Snow

We woke up to snow this morning. Libby was too little to remember snow from last year, so it was fun to see her experience it for the first time. She was super excited to put her snow boots on and started taking giant steps while we were still in the house. Good to know walking in deep snow will come naturally to her!

She was either mesmerized or confused by the snow at first and just stood still in the driveway for a solid few minutes while taking it all in.

Eventually, she started stomping her feet and running into neighbors' yards and having a grand ol' time. 

Aren't baby snow boots adorable?

15 months

Things I'd like to remember about Libby at 15 months: 

• She loves pickles. Anytime the fridge is open, she grabs the pickle jar and begs for one. She sucks on them like popsicles, and while she eats most of it, she usually leaves a little pickle stub in some surprising location around the house.
• Her ability to imitate me and Jared is a constant source of joy. I love seeing her try on my shoes, slather soap (or just water) all over her body in the shower, dry her hands on the kitchen towel, sweep the floor, and talk on the phone (even when no one is on the other end).
• She is obsessed with pens - specifically ones that have a click top. While she does enjoy drawing on paper (and sometimes her body), she is mostly content to hold on to the pen. But! The ink tip has to be visible. Try and click the pen to retract it (to prevent stray marks), and she will protest by screaming and thrashing about.  
• She understands so much. If I tell her its time to brush her teeth, she goes to the bathroom and waits by the sink. When it's bathtime, she goes to the tub and tries to climb in. If I tell her to put her shoes on, she collects whatever shoes she can reach and brings them to me. Or, she goes to her bedroom, holds onto the wall for balance, and lifts her foot in the air and waits for me to put a shoe on it. When it's time to go bye-bye, she goes to her closet and points to her jacket. And, if she's feeling cooperative, she'll even lie down on the changing pad when I tell her we're going to change her diaper. 

• For my own reference, I'll add that her eating habits have picked up since she hit the year mark, and her weight is now comfortably back on the growth chart at 20 lbs (10th pecentile), up from her 12 months weight of 17 lbs (< 3rd percentile). Her current length is 31.25 inches (75th percentile), right on target following her 12 months length of 29.75 inches (75th percentile).

Thrifted Dresser: Before and after

I mentioned way back in September that I found a dresser at the thrift store to replace Libby's damaged, dangerous, falling apart dressers. Thank goodness she hasn't hurt herself on the broken dressers in the extraordinarily long time it's taken me to finish the new one. 

Before:

 After:

I realize the "after" pictures are blown out, but they represent the true color best and I was too impatient to wait for better light.

Here's a rundown of what I did:

• Removed the existing hardware and drawer pulls. The top 3 drawers had dingy metal pulls which I chose not to reuse. The bottom 6 drawers had an overhanging piece of wood with a lip underneath that functioned as the pull. (See below.) Once removed, I sawed them into smaller pieces and used them later on. 

• Repaired broken drawer with gorilla wood glue. See top right drawer in "before" picture.
• Sanded. And sanded. And sanded. For about 20 hours. Maybe more.
• Jimmy rigged a way for the drawers to align properly. After I took off the overhanging wood pieces on the bottom 6 drawers, I realized that they now sunk in about 3/4" deeper than the top 3 drawers. I basically just screwed small pieces of wood to the frame of the dresser in less-than-scientific locations. It works. 
• Installed homemade safety stops so the drawers wouldn't fall out. Wanna know how?

DIY Safety Stops

The idea is to use a small piece of sturdy wood (here's one place where I reused the old drawer pulls) and screw it to the back of the drawer, tight enough that it stays put, but loose enough you can still turn the wood piece by hand. 

Turned horizontally, you can insert and remove the drawer as needed. Turned vertically, the wood piece sticks up over the back edge of the drawer, eventually being blocked by the frame of the dresser. You can slide the drawer in and out, but it won't fall out!

A simple story to remember

If only I had my camera with me at the gym today, I could have captured one of the cutest, funniest, most adorable things Libby has ever done.

First of all, when I drop Libby off at the nursery each morning, there are usually several other kids there for her to play with. But by the time I finish my swim and shower, the other kids are long gone and Libby is left to entertain herself. It's always interesting to see what she's doing in there.

Today, I walked into the nursery and did not immediately spot her. I looked around for a second while the nursery worked said, "she crawled under there and went to sleep." I had to look around for a few more seconds before I finally realized where she was - underneath the table, cuddling a baby doll and a play fork - fast asleep. It was so cute, I didn't want to wake her up.

....................................

In other news, I cut Libby's bangs today. They turned out a little short, since she kept looking down while I was trimming, but at least she let me cut them at all, right?!

Elegant beauties of everyday life

I was reminded recently of  a beautiful and poignant piece of encouragement from President Uchtdorf: 

"Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life."


As a stay at home mom, my days are pretty much all alike, and they certainly don't seem elegant. We have the same routine most days of the week and after awhile, one day sort of blends into the next. I often tell Jared that on the weekends, I want to do something different. I don't care what it is or how long it takes or when I do it, but I just need something to break up the routine of everyday life, so that it actually feels like a weekend. 


But, monotonous as the days and weeks may be, I am so glad to be able to spend all day with Libby. It is a miracle to witness her learn new skills, speak new words, and just be her adorable self. I do find myself vainly wishing for more hours in the day, so I could tackle one more project or read one more book or try one more recipe or swim one more mile. But I feel renewed and motivated now to open my eyes to the joy of every day. 

kissing dad goodnight

President Uchtdorf's words came to my mind the other night as I was curled up in the dark rocking Libby to sleep. She was totally out, but I just kept rocking her, thinking to myself, "if this isn't a 'simple and elegant beauty,' I don't know what is.

14 months

I love this sequence because it exemplifies so well Libby's current nature - fickle as can be. She is on a steep learning curve right now and gets frustrated and/or bored really easily. She'll go from smiles to tears in a matter of seconds...and repeat a hundred times a day. But she is so much fun to play with! She will copy nearly anything Jared or I do (within her capabilities, of course). She loves dancing, running laps around the house, clapping her hands, and stomping her feet. She makes great faces, cheesy smiles, and laughs easily. She says mama, da (dad), dah (dog), uh-oh, and hi. She can wave hello and goodbye. 

Looking under the cupboard for a lost fridge magnet

My little praying mantis

Cleaning up her mess of oats

Enjoys climbing/sitting on Mom and Dad

Cowgirl Halloween costume

Typical results when I try to take a pic of me and Libby together

Finally looking at the camera...I love this little stinker

Toddler antics

I've said it before and I'll say it again: my child reminds me of a dog sometimes.

In an attempt to distract Libby long enough to do the dishes this morning, I gave her a pastry brush and a small bowl of water and let her "paint" the fridge. This was all well and good for about 2 seconds, and then she just wanted to slurp the water out of the bowl.

Graduation Day

In my mind, the day a baby girl starts wearing a ponytail is the day she graduates to toddlerhood.

 Like most graduation days, it's filled with happiness and excitement for the future, with a healthy dose of nostalgia for the days you'll never get back. 

So true

"In these preparatory years, you young women spend much of your time in schools or jobs where you receive accolades, honors, awards, ribbons, or trophies. When you move from that stage to young motherhood, there is a dramatic drop-off in outside commendation. Yet in no other capacity is there more opportunity to serve selflessly as Christ would do by taking care of hundreds of daily physical, emotional, and spiritual needs."
-Susan W. Tanner, from here 


Does anyone else sometimes want a trophy just for making dinner?

Photo Tribute to Nae Nae Horsey

Today is my friend Renae's birthday. We met a little over 8 years ago when we were assigned as roommates in Heritage Halls at BYU. I didn't know any of my roommates when I headed off to BYU, but I seriously lucked out. Renae and I became fast friends and were roommates for 4 years until she got married.

Looking back, I'm afraid that I was probably a little obnoxious at times (like the time I got the urge to make split pea soup even though I hate peas, but was so disgusted by it that I left my dirty pot on the stove for...a week...or longer? Renae finally cleaned it for me.), but Renae was always patient and forgiving and FUN. She let me borrow her car (even calling it "our car"), she made me dinner, she invited me to spend holidays with her family, and she didn't get mad when I accidentally melted her snow pants on the campfire.

I'm certain I have more pictures of me and Renae than I do of me and my husband, so choosing just a handful was an impossible task. Instead, here are more pictures than you ever wanted to see of the two of us! I was hysterical going through all those years of photos. I left out some of the more embarrassing pictures (let's just say Thanksgiving weekend "makeover")...it is her birthday, after all. :) Hope you get a laugh out of these, Renae!

We shared everything

Microwave s'mores in our dorm freshman year

Strong bad face

Freshman roommies! LOVE these girls!

The Format concerts!

"Raiders of the Night" practical joke task force

Talking to our downstairs neighbors through the vent under our bed... "AAAADAM WAAAATSON!"

Renaeighties dance party

Eating with a giant spoon because all our dishes were dirty

Renae's birthday, 2004 - I guess she didn't like the cake I made for her! ;)

Playing Halo with the guys 

At the Joseph Smith Memorial Building over Thanksgiving weekend

Sumo!

Painting our house

Snow tubing at Soldier Hollow - so much fun!

I don't remember the significance of the hula hoop, but I have several pictures like this, so it must have been really fun at the time!

Renae taped me into our room one day

Picnics at Rock Canyon

Picnics at Rock Canyon - the best Sunday afternoon activity

Longboarding at the Colony (hey! that's Jared's car in the background!)

Roommate cuddle time

Hahaha...forcibly cutting a lock of Renae's hair...so we could tape it to someone's head. I don't remember why.

Graduation with the freshman roommates of 189 Fugal Hall

Renae's wedding, 2007

My wedding, 2009

Happy birthday, Renae! Thanks for being such a great friend all these years!