Dun duh duh duh! (Announcement)

Last night I dreamt I was 4 months pregnant. And that an acquaintance's husband's mother was trying to kill me. I think the pregnant part was scarier.

I promise I'm not pregnant, but I do have an exciting announcement! We're not going to be homeless! Well, actually we still don't know about that, but Jared DID get a job! Without disclosing the exact location to the internet world, I will say it's a quaint little town of 7,000 people in northern Illinois, about 2 hours from Chicago. He starts August 1st, so we'll likely be heading up to the Land of Lincoln mid to late July. (We're throwing in some vacations to Utah and Texas sometime around then, so it's gonna be a crazy month.)

As much as we were trying to avoid ending up in a small town, we're actually getting excited about it now. First thing to be excited about: traffic, or lack thereof. SO excited to be done with that. Raleigh's traffic is incredibly mild compared to many big cities, but I guess Jared and I are just impatient, because it kind of drives us crazy.

We're also excited for a new abode. (Libby needs her own bedroom, stat. I think that might be the cure for her sleeping problems. We just have to make it 3 more months!) Only problem is, the only apartments in town are government subsidized (with income restrictions) and we haven't been able to find any homes for rent. There are plenty of homes to buy, but who's gonna buy from us when we leave? It's not exactly a boomtown. So, that's our quandary, but it's an exciting quandary to have.

I haven't been there yet, but I imagine it will look a lot like this:

That's an ethanol plant in small town Ohio where we lived for a couple months

And we'll end up with lots of this:

Our bounty from Ohio

But hopefully I don't have to do this again:

Booyah. Awesome outfit for working in the corn fields.

We are so grateful to have a job, especially given the current conditions of the job market. It's an exciting time for us and we are truly blessed!

7 months

At 7 months, Libby:

enjoys reading magazines

faithfully practices yoga

is too big for her bouncy chair

loves playing with Daddy

makes great faces

looks adorable in her new sun hat

has pink toenails

Developmental notes:

Libby is turning into an excellent scooter, pulling herself with her arms and dragging the rest of her body. She alternates between this style of locomotion and what I call the "vacuum cleaner," which entails her driving her head into the floor and pushing with her feet.

Sleep. Oh gosh, when will I have something positive to report on this subject? Please, soon!

Getting Libby to consistently eat or drink something (anything!) other than breast milk has been a goal this past month. We've had intermittent success with applesauce, sweet potato, and other bits and pieces from mom's and dad's plates, and major success with those little puffs. She devours those things. She is slowly learning the sippy cup concept, but still thinks a bottle is just a toy. However, she can drink through a straw and LOVES trying to drink from sport-top water bottles. I haven't tried giving her any formula or milk with these yet, because she still spills more than she drinks, but maybe soon.

Other tidbits I want to remember:

One of our favorite things to do lately is cover my face with a blanket and repeat "where's mommy?" until she pulls it off and finds me, which thrills her to laughter. It's awesome.

When I put Libby down for a nap, I usually hold her close (chest to chest) for a few minutes and rock her before putting her in her crib. Recently, she's been pushing herself away from me so that she can rest the top of her head against my chest. I guess it's comfortable? It's super cute, though and I can tell she's really tired whenever she does this.

6 months

Just a little sketch I made on Leighana's ipod

At six months, Libby:

• weighs 15 pounds, 9 ounces (44%)
• is 26.25 inches long (71%)
• has a 43.5 cm head circumference (79%)
• can sit unassisted for short periods of time...until she falls over

• rolls from front to back and back to front
• can turn in circles while lying on her tummy
• tries to get her knees up underneath her body so she can scoot

• is slowly becoming interested in food - more so in grabbing it off our plates than eating it herself
• has 2 teeth

• enjoys making noise with paper, chip bags, and plastic of any variety
• coos, grunts, babbles, and laughs

If you know what's good for you, you'll watch this seriously cute video of Libby laughing

• sleeps about 4 hours at her longest stretch at night (still looking for that magic sleep solution if anyone has it)
• is scared of the blender or anything like unto it
• stares at Mommy like crazy, even if someone else is holding her (I LOVE that she knows who I am!)
• loves to attack (hug and eat) her Winnie the Pooh bear that is almost as big as she is

I'm totally loving how active and fun Libby is these days. She's a different person with every passing month. Can't wait to see what she'll be like next month.

5 years ago

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but poor Libby cut 2 teeth recently and we've been trying to catch up on sleep. And then my camera battery was dead and you know how difficult it is to charge a battery.

Anyway, I was inspired by Jane's nostalgic post last month to take a trip down memory lane myself. I started thinking about what I was doing 5 years ago this month and it dawned on me that Jared and I had our first date around that time. (Jared denies it was a "real date" but I beg to differ.) Which then got me thinking about how Jared asked me out for that first date...which then got me thinking about one of the most awkward things that has ever happened to me.

Five years ago, I was a junior at BYU and working at the copy center on campus. I was busily working away one day when I saw a student-aged guy walk in, look around, and then leave. A few minutes later, the guy walked in again, this time holding a carnation and looking every bit as lost as the first time. I walked up to the counter and asked if I could help him with something. With barely a moment's hesitation, he asked, "are you single?" I was caught off guard (and I'm no good at lying anyway), so I said "yes." He presented me with the flower and said, "Well, then this is for you."

He also handed me a hot pink, glitter-covered envelope and said he wanted to get to know me. I obliged by answering a couple of his trite questions (name? major? hobbies?), while desperately trying to figure out how to get rid of him. Finally, I just told him I really had to get back to work.

Once I had him shooed out the door, I practically ran behind some shelves where I would be out of sight of customers. I nervously opened the pink envelope and found a handwritten letter inside. I was alarmed that this guy might be some kind of perv when the first words my eyes caught were "private" and "tickly back rubs" but curiosity got the better of me and I read it anyway.

Would you like to see it?

And in case that wasn't enough, there's a back!

He also gave me this gem:

What does "P.C." stand for, you ask? His initials? No. "Please call." Is it strange that among all the personal information he so generously shared with me, he never mentioned his name?

You'd think after all this, I might be slightly worried that I had a stalker or something (I did see him a few weeks later at the copy center, but I hid behind the shelves before he could see me) but I was about 99% sure that he would have given his precious flower to whichever of the copy center girls acknowledged him first.

Anyway, I kept the card because I thought it was funny and it made for a great conversation piece when friends came over to visit. Jared was one of those friends that heard the story. Now, anyone who knew Jared during his BYU years knows he was a practical jokester. So, it shouldn't have surprised me (but it really, really did) when I experienced a sort of deja vu a few weeks later.

Once again, I was working away at the copy center when I saw an older gentleman walk in carrying a carnation. He asked for me by name and when I confirmed that I was Jennifer, he handed me the flower and said, "this is for you." This was all too strange and I remember trying to reject it, but he insisted it was for me and handed me an envelope as well. As soon as I saw the pre-printed return address on the envelope (BYU Genetics and Biotechnology) I knew who it was from and was relieved that at least it wasn't the glittery-envelope-guy again.

Inside the envelope was another handwritten letter (for some reason it was written on a paper towel?) inviting me to go snowboarding that weekend. It had no name, but I knew it was from Jared.

So, I called him up and we made plans to learn to snowboard together. He borrowed a snowboard for me, got our lift tickets, AND bought me dinner, but he still claims it wasn't a date. Whatever. Look where we are 5 years later.

Our first date

Sorry, teacher

Libby ate my Sunday School lesson.

No, really.

Oops.

5 months

After her first taste of rice cereal

My dear sweet Libby,

I cannot believe how much you've grown. It's so exciting to see you change. In the past month, you've gotten loads better at sitting up and now you do not want to lean back anymore. The bouncy chair, the car seat, the stroller, the bath tub - all these things were designed for you to recline. But apparently that's not for you anymore. You are a big girl now and you use your strong abs to keep your head and shoulders lifted up.

It's adorable how proud your are of yourself when you accomplish something (like standing up with help) and how much you love praise.

I love your precious facial expressions and how you always wake up with a smile. I love how easily you laugh (you're just starting to be ticklish!) and how much you like to hear my silly voices. You get fussy when putting on shirts, but you turn that frown upside down when I sing you the hokey-pokey.

I especially love how you put your darling little hands on my cheeks when I bring my face close to yours. Totally makes me melt inside.

You've lost most of the hair you had when you were born, but as Daddy so lovingly put it, "it's amazing how something so bald can be so cute."

For nutritional needs, you still subsist entirely on Mommy's milk, but just for the fun of it, you've tried rice cereal a couple of times. I'm afraid more cereal got on your body than in your mouth, but you were a good sport. You've also tried a few small bites of frozen pureed cantaloupe, Dippin' Dots ice cream and mashed banana.

You're now an experienced traveler, having been on 10 successful plane rides (and 1 pretty miserable one). Your sleep schedule has been erratic to say the least, but we can't really blame you. On one beautiful night a few weeks ago, you slept 8 continuous hours and Mommy was so happy! Since then, you have had a hard time sleeping more than 4 hours at a time, which makes Mommy a wee bit cranky, but she still loves you.

As I tell you nearly every day, you're my favorite baby.

I love you, my pretty pretty princess.

Coming soon...

I'm working on writing a post about a funny story from my college years so started reading my journals from college (yes, I have multiple...I wrote ALL the time back then) and I have to say, I might actually fall over dead from embarrassment if anyone (even my husband) gets their hands on them.

Cannot believe how boy crazy I was. Kind of makes me dizzy reading how quickly I went through crushes. Sadly (or maybe, thankfully?), I can honestly say I don't remember half of the people I wrote about. I've always wished I was the type of journal writer who wrote things that would inspire future generations, but alas...that's not my style.

Anyway, funny story coming up...and yes, it's about a boy. ;)