I could have burned down the house!

I really worry about myself sometimes. I failed to turn off a burner on the stove after cooking dinner. I find this easy to do with gas burners because I usually notice if it's on or off by seeing if there is a little blue flame or not. Well when it is on a low heat, I sometimes don't see the tiny flame with just a glance. After dinner I was washing dishes. I washed the plastic trays to Kilynn's highchair, and then threw them over on the stove to dry. Then, I took the compost out to the garden. I got distracted out in the garden and started thinning onions. By and by I heard a little banging around going on in the kitchen, then some water running. I kept on thinning and wondering what Joseph was up to. Soon Joseph stuck his head out the door, smiled and in a sing song voice said, "Ivy dear could you come here please?" I walked into a smokey house that smelled of burnt plastic. Luckily Joseph had been in the living room playing with Kilynn. He heard sputtering and crackling and went into the kitchen to find flames above the stove almost up to the overhead microwave. Luckily we had just bought a big thing of baking soda and luckily he knew where I put it! What would have happened if we had gone on a walk or something like we often do after dinner?! I was sick all night thinking about it. As it is, there was no damage other than melted plastic that was a PAIN to clean up and we had to throw away the highchair trays. We had to open up all the windows and doors to get the toxic smell of burnt plastic out. Joseph had to leave for scouts and Kilynn and I had to spend the evening outside on a very long walk. It could have been bad, but I guess I need close calls like this every now and then to teach me a lesson about paying attention and being more careful. I'm glad someone watches out for me!

Look Mom! I did it!

My mother is very talented at sewing. She tried many times to teach me how to sew. I started many skirts and dresses only to get impatient and frustrated and happily let Mom take over. She would still try to make me complete the project, but it was probably like pulling teeth. It would always end up that I would sit there and pout while Mom read each instruction and told me what to do next. I was basically a robot. When the project was completed Mom would try to congratulate me on making whatever it was, but I knew better--Mom really was the one who made it. Mom tried her best, but I just had a sour attitude about sewing. It took too much patience. This attitude lasted until I had Kilynn. Having a little girl has given me desires that I never really had before to do more crafty things. I am giving sewing a try now and it has been fun. Here are some pictures of her Easter dress.

Time to Empty Camera onto Blog Again!

I love being a Mom! I'm having so much fun with life right now! I've never had a happier time! I had a very happy childhood and pretty decent teenage years. The years of marriage before Kilynn were magical and now if it's possible, life just keeps getting better! Joseph and I have so much fun with this girl! We are just eating her up! I keep thinking this is all too good to be true. I feel bad sometimes for having such a wonderful job. It's my dream job! Quick update on the things we are enjoying about her: - Kilynn recently started singing with us. I realized while I was back home last month that she was starting to try and match words at the end of phrases in the songs that I sing to her all the time. Since then, she has gotten quite good at getting all the phrase end words and a few in the middle. She is pretty proud of this skill. Her best songs are I am a Child of God, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABCs, Popcorn Popping and I love to see the Temple. - Kilynn has been learning what a Time Out is. For quite a while now, one of Kilynn's favorite things to play with me is "Lion." The introduction of this game has come back to bite me--literally. She loves it when I drop down on all fours and chase after her. She either runs to find refuge with Daddy or I catch her and goozle her gizzard. What she doesn't realize is that when I catch her I don't actually bite her or hurt her in any other way. Therefore, we are trying to teach her not to bite and claw and hit so much. She usually does this all in good fun, but I'm worried what it will be like when she goes into nursery and "plays" with other kids this way. The plan now is for me to play this game with her a lot less and we are trying to teach her to be a little more gentle. - I guess we must be negative parents because Kilynn has decided that the proper response to any question is "no." I know a lot of toddlers around her age do this but it's still funny to me when I ask her a question that is an obvious yes answer and she says "no." Lately I've been trying to teach her when to say yes by asking something like, "Do you want to go outside?" and then saying "yes" right afterward. If she hears me say it, then she will repeat it. -Kilynn loves to dance, still LOVES her baby, loves reading books, and spending time outside... and that's all I can think of to say right now.

I babysit this little boy every other week. Have I ever mentioned that Kilynn loves babies?

Some friends gave us this little play structure. I has been perfect for Kilynn.

I have a great helper when it comes time to vacuum. She gets panicky if she can't find her vacuum right away.

Oh she thinks she is on top of the world! Last weekend we met up with some friends and their kids in Salem and went to a children's discovery/playhouse museum.

Bubble Room

The Jungle Explorer

Going down a dinosaur slide

Kilynn and friends Luke and Zac

And here is one last cute picture to end this post.

Colds

Kilynn and I recently got over some bad colds. I think it was the worst one I've ever had in my life! I thought it must be a sinus infection, but eventually I got over it without going to the doctor and getting an antibiotic. My nose was completely plugged all the way to my forehead, my eyes ached, my cheekbones and jaw felt bruised, and even my teeth ached. Kilynn luckily didn't have it as bad and seemed to be over it in a couple days. If she did have it as bad, she at least didn't complain about it near as much as I did! I felt like such a weenie and Joseph will be the first to tell you that I was definitely whiny. There were times when I actually thought, I wasn't even in this much agony when I gave birth! I really think I may have handled giving birth quite a bit better than I handled this silly cold. I think the biggest difference is that you are supposed to feel pain while bringing a baby into the world and everyone knows it. This, however, I kept telling myself was just a little dumb cold so I should have no excuse to sit around and feel crumby. Anyway, the good that has come of all this is that I have gained a greater appreciation for being healthy. I've been over that cold for a week now, but I'm still thanking Heavenly Father every day for being able to breathe through my nose. It is such a luxury! I'm glad I'm given little things like colds rather than something bigger to remind me to not take my blessings of good health for granted. As I went day in and day out feeling gross I realized that I take them for granted all too often.

Cold Frame

Joseph built this cold frame for our garden. We finally put it out a couple weeks ago. I thought the design was clever. Now we will be able to start some of those later plants outside earlier. We'll see how it works. While I was gone over spring break, all the plants we had planted so far came up. We have onions, peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes and red potatoes so far. We also have garlic and cauliflower from our winter crop. I don't think the cauliflower is going to work out though partly due to deer. Oh well, it's fun to experiment with what we can do down here since it doesn't get as cold.

Visit Home

Joseph's Mom came down the weekend before last. It was a short visit, but we enjoyed having her. Kilynn liked showing off for her and piling her lap with toys. On Monday Kilynn and I rode back to LaGrande with Penny. We met Adam and Ori there and after spending the evening with the Waites, Adam and Ori took us to Haines. I'd like to say we had an amazing time there, but that isn't entirely true. Kilynn was so clingy and cranky. I thought at first that she was just overwhelmed with all the people around that were slightly still strangers, but she never seems to mind being around strangers and she usually loves being the center of attention. I finally found out, however, that she had a temperature. I still don't know what exactly was going on, but Tuesday was kind of miserable. I had to hold her all day. The original plan was that I'd stay with Adam and Ori since Mom was gone all week anyway. When Kilynn got sick though, I decided it might be better to move up to my parent's house where there weren't as many people and where I didn't have to feel bad about Kilynn waking everyone up all night. Sorry to be a party pooper Ori! Kilynn got better after that first day there and was able to start exploring and getting to know everyone. I wish as always that I would have taken more pictures. Kilynn has A LOT of cousins. Kilynn got to see all her cousins that live in the area while we were there. I got pictures of only a few of them.

This is where we spent most of our "Spring Break" Gotta get our winter fix in sometime! Kilynn got to help Uncle Eli feed cows. Jumping on the trampoline with Uncle Eli Joseph worked all week and then came up on Friday and brought me back to LaGrande where his family was in the process of gathering for a niece's upcoming baptism. Saturday, we headed up to Tricities where the baptism would be held. Thanks for letting us stay Amity and Scott! Swinging with cousin Mariah Cousin David Cousin Evalily

I like this picture. It may look like she is crying, but she is really laughing. Thanks for this picture Amity. Thanks for making her pretty flower clips Ori!

This is what the Waites do when they get together--play lots of Pinochle We were able to attend Adryann's baptism Sunday evening. Congratulations Adryann!

Kilynn turned 15 months last week and I need to record some of the things she does and words she is saying. The amount of learning going on in that brain is picking up faster at this age and she is surprising me everyday. I've been wanting to do a post like this ever since she was 13 months but I've been too upset because I took the perfect video of her doing all her animal sounds and words and tricks and then it wouldn't let me upload it.

     Animals sounds she knows: Lion, Bear, Tiger (all say the same thing) Cow, Horse, Dog, Cat, Turkey, Sheep, Goat, Duck, Snake and Monkey. For the Monkey, we tried teaching her to say Ooh-ah-ah, but instead she always says Uh-Oh-Oh
     Words that anyone would recognize: Hi, Bye-Bye, Daddy, Mamma, Cheese, Apple, Peaches, Shoes, Baby, Book, Eyes, Glasses. 
     Words that only Joseph and I would recognize: Highchair, Hat, Piu (says while getting diaper changed,) Ball, Milk, Blankie, All gone, All done (holds hands out palm up,) Please and Thank You.

She started saying please and thank you last week while helping me unload the bottom rack of the dishwasher. She loves this job and is ready and willing to come help even when I'm loading:) For unloading though, she is actually a good helper. I don't have to bend over to grab dishes from the bottom rack anymore. It's pretty cute to see her grab a plate and hold it up as high as she can to give it to me. The plate is so big compared to her, that all you see is her little hands clutching it. The rest of her body from my perspective is hidden. Anyway... Every time she hands me something I say "Thank You!" Therefore, she also started saying thank you every time she hands me something. All last week, the only time she would say "thank you" was when she was handing something to someone else. This morning, however, something finally clicked. I handed her a graham cracker and she said thank you. I just handed her a toy and she did it again! Her version of thank you is actually "Kee Coo" in a high pitched sing song sort of way. The word "Please" came about because for the last two weeks, she has been going through a very unbearably loud screaming phase. We have been dealing with this in a couple different ways, one of which is to get her to use words more. When she wants something, we've taught her to say please instead of pointing at it and screeching at the top of her lungs. The only problem with her saying please though, is that it is going to be so hard to refuse her now. Her screaming has gotten so much better. It's funny to watch her think through things. She will start to scream and realize we aren't paying any attention, and then she'll get quite and say "pees."

Kilynn is our little sunshine. She has such a fun and cheery personality. She has added so much to our family and we can't imagine what life was like before we had her.