Wednesday, February 20, 2008

All Growed Uped

Ever since Saturday Jonah has been letting go of whatever he's holding onto (legs, toys, couches, tables, walls, etc.), steadying himself and taking steps with no prompting from anyone. He is very proud of himself. I'm surprised at his independence and excited to see him that much closer to being a real walker. He is so cute! Still haven't managed to catch steps on video.
Off to Arizona today to visit the fam!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I recommend...


going to the theater and seeing The Spiderwick Chronicles. Lots of fun! Brandon and I had never seen a preview for it, we've never read the books, but "my" reviewers liked it and we had a vague idea what it was about. We saw it on Valentine's evening at one of the two single-screen theaters in town and we were pleasantly surprised just how much we liked it.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Clubbing

Book clubbing, that is. I have joined a local book club. We had our first meeting on Tuesday evening. There were eight of us there. We met at The Hub, a local diner owned by one of the club members. It is a great group of women, most of whom live in my neighborhood:) I had cherry pie a la mode while discussing Funny in Farsi, January's light read. It was an extremely funny memoir about a woman who moved to the USA from Iran during elementary school in the late 70s. Good cultural insights here and there but mostly just great stories about a quirky immigrant family.

I am looking forward to next month's read, The Omnivore's Dilema.

The author says, if we are what we eat, then Americans are corn. (I would have guessed wheat or sugar or beef).
But until I pick that one up, I'm reading the one my dad sent me for Christmas. I want to finish it in the next couple days so I can lend it to my dad when I go to Arizona next week. He is a big fan of the author's blog, Evangelicals for Mitt.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Lotions & Creams?

I need some cream for my stretching belly. Any suggestions? I know nothing really prevents stretch marks but I just want something to give me lots of moisture, ease the stretching, prevent the itching. You know. The stuff I used last pregnancy was really good but I hated the smell.
Also, Jonah is about out of his pink baby lotion. Does anyone have something they love to slather on their baby any better? Let me know.

Just for fun.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Busy, Busy

It began last Thursday. We had a wedding reception to attend. Brandon's cousin Ben got married and we went. It was snowy that night and Brandon and Alan didn't have to work on Friday so we had a sleepover with Alan and Katie. Friday morning I did a Costco run with Alan to get a couple things for Jonah's party. Then I went and filled our gas tank up, got a couple things at the craft store, and went to the bank. After some lunch we headed home. Jonah and I had to head straight from home to his one year check up at the Pediatrician. He is average weight, large head, and is very short for his age. He is in good health, has had several diet restrictions lifted now that he's one and got three shots. After the doctor I had to do a major grocery run. Right after that I had girl's movie night in at Adina's, my next-door neighbor. We watched The Wedding Date. Although I was entertained, I certainly would NOT recommend it.
Saturday I baked a cake, made frosting, made sauce for meatballs, and cooked chicken that required basting and turning every five minutes for 45 minutes. I cleaned the house, took care of Jonah, got myself ready, etc. before entertaining 13 people at our house.
Sunday, fortunately was a nice, lazy day. It was snowing too much to go to church and other than keep Jonah happy, sweep, and do dishes, I managed to be pretty lazy all day.
Monday: tired, no recollection of anything important.
Tuesday: Jonah's first real haircut. Not willing to attempt cutting it myself on the day of his one year pictures I had my neighbor, Bobbi Jo, with an in-home salon cut it. She was amazingly patient with an extremely wiggly child. He looks quite handsome.
While eating cake leftovers together in the afternoon, Brandon said to me, "This is the best cake I've ever had. I will never again be convinced that cake from a mix is just as good. Cake mixes must be the reason why people used to love cake but don't really like it anymore." That was the most enthusiastic review I can recall ever having about my baking. I wish I'd made that cake a day before Jonah's party cause I swear it was twice as good as leftovers.
After Jo's afteroon nap we drove to Salt Lake for his photo session. Linda met us there to assist and to bring him another outfit to wear. She and Alan gave us money for Christmas to go to the best photo studio in Salt Lake to have his one-year portrait done. He did three different poses, settings, and outfits and was very cooperative. The photographer and assistant were great and Jonah was cracking them up, especially with his new "oh" face. I'm sure we got some fantastic shots.
On the way home I picked up some chicken tikka masala and some aloo gobi from the Bombay House for dinner. I haven't had Indian food since we moved to Utah and it was good (though Ajanta in OKC is still better). Jonah took an uncharacteristic cat nap on the way home.
Let Jonah cry it out when he woke up at his usual 4:30 am snacktime.
Wednesday: made the mistake of waiting until the day of to get a babysitter for that evening. I called the three babysitters I know, two had church activities and the other one was also unavailable. Called two other women for babysitter recommendations. The three girls they recommended were all also busy (drill practice, etc.). Called three adults I know that I thought might do it, none of them were available. Called the first girl back to ask her for a recommendation and she said she'd decided not to go to her church activity afterall and her mom wasn't making her. Hallejulia!
Drove to SLC with Brandon and met up with Andy, Brandon M., Alan, Linda, and Katie at Bangkok Thai for some excellent dinner. Then went to Hale Theatre to see Lend Me a Tenor, a very funny musical that got better and better as it went along. Brandon's cousin Margo had a very fun part in it.
Jonah slept thru the night but woke up at 6:15.
Today I haven't accomplished much other than going to the post office and picking up some milk. Brandon didn't have to work in Salt Lake today because they didn't schedule him anything since it's snowing so much. We are bowing out on Katie's violin concert tonight to stay home.
Although I didn't vote for him I was sad to see Mitt Romney step out of the presidential race today. I fear what our choices may be next fall.

"It's a Major Award"



Nancy Face awarded this to me. I am so flattered.
I would like to pass this award along to people I feel are very positive and are not stingy with passing along their love (not just in blog comments, but those help). Thus I give this award back to Nancy and also to Michelle, Lauren, Gina, Macey, Tori, Lisa, my MIL Lisa, and the other Lisa, MIL2 Linda, Stephanie, Abbie, Skye, Stephanie M., Annie, Lacey, my mom, and Kayelyn.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Jonah "Walks"


(0:43)

Jonah Talks


(1:30)
The adorable jabbering and gesticulating more than makes up for the bad lighting.

Jonah Rocks!


(4:01)

Chowin' Down


(1:31) Jonah eats his birthday cake.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Happy Birthday to Jonah


The birthday boy with his cake.



The fam at Jonah's party.



Rocking horse from Gampa is a big hit.


Jonah turned one on Thursday. We celebrated on Saturday with a Hawaiian-themed party. There were 13 guests and lots of good food. I baked a coconut cake from scratch (with a coconut cream cheese frosting) that tastes even better today than it did yesterday. Jonah has never really had dessert before and he chowed down on that cake!
We had Brandon's dad Alan and his wife Linda there. Brandon's sisters, Katie and Dr. Andy were there and Andrea's husband Coach Brandon. Then we had Brandon's cousin Matt, his wife Ashly and their two darling daughters there too. The only friend that made it was Aaron. Bravo to Aaron for sticking it out at a one-year-old's birthday party as a single guy amongst a bunch of relatives.
We spent all day cleaning and readying the house and cooking. I served a full dinner which included; rice, huli huli chicken, hawaiian meatballs, fruit with li hing powder, a veggie tray, cake, drinks, and ice cream. All the food was tasty:)
Jonah got tons of great gifts; toys and books. Honestly, really fantastic presents. Jonah was overwhelmed but really enjoyed himself AND managed to open all the gifts (with lots of help) and not get stuck on just one thing. He looked handsome and behaved himself.
It was fun to finally entertain at our house. This was the first time I've cooked for people since we've moved here. Matt's family and Aaron hadn't been over before so it was fun giving them the tour of our home too.
It was a great party. A special thanks to Andy for being so helpful and for getting good pictures on my camera, which I was too busy to do. Hopefully Linda got some good ones of Jonah opening gifts that I can post later. Thank you to Nana Colleen and Aunt Robin for the gifts Jonah got in the mail, they were great too. It was a great first birthday celebration.