A day of pictures: (Mostly) May 20th

Aunt Amy is the best!

Amy loves playing peek-a-boo with the door at Aunt Amy's house

We visited BYU campus...

and ate ice cream at the creamery on 9th

We played at the playground

and helped fly this awesome Chinese kite

It was a perfect day for kite flying!

Our first full day with Aunt Amy and Uncle Joe in Orem was wonderful and relaxing. I loved spending time with my sister and reminiscing my old days at the Y.

Beginning of a long story

We left West Lafayette, Indiana early the in the morning on May 15 and made a pleasant, yet long drive through, the rest of Indiana, Illinois, and most of Nebraska. We drove highway 74 to highway 80 west so as to avoid going through Chicago. Adelynne and Amy were great passengers, playing well with new trinkets set aside specifically for this trip, eating snacks, singing and talking. We made plenty of stops at grassy and shady rest stops for potty breaks and a chance to stretch our legs. We made it all the way to North Platte, Nebraska on our first night-which I might add, some say was a long shot for one day of driving. But we made it with energy to spare as we all went for a swim in the hotel swimming pool. We went to bed late and got up early again in preparation for another long day of driving. The second day in the car was not as fun, and for me, just slightly torturous. We spent most of the day driving through Wyoming, which wasn't much fun since the rest stops were not grassy nor shady, but rather windy and weedy instead. We didn't have luck finding a McDonald's with a playplace either. The girls were sick and tired of the car, Dustin and I were tired of the drab scenery and of listening to whiny background music, but we pushed on.

We decided to make our first visit with family in Laramy, Wyoming. Dustin's grandmother lives in a tiny, old home right on the main street of the little town. We hadn't seen Grandma Spann since August of 2006. Little Amy had never met Grandma Spann, and Adelynne certainly didn't remember her. Grandma Spann was expecting us and greeted us with open arms and a wonderful sweet smile that only a grandma can give. Little Amy seemed to know that this was a "kindred spirit" and went right into the arms with a huge smile on her face, and no misgivings whatsoever. I was glad to see Grandma Spann receive such a greeting from Amy. But if she expected one from the older, more mature child, she was sadly disappointed. Adelynne would have nothing to do with her great-grandmother.

But Adelynne, and the rest of us enjoyed a short, sweet visit with Grandma Spann, as well as with Aunt Marie (Grandma's oldest daughter). The girls enjoyed the big backyard, which did have grass, as well as a swing and a trampoline. The trampoline was the favorite, even I joined the girls in some good bouncing. We didn't stay very long, or long enough, as we wanted to end our day down in Happy Valley, Utah with my sister. So after a short time we loaded back into the car and finished the marathon drive in Orem at my sister, Amy's apartment.

I do want to put in a little side note here, that throughout the driving journey, little Amy insisted on using the potty every time we made a stop. She continued to wear a diaper throughout the journey, but she would use the toilet every time we stopped. Neither Dustin or I changed one poopy diaper for four days, since she continued to use the toilet when we stopped in Utah. Our excitement for the possibility of her being potty trained was unfortunately, short-lived. But it was a nice while it lasted!

Still around

Well, we've been gone for 4 weeks now!  WOW!  Actually, Dustin is back in Indiana, while the girls and I remain in California until July 5th.  I have so many pictures and things to post, but I'm lazy.  I don't really want to download my pictures on to my parents computer right now, and everything I have to say would be more interesting if I had pictures to accompany the narration.  So I'm just letting you know that we are having a great time with our families.  We do miss all of our wonderful friends in Indiana, and we are sorry to be missing out on your lives-especially those of our friends who won't be in Indiana much longer!  It is bittersweet to be here without you all.  The girls are loving their grandparents and cousins, and can't get enough of them all.  We hope everyone is doing well.

Mother's Day 2009

I had Dustin snap some pictures of the girls and I before church. It was a wonderful day for me. I enjoyed a peaceful morning while Dustin played with the girls and helped them make me cards. I also had the chance to look over pictures of my first couple of years of motherhood. Oh, how my angels have blessed my life with such joy and love! I couldn't ask for a better place to be in my life than being a mother to my beautiful daughters.





Here is a look into the past of my previous Mother's Days.  
My first Mother's Day.  2006
Around Mother's Day 2007

Mother's Day 2008.
Mother's Day 2009

The garden

This is our garden. My friend, Kim, and I are doing it together, and with a lot of help from Dustin and some child care from David (Kim's husband), we have had a successful start.

This is what the plot looked like before we dug, and tilled, and hoed, and dug some more.
These are the rows we made for planting, we've added a few more since this picture was taken.  But you can see on the first row that our lettuce came in!  It only took a few days for it to sprout.  

The fenced in garden.  Isn't it great?  

Addition to the last post because I remembered...

"Airfort."

Adelynne has been on an airplane so many times in her short life, but now that Amy is 2, buying four plane tickets is a little tough on our non-existent budget. But I was talking to Adelynne and telling her that we were going to go visit our grandma's and grandpas, and she was like, "yeah, we can go to the airfort and ride on a plane!" I told her we were going to drive because it was too much money to go on an airplane. She said, "We can take all the money back and then go to the airfort." It didn't make any sense, and still doesn't, but I thought it was cute that she said it.

"Valentination."

Adelynne received an invitation to a birthday party. She opened it up and exclaimed, "Wow! Its a valentination!" Can you figure out which words she combined? Its pretty easy, and pretty darn cute!

How my girls say it

I've been trying to remember and think of all the funny/odd phrases my girls say, and the words they use when they can't think or say the real words. I may be adding to this over time, or just posting new ones as they come.

Adelynne used to say, "I have dirty snails!" (Translation: dirty nails)

Adelynne calls freckles "sparkles." (I love it)!

Sadly I can't think of anything more. But I know there are more, so, to be continued...


Oh, and I think it may be time to post the bad news: Amy ate her own poop. Yup. Its official, Dustin has even declared it the grossest moment of parenting yet. The story: Amy had pooped in her diaper and decided to go use the potty-too late. I heard the toilet lid fall and I knew we were in trouble. Dustin arrived on the scene first and found Amy smearing her poop all over the toilet seat. He yelled in horror, I came running and found Dustin holding Amy by the elbows with her hands covered in poop. Then Amy looks at me and she's smacking her lips and pushing something around in her mouth. I realized what it was and began screaming in horror as well. It took me about 15-20 seconds to come out of the screaming and take action. Dustin said that before he could get a hold of Amy's hands she licked one of her poop covered hands. There you have it. I was timid to post such horrible news as this will now become a permanent record for all to read-even future boyfriends and perspective husbands. Sorry Amy.

Also, in a related story, Amy will eat anything BUT vegetables. And from the story above, you know I'm not lying. The girl also eats dirt by the handful as I have already mentioned in a previous post. Well, Tuesday night we had the missionaries come to dinner. I had made cookies for dessert. I served mixed vegetables: peas, corn, carrots, green beans, with dinner. I put some on Amy's plate, as usual. (Oh, and I even sauteed them in olive oil and garlic and then smothered them in parmesan cheese-SO good). Well, Amy ate all on her plate except the vegetables, as usual. So I asked Amy if she wanted a cookie and she said yes. Then I told her she had to take a bite of vegetables and she said emphatically, "No vegetables." I reiterated with her a few times that if she wanted a cookie she had to eat a bite of vegetables. She said, "no vegetables." So I put her down from the table and she was just about to wander off to her room when she saw Adelynne get a cookie. She asked for one too, but Dustin told her to take a bite of vegetables, and she agreed. So Dustin fed her a bite of vegetables and gave her a cookie and off she went. We saw her wandering around eating the cookie. Then a few moments later she came in and the cookie was all gone, but I saw something was still in her mouth. I told her to open her mouth and show me, thinking it was a toy. She opened her mouth and spit out the bite of vegetables. There you have it. Elder Royer said, "Whoa! You've got Hudini there!"

Amy is Two

That's right, this girl knew it was HER day!
We started the day off by spending some time with Minnie and Eddie Aagard.  Amy adores little Eddie, too bad he didn't want to show off his "melt your heart" smile, but Amy did!
Here is the cake!  I got the idea from the back of the spring time M&M's bag.  It was pretty simple other than frosting the cake.  But very sweet!  It was a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing loaded with M&M's.  
Amy loved being the star of the show for the day, but especially as everyone sung "Happy Birthday" to her before blowing out her candle.
One of my favorite pictures of the day.  Thanks to Christina for being the photographer so that I could enjoy Amy a little bit more.  
Amy was spoiled by all her friends and family throughout the day.  Thank you to all of our friends that helped make her day so special with your thoughtful gifts, but especially your company (and of course, your beautiful voices)!

More pictures from Amy's birthday

Thursday, the day after Amy's birthday, Amy had her 2 year check up. Here are her stats:
Height 34 1/2 inches (50-75%)
Weight 28lbs 2 oz (50-75%)

Amy didn't have any vaccines, but she did have to have a lead test taken. She probably wouldn't have needed the lead test except that I had to answer "yes" to too many of the questions, due to the fact that Amy eats handfuls of dirt on a regular basis. But Amy didn't cry at all while getting her finger poked. She was just very curious, and then super excited to have a band aide on her finger-you would have thought it was her birthday all over again.

Amy is such a little fire cracker. Everything she does or says she does with her own little flare. She loves to copy everything Adelynne says or does, which means she wants to do everything herself. She has two favorite bedtime buddies, her hippo and elephant blanket. The hippo is called "bahpo," because that's how Amy has always said it. Thus the rest of us also call it "bahpo." She is quick to say sorry or thank you, as well as give hugs. Amy loves being around people, smiling at them, sometimes talking to them. She pretty much talks in sentences now, and I rarely don't know what she is saying. She also loves going to nursery on Sunday's. I generally just follow behind her to make sure she doesn't get distracted or bumped as she goes down the hallway.

Adelynne is a great big sister, but she really had a hard time letting Amy be such the focus of the day. Adelynne was a little pouty off and on the entire day. I don't think she has ever really shown so much jealousy before, not even when Amy was born. Although Adelynne struggled through the day with Amy getting so much attention from everyone, she was still singing the loudest during "Happy Birthday." (But maybe that was because she was hoping to grab the first cupcake)! It was wonderful to hear her sing so loudly on behalf of her sister.

Eclair Dessert recipe

Ingredients:

-1 large box (or 2 small boxes) of French Vanilla instant pudding (name brand or generic work just fine.  But make sure you get the FRENCH vanilla).

-1 regular size of cool whip (8oz)  

-graham crackers (I would recommend buying a name brand-don't get a generic brand.  You will use about 2/3 of the box)

-6 T of cocoa powder

-3 T butter (softened or melted)

-2 T vegetable oil

-3 Cups powdered sugar

-3+ Tablespoons very hot water (almost boiling or boiling water will work)

Directions:

In a 13x9 cake pan (I use a glass, but I'm not sure if it matters which kind you use), put one layer of graham crackers down.  Mix pudding as directed on box, then mix in the cool whip.  Then put half of the pudding mixture on top of the graham crackers that you put in the pan.  Put another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding mixture and then pour the remaining pudding mixture on top of the 2nd layer of graham crackers.  Set aside.  Put butter, oil, cocoa, and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix together.  Then spoon in very hot water starting with 3 Tablespoons first.  I usually add an additional 2 T to make the chocolate more thin.  You want to be able to spread the chocolate over the pudding.  So stir in the desired amount of hot water until its at the right consistency.  You shouldn't need more than 5 or 6 Tablespoons total.  Then spread your chocolate sauce over the pudding and graham crackers.  

This dessert should sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours, so its best to make it the night before.  My mother tells me you need to put saran wrap over the eclair as it sits in the fridge.  You have to be careful not to let the plastic touch the chocolate because it will pull it right off the pudding.  The last two times I have made this eclair, I skipped doing the saran wrap, and it didn't seem to make a difference.  But I let it sit on the top shelf of my fridge.  Let me know if you have any questions.  I hope I wasn't too wordy or confusing.

ENJOY!

2 things

1. I bought an Earth Day t-shirt last night for three dollars.  I showed it to Dustin and he said, "No one will know you're a red-neck conservative if you wear that."

2.  Dustin said that while I was sleeping last night, I rolled over and said, "You're funny, Ezra."  I don't remember what I was dreaming about.  (Ezra is Adelynne and Amy's friend next door, just the sweetest little boy you'll ever meet).  I wish I knew what I dreamt about.

Simple Skirts GIVEAWAY!!!!

Simple Skirts GIVEAWAY!!!!

Happy Birthday Amy!

We let Adelynne give Amy the presents she picked out for her this morning. The day can't go wrong if you start it out with presents, right?  Amy opened up the boat first:
Thanks Adelynne!
This one was her favorite!  Adelynne did a great job picking out toys for her sister.

Happy Birthday, Amy!
Don't worry, there will be more.

Spring Fest 2009

Today was the annual Purdue University Spring Fest, and for the first time of the three years we have attended, the weather was beautiful.  It was a perfect day for a walk around campus and enjoying all of the many activities.  Our favorite activity to start with is the Veterinary School to see the baby animals.  This baby lamb was only one day old.  We also saw baby pigs, a calf, chicks, goats, and an alpaca and a llama.  


This horse was pretty fun to look at.  He must be a very patient horse!

And the girls of course enjoyed a pony ride-the hit of the day!  Totally worth the $3/child ride.  The smiles on their faces were priceless.  It was Amy's first pony ride ever-and she was giggling through it all.  And Adelynne was all smiles.  

Then of course we had to go and see the bugs at the bug "petting zoo."  Amy was not afraid to take this giant cockroach from the lady, but it startled her and she dropped it, and I of course screamed and jumped back as it came my direction.  Luckily it was not hurt, though Dustin reminds me how bad it would have been had I stepped on it.  But to show the girls how "brave" I am, I took a turn and let it sit in my hand.  
Amy enjoyed petting all the "bugs" she could.  This is a tobacco worm.  We of course saw many friends throughout the day, and we ended up hanging out with our good friend Sarah and her son Dylan for part of the day.  We went through the bug petting zoo together, so that's why he is a part of our pictures.  
The millipede:
Love this picture:
More cockroaches.  Amy, "Wow."
The tarantula.  The obvious disdain on Adelynne's face.  I don't think she touched any thing.


It was a great activity to spend half of our day doing.  When we were outside later in the day, Adelynne and Amy were fascinated with ants and ladybugs, or any other bugs they saw while we were outdoors.  The days earlier events must have had an impact on them.  Adelynne tells us that her favorite part of the day was the pony ride- what else?

Art

My awesome neighbor, Sarah, and I were feeling creative with the new sidewalk chalk that my girls got for Easter. We wanted to fill in an entire cement square, so we did. I think it looks awesome!