We (she) did it!!!!

"We did it, we did it, we did it, Hooray! Lo Hacimos, we did it!!! (dadadada) "
Ok, I'm singing to a well-known Dora tune around our house, but the point is, ISABELLE IS POTTY-TRAINED! According to Aaron she's potty-training but to me she's potty-trained, be your own judge. All I can say is I haven't changed a diaper in a week and it's a great change of pace. She's mastered various thrones-public and private. I won't get into too much detail, yes there have been accidents, but she's well on her way!!! Yay for Izzy! Now I need to start stocking up on newborn diapers!

Smile of triumph!!!

Izzy and her potty-training chart, she's over half-way done with it now, almost there!!! Again, I promise her hair looks decent every day, but the camera comes out and this is always what she looks like-rag-a-muffin!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Isabelle!

July 7, 2009: Isabelle Grace is 3 years old! She is quite the 3 year old. She is a great communicator, very friendly is even the strangest stranger, loving and very helpful and beautiful inside and out. Unfortunately every time I get the camera out her hair is in shambles, but I promise, I do it every morning!!! Here is some highlights from her special birthday!!!
3 candles on her Birthday Waffle for breakfast! She blew them out like a champ!

Sharing her birthday cupcakes with our wonderful house-helper, Christel Bryell. Christel said they were delicious and Isabelle and I enjoyed making them together and putting sprinkles on top!

Enjoying the mini-merry-go-round at Chuck-E-Cheese. She probably rode this over 20 times, constantly switching horses while turning round and round. She also gave each horse lots of love, hugs, and kisses. We hosed her down with sanitizer afterwards!!!!

A cute birthday shot with Dad at Chuck-E-Cheese. We had a great night and Isabelle truley was a birthday princess as her shirt proudly displays!!!

Thanks to a winning ticket for a silent auction and some birthday money from Grandma Norton, Isabelle now enjoys her fancy new peddle-less bicycle. She runs on it then lifts her feet and balances and coasts down our street like a pro. She was very adament that she have a "hat" to go with her bike. Of course Dora was the character of choice for that one.

With the soon arrival of baby #2, Isabelle got a new room this month as well. She has never tried to crawl out of her crib up to this point but the crib will be used for the baby. Isabelle is now enjoying being a big girl in her adorable new bed with matching night stand and mirrored dresser.

I found cute coordinates at TJ Maxx with the bedding-window valances and a stepping stool also. I had a few pieces already with this color scheme and we painted the room green last year when we moved in. It was fun to finally put the room together with what I had imagined a year ago with the green paint!

Summer Stuff and Granite Creek camping

June was nice with lots of rain, but July has brought the heat!!!! We are staying inside a lot but when we're outside, the kiddie pool is always Izzy's toy of choice. She loves swimming in any body of water!!! Now I just wish it was big enough for me!

Not the most flattering family photo (note to self, NEVER take a photo of myself at 7 months pregnant, camping, in a swimming suit, then post it on my blog)....during our camping trip to Granite Creek, WY. We camped with Grandma & Grandpa Kunz, and the Burt Family. We missed those in our family who couldn't come, but we made the best of the gorgeous natural Granite Hot Springs-again, Izzy had died and gone to heaven swimming circles around with her life-jacket/arm floaties.

Here's Izzy trying to chop some firewood with Uncle Kim and the cousins, gotta love her camping hair!

Enjoying family time by the fire with Amanda-her favorite cousin/babysitter!

A very sad good-bye happened to our family in July. Our wonderful friends, the amazing VanOrden family moved cross-country and they are sorely missed already. They have been one of Izzy's 2nd families for the past 3 years spending time at their home every week while I taught violin lessons. I also taught 2 of their 4 children lessons and am soooo sad to see them go. Jenny and crew, we love and miss you!

A Mastered Bedroom

My last post in June was the start of our master bedroom project. Now I have the finished product (except closet doors) to reveal. Yay! The process has been very exciting, especially for me since our new bedroom has room on either side of the bed-no more doing an ab-crunch to turn my alarm off!!! Not the easiest thing to do at 7 months pregnant!
Back half/south portion of the room-for bed/nighstands.

Front half/north portion of the room, for our closet and dressers.

Looking to the room and seeing the north portion divided from the south portion by a partial wall.

With our furniture!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!

We're still debating on what kind of closet doors to get-any advice? We love our new retreat!

Mastering a Bedroom

Aaron and I are excited to have some help transforming our bedroom downstairs to a master bedroom. Our current situation has our room upstairs and this room has been used for Aaron's "study." With his studies in the background now, it will now be used for our room with the arrival of our baby girl coming in the fall!!! We are excited to be creating the only double closet in our home, yipee!!

The wall on the right has to stay in the middle of the room due to a weight-barring (sp?) post at the end of it. We decided to make the most of it and prep it to install a LCD tv we can watch from our bed!

This will be the wall we put our bed/nightstands against. We added about 30" to the width of this wall which will fit our bed/nightstands perfectly! We are so excited to be able to have room to walk around our bed again. We have been crammed inside a small bedroom since we moved here with my side against a wall and Aaron's side against a doorway-alarm clocks have been very far away, we are going to be hitting snooze a lot more often in our new room!

Stay tuned for more pictures as the progress continues this week-sheet rock, mudding, carpet, paint, and hopefully we can move our furniture down here before the baby comes and get her room ready!

Amy...the full-time working Mom, for this week itleast!

Amy Norton, UT – Amy has been part of the Suzuki Method since age five. She has studied music with Doralee Madsen, Jack Ashton, Chris Takeda, Lynette Stewart, & Gerald Elias. Growing up in a Suzuki home, she was inspired to pursue a BM in Violin Performance from the University Of Utah School Of Music. Amy has SAA Teacher Certification from many amazing teacher trainers. Her string pedagogy has been influenced by Pat D’Ercole, Teri Einfeldt, Judy Bossuat, Linda Fiore, Barbara Barber, Ed Kreitman, Carrie Reuning-Hummel, and many other pioneers of the Suzuki Method. Beginning in 2000, Amy has managed her violin studio of 30+ students. She resides in Salt Lake City with her husband and young family.

Ok I realize this is a little tooting of my own horn but I'm so excited to be a part of the violin faculty for ISSI. Their website is www.intermountainsuzukistringinstitute.com. I get to be amongst some of the greatest Suzuki Method teachers in the country for a week and it always invigorates me for the next year. Every year I attend this institute I am reminded of the unique world of Suzuki that I am a part of. We all share the same goals of Dr. Suzuki's mission to "nurture by love." We all share our teaching ideas like a free flowing faucet of ideas, never holding back or crediting them to ourselves. Each year I make new friends and colleagues and I can't wait for this year! For more information about the Suzuki Association of America, visit www.suzukiassociation.org or visit this inspiring video hot off the press- http://suzukiassociation.org/news/3879/

Go Suzuki!

Twinkle Trio

Here is a quick clip of Isabelle and her friends with their rendition of Princess Twinkle! Enjoy!

Spring Activities

Isabelle is so excited to have a baby sister!!!!! We talk about it a lot and she likes to demonstrate on her tummy how she's "growing bigger!" like Mommy. Of course I don't have any documentation in this post about my growing girth, but I'm sure you can all picture what I look like! Here's some more of Izzy this spring and what we've been up to! Bring on the summer!!!!!

"Mom, do I really have to practice?"......a sign of years to come!

The Cherry On top!

Aaron had a great graduation from the U's Nursing School. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day with family to support him and gorgeous weather. My morning sickness has subsided and all of us were able to celebrate such an exciting day! Yay for Aaron! We're also feeling very very blessed since he has a position as a full-time RN in the Primary Children's ICU. Many of his co-graduates are still looking for jobs, so we feel very watched over that he is employed! Enjoy the photos!

Aaron with all of his nursing buddies that made up the testosterone in their graduating class!

Aaron on the top row, with his perma-smile!

Aaron's amazingly supportive family who flew/drove to support him. Not pictured is also his brother Eric and his family who drove in, as well as his older brother Marlon. We love you all!

Our growing family, in this photo I'm 20 weeks, now I'm 26 weeks along with a BABY GIRL!!!

Aaron and his happy parents!

Aaron and his happy in-laws!

Dreaming about the future of no more care-plans and studying!

The Twins, 2 peas in a pod when they are together. We're crossing our fingers that Adam will move back to SLC in the fall!

Isabelle and her 2 cousins, Madie & Katelin. They were all so cuddly in the fleece PJ's!

Izzy demonstrating how to get a hawk to land on your arm during the Hogle Zoo's bird show!

Izzy, Katelin and Aunt Becky keeping their eyes up for birds flying above!

Izzy and Logan, 2 cousins that loved to get into mischief together!

Out of Hibernation!

Isabelle is getting so big, tell me this looks like a little girl, and in no way a baby anymore! Wow, I guess it's time to have another baby then right? I felt my little nugget wiggle inside me for the first time last night. It's such an exhilarating feeling and I am so excited to know it's alive and kicking-literally! I "think" I'm out of the yucky trimester, but I'm sure by saying that, I'm going to start to get nauseated after I post this...

Here's a top 10 of what's been going on with us, what's been going on with you?
(aka comments!)

1. Amy survived her pregnancy thus far, 19 weeks, and the vomitting is starting to cease, hallelujah! The belly is definitely starting to pop out!

2. Isabelle tried to get potty-trained, but then Mommy got too sick to continue it, we will start again soon...promise!

3. Aaron got hired by Primary Children's ICU to start as a full-time RN on June 2nd, another big HALLELUJAH!

4. Our Rodeo now has 3 cracks in the windshield, a bent antenna, a broken front grill, one headlight burnt out, and a broken gas gage, can anyone sense we want to upgrade???

5. We have now owned our own home for one year, we did it!

6. We successfully set up our trampoline in our backyard that I bought on Black Friday back in November. Love it!

7. Amy's violin studio pulled off some great solo recitals in March, always a big event, and big success this year!

8. Amy and Isabelle flew to Pennsylvania for a week to visit some good friends and strolled the streets of New York City for the very first time, hopefully not the last!

9. Aaron scored amazingly on his NCLEX prep test all while battling a nasty cold, glad he's feeling better now!

10. We have our "anatomic survey" ultrasound scheduled for May 5th, Boy or Girl? What's your vote?


The weather is getting warmer, the tulips in my yard make me smile, things are looking up, we couldn't be more grateful!

I surrender!

No Pictures in this post because I don't know where our camera is and I don't think I've taken pictures in the last few months anyway, maybe for Christmas, but we're way past that to be curious right?

I've been neglecting our blog for a few reasons I won't bore you with. The bottom line is, I'll stop. I'll get back into it now that the gruesome days of awful winter are starting to diminish. Frankly there's just nothing amusing about "what we do in the winter time" when it's really very dull. So there you go, ok, I'll change the subject...

Spring is around the corner! It's almost the 1-year anniversary of our home purchase! I cannot believe we've been hear for almost a year. Grudging through the last few weeks has reminded me why I got so house-hungry last year, living in a condo with no yard with a toddler was difficult! I'm so grateful to have snagged our home when we did!

We are excited for the warmer weeks ahead-Izzy is getting a lot stronger and more independent (always a good thing!) on her trike, we love taking walks in our neighborhood, and visiting the nearby playground on the weekends is a fun adventure!


One more question for all of you, does this picture make me look fat?

Baby Norton is Due September 16th!!!

quick catch-up!!!

Here's a "melting pot" of Norton News, enjoy!

Our little girl is learning how to clean....yeahh!!! You go girl! She actually lifted, carried and placed the kitchen chair here so she could reach up and clean the sink, I did not set this up, I swear!
A fun playdate with McKenna. McKenna is 3 months older than Izzy. They absolutely loved singing, dancing, and doll-caring together. McKenna is fully potty-trained (and also #3 in her family). I need to get going past the introductory phase of potty-training, advice?
Thanks to my Aunt Marnae & Uncle Bill, we enjoyed a date night with them court-side for a Jazz game. Complete with "on the house" pre-dinner! Thanks!

In the midst of his hardest Nursing school semester, Aaron found solace with a few escapes to some cold lakes & rivers for a few hours of fishing. After eight years, he only has one more semester left. We are counting down the days, literally!!! Izzy and I made the most of the first snowfall the first week of November and made a handsome snowman she gave lots of kisses & hugs to. Sadly, he was melted by that same afternoon.

I now realized I never posted anything for Halloween. Here's a family photo, complete with the "family cat" on the left that Izzy gave a hug and a kiss to every night before bed. We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating in our first neighborhood, and answering the door to our first trick-or-treaters on our own porch. We love being homeowners!

Isabelle helped Daddy carry in a very large pumpkin to carve, she loved sticking her fingers in all the goo inside!

Now, as far as owning a home in Utah and shoveling snow off the driveway a dozen times this week already, not such a fan!

Happy Christmas everyone! We hope Santa finds you and this post finds you happy and well!!!

p.s. we love blog comments, go ahead, leave one!

I'm sold!

BLACK FRIDAY!!!! Black Friday shoppers are described as the "crazies" the deal-hunters and the overly-anxious-for-the-holidays. My sister Liz and I joined forces with them this year. Here is our story...(cue the law & order duh duh duh)

I haven't had that kind of a rush in a long time! Luckily no-one died or lost their baby like that one walmart I heard about on the news, which is awful! Anyway, the night went as follows. Liz picked me up on that chilly morning at 4:30am. I had my little sister Melissa sleep at my house that night since Aaron worked a graveyard 'til 6:30am. That wasn't going to stop me from becoming "one of them." We left with our ads in hand but one big problem. What were we shopping for and why were we doing it at 4:30am? My sister had the best answer for this: "every morning I wake up do the same thing all year, either go to work or take care of the kids, this is one morning to do something different!!!" And so we drove on the wet roads to the Murray Super Walmart and we were SHOCKED that the parking lot was full. Then we were so confused because there wasn't anyone outside in line. So we went parking in a neighboring store lot and walked inside and then another weird occurance, no one was moving in the store, they were all just standing in the aisles, we were so confused. So we started to make our way to to the back of the store and over the intercom we hear this "ok shoppers!" and everyone went nuts grabbing the items in the aisles they were standing next to. Turns out Walmart was open all night but shoppers couldn't take the black-friday deals until 5am and we got there about 4:50am. So Liz and I panicked as we had no clue where to go (we really didn't have an idea of what we wanted to buy, we just wanted to push and shove and get on tv for it, and maybe buy a few things in the meantime) so we scrambled around and started grabbing things everyone else was, not really paying attention to what they were, it's crazy I tell you. So we spent almost an hour there and then checked out with some goodies and decided to hit target too. so we went to ft. union target and again, parking lot full, but I guess they opened at 6 because as we got there, they were just barely letting the-wrapped-around-the-store-line inside. So we swerved into a parking stall and squeezed in line. After we got in the store I was running to the electronics (to buy what-I don't know) and I got in trouble for running which was one of our goals (hehe) so I snagged an office dvd that was a black friday deal for $13 which I was soooo proud of, and then shopped some other good deals they had, I lost my sister in the crowd but found her later (it was so hard not to have a cell phone!!!!) and we checked out. after checking out I thought my office dvd seemed more $$ that I thought it was supposed to be, so I checked my bag and I actually had picked up the wrong season of the office that WASN'T on sale and was normally $40 so I was pissed!!! So we went back to the return desk and I returned it...I ain't paying $40 for that when I have it on TIVO!! Then after returning it, we saw a channel 2 news camera interviewing someone and we got behind them and were all annoying in the camera and that finished our last goal so we felt like champions. We pushed, shoved, yelled, got yelled at, and got on tv...and shopped while we were at it. WHAT A BLAST! we are totally hooked and doing it next year! Join me if you want, but watch out!