It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The signs of the season are prevalent in our home. The tree has been trimmed, the decorations carefully placed, and the stockings. . . well, the stockings are hung on the back of one of our kitchen chairs awaiting a proper place (yet to be decided) to hang until Santa's big night. Here are a few of my favorite decorations...

The Tree, all decorated in red & silver (wrapping paper on all the presents match). This year, the bulbs have been left off, but the tree is adorned with pine cones and snowflakes (and of course the beautiful fireplace screen my mom painted to keep Max & Jordyn away from the tree).
Then there's the three trees on the coffee table,

the advent calendar with the bowl of ornaments,

and one of my most cherished decorations, the porcelain reindeer & sleigh that my mom painted (isn't she just the craftiest lady you've ever met).

I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and are looking forward to the Christmas season as much as I am.

Chrsitmas Crafts

I've had a few inquiries about my Christmas craftiness, so I decided to show you all what I've been doing in my spare time for the past few months. I made Dad Zugner this Americana rag quilt (don't worry, we gave it to him yesterday before he headed back to Maryland).

I've also been making ornaments for our Christmas tree. All of the ornaments I've used in previous years are breakable, and I have a strong feeling that our Christmas tree will get pulled over this year so I decided to make some Jordyn friendly ornaments.

I've strung bells, made bead candy canes, wreaths, and snowflakes. I've decorated pine cones, and am in the process of making paper strip ornaments. Needless to say, I've been keeping busy, but I'm almost done. A few more ornaments, and Mom Wilson's gift and then I can relax and enjoy the Holiday season!

'Tis the Season...

For SHOPPING! I just heard on the radio that parking at most of the local malls is above 80% capacity. That's a lot of people. We haven't gotten into the whole spirit of Black Friday, we enjoy sleeping in way too much (that, and the chances of you actually getting what you woke up early for is slim with the crowds around here). There is one thing we're planning on getting today, and we have a good chance to get them. These cute little boots are 50% off in an early bird special (8-11, that's my kind of early bird). Erik's has wanted to get Jordyn some boots for a while, and who could resist these cute things at 50% off. Well, were off to claim our prize. I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving, and a happy shopping day to you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful

During this time of Thanksgiving, I want to give a special thanks to parents. Not just my parents, but Erik's parents as well. My Mom & Dad flew in for a visit this past week, and we greatly enjoyed having them here. We wish we could see them more often, but are grateful that we get to see them as much as we do (Jordyn & I have gone to Utah 3 times so far this year, and are planning on going again in Dec.) I am also grateful for Erik's parents. His dad is flying in from Maryland to spend Thanksgiving with us, and at this moment, his mom is watching my little monster so I can get things done, and take a bit of a break from her (Jordyn's separation issues and constant neediness over the past few weeks is starting to wear me down). So here's to you Mom & Dad Stratton, Dad Zugner, and Mom & Don Wilson.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU DO. WE LOVE YOU A TON!!

To Do List...

1. Bake Rolls --- Finished

2. Laundry --- Almost Done (last batch is in the dryer)

3. Make Pies

- Pumpkin -- Cooling on rack now

- Pecan -- tomorrow

- Coconut Cream -- tomorrow

- Chocolate Cream -- tomorrow

- Apple -- Bought (I don't do fruit pies)

4. Vacuum -- Finished

5. Sweep/Mop Kitchen Floor -- (Swept twice so far today, sweep and mop again tomorrow)

6. Dad Zugner's Christmas Gift -- Finished

7. Mom & Dad Stratton's Christmas Gift -- Finished

8. Mom & Don's Christmas Gift -- 1/2 way

9. Erik's Christmas Gift -- Not even started

10. Jordyn's Christmas Gift -- Finished

11. Have time to enjoy the Holidays -- To do

Pictures with Santa

This evening, for FHE, we went to the local mall to get pictures taken with Santa. We saw him there this past weekend, and thought we'd get Jordyn's pictures taken care of before the mad dash began after Thanksgiving. We figured that all would go well since Jordyn is a very friendly little girl and has never had a problem with strangers. Well, we figured wrong. Erik placed Jordyn on Santa's lap and she SCREAM, I went and picked her up and comforted her and tried to tell her that Santa was just a Papa (grandpa), she looked at him and said Papa, but then when I went to place her in his arms, she started to SCREAM again. So this is the pictures we got...



nothing. Maybe next time?

Good-Bye, Hello

Today we said GOOD-BYE to my parents as we dropped them off at the airport. We had a great time with them and are so glad that they were able to come and visit us. Jordyn and I look forward to seeing them again in a few months when we get to fly to Utah for a couple of weeks. But now, we have two days to clean the house, get our errands done and catch up on sleep before we say HELLO to our next round of visitors. Erik's dad, 1/2 brother & sister are flying in for Thanksgiving and get here Wednesday morning. So there's lot to do and very little time to do it in, but we're always excited when we get visitors. We love getting to see famiy, and Jordyn loves all the attention that she gets from her grandparents. (She's a bit spoiled by them, and she knows it.)

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Thursday evening was Erik's graduation. We were able to attend along with my parents, and his. It was a pretty neat ceremony, from what I hear. I wasn't able to pay much attention for I had been assigned the job of taming a MONSTER. In fact, Jordyn was so wild that night, that I wished that I had hired a babysitter and kept her home. Along with having a monster, I had one that needed a diaper change TWICE during the ceremony (which was only 1 1/2 hrs.). Because of this constant dash to the bathroom, I missed Erik's part in the ceremony. He got to go on stage and help fold the flag. I walked into the gym as he was walking off the stage. Then, to add insult to injury, my flash battery DIED, and I had to use the built in flash on the camera which isn't the best thing in the world. Oh well, I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles. No matter what happened during the ceremony, the fact is that he graduated, and has moved on in his career, and we are so PROUD of him and all the hard work that he has put in over the past 6 months.

Houston, We Have Liftoff

Today, I took my parents to NASA space center. I always enjoy going there, but today was a bit cold since most of the tour is outside. Jordyn loved being able to spend time with her grandparents, and running around playing with all of the neat things NASA has to help kids learn about space. We got to see Mission control, the Saturn V rocket, along with several artifacts from the Apollo missions. The stories and tidbits of info told at the space center give me a greater appreciation for the men and women who work in this field and all the things that go on to make a space mission successful. I had a great day with my parents and enjoy seeing Jordyn getting to interact with them and strengthening her relationships with them. I wish that we could see them more often, but the distance makes us cherish our time together that much more. Thanks, Mom & Dad for blasting off from Hurricane and flying all the way down here to visit us!

Irony

As I mentioned previously, Jordyn's been having sleeping issues for the past few days. Well, she had a much better night last night, and is actually still asleep. The irony of the whole thing is that Erik and I didn't sleep too well. I had a hard time falling asleep, and Erik had a hard time staying asleep. He woke up 3-4 times during the night. Isn't that always the way it works?

Security Issues

For the past few days, Jordyn has been having problems going to sleep. She'd be fine during scriptures and prayers, but when it came time for us to say good night and leave the room, tears would well up in her large puppy dog eyes, and her lower lip would start to quiver, and then she'd let it all loose and SCREAM!! For the first few nights, we thought she was just teething so we gave her some Tylenol and put Orajel on her gums, but then, when we really started to notice that she was fine during the day, and that it was just bed time that she was having issues. Last night, after going through the same ordeal, we decided to look up separation anxiety to see what the symptoms were and how to help combat those symptoms. From what Erik read, it sounded like Jordyn might be going through a phase of anxiety, and the research suggested that you always say good bye to your child, and give them a few extra minutes of love if they need it. So we decided it wouldn't hurt to try this out. So, once again, we put Jordyn to bed, we both laid in her room by her until she calmed down, and then I told her to give Daddy a kiss good night, which she did, and then she told him bye-bye. He left, and I stayed with her for a few more minutes. I talked to her, told her that her babies were there (all 4 of them), and that I could hear her over the monitor if she needed me. I told her that she would be okay, and that I needed to go to bed with Daddy. Again, she got that fearful look in her eyes, so I gave her lots more hugs and kisses. I asked her to lay down, and she did, then asked her to give Mommy a kiss good night, again she complied, then I kissed her forehead and told her to have a good night, she proceeded to tell me bye-bye, which I took as my clue to leave, and for the most part we had a good night (she did wake up about 3:00 this morning, and we had to go through the whole ritual again). We followed the same procedure for her naps today, and all went fairly smoothly, so I think we might have a solution. I don't mind getting up with her if I know the problem and know how to help her out. Erik and I were just getting so frustrated because we didn't know what to do, but we could tell that something was wrong. I hope that this phase passes quickly, but if not, I don't mind giving my little girl a few more hugs and kisses every night.

Spiritual Giant

We recently introduced Jordyn to the scriptures. We've been reading in the Book of Mormon

each night with her, and then saying prayers. We've also been saying prayers at every meal (we've always said prayers at dinner, but I have a hard time remember to say them at breakfast and lunch when it's just Jordyn and I). We've been working on having her fold her arms during the prayer, and sometimes she'll even bow her head. We also point out Jesus in the pictures in the hallways at church, Jordyn can now say "Jesus" and pick Him out on her own, in fact, she loves to look at the pictures of Jesus, and read the stories about Him. I was cleaning the office today and noticed that Jordyn was being awfully quiet. I went into her room and saw this...

Jordyn was looking at the pictures of Jesus in her scriptures.

Weekend Adventures

We had a busy schedule these past few days. Friday night, Erik and I went out for our Anniversary (an AMAZING 3 yrs together), then on Saturday, we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival with Erik's mom & step-dad. After spending most of the day there, we headed to downtown Houston where we had dinner with Erik's sisters Kelli & Shannon (they were in town for the Madonna concert) along with Shannon's little girl, Kendall.

At the Renaissance Festival, we stopped by a shop that had hand carved rocking horses, and Jordyn had to try them out.

She doesn't look too happy in the picture, but that's because she was so cold. In fact, we had a hard time getting her to leave, she wanted to try ALL of their horses out. After getting her to leave the store, we decided to let her ride another type of horse, one on the carousel.

Since I've had the opportunity to take her on the carousel at the zoo, we decided to let Erik ride with her. Can't you tell, he's a proud Daddy?

After all that riding, Jordyn decided it was time for her to help out a little, so she helped to push her stroller. In fact, this is a common occurrence, she pushes her stroller when we go for walks, she pushes the cart at the grocery store, if it has wheels, she'll try to push it. She's quite strong and push it by herself, she just needs help steering (which probably has to do with the fact that she always puts her head down when she pushes.)

After walking around for a while, we headed over to the kids section. The first thing we did there was ride the elephants (which was a total rip off). Jordyn seemed to enjoy the ride, so it made it all worth it.

After that we, wondered around to see if there were any games that Jordyn could play, there weren't but this kind lady running the fishing pond let us take a few pictures of Jordyn and one of the fish (for free!). Then we headed back to the shops where we found Jordyn a cute renaissance dress before heading home.

At dinner that night, Jordyn enjoyed playing with her cousin Kendall (who just turned 3), but it made for a long day, and then Sundays are always rough on us due to the time that church is. Jordyn finally fell asleep last night (after Erik took her to bed with him), and she's taking a nap as I type, so hopefully we're getting back to a normal schedule. We need to catch up on our sleep now because we have a busy two weeks ahead of us (my parents fly in on Wednesday and then Erik's dad and siblings fly in next week for Thanksgiving!).

Going Crazy

My sweet little angel is driving me CRAZY!!! She's teething, and not feeling well, plus she hasn't slept all day so she's so cranky. We put her to bed a little while ago yet she's still crying. I'd have thought that she was so tired that she'd go to sleep quite easily, but alas it is not so. I guess she's too tired. I hate having church that starts at 10:30 (I know, and odd time, but that's what you get when 4 wards meet in the same building). 10:00 is usually nap time, but that's when we leave for church, and it is near impossible to get Jordyn to fall asleep during church. So, I was going to write more about our adventures at the Renaissance Festival, but I guess I should go and comfort my little one, and try to get her to sleep. Wish me luck!

Renaissance Festival

We spent the day at the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, TX. It was cold and windy, but we still had a good time. Jordyn loved being able to spend the day with Mimi and Papa (Erik's mom & step-dad). We ate turkey legs and sausage on a stick, got to ride an elephant, and enjoyed a day of people watching. I'll post more pictures soon, but time to get a little one to sleep.

Date Night

Erik and I are going to Raffa's American Bistro for our Anniversary date tonight. We are so grateful that Erik's mom lives so close and that she is always willing to watch Jordyn for us so we can go out alone!

What Is A Girl?

Little girls are the nicest things that happen to people. They are born with a little bit of angel-shine about them and though it wears thin sometimes, there is always enough left over to lasso your heart - even when they are sitting in the mud, or crying temperamental tears, or parading up the street in mother's best clothes.A little girls can be sweeter (and badder) oftener than anyone else in the world. She can jitter around, and stomp and make funny noises that frazzle your nerves, yet just when you open your mouth, she stands there demure with that special look in her eyes. A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.Girls are available in five colors - black, white, red, yellow, or brown, yet Mother Nature always manages to select your favorite color when you place your order. They disprove the law of supply and demand - there are millions of little girls, but each is as precious as rubies.God borrows from many creatures to make a little girl. He uses the song of a bird, the squeal of a pig, the stubbornness of a mule, the antics of a monkey, the spryness of a grasshopper, the curiosity of a cat, the speed of a gazelle, the slyness of a fox, the softness of a kitten and to top it all off He adds the mysterious mind of a woman.A little girl likes new shoes, party dresses, small animals, first grade, noise makers, the girls next door, dolls, make believe, dancing lessons, ice cream, kitchens, coloring books, make-up, cans of water, going visiting, tea parties, and one boy. She doesn't care so much for visitors, boys in general, large dogs, hand-me-downs, straight chairs, vegetables, snow-suits, or staying in the front yard. She is loudest when you are thinking, the prettiest when she has provoked you, the busiest at bedtime, the quietest when you want to show her off and the most flirtatious when she absolutely must not get the best of you again.Who else can cause you more grief, joy, irritation, satisfaction, embarrassment and genuine delight that this combination of Eve, Salome, and Florence Nightingale? She can muss up your home, your hair, your dignity - spend your money, your time and your temper - then just when your patience is ready to crack, her sunshine peeks through and you've lost again.Yes, she is a nerve-racking nuisance, just a noisy bundle of mischief. But when your dreams tumble down and the world is a mess - when it seems you are pretty much of a fool after all - she can make you a king when she climbs up on you knee and whispers, "I love you best of all!"
--Alan Beck

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary My Love!

It's been an amazing three years, and I look forward to many, many more!

Thank You!

Erik Zugner -- United States Coast Guard
Charles Wahlquist (my grandpa) -- United States Navy
Donald Zugner (Erik's dad) -- United States Army
Shauna Wahlquist (my cousin) -- United States Marine Corps



And to all those who have served for our Country

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Catching Up With the Times

Last night, I finally caught up with the times and rented a movie from Red Box. I actually hadn't even heard about these nifty machines until this past July. Erik had to work late last night so I decided I'd pass the time by watching a few movies so I ventured out and gave the Red Box a try. I came home with 27 Dresses and Definitely, Maybe. I thought both of them were pretty good, and you never know, I just may use Red Box again in the future.

Please Baby!

Jordyn said her first two word sentence last night. We went to see Erik's parents, and when we got there, his mom pulled out a baby that she'd bought for Jordyn to play with at their house. While she was taking the baby out of it's packaging, Jordyn stood next to her and, not so patiently said, "please baby, please baby." It was so cute, and made me so proud because I've been trying for weeks to get her to say what she wants instead of just asking please. (she frequently stands in front of the fridge and asks please, and I'm supposed to guess what she wants, is it juice, milk, a hot dog, bread, a Popsicle, yogurt, etc.). Maybe now she'll start to tell me what she wants {hopefully?!}.

Cheap Entertainment

Ingredients:

1 red laser light

1 cat (or small child)

Instructions:

-let cat (or child) chase light around the room, across the furniture, and up the wall.

-laugh until your belly aches, catch your breath and start all over again.

Something's Missing

You see, we bought Jordyn a potty chair back in September, and she loves it. Whenever she sits on it she get the biggest grin that screams "Mommy Wow! I'm a BIG GIRL now!" We frequently give her the opportunity to sit on her "potty." She knows exactly where to go (the 1/2 bath) when we tell her to go sit on the potty, she climbs on her little stool and tries to get on the seat by herself, but we usually lend a helping hand. Then she reaches for the toilet paper, and wipes. Drops the paper in the bowl and hurries onto her stool so she can watch it go down the toilet. When she's all done she washes her hands (I hold her up to the sink and turn on the water, but she pretty much does the rest on her own). She dries her hands, gets a new diaper out of the cupboard and heads out. But as you can see, there is one very important step missing.

She has NEVER actually used the toilet. She'll sit and sit, but I have yet to hear the tinkle of her actually using the toilet. On occasion {on FREQUENT occasion} when she gets off the toilet, she'll squat on the rug and let it all loose. So here's my question, how does one inform a little one that the rug is not the place to let it go, and instead use the toilet. We get the impression that she knows when she needs to go for she always squats when things are movin' out. I guess we'll just have to wait a bit longer until her communication skills are a little better, and then, when she's ready, we'll have all the little steps taken care off and can focus on the important step.

Obsessions and Fun Facts

At 14 months, Jordyn has many obsessions. Her biggest, and most obvious one is babies. She absolutely LOVES babies. She likes to look at pictures of babies, she loves to play with her babies, and she can find any baby within sight and point it out to you. She enjoys looking at all the little babies in our ward at church (there's about 6 that I can think of off the top of my head). She also loves Horses. She loves to play with her stuffed animal horses, read her books that have horses in them (she has several farm books with horses), and she loves to pet the horses (thankfully we have friends close by that have horses). I think baby and "orse" are the most frequently used words in her vocabulary, which is growing daily.

It's amazing how many words she's learned. Here's a few of the most commonly used ones...

juice, cookie, banana, milk, diaper, socks, shoes, book, ball, snack, Max, Dada, Mama, Mimi, Papa, horse, baby, monkey, moo, ruff-ruff, quack-quack, meow, bock-bock (chicken sound), goat, bunny, baa, ah-ah (gorilla sound), go, bye-bye, Popsicle, cereal, please (with sign), all done (with sign), potty, bath (with sign), no, stop, hot, pumpkin, walk, stinky, turkey, cracker, hat, Jesus and amen.

Jordyn loves music, her favorite songs are "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Wheels on the Bus." She also enjoys to sit on Mommy's lap with her baby and rock to "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." She dances to the radio and is always singing to herself.

She also enjoys going to the park to play on the swings and go down the slides. She is brave enough to go down the slides by herself, and loves to walk across the swinging bridges on the play sets. She enjoys walking around the park and collecting twigs and rocks.

We love this little girl and truly enjoy having her around. She keeps us entertained as well as on our toes. She loves reading her scriptures, stories about Jesus and saying prayers each night. We are continually amazed by her knowledge and understanding of the things around her. She is growing up so fast, and we greatly enjoy watching her and helping her along her journey.

PASSED!

Erik passed his State Test today, he got an 89% (second highest in his class). We are so very proud of him, and very relieved that it is finally over with.

Teething

For the past few days (and nights) we have been going through the awful process of cutting molars. Jordyn has never done well with teething, but I'd take her getting the all 4 of the front one at a once over her getting molars. She's been waking up in the middle of the night screaming in pain. We give her Tylenol as well as put Orajel on her gums, but that seems to work for only a short while and then we're starting the process all over again. The top left molar broke through last night, so hopefully we'll all get some much needed sleep tonight, especially since Erik has his state test tomorrow morning. That means two 1yr molars down, and two to go. (then we get to start the process all over again with the next set of teeth, does the fun ever end?)