sweet and sassy

this little girl is the perfect combination of sweet and sassy.

she wakes up in the morning, asks for her chocolate milk, throws a little fit if she doesn't get it, but is so happy when she does. never fail she will beg to cuddle in the rocking chair to get warm after her drink and bowl of oatmeal.   we usually sit and read books together for a good hour before we really start our day.  she might give me a little attitude when it's time to clean up the books or other toys through-out the day but it doesn't take too long until we're happily straightening things up.  it's possible she throws a tantrum when she doesn't get to play with my phone or watch multiple movies a day, but goodness she can make me smile when she plays make believe with her dolls for hours on end, and wants me to play along.  and it's almost a guarantee she'll put up a fight when its bed time, but she sucks me right in when she begs for more lullabies and kisses and hugs.

somedays there is a little more sweet, other days there is a touch too much sass.  there will probably always those moments when i want to rip out both my hair and hers, but i am so lucky that  i have her.  i am so happy that as independent as some little kids are, there are still so many things that she depends on me for.  i love that i am learning right along with her how to do this mother-daughter thing, and that the process is so forgiving of our mistakes and gives us both so much wiggle room to learn and grow.  we're both gonna be just fine even with our frequent off days.  i love my avery!

party

Gracie turned 3 last week and we got to go to her fun little party and 'party hardy.' it's a fun little bounce house with lots of additional play rooms.  i loved it and thought ave would be going crazy with all the fun blown up tramps and slides, but no, she would have rather played with the one bouncy ball and her little minnie and daisy figurines for 2 hours.  i have a slight anti-social on my hands.   she plays so well by herself and can keep herself entertained for hours.  most days it's quite nice, but there are some days i just want her to be a social butterfly.  one day i'm sure... she is only 2.  meag and preston were in town so they came along and preston loved it.  it sure is nice being back where we get to see eachother often.  meag is having a baby girl a few months after our little girl.  i am soooo excited that girl #2 will have a friend close in age in the family... trae's side of the family isn't really pulling through on the 'give our kids some cousins' part yet... (they need to get on it). anyways. i can't wait.

here's some party hardy action. 

notice avery's tackle-like birthday hug.  no messing around there.  thanks for having a birthday grace and letting us come celebrate with you!

being a little domestic

i've been busy being a little bit domestic lately.  last week i froze 65 bags of corn. made lots of raspberry and raspberry-peach jam, and canned salsa.  i've always been a little intimidated by the whole canning process. i've only done it on my own a time or two, but once i actually got the courage/my mom told me it was time i learn, then it really wasn't that bad.  i love the feeling of knowing that my storage supply is building up with all of these fresh foods, saved up for a rainy day.  

the corn process wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it was.  we picked sooooo much corn out on our farm and husked it the night before, and then trae and i got up super early and had it all done by 11 am.  it was so good to have trae help, seriously would have taken me 15 hours without his help.  we are still enjoying fresh corn on the cob but can't wait to dig in our freezer and enjoy it the rest of the year.

(ave sneaking a piece of pre-cooked corn)

(bits of the process)

(she was a serious champ while being neglected for a few hours)

next were the raspberries.  i wish i could explain the awesomeness of these berries.  our farm has 18 rows, each about 75+ yards long, full of the most amazing raspberries.  meag went out and picked yesterday and got 2 gallon buckets full on one row.  it takes forever to pick but i am so in love with raspberries it's always worth it.  i have enough jam to keep me happy this next year, enough frozen in my freezer for smoothies and desserts and will probably keep picking until i am sick of seeing raspberries or until they stop growing, which ever comes first.  they are seriously the size of small strawberries.   these were my pickings last week. 

i didn't document salsa making, but i dont think i'm done yet.  trae's grandparents bring up bags of tomatoes to us daily.  i think i might try marinara sauce or something else with the rest.  hopefully peaches are next and last, and i hope i can get them done before baby girl makes her debut.  oh man, i can't wait for peaches!

here are a few just for fun.

as for baby girl news, she is still growing, and so am i.  i'm the girl who hopes this baby stays put until at least my due date, if not past.  i think i'm getting a little nervous and want her to stay put for as long as possible.  i'm kinda having the same problem as my first pregnancy and continually measuring a few weeks behind. i had a ultrasound a few days ago just to make sure everything is still okay.  i'm a little low on amniotic fluid again, but not yet to the point where they are super worried.  i'm crossing my fingers that i dont have to get started early.  she's a little bit small but looks healthy! can't wait to meet her, well i can wait a little bit longer, but i am getting super excited!

i really do hate pregnant pictures of myself but because i was just searching my blog/computer for a picture of me pregnant with avery and couldn't find one except for right before delivery i decided to take one. i'm about 35 weeks here but this was in the morning and by night i think i about double in size.

lately

i've been a sorta lame blogger lately.  i keep waiting for something fabulous to happen or to get out of this little rut. perhaps i should stop waiting and make something happen.

here's what we've been up to in a nutshell.

our anniversary was last week.  5 years people!!  it was about the most low key anniversary ever, which is kinda how we like it, but we really didnt have any other option this year.  trae started school this week and his program is all night classes.  we went out to lunch, just us, then he headed to school and i headed to my moms to make a wedding cake for my brother until about midnight.  we didnt do anything fancy or even get to spend the day together.  maybe we'll do an anniversary re-do one of these days.

little girl #2 will be here before i know it.  its funny how with my first, baby things were constantly on my mind.  baby names, nursery ideas, colors, clothes, labor and delivery, etc. ect.  this time around, i barely stop to think about it.  that makes me a little nervous.  i'm just as excited for this girl, but haven't had the time to get all wrapped up in the details yet.  i better get on it though, judging by the size of my growing belly, and the continiuous jabs and kicks i feel, i am gonna be a mom of 2 in no time, like in 6-7 weeks. ahhh!  i have been feeling great however, despite some crazy back pain and the constant need to go to the bathroom.  i am just holding on to the last month or two with ave as my only kid and loving it so much.

last week we went to the cassia county fair and rodeo, of course, and it was fabulous. not so sure ave loved it as much as i had hoped but she looked cute.  she was pretty into it for about 15 minutes then all she was concerned about was getting some cotton candy and pop, and the clown that came and sat by my great grandma.  trae and i also worked in our stake booth for a few days.  lets just say i ate waaaaaay too many maple bars, and enjoyed every single on of them.

my brother got married on friday.  they are cute and happy together. we love jocelyn and her little girl raigen.  we are so happy to have them in the family now, officially, and for ave to have a cousin that she kind of adores. only picture i got was taken on my phone of us sisters, the bride and groom will come later.

the webb family had a little family reunion on saturday.  we dont get togeher nearly as often as we used to now that the grandkids are grown up.   it was so fun though and made me wish we did it a little more. the boys golfed and the sweet driving range, we played intense volleyball and kick ball games, ate fabulous food, let the kids run wild and had a great time.

(this is as good as you'll probably get of my almost 7 1/2 month pregnant belly, i'm not that much into belly shots and feel unflattering as it is so, this will do. the added weight has certainly been dispersed through-out unwanted parts of my body. blah.)

we survived trae's first week of school.  wasnt nearly as lonely as i thought it would be considering two of the 4 nights i spent at my moms and another whole day playing with meag and preston.  i wont get used to that but it sure was nice for the first week.  i'm sure i'll stay busy, this sassy little girl always helps.

thats about it for now. our simple, happy life.

can you believe its almost september? wow!!

summer lovin part 2

just cleaning off one of my camera cards with a few pictures from this summer.  its been an eventful summer, but not overwhelming.  i can't believe its already the middle of august and in 2 short months i'm gonna be a mom of two....crazy.  the highlight of the summer is watching avery experience so many new things that she didn't get to in brasil or just forgot from her previous summer in the states.

i only got three pictures from the jones family reunion.  this one is from one of the only times she was playing nicely with the other girls, she is still learning how to interact with kids her age after living with only adults for a year. 

this is her silly cinderella lamp that she refused to put down for the entire reunion.  she denies the fact that its a lamp and still carries it with her all day as one of her dolls. 

grandma with her two busy grandkids at the swimming pool. still can't believe that number is about to double in a few short months.

summer time

We are finally settled and making Idaho our home once again. It's no doubt that we love it here but it still feels a little odd after living on brazil and all over utah the last five years. We're living in trae's parents house for the next year or until it sells ( I'm hoping the year mark comes first.) it's WAY bigger than we need or know what to do with but we'll manage just fine i'm sure.  It's even better being only 25 minutes from my parents and close to my sisters. we have been taking it super easy lately and getting reaquainted with our old favorites.  besides averys confusion about where "home" is and my rapidly growing belly, life is pretty much the same as usual.  Here's a picture dump from my phone over the past week.

trae and rachel golfing at my grandpas driving range at his house. i am loving all this open space, especially after a year of skyscrapers.  

my two favorite garden picks so far this year. nothing beats fresh garden food

we've been spending lots of time over at trae's grandparents house since they live so close and avery is so  in love with them.  i think that picture of her and her great-grandpa swinging is priceless.

ave and her new pet friend cloud.  i'm so not a cat lover but she came with the house and keeps avery entertained so we can't complain.

ave and i on our way to the river to go canoeing the other day. 

and just one cause she's such a good mix of goofy and cute!

garrard reunion 2011

finally some family reunion pictures.  

saturday: swimming and dinner

sunday: church, luau, dinner (my grandparents took their kids to hawaii for their 50th anniversary and everyone brought back lots of hawaiian loot, so we had a party), fireworks, sleeping under the stars-(aka, worst night sleep ever)

monday: big 4th of july breakfast, golfing, pedicures, intense volleyball and kickball games, too much food, kids painting their village, fireworks.

this continues to be the greatest family reunion around, but of course i'm biased. i wasnt too great at capturing everything that went on but we had a seriously good time. 

(picture overload)