Z Talks With Her Mouth Full

This may gross out those of you without kids. Babies slobbering all over used to make me gag too. Now I find this cute. But only 'cuz it's my kid, not yours. :)

Too Fast

Jane is growing up too fast. She was just a baby. Seriously, only 7 months ago she could barely talk. Now she's carrying on full conversations with me, helping me do actual tasks, following directions. I cannot believe how fast she has grown. I think Lucy's birth has helped/ forced her to become more independent and better at communicating EVERYTHING. Each day, she says something new that surprises me and Scott with her level of comprehension and intelligence.
Since I'm feeling nostalgic, here is a glimpse into the not so distant past...

Can't believe baby #2 is already so close to this age. Life goes by too fast.

The Cutest Sound in the World

Jane's Float 4 Life Swim Test

Jane has just finished her first Float 4 Life session and had her first swim test today. This swim class is to help her learn how to survive if she falls into a pool and no one is around to help her immediately. She has learned how to come up from the water by kicking off the bottom of the pool, kick her way up onto her back and float. Then she can kick until she reaches the edge of the pool and turn over and climb out of the pool. She is still a little nervous so we are going to do another session of lessons, but she is doing so well! Eventually she will be able to blow bubbles as she kicks face down, turn over to her back to float and breath, etc.
So, this video is of her test. She needed to wear her shoes, clothes and regular diaper to simulate a true scenario. Her diaper was HEAVY when she got out, so I am so proud of her being able to float even with so much weight strapped to her waist. She was a bit scared and cried while doing it because it was such a different experience, however, she did it again later after I turned off the camera without crying and came out of the pool feeling giddy and proud of herself! She kept calling herself a big girl and was saying that everything around her was new, ie, "These are new shoes, that is new mommy, new Lucy", etc. So cute! We are proud of our little fish.

Chuck E. Cheese, dude!

We decided to take Jane to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday this year. She had a lot of fun, except when the Cheese man himself walked around, he freaked her out. However, she had no fear of the animatronics animals...
They had tiny arcade games and rides just her size. After a while, it all got to be a bit too much for her, but she still had a lot of fun and picked out prizes from her ticket spoils.

Here is a clip of us all "riding" a roller coaster arcade game. Her laughing is about the cutest thing ever!

A Favorite Moment

Our last night in Utah this summer, Jane became very attached to her cousins and didn't want to say goodbye. They were having too much fun playing Ring Around the Rosie. Once we finally pried her away, she cried the whole drive back to grandma and grandpa's house. Too bad we live so far away from such fun cousins. We miss you guys! (Yes, Jane still remembers who you are.)

Look What the Doctor Found

Yes, #2 is on the way! We are 12 1/2 weeks right now so the bean is still genderless...Feeling good, but super tired. I was a bit nauseous at first, which was a new experience for me, but am feeling better new. We are really excited to add to our troop and are looking forward to our New Year baby.

A Cute Jane Video

Temper Tantrum Time

She was mad because Mommy didn't want to stay outside all
day to swing in the swings. I'm so mean.

Shopping at the Children's Museum

Jane has a lot of fun at our local Children's Museum. We have a membership and we try to go often so she (and I!) can get out and have some fun! This time daddy got to come with us. She surprised us with how into the shopping experience she really was. Jane is growing up so fast!

Monster Update

We had a lot of fun the Christmas in Utah with family. Jane got to play with cousins and first cousins once removed as well as grandparents and aunts and uncles. It was a really fun trip with lots of memories. Here are some slideshows of our trip.

The week before we left for Utah, we had Christmas in Lincoln
so Jane could play with the toys we got her.

We had a really fun Christmas with Scott's family, including caroling to all the neighbors, acting out the Nativity scene, and New Years at Steph and Daves. My sister Sarah also came to stay with us for a week and we partied with her. Finally, we jammed with our good friend Robert at his parent's house. It was a grand old time! Thanks for the Chinese food, Bradfords.

My sister Sarah also came to stay with us for a week and we partied with her. My aunt Lee and her family had us over for dinner one night and then later we jammed with our good friend Robert at his parent's house. It was a grand old time! Thanks for the Chinese food, Bradfords.

Then a trip down to Cedar City to see old friends and out to Delta to see Grandpa Church.

Our last week we just hung out and were glad to be on a vacation from school.

Jane had a lot of fun playing with all her cousins and other relatives. This was a little shot of some typical playtime with Grandpa Church. She loves to play with him and on the trip they bonded very well.

Thanks for the fun trip everyone! We miss you already!

Awesome Music Video

My brother James just sent this to me and it is so awesome I had to share it with everyone!

Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
Uploaded by IgnitionVM

Jane, Jane, Bo Bane

Banana, fana, fo fane. Me, my, mo, mane. Jay-ane. I love this baby. She is so cute and suddenly getting so big! Check her out!She's suddenly into her dolly again. She'll carry her around all day with a rag or wipe and clean and cover her up. It's very cute. She's my little baby mama.

Her favorite hang out for about a week. Luckily she's forgotten about it for now.My little goggled pirate......showing off her little booty while digging for booty.Here we see an awesome display of morning hair.
And a coat I got on clearance at Old Navy. I love clearance shopping.
Look at her supermodel eyes! Such a little dolly.******************************************************************
I finally convinced Scott to wear some jeans. He hasn't worn any since high school and that was 10 years ago. He told me he felt weird all day at school dressed like this. I tried to get him to understand that he looked awesome, but he hasn't worn them again since. Doesn't he look handsome?!**************************************************************************
Some of her latest bath time hijinks.

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Helping daddy make pumpkin pie. She's become my kitchen helper, of sorts.

Breaking News!

This morning we practiced Jane's walking skills and she got a little more gutsy and then she was off! She's been walking around all day, the farthest being about 15 feet. She hasn't given up on crawling yet though. Now and then she gets frustrated with falling down so she goes back to crawling. Soon she'll be running all around!

More about Homemade Baby Food

All you avid fans out there may remember me mentioning
making baby food at home. I recall someone commented
saying that I was now becoming a "hippie" because of it.
Actually, I do it to save money, save time,
and to feed my baby healthier things than overly
processed foods. This is a shot of some
red beans, peas, and carrots. YUM!

Here is a cool video I found explaining how to make your own
baby food. My favorite part is at the end.
Lets just say: bird food....
Other than that it's a great video.
Good luck all you Hippie Moms!

How to make a baby laugh

So, this is how you do it. Stand next to them and do plenty of high kicks. That's all. Obviously I stood out of the shot, multiple high kicks can be embarrassing.

What does an Elephant say?

So, I'm not a huge fan of letting Jane watch TV or of those Baby Einstein videos. I've discovered that some of them are kind of freaky. However, Jane's into animals right now and she LOVES dogs (as long as they stay away from her) and can say "wuf" and she LOVES ducks and can sign duck and can say "duh". So I got World Animals, a Baby Einstein video from the library and a we discovered than Jane really likes elephants. So, here are a couple of videos of her demonstrating a fierce elephant sound.

Jane walking with her walker

In this video Jane walks with her walker, her new favorite thing to do, claps and signs "milk". She is learning some signs for different things including "eat", "duck" and "book". She is picking them up quickly so we will soon be learning more words.