My Little Carrot Top

Preston got his 9-month pictures taken about a month ago, and I have to admit that I am quite pleased with how cute they turned out. He is such a little sweetheart and I thought now would be a great time to tell everyone a little more about him.


Preston is a total flirt. He smiles big and sticks out his cute little hand to wave at everyone he sees, but the second anyone moves to try to hold him, he ducks behind my arm. Should some well-intentioned person grab him before he gets a chance to hide, he immediately fusses and leans back to me. Then he turns back to them and smiles apologetically as if to say, "I really do like you, but I need to hold my Mommy right now."

He's also a little snuggle bug. He loves to be held and is such a happy little guy as long as he is in my arms. Everyone is so surprised when I tell them that he's a bit of a high-need baby because most people have never heard him cry. I remind them that they've also never seen him by himself. :) I call him my velcro baby. It's as if I've had a piece of velcro securing him to my left hip, where he's spent the last 10 months. He also loves to crawl over and rest his head on my tummy when I'm laying down. He's so precious and personable and just loves to be close.

Preston also loves music, singing and dancing, and he's a real groover. He also happens to be hopelessly mischievous and loves to do things just because he knows he's being naughty. He quietly gets into everything within reach and can make a bigger mess in less time than any baby I know. And he has the most curious little hands! He grabs everything within arms reach. He also loves to tease, and he laughs so hard when I pretend to eat his hands or feet, but he just can't resist putting them in my mouth over and over.

Food is another great joy in his life. If it were up to him, he'd probably nurse until he's five or six (good thing it's not up to him). But he loves all kinds of food, especially big-people food, and he makes impatient grunting noises when it's not coming as fast as he wants it. And I have to admit, he does have the temper of a red-head. The reason I don't let him cry much is because he never just whimpers or complains, he wails! He's very opinionated and stubborn when he gets his mind set on something. But surprisingly, he is very patient with Adelyn and all her bullying. He absolutely adores her and loves to laugh and play with her.

Preston also absolutely loves Ryan. He's never more excited than when Ryan comes home from work. They're buds and they like to veg together on the couch and talk about boy stuff (well, maybe someday they will--now it's mostly just garbling from Preston's end). Ryan and I feel very lucky to have such a great little guy to love and care for. We really couldn't have asked for a sweeter little boy. We love you, Preston!

Third Annual Ostler Reunion in Heber

We spent this past weekend enjoying our Ostler Family Reunion at the Heber Valley Camp. It is the perfect place for my abnormally large family to get together and spend a few days because we sleep in cabins, have running water and electricity, flushing toilets, and even showers. It also has several challenges courses and a lake that you can canoe across. Typically the men play bocce, volleyball, and go hiking while the women cook, talk, and talk some more. It is always a great time. And best of all, this year no one got sick!

This is a pretty good depiction of how Adelyn feels about camping. She was probably the happiest she has ever been. She loves being outside, playing in the dirt, sleeping in a sleeping bag, playing with cousins, and enjoying the fresh air.

Adelyn has two girl cousins her same age, but she rarely gets to see them because they live in Georgia and Arizona. But they had the greatest time playing and getting to know each other better. They put on a great show playing with Adelyn's instrument set and marching around like they were in a band. It was so cute to watch.

This was the last picture we took with our old camera. Somewhere between loading two screaming kids into a paddle boat, our camera slipped out of my pocket (or perhaps it was kicked out by a squirming baby) into the lake. After searching for 45 minutes, my brother Jay, brother-in-law Jake, and nephew Daniel somehow managed to find it at the bottom of the lake and fish it out with a pole and net. It was quite amazing to watch actually. We saved the memory card, but unfortunately the camera got a little too wet and is now nothing more than an expensive piece of metal. I was sad that we have no pictures of us doing the challenge course. I finally got to do the zip-line and Adelyn wanted to do it so bad. She climbed half-way up and lost her grip, but she wasn't scared at all and was mad that she didn't get another chance. Fortunately, there's always next year.

My Tribute to Julia

Happy 25th Julia!

I thought I would sneak this little post in to clear up the fact that I am not the amazing one in the family. That it is clearly my wife Julia. Without her, all would fall apart. Here are just a few things that sum up who she is:

STYLISH: Julia is always looking her best, even when she says differently. I can't help saying I am married to one fine babe.

STUDIOUS: It would be impossible to have an RN and not be a little smart. What they fail to recognize is that Julia is more than just a little smart. She is the smartest person I know. She has never known what it is like to get even an A- in school, and she continues to learn and expand her mind. What a genius.

ROMANTIC: I have really become lax in my old age, but Julia is happy to surprise me with a card or little note, stuck in my lunch box, or send an email with a pick-me-up message, along with many other little romantic and kind acts to say I love you.

ATHLETIC: I could never imagine being pregnant, gaining @#! pounds, and then having to exercise it all back off. I would just stay fat and lazy for the rest of my life. Not Julia. She would run four times a day if I would let her. She loves exploring new trails, sweating hard, and running fast. I love how committed she is to her physique, so we can both live well into our old age and fulfill our goals and dreams.

COMPASSIONATE: Nobody is as sweet and loving as my wife. She just knows how to care for people, how to make them feel special, unique, and important. She is always fretting about having quality relationships with her family, my family, and of course within our little family. She has a capacity to give that would wipe the average person completely out. What an extraordinary gift she is to us all.

DETERMINED: There is nothing she can't do and nothing she sets her mind to that she will not accomplish. She gives all her heart and mind to things. Some of this looks like competitiveness, which I'll say she is very good at. There are few games we play any more because she always won, and it is hard to run with her as well, because she has some inner drive saying it is a race or something...which means she must win. :)

MOTHERLY: Julia just loves her kids to no end. She prays for them, she carries them around, she heals their owies, wipes their tears, cleans their clothes, cooks their meals, dresses them, bathes them, teaches them, and just about anything else she can possibly manage to keep them happy and content. What a great mom to have around.

ARTISTIC: One of Julia's favorite things is scrapbooking. She is a scrapbook extraordinaire. She is so good at it too. These kids are lucky to have her, because they will be able to keep memories for a lifetime. Her own memories are fun to read as well.

So there you have it. It is not a complete list, but a good start, to let all of you know what an exceptional wife I have, and only a quarter century old to boot. I can't wait to see what the next quarter has to offer. :) I love you honey!

A Tribute to my Ryan

Today is Ryan’s 29^th birthday, and I thought now would be a good time to tell the world about how much I love and admire him. We have been married over 5 ½ years and have grown so much together. Mostly, I have grown to love everything about him and stand in awe of what an amazing person I'm married to. He is probably the most well-rounded and passionate person I have ever known. Here is just a sample of some of his many strengths (in no particular order). Sorry, this is going to be long.

Athlete: He plays nearly every sport, though he definitely has his favorites. He was an all-star baseball pitcher growing up. He has played tons of soccer and has a life-long dream of becoming a professional golfer. Running is just a hobby, but after just a couple months of moderate training, he ran a 3:28 marathon (just under 8-minute mile pace). He also loves cycling and doing anything outdoors.

Romantic: Although he probably prefers action movies, he is always willing to snuggle up and watch a good chic-flick with me. He loves plays and operas, and was on the ballroom dance team at UVSC for a year. He always writes me nice notes and makes my day by doing the little things.

Father: He loves nothing more than making our children laugh. He is a professional bed-time story teller and silly-song-singer. He loves our kids so much and always finds ways to have quality time with each of them to give me a good break. Adelyn is a total daddy’s girl. He teaches her how to cook, play soccer, draw cartoon characters, and wrestle. He's a much funner parent than I am; I often find myself telling both Adelyn and Ryan to be reverent in church.

Teacher: I never imagined being as proud of my husband’s profession as I am. Everywhere I go, I meet people who know Mr. Rocque, the French teacher at Lakeridge Junior High. He is well-loved by all of his students and their parents. He just absolutely loves his job! He teaches his students that learning can be fun, cultural awareness is important, and your teacher can also be your friend.

Student: He loves learning and is always teaching me new things. He speaks three languages fluently and can speak bits of five or six others. We always joke that he writes better in French than in English. He reads a lot and keeps up with world events and politics, and somehow gets almost perfect grades in all of his university classes. He has finished 19 years of school and plans to complete at least five more with his PhD. He is also one of the most efficient and focused people I’ve ever known.

Mr. Fix-it: He LOVES to assemble things. The second we get home with something that needs to be assembled, he is reading the instructions and putting it together. He has learned how to install flooring, change out light fixtures, and install all kinds of appliances. A few years ago, he drew up blue prints and constructed a full-size computer desk just from looking at a picture he found in a magazine. He also changes the oil on our cars and can even replace the brakes.

Chef and Food Connoisseur: I prefer his cooking to anyone else’s, including most restaurants. He makes cooking into an art and rarely follows a recipe. He loves cooking every kind of food and is always up for a new challenge. He once made a lasagne that had about 30 ingredients (seven different kinds of meat alone) and two pages of instructions! Food Network is by far his favorite TV station.

Tourist: He is a world traveler and is always itching to go somewhere new. He loves learning about different cultures, trying new food, seeing old buildings and historical sites, and learning about the people.

Missionary: He was an extremely devoted and obedient missionary. He popped out of bed every morning and went straight to work. Using his love for languages and study of culture, he became immersed in the people of Ukraine and touched their hearts with his great love for the gospel. For months after he came home, he cried every time he went to a grocery store and refused to sleep on a mattress (Ukraine is a very poor country).

Priesthood Holder: He has always been a worthy and valiant priesthood holder. He loves the gospel and is a great scriptorian and teacher. He has always made temple attendance a priority and is always available to give a blessing to our family. He makes sure that we say our prayers, read our scriptures, and do FHE every week, and he presides over our home in a loving and patient way.

Musician: He was the French horn first chair in the American Fork band in high school. He also taught himself how to play the piano and can play most of the hymns and other great classics. He also has a really good voice. One of my first memories of him (before we even met) was of him singing a French aria for our single’s ward talent show. He has perfect pitch, though he often forgets the words.

Friend: He gets along with all kinds of people and can usually find something in common with anyone. He hates teasing and sarcasm and very rarely speaks negatively about other people. He is also very forgiving and understanding. He loves people genuinely and always wants the best for everyone.

I love you so much, Ryan. Happy Birthday!!

Discovery Gateway

If you still haven't made it down to the new children's museum at the Gateway, it is my hope that this blog entry will convinced you that it is definitely worth the money and the trip. This place is a children's paradise! It has every neat toy a kid could ever dream of, all in a safe, clean, fun environment. Adelyn just went crazy running around from activity to activity. They have music, games, crafts, kid-size houses and automobiles, a farm land, a fountain you can play in, and much, much more! Here is a sample of what we did:

Adelyn rowed across the river...

Drove through the city...

Picked out all her food a the grocery store
and paid for it at the cash register...

Came home and cooked it...

Then she and her friend Alexis Rigby served us the lunch they made.

This is all of us: me with my kids, Leslie with her daughter Emma, and Emily with her daughter Alexis and son Kevin. Leslie and Emily are two of my good friends from high school. It was great to get together again and catch up while our kids had the time of their lives.

They even have a real-size life-flight helicopter and a control tower. Amazing!

There is also a pre-walker area where Preston hung out most of the time. He loved it!

Warning: this is a possible side effect of spending about 3 1/2 hours being over-stimulated and running around like crazy at "Discovery Gateway." But as you probably already guessed, I think it was worth it!

The New Plan

Well for those of you who don't already know, amidst all of this housing uncertainty over the last few months, we were also very up in the air regarding our future plans. Ryan was accepted to a doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin, but we had waited forever (it seemed) and still hadn't heard back from BYU. I ought to mention that Ryan had not even discussed with his principal the possibility that he might not be returning to teach next year. He had also gone so far as to accept the position of student council adviser for the 2008-2009 school year. As far as future educational paths were concerned, however, whether or not Ryan would be accepted to BYU was a rather important detail while shopping for a house...um, which state should we be looking in: Texas or Utah?

Toward the beginning of April, I had all but resigned myself to the fact that he wasn't going to be accepted to BYU and that I ought to start seriously considering Texas survival techniques (in fact, I spent several feverish days looking into cross-country moving, campus housing, Medicaid and other government help, etc., etc.). Ryan called me one evening from his school with the announcement that he had a full schedule of French classes next year and would no longer be able to be the student council adviser. I was floored and elated--I hated the idea of him being so busy again with extra-curricular activities. He had gone from just five sections of French this year to over seven sections; they even had to turn some students away because there wasn't room. Amazing! He is such a great teacher and the kids love him so much! So, now we're thinking: "Maybe God wants us to stay even though he might not get into BYU?"

So, we continued the Utah County house hunt. To condense the end of an already really long story, Ryan got into the BYU program! But by the time we found out, we had already put an offer on this house in American Fork and had pretty much decided to stay regardless. I think God sometimes makes you take a step in the dark before the path becomes clear again. It is amazing how everything has worked out after such a long time of uncertainty and confusion. We are so happy to finally have some direction again. Ryan will start his Educational Leadership doctoral program at BYU this summer and be able to continue teaching at Lakeridge full-time, which he absolutely loves. The program is 5-6 years and he'll probably be really busy that whole time, but at least we know that it is the direction that God wants for us.


As for me, the only new thing is that I am going to start back at my old job at Utah Valley Hospital. My first day back is this Friday. I will just do one night shift a week. Thankfully, Preston has decided to be a good sleeper and even sleeps in his own bed and loves it, so it should work out pretty nicely. Anyway, sorry for the long journal entry. I PROMISE to actually download some pictures and have a much funner post soon.

Home Owners Again--Finally

So, for those of you who don't know, we got out condo under contract to sell in February and planned to close April 21. Ryan was so busy at the time that he recounts that he literally came home from work one day and our condo was sold. We felt like we had plenty of time to find a new place and we were very optimistic that we were going to get a great deal in this falling market.

Well to make a VERY long story short, we put nearly full-price bids on three different houses (two townhomes and a house) and didn't get any of them. At the beginning of April, we found ourselves miserable and completely unsure of what we were going to do. Ryan was starting to wonder whether allowing me to sell our house so suddenly had been such a good idea after all (I was thinking the exact same thing).

Finally, we found a house that we really wanted in American Fork and put in a pretty low offer. The seller counter-offered with a price just $1000 below the asking price. Yikes! We countered again about in the middle, and the seller countered back by asking to have an entire week to decide while he went on a cruise and he worked with another couple who had also given him an offer. That did not sound fun to us at all, so we asked him what it would take to get under contract before he went on his cruise; he told us to submit a full-price offer. After a little deliberation, we did. Yikes again!

We were getting our loan all ready and moving forward quickly when, before the seller was even back in town, the appraisal came $7000 under the asking price. When the seller came back into town, he was quite upset and wanted to talk to the appraiser, who by then was out of town for a week (what's with all of this vacation time in April?!) He insisted on talking with the appraiser before committing to anything. After another long week, we submitted an addendum to purchase the home for the appraised value, and the seller finally accepted it ONE day before the day we were supposed to close. As of yesterday, we have signed all of the paperwork and we are once again homeowners. We have been living with in-laws for two weeks, and it is such a relief to know that we will soon have our own space again.

Like I said, the house is in American Fork. It is actually a twin home, but it has its own land with it and no HOA fees. It has four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a two-car garage, and (my favorite feature) the laudry is upstairs where all the bedrooms are! It also has an unfinished basement, so we will have room to grow. It is everything we were looking for (and more, really)and we think we'll absolutely love living in American Fork where we are closer to family. Ryan graduated from AF High, so he will feel right at home. We feel like everything has worked out exactly as it was supposed to and we are excited to start a new chapter in our lives, although we were sad to leave Provo and our friends there. But stay tuned...we will probably throw a house warming party in a couple of weeks!

Easter Bunnies

Since Easter usually comes in April, I decided it wasn't too late to post about it. (Although, I do admit to falling miserably behind on my blogging lately.) So, anyway, here goes.

In preparation for the Easter egg hunts, Adelyn and I practiced our "hunting" skills by taking turns being the Easter bunny and hiding her rubber ducky. She was so cute. She would either hide it in plain site or in the place I just barely hid it. But of course, I humored her and took an EXTREMELY long time finding it every time.

Egg Hunt #1: Unsure whether the folks were going to host any other egg hunts, I took matters into my own hands and bought a TON of candy and eggs and invited Addie's friends to have an egg hunt here at our complex. They had a good time, and it was a good warm-up for the more serious egg hunts...

Apparently, Adelyn thought we should just skip the pictures and just get on with the candy eating.

Egg Hunt #2: Pioneer Park. Personally, I thought this one was a waste of time. Way too many kids and far too little chocolate, I mean candy--ya know, for the kids. :)

Egg Hunt #3: Rocque residence. Much better bang for your buck. Only five kids and probably 100 eggs! Grandma Rocque LOVES to spoil her grandkids.

A little mommy time.

It's all about family (and candy, of course).

Egg Hunt #4: Ostler residence. I forgot the camera, but it was VERY fun (lots of chocolate)! Mary hid all the eggs and the grandkids went wild. They were so cute because the older ones helped the younger ones and everyone shared in the end. Now, that's the true spirit of Easter.

Adelyn would not sit still for these pictures, but insisted on doing a dance indicating how happy she was to be dyeing Easter eggs.

Her favorite color is pink, and somehow all of her eggs reflected her preference. But she decided to make one of her eggs red for me because she knows it's my favorite. She also loved the "egg jackets" and stickers.

I think we found the "real" Easter Bunny. Really, I just had to throw in another shot of Preston. Of course, Addie thought this was the silliest thing ever--Preston with bunny ears. She laughed for a solid half hour.

Easter Day was really special. Personally, I had a really wonderful experience at church. The talks and musical numbers were fabulous and I really felt the Spirit. During the piano/violin duet of, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," I got out the hymn book and whispered the words to Adelyn. Before I knew it, I was bawling and couldn't even continue. That is such a powerful song. No wonder it was a favorite of Joseph Smith's. Easter is such a wonderful celebration of Christ's life and resurrection and I was so grateful to have an opportunity to think more about Him and what His life means to me.

Happy Birthday Adelyn!

My darling Adelyn officially turned three on March 28th, though she has been a 3-year old in my head for quite some time now. We had a great time celebrating with family and friends.

She has been obsessed with Dora the Explorer for almost a year now and has been talking about the Dora birthday party she would have when she turned three. Every time we talked about it, she said, "And we'll have party hats and a Dora cake."

So, I decided to make my little girl's dream a reality by throwing her a Dora Adventure party. We had to follow the "Map" to find the lost party hats. The kids had to go over the Black Troll Bridge (after solving the troll's riddle, of course), go around the brown table three times (counting in Spanish), go down the red slide, through the dark tunnel using a flashlight they got from "Backpack" (seen above photo), then pop the balloons to find the clue to where the party hats were hidden. It was so much fun. I got the Dora music from the library, so the kids felt like they were part of the real thing. They were all so cute.

Preston even managed to "Swipe" a party hat.

We had the family over for spaghetti afterwards. This is Adelyn's cousin Savanna, whose birthday is the day before Adelyn's, so we celebrated her birthday too.

Here's the cake she wanted so badly. It was delicious and came with a "Swiper the Fox" chaser toy.

Buried in presents--Adelyn couldn't be happier.

Adelyn has wanted a piggy bank to store her coins for a long time. My sister Verna gave her this darling one that Adelyn got to paint herself. This is the finished product after 45 minutes of Ryan patiently helping her. They did such a good job!

What to do About Preston?

Well, I keep wanting to update this, but don't know what to say. My life is currently nuts! My whole family is sick (again), Ryan is still working like crazy to finish up his thesis (basically, I am a single mother), we are still house shopping, and both my kids have been ultra difficult and needy through it all (no doubt because they feel terrible, like I do).

Now that I'm finished complaining (yeah right), I wanted to discuss my baby in particular. Aren't babies supposed to like to sleep and spend at least a portion of the day and most (if not all) of the night engaged in the task? Aren't babies supposed to like riding in the car, sucking on a binkie, and being held by other people? My baby doesn't like any of these things. He takes pleasure in only one thing in his little world--me. I am his food supply, his teething ring (OUCH!), his soft and warm napping habitat, his amusement park, his protector, his garbage disposal, etc., etc. This has always been difficult, but I was content to know that he would eventually grow out of it and everything would be fine. However, my dear Preston is now approaching eight months old and his habits are really starting to wear me down and affect my ability to give anything else to Adelyn, Ryan, or myself.

Sleeping (or the lack of it) is a huge issue right now. In order to get my spirited baby to nap, I have to rock and sing to him for 30-40 minutes, carefully lay him down, and tip-toe out of the room. He will either wake up immediately and refuse to go back to sleep (unless I hold him the whole nap), wait ten minutes and do the same thing, or give me a blissful 30 minutes before he wakes up. That is the best I can hope for. Meanwhile, I have to keep Adelyn engaged in something and quiet so she doesn't disturb this delicate process. Many times, she comes in and demands one thing or another and I have to restart the process all over again. This is ridiculous, I know, but I am completely at a loss for what to do. He also wakes up all night long, often hourly.

I've tried a number of things to teach him to sooth himself. But because he won't take a binkie, has fierce separation anxiety, and has a very low stimuli threshold for awakening, the whole process seems doomed to fail. He used to nap in the swing, but now he's too big for it. What on earth can I do for this boy? First, I need to get him over his current sickness. But after that I need to make some major changes and help this kid be more independent so our family has more harmony and balance. I am open to any and all suggestions...

My Better Half

I got tagged by both Leslie and Heather, so it's high time I stop procrastinating.

1. What is his name? Ryan Kevin Marshall Rocque (yes, he has two middle names).
2. How long have you been married? 5 1/2 years.
3. How long did you date? Four months dating; four months engaged. I insisted that I at least turn 19 before we tied the knot.
4. How old is he? 28, but he often blends in quite well with his junior high students. He recently grew a mustache to remedy the problem, but has since (finally!) shaved it off. :)
5. Who eats more sweets? Definitely me, but he can hold his own when he's in the mood.
6. Who said I love you first? Neither of us remember for sure. I would guess that he did, and he'd guess that I did. I suppose we'll have to peruse my dusty journals to know for sure.
7. Who is taller? Ryan, but only by a couple inches. Fortunately, heels and I have never gotten along too well.
8. Who can sing better? We both LOVE to sing! And far too loudly at times. I usually get the words right and he has a really good ear. So, I guess we make a good duet.
9. Who is smarter? We are both good "students," but he is much more creative and well-rounded.

10. Who does the laundry? Me, because I'm quite particular about how it's done. I have to make sure all the stains come out of my kids' clothes which is almost a full-time job in and of itself :) Sometimes I have to soak them in Tide for a week or more. And I feel crazy if it's not all folded and put away the same day it's washed.

11. Who pays the bills? Me. But Ryan does the taxes. He doesn't much care about the money going out. Oh, but the money coming in...now that is worth getting involved in.
12. Who sleeps on the right side? Lately it's been me because the alarm is on the left side and I stay as far away from that thing as possible these days.
13. Who mows the lawn? The landscaping boys who come every Monday morning bright and early in the summer. But I'm banking (hoping) that Ryan will take that one on once we get our own yard. He also takes care of the cars and ALWAYS shovels the walks immediately after it snows, bless his heart.
14. Who cooks dinner? Mostly me. Unless we want a "real" restaurant-quality meal complete with five courses--that would be Ryan's forte.
15. Who drives? Always Ryan. I used to hate this, but I decided to love it. I get to relax while he deals with the other Utah drivers. And anytime I drive, I regret it because he is an unbearably anxious and opinionated passenger (back-seat driver).
16. Who kissed who first? That's a funny story actually. Ryan thought I wanted him to kiss me after our second date. (Apparently, I was giving him the eyes.) He drove all the way home and then came BACK to make sure that I didn't feel jilted. I laughed and informed him that he had totally misread me. After all, I was a "slow mover." We kissed for the first time two days later and he never had to ask what my eyes were saying. (Oops, so much for my moving slow.)
17. Who asked who out first? Another good story. Ryan asked me out the first time after our singles' ward FHE. Although we weren't going out until Saturday, he called me everyday that week until Friday, when I called him to come over and watch "Life is Beautiful" with a group of my friends. He showed up on Saturday with a bouquet of flowers and said "Bonjourno Princcipesa!" (If you haven't seen that movie, you need to.) I was a gonner from Day 1.
18. Who proposed? Ryan did. Let's just say fire trucks, music, and lots of roses. You get the idea...
19. Who has more siblings? I do! I am the youngest of 10; he is the second oldest of six. But my family is at least triple the size of his. My family parties have always been much more boisterous than his are. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is not too far off for us.
20. Who wears the pants? Hmm. Good question. I think we have a pretty good balance that way. We try not to step on each others toes. But his toes are probably more frequently injured, if you know what I mean.

My tag-ees are: Andrea, Ashley, and Heather J.

Feeding Time!

So, I think this picture speaks for itself. Wide-eyed Preston is bracing himself for a let down. His sister Adelyn told him long ago to steer clear of baby food and just wait around for the good stuff (big-people food). Thanks to Ryan, Adelyn's first food other than milk was a chocolate-chip cookie. (I wasn't home to stop him, but he took pictures so I have evidence.) As a result, baby food did not go over too well. Her taste buds knew there were far better things out there and she would spit the food out as fast as we tried to shovel it in.

We started feeding Preston rice cereal this past month and, notwithstanding his sister's advice, he actually eats it pretty well. Most of the time, however, he seems more interested in grabbing the spoon than he is in eating the food (see below). He pulls horrible faces when I give him other foods like sweet potatoes or pears, but bless his heart, he eats it anyway. I love my darling growing boy!

House Showing and Hunting

Another month has passed. But unlike January, I know exactly what I've been doing these last four weeks, and unfortunately, blogging has not been too high on the "to do" list. We put our condo up for sale (by owner) on February 4th. Then after showing it 14 times and getting many other calls on it, we got two serious offers. As of February 23rd, it is under contract and expected to close on April 21st. Yeah!! Meanwhile, we are house shopping... We are looking anywhere from Orem to Lehi for either a house or town home (probably the latter, but we'll see). It has been nuts!!! Ryan also has to turn in his final draft of his thesis to his committee. So, while we were writing up the contract to sell our home, Ryan had me proof-read his 95-page beast of a paper. On top of that, Preston is teething and won't let me put him down. So all of the above items have to be done with one hand. I feel like a cripple, but what can you do!? I sleep very little thanks to all this stress and busyness, but life is bound to slow down soon. Well, there's a quick update. Hopefully, I can write more soon and post some cute pictures too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a picture of Adelyn with her Valentine buddy Jaron. They made Valentine's crowns and took pictures. They are so cute!

This morning I woke up to a nice little Valentine from Ryan and I am excited to give him his gift when he gets home. Hopefully we'll be able to find a babysitter so we can actually go out for a change.

Mothers Beware

"Insanity is hereditary...you get it from your kids." :)

The Lost January

I don't know if it has been the same for anyone else, but I am completely at a loss for where January got off to. I cannot remember a single thing about the month apart from nursing children back to health (through several sicknesses) and cleaning my house (over and over and over). Fortunately, I did take some pictures as evidence that the month did actually happen. According to the pictures...

We got bundled up every time we went out so as to combat the freezing cold and prevent sickness (much good it did, though).

We painted Adelyn's nails (look closely), ate some delicious hot dogs (or at least Addie and Ryan did), and sometimes wore sad faces.

We held each other close... or rather I held both my children at the same time, all day, everyday while they were sick. I realized that the only thing worse than a sick child is sick child'ren'. It has been a tricky juggling act, and I'm grateful that my mom came up to help me a couple of days last week, or I'm afraid none of us would have survived.

We played games and did puzzles. Adelyn was obsessed with this puzzle which she referred to as "my Strawberry Shortcake game." We did it over and over together and now she can assemble all 63 pieces by herself. It is quite amazing to watch!

We smiled a lot, especially Preston who rarely finds any reason to be sad.

We danced around the house.

I bargained with Adelyn for some computer time. She loves playing her "Winnie the Pooh" and "Mickey Mouse" preschool games. She's learning so much about colors, numbers, and letters. And Ryan and I are so proud that our two year-old can already "drag and click. "

We goofed around and just spent lots of quality time together indoors. How grateful we were to be sheltered from the cold and surrounded by the people we love most. Hopefully in the coming months we will encounter a little more productivity and a little less sickness, but isn't it amazing what you can get through when you stick together.