A General Update of All Concerned

Oh June. I remember loving June. June was when school got out. June was when it was warm enough to wear nothing but short sleeves and flip flops. June was boating and swimming, vacations... ahh the good old days. Now June is the beginning 100+ degree weather which means the beginning of our indoor banishment to avoid melting. Stupid desert.



We actually got to go on a fun, un-Vegas outing last week. Our friends told us about a wetlands park near our house we had both never heard of. A green and wet place in Las Vegas sounded like a myth or a mirage if I had ever heard one. But, I was gladly mistaken.






It was a beautiful park with lots of tall greenery, lots of wet stuff, and (sadly for Scarlet) lots of little flies that fed on the under 4 feet crowd. A few minutes after our walk began, Scarlet looked like one of those cartoon dirty children with dozens of flies whizzing around her head. If one of us were holding her, they would disappear but the second her feet touched the ground they were back with a fury. So we got a little more weight lifting in then we originally planned (remember, the kid is 37 lbs.) but the air was cool and wet and we completely enjoyed ourselves.






There was a river running through the middle







and a lake complete with ducks. A seriously large amount of water for this city. Scarlet had a great smile ready for this picture, until one of the ducks squawked behind us.



You know how it is with walks, the way out is great but then you realize you have to find your way back. After a few wrong turns we did all make it to the car... one way or another.


Jon celebrated his 30th birthday on May 26th. We had a really nice day. Jon isn't a big fan of birthday celebrations so we keep things pretty low key. I made Jon one of his favorite dinners, Scarlet and I made him a Tres Leches cake (it was from a box but it was really good).

Sometime in the beginning of May I asked Jon about some possible birthday gifts. He adamantly refused all suggestions. His final comment on the discussion was, "How about you make me something?" Oh the torture this man puts me through. I think in his mind he probably thought I would make him a card or something. But we're talking his 30th birthday. I had to do something memorable. So I made a king size quilt. In a month. It took a lot of missed sleep and ignored house messes but I finished in time.



My goal was to make a blanket that would look good in our bedroom since we didn't have a bedspread. I also wanted something that would be memorable to us. My very wonderful friend Mindy designed the pattern for me and taught me how to actually make a quilt since I really didn't have the slightest clue how. I chose some of the colors we used to remodel this house. The orange squares are the actual material of one of our couches downstairs. So if we ever get ourselves out of this sandtrap of a city we can remember all the Saturdays spent on our first house.




Continuing with the updates, Scarlet has been talking up a storm lately. She says something new that cracks me up every day! The sad part is with every new phrase I think 'Where did she get that from?' Then I hear myself saying it two minutes later. I am really going to have to watch what comes out of my mouth. Here are some of my latest favorites.

"Wait mom, I have idea!"
Me - "Scarlet, come in here!" Scarlet - "Mom, in a minute!"
"Let me think... hmmm" while tapping her finger on her lip
Me - "Scarlet, go give you dad a good night kiss." Scarlet - "Dad, give me kiss, on my mouth"

Rhode is way too quickly leaving babydom for toddlerland and I am really not ready. He is crawling, luckily not very smoothly yet but can quickly get to any desired object. He also broke through a bottom tooth and I can see a few more on the way. Didn't I just give birth to this kid?

A few nights ago, I was desperate for 10 minutes. I had something to finish and Rhode was just not cooperating. So I pulled out a mother's greatest weapon. Sugar. This time in the form of a Red Vine. It was a very happy ten minutes for my baby.

The cleanup? Not so happy. It was not easy to get that stuff out of his little wrist folds. The funny part was even with that much on his face there was still pretty much an entire piece of licorice left.

So all is well in Nielsen land. May the days be quick until bearable weather graces this city once again.