Jennifer’s

Yesterday, Izzy reached an important milestone in her life.  She went fishing.  Although it wasn’t at a “real” lake, she did okay.  She caught a sunfish and was very proud of herself.  She was more excited that she got to fish with her friend/babysitter Bella.Fingers are crossed that she wants to do this a lot more in her life.

Jennifer is busy feeding, changing, and generally nurturing Dean lately (notice I didn’t say sleeping), so I thought I would put a few pics up on her behalf.

Dear Isabella:

I love your silly moments, of which there are many, your intelligence, which continues to amaze and frighten me, your utter domination of language, about which you receive numerous compliments and looks of astonishment from people when they find out how young you are, your love of music and Guitar Hero, and your passion for letters, their sounds, and words.

You have quite an unusual taste in music for one so little, Isabella.¬† Your loves range from Veggie Tales to Susan Boyle to KISS to Coldplay to Beatles to Raffi to nearly any song on Guitar Hero.¬†¬†Your wide musical preferences collided,¬†in true Glee form,¬†in your own¬†mashup of “Rock ‘n Roll All Night” and “Goodnight Irene.”¬† You even have your own rock ‘n roll hat that you don whenever you and Daddy play Guitar Hero.¬† I love watching you grab your microphone and listening to your sweet little voice sing or yell out, “I can’t hear you!”¬† You even like to tell me that you, “like to rock and roll all night”!

You often break out into song or sing little tunes as you are busy playing.¬†¬†¬† I, too, am a lover of music so often I will join in or start up another song.¬† You used to be tolerant of this, but as you become more musically savvy I think my days as a songbird are numbered as evidenced by your remarks when I broke out into melody.¬† “Mommy, what’s that noise?”¬† After I said I was singing you told me to stop.¬† Clearly,¬†your ear for music is far more developed than mine and the sound of my voice makes it bleed!

You are fascinated with knowing people’s full names and then love to assign those names to other people than to whom they belong.¬† You also love pretending to be someone else and then forcing the person your playing with to call you that name and take on a new name for themselves. Over the last few months Daddy has been called “Daddy Rae Woolsey”, “Prince Charming Keith Woolsey”, “Shrek”, “Marv”, “Tim”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Sir”, “Mowgli”, and “Baloo”.¬† I have personally been called “Mommy Rae Woolsey”, every Disney princess under the sun, “Grandma”, “Rhi Rhi”, “Grams”, “Lola”, “Lotta”, and “Princess Fiona”.¬† For better or for worse you were introduced to Shrek while in Indiana and ever since then you have been fascinated with reenacting scenes from the film and calling us by the characters’ names.¬† It’s a little hard to keep up with your imagination sometimes, so we often call you the wrong name, which results in a very bossy, “No, call me…”.¬† The best was when Shrek (aka Daddy) called you Princess Fiona, you glared and demanded, “No, call me donkey!”

Speaking of imagination, they don’t really come much bigger than your’s.¬† You are just as content with no toys around as a room full of them because anything you can grab becomes a useful tool in your mind.¬† I recently bought a new pair of running shoes and as I was replacing the insoles your eye was caught by the factory insoles as they had a pretty pattern in bright vivid colors.¬† You immediately asked if you could have them and over the next few days they became everything from your beach shoes to skates to pencils that we had to cart around everywhere.

Somewhere along the line you’ve learned about ghosts and often come running up to me, grab my legs, and pronounce, “Mommy, I’m scared.¬† See that ghost?”¬† Of course, we tell you that ghosts aren’t real, and you know this, but for some reason you love to pretend to be scared.

You only have to see or hear something once and it is forever etched in your brain.  Thus, you are able to open any of your books, glance at the pictures and can give a near perfect reading of the book.  Many times our play involves acting out some scene from a Charlie and Lola book or a scene from Jungle Book, your absolute favorite movie.

Did I mention that you are quite the talker?¬† The things that come out of your mouth and the level of sophistication of your words and the thoughts behind your sentences is mind blowing sometimes.¬† You are extremely fascinated with stars, the moon, and the sun and where they go during the day or night.¬† On an evening walk you asked me if there was only one moon, so we got into a discussion about planets and moons.¬† You then paused, looked up at the sky and then at me and asked, “Is there only one Venus, Mommy?”¬† On another walk you stopped to admire a neighbor’s Halloween decorations and then commented on their landscaping, ‘There are literally thousands of rocks in their yard, Mommy.”

You have already figured out how to manipulate language in order to get what you want.¬† On the drive back from CO this past Thanksgiving we grabbed a cookie before returning to our hotel for the night.¬† We all had a little bite and then put the bag away for another time.¬† You kept begging for another taste, which was continually denied.¬† You then looked at us and said, “I just need to hold the bag.”¬† The look on your face was priceless; you honestly believed that if you were clever enough to think it we were surely dumb enough to buy it!

You’ve also become very fascinated with the concept of love and figuring out who loves whom.¬† You weren’t satisfied until you’d gone through every person you know and determined who they love: “Mommy loves Daddy and Izzy”, ‘Sir loves Grams”, “Grandma loves Tim”, etc.¬† And to that end you are becoming more expressive about your own affections.¬† You say adorable things like, “Daddy, I’m sure glad you’re my Daddy” or “Daddy, I sure love you” or “Oh baby, I like your eyes.¬† They are beautiful” or “Mommy, I sure like playing with you!” Keep it up kid; you might get that pony after all!

I love when we are playing and all of the sudden you’ll demand we sit Indian style and cross our arms.¬† You then look at me and say one of two things; either, “So…what should we do now” or “I’ve got a good idea, Mommy.” From there you usually try to boss me around into doing whatever you have decided is our next move.¬† Recently, this has involved proceeding to your big kid bed, climbing under the covers, and waiting while you go get presents for me to open.¬† This game is a tad difficult to play well as the presents are always imaginary ones, but my reactions have to be geared toward whatever gift you see in your mind.¬† More than once I’ve been chastised that I am not responding correctly or I’ve named the wrong gift!

We’ve been transitioning from baths to showers of late.¬† This is really a result of your mother’s laziness as it is far easier to throw you in the shower, soap you down and rinse you off.¬† Two minutes and you are clean!¬† You love prancing around in the shower stall, but you are less a fan of me using the hand nozzle to rinse your hair.¬† As the water pours over your head you often yell out, “This is not good for me!”

Isabella, you are turning into quite the helper.¬† I cannot put a pot of water on the stove without you dragging a chair over and asking, ‘I can help too, Mommy.¬† Okay?”¬† You love to stir up ingredients or wash dishes.¬† If only the latter would last into your teen years!¬† When Daddy was disassembling your crib you were right there in his hip pocket helping and supervising the project.¬† Every time he’d carry a piece out of your room you would yell, “I’m right here, Daddy” as if to reassure him that if he needed your help you were just a yell away.

You had your first experiences with snow this winter.¬† Your first encounter was over Thanksgiving break in CO.¬† There was just enough snow for you to walk in, touch it, and taste it, which upon your initial, hesitant taste, “Snow tastes like…food.”

Based on your nonchalant attitude towards snow we figured it wasn’t your thing, but then came our Christmas vacation to IN and a lot of snow (at least by AZ standards) and you suddenly became a much bigger fan because you realized snow meant being pulled around in a sled, snow angels, and snowball fights with Sir!¬† All you could talk about after that second experience with snow, boots, and getting your coat on to go outside!

When you were born I couldn’t imagine loving you anymore than when your eyes first looked into mine; yet, here we are¬†nearly two and half years later and I am completely amazed at how the love I feel for you now completely diminishes that first love.¬† You are my pride and joy, Isabella.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

I don’t what your meal planning routine is like at your house, but here in the Woolsey household we have a fairly wide pendulum that swings between being very daring and trying a new recipe every night to sticking to the same basic meals week in and week out.¬† Brian and I both love to cook, but after a full day’s work, running errands, coaching for him, etc. sometimes cooking up another exciting meal is beyond us.¬† That doesn’t mean, however, that I am not constantly looking for easy to make meals that are cost efficient and tasty.

When Mom Central contacted me about participating in a blog tour for Rosarita Salsa I jumped on the chance.¬† We love salsa and I figured this would be a chance to try something new in the kitchen.¬† I was sent two of the three new salsas Rosarita’s created: Mild Salsa Mexicana (a mild Mexican salsa) and Medium Salsa Verde (a zesty, green salsa).¬† If you are a fan of spicier varieties of salsas don’t be dissuaded by the terms mild and medium as both my husband and I thought both salsas spicier than the normal mild and medium salsas sold in stores!

The other great thing about Rosarita’s new salsas is that while they are great for dipping they also work really well as a topper in Mexican dishes like tostadas, enchiladas, and tacos.¬† Part of the salsa package I was sent included two recipe suggestions for the salsas I was given to test.¬† One of the recipes was for Enchiladas Verdes (Green Enchiladas) using Rosarita’s Medium Salsa Verde.

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 1 jar Rosarita Medium Salsa Verde, divided
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
• 12 corn tortillas (I substituted four for corn tortillas)
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375,¬† Spray 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.¬† Spread 1/4 cup of the salsa over the bottom of dish; set aside.
• Combine chicken, 1/2 cup of the salsa and 1/2 cup of the cheese in a medium bowl; mix well.¬† Set aside.
• Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray.¬† Heat one at a time in skillet over medium-high heat on both sides until slightly puffy and softened.
• Top each tortilla evenly with about 1/4 cup chicken mixture; roll up.¬† Place seam-side down in prepared baking dish.¬† Cover with the remaining salsa; sprinkle with remaining cheese.¬† Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake 30 minutes or until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly.

Both Brian and I really liked this recipe and found that it was even tastier when reheated the next day.  The salsa verde added just the right amount of spice and flavor to the chicken and cheese!

The other recipe I was provided with was for Spicy Chicken Tostadas using Rosarita’s Mild Salsa Mexicana.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 oz) can Rosarita Traditional Refried Beans
• 12 tostada shells, heated according to package directions
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 4 cups thinly slied iceberg lettuce
• 1 jar Rosarita Mild Salsa Mexicana
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese
• Fresh avocado, peeled and sliced, optional

Directions:

• Place beans in medium microwave-safe bowl.¬† Cover; microwave on HIGH 3 minutes or until hot.
• Spread each tostada shell evenly with beans.¬† Top each with chicken, lettuce, salsa, and cheese.
• Serve with avocado slices, if desired.

I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe as I am not a fan of refried beans AT ALL!  The flavor of the salsa, chicken, cheese, and avocado blended nicely and did a great job of masking the taste of the beans.  This was a very quick and easy recipe and again, provided tasty leftovers for the next few days.

Overall, I highly recommend Rosarita’s new line of authentic Mexican salsas.¬† At $ 2.99-$3.29 for a 16.75 oz jar they are reasonably priced and do lend themselves very well to dipping and cooking!¬† The only downside to Rosarita’s new salsas is that they are only available in four cities- LA, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver- at select Walmart and grocery stores.¬† If you live in one of Rosarita’s new markets you should definitely try out these new salsas!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Rosarita and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Today is the day of reckoning: at 3:30 this afternoon we will find out the baby’s gender.¬† I am one part excited and two parts nervous about the news.¬† It’s no secret I am a girl’s girl and have thoroughly enjoyed every. single. moment of raising a girl (thus far- get back to me when she turns thirteen!).¬† I know nothing of the world of trucks, toads, punches, broken limbs, and rumble tumble boys.¬† And, to be honest I really don’t want to.

Ultimately, I want what every parent wants: a healthy, intelligent, well-adjusted child.  Beyond that I am crossing my fingers and sending prayers heavenwards that we get all of that in another girl!

This time around we turned to the internets to see if we could do a little self-diagnosing and determine the baby’s sex ahead of time.¬† The Old Wives Tales to predict gender are vast, bizarre, and well, ¬†just plain hokey, but nonetheless very, very entertaining and, as you will see from the results, fairly accurate.

Test 1:  Pick up a key.  I picked it up by the round part.  The baby will be a boy.

Test 2: Coughing, numbers, letters, and names.¬† I coughed while eating, chose the number 25 which corresponds to Y, and picked a girl’s name.¬† The baby will be a girl.

Test 3: Previous child’s first word. Isabella said Daddy first (punk).¬† The baby will be a boy.

Test 4: Mother-to-be’s age and year of conception. Both were odd (31 and 2009).¬† The baby will be a girl.

Test 5: Salts vs. Sweets. I don’t really have cravings during pregnancy (no vats of cookie dough or fries for me), but in general I prefer salty things to sweets.¬† The baby will be a boy.

Test 6:  Tree trunks vs. Trim and Fit. My legs are far more trim and fit (thanks to running and spinning and genetics) than to tree trunks.  The baby will be a girl.

Test 7: Crabby vs. Cordial. I don’t really have major mood swings, pregnant or otherwise.¬† I do think I was fairly crabby towards many students during my first trimester; it is hard to say if that was due to pregnancy or dealing with immature freshmen all day.¬† The baby will be a boy.

Test 8: Heel vs. Middle. Again, another test about cravings.¬† I don’t like the heels of bread, so I had to choose the middle.¬† The baby will be a girl.

Test 9: Dry vs. Chapped. My hands are ALWAYS dry (despite obsessively slathering them in every hand lotion known to man).  The baby will be a boy.

Test 10: Eating vs. Throwing Up.  I have not had so much as a hint of morning sickness through both pregnancies.  The baby will be a boy.

Test 11: Pregnant all over vs. Pregnant in the front. During my first pregnancy, and thus far with the second, you cannot tell I am pregnant from behind.  The baby will be a boy.

Test 12:  Ring test. The ring swung around in circles.  The baby will be a boy.

Test 13: Clumsy vs. Graceful.¬† I don’t know if I would ever be described as graceful, but I’m not exactly falling all over myself, so I went with graceful.¬† The baby will be a girl.

Test 14: Heartbeat. Isabella’s heart rate was always in the 140’s.¬† So far Baby Woolsey #2’s heartbeat has been 145.¬† The baby will be a girl.

Test 15:¬† Interest Amongst the Toddler Set. The boys at Isabella’s school love to talk to me and vie for my attention whenever I arrive to pick her up.¬† The baby will be a girl.

Test 16:  Ask your current child. Isabella says we are going to have a baby sister and then we are going to have a treat.  The baby will be a girl.

The results: 16 very scientific tests later it’s a virtual tie.¬† Eight tests say the baby will be a boy and eight tests say the baby will be a girl. 16 tests later we know what we knew when we¬†started: we have a 50/50 chance of having a boy or girl!

Your challenge: In the comment section tell us your prediction for Baby Woolsey’s gender.¬† We will contact you with the joyous news ¬†in the order in which you comment!

So, this little corner of my life has been neglected of late.¬† It’s quite odd, really.¬† I have plenty of things to write¬†about: Isabella continues to amaze us each and every waking moment with her humor, intelligence, and sweetness, there’s work to rant about, there’s the awkward social moment my husband got me into, there’s the new baby/second pregnancy thing, and of course, all the lovely, lovely fashions I mourn I will not be able to wear in the upcoming months.¬† And yet, even with a two hour prep in the middle of the work day, I find myself using that time for what it was intended so as not to linger after school or to drag anything home.

1) My school schedule is cake this year, have I mentioned that here?¬† I teach a Fashion Design class, a Life Facs class (common sense life skills that apparently most parents no longer feel essential to teach their children so the state does in hopes that all those bottom feeders will at least know how to sign those welfare checks), and honors English.¬† My fashion class is not really even work to me; I enjoy planning, teaching, and grading the student work.¬† Life Facs is such a joke that I generally leave the grading to my TA and the planning is done by another teacher who has taught the class several times.¬† She passes along what she’s doing the following week, I copy it, give it a glance, and then just b.s. my way through the lessons.¬† English is something I’ve taught since day one, honors now for eight years, so I could never plan and be just fine.¬† So far, the most I’ve had to do at home is read a couple chapters or go over my teaching notes for a class!¬†

You would think this would make me enjoy my job more.¬† And I suppose I have to admit it is far less stessful than years past, but it doesn’t mean that I enjoy shaping shapeless minds and dealing with parents who must overcompensate for everything any more than I have the last decade.¬†

2)¬† I am 3 1/2 months pregnant.¬† I never experienced morning sickness or crippling exhaustion.¬† The worse I’ve suffered, so far, is a nagging cold/sinus funk that never leaves.¬†¬† It has presented itself in coughs, runny nose, sore throat, and gunky eyes but this is all preferable to hacking up at that mere thought of food.

I am, however, suffering from extreme jealousy.  Why you ask?  For a very, very silly reason.  I am ready to train for another marathon, but obviously my body is preparing itself for an endurance event of another sort.  I have several friends who are in the midst of training and while I really hope all goes well, I cannot help but wish I was joining them.  Which is just crazy because hello: new life in May and the rest of my life to train for a marathon.

3)  A few weeks ago I received an email from Gap with regards to their maternity line.  It emphasized that their current line was designed with pregnant women in mind: the need for casual comfort.  I looked at the clothes and immediately got fired up.  For the record, I do think Gap has some great, comfortable maternity wear; I may or may not have dropped a few dollars on some stuff during the recent Friends and Family event.  However, what I was taken back by was that fact that Gap, like most maternity lines, assumes that comfort means t-shirts, cotton pants, which are glorified sweat pants, and a general lack of uniqueness or styling.

It’s no secret that I love clothes, perhaps to a fault and somewhat vainly.¬† I love feminine detailing, ruffles, unique design/construction, and pieces that aren’t just run of the mill, picked this up at Old Navy.¬† Being pregnant throws that part of my personality for a loop.¬† Right now all is good because I can still wear my normal clothes with the exception of a few shirts or dresses that are more tailored.¬† However, the end draws nigh, I know, and then I will be stuck with the shapeless maternity wear that every store, that I can afford anyway, calls fashionable…Oh, J.Crew, why don’t you do maternity wear?¬† I feel like you and Jenna could get this right.

Where is the materntiy version of this:

or this:

4) Two weekends ago we moved Isabella’s big kid bed into her room, which means currently her bedroom is more of a storage area and less of a bedroom.¬† To give you a little perspective: her crib is shoved against one wall, the big kid bed (a twin with a trundle) is in the middle of the room- we’ve pulled the trundle out so it is between the bed and the crib in the event the little monkey rolls over a little too much-, and her changing table/dresser and the big kid dresser (a tall, five drawer beast) are against the other wall.

Isabella is beyond thrilled about the bed.¬† When we settle in for the night she says, “Do you see my big kid bed?¬† It’s so pretty; I like it so much.”¬† The most thrilling part, however, is that now she can just get up as she pleases.¬† This is partly our fault because we had been doing naps in the big kid bed to get her used to sleeping in there and had never really talked about not getting up when you awake because a two hour nap is acceptable.¬† However, she now assumes that this means it is okay to climb out of bed, pad down the hallway, stand by my side of the bed, holding Gloria (a stuffed hippo), and announce, “Hi, Charlie!”¬† (I am Charlie; she is Lola from the hit series Charlie and Lola.)¬† The good news is that even though she has somehow managed to climb out of the bed (in a super dark room), walk down the hallway, and awake me from a deep slumber she is, in fact, still sleepy herself.¬† I just scoop her up, whisper in her ear that I love her, but it isn’t okay to get out of bed in the middle of the night, tuck her back in, and within a few minutes she is out again.

We are going on eight nights in the big kid bed.  So far she has slept a couple of nights all the way through without suddenly appearing by my side of the bed, a couple nights it has happened once, and a couple nights it has happened twice.  Is this a learning curve?  I can remember getting up in the middle of the night to awaken my parents or to crawl into bed with them, but in my mind, anyway, that was generally associated with an illness or fright.  Isabella is simply getting up because she can.

I’ve heard of people locking their kids in at night or putting a baby gate across the door to prevent the kid from exiting if they get up.¬† I don’t know that I’ve reached that state yet.¬† Right now it’s no big deal to pick her up, tuck her in, and go back to sleep; however, I don’t want to create a monster and I do want her to learn to stay in bed.

Any suggestions?

 

Sorry for the not so great quality:  I took this photo of a photo in a shadowy room.

Timeline: Nine weeks two days; due date around May 25th, 2010!

Weight gain: 0 lbs (so far), but seriously my boobs are reaching disgusting stage…sorry if that’s too much info!

How I’m feeling: TIRED, TIRED, TIRED!¬† No throwing up or feelings of such, though, so I’ll take tired any day!¬†

Exercise: Still running and weight training.  I will probably switch to spinning only in a few months!

Baby names:  (as suggested by Isabella)  Becca or Isabella (for both a boy or a girl!)

Once upon a time I started a review blog with the intent of posting reviews of products and services I find noteworthy.¬† Given the hectic school year I endured, I let that little side project fall off the face of the earth…that is, until I was approached by BlogHer to participate in a review campaign for the Volvo XC60. If like me, you like innovative technology and amazing safety features in a car, then you really should head over to my review blog, Jeefie’s Reviews.¬† If you stop by, please leave a comment!

Last night, during our nighttime routine, Isabella started running down the list of all the important people in her life, as she is want to do when bedtime is drawing nigh.  This is her way of asking for another hug, drink of water, or for us to check for monsters under the bed, I suppose. 

She’s always been really interested in people’s names, but lately she has become interested in assigning people “roles” as well.¬† She began with Becca, who is her BFF if you ask her.¬† Isabella said, ” Becca” and then something that sounded like fun.¬† To which I replied, “Yes, Becca is a lot of fun.”¬† Isabella shook her head no and said, emphasizing the second word, “Becca…friend.”¬† I agreed that yes, Becca was her friend, her very best friend.¬† Isabella then patted my shoulder and said, “Mommy…friend” as if to reassure me that while Becca is great I am not too bad either.¬†

This kid kills me with the things she just knows and the associations she makes.  She could have asked me to party all night long with her after saying that and as her friend, I would have grabbed the princess costumes, turned up the music, and poured the milk.

Dear Isabella,

I know that it seems that I put no real thought into these monthly letters to you as I rarely post them on time, but I really do keep meticulous track of the mental and physical leaps and bounds you take each month.¬† In fact, to make sure I get it all down I keep not one, but two little notebooks to record noteworthy things like that fact that you can’t get enough of the slide we bought you or how after one failed attempt to get up the ladder, we showed you and the rest was history.¬† No matter where we move it in the house you seek it out and yell out, “Slide” and demand we come watch you master the climbing and sliding part ALL BY YOURSELF!¬† And see, that’s exactly what I am talking about in the previous 19 month letter to you; you’re just growing independent too quickly.¬† One day it’s conquering plastic slides and the next it’s leaving for college.¬†

My original point was, though, that I failed to consult the notebooks (I was feeling a tad under pressure as your twenty month letter is just around the corner) and so I fired off the last post with information filed away in my brain, which is old, decaying and full of things like Great Expectations, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the elements and principals of design right now.  I thought it prudent to also mention some of the milestones I had recorded in the aforementioned notebooks as I took the time to record them there so I would remember to also record them here.

Your love for all things animals astounds me.¬† I know your father loves animals, and by the look of you the Woolsey gene pool is strong, but I supposed, ignorantly, that my family’s intense hatred of anything animal would surely supersede. However, you are totally into dogs and have added monkeys, of all things, to the list of animals that make you practically go ape when you see or hear them.¬† Consequently, you have received a couple stuffed monkeys: one that must be in the car at all times and the other in your crib.¬† You love talking to your monkeys, dogs, babies, etc. and often occupy yourself on a drive or when you first wake in the morning with chatting them up.¬† The best memory from all of this, so far anyway, is when I glanced back at you and monkey in the rear-view mirror.¬† You were talking away to monkey, about current events to be sure, when all of the sudden you paused, looked at monkey, and then said “Please” and took the monkey’s paw, rubbed it on his chest, and then said “Please” again.¬† You were teaching monkey the sign for please, which I took to mean that one, you are a genius and two, that monkey must have asked for something without saying please and you were setting him straight about how things work around here!¬† You then proceeded to teach him how to sign more and thank you; two very important words in your world!

One of the words you’ve added to your vocabulary this month is “hungry”.¬† I mention it especially for a couple key reasons.¬† First, and foremost, like your mother you are almost always hungry, so it is significant that you can now voice exactly what you want when you want it! Secondly, you pronounce hungry as “honkey”, which slays me every time we are in a restaurant and you start talking about “honkey”.¬† Someday you will understand the comedy in this mispronunciation!

You have also decided that certain noises are simply unacceptable parts of the world: jets, loud trucks, and the paper shredder all get to you.¬† Your irrational fear of jets and loud trucks has waned over the last few weeks, thankfully as we live near an Air Force base and it seemed like every time we were at the park they were doing flybys.¬† You no longer ask a thousand times over, “What is that” while hyperventilating and instead yell “Jet”!¬† The paper shredder, however, is another story.¬† Perhaps we don’t use it enough to get you fully accustomed to it, but whenever we do or you happen to push the button to make it run you freak out, take off running, and demand to be held until you are positive the mean, awful paper shredder is not coming for you!¬† Of course, it just kills Daddy or me to play the hero!

Okay, so I’ve unloaded some of the guilt I was carrying around over the tardiness of this month’s post and then leaving out some memorable events.¬†

As always, love-

Mommy and Daddy