Map of the World

I've decided I'd like to (tastefully) decorate Jack's room with maps. You know, to be all educational n'stuff.

While searching Etsy, I stumbled across this map and fell in love!! Does anyone else adore this as much as I do?!

Buy it here. For a steal at just $30, friends. I might just get one and save it?? (And Mom - wouldn't this be neat in your loft?)

Easter Chicks

I received this as an email and tried to forward this onto my family, but for some reason the photos wouldn't forward. So here it ends up, on the blog.

Adorable, no? Quoted from the email: 

"The family lives on a ranch in Durango, Colorado, and they have 900 baby chicks. Every year for Easter, they inject the eggs with food coloring, and when the chicks hatch, they are brilliant with color. She uses pink, purple, orange, green, pink, red, turquoise, etc. The chicks aren't hurt by the process, and as they grow, they return to their normal colors."

Next time my parents get chickens I'm doing this!! (My sister called and said they look like those little pompoms you buy in a bag, haha!) 

...and p.s. I found this irresistible. Tyler sent it to me from his friend Spencer.

Graduation Day

WE DID IT!

Between the two of us we have spent nine years in college (four for Alie, five for Tyler), received two bachelors degrees, one masters degree and have given birth to a kiddo in the middle of it all. Not to mention we (and our gracious parents) have collectively spent over $70,000 just on tuition and books. Tyler guesstimates including housing, we'll have spent nearly $100,000 in the past five years.

Yet, against all odds, we are officially Brigham Young University graduates.

Both of our families, right after commencement

We ate at Chef's Table, which is supposedly a really good restaurant. It was won several awards in the past few years, but Tyler and I were disappointed. We've eaten at better places for the price.

Dad, Mom, Jack & Alie, Tyler, and Todd (Tyler's Dad)

Todd, Jack & Alie, Tyler

(The Jones family:) Ben, Todd, Jack & Alie, Tyler, Kendall

The Naked Indian Statue. He's not really naked (he's got a loin-cloth on) but everyone calls it the Naked Indian anyway. In the winter months when it snows, people put scarves on him to keep him warm.

You really thought they wouldn't have a statue of a young family on BYU campus? C'mon now.

The family, at the family statue. Uh, yeah.

In front of the library.

In front of the ASB.

Believe it or not, there was actually quite a hefty line to wait in to snap a photo in front of the cougar statue at the stadium. And I look like i'm holding a toddler, not a not-quite-6-month old baby.

Part of Tyler's cap&gown was a hood (because he was a masters student). He tried to put it on like Lord Voldemort but it was windy. :(

Tyler, riding the cougar.

Alie: "I'm graduated!"

Tyler: "Yo. I'm graduated."

BYU's motto: "Enter to Learn; Go Forth to Serve"

In front of the Brigham Young statue. We made it!

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner...

Remember how Jack likes to stretch out his gowns? We found his like this one night, with his arm all the way out! He never ceases to make us smile. :)

"'Nobody puts Baby in the corner' ... well, I have nothing wrong with putting baby in the corner." -Tyler, quoting Dirty Dancing while putting Jack down to sleep. (Jack can only roll to his left, so Tyler was putting Jack in the corner of his crib so he wouldn't have anywhere to roll so we wouldn't have to rescue him fifteen seconds later.)

Jack has been a rolling nightmare lately. And I truly mean nightmare. I had no idea he wakes up to play in the middle of the night until this past week when I have had to rescue him several times at 4am. And then 4:10am. And then again at 5:30am.

What happened to my perfect little baby? He used to sleep from 10pm to 8am uninterrupted. Now I'm lucky if he makes it to 5:15am without squealing. Now that he's learned to roll over from his back to his tummy he thinks it's cool to show Momma his new trick. Unfortunately, he has no problem showing me in the wee hours of the night.

I'm grouchy. I thought the rolling over ordeal was cute the first three times, but now I'm kind of fed up. Am I allowed to admit that? Am I allowed to admit that I'm absolutely exhausted for the first time in my short 6-months of this parenting game? Jack has always been an excellent baby but these past two weeks have been terrible. I'm excited for him, I really am. I'm excited and thrilled that my little baby is healthy and developing well. But is it too much to ask him to figure out how to roll back the other way? I feel like a lifeguard here, having to rescue him all the time. Can't you just learn to stay out of the deep end if you can't swim?

I'll show you what I mean. Sometimes it's laughable and downright funny:

How do his feet get stuck like that?!

Here's where he can't quite figure out how to pull his leg back in...

I wish I would have snatched a photo of the time he was completely flipped around, facing the wall, with his bum pushed up against the crib bars with his entire legs dangling out. This kid is a mischief maker, but at least he can't get out of the crib yet, right?

Jack is almost 6 months old. He's really grown a lot developmentally in the past two weeks. Here are some fun facts about him:

• he can roll over from his back to his tummy, but only to the right (and he can't figure out how to roll back).
• he loves applesauce, and is okay with carrots and sometimes sweet potatoes. he loves baby oatmeal much more than rice cereal. but most of all he prefers a bottle.
• he loves graham canyon ice cream, just like his momma.
• he can almost sit up on his own. he just isn't doing it consistently enough to call it sitting up yet.
• he had his first haircut last friday.
• he outgrew his 6-9 month pajamas weeks ago but I can't seem to find any other pajamas for him. pretty soon he might just start sleeping in onesies.
• his little hippo toy in his crib (see above) is named henry and he loves to snuggle and play with it before falling asleep.
• he giggles at almost everything.
• he loves to be tossed in the air and bounced high on your knees.
• he can touch everything on his jungle play gym now, even the butterflies way up top. when he was just a wee little guy i wondered why they put so many toys on it, and how kids were ever supposed to reach them. now i know the answer. kiddos grow - fast.
• jack babbles in baby talk all the time, and if you talk back to him in baby talk (not english, it has to be gibberish), he'll start a real conversation with you. he can go on for quite a long time this way.
• he can scoot forward, but hasn't really figured out crawling yet.

DIY Garden Markers

Why did I not think of this? My next herb garden will most definitely have these.

Find easy instructions here, via whit&whistle.

{p.s. my plants have all sprouted and are doing fantastic! I can't wait for my little seedlings to grow up!}

Jack's First Haircut

Yesterday we hit a BIG milestone - Jack got his first haircut! I have to admit, part of me is still silently crying inside, but it had to be done. I even saved a lock of his hair for his baby journal, and I used to think only weird Mommas did that. (Tyler now classifies me as a weird momma.) 

Our dear friend Amanda did the honors. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he sat still! (Let's get real, here: I envisioned his hands flying straight up and his wee little fingers getting chopped off! Very unlikely, but it's a Momma's job to worry about these things, right?) For an almost 6-month old that doesn't know how to take directions, I'd say he did very well. He laughed and he cried as his precious locks of hair fell gracefully to the floor.

Good thing I take play-by-play pictures of nearly everything, right? Now you get to feel like you were actually there, whether you wanted to be or not:

{BEFORE}

Amanda & Jack (who was terrified of the cape, so we took it off.)

Smiling through tears

{AFTER}

If Jack could talk, I bet he'd be saying what I was saying when I got my haircut: 

(preceded by the pouty lip) "My neck is cold."

DIY Watercolor Set

Genius! Here is a DIY watercolor set from onegoldenapple.

{I kind of wish I had kiddos that were old enough to appreciate this.}

The best part is, it's mess free and doesn't require jars of water.

Find instructions here.

Weekly Meal Plan

I love cooking. 

The only part of cooking that doesn't get along with me is the dishes. I hate the dishes. With no dishwasher - not even a husband because he is so busy with school right now - cooking is infinitely less fun. But this post isn't about dishes, so I'll move on.

I'm trying really hard to stick to a meal plan and make dinner five out of seven nights a week. Below hopefully you can find some dinner ideas, and learn how I've conquered the beast:

Step One  |  Casually peruse the weekly ads, circling anything that sounds yummy with a thick, red sharpie. Add stars for things that sound extra delicious. My favorite place to shop is Sunflower Market, our local farmer's market/grocery store. I circle all the wonderful fruits and veggies on the front of their ad, then check out their bulk section. This week I'm picking up brown rice for 79-cents/lb, and I usually also stock up on some couscous and walnuts when they're on sale.

Step Two  |  Flip through your recipe book, looking for recipes that coincide with the weekly sales. My recipe book is filled with cards and printouts, divided by section. I also have a dinner inspiration section where I simple made a huge list of possible dinner ideas. It makes it easier just browse that list and pick a few. I also discovered Sunflower Market has a large collection of healthy recipes using mostly fresh, raw ingredients.

Step Three  |  Using your grocery list printout, write down the ingredients you'll need for that week, recipe by recipe, day by day. Here's what mine looks like this week (forgive me for the awful picture):

Step Four  |  Grab your reusable bags and head out the door. If I have time, I hit up Walmart and price match from the ads. Last night I price matched Sunflower Market's fresh produce and got 4 large apples, 4 oranges, a head of romaine, a large head of broccoli, celery, cantaloupe, bananas, and a cucumber for $9. Not bad, but I will admit that Sunflower Market's produce is much better quality. (I ended up having to go to Sunflower Market anyway because Walmart didn't have strawberries.)

Step Five  |  When you're home and everything is unloaded, tape your list to the fridge and follow your menu!

This week we're starting with tomorrow, on Wednesday. I usually write this plan out on Friday and shop on Saturday, but because of graduation next week and family coming into town, we won't need to plan for Thursday and Friday.

This week's recipes are:
Tuesday  |  Beef Enchiladas (one change: we use red enchilada sauce instead of picante sauce)
Wednesday  |  Baked Potato Soup (I freeze the extras in the sour cream containers used for the soup, making individual servings. Then I just thaw two in the fridge!)
Thursday  |  Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry
Friday  |  Rib-eye steak with steamed broccoli and Caesar salad
Saturday  |  Twice-baked potatoes (we usually go out for lunch or dinner so I never plan much for Saturday)
Sunday  |  Breakfast: Souffle Omelet with Balsamic Strawberries, Dinner: Homemade Ravioli, roasted red potatoes, salad
Monday  |  Spaghetti, homemade french bread, salad
Tuesday  |  Chicken & Fish*, roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli (I don't eat fish, so I just substitute my serving of fish for chicken in for whatever recipe I am using)

For more dinner ideas, this month we have also made stir fry, French onion soup with a side of asparagus (between the two of us we eat nearly a pound of asparagus), garlic chicken pizza (excellent, fast pizza dough recipe found here), Chinese chicken salad, chicken parmesan, and bbq pulled pork. Good luck! I hope this encourages at least one of you to start cooking more regularly! :)

Black Angus poster (free!)

We're definitely not vegetarians at our house. I'll admit that I do purposefully distance myself from thinking about the slaughter of animals so that we can live this way. In fact, I just read a book where the lady went to a slaughterhouse and I almost gave up meat. Almost. I feel really bad about killing animals, but as long as they are treated humanely I strongly believe they were put on this earth for a reason. Meat shouldn't be the main dish of every meal, but in moderation it is great.

Enough of my little soapbox. On OhDeeDoh a few days ago they shared this nursery in California. I immediately fell in love with this poster, and want one for our kitchen. It would be such a fantastic dinner party conversation piece. We'd be the talk of the town, right? I can just picture it now: Hannah, have you been over to the Jones' apartment and seen that huge cow on their wall? Weird, right?

And the best part is, I just followed this link and called up the company, and they'll send one to your house for free!! Really. Our giant cow poster is arriving in just a few weeks.

I am currently sitting at our computer desk while Jack is napping, trying hard to contain my excitement. I just don't know how I'm going to frame it. The non-framed look is in, right? Maybe if I get some cool tacks I could pull it off.

The Invisible Man

Artist Liu Bolin spends up to ten hours (!!) painting himself to blend in with his scenery. Then he takes a snapshot to share with us.

I had to look for about ten seconds to find him in this first one. Isn't he amazing?

Check out more photos here and here.

Celebrations!

Sorry for that last post. And I'm mostly apologizing to the four or five people who actually came up to me and told me they fell for it. Sorry to disappoint you, friends.

I may not be posting a ton this week because poor Jack is sick with his first real cold. He is sniffly in all sorts of places and keeps snarfing. (Our favorite Tina Fey says snarfing is sneezing and farting at the same time.) We've got his room all humidified with vick's and he's drinking apple juice to stay hydrated. Lucky for me even when he's sick he still sleeps from 10pm to 7am!

We had an entire weekend filled with celebrations!

Me, Jack (5 months), Kamie, and Ari (7.5 months)

First, our dear friends the Zamoras were sealed as a family in the temple on Saturday. We celebrated with dinner at Johnny Carinos.

Second, the Zamoras blessed sweet baby Ari yesterday in church. Baby blessings always make me emotional.

Third, Jack learned how to hold his own bottle! Just the little four ounce bottles, and I don't trust him with milk yet. But he loves watered-down apple juice! (He is sick with a very bad cold and cough, and we're trying to keep him hydrated as best we can! Poor guy!)

Last but not least, the kid rolled over last night! I put him to bed, and minutes later there was a loud scream. Not his usual shrieks of boredom or silliness, but a Momma knows when something is up. So I ran into his room, and found him face down in the crib (on his belly) with one of his legs stuck in-between the bars. I wish I would have gotten a picture but instead I yelled for Tyler and we both stood there laughing at him and his precarious situation. Oh, Jack ... how we love you. He also rolled over twice this morning, letting out the same cry of "help!" when he was stuck. Silly boy.