Pictures of a Cranky Baby

My friend Emmalie is an awesome photographer, and took some pictures of Allie.  As you can see, Allie was really uncooperative.  In fact, I think it's safe to say she was a real pain in the butt.  As soon as we put her in the grass she started crying, and it was all downhill from there.  No matter what we did she wouldn't chill out. 

They're still adorable and funny, though, aren't they?

I was so surprised when she gave me the pictures that there were some smiling ones!  I'd swear she didn't crack a smile the entire time.

This one is my favorite.

 Cute, eh?  If you need a photographer (and you live in Utah or Colorado, or maybe Idaho) I'd recommend her!  Check it out:

http://snapshotsbyemmalie.blogspot.com/

Stuff Joey 's been doing

Joey has a been a busy boy lately.  The school put on a production of Willy Wonka and Joey was on the stage crew.  His big job was to plug in the lights around this golden ticket.  I admit I wasn't thrilled about him doing this because I knew it would be time consuming and I didn't really think he would like it.  But he loved it, and was so happy to be a part of it.
I sat beside this little guy at the play (Aaron Wendt).

He also did Hope of America, which was a patriotic program for 5th graders.  I had no idea it was such a huge deal, so was really surprised when we got there how many kids there were.  It was really impressive.

He loved doing it, and was so proud to be a part of it, too.

Halellujah!

 The day has finally come!  Jared has officially graduated.  It's been a long road, and looking back, I'm not sure we would have done it if we had known how long it was going to take. 

Traditionally, the graduates are pinned by an RN, so Jared's twin brother, Jason came to do that for Jared, which was really awesome.

The boys clearly loved the ceremony and enjoyed every minute of it.  (sarcasm laid on heavy enough?)Good thing uncle Jason was there for a thumb war.

 The fam

Friends Rachel and Becky who came to support Jared

 Friends and classmates Estella and Josh

 The best part, according to Tyler, was the noisemaker and the Rice Krispy treats after.

 Bentley drank Amy's water

It was fun and we're so glad we're finally here!!  Hallelujah!

More ear infections

Allie got another ear infection a couple weeks ago (her second), and it never seemed like it went away, even though she was on a strong antibiotic.  So on Thursday I took her back to the doctor and discovered her ears were still bad.  So bad that there was a  good chance her eardrum would burst.  But she really wasn't as cranky as you would expect.  Mostly she was just having a hard time sleeping at night.  The doctor was actually surprised she wasn't screaming all day.  So we tried a new antibiotic, and again it didn't work, so today she got an antibiotic shot, and she'll get another one on Wednesday, and probably on Friday, too.  I'm praying it works because I feel bad for her, and I don't want her to have to get any more shots or tubes or anything else.   Plus, she keeps getting diarrhea and a terrible diaper rash.  Poor girl.  She's getting used to sleeping in her carseat, though, which is actually a good thing because then she can fall asleep relatively easily at church. 

You like this super sad picture of her?  That is a post for another day.  :)

Church History Museum

Over spring break Jared had to go to Salt Lake to register to take the NCLEX (test so he can be licensed as a nurse) and it really was only going to take 10 minutes, so instead of making that stupid, almost-pointless trip alone, we decided to go and do something as a family.  We went to the Church History Museum because the boys have never been there, and we might be moving away soon, so it could be the last chance we have to go.

They were surprised at how big the statue of Moroni is.  It looks so much smaller on the top of the temple.

Joey was really looking forward to seeing John Taylor's pocket watch.  When Joseph Smith and John Taylor were in jail a mob burst in to kill them.  Joseph jumped out the window to draw the mob away from the others in the room, and they shot and killed him as he jumped.  John Taylor was also shot, but the bullet hit his watch, which he had in his breast pocket, saving his life.  The boys probably like the story because it involves a deadly weapon and an amazing stroke of luck.

There were a lot of fun things for the boys to do.  They fished on a boat (Nephi's, I think).  Allie got in on the fun with this one, with the help of dad.

Jason abridged the Book of Mormon and we buried Joey in these huge blocks ( meant to build a temple, probably).

It was fun.  Not as fun to the boys as say, swimming or the nickel asrcade, but they enjoyed themselves enough.  I'm glad we went because with Mitt Romney in the limelight these days the church is receiving a lot of bad press.  It was a good reminder to me that though it's not perfect because the people weren't perfect, it was founded on faith and obedience and is a beautiful thing.

Tooth Fairy and Baby Sucking Toes

And would you believe after his excitement over his tooth, the tooth fairy forgot to come?! Well, she either forgot, or got delayed by the rain, or she was just really busy and overloaded by children with teeth under their pillows (she's not Santa for heavens sake!), we're not sure which. But she made up for it by leaving an extra quarter, so he was okay with that.
(Oops!)

Here's a little video that is either funny and cute, or just kind of gross. Or maybe a little of both.

Jason's tooth

Jason's reading homework last night: (Isn't the picture awesome?) Sure enough, he woke up this morning and . . .

And just for fun I thought I'd share this owl he made at school in art. I like it.

She doesn't do this as much as she used to, so I'm glad we got a picture of it. I think her head would get too heavy (it is kind of huge) so she'd put it down for a rest.
You like my laundry in the background? Seems like she always does cute things in the livingroom when I'm folding laundry. She mostly crawls over to something she can pull herself up on, then she's happy. At least until she wants to get down but she's stuck standing forever unless someone helps her or until she falls and whacks her head (which happens a lot). We'll have to remember that when she's older and we're wondering what's wrong with her.




I discovered that my camera was set to take the worst quality videos. All these years and I could have had good ones if only I had known. I'm irritated. So this is the last crappy-quality video I'll have--from here on out they'll be full 1080 HD or whatever you call it.

Happy Easter

The plastic eggs were really exciting for some people. She looked sweet in this spring-y dress.

Dying eggs was fun--I gave up hard-boiling them a few years ago, because the boys are careful enough not to break them now, and it doesn't take long to get sick of egg salad sandwiches and deviled eggs. So they did them raw and there was only one casualty.

The boys got some good loot.

Easter is a great time of year. Spring is here, the boys get a week off school, and we celebrate the resurrection of the Savior.

And we get lots of chocolate!

Joey

I've always been too hard on Joey. That's what happens with the first child. Tyler gets away with stuff Joey never did at his age. He's such a good kid, too, and lately I've come to the realization that I need to go easier him. I get too worked up about homework and chores, and all the little nit-picky things. Seeing him with Allie has really opened my eyes, too. He's so loving and gentle with her. Who could ask for a better son than that?
A couple weeks ago there was a lot of junk going on in our neighborhood. There was pornography at the playground that several kids saw (including Joey and Jason) and it was really upsetting because they're so young, and shouldn't have to deal with that stuff. It can really mess up a kid's life. But the thing is, Joey was upset about it too. I think the natural inclination would be for a boy his age to be interested in it, but he knows it's not right, and wants to stay away from it. He's always had that certain something about him--he just wants to do what's right, and has a natural tendency to be good. Sometimes I forget that, and it was a good reminder, even though I still wish it hadn't happened.So here's to being a better mom. He deserves it. :)

A Memory: Christie

Ah, the memories! My cousins were some of my favorite playmates! Christie is a couple years older than me, and her sister Catherine is my age. My sister and I loved visiting them in Calgary.
One of our favorite games was "Town." We set up a little town in their unfinished basement and we each had a role; post office, banker, store, etc. Christie was the police officer. She was Officer Jones. I don't remember what her first name was. Jim, maybe. Only it wasn't Jim Jones, it was Gjim Kjones: the G was silent, like in "gnat," and the K was silent, like in "knife." That still makes me laugh all these years later.
One day we were playing outside and Christie had a container with some sort of blue fluid in it (we had no idea what it was, but now I realize it was antifreeze, maybe?) and she dropped it and the container cracked. Well she was sure this spelled certain doom for her if her dad found out, so we decided to bury the evidence. We probably got spoons from the kitchen (I know, Auntie Betty is horrified at this story, but remember the statute of limitations has passed. Besides, it wasn't as bad as our Fish Creek Adventure). While we were covering up the thing someone commented that it seemed like we were having a funeral. We looked at eachother; what a brilliant idea! What could be more fun than a funeral?!
We found a little plastic guy to be our newly deceased. My sister, Laura, was the grieving widow. We picked some flowers and found a nice rock for the tombstone, then stood around the gravesite and Christie offered kind words about how nice and round his head was, how well he wore his red shirt and blue pants, what a great toy he was, and how much he would be missed by us all. There was weeping and wailing, and great anguish of soul, and . . .
"This is getting boring."
"Let's go play Town!"
"I'm Officer Kjones! Kjones with a K!"

I'm sure we left the spoons outside.