I Can Do It Myself...

Beth is a wonderfully independent girl, and we love that about her. Now that she is officially 1, she has begun to insist on doing things on her own. Here are a few things that she does:

1. Puts her clothes in the laundry hamper. Every morning when we take off her pajamas, I give them to her and she knows to put them in the laundry hamper. I'm loving this habit and hoping it sticks with her for a long time. However, she does take the clothes back out of the laundry hamper if she can reach them. Also, another downside is that everything else ends up in the laundry hamper as well. I recently washed my keys and am trying to be better at making sure all unapproved items come out before the clothes go in the wash. I still think it is adorable that after she puts something in the hamper she claps for herself.






2. Brushes her teeth. We recently visited my sister in Boise with most of the rest of my family. Beth having no teeth at the time I didn't bother bringing her toothbrush. Then we ran into a problem. Beth's cousins were brushing their teeth and Beth couldn't. My brother Patrick was amazed that a child would throw such a fit over not being able to brush their teeth. But it is a struggle each morning to get the toothbrush away from her. Yea for good oral hygiene!

3. Picks her clothes. Technically I still pick her clothes, I'll pull out 2 outfits and then let her choose between them. Most of the time she tries to grab both outfits. Sometimes we have to coach her because she pulls both the pairs of pants and no shirt to wear. But she loves to try putting on her own shoes and hats and sometimes when I'm folding laundry she gets into my clothes and tries to put them on too.

4. Reads. She doesn't really read, she's only 1. But for the past little while I've been going through this book of stories with her called Treat Shop (a remnant of Jaren's childhood), especially when she is a little groggy just after waking up from a nap. Now, when she wakes up she has to sit in the big reading chair and won't let me read her the story. She has to sit by herself and hold the book and will even make little babbling noises as she turns the pages. She's going to a be a smart one!







5. Climbs the stairs. She knows how to go up and down the right way, but prefers to go up like we do. She can't yet, but she tries.







6. Pushes her stroller. We went to the mall and got some ice cream. She was more interested in pushing the stroller than begging us for some of our ice cream. She took off in her fluffy zebra striped tutu like skirt, pushing the stroller as fast as she could, the entire length of the mall. She started tiring out a little by the end, but she made sure that every person we passed looked at her and we could hardly stand that cute little skirt                                bouncing back and forth as she walked. Now she's begun to push us around too.

7. Feeding herself. The biggest struggle. I was really looking forward to being able to train Beth to use her silverware and feed herself and so I wouldn't have to do it anymore. Now, she'll hardly eat while I'm feeding her, but will really insist on doing it herself. The problem...not much of it ends up in her mouth.

8. Brushing her hair (and mine). She's always loved brushing her own hair, now she won't let me do it for her. And she helps me with mine and Jaren with his, at times. You do have to watch out, sometimes the wrong side of the brush comes at you kind of hard...

9. Cleaning out her ears. I have an aversion to having water in my ears, so after my showers I use the opportunity to dry out my ears and clean them while I'm at it. That has become the habit for Beth after bath-time too. She definitely knows where the q-tips go.

Playdate

So, just in case anyone is wondering, this is not Jaren. This is actually Heather. Jaren is caught up with finishing school and doing his internship, and lets face it, he only blogged because he had to for class. So, now I get to try my hand at it.

Beth hosted her first playdate this week. She loves playing in water and so we bought a little kiddie pool for her to play in and invited some of her little friends over (and their mothers of course). Lunch consisted of sandwiches (we had turkey-bacon, chicken with roasted red pepper and spinach, cucumber, and tuna), some cantaloupe, strawberry jicama spinach salad with homemade honey orange dressing, and frozen strawberry lemonade, with petit-fours for dessert (I finally got my cake recipe just right!)

Beth and Abby had lots of fun splashing in the pool. I was surprised at how well Beth did when she slipped and fell in. Beth loves to follow Abby around and do everything that she does. And I think both the girls loved coming and drinking their mommy's strawberry lemonades.

Almost Done

This semester has been a busy semester, and having to blog and post every week did not help.  I don't know if I will ever tweet again, but I might actually keep the blog up for a while, we'll see how motivated I am.  The good news though, this semester is almost over!  So this week I was supposed to help out someone more stressed out than me.  I would of course wait until the last day to even think about this, but I did get it done.  I'm in the Young Men's Presidency, so every fast Sunday I get to help out with fast offerings, which has never been one of my favorite things to do.  So I grab one of the teachers and we head out on our route.  We make good time and before we know it, we make it back to the church, being the first ones to make it back.  The second counselor is there and tries to get us to go on one of the two routes that were left.  I didn't want to do it, thinking I just wanted to go home and be with my family.  However, I started thinking a little bit more.  The second counselor also has a family, a wife and three little girls, and I was sure he was just as anxious as I was for these routes to get done so he could get everything counted and get home, especially since it was Easter.  As I was thinking this, my attitude really started to change.  I started to realize that I was being selfish and I needed to help out where I could.  So the teacher and I grab another route, and with this new attitude, we cheerfully went around the second route collecting fast offerings.  It really did turn out to be a great learning experience for me in the end!

Beth's Big Move

So Beth has been enjoying walking around while we are holding her hands.  Ever since she has gone to California, she has wanted to walk more than she has wanted to crawl.  It makes things interesting, especially after we've walked her around for a little while and our backs are hurting from bending over so much.  So the other day, I was walking with Beth and Heather was sitting a little bit away.  So I asked Beth if she was ready, walked her a couple of more steps, and then let go fully expecting her to fall right down.  To Heather and my surprise, she took a two or three good steps and actually made it to Heather.  So, we of course had to try again, and she was able to walk back and forth between us a few times, even getting up to four or five steps all on her own.  I really can't believe how fast this little girl is growing.  She's pretty funny though, she gets stage fright and if we try to get her to do it in front of anyone, she just sits right down.  She really is a funny little girl!

Busy Week

So, I look back at this week and it seems a million years ago this week actually started.  Things started off busy with school.  I had some nice group projects followed by a midterm.  School has kept my pretty busy this semester seeming like there's always a big project or some test coming up.  I also came to the realization that Heather does a really good job at keeping me motivated.  She and Beth were down in California most of this week visiting Heather's brother who just got home from a mission in Brasil.  I found it very hard to do anything this week even though I had the house all to myself.  It's pretty amazing how a wife a kid will keep you motivated to get things done.  We did find out while Heather and Beth were in California, Beth is pretty terrified of grass, which I find pretty funny.

So Heather and Beth made it home on Thursday.  It was absolutely amazing to see how big Beth got in just over a week.  I couldn't believe it.  I love having them back in the house though, especially when I'm able to listen to Beth laugh, she really does have to best laugh in the world.

Our stake also had it's Spring Extravaganza this weekend.  So Saturday morning we get up and head over to Exchange Park for a 5k.  I had been debating the whole time if I would walk the 5k or just kind of wait at the finish line for Heather and Beth to finish.  I finally decide that it would do me some good to walk.  So we start going and make it to the halfway point and turn around and start to head back to the park.  So, I was feeling a little ambitious and, I know it's hard to believe, but I actually jogged some on the way back.  It felt good thought to get out and be active.  We decided to have some friends over later in the afternoon and have our first barbecue of the year, which was a great way to end the day.

Now the new week starts though, time to crack down and finish all of these projects for school.  Wish me luck!!

P.S.  A friend of ours who is studying photography at BYU-I took some pictures of Beth while they were in CA.  She took the picture of Beth in the grass and here are a few other she took.

My Big Surprise

Once a month, I have a scout meeting called Roundtable.  I'll be honest with you, I do get a little bored at those meetings, but I have been trying to have a better attitude about things, so I made it my goal to start attending them as often as possible.  This months Roundtable was actually going to be cut a little short because a district awards ceremony was going to be held right after.  I thought this was great, I would be able to go to a short Roundtable and then leave as soon as the awards ceremony started.  I thought it was going to be a great night.

So, a day or two before Roundtable, I get a text from the Young Men's President asking if I would be going.  I said I would, but would probably not stay for the awards ceremony afterwards.  He then preceded to ask if I would stay a little while after Roundtable to meet with a guy about some activity he wanted us to do.  I little disappointed that this would ruin my early return to home, I agreed to do it.  So I head to Roundtable and eagerly await the time when I could meet with the guy and then head home.  Roundtable ends and I wait with the President for this guy.  The awards ceremony is starting and the President tells me to just head into the gym where they are having it and he would continue to look for the guy because he couldn't find him.  So, I wait for a little while, but no sign of the guy.  I finally decide to head home, so I head to the door to tell the President I'm going to take off.  Well, as I reach the door, to my surprise I see my wife and little girl standing there.

Needless to say, I was pretty confused at that point.  So the President tells my that I just need to take my wife and girl and go and sit down.  So I don't know how it happened, but I did receive an award that night.  I received the Unit Leader Award of Merit.  It was quite a shock to me, but I was very honored that people were willing to recognize me with this award.  It was actually quite humbling.  The cool thing is, I have a new knot to put on my scout shirt that I have never seen anyone else wear before!

I was really surprised though at how my wife and others were able to keep it a secret from me, it really was a big surprise!

Busy Weekend, Turned Not so Busy

So, the weekend was set to be a really busy one.  I went to class Friday morning, then went to work right after that.  I got off around 3:00 and I was going to go to one of the events a group was putting on for my program management class.  I decided not to go, because I wanted some sort of break.  At 5:30 I got packed up and picked up the rest of the Young Men's Presidency in our ward and we headed up to a cabin for a leadership training camp out.  I need to be careful about what I say about the camp out though, only because I know one member of the Stake Presidency reads my blog (that's for you President Jaramillo)!  Truthfully though, it seemed like it had the makings to be a really good camp out.  However, soon after I ate dinner, my stomach started to act up a little and I had a hard time concentrating on what was said at the fireside that night.  I figured I would be fine in the morning, especially since I was able to sleep in a bed, however, it did not.  After losing what was in my stomach a little after I woke up, I tried to participate in the morning events.  I finally gave up and went and took a nap for a while.  I tried to eat some lunch, but my stomach still wasn't feeling the best, so we left early so I could get some rest.  So my busy weekend turned into a lot of time lying on the couch trying to feel better, even missed church today.  Tomorrow's a new day though, so let's hope for the best!

Lake Blanche

So, I was sitting here thinking of something to blog about, and I really had no clue.  So I started looking through some older pictures and I remembered a pretty good story from when Heather and I were dating.  If you don't really know, I am not the biggest fan of hiking.  I like the outdoors, but if I can drive there, walk around a little, I'm fine with that.  I don't really like going on super long hikes.  However, I was trying to impress Heather, so I agreed to go on a hike with her up to Lake Blanche.  It looked like it would be an ok hike, not to long, and we would end up at a nice lake.

So we started the hike, and it went up, and seemed like it kept going and going.  It takes us a little bit longer than expected, because we really didn't think it would be that long, but we kept going because we wanted to see this lake.  We finally make it to the top, and we see just about the most disappointing lake that we can find.  It was a pretty small lake, and it was filled with weeds!  So we ate our little lunch that we took with us, took a few pictures, and then headed back.  So all in all, not the best hike, but it was some good quality time with Heather.  I think the thing that confused me the most though, was it seemed to be a pretty popular hike.  Why?  Beats me.  But I guess if you want to go on a hike, that was as good as hike as any.

I guess it did have a decent view from the top, and a nice little waterfall somewhere along the way!

Random Things for the Week

In class earlier this week, our teacher, Shayne Clarke, told us that we had to buy a Coke for a stranger.  Being kind of broke, and Heather being out of a job, I was wondering how I was going to to this.  Then, a wonderful thing happened.  For my Program Management class, we had to program an event.  Luckily, ours was this last Friday and I was in charge of getting some donations for prizes.

It was a 50's theme dance, and since I work at KFC/A&W, I decided to try to get a donation from them for the dance.  They were kind and gave me five gift certificates for a large float.  So the dance was going on and we had our competitions and prizes, but we only gave out two of the large floats, ironically they went to two of our teacher's kids.  So I still had three left.  I was very tempted to keep them for myself, but I figured that wouldn't be the best thing to do.

So I watched the people dancing and an older couple really stood out to me.  They danced most of the dances and were really enjoying themselves, you could really see how much they loved each other.  So I grabbed two of the gift certificates and said that since they seemed to be having the most fun, they got to have them.  I know we were supposed to be making someone else happy, but I honestly just want my wife and me to be that happy when we get old, and so it was a joy to watch them dance!

What happened to the last gift certificate you may ask?  Well, that went to my sister for being so kind and babysitting for us!

Camp Out!

So, it has been another one of those busy weeks where I feel like everything is being crammed on my right now.  I had the lucky opportunity though to go on a camp out with my scouts Friday night.  I know many of you might not think I was really "lucky" to go on that camp out, but I would disagree.  The camp out was quite unorganized, considering we had a nice training camp out planned for the boys, but last Sunday, we found out the stake pow wow had been changed from noon to nine in the morning.  Giving us only a week to plan a completely new camp out, which would have been ok, except for the fact that all the young men leaders are in school and we all had really busy weeks.  So we went to a place near Goshen, UT, told the boys to bring their own food, and got them back in time the next morning for breakfast before the stake pow wow, that the stake provided.  So it was a short camp out, but Friday night was great.  We had a nice fire, which is always nice, but we also had a lot of fun playing some games.  I slept pretty well, because I actually brought an air mattress, which was really nice, and so all in all it was a great relaxing camp out that I got to spend with the scout and the other scout leaders.  Now it's back to the grind of school.  I have two midterms this week and a big project for one of my classes.  Oh well, here we go!

New Journey!

And so begins a new journey in our life.  Since Heather was younger she would get ulcers in her stomach whenever she was in an abusive relationship.  She hasn't had one for quite a while, but that changed this week. Heather switched from her corporate job at Kneaders to just working as a pastry chef in one of the stores because it was too much stress and not enough structure.  When she transferred, they said they were going to fire the pastry chef that was there, which they were planning on doing anyways, but they also promised that they would get her an assistant soon.  With her doing great at her job, pastry sales were starting to pick up a lot at the store, and with Valentine's Day right around the corner, there was no sign of an assistant.  They did say that the new corporate girl would come in Valentine's Day to help out, but the help was needed in the prep work, not the finish work.  She was also told on Monday that she would have to work on Tuesday, her normal day off, because the corporate girl was getting married.  Instead of telling this would be for two weeks, they waited until the next Monday to let her know she would have to work again on Tuesday.  This was too much for Heather and her ulcers started to kick in again.  So, we decided to do what was best for her, and she quit.  Normally she would give a two week notice, but because of the situation she was in, she quit on Friday and is not going back in.  And thus our new journey begins.  Heather gets to look for a new job and we get to start a new chapter in life.

On the bright side, as soon as she decided to quit, the ulcers went away and Heather is loving her time and home with Beth.  So now we will depend even more on the Lord to help us through this time and lead us in the path we need to go!

I'm sure that most of you have had those feelings of being completely overwhelmed with life and wonder when you might ever get a break; well, I think I've had that feeling this whole week.  Between juggling school, homework, my church calling, watching Beth, and trying to find some quiet moments with Heather (I don't really count work since I only work one day a week, but I guess I could add the stress of finding an internship); I have been feeling quite overwhelmed.  It seems like this semester is much busier than last semester.  I have to find time for group projects, which it seems like I have group projects for a majority of my classes, then I have to find time to plan what we are doing for scouts, and finding time to spend with my family, which should come first, seems to be whatever we can scrap together.  I guess the solution is to really enjoy the little things that happen to make my life brighter.  So the brighter story for this week is while I was in class on Thursday, Heather was able to send me the best pictures of Beth to completely make my day, and I figure I better share the pictures so maybe I can help brighten someone else's day as well!



Hope this makes someone smile!

Beth's Own Personality

I can't even begin to tell you how fun it is to watch Beth continue to grow.  It seems like every morning that she wakes up she is doing something different or trying something different.  She has started to make a spitting noise with her lips by putting them together and blowing through them while vibrating them, the fun part is to do it back to her in which she will smile and laugh and do it back to us again.  Heather tried to get Beth to go through the piano bench as a tunnel, Beth was hesitant at first but as soon as Heather threw a blanket over the bench, she darted right through it!

She also has a different way of sucking on her pacifier.  For a majority of the time, she will do it like any other normal kid; however, sometimes she just has to suck on it her own way!

Once again, I just can not express in words how much I love this little girl!

Beth's Growing So Fast!!!

So, Beth has been threatening to crawl for almost a month now.  She liked to get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, and then eventually got back on her belly and cried until we picked her up.  Well, this week she decided to surprise us a little bit, she just took off crawling.

Not only is she crawling, but she can also go from her hands and knees to a sitting position, and if she gets close enough to anything that she can get a good grip on, including leg hair, she will pull herself up to a standing position.  By the way, the leg hair really hurts!

I can't believe how fast this little girl is growing, it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital.  And have we baby proofed at all?  Haha, I guess we really need to get going on that one!

My Great Cousin's Quote!

So, I asked people on facebook what I should blog about, my cousin Sarah suggested that I should write a poem about my favorite food, but I thought that would be a little hard, so she decided to give me an example, she said "food is great food is good, it ends up in my belly and out to the toilet where it should..." I couldn't stop laughing at that one so I had to blog about it. Don't worry, I really won't be blogging this much in the future!

Bridal Veil Falls

So, back in the spring, Heather and I had just delivered a wedding cake up at Sundance and we decided to stop by Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon to take some pictures.

But the funny thing was, there was a girl standing in the middle of the water getting her wedding pictures taken! I had a really good laugh at that one!

To leave she had to throw the bottom of the dress over her shoulder, and she still got the bottom of it dirty.

M Com

So, the teacher in my M Com class has required us to start a blog. So this is my first official blog. I have no clue what I will be blogging about, so we will see how random I can be. If I ever get followers and anybody has good ideas for me to blog about, just let me know!