Favorite Things

Jenna absolutely LOVES to be outside. It doesn't matter where she is or what she is doing; she loves to be outside. It doesn't matter how cranky she was inside, life is perfect if she's outside. She can't get enough time at the barn. She plays, runs, swings, and climbs at the park. She runs down the sidewalk on our evening walks, looking for dogs.

But if Jenna can't be outside, she does the next best thing. She sits in the front room watching out the window. She waves and says hi to all the people and dogs that pass by. She watches for the birds and rabbits. She covets the balloons that are usually out the side window on the next door neighbor's for sale sign. She will sit on the bench for hours, just looking outside, longing to be out there.

These were from this afternoon:Then bath time came, and this is where she was::

Jenna also loves to push things all around the house, particularly an empty laundry basket. She does a surprisingly good job of navigating it around the coffee table and thru the doorways. Today she decided to load it up with her favorite things. As you can see, her prized possessions include 2 big rubber balls, her "new" cell phone (with lots of "bling" thanks to Daddy!), an empty Jelly Belly container, and her water. Earlier in the day, she had markers and her milk cup in there.

Big Girl Seat

Jenna got a big girl car seat! I decided to install it in my car this afternoon while Jenna was napping. I looked at the directions on the side of the car seat and it looked pretty simple to install, right? WRONG!! I spent an entire hour trying to figure out how to install this thing. I'm sure it is quite simple for most people...

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After I got it installed, Jenna and I went to the grocery store. She was SO excited to ride in her new seat!! She was just smiling so big and looking all around. I tried to capture her excitement on camera but this is the best I got. She loved the car ride to the store and back. She is high enough now that she can look out the window and point out all the doggies that she sees!

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I know she doesn't look all that excited here, but, believe me, she was!

Watching her in her new car seat definately made all the frustration from the previous hour disappear! She was so cute!

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I'm a little afraid that she nows thinks she is able to drive! Notice John's keys up near the steering wheel. As usual, she has the seat up and her entire lower half seated in the compartment. Good thing there isn't a gas pedal down there!! (Grammy, we can't wait to see you in a few weeks, but you might want to hide the keys to the Power Wheels when we come...)

Domestic?

So, we all know I'm not the domestic type. I don't like to cook (at all!), I don't scrapbook, I'm not overly enthused about cleaning, I come very close to killing my plants on a regular basis, and my "garden" last year was pretty sad! And I'm just not the cutesy, artistic, creative type of person. In fact, the only "art supplies" that I own are markers, scissors, and tape. I don't even have any glue, much less paint or glitter or whatever other artsy things are out there. I would much rather spend the entire day cleaning the barn than suffer through any of the tasks just mentioned.

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However, I must slowly be making progress!! John got me a bread machine for my birthday and I've been making cinnamon raisin bread on a weekly basis. (I've "upgraded" from a standard loaf of white bread to cinnamon raisin.) I love peeking into the machine, watching as it kneads, rises, and bakes...all without any extra work from me!

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This was my first loaf. But it's been much improved upon.

And WAIT...there's more! Mom got me some fabric for Christmas so I could sew a bag for Jenna's books and toys at church. I've been working on it since January and I FINALLY finished it! It was a ton of work, took a ton of time, but was a ton of fun! And I think it turned out great!! I'm very impressed with myself! :)

(Even Irish likes the bag!)

I think this is about as domestic as I get for now. Although I might branch out and find a new yummy bread recipe to try. Or figure out how to make the too-short pajama pants I made for John longer...

Miss Independent

Jenna has become little Miss Independent!! (I don't know why this surprises me, but it does!) She thinks she's a big girl and tries to do everything herself.

• She loves to sit in her own bean bag chair and read her books by herself.
• She loves to open her closet and get her diapers out.
• She gets her bath toys and puts them in the tub every night by herself.
• She doesn't want to be carried when we go out...she wants to walk.
• She insists on brushing her teeth herself.
• She doesn't want us feed her...she has to feed herself.
• And she loves to clean her face after she eats (or when she has boogies).

Lately, she hasn't been satisfied just feeding herself. She must have a spoon or fork! So she will go to the silverware drawer, open it, and wait for me to get her something to use. Here are a few pictures I snapped today:

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Is Jenna not the cutest little girl ever?! Don't you just LOVE the last two pictures?! I can't believe how she is growing up and becoming so independent!

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(I've decided that I need to be a "better" mom and start taking pictures of Jenna, so here is my attempt!)

:)

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was really fun and exciting at our house this year! Except that John and I both had to work all day. And we were all sick, especially Jenna. And we didn't have anything cutesy or yummy for Valentine's Day since I despise shopping and baking. And there were no flowers because the cats knock them over, spill water everywhere, and break the vases. BUT, John did get me a new can opener...for all the cooking and baking that I do! :)

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Anyway, I WAS planning on doing all kinds of cute things for Jenna on Valentine's Day. It's just that the only idea that panned out was her Valentine's balloon. At least the balloon was a hit! She was so excited! She loved the balloon and carried it around for about 3 weeks. Here are a few pictures of my cute sickling with her prized balloon:

Playing so safely with her toy...unfortunately it didn't end well! :)

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But we do love our family and we were grateful to spend Valentine's Day together. (We watched the Bachelor and finally made some Valentine's cupcakes.)

Little Cookie Thief!

So, as usual, last Sunday we went to church. Jenna comes to Primary with me and wanders around the room finding ways to entertain herself. Periodically, I stand up to look for her and make sure she's ok. So I'm sitting in the back row quietly chatting during Sharing Time when the Primary president looks over my direction, and starts talking and pointing. Well, since I'm not really paying attention and since Jenna never (?) gets into trouble I just figure she's talking to someone else. Finally the person next to me starts mentioning something about Jenna and cookies. Figuring I better find out what all of this is about, I start walking up to the front of the Primary room when I see Jenna coming out from behind the podium, chocolate smeared on her face and dress, with a big, fat chocolate chip cookie in each hand and a VERY triumphant smile on her face!! Oh, the excitement and accomplishment of finding and stealing TWO cookies!! I don't know where she gets that sweet tooth...

Trunk or Treat

Last night was the Georgetown ward's Chili Cook-Off and Trunk or Treat. Being in the Primary presidency, I was one of the judges. Good thing I was judging cornbread. It seems Jenna must take after me...she didn't really seem to care for chili. John brought up a crock pot full of chili and came home with an empty crock pot so it must have been good! Jenna just might have been the cutest ladybug there last night!! Not quite sure she understood the whole trick or treating thing. She looked more like a lost and confused ladybug running in circles in the parking lot. In order to get any candy we had to carry our screaming ladybug to all the cars!! But Jenna did have a great time last night! Here's my cute ladybug...

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