"If you chance to meet a frown..."

Julia and I used to have four fights every morning. Most days it was almost impossible for us to get her diaper changed, clothes on, teeth brushed, and hair done without a few eruptions. I needed some serious assistance. And since Jonny can't be here every morning (for whom she will do almost anything), I came up with a simplified job chart.She has four cards, one for each of the above-mentioned tasks. As an afterthought, I added a smiley face to the back of each card before laminating them. Little did I know how rewarding four smiley faces in a row can be for a 2 year old! And because magnets are fun, the cards live on a small colorful magnet board I happened to have already.

Here's the system: She gets to choose the order we accomplish the tasks. (Yes, sometimes getting dressed comes before the diaper change. Whatever works!) Upon finishing each one, she turns the card over to reveal the ever-exciting smiley faces. When she gets all four it's high-fives and hugs all around. I had thought she may need a sticker or some other small reward, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh man, our mornings are going so much smoother. Those four smiley faces are the not the only happy ones around here these days.

P.S. Julia wanted to show off her toe-gripping skills on film. "Me so way awe-sin girl," as she would say. And I'm not sure why she's making that expression in the picture at the very top. Many of her silly faces and phrases can hardly be explained these days.

P.P.S. I don't profess to be any great disciplinarian. Actually, quite the contrary. I am new to this stuff and would love any other fun ideas to help this little girl learn to be the most pleasant little girl possible.

P.P.P.S. I knew it was a mistake as soon as I colored the shirt pink and the pants blue on her "getting dressed" card. Some days, luckily not all - but some, she insists on wearing clothes to match the card. Oh brother.

a few more glamour shots

While dancing crazily around the room, Julia scooped down to Gabe's level and BAM. It looked like someone had lodged a golf ball into his head. I got a headache just looking at the poor guy. He, on the other hand, got over it pretty quickly - as you can tell. And by the time he woke up from his nap, the swelling had gone down and only a bruise remained. This boy gets a new bump, bruise, or scratch several times a day. I am constantly amazed at and grateful for the incredible self-healing power of the human body. (Especially his chubby little body.)

recent glamour shots

Julia fashioning the crazy hair, bare midriff, return address label, Daddy's-shoes-and-socks look:

Gabe proving that a runny nose is good for something:

"Things are going to start happening to me NOW"

The other day as Jonny and Julia were looking through the February Friend magazine (A publication for children by the LDS church) I overheard them reading a story titled "The Two Years that Flew." I thought to myself, "Hmm, that sounds familiar." I couldn't shake the feeling I'd heard those words before so I took a closer look at the magazine to find it was a story my Mom wrote and sold to the magazine years ago! The story is about me and the "Poems of the Month" I wrote to my brother Matt on his mission. (The title sounded so familiar because it is a line from one of my original poems.) It was such a surprise to see my Mom's fun story - even for her. (They don't tell you when your story will be printed. Could be months, or years, in this case.) Here is a link to the story in case you are interested but don't subscribe to the magazine. (Sorry, no fun illustrations with the online version.)

Anyway, my Mom has written and published dozens of stories to various magazines (and she used to write a column for the local newspaper). But I remember when she wrote this one because it was the first story about me. It seemed like all the other kids were featured in some publication and I was always trying to get in one too! Ashley and Emily, remember the time we chased the ice cream truck around all day in hopes that Mom would write a column or story about it? And another time we worked so hard at building a snow fort, hoping it would be big and cool enough to make it into the newspaper via Mom. No dice.

P.S. Disclaimer: I wrote the poems to Matt with only the purest intentions, with no idea my Mom would write about it.

P.P.S. The title of this post is a quote from The Jerk. If you have never seen this hilarious Steve Martin movie, make sure you catch it next time it is edited on TV. This line is from the part where he finds his name in the phone book for the first time.

Undeveloped

While searching through the hall closet for his hair-cutting supplies, Jonny came across two rolls of undeveloped film. Really? What could they be? Why were they never developed? What treasures might they hold? (I just hoped they weren't full of pictures of past girlfriends. Those always strike up a little jealousy, though they shouldn't. After all, I'm the one who got him.) There was only one way to find out...

Seeing Jonny come home yesterday with two envelopes of non-previously viewed photos in hand brought back the anticipation I remember feeling in the old days of 35 mm cameras. (As much as I love digital photography, I do miss the fun of flipping through a stack of pictures - doubles, at times.) While none of the pictures were quite frame-worthy, we were not disappointed with the goods. We were taken back to our days on campus, late 2004 and pre-engagement. Some of you, Riviera roommates and Rejholec siblings especially, may be interested in the following sampling:

This is a very excited me at a surprise picnic Jonny set up for our 6-months-of-dating celebration.
He remembers that picnic costing him about $50.
This one is another of Jonny's surprises for me -
a 20th birthday party.
It was the first birthday I celebrated without Emily. My roommates and Jonny made it as happy as it could be without my twin sister. Mer and Linds even made a cake with pictures of Emily all over it. I cried. And then I laughed.
It was perfect.
Jonny decorated with balloons and crepe paper to match my new shirt from the roommates. It's not everyday you get to be color-coordinated with their party decor!
(I'm sure Jonny is pining for this old favorite t-shirt I made him retire not too long ago. But hopefully he doesn't miss his baggy pants?)
No roll of film would be complete without a dancing photo. Here, a dip.
And I think I know what this one is all about. The pictures before this were pointless ones, most likely Jonny just trying to use up the roll. I'm sure I said,
"Wait, let's not waste the film! Come on Mer..."
Surely it was not wasted, as you can see.
James Mathews and Jonny. Little did these mission buddies/roommates know they would go on to live in the same married-student ward and travel to Poland with their wives not long after. Then there was the time I almost burned down their new CA home while roasting marshmallows over the gas stove. Let's get together again soon, Mathews!

The second roll contained pictures of Christmas in Durango:
Above and below, Rudi and Emmy looking so very young.
The traditional tinsel-blowing. No doubt "Thistle Hair, the Christmas Bear" is playing in the background.
Sheriff Jonny
Who gave him that and Why didn't he bring some back to Provo to share with his girlfriend!?

Okay, now here's where is gets mysterious. Who is this girl? Why is she on a bus? What is she listening to? And most importantly, why is she on Jonny's long-lost roll of film? Seriously, we have no idea.

He may not be floating away...

...but Gabe is certainly taking off on the ground. Last week, at just over 8 and 1/2 months, he finally got around to crawling. The only reason I say "finally" is because he's been so big for so long that people assume he is surely walking by now. But it takes a lot for him to lift his chubby girth off the ground, so we are quite proud of his accomplishment. Especially Julia. She cheers him on, "Go, Day! Go crawling!"

Leave it to Matt and Lili...

My brother Matt, with his quick wit, came up with this:

My sister Lili, with her mad skills, refined the original design:

This is hilarious, but also makes me a little nervous. (Strangely, even more nervous than when I see Jonny thrusting Gabe high into the air on a regular basis. I mean, there goes my baby, right?!) Lili, this one is right up there with the Julia tomato.

Oh, and one more - a new take on it from Lili this morning:

But wait, there's more. Lili's husband, Jeff, has an offering:

(Will it ever end!?)

Not quite done, are you, Lili?

Each time I check my inbox there is a new version.
Julia gets a kick out of them.

"And Oceans"

Well, we are back home in gloomy Utah. Don't get me wrong - I love this mountain state. But it is never fun to come from sunny CA back to snowy UT.

We enjoyed a perfectly wonderful time on our little trip to San Diego. It was just what we needed to help us get through the rest of the winter. While it wasn't warm enough to swim at the beach, we enjoyed the sunny days and ocean life at Sea World. (If you ever want to go there, winter is the time to do it. The crowd was extremely small - almost too small on Wednesday! It felt kind of like a ghost town. On Friday there were more people, but not too many - just enough to add a little energy to the place.)

The highlight of our trip was renting bikes and a trailer on Thursday. We cruised on the wide sidewalk along the Mission Beach coast. Julia and Gabe were great sports - we thought that even more so when we noticed half way through our ride that they were being blasted with sand! Sorry, you two. I wish I could ride that coastline every day. It was by far the best $15 we spent on the trip.
Another highlight for me was stroking a dolphin at Sea World. They were so friendly and easy to reach if you waited long enough. I am crazy about dolphins. I nearly cried when I saw them up close and personal. Ocean life fascinates me. I can't get over the trainers swimming with the amazing killer whales. And neither can Julia. She's been chanting "Shamu! Shamu!" all week. But she says it, "Samu! Samu!"
Oh, and the title of the post is from Julia. When we told her about how we'd go to the beach and Sea World and see fish, dolphins, and whales, she said, "And Oceans!?" We are not sure where she picked up that word, since we didn't specify that we'd see the ocean. (Maybe she picked it out of her lullaby that sings of dolphins sleeping in the ocean.) Anyway, she seemed a little let down when we drove up to the beach and pointed out the long-anticipated ocean. "Where's oceans!?" she asked. Apparently she had something else in mind. As for me, I could stare out at that horizon all day long.