Sunday afternoons

Every Sunday we talk to both my family and Chase's parents through Skype. Livia loves it, and seems to actually understand that it's not a recorded video, but her grandparents, talking and interacting with her. Just this past week she started playing peek-a-boo with her blanket everytime I went to get her after her nap. So we brought out her blanket during the phone call, and sure enough....

Peek-a-boo!!

(Please excuse our messy desk. It's covered with an assortment of things Livia found throughout the day that were subsequently taken away)

Anyway, I just love how she gets to talk and play with her grandparents, even when they're far away. And I love that she seems to understand it--that she recognizes them and gets excited. So cute!

Trying new things

Today I let Livia be messy. For lunch I stripped her down to her diaper and let her attempt to feed herself with a spoon for the first time.
That picture really says it all: food was everywhere, she loved it, and while she could get the spoon into her mouth, the squash rarely made it in.
End result: Bathtime!

For dinner we had spaghetti, so once again I stripped her down to her diaper and just let her go!

(So unappetizing, I know)
Fat and happy. That pretty much sums her up.

End result: Bathtime again! (And I had to mop the floor)

St. Patrick's Day

(Beautiful even in October)

Reasons why I love St. Patrick's day:

1. Green is my favorite color.

2. I discovered last year that I have Irish heritage (not much, but still)

3. I spent 3 whole days in Ireland a few years ago, and loved it!

4. It's a fun holiday that doesn't require spending lots of money.

5. What's not to love? (Except for Chase pinching me when I first woke up in the morning because my pajamas weren't green! So unfair...)

Anyway, so last year I got all excited and made Chase an entirely green dinner. Thus the tradition began...

We have here a basil and spinach risotto (which didn't turn out nearly as green as the picture), asparagus, a zucchini pancake, and green salad. Note the green tablecloth and, of course, limes in the water.For dessert, what else? Key lime pie.

Chase found the limes decidedly sour.

Livia ate corn. Lots of corn. And loved it.Here's a picture I found from my visit to Ireland. It had something to do with finding true love and being able to put your arms all the way around the cross....I don't really remember. But I do know that my arms are never going to be long enough to fit around that cross.

So I couldn't find the picture of me in front of St. Patrick's cathedral in Dublin. Which is really too bad, because that would have been perfect...

Family night in the park

Livia loves going to the park, and I realized that Chase never gets to see how excited she gets on the swings and slides because I always go in the afternoon when he's at work. Thanks to daylight savings, however, it was still light enough on Monday when he got home to walk to a nearby park.

(Did you notice how she kicks her legs when she gets really excited?)

We spend a lot of time at this playground. This is where she first learned how to crawl up steps.

We couldn't let Livia have all the fun.

Like any child, Livia likes crawling up slides better than she likes sliding down them. Surprisingly enough, she has actually managed to climb all the way up one of the slides at this playground. And it's not the little tiny one pictured in this post. I'm hoping we don't have a master climber on our hands, or I'll be in BIG trouble!

There's only one explanation

Symptom 1: She still doesn't really sleep at night

Symptom 2: She has bitten me hard enough to draw blood

Symptom 3: She has fangs


Yep. Pretty sure I gave birth to a vampire.

I learned something this week...

When you drop a gallon of milk it does not leak...it explodes.

Enough said.

(Actually, I do want to add one more thing. Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you to Chase who cleaned up this extraordinary mess when we were late to church and who always cleans up my biggest disasters...like clogging the kitchen sink with potato peels...three times.)

Tap dancer

A girl after my own heart! Actually, tap dancing is probably my worst dance genre (a B+ in the intermediate tap class at BYU was the only B I ever got from 5th grade til I graduated college), but I still love it. Livia started doing this today all on her own, and I discovered that when I stomp around myself she does it even more. I love how she can barely contain her laughter.

Vocalizing

Livia has begun making several sounds repeatedly...not words, exactly...just sounds. She says mamama, dadada, and lalala. Believe me, if there was any indication she was actually associating mama with me, I'd be claiming it as her first word--but she says it in all sorts of different occasions. She can also click her tongue and growl, which is what this video is all about. (Sorry for the poor quality and lighting)

Apple Valley continued...

The weather was gorgeous. Seriously. Usually it's cold and windy in February. Actually, it's usually windy all year long. But it was warm and noticeably not windy. So we took advantage and had a little outdoor photo shoot.

Still practicing her walking...

Here's Livvy with my brother Perry.

And here's my Uncle David doing his crazy face!

Such a fun trip. I'm only sorry it was so brief!

A weekend in Apple Valley

Last weekend we went down to Apple Valley in honor of two very wonderful occasions. First, my little sister, Emily, got baptized! I'm so glad we were able to attend such an important event, and I'm so proud of her!

Here she is with our brother, Jon, who performed the baptism.

Here we all are just before we drove over to the church.

My grandma made this dress for Emily to wear following her baptism. So cute!

The whole gang


Right after Emily's baptism was Jon's Eagle court of honor. For those of you who don't know him, just let me tell you that Jon is pretty much amazing. It was fun to hear all his leaders praise all of his wonderful qualities, and I am so proud of his accomplishment.