One year older and wiser too... that is what they say right?! Sure wish it was true. I hate it when Primary songs lead you astray.
I celebrated my 25th birthday this past weekend. I got to go to one of my favorite places to eat, BJ's and was rewarded for my yearly efforts with my free birthday pizookie. It is most definitely the best dessert in the history of restaurant desserts. And when someone hands it to you free of charge with an extra scoop of ice cream and a burning candle... mmhm, happy birthday to me.
It is always nice on these occasions to take a look back and see what you have accomplished in the past year. As I sit in our half remodeled home while Jon makes me some birthday cupcakes, Scarlet empties yet another thing of dental floss and Rhode laughs at me from his bouncer chair I can't help but think I am one pretty lucky girl. This may not be the glamorous, successful life I tended to dream about back in the day but this life is pretty darn awesome.
Here's to a great family, good friends, and another year to try to get a little wiser.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Major Catch Up
Our computer bit the big one so I have been internet-less for way too long. So here are the many posts I have been meaning to get up for a few weeks now! Enjoy the way too many updates on the Nielsen activities!
Santa Love
Our ward primary has an annual Santa breakfast put on by the primary. And, since that is now my job, Santa breakfast was my job too. It was quite the event, we were expecting about 150 people. I don't know how many actually came, I'm not very good with estimating, but there was quite the crowd. We fed all the families, then all the kids got to meet Santa.
Rhode was a Santa lap sitting expert
Scarlet on the other hand....
Rhode was a Santa lap sitting expert
Scarlet on the other hand....
As you can see, I even tried to bribe her with candy. Didn't work. In her defense, I couldn't get any of the kids her age to get within 5 feet of jolly St. Nick. She loved the candy cane though!
Because I'm bad, I'm bad you know it.
I had a very sad 'bad mom' moment the other day. While I was pulling dinner out of the oven, I wasn't paying attention to Scarlet. Right as I took my dish out, she came over and slapped her hand on the open oven door. My poor little girl got a second degree burn on her right hand. It was so sad. She cried about it for a very long time. And all evening, even after we would have distracted her for awhile, she would suddenly look down at her hand shocked that it was still hurting! But we got her some cream and put a glove over it to protect the wound. Her hand is doing much better, it doesn't bother her at all any more. And it was kind of a kick seeing her walk around with one glove on all week. There were many Michael Jackson references made.
Official Weigh-in
We finally got to the pediatrician for Rhode's official stat check. My little man clocked in at a sizable 15 lbs. 2 oz. ranking him in the 90th percentile. Surprisingly, his height only got him in the 70th percentile. Comparatively, in our family, that makes him not just a chunker but a short chunker!
He is still just the happiest, sweetest little guy. He is full of smiles and squeals of delight, especially for his dad and Scarlet. The one place he doesn't like to be in the car, so I put his car seat next to Scarlet's the other day and he was perfectly happy the entire trip as she chatted away to him. What a lucky mom I am!
What a blessed baby
We got to bless Rhode while we were in Gridley. With the holiday season, it was a great chance to have a lot of family there since we are a little lacking in nearby family in Vegas. (Except for you Sam!)
I have never been one to have strong opinions about blessing clothes for my children. I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted Rhode to wear and, to be honest, I didn't have enough of an opinion on the subject to put that much time into it. Then, my mom told me she still had the suit Brad and Bryan wore, a tux her friend had made for her. She sent it up and I immediately fell it love with it.
It is seriously retro adorable. Coat tails, a cummerbund, a bow tie... so cute. I tried sooooooo hard to get good pictures that day but it was really sunny, children were NOT cooperating (thank you Scarlet), and the outfit barely fit Rhode so I didn't get a good picture of the tux but hopefully you can get some idea of how cute it was.
My other goal of the day was to get a decent picture of my two kids together. But, as it tends to go, when one was cooperating, the other was not.
Scarlet did get an adorable picture with her favorite member of the Marshall family... Bruno
Sadly the dog got a lot more of Scarlet's love and attention than any other family member.
Are those some good lookin kids or what?
The blessing was so beautiful. It was really wonderful to have Rhode's grandfather (and namesake) in the circle along with two of his uncles.
I have never been one to have strong opinions about blessing clothes for my children. I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted Rhode to wear and, to be honest, I didn't have enough of an opinion on the subject to put that much time into it. Then, my mom told me she still had the suit Brad and Bryan wore, a tux her friend had made for her. She sent it up and I immediately fell it love with it.
It is seriously retro adorable. Coat tails, a cummerbund, a bow tie... so cute. I tried sooooooo hard to get good pictures that day but it was really sunny, children were NOT cooperating (thank you Scarlet), and the outfit barely fit Rhode so I didn't get a good picture of the tux but hopefully you can get some idea of how cute it was.
My other goal of the day was to get a decent picture of my two kids together. But, as it tends to go, when one was cooperating, the other was not.
Scarlet did get an adorable picture with her favorite member of the Marshall family... Bruno
Sadly the dog got a lot more of Scarlet's love and attention than any other family member.
Are those some good lookin kids or what?
The blessing was so beautiful. It was really wonderful to have Rhode's grandfather (and namesake) in the circle along with two of his uncles.
Thanksgiving '08
Gridley is one seriously great town. We had such a great time up there for Thanksgiving. The weather was just a little colder than perfect, the tangerines were just as good as I remembered, and the food...mmmmmm food... if I could only live on pie and homemade bread all year long...
Jon had some work to do in Reno the days before Thanksgiving which was really going to mess up our flight plans to Sacramento. So instead, we flew up the Friday before and I spent a few extra days with the Nielsen clan while Jon kept up his breadwinner role. I really enjoy Jon's family. We play games, watch movies, chat about anything and everything, I feel just as comfortable there as I do at my own house.
One of the days we were there, we headed out to a local park. Oh my goodness, Vegas should hardly be allowed to say they have parks in comparison to this one. Talk about beautiful! Even though not all of us had really gotten picture-ready (ok, mostly just me), with such a beautiful background, we couldn't help snapping some family pics.
The Marshalls - Hawkins, Ben, Eden, Cara (Jon's sister) and Olivia
The Moores - Skylar, Steve, and Cole
Jayda (Steve's wife and Jon's sister) was off flying over football games (she is a pilot) on the other side of the country so she didn't make the cute family shot.
Seriously wish I would have thought to put on some makeup...
It was great to see Scarlet play with her little cousins. I have somehow managed to have a child in the exact cousin situation as I was. No cousins her age on one side of the family, but thankfully some great girls her age on the other side. These three caused their fair share of trouble over the week, but there were several adorable moments as the three of them became the best friends and could be found playing and giggling everywhere we went.
The park had a great playground. Jon and Scarlet took off immediately while Rhode and I hung out on the bench with the other observing parents.
I was also one of the adults in charge of snacks and water. Olivia definitely captures both needs well in the photo.
The tangerine tree was by far Scarlet's favorite part of Grandma's house. She learned how to say orange very quickly and would be found talking her older cousins into walking her out to the tree every chance she got. Eden was usually the one to oblige.
Our Thanksgiving day meal consisted of some insanely delicious food. I, as usual, contributed my pomegranate salad, a classic Grandpa Earl recipe. This year I also added a banana cream pie. Thankfully all of Jon's family members are much better cooks than I am. We ate like kings with all the typical Thanksgiving foods, homemade rolls, and 15... yes you heard me right... 15 pies. Oh the pies, it is hard to put in words how great the pies were. Our best two of the season were the pecan and chocolate pecan. Though, my banana cream was also pretty dang decent.
Jon had some work to do in Reno the days before Thanksgiving which was really going to mess up our flight plans to Sacramento. So instead, we flew up the Friday before and I spent a few extra days with the Nielsen clan while Jon kept up his breadwinner role. I really enjoy Jon's family. We play games, watch movies, chat about anything and everything, I feel just as comfortable there as I do at my own house.
One of the days we were there, we headed out to a local park. Oh my goodness, Vegas should hardly be allowed to say they have parks in comparison to this one. Talk about beautiful! Even though not all of us had really gotten picture-ready (ok, mostly just me), with such a beautiful background, we couldn't help snapping some family pics.
The Marshalls - Hawkins, Ben, Eden, Cara (Jon's sister) and Olivia
The Moores - Skylar, Steve, and Cole
Jayda (Steve's wife and Jon's sister) was off flying over football games (she is a pilot) on the other side of the country so she didn't make the cute family shot.
Seriously wish I would have thought to put on some makeup...
It was great to see Scarlet play with her little cousins. I have somehow managed to have a child in the exact cousin situation as I was. No cousins her age on one side of the family, but thankfully some great girls her age on the other side. These three caused their fair share of trouble over the week, but there were several adorable moments as the three of them became the best friends and could be found playing and giggling everywhere we went.
The park had a great playground. Jon and Scarlet took off immediately while Rhode and I hung out on the bench with the other observing parents.
I was also one of the adults in charge of snacks and water. Olivia definitely captures both needs well in the photo.
The tangerine tree was by far Scarlet's favorite part of Grandma's house. She learned how to say orange very quickly and would be found talking her older cousins into walking her out to the tree every chance she got. Eden was usually the one to oblige.
Our Thanksgiving day meal consisted of some insanely delicious food. I, as usual, contributed my pomegranate salad, a classic Grandpa Earl recipe. This year I also added a banana cream pie. Thankfully all of Jon's family members are much better cooks than I am. We ate like kings with all the typical Thanksgiving foods, homemade rolls, and 15... yes you heard me right... 15 pies. Oh the pies, it is hard to put in words how great the pies were. Our best two of the season were the pecan and chocolate pecan. Though, my banana cream was also pretty dang decent.
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