Another Tag

Well, until I get the desire to download our other pictures, I will just follow up with a tag from Emilee, and I'll answer for both Jared and I:

A-attached or single? Attached (at the hip...)/attached...unhappily..hee hee.
B-best friend? My hubby-bubby/Kenna
C-cake or pie? Definitely cake, not a huge fan of pie/ooh, that reminds me, I have some pie in the freezer...so, pie.
D-day of choice? Saturday/ Mondays, that's the day we get to spend together.
E-essential item? There's not really much I can't do without/McKenna
F-favorite color? Blue/Green
G-gummy bears or worms? Worms/worms...they last longer
H-hometown? Don't have one/Idaho Falls
I-indulgence? I'm a chocoholic/cars
J-January or July? Definitely July, even in AZ/January, it's not hot.
K-Kids? Anna-banna-bonanna/Anna
L-Life isn't complete without? Relationships/McKenna
M-marriage date? 11/25/2002/excuse me? no, don't put that. It's 11/25. I thought you said Marriage or Date?
N-number of brothers and sisters? 3 big bro's, and when I say big, I only mean older.../I have 3 sisters, no brothers...well, 3 brothers in law, does that count?
O-oranges or apples? Apples, they are cleaner to eat/Oranges
P-phobias? Bears, bears and more bears/I don't know what I'm afraid of...heights, I'm afraid of heights.
Q-Quotes? "Falling flat on your face is still moving forward."/"I know, right?" (said like Mean Girls...)
R-reasons to smile? Family/McKenna
S-season? Summer/McKenna..haha, okay, Winter.
T-tag...anyone who desires to do this one/no
U-unknown fact about me? I sucked my thumb until 3rd grade/I used to race snowmobiles.
V-vegetables? I love them. Most of them raw, but I love cooked corn./ none, except McKenna's cooked corn.
W-worst habit? Thinking bodily functions are hilarious/bite my nails
X-xray or ultrasound? don't really know the purpose of that question. I suppose ultrasound is more informative in some respects, but I really enjoy bones, so I like xrays too./as far as? xray, no ultrasound cause it doesn't shrink your....are you serious??
Y-your favorite food? I love Italian food. It's so fattening and delicious/gluten-free pizza
Z-zodiac sign- virgo/aries I guess.

Reaching

Anna has been doing some reaching and grabbing lately. She now likes to kick and swat at her little mobile above her crib. So, the other day I was sitting outside with her (she really likes the sunshine) and the dogs were playing near us. PJ came and stood with his front paws on my lap, sniffing Anna. She had been watching him all along, and as soon as he got close to her, she jabbed him right in the eye with her finger. It kind of reminded me of that Simpson's episode where Homer is trying to find the little girl that Marge's sister adopted in the nursery. The only way he knows it's her is because she squishes his eyeballs. Anyway, it was funny. To celebrate Anna and PJ, I found this picture that we took a few weeks ago. Sorry about the "I stay at home" Mommy look.

6 Unspectacular Quirks

Okay Angie, this is for you. (p.s. we need another entry "dahling"...)

1. I am quite known for the way I completely butcher phrases and words. I definitely don't do it on purpose, but it just happens. For example, I was having a discussion at a Relief Society gathering with my mother and most of the Lambson Land Ladies. We were talking about how sour cream was such a nice addition to our meals once my family became wealthy enough to afford it, and I said something to the effect, "Yes, it was quite the delicatessen.." Yup, not delicacy like I meant, but it was a deli. I'm retarded.

2. I HATE having my ear folded backwards. It drives me bonkers. Sometimes Jared will tease me by holding me down as he folds them until I scream. It just weirds me out... I can't even have Anna's ears folded, I have to lay them flat.

3. I never had wisdom teeth. Actually, I'm even missing one molar on one side of my jaw.

4. When I swallow pills, I have to take only one at a time, and then I have a little system to get it down the gullet. First I put the pill in my mouth, take a large swig of water, swallow only a portion of it, then I do a little gesture with my hand before swallowing the rest with the pill. If I don't do that little boost-of-confidence gesture, I can't swallow it. Jared laughs at me as he takes his six pills without water...

5. I am afraid of bears. I love to be in the outdoors, and I love to camp, hunt, hike, etc., but if I have to spend the night somewhere, I take some sleep aids along. Heaven knows if I don't, I will just stay wide awake listening to every single noise imagining its a bear out to eat my family alive...

6. I love to organize. Give me tuberware bins, labels, and all your junk, and you could not believe how happy it could make me! There have been times when I felt a large amount of stress and seriously just wanted to go out and buy a whole bucket of beads just so I could organize them by size, shape, color, etc. It calms me in weird ways.

If anyone would also like to share 6 unspectacular quirks abou themselves, be my guest!

Crash

So, last week our hard drive crashed. Yay. We lost everything, which included all of our pictures (since 2004), all of Jared's school work, and my book (about 70 pages). Luckily, I had printed off a manuscript a few months ago, but unfotunately, all the changes I had made since then are gone. I think we are okay on Jared's school stuff; he didn't need too many of the old papers and whatnot. It would have been nice to keep those around, though. The saddest part is the pictures. I should have been printing them off every once in a while, but it was just so handy keeping them on our computer. I just feel bad that we lost all of Anna's first pictures, and there were a lot of them, but I guess we just move on and take more. I am glad that I started the blog; that was able to save some of our favorites. Anyway, such is life. Now we have a "happenin'" new laptop and I decided, based on some of Aaron's advice, to just restart my book. I think I've been trying too hard and my "voice" isn't coming through, so I'm working on just developing that writing skill. It has been fun. Well, that's really all the news I have for now, and sorry no pictures...

Little Fishy

Anna has been a little fishy from day one. She loves bathtime and enjoys showering with Mommy. She just sits there and licks her lips the whole time, it's hilarious. Anyway, she finally fit into her bathing suit (thanks SueAnn...), and so we went for a dip at the hotel. We didn't have any diaper covers, so it swelled to astronomic porportions, it was crazy. I think we left with most of the pool in her shorts.

Blessing Weekend

We blessed Anna on Sunday the 31st. My mother made her dress, which was gorgeous (the pictures don't do it justice). It was made from a vintage pattern based out of Victorian times. Here are a couple of pictures that we snapped while getting her ready. Anna thought it was funny.

But then we had to hurry and go...

She now thinks she's hot stuff for being the center of attention. She's too cool for us...

All in all, it was a very wonderful weekend. Jared's blessing was beautiful and we had such a blast with his family in town. Thanks to everyone who helped out; we couldn't have done it without you!!

Revelations, Epiphanies, and Spit Up

As a preface, I am currently reading Eckhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth", which was recommended to me by my Iranian chiropractor. It is intended to be a sort of spiritual awakening guide, but I have been enjoying it as a review of my psychology and philosophy classes. It talks a great deal about the "ego" and who we are as people living in this society. Tolle speaks about the inner voice that we all have, which I learned as "self talk" in Psych 101 in college. I probably came to recognize my inner voice when I was around 9 or 10 years old and starting to imagine myself talking to certain friends at school, or perhaps that one cute boy. I would hold conversations in my head, practicing what I would say, as I know you all do as well. The inner voice is unavoidable, but it becomes interesting when we analyze it and recognize when we are thinking or saying things to ourselves that are humorous, off-the-wall, or revealing. Anyway, to get to my point, I have been thinking more about what my voice has been saying as of late, and just the other night, I had a small parent-related idea. It was 4 o'clock in the morning, and I was thrilled because Anna had just slept for 7 1/2 hours straight! She is getting better and better at night, and I was just so happy to think that night-time feedings will probably be eliminated very soon now. I think while I was feeding her, I was imagining telling my mother about how cool that was when all of a sudden, Anna vomited her milk all over me. It was a good two or three ounces down my shirt, but I wasn't discouraged and my mood actually wasn't effected at all. I've gotten pretty used to unexpected explosions from my daughter, so I jokingly said with a melodramatic voice inside my head, "How could you do this to me???" and I think I laughed audibly along with it. At that point I realized that I could really ask the very same question regarding how long she had slept that night. If a parent takes it personally when a child does bad, then they certainly need to take it personally when they perform well or do good things. I have found that already I'm falling into a pattern of parenthood where my child does well because she is an amazing baby, but when she struggles with something, it is my fault. "I should have burped you better", or "You ate too much and that was my fault". I'm sure that I'm overanalyzing all of this, but I am just so interested to see what type of parent I will be, that I'm watching for habits and irrational behavior. Childrens' behavior is most likely a combination of the "nature vs. nurture" idea; in Anna's example, I know it is. She is both a very relaxed baby and I worked hard at creating good sleep habits from early on. She is also going through a spit up phase and I should have burped her earlier. I don't think any parent can completely take credit or completely blame themselves for anything their children do. This idea that popped into my head during Anna's feeding has nothing to do with my parents, or any specific parents that I know (nice little disclaimer, eh?). I only know terrific parents, and I'm just throwing around the thoughts that leaped into my head that night. Now, for the real reason that most of you check this blog, here is a cute picture of Anna...

Professional Wanna Be

This is the extent of my professional photography. Any family that wants a copy just let me know, or just click on the photo, save it to your computer and then print it on photo paper. It's pretty easy. After about 100 photos, these two were my favorite.

First Smile Caught

Although Anna has been smiling quite frequently lately, we hadn't caught it on camera yet. This picture is Anna's very first smile at Jared!! It was cute. It also proves that I exist other than online. :)

Tagged

Okay Michelle, this is for you!

Ten years ago I was...
Oh man, I am not completely sure what I did the summer of '98. I know that for three years ('97-'99) I was a Youth Camp Leader for the 4th year girls (the ones that backpack for 3 days instead of stay at camp). Michelle and I had a routine of getting a dozen doughnuts in the morning before we drove up to find trail with the Bergstrams. That was to make sure we didn't get too skinny, of course. If I remember right, this was the year that we found that huge muddy spot on the bank of a stream. We covered ourselves completely with mud, from head to toe, and took a picture. All you could see were a set of eyes peeking out from the bank, it was great. Otherwise, I'm sure I was working or doing something else useful, but to be honest, I have a horrific long term memory so I'm not sure.

5 Things on my to-do list:
1. Put Anna's newborn clothes in a labeled container.
2. Finish the dishes...that one is kind of on a continual basis.
3. Do some more pike-ups (tough sit-ups).
4. Jot down some of my thoughts that I had today about my book.
5. Find out why I blacked out earlier today. (that one maybe should be at the top, but it's not.)

A snack I enjoy:
Every summer it seems that I become a smoothie junkie. I love fruit smoothies, and I worked for a short while at a Jamba Juice while in college (I still have my hand print on the wall that we all did with paint up at BYU-I), so I go out and buy all the "fixin's" to make my own. I don't have a name for it, or exact measurements since I just throw it all together, but it consists of: strawberries, peaches, frozen apple juice concentrate, plain yogurt, and orange sherbet. It's really good.

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
If I had a million dollars, well I'd buy you a mink coat, not a real mink coat that's cruel...
Actually, I would take care of the usual (school loans, house, cars, children), and then take my family on trips around the world. I want to go to so many different countries and cities, I just don't have the funding to do so yet. That's all I really want though.

Places I have lived: (are you sure you're ready for this one??)
Rigby, Idaho
San Fransisco, California
Iona, Idaho
Ammon, Idaho
Idaho Falls, Idaho (25th St)
Boaz, Kentucky
St. George, Utah
Chandler, Arizona (Hacienda)
Chandler, Arizona (Saragosa)
Chandler, Arizona (Karen)
Flagstaff, Arizona
Rexburg, Idaho (Barnes)
Rexburg, Idaho (Aspen)
Sugar City, Idaho
Idaho Falls, Idaho (I St)
Idaho Falls, Idaho (J St)
Idaho Falls, Idaho (55th St)
Phoenix, Arizona
Mesa, Arizona

I also moved back into some of those homes twice, so I've actually moved 21 times in my life. Pretty good for only being 25 years old! (Hence the reason I don't hang on to furniture long...)
It will be nice to finally settle somewhere, eventually.

I tag Veronica and Bryndee on this one!