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.

I'm having a bloggers-block because there are suddenly so many things that need doing! The new year started with a whirlwind and I'm still trying to get my mojo of feeling on top of things. 

Classes at the college started up again; however, one week before they were supposed to start my supervisor called to say that my two classes weren't filling up. They would like to cancel those classes but I could have two different classes that met at similar times. The bad part - these classes met at the Kingwood campus (I was supposed to be at the brand-spanking-new satellite campus that is only a few minutes from our apartment) AND these new classes were different than what I had been planning to teach. Soo... I finally had all my lessons plans together from the last two semesters and now I was going to have to make all new lesson plans! The good part - I am now teaching a class that is on literature and writing about literature. So far, it's a lot more natural and easier (and more interesting) to talk about a short story than to discuss writing strategies like brain-storming and free-writing. 

On top of that, I got made YW president over the Christmas break. I debated writing about it on my blog, but figured that you guys probably all know already. It's been something I never never never never never wanted to do, but I'm trying to have a more positive attitude. I really like being the middleman and saying, "Huh, I'll talk to the president about that." It's annoying to have to actually be the president. I think that I will probably try passing the buck to the bishop. Let me tell you, 14 and 15 year-olds can be giant brats. BUT... I'm going to work on loving them because the sooner I love this calling, the sooner I'll get released :). I have felt blessed, though; I have two really great counselors - one of whom used to teach junior high - and who has skillz in dealing with the pubescent attitude.

The moral of all this is that whenever I would like to do a blog post, I usually decide that I need to use the time to write a lesson plan or do some churchy thing instead.

Here is Willa eating our morning smoothie. She has learned to scamper over whenever she sees us drinking it, so I have finally gotten her her own little cup. I was fighting it at first, but then I realized that it's spinach, berries, and plain yogurt. She's eating a lot less healthy things throughout the day.

We ventured out into having company for dinner. We set up a little table where the four year-old twins could eat, but didn't realize that Willa could now grab their food. She yoinked the boy's kool-aid cup and drank it/dumped it on the carpet. When we realized what had happened, she was kneeling on the ground trying to slurp it up from the floor! Thank goodness for Spot Shot!

We had this old comforter sitting out for a while just waiting to be taken to Goodwill. Willa decided to make it her Cozy Corner and loved going over to it for a quick snuggle.

She's learning so much lately and loves trying out new words! This week she learned to point to her tongue and her eye when I asked her where they were. She also is working on her fine-motor skills and learned how to zip the zipper on her quiet book last week in church. At her 15 month check-up she was 23 lb. 14 oz (66%) and 29.5" (22%).

Mara-ton, A Ton of Fun

The US Olympic Marathon Trials were today in Houston so we decided to watch and cheer the runners. I follow mens distance running a little bit (probably significantly more than the average person but far less than a true fanatic), so I was excited for the chance to see a few of my favorite runners. Excited enough that I made my very first sporting event signs. Here they are:

This was for Ryan Hall. Hall holds the fastest US marathon right now and is famous for his Christian beliefs. He has no coach and claims his training is based on the Bible (he takes Sundays off, has some kind of biblical diet, etc.). People dismissed him a couple years ago when he decided to go coach-less but he came back and ran an American marathon record. My friend Peter Smith suggested I make a sign that read: "Ryan Hall. No Coach. No Problem" I really liked this idea but ultimately I didn't want to get in his head if he had a bad race. I didn't want him thinking something like "Oh man, maybe it is a problem that I don't have a coach." In the end, I felt like Hallelujah was good--succinct, personalized, and Christian.

This was for Dathan Ritzenhein. I gave this sign to Cathryn so that she could cheer for Ritz. My friend Peter suggested this sign and I liked it. Ritz ran the Olympic Marathon in China (along with Ryan Hall and Brian Sell [I believe]) and was the first US runner in that event. I like Ritz because he seems like a typical runner to me. He has been injured lately and was lucky to get in enough shape to be a real contender for this race. I liked this sign because I imagine "Inherit Zen" is Ritz's running mantra. Many elite runners have mantras they repeat to themselves during a race and many will keep their mantra secret. How crazy would it be if you were running and some girl was waving a sign with your secret mantra all over it! If the mantra was "Inherit Zen" you'd be like, "Whoa, I have inherited Zen--my thoughts are now universal thoughts. My consciousness permeates all. I have transcended running." "Inherit Zen" is also nice because it is an anagram for Ritzenhein which by its very nature is succinct.

Although I purchased one more poster board for Willa to hold, I never got around to making the sign. The sign would have been for Meb Keflezighi. I really like Meb because he seems like such a nice guy and he won the New York Marathon a couple years ago wearing a cool USA singlet. I couldn't ever think of a sign that would do him justice and I ran out of time. Also, because Willa was going to hold it, I wanted to make sure Meb would see it and think, "Look at that cute baby holding a sign for me. I think I will give her a pair of signed Sketchers racing shoes."

The US women also ran today. I don't follow the women as closely but Shalane Flanagan won which made Cathryn and me happy. The real story for me in the women's race was when a woman stopped to vomit right in front of me. It was sort of gross, but since I have puked at a race before, I was not bothered. Plus it was the Olympic Trials! I offered her a drink of water from the above pictured water bottle which she happily accepted. I estimate that she drank 100 ml--just enough to take the edge off of that foul taste. As you can see from the picture, the bottle was still pretty much full when we took it home. Even though it is hard to resist drinking from a BYU Splash and Dash First Place prize, the drink becomes less appealing when someone's barf lips touched the rim.

The course was a loop so we actually saw the runners come by three times. This was very exciting for me because we chose a spot with very few spectators and tall buildings on both sides of the street. Such conditions were ideal for the runners to hear my yells and pay attention to my signs. I can yell pretty loud and it sounds even better when my voice is bouncing off the walls of tall buildings. For the first pass, I got out on the street and yelled at Hall. I'm pretty sure he liked it but he also gave me a warning pointing gesture to back off. This was only mile 7 so I can imagine he might have been a little cautious about over-zealous spectators ruining his chance to qualify for the Olympic team. The second pass was pretty good, but I couldn't formulate a proper cheer with my favorite phrase, "running with those pistons he calls legs." It is more of a phrase you use when talking to buddies and less of a phrase you can use when shouting at someone at the top of your lungs. However, I really let it go on the final pass because there were hardly any spectators at that point (meaning the two guys who were next to me had left) and the racers only had a mile to go. While I yelled loudly at Meb (who looked at me quizzically) I ran out into the street within mere inches of Hall, waving my sign over my head. I told him "Heckuva Race, Hall! Heckuva Race!" and other encouragements. I'm pretty sure he smiled at my efforts. When Ritzenhein came by, I had his sign too (he was in fourth place and Cathryn was just getting back with Willa). Since the top three qualify for the team, I yelled for Ritz to "Get 'im!" referring of course to Abdi Abdirahman who was in a surprising third place position. With a mile to go, I was really hoping to inspire him to push past Abdi. I screamed as loud as I could, but to no avail. He ultimately finished fourth but in what I've heard was his personal best time.

Meb ended up winning in a personal best time with Ryan Hall second and Abdi third. Cathryn and I enjoyed getting out with Willa to see the spectacle. For those of you who love to hear stories about marathoners soiling themselves during a race, yes we did see a guy running with soiled shorts. I noticed him at about 7 miles. He had a long way to go before he could apply some of the diaper cream we had in our bag.

Candy canes and Christmas presents

I was upstairs getting ready on Christmas morning and when I came downstairs Willa was crying profusely. While I was in the shower, Ryan gave my baby her own candy cane in order to get this shot under the Christmas tree. As you see, she looks perfectly adorable and happy right here, the crying came after when he tried to yoink that candy cane away from her. She was hysterical at losing that minty sweetness until we gave it back. I wanted to add something about corrupting her virgin mouth with a stick of pure cane sugar, but we're way beyond that these days. It's the perfect Christmas photo and we already have it up in a little ornament waiting to hang on the tree next year.

Ryan and I weren't going to get her anything for Christmas, but at the last minute I decided to order her a Lamaze Octopus for her off of Amazon. After we finished singing the songs at the library, they bring out a lot of really nice toys for the babies to play with. They have two of these blue Lamaze octopuses and Willa LOVES them. She kind of throws a tantrum if another baby has one and she doesn't really play with any of the other toys until they bring the octopuses out. (Octopuses, octopi?)

On Christmas day she got messed up on her naps and was REALLY fussy at one point. At that height of fussiness, I decided that we should unwrap the octopus to see if it cheered her up. It was a Christmas miracle! Actually, it was just fun to see her get excited about a Christmas gift since she really has no idea what Christmas is. She saw the octopus and started flapping her arms and making excited noises. It was very thrilling!

One of my harp students brought this present for Willa. His name is Bumpé and he has a book about his escapades. My student's mom was the executive production engineer or something like that on making him. He is Scandinavian and they actually don't even sell him in the US anymore. She said that she called the author of the book and asked him to send a Bumpé over especially for Willa! I opened the book and found that it is actually dedicated to my student's mother! Plus, the author signed this copy for us. He is a very soft and squishy stuffed animal and we were so thrilled and touched to get him. It was so thoughtful of this student's mom and a one-of-a-kind gift for Willa!

Willa got a lot of other really nice and fun things from grandparents and aunts and uncles, she is a lucky baby! 

Willa has been so cute lately. Two days ago she walked into the room and I smelt a baaadddd diaper. It was strong, but since she was happily playing by herself I thought I'd hurry and finish one or two things before I changed her. A minute later I looked up and she was walking towards me holding a fresh new diaper! I chased her down asking if she wanted a diaper change and she started laughing hysterically. Full disclosure: she sometimes brings us diapers even when she's not messy, but I think she knew what was going on this time! She actually was happy through the diaper change instead of whiney and crying. She's got a little ointment on her nose in this photo to help heal one of the many scrapes she inflicts on herself by walking.

I just had to take a picture of her bedhead this morning! Isn't it brilliant! The flash made her close her eyes, which just made the photo funnier. You can see she's got her two favorite toys in her hands: remote 1 and remote 2. She knows just how to point those things at the TV and works very hard to find and grab the remotes from us. How do kids get hip to that jive so quickly?

I think the real magnificence in this bouffant comes because Ryan may have gotten her out of the bath without rinsing the conditioner last night. We switched bath duties halfway through and I forgot to tell him that she still needed rinsing. Look at the body, though, we should leave conditioner in every night!