Mirror Mirror on the Wall

What mom? Can't you see I'm busy??

7 Months...

And yes, still blowing out despite upping the size of her diapers not once, but twice! Arrrgh! But she's too darn cute to stay mad at long. Obviously it is now requiring two of us to take her growth pictures. Hehe. I wonder how many of us it will take when she's 16!!!

6 Months and So Much FUN!!

Oh if I could only get my videos to post from my camera! Today Jaedyn truly started responding to us. Chad was, well I don't know what you would call it, rapping??? "Knickor Bocker, Knickor Bocker" (who knows where that came from???) but Jaedyn started bobbing her head to the beat. It was the cutest thing in the world! He hollered for me to come see and I did and sure enough she did it again! So I ran and got the camera and she did it several more times with the camera running. I was laughing so hard I couldn't hold the camera straight! No way that was coincidence! It is so much fun watching her grow. Last week she discovered "adadadadada" and Chad is in heaven! hehe. She could get him to do anything by saying that. She is eating a bunch now and keeping uh, most of it in her mouth. She loves carrots and sweet potatoes and rice cereal is okay. She hates peas and meat. Actually the chicken made her throw up so I'm gonna hold off on that one for now. I better not be raising a vegetarian... I won't know how to cook! She is also sitting quite a bit right now... that's right, no hands. She gets the most proud look on her face when she's doing it and just looks thrilled. She gets a kick out of peek-a-boo. I struggle getting her to support her weight on her feet still though. At least she does it a little now. It used to be that I would try and she would just pull her little knees up to her belly. Ahhhh, sweet improvement. I have to laugh, I should take a picture so I can post it but Jaedyn has got a comb-over... in the back! When she is falling asleep at night she rubs her head back and forth over and over again and has just rubbed the hair really short! But the hair above it is almost 3 inches long so it hangs down over it in an attempt to cover up the balding spot. Her hair! Oh my word that is an adventure in itself! She's got 2 cowlicks one on each side at the crown of her head and makes her hair stand straight up. Ponytails is the ONLY option. Maybe as it gets longer and hopefully thicker it will take care of that problem. She is so much fun though. We're getting ready to go to Vegas for Thanksgiving and yes, we're driving! Looking forward to that trip! The drive should be interesting but at least we're heading somewhere warm!

PS: THANKS ASH FOR THE PICTURES!!!!

Gas Prices?!?

Hey remember this?!? I just wanted everyone to know how flippin excited I am today! Gas prices dropped below 2 dollars this morning! Woo HOO! Seriously, how can I have a bad day after news like that? This past summer I spent a few cents shy of 70 dollars to fill up my tank once. Ugh. Today I can fill it up for less than 36. How long has it been since gas has been below 2 bucks? It's been so long I don't even remember but I know it was before Chad and I ever met! All who are in favor of this new trend say I!

I've Been Tagged!!

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago...
1- Going to BYU-I figuring out what in the world I wanted to do with my life (wow, I'm really glad that's over.
2- Paying my car off
3- Driving to Springville,UT every other weekend (I miss you guys!)
4- Living with 5 other girls (I still laugh at the videos!)
5- Learning to kick my butt with Trenda.. (Thanks for teaching me how!)

5- 5 things on my to-do list today...
1- Email pix to my mother-in-law
2- FHE (maybe swimming for $2 night?)
3- Feed Jaedyn (mmmmm, sweet potatoes!)
4- Read more of Eldest
5- Make dinner

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1- Um, travel the world
2- Have 20 kids and pay for their college
3- On second thought adopt 20 kids (I really hate being pregnant)
4- Do volunteer work with Drs without Borders
5- Get an Endless Pool
This WAS NOT a healthy question for me!!!

5 Places I have lived...
1- Arizona
2- Germany
3- Louisiana
4- Idaho
5- Utah

5 Jobs I have had...
1- Nanny
2- Subway
3- Math Tutor/Secretary
4- Selling Pest Control
5- Physician Assistant at all sorts of places

5 People I tag...
1- Kellie
2- Rebecca (did you already do this?)
3- Natalie
4- Jana
5- Stephie

6 Months Today!

Wow Time FLIES!! 6 months is a pretty big milestone for a first-timer. Jaedyn got to get her 6 month shots today as well and I'm very glad to report that she did really well. Whew! I still think Chad needs to take a turn doing that so he'll be a little more sympathetic about my complaints! It's so sad!!

Her stats of the month:

Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz (just below 25th%)

Height: 25.25in (about 40th... started out above the 95th!)

Head circ: 17.25 in (about 80th)

Jaedyn's growth is beginning to slow. She's crawling into the average range and will soon be well below average... just like her parents. What I want to know is this, if I'm destined to have small kids... why in the world can't they start out that way?!

Halloween!

We really had a fun Halloween this year. We went to the ward trunk or treat and could not believe all the people! You'd be surprised the people who crawl out of the wood work for free candy! haha. We ran out of candy fast thanks to Chad's large hands and generosity. So having nothing to do we decided to get Jamba's and rent Spiderwick chronicles from RedBox (I love their rentals... you can't beat a buck!). While there we got a call from the Harts, friends of ours, and ended up walking the mall trick-or-treating with Ian, their two-year-old. I wish I would've had a camera. He was a little green monster and adorable!

We did end up watching the movie but got home later than we originally anticipated. Because of this I was left with a rather large bowl of candy in my house cuz we missed all the trick-or-treaters! Bummer.

5 months

Whew!!! What a process it is to get a 5 month old to lay still and straight! Here's a series of my attempt to with my daughter. I finally decided bent knees would do... Her legs aren't really growing anyway... Just her head! Stats for 5 months were:

Weight: 12 lb 11 oz (just above25th%)

Length: 25 inches (75th%)

Head circ: 16.5in (75th%)

To All You Moms Out There

Man oh man! I am so tired of the blowouts! I guess if they're the only things I have to complain about as a new mom then I'm doing good but I am nearing my wits end! Seriously. We have tried EVERY kind of diaper out there. We are now in Pampers, yes the most expensive one out there, which has helped a TINY bit but I am still scrubbing at least one outfit a day. I'm about ready to start throwing out the outfits and buying new ones... it's gotta be worth it! We tried solids, hoping it would add a little form to the problem but it only made it worse! Too much too soon maybe? Aaaaargh! I was so frustrated last night I was afraid I'd hurt Jaedyn's feelings so I had to sit down and explain to my 6 mo daughter that I was not upset with her, that I knew she had no control over it, no it wasn't her fault, and yes mommy loves her. She just blinked big blue eyes at me and then grinned. Well it was therapeutic for me anyway. Ummmm, help??????

Hilarious! Check it out!!

Now all of you can see how expressive Jaedyn can be. Apparently she likes the feel of her gums smacking together. I love her so much!!

DC?!?

So as many of you know, my brother Shawn has packed up his family and moved them to Peru of all places. So the week before they left I suddenly got the bright idea to go and see them before they left and also to hang out with my brother, Chris, who is also living there where he's attending Johns Hopkins. So last minute Jaedyn and I left the cold weather in Idaho and flew to Sterling, VA to enjoy some good ol fashioned family time.

I still haven't been able to figure out the slide shows on blogger so I have to publish all my pix separately so there won't be as many... just know we had a fabulous time! The pix to the left are of some of Jaedyn's cousins. When we were walking the memorials I got this great shot of Sam, hehehe.

We lucked out on the trip and got to go swimming one night for free! Well free for us. I guess Shawn and Kellie were paying for access to the pool with their hotel accomodations. Thanks guys! I love the pix of Brendan and Jeremy in the hot tub. What I want to know is how come there aren't any pix of my brothers showing such obvious brotherly love???

So besides going swimming and walking the monuments, we also went to Mount Vernon and saw the home of George Washington. The tour made me nostalgic for the days of long puffy dresses and lacey parasols. Everyone got a good laugh at how excited I was over the meadows surrounding the home but really... how often do you get to see real honest to goodness meadows in Idaho??? Sure there are lots of open spaces but they're all either grain fields or weed fields. It was beautiful.

We also went out to eat about a bazilion times and I would like to thank the generosity of my brothers and sisters-in-law, I did not have to pay for one single meal, which I'm sure Chad appreciated as he went over the expenses of the trip.

I really had a good time on the trip and would like to thank everyone for their generosity! And of course I long to go back and finish the touring. I want to see Arlington Cemetary, The Smithsonian, The Holocaust Museam, Chris, Laura, Landon, and Sam (and maybe someone else? hehe jk!).Thank you, thank you everyone for a fabulous trip!

BTW: We miss you Shawn, Kellie, Brendan, Jeremy and Andie!!!

Four Months! (A month late)

Sorry this is so late! I've had an unbelievable month... which I'll blog about in future posts. But here are Jaedyn's 4 month pix compared to her one month pix. Unbelievable how much she's grown. At her ped appt She weighed 12 lbs 11 oz, was 25 inches long and had a head circumference of 16.5 inches! She's got lots of room for her brains I guess! Her percentiles are:

Head Circ: 75th

Weight: 30th

Length: 75th

Weight to height: 5th

It has been so much fun watching her grow and discover new things. She is such a happy baby and her smile brings me such joy! Chad and I are getting a kick out of her giggle lately... and her snort that sometimes accompanies it! She has rolled over once but we have as of yet to see her repeat this new marvel.

Adorable Laughter!!!

Thanks Ash for making it all possible!

Faces for the Camera

A girl after her Daddy's heart... making faces for the camera already! Poor girl is starting to teeth. She has been chewing on her fingers so hard she makes them red! Chad snapped the picture today when he discovered her innovative way to get bilateral relief! Hilarious.

Tribute to Michael Phelps

I totally stole this from Alisha's blog, but I couldn't help myself!

Michael Phelps... THE BEGINNING

HAhahahahahhahahaha

September... Time for winter?!?

So today was the official start of September... and apparently of winter in Idaho! What in the world?? It was 40 degrees all day today and the winds were freezing! Jaedyn hung out in her pajamas all day cuz they are her warmest clothes and I absolutely refused to turn the furnace on! We took her for a walk and bundled her up in winter gear to protect her from the ridiculously cold weather. She's the only one smiling today.

What a Way to Spend the Weekend!

So I've been really excited about getting my food storage together this year. I know, I'm a nerd. I think it stems from actually having a pantry to store food in rather than just under the bed and in piles in the loft. We love our new home!

So I called on my mother's vast experience and knowledge and she was gracious enough to come up for the weekend and walk her over-eager daughter through the essentials of canning peaches. (Poor woman didn't know what she was getting herself into). We had already done cherries and this went rather quickly and easily and the bottles looked so pretty when we were done so I was really excited to add peaches to the shelves and not expecting a lot of work. haha. It helps people if you get free-stone peaches. Word to the wise... use ELBERTA peaches for canning. I did not know this. I do now. We canned 4 boxes of the suckers and unlike cherries, you have to pit and peel them. So un-fun with cling-stone peaches! But look how they turned out. My mom also brought along her juicer steamer and we made some cerry and peach jellies (you can see some of the jars in the background) Once again... pretty. So I ordered more peaches and pears from the boyscouts to do again in 2 weeks. I'm a sucker for punishment, but I can do anything if the company is good. Thanks Mom!

Jaedyn's Percentile

I just want to update the numbers on Jaedyn's growth. This is another pix of her 3 month growth and she just looks huge to me! So I got online and downloaded growth charts so I could plot her growth. It was kind of fun to see where she fit in. These were the results:

At Birth

Length for age: Above the 95th%

Weight for age: 75th %

Head Circumference: 90th%

Weight for height: Below the 5th%

At 2 Months

Length for age: 90th%

Weight for age: 50th%

Head Circumference: 90th%

Weight for height: 18th%

So my baby is a monster! haha. Really though. At work I keep seeing all these babies coming in that are just tiny and I think "my baby was never that small". People told me that you just forget fast but she really never was! Who knows where the height came from. Chad claims credit for the head due to a childhood of flattened pillows. His stories crack me up. That's why it took her so long to hold her head up... it's gi-normous!

A Quick Trip to Vancouver

This last weekend Chad, Jaedyn and I went to Vancouver, Wa for Chad's sister's wedding. She was a beautiful bride of course and we had a wonderful trip... though we all felt like it was much too quick! It was Jaedyn's first plane ride and she did so wonderfully! She jabbered the whole way to Washington. We wanted to get a picture of her with the captain but apparently the captains have stopped greeting people as they board... either that or just the captains of cheap airlines have! haha.


We left to head up on Thursday night. We spent Friday decorating the church for the reception and Saturday we spent the day at the temple for the wedding, took lots of pictures, and hung out at the church eating yummy food (Great job again Tina!). Sunday we woke up at 4:45 to go catch our flight home. Work was rough on me this week, I think because I was recovering from the lack of weekend. I always need a vacation to recover from vacation.


And the reason for the rushed vacation? Chad started teaching on Monday! He seems to be enjoying the craziness of the first grade. He left for school excited this morning because the kids are going to be planting beans in potting soil today.

Ponies!

The Before and After shot of the first pony tails. We finally found ouchless hairbands at Walmart and I have to admit I was quite eager to try them out.

3 Months!!!

3 months old

2 months old

Jaedyn is now three months old! I can't believe how fast the time flies! I really have mixed feelings about it! On the one hand it is so fun to watch her discover new things. She is beginning to discover her hands and I'll catch her gazing at them (cross-eyed) like "woah! check out those fingers!" It's hilarious! And of course I wouldn't change all her gabbing for anything. She can talk up a storm and her little high pitched voice is just adorable. The giggling is too but that is much less frequent. On the other hand I miss her tiny cries and seeing all the itty bitty newborns at work makes a eensy bit nostalgic. We're living life and loving it though!

What Religion is Your Bra?

My friend Stephenie sent me this email and I got a good laugh.

A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy's and shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, "'d like to buy a bra for my wife."

'What type of bra?' asked the clerk.'Type?' inquires the man, 'There's more than one type? ''Look around," said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color and material imaginable. "Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only four types of bras to choose."

Relieved, the man asked about the types. The saleslady replied: "There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army, the Presbyterian, and the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?" Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences between them. The Sales lady responded, "It is all really quite simple...

The Catholic type supports the masses. The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen, The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright, and The Baptist type makes mountains out of mole hills."

Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are the letters used to define bra sizes?

(A} Almost Boobs...{B} Barely there...{C} Can't Complain!...{D} Dang!...{DD} Double dang!...{E} Enormous!...{F} Fake...{G} Get a Reduction...{H} Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up !

Memory Game

Here are the directions if you want to play.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments

Favorite Pastime

Heck yeah... it's the best feeling in the world! I really do try to put her in her crib to sleep like a good mommy should but sometimes I just have to indulge.

G-ma's Birthday Hat

Grandma Johnson celebrated her 87th birthday this month. We were lucky enough to be at my parents for the weekend for the party. It was really quite fun. Mom didn't have a birthday hat so my mom gave her ... well you'll just have to look closely at the picture to see what my mom substituted for a party hat. It was hilarious! Mmmm and of course the German chocolate cake with homemade frosting was delicious... my hips would have to agree.

My Man... the Trucker

I tried to tell Chad this was hideous but he believed the men at work over me. He grew it out initially as a joke and promised he would just have it long enough to show his friends at work. Then he got such a good reaction (and you know how Chad loves reactions!) that he decided to keep it an extra week to show his family when they were up for the Fourth of July weekend. I barely convinced him that it just wouldn't be appropriate for Jaedyn's blessing. I'm such a party pooper!! When he finally did shave he left the mustache! It took me several weeks to convince him that it was not fun to kiss! He's finally my clean-shaven husband again... well, most of the time.

Look How Much I've Grown!

Jaedyn at one and two months

FLIRT!

I started back to work on June 30th. It broke my heart to leave my little 6 week baby for the whole day! Luckily, as an answer to prayers, Ashley Moore (one of the CNAs at work) came to me one day shortly before my maternity leave and told me she was quitting at LWHC and would I like her to watch Jaedyn? I could have kissed her! (thank you thank you Ashley!) She saves my life Mon-Wed when I head out the door to work. It is so much easier knowing my baby is with someone I trust and that she is being taken care of and given the love she needs. Anyway, Ashley took this picture one day when Jaedyn was being particularly smiley... what do you think, does Jaedyn like her babysitter? The second picture is of Ashley's adorable one-year old Cache. I swear, he is the happiest little boy I have ever seen! He loves Jaedyn and calls her "Jay".

Jaedyn's Blessing

Jaedyn was blessed July 6th in the Iona 6th Ward. Bishop Adams participated as did Chad's brothers: Travis, Phillip and Zach, My brothers: Wesley, Shawn, Jonathan, Both our fathers, My cousin Bradley and our friend Alex Hart. Thanks to all those who traveled so far to be there for this day. It meant so much to us to see so many make such a big effort to support us. We love you all!

Jaedyn's blessing dress was made by my cousin Diane Peterson(pictured with Jaedyn) and she looked absolutely adorable in it! Diane told me she spent 30 hours on this outfit! Thank you, Thank you Diane for your love and all your hard work! I still want to get professional pix of her in this outfit. So look for a later post!

Our Little Poser

In my opinion, babies can do ordinary things that strike us as quite extraordinary.

Mesa Falls

This past Sunday afternoon we took a trip to Mesa Falls with our good friends; Alex, Elise, and Ian Hart. Because Alex's parents own Hart's Tux and Gowns, he has unlimited access to many vans so we were all able to drive up together, despite having 2 carseats. Good thing too cuz I didn't realize it was such a long drive! When we got there it was more of a nature walk than a hike like I was expecting, but that turned out to be a good thing for Elise who is 7 months pregnant!

The mosquitos were atrocious so anybody planning on going up there I would advise bug spray... many, many coates of bugspray... it saved our lives! I was too paranoid to spray it on Jaedyn... hence the blanket. They were swarming so thick we didn't dare take it down even for a second to take the pictures so you'll just have to trust me that that bundle on Chad's chest is our little girl!


The Falls were gorgeous though and the excitement must have worn the kids out cuz this last picture is of them on the ride home. Cute huh? Ian held her hand all on his own, we had nothing to do with it!

First Package!!

Chad, having wonderful foresight, got the camera out to take pix when this package arrived in the mail last week (Gotta love Jaedyn's hair in them). It is Jaedyn's first package in the mail. It was from Grandma Tina and contained a wonderfully comfy "book blanket" and a welcome into Grandma's book club. It's this wonderful idea G-ma had to keep in touch with her grandchildren. She sends a book every so often as a gift to the kids. This was Jaedyn's first and is called, "I Loved You Before You Were Born". Thanks G-ma Tina!!

1 Month Growth Picture

This is Jaedyn at one month old. I put the teddy there so we can try and track her progress! Jaedyn is now 10 pounds (at 6 weeks) and almost outweighs our dog!