Today while we were driving home from Grandma's house, I signed and said to Tralee, "I love you!" This was the reaction I got. EVERYTIME!! So, I kept telling her I loved her, just to see her smile like this. This is the same kind of face my brother -- who will always be a child in this life -- Todd makes. It's a face glowing with unadulterated happiness. There are no clouds of confusion or doubt behind that smile. She simply knows that she is loved -- without a doubt!!
Jim and I went to the temple today -- two times in one month!! I can't believe it. I hear of couples going to the temple once a week. Good for them. I'll be honest, we struggle getting there once a month. So. . . two times this month is good for us. Jim's Aunt and Uncle are temple workers, and were there today. It was nice to see them, but I had a semi-awkward moment with Jim's aunt. I thought she was moving in for a hug, when she was just moving something out of the way for me. I went in for the hug right as I realized she was just trying to move something. . . AWKWARD!! Oh well. The temple was nice, there were a few couples from our ward there.
Grandma Tricia and Grandpa Jeff watched Tralee for us again. She only cried for five minutes, then she played outside until nap time. At nap time Grandma put Tralee in bed, handed her her Elmo doll, said "night night," and Tralee was snoozing in five minutes! Good girl. She never goes down that easy for me. Why is that? I guess she figures she can get away with it, because I give into her crying way to often. I need to work on that. Naughty Mommy! It's just that she's oh-so-snuggly and cute when I lift her out of her crib. But, I'm afraid doing this has created a bad habit. A habit that needs to be broken. Especially because now I KNOW for sure that Tralee is just toying with me. She goes to sleep SO WELL for others, but when I'm around she's a stinker. It's time for me to toughen up, and let Tralee know I mean business at bedtime. It's not too late to create a good sleeper. She already is a good sleeper, just not for me. I think this is one of those things that's harder for the Mommy than it is for the baby. I'm such a wuss! Well, wuss no more! Tonight I'm going to stick to the bedroom routine I've been veering away from. Hopefully it will go as smoothly with me, as it did with Grandma Tricia.
Tralee and I are going back to Grandma Tricia's for dinner. She's hosting a BBQ. Jim might pop in towards the end of it, but he's golfing with his cousin and his cousin's dad who is in town from Canada. I need to print out my Primary stuff also. So, I don't think I'll be hanging out at Tricia and Jeff's for very long.
It's been pretty much the norm around here. Nothing exciting to report. I have managed to put a bit more love into our meals lately, to Jim's delight. Tralee has now decided that she wants to go down the stairs like a big girl. I think she came to this conclusion when we were at some of our friends' in the ward house. They have a little girl a bit older than Tralee, and she was going down the stairs, while holding onto the handrail. Tralee had been taking the stairs on her tummy, so seeing someone her size going down like an adult must have been appealing. Since then, Tralee wants to walk down the stairs. The first few shaky times she liked to hold onto our hands, but she's too cool for that now. She uses the wall for support, and only requires our help on occasion.
What a big girl!!
Jim has now joined a Hockey League. Tonight was his first game, and I have yet to hear how it went. I told him before he left that I want him to come home with his teeth still attached to his head. I'm sorry, but even in my heart-of-hearts I just don't find toothless men sexy. I'm also not quite ready to add denture application to my shopping list. I am excited to see if Jim had fun. He admitted that it's been a LONG time since he's played hockey. But, Jim's the kind of person that picks things up like that. Since we've been married we've learned to snowboard and wake board together. I still suck at both, while Jim was doing tricks and jumps his first time around. Don't these kind of people drive you a little crazy? And, if you are one of these people (I know a few who read my blog) -- You kind of drive me crazy, but I still love you.
Since Jim was playing hockey, I took Tralee to my Primary Presidency meeting tonight. She did rather well running around and playing with the toys I brought. I was very proud of her. I put together a new calendar/newsletter for the adults in Primary. I think the other members of the presidency appreciated my efforts, and that always feels nice to know that you did a good thing. I'm excited to see if the newsletter helps the teachers, and I had fun putting it together. Although my new calling is a bit overwhelming at times, I enjoy every minute I'm doing it. I know I have help and inspiration coming from above.
Here are some pictures we took from Monday night at the Burk's. Here is Tralee and Brinley playing together. They're only a week apart in age, but Tralee towers over Brinley. I feel for her already. I was ALWAYS the tallest girl in class. I was ALWAYS on the top row for school pictures, and I ALWAYS felt a little awkward with my tallness. Now I love it, and I hope to have Tralee embrace the height God gave her.
Future pianists?
Tralee's a very musical girl. She LOVES to dance, listen to tunes, and she has good rhythm. I have high hopes for her in the music department. . . that is if she wants to.
The title is for lack of a creative idea. It's really just what I'm doing right now. Boring, I know. I'm getting hungry as I watch. I've been horrid in the kitchen lately. I have not been motivated to cook. Poor Jim. Instead of coming home to the scents of a fresh homemade dinner, he comes home to me sheepishly stating that there's nothing to eat. I try to scrounge something up, but the meals have been lackluster to say the least. Maybe watching Iron Chef will get me motivated to cook an exceptional dinner tomorrow night.
I didn't have to worry about cooking anything for dinner last night. We went to Jim's Aunt Michelle's house for family night. However, our tin-foil dinner plan got rained upon, so The Burks ordered pizza instead. I met Jim there as he and Uncle Roman went golfing first. We played games after eating a sufficient amount of pizza. I enjoyed playing games with the Burks, but Tralee got more and more fussy as time ticked away. I finally threw in the towel, and decided to take Tralee home. She was grateful, and fell asleep on the way home.
An install Jim was going to work on today got pushed back, so he went golfing instead. Don't you feel sorry for him? Poor guy gets to go golfing all the time! He always tells me how much he appreciates the fact that I support and encourage him to play golf. He tells me about wives who get furious when their man wants to go golfing. My feeling on the topic is this: He works really hard most days. So, why not let him blow off a little steam and have fun with a round of golf? He's so much more happy and grateful to come home after practicing his golf skills. ALSO, I know if I said, "Honey, I really need you to come help me out, instead of golfing." Jim would cancel his plans and drive right home. He's a good man that way. I love him.
I went visiting teaching today. I like my companion, she's a good egg. I also like the women we visit teach. It's always nice to get out of the house and visit with adults. Jim was home when I left to visit teach, so I left Tralee here. It was nice to visit with women, and not have to chase Tralee around simultaneously.
I'm sleepy now, and they're down to the judgments on Iron Chef. I want to see who wins.
Nighty night night.
****UPDATE**** I managed to cook a delightful non-boring meal Wednesday night. We had pasta with broccoli and scallops with a seafood garlic sauce. Very tasty!
Jim, Tralee, and I went to a Boise Burn game on Saturday night. Jim's cousin Jared Jacobs lives in Boise, and is able to get us tickets for certain sporting events, as he works with the sports arena in Boise. I really don't know the all the details, but sure appreciate the free tickets.
Sometimes Jim just goes and hangs out with his cousin, but this Saturday was Jared's birthday, and Jim told me his wife and daughters would be there, so I thought it would make for a fun family outing. I'm glad we all went. It was a fun night out of the house.
When we first arrived, Tralee was sleeping so we put her in her stroller, and met up with Jared. He took us up to the VIP lounge (I know, only the best for us), where we hung out most of the night. Tralee slept for the first hour or so, while the rest of us played a bubble hockey game. Ok, I'll be honest, I think I played one or two games before Jim and Jared took over. They really get into this thing. Plus Tralee woke up, so I watched her until Audie arrived with her little girls. Jared and Audie have a cute two-year-old named Jovie and a newborn named Oakley. Jovie and Tralee had fun running around. Every time Tralee spotted Jovie she started clapping. I think she needs to hang out with more kids her age. She got so excited to see someone her size. Here's a video Tralee chasing Jovie around a pillar-thing. Jovie looks more into it than Tralee, but Tralee was having fun too.
I had a lot of fun talking with Audie. I spend most of my days alone with Tralee, so whenever I'm around adults it's like an explosion of thoughts pour out of my mouth. When Jim was out-of-town last week I was really hurting for some adult conversation. When I went to the Primary Teacher Appreciation BBQ I think I talked way too much. I hope the people there didn't think I was crazy. It's funny that all I end up talking about is Tralee, even though I'm starved for adult interaction. Audie and I talked about our kids of course, but also discovered we were equally obsessed with the Twilight series. It was fun to speculate what's to come with our Bella and Edward. We only have to wait until August to find out. :)
After half-time we decided to go watch the game in the arena. Tralee heard people cheering in the VIP lounge, so every once in a while she would clap too. I was excited to see her reaction when we went into the football arena and she could see where all the noise was coming from. Tralee LOVED it! Her eyes were huge as she took all the sights and sounds in. When people cheered, she cheered. When music blasted she danced. She kept smiling and laughing. It was really fun to watch her. In fact, I think I watched her more than the game. I do know that the Burn lost. The final score was 40-46. Here's a video of Tralee and Jovie cheering for the Burn.
Tralee has been a busy girl the last few days. Some of her latest and greatest accomplishments have included:
Raiding the pantry Falling into the shower, fully clothed (this one was a big surprise for Mom -- who was IN the shower). Doing a funny little dance while jabbering and being cute.
That's all for now. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. We went to a Boise Burn game (a post of that soon to come), and when I got home I still had to do all of my Primary stuff for Sunday. I didn't go to bed until after 1:00 AM. Tralee decided to wake up shortly after that, and I couldn't fall back asleep if my life depended on it. I feel a little like a zombie. I tried napping after church while Tralee was napping, but my mind wouldn't stop racing. There's nothing stressing me out that I can think of. My mind isn't racing with negative thoughts. Most of my thoughts have included the Twilight series and what's going to happen next, the Uglies series and what's going to happen next, and a little project I've been working on and what's going to happen next with that. Silly me. I'm so easily excitable. If you have any suggestions for getting to sleep while your mind is overactive, please pass on the info.
Oh -- before I forget -- congrats to my brother and his wife for getting an offer on their condo. That things been on the market forever! HOORAY!! Hopefully everything will work out. Goodbye.
This video was taken a few weeks ago and I forgot about it, but I found it! Tralee gets a kick out of watching herself. She laughs and laughs at herself laughing. She's so funny!
Did anyone else think the American Idol finale was as good as I did? I genuinely loved all the performances. Usually Jim and I DVR American Idol and fast forward through the parts we don't want to watch. I watched almost all of it tonight with a big 'ol smile on my face and wished I could be there.
I'm happy with the results too. I would have been happy either way though, as both David's had remarkable talent. I just think that David Cook was more original, took more risks, and it seemed to pay out in the end. However, I did feel bad that "Archie" didn't win. He's so cute! I'm sure they'll both be successful in the end.
That's my two bits on the subject. Now what am I supposed to do with my Tuesday and Wednesday nights? Good thing I just got a new book from Amazon.com today. I started reading Uglies earlier today while Tralee was napping. It's pretty good so far.
Tralee makes this face a lot. Especially at the end of one of her jibber-jabber sessions. She'll babble babble babble, end with one final "Yap!" and then make this face. It's pretty cute.
My sister-in-law posted this on her blog a few days ago, and then my friend did shortly afterwards. I love it so much, I thought I would share it with all of you who read my blog.
Remember while watching this short video, that the pictures are all photographs of real people. I had to read all about how it was made on the Reflections of Christ website and blog. It's very moving. Enjoy.
Yesterday I was wondering why I haven't taken Tralee to the Y for the last few weeks. She loves to play in the water and I always have fun watching her play in YMCA's pool. I really don't know why I haven't taken her lately, and decided we better go today. So, after I did a bit of housework, Tralee and I drove to the Y and played in the water.
As I've mentioned before, Tralee has no fear. She doesn't want me to hold onto her at all. She wants to be totally dependent and be in the water all by herself. This is all okay, until Tralee decides to walk towards the deep end. So, I decided I might as well let her figure out why I'm always holding onto her in the water. I let her walk until the water got too deep, and then quickly picked her up as soon as she realized she was literally "in too deep." Then I explained, "That's why Mommy holds onto you, so that you don't drown." I don't know if she understood completely, but she stayed towards the shallow end the rest of the time.
Tralee had fun playing in the water, and I had fun watching her. She's so dang cute! This was the first swimming trip to the Y that Tralee had fun playing with the fountains. She also had fun playing with a YMCA ball a little girl gave her. Tralee has learned how to throw, and had a blast throwing and chasing the ball around the pool. It was fun to watch. We also did several laps around the lazy river. It was fun. Then Tralee looked at me and did the sign for "Done." So, we came home.
We got home at dinner time. Tralee was super tired from swimming, but I wanted her to eat before falling asleep. So, she managed to take a few bites of dinner. The whole time Tralee ate she was super fussy. I finally gave up, and put Tralee to bed. She was out as soon as her little head hit the bed. Poor thing, she was pooped from all the fun we had today.
The only thing I'm worried about, is the fact that she went to bed a little on the early side. She might wake up a little on the early side, which won't be fun for Mom. Oh well.
I took this picture underwater, looking up at Tralee. So, it's all distorted, yet kind of cool looking.
When I came downstairs this morning I noticed there was a chocolate sitting on one of our end tables. The thought occurred to me that this chocolate would be really easy for Tralee to reach, but I did nothing about it. After eating breakfast, I was cleaning up the kitchen and noticed how quiet Tralee was being. When I went to check on her the first thing I noticed was the chocolate was gone. Then I saw her hands -- covered in chocolate. Her face, shirt, pants, and even her socks had chocolate on it. Needless to say, we had to change her outfit, but not before I captured the picture below. I like this photo, because she has an "I'm all hopped up on a chocolate buzz" look in her eyes. Also, check out her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She really does look she's on a bit of a chocolate fix.
Today Jim and I took Tralee to Zoo Boise for the first time. Actually, Tralee has been there before, but she was in my belly. So, I don't think that actually counts.
We all had a lot of fun! Tralee even got excited about looking at the animals. As soon as she would spot an animal, she would hold her hands out for them to come to her. None of the animals obeyed Tralee's demands though. She got a little ticked about that, especially when a snow leopard wouldn't come see her, but she got over it. There was a lot to look at and do. Tralee had a blast. We had fun watching her discover her new surroundings. It's kind of sad to see some of the animals in captivity pacing back and forth. I've been to other zoos with amazing large habitats for the animals to live. I was a little disappointed with the small cages at Zoo Boise. However, there was a lot of construction going on, so hopefully they're expanding and making larger, nicer habitats for the animals. Tralee saw a little bobcat pacing back and forth and started to walk with it. I caught the very end of it on video. Of course, as soon as I turned the camera on, she stopped. I did capture a few seconds of it.
To top the day off, Daddy bought Tralee her very own ice cream cone. I tried to steal a few licks, but it was tough. She was all over it.
We weren't quiet ready to come home once with left the zoo, so we let Tralee run around Julia Davis Park. She's a busy little girl. She wanted to run up to every tree and touch it, pick up every stick and examine it, go to each picnic table and say hello, and point to every bird in the sky. So much to see and so much to do! Busy Busy Busy!!
It was a fun day. Fun and exhausting. We were ready to go home and take a nap.
When we first arrived, Tralee was sleeping so we put her in her stroller, and met up with Jared. He took us up to the VIP lounge (I know, only the best for us), where we hung out most of the night. Tralee slept for the first hour or so, while the rest of us played a bubble hockey game. Ok, I'll be honest, I think I played one or two games before Jim and Jared took over. They really get into this thing. Plus Tralee woke up, so I watched her until Audie arrived with her little girls. Jared and Audie have a cute two-year-old named Jovie and a newborn named Oakley. Jovie and Tralee had fun running around. Every time Tralee spotted Jovie she started clapping. I think she needs to hang out with more kids her age. She got so excited to see someone her size. Here's a video Tralee chasing Jovie around a pillar-thing. Jovie looks more into it than Tralee, but Tralee was having fun too.
After half-time we decided to go watch the game in the arena. Tralee heard people cheering in the VIP lounge, so every once in a while she would clap too. I was excited to see her reaction when we went into the football arena and she could see where all the noise was coming from. Tralee LOVED it! Her eyes were huge as she took all the sights and sounds in. When people cheered, she cheered. When music blasted she danced. She kept smiling and laughing. It was really fun to watch her. In fact, I think I watched her more than the game. I do know that the Burn lost. The final score was 40-46. Here's a video of Tralee and Jovie cheering for the Burn. 
