Friday Field Trips

Wow! Two posts in one day! This is definitely a first (and most likely a last) for me. Today me and a couple friends drove up to the outlet stores in Carlsbad. We're bringing back our old tradition of Friday field trips. Jessica had an eventful day - she held hands with Peterson and learned how to say "Tanner" (Ta-yee). She doesn't even say "Jessica" yet! Here are some cute pictures of the kids.

Jessica and Tanner

Peterson and Jessica



Jessica



And the whole crew - Peterson, Jessica, and Tanner

Yes, I know it's still September

So maybe I'm a little to excited, but I just decorated for Halloween. I just love when a place is decorated for a holiday, any holiday. Michael thinks I'm silly, but he likes it too. Here's a few pictures of our place. Nothing exciting, but it's fun.

Our bookcase/toy shelf

Our table

Jessica tries to say the word "pumpkin" when she sees this.

Happy Halloween!

Learning her body parts

Yeah, it's pretty obvious we're first-time parents.

Babu

Just a cute note about Jessica's favorite toy - her stuffed animal kitty (see picture in the entry below). She got it as a present from her Grandpa Evans this past summer. We decided it would be fun to let her name it and the first "word" that came out of her mouth was "Babu." So what makes that so cute? Apparently "Babu" is Swahili for "Grandfather." Wow! How cute and amazing is that?

Some of my latest favorites

So I don't have any real event to write about. But some pictures and videos are just too cute not to share. So here are some of my favorites.

This is Jessica's favorite toy, a stuffed cat she named "Babu." She won't go to sleep without it. She's often wandering around the house saying "Babu, Babu." Too cute.

This is what I do all day. I look at her in amazement.

Uh Oh... Looks like she's going to be a sassy one. :)

But she's a sweet heart too.

Here's Michael and his little brother Adam. They went diving with their dad off Catalina. Sorry ladies, Adam hasn't even left on his mission yet and he's got himself a girlfriend.

Yep, she's HAPPY!

Being a Mommy

Just my thoughts on why parents talk so much about their kids and why there's nothing wrong with that. Now I remember how I felt when I was the childless one always being asked (by people I barely knew), when Michael and I were going to have kids. I remember feeling like there was no reason to hang out with the other girls I knew because I wouldn't have anything to contribute to conversations, etc.

So why is it that mothers only seem to be able to talk about their kids and nothing else? For some people it's probably just because that literally is their life and they truthfully don't have much else to talk about. But I feel like I live a relatively well-rounded life. I stay informed. I get out and do things and see people. But I still talk mostly about Jessica. Take this whole blog for example. 90% of the entries and pictures are about her.

The reason she dominates my life is because I want her to. I could talk about other things. But I want to talk about her. Yep, I have an opinion on the war, on the presidential election, on Darfur, heck, I have an opinion on Britney Spears. But those topics all pale in comparison to my child. Some feminists may say that's just because I've limited myself so much. I haven't really experienced life like the childless or the working mother. But this is life. I love her more than I could ever describe. No offense, but no one but another parent could ever understand how much I love her. And that's why I want to talk about her so much.

So I'm sorry if some of you may think it's crazy that I'd rather talk about the fact that Jessica has just learned how to say "please" (peas) than about Britney Spears or Hilary Clinton, but quite frankly I think that her milestones and the lives of all children are way more important than any other topic.

Lessons learned from Jessica - be nice, even to flies.

So I am truly convinced that we have the cutest child imaginable. Jessica was in the living room playing when all of a sudden a fly came up and landed near her (yes, we have flies). She was so interested that she just stared until I explained to her what it was. She got the biggest smile on her face and waved at the fly saying, "eh-woah" (hello). When it flew away she waved again and said "bye-bye" to the fly. Sooo cute (if anything involving a fly could be cute). It came back one last time and landed really close to her. She took out her binky and put it right next to the fly (she is always trying to "share" her binky). Ok, admittedly that last part is a little gross. But it is so fun watching her explore the world and how she reacts to new things.

Happy Birthday little bug!

Our little Jessica bug is a whole year old as of August 21st. Wow - what a year! She has brought us more joy than I ever could have imagined. We love her with all of our hearts and are so happy with how perfectly our lives have turned out. Jessica got a few parties. One in Idaho Falls with my family, one in LA with Michael's family, and a mini one in San Diego with my beautiful sissy (thanks for the boogey board, sis!).

Sugar high


Opening presents all by yourself is tough work!

As far as other news is concerned - Michael is now officially happy. BYU football season has started and (drum roll please) they won their first game! Yea! We were both pretty excited. I was more happy about that fact that now Michael will be able to sleep tonight. He has trouble if they lose. Silly husband. :)