Out and about

I haven't had the computer much these past 2 wks to blog so I'm catching up now.

3 weeks ago we visited the historical Bonaventure Cemetery. What a cool place! It was like going to an art gallery almost since a lot of the tombstones have beautiful sculptures and artwork on them.
Last week Azure and I, along with a friend and her kids, went to Jekyll Island, about an hour south of here. Jekyll Island is home to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.
I had as much, or more fun than Azure because I love sea turtles, they are so dang cute! One of the most interesting things I learned was how the gender of the turtles is determined. A few weeks before hatching an egg will be a girl if the temperature is warm, and a boy if the temperature is cool. Usually the eggs in the middle will be girls, and ones on the outside will be boys. But, if there is a rainstorm or the mother lays her eggs in the shade of a tree, then the whole batch will be boys! And if it's a hot summer night, or the eggs are exposed to lots of sun, they will all be girls. As I read that I felt extremely grateful that our gender is not decided at the whim of a temperature change due to environmental factors, but that it is eternal and was determined long before we came to this earth.

"Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal,
mortal, and eternal identity and purpose" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World).

Hot off the press!

This just in...
Since publishing the last post Azure now has gone #2 in the "bobby", without any real coaxing from me. In fact I was in the kitchen when she went. What a big girl!

Swimming

At the beginning of January Azure started swimming lessons at our community aquatic center. It's mostly geared to help toddlers become comfortable in the water. She has learned to jump in into my arms while putting her head under, blow bubbles, and kick her legs and paddle with her arms (while I hold her tummy afloat). We are working on floating on her back. She doesn't like the water going in her ears.

She absolutely loves it. So much in fact that she can't stop talking about it. I'm pretty sure she dreams of it every night because when I get her in the mornings she does the sign for swimming and says, "Snimming". Then she blows bubbles with her lips, and says, "wawa", while pretending to pour water over her head (something else she learned). Often times she repeats this over and over again. It is SO cute. If she happens to see her bathing suit in her drawer or hanging up in the laundry room she will also start telling me this "story" again. I am loving this stage she's in. She repeats almost all of the words I tell her. One of my favorites is "wabie" which is butterfly, and flower. She has a hard time distinguishing between the two. How she came up with wabie for these words is beyond me, but I think it's darling. Maybe she'll be a swimmer.

No pics of swimming, but chasing of birds.

Wednesday night she went #1 in the potty! She's making some progress. She loves to be chased around the house naked after her bath hiding in various spots answering, "Azure" to our calls.

Get 6 free Valentines!

I have a plethora of posts in the making but, I just have to post this real quick. I just made some adorable Valentines for free, shipping included. They come in a set of 6 for free. Use code Valentine at checkout. Click here to make yours and here for further instructions. You don't have to enter your credit card info. Offer ends Feb. 1.

Seems like they're geared to be from a child, but you can still make them for your significant other/friend if you don't have kids.

Let me know if you make one and what they look like :)

Introducing "Bobby"

On Friday Azure test ran her new potty. She insists on calling it "Bobby" which is pretty hilarious. She sits on it multiple times a day with all her clothes on, for only about 3 seconds then says, "All duh" (done) and slams the lid. Five minutes later she repeats this process. She has yet to eliminate any waste in it though. We're still working on that. For now she's just fascinated with Bobby.

She had her 18 month check up (2 wks late) on Friday too and she finally weighs 20 lbs. That means she's now officially ready for a forward facing car seat. Too bad we've already been using one for the past 6 months. I could not imagine using a rear facing up until now. And she's 33 inches long.

Death of a Salesman

I have a burning hatred for cockroaches that keeps me sufficiently warm so as to induce profuse sweating even during the winter months. Their wile is unmatched among arthropods. The other night when Deanna screamed and converted all of my circulating blood to cheese, I came to dispose of our vile guest but he escaped. He was exceedingly wise, most likely an elder or medicine man in his own community. Fuming, I attempted to slumber whilst sensing dainty antennae conducting some filthy, unheard cockroach symphony somewhere in the darkness. Then we heard a series of heavy FLOP!s on the shelves adjacent to our place of retire. Illuminating the room revealed the clumsy fellow, who quickly sought refuge amidst the board games. Having recently obtained an upland game stamp and finishing top of my hunter's safety class, the following occured at ca. 1:00 AM, AD.: (Azure can be heard in a clear state of distress over the breach.)




Slain!

Winter Vacay #2 and Charlie's Bday

We decided to make another mini vacation out of meeting half way with our dear friend Catherine (my roommate from BYU) over the holiday break. We were happy to learn that Evelyn would also be joining us! We met up in Florence, SC which is the halfway point from here to Durham, NC.
We had lunch and then went to what we thought was a Pecan factory. It ended up just being a store but, once we saw that they had a gazillon free samples of all sorts of goodies (the chocolate covered blueberries being my fave) who really cared?
So fun to be with these girls again!

Year End Statistical Report

Last year's post was such a hit, we decided we would do it again....

In 2008 we:

Started reading 15 books, finished reading 5 books, some of which were initiated in 2007.

Survived 1 automobile accident and averted many more.

Reported 2 drunk drivers.

Shot 586 rounds of various ammunition.

Gave Azure 373 baths.

Took 14 showers (Charles).

Saved $592 in coupons.

Amounted 111 intern hours at CVS.

Spent 5,647 hours on the "interweb." (Azure)

Endured 315 hours of lectures.

Taught 39 classes at church.

Watched 18 movies.

Changed 2,792 diapers.

Produced 124 gallons of whole milk. (Deanna)

Boarded 18 flights.

Drove 11,688 miles.

Bought 1 car, buried 1.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!