

When we got back from Nevada we surprised Lorin with a new grill for Father's Day and had a barbecue. He loved the grill but I think he was more excited to see his baby girl come home!

All smiles! (between 8:00am-12:00pm)

2008-06-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

Paisley is finally smiling at us! In the beginning she would pull these little grins when she passed gas or when her tummy was full but now she is actually smiling at us. It is SO much fun! But she definitely has her happiest times of the day. In the mornings between about 8-12 she is full of smiles. But as the day goes on it gets harder and harder to make her smile. But lucky for us we are both usually around in the mornings so we just sit around trying to make her smile. It's hard to catch her in the act but I managed to get a few pictures of her adorable smile.

It's been quite a while since I have done any postings so I have quite a few picture to share. I am addicted to taking pictures of Paisley. I take at least one every day. Like I said OBSESSED! Since there are so many I wanted to share I decided to stick them in this little slide show to make it easier.

Another birthday!

2008-05-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my little sister Hailey's birthday. She is 19! I can't believe it. My baby sister is all grown up. Hailey and I are about 7 years apart and before she was born I wanted a little sister SO bad! I used to wish on a star every night that I could have a little sister. I even used to throw pennies into the wishing well at the zoo and wish for her. So I was so pumped when my mom finally had her. The day she was born my grandma asked me if I would love her forever and never get mad at her for anything. I swore to her that there was no way I ever would. She warned me that someday she would start getting into my stuff and I would get mad at her. Well that did happen but I still love her to death and now I am the one stealing her things! I love you so much Hai. Hope you have an awesome birthday. It's a good thing I made all of those wishes for you to come into the world or else you might never have made it here!

Happy birthday mom!

2008-05-13T12:27:00.001-07:00

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy birthday mom! She is the most amazing woman I know. Not only is she a wonderful mom, but she is an amazing friend to all of her kids. I hope that I can be at least half as good of a mom as she is. We love her so much and appreciate everything that she does for us. Sorry I can't be there with you on your birthday. I wish so much that I could. Have a great day mom. We love you!

Paisley's blessing day

2008-05-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

I know that I am a week late making this posting. Better late than never, right? Last weekend we had Paisley's baby blessing. We decided to do it back in Idaho so that it would be easier for all of our family to make it, and they did. I give a big thanks to everyone who came and supported us on Paisley's big day. We love you all so much!
My brothers live in Arizona and they hadn't been able to meet Paisley yet. So it was so much fun to have them there for her blessing. Since they live so far away it isn't very often that our whole family is together. So we took advantage of the situation and got some family pictures taken. It has been years since we have done that. It turned out to be such a fun beautiful weekend and I am so sad that we had to say goodbye and come back to Utah!

newborn pictures

2008-05-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

So I finally got the rest of Paisley's newborn pictures back. I am so happy with how they turned out! Here are a few of my favorites. ENJOY!

Just hanging out

2008-04-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well Lorin and I have just been enjoying being parents and watching Paisley grow. We love it! I can't believe how much she has changed already. I wish that I could slow it down. Paisley's favorite thing to do(other than eat) is to take a bath. I hear most babies don't enjoy this but she loves it. She just sits there looking around and happy as can be in the water. Today I decided that I would get her in the tub with me and kill two birds with one stone. Well she had a different idea. She loved it but just as I was about to have Lorin get her out of the tub she decided to fill up our bath water with poop. She is a pooping machine but I love her to death. I couldn't help but laugh. This is just a picture of Paisley hanging out on the couch with her daddy today.

Paisley's first photoshoot

2008-04-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today Paisley had her newborn pictures taken. We had a little bit of a hard time getting her to cooperate sometimes. We stripped her down to get some cute pictures of her in her daddy's hands and she peed in his hands and all over the floor! Then she did her business in a bowl that we had layed her in for some pictures. What a mess! But it was so much fun. I can't wait to see how they all turned out. The girl that took her pictures posted a few of them for previewing on her blog. The web site is katieportraits.blogspot.com if anyone wants to check them out.

Happy Birthday Lorin!

2008-04-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

Today is Lorin's 25th birthday so yesterday we had a little party for him with some of our family. Even though Lorin is turning 25 he is still just a kid at heart. At the party yesterday someone told me that the kids were outside and had turned the hose on to play in the water. So I went outside to see what was going on and I found that the kid who had turned the hose on was Lorin. He was soaking all of the other kids with the hose. Will he ever grow up? I hope not!

Baby Paisley has finally arrived!

2008-04-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Paisley Jo Mickelsen

Lorin was holding her up with one hand in this picture and I was sitting next to him freaking out!

Paisley Jo Mickelsen was born on April 1st (no joke) at 12:00 p.m! She weighed 6lb 2oz and was 18.5 inches long. Wow! What an experience. Lorin and I knew that we would love her but I don't think that we fully understood how much until we finally got to hold her in our arms. We have never been so happy in our entire lives and we don't know how we ever lived without her! We could just sit and stare at her all day. Here are some pictures of our little girl. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as we have.

Paisley

2008-04-10T13:11:00.001-07:00

Paisley's room

2008-03-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

This posting is mostly for my mom. I have been working on getting the baby room finished up and she has just been dying to see what it looks like.

Baby shower!

2008-03-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my family did a baby shower for me. They put so much work and effort into it and I really appreciate it! Thank you so much to everyone who came and showered me with all of the awesome gifts!

2008-03-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

When I was working at St.Mark's in Salt Lake I took care of a girl that was pregnant with twins. She had to be in the hospital for about two months on bed rest because they kept trying to come too early. I took care of her almost every time that I worked and really grew to love her and her family. The last night I worked she went into labor and we couldn't stop her. She delivered her twins at about 27 weeks along! I will never forget it. They were each only about two pounds! I have always wondered how they were doing and if everything turned out okay. Last week she somehow tracked me down and called me. She wanted to give me some baby cloths that she wasn't able to use. So I got to meet up with her and see the twins. One of them just barely got out of the hospital. They are each around 9 pounds now and finally doing well. That was such a rewarding experience for me and I was so grateful for it. I don't usually get to follow up with my patients. She has been through so much with her twins and I look up to her. What an amazing woman!

Weekend at the cabin

2008-03-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

For any of you who didn't know I have been traveling from Utah and working in Idaho as a travel nurse. I go once a week and work for about 3 days then come home for a few days. Well, I finally finished my contract there and I won't be working anymore until after we have the baby! So I am free to just relax and wait for her to come. Last weekend was a perfect weekend for that. We went up to a cabin in Island Park with the Mickelsens (Pete & Jolene, Becca & Justin, and Dora & Vance, and all their kids). We had a fun weekend of playing games, playing in the snow, and just relaxing!

4D ultrasound

2008-03-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

I have been so horrible at updating our blog lately! So I decided that I am finally going to just get it done. So much has happened since my last update. I was only 6 months along then and now I only have about a month left! I wasn't sure where to start so here are some 4D pictures of our baby girl. We had these pictures done about 5 weeks ago while I was working in Idaho and I thought they turned out so cool. So I was so excited to get home and show Lorin. I went on and on telling him how awesome I thought they were. So maybe I played it up a little too much but when he looked at them he thought they made her look a little freaky. I think he thought they would be a little more clear. He was also afraid that her ear was really going to look like that. Regardless of our different opinions we were both just so happy to know that she was healthy and normal!

New Year's Eve-six months along

2008-01-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

Tag-All about me A to Z

2008-01-23T20:45:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged! Here are some obvious and not so obvious facts about me.

Attached or Single: Definitely attached. Couldn't live without him!
Best Friend: I love all of my friends but Lorin is definitely my BEST friend. We are glued at the hip.
Cake or Pie: I love cake! On Thanksgiving I would definitely give up my pie for a piece of chocolate cake.
Day of Choice: I love Sundays (if I'm not working). Lorin and I take an afternoon nap and just lounge around all day.
Essential Item: My computer. I have been doing all of my baby shopping on the Internet. It's so convenient!
Favorite Color: It s a girl so...Pink! Only because that's all I have been looking for lately.
Gummy Bears or Worms: I don't really like either. But I love Cinnamon bears. Especially chocolate covered ones!
Hometown: Rigby!!! My family moved there when I was about 4 and never left.
Indulgences: The twilight series books are definitely at the top of my list. I am so obsessed it's almost scary. I finished reading the first three but I can't get enough of them. So in my spare time I read some of my favorite parts over again. What a nerd! And I love soaking in the tub. I sit in there and relax until my skin is all wrinkled. I also love taking frequent trips to the store Taipan. They just built one down the road. Even if I'm not buying anything (though it's hard not to) it's fun to look.
January or July: July. Even though I grew up in Idaho I'm not a big fan of snow. I would be fine if it was all gone after Christmas. And the 4th of July is one of my favorite Holidays.
Kids: Our first one will be here sometime around April 9th. We have decided to name her Paisley.
Life is incomplete without: My husband and family. They mean everything to me.
Marriage Date: 8/20/2005
Number of Siblings: 3 (Cody, Shane, and Hailey)
Oranges or Apples: Apples. I don't like oranges at all.
Phobias: Not being able to move or breath. I am very claustrophobic.
Quote: When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
Reasons to Smile: We are going to have our first baby! When baby Paisley kicks, when Lorin can feel her kick, free ultrasounds at work, dessert, warm weather, hanging with my family, quality time with Lorin (he always makes me laugh), a good sale, and a good chick flick. I have been a labor & delivery nurse for 3 years so you'd think that I would be used to it by now. But it still makes me smile every time I see a new baby come into the world. We are in such an exciting time in our lives and we are lucky to have so much to smile about.
Season: Summer
Tag others: BECCA, NICOLE
Unknown fact about me: Well... being around my family and Lorin this is hard to avoid. But crude humor makes me laugh! It shouldn't, but it does.
Vegetarian or Meat eater: Meat. Especially chicken.
Worst Habit: I love getting gift cards but when I go to use them I always end up spending more than what the limit was. This drives Lorin crazy!
X-rays: None! Even with all the years of cheerleading and gymnastics I've never broken a bone or been badly injured. Although I have had quite a few hilarious falls.
Your Favorite Food: I love carbs and Pasta. Lorin and I love to eat at Johnny Carino's. We always get the spicy shrimp & chicken. It's delicious!
Zodiac: Libra.

snow machining

2008-01-22T22:26:00.000-08:00

When we were home for Christmas Lorin got to take advantage of all the new snow. Him, his dad, and his brother in law Heath went out on the snow machines all day. Lorin says they had a blast and I was happy to see them come home safe. He is reckless on those things!

2008-01-22T22:11:00.000-08:00

Cody & Shane live in Arizona and I don't get to see them that often. So it was so much fun to have them here for Christmas. The day they left we all went out to lunch and said our good bye's. It was so hard to see them leave so I hope they can make it home again soon!

The rubik's cube nerd

2008-01-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

Lorin's mom & dad got a rubik's cube for Christmas and Lorin decided he needed to conquer it. So he worked on it all day and you can see from the pictures that his efforts paid off. It's a good thing he finally got it because he wouldn't have put that thing down until he did!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2008-01-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

Me, my mom, and my sis

2007-12-19T23:30:00.000-08:00

I am so lucky to have a mom and a sister that I love so dang much! I can count on them for anything. They are both so excited about the new baby coming and have already spoiled her plenty!

Christmas Party

2007-12-19T23:25:00.001-08:00

Last weekend me & Lorin, Becca & Justin, and Amanda & Eric had a Christmas party and played Christmas games with all the kids. We had a hot chocolate drinking contest and the kids wrapped Lorin & Becca in wrapping paper. The party ended when the kids knocked down the pinata and starting fighting over all the candy.

Our House

2007-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

Nights on the Cruise Ship

2007-12-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

In October we went on a cruise with Greg and Tasha and we had a blast! Our ship stopped in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Cozumel Mexico.

Cruise Ports

2007-12-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

Our first stop was the Bahamas. It was a day of relaxation, playing in the water, and soaking up the sun. Then it was on to Jamaica where we visited the Dunn's River Falls and where we were offered weed all day. A comedian on our ship had it right when he said, "Ocho Rios is spanish for stay on the ship!" Cayman Islands was our favorite stop. We swam with sting rays and went snorkling. Our last stop was Cozumel Mexico where we visited the Myan Ruins and hung out at the beach all day.