Out of the comfort zone

This week felt like it was turned upside down. After a year of pretty much the same schedule to suddenly go from two naps to one at different times felt really odd. Amelia is still pretty crabby in the evenings so her bedtime needs some further adjustments. For the past year I used her morning nap time to exercise, shower, email, and clean up. The time I used to run errands (between noon and three) is now lunch and nap time. We stayed home most of the week only making short runs out to Walmart and the library to minimize the schedule conversion trauma. Some days she still took two naps, other days no naps, and still other days one nap. I crocheted six baby hats this and sold them to ladies in my neighborhood earning about $150 bones. Not bad for 45-80 minutes of work per hat.

Justin and I celebrated Memorial Day by going to Ikea and looking at their office furniture. The weather was very rainy with a chance of hail every other minute. We really wanted to go do something fun but outdoors was overruled due to crappy weather. Ikea was fun. Next we celebrated Memorial Day by spending money at Walmart. Lastly, we ate a delicious dinner at the Sugarhouse BBQ.

I painted our door and kick plate this week, organized our outdoor tools into a large plastic bin under our back stairs, and weeded the gardens. The only item left on my list is to paint the trim on Bruce and Diana’s rental unit next door. Inspections start tomorrow.

My friend Catherine brought over her little girl, Kate, for her 10 month old pictures on Wednesday. My white background skills are still sketchy. The black background pictures turned out the best. I feel very insecure photographing people I admire because they might not like the product. Artists (including me) can be very sensitive people. I was very glad that some of the photos made turned out very sweet.

On Friday Melissa, Grant and Ethan arrived for a 2 week visit from Alaska. Melissa and Jonathon were scheduled to move to Turkey for their next Air Force assignment. Things began to fall apart when their orders never arrived and they suspected a change of assignment. Turns out Turkey does not have the educational facilities needed for little Ethan and his speech delays. So, most likely they will end up stateside or in a more developed country. I had a fun outing with the cub scouts at our local fire station. Justin and I met up with the peeps at Del Taco for dinner. Afterwards I photographed a town home for Charity to post on the MLS while the kids played at the park.

Amelia and I went swimming at Charity's community pool with the cousins Saturday afternoon. The complex had a big pool, a hot tub, and a baby pool. The baby pool was very comfortable temperature wise. Justin worked inside the clubhouse on his duties at ward executive secretary while we played. Amelia absolutely loved the water this time. She splashed and giggled at each new discovery. It was delightful to watch her lift each leg and explore weightlessness. I have a feeling this summer will be much more fun than last summer. Pretty soon we will fill up our kiddie pool and let her loose. Justin put socks on Amelia's hands. She was so delighted with the mix up that she had a "high on goof balls" moment. Check out the video!!

Today we had a spiritual fast and testimony meeting. Justin said he would bear his testimony if I bore mine. I bore mine, he didn’t bear his…he owes me big time! LOL. It was nice to bear my testimony today. Teaching Amelia about the gospel is quite humbling. She mimics me now and says what I say, does what I do. I love whispering in her ear about Jesus during the sacrament. We love having family prayer and hearing her little voice say “all-done…a-men” throughout the prayer. It is humbling to realize that we, Justin and I, are her main sources of education to salvation.

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This week Amelia learned how to climb stairs. Once she gets to the top she straightens out and slides down to the bottom. Nothing is more amusing than to watch her problem-solve and try out different solutions. Her new tricky-trick is to stand, put her arms in an at-ease stance, and swing to and fro. Each time she does it you can tell how pleased she is with herself by the huge smile on her face. Her vocabulary exploded this week too. She will try and say almost any word you throw at her. My favorite words of the week are toot-toot, cute, and yucky. We got a balloon from Del Taco on Friday. She absolutely loved playing with the balloon in her car seat. I would hear random peals of laughter as she kicked the balloon and batted it all over the back seat. Music to my ears.