Messy Marvin's Revenge

That's right...I'm posting about housework.

When I was a kid, my family called me Messy Marvin. But I would like to declare my official sloughing of the name. (plus, aren't all kids messy?) And although I am not the deep cleaner that Jimi is, I am a darn good surface cleaner.

I like jobs that you can see your hard work as you go along, such as: vacuuming (especially the stairs) or mowing the lawn (if I had one).

I dislike jobs that don't display your progress, such as: emptying the dishwasher and doing laundry.

But I have found some tricks to help with the aversion to those two chores.

When loading the dishwasher, I put all the silverware in assigned squares. Spoons go together, forks go together, knives go together, etc. Then when you empty, that dreaded silverware square doesn't loom so darkly over your head. (I got that tip from Nettie back when I was at college).

I don't even know why I have hampers in my room...the clothes rarely find themselves in them, so our room is suddenly clean after doing a load of laundry. However, it backfires when they come out of the dryer, and I have a mess of clean clothes that need folding. (Just ask Jamie. I swear every time she comes over she has to step over the clean pile). So instead of dreading and avoiding the folding task, I look forward to it because I get to sit and watch a movie or something I've tivoed (or who am I kidding, The Food Network) while I fold. (Tip courtesy of Emily).

So there you have it. A post about my fabulous life.

And P.S. here is a picture of the latest addition to Avery's room. Mary made the bottom piece. Perfect for the elf ruler!

The Problem With Blankets

I got a hair-brained idea to surprise Jimi with a new blanket for Christmas. Jimi says the problem with all the blankets in this house is that they are "2 inches too short". His current blanket (above) was made longer by stretching and ripping it until it was "long" enough to cover his toes. Then while we were dog sitting, Oakley ripped some of the guts out of it. (I was secretly happy because that would make this new blanket all the more relevant.)

I got the idea near the beginning of the month when there was lots of time to work on it. The problem is, there was so much crazy weather that Jimi got a lot more days off than usual.

Every time the airport at the Grand Canyon was shut down, or every time we got 6-8 inches of snow, he announced he was on stand-by. I feigned excitement, but the closer it got to Christmas, the more frantic I became.

The other problem with the quilt was that I made length the first priority, quality of fabric the second priority, and the colors of the fabric...barley a priority at all. I thought I liked the fabric... until I pieced it together...and then I hated it. But the problem is, it was very expensive fabric (Denyse Schmidt, eye roll) so I couldn't nix it and start over. Plus there is a cardinal rule not to give up on a quilt until it is finished. They usually turn out fine.

On the Saturday before Christmas I franticked (adjective turned into a verb) over to Sarah's to tie it. We got as much done as possible until Jimi came home from work. Then I told him "I'm going to the gym" and went back to finish.

In the end, it did get finished and Jimi totally loves it.

But the problem is, I am still battling with whether or not I like it. And if I don't like it, that blanket will "last longer than you" (according to the saleslady from the fabric store).

Sell Me On Craigslist

two 30 minute naps (does that even qualify as a nap?)

plus

spoon grabbing-green bean all over the place- festival

plus

foot dipped poop-o-rama diaper change

equals

me seriously thinking about selling Avery on Craigslist.

Lucky for her she was in this darling outfit from grandma, and I just couldn't do it. She was way too cute.

(I know, I know... many of you are thinking: "that's nothing. wait til she's 3." but i was way impatient yesterday.)

Christmas!

*** Christmas Eve ***

grandpa's train

lights at the temple

elf jammies from grandma

She didn't need much help from us, she is very good at tearing up paper.

Piper's loot

***Christmas Morning***

Yes, that is snot, drool, and legwarmers.

sitting amongst the spoils

we got a new tent!

Funny Guy

When Avery was born I told her, "daddy is really funny once you get to know him".

Examples:

Sometimes when Avery wakes up crying, we'll go in there, give her a pacifier, and rub her back. She usually falls back to sleep.

The other night around midnight, I was in bed and Jimi came in to brush his teeth. Then he went and did something else, leaving the bathroom light on. I whined unintelligibly for him to turn it off (lergic light!). He came in, put a pacifier in my mouth, and rubbed my back.

Hilarious, even at 12:00 am.

Tonight at dinner we were drinking squirt and root beer. He got up from the table and did something in the kitchen, (I didn't realize because I was focused on Avery). A few minutes later I take a swig of root beer and it tastes like squirt.

He had gone into the kitchen and swapped the liquids into different cans.

He sat their patiently, nonchalantly until I took and drink, then cracked up.

Who does that?

Funny guy.

Oakley, You Rascal

This is what you get when you combine a dog who wants to come in, and leftover snow/mud.

Besides licking the cube of butter,

and eating two cookies off the table while we were saying family prayers,

and stinking up the room with thick, greasy dog farts,

Piper had a blast with Oakley while she stayed with us.

Their favorite place to wrestle: the top of the stairs.

Growling, ramming into the wall, biting, tail wagging...Piper acted like she wasn't having fun, but you could tell she was.

In other unrelated news:

Avery can't wait until Christmas.

My favorite part of all the Christmas goodies is the follow-up milk. The treats are great and all, but the star of the show is the cold glass of milk.

Just watched "White Christmas". I'm officially all set for Christmas to get here. ("the best things, happen while you're dancing...") I don't really get why that old timey movie appealed to me when I was a kid, but it's not Christmas without it.

Add This to the List

of things that rarely happen in Vegas

(update: the last time I measured it on top of the brick wall it was pushing 6 inches!)

of cozy things

of things Piper isn't afraid of (she was out racing circles in it, digging in it, eating it,...)

of firsts

of uses for laundry baskets

of great reactions to daddy tapping on the window

Good To Know

It's good to know that my natural instincts will do whatever they can to protect my baby.

Like, say, if I were to slip on the stairs, I would not put my hands out to catch myself. I would hold on to Avery like the dickens and my hiney would take the full brunt of the fall resulting in a very sore bum and a slightly tweaked back.

That's good to know.

(nettie, i think you know what i'm talking about)

Early Christmas Gifts

Thanks Black Friday! We got this RC Willey beauty for an easy 300 bucks. Chairs and everything, I'm telling you. All it needs is a nice centerpiece, don't you think?

My solution to cold feet: slap some pants atop the jammies and there you have it.

A tradition growing up in my home has been to receive a Christmas ornament from my mom, so I started the tradition with Avery. Here is her first ornament: an acorn for my acorn.

The first Christmas of our marriage, I made Jimi a stocking (on the right). So naturally it is my duty to make one for Avery (on the left).

And it was Jimi's duty to entertain her while I add the final touches.

I believe she likes it!

A rub of the eyes, and off to bed.

Too Excited To Sleep

We put up our tree while Avery was napping.

When she woke up and saw the magical land that was once her living room, her little jaw dropped and her eyes opened wide. It was priceless. Since then it seems she is just too excited to sleep. She is on some kind of nap strike.

A few days ago I put her down for a nap - fully asleep - and Jimi came downstairs with the camera to show me "what's going on upstairs".

Then the next day I put her down for a nap - fully asleep - and she woke up within 10 minutes. I tried to ignore her, but I have a hard time with that. The "ignore method" has just never worked for us here in Larsen Land.

So I put her in her high chair and off she drifted...perhaps the sound of banging dishes and Piper's toenails clicking around the house are a lullaby of sorts.

It could be that she is just beside herself with excitement, or it could be that since daddy's been home for 2 days there is way too much fun to be had, but I am pretty sure it is the fact that she is right on the verge of crawling. She's up on her hands and knees rocking, but only scooting herself backwards. Any day now I will become the chaser and she the chasee.

As for Piper, naps are not a problem. Notice anything different about her?

Russian Winters

I came into the bedroom to find Jimi had dressed Avery in this getup saying,

"brrr these Russian winters are so cold"

Then while we were playing on the bed, she rested her face on my face for a good 10 minutes. I wasn't going anywhere.

Here's my inner conflict of the week: do I turn up the heat so that my baby doesn't freeze, or do I leave the thermostat at 68 to save a couple bucks? There's nothing wrong with hanging out in our jammies all day, bundled up in blankets is there? I have yet to find a sock that will stay put though. Cold feet are becoming an issue.

Me Feeding Avery

(Don't worry Brandon, this has nothing to do with breasts. But while I have your attention, me and Avery went to the canyon with Jimi Saturday, and I talked with Zeppy. She's doing well.)

I saw this nurse at Target today. I had to think hard about where I knew her from. Here she is helping me prepare to feed Avery.

I love, love this video.

It was the first hour or so of Avery's life, and we had to feed her pronto due to low blood sugar. I was in a major fog then and don't really remember this, so when I saw it on Jimi's mom's camera I got way excited. I have watched it a million times.

Here is Jimi burping her. I have no recollections of this either.

Cut to 6 months later and here I am feeding my little bird with a straw.

Fallon

Wyatt in one place for more than 2 minutes

Taco Bell Tuesday

Cousin Lyle

The Fallon cubicle

Grandpa's cows

Daddy's back!

Click here to read the story of how this kitten was born right here in this very van.

Holding hands with Wyatt (for a few seconds) on the way to the airport.

Waiting for our airplane.

*****

quotes of the week:

Abbey: "can't go tilladee tilladee tilladeeeeeeee!" (yelled across the house every time the toilet flushes)

Kailyn: "you need to get ready! you're the birthday boy!" (to grandpa while discussing what to wear to his birthday dinner)

Kailyn: "my mom won't let me, that's the problem" (in response to grandpa asking why she wasn't wearing a dress to his birthday dinner)

Mylie: oh oskar! (while laying on, sitting on, wrapping up in, or rolling in the doggy oskar)

Mylie: "Avery, you're so cute. I can touch your feet"