Baby-proofing

Paul and I have found the secret to baby-proofing your house!
All babies invariably choose to play with household items over their own toys. For example, Jenna would rather play with the Wii or stick her hand in the VCR rather than play with her animals or build something with blocks. Now, we could go through our whole house and put everything we don't want Jenna touching out of her reach. But, we found an easier way:

The blocks are covering the VCR and the monkeys are guarding the Wii-motes. Guess what? It works! Jenna sees her toys and loses interest.

p.s. These blocks are fun to play with! At least someone is having fun with them...

Remember Jennazilla?

She strikes again!

My Cutie

Eventually, she got tired of the camera:

Squash!

Wouldn't you agree that the best part about giving a baby her first bite of vegetables is the disgusted look on their face? Well, here was Jenna's first bite of squash:

She liked it! The little wierdo loves squash! She ate the whole container, so I tried to give her some rice cereal in case she was still hungry, and THAT'S when she gave the disgusted face! I was so worried that she just didn't like food and would be impossible to ween, when it turns out she just hates rice. I can deal with that!

Jenna's first food mess

Jenna vs. Jenna

OK, they usually kick and yell and hit a lot more than this, but they won't ever do it while the camera is out! Here's a watered-down version of the rivalry:

A Prophet of God

I felt impressed to share my thoughts today:
As I was reading Pres. Monson's General Conference address in the Ensign, I received a strong witness from the Holy Spirit that he is a true prophet. Just like the prophets of old, Thomas Spencer Monson was called of God to guide His church in these latter days. He is very kind, humble and a great speaker / story-teller, but most importantly he is ordained of God and was given the authority to exercise all of the priesthood keys of authority.
I know that our Father in Heaven loves us "with a love we cannot fully comprehend". As a mother now, I think that I better understand that unconditional love. And I am so grateful for it!

Early growth spurt?

We went to the doctor yesterday, and was surprised to find that Jenna has only grown 1/2 inch and 1 1/2 pounds in 2 months! She's a normal sized 6-month old now, so I guess she was a BIG 4-month old! In any case, Jenna is right on track in development, healthy, and basically PERFECT! Here are her most recent stats:

26 inches - 14 lbs. 3 oz.
57th percentile for height - 14th percentile for weight!

Mozart...

Our little Jenna is so talented... and easily distracted!

She has learned to scoot all around the house now, so she is extremely curious and adventurous! It's so cute how she'll follow me wherever I go. I just melt when she looks up and gives me a big smile!

Half Birthday !!!

Half Birthday to you!
Half Birthday to you!
Half Birthday to JENNA !!!
Half Birthday to you!

Washington

And we're back again! This time from Washington. BYU sent Paul and his boss to do some recon work at University of Washington's Stadium. So, we decided to make a vacation of it! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the trip, but here's our latest TOP 5:

5. Car Trip. We drove all night on the way there, hoping Jenna would sleep - and it worked! Except she cried for the last 2 hours of the drive - and then fell asleep 3 minutes before we got to Paul's dad's house! Figures...
The drive home was almost as smooth. We got out and played at lunch and dinner times, but were in the car for the rest of the day. I sat in the back with her part of the way, and she did pretty good! Jenna's a traveling expert!
Paul and I have a tradition of listening to books on tape whenever we travel. It's a great way to make yourself distracted from your tiredness! The first one we ever did was The DaVinci Code. This time we listened to Angels and Demons. Good book!

4. Cookies! Yum... The hotel we stayed at had happy hour every day and made the most delicious homemade cookies EVER! I would go back to Seattle just for those cookies!

3. Crab Cakes! On Friday while Paul went to the stadium, my father-in-law took Jenna and I to see Seattle. We went to a restaurant on the Puget Sound that had the BEST seafood! I had crab cakes and Talapia, and will probably talk about them for years to come... Hm... too bad I can't remember the name of the place...
We also walked around Pike's Place Market and saw quite a few interesting people! And a fish store so busy that they literally throw the fish out to you in line to inspect it before you buy it. There's fish flying everywhere! Sadly, they weren't busy while we were there, so I only saw a toss.

2. the ALMOST no-hitter. Friday night we went to the Mariners and Yankees game. The Mariner's pitcher was 5 outs away from a no-hitter! Maybe that's not really a big deal, but the crowd was really in to it!

1. Cougars vs. Huskies!
"...and THAT'S why you don't celebrate right after a touchdown..."
-Nick

GO BYU! The Quest continues...