Country bumpkins

It's official; we are hicks. On Friday we drove out to the middle of the Idaho desert in an old Buick that broke down on the way back because we had run over so many rocks that the oil pan was crushed. Let me give you some advice: if you have to jump start a car, you probably shouldn't drive it on dirt roads into the middle of nowhere. You also shouldn't drive it so fast that you drive off the road on sharp turns. Thanks, McKay.

Our first stop was Brandon's doughnut. He discovered this doughnut while he was mapping shield volcanos for Geology and had been wanting to see it ever since. From an aerial view it looks exactly like a doughnut. Our second stop was Government cave. Caving was really fun, but Violet hated it and screamed the entire time. This is how Brandon rode on the way to the doughnut. He was so excited to see it that he just couldn't stay in his seat.

And how could we possibly get lost with this trusty sign pointing the way? It's always an adventure in Idaho. We have had lots of fun here.

To buy or not to buy

Would you buy bear spray for a camping trip to Canada? It's about $45 and apparently very effective-- it sprays about 25 feet.. I am worried that a bear will start chasing one of us while we have Violet on our back, or scratch through our tent at night and try to eat us.

Meet Oscar

The baby skunk. They are actually keeping it as a pet, since it's been away from its mother so long now that it has no chance of being released back into the wild. Brandon's dad says that if they love it enough, it won't stink. All I know is that I love Violet and she still stinks, so I don't see that working.

And here is our little hippie family in our tie-dye shirts. Violet's onesie is my favorite. They turned out rather well.

Yellowstone

We went to Yellowstone on Wednesday. We saw bison, elk, a bald eagle, and a wild swan, but Violet was by far the wildest beast. She screamed all night in the cabin and peed all over the bed in the morning. When we got into the park, she had a blowout that got all over the car and the smell would have scared off any predators in a 10-mile radius. (That's why she's naked in the 3rd picture) She loved the hikes but had to wear her peed-on jammies from the night before. She also made it very clear that she did not like being in the car. Anyways, we still managed to have a good time and here are some pictures:

At Yellowstone falls

At artist paint pots
With the bison

We also got a call from McKay when we were there telling us that he had caught a baby skunk. I am not kidding. It was there when we got home and it is going to be the family's new pet. That's weird even for me. I will post pictures of that escapade later.

Family reunion and Father's day

This weekend was Brandon's family's annual reunion, so we went camping at Crystal Springs in Utah. Violet loved being outside, slept through the night, and had lots of fun in the pools. In fact, she got so used to being outside that she threw a fit on Father's day when we had to stay inside all day. It was very reassuring since in 5 weeks we will go on a very long camping trip with her.

Father's day was also fun. I made Brandon a pavlova (an Australian dessert with a meringue crust and fruit). It kind of collapsed, but what can you expect, I'm not a very good cook. It was nice to do something special for him and appreciate what a great daddy he is.

Idaho

Here is what we have done in Idaho so far:
-Brandon and I went on a date without Violet
-Violet learned how to crawl
-I sewed a pillow for our bed
-We are sleeping on a California king-sized mattress
-We went to the Idaho Falls temple
-Yesterday the high was about 55 degrees and I was very upset about it
-We bought shirts and a onesie to tie-dye
-Brandon golfed 18 holes with his dad
-I found an apartment vacancy, but it's for June 28
-There are 11 people in this 4-bedroom house
-Violet has 4 kitties to play with whenever she wants
-Since I don't let Violet touch the kitties with her hands (she pulls on their ears and whiskers) she tries to step on them and laughs
-We have watched the Fifa World Cup and NBA finals
-Violet refuses to go to bed at night since it doesn't get dark until 10:00
-We are going camping today
-And so far, Brandon has only worked for a few hours.

On the move

Brandon and I are going to be pretty transient for the next few months. Here is a look at our schedule:

Tomorrow: Move to Idaho. No, this is not a joke. Brandon is going to be designing a grocery store with his dad, and since we don't have any other employment options, we get to live with my in-laws for 3 weeks to a month. Go ahead and laugh, again. At least we will have free babysitters and a pillowtop mattress.

Mid-July: Move back to Provo, briefly.

July 26: Leave for Canada!!!! Spend 2 weeks on the most awesome vacation ever.

August 7: Return from Canada, hang out with Mom after she finishes the Provo half-marathon.

Sometime between August 9 and August 17: Move to Houston. If we're lucky, we might even get to move into our own apartment. However, I still haven't found an apartment vacancy.

August 23: Brandon's first day as a grad student.

And somehow, we have to squeeze in renting a moving truck, packing, cleaning, and possibly moving another family along the way (if we decide to share a truck). Awesome.

Sweet freedom

Violet got loose while I was changing her diaper yesterday. She has decided that she likes the freedom of mobility, and now I'm sure she likes the freedom of being naked.

She even figured out how to get from a crawl to a sitting position. Anything is possible when you're naked!

Grandma's 80th

We got to hang out with family this weekend at Grandma Fagg's 80th birthday party at the Lion House. Here are some pictures from it.
Brandon looking ponderous at the temple reflecting pool

Ashley dipping Violet's feet into it Me falling flat on my butt because my shoe was caught on the table leg. That's uncle Kay helping me up; Brandon was too busy taking pictures to give me a hand. Cousin Wes made sure to make fun of me for that later.

And finally the painting I am almost finished with. It's of the courtyard of the myrtles at the Alhambra in Spain. There are parts that I really don't like but I think it turned out pretty well.

It was a busy weekend. I remember when Ashley visited me while I was pregnant, Violet refused to kick for her because she didn't like being bossed around. Well, she did the same thing this weekend. I've never seen her so calm and un-entertaining as when Ashley was around. But she did like chasing Annie around the Lion House. One of my favorite moments was when cousin Jordan asked if Ashley wanted to see the chicks out back. Ashley answered, "No thanks. I'm not really into girls." And Jordan said, "Ashley, they're chickens."

Funny but so sad

This is what I was talking about in the last post. Stuck.

Memorial day

Sleeping babies are so cute. Too bad I found Violet sleeping on her face like this tonight:

It really freaked me out. I flipped her on to her back. Going to bed has been quite a struggle lately. Normally we let her cry herself to sleep, but she has discovered rolling over and mobility. So, I will put her down on her back, and she will roll over to her belly, back herself into the side of the crib, and get her legs stuck between the slats so that she can't roll back over. It was even harder this weekend at Brandon's parent's house where she had to sleep on a blanket on the floor. There was no way to contain her.

We had fun in Idaho this Memorial Day. We went to a ranch where they tag hummingbirds. I ran around with Violet pretending to chase people, and she thought it was really funny.

Brandon is having all the fun

I have been a bag blogger lately. Brandon has the camera and really not much has been going on. Since I'm boring, I'll tell everyone about what Brandon has been up to during his field camp:

They had a hotel room jujitsu tournament one night. Brandon did pretty well but still lost to the professional cage fighter.
The boys are having a contest to see who can grow the manliest beard in three weeks.
They watch movies on a laptop almost every night.
One night Brandon called me at midnight and said, "Sorry I didn't call earlier, I was in the hot tub."
They eat better than I do some weeks. They have dutch ovens and make cobbler, fajitas, and other things.
During their trip to Yellowstone, they got to walk off the trail and take samples from the geysers and mineral pools.
They have contests to see how far they can throw things off a cliff.

And I thought he would be working the whole time...

Disgust

I looked out the window, and what did I see? Snow. Not "middle of the night but melts by the morning" snow. Not "just a few flurries" snow. Heavy, wet snow that is accumulating on rooftops and killing everyone's strawberry plants.

Brave

I got my hair cut on Thursday. Unfortunately, it ended up looking NOTHING like Ashley's picture. I was severely disappointed. In my rage, I did something truly insane: I had Brandon cut my hair. And it turned out pretty cute.

Right now I am at work, so pictures will have to come later.

Houston

I am so excited to move to Houston after visiting there last week. I have no pictures because I didn't bring my camera, but here are some events from my trip:

-Violet met all her cousins, thought they were tons of fun, and made me want to have more kids (not yet).
-I found a really cute apartment complete with a dishwasher, a pantry, a walk-in closet, crown molding, a pool, and free laundry facilities.
-Mabel tried spanking the dewberry bush in the bootie, but ended up getting pricked in the finger.
-Devin thought I was really cool but kept calling me Ashee.
-We found Leah under the kids' table scavenging crumbs that the bigger kids had dropped.
-Asher cried when I held him.
-I went birthday shopping with Mom and Bexie.
-I missed my flight and started crying at the airport, but got bumped up to first class when they rescheduled.
-I went to HEB. Seriously, I was so excited about that.

It was a fun trip, but I am glad to be back to a regular sleeping/napping schedule. Plus, Brandon is home all week!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to an awesome mom and a wonderful grandma. She was there for two weeks before Violet was born and got me all ready for it. She even helped me through a major meltdown when I felt like Violet wouldn't come. She rode bikes with me when I was little, saw me through my shady adolescence, and calls me every week now that I am "all grown up." She has been so much help and she continues to help me with anything I need. She is one of the kindest and most generous people I know, and until last October, I really had no idea what she had done for me. I am beginning to understand it a little. I love you, Mom the Bomb! I can't wait to see you on Tuesday.
Mother's day has been great for me. Violet was nice and slept in until 9:20. Unfortunately we have church at 9:00, and I never set an alarm because usually Violet wakes me up at 8:00. So, we only went to 2 hours of church. Brandon is making dinner for me as we speak, the weather has been great, and I get to see my family in 2 days. Today is great!

Since he's been gone

This week Brandon started his 6-week field trip where he is gone 3-4 days each week. Some other wives of geology students and I started a dinner group for when the boys are gone. It has been really fun-- last night I made Cafe Rio pork salads and now everyone thinks I'm a great cook. Boy, do I have them fooled.

With all this free time I have come up with some new projects to occupy myself. This week I learned how to make jewelry and I made this ring. It was my first one so it has several flaws, but I think it looks pretty cool.

And luckily, Violet hasn't forgotten who Daddy is. She was very happy to see him when he got home tonight.

Guess who LOVES kitties?

Violet does. Last night I was at a friend's house and her cat came over to investigate Violet. Violet started smiling and kicking and squealing with delight. Every time the cat would walk by, Violet reached out and tried to pet him. When he walked away, Violet would stick both arms out at him and yell until he came back. It melted my heart, but it still probably isn't enough to cure Brandon of his cat hatred.

Graduation and Arches

Violet loved going to Arches on Saturday. She seemed to take in all the scenery and she was smiling and talking most of the time. She did have a short nap on the way to Delicate Arch, and she LOVED the Redvines that we fed her. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to graduation!

Violet's new favorite game

I don't know how this girl is going to survive to be an adult.

Easter madness

This past week and a half has been a blast. Poodle and I shopped all week and did other fun things (in this picture we are bowling). Violet can sure spot a pushover when she sees one, becuase when Poodle was here, she was constantly demanding to be held and played with. Once Poodle left, Violet went back to entertaining herself. We also got to wear matching scarves! I gave Poodle one of the scarves that Mom brought me from Paris, and she loved it. That day we ate unleavened bread for the Passover. Actually it was supposed to be cinnamon rolls, but the dough decided to be Jewish and it wouldn't rise. So, we had scones.

On Easter Violet got to meet her aunt Lena for the first time. I know this picture makes it look like Violet didn't like her very much, but she did. She was just tired when I took this picture.

After that, we had dinner and watched conference at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Violet was good the entire time and enjoyed just playing with her feet.

Fun with Poodle

Today Poodle and I had a photo shoot at Vivian Park, and this is how it turned out. Photo shoots are my new favorite thing to do. Violet and Poodle matched, and it was adorable. I think we need to go back sometime and take family pictures.

Baby photo shoot

I just love this girl.

Goals revisited

I was reading my old journal and I discovered a list of summer goals that I made in 2007. That was the summer I started dating Brandon. It was fun to read them because some of them are things that I would never think about now. Ride horses at least once. I never did, but now that I think about it, I really want to. Do more creative writing. Really? I had forgotten that I ever liked writing. I was surprised to see that goal, but it's a good idea. Establish a music collection. I'm still working on that one. Plan a fun road trip. I actually did that one. TWICE! I went to Colorado to see Poodle and to a few national parks with Brandon. And my favorite: Go the entire summer without having a boyfriend. That one totally tanked. Before school started in the fall Brandon and I had already decided to get married. I remember telling Brandon about that goal before we were officially dating. He told me it was a stupid goal.

Most of these were silly things. Still, it's good to see what was going through my mind before I was a wife/mother/domestic diva. Sometimes when I find my life getting too routine, I need to step back and say, "What would 19-year-old Lindsey do?"

She eats

Violet screamed the first few times we tried feeding her solids, and I was beginning to think she wouldn't eat anything. But tonight at dinner, she grabbed my calzone and got down to business. I was so excited that we fed her a little rice cereal after that and she seemed to like it. She even grabbed the spoon and tried to feed herself. Yay! Violet also got to meet uncle Ryan for the first time on Friday. She thought he was really funny, and it was good to see him. Violet must be jealous of her cousin Devin because I turned around one day and she was wearing her pacifier like an eye patch. Awesome. And for anyone who likes free stuff, my friend referred me to a website where you can get a free photo book every month (hotprints.com). It's free because they come with ads, but the ads are on separate pages and you can just remove the pages. Plus it's free, so who cares.

Shirts

I guess my flower shirt was popular and I am very flattered. For those who said they wanted one, I will be happy to take orders! All I need is a shirt size (or a shirt, if you already have one in mind) and I can figure something out. The shirt I used was very inexpensive but I'm not sure how good the quality will be, and the sizes at that store run a bit small so I think I'll find different ones. Anyways, email me with whatever you want.

Hey, Poodle

Look what I made! It took a lot of trial and error but I like this outcome the best. Thanks for asking me to make these, I am now addicted.

The chill of December in the rioting of spring

I know it's a cheesy title but it's a line to a song that Brandon has, and it is very appropriate. Yesterday started out beautiful. Violet and I went for a walk and it was in the 50s. Brandon even bought me these:But later Utah had one of its menopausal mood swings and it looked like this:Oh well. I guess we still have awhile until it's officially spring. And we wanted to tell Papa this: because he is the coolest gringo/chilango I know! And he was one of the first people to make Violet smile when she was only a month old, which isn't surprising, because he always makes me smile.

And only 24 days till Poodle comes!

How can I not laugh?

Tonight I put Violet in bed and as usual I heard her talking herself to sleep for awhile. After about 30 minutes she started yelling so I went in to see what was wrong. When I looked in her crib, she looked up, smiled, then stuck her tongue out at me and started blowing bubbles and spitting. I know I shouldn't encourage her to stay up past her bedtime but I couldn't help but laugh when she pulled that one on me. The worst part was that when she heard me laugh, she started laughing too. Now I have a very awake baby who knows how to get my attention and get away with it. Great.

You do what you can with what you have...

I don't have a fancy playmat for Violet but lately she has seemed a little bored. I figured she needed some entertaining so I attatched one of her toys to a chair and this is what it looks like. Cheap, I know, but she loves it.

Taken for granted

I have realized that there are some freedoms that I enjoyed in college that I have taken for granted. One of them is not having to rely on school nurses to send me home when I feel sick. In high school I started bypassing the nurse and driving myself home after one day the nurse refused to send me home because I didn't have a fever. I still don't know what having a fever has to do with having cramps, but she wouldn't do it. So, I threw up right there in front of her. It convinced her to send me home and hopefully it taught her a lesson, too.

But my animosity toward school nurses started long before high school. I think it started in elementary school when any time I would go to the nurse and tell her my stomach hurt, she would tell me to come back after lunch. That always infuriated me. I would always think, "I'm not an idiot. I know what 'hungry' feels like. It doesn't feel like 'nautious.' It doesn't feel like 'I just pooped my pants,' either. In fact, eating doesn't solve any of those problems."

I was so happy when in college, I didn't have to prove my pain to anyone. That is one of those small things I am thankful for. And now that I think about it, I am also thankful that I never pooped my pants in college.

Lunch meat=gross

I have decided that I hate packaged lunch meats and I am seriously considering buying a deli meat slicer. You can buy big hunks of turkey breast and ham for less than $2 per pound, but if you get them sliced at the grocery store deli they are more like $6 per pound. And I don't even want to think about eating another slimy, rubbery slice of Land o' Frost turkey breast. I found a slicer at Home Depot for about $80, and since I am working this Saturday, I think I can splurge a little. And if I do get this, I will happily slice meat for anyone who lives around me.

Am I crazy or does this actually sound like a good idea?

24 inch club

Friday we went out to eat with some friends at a sandwich place. Brandon took the 24" challenge and finished a 24" sandwich in 30 minutes. The sandwich was as long as Violet. He got this free shirt for doing that. No one wants to see a picture of a shirt, so I had Violet hold it. She loves being naked.
Valentine's day was great. I thought Violet might ruin it by staying up late but she went to bed without a fight and we had all night to spend together. We had a delicious dinner of glazed orange roughy and coconut shrimp. Yum.

Yesterday I finally convinced Brandon to buy himself a bike, but the one he picked out had been sold. So instead we went to Target and bought Violet some toys and cute shorts for the summer. It was lots of fun. I can't believe she is already 4 months old.

Laughs

This post was supposed to be a video of Violet laughing, but I again put the wrong clip on blogger. This was afterwards when she got a little overstimulated and started crying.

Learning

My favorite thing these days is to see Violet learn about the world. Last night she finally figured out how to use her rattle. She kept staring at it and banging it against herself and trying to stick it in her mouth. She also learned how to do a hand-to-hand transfer. So she just sat there and passed it back and forth and entertained herself for about 20 minutes. Too bad she hasn't figured out that to pass it to the other hand, she needs to let go of it. She just grabs it with the other hand and literally yanks it out of her own hand. She loves that thing, and whenever she dropped it, she would cry until we put it back in her hand. She also laughs when she sees herself in the mirror. She thinks she's REALLY funny.

I would post pics, but I don't have the camera here at work.

New clothes, and other updates

Yesterday Violet and I got a package of cute clothes from cousin Leah. To my delight, there were some clothes in there for me, too. Today at church I almost got as many compliments on my new shirt as Violet got on her new dress. Here she is in her baseball jammies. She looks like a boy but I don't care; she is still cute. Yesterday was really fun. We went to Brandon's cousin's baptism and afterwards I found Brandon riding around downstairs on tiny toy cars. He really liked them. Violet had her first encounter with a dog (she got sniffed) but she had no clue what was going on.

My job is still really boring, and we are still waiting for Brandon to hear back from schools. A couple of professors said that they should know by the end of February, so it's coming up soon.

Also, I'm not blonde anymore. My highlights have all grown out and this is my natural hair color. I kind of like it.

"Work"

Today is my first day at a two-week job-- I am just filling in for a friend. They are only paying me $8 per hour, but considering what I do, that's a lot of money. I have been here for 3 hours and no one has come in or called. I have been looking up Disney songs on Youtube and dancing to them with Violet. It's a tough job.

Three and a half years

I got my diploma in the mail yesterday. It made me start to think about everything that has happened since I left home, and I realized that it has been a pretty busy three and a half years. In that time, I started college, got engaged, got married, got pregnant, had a baby, and graduated. I have survived several camping trips to Yellowstone, Tetons, Yosemite, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, and Grand Canyon National Parks.

When I list all these things out like that, it seems like I've been around the block a few times, but nothing could be further from the truth. Having a baby makes me feel very inexperienced. Today I called Mom to ask her when I can start teaching Violet that she can't be held all the time. Mom said "Whenever you get tired of holding her all the time," and I said, "Well that was about a month ago. Right now I'm hiding from her." In my own defense, I had a good reason for doing that-- she cries less when she can't see me, so I hide from her sometimes.

Luckily, Mom told me not to feel guilty about letting her cry sometimes, and I felt like less of a failure. At least I haven't locked myself in a closet with a bucket of ice cream yet. I'll wait until I have two kids before I start doing that. (Now that I think about it, I forgot to ask Mom when I get to have my own candy stash.) But it's okay-- I have lots of fun with Violet and the best adventures are yet to come.

Miss independent

My baby is growing up way too fast. I know I'm too young to be saying those words, but it's true. We have finally started letting her cry herself to sleep and she really surprised me with how well she can go to sleep on her own--she cries for less than 10 minutes. The first night she went to sleep on her own, I looked at Brandon with a really sad face and said, "She just doesn't need me anymore." It was a big milestone, especially for me, an overbearing mother.

Here she is trying to figure out what to do with her rattle. She has finally discovered that she can control her hands, and she stares at them very intensely for long periods of time. She also loves to grab her burp cloth and stuff it in her mouth. She doesn't like to cuddle anymore. When she is held she insists on facing out so that she can see what's going on.

I am robot

Sometimes Brandon talks in his sleep. I usually either can't understand it or don't remember it, but when I can, it is really funny. Last night when I got back into bed after feeding Violet, Brandon rolled over, put his arms around me, and said, "I'm holding a robot. Hehe." He had no memory of it this morning when I told him about it but he thought it was funny and has been calling me "robot" all day. I think we have been watching too much Futurama.

And of course, one of Violet

A make-up video

So it took 25 minutes for blogger to load the last video, and when it was done I realized that I did the WRONG ONE. So here is one of me getting stuck while I'm skiing.

Sledding

Brandon and I did it too, we were supposed to try to kick each other off our sleds but we never got close enough to do it. But it was fun, and I got lots of snow down my pants.