Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fun in the sun?

I woke up this morning and decided that I needed to take Jacey to go do something fun (after getting Keely's shots :-( ). So, I called up my sister and she suggested we take the kiddos to the zoo. I went in on a zoo pass with her this past year and I think I've gone maybe twice. So, I guess it's about time I got some kind of use out of it. The kids had sooo much fun but dang did we pick the wrong day to go. It was almost 90 degrees out today. Holy cow I'm not ready for hot weather yet :-(


My little diva


Cheese

Playing with the sting rays



Where oh where are all the animals? Squint really hard and you might see them :-0

Apples, Apples & more Apples

My girls both LOVE applesauce and eat it on a daily basis. So I got the bright idea to buy some apples in bulk, make my own applesauce and then can it. I think if I never see another apple again it may be too soon. The applesauce turned out yummy but I realized too late that I did not have enough of the right equipment to make it worth my while. Two days & 1/2 a box of rotten apples later I ended up canning only 3 jars and froze about 4 jars. At least I'll have baby food for a little while :-)

Jacey was the best little helper. My mom let me borrow her apple corer/peeler after my 1st day of peeling and coring them all by hand. Jacey loved working this.

All these apples had to be thrown away because they were way too ripe :-(

We did get to make and eat some yummy apple crisp though :-)

Some of the finished product!!!


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

6 months going on 12 months

Keely had her 6 month check up yesterday. I was not surprised at all to see that her height and weight are in the 99th percentile. That's my big girl!!!

Here are her actual stats:

Age: 6 months

Weight: 21.4 lbs

Height: 27.5 in

Head cir: 17.3 in

BMI: 19.8

Milestones:
She is now eating baby food regularly, can almost sit up by herself, rolls from one end of the room to the other in a matter of seconds, can hold her bottle (just chooses not to), sleeps 10-12 hours every night (Yes!!!!), loves to growl (especially during church), is very observant and watches you like a hawk, gets sad if I leave the room :-( , grabs everything and anything she can get her little hands on, loves to blow bubbles with her binky in her mouth and then see how far she can chuck it across the room (pretty far), loves to smile and absolutely loves to play with her big sister Jacey :-)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!! (Very long post)

Today is my dad's birthday so I thought I'd post of few of my favorite memories and pictures of him on his special day :-)
Growing up:
When I was younger we lived in Utah. We had a two level house with a really big back yard. I remember my dad constantly building something. When you went out the back door there immediately was a patio and then lots of stairs that led down to the yard. My dad built a really nice deck at the bottom of the stairs and covered it with astro turf (?). Then he built a "playground" for us. The play ground consisted of a deck with a shed on it (our carpeted play house) with a slide going down from the deck, swings attached in the back, sand below and rail road ties all around it. We spent sooo much time out in that play house and had so much fun having slumber parties on the back deck. I really missed that house when we moved to AZ.
My dad has always been quite the story teller. Anyone who knows him knows he loves to talk and to tell stories. Growing up my dad would always either tell or read to us a story before going to bed. I used to LOVE listening to all of his wild and crazy stories about his childhood and growing up. I'm sure that my great love of reading, particularly mystery novels, comes from my dad reading us "The Three detectives" series by Alfred Hitchcock every night until he'd read us every single one.
Personality traits:
I take after my father in sooo many ways. Some good and some not so good :-) We both tend to get very emotional over the littlest things (crying) and have a short fuse at times. Several months ago after listening to a talk in general conference, my dad called each of us children up to tell us all how much he loved us and how proud of us he was. He couldn't get through the entire phone call without crying :-) I'm pretty sure he'll probably start balling after reading this post. My dad is like a huge teddy bear, a little rough around the edges at times but a big softy at heart and so fun to snuggle with (just ask Jacey).
My dad has always been really good at poetry. Growing up, he would write a poem for every occasion: Birthday's, Graduation's, Mother's Day, etc... He would always say "I'm a poet, didn't know it, my feet show it...they're Longfellow's". I have no clue what it means or where it came from but I remember my dad saying it all the time!!
Maybe one of these years he'll write a book of poetry???
Here is a poem he wrote for my Grandma Skousen one year for her Birthday:
"I learned to speak through countless error
first sound, then tone, then verbal fare
and yet the ear is caught in quandary
for mine is far from singularity
a hint of Father is only half
as Mother dear is in my laugh
now so in living I find the same
what I foresee or be is not my fame
the credit goes to all before
laid foundation, stem and even more
so as we revel in our birth
a change is made to Mother Earth
eternity may never this tiny spot review
but it exists because of you"
Loving Father:
My parents only live a few minutes away from my house, which is really nice. If I'm having a bad day I will often leave and go chill out at their house :-) When I was pregnant with Keely my hormones were a little crazy and I had a tendency to get upset over everything (okay, so maybe I still do). One night Thad and I had a "disagreement" and I needed to get away and vent. I normally would have gone over to my parent's house to talk to my mom and tell her all my woes. Unfortunately my mom was in Oregon at the time. I knew my dad would be asleep (it was 10:00 at night) because he had to get up for work early, but I went over there anyway. I had no intention of going in I just needed somewhere to go. I parked in front of their house and just sat in my car and cried. After about 10 minutes I heard a knock on my window. It just about scared me into early labor. It was dad. He heard my car and had looked out his bedroom window and saw me just sitting there. He convinced me to come inside for a little while. I remember him saying "Now, I know I'm not your Mother and I probably won't have as good of advice but I'm willing to listen if you need me". I spent the next 30 minutes or so telling him all my troubles. He told me stories and gave me some great advice and made me feel so much better. I will never forget that night!!!!
When Thad and I were dating or should I say not dating, I was having a really hard time. I was living on my own, Thad had just broken up with me and all my roommates had decided to move out at that exact time. Needless to say I was a mess. I can't even count the number of times I went over to my parents house to have my dad give me a blessing. He was such a great comfort to me at such a horrible time in my life. I am so thankful to have been raised by a father who has such a strong testimony and love of Jesus Christ, has installed those same beliefs in his children, and has remained faithful and strong no matter how tough things have gotten.
Thank you Dad for everything you have done for me; for your faith, determination, example and great love for your children, grandchildren and wife. Happy Birthday!!!!
Loving Father

Adoring Husband

Wonderful Grandfather

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day

A miracle happened today; or as Thad would say, a certain hot area (he**) froze over.



This man




Took me to see this movie







We have been married 4.5 years and this is the first time (that I can remember) that he has gone with me to see a chick flick. Before we were married we went to the movies all the time, chick flicks included. Then along came marriage and so long went the movies (and date nights). Thad has a hard time coming up with ways to surprise me or for that matter, being romantic. So when I told him all he needed to do was take me to dinner and a movie of my choosing he gladly agreed.

I do have to give him props for going to this movie. I'm not sure which I was more afraid of, him hating the movie and complaining through out the whole thing or him watching it and realizing he was watching the story of my life and deciding to put a stop to it (J/K) :-) Thankfully he did neither.

Thanks babe for a fabulous dinner at the Outback and for being a good sport about "Confessions of a Shopaholic". Happy Valentine's Day-I Love You

XOXO

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Baby loves bath time....

Keely absolutely loves taking a bath. I usually give her a bath in the kitchen sink because the tub is just way too big. However, my chunky monkey is getting way too big for the sink. I have had this little bath thingy since Jacey was a baby and have to admit that I've never known the proper way to use it. I've always thought, how dumb is it that I can set the baby on here but there is no way to keep her on it. I just happened to be reading someone's blog the other day and saw a picture of their baby in a similar seat. They were comfortably buckled in. And then the light went on!!!!! I can't believe that I wasn't bright enough to exam the darn thing to see that the buckle behind the seat was meant to go in the front. Ha, Ha!!!! At least now I know how to use it. Too bad Keely's just about too fat for it as well. The darn belt left a mark on her belly. I may have to sit her in her Bumbo for bath time :-)

As much as Keely likes taking a bath, she hates getting out. That is, until I snuggle her up in her nice soft and cuddly bath towel. Our good friend Debbie Vance made this for Keely and I have to say I wish I had one of my own. It is just about the cutest & softest towel I have ever seen :-) Keely agrees.
Thanks Debbie!!!!

Movie Night

Last Friday I went to girls night out with my family and friends. We saw "He's just not that into you". Although it was very funny it was soooo not as good as I was hoping it would be. I'm not a fan of crappy language and boy was that movie chock full of it. Oh well. At least I had fun hanging out with my girls. We ate at the Red Brick Pizza and then went to Cinnemark. At least my dinner was good :-)


The "gang" in order of appearance :-) Charlyn (my mom), Becky, Gina (my sis), tana, myself and Mara.
Fun trivia: Gina has been friends with Becky since 6th grade and I've been friends with Tana since 7th grade. It's nice to have friends that go the distance with you :-)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Friends, family and fun, fun, fun :-)

Wow January sure went by fast. I can't believe it's February already. Tuesday night I had the pleasure of joining my ladies, Tia & Marisa, for a night out on the town. We went to dinner at the Pita Jungle. It's been at least six years or more since I've eaten there. Holy Cow was it good. Tia and Marisa got a hummus platter with grilled chicken. They let me sample some and it was sooooo good I may just have to get that next time. I can't wait to go again :-) Thanks for a great time girls!!!!


Keely is still growing by leaps and bounds and is eating solid foods now. She of course loves applesauce, bananas & oatmeal cereal. We are still working on the veggies. She'll eat sweet potatoes but not by choice :-)
(PS-If you look closely you can see the little curly que on the top of her head in the top right picture. Soooo cute!!!)
Jacey has been absolutely obsessed with puzzles lately. She had been working on a Whinny the Pooh one for a few weeks just playing around with it, having me help her, etc... I went in the other day to check on her and she had completed the entire puzzle (not that big but still pretty cool) all by herself. She was sooo excited. I love that she can sit there for hours and just play with her puzzles. I went and bought her another puzzle last night and this morning she had already had it down pat. She has put it back together at least 5 times today. I guess I'm going to have to start buying harder puzzles now :-)

On Sunday we had our friends Brock & Jessica and Thad's brother Jeff & his wife Jennifer over for a little super bowl get together. Brock and Jessica's little girl Bentley is the same age as Jacey and they had so much fun playing together and teasing each other. A good time was had by all. Except for the 4th quarter when all of the yelling began, that's when the babies started crying :-(

Super bowl fun!!!!