be there or be square

I've never quite understood this saying. But I laughed out loud when one of the Relief Society presidency said it a little while ago, referring to the upcoming activity. (She is hilarious, I laugh at most of the things she says. But for some reason this one seemed especially funny.) Anyway, that is not the purpose of my post. Well, the square part is. If you haven't already, check out the squareness of Julia's face. When she smiles with her mouth closed, her scrumptious but large head (up there in the 97th percentile!) looks like a square with a little scoop in the middle at her chin. Ha! So, I guess you could say Julia wasn't "there" because she certainly is square. Again, whatever that means.
Not so square-like in the last one, but I think she looks like Savanna Smiles or something.

Who's Counting?

Last Saturday was Jonny's birthday. When I ordered the Rejholec family traditional Baskin Robins ice cream cake, I guess I didn't realize how much time has passed. I thought Jonny was turning 25! Ha. Happy 26th, Handsome.

I believe Jonny had a very happy birthday weekend. (That's how long birthday celebrations seem to last around here.) It was complete with Life cereal for breakfast (a Graham family tradition, fave cereal on your b-day), a few gifts from Julia (I promised I wouldn't get him any, since his fancy DeWalt tool set was for Christmas and birthday combined. True to my word, Julia gave him a new shirt and cookies), a completely delicious dinner at Carraba's (thanks for babysitting, Pecks!), a party at Mom and Dad's, oatmeal cake (Thanks again, Amber!), gifts and cards from family, and left-over ice cream cake for another day (if you can believe it, considering how tiny the cake is!)

Anyway, congrats if you were able to wade through all the parenthesis! Here are a few pictures of the festivities. Oh, and some not-so-birthday related ones of Julia.

33 inch claim to fame

Ok, so today I met the lady with the longest fingernails in the world. Strolling through Walmart, I must have passed her 4 times. The first time, in the milk aisle, we chatted and I asked her how long she has been growing her nails...28 years. By the time we were both in the produce department I figured I'd better get a picture. Lee Redmond was very gracious (I'm sure she's used to pictures and even expects it).

So here we are. Pretty insane. I wonder what makes a person decide to do such a thing. Look her up in the Guinness Book. I remember seeing pictures of her when I was a kid. Back then her nails were more curly, I guess they've straightened out some. Crazy. And sad, all those years dedicated to fingernails.

P.S. Fingernail clippers was one of the things on my list.

... as simple as do re mi...

I am responding to Marianne's ABC tag, adding Emily's twist of guessing Jonny's answers, and adding my own element of attempting Julia's as well! My answer will be first, then Jonny's, then Julia's. Wish me luck...

A - Attached or Single: We are all completely attached to each other and we girls DO NOT LIKE IT when daddy goes away on business - which happens more often lately.
B - Best Friends: M&J-Each other, Julia, Emily, all family, and so many unrelated friends it's impossible to list them all here/Ju-anyone who smiles at me (Matt, I do love you, just give me a little more time to warm up to you and your glasses)
C - Cake or Pie: M-carrot cake or ice cream cake/J-ice cream cake or that one oatmeal cake Mom and Amber make/Ju-Does it have sugar in it? Then yes.
D - Day of choice: Friday for all of us. Total and complete. Well, maybe Saturday for Julia because she gets to play with Daddy more on that day.
E - Essential Item: M-water bottle, chapstick/J-my cell phone (especially now that I have the internet on it)/Ju-Mommy, the Dairy Queen (as Jonny says)
F - Favorite Color: M-various shades of green, currently/J- blue/Ju-whatever color any jewelry in sight is - I am mesmerized and unsatisfied until I have it in my little hands...and mouth
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: the big cinnamon gummi bears. They are the best. Also, the round gummis from Poland. The others aren't worth our time/Ju-I'm sure I will someday agree with my parents on this one. They are so wise in the ways of gummis.
H - Hometown: M-Pleasant Grove, UT/J-Durango, CO/Ju-American Fork, UT
I - Indulgence(s): M-chocolate milk, hint of lime tortilla chips, lots more things that I can't think of right now/J-cheesecake (strange, I know, considering I will not eat cream cheese and many things made with it)/Ju-cruelly small amounts of ice cream
J - January or July: July all around. We all can't wait to start a summer of hiking!
K - Kids: Yes, we love little friends.
L - Life is incomplete without: M-my two lovies/J-my two girlies/Ju-my two big friends
M - Marriage Date: M&J-May 21, 2005/Ju-TBA
N - Number of Siblings: M- 2 brothers, 4 sisters/J- 1 brother, 4 sisters/Ju-TBA
O - Oranges or Apples: M- Oranges. Just bought a huge box at Macey's. I think I have eaten 10 this week!/J-oranges, especially when Melody peels them for me/ Ju- probably oranges, though I have never tried one. But I did try applesauce and it is completely disgusting. Do people really enjoy that!?
P - Phobias or Fears: M-mice/J-bees/Ju-the vacuum, Uncle Matt's glasses
Q - Quotes: M-in honor of election year, "Let men be good and government cannot be bad."-Thomas Paine/J-"Nazis, I hate these guys"-Indiana Jones. (Okay, that is totally a joke, He loves those movies but I think the scripts are so cheesy!)/Ju- "Daddy's home!"
R - Reason to smile:M-too many to count, and I second Emily's/J-It's Friday/Ju-Anything resembling a camera is pointing my direction, and when anyone smiles at me.
S - Season: M-Spring and Fall/J-Summer/Ju-Summer, so my chubby legs can hang out.
T - Tag Three Friends/Family: M-Sarah, Esther, Ashley/J-Taylor, Austin, Baby Dallin/Ju-Nana Jan, Papa Steve, Great Grandpa Scott
U - Unknown fact about me: M-I still have two Utah Olympics mini-tissue packs that I loaded up on at a ski resort six or so years ago. I don't think you could call it stealing, there was a whole basket there for the taking! (Okay, I do feel a little ashamed that I stuffed my ski pants full of them. )/J- I used to play "Baptism" in the tub with my brother. Since I didn't know the words, I said, "Ding da dong da ding ding dong" and dunked him!/Ju- Poop-outs are extremely rare these days.
V - Very favorite store: M-IKEA, with house-buying and all/J-Um, Home Depot, I wish I could say I frequented it. (???) Oh, and IKEA, just to buy those one cookies/Ju-I don't mind being in the cart anywhere as long as I can play with Mommy's keys.
W - Worst habit: M-one of them is not using Julia's nap time wisely. Oops, I guess I should be cleaning the house right now./J-tickling Melody when I know she does not like it./Ju-picking up anything and everything off the floor and eating it. Isn't that what even the tiniest specks of lint are meant for?
X - X-ray or Ultrasound: M-there's nothing like seeing your own baby inside of you, it's miraculous and beautiful/J-see Melody's, but insert "your wife" for "you"/Ju-Yes, the video of me is totally amazing. My mommy showed it to the second grade class she was student teaching a the time. She was slightly insulted when they said it was scary and I looked like a skeleton. Then she remembered they were second graders.
Y - Your favorite food: M-too many to list, but to name just a few-any and all fruit, rice pudding, BYU Creamery mint-cookie ice cream, Jonny's green chile and burritos, Serious Texas Tacos, and surely EVERYTHING Emily posts on her food blog (I hope to try all of it someday)/J-My mom's beef stroganoff, Potato-lover's salad, Serious Texas Tacos, oreos, BYU Creamery mint cookie ice-cream, grape-nuts
Z - Zodiac: I don't actually know. Bummer of a last one.

Why we love T-Mobile

We were hesitant to ask for bonus minutes (see previous post) since we were so graciously given them last month. But hey, it was worth a try. And here we are, after just reaching our limit, and we are sittin' pretty with 150 minutes more each. And all for $free.99. Thank you, T-Mobile.

six minutes

Jonny has been ever-so-kindly reminding me each day that we are really down to the wire with our cell phone minutes this month! I believe we had six left this morning. And now, after a few phone calls that I made as brief as possible, we may be at three...or two. This is certainly not typical. We rarely use all the minutes alloted to us. But this month Jonny has been on the phone a lot, as is necessary when you are buying a house. And we are! I guess this is when a land-line comes in handy. Oh well, wish me luck in making our last few minutes last until March 18th! Ha.

... and an inchworm!

This is breaking news! Let's give a little background first. I guess Julia is something of a late bloomer in the crawling and teething department. (Both of these are fine with me. She is quite a delightful stationary little thing. And I am in no hurry for her pearly whites to peak!) Anyway, she's been rolling around and around for months. But a few weeks ago she started using rolling as an effective mode of transportation. She'd eye something she wanted, and roll and swivel until she reached it, usually making an arc formation. (No, not the most efficient way, but she managed.) Well, today, she made a discovery. While reaching for my chapstick, I saw her go up on her toes, lifting her big tummy entirely off of the floor (!!) and sticking her little bum in the air! Then she'd scoot and do it over again. She looks like an inchworm! (Sorry for all the exclamations, but I must try to portray the excitement of the moment somehow!) It was hilarious and darling and I'm afraid I made her "fetch" things so many times that she was too tired out to show Daddy her new trick when he got home from work. We'll start afresh tomorrow.

So, that is the haps. This little one may be well on her way to crawling. If that is the case, yikes! Time to baby-proof this place. Oh, and another habit she unfortunately started today is picking up any little speck on the carpet and eating it, smacking her tongue and lips. Funny, but yikes again! I have a feeling things are about to get a little trickier around here . . . bring it on, Ju-ju-train (one of Uncle Todd's many nicknames).



P.S. I just noticed that Julia looks like a pirate at the end of the slide show, the play button being her eye patch. Ha.