A Jolly, Happy Soul

Ada has found a new obsession. Besides her beloved Elmo and Cookie, her favorite toy right now is her 'nano'. It's this snowman decoration that Tyler's mom gave us a while ago. It's made of Styrofoam and felt and it's almost as big as Ada is. She actually snapped the thing in half, but because the felt is surrounding the Styrofoam, it's still in one piece. Tyler and I aren't very fond of it, but Ada sure is!

The other day we bought her some princess shoes from the dollar bin at Target. She loves dressing up, and she had fun walking around the apartment in them. When she was finished, she wanted me to put them on the 'nano'. After telling her several times that he doesn't have feet, I finally put them on the ground and placed him on top of them. She then went into her room saying, "Coat! Coat!" I grabbed her coat, thinking she wanted to wear it, but she, of course, wanted me to put it on the snowman. I had to take a picture. It was then nap time, but Ada wouldn't let me read to her or anything. The only thing that would satisfy her was to put her snowman in bed with her. What a silly girl. It's so funny to watch her drag it around the house. I almost put it away with all the Christmas decorations, but it's one thing that makes Ada a very happy girl.

Everybody Likes the Nursery

A miracle happened in our home yesterday: Ada slept in until 10:20! She was actually awake around 8:20 because she woke me up, but by the time I finally forced myself out of bed, she was back asleep. Tyler and I decided that since she got so much sleep, we'd try putting her in Nursery instead of taking her home early for a nap. She doesn't turn 18 months until the 22nd, but we figured she was close enough. Tyler didn't have any trouble dropping her off. As soon as she sees something fun, she forgets about Mom and Dad. After church when I was walking down the hallway, I heard loud, sinister laughter. "That's Ada!", I said to the girl next to me. I peeked in and the leaders were blowing bubbles. They kept laughing because Ada was laughing so hard. She was having a ball! They said she was really good, so we were so glad! It was the first time Tyler and I have both stayed the whole time at church in a very long time.

My family will get a kick out of this post because they probably all think of me when Nursery is mentioned. First, my dad had to make up a special song about Nursery to get me to want to go when I was old enough. It is fittingly titled, "Everybody Likes the Nursery". Second, I'm notorious for being naughty in the Nursery. I don't know if this is a real memory or something I made up in my head, but as far as I know I stole my friend Michelle's cookie when her mom was substituting and I had to stand in the corner. When my mom came to get me, I said, "I was naughty in the Nursery." For some reason my family members still talk about that. I was the naughtiest child my mom had (at least when I was little), so there are plenty of stories that are still frequently mentioned and laughed about.

Too Funny

Last night we ended up eating dinner at home and then stopping by my parents' house later. We didn't get there until after 7:30 and stayed until almost 9:30. I kept trying to get us out of there so we could get Ada to bed, but my dad kept telling us stories about his grandpa's mission. When we finally got to the car, I apologized to Tyler for staying so late. "That's okay," he said. "I like hearing George talk about hookers and naked women."

Best of 2007

I thought it would be fun to think back on the best of the best from last year. Here goes nothing...

Best Movie: Since I hardly saw any movies, I'll go with the only one I've seen in a theater since before Ada was born: Becoming Jane. I love Jane Austen, and although this was very sad, it was fun to see what her life was actually like.

Best Album: Probably the only one I purchased all year (and we actually downloaded it): In Rainbows by Radiohead. It's similar to their more recent work, but it has some great mellow songs.

Best Book: The best book I read all year wasn't new, but it was so good: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I absolutely loved it. It's about a German girl living with foster parents during WWII. One thing that makes it interesting is that it's narrated by Death. I immediately fell in love with the characters and once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down. I was bawling at the end.

Best Purchase: On December 31 I bought a tan, wool skirt at Banana Republic. It was regularly $78, but I paid $28! Too bad I can't afford anything else in that place. Thank goodness for the outlet!

Best Sports Moment: Even though BYU beating Utah and UCLA were pretty exciting, I'm going to have to say the first two rounds of the playoffs for the Jazz. Game 7 against the Rockets was fantastic, and there was something to talk about after every game against the Warriors. Those were some fun times.

Best News: The upcoming arrival of Baby #2!

Best Vacation: Probably our national park trip, but we loved Las Vegas and Austin.

Best Moments: Ada's first birthday, Ada learning to walk, Jazz games, our date to the Homecoming Dance, and being with all of our family members for Christmas.

2007 was a great year, but 2008 looks to be even better with Tyler graduating and a new baby coming!

Who needs a vacuum?

Ada has been so funny lately. Several times a day, she'll find a tiny crumb or something on the floor, give it to Tyler or me, and say, "Kucky!" It's like she's a little detective who walks around staring at the floor holding a magnifying glass to her eye. I don't know how she sees everything, especially with the type of carpet we have. The other day I was in my bedroom trying to put one of those tiny clear elastics in her hair and I dropped it. I couldn't find it, so I got another one. Well, today I saw Ada walking out of my bedroom with something in her mouth. It was none other than the elusive elastic! I'll have to start hiring her out to find stuff for people.

She's getting so big and smart. I can't believe it. We're trying to teach her colors. Although most of the time she calls everything 'yellow' (it must be her favorite), she can correctly identify blue, red, purple, pink, and green. She also knows her last name now. She still has a little naughty streak in her (today she scribbled on the cabinet with a crayon), but she's lots of fun. I love it when she learns new things.

My Pretty Princess

It's a Christmas miracle!

I can't believe Christmas is already over. It was a good one though. I had a lot of fun shopping, decorating, and baking. I think I baked more this year than ever. I made poppyseed bread, Swedish ginger cookies, brownies with mint frosting, and sugar cookies. The sugar cookie recipe made so many that they were all over the kitchen counter and table. Ada kept grabbing them off the table, and she ended up eating six of them! Looks like she takes after her mom. Tyler was around a little more than in years past, so it was fun to have him help with the tree and some shopping. We had a little scare at the mall, but all ended well. We purchased some earrings for Rachelle to go along with a sweater we bought her. When we left the mall, they weren't in my purse, so I thought they fell out. I called the Lost and Found, but there was no luck. I was bummed because I HATE losing things. I'm still bitter over losing a book and headband of Ada's at the Huntsman Center last year. But a couple days later, Tyler took Ada to the mall, and when he pulled out her stroller, the earrings were in the bottom! I was so happy. I love Christmas miracles!

There were lots of great highlights from this holiday season. We went to several family parties, I went to breakfast with my friends, BYU got super lucky and won their bowl game, and all the usual festivities turned out great. It was so fun to see Ada open presents and play with them. She got a few Elmo books and an Elmo toy, which she was so excited about. She is obsessed, and she's never even seen Sesame Street! She got lots of fun toys, some dress-ups, and a surprise from my parents that I like more than she does. They got her a Gund bear like the one they gave me when I turned one (it's just a little bigger than mine). I guess you can't find them anywhere anymore, so they got it on eBay. I still have mine, although it has definitely seen better days. It was my favorite toy ever, and I used to carry it with my EVERYWHERE and sleep with it. His name is Bue (that's how I said 'bear' when I got him) and he's always had special meaning to me. I hope Ada grows to like hers a little more. She has lots of stuffed animals, so it may just be another one to her. But I was very pleased!

Christmas Eve and Day were great. We saw all of our family members (except for Abby, but we got to talk to her on the phone). We ate lots of good food and had fun being with everyone. I got some money and some clothes, and Tyler got lots of money to buy a Wii. I also got him Jazz tickets for the Trailblazers game on New Year's Eve. We're excited to go, especially since we ended up going to the game last night too! The Jazz beat the Mavericks and it was lots of fun, so we're looking forward to going again. Hopefully everyone else had as great a day as we did!

Thoughts on Austin

We had a good time in Austin. You can read all about it on Tyler's blog. Ada was SO good for our parents while we were gone. We couldn't have asked for her to be better. She was happy, well-behaved, and she slept really well. That made me feel better, because I was pretty tearful when we had to leave her. What a sweetie.

Here are a few observations (although I feel like I still didn't get to see much of the city):

-The freeway system there is screwy. If we ever move there, I think I'll get lost every time I drive.

-All of the traffic lights are turned on their sides.
-All of the fire hydrants are silver (or at least once were).
-It was freezing, but it still didn't feel like Christmas since there was no snow. It wasn't as cold as it is here, but the crazy wind made it feel colder.

Tyler was really impressed with National Instruments, so we'll see what happens. I hear that people are friendly there, housing is cheap, there's a great music scene, it's one of the prettiest places in Texas, and people who've lived or been there just love it. So if we do end up there, maybe things won't be so bad.

Well, it's about time!

In January 2006 I decided to start reading the Old Testament since I'd never read it in its entirety and we were studying it in Sunday School. Well, almost two years later, I finally finished it! It didn't spark my interest enough to want to read great lengths at a time, so I read one or two chapters a day. (I did read the Book of Mormon simultaneously. I needed to feel like I was getting something out of the scriptures!) I sometimes feel like I have ADHD and have a hard time concentrating on things, especially scripture reading. It's something I need to improve on. I know I could (and should) have gotten more out of it than I did, but I'm proud to say that at least I've read it.

Disgust

When my brother was in college, he and his friends always got together to play basketball. They gave themselves names of NBA players that they hated the most. My brother was Tim Duncan and his best friend was Rick Fox. I can't remember who the others were. If I were to get in on that action, I would DEFINITELY be Manu Ginobili. I just can't stand the guy. I actually loathe most of the players on the Spurs (see this link). My four least favorite NBA players are Spurs, in fact:

1. Manu Ginobili-- One of the biggest floppers in the league. Why isn't he a starter?
2. Bruce Bowen-- I can't stand his facial expressions, and he's been known to be dirty
3. Tim Duncan-- Big-time whiner. He shows no emotion except to open his eyes really wide and hold out his hands, like he's saying, "Who, me?"
4. Robert Horry-- "Cheap-shot Bob". Also a big flopper.

There are a few Warriors players that I can't stand, but there's no comparison to how I feel about the Spurs. I've decided that I can't watch the Jazz play the Spurs anymore. There's too much hatred that boils inside me.