I've been trying to get my camera out more, because I realized that I haven't been capturing the adorableness too well. Also, does anyone else feel like a dated dinosaur when they have to reach in their bag, pull out their camera, take it out of the case, turn it on, and finally snap a photo? I'm starting to feel a little embarrassed when I take photos with my friends who just pull out their sleek iPhones and snap better quality pictures that immediately upload to wherever they want. I remember feeling similarly when everyone suddenly had digital cameras and I still was using film. Or when everyone had ipods and I still had my discman.

Behold our little one, it got cool enough to pull out some of her old winter hats from last year - they finally fit!

Smoothie face in the morning.

About a week ago, she suddenly has an insatiable need to climb and be on a big person chair. She thinks she is so so cool when we put her up there and will jump around. Then, when she falls off and hurts herself, she will cry when we won't put her back. She's a very determined little girl and is not easily distracted from her goals of mischief and mayhem.

We went to the Children's Museum last week - she actually really liked the car. Sometimes she acts very solemn because she is soaking in the experience, but you can see that she is clapping her hands. This little girl loved Ryan and kept hopping on the back for a ride.

I really, really love the Children's Museum. They have bags where you put any toys that your child has slobbered on and they also have staff walking around with sanitizer and cloths just to wipe everything down. They even change out the balls from the ball pit several times a day! It's a wonderful place.

Happy Birthday Joseph Smith!

We are still behind on Christmas pictures! Ryan's family has a Joseph Smith birthday party on December 23rd and it's always something I look forward to. The Golden Plates cake is one of the highlights, and this year I enjoyed being behind-the-scenes to see how it's made. 

The most fun part was having Dan and Melinda brainstorm about what cake pan to use that would form clean, straight edges. Then, quite a while into the conversation it was remembered that they already had such a cake pan (that they use every year) and that Dan had also already constructed metal separators so that the large pan would be divided into four equal parts. We made a note for them to ask me about the cake pan next year to avoid this 30 minutes of brainstorming; however, once they remember that they are supposed to ask me - they will probably remember that they already have the cake pan!

The second part that was amusing was observing the rising tension in the home as inquiries were made about how much frosting to use, if someone was using too much frosting, if someone hadn't made enough frosting, etc. 

It's all worth it for the final product! In order to keep the cake away from a curious baby, Dan put it inside a styrofoam ice box down in the basement. It actually added a really nice effect when he unveiled the cake - kind of a stone box effect. I'm hoping that this box is painted a stone color for next year's festivities and the stone box becomes an integral part of the cake unveiling.

Dan unveiling the cake, he must have unselfish motives in order to remove the cake - no selfish thinking about the pleasure this delicious cake will give to alleviate the rumblings in our tummies.

Voila!

Melinda miraculously cuts into the sealed portion! 

I also should add that there was a rousing game of Memory and dollar store gifts passed out. Tamboreh, anyone? (Actually, I tried to look that up online so double-check the spelling and I couldn't find it! I have no evidence of its proof except for this Memory game.)

One of the dollar store items were for some long balloons, which I thought might be fun to twist up and make into shapes. The little pump that came with them was broken, unfortunately, but no worries! Dan just pulled in the air compressor hose from the garage and we had a beautiful ballon in just seconds!

Here are a couple randoms photos from the holidays. Willa is becoming quite the little puppy and loves to beg for food scraps at the table. She's like our little Elvis, only better smelling.

Jumpalooza!

One of our new friends from the library invited us to this local Jumpalooza for a playdate. It's just an indoor space that has tons of bouncy houses. It has about the same feeling and cleanliness factor of Chuck E. Cheese - and similarly, kids go crazy for this place! Both Willa and my admission were free, so I think it's not a bad place to go spend an afternoon. 

I had to take a picture of this autograph. There was a big bouncy house that had a Power Ranger at the front. You can see from the photo, that it is actually signed by "Tommy" the Power Ranger. There is a DoJo in the neighborhood that is run by one of the Power Rangers (I can't remember which one, maybe the green one? - Ryan knows for sure). Pretty hilarious, if you ask me.

Willa was terrified of the bouncy houses! I was surprised because usually she is up for adventures. She LOVED running around on the floor, but as soon as we went into a bouncy house, she was clinging to me and crying. We were being careful to go into empty ones, where no other kids were bouncing, and just sat there instead of bouncing, but she was terrified. Little Jaden, who is just turning one this month was not scared at all and loved crawling around in them.

I couldn't get her to stay still enough to get a good picture, she looks solemn, but she was very happy.

I thought I'd add this older, but sweet, picture of Willa. I feel like I never get any cute pictures of her anymore because as soon as she sees the camera she lunges for it.

Weaned!

Willa has been weaned for about two weeks now, huzzah! It was a slow process, but relatively painless - probably because it was so slow and gradual.  For the last two months or so, she was mainly nursing just once a day. She did have some stubborn times including one when she went 14 hours without eating (11 of them were while she was asleep, but still!). She didn't cry at all, she just refused anything until I nursed her first. When we traveled to Utah and Ohio, she nursed a little more because it was her comfort in an unfamiliar place. She still sometimes thinks that it is time to nurse, so we have shaken up our morning routine a little.

When she wakes up, we snuggle like little bunnies and watch some Baby Einstein together. As soon as she makes a move to nurse, I put her in her high chair and give her some oatmeal or eggs. It's worked pretty well, so far. She really loves Baby Einstein and sometimes laughs really hysterically at the puppets. It's intriguing to see a glimpse into the baby mind and try to guess what is so hilarious.

She's very into taking things out and putting them back in. She loves to get the silverware holder from the dishwasher and carry it around. I've mentioned before that she also LOVES her tongue - you can see her sticking it out of the corner of her mouth here.

Today was the first time I've fasted in about two years. Honestly, can't say that I've missed it that much - I really hate being hungry :). It was kind of a strange, forgotten sensation at first, but overall it went really well and it was nice to fast with Ryan.