171 years young!

The Relief Society just celebrated its 171st birthday! I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing organization of women!

I'll admit, I didn't always feel so warm and fuzzy toward Relief Society. When I turned 18 I didn't want anything to do with those "old ladies". It wasn't until recently, probably when I moved across the country to where we didn't know anyone, that I really got what Relief Society can be. I found friends, teachers, women to look up to, and women who I have the opportunity to serve. It's wonderful to know that wherever I go and whatever I'm going to through, there will always be someone there for me but also someone who can benefit from what I have to give.

I was asked to make a cake for the party with the RS logo on it. I've never done a sheet cake before; I had to borrow a large sheet from Paul's work, and this is what I came up with:

It was red velvet cake with buttercream frosting. Delicious.

Jenna was my helper and little cake decorator in training:

Rub a dub dub

I got two cuties in the tub!

5 years

Jenna seems to be growing up so stinkin' quickly! But at the same time when I try to think about life before she was born, it seems like forever ago! I know it doesn't make sense, but that's just how it is! We absolutely love having this sweet, funny girl in our family!

The first thing to know about Jenna is that she never ever stops talking. Ever.
She even talks while she's got a toothbrush in her mouth!

She says when she grows up she wants to be a teacher and an artist. When I told her she could be an art teacher, she got so excited and said she would "teach kids to make beautiful paintings!"

She's past the baby talk thing, but she still mixes up some letters; like she says "peek" instead of "keep" and "nusic" instead of "music". She has a New England accent on her R's and a southern drawl on her A's. I think it's pretty darn cute. If you didn't know us, you'd have no idea where she comes from!

Jenna still loves puzzles, and probably averages at least one a day. She can do 150 piece ones all on her own, and helps us do the big ones. She always asks for help, but she really just wants you to sit with her, because she doesn't like to be alone.

Like her daddy, she is a rule follower. To a T!
And very trustworthy. I can always count on her to watch Liam while I shower, or entertain him while I cook. She loves to perform for him!

I'm a little tea pot!

She is still super picky about what she eats. It doesn't seem to be about taste or texture, though. She decides before she even tastes something whether or not she is going to like it, and nothing will change her mind. I don't know why they don't make princess shaped carrots, because that would totally work!
 Until now, we have always put a little of everything we are eating onto her plate, but we didn't make her eat it. A couple months ago we told Jenna that when she turns 5 she has to try a bite everything we give her.
It worked like a charm! She gets through her bites with minimal complaints, and will sometimes even clean her plate if dessert is involved. No new foods have transitioned to her "like" column yet, but I'm optimistic!

 She is a wonderful example to us, and is very sensitive to the Spirit.
For example: We usually read the animated scripture stories at bedtime, but one day while I was at Book Club she asked Paul if they could read from her real Book of Mormon. He read the Introduction to her and when he got to the invitation to ask God if it is true, Jenna said that she wanted to ask. So she prayed, "Dear Heavenly Father, is it true? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  After finishing her prayer, she said "Daddy, it's true!". Paul asked her how she knew that it was true, she said, "Because I felt it in my heart."
I'm never going to Book Club again...
Just kidding! But I love talking about the Gospel with her. It is so simple and uplifting!

6 months

Liam's 6 month stats:

17 lbs. 11 oz.

26.75 in.

While we were at the doctor's office, he asked me if Liam was sitting on his own yet. "Not quite", I said. But the doctor just plopped him up on the table and stepped back, "See? He can." And sure enough, Liam was sitting like a big boy! I guess I just wasn't challenging him enough.

about to fall over...

The doctor also looked in his mouth and said, "Yep, you'll get some teeth soon!" I didn't really believe him because he said the same thing when he was only 2 months old... But that night Liam's first tooth poked out! You can barely see the little thing, but it's there!

I worry a little bit that he is going to think his and Jenna's names are Brother and Sister, because that's what we all call them most of the time. Whenever Liam wakes up from his nap Jenna calls out "Brother!" and gives him a big hug and a kiss. I'm going to miss that so much when she goes to school :(

A while ago I started signing "milk" before I fed him, and now he gets excited when I do it and signs it back while I get ready. He'll even sign it himself when he's hungry! Pretty darn cute!

Liam loves to play with his voice. The thing he does the most is he picks a note and "sings" it until he has no breath left. So weird. I haven't ever seen a baby do that before. I hope that means he'll be a singer like his daddy!

He is definitely not content to just sit anymore. He is rolling, scooting, reaching, and twisting to grab everything he can! And, of course, he doesn't want his awesome toys. He wants Jenna's. Or the boring old remote.

He got stuck in his bucket! What could I do but take a picture?

His sleep habits are better, but still not ideal. He's pretty good once you get him to sleep, but getting there is a different story. About 50% of the time we have to bounce him until he falls asleep. He reaches up and plays with my face, looks around a bit, and eventually closes his eyes. 25% of the time I just have to lay him down with a binky, hold his hand, and he's out in less than a minute. And 25% of the time he's not falling asleep no matter what you do! And he laughs in your face!

Happy Half Birthday Liam!

wearin' o' the green

At our ward's Primary activity, they gave out a prize for the child wearing the most green. Jenna heard this, and was determined to win. She found all the green in our house that can go onto her body, including Paul and my clothes:

She didn't win. Obviously, it was rigged.

That night we told Jenna about leprechauns, and encouraged her to set a trap for the little guy. We used 5 pennies as bait: 

Sadly, he must have been equipped with a mini saw because he escaped! But he left behind some of his gold (mini reese's) and used his magic to turn our milk green!
It was fun to see her get into the whole thing, but honestly, we kind of regretted it eventually. She was worried that the sneaky leprechaun would come into her bedroom, and talked about it for.ever.

In the morning Jenna would have absolutely nothing to do with our green eggs and green milk. I still thought it was fun!
We had big plans for pea soup, green smoothies, and green salad for dinner. But some friends invited us over for food and games, and who would turn that down!?

What a strange holiday. Jenna asked me who Patrick was, and I honestly have no idea. Maybe I'll actually look it up next year...

princess party

The day after her birthday, we had Jenna's Princess Birthday Party!
We invited 5 of Jenna's girl friends to come dressed as their favorite princess. Jenna, of course, chose Princess Aurora. We had another Aurora, a couple of Rapunzels, and an Ariel. lots of diversity
The girls entered through Jenna's Castle (a large cardboard one Grandma got her for Christmas) and promptly ignored my coloring activity in favor of running around like a bunch of crazies until everyone arrived :)

We started off playing "Snow White's Poisoned Apple" (hot potato). When the music stopped, we had to pretend to take a bite and fall asleep until Prince Liam awakened us.
Then we had lunch. I really wish I had a picture, because I made the cutest little fruit tarts on graham crackers. They mostly all ate fruit, but we also mixed it up with chips, rice krispie treats, and a sparkly pink drink. That's right, no veggies in sight.
We played a "Cinderella Relay" where each princess had to take turns wearing the magic slippers (my high heels) and race around the apartment before the clock struck midnight. Very entertaining.

On to Jenna's favorite activity, the pinata:

And then she made a wish on her Princess Aurora cake:

We set up a double throne for Jenna to sit upon with her friend while she opened their gift:

Then we all relaxed while I read Sleeping Beauty. They each got a number and every time I said "Aurora" or "Prince Phillip", they passed their numbers. The number they ended up with corresponded to a gift bag with a princess doll they got to take home!
Jenna handed out a personalized note she "wrote" for each of the girls as they left.

It took just about the rest of the day to get the house back in order, but it was all worth it just to see the joy in our little girl's face! Love love love love love her!

Jenna's 5th

I can no longer pretend that Jenna is my little baby... She is 5 years old and officially a big girl!

Paul took the day off work so we could spend the whole day making her feel special. And boy, did she have a great time!

We started the day off with a J-shaped pancake breakfast (which she ate none of, much to Paul's chagrin) and presents from family:

Then we headed off to our Preschool activity that was already scheduled, but worked out perfectly for her birthday. We all met at UNO Chicago Pizzeria where the kids got to take a tour of the kitchen and make their own pizzas! UNO even took the kids' picture for their facebook page (cause they're so stinkin' cute!).

Since we were conveniently located right next to the mall, we took Jenna to one of the funnest places: Build-a-Bear! She loved being able to choose everything herself,! We were completely NOT surprised when she chose the pink bear with a pink dress and pink ballet shoes! And named her Aurora...

Her eyes filled with wonder and excitement when we walked out and saw the carousel! Of course, we couldn't say no to that!

She was so sweet holding Liam's hand while we walked and playing with him while I ran a quick errand for myself:

Such a good big sister!

On our way home we stopped by Barnes and Noble where she got a free giant cookie (I got most of it :) ) and a new book (our family's birthday tradition) called Pinkalicious - shocker.

We had decided to a girl's-only princess party because there are way too many boys in her class, and our apartment (and my sanity) just can't handle that many kids all hopped up on cake and ice cream! But Jenna still wanted her best friend, Huck, to come so we invited them over for dinner.
We had, you guessed it, orange chicken!
And a Rugrats-themed birthday cake:

The figures are toys. I think it's pretty obvious, but thought I'd say anyway.

Sadly, just an hour before they arrived the back of the cake fell completely over. Paul tried his best to save it with a million-and-a-half toothpicks, but we ended up just holding it up with a cup. Hey, I never claimed to be a professional at this :)

I literally had to hold back tears all day long so I didn't freak her out! I can't believe our little Jenna-fish is 5 years old! Where did the time go!?!