Bouncy Seat Adventures

Jared now has figured out how to play with his toys.

This makes him tired, but will not stop him from keeping a hold on those toys.

He really loves this seat. He talks and laughs and plays in it all day long!

Essence of Women

I've been reading and rereading this article by Sheri Dew about motherhood that my mother-in-law sent me. It's really made me reflect on what being a woman is about. I don't really have a concrete opinion that I could share. But I've really enjoyed thinking about it. I just love the idea that motherhood is more and is before giving birth. Just read it- it says more, better than I can.

100 days

I counted. It's been great to have Jared a part of our home. He is (usually) the most smiley, forgiving, and angelic person we've got here! In his first 100 days he's done many things: set laundry records, kept our left shoulders appropriately damp, learned to smile and laugh, gotten us all to increase our time on the floor, helped me to get moving and walking and bouncing, won family singing endurance contests, started flirting with the ladies, developed his lung capacity significantly, come to love bath time, come to dislike bedtime, increased his attention span, become increasingly more adorable and much much more!

Thanks for reading this far! Here is a bonus video:

Why Ken is Great

Last night was a little tough with the little one and I was, um, a little cranky. When I woke up for the day, I found a love note on the kitchen table. It reminded me why I love Ken. Here are some of the reasons:

• Unexpected love notes
• Back rubs while I do dishes (should probably be studying, but isn't)
  
• He is always the first to stop being mad when we quarrel
• Excellent at rocking Jared to sleep
• Always cuddles me when I come (back) to bed, even if he is completely asleep
• Makes serious efforts to work on the Honey Do list
• Keeps our computers functioning
• Brings me chocolates for no reason at all
• Tells me I'm beautiful when I'm feeling like a frumpy housewife and really means it!

I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man!

L-3 internship

Last week Ken finished his internship with L-3 communications in Salt Lake. They were a great company and treated us really well. We're so glad that he had the opportunity to work there- great benefits, great pay, good management, cool projects. It was a wonderful experience and maybe we'll look into working there after Ken is done with school. He gave his final presentation on Wednesday. So on Thursday we went out to celebrate! We went to see the movie UP. It was an excellent movie, very different than the average animated film.
However, I am glad Ken won't be driving that commute anymore!

Little Traveler

Today, Jared proved that he can move with the best of them. He kicked himself off the couch (he's fine, he landed on a comforter), across the length of his crib and out of his pants!
This is the first time that he has really had the power to exercise his will on us!

Meal planning

This week I planned our meals before I went shopping. This may not seem monumental, but I have thought about/ committed to doing this for a while now. I usually just go and make sure I have the basics: Salad supplies, tomatoes, bread, milk, eggs and any of the things we ran out of this past week. But as Ken pointed out, I forget about a fair amount of things in the back of the fridge and we are letting our money rot.
So I planned meals for this week. Even wrote them down! I am trying out a few new recipes like a London Broil and Cheese Enchiladas. Now I'll have to see if my planning feels worth it. Or maybe we'll just go back to Spaghetti 3-4 times a week.

Sunday Dress-UP

This is a picture of Jared in his outfit that used to belong to his Uncle Peter (My brother). Hence the P on the jacket. It is soooo cute. This lovely Sunday outfit was made by my dear Aunt Greta. We're especially careful not to get this one dirty as it is heirloom-esque.