Home Sweet Home (and other adventures)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2012-01-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

Love, Jenna, Morgan and Taryn!
Here's a little proof I do exist. We can thank Morgan for this pic.

Oh Christmas Tree

2012-01-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

These pictures should be in reverse order... anyhoo, this is how our photo session ended....
...and this is how it began.
We found the tree in record time... because the girls and Justin found it before I had a chance to give my input. It was better this way, trust me. The tree was perfect!
See... it is the best tree on the lot... with the best girls, in my biased opinion, to go with it.
And here's a random picture of our girl scout, Jenna! Cookie sales are starting tomorrow... anyone, anyone??

The Silly Things We Do

2012-01-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

Taryn has a habit of wrapping herself in the vaccuum cord every time I turn it on. I finally determined she loves the sound and vibration of the cord. Makes me laugh every time.

Also known as "box" girl, she can be found trying to sit inside ANY rectangular object.
The girls thought I said "chocolate milk" stand, not "hot chocolate" stand... and "indoor" instead of "outdoor". A couple weeks later on a sunny Saturday, we accomplished the "Hot Chocolate" stand.
Complete homemade drum set.
One of Taryn's favorite places.

Pinkalicious!!!!!

2012-01-06T19:42:00.001-08:00

Jenna and I went to the play "Pinkalicious" with some friends in November. What a magical night!
Jenna's drawing post-show.
After waiting an eternity to eat at BJs, we enjoyed dinner after the show.
Prior to the show we enjoyed pink cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jenna's friends... what a great way to celebrate a girlie birthday!
Those tongues are definitely... hmmm.... PINK!
One of the girls' big sister made these cute presents and decorated the suburban for our festive evening.
We must do this again... Purplicious.... Goldalicious???

Halloween...catching up!

2012-01-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

Jenna bobbing for a doughnut at our ward Halloween Party.

Morgan enjoyed dressing up with her preschool friends this year.

Morgan's choice was inspired by her love for everything "princess", Taryn wore the same costume all our girls have worn, and Jenna decided to be a witch!

Nana and Pumpkins!!

2011-11-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

My mom came to visit in October, and of course we went to Bi-Zi Farms! This is our fourth year going, but first time on a weekend without a group. We loved all the "extras" available on the weekend.... bigger pumpkins, duck races, pony rides, corn grinding, and the PUMPKIN LAUNCH! We had a blast.
Jenna and Nana on the hay ride.
Duck races, fueled by hand water pumps.
Morgan playing "follow-the-leader" with Nana at the red barn park.
Taryn's love for the swing is fading... she was trying to climb out. Taryn bonded well with Nana.
Who's idea was the giant pumpkin? It was a bit of a circus act getting those pumpkins back on the hay ride and to the car:) We tried convincing Nana to take one home on the plane.
By the pumpkin launch.
On a trail behind our house, we loved our walks with Nana.
Morgan and Mr. Caterpillar.
Morgan, Jenna and Taryn... our sweeties.

Taryn's 1st Birthday!!

2011-10-09T21:51:00.001-07:00

Taryn received this cute baby doll from Grammi and Papa. I'm sure T won't mind if Morgan borrows it;)
Taryn's friend, Troy, came to her party with his family. Emily and I were walking buddies when we were pregnant with these two. I can't believe a year has gone by!
Taryn taste tested her cake first...
... then discovered she could make a mess and put it in her hair. I think some of it made it in her mouth.
Jenna LOVES to plan and prepare for parties! She carefully made the top two "Happy Birthday" signs, and Morgan contributed one as well. They were both such good helpers.

Before church today I just had to attempt a group photo:)
Here is the cake the rest of us enjoyed.
This reminds me of the picture in my baby book with Kami holding me, and Becki by my side. I think my mom's caption was "Don't drop me, Kami!" So, in keeping with tradition, "Don't drop me, Jenna!"

Morgan's 1st Day of Preschool

2011-10-09T21:42:00.001-07:00

Whereas Morgan has completed a month of preschool at our house, Tuesday was her first day at another teacher's house. She was excited to go to "Daniel's" house and was all smiles when I picked her up. It was "D" day, and they made dog ears, plus did a lot of fun activities. Morgan is practicing writing letters. We are working with her on saying "L's" and "R's". She is such a fun-loving, imaginative girl. She loves to play house with Jenna, and is very nurturing with her baby dolls and play animals.

Jenna is a KINDERGARTENER!

2011-09-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

Jenna's First Curls

2011-08-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

4th of July and Muttin Bustin

2011-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Justin holding Taryn in our classic hand-me-down dress that all the girls have worn on the 4th.... that would be Taryn, not Justin, in the dress;)
After completing my first 10K since the 8th grade, we all sat down and enjoyed our city's annual parade. Emily and I ran together finishing somewhere in the middle-to-end of the pack:)
My friend, Sheena invited Jenna and Morgan to participate in Muttin Bustin at a rodeo this summer. Jenna was no. 8, Morgan 9.

The girls did awesome. Jenna rode the sheep for 6 seconds, and Morgan did her best until the clown took her off fearing she was too light and would fall. For participating they received these t-shirts that they love wearing as pajamas.

Morgan's 3rd Birthday

2011-06-06T16:26:00.001-07:00

Our sweet Morgan is 3 years old today! She loves her new bike. She acted shy when she woke up and saw it in the family room. She enjoyed helping make her barn cake and animal cupcakes. The "pig" was her cupcake of choice at the party. Jenna has been so mature, making sure Morgan gets to choose everything first. Morgan enjoyed playing "duck-duck-goose" with her friends at the park. I love Morgan and all her talents. She brings a sweetness to the room. Sometimes that sweetness is accompanied with mischief in the form of messes (wipes emptied from containers, pen marks on the furniture, etc. etc.). She likes to do things on her own terms, or with mommy helping along side her. She helps herself to just about anything... in the fridge, cupboards, backyard, or garage. She can be so kind, sweet and shy, but watch out because she knows how to defend herself (and her property). She once threw a 6 yr-old off her tricycle. She is so loveable and likes to snuggle with her family members. We love and adore Morgan so much!!

My Birthday

2011-06-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

I always love my birthdays. I feel such an outpouring of love from everyone. This year the chocolate cake made by Justin, Jenna & Morgan was delicious! I can't wait to try my new bluetooth headset. Mom's text to me after i sent her a picture of Morgan sporting HER new birthday purse from Nana read "oops, Haley that purse is actually YOURS:)" We all had a good laugh! Justin's mom watched the girls for me while I got my haircut. Mary and her girls came up and celebrated with me as well. Thank you, all my family and friends, for your birthday wishes, cards, presents and banana bread and for making my day so fun and bright!!

Memorial Day Hike

2011-06-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed this hike last year so much that we decided to do it again. After hiking to Wahclella Falls, we visited the fish hatchery... Herman the 70 yr-old sturgeon is still alive and well. Eastwind Drive-in is still popular. Jenna remembered she had a strawberry flavor burst ice cream cone last time, so she tried raspberry this time. Morgan and I had black cherry, Justin had chocolate vanilla swirl. (Our girls like to remember these details). Taryn loved riding in the backpack, and was scratching at Daddy's neck. Morgan wanted to be held, but we knew she could walk. She walked most of the 2 miles all by herself. She liked holding my hand and tugging on it to stop every 2 feet so she could pick a flower. Jenna led the crew with her friend, Allie, on the way back. We were so glad 3 friend families could come with their 4 kids per family.

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today our little town came alive in celebration of Easter. Actually, the fun started a week ago when we noticed the giant "Easter Eggs" in the roundabout. (I just realized how small our town is - "THE" roundabout... no stoplights either). The eggs were huge concrete mixers - the kind you find on trucks - and they had been painted in pastel colors and placed there by a giant Easter Bunny, I guess. The girls were amazed by them. The fun continued with an Easter egg hunt at a local park. Jenna and Morgan collected eggs, searched through a hay bail for treats and had a high school girl paint bunny faces. Taryn is growing so much. She is over 19 lbs at 6 1/2 months, and 27 1/2 inches. She is the same length as Jenna and Morgan were at this age, but she weighs 3 to 4 lbs more. Taryn has become confident rolling from back to front and vise versa all over the floor! We love her!! Jenna and Morgan are amazing big sisters. They are patient with her, they teach her about life, and are thrilled when she does new things. Both big sisters tattled on her today for breaking the same toy. She did not really break the toy, and, sorry Taryn - you will have a hard time hiding anything from anyone.

Feeling Close to Holland

2011-04-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

Whereas I've never been to Holland, I feel a strong connection to this country because of my family's history. My dad's parents immigrated to the United States from Holland when they were teens, and what I know of Holland I learned from them. Since tulips, windmills and wooden shoes are symbolic to this country, I felt sentimental as I visited a local tulip farm with my girls.

Jenna's 5th Birthday!

2011-04-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl is 5! Justin and I were remembering the nicknames we called her when she was a baby - from "Baby Jenna" to "Princess" and "Princessca", which became "Cessca" or "Cessie". We have put aside these nicknames to make way for ones more fit for a 5-going-on-15 yr-old - Jenna or Jen. Of course as parents we slip in the occasional "sweetie pie, Jenna-Lou, or Jenna Louise." Oh, but what's in a name? We love Jenna so much and here are some of the reasons we think she is so special: (.....to be continued)

Arizona - Thanksgiving

2010-12-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun seeing my parents, all my siblings and our kids' cousins in Arizona over Thanksgiving. McKenna, Tyler & Monica's daughter, is a super cutie whose sweet disposition we hope rubs off on Taryn:)
It was funny to play this game where we had to guess the child by only looking at their eyes through the paper cutouts. Some of us could not even guess our own kids.
My kids are more brave than I around animals.
Jenna is a natural... feeding the giraffe at the Phoenix zoo a piece of lettuce. I was laughing so hard at how the zookeepers were complaining of freezing in 58 degree weather.
As we were looking at the tortoises we saw a hare hopping about inside the exhibit.
Hooray for a heated pool and a good friend/cousin to play with!

Taryn - 1 month old / Blessing Day

2010-12-25T23:13:00.000-08:00

Jenna is an amazing big sister to Taryn... she is so good at assessing her needs. You'll notice in a lot of these pictures Taryn is crying. She cries a lot. As she approaches 3 months she is definitely getting better.
Morgan is very matter-of-fact regarding her sister. If Taryn cries and Morgan sees that nobody is taking care of her, Morgan will try to give her a binki or pick her up. I feel like I always need to be on my toes protecting our children from each other. Jenna and Morgan are a funny combo... their fights escalate because Jenna fights with words and Morgan physically - grabbing, scratching, pulling, etc. - you can guess who usually wins.
The first couple months we appreciated these peaceful moments when Taryn slept. Poor thing just cried so much... fortunately we could keep her content a lot of the time by holding her.
Taryn wore the same blessing dress as her sisters. We enjoyed family coming to celebrate this special day with us.

Welcome Taryn

2010-10-23T07:42:00.001-07:00

Early Monday morning, October 4th I woke up about 2am and was feeling contractions. I woke up Justin, told him I was in labor and that we needed to start getting ready to go to the hospital. After walking all over the house finishing little "nesting" projects, I sat down to rest for a few minutes, and the contractions stopped. We were bummed... with my first two I had gone into labor without any false alarms. The pre-labor with Taryn came and went all week. Finally, Saturday morning, October 9th, I was feeling contractions again about 10 to 12 minutes apart. This time they were a little stronger and I decided (didn't "think", "DECIDED") I was in labor. Justin and I called Kate, who so kindly came over in the middle of the night to stay with the girls while we ventured to the hospital. We arrived about 4:30am and I was dilated to a 2. Woops... I thought at that point I had jumped the gun and we were going to be sent home. The nurse sent us on an exciting date of walking the halls of the hospital for an hour.. I actually enjoyed that time to walk and talk with Justin. Afterwards I had dilated to 4cm! I was so happy we got to stay. I opted for the epidural. The possible side-effect of blood pressure lowering happened to me after I received it, which made me feel light-headed and a little panicked, but the anesthesiologist was ready with the meds to bring my blood pressure back to normal. At 5:40pm, Taryn Jane was born weighing 9lbs 4oz, and 22 inches long. Jenna and Morgan are enjoying their little sister. Jenna loves to hold Taryn and likes to ask, "do you recognize my voice?" Morgan will hold Taryn on her lap for about 2 seconds, then say, "all done."

To Baby: A Girlie House Awaits

2010-09-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Baby number 3 should have no worries about her environment being very "girlie". From pink polka dots on bedding everywhere, to dolls and dress-up clothes. Even the trike in the backyard is pink and purple. But, oh wait, there is ONE toy that little boys tend to be more interested in... a train with tracks. I thought the girls would play with it a lot, but they had lost interest... until today when Jenna entered the room holding an oval -shaped train track she put together. I spoke too soon when she corrected me, "Mom, it's a necklass... I made it for you!" So rest assured - if you were worried - baby girl 3... the house is completely girlified... with one exception... Daddy & a few of his things.

We can't wait to meet you, baby! Mommy is having a few contractions here & there. One week until your due date... October 8, 2010.

Summer Happenings

2010-08-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Jenna absolutely loved her first dance class today! A mom who converted her garage into a dance studio held a dance camp where the girls could try out ballet, jazz and tap to see what they like and what class they would best fit into in the fall. Jenna said she liked ballet and jazz. It was probably a little hard to appreciate tap since none of the girls had tap shoes. It was special for me to see her enjoy something I also love! Morgan is not taking the class - she couldn't resist getting up and dancing with Jenna while we were watching what they learned.
Working the jazz moves..

Here we are on the train at dear old Oaks Park.
A little boy across from Jenna turned around during the ride to tell Jenna "Don't shoot my little sister!"
The girls enjoyed the 4th of July parade... especially gathering candy.
Morgan trying hard not to smile for the camera.
Here we are at the end of our hike to Wahclella falls near Bonneville Dam. The girls had a lot of fun this day as we also visited the fish hatchery and fish ladders at the dam. Our day ended with the popular flavor-burst ice cream cones at Eastwind Drive-in at Cascade Locks.

Arizona

2010-05-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Morgan is becoming more bold and likes to wrestle with Jenna.
Boompa holding Chase with Morgan being her typical self and wandering in the background.
Fresh off the plane and into the pool went the girls with their Nana.
These were the last few moments of our trip... it was fun to watch the cousins play together.
Jenna taking a break from her rigorous play schedule.
I'm not sure if Morgan could eat clean if she tried.

Me in the pool with the girlies.
Bounce Jungle is always a hit!

We had such a fun time with Nana and Boompa, Becki and her fam. It was hard to put those summer clothes back in the drawer when we got home and go back to wearing jeans and jackets.

More Sugar and Spice

2010-05-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today was the ultrasound, and we are expecting another GIRL! Whereas I was convinced it was a boy, Justin thought it was a girl. I felt a slight sadness initially. I realized I was not so much sad for myself, but more for Justin because I want him to experience having a son. It didn't take long for us to turn our feelings to joy. We get to have another girl, and so far she looks healthy! We are so blessed. We love the two girls we have more than words can say, so we are thrilled to be able to have another one in our home:)

He Lives

2010-04-04T00:42:00.000-07:00

He Lives (I encourage everyone to watch this!)

I feel so grateful today, Easter, for Jesus Christ.

Jenna's 4th Birthday

2010-03-27T07:48:00.001-07:00

We can hardly believe Jenna is 4! She was thrilled to have her friends over for preschool that day, and go on a treasure hunt with them. One little girl brought a green pancake in her lunch being that it was also St. Patrick's day.... another friend brought clover cookies. That night she had another friend come over to enjoy cake and ice cream. Family showered her with love and gifts earlier... including Jenna's first pet from Aunt Kate..... a fish named "Fishy".
Jenna saw the barbie cake online and immediately lit up... she wanted that cake so I attempted it, and she helped decorate:)
Morgan and Jenna are becoming such good friends... they have their little fights, but when they are getting along they play so well and giggle like the little girls they are.
Here's the smile I love on this little girl... red popsicle stains and all.

What's Your Tradition?

2010-02-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

Does anyone NOT make heart-shaped sugar cookies around Valentines' Day? This actually might be my first year making them. As you can see, the girls loved it. Jenna, our daughter with all the opinions, wanted pink, purple and yellow frosting.

Santa and Snow

2010-01-03T23:22:00.000-08:00

Jenna was happy to see Santa this year. Morgan would wave to Santa and repeat his name over and over from a distance, but as we got close to him she became very uneasy.
We received a surprise snowfall a few days after Christmas. While Justin spent an hour and a half getting home from work, the girls and I enjoyed sledding down the driveway. They loved it! This was the one day all year I was happy we had a sloped driveway.
Little miss Jenna was thrilled to take charge of the sled.

December memories...

2009-12-16T23:26:00.001-08:00

I had a good laugh when I realized Jenna's sticker was tempting me to gift her away.... hmmm, who would I give her to and how long before they return her? I do love my Jenna, it's just been one of those trying months of parenthood. Has anyone else dragged a child out of "dollar tree" while she screamed "I don't want my presents from Santa... I want my presents from the STORE!" Guess I wore out the "let's ask Santa" answer.
Jenna dictated her first letter to Santa. We are off to meet Santa today.
Morgan smiling for the camera but avoiding the flash. She is 18 months old and has started going to nursery at church. Whereas she didn't smile the entire time she was there, she did not cry either.
Morgan came downstairs after her nap with this hair-do.
Jenna and I created our family plus her two friends out of play-do.

Preschool!

2009-09-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Jenna started preschool this week with three of her friends from the neighborhood/church. The moms are rotating having it at our homes. As you can see she was so excited for her first day, although she was admittedly a little confused as to the purpose of preschool.

Me: Jenna, here we are at preschool!

Jenna: Why?

Me: So you can learn new things, like letters and numbers, and spend time with your friends.

Jenna: Why?

Me: Because I thought you would enjoy it.

Jenna: Why?

(walking up to the door, distractions...)

Me: Be good and have fun. I'll be back to pick you up in a little bit.
The next day as I was dishing out the McDonald's lunch - which I'm not ashamed to admit because, c'mon, most of us have fed our kids the stuff, and besides, I got the APPLE DIPPERS, which made it o.k. - Jenna proved her new skills by saying " 'A' is for 'Apple'... I did that at preschool." Yes! Hooray for preschool!!

This is how we play...

2009-09-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

I question whether I am being a good mother when my girls play like this... do we not get out enough? Do I not take them swimming enough? Is the air conditioning on too high??? When I ask Jenna why she dresses up in winter clothes in the middle of summer, her reply - as to every question - is " 'cause I just want to". Morgan's response is harder to figure out because she is only 15 months old. If she could speak in clear sentences, I guess she would say "because Jenna did"... although the swimsuit was actually Morgan's idea. Really, though, I'm not that worried about my kids silly behavior, in fact I love seeing the imaginative play they come up with. Justin and I would agree we are so blessed to have these girls in our lives. I feel extra blessed to be the one with them most of the time... thank you "daddy" for going to work and "buying money" for our family so I get to be home. Yes, Justin, Jenna thinks you go to work to "buy money".

Sieze the day...

2009-04-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

...a couple weeks ago we had an 80-degree day and went for it... we pulled that cheap plastic pool out of garage storage and the girls were happy. Of course Mommy was then happy too.

I love that my kids appreciate the simple things in life... how much longer do I have before they are begging for bigger swimming pools, water parks, etc.?
Oh joy... can you tell we literally came out from hibernation this day?
Morgan is starting to walk and we noticed she says a mumbled form of her sister's name now! Jenna looks out for her sister and yells at me if she gets near the stairs. She saw Morgan take a tumble down a few stairs so she gets very concerned and tells her: "No go down the stairs, Morgan! You're gonna fall!"

Fire Station Fun

2009-03-24T10:02:00.001-07:00

Jenna talked about the fire hose all day following our visit to a local fire station.

It was so fun for the kids (ok, and me too!) to get a tour of the fire station and see how everything works. I give a huge thanks and hooray to our brave firemen who serve us!

Jenna thought it was pretty cool to sit so high up in the truck.

(keep scrolling down for Jenna's birthday post)

Jenna's 3rd Birthday

2009-03-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Jenna loved being sung too, although she acted shy.

Jenna with a cheesy grin... she was happy with all her presents.

I was trying to convince Jenna to blow out the candle...

... but she opted to let her friends help her. She had a great party with friends decorating cupcakes, playing duck-duck-goose, and just being silly and crazy. She also had a fun party with family.

Daddy-Daughter Dance

2009-02-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

Justin took Jenna to a daddy-daughter dance a couple weeks ago. Jenna loves to dance and we thought this night would be a special date for the two of them.

The whole night I was wishing I could be a fly on the wall at the dance... so I was soooo happy to get this picture. Thanks Sheldon and Kyra!

The girls looked like princesses!

Random Pics...

2008-10-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked me how J is adjusting to having a new sister... maybe the question should be reversed and the answer is clear by M's expression in this pic - very ho-hum about sudden outbursts and abrupt movements around her, and things being placed on her head, etc.
Sorry we left you out of this pic, M, you were with Grandma while we hiked the trail to Wakeena Falls.

This could have been an awesome picture if my camera's focus was not broken!!!

Cookie Monster...

2008-10-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

I wonder how much cookies at a bake sale would go for with the chocolate chips hand-picked and carefully placed one-by-one inside the dough. OK, you know me, I got impatient and we dumped. Good lesson given to me by my daughter, though, on enjoying the process... bla bla bla.

Summer Flashbacks...

2008-10-23T14:38:00.001-07:00

As the air around us starts to chill, let's take one last look at our fun summer days of '08:

Oaks Park: J has a fascination... maybe an obsession... for mascot type characters. I had to yank her off the stage after the show started. I have also had to distract her from following Chuck-E-Cheese around so he could make an escape. Santa's lap pics seem promising.

No, J is not on a date nor will she be until age 21ish... Just out for a ride with buds Nat and Ry.

For some parents I'm sure amusement parks are a little stressful, but this summer we frequented this tot-friendly park and took awesome naps following.

Worth it?

2008-09-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

J, M and I drove 35 min to the zoo to find the parking lot full on 2-dollar Tuesday, but we couldn't turn around.... we'd come too far, and so we continued to drive an exit further on the freeway to shuttle parking. After finding a spot in row "G" I unloaded then loaded the princesses in our sit-n-stand double stroller (wishing very badly Jay was with us) and hiked an enormous hill to wait in line for the shuttle bus. Since J perked up and said "mommy... BUS!", and the nice grandpa behind me carried the stroller on board I decided to enjoy the journey. 90 min into the trip, many miles and two lines later we were IN the zoo with cousins, aunts & grandma. One more line and we had victoriously viewed this brand new baby (sorry not a very good shot),a magnificent sea lion, a spinning otter,

and a couple of monkeys. Watching J enjoy all of this, her snow cone,
and seeing these reactions,it was SO time for Purell, and to celebrate a day my daughters enjoyed very much! To include M, here she is with her adorable "P'Nut" from great aunt J! She loves him:)

M's Blessing

2008-08-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

What a sweet experience it was to hear Jay deliver a blessing to M. We feel so blessed to have our two girls in our lives! Thanks to all who participated... in person and for those whose hearts were there with us.

What a day for a...

2008-08-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

... taste of Tillamook cheese and ice cream, and a little fun with sand and water. Ever since this trip J has been carrying around her bucket and shovel and scooping up rocks and barkdust in our yard. I found her making piles of barkdust on our patio one day... she claimed she was making a "tower", but to no avail since barkdust doesn't stack up quite like wet sand.

Sweet Sisters

2008-07-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

My nickname for M has been "Morga-Poo", which J has translated into "Baby-Poo"... it cracks me up to hear her call her that. Some of J's care-taking skills include keeping track of the binki, covering M up with blankets, making sure the swing or toy she is in is fully on and operating, keeping track of baby's "burpers" (diapers), and ALWAYS making sure I am aware that "baby hungy!". Milestones for M lately are smiling and mimicking faces and cooing.

One Week Old

2008-06-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Morgan is one week old here... Big sister J loves her. I'm grateful for all the conversations with my fam and friends about the "adjustment" J would go through when M arrived. You were all very right and very helpful... because of our chats our family felt prepared and are trying to include J by letting her be mommy's big helper and letting her hold M.

By the way, Aunt L made this VERY adorable blanket for M!

Welcome, Little One!

2008-06-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

We are so happy for Morgan to join our family. The labor and delivery went well and I am feeling better each day. I was thrilled when I got to the hospital and was already dilated to a 7! M is healthy, and she is so sweet. I'm afraid to say she hardly cries for fear the tide might change, but she really is content and a joy to have around. Big sister J is sweet to her and concerned about her well-being. If M fusses, J is quick to say "shhh, baby, shhh... (are you)ok, baby?" J calls M "baby sister".

2008-06-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

40 Short Weeks!
Compared to my first pregnancy when I was so engrossed with the process EVERY day, yes, I can say this pregnancy has felt quite short! To celebrate this exciting "Due Date" plus my upcoming 30th birthday, Justin took me to dinner at Outback tonight. On a silly note...anyone familiar with the 'couve mall knows about "Expectant Mother's Parking"... I have never scored one of these spots during my pregnant days, until today! I felt victorious... not that I mind walking a distance to the mall, but it was raining that annoying "drizzle", and I just felt so deserving of that spot being 40 weeks along! When Justin arrived (he met me there from work), he had to burst my bubble by noting he'd seen the sweet parking spot I landed and then announcing he found a better one.
We are anxiously excited for our little girl to be born! We will keep you posted.

2008-05-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

I now understand the phrase "you are so cute when you're mad!"

2008-05-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful that as a mother I get to enjoy precious moments like this when my daughter had her first tea party... J figured she would feed the cupcake some tea since he had a mouth! Pooh was her first guest at her first tea party... poor J's mom is so pregnant that she tries to avoid getting down on the floor so much, so she "stood" this one out and took pics instead. Notice J's attire of sweatshirt and rainboot... we are excited for some sun this weekend FINALLY!

J's 1st Car

2008-05-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

Garage sale season is here, and I love a good bargain. J enjoys her new car that I found at a sale today. She was getting in and out of it and examining the exterior. Baby bear got to ride along with her too. The Grandma who sold it to us lives around the corner and asked if we could keep the car out of view for a little while so her grandson would not see and want it back.

daddy-daughter weekend bonding

2008-04-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

It was fun watching J mimick Jay with tools. She wanted to do everything he did this weekend, including snack on chips and salsa over Star Wars.

Here's my sign...

2008-04-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

... that it may be time to potty train J. I took this behavior to mean she is interested in going, so today we tried and so far have been unsuccessful. She sat on the potty twice but messed her pull-up in between. I'm not pulling my hair out yet. It's only day one and I'm hoping chocolate chips and stickers will motivate her:)