New Addition

This past Saturday, we added a new addition to our family.

His name is Max. We adopted max from Volunteers for Animal Protection (VAP). They do adoptions out of our local Petsmart. Max is about 6 months old. He was found in the street by one of the VAP volunteers and brought to the shelter. He's a fun cat. He's very playful with Jordyn, yet he LOVES to snuggle with Erik.

This cat likes Erik so much that when he couldn't find Erik yesterday morning, he laid in Erik's spot on our bed and started to whine. It was sad, yet quite funny. Jordyn enjoys having Max around. She sits and meows at him (it's so cute how she says meow, it is more like "menow" I'd post a video of it, but our video camera and computer don't get along very well; the computer wont read the disks for the camera).

Max was gotten as Jordyn's Christmas present. I know we're a bit early, but we were afraid that if we waited until closer to Christmas he'd be gone. The original plan was to get Jordyn some fish, but when we went to the pet store to look at the fish, she wasn't interested in them. She enjoyed watching the birds, and of course playing with the cats through the glass. We noticed right away that Max was very playful. There was another cat, a little girl named Olivia, that we were also looking at, but when it came to adoption day, Olivia was so shy that she wouldn't leave her cage, not exactly what we wanted when Jordyn is so active. We wanted a cat that could keep up with her, and Max definitely fits the bill. A really nice thing about adopting from a shelter is that all of their cats are "fixed", litter box trained, and up to date on their shots.

We are enjoying having Max in our home and are so glad that he has adjusted so well and so quickly.

One Little Monkey

I think we have finally discovered Jordyn's true lineage. I know that many of you thought she was truly Erik and I's child, but recent events have proved otherwise. For quite some time now, we've been wondering if Jordyn was a branch of a "different" family tree. She LOVES bananas, and will even pick up on the word in a local grocery store commercial. We cannot let her see the bananas at the grocery store or she'll have a fit because she can't eat one right then. To add to our suspicion, Jordyn frequently makes monkey noises (ah-ah with hands scratching the underarms). In fact, it is not uncommon to hear these noises over the baby monitor first thing in the morning. The thing that has confirmed this suspicion has only recently occurred. The other day, it was nap time so I went and laid Jordyn in her crib, made sure she had her juice, and her baby, and then walked out (standard procedure at our house). Normally, Jordyn will talk to her baby for a few minutes and then be out for a good 1.5-2 hours. Well, I guess this day she didn't want to take a nap (even though she was so tired that she kept falling asleep with playing with her toys). I let her cry for a few minutes and then I heard this loud thud and then screaming (never a good sign) so I went to check on her and to my surprise, Jordyn was sitting on the floor. She had managed to climb over the rails and get out (thus the thud). I then decided it was time to lower the mattress as low as possible to keep her in the next time (Erik did this later that evening). But there's more, the following evening I was playing with Jordyn in the living room, but she wanted something on the counter where Erik was studying, and since I wouldn't get it for her, she decided she'd get it herself. She climbed up onto our bar stool, and then from there onto the kitchen counter with ease. Needless to say, we now keep all the stools tucked tightly under the counter so she can't get on top of them. Oh, and there's even more. Yesterday, Jordyn again didn't want to go down for a nap, so I again let her cry for a little bit, but after it going on for a few minutes, I decided to go check on her, and am so glad I did. My little monkey was stuck on the top rail of her crib. She again had tried to climb out and had all but succeeded. So, we now have transitioned the crib to a toddler bed, which still isn't working very well because she wont stay in, but at least she can't hurt herself falling out (though we have since had to move the rocking chair and her hope chest from her room because she fell off the hope chest this afternoon.) Oh, and if anyone has helpful hints for keeping a little one in a toddler bed, I could really use them at this point!

Rough Week

We've had a bit of a rough week at our house. It started off with Jordyn being a little cranky, then she got a fever which was followed by a rash. We were finally able to get her into the Dr.'s office today and were quickly given a diagnosis. Jordyn has a virus which causes hand-foot-and mouth disease.

The symptoms should go away on their own in 7-10 days. The thing that made this week so bad is that along with this virus, Jordyn's molars have decided to come in. Needless to say, we've had several sleepless nights (Jordyn only slept 4 hours of sleep a couple of nights ago) and even more long sleepless days. Our new favorite things include Pedialyte,

Orajel teething gel,

and children's Tylenol

.

Crafty

I'm usually not the "crafty" type, but lately it seems like I've been bitten by the "crafting bug." This past weekend, I finished Jordyn's "quiet book" for church,

I made her an apron for when she helps me in the kitchen,

along with a blanket for her babies,

and then I made 50 "green" ornaments (shredded construction paper with flower seeds inside) for a local charity,

and these Christmas crafts at enrichment.

Now I just have to finish Christmas presents (not going to post what I'm doing in case people are reading this blog).

Busy Year

I've been going through our food storage lately, trying to get a list of everything we have, and I realized that I've had a busy year canning. Here are this years totals (and when I say totals, I mean I'm DONE, FINISHED, COMPLETED until next year)

Peach Freezer Jam -- 9 Quarts

Raspberry-peach Freezer Jam -- 12 pints

Peaches -- 4 Quarts

Berries (Raspberry & Boysenberry) -- 16 Quarts

Corn -- 8 Pints (there was about twice that many, but we frequently use these)

Tomato Soup -- 15 Quarts

Salsa -- 24 pints & 3 Quarts (can you tell we LOVE this stuff)

I also have green beans (22 pints), tomato soup (3 quarts), and peaches (1 quart) from last year. Already on the list for next year are fruit leather, more salsa, hopefully more corn and peaches, if I can find a good deal on apples I might attempt applesauce, or I might just dry them, we enjoy dried apples.

I'm always looking for ideas to help cut our grocery bill and up our food storage, any one have any ideas of other things that can well, I'd love to hear about them.

Favorite Things

In honor of Jordyn's 13th month, I thought that I would post a few of her favorite things...

Book: Touch and Feel Baby Animals

Animal Sounds: Cow (Moo) and Gorilla (AH AH)

Fruit: Strawberries followed closely by bananas

Snack: Goldfish Crackers

Toy: Babies and Books

Cereal: Quaker Oatmeal Squares

Food: Hot Dogs
Time of day: It's a toss up between when Daddy gets home and Bath time

Thing to Drink: Juice (anything in her cup is considered "juice")

Jordyn also really enjoys swimming, playing in her sand box, anything with Daddy, walking around in Mommy's shoes, and helping Mommy cook (she helped make raspberry/peach jam and pumpkin cheese cake for Daddy's birthday) and clean the house (she helps pick up her toys, empty the dishwasher, and sweep the floor)

Jordyn is growing into quite the social butterfly. Whenever we go anywhere, she has to say good-bye to anyone and everyone in sight. She also LOVES babies, and will walk up to any mom with a small child just to look at the "baby" (a lot of the time, the "baby" is bigger than she is!).

Jordyn keeps us on our toes and amazes us daily with all of the new things she is learning. She loves to talk and read her books. She's a smart little girl, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for her!

Why I Love This Man

* He works hard so that I can stay home with Jordyn

* Helps with Laundry

* He's an AWESOME Daddy

* Does most of the yard work so I can stay in side and keep my allergies under control

* Loves the gospel

* Supports my expensive hobbies (cooking, quilting, and photography aren't cheap)

* He's a worthy priesthood holder

* Does ALL of the ironing

* Helps with the dishes

* He's my best friend

* Makes me laugh

* Grills the best steak -- so tender you can cut them with a fork

* Brag's about my cooking skills, even if it's leftover hamburger helper for lunch!

* Loves his family

* Lifts me up when I'm down

* Encourages me to go on when I want to quit

* Listens to me when I'm discouraged

* Shares my love of the outdoors

* Knows how to fix anything that's wrong with our vehicles

* He's my personal handy man -- He's installed several light fixtures and ceiling fans, painted rooms, and even fixed our fence after the storm

* He encourages me to go visit my family even if it means leaving him alone for two weeks

* He's very smart (finished his MS in Security Management in January and graduated with top honors)
* He will trim my hair or paint my nails if I asked him to

* I can talk to him about anything and everything, and have been known to talk to him for hours on end
* He's always willing to serve others
* He's as obsessed with having a clean house as I am

* He knows a ton about history and is sharing tidbits wherever we go

* Gives Jordyn her nightly bath and plays with her for hours when he gets home from work so that I can have a break

* He's always willing to give me a blessing when I need one
* He loves me

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY SWEETIE! JORDYN AND I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS