Our Little Golfer

Jer is so proud! His daughter is destined to be a golfer! Jess LOVES sitting on daddy's lap and helping him "practice" his famous soon-to-be patented sitting down swing!

Jess is very focused as she concentrates on lining up the ball with the club...

She's got the beginnings of a good grip...

Yes! It worked! The ball actually rolled 3 or so feet! Tiger Woods watch out!

Again with the concentration...

Hmmm.... a little off from where I was hoping it would go...

Maybe standing a little bit is the way to go...

Jessica & Brinkley: Twin-ers!

Jessica has a twin. A twin cousin. Brinkley Jo was born about 6 weeks earlier than Jess. Brinkley lives with her parents in Eagle River, Alaska. Her mom, Brittany, and I are cousins so technically Jessica and Brinkley are 2nd cousins. Brittany and Brett are getting sealed in the Rexburg Temple next Saturday (congratulations!!!) so Brittany and Brinkley are down visiting from Alaska before the sealing. I was so excited when Brittany called and said they wanted to come over. Brittany and I were roommates before we both got married and it was fun to see her. Brittany had time on Thursday so that's when they came over to play.

My mom is a perfect grandmother. Loving, funny, kind, encouraging, and LOVES buying her grandkid clothes and toys! Since her only granddaughter is 3,000 miles away, she has a hard time spoiling her granddaughter. (Shipping is expensive and I'm still working on getting my mom to use online shopping more...) Poor Mom is left with the grandma urge with no granddaughter close by. She has to "vent" her grandmotherly urges somewhere and usually that urge descends on Brinkley. (Lucky Brinkley!)

My mom also has a weakness for adorable baby clothes. Bad for her wallet - good for mine! (My dad called once and told me he had once thought they would be getting out of debt faster after all the kids were out of the house. He now realizes that they have a grandkid so that is not going to become a reality anytime soon... :) Anyways, mom was out shopping one day and found these cute outfits at Nordstrom (50% off). As my mom explained later, these outfits were meant to be because there were only 2 left and they were in Brinkley and Jessica's size! So, when Brittany called me up to come over she said, "I'm putting Brinkley in your mom's outfit." I said, "Ok. Jessica will be in her's!"

Here are the twin-ers during their play date in their twin outfits. They were absolutely adorable together! Both girls have tons of personality and are headstrong. It made for some very funny pictures, videos, and lots of laughs! Interesting side note: Brinkley is 6 weeks older than Jess. Jess is about 2 inches and 4.5 lbs heavier than Brinkley... It was funny to see them together.

Here are some pictures (and videos - I finally figured it out!) with their thoughts of the day included... no really. This is what I am sure they were thinking.

Jessica: Do I like bread? I can't remember! Heeeellllpppppp!

Jessica: I'm a happy little clam! Happy, happy, happy!

Brinkley: If I can't see you, you can't see me!

Brinkley: Oh! Are you still there?

Jessica: I give you kisses mommy!

Jessica: I just want your food! What's the big deal?!?
Brinkley: I don't think so!

Brinkley: I LOVE fruit loops!
Jessica: Mom... another picture?!? I'm so embarrassed!

Jessica: I love your hair! Who is your stylist?
Brinkley: Should we paint our toenails? Yours look ready for some pink to match our outfits...

Jessica: A priest, a rabbi, and a duck enter a bar...
Brinkley: I love jokes!

Jessica: Whoopsie! Am I not supposed to know that joke yet?
Brinkley: Jessica, you're funny!

Jessica: Look! Our blankets match!
Brinkley: Maybe, but I had mine first.

Jessica: Are the pictures over yet?
Brinkley: Ditto. Our moms are ridiculous with their cameras!

Brinkley & Jessica: Just playing here. Nothing to see. Move along...

These videos are hilarious! The first one is the girls learning how to share. The second one shows their "fight"! Brittany & I just laughed and laughed! We figured later that we should probably have split them up but it was just so funny! They are so cute together! I'm so excited that Jessica and Brinkley got to play together. I hope Brett and Brittany move closer one day so we can hang out more! Congrats again guys on getting sealed. We love you!

Singing Valentines

Anyone in the Wasatch Valley - Salt Lake City area interested?
We are raising money for our regional competition that will be held in Colorado at the end of April / beginning of May. :)

The poster is hard to read but it basically says that for $30 (two songs and a card) or $35 (two songs, rose and a card) my quartet, Lucky Penny, will come and sing to your sweetheart on the Friday or Saturday before Valentine's Day. The cards are homemade and will be unique and beautiful. The songs are fun and romantic. It's a great way to send your love in an unusual and romantic way. :) My contact info is on the poster. Or, just send me a message and I'll call you to schedule it. We are singing Friday (2/12) from 12pm-4pm and Saturday (2/13) from 6pm-10pm. Happy Valentine's Day whatever you decide to do...

Lucky Penny

I am in a womens barbershop quartet called Lucky Penny. I sing the baritone part (commonly called bari). We are brand spankin' new (started our group in November) and we are gearing up to compete at a regional competition in Colorado this April/May. If we place in the top 2 we get to go on to International. That will probably not happen this year as the quartet groups who compete are AMAZING and have been around for years working & perfecting their sound. There is, however, an award that I know we can win called "The Novice Award". This award is given to a quartet that has at least 2 of the 4 who have never competed before and who did an amazing job with a newer group. Since our entire group is novice (none of us have competed in a quartet) we are aiming to take that award. How? LOTS OF HARD WORK!

The other 3 members of our group are from left to right:
Brooke (tenor), Kate (bass), Penny (lead), and me (baritone)

We learned 3 Christmas songs and went caroling around our neighborhoods. We also sang for Kate's elementary school at their Christmas program that they do every December. The kids LOVED us! :)

I just listened to the winners of 2009's international quartet competition and I am melting just listening to them! It's that tingly feeling I get in my gut, my heart, and the back of my neck when I hear music with amazing harmonies so absolutely beautiful that it makes me want to cry. I know this sounds really bizarre but when music is that beautiful my chest almost hurts and the music just fills my heart. I could sit for hours listening to it. It's the kind of music that I know must have been inspired because it sounds so pure. I don't know how else to explain that feeling I get. Crazy and weird I know. :)

I want to be able to sing like that. Sing in a group like that. The coolest part...I know my quartet, Lucky Penny, can do that with some hard work. I am SO EXCITED! (Have I mentioned how much I love to sing?) Right now we practice 2 times a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays) and we will be doing coaching sessions at least once a month from now until competition. It is a lot of hard work but I feel that it is well worth the effort.

Last Saturday I took Jess with me to practice and she was SO good for us! She sat and played with her toys for about half of the time. The other half of the time she wanted one of us to hold her and she just listened and watched completely fascinated by it all. Several times I almost stopped singing because I wanted to laugh: she was trying to sing with us! It was so adorable! I am hoping that she loves to sing as much as I do when she gets older. It would be awesome to sing duets with my daughter! (only she has to be a soprano because I am most definitely an alto!)

1 YEAR OLD!!!!

We had a blast at Jessica's 1 year party. She is practically not even a baby anymore! Crazy! Here are a few pictures (again... not really in order...) so enjoy!

I made...drum roll please...a caterpillar cake!

At the end of the feeding... she looks tired!

Poor honey - she needed some milk after all the cake...

I'm not quite sure what this face is about... she really did love her cake up until this point. Maybe this is the "I've had enough of the sugar" face? Hopefully?

See... she is LOVING her first chocolate!

I think she is gagging... no wait... she's coughing...

Eating with gusto - actually it was pretty funny. She still broke pieces off in her hand and ate a little bit at a time. Very precise. Well, for a 1 year old...

Loving the frosting...

I had to give her a little on my finger. She wasn't sure what to do with her cupcake covered in frosting at first. (You saw the previous pics though... she ended up LOVING it!) I think she was a little thrown off at first though that we would just let her dive in like that...

Jessica: What the HECK is on my fingers!

Jessica: I want my cupcake and I want it now!

Ooohh!!! My very own caterpillar cake!

I'm cute and I know it!

Excuse me. I'm enjoying my present here...

My first car... well my first school bus

I am a princess and I now have my throne

2 Christmas's ago we bought each set of parentals their own webcams so we could do...this. Share moments through webcam when they couldn't be here in person. Here are the parentals attending Jess's birthday party. :) It was QUITE the experience getting my parents hooked up though. Let me tell you... (Derrall, my super genious computer savvy brother kept saying it was an ID10 error - translation: a user error...)

Party attendees (from not so visible left to right):
Derrall, Becky, Jessica, Ethan, Rissy, Angie, Jer

It was a fun party. I love my angel and still can't believe an entire year has gone by. It feels like she has only been here since yesterday and yet I can't believe there was life before her. I love being her mom. Motherhood is the BEST job in the world! Heavenly Father has certainly blessed our lives this past year. I am so grateful that with her rough start in life she is healthy and happy and perfect. I love you Jessica!

Christmas

All the pictures are backwards (chronologically) so start from the bottom up unless you like the rewind feature (for all you cassette & vhs lovers... there's a little olde-fashioned lingo for you...)

Christmas was a lot of fun. Jer's family flew (and drove) from Texas and we rented a house in Pleasant Grove. Actually, it is the basement of a house and it was very nice. The couple who rented out their basement were very very nice.

We spent time reading, playing cards, shopping, going to the movies, playing the Wii and opening presents. My mom sent everyone the traditional Christmas jammies. It was awesome. (Which you will see). Jessica LOVED spending time with her new Uncle James and her cousin Ethan. She soon realized that there were more people to play with that were more fun than plain ol' mommy. :)

Jess is SO CLOSE to standing by herself (and then walking) so we got her a walker / bike for Christmas. *cough cough* I mean SANTA got her a walker / bike for Christmas. He just needed our help putting it together. She loves it.

No matter where I am standing or sitting, Jessica has to crawl through my legs somehow. If she is trying to get somewhere, and her 2 options are to crawl inbetween mommy's knee and the couch (which is the equivalent of 3 inches) or to utilize the 10 feet of space on the other side, Jessica (EVERY TIME) will choose the road less traveled. (She would have gotten along with Robert Frost very well...) So - another of Santa's presents was inspired by this little personality insight. She received a tunnel. Not just any tunnel. Santa made sure that the tunnel had a mirror at one end. Which she LOVES to stop and check herself out in.

(You can't see it but she is looking directly at her noggin in a mirror just about the same size as said noggin...)

Santa's lil' helper... thank heavens for directions!

The traditional Christmas Jammies.
Ethan and Jessica were a matching set.
(Go ahead... You know you want to... I'll even join you...)

"Aaawwwwww!!!! They are so cute!!!!"
(Especially Jessica who looks as if she is holding on for dear life!)

The women and their Christmas jammies
(left to right: Me, Angie, Rissy, Mom-in-law)

The men in their Christmas jammies (can the words "men" and "Christmas jammies" even realistically fit in the same sentence?) (From left to right: James, Dad-in-law, Jer)

Twas' the Night Before Christmas and all through the house,
Every person was stirring much louder than a mouse!
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care,
A miracle is needed for Santa to be there!

The children were up instead of in bed,
And Jessica was chewing a glass ball with the teeth...in her head.
Mom with her camera, & Dad in his jammies (which is the modern equivalent of a cap...)
Were about to get Jessica into bed for a nighttime nap

When in the living room there arose such a clatter,
I threw down (gently) my camera to see what was the matter!
Through the kitchen I flew like a flash,
To see a glass ball that had fallen with a 'CRASH!'

The babe with her tears like the new-fallen snow
Was sitting in a pile of glass shards below.
I quickly snatched her up when the thought did appear,
'How do I always seem to end up here?!?'

I sprang to the sink, to my hubby gave a whistle,
And cleaned up my baby with a rag like a thistle (ouch! just kidding - had to rhyme!)
I heard from my hubby as he cleaned the mess out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and Jessica...good night!"

As you (hopefully) can tell from the poem up above, Jessica had a little incident with one of the Christmas ornaments! She LOVED the Christmas tree at the house we rented. She loved the decorations. I don't know how I didn't realize this but I had no clue that the ornaments were glass! I thought it was so cute that she was crawling all around, trying to eat them! (What kind of a mother am I?!?) So I just let her play around... she was crawling and a ball finally cracked and shattered all over the living room / kitchen floor. Thankfully she wasn't hurt (just startled) and we got it (and her) cleaned and calmed down quickly. Poor Jessica. No more Christmas ornaments for you! Next year sweetie. Next year. Also, you can see that she LOVED being by all the presents! Thankfully she didn't try to open any. She just stood and patted and touched. I have a feeling this is the only year that will happen. I also have a feeling that the upcoming children will also not be as calm with Christmas presents. (Don't get excited - I have no idea when those upcoming children will be baking let alone make their debut in the world. Basically what I'm trying to say is... that is not an announcement. Just a little bit of foreshadowing for you literary types... :)

Jessica looks thrilled to be with mommy.
I have no idea what my face is supposed to represent...

Jessica has become quite the snuggler. She is learning to give loves and loves giving them. There was one day when she was sitting between Jer and I on our bed and she kept going back and forth between hug for mommy, hug for daddy. Hug for mommy, hug for daddy. It was very very cute!

Well, Merry Christmas! (Belatedly... better late than never though...) I am so grateful for my family. Especially my wonderful husband and beautiful daughter. They are my life.

Good News

Swine flu is all gone. No hospitalization. Everything is looking better! Yea!