Baby Steps...

she is finally taking them. Is it bad that I have to bribe her to walk with jelly beans??

and why do I stay up soooo late when D is out of town??

Don't forget the "one"...

Our lesson in church last week was on this conference talk. I think Jackson must have been listening in because he is probably remembering those who are truly forgotten when it comes to prayer time. Namely:

Bob Squash Pear Pants

Patrick (seriously, how does he know all the characters?? He doesn't watch it...must be his Gogurts I guess)

The "Mean Three Stooges" (he has been watching this old school cartoon VHS that has the three stooges cartoons(who knew they did cartoons too) and D had to explain that they hit because they are mean.)

Spencer (Douglas' college friend who somehow ends up in all of J's prayers.)

Mom's cell phone

This little girl...

may seriously be the end of me. I love her and I love having a little girl, but she is such a challenge for me.

Unless I am holding her in the afternoon she cries. She has been crying through nap time. I can't handle any more crying!! And it is just me because when D watches her she is a gem...until she sees me or hears my voice and then she starts crying.

Am I going to survive??

You know, sometimes I read blogs where people have what seems like perfect lives. Their kids obey, pick up after themselves, never pester one another, and basically seem perfect. This isn't my life. I find motherhood to be such a challenge. I love it. It is what I want to be doing, but sometimes I just feel like maybe I am doing something wrong. It is dang hard to be a mom. Please tell me I am not alone.

and please tell me this stage with P will pass.

P's slideshow

Finally uploaded it. View it HERE!

Jumpin maniacs

So they opened this new place in town called "jumpin jacks". It is basically an warehouse full of bounce houses. I told J Wednesday night that we would go when he woke up the next day. Probably shouldn't have told him because he was at D's bedside at 6:45am informing him that we were going to Jumpin Jacks.

It was an absolute hit. J and P LOVED it. P would cry whenever I would take her out and put her back in her stroller. When I let her get on one she would get on her knees and bounce. She is going to be just like J I think--thrill seeker. We had a great time bouncing until a group of 15 teenage boys from some behavioral service showed up. My friend and I looked at each other and we were out of there. What were the people thinking...D worked in a group like this so I know better. Just seemed kind of short sighted.

Anyway, life in the Shaw house is HOT. I remember every year that I don't like Southern Utah summers. On a good note, however, our apricots are ripe and I will be jamming tomorrow. We also have tons of tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and a lonely jalapeno. I love growing my own food. I made zucchini lasagna tonight and I think I will make some zucchini bread tomorrow. I made a goal not to let my food go to waste.

So I am reading the book "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" which is a very interesting book about Chinese customs and what not. Kind of disturbing I must say. Just makes me feel so grateful to live in this culture and to be able to clomp around on my size nine feet. Wow...my personality + oppressive culture would have = disaster.

We had our first photography workshop last weekend and it was a great success. I think everyone left feeling like they could use their camera in manual and understood what everything meant. I really loved teaching it. We have more planned for the future so check our blog and check mine in the next few days and I will post some of the pictures from the class.

I am slowly getting on top of the house again. I sort of let it go when I was dealing with the class. The downstairs is more or less clean...counters disinfected, floors cleaned and mopped, laundry almost done, ironing--well I am not that on top of things.

Well, that is about it. P still refuses to walk. She will stand for five minutes and then sit down and crawl. I want her to walk because she is trashing her clothes...I know dumb reason, but come on. She has the custest little gap tooth smile. She is still a total momma's girl which can be extremely tiresome. Afternoons are the worst. I have to put her in the backpack so I can cook dinner. Good thing she is so cute. She loves her bobba, thumb, snugglie and having her toofers brushed. She is dang cute if I do say so myself.

J now dresses himself. Cute little guy wakes up, puts undies and clothes on and then comes to find us. He has put together some sweet outfits. At least he is putting undies on too...that is new this week. He continues to make us laugh and laugh. He is stubborn as can be. I have NO idea where he gets that from. He loves friends and socializing.

Well, in a moment of insanity I scheduled a dr. appt tomorrow at 8:30am. I guess I should go to bed.

What a day...

you know, the kind where you wake up to find pudding powder all over your kitchen floor and you have grandious plans to finally get the house in order yet you spend the day with tech support trying to get your computer working. You know the kind where your baby cries instead of naps, and when she finally does nap wakes up with a major blow out. You also have a splitting headache probably from days and weeks of no sleep. Today was the kind of day where your baby does so well walking with her toy until it gets caught and she goes head first into a metal milk can. Then to top the day off you get to have four cavities filled.

That is what kind of day today was. Whew...glad I will get another try tomorrow.

Learning about Jesus

Teaching a three year old about Jesus can be amusing at times. Today I was explaining to J that Jesus died for us so that we can be with our families forever if we make good choices. So, at dinner he informs D that Jesus died so that we can be with our mommy and daddy at night time.

Night time probably seems like an eternity to a three year old.

My Dad

I have a great dad. I don't think he reads my blog so I will just let all of you know how great I think he is. He has so many qualities that I admire. He is kind and generous, non-judgemental, hardworking, and fun. There are two qualities that stand out to me the most though. The first is that he is totally family oriented. He loves his family and always wants us to visit and wants to know what is going on in our lives. The other is that he is very wise. Sounds dumb maybe, but seriously, we like to discuss big decisions that we are going to make with my dad because he always has a great perspective on things and typically when we take his advice, it leads us in a great path.

One quick story about my dad...he has "intuition" about things. My mom told me that after he met Douglas for the first time my dad told her, "I have a good feeling about this one." It is unusual for him to make a comment like that and typically when he does you should listen...and he was right.

Anyway, I love my dad. He is a great man that I look up to very much. Happy Father's Day!

A few of my favorite things!

A few of my favorite things:

1.
My brother and sister in law introduced me to this wonder. I LOVE it. I hard cook eggs in it, steam veges...heck you can cook chicken in rice in it too. What more do you need?



2. Shorts. I don't think I have worn short since before my mission. Really I just remembered the shorts my mom wore in the early nineties (no offense mom) and really, they weren't very cute. Now they are in style again and cute this time. I picked up a few pairs at Target and have been enjoying my cool legs. I think they might even be getting a little tan too.

3. Frozen chocolate chip cookies. It's true, I am semi obsessed with CCC so I always think I will eat fewer if I freeze them. Truth is, I think I like them even more frozen. Actually, I think I will go grab one now as I finish this up.

4. 30 Rock--the TV show...hillarious. I just finished the first season on netflix while I edited photos. Sheer entertainment.

5. My new mattress. Haven't even slept on it yet, but I know I will love it!!

6. Kids who sleep well. My sanity. Lately (knock on wood) J has been sleeping until about 7:30am. 7pm-7:30am. Yes please. I pop him in my bed with some clifford and get ready before P girl gets up at 8am. I am not a morning person so this is heaven.

7. My crockpot. I pop food in it in the morning and come 5pm, voila, dinner is done. Now if I could just remember to cook the other stuff that goes with it.

8. My FUNNY three year old. It is a good thing they are so dang funny otherwise I don't think we would both survive. He constantly is coming up with hillarious things to say.

9. Good friends. I have such a social bug that I need to have friends to hang out with and talk to. I will drop any household task to hang out with friends and you never need to call before coming over. Visitors always welcome.

10. Amazing families. Seriously D and I married into great families. They are concerned about our lives and great friends. What a blessing.

and of course, 11. My amazing hubby. He is the best.

P's birthday and more!

This is such a P look...you know how your kids have "those" looks that are so them...this is one of them. J took charge and open, inspected and played with all her gifts for her. He is so helpful.

P is trying to figure out her new house. I had no idea what to get her and this got great reviews on the internet. We will see if it ends up being a winner or not.

P's baby doll from her Nana and Papa.

Look at that maternal instinct. She is a natural.

Just crawling through the door.

With their mama. Seriously, I don't see myself in pics often and I really don't recognize the girl I see...I look like I am getting old or something.

Douglas told me if I didn't put pictures of myself on then my posterity would think I was ugly or something and that is why I never put pictures up...now they will know how stunning I truly am (was.)

Happy bday P. By the time we got around to cake she was done and went to bed without really eating any cake...

Just a little blue....

Do you ever have those days when you are just a little blue?? Today is one of those for me. I have just been a little sad...don't know why exactly. Okay, well it probably has a lot to do with being tired. I have stayed up too late the last few weeks and it is really taking a toll on me. I haven't been the mother or wife I want to be. I also think it has to do with being so busy getting ready for this class, trying to keep up with sessions I have done and trying to keep up with a house. I feel a little unbalanced right now. I know it will be past soon, but it makes me sad.

I want to be better and sometimes it is so hard not to have the time to devote to doing the things I love. Then I feel sad because my kids grow so fast and even though I love what each new stage brings I miss the past one.

Oh, so I don't know what it is. I am just a little blue. I like it better when I am happy. Hopefully tomorrow will be one of those days.