The Zoo

Today we took a trip to the zoo. A girl in our ward that has kids almost exactly Ainsley and Owen's age invited us to go to with them. I was excited to get to do something with an adult. And I'm still desperately trying to get to know people in our ward and be social, so I was very excited. It's also always good for Ainsley to play with kids her own age. We all ended up having a good time even with 2 babies in tow and considering that there were at least 300 local elementary schools that decided to have their zoo trip today as well.

The highlight for Ains was the merry-go-round that she begged and begged to go on (although she doesn't look like it in her picture). Ainsley was a little nervous around the snakes. She really liked the monkeys. She kept begging to go see the penguins (probably because we just saw Happy Feet). We never found it, it must have been in the very back of the zoo. And by the time we were half way through babies were grumpy and we were ready to go. So we had to lie and tell her that they were asleep today. Maybe that will be her favorite part next time. If not, I'll just find a closer merry-go-round for her to ride on so we don't have to drive all the way to the zoo for a ride.

Some Movies!

I have been working for a week or so now to get a video of Owen clapping and waving, his two newest tricks. Last night, with a little encouragement, I finally got it. You have to look closely for the quick wave he sticks in before grabbing his tongue. Then we got the elusive double had wave, one we don't typically get...but we'll take it. I love how he is fully demonstrating the love he has for his tongue!


Ainsley was a little jealous of her brother and insisted that we get some video of her as well. I'm not sure what "marley" is. Something special she made up for this video I guess. I'm also not quite sure why her elephant sounds an awful lot like a cow. Weird!

Looks can be deceiving...

This afternoon I decided that since I haven't been very good about making dinner lately I would go above and beyond today. I think I have made dinner approximately twice in over a week. I've been wanting to make Navajo tacos for some time now and decided that now was as good a time as any to go ahead and make it. I looked online to find a fry bread recipe and then concocted a recipe of my own for the meat mixture. I made my dough and began frying the bread. I then started adding all sorts of good things to my hamburger. I added onions, green peppers, corn, black beans...and so on. It tasted great. I had some lettuce given to us from someones garden that I chopped. I grated the cheese, chopped tomatoes and I have to admit that by this point I was pretty impressed with myself.

Then I decided to taste the bread and see how good it was turning out as well. Not so good. I should have noticed something was amiss when the small recipe called for 2 tablespoons of salt. I should have thought to myself, "Hey Jess, that seems like a lot of salt. I wonder if they meant 2 teaspoons." Unfortunately, I didn't think this until I tasted the salty bread. My dreams of a magnificent dinner were dashed. Luckily I married a person that has very few taste buds and prefers an insane amount of salt on all food. John didn't notice that our dinner was very salty. He ate the bread plain. I have to admit that it tasted alright if I had enough "stuff" along with every bite of bread. They sure did look delicious though, didn't they!

The Incapable Seamstress

Yesterday I tried my hand at sewing...again. Usually the projects I undertake are extremely simple and don't involve a pattern because I can't read one. John has been wanting a new curtain by our front door for a while now. The one that was here when we moved in was covered in paint,(big blobs- not little specks) dingy, and crooked. How they got paint all over the curtain I will never know. I also wanted to make Ainsley some pajama bottoms. I guess it might be more accurate to say that I'm so cheap I decided that was the most economical choice for her sleep wear. I just refuse to pay $10 for a pair of pj's, no matter how cute they are!

I made my mom set aside time to help me seeing as how she has a bit more knowledge when it comes to sewing, and I had to borrow her machine. I started sewing at about noon and finished up with the projects at about 6:30. Not bad you might be thinking in your head, but remember there were 2 of us working for a large portion of the time. The curtains went fine with no pattern, although I measured something wrong because they are a little shorter than I wanted. Oh well, no one will ever notice...I hope. My mom ended up having to make a pattern for the shorts because everyone that we thought had one either didn't or refused to answer their phone. She just copied the shorts that Ains was wearing and then made a few minor adjustments. I have to say the pattern worked great. Or would have worked great for anyone with any minuscule amount of sewing ability. My mom pretty much made the first pair of shorts. I just hemmed and did other minor things. Then she left me to do the second pair while she went out to mow the lawn and such. That was a mistake.

I began sewing and before long I had sewn the two back leg pieces completely together. That's what I get for sewing and talking at the same time. Then I sewed the pieces into something that looked like either and upside down shirt with the arm holes sewn shut, or a skirt with weird little poofy things protruding from the hips. After a significant amount of picking out stitches and resewing, and after I was given a little more direction, I finally arrived at the shorts pictured above. Not the best looking, but perfectly suitable for Ainsley to sleep in. Plus the whole project only cost me $3. Quite the bargain! Now I just have to find some tops, I refuse to sew the tops!

Find the Binky!

Owen currently has 3 favorite places to store his pacifier. They are; the drawer where sippy cups are stored, the oven drawer (very safe), and my magazine basket. What's funny is that these aren't just weird places where I have found his pacifier. They are places where he regularly puts his pacifier. I have watched him crawl up to each location, open it if needs be, take his pacifier out of his mouth, and drop it in. I'm not sure why these are his favorites, but to him they must seem like perfectly logical storage places.

Gilbert Blythe

Last night I read this and instantly I was reminiscing about being a Miamaid and having a sleepover at Sister Galloway's house (her son currently lives in my ward by the way) and watching Anne of Green Gable's for the first time. I thought Gilbert was great and Anne was much too difficult and that it should have been titled Gilbert of Green Gables. I wasn't aware that anyone else had a crush on Gilbert.

I did a lot more reminiscing as I read through all of the comments and other girls brought up great teenage crushes like the boy's from Newsies (mine was fan flying boy...you had to be there), and Mr. Darcy. My friend Karalenn is jealous because she claims I got to marry a Mr. Darcy and she didn't. I have no clue how she came to this conclusion or what she means by it. I have to admit that I have only watched the new Pride and Prejudice and I didn't really like it. I never read the book. I tried and failed miserably about 2 chapters in. But now I have committed to at least watching the old movie. I have also decided that I want to read the Anne books as well. I'm not sure why I didn't read them as a kid. I think I even had them for a while. I guess I thought the movies were enough.

It was funny because with in minutes of my reading all of this, and then telling John, John was on the Internet looking for the Anne movies, Anne of Green Gables, and Anne of Avonlea. I told him that those 2 movies were on the list for this summer. We usually come up with a list of random movies/TV shows to watch during the summer when there is nothing good on TV. Right now on the list is Hero's, Gone with the Wind, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice, Battle star Galactica, Newsies... and the list goes on. We'll see how many we actually watch. Hopefully even if we don't get around to watching my old tween movies I've at least been inspired to go back and read the books.

The Recital

First of all I sincerely apologize for the cruddy pictures and video clip but I thought I'd share anyways. Ainsley did a super job tonight. During her first dance I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. Hence the bumpy video clip to follow. I would have just taken more video if I had realized my pictures weren't turning out but I was just clicking away while watching the lovely performance.
This picture fully shows Ainsley's excitement for the night. We painted her nails and I even let her wear make-up for the big night. I thought she looked adorable.
This is a picture of Ainsley actually doing her dance. She was so funny because if she noticed what any of the other girls were doing she would just watch them, or when she noticed there was an audience she would just stand there. Kind of like a deer in the headlights. It was so funny.
Ainsley was actually the only one on the right pose in this picture, we were so proud!
Here is Ainsley getting mad at her partner who is supposed to hold her hands and spin in a circle with her. Her partner refused (she just ran back and forth during both dances like she did during dance lessons). Ainsley was sweet though and when her partner didn't cooperate she calmly walked back to her "X" and patiently played with her hair until there was more dance for her to perform.

Enjoy this clip. Again I apologize, I was laughing and couldn't hold the camera still. It's short but maybe one day we'll get the whole dance that John recorded on here.



Ainsley had such a fun night. She sat quietly and intently watched all the other dances. I'm glad she loved it!

World's tallest person

Lately Ainsley has been very interested in becoming the tallest person in the world, like mom and dad. We must look like giants to her. I think she started thinking this because I have told her that if she wants to grow big and strong she needs to eat healthy things like fruits and vegetables. I usually tell her this when she is begging for treats.

So now that Ainsley is working toward her new "goal" she will always ask before eating something, "Will this make me big?" She has been told that treats and junk food won't make her big and so last night after eating a cookie she told us that the cookie made her sick. At dinner time she will often gag down food that she doesn't like (like asparagus) because we tell her it is a vegetable and will make her tall.

So we are in a very good position right now as her parents. Instead of arguing over what she will and won't eat, we just have to inform her of what will and won't make her tall. With any luck at all in just a few short years we will have the tallest girl in the world.

ABC's

This is a video I got of Ains the other day when she had her big accomplishment. She did her ABC puzzle all by herself, with no help or guidance at all. I was very proud because for some reason we only have 3 puzzles, and therefore Ains doesn't have a lot of practice with them. So when she did this one oner her own I was quite proud, almost as proud as she was of herself! When I started recording her singing her ABC's I think she got a little stage fright because she usually breezes through the song but she kept getting a little hung up. Cute though.

For Shelly

I got a picture of Owen after he had cried himself to sleep. It isn't the most uncomfortable position he has been in because he got one of his legs to go behind him after he fell asleep sitting up (notice his left leg is still stuck under him). I'm not sure why we bother putting blankets on him anymore because it's not like they ever stay on him. I have to admit though, he is slowly starting to get better at sleeping during the day!

Summer!

I love being able to fully appreciate my parents pool now that we live close by. We have been able to go swimming twice this past week due to extra warm weather. We used to miss out on these swimming festivities, and last year I was HUGE and didn't find a swim suit to cover my large belly until later in the summer. This year there was nothing to slow us down, we were able to jump in the pool as soon as it got warm enough! Yesterday it was so hot that we spent our afternoon out playing in their pool. (These pictures are from last week, but they illustrate my point). Owen loves the water, I figured he would. What baby doesn't love the water? Ainsley was a little overly cautious her first time in the water, but when we jumped in yesterday she took off swimming. Hopefully by the end of the summer she will even get a little more daring and not be afraid to get her face wet!?

Ice Cones!

Well aren't I full of updates today! Last year we rediscovered our snow cone maker (courtesy of John's parents a few Christmas's ago). I pulled it out yesterday as a treat for scouts and Ains has been obsessed with "ice cones" ever since. After being asked about 50 times for an ice cone today we finally went outside this afternoon during Owen's nap and had a mother/daughter treat outside. I remembered that I had found cute cups and snow cone straws last year so we got to use those as well. It was hot outside and so they were a great treat!

More Sleep Issues

For some reason my children have a very difficult time sleeping until they reach at least 1 year. Owen is now falling into a very bad sleep pattern. Crawling and warmer temperatures have really messed him up. Those of you that have seen us put Owen to bed know that he likes to be wrapped very tightly, even though most kids decide swaddling isn't for them around 3 months. My theory is that he is such a squirmy kid that he needs something to hold him down long enough to relax and go to sleep. Now that it is warmer (downright hot during the afternoon and night time) I feel like we can't wrap him up anymore unless we want him to die of heat exhaustion. Plus, he's just stronger now and can wiggle out of his blanket anyways and crawls around his crib. Lately when I put him down for a nap he's content to crawl around for a while but then it's almost like he can't figure out how to lay down and get comfortable. Once he's finally given up crying and crashed from exhaustion, I find him asleep in sitting position with his head between his legs. It's a vicious cycle. The boy just refuses to sleep. I guess on a positive note though, now that he is older and eating more food he has started to sleep until 5:30 in the morning. It seems that we're trading nighttime sleep for daytime sleep.

Mohawk

John did Owen's hair last night after his bath. He looks a little sad about it.

Pincer Grasp

I think it's cute when babies start to develop their fine motor skills and start grabbing at things delicately, trying to pick something up using just 2 fingers instead of a whole fist. Owen is currently mastering his pincer skills with his new favorite food, Cheerios. The first time I gave him cheerios he gagged (but he gags ALOT). Now, however, he loves them. If we put a bunch on his tray he grabs for a fistful and then tries to shove them in his mouth, successfully getting about 1-2 cheerios in. But if we hand him one at a time he very gently, calmly, and with great concentration, picks it up and sets it in his mouth.

Mother's Day

Today I rushed to my parents house during church to talk to Michael who is on his mission in Dominican Republic. It was good to talk to him. I can't believe that he's been gone 9 months already. He and Ainsley had a riveting conversation (it lasted approxomately 15 seconds). John missed out on the whole event because he had to teach elders quorum. I always forget that part of mother's day is that missionaries get to call home. What a nice mother's day gift.

Also...I had a lovely mother's day! It involved sleeping in, and getting John to do what ever I wanted him to with out complaining. Nice!

May Flowers

Today I finished the planting in my flower bed. It's so sad that I only have one. I guess the project for next summer will have to be ripping out some more. I already know where I want them, it's just a matter of time and money. I was most excited about my hydrangea bush. I went with that one because I absolutely loved the flowers on it. I just hope it can survive the winter and flower again next year. I had a hard time finding flowers I really liked that did well in the shade. I'm hoping my lobelia's spread out and make a pretty blue edging.

Crawling

John got this cute video of Owen crawling. And since I am obsessed with videos now because I know how to put them on I decided to post this.

Tagged again...

Here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose four people to tag and list their names.


1. I have no self control when it comes to good food, if it's in front of me I'll eat it until it's gone.
Seriously I could eat a whole cake if it was good.
2. My tail bone still hurts from Owen's delivery.
3. I'm horrified of caterpillars. I can't even look at pictures of them.
4. I'm obsessed with having clean hands and feet. I can't go to bed in the summer without
washing my feet because I've been wearing sandals all day.
5. I hate mornings and everything that goes along with them; getting ready, waking up, making
beds, all of it.
6. I'm a control freak. I like to be in control of situations.
7. I like mowing the lawn.
8. I love watching movies and eating popcorn.

Tag! You're it.
1. Karalenn
2. Shauna
3. Arin
4. I don't know anyone else with a blog that hasn't already been tagged!!

One tough cookie

Today Owen had his 9 month doctor appointment. Not only is he healthy, he is incredibly tough. He didn't cry or wince when he got his 2 shots and heel prick (I remembering Ainsley not crying at one of her appointments too). They had me hold him facing me when they pricked his heel and he was more concerned that someone was behind him than that she was squeezing blood out of his heel. Before we got home he had also ripped off both of his band aids. Let's hope the toughness continues. By the way, as far as his growth goes, he's 18 lb 9 oz. 25% for weight, 55% for height, and 75% for head. Funny, that sounds about the same as last time.

Fun Money?

We finally decided on what to do with John's surprise extra check. Actually, our decision was made for us when we had someone come out to check on our water heater due to the excessive popping noises coming from our garage. Luckily we don't have to replace the whole system(yet). We just had to replace the anode rod. I now know all about anode rods. And they will be coming to do a flushing of the water heater tomorrow. I learned 2 things from all of this. First, extra money is never extra...shortly after you get it something will come up that you need to use it for. The second and most important thing I learned was that you should never use warm/hot water from your tap for drinking or cooking purposes. Get cold water and heat it up. When I saw our old anode rod after it was removed it about made me sick. I couldn't believe that I had been using water that had touched that. When I shared these feeling with the repair man he told me to wait and see what came out of the heater when he flushed the system. He then told me that he never uses hot water from the tap for anything that will be going in his mouth. Ah, the things you learn!

The look of terror

You might have to enlarge the picture of Ainsley to fully appreciate it. The bigger the picture the funnier it is. Every time I look at it I can't help but laugh out loud. John and I took the kids to an indoor playground on Saturday with Dan and Kortney. Bria was a little braver than our little Ains. Ainsley cried whenever she got nervous and then kids would start jumping over her or sliding past her. I felt bad for her but at the same time, who wants to be the kid stuck behind the crying kid. I finally had to tell Ainsley that she wasn't going to get hurt and if she kept crying that meant that she wasn't having fun and we would have to go home. She mustered up her courage and ended up having a fun time. She is definitely not a dare devil but I have to give her some credit for giving the scary slide a try!

An old sledding video!

Here is a video from our trip to McCall. I just put it on because it was the only one I had and I was trying to figure out how to put video on my blog. Enjoy!









By the way...the video shows up when I use explorer but not fire fox, so if anyone else encounters something weird please let me know while I am trying to figure this out. Thanks!

Tennis Anyone?

Today we went to Syd's end of the season tennis tournament. We hadn't been able to go to any of her matches this year because the weather has been so cruddy. We only got to see her play one game. She won one game today and lost two. She lost the game that we watched...probably because my mom, sister, and all of the kids were lined up in our cars watching her play (it was cold and windy today too). But it was fun to watch her play. I'm sure she'll be a pro in no time!

Decorating Owen's Room

I've been desperately trying to find some cute things to put on Owen's walls. His room is still completely bare even though his room has been painted for a long time now. I went to get some frames to put his name up on his wall, and while shopping I found these cute wooden flowers that I thought would be cute hanging from Ainsley's shelf. I found paint that matched the buttons on her quilt and now I just need to find some cute ribbon. I like the way they turned out. Poor Owen. I shop for him and just end up accessorizing his sister's decorations. It is just so much easier to decorate a girls room. I don't even have to look for cute girlie things....they just jump out at me while I'm shopping for boy things. In my defense I did get the frames done for his room I just need John to help me get them hung straight. I guess that's a start, although just a dent on his bare walls.

The Drawing

This is a picture of Ains holding a picture that she drew for Jesus. That's right, she came to me today and showed me her picture she drew for Jesus and then told me a story that was so confusing I can' t even make enough sense of it to try to write it down. I'm not sure what possessed her to do this but I thought it was kind of funny...especially since she needed her chef's hat and apron to do it.

The Park

Today it was gorgeous outside so Kort and I took the kids to the park to play and have a picnic. I think Bailey and Owen just liked being outside. They also really loved the swings. We really didn't see much of Ainsley and Bria. They started playing with some kids and then they weren't too interested in their mothers. Almost all of the pictures I got of Ainsley were action photos because she wasn't about to stop playing. It's funny because last summer Ainsley wouldn't go anywhere on the playground equipment without being super cautious and whining that she needed help. This year she is just the opposite. She was running (and for the most part keeping up) with kids older than her. I was so proud. Actually I was just relieved that trips to the park might be a little more pleasant this year.

Let the child proofing begin!