This and That

Hey! It's been a while...I suppose I should update the blog, huh? :)

Since my last post, some fun stuff has happened!

* Danny's sister, Kristy, and her husband, Trevor, and their friend, Nathan, came to visit us! They will be up here in Twin Falls this summer so they were here looking for some housing. Trevor and his crew will be selling The Living Scriptures in the Twin Falls area. While I didn't get any pictures (sorry!), Jane had lots of fun seeing them. We are excited that they will be up here this summer.

*Jane turned 9 months old!! I can't believe it's been that long already. We went to the doctor's and Jane is doing great. She's definitely chunked up since we've started her on solids!! Luckily, Jane didn't have to get any shots this time. :)

*Jane got her first tooth! The day after her dr's appointment, she was sitting and playing when all of a sudden, she grabbed my thumb and put it in her mouth. Bam! There it was! It was a shock to me because it wasn't there the day before at her appointment!! :) She just looks so cute with her 1 tooth (Danny thinks I'm crazy for being obsessed with her one tooth, haha). I don't have a picture of it because she'll hardly let us even look at it, let alone take a picture of it.

*My brother, Stuart, came up from Logan to visit!! His main purpose for visiting was to take some pictures of Jane, but we also had fun catching up. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great (rainy & cloudy), but we were able to get some really good pictures. The rain let up enough for us to get some good outdoor shots. I'm really excited to see how they turned out. Jane really LOVED the attention from someone new :) 

Hanging out with Uncle Stu!

* Danny turned...26!! Danny was somewhat sad to be turning 26...he kept lamenting that he is now closer to 30 than he is to 20. Oh, well. It's not really much different from 25, right? ;) For his birthday dinner, we went to Johnny Carino's on Saturday the 29th, which was super yummy. We also watched Jack Reacher, which was a pretty good movie. Sunday the 30th was his actual birthday and we celebrated with some yummy french toast and Raspberry Yum-Yum. It was very good! He got some lovely birthday cards from family and a fun shirt (see below) and some music from me. Here are a couple of pictures from his birthday:

This is the shirt I bought for Danny...I think it's very fitting! :)

He got them all out in one blow - I hope he wished for something good! :P

*General Conference was this past weekend and it was very good. I enjoyed all of the talks and it gave me some insight on what I need to work on. We felt a bit lazy and lounged around most of the weekend, but I got some fun pictures of Jane and Danny...she enjoyed watching conference while cuddling with Daddy!

She loved watching this way...propped up on Daddy's legs!

*Jane has started eating a few more new things: Cheerios, honeydew, cauliflower, and Ritz crackers. So far, she likes them all. The cauliflower isn't her favorite, but she'll eat it. We're lucky that she's pretty easy-going when it comes to trying new food. :)

*Jane has also started saying 'ba-ba'. It's really cute! She's also started blowing raspberries at us...it's very slobbery, but way funny. We are always laughing when she does it because it's so cute!

*Jane isn't crawling yet, but we're making progress. She can move around (albeit slow and usually accompanied by crying) and she's getting faster. We keep giving her lots of tummy time and I think she'll get it soon enough :) Right now, she gets around by moving from her tummy to her side, then uses her foot to push up, then gets back on her tummy...so it's slow, but she's getting somewhere! :)

That's pretty much it...we've gone on a few drives around the valley to familiarize ourselves with the area, which has been fun as well. Here are some other random pictures from since my last post.

Daddy tickling Jane!

Her hair is starting to actually grow out...as you can see, she's got a mini faux-hawk! Not quite as bald, but still not much hair up there.

#selfie

Goin' for a walk!

Crawling on Dad!

"Look how tall I am!"

Eating crackers...she's a little messy!

Went for a walk on CSI campus....it was a chilly day!

This girl can stand up now!

Recent Events & Our Weekend in Utah

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted...and honestly, we haven't been up to a whole lot. :) At least, we don't think we've been up to a whole lot. Nonetheless, here's what we've been up to!

Jane
*Jane is just loving this good weather we are having (aside from this past Monday...more on that later). I try to get us out on a walk every other day or so and Jane seems to love it! I think she enjoys the fact that she can see pretty much everything now that she's sitting in the stroller and is not just seeing me/Danny. Here are some pictures from our recent walks:

This one was from today. Although it was sunny, it was still a little chilly :)

Hanging out at a nearby park!

*She's also been eating LOTS! Luckily for us, Jane likes most everything we've given her. Since last time, we've introduced her to sweet potatoes, which she has liked quite a bit. We've also been giving her Puffs and she's gotten quite good at picking them up and feeding herself. She's getting to be quite a chunky girl!

Making a mess at lunchtime!

*She is not crawling yet, but we are working on it. However, whenever I try to put her on her tummy, she just rolls right over to her back and gets frustrated when I keep putting her on her tummy! :) I'm kind of glad she's not mobile yet, but at the same time, I know she should be working on crawling :)

*This past week, Jane has started doing this little dance when she's sitting down. It's more like rocking back and forth, but it's really cute because she does it when she's happy/excited!

Vanessa/Danny

*Our ward's Young Men and Young Women had their combined activity last week which was the miniature golf course I talked about in my last post. Danny said it went well and everyone seemed to enjoy the 'gouda' golf hole :) He even had cheese for people to sample! Here are some pictures of their course:

The course started on the stage...

...went down through a 'twirly-loo'...

...through the 'swiss cheese' box Danny made...

...and up the ramp, into the whole!

*This last weekend, we went down to visit our families. It had been a while since we had seen them! It was lots of fun. 

On Saturday, Danny, his dad, and our brother-in-law Trevor went to the Sportsman's Expo in Salt Lake City, while I went with Jane, my mother-in-law Mardee, sister-in-law Stephanie, and her two kids (Russ & Ruby) to City Creek Mall in Salt Lake. I had only briefly walked through it once before and Stephanie had never been so we went to check it out. Despite the chilly & breezy weather, it was a fun trip! We ate Kneaders and visited the Disney store & H&M. I only got one picture of the trip and it was only of Jane...I need to get better at taking more pictures! Oh, well...here it is.

She's enthralled by the fountain!

That night, we enjoyed an amazing steak dinner and time together at the Clayton house.

*On Sunday, we visited my family. After church, we hung out, played with Jane, ate some yummy food, and caught up on what was going on with each other. It was a lot of fun! Again, I only got a couple of pictures, and only of Jane. Can you tell I just love her?! :)

It kind of looks like she has elephant ears in this picture. Normally, when we put a burp cloth on her head, she instantly grabs it and takes it off her head. But this time, since she had a toy to play with, I guess, she just left the burp cloth on there! How cute :)

*St. Patrick's Day was fun! We all wore green (we didn't want to get pinched!), but the biggest news of the day was the CRAZY weather! It was SUPER windy that day here in the Magic Valley. I guess Twin Falls normally does a St. Patrick's Day parade, but that was cancelled because of the wind. They also had a couple of semi-trucks tip over on the Perrine Bridge and another bridge that goes across the Snake River.

Here is an article about that day...there's a video showing one of the semi's tipping over. Luckily, no one was injured! The wind was so crazy the night before, too (after we got home), that it woke me up a couple of times. 

Anyways, here's a picture of Jane and I sporting our green (sorry, no pictures of Danny this time! haha)

First Word?

So, this past week, Jane has started saying "ma ma" all the time! We aren't sure if she's said her first word (Mama) or if she's just babbling. Either way, it's super cute. Every time I pulled out my phone to record her saying it, she would stop and just look at the phone, so I covertly recorded her saying it while she was playing...

Cute, right?! :)

Jane turned 8 months old this past week!! Seriously, where has the time gone? She can't be this old! :) She is getting so big and this age is so much fun! She has her next appointment this month.

Just wanted to note a few other little things about Jane that she's been doing lately before I forget...

*Danny noticed about a week ago that Jane will all of a sudden be interested in whatever toy your holding, even if she had no interest in it 30 seconds earlier. We've been testing this out recently and it's quite hilarious. She'll just be sitting there, playing with a toy and I'll be sitting there by her. I pick up another toy on the ground and just start playing with it, and she then drops the toy she had and reaches for the one you have, like, "I'll take this one now, thank you." It's super funny.

*Just today, she started blowing raspberries (kind of). It's like she's trying to make an elephant sound with her mouth. It's really cute!

*The weather up here has been pretty good these past couple weeks. It's only rained a little, but mostly it's been warm and sunny! We have started taking walks and it's been very refreshing. Here's a cute picture of her after our walk today:

Her cute face just melts my heart! ♥♥

*The other day, Jane and I took some 'selfies'. She liked looking at herself on the phone, but didn't really smile. Nonetheless, it was still fun and here's the best shot!

 *She's also gotten pretty good at feeding herself Puffs! She's getting that hand-eye-mouth coordination down like nothin'!

*Lately, when we're playing, we've been putting a burp cloth on her head. She instantly stops what she's doing and slowly reaches up and pulls it off her head. We got a picture of that, too!! She just looks so adorable.

Not much going on with me and Danny lately. Danny's been enjoying working with the teacher's quorum in our ward. Apparently, the YM/YW are doing a miniature golf course for a combined activity. Each class and the bishopric has to do a design a hole for it. The teacher's class is doing a cheese-related hole, since Danny told them he can give away cheese to the participants of the course! We will post some pictures when the event goes down. :)

Jane vs. Cold, round 2

Poor little Jane has had a cold these past few days. I think she got it from Wal-mart. As we were out running errands, Jane got a little restless being stuck in her car seat. So when we got to Wal-mart, I took her out of her car seat and put her in the cart, where they have the section for the babies. She looked so cute and small sitting there, but she looked so proud of herself. I sanitized the cart, but only where you'd put your hands. Jane ended up grabbing all over the area around her and probably picked it up doing that. Poor girl. But it seems she is on the mend now (hopefully!)

Jane also started eating a couple of new foods this week. We introduced her to acorn squash and she loved it! She just loves all types of squash and I'm glad this one was no different. We also gave her some avocado, which she did NOT like. Danny was slightly bothered by this because he said we could have used it for guacamole! (He wasn't really upset, but bummed that Jane didn't even like it, haha). We have some broccoli we will be trying with her soon.

I recently discovered her new favorite thing is dancing!! She loves jumping (see video below) and she also likes it when she's standing on Danny's lap and he does some dance moves with her. But the other night, she was acting fussy so I picked her up and started dancing with her to the music we had on. She loved it! 

In other news, I learned how to play the organ. Well, the basics on how to play the organ. I'm excited to play! My first time playing in church will be in a couple weeks, so I need to get practicing.

Here are a couple of pictures from the last week...

Jane trying to play with Daddy, but he was tired. She's like, "C'mon, Dad! Play with me!"

'Helping' Mom fold laundry

Catching Up, Pt. 2

Just a few more things to catch up on before I forget...

DANNY
- Danny has been loving his new job!! It's exactly what he's always wanted to do. He's working with a team of researchers who are developing and creating new types of cheeses. He is also bringing home LOTS of cheese for us to eat! When I say 'lots', I mean like, there are 30+ pounds of cheese in our fridge right now...seriously.
- Danny is also still working on his thesis. He spends a few hours a week working on it. He has a good plan in place to get things finished in time. He is planning to graduate this fall and walk at commencement next spring.
- He also has received a calling in our new ward! He is the assistant teacher's quorum adviser. He will get to go to the weekly mutual activities and will help them with scouting activities as well. He'll also get to teach the teachers about on Sunday a month.

VANESSA
- I have been loving staying at home! Jane is a lot of fun and it's exciting to see her progress each day. There are days (and nights) that aren't quite as fun as others, but being home with Jane is what I want to be doing. I'm excited for spring to come so Jane and I can venture outside more often.
- I have 2 callings in our ward: ward organist and achievement day leader. There are a few organists in the ward so it seems I'll only have to play once a month or so, which is nice! I learned this past week how to play the organ, which is something I've always wanted to learn. I just need to practice it so I feel comfortable with it! :) I'm also excited to work with the achievement day girls. I've been to one activity so far (one more tomorrow) and it's a fun age group!

JANE
- Jane has been up to some fun stuff! Her newest trick is being able to sit up all by herself! I think she likes it because she can see more things and is able to reach more of her toys. It also allows me to do a few quick things around the house without having to carry her or have her cry because she can't see me!
- Her other newest fascination is jumping. We have a Jenny Jump-up that we hang up in her doorway and she loves it! We first put her in it a few months ago and she didn't really get the whole jumping idea, but she seemed to like to stand up. But now that she understands the jumping, she can't get enough!
- As for her solid food progress, we've introduced her to a number of foods and seems to like most of them. She's had peas, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, and zucchini. The one she doesn't like is green beans. Everything thing else she enjoys. We will be trying some acorn squash this week and some avocado and broccoli real soon!

MISCELLANEOUS
- We've been doing Bountiful Baskets on a bi-monthly basis, which has been great. We like it because we usually get a couple of items we can use for Jane's baby food, but it also encourages Danny and I to eat more fruits and veggies. We've also branched out a little bit because of it, too. We had some cabbage last time and I ended up making some coleslaw out of it, which ended up alright!
- For Valentine's Day, we just stayed in (pretty lame, I know). In our defense, we still don't know many people up here so we didn't have a babysitter for Jane. We exchanged gifts and Danny got Jane and I some flowers, but we didn't go out to eat until the following night. Even then, it was pretty low-key. But it was still fun! I made some heart-shaped cookies earlier in the week and made some heart-shaped pancakes for dinner, so I guess it was still romantic :)

To end this post, here are a couple of pictures from my first 'photo shoot' with Jane. The pictures are pretty poor quality (my apologies), but she is just so darn cute, I can't resist :)

Catching Up

Ha! Bet you thought you wouldn't hear from me again, right?! Just kidding.

Time for another update about the past few months of our life. I'll try to keep it short, but chances are...it won't be short.

However, I've made a New Year's resolution to keep this blog updated weekly. I really want to write about the things that we are up to and the little things that happen. This blog is mostly for our posterity to look at later on, just so you are aware.

So, since August, we have done a number of things...

* I went back to work. I started back at the beginning of September. While it was super hard to be away from Jane all day, my employer made it worth it. The company I worked for (Conservice) was awesome and worked with my schedule. They treated me awesome and I have nothing but good things to say about them. The other thing that made it super nice was knowing that Danny was home with Jane. I think if it had been anyone else, it would have made it even harder! And luckily for me, I only needed to work until the end of December because...
* Danny got a job offer with Glanbia! They hinted at wanting him to come back in 2014, and we were assuming it would be May, but before we left, Danny let them know we could come back as early as January. They gave us the offer and we happily accepted, which brings me to my next point...
*We moved to Idaho! Yes, we are now officially Idahoans (Jane has technically always been an Idahoan, I guess :P ). We moved right after the first of the year, so it was a hectic holiday season for us. But, with the help of my parents (which we can't thank them enough for!), we made it up here. That means that I got to quit my job and now I stay at home with Jane...and I LOVE IT!!! It's seriously the best. (Disclaimer: I'm not putting down any moms who are working...it's tough work, I was with you for about 4 months!! But for me, staying at home is where I belong :))
* And last, (but DEFINITELY not least) we bought a new truck!! We've been saving up for a while for one and Danny LOVES it. It's a 2013 Ford F-150. It's really nice and will be a great vehicle for us!

Sorry, the pictures a little dark, but it's a very nice truck!

Enough about us...let's get on with how JANE has been doing. She has been growing so fast and I can't believe she is 7 months now. Here are just a few highlights from the past few months...

She started smiling...

This one is a little blurry, but so sweet :)

She was blessed...

Jane, with her middle name namesake, Great-Grandma Jordan

Isn't she beautiful?

She started laughing (sorry, my videos are too big to put on here...I will have to post one later!)

She dressed up like a cow for Halloween!

She started talking (you know, just baby babble...) Again, my video is too big, but I have a video on my facebook page with her talking away!

She started eating REAL food :)

And started sitting up on her own!

Here are some other fun random pictures we have of her!

Jane and her cousin Russ (sorry, I can't rotate it for some reason...)

Christmas presents!!

Love her :)