Jake and Michelle Conde Family

What the Girls are Up To

2011-12-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

Lizzie is fascinated by words right now, and she has started using a lot of big words lately; sometimes correctly, sometimes not. I love her adorable mispronunciations, and wanted to write them down so I wouldn't forget. When Jake had to work late last week, she was asking me where Daddy was. Then she said, "Mommy, I really miss him. I miss him depperly!" (desperately) The other morning she pulled out one of my maternity shirts and announced that it was a pretty dress. I told her that it was a shirt, and pulled it on to show her. She said, "But, Mommy, it's really simimar. It's really simimar to a dress." And last night Jake was reading 'Jolly Old Santa Claus' to her for the 800,000th time before bed. She has had plenty of chances to notice everything in every picture of that book, and when she recently wondered about why some of the elves on the ornament-making page had bags of sand, I explained how glass is made to her. So she had to stop and explain the process to Jake. "See Daddy? The elves take the sand, and put it in the hot, hot forn-ess and then it makes gas!"

Sadie has also been using a lot of words lately. We are waiting to see if she will be an early talker. Of course, at one point we thought Lizzie might talk early, because it seemed like she was using a lot of words for an 11-month-old--and then she nearly stopped gaining new words for almost a year. (I think she was really focused on developing physical skills at that time.) So we'll just wait and see what happens with Sadie. She does have a rather larger vocabulary now than Lizzie had at 22 months.

I'm also excited that she's recently gotten the hang of using a fork or spoon. It makes mealtime cleaner and easier (though, notice that is cleaner, not clean). She can't hold it the right way yet, but she can feed herself.

Our Wild Christmas Tree

2011-12-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

We hunted down a wild tree from the forest for our Christmas this year. (You can get a permit for $5 here!) We had quite the adventure searching for it, and had to hightail it away from one likely looking tree when we disturbed some large animal and heard growls from the trees behind us. We found another tree elsewhere and hauled it home--and discovered that it looked much larger in our house than it had out amongst the taller trees in the forest. We had to hack off quite a lot to fit it in our house, but we are very happy with how it has turned out. And I used the discarded tree branches to make a wild-and-woolly wreath for our door. The girls have done very well with the tree. We practice "one gentle finger" and it has worked out, I think mostly because every time Sadie starts to grab at an ornament Lizzie is right there correcting her and showing her the right way, and Sadie loves to do everything that Lizzie does. Lizzie is so proud to be a big girl and help Mama turn the lights on sometimes.

Some more cute pictures of the girls:

Lizzie dressed herself, and Sadie decided that she needed a skirt, too. She got it out of Lizzie's drawer and was desperately trying to get it on herself. I helped her straighten it out where it was twisted and added a onesie, and she was so proud. She's also climbing on to Lizzie's bed on her own now--her big sister taught her how.

Daddy with his girls.

Catching Up: Halloween, Sadie's 1st Birthday, Redwoods, and More!

2011-11-23T10:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. Life's been busy, and this past week Jake and the girls have been sick. I'm also ten weeks pregnant, so tired and nauseous, too. (Not too bad with the morning sickness, though. I've only been ill once from it so far.)

We had a fun Halloween. The girls each picked out a pumpkin, and then Jake and I carved them for a Family Home Evening. I thought they would love helping to pull out the pumpkin innards, but neither girl was interested in touching the squishy stuff. We did learn that we should probably not carve our pumpkins so early in the future, because they began to rot and had to be thrown out before we actually reached Halloween.

The girls dressed up as Little Bo Peep and her sheep. I think they turned out adorably--I had the sheep costume that I had made for Lizzie for her first Halloween. Even though Sadie was four months older than Lizzie had been, it actually fit her better than Lizzie. The body was made roomy, and because Lizzie's head was so large, the head with the ears that barely squeezed onto Lizzie fit Sadie very well. Also, because she was with Little Bo Peep, there were far fewer people guessing that she was supposed to be a dog, bunny, or snow beast instead of recognizing her as a lamb. I found the pattern for Lizzie's costume for a dollar about a year and a half ago, when I was pregnant with Sadie, so I saved it to make when Sadie could be the lamb. Our girls make out like little bandits on Halloween, since we keep both the tradition of dressing up and trick-or-treating from my family, and the tradition of the Great Pumpkin visit from Jake's family.

We had a fun little family party for Sadie's first birthday. Jon and Tina came to visit. Sadie was very excited about the yellow balloons and streamers, and she really enjoyed her birthday presents. I made a carrot cake, thinking that our little veggie-lover would really enjoy it, but she just wasn't very interested once the candle went out. I tried putting her finger in it, hoping she would then taste it and get excited, but really she just wanted to see the balloons up close. Even when we put her in her high chair with just a slice of cake, she only tasted a few bites. Oh, well.

A few weeks ago, we drove down past Crescent City to see the redwoods. We had a lot of fun just wandering around in them, walking on fallen tree trunks, and going inside of the hollow trunks or under a giant tree growing out over a little hollow in the ground. Next time we go down, we want to find out where the really giant ones are. The trees we saw were very impressive, but most were not like what we have seen pictures of.

You still can't really see even this far out, but we are actually directly underneath a huge tree growing right above our heads.

Sadie riding a tree root.

Lizzie is still greatly enjoying her gymnastics, but they put up signs saying no pictures allowed. Last week she learned to do a dive roll from the trampoline (just a forward roll like a somersault, but jumping into it) and how to kick up into a supported handstand on her own (meaning a handstand against the wall).

Some other recent pictures:

Growing girl's new car seat.

Sensory Box: Playing with some sand and seashells we brought home from the beach.

Lizzie and I painted whales one day after I showed her that clip from Fantasia 2000 with the flying whales. I tried to explain that the movie was just silly, that they really just swim in the ocean, but she remained fixated on whales that fly through the air like birds and China. (Who she seems to think is a person that flies, too. That one's on Jake, though.)

The girls going sailing last night.

Playing dress-up with the shoe closet this morning.

Yesterday morning at 5:30 am, Lizzie decided that she is a big girl like Ellie from her Big Sister book and her friend Hannah, and therefore she needs to go potty in the toilet. She stayed dry all day (except for nap time) and today she is wearing fancy purple underwear with pretty flowers on it, like Ellie wears in the book. She is doing great--let's hope this sticks!

More Gymnastics

2011-10-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

These are from Lizzie's gymnastics lessons yesterday. I can get photos of her on the beams, which are right in front of the parents' seating area, but the lighting is such that I can't get photos of anything further back. Videos work, though.

Thanks to some help of my sister Stephanie, here is my first video ever. You can see Lizzie doing a bridge--she's been helped into that position once before, but yesterday she did it twice. This is the second time she did it unassisted. There was one move in particular I was hoping to get a video of yesterday, but they didn't do it. In that one, she walks her feet up the wall backwards and walks her hands back towards the wall into a straight handstand position, then holds it for a moment and rolls forward out of it.

The second class Lizzie went to yesterday is called the 'Orioles' (two classes up from the 'Ducks' class she's been doing). She loved it, and she's been invited to sign up for that class. However, since it meets twice a week, it costs more than we had budgeted out for the other class for her gymnastics--we might just have to see if he'll let us bring her to one of the two classes each week or something.

Gymnastics, Painting, Cousins, and More

2011-10-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

A few snapshots of what we've been up to lately:

Almost two weeks ago now, I took the camera to Lizzie's gymnastics lesson. Only one of the pictures came out at all, so here it is. I got quite a few cute videos of her, but I still don't know how to put videos on here. I tried to do it through One True Media website a while back and was unsuccessful--maybe you could explain it to me one of these days Steph? I would love to be able to put up some videos from this lesson two weeks ago and some from her coming lesson this week. It has been incredible to see her progress in just that time.

A month ago when she started gym, she cried the first time the coach asked her to stand on the low beam without him holding her. In the videos from this lesson two weeks ago, she went from walking slowly, and only when he would stand right next to her, to walking confidently and quickly on her own. And on Thursday, she was pushing the coach's hands away saying, "I can do it myself!" as she walked confidently on the high beam (about 4 or 5 feet in the air), and learning to walk backwards on the low beam.

We took advantage of the tail end of summer weather to have some fun painting in the back yard. It was really the perfect setup: I just clipped the papers to the chain link fence at the back of our little yard with clothespins. This is over grass. So when the kids were done, I transferred the papers to the clothesline to dry and then just sprayed down the fence area with the hose. Easiest cleanup ever! And the kids had a great time. Especially Lizzie--she painted as many pictures as the other two kids put together.

Here you can see her with her new friends Hannah and Warren. Hannah is Lizzie's best friend here in Gold Beach, and we get together with them at least once a week. She is a very sweet girl.

Here are the girls, getting some cuddles and Daddy Time before he went on his trip to Salem for a week. They are so happy to have him back now.

I couldn't get Lizzie to fall asleep at naptime on General Conference Sunday. But when the conference ended and I went into the kitchen to wash some dishes, I turned back a moment later to find Lizzie like this. She actually slept this way for almost half an hour before I woke her so that she would go to bed at a reasonable hour that night.

A cute picture of the girls with their cousins Regina and Jennie. We were so excited to have them and their mom Jenette come to visit us for a few days while the daddies were on business trips!

Growing Girls in a New Home

2011-09-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

We have been practicing sitting reverently in chairs for church, and Lizzie decided that she needed to fold her arms when I sat them in chairs. When Sadie saw what Lizzie was doing, she decided she needed to, too.

I just wanted to put up a few new photos of the girls, since it's been a while. Life is busy and happy. We are largely (but not entirely) settled in, and we are doing well. My girls are growing up way too fast. Sadie is starting to move into 18 month size clothes already, and thinks she should do everything Lizzie does. On Monday, she threw a full-blown temper tantrum when I wouldn't let her follow Lizzie out onto the floor at gymnastics. I was very surprised, as that's unusual for her. Also, she has started walking a little. Her longest distance without help is about six steps, but I have no doubt she'll be running after her sister in no time.

Lizzie is loving her new room, park, friends, gymnastics, and primary. (There are only three kids in our branch, and the two brothers are only there about half the time, so Lizzie just revels in all the attention-and food-that gets lavished on her.) She was having a hard time with some discipline issues for a while there--with the stress of moving, we got to revisit those terrible twos that we thought were past. But she's doing much better now, and we are mostly back on track again.

She has been fascinated with letters for a while now, so just a little before the move I got the Leapfrog Letter Factory movie for her. Before we got it, she knew maybe about eight or so letters, but now she knows all the letters and sounds and she points them out everywhere we go, asking what the words say. She sings the song from the movie all the time. Don't tell her, but I have it on good authority that the Great Pumpkin may be bringing her the Leapfrog Talking Words Factory movie before long.

This morning I was doing bills, and Lizzie wanted to help, so I gave her some of the papers I was finished with to color on the floor beside me. After I while I glanced over her shoulder and saw this:

When I asked her what she was drawing, she pointed to the top and told me that she was writing letters. From left to right, she identified them as I, W, N, V, I, U, V, not a letter, and Y. I was pretty impressed.

A little later, she was singing to herself "a Mommy, a Mommy. . ." while she wrote and colored, and I asked her if she would like to write the word Mom. When she said yes, I sounded it out slowly for her and said it started with an M. She wrote her M in the bottom right hand corner (it looks more like a scribble). I told her an O was next, and she drew the great big circle in the middle of the page. Her second M is to the left of the O, right next to where I had written 8.21, and looks more like a W.

I know it's a little silly, and no one would ever guess what it was, but I'm still so proud that she wrote my name!

Getting Used to Our New Home

2011-09-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

The blog has gone by the wayside these past weeks as we went through a whirlwind move. We are getting settled here in our new home in Gold Beach, Oregon. We found a nice little duplex, and while we still have a number of boxes in the garage to unpack (mostly full of books, for which we need to find some shelves before we get them out) we are nearly there! It is so wonderful to be able to put my own little home into order. It is small, but perfect for our little family. I wanted to post pictures, but the camera has gone missing--I'm sure I will find it soon as we continue to get things organized.

Jake is doing very well at his new job, and enjoying it a lot. He won his first trial on Friday, and the judges, other attorneys, and police officers he has worked with are very pleased with his performance. The other night he went to do a ride-along with the Brookings Police. (So that he can get to know a little more about this other arm of law enforcement that he will be working with and understand what they do. Brookings is a larger town 1/2 an hour south of here.) When he introduced himself, the officer said, "Oh, I've heard about you. You're like the ninja of the courtroom." Apparently, the officer that Jake worked with for his trial last week is really impressed with how he did. He also has this really cool badge for his wallet, with a heavy metal star that says District Attorney Curry County, with the state crest in the center. (Think like a sheriff's badge.) He really likes the people that he works with. And today was his first paid holiday!

The people in the branch here have been very welcoming and kind to us. I think their average age is probably about sixty-five. There are two other younger couples, both about Jake's age. One of those couples has some kids close to the girls' ages, but we haven't seen very much of them, yet. So we're still looking for a friend for Lizzie to play with.

We're planning on signing her up for gymnastics at a gym here in town. I have been thinking for a while now that she might really enjoy gymnastics, and that it might be a good outlet for all her energy and monkey-instinct. Also, I think it might be really nice for when the winter rains come and we can't get out to the playground. The first time we went by the coach showed her around the equipment and invited me to bring her to the class for free to see if she would do alright, since it is actually for three- to five-year-olds. She really enjoyed it, and there were several times when he was surprised that she was able to do some of the things that the bigger girls were doing. (Like when she did a forward roll over the bar--he was just going to have her hang from it, but she saw what the other girls were doing and jumped up to do one, too.) He offered for me to bring her back for another free class before definitely deciding whether she can stay, so we'll go back on next Monday.

We mostly just walk everywhere in town, everything is so close. Jake walks to work, and we often meet him with lunch. There is a park with an awesome playground that Lizzie has named Lizzie's Castle and a truck toy she named Sadie's Truck. The ocean is also in easy walking distance. The water is too cold to touch, but it is beautiful. On many days it is very, very windy on the beach. There is always lots of driftwood, and people build things out of it instead of sand castles.

There are a lot of differences here to get used to, but we like it very much and are happy to be here. I will post some pictures soon.

Potty Training, Letters, and Climbing!

2011-07-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Lizzie decided she was interested in potty training again. Back about six months ago, she had been doing well with it and then decided she was no longer willing. Which was kind of frustrating to know that she could, she just wouldn't, but oh, well, I wasn't going to push her--I know my little mule better than that. For a few months she's been going potty again sometimes, but usually only when she wanted to stall bedtime or get out of the car or leave the chapel during sacrament meeting. But yesterday and today she's done really well. She's worn panties for big chunks of each day, and she's been pretty good about telling me when she needs to go. (She has had two accidents, one each day. But after each accident, I made her wear a diaper, but then when she kept it dry and told me the next time she needed to go potty I allowed her to change to panties, and each time there were no more accidents after that.) It hasn't been long enough to know if it will stick, but I'm pretty hopeful.

Also, Lizzie has been fascinated with letters and their sounds the past few days. I sometimes go on a website with free phonics stuff with her, and lately she wants to do that constantly. Which isn't all that unusual, she's always liked it, but now she is repeating the sounds, asking for other words that begin with that letter, really playing the simple games, and actually remembering the letters and sounds afterwards. (She plays the games by telling me what to do, not using the computer herself). And a couple of times she's said things that I just thought were so cool. Yesterday we had this conversation: Lizzie: "What's N sound?" "/n/, like no and night and next." "Like Nana?" And this morning when she got ahold of a large bag of toothpicks and dumped them out: Me: "Here, I'll pull them together into a pile and you put them back into the bag." "Pile? Puh-puh-pile? Puh-puh-P? Pile starts with P like Papa?"

And last but not least, we have a second little mover on our hands. Sadie is transitioning from scootching to crawling, and she's pulling up to stand, just starting to cruise a bit holding on to things, and into everything! She's opening the fireplace doors, opening the drawers of Lizzie's armoire and taking the toys out, pulling books and papers off the bottom two shelves of the bookcases, pulling the muffin tins out of the lower kitchen cupboard, pulling herself up to stand at the open dishwasher and lifting out a heavy glass plate and dropping it on the floor, trying desperately to get at Lizzie's potty chair, pushing it around the bathroom floor when it's closed (turns into a little stool), and look what else she's done:

She got herself stuck like this under the chair I was sitting on! Once she was completely off the ground and hanging by her arms and legs, she couldn't figure out how to go any farther. You can see she was pretty disgruntled at her predicament.

Yikes! This last happened just a couple of hours ago. I thought I was safe letting her push around the cleaned, closed potty chair/stool for a moment while I helped Lizzie. Apparently not!

Moments to Remember

2011-07-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

The girls have said or done quite a few funny, cute, or interesting things lately, so I just thought I'd share.

About a week and a half ago, Lizzie announced just before bed that she needed to go potty. Jake took her, but she didn't go. Afterwards, she said, "I want to have fishies now." I told her that, no, fishy crackers are only for when she goes potty. She yelled, "What?!" in such a tone of voice, as though this was the craziest and most shocking thing she had ever heard.

A few days later, she was asking Jake about each of the letters on his BYU Cougars shirt. When she asked about the U, Jake said, "That's a U." She responded incredulously, "That's a Lizzie?!"

Sadie says what sounds like, "Dada" fairly often, but it is debatable whether she knows what it means or not. About a week ago she had said, "Dada" several times, and I asked her, "Can you say 'Mama'?" She looked up at me, gave me a mischievous little smile, and then clearly said, "Dada" again.

On Wednesday:

Lizzie and Sadie were playing together. Sadie would say, "Da da da da da da da da da da!" and Lizzie would say, "Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy!" back and forth and back and forth.

We were at a playground with letters that you could spin around to make different words. Lizzie pointed out the A and then asked me what the D was. I told her, "Its a letter D. It says duh." She answered, "Like doggie?" I thought that was really cool, that's the first time she's done that.

She also finished an entire pattern with her pattern blocks on her own for the first time later that day. It was a caterpillar.

On Thursday:

Lizzie and I were picking up her magnet letters after we'd been playing with them, and Sadie was holding the last one. I held out the bucket of letters to her and said, "Okay, Sadie, time to put it away! Put the toy in here." And she reached out and dropped it into the bucket! Lizzie might have understood me at that age, but there's absolutely no way she would have actually given up a toy she was playing with.

Sadie pulled herself up to stand and then voluntarily let go for the first time. She immediately fell back onto her bottom, but it was a first.

Friday:

Lizzie was lying down on the floor and Sadie scooted over and grabbed at her face and hair. I told her, "No Sadie, you need to be gentle with your sister." (I was really speaking more for Lizzie's benefit than Sadie's.) Sadie looked at me, scooted closer, and then flopped her head down on Lizzie's and cuddled up to give her a sort of armless hug. She did it twice-I wish I'd had my camera nearby.

Today:

Lizzie was coloring on her whiteboard. Sadie scooted over to grab a marker from the basket, then over to the whiteboard where she kept trying to color alongside her big sister with her (capped) marker.

Many many times this past week, I've had the same conversation over and over with Lizzie about where Daddy went, how he went in an airplane, how the airplane flies through the air to get there and then lands in Oregon to let Daddy out, and how Daddy will come back on a different airplane tonight. We went through this yet again this morning, but then Lizzie said, "But Daddy's too big to go in a little airplane!" I explained that the plane is actually big, it just looks little when it's really far away up in the sky.

Also, a few recent pictures of the girls from when we went to a neighborhood splash park with some friends and from Free Tuesday at Balboa Park, when we went to the Museum of Man and the Japanese Friendship Garden.

Sisters and Friends

2011-07-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Lizzie and Sadie have started playing together all the time. It's just adorable, and I am so happy that they enjoy one another's company so much. I just pray that they will continue to get along so well as they get older.

Wherever Lizzie goes, Sadie goes scooting along after her. Lizzie will often bring toys to Sadie, or coax her to follow her for a game. The most common game is what Lizzie calls hide-and-seek. It consists of Lizzie crawling behind a chair or table or corner and calling, "Come here, Baby! Come on, Baby Sadie!" until Sadie scoots over to her, and then she moves and does it again. She especially loves to play under the table this way, leading Sadie under chairs and over table supports in a kind of infant obstacle course. She will also often run into the other room where her cardboard box is and call Sadie to follow her in there, and then they will play in the box together. Lizzie will also lead her down the hallway to her own room and then announce, "Baby Sadie play with 'Izzie now!" and shut the door on anyone else who tries to come in. We listen on the monitor and check on them occasionally; Lizzie has taught Sadie to spin the wheels on the folded-up double stroller and to push the buttons on her Retro Rocket to make rocket sounds.

Lizzie is doing a good job at learning to keep all her toys with small parts off of the floor, and instead take them onto the bed or on the small table next to her armoire. The only difficulty, really, is when Sadie occasionally decides she wants to scoot off to do something else. I'm working on teaching Lizzie that she cannot force her to play, she can only invite her, but sometimes she still tries to drag her little sister off to have fun.

One more photo: Lizzie doing pattern blocks. She did this much on her own. She can match the shapes to the pattern and turn them so they line up just right, but she hasn't got the attention span to finish a whole pattern. Same thing with Candyland; she loves it and asks to play almost every day, but we usually don't quite make it to the Candy Castle before she gets distracted and the gingerbread men go skipping off across the board holding hands to eat peppermint sticks and peanut brittle.

My Silly Girls

2011-07-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

What I've Been Up To . . .

2011-07-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

Cleaning out and organizing Lizzie's room! In the over two years that we've lived here, now, Lizzie's room has mostly been just a storage room for my sister Jen's stuff with a crib in it. Some of our things are stored in there in boxes, too, and as Lizzie has accumulated more and more books and toys, these were stashed there in cardboard boxes as well. Even when all of her things were cleaned up and put away, the room felt cramped and messy. Now Jen's things are packed away in the garage, and I've cleaned and organized everything. I also moved the big four post bed over against the wall so there is room to pull the trundle out and to play.

My father made this bed for my oldest sister, Stephanie, but since she has no daughters to pass it down to they're giving it to me for Lizzie. I'll start pulling out the trundle for her at bed time now, since she's now climbing in and out of her crib as easily as she would the trundle. Sadie's still in the port-a-crib in the other room because we have to be able to move it easily whenever a guest comes to visit. However, she's sleeping a lot better now, so I'm hopeful it won't be too much longer before we can transfer her to the crib and the two girls can share a room.

Lizzie's toys are now in the armoire, with the theory being that things are stored on the top two shelves and I will occasionally switch them around, so it's easier to keep organized. And when I change things out I expect Lizzie will have a renewed interest in them.

There was this odd empty corner left after moving the bed against the wall. (You're never supposed to place beds under windows in California, in case of earthquakes.) So I pulled a shelf of ours out of storage in the garage and made it into a reading corner for Lizzie, which I think will be a lot of fun.

Poor Lizzie!

2011-07-03T16:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning the girls and I were at a thrift store when Lizzie sat on a little chair and fell backwards, hitting her head on a shelf. It was really frightening--there was so much blood. A kind woman who said she was a pediatrician was there in the store, and she helped me to clean it a little and to stop the bleeding before I took her to the hospital. Lizzie had to get eight staples in her head, poor girl. She was so good and still and she didn't even cry, she just held on tight to Daddy's hands while they were washing and stapling it. The doctor gave us a tool kind of like pliers to remove them in ten days.

Lizzie is acting perfectly fine now--almost too normal, in fact, for Jake and I, who see an opportunity to reinjure her head in almost everything she wants to do. (Like jumping on our bed, crawling under the table to pick something up, climbing on her four-post bed, etc.)

Some other things Lizzie's been up to:

She is speaking quite well now, and lately she has been trying out a lot of idioms. It is so cute to hear her with her little voice using phrases like "nice and warm", "it's pretty good", and "I guess so" (which is always accompanied by a rather studied-looking shrug).

Elizabeth loves to draw, and she is getting better and better at it. The other day she took a pad and pen and told me she was going to draw eggs, like Mama Hummingbird outside our front door. Can you see the eggs in the nest she drew?

I volunteered to teach a free art class for some of the kids in our ward this summer--mainly because I thought Lizzie would really enjoy it, but we can't afford to buy art supplies like that. So I'm going to be teaching starting this week, and the moms payed for all the art supplies. I'm so excited, I think that Lizzie will love it!

She also wrote a letter for the first time when we were in Sedona, all on her own. No picture, though--it was in the shower, and she was writing in the water on the shower door with her finger. She made a vertical line and said, "Letter I" and then added three horizontal lines to make a backwards E and said, "Letter E".

Pictures from Sedona

2011-07-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

At the Park

2011-06-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the girls and I walked to a little playground not too far from here, and as we were playing I was struck with just how quickly they are growing up. As a result, I wound up taking lots of pictures of them both. It was just a fun day.

Some shots of Sadie standing holding on. This is the first time I've seen her do this without help. (There's really not any furniture in my parents' house that is just the right height for this.)

This was Lizzie's first time climbing down one of these without any help. She has climbed up them from the ground and then back down on her own before, but I think the gap between the top and the platform is designed with older kids in mind. Lizzie just lunged across the gap to grab the pole--it scared me for just an instant, but she just did it like it was nothing. She seems to be in a real monkey phase, lately.

Laughing girl.

Look at these sisters!

Her most reverent baby Sadie Lou, blessing the masses.

This one has to go with the all-time favorites.

There goes my little monkey, again!

Sadie has a fascination with textures. Whenever I give her something to play with, she will turn it over and over in her hands and feel every part of it before she moves on to banging or mouthing it. We have discovered that she will not put sand, dirt, grass, etc. into her mouth at all, no matter how long she sits in it--she just sits there running her fingers through it over and over. My theory is that those textures are just so interesting to her that she never moves on past her 'feel it' stage to inspect it in other ways, like she does with other things.

Two tired girls on their way home.

Before Five In a Row-Caps for Sale

2011-06-04T23:01:00.000-07:00

I recently found a used copy of the book 'Before Five in a Row' for a great price. It contains many different ideas for activities to do with young kids that go along with different children's books. I happened to already have the book 'Caps for Sale' checked out from the library, so we did that one first.

I just thought I'd share some of the fun things we did with this book (we did all of the activities from 'Before Five in a Row' and a few more that were my own ideas). We had a lot of fun reading this book over and over again, even renewing it from the library so we could keep it longer. Lizzie loves counting the monkeys in the tree and imitating the peddler along with them when he is trying to get his caps back from them. We also checked out the spanish version. I made monkey cards by photocopying a page of the book onto a piece of card stock and cutting them out. Lizzie enjoyed looking at them and carrying them around, but she wasn't much interested in playing memory with them, like I'd originally planned. She could match them just fine, but the game just didn't hold her interest long enough to play it through.

These pictures show Lizzie sorting caps by color, and then gluing the caps onto the paper after she had sorted them. She loved the sorting part, and she was very excited to start gluing, but then she decided she was done after only gluing down about three of the caps.

She is using the magnet board that I made for her last week. It was an idea I saw online. We bought a magnetic cookie sheet from the dollar store and a pack of magnets from Michaels. Then I hot glued some old buttons from the button box onto the magnets to make them more interesting. I was so excited about this nifty new toy, so I was disappointed when Lizzie didn't show much interest in it at first. But after just having it around for a few days she's taken a greater interest in it, and I keep thinking of new things that we could do with it, so I'm quite satisfied with it. I think it will be a great road trip toy, as the pieces don't drop easily.

The peddler in the book carried his caps stacked on top of his head, so Lizzie and I practiced balancing books on top of our heads and trying to walk with them. Lizzie did a very good job of balancing a book when she was standing, but the book didn't stand a chance when she started to move.

She was very concerned that Sadie get a turn, too.

I thought it would be fun to make a cap for Lizzie to go along with the book, but I didn't have a pattern and didn't want to pay for one, so I made my own. I made a miniature version first to make sure that I had designed the pattern right, because I didn't want to waste a lot of fabric before I knew I'd gotten it right. I'm pretty pleased with the results, and now Lizzie's Nick has a cap of his own, and Lizzie will have one in a few days when I have time to finish hers. (I was pretty proud, this is the first time I've ever made a pattern from scratch.)

So anyways, we've had fun with it. I was planning on starting 'Corduroy' today, but Lizzie has suddenly become obsessed with the book 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie', so I'm going to wait a bit to start.

Because they're just so cute . . .

2011-05-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

We're trying to move Sadie in to sleep in the same room as Lizzie, so we set up the portable crib in Lizzie's room. She was so excited and wanted to sleep in it herself, so we let her and put Sadie in the normal crib. And the first few times Lizzie did a good job of staying in there, even though she could easily climb out. But tonight we heard a little click from the monitor after we put them to bed, and then we couldn't hear the fan anymore. We were just wondering if she had gotten out of bed to turn off the fan when we noticed that the bedroom light was on. We went in to discover that Lizzie had climbed out of bed, turned off the monitor, switched the light on, and gotten out her lacing cards to play with. I asked her if she had turned off the monitor, and she said yes. I asked her if she had done it on purpose, and she said yes. When I asked her why, she said, "Mommy, Daddy . . . 'Izzie play!" Heaven help us. She was pretty upset with us when we put away the toys and switched her and Sadie between the two cribs.

I included some more recent photos, since I know they're Grandma's favorite part.

Lizzie being silly pretending to be a baby in Sadie's bassinet.

Sadie being cute as a button.

Lizzie's much harder to get a good shot of, because she's so much faster, but this one shows the gorgeous eyes she got from her Daddy.

Of the two girls, Lizzie actually looks far more like I did at her age than Sadie does, whereas she seems to be more of an even mix between Jake and I, but people who didn't know me as a kid always say that Sadie looks just like me.

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-05-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

Just a fast post on what the girls and I have been up to lately. I've been making a greater effort to spend dedicated Lizzie-and-Mama time together during Sadie's morning nap. When Lizzie has that morning time with my undivided attention she is far more likely to be cheerful and stay out of mischief for the rest of the day, especially if she has some activity to engage her little mind during that time. So we've been doing lots of little activities together, and I've been trying to give Sadie some undivided attention each day as well (usually while Lizzie's napping in the afternoon, because Sadie doesn't often sleep as long as she does then).

It's working great for having special time with the girls, but I need to make some schedule adjustments to work in more time for housework. The time while they're both napping in the afternoon just isn't long enough for me to get it done. Several times this week I've wound up doing some cleaning in the evening after they go to bed, but I need to be able to spend that time with Jake. He and I get up before the girls wake up in the morning to do our scripture study together. I've thought about getting up earlier, but Sadie still isn't sleeping through the night most of the time, so I just don't know if I could manage that.

Anyways, here are some of the things we have been up to in the last couple of weeks. We go to a free Musicgarten class taught by a lady from church on Monday mornings. I go for Lizzie's benefit (and I've been surprised by how much she's learned from it) but Sadie loves it, too. We have read many stories and sung many songs. Some days, Lizzie and I will go on a kids' phonics website together called Starfall.com. We made homemade playdough one day, and then Lizzie sat in one spot and played with it for almost two hours! I've never seen her hold still for that long before while awake without being strapped down. She wants to play with playdough all the time now, but I haven't let her play with it every day because I want it to remain a special, exciting thing.

We've done lots of cutting with scissors. Lizzie is getting very good at using scissors--she can't cut a shape out or anything, but she knows how to put her fingers through the handle the correct way and she will grab her scissors and cut all along the edges of a piece of paper, snipping off little pieces. This obviously requires close supervision from me. I had a ton of crayons for Lizzie that almost never got used because she prefers colored pencils or markers or pens, so I melted down the crayons in an empty can I placed in a pot of hot water and poured them into a star-shaped candy mold that I was able to get for seventy cents. Lizzie really likes her new star-shaped crayons.

A couple of times we've done bubble baths, which both girls have loved. I printed up a whole bunch of little animal cards on cardstock and 'laminated' them with packaging tape. The other day Lizzie really enjoyed matching the cards with her animals from her Noah's ark set. Several times she and I have just sat down and colored on her whiteboard together. One day I leaned her whiteboard against the wall at an angle and we found a bunch of things that were round and had fun rolling them down the slope. Lizzie has also enjoyed playing with her farm animal lacing cards that she received in her easter basket. I got a few nuts, bolts, and washers in different sizes for her to play with matching by size and twisting off and on. She didn't find them very interesting, though--she spent about three minutes playing with them when I first showed them to her, and she hasn't shown any interest since. Oh, well. And one day I got out some large jingle bells for Sadie to play with, and Lizzie really enjoyed them, too. We wound up singing quite a few rousing choruses of 'Jingle Bells'. Sadie has also enjoyed playing with empty spools of different sizes, working to try to pick them up without bumping them and having them roll away from her.

Sadie with the bells. You can see that I tied a couple of bells onto a shoelace to give them a different aspect to how she could play with them.

Also, I found a used copy of the book "Before Five in a Row" for a good price, which has lots of ideas for activities to go along with great children's books in it. We have only just started to use some of the ideas in that with the book "Caps for Sale", which we got from the library. It's fun so far, though quite simple. It's the younger kids' version of the popular set of books called "Five in a Row" which I have heard great reviews on, but I've never had a chance to look through on of their volumes in person. (My library doesn't carry it.)

On Monday afternoon we were on a walk as a family and we happened on a half-grown baby bird on the ground. I didn't want to leave it to die, so I brought it home and put it in an empty aquarium of my brother's. I looked up what to feed it online, and have been feeding it a mixture of one part hard boiled egg yolk to two parts baby cereal+water with a syringe. It is amazing how much it has grown and how much its feathers have come in in just in these few days. This afternoon, Jake and I took it outside to see if it could fly away yet. Jake tried to toss gently into the air, and it kind of half fluttered, half flopped to the ground. So, it's back in the aquarium to grow for a bit longer before we try to release it again. Both of the girls are fascinated by it, and I set up a stool next to the dresser where the aquarium is sitting so that Lizzie can climb up and look at the bird when she wants to.

My sweet girl needs to have her bangs trimmed, as you can see. I'm a bit nervous about trying that again, after I botched it so badly last time.

(Yes, that odd black shape you see against the grass beneath Jake's hand is the bird dropping to the ground when Jake tried to release it.)

2011-05-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

I'm very sorry I have fallen behind on posting here. I actually forgot that I never posted any pictures from the actual Easter Sunday. So here are some from the little easter egg hunt we had in the front yard with the hard boiled eggs we dyed. As you can see, when I made the girls' Easter dresses a few months ago I underestimated how much they would grow before Easter. At the bottom are pictures of the girls with their Easter baskets after church.

Easter! Part 3

2011-04-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

Some photos from the ward party's easter egg hunt. Each time Lizzie picked up an egg, she had to open it and unwrap and eat the candy inside before she had any interest in picking up another one. This meant that she only got three or four, but that's just fine with me if we can avoid the sugar overdose.

Easter! Part 2

2011-04-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last year I dyed hard boiled eggs for Lizzie to find, and I wanted to continue that as a family tradition. Lizzie was able to help me a little bit this year--not with the dyes, obviously, but with rinsing the eggs off after I had soaked them in vinegar to remove their waxy coating before dying. She had a lot of fun, and she only cracked one of them.

Our ward also had an easter party with an egg hunt this year, and every family was supposed to bring a dozen plastic eggs with candy in them for each kid that would participate. When I went to buy them, it was $1 for a dozen or $1.97 for four dozen, so I got the bigger bag. I'm so glad I did. The girls love them. They've spent several hours playing with them in different ways; rolling, sorting, opening and closing, and throwing them into a bowl.

Easter! Part 1

2011-04-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

On the Monday before Easter, I decided to do the Easter lesson from the nursery manual for our family home evening. It included a simple little activity with paper cut-outs of Jesus, the tomb, and the stone covering the opening. We said that when Jesus died, they put his body in the tomb (had Lizzie put the paper Jesus through the 'door' of the tomb)and put a stone in front of the door (Lizzie does this with the paper). Then we count to three for the three days, and Lizzie takes the stone away and takes Jesus out. We explained that then Jesus was alive again, and Lizzie says "resurrected" with us. I had no clue how much she would love this. She wanted to do this over and over again, and she kept the little paper pieces and is still playing with them and wanting us to repeat this with her over a week later.

2011-04-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

I took this picture of Lizzie this morning before church. As far as lighting and focus it's not a very good picture, but I love how much personality you can see in her expression.

Lizzie has grown up so much just recently. Just two months ago I was worrying about her not speaking enough and we were having major terrible-twos struggles. It seems like she has matured by leaps and bounds since then, and my wild toddler is rapidly turning into a fun, sweet, vivacious little girl.

She has a great deal of energy and will power, and she is beginning to gain the self-control she will need to harness those gifts. She is very passionate about everything she does (which can lead to a lot of toddler drama) but it also means that every enjoyment is a delight, and she shows a great deal of empathy for others for such a little girl. I think she has a very nurturing heart. When Sadie cries, or someone is hurt, or Daddy reads a book where a character gets upset, she's right there offering hugs and kisses with a cute little, "Eeet's okay! Don' be sad! Eeets okay!" (Lately Daddy loves to ham this up for extra hugs and cuddles, by looking for any excuse in a story to pretend to be upset in the hopes that Lizzie will come running to comfort him.)

She loves to care for her baby dolls and stuffed animals (and her sister, as much as I will let her). She feeds, burps, bathes, changes, dresses, rocks, and puts them to sleep, as well as showering them with hugs and kisses and singing them songs.

This morning as I was praying over breakfast, she was 'helping' me as she usually does by reminding me of all the family members she wanted me to ask a blessing for. After Baby Sadie, she said, "All the other babies" and then "Owie babies. Hurt babies." I was very surprised to hear her come out with something like that.

Seems like Old Times

2011-04-06T11:45:00.001-07:00

So Tuesday was a slow day for work (Boss is pretty sick, assignments have run their course) and I got to spend most of it with Michelle and the girls. Let's talk about it:

First, and 6:50 a.m. my alarm went off. We've started reading Doctrine and Covenants for half an hour in the mornings, so 7 a.m. is the time we've picked. I went back to sleep instantly, but Michelle got up and got me up, so I could be holy for 30 minutes. Anyway it worked, and we did it again today so 3 days = pattern.

I planned to leave early in the morning, but I was tired and decided to get some more sleep, seeing as I didn't have an appointment or anything. Meanwhile, Michelle had gotten out a new toy for Lizzie: Legos. Lizzie is old enough and so good with putting stuff in her mouth that Lizzie got to play with some old Legos (under adult supervision, of course). So I came out and saw Michelle and Lizzie happily building castles and things.

Then I noticed my hands began to itch. It was subtle, but I started thinking thoughts like "If I took those pieces there, I bet I could..." and sat down to play legos with my wife and daughter. I ended up spending 2 hours playing with them, in fact, Lizzie was the one who go bored first and told us it was lunch time. I built two spaceships, Shelley made castle, and Lizzie gathered up all of the Hats, Torsos, and Animals she could find. We had a good time.

I finally went out for a while and applied for a job in Portland, contacted my boss and an immigration agency that had some information I needed. Then, about 4 O'clock I went back home and we walked to a large park that is full of sand. We brought along a few sand toys (bucket, rake, etc.) for Lizzie and played with her there for a while. We were having such a good time that when we finally looked at the time: 6:10 p.m., past dinner! And we still had a 30 minute walk home! So we packed up and went home, and both girls were excellent, just happy from playing around. We got home and I made dinner while Shelley held the girls, then we all ate BBQ chicken sandwiches (if I am cooking, it either goes in a fry pan or on a grill). Then they went to bed, and Shelley and I just relaxed.

Anyway, after spending the day just playing around in the sand and with legos I just was thinking about how often I spent time doing those things as a kid. I enjoy them as much today as I did then.

Look at all that Chub!

2011-04-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was just playing with Sadie Lou earlier, and remembering our worries about her weight when she was small. I thought I would re-post these old pictures of her with a more recent one for comparison's sake.

~ November 27th, 3 1/2 weeks old :

December 16th, 6 weeks old :

And here she is a week ago! (Almost 5 months)

I am so grateful that she has grown into such a happy, healthy, strong girl. She is pretty big for her age at 26 inches long now. She is a very efficient nurser, with no remaining ill-effects of her weight problems as a newborn.

She just loves to be with her family, especially her big sister. She loves to hold and inspect all kinds of things with her hands now, and she's in that stage where, whenever she's on her tummy, she keeps doing little push-ups over and over again. She hasn't quite figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy yet, she keeps trying but she gets stuck half way. She will, however, pivot herself around when she's on her tummy to face towards whoever or whatever she wants a closer look at.

Most of all, she's just a joyful little soul who tends to be very content with life. Now, I know that some of the differences between her personality and Lizzie's as a baby are probably due to me and differences in my parenting, but there're obviously a lot of innate differences as well. Sadie likes calm and will get distressed if there's too much chaos for too long, and she startles much more easily than Lizzie did. She doesn't sleep anything like Lizzie did (probably because Lizzie never stops moving when she's awake, so she needs a lot more sleep). And today, she chomped down at one point when I was feeding her. She doesn't have any teeth, but it was still unpleasant. I pulled away and said, "Sadie, no! That hurts Mama!" Now, understand, when Lizzie tried that for the first time, I responded that same way. And little baby Lizzie laughed! Sadie burst into tears. I hugged her a moment and she was fine, but I just thought it was a very interesting illustration of the differences between our two sweet girls.

Our Little Artist

2011-03-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

Lizzie has started drawing recognizable (sortof) pictures. Balloons are her favorite subject matter, being one of her current obsessions. I've also seen her draw a face before. Here I took some pictures of her drawing on her dry erase board. The shape on the right with a line coming off of it is a balloon. She is pretending to write in this picture.

In this picture you can see she drew another balloon on the left. She was concentrating really hard when she was drawing that shape in the upper center portion of the board. I can't see what it is supposed to be, but when I asked her about it she started talking animatedly about a walk we went on a few days ago and the creek we saw on our walk, and pointing to parts of that drawing as she spoke.

Sewin' Up a Storm

2011-03-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

The past week and a half have been very busy for me. A friend who already had a table at a craft fair this weekend offered to take some of my stuff along for free, so I was already working on putting together some items for that, and then I got my first order on etsy. My old boss that I used to nanny for (when I was pregnant with Lizzie) bought a couple of outfits each for her twins. So I was sewing nearly every spare minute when the girls were asleep this last week. But now it's all done, and I am going to take a break from sewing for a few days. I do have fabric for a shirt I want to make for Lizzie, but that can wait.

2011-03-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share this cute picture. Jake recently got out some old toys of his and gave them to Lizzie, and this morning Lizzie was sharing the toys with Sadie. Daddy had to intervene, because Sadie happily started sticking them in her mouth, and the pieces are small enough to be a choking hazard. It was really cute, though.

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

2011-03-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

Monday was Elizabeth's second birthday. She had a fun party with both sets of grandparents here. Also, she has also started speaking a lot more just in the last few days. We're amazed that she is already so big.

2011-02-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

So I've been working on setting things up to try to sell some children's clothes on etsy. Yesterday we did a "photo shoot" for some easter dresses I made up while Jake was in Oregon taking the bar exam. Here are a few of my favorite pictures I got of the girls:

I actually took way more pictures of Lizzie than Sadie yesterday, but very few of them turned out okay. She was not happy to model for me. In the end, Jake stood and held up his laptop with Winnie-the-Pooh playing on it just to get her to hold still for a few seconds. So she has kindof a glazed expression on her face in the pictures of the last outfit, but oh well.

I started a second blog just for my sewing projects. You can see it (and lots more pictures of the girls as models) at http://rufflesandtucks.blogspot.com/

2011-02-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

So, Jenette's post with her cute girls wearing the same outfit reminded me that I had been meaning to post this for a few days. Lizzie is 5 1/2 months in this picture and Sadie is 3 1/2 months. She's so long that she's already wearing 6 month and even some 9 month clothes. You can see how much bigger Lizzie's head is, though; that's not because of the age difference. I think they have a sisterly look, but still quite different. I would love to see some pictures of Jake at this age, Tina!

2011-02-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Hello! Not much different has been happening lately--lots of sewing and taking care of the girls on my part, lots of studying on Jake's part, lots of running and talking about/reading/watching/listening to music from Winnie-the-Pooh on Lizzie's part, and lots of eating and sleeping on Sadie's part. Jake did have a little stomach bug the other day, but he seemed to mostly recover pretty quickly. Lizzie's been working on getting her two year molars in--three down, one to go! Sadie measured in the other day at 24 and 3/4 inches long and 12 and 1/4 lbs. That's the ninety-seventh percentile for height and average for weight for her age. The lady doing the measuring was a little concerned at the disparity until she heard that she was only in the 25th percentile for weight just a month ago. So, we're doing pretty well overall. I have a project I've been working on, but not quite ready to share that yet. . .

2011-01-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well, It's Sunday again and I ... We pause this post for an important announcement, I, Jake, will be finishing this post today! And we will go on a daring journey together into the heart of the mundane, as I tell you about the week.

First, the Seahawks stink, they need someone who can catch the ball, a running back that takes forward steps and a defense that doesn't tackle like BYU. And, that is now vented.

Second, it's been incredible sunny weather which means when I get home from studying (at the church building) I am able to go with the ladies on walks. We bundle up Sadie in a blanket or two and she lies in the back of the double stroller, while Lizzie sits up front. Lizzie's job is to let us know if there are any balloons, balls, basketball hoops, lightpoles, birds or milk is somewhere along the path, at which point she well yell out repeatedly "ba-doon" or "ball" or "ball" or "ball" or "Brrr" or "Me-ilk." This is an important job she takes seriously, and thanks to her hard efforts we routinely have the sidewalk all to ourselves.

We go to the park often, there are three within walking distance. There Lizzie plays a game called "scare Daddy" as she climbs up to various heights and proceeds to wobble at the edges of these platforms. Daddy follows from underneath, like those recovery vehicles when people go hot-air ballooning. Of course she's never fallen and loves the slides, swings, and most important OTHER CHILDREN. She usually looks for a mister between ages 2 and 5 and follows him until he runs to his mother, similar strategy to what her mother did on the dating scene.

Anyway, Lizzie is getting some more teeth and we are all involved by virtue of her making sure we know the teeth are coming and demanding that extra TLC. It's amazing, but letting her have as many Fruity Snacks and stories as she wants helps her molars. Medical science will one day be astounded, I am sure, to learn that sugar cures tooth pain.

Michelle is doing well, she's been losing a little more pregnancy weight and her hair is long enough she can pull it up. In short, she's a knockout. I find in unfair that weight I accumulated in the last 10 months continues to cling, koala-like, to my butt and stomach. I have currently begun exercising to burn off the calories, I put on a movie or football game and jump until I'm tired. Then I eat a plate of nachos. So I have energy to jump some more (usually in response to a touchdown or something).

Sadie is doing great, she is in love with milk. She and milk would get married tomorrow. She drinks so much that her stomach swells up like a tick on a dog in Argentina. She then burps, spits up , or just uses the bathroom, then there's even more room so she can eat again. Please note, Michelle feels I should point out that by "use the bathroom" I do NOT mean the process of turning on the light, positioning her posterior over a toilet or shower drain and relieving herself, rather I mean "Makes a poo or a pee". She felt it was important for me to explain this to prevent, if you can believe this, potential sarcasm. She just asked me if I wrote that whole blurb to punish her for commenting on my unfinished post. I'm not going to answer that question, but I'm pretty sure she'll save her comments until the end now.

Finally, just want to let you know we are happy and blessed. We're looking forward to the challenges of taking the Oregon Bar and getting a job and settling down roots in 2011. We have two wonderful girls that make us happy, and even though we're not where we want to be there are too many good things for us to be down for too long. Thank-you to everyone who has helped us during this time, your love and support have been incredible.

Jake

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2011-01-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

This past week was one of a lot of hard work for me in a few different areas. First, I decided it was high time I get back to doing the housework that I used to do each week, before Sadie was born. Second, I got a little potty chair and some panties for Lizzie, and we've been working on potty training. And third, after Mercedes weighed in at ten pounds on Monday, I figured she'd grown enough that we could do a little sleep training now. On all counts, we did really well for few days, and then not so great towards the end of the week.

I did manage to get all of my old housework load finished except for the vacuuming. Lizzie has used her little potty chair each day, but not with a lot of consistency--she sometimes tells me beforehand when she needs to go, and sometimes she tells me after. With Sadie I did manage, two nights in a row, to get her to only wake up once in the night to eat. She went a whole six and a half hours between meals! But later in the week, our accomplishments on all counts were more limited. The girls got off of their normal routine and were overtired, and I just plain got worn out. Ah, well, there's always next week.

Yesterday evening I was really feeling worn and stressed, and Jake kindly offered to take care of Lizzie while I just took the little one and got out to take a break for a bit. It was nice.

2011-01-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

So, I have tried and tried and tried to upload a video, but for some reason I cannot get it to work, so I guess I'll just tell you all--One week ago, Sadie started rolling over! (It wasn't her very first time, but I'm not sure that the first couple of times weren't accidents.) When she rolled over last Sunday, I thought it was just by accident again, but when I put her back onto her tummy again a little later, she did it again, and then again later. And now she rolls over from her front to her back all the time. She kindof hoists her head up in the air, looks around, then leans her head to the side and lets the weight of it pull her whole body over. I was so surprised--I can't remember just when Lizzie learned how to roll over, but this seems awfully young.

Just a few images from Christmas, more to come later . . .

2010-12-29T23:30:00.000-08:00

Random Photos

2010-12-16T23:52:00.000-08:00

A few recent favorites, while I have the chance . . .

Story time with Daddy

Remember those cute pictures of Lizzie playing with the puppies? Well, here's another one of her playing with the pup from about a month ago.

So proud to hold her baby sister!
I was having fun with her hair, but I haven't done it since because I just wasn't able to get them to stay put for very long.

My happy girl with her beautiful blue eyes.

My brother Aaron with Sadie on her blessing day.

My favorite of all. No one prompted her to hug the baby, it was her own idea.

Sewing Projects

2010-12-16T23:22:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of recent sewing projects that I am proud of. I'm grateful I've had the opportunity to learn from my mom while we've been living here.

Elizabeth is modeling the dress that was our most recent project for sewing class. This dress was supposed to be for Sadie to wear in a few months. The pattern size said 6 to 12 months, but it fits Lizzie right now!

These pants are 2T size, and were supposed to fit Lizzie when the dress fit Sadie for matching outfits, but I doubt that will work, now. I have the materials to make a matching smocked blouse to go with it, but that's on hold for the moment.

And here is Mercedes on her baby quilt. I stitched about half of the bias binding on by hand while I was in labor in the hospital, before it got too bad. I'm pretty pleased with the end results.

Turkey Cookies

2010-12-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

Making turkey cookies is a Thanksgiving tradition from my side of the family. Lizzie and I had a lot of fun making them together last month.

While she enjoyed munching a little of the candy, Lizzie's favorite part was getting to unwrap the hershey's kisses from their little foil wrappers. She seems to really enjoy doing things with her hands like that.

Lizzie's finished turkey cookie (after I borrowed about a dozen more hershey's kisses off of the top of her cookie to put on my turkeys. This way you can actually see that there is a cookie under there!)

Mama's finished turkey cookies.

Recent Photos

2010-12-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

As per Tina's request, I'm putting up some recent photos of Sadie Lou. I took these first two as I was changing her into her pjs tonight.

I included this last one of her legs for comparison's sake. It was taken a little less than three weeks ago.

2010-12-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Just checking in. We've had a cold bug going through the family. Jake was sick about a week and a half ago, Lizzie last week, and I had it over the weekend. Sadie's got a little cough, too, now, and I'm just hoping that it doesn't get any worse. It really wasn't that bad of a bug, I think it was just especially hard to deal with because of the lack of sleep, between having a little one in the house and Lizzie having trouble sleeping with the cold. Jake's been a wonderful help, though, and we're all on the recovering side of it now--in time to be healthy for the holidays! Oh, and Sadie weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz today, so she's more than a pound over her birth weight, now. Yay!

On Sadie's weight gain issues:

2010-12-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update. When we saw the lactation specialist on Monday, we discovered that the reason Sadie was having trouble with nursing was because she was "tongue-tied" (she had a tight frenulum, the bit of skin under your tongue attached to the bottom of your mouth). So on Tuesday we took her in and they cut it, which sounds a lot worse than it actually was. This didn't automatically resolve her nursing difficulties, as she's been doing it the wrong way for a month and she needs to learn to do it the right way, but we're making a lot of progress. When we weighed her before and after a feeding with the lactation specialist on Friday, she got twice as much as she had on Monday. However, she had only gained 1.6 ounces in those four days, so instead of me just offering her a bottle if she acts hungry after a full feeding, I'm now offering her a bottle after every feeding so that we can make sure she's still gaining well while she's learning how to nurse correctly. To that end, the lactation specialist lent me a hospital-grade pump which works way more efficiently than my own, so I've got tons of milk to offer her--more than she actually takes. So all in all, we're doing pretty well.

Halloween

2010-11-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore . . .

2010-11-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a very angry Sadie after her first bath.

As you can see, she's looking very skinny here. On Wednesday I took her in to be weighed and she was 6 lbs 14.4 oz--almost six ounces less than the last time she was weighed, at five days old. So now I'm supplementing and pumping and all that, and she's doing better. She was weighed again yesterday, and she had gained three ounces in two days.

2010-11-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

Mercedes Louise Conde

"Sadie"

11/03/2010

11:08 a.m.

7lb.6oz.

21 inches long

Something Political

2010-10-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

This message concerns the upcoming vote on adding a State Income Tax to adjusted gross wage earners over 200,000 per annum, I-1098.

I have heard that several of my former classmates and friends are urging a vote of “Yes” on this bill. I’ve heard the reasons include 1) it is necessary to meet the budget shortfall, and 2) it will only affect the rich who can afford to pay it and 3) the money by law can only go to Education and Healthcare. I am unaware of any other reasoning behind it, but if I overlooked some other valid points my apologies. I wish to address these three.

Point 1: There’s a saying “The Bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding Bureaucracy.” Giving government more money to spend is like giving a spendthrift 100 dollar allowance instead of 10, he’ll still be broke at the end of the week. Increasing revenue will only increase spending, trust me, I live in California now, a state that takes in more revenue than many countries. It has overcommitted in every government program to the point it has a deficit that would make Greece blush.

Also noteworthy, there aren’t enough earners in Washington state who bring in over 2o0,000 per year to cover the current deficit, even if you seized all their money. An extra tax on the rich is physically incapable of covering the shortfall.

Give a government more money and it will spend it and crawl right back into a hole. Instead you must elect officials determined to cut wasteful spending. And if you are under the impression that there is no such thing as wasteful spending by the government than I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Point 2: This is the big one, that it “only affects the rich.” First, this is a lie. Once the bill is on the books it is worded to allow the legislature to change the threshold income without submitting it to the voters after 2012. In other words, if in two years governments says “Shoot, we still need more money,” (and if that sounds unlikely I still have that bridge handy) then the government can declare that earners over 100,000 are subject to the state income tax. Or 50,000. Or 20,000. And there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re basically gambling that government won’t choose to enlarge its revenue sources in the future OR you’re gambling that you will be so unsuccessful you’ll never have enough income to merit being taxed. You’re betting on government restraint and your own limited potential to keep you safe from the tax.

Second, what affects the rich always affects the people who earn less money. This is because the rich like spend their money, and when they spend their money they are giving it to you. If the rich have less money to spend, then they’ll do less buying of cars, movie tickets, eating at restaurants, buying furniture, all the things people like to do with their money. Meanwhile, the restaurants, dealerships, theaters, and furniture stores, places that employ lower-wage earning folks, are losing sales. They cut hours, fire people and reduce employee perks and commissions.

But even more directly, most people who are top earners are people in positions of power in companies, smart people who know how to manage their money. The board of directors of Microsoft is not going to sit by and let you take their money. They’ll increase their salaries and increase the prices of their products which you buy, hire fewer people and they’ll cut the benefits of their employees from top to bottom. These cuts for the “wealthy” will affect you.

The other effect is you take away a huge advantage, with the state being an attractive place for companies to relocate and operate. Not having to pay state income tax makes Washington a very attractive place to start a company, something the State itself has repeatedly mentioned. When living in Portland, Oregon there were constant ads on the radio encouraging business to incorporate in Vancouver to avoid state income tax.

The officers of a company are not stupid; they will go to the state that allows them to maximize their quality of life. California has a very high sales and state income tax, but it’s blessed to have 300 days of great weather, warm beaches and some of the best entertainment venues in the country. Washington does not. I’m sorry, if I’m looking to relocate to Seattle or Los Angeles, living near Santa Monica and Disneyland in endless summer weather is more attractive than visiting Wild Waves in the rain. The state does not have so many intangibles that it can afford to make itself less attractive financially to top earners. It will lose them.

And before you say “Good riddance,” think about what happens when people with money stop investing in an area’s schools, houses, and downtowns. It’s called Detroit.

Point 3: Funds that are by law apportioned for one task can be spent on something else. You merely borrow from the fund with the intent to pay it back and as long as you promise to pay it back with a reasonable rate of interest you can spend it. Of course, if the government runs out of money again it can’t pay it back, but as long as they were intending to do so this is legal.

Also, other moneys set aside for healthcare and schools not stemming from this bill have not even this flimsy protection, so that money is just as free to be used elsewhere on the justification that “well, we have another revenue source for these programs so this money can spent elsewhere with no negative effects.”

Unless you are planning on moving from the state and would like to discourage future prosperity, please vote no on I-1098.

Jake Conde

Lizzie got a haircut, it's good, I like it, do you?

2010-10-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

So Michelle cut Lizzie's hair, a process that involved a magnifying glass, tweezers and those little fingernail scissors you get from Ralph's. Actually, it was just a trim of the bangs, but there wasn't much hair to cut, just fine long yellow wisps. Michelle tried to save the hair and managed to stick a tiny wisp of hair to a piece of hair, but it's pretty minuscule. Anyway, here she is in all her trimmed glory.

2010-10-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

So, nothing much new to report. The only thing I've got left to do that needs to be done before Sadie Lou shows up is to give the smaller carseat a good scrubbing and install it in the back seat, but I've been putting off doing that too soon--with a two door car, things are already tight getting Lizzie in and out of the back seat, and they will be tighter with a second car seat back there.

Lizzie has become obsessed with babies. Dozens of times each day she will point out the carseat, the bassinet, her baby doll, my tummy, her tummy, and every picture of a baby on every book or package of diapers or wipes in the house while excitedly exclaiming, "Baby! Baby! Baby!" It's cute, if overly repetitious--I just hope she's as happy about babies when we bring one home to stay.

Besides getting things ready for the baby and waiting impatiently, I've been working on lots of sewing projects. There's a little dress for Sadie that I'm making with the sewing class which I'll probably be finishing up when the class meets on Tuesday. I've had a lot of fun learning how to appliqué with this project. I'm also making little jeans for a matching outfit for Lizzie which are nearly done; all except for the waistband. I have plans for a top to go with the pants for Lizzie, but am trying to finish up a few existing projects before diving into that one. I'm also making a baby quilt for Sadie. This is designed to be similar to-but easily distinguishable from-Lizzie's blanket that I sewed when I was pregnant with her. I am happy to make this for Sadie, but the process of sewing it is not nearly as fun for me as sewing clothes, so it's nice to switch back and forth between this and other projects so that it doesn't become monotonous. And lastly, I'm also making some simple, fun things out of some cute receiving blankets that I was given. The fabric of the blankets was absolutely adorable, but I already have tons of receiving blankets from when I had Lizzie. So this last is my simple fun project, which I alternate with my complicated fun project (Lizzie's pants), the dress (which I can't go too fast on, or I'll get ahead of the class), and the quilt. I've had so much fun with sewing and learned so much this past year and a half.

2010-10-12T12:42:00.001-07:00

So we finally made up our minds. Baby #2 will be named Mercedes Louise Conde, or "Sadie".

Now we're just waiting for her to decide to make her debut.

Poor Lizzie!

2010-10-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

So it's been obvious for a few days that Lizzie has had some kind of bug, but I thought it was just a cold--with maybe some teething pain thrown in, since there were times when she did seem to be in pain, and she kept sticking her hands in her mouth. But she seemed to be getting past the cold symptoms, and I was giving her baby ibuprofen or acetaminophen for the "teething pain" and she seemed to be doing better (except she was still having trouble sleeping). Then yesterday morning, yellow goop started leaking out of her right ear. Poor girl! We never even thought ear infection, because she never tugged at her ear, and it got bad enough that her ear drum ruptured! So I took her in to the doctor and got a prescription for an antibiotic to clear up the infection, but I just feel so bad for her. That's happened to me enough times, and I just hate to think of her being in that much pain without us even realizing it. On the other hand, our tired little girl is sleeping like a log now that the pressure is released.

On Baby Names ...

2010-09-29T22:45:00.001-07:00

So, we had settled on calling the Baby Abby, with competing names being Abigail and Avagail. I like the former, Shelley likes the latter. Now I'm willing to just bless the baby as Abby Lynn Conde, but Michelle really wants her to have a more formal first name.

So we're stuck.

So we need to figure this out. I'm currently championing the following names ... Abigail, Haley Martha, Anne, and Virginia. Michelle likes these names ... Avagail, Anna, Amalia, Mercedes and Isabella.

So if anyone wants to comment, have a go. That's what's going on.

Update: The Hospital

2010-09-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

So today about 2 p.m. Michelle began having contractions, to the point she had 19 strong contractions in less than an hour. So we went back to the hospital, but an evil blonde doctor who hates people and hates herself decided to tell us that 1) she didn't want to help us and 2) the doctor from last night didn't want to help us and 3) no one could help us. Then, she laughed, and as she threw back her head her wild shrieks of laughter echoed through the halls of Kaiser Permanente, waking the sleeping children and mingling with the damned members of the most accursed and unholy HMO.

Okay, that's how it seemed (Michelle thinks that it's "a bit too much" but I think I'm spot on) but in reality she just told us that the doctor from last night was wrong to worry and that after 34 weeks you didn't come in for pre-term labor, you came in for labor itself. But only once you've dilated to 4 centimeters. I guess I'm supposed to figure out how we can tell that BEFORE we get to the hospital with the doctors and nurses and equipment (I'm thinking some kind of Rasputin method, kill a chicken and stare at the entrails, see if it's vaguely in the shape of a 4). Anyway, so now we're tired and confused and they have us right where they want us, too tired and too confused to argue with them. They can now herd us, like sheep, into our proverbial slaughtering pens and we'll go with nary a bleat.

Michelle thinks I'm being too harsh. I think I'm right.

So we're just going to mosey towards a birth here in the next month and we'll let you know what happens. BTW, if you're considering switching your insurance to an HMO, stop right now and whack yourself with a 2 x 4. If you enjoyed that feeling, by all means go ahead and switch. Otherwise, stick with a plan where you consistently deal with the same doctor. It makes a big difference.

Jake

The End.

An Overnight Stay

2010-09-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Jake and I spent last night at the hospital, but everything's okay. I've been having a lot more contractions all along with this pregnancy than the last one, but the midwife has told me that, so long as they slow down when I lie down and rest, they're nothing to worry about.

Last night at Women's Conference I was having a lot of contractions, enough that I went out to the foyer to lie down on the couch. After thirty-five minutes of timing contractions (twenty lying down) I called to talk to the labor and delivery triage unit at the hospital. I had had eleven contractions in that time, anywhere from two to seven minutes apart. They told me to come in, so Jake and I left Lizzie with my parents and drove down there. They tried having me drink about a gallon of water and then giving me fluids through an IV, just in case I was dehydrated and that was causing them, but it didn't make any difference.

The contractions weren't causing me to dilate or efface, so the doctor said that meant it wasn't real labor, but they were becoming stronger and closer together and more regular. (Less than two minutes apart.) The doctor didn't want to send me home with contractions even though they weren't affecting my cervix because of the scar on my uterus from the c-section with Lizzie. So they gave me a shot that slowed the contractions down and lessened their intensity. It also made my heart jump around in my chest and made me shaky. When the medication didn't stop the contractions, they decided to have me stay for observation. They eventually moved us from triage to a room called "High Risk 1".

After we had been moved, answered tons of questions from the new nurse, and I'd been hooked up to all kinds of machines, we tried to go to sleep. It was almost three a.m. by then. Poor Jake was sleeping in a chair. About every twenty minutes or so someone would come in to check my blood pressure, replace the paper roll on the fetal monitor, adjust the monitors on my belly, start a new bag of fluids through the IV, etc., or a new nurse on shift would be coming to introduce herself to me and ask if I needed anything. They were nice nurses who did their job well, but needless to say, Jake and I were both exhausted by morning.

Between around three a.m. and about seven a.m. the contractions gradually subsided to the point where I was only having them very occasionally, and only very little ones. So they discharged me with instructions of what to do if I start having contractions like that again, but no bedrest or anything like that. I've got less than two weeks until the baby is considered full term at thirty-seven weeks along. The baby's heart rate was strong and steady through the whole thing. Hopefully, this incident just means that my body will be able to go into labor on it's own this time, and we won't have any scary repeats of last night before it's time.

Playing Dress-Up

2010-09-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

You've heard about Lizzie's recent adventures in undressing, but she also loves to put clothes on.

The other day I was folding some laundry. Lizzie started out trying to fold with me, then when she lost interest in that she played with some toys for a few minutes, but she soon thought of something much more interesting to do with the laundry.

Those are her daddy's socks she's wearing. She put them on herself.

And here Jake caught her trying on Uncle Aaron's socks and shoes when he took them off after school. Eww!

Pictures!

2010-09-18T13:30:00.001-07:00

Lizzie coloring and playing with stickers. That little apron she's wearing was made for my sister Stephanie by my mom.

Lizzie being adorable after her first time in nursery on her own. My mom made this dress for me when I was little.

When Jake saw Lizzie all dressed up in this one, he said, "She looks like a cupcake!" Also hand-made hand-me-downs. I love this little smocked pinafore.

And here she is having fun in the backyard and showing off her fancy new footwear. Her feet have been growing so fast lately. When I bought her new tennis shoes about two months ago, I got them a size bigger than what would have fit her at the time, and they are already starting to get tight on her. Hopefully these last a bit longer!

2010-09-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

So this morning I went in to get Lizzie up at the normal time. I'd been able to hear her over the monitor talking and singing to herself, so I knew she'd been awake for a little while. But what do you think I found when I went into her room?

She was BUCK NAKED in her crib. When I walked in, she pointed to the big pee spot on her bed and said, "Uh-oh," then picked up her diaper and handed it to me. And she was wearing full footy pj's with a snap across the top of the zipper. My mom suggested putting a diaper pin through the tab for the snap from the inside of the pj's. Hopefully that will be enough to keep her from undressing. So, Lizzie got a shower from Daddy while I washed her bedding and cleaned her mattress.

So, life goes on. Jake is still working for that lawyer part-time and looking for further work. Lizzie loves going to nursery on Sundays now. My belly is getting huge, and I've got six and a half more weeks to go until the due date. I've been having a lot of contractions, especially when I exercise, but the midwife said it's not concerning unless they fail to slow back down again when I sit down and rest. My mom had knee surgery last week, and she seems to be recovering pretty quickly. The puppies are seven weeks old now and most of them will go to their new homes next week. Lizzie still loves to play with them, even though she can't keep up with them when they run or pick them up anymore because they've grown so big. I think she will be sad to see them go.

A Family Resemblance

2010-08-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

Does this look familiar? My sister Steph sent me this picture after seeing the pictures of Lizzie with the puppies. I think I was almost two when this was taken. I wonder if baby #2 will look more like Daddy?

2010-08-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

So I was finally able to get ahold of the pictures of Lizzie with the puppies. She adores them, and we wind up going in to pet the puppies about ten times a day. She is very gentle with them. You can also see how long her hair is getting now (it's pretty messy in these pictures; I normally have her hair pulled up into two little pony tails to keep it out of her face).

We're doing well here. No real changes: Jake is still working part-time and looking for full-time work, I'm starting a new project in the sewing class I'm taking from my mom, and Lizzie is growing and playing and running and loving. We seem to be able to understand her words a little more often. Lately we've heard her say diaper change, eyes, good night rest, love you, gracias, and puppies (which comes out more like "puh puh puh puh peez"). The other night we were watching a movie when a female character did something that annoyed Jake and he turned to Lizzie and said, "Lizzie, I want you to promise me never to use any of those feminine wiles." Lizzie nodded her head and said, "Alright, Dada." But most of the time we still can't understand her.

Hello Again!

2010-08-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been a stay-at-home mom for a couple of weeks now, and it's just wonderful. I've been working out a little routine for each morning to get chores done, while Lizzie either plays nearby or 'helps' me. She particularly enjoys helping me fold laundry and clean the windows. Then after that, we do something fun for her like coloring, reading stories, singing songs, or dancing to the primary songs on CD. She loves the primary songs, and she will spend half an hour or more sometimes dancing wildly to the music-spinning, bobbing up and down, running back and forth, even rolling across the carpet. We've been taking her to visit nursery the past few weeks, and she gets very confused when they want her to sit reverently during singing time. Last weekend we bought some kitchen tools from salvation army for her to play with and made our own play dough. She really enjoys it, but she does still try to eat it once in a while, so I have to be very vigilant to catch it before it reaches her mouth. She has just started doing most of the hand motions with me when we sing kid's songs, and it is very cute. She talks to us all the time, and while we still can't understand what she says most of the time, the times when she enunciates clearly enough to be understood are coming more frequently. So, nothing very exciting happening to tell about, but we are all happy and healthy. I am doing far better physically since stopping work. Jake's not getting full-time hours, but he is getting enough to pay our bills, and he's looking for something full-time in the mean time. He's also enjoying being able to go swimming almost every day with the nice weather we've been having.

I still can't find our camera, but we took some very cute pictures of Lizzie yesterday with my parents' new puppies on my mom's camera. So I'll see if I can get those from her later today to post some.

Michelle

Unifinished Business

2010-08-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I TRIED to upload a video of Lizzie on her piano, a Birthday gift from her Grandparents Conde, parents, and Aunt and Uncle Bradshaw. However, the video is not working. She still likes to play it, but she frequently likes to play a larger piano (you know, adult sized) located in the same house.

I've spoken with Michelle and we've made a commitment to try to update this blog once per week. Now that the Bar is done (again) and Michelle has quit work, we'll try to keep better touch with the outside world. Note this is TRY, we'll see if we succeed.

Here's the news in brief: We still live in San Diego. I just took the Cal State Bar a third time and I will be taking it in Oregon in February if I do not pass. California is nice weather but has crummy water, Oregon is crummy weather with good water, so perhaps it all balances out.

Michelle is pregnant with our little girl, Abby Lynn Conde. We're still trying to figure out what "Abby" is short for. We have different ideas but we hope to give her a longer, more formal name as well as the nickname. Abby is healthy and doing well, and should be here the end of October.

I am working for an attorney in San Ysidro preparing documents for civil cases. I'm hoping for good results on the bar.

Jake

Merry Christmas

2010-02-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know, I've been delinquent about posting. Here is the post I meant to put up after coming back from Christmas vacation in Washington.We had a lot of fun with Jon and Tina and Matthew and Jenette. And Lizzie loved following her cousin Jennie around. Her inability to keep up with Jennie while scooting on her belly motivated her to finally learn to crawl while we were there.

This is also about the time she started 'dancing' to music a lot, which she does all the time now.

Here's a really cute picture of Jennie in front of the Christmas tree.

Some more cute pictures.

Here's a cute one of Lizzie playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa.

And here's a really cute video of Jennie playing with Grandma. What a cute laugh!

(I couldn't figure out how to turn the video right side up.)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from the popularly acclaimed cutest baby in all of California! This is more than mere idle boasting, we took this little one to a grocery store and a trunk or treat and she was far and away the most popular attraction at both. We had total strangers, clerks, and LOTS of old women wanting to talk to her. Needless to say, she gloried in the attention.

Just to be clear, it's a lamb. Not a dog, not a snowbeast, not a bunny rabbit. Most people get it right but some people, well, they seem to think we're carrying a poodle with us to their trunk and asking for candy. When they realize it's a baby, they look pretty relieved.

We're enjoying a fused Halloween of sorts, with the Chidester side and Conde sides blending to create what has the potential to be a pretty fun holiday in the future. Chidester side chips in the Trick or Treating and costumes, and the Conde side contributes The Great Pumpkin and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. So we go look for candy, wear costumes, hunt for our pumpkins and watch an old movie. Yeah, I think this could work. Especially in California, where it occurred to me ... we can hide those Pumpkins anywhere on the property! In the Northwest it was pretty much in the House because it would have gotten soaked otherwise, here everything's fair game (provided you don't live with a Rhodesian Ridgeback that would love to eat every scrap of candy in the pumpkin, and the plastic pumpkin afterwards for dessert).

My wife is going this year as a blog editor for Halloween. She's sitting here making sure this turns out right. My costume is ... Saturday. Shorts, no shoes, no shave, hair uncombed. It's a case of art imitating life.

Happy Halloween from the 3 Condes of California!

Jake, Shelley, Lizzie

Honorable mention to the other Conde of California and the 3 Condés.

Lizzie's first word

2009-10-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Today was Lizzie's first word day. I went to her crib after her nap, and she reached up both hands to me and said "Da-Da." We've been working with her on making the sounds like Ma and Da for a while, but when she said that I knew she knew exactly what she was saying. She's said it again since, all times when I've been there, either reaching to me or looking at me.

So, Da-Da is the word. It's pretty remarkable to think that this 8 month old has mastered the basic (very basic) concept of speech = I make a noise and it means something to someone else. But this little one is remarkable in general, so it's not perhaps that big of shock. Still, I was pretty pleased, and Shelley also is thrilled (not even for the moment disappointed that it wasn't ma-ma, which shows you how cool she is). Anyway, that's the news.

Jake

2009-10-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Isn't this picture of Lizzie adorable? She and I are a little sick right now, but she's still so happy most of the time.

2009-10-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

Hi, just thought I'd put up this recent picture of Lizzybeth and say hello. We're still just working and waiting for the bar results--a month and a half to go. Jake and I have three part time jobs between us, and Jake is soon going to start volunteering one or two days a week at the Family Law Court to gain additional experience and another reference for future applications. I've been sewing a lot this week--I'm going to be teaching an enrichment class next month on making superhero capes for little boys, so I've been figuring out how to do that, and I've also made some pj's for Lizzie and I'm working on some bibs. I also got the materials to make a lamb costume for her for Holloween. So, all in all, things are going well. Also, though I have been having some problems with pain from my c-section incision lately, the past week it has been gradually improving some. Oh, here's a picture of a mini version of the capes we'll be making.

My favorite picture ...

2009-09-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

This one is my personal favorite so far. In fact, Mom, this is the one you should get an 8x10 for Grandma! Anyway, nothing new to report, so here this is.

What's Up, Doc?

2009-08-18T22:23:00.001-07:00

So Lizzie now has a crib. And look at the recurring rabbit theme. "Rabbit" is the furry critter to her right (her right, mind, your left) and is her favorite stuffed animal. We have the dark wood frame. Rabbits gnaw wood chips and poop in them as well. In addition, the wood forms a cage, which is definitely where you keep rabbits. And finally the bumper pads have Peter Rabbit as their theme. Note the blue sheet underneath, a color often found in rabbits as well.

In short, rabbit is the new teddy bear. And we have a crib. It's actually really great to be able to lay her down without having to touch your toes to do so (in the playpen this skill was a necessity). Meanwhile, she's adjusting to the new, which is about all you can reasonably expect a baby to do in a new situation. The adjustment is a solid "alright" for now, possibly trending towards "good" if she sleeps well tonight.

Adventures in Food

2009-08-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

We have a carrot eater! I cooked and liquified some carrots in the blender and offered them to Lizzie. After the first couple of bites she worked out her own system for how this new 'eating' thing would work. I would offer her a bite on the spoon, and she would attempt to grab it. When I wouldn't let her grab the orange goo, she would instead grab my hand or the spoon with her hand. Then, after taking a moment to size up the opposition and make some careful calculations of distance and velocity, she would suddenly dive towards the food, sucking madly at anything that happened to contact her mouth. On the occasions that this included the actual carrots, two thirds of whatever she'd gotten would then promptly dribble back out onto her chin. Mama would scoop this back up with the spoon and wipe her face, and the dive bombing practice would start all over again.

It was really pretty funny, albeit difficult to keep neat. At least she liked them. She really didn't think much of the rice cereal.

Eat This!

2009-08-04T19:56:00.001-07:00

So, I've tied my fate to Jared's. As of 2:40 p.m. PST on August 4, 2009 (a day that will live in infamy) I became a Sandwich Artisan. This job will help earn the living and keep me and Michelle in curry until I get bar results/MPRE results. I'll also be able to make one Sandwich per shift and get a discount at other times, so that will actually be a meaningful reduction in food costs. So it's a good thing.

The plan is to work for a week and figure out what kind of hours I'll be working and how much money we're netting. Then I'll either look to add a part-time job in the off hours or look for something that pays more. But now the pressure of imminent brokedom is no longer hanging over our heads, so this buys relief. I like that part.

Anyway, Michelle and Lizzie are fine. I'll tell Shelley to post something by herself (for all you Shelley lovers out there who can't get enough). Til later.

Jake "Sandwich crafter" Conde

I sympathize

2009-07-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

This has pretty much been how its been for the past three days taking ... the BAR, with proctor roaming around making sure I wasn't copying my neighbor or chewing gum. It's done now, and that's a relief. Now there's just the matter of finding a job, hoping I passed, finding another job, taking the MPRE, and jafoiqtiaofjqwe0fakfjao

Sorry, minor freak out at the end of that one. But sometimes life feels that way ... like you spend it knocking over bowling pins only to have the stupid machine to set down another ten again. The trick is just to focus on the set of pins before your face and not outwit yourself trying to knock down the hypothetical pins.

The BAR, well, finishing it alone feels huge. I also feel like I did well. I think I may have passed. I know I was extraordinarily blessed with insight and good fortune, I find myself making connections and getting things down in my exams I hadn't even contemplated or practiced. They just made perfect sense in the moment, so I went with them and they seemed to work. I think there's something to be said for having a blessing and three people tell you they've put your name in the temple roll. I would be ungrateful if I didn't acknowledge help from Above on this one, it's been all too obvious at times.

Another thing: the guy who read the rules before and after every session has the best voice I've ever heard not owned by James Earl Jones. He was this ultra-steady, deep monotone that repeated the same instructions again and again and again. He constantly explained to us the many violations that could cause us to fail the test immediately, from having a cell phone on your person to going to the bathroom after the five minute warning was called to failing to clip your ID badge to your person at all times within the examination room. It was pretty nerve-racking, it almost made you glad when the test started. I was so on edge the second day I mis-spelled my last name after bubbling D-O-N-D-E. I was Jacob Donde for 30 seconds, but I erased and corrected. I didn't let the proctor see me in case he thought I was cheating and copying my neighbor's name.

So it's done, and now on to better things. Like sleep. And a poke in the eye.

A special shout out to Grandma Virginia and Grandpa Ralph, who let me crash there for three nights so my sleep would be uninterrupted and air-conditioned. By the way, was I supposed to make the bed on the last day? I mean, I figured you'd change the sheets, and I was in a hurry, so it made sense to just leave it that way. Right?

Don't Panic

2009-07-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, quick post.

To everyone who has talked to me lately, you've seen me probably alternate between panic and ... panic. Well, I just want to let everyone know I'm doing a lot better, I've forced myself to really sit down and think about things. You see, I've never taken a test I didn't KNOW going into it that I would pass at the very least. Now it's different, and it's scary. But I feel a lot better, I've just decided to let go, give it a go and if it doesn't work out, I'll work and see what happens for a few months and take another stab at it later. Michelle's talked with me and been very supportive.

The trick will be to focus on getting this test done, and then finding work. Once I've found work, I'll save money and get the results. If I've passed, I'll begin applying to places to work as a DA. If I didn't, I'll work and consider the next step. We may stay with the Chidesters, we may move, we may do a lot of things. But the trick for now is to relax and give it a good run.

Thanks for all your support,

Jake

Don't let this happen to you

2009-07-24T02:11:00.001-07:00

Note that children will act like they want solid food, possibly even cry for it, but when you give it to them things just get ugly (but in a sad-cute sort of way).

Jake here. Having trouble sleeping, trying to get down. Just a lot of stress I suppose. Anyway, here's little Lizzie "enjoying" a gourmet meal. She's healthy and doing really well.

Michelle and I are just trying to watch our expenses and get ready for the bar. A week from today I'll be done with that and (darn it all) preparing to take another, albeit less gruesome, test. I'll also be looking for a job to earn some money before I get my results, I figure I'll apply to the Dixieline Lumber I saw in Escondido and see if my experience gets me an in for some summer work (due to the Wildfires there's some building going on). Other than that I'll just make an appointment with the stake employment office and put out a bunch of applications. I'm not picky, I just need something to tide me over for 2-4 months (depending when results get here and what offices are hiring). It will be nice to have work as my concern followed by home.

I'm planning to do something with Michelle to celebrate a bunch of stuff we haven't. Due to time/budget constraints, we haven't really done anything for Graduation, our Anniversary, and soon the Bar will be done as well (not to mention having a baby! that seems like a good thing to celebrate). Maybe around Christmas time or Thanksgiving we'll take a day and do something celebratory. Of course we'll have to get an activity that is Lizzie-friendly, or find somewhere for her to stay. And we might be moving around those times if I get a job in another county or city ... maybe we'll just play it by ear. If we wait long enough, maybe we can celebrate my new job even. At very least we need to get a cake or something and have it say "Happy _______" in recognition of all the stuff that's happened in 2009. I may just need to spend January 2010 recovering.

Watched an old He-Man episode on Youtube. Interesting, He-Man's jokes come off as pretty lame, but Skeletor's jokes are even better than I remembered. Something about aging, I guess. My sense of humor is more refined, and it turns out I didn't fully appreciate Skeletor in my youth. Who knew?

2009-06-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Lizzie at grandma Virginia's house the other night. Isn't she cute?

These are the shorts I sewed for Lizzie. I didn't realize how hard the plaid pattern would make it when I picked out the material, but I'm pretty pleased with the results--except that the pattern claimed this was six month size, and it looks more like two years. I was planning on her having them to wear for the end of the summer, since she'll be six months in August. Oh, well, she can still wear them eventually.

I was also trying to make Lizzie's room more 'little girlie', since it was my sister's room and is decorated in blacks and reds and pictures of Paris. So I put two loops in a piece of wire to hang from the end of the four poster bed so I could hang her little dresses from it. I figured that would be both cute and functional, since there's no closet in that room. Then I realized that I only had two Lizzie-sized hangers, so I took some spare wire hangers that my brother offered me, and I cut them down and rebent them to make little hangers.

2009-06-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Things are going pretty well for us. Lizzie is growing longer and chubbier, and we think she's starting to teethe, as she's started drooling and gnawing on everything she can get a hold of, and she's more irritable and has had more trouble sleeping lately. She's also started laughing once in a while, and the other day she managed to roll over on purpose, though she still can't manage it most of the time. She's working on her reaching and grasping skills. Today she reached out and grabbed a blueberry from my bowl.

Jake is studying hard--only one more month until the bar! He's been called to teach in elder's quorum again. Jon and Tina are visiting right now, and it's really nice to see them.

I'm taking care of the baby, trying to get into better shape, and learning to sew. I made some little plaid shorts for Elizabeth and I'm pretty pleased with the results, so now I'm working on a little yellow shirt for her. I want to work my way up to some of the pretty smocked dresses in my Mom's sewing magazines, but I'm not ready for that yet. I'm also making my own yogurt. I'm starting to feel more confident in myself as far as homemaking skills. Lizzie and I have a little routine, and it's very nice to feel that I can take care of her, keep things clean, and still have time to do other things as well--as opposed to the first few months after she was born.

2009-06-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, Jake's working at studying every day for the bar, and that seems to be going pretty well. It's not all-consuming, though; most of his days go about like this: He goes to his class for four to six hours, then comes home, eats something, plays with Lizzie a bit, and maybe goes swimming before he settles down in the late afternoon or evening to study for several more hours. It's nice that his schedule allows him to to break up the studying in the middle so that he can see Lizzie, instead of getting home when she's going to bed at night. He's discovered that when he gets some exercise during the day he doesn't have trouble with insomnia (which he's been having problems with for years), so he's been trying to find time to do some swimming each day.

Lizzie's growing like a weed. She's gotten a bit chubbier, but the real difference is her length. She's about twenty-five inches long, now, and all her three month size dresses and onesies are getting too short for her, so she's wearing the six month size clothes even though they're still too big width-wise. She 'talks' with people all the time now, and sometimes when she hears music she'll start making lot's of noises, and I wonder if she's trying to sing along. She's getting a bald ring--not just a spot on the back of her head, but a ring all the way around where her head touches the ground or bassinette when she's lying down. Her hair actually looks pretty funny, because the dark hair down low in the back is getting longer and it's lightening on top. It's getting light enough that I'm wondering if she's going to turn blond. Most of my siblings and I had blonde hair as children that turned brown later on.

So, I found a job. I'm going to be going back to work part-time at the daycare I used to work for during the summers when I was in college. (It'll be a week or two before I can start, though.) I wish I didn't have to leave Lizzie, but we need to have some income for this next little while when Jake's studying. Lizzie will stay with Nana when I'm working.

2009-05-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

So Lizzie's been doing more and more 'talking' lately, and she particularly enjoyed gurgling and cooing back and forth with her little cousin Courtland while the Bradshaw cousins were here visiting. I tried to get it on video, but this little snippet was the best I managed, since Lizzie would stop to watch me every time I came near with a camera.

The beginning of the end of the beginning

2009-05-24T21:58:00.001-07:00

Well, my turn to drop a few lines on this thing.

First and foremost I'm grateful I'm beginning the last leg of the "beginning" stages of our marriage. Namely, we've kind of been stuck in that vagabond student mode for a while now, and now that I've officially graduated Law School we've finally checked off a milestone that is related to starting out in life. Now I'm beginning a course of study to pass the Bar and Ethics tests and then I'll be licenesed to practice in California. That will be phase two, getting the license. Finally we have phase three, get the job. And phase four, get moved and settled.

These professional milestones are daunting when you look at them all at the same time, rather it's been necessary to step back and take things one at a time. I'm not too worried, I'm working hard but ultimately I feel some sense of guidance in the choices I've made. I believe I'm coming into a career and situation that is meant to be, and I'm being led in this direction for a purpose that I'll come to appreciate at some future point.

Lately I had an interesting thought. I have real trouble sleeping at night, and I usually fall asleep around 1-2 a.m. If I go to bed earlier I find I usually have a lot of time to think about the abstract and the hypothetical (actually, I have to think in this way, if I sit and think about actual issues and concerns I wake myself up). Lately I've had a recurring thought of setting up my post apocolyptic compound. I've thought about where it would be (hint, somewhere with long growing seasons and a variety of agricultural viability), who I'd invite (heh, some day I'll publish the whole list, if you're not on it you probably didn't pan out in my cost-benefit analysis), and how'd I defend it and what laws/form of government I'd install (monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, plutocracy) and so forth. I guess my question is, am I the only one? Or do other people plot how they'll survive the apocolypse as well? I'm actually thinking of renting "North and South" so I can see how Ezra built that water wheel, water distribution is a hot topic in CA and pretty vital in my plans.

So, if anyone out there logs on to this and cares, the question is: Do you think about your own "apocolypse" survival scenario? What do you think would be absolutely necessary in a post-apocolyptic compound?

2009-05-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

So, we're down here in San Diego. We arrived on Monday, and we've mostly been just resting, enjoying the sunshine and the pool, and recovering from finals and the move. We got our stuff from the ABF terminal yesterday. My brother Matthew and my sister Stephanie's husband Michael were kind enough to help Jake with moving the furniture and heavy stuff. We also had more little helpers wanting to carry things than we had lightweight, unbreakable objects to let them carry--for a while Steph was posted by the U-haul ramp, lifting off one little boy after another as they repeatedly tried to follow their dad and uncles up into the truck. Stephanie, Michael, and their five sons are here visiting for a week. I'm very glad of this chance to see them, as they're moving to New York next month and we probably won't be seeing them for the next three or four years. It's just too far to be able to afford to visit.

Jake's bar review course starts a week from Monday. It's really worked out great that the course starts two weeks later than we originally thought. Jake's been working so hard on finals and was so tired of studying, I'm very grateful that he wasn't launched directly from finals to moving to hard studying again.

Elizabeth's been doing great. I was prepared for her to have a hard time when we first got here and she was in a new place with new noises and a whole pack of relatives she's not used to, but she never did. She's happy and healthy and almost always sleeps through the night, though lately she's been getting up quite a bit earlier than she used to. This morning we went 'swimming' for the first time. We turned the water in the hot tub to ninety degrees and got Lizzie all ready with a big hat, baby sunscreen, a swim diaper and a onesie to hold the swim diaper in place (they didn't have any swim diapers at the store sized for ten pounders). And she loved it! She didn't even care when her cousin jumped in and splashed water on her, since I've been intentionally letting a little water splash in her face each time I bathe her--thanks to Grandma Tina's advice. She didn't much like getting out of the water though, or getting the wet onesie peeled off of her. She would have been perfectly happy to just stay there.

Well, love to you all, we hope you're all doing well, too. Have fun in Sadona, Condes! We wish we could have gone and spent some time with you there.