Spring Break

Ready for the Perry Spring Break Slide Show? You can hardly contain yourself, I'm sure.

Luckily it warmed up quite a bit, especially on the day I watched my friend's boys. Nothing entertains four kids (three and under) like a big bucket of suds. Steve really appreciated the help when he washed the car.

If part 1 happens, you know part 2 will inevitably follow. . . (we love Asher :))

We took Sophie to the Jelly Belly factory again and met up with Hailey and Landon (and they're little Behr in utero, just days from arrival). Hailey and I have known each other since we were awkward pre-teens, but we hadn't seen each other in over 10 years. Our parents are close friends and we went on family vacations all the time together. Best ones? Lake Powell -- three years in a row.

Sophie was just a baby for her last trip here, and I don't think she appreciated all of the work that goes into making a gourmet jelly bean. I still don't think she does. But she sure appreciated the treat at the end of the tour. (Speaking from experience, if you want a tolerable toddler, don't feed them lots of jelly beans. I'm just sayin'.)

We also got to go to the zoo for the first time this year, and Steve got to be the photographer that day. (the reason why there are suddenly a ton of pictures of me. . .) I think he knows more about my camera than I do. Maybe a photography class had something to do with it . . .

I love that Ivy's old enough to really enjoy the zoo now. She loves animals. She always plays with her animal toys and looks at books with animals in them. It's funny to see her reaction when she sees them in real life. . .

(Yep, that's a tiger, sweetie. He's a lot longer than 2 inches.)


In the bottom left photo she's doing "what a giraffe does". Since they don't make noise, we stick our tongue out like we're grabbing leaves off a tree. They have long tongues -- have you noticed? In the bottom right I'm doing an elephant noise, not spitting on her.

Speaking of giraffes, have you ever seen them fight? There were a couple "teenage" giraffes that went at it for a few minutes. They'd swing their heads around and hit each other in the torso with their nubby horns. I guess adolescence is rough for giraffes, too.

I think the zebras are Sophie's favorite. She asks for them first.

During the week we also saw a lot of Steve's family. Steve's brother and his wife came to hang out with us (and visit Steve in the clinic). We had a little family home evening in the park, which was way colder than it looked.

Putting sand on Dad is way fun.


Psst, grandma, those aqua pants fit her now!

This is a picture of our niece, Layla. She's the happiest, wide-eyed little girl I've ever seen.

To wrap up the week, we went to Sacramento over the weekend so Steve could practice a health talk on his family. I mentioned before about the wellness certification he's working on. . . he's got his first presentation put together.

He did such a great job, and everyone loved it. He knows his stuff inside and out, and my favorite part is that you can tell he's passionate about what he's talking about. I was so proud of him. :)

Steve put them to work right at the beginning. . .

We got home from Sac on Saturday evening, and the girls had a little time to unwind from the trip. . . and the week.

In the big photo, they're doing "what a crab does". Oh, that scratch on Ivy's forehead? Just a kiss from the pavement. She's so clumsy, it kills me.

Back in a Few

Last week was Steve's break between quarters. Well, a break from class. . . he still had to put in a bunch of clinic hours. I've got lots of pics to sort through and lots to report.

I'll be back soon.

Meanwhile, here's a pic I've been meaning to get of Sophie in her hat (that matches mine). It's from my friend McKell's shop. I would have worn mine, but I had decent hair that day. (My hair is unforgiving when I wear a hat for more than 5 minutes.)

Hello, Spring

It got up to 80 degrees here on Friday, so we ran around outside barefoot. (Jealous? Thought so.)

Ivy loves going outside. This is how you'll usually see her, walking around pointing at stuff.

This is the stuff she usually heads toward. (Wow, she's got both fingers pointing.) Our crazy neighbor feels obligated to throw birdseed all over his driveway to feed all the birds and squirrels around. Um, get a birdfeeder? Don't even get me started on him.

I watered the lawn for a bit, then Sophie commandeered the hose from me. She's definitely a wear-a-dress-everyday girl. I didn't want her to mess up her Sunday clothes so I found some sundresses at Costco. They have cute, modest ones at Target, too.

She decided the water was too cold on her feet, so she went inside and got her galoshes.

Sophie loves the hose. (What kid doesn't, though?) She'd spend all day spraying stuff if I let her. I loved this pic so much, I cropped it and made a new blog header out of it.

Ivy wanted in on the hose action. "Don't spray Ivy with the hose," I warn Sophie.

4 seconds later . . .

At least she didn't cry. She's a pretty tough cookie when it comes to sister abuse.

Cutting Strings

Ivy hasn't nursed in two days. That's a pretty big deal to me. For the last 3 1/2 years I've been pregnant or nursing (and for two months I did both), and for 3 1/2 years my body has contributed to the nourishment of another little person. My body is tired.

As excited as I've been for this day to come, it's a bittersweet transition. I didn't feel this way with Sophie, who couldn't care less if she continued nursing. (And because I was nursing AND pregnant, I was exhausted ALL the time.) This time it's different. Ivy loved nursing. She's always nursed like a champ, and has been my cuddly one.

Not only has Ivy not nursed for two days, she hasn't even asked for it. We've both moved on, I guess. I was hoping she would be less clingy after I weaned her, but only slightly. She still gets jealous if Sophie's on my lap, and if Steve gives me a hug, she comes trotting across the room with her arms outstretched and whines for me to pick her up.

I'm still her number one, but I'm sure going to miss her "happy drunk smile" when she unlatches. At least she still likes to cuddle.

I just have to let my baby grow up and move on to big girl things. . .

like reading scriptures.

I Need a Vacation

Would I be a bad mother if I said that this is how I prefer Sophie most days. . . crashed out on the couch unconscious?

I love the girl, but we're really struggling lately. I'll spare you all the whiny, mean-to-her-sister, wet-her-pants-everyday, throw-a-fit-over-everything details.

Sisters are More Fun than a Poke in the Eye

In case you're wondering, Sophie was giving Ivy a lesson on facial features and in the last photo, Sophie put Ivy's finger in her eye.

Live Long and Prosper

Steve hasn't had a haircut since Christmas.

The other day he combed his hair forward, which he never does. I didn't notice until he came home late that night.

"You look like a Beatle with your hair like that," I said.

He got lots of comments at school about his Beatle resemblance -- and his resemblance to a certain Vulcan . . .

I think we may have a Halloween costume idea for this year.

Tagged + More pics

I think this post has a little for everyone. For those of you who are tired of seeing pics of my kids all the time, you get to read more of my blabbing. For those of you who are tired of my blabbing, you get to see pics of my kids. Everyone wins.

I usually ignore people who tag me with things like this, but because I haven't done one in a long time, I figured - what the heck. Plus one of my best friends tagged me. I have a hard time turning her down.

4 shows I like to watch
1. The Office
2. Chuck
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. Almost anything on the Food Network (although Steve would have put Scrubs here, but it's my meme, not his.)

4 things I'm passionate about
1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
2. Taking care of my family
3. Food & Cooking/Nutrition
4. Taking a shower every morning

4 phrases I say a lot
1. Any and all variations of "Leave Ivy alone"
2. "Which (insert anything) do you want?" - if I pick the wrong one I'm just asking for a meltdown
3. "I love you"
4. "Thank you"

4 things I have learned from the past
1. If you're trying your best to live the Gospel and you have faith in God, things work out the way they're supposed to. . . and best for you.
2. I'm still learning not to take things personally and to let things that bug me roll off my back.
3. God knows us individually and is interested in every detail of our lives, no matter how insignificant we think it might be.
4. Keep your fingers curled under when you're chopping vegetables so you don't cut the tip of your fingers.

4 places I would like to go
1. Anywhere if I don't have kids with me
2. Back to Austria & Russia to visit our old mission grounds
3. Greece
4. New York City (Sare, wanna go?)



4 things I did yesterday
1. Spent the whole day in yoga pants
2. Except for when I ran one small errand at the Distribution Center
3. Tried out a new recipe
4. Mopped the kitchen floor

4 things I'm looking forward to
1. Moving out of this tiny little ghetto place we live in.
2. Weaning Ivy.
3. Steve finally graduating (6 more months!)
4. My Birthday. Strange, I know, because I'll be 30 this year. It seems like a rite of passage more than "UGH. I'm OLD!"

4 things I love about winter
1. I miss it. (sometimes) I haven't had a real winter for three years.
2. Soup, sweaters, and scarves
3. Christmas
4. Waking up in the morning after it had snowed the night before and seeing the snow sparkle in the sun.



4 things on my wish list
1. A house (not too much to ask, right?)
2. A bigger food processor
3. Quiet neighbors
4. Time to do stuff I want to do

Wake Up Call