Jenna's point of view

I thought it would be fun to make a slideshow of pics from Jenna's camera. A weekend in the eyes of Jenna :) Well parts of it at least. She took a million pics from inside the car on the ride down. Most of them were extreme closeups of her making silly faces! I neglected to get a pic of our sleeping arrangements, but Jenna did get one of the crate in our room. So, you can kind of get the idea.
We always get a kick out of looking through the pics in her camera. Enjoy :)

Weekend in Westport

Last week our school district had Mid Winter Break, which fyi I don't really get why. However, we had beautiful weather all week so it was great. Chad suggested we head out to the coast for a few days, with Emily. Honestly, I was not too thrilled about bringing our dog. We had never taken her out of town with us before so I had no idea what to expect. And I am happy to report that it was a success!

The wind at the beach was suprisingly calm. Just barely enough to fly the kite Chad suprised Jenna with. He of course bought some extra string to make it fly really high. Jenna had a little mishap of getting knocked over by a wave, while fully dressed. But we quickly got her changed into her swimsuit so crisis averted. Then Emily, who loves the water, wouldn't stop drinking the salt water. Even though we had a bowl of fresh water for her. So, sparing everyone the details, she got sick. After that though everything was enjoyable.
We found a great sandwich shop for dinner, the Mermaid Deli. I had forgotten to plan for the evening while in our room. So with a quick stop at a dollar store for games and grocery store for hot cocoa, we were set.
I have to mention our sleeping arrangements. I was most nervous about this. The Inn that we stayed at did allow pets. So with Emily not being an inside dog, we kept her tied up outside and then brought her inside overnight to sleep in her crate. It was so funny to see, our bed, with Jenna on the floor in a sleeping bad, next to a large dog crate. Emily didn't make a sound all night, and did I mention this was the first time she had ever slept in her crate. It was great.
A highlight of the next day was touring the Grays Harbor lighthouse. Chad helped Jenna up the stairs to the top. Turns out Jenna is not fond of hights, like her mom. She kept telling us to stop talking and be quiet. On the way up, we could hear her quietly saying, "don't look down" over and over. She relaxed a little at the top as long as she was holding on to Chad or I. But hey, I never took my hand off the edge railing either. Going down was much scarier for her, so she continued to ask for complete silence. She was very brave! And has worn her button every day since, even to preschool :)
Maybe we'll have to make it a yearly tradition for future Mid Winter Breaks.

After we say Goodnight

This is what Jenna did, or maybe I should say created, last night after we said goodnight and closed her door. It was a suprise to see blue ink on her face and arms, when I checked on her before we went to bed. I found the culprit this morning, a little strawberry shortcake ink stamp.

Now, coloring or stamping on herself is not something new. It has happened many times before. It just never ceases to amaze me the things she finds or does after we say goodnight. And usually don't find out until the morning :)

Happy Valentines Day

Here's a little video of all of our Valentine adventures.

Jenna and I had fun making and frosting personalized cookies for her classmates. She had a blast at her Valentines preschool party. Saturday we went out to dinner as a family. Then today Jenna and I were spoiled with flowers, balloons and a few little treats. My sister gave me the idea of ring pops, which Jenna absolutely loved. Jenna made sure she was all decked out for church today (minus the balloons of course)!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Our New Year Miracle...

Coming August of this summer Jenna will be a .....

Suprised? Shocked? So are we :)
Even after 2 at home preg. tests, 1 blood test, and 2 ultrasounds listening and watching that precious little heart beating (which is just as amazing as with hearing Jennas for the first time).
And without any fertility treatments. My testimony of Heavenly Fathers plan and timeline for us has been even more strengthened.
We just told Jenna last night, this was her reaction:
First, she did her famous little body wiggle/shake and said "That'll be fine" like she was giving us her permission.
Then she went on to ask multiple questions,"Can I feel the baby, hear the baby?" and our favorite in her most exited tone "What about two babies! Are there two babies in there?" To which we replied, no just one :)
Ending with a hug and kiss to my belly and running around the house chanting "We're having a baby!"
Which is why we waited to tell Jenna until we were ready for everyone else to know.
She added that she really hopes it is a girl, just like her. To which Chad replied that we are actually hoping for a boy. Chad has been trying to send the boy vibes, if that is possible. When we first found out we were expecting, Chad brought me home some peach flowers. He said that he tried to find blue or anything not pink :) Me, I honestly will be happy with a boy or a girl.

We feel so grateful and blessed and look forward to this new journey for our family.

What we accomplished today

Jenna is ready for her Valentines party at preschool on Friday!

(projects courtesy of Family Fun magazine)

The owl is for the one boy in her class :)

It was a great cutting and writing activity for Jenna to do. I only had to help a little.

Thats my kind of project. Jenna would say we did great teamwork!

Tomorrow is cookie making/decorating day. I knew this was going to be a busy fun week.
Last night I finished her Vday shirt. It turned out really cute. I'll post pics on Friday.

a few things I want to remember

Yesterday, before getting dressed for the day, Jenna took off her glasses (as she normally does). After getting dressed, we started doing her hair and she noticed that she had forgot to put her glasses back on. She ran to her room, put her glasses on and said "Now I'm Jenna!" :)

This morning she has been walking around talking into her phone (my old cellphone). I just heard her say, "Oh, Thomas S. Monson is it you? It is, how wonderful." Then she randomly switched to a conversation with Goofy. She just cracks me up! I love just listening, undetected, at her door while she plays with her toys (especially her barbies). The conversations she has are hilarious.

try, try again

When it comes to baking, I am not satisfied until the recipe turns out right (if there is such a thing).

My mom makes a delicious layered rainbow Jell-O. So when I saw the cover of this months Family Fun mag., I got really excited to try their recipe and make layered Jell-O hearts. Here are the results from the mag. recipe. Chad and Jenna being the good sports that they are still ate it.

The next day, I threw out the old mess and started over. This time using my Mothers tried and trusted recipe. Here are the results:
Aww, a much happier looking layered Jell-O heart, little girl and mom!