friends

As we have been living with my parents Jordyn and Chloe (the dog) have become very close friends. Jordyn has a high chair that attaches to the diner table and often drops or places food on the floor for her friend. Every time Jordyn eats Chloe will magically appear below Jordyn's seat waiting for her treats. Often when she is eating animal crackers or cheese puffs she will lick it and then give Chloe a lick. They have a system worked out between each other.

As for Chloe Jordyn has found her food and water bowls and dog food container. Jordyn loves to play in her water bowl. Chloe looks on with confusion and amazement. As for, Chloe's food bowl which does not last long filled, Jordyn likes to pick it up and drop it and loves to hear the sound it makes. She will do this continually until one of us disrupts her or interferes her actions. Today Chloe left Jordyn a treat in return for all the treats that she has received from Jordyn. Jordyn put the little piece of dog food in her mouth and would not give it up without a good fight. Once we retrieved the piece of food she returned to the bowl in search of more treats, but was saddened as there were none.

And I thought dog was "man's best friend." (Written by Erik)

Fun In The Sun

The weather here in Houston has been beautiful for the past few weeks, and we've been taking advantage of that by enjoying the great outdoors before it gets too warm. With us spending so much time outside, Jordyn has got to experience a lot of fun, new things. She's played on the swings, swam in her pool and just enjoyed playing in the grass. Jordyn hated her baby swing so we were a bit iffy trying her in a "big" swing, but she surprised us and she loved it. Of course it had to be a toddler swing where she could sit in it by herself. She's a very independent little thing.

We've taken Jordyn swimming at the gym before and she quite enjoyed it so we decided to make things easy for us, and we got her a plastic pool for the back yard. Since Jordyn is so active, we splurged and got one with a built in slide. As of right now, she's not sure about going down the slide, but she enjoys trying to climb up the slide. It looks like it'll be a fun summer with us spending several days at the park and in the pool.

My Soul Aches

I have found that since becoming a mother, my soul is closer to that of my Heavenly Father's. I look at my tiny daughter and realize that the great amount of love that I feel for her is only a portion of the love that our Heavenly Father feels for each of his children. I have found that these deepened feelings are not only for my husband and child, but for friends and family as well. I found this to be so the other day when I recieved an email with a link to wedding pictures from a good friend. This friend was one whom I attended institute with, we were in the same singles ward, she was even with me when I went through the temple for the first time. To see her wedding pictures made my soul ache for through them I could see that the church was no longer a part of her life. It broke my heart to see her in such a state. I had an awful feeling in my soul after look at her wedding album. My friend made a beautiful bride, but her marriage was that of a civil nature, and her dress, though very pretty, did not fit into the standards of the church. I felt a deep sorrow for my friend and wondered how she'd let herself fall so far away from what she had once known to be true. While aching for the "loss" of this friend, I started to wonder. If I feel this deep of a sorrow for a friend, how deep is the sorrow of our Heavenly Father when we, as His children, lose our way. It makes me realize that His love for us is truely great. My prayers are that my friend will find her way once more, and that I always have this closeness with my Heavenly Father.

Funny Little Girl

Jordyn has a very strong personality, and she knows what she likes. She's also not afraid to let you know what she wants to do. No, she can't talk yet, but she's got the art of hinting down very well. Tonight, as I was trying to put her down to sleep, Jordyn decided that I was a little slow in starting to sing to her (we sing a few primary songs each night before bed). To help me get the hint, she started to "sing" to herself, it was more of a hum, but it worked. Tonight was not the first time she's done this, in fact she does it just about anytime we try to put her down and I don't start singing to her. One of Jordyn's favorite things to do is bounce. Anytime you help her stand up she bounces, and at times when you're holding her she'll start to bounce on your arm, to let you know she's tired of sitting still and she wants to you bounce her. Oh, it is so fun to watch her learn and grow. I can't wait to see the things that this little bundle of energy is going to learn, the things she's going to teach me, the things she's going to accomplish. In the meantime, I'll enjoy every minute of watching her learn and grow, and laugh at the sillyness of childhood, and just enjoy my silly little girl.

Houston Zoo

Today we decided to get out and discover some hidden treasures in our new hometown. Since it was a beautiful spring day, we decided to hit the zoo. Jordyn like the elephants, the giraffes, and the petting zoo. She also enjoyed the prarie dog tunnels and the playground. There were several local schools enjoying the zoo as well today so we didn't stay long, but we still enjoyed our family outing, we even got a zoo membership so we can come back frequently this summer. Here are a few of our favorite shots from the day's activities.

7 Months

I can hardly believe it myself, but alas, it is true, my little one is already seven months old. She is growing up so fast, too fast for my liking. Gone is my little one that loved to be held and rocked to sleep, gone is my little one who would play quietly in her tub at bath time, gone is my little one who would sit contently in her high chair and play with spoons. Gone is her toothless grin and her quiet demeanor. Now, I have a little one that crawls EVERYWHERE, and tries to climb up EVERYTHING. A little one that only wants to eat what Mom is eating or what she can hold in her hand. A little one with two teeth who chats up a storm (no real words yet, just constant babbling). A little one who tries to climb out of the bathtub (because that would mean she's standing up). Yes, Jordyn is growing up so fast, she'll be walking before long, but as of right now, she likes to stand up and bounce. Her favorite toy is her Exersaucer by Evenflo because it bounces. She loves crackers, whether it be graham crackers or club crackers, she loves them, and to wash her crackers down, she enjoys a bottle (or occassionally a sippy cup) of Kool-Aid (highly diluted Kool-Aid I might add). Jordyn also enjoys swimming, beans, and bbq beef. Oh yes, my little girl is growing up so, so fast.

Drastic Changes

There have been a lot of changes going on in our family over the past month. Erik has a new job, we've moved to a new state, and we're in the process of getting a new house. To go along with all of these changes, I thought I'd give myself a new image, so I went drastic. The last time my friends and family saw me, I looked like this...

Now, I look like this...

Last Friday, I got my hair cut. I've been wanting to cut my hair for a while, it has just taken quite some time to get up the nerve to do it. I had about 13 inches cut off, and it was all donated to Locks of Love.

Easter

We had a quite Easter at home with Erik's parents. On our way home from Church we saw a patch of blue bonnets that were in full bloom so we stopped to get a few pictures with Jordyn. Blue bonnets are the Texas state flower and they bloom in huge patches along the side of most roads in this part of Texas. They are a beautiful blue flower, and Jordyn look absolutely adorable sitting amongst them.