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 :)