Ketchup

I actually don't much care for ketchup (or catsup)- I'd take FRY SAUCE anyday and on ANYTHING before ketchup. Anyway... It's been awhile since my last post. I'll try to cover everything that's happened...

We visited AZ! It was a fun trip, but we were glad to come home. We were so glad to get to visit family- we just missed my step-brother's wedding because of our flight reservations, but we were able to be there when Amanda went through the temple for the first time and we got to go out to dinner with our family. We enjoyed some actually fairly beautiful days there- there were a couple of hot ones too, but actually some nice weather overall. Thomas and I got to go to Sedona overnight to celebrate our 4th anniversary- it was very nice. We took a beautiful hike and went to an awesome little pizza/Italian place called The Hideaway. REALLY good pizza. Like, I want some right now. The kids loved getting to visit grandmas and grandpas. We wish we could have visited my parents a little more, but they were so busy with Brennen's wedding! We are looking forward to the end of June when we will have our Park City PAR-TAY!!!

Thomas is super super busy with Auto and Art work and with MissionShoe. He also has been enjoying his work with the teachers quorum in our ward. I have been accompanying again this semester, a little lighter for the summertime goodness that has become Rexburg. When it's not raining, that is. We had some crazy flooding up here- no one in our ward was flooded out but there was definitely some concern. We are excited to be planting our garden this week! Preparations have begun and we are super stoked.

Thomas had a wonderful birthday (on the 30th, for those of you who were confused by his facebook mischief) and is 26 now for those of us who are counting. ;D

I'm still super obsessed with quilting- I seem to be collecting a vast online stash of bookmarked pages to quilt patterns I'd love to do "someday". I also made my first online fabric purchase (eep!), and I was super pleased with the deals I found. Check out Connecting Threads if you are interested- they have some awesome solids and mirage prints on clearance for $2.96 and under. I love the fabric I got from them, and it shipped way faster than I thought it would! My newest things I want to try: hand quilting a finished quilt, hand quilting (like piecing) and applique. Oh and I should probably get my sewing machine serviced someday.

I have become enamored with the idea of a home birth recently. I stumbled upon a blog a friend posted on facebook, and since then I've been reading lots of "crunchy" birth-type mama blogs and I really REALLY love the idea. I'm not pregnant now- but I just don't know if I could be satisfied with a hospital birth again after having my eyes opened to other options. I guess we will see how I feel when I am pregnant next and follow what feels right for our family. More on this topic (I'm sure) later- I feel like I have a lot to say but I'm not sure I'm ready to share it yet. I'll give it it's own lengthy post sometime. :)

Ethan turned a year old! He is now mostly walking to get around, but he still is faster crawling. He has 6 teeth now- four on top and two on bottom. He loves food, and is learning to feed himself better. He will occasionally use a spoon, but sometimes it gets chucked on the floor. He will eat pretty much whatever as long as he can get big enough bites in his mouth as fast as possible. He loves bread and anything resembling it. He is such a smiley, happy baby! Ethan is such a joy. He is learning more words- so far he can say mama and dada, he makes a sound for "milk" and "more"- kind of just the "mmmm" sound but sometimes he adds a syllable to the end to try and make a word, he makes a sound for "this" and "that" that actually are pretty close. He will "cheese" for the camera and makes a pretty good "cheese" sound too. I'm pretty sure he is the cutest little boy ever. I look at him and sometimes still see him as an infant but I look at how tall he is getting and I realize he is getting to be a toddler! He still loves his thumb and to snuggle when something goes wrong. I read on one of those crunchy mama blogs that one mom had noticed that the growth trend of breastfed babies can be quite different from what the doctor's office charts predict as good growth for babies- they chunk up until 6 months and then they get long and lean. I don't know how true that really is, but I realized that has been the case for both of mine.

Audrey is going to be 3 in September! It's June now, so that's only like... 3 months away?!?! Sheesh I feel weird having a child that old. She still doesn't look that old but she sure acts like it. I remember teaching Sunbeams for a couple years- and I'm starting to notice similarities in the way she acts and the way they acted. Very cool and ... weird. She is potty trained now, except through the night. She will still have accidents, but for the most part she goes on the potty. I expect a longer ride than this because of her independent and headstrong nature- I know there will be bumps in the future. I will write a separate post on the potty journey too, I think. She loves her brother and she loves playing outside. She is a very social girl and loves to play with friends. I took her to the park today and she wanted to play on the tennis courts for the first while because that's where all the kids were! After all that fuss and excitement about playing on the slides! She loves nursery and she has FANTASTIC nursery leaders- I really am continually impressed with how well Audrey learns from them. She comes home knowing more and more primary songs, childrens songs, and about the Gospel. She was eating a snack of peanut butter crackers the other day and she said "mom, this is my spirit" and held up a cracker. Obviously, the whole concept hasn't sunk in yet, but I was impressed that she was talking about it and it gave us a chance to talk about what spirits are.

I wish I could go on and on but my children are awakening from naps and I should try and be a mom for the rest of the day... as much as I want to be a lump. :)