Complaining and Counting Our Blessings

We are happily and safely here in East Lansing, Michigan. My wonderful parents drove out with us to help with the baby and to haul the U-Haul with my dad's truck. We had an uneventful drive and are happy with our house. Of course a move brings lots of emotions to the surface, but we are getting used to our new surroundings. Being a fan of lists I thought I'd share a few with you. Negatives, To Do, Blessings etc...

What Scared Me at First:
This:

Not the best picture. You can't see the van seat very well, or the cooler/smoking table so tastefully set next to it. But I was too chicken to take a good picture so I took this from my car as I was backing out. Here is a better shot of it. My folks took this right before they left.
(I look extra sassy due to a day of moving and crying right before this was taken.)

And This:

Note the four cars jam packed in the driveway? There are always four, and oddly enough, most of them work . So, why so many? There are often one or two more cars parked on the street too. Meth lab? Kidding. But it's like a non-stop party next door. Beer bottles on the lawn to cement that idea. And there are also usually seventeen kid bikes. But I kind of like that.

They shout all the time to get some one's attention in the house. They also have a 200 lb dog that seems to mark up the entire back yard. Ugh. Shouldn't scooper laws apply everywhere? On our first day here I opened my big mouth by asking if the dog "goes all over" to the neighbor's boyfriend. I ask this in a horrified voice to sound real neighborly. He replies that the dog only goes on their side, but at that moment the dog was making a "present" not three feet from our door. My reply? "But we have a baby!" Um, ya. That's not a response, nor a reasonable argument. Luckily we, um I, have been more polite and have found that they are really sweet people. I could do without the smoking, as the smell spreads far and wide, but all in all they are good neighbors.

Also:
Finding my way around at first is always intimidating.
I was terrified of the U-Haul being stolen on the trip.
Our car started acting wonky the second my parents left (My dad would've been able to diagnose), to the point that we couldn't drive it anywhere unnecessary.
Spiders, I sprayed first thing, but I think they are coming.
A giant diseased apple tree drops apples all over the yard making it smell like apple cider vinegar.
Our laundry room. It's in the spooky, dark, unfinished part of the basement.
I'm worried the neighbor dog might eat Eleanor.
Boo hoo, oh wait, that's the next section.

What Has Made Me Cry:

This:

Her fan club is all through correspondence now.And this:

What will I do without my Jenni? How will we spend our Sundays?
P.S. Bismark?!? Could we get a more boring U-Haul vignette?

Little Allie will get older and more advanced without us! What a sad sight.So tiny! No dishwasher!

I'll explain this one later. Next blog post. But it made me cry. This started it all really.

Sniff.

Sob!

Also:
The news about Jed Mingo and his brother and father.
Realizing that my favorite people are going through so much grief so far away from us.
And I cut my finger on a potato peeler. Ok, so maybe that one doesn't rank.

What I like or Blessings:

Walks to local parks. E loves being outside and the neighborhoods are gorgeous. It's like everyone is in a giant Best Lawn competition. The East Lansing area is a bit like the Avenues or Sugarhouse in SLC. And look at her. Can you be sad for long with her looking at you with that face? No.

She also seems to like the messy mess of unpacking.

The campus is amazing! The old buildings are beautiful, and the new law building is awesome. Look at their cool moot court room. I want a moot room.

Michigan has given E her first taste of pickles. Or the new Law Student picnic did. She chewed on it for a few minutes.

Also:
First day I found Joanne's and Michael's. Fabric and Crafts, I should be ok. Thanks mom!
I've also found WalMart, Target, a mall and a good grocery store. I can function.
I finally got unpacked enough and enough groceries to make a batch of cookies.
The church is only a two minute drive from our house. As close as our Provo building was to us!
The ward is amazing! We have been welcomed in so warmly.
There is a blog for the local moms to keep everyone up to date on playgroups, sales, activities etc... It's what you dream of as far as making new friends and staying in the loop.
Here is a link:
http://mimormonmom.blogspot.com/
We've been able to "borrow" internet until ours gets set up in about forever. Ok,
Friday. Whoever AmyRenee is, we owe her a batch of cookies.
We found a really awesome place to fix our car. They were honest and fast and even gave me a ride to and from the shop! Thanks East Lansing Automotive Repair. Tell your friends!

To Do:
Keep unpacking. Once you find a few necessities, you sort of slow down.
Find a desk and dresser and a way to get them to our place.
Arrange furniture.
Hang pictures.
Deal with insurance boringness.
Maybe paint.
Blog... hey!
Laundry.
Rake up all of the apples.
Buy dog biscuits.

Wasn't that long? That's what happens when it's late and there are too many things to blog about and none of them fascinating. Thanks for reading!

P.S. Price of dressers at the thrift store I visited today? $109.00 to $149.00! What the?!?! It's a charity store! Icky, old, super-used dressers people!

A plea for our poor little Kirsten

Just a heads up for those that know my niece Kirsten. This past weekend she lost her unofficial fiance, Jed, in a plane crash that also took the lives of his brother and father. We are beyond devastated to learn this news. Please keep her and the Mingo family in your prayers, and for those of you that are close to Kir, please help her in any way you can.

We learned the news yesterday as we were in the middle of driving to Michigan. We are moving and are dragging all of our possessions in a U-Haul, and school starts for Clayton in a week. Otherwise we would turn right around to go help. My parents are with us and we all feel so helpless to be so far away from her during this challenge.

We've known Jed for years and I can honestly say that there was never a more genuine person on the planet. He and Kirsten met at Dixie college in St. George and dated for a few years. They reconnected last year after a few years apart and it was like a romance out of a movie. When they first got back together we all went out to dinner together in SLC. After dinner I spent the rest of the night gushing about how much I loved Jed. I had forgotten what a sweetheart he was. He is one of the best listeners on the planet, he would give you his full attention whenever talking. He was so kind and generous and earnest and lovely. And he was hot, I know that sounds trite, but he really was just an incredibly beautiful man inside and out.

Since their reunion he has been begging her to "just marry him already" and all of us have joked about their need to go make us some beautiful babies. Kirsten had begun "unofficially" planning for their wedding and we were so hopeful that it would happen sooner rather than later.

This is such a tragic, tragic loss for Kirsten and of course everyone else. His brother left behind a wife and three young children. And of course Jed's mom has lost more than any of us can imagine bearing. The only other thing I can ask of all of my friends is to go hug your children, spouse, parent, nephew, niece, friend... Go show someone some extra love in memory of these men. Thanks.

Logan and Island Park

Warning: Seriously picture heavy.

Last Sunday we drove up to Logan to spend an evening with Clayton's family one last time before we move. We had a lovely dinner and a great night of card games. We got to spend the night at Clint & Alison's and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. When leaving, little Autumn made sure we took some pictures so we would "remember us". I'm not sure if she meant we'd forget them or vice versa.

Here is Jonah, Autumn, Eleanor and Micah. Gabe was a little under the weather, so he didn't make the shot.

Then on Monday we drove to Island Park Idaho where our friends Shane & Heidi have a family cabin. It was a great last gathering of "The Boys" before we all head our separate ways for a few years for school and work. The Boys are all from Blackfoot Idaho and consist of Clayton, Shane Polatis, Matt Cannon, Brodie Hanni and Mark Turpin. Sadly Mark and his wife Sarah couldn't make it. While they were sorely missed, we still had a wonderful few days on Bills Island.

We had a bit of a baby fest. While Matt's girls Ashley and Gracie couldn't make it and of course little Boyce Turpin wasn't there, we still had our hands full with the youngest three of the tribe.

Introducing Brodie & Ashley's beautiful two month old daughter Olivia.

Here is Shane & Heidi's six month old son Colson.
(I have to apologize, I stole this picture from their blog because it might be the cutest picture ever taken of someone that isn't Eleanor. I don't know who the photographer is, but would love to give them credit and or remove this. Thanks!)
And you all know Eleanor.Eleanor really liked Colson, and even though he is older, I don't think he minds the extra pounds Eleanor has on him. And on all babies it seems.
Isn't Colson the cutest little elf of a man?

Here he is with his two "girlfriends". We also called this shot "Small, medium and large". Our daughter is going to have an eating disorder if we don't knock off all the joking about her weight. For the record, we love every teeny, tiny, buttery inch of her.

Being the pimp that he is, he first makes the moves on Liv.
Although I guess they do have a history together. More history.

However it wasn't long before he got a little sugar from E. What a mack! (That was the term when I was in college. Does anyone say that anymore? No? Ok.)
P.S. I do have to mention that we didn't pose these shots, well, aside from putting our immobile infants on the ground in ascending order. But we didn't make them hold hands, that was all smooth little Colson.

Aside from observing sessy, sessy love triangles, we did a whole lot of other things at the cabin. Like play a ridiculous amount of cards and eat ridiculous amounts of food. Here are Clayton and I after a rousing game of Nerts. Best game ever.

On our first night there we bundled up all the babies to take an evening boat ride. Bills Island, where Shane's family cabin is, is in the middle of Island Park Reservoir. It is incredibly beautiful up there.

It was Eleanor's first boat ride. It might have been a bit too windy for her liking at first. She started with her pout face.

But it got better.

Here is a snippet of us cruising on the lake so you can get an idea of the magic that we enjoyed. Sun has set, friends abound and our babies are being snuggled tightly while we glide along a glass lake listening to Arcade Fire and Shout Out Louds. Heaven.

Little E had a great first night on the lake.

I said it was beautiful.

The next day we ate a ton more, boated a bunch and enjoyed the perfect weather.

I really heart Sea-Doos. In fact we plan to buy some one day when all this law-school business is over. We will let you ride them.

Clayton goes a lot faster than Marianne.
Daddy and E.
Eleanor liked the boat a whole lot better on day two. She even took a nap out on the water. Back at the dock I took a minute to get some shots of her in the boat.

Legs a-poppin'.

I mean, come on! How can you not nibble her alive?

And because we are on an island in woods, we of course had a visitor from the wildlife sector. I looked out the window at dinner to see a moose and her baby munching away on some shrubbery about two feet away from the cabin. Awesome! Here is a little bit that I was able to get on camera, not my best work. My pictures were worse. We were safely on the second story balcony. The babies weren't as excited as we wanted them to be. Look! A boxen of moosen!

What Time Is It?

It's Yard Sale thirty!

Tomorrow! Saturday August 1st.

Start your month off right by stopping by the coolest yard sale in town.

Address:

1448 East 520 South Provo UT

8 AM - 2 PM

Come buy our crap!

Or not.

But there will be ice cold sodas for 50¢!

Salutations

Why, hello. Or, Aloha!

Bonjour!

Hola!

Mom's a bit of a dork, ya? Luckily she has this cute baby to make people forgive her for anything too over the top.

Eleanor's First 4th of July Weekend

We had a lovely holiday weekend. Nothing crazy, just time spent with family and friends.

Eleanor and cousin Jack on my parents new back porch.

From left: Jack Abby Calvin & Grant in front of the fire-pit.

Grandma Kathy and Eleanor.

Trying her first taste of watermelon.

Eleanor and cousin Allie in their red and blue outfits.

Jenni and Allie. Allie loved the fireworks they lit in front of the house. She ran around and around giving everybody hugs. I think being up past her bedtime was a bit of a thrill too.

Clayton and EleanorMarianne, Clayton & Eleanor

Like Allie, Eleanor loved the fireworks. She would jump and bounce throughout the night.

Four Months and Pouting

I have a lot to blog about, like the 4th of July fun and the Firth reunion. But I will hopefully get to those later today. Right now will be about all the piddling in between stuff. For those of you that don't know yet, we are moving to Lansing Michigan in one month so Clayton can attend law school. We had planned on going to Gonzaga in Spokane, but Michigan offered him more money, so that, along with Temple and prayer, made the decision for us. So right now I should be packing up boxes of nonsense and making trips to DI, but I need to do the basics. Like unload the dishwasher and bathe the baby. And blog.

Yesterday E had her four month check up. She is healthy as can be weighing in at 15 pounds 9 ounces and is 25 inches long. Her weight is in the 90% and everything else in the 80%. Nice and big. I love her chubby little legs and cheeks. So much more to nibble and kiss. Of course the real reason for the appointment is the immunizations. Three shots. I felt so bad taking her in, like I was tricking her. To make it meaner, she was especially charming and adorable for the nurses and doctor through the whole visit, then... Poor baby. Is there anything sadder than her doing her happy "jumping jacks" on the papered bed as the nurses prepare the syringes and band-aids? And even when I hold her arms she gets all happy like: "Yay! Mom wants to play or something!" Luckily they are fast, so they are almost done before she gets the message of "mother freaker this hurts!" She was unhappy all last night and most of the morning today. Right now she is asleep in her swing, occasionally making pitiful little moans or sighs. Am I making too big a deal of this? Yes. But you should hear her. Sniff sniff.

Here is a picture of her right now. She is bent all funny, I tried to move her to make her more comfortable, but she went right back to this position. Head straight up, mouth open.

With her sore legs and hurt feelings, she has shown us her pout face a whole lot today. Her pout face, it's new and it's so funny. (To us anyways.) A few weeks ago I was playing a slow game of peek-a-boo with her while she was in the Bumbo. I would start on one side, slowly make my way around behind her to the other side and "surprise" her. She caught on soon enough and would turn each way and smile and giggle.

Like this.

Then on one turn I get this for no reason.

She wasn't crying or sad. In fact she did it enough times for me to get my camera for a shot of it. She would make the face one time, then go back to smiling the next.
Since then she has done it a ton. Sometimes when she is actually sad, but more often than not she makes it for no reason at all.

Like when camping. Silly baby.

Here is a shot of E and Clayton on Fathers Day. They had walked to church together. No pouting, just posturing.

This week I also got some things done around the apartment to prepare for the next tenants. I've patched some walls, fixed a leaky sink, and reinstalled the door lock on the sliding door. I bought a whole new replacement for it, as it has never locked. Then I take two minutes to look at it and find that whoever installed it in the first place just installed it wrong. I love fixes that require no money. I also replaced the drip pans on the stove. What a seriously satisfying thing to do. I took a picture, that's how dorky I am. Look at the difference!

Right side: New. Left side: Old nasty pans covered for the umpteenth time in crappy foil.

I've also done a bit of sewing. Finally. I am so behind on projects. Mostly it's been a lot of mending, which isn't that exciting to post. But I did make a little skirt for Eleanor. I bought this skirt for myself at Sears (of all places) about five years ago. It was four dollars and too short. I thought I could make it longer using the lining, but never got around to it. However, I have been inspired by this blog: Wardrobe Refashion
It has people sign up for stints of time, 2 months, 6 months, 1 year etc... in which you pledge to buy nothing new. Only thrift stores or fabric. Then you try to "refashion" what you have into new pieces. Since it has dozens of members, there is always something new to see. And to be honest, a lot of it is heinous. But some of it is cool or motivating. I plan to sign up on their next rotation, but was too chicken to do it right now. And I wanted this dress at Target, so...

I've always loved the dip-dyed or ombre style. Everyone has a little hippie in them, right?

It probably took ten minutes to make it into a baby skirt.
Ta daa!

And then there is this. Is this too much? I just love her!

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

So on Monday little E rolled over for the first time! I was sitting there with the camera taping and taping, but she wouldn't go all the way over. Sadly, my memory card filled up and while I was hurriedly erasing older stuff, she went and made the full flip. Bah! So great though. Now it's all she wants to do. She hadn't made it all the way over again until today when I put her in her crib for a "nap". Really I just needed a shower, but she was happy and chattering to her bear so I let her stay in there a while. I was hoping she'd fall asleep but the chattering turned to fussing and when I finally went in to soothe her this is what I found.

You can't hear her, but oh is she ticked in this picture.

This has nothing to do with the story, but I'm sorry, my baby is just ridiculously pretty.