Yosemite

In October (2012) Kenny and I left Lola at her grandparents and took Jade up to Mammoth for a weekend away. Since we're usually in Mammoth during the winter we've never realized how close it is to Yosemite. Once realized, we decided to make take a day trip and do some hiking in the park. We literally just drove in, parked the car in this beautiful meadow, and started walking on pretty much the first trail we found. It ended up being a six-ish mile hike round trip up to Cathedral Peak and back. It was beautiful. Jade was a trooper in the back pack, sleeping most of the actual hike and smiling and giggling all through our exploring and picnic-ing.

Here's LOTS of photos (in no order):

A baby in a meadow. 

 Cathedral Peak

 Half Dome. Because you can't go to Yosemite and not see Half Dome. 

Still determined to catch up (at least on the big stuff) ... stay tuned. 

No title.

So it seems Jade is destined to be the typical second child whose life is far less documented than that of her older sister's. The thing is, however, that we've taken tons of photos, but they just don't seem to make it onto the blog. And that makes me sad. Jade is going to be TEN MONTHS OLD in less than a week and I haven't posted a single photo of her since she was three days old.

Oh, Blog, she's beautiful. You're missing out. I'm going to attempt to be better. Truthfully, most posts will likely be instagram dumps and the like - and I doubt I'll have time or the brain power to ever write anything clever again, but oh well. I just want one place where I can come and see all these photos and remember these times.

So these are all phone pics from just this last week. Some are edited, most are not. They aren't in order. Just some moments of each of our girls.

First up: Jade.

Jade is our big, curious girl. still in the 95th-ish percentile for everything and getting into everything possible. Her favorites are trash, cords, and whatever Lola is playing with. It's so much fun. A happy baby when her needs are met, a banshee when they're not. Loves Big Sister, but doesn't love when Big Sister knocks her over. Jade is a quick learner and such a sweet baby. She scrunches her nose up when she smiles big. I love it.

Friday was spent trapped in our apartments with no power all day. Seriously trapped. Couldn't get our car out of the gates and it was dumping rain. We read lots of books that day. And ate a few, too.

 Jade is pulling herself up on everything and loves to "walk" with assistance.

 She gets really bummed that she hasn't figured out how to get down.

 She's the happiest after long stretches of sleep...in our bed, preferably.

 Assuming she's fed, rested, and getting attention, she's the happiest baby ever.

 She (mostly) loves when Big Sister pays any sort of attention to her.

 And Lola. Oh, Lola. You have been a challenge lately. Strong opinions, strong will, and lots of power struggles this month. It didn't help that you (and Jade...and Kenny) were all sick this month. As in the WHOLE month. But you are still ridiculously fascinating and fun.  Your verbal skills are improving and we're working on full, descriptive sentences. The result is that you say some pretty funny things. I love getting these glimpses into your thoughts.

 Miss Sass. (She's acting like Time Out is no big deal in this photo. Bummer for me, because I want her to KNOW that it is a VERY BIG DEAL when she decides to kick her little sister.)

 But she's still so pretty.

 She's hit or miss on naps lately. I LOVE when she'll still take one. Mainly because I love how she sneaks down stairs afterward.

 Finally learned that with proper footwear, puddles are FUN.

 The beach is still her favorite place on earth.

 "Mom! I very, very, too, too cute. A lot." (wearing my Easter dress from 1985.)

 Rain boots, rain coat, no pants. No problem.

 Making valentines (part 1) while Jade naps.

So there's our week in iphone photos (mine at least). January 22nd through January 28th, 2013.

Till next time.

She's sorta beautiful.

(Picture taken in late August 2012 / age 2 years and four months. The moisture on her upper lip is from trying a bite of Jade's rice cereal. Her face tells how much she liked it.)

So I have really let this whole blog thing go the last few months. I've been keeping a "line-a-day" journal everyday since Jade was born, just to have some record. Sadly, on July 28, I accidentally deleted the WHOLE THING. I tried and Kenny tried to retrieve it with no luck. I cried. A lot. Four months gone in a second. Insert HUGE sigh here. Good thing there's instagram so I at least have some record of what life has been like lately.

Life lately... in a nut shell:

The transition from one to two kids was a hard one for me. Nursing was again a nightmare, but I think we finally have a rhythm. Moving just after having a baby made everything worse, but I'd rather not dwell on that any longer. Things are better.

Jade just turned four months and is a healthy (16.8lbs!!!!), happy girl. She continues to be more "work" than Lola was, but at the same time she is wonderfully sweet. She gets so happy with the smallest bit of attention bestowed on her and she gives the best smiles. She has my heart. Lola gets so excited to see her and just recently, Jade has started reciprocating the excitement when she sees Lola. It's cute. I don't know how to explain the relationship Jade and Kenny have just yet, but Jade loves the attention she gets from him. Lola is so much fun lately. Always learning something new and developing (strong) opinions on things. She really likes to test me lately which is NOT fun, but on the whole she's pretty awesome.

My sister, Becca, graduated high school in May and has been living with us for the summer. Given that I moved right after having a baby and given that we moved into a tourist town at the beginning of summer it's been hard to meet people, so I'm very glad she's been here. She's been a great help with the girls and it's nice to have a buddy.  We'll be sad to see her go when she starts college.

Since I last wrote Lola turned 2 and Kenny turned 33. And then I turned 29 last week. I don't really have a definitive explanation for how I'm coping with this birthday. My feelings on the subject are all over the place. It was a Sunday birthday, which always sucks, but I had a nice, low-key day with Kenny, the girls, and Becca. We topped it off by having the Wallaces down for dinner and to hang out at the beach.

The beach. Let it be said: living less than a mile from the beach is AWESOME. 'Nuff said.

There's so much more detail I could include, but the thought of doing so is overwhelming. So that's the state of things right now. For fun, I'll be really literal and give the True status of things RIGHT THIS SECOND (at 9:22pm): I just put Lola down for bed. She only fought me a little. Jade is due for her final feeding of the evening, but I'm in no hurry to wake her up. Becca is at FHE and then going on a date with Jeff (a boy from her ward whose parents are in my ward. He's a nice boy. I'm glad for that.). Kenny is at a bon fire with friends. We got the invite too late for me to go (i.e. jade was already asleep, we'd had dinner already, and lola gotten cleaned up). So i find myself with a rare moment alone. So here I am finally updating this poor, neglected blog. To be totally honest, I'm only giving this update to avoid hitting the gym. (Since I can't go further than a baby monitor will allow, my only option is the treadmill. BORING.)

So that's life right now. Slow. But that's fine.
Maybe I'll get some photos up on this thing sometime. If not, there's always instagram.

Lots of Pictures...

Jade Matilda. I'm just going to post a whole bunch of photos. Enjoy.

3 days old and finally home.

Five days old.

(She rolled over at one week. Also, when left on her tummy she will scoot herself forward until she's off the blanket. Bummer.)

 My mom got into town when Jade was 6 days old and stayed for two weeks. It was wonderful having her here - especially during the move - and Lola misses her terribly.

 Lola finally became interested in her little sister about a week after she was born.  She was especially fascinated by Jade's toes (below) and her belly button. Lola kept looking at it and saying "ouch" as Jade's umbilical cord had yet to fall off.

 It wasn't long before Lola had to introduce Jade to her Yo Gabba crew.

 And she insisted that Daddy put some sunnies on Jade.

 Jade makes some pretty great faces...

 Jade and Grandma

 Jade at two weeks old...and not super happy.

 Finally calmed down.