The Jorgensen Family

Facebook Status

2012-02-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Are facebook status' weird? I think it is HYSTERICAL that I (and everyone else) feels the need to update the Internet telling everyone what we are doing, how we are feeling and other things like what we ate, what we are wearing and who we are with. As if it is not enough to be connected, we must tell everything little detail of our lives. I secretly love it, but outwardly think it is weird. Here are my latest facebook status's.

December 12
Just listened to Marilyn tell her piggy bank (her favorite toy right now) the entire Christmas story. "Baby Jesus has a Mommy and Daddy and they ride donkeys. There are angels that sing and sheep came! Camels too! Baby Jesus is so beautiful"...I love that she in some small way gets what this is all about!

December 14
Go Tom! He just found out he passed the Professional Engineering Exam!! Booyah!! He rocks!

December 20
Well, it's official...I have lost my mind to the baby! I just ran a entire load in the washer without any clothes in it...an empty load of laundry?? Who does that??

December 28
doctor says a week from Saturday...less than two weeks away! am i really ready for 2 kids????

December 31
‎39 weeks...I survived!!

January 5
Can a labor inducing lemon drop cupcake seriously be real??? Sounds a little fishy to me...

January 8
If you need me for the next 24-48 hours I will be at the hospital having a baby...

January 8
Baby Jeffrey Peter Jorgensen made his big debut at 11:16am. 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long! Can't believe how perfect he is!

January 13
I have re-entered the world! Showered and ready to conquer the world with 2 kids!!

January 16
Alert: both kids napping!!! Day 1 of being alone with both all day...I am awesome!

January 19

January 23
No more Heidi Klum and Seal...sad day!

January 23
Baby Jeff gained a whole pound and grew 2 inches in his first 2 weeks!

January 25
Booyah! No more maternity pants for me! LOVE IT!

January 26
Marilyn's quote of the day "Baby Jeff take a deep breath and listen to my words...Mommy is coming" haha I must say that a lot..

February 1
Made my first real meal last night since Jeff was born...Chicken Fried Rice...SO DELICIOUS!!

February 2
Marilyn just told me she would take care of baby Jeff and that I should go take a nap...I am tempted, but then I remember she is 2 and he is 3 weeks old...probably should save nap time for when she is sleeping too...

February 3
‎6 hours of sleep in a row???? I'm a new woman!

Basically, the moral of the story is if you didn't know me at all, you would know what I'm all about...my whole life is out in the open, no secrets over here! Welcome world, this is me!

Comin' Home, Plus One

2012-02-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

I remember how special a feeling it was to bring Marilyn home, and Jeff was no different. We were so excited that both of us were discharged less than 24 hours after delivery. We got him all bundled up (for the freezing St George winter HAHA) and put in his car seat. Doesn't he look SO SO SO small in there?

I was a little nervous about how Marilyn would react to seeing the baby come into our house and not leave. But she was waiting by the window looking for us to drive into the drive way, she ran out as fast as her little legs (which now don't seem so little) would carry her to help Daddy with the car seat. She wants to help carry it every time we leave the house.

Immediately upon arrival Marilyn decided it was time to hurry and show Baby Jeff all her toys, especially her dress up clothes! She felt it was necessary to sit RIGHT in the very middle of everything so she wouldn't miss anything. Although it was squishy, it was adorable and I was so grateful for this blessing.

This is what our mornings are like now...Marilyn hurries into our room to "check" on her baby, which usually wakes him up and then we cuddle in bed until I feel utterly squished and MUST move.

The moral of the story is Missy LOVES her baby and loves taking pictures with him and it so so so adorable with him. She loves to hold him (for 2 seconds) and tickle his toes. She loves to tell him to take a deep breath and she rocks at telling me the moment (and every moment until I can get there) when he is crying. I am grateful for her and him, but mostly them together.

Welcome Jeffrey!

2012-01-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

Baby Jeff made his big debut on January 8th, 2012 at 11:16 am. He was 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long.

(And completely adorable and perfect in every way, if I do say so myself)

Here are the details of his arrival. We were called at 1 am to come in to start the induction. So we hurried our little buns to Labor and Delivery.

By the time we got there and checked in and hooked up to the med's it was 2 am. Tom immediately went to sleep on the couch and I started waiting. I was pretty calm (surprisingly) and things moved along! I got a little sleep here and there but it was pretty hard because of contractions and anxiety. Tom and I didn't realize how much anxiety we help onto from Marilyn's delivery. She had so many complications and we didn't know how to sort out what was part of laboring and delivering a baby and what was specific to Marilyn's birth. Everything was progressing normally (or so the nurses were telling us). They checked me at 5 and said they wanted to break my water but for my comfort didn't want to until I had my epidural (I made it VERY clear I would have an epidural) because my cervix was SO SO high. Obviously, I said "Send the anesthesiologist down immediately" because I have no need for horrific pain for no reason. So everything went great with my pain med's so they broke my water and we were on our way!

(Notice the amazing water bottle?? I looked forward to getting that bottle again! Its like an amazing reward for giving birth...weird or amazing?) I am totally serious, the moment they brought it in, I was ready to start laboring.

My nurse was the same nurse that helped us with Marilyn. She remembered us instantly, funny right? She was great! I got checked at about 10:30 and I was dilated to a 7. Tom left to grab some breakfast and the doctor told me he was going to run an errand. I was fine alone, I figured we had at least 2

hours or so before anything happened. Tom got back in 20 minutes and its a good thing he did! The nurse came in 10 minutes later and said "Are you ready to have a baby??" I thought "Sure, in another 4 hours or so". I had to push for Marilyn for 4 and a half hours so I had no idea that wasn't normal. All of the sudden everyone was in a hurry, there were more nurses and people around. In came the little bassinet for the baby, I started hysterically crying. I couldn't believe it was time! We were doing it! I was scared that it would turn out like Marilyn's delivery and the baby would be whisked away to NICU and we wouldn't see him right away.

The nurse wanted me to do a practice push as the doctor was getting ready, but I started to push and she said "STOP! This baby is coming now, I will go grab the doctor." I couldn't believe it! She told me not to laugh or the baby would fall out. I thought it was so weird. But here we were. The doctor came in, I pushed 3 times and there he was. Perfect and so so so small.

I couldn't believe he was ours! He was so small and so quiet and perfect! We felt so blessed and grateful that he was in our family and we felt such a great responsibility. It is our job to give this little baby a good life and teach him to be a good person. The moment we saw his little face we knew it was going to be worth every second of work. We loved him the first moment we saw him.

Shortly after we got moved to recovery Marilyn and my mom came to meet the baby. Marilyn LOVED him so much from the second she came in the room. She wanted to see every part of him, his fingers and toes and his nose and his hair. She said "Hi Baby Jeff, I waited for you" and "I do love you Baby Jeff, I do love you". I was so relieved when she reacted so well to the baby. She couldn't get enough of him.

My friend who lives down the street (shout out to Brittney Fairborn, who had a rockstar natural labor and delivery) had her darling baby girl 24 hours before me. Jeffrey and Adiana met in the hospital, they will obviously were instant best friends. It was fun to have a friendly face in the hospital.

We were pretty lucky that Man Jeff (my brother) happened to be driving back up to Salt Lake City and the timing worked out perfectly for him to come and meet Baby Jeff. They share a special connection considering they are both named Jeffrey Peter. I am SO SO SO happy Man Jeff got to come and meet his new nephew...it was a special moment for sure.

I look pretty horrific in this picture but here is a shout out to my AMAZING hospital jammies...they are pretty amazing right?!

This is Jeff's little outfit he came home in. It was so adorable to see him in real clothes, it almost made him a real baby. We were so excited to take him home. You can also see his little dimple on his cheek, I love him.

39 Weeks

2012-01-26T13:55:00.000-08:00

My last doctors appointment...I can't really believe that I finally made it to the end! I felt a little weird knowing that I wouldn't be back with a bigger belly, even more uncomfortable then the last time! Things we learned from this last visit...

1- Baby is coming

2- Doctor guessed between 7 and 7.5 pounds

3- On the midnight call list for induction

4- I had 24 hours of having only 1 kid at home left

When I left the office the doctor said to me "See you tomorrow!" I walked out almost completely freaked out but so so so excited to meet this little dude. My Mom arrived later this day and we were left to just wait for the hospital to call!

Waiting is weird. I feel like it is weird to wait for someone to call you to say "Come on over to the hospital so you can have a baby!" But alas, that's what happens! I remember feeling so overwhelmed when the call came for Marilyn's delivery, I knew it would be the same for little Jeff's. And it was, I felt surprised that they actually called, scared to death that we were going to go through a delivery again, and so so so excited to be done being pregnant, but mostly grateful that we made it and it was finally time to add a real person to our family. He was coming...so we left for the hospital!

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I can't believe that we were good enough to have Santa Claus come to our house!! It was the first year Marilyn noticed that something new was going on. She was pretty funny when she woke up...she came into our room and said "Mama? Is it Christmas??" I smiled and said "Do you think Santa came?" She turned around and said "Maybe! Lets see Mama and Daddy and Maggie" We hurried and got to the kitchen and Marilyn was pretty surprised to see the sheet up. This is a darling family tradition in Tom's family. Santa doesn't wrap the presents he gives so to keep the surprise there is a sheet put up and everyone walks in one at a time youngest to oldest and the surprises begin. She didn't quite know what to think...but she was excited!

This is Missy walking through the sheet...we couldn't even get her to wait one extra second to get a cute picture...but whatever!

"Santa" made this in our garage...it is pretty amazing! We are pretty excited about how it turned out!

Maggie was a little confused too...

Marilyn's cousin Anna gave these make your own sugar cookies to her for the cousin gift exchange!

The engineering Barbie?? ...defiantly a necessity for every engineer (especially Professionally Engineer's) daughter...Thanks Grammie and Far Far!

Mar didn't waste anytime getting into the fun! We put all her food and pots and pans in the kitchen and away she went!

The other fantastic thing about Christmas this year is that the NBA started up again!! Booyah, it has been a LONG LONG off season with the ridiculous labor dispute, but we felt like it was a little Christmas miracle that we got to watch games ALL DAY LONG...excessive?? Perhaps...

It was pretty neat that Christmas was on a Sunday this year, we felt lucky that we got to spend the whole morning as a little family and then we got to go to church and think about the Savior. We are grateful for the Savior in our lives and are grateful he was born and we can celebrate His birth on Christmas.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

This was the first year we didn't go to one of our parents house for Christmas. We knew we had to fill up the time with fun Christmas activities that would remind us about the real meaning of Christmas and help us feel the love. We went to the live Nativity at Tuchacan, which was awesome. Marilyn told Baby Jeff (who is still in my belly) all about the donkey that Jesus Mommy rode and that is was cold outside. She told him about the angels and their beautiful music and the camels that came by Jesus. She told him how beautiful Baby Jesus is. It was a sweet moment to witness, she got it!

Some other things we did, we made snow globes and went caroling with our buddies the Records. My family goes caroling every year when we are in California so it was pretty cool to keep that tradition alive despite not being there. We had my parents come from California and in true Nielsen fashion opened a bunch of Christmas presents early (Tom got AppleTV and I got a 14 cup Cuisenart, which is AMAZING, Marilyn got a horse riding Barbie and the horse actually walks!). We did a bunch of art projects and made ALOT of "Holiday Treats". A treat qualifies as a holiday treat when it has butter and sugar in it. I have a sweet tooth...it's not my fault!! We tried to do about 3-4 things a week that kept us moving and feeling the Christmasness.

One of my favorite things we did was have a giant Christmas Eve dinner with a bunch of friends who were also staying home for the holiday. We had the Records, the Penroses and the Byingtons over for a turkey dinner. It was super fun! I got to use all the leaves for our table and it was fun to prepare all day for a big meal at my house. It was my first meal of this caliber...everyone brought something so it was not stressful just fun. We played BINGO and did a little gift exchange, it was really really fun playing and laughing together on Christmas Eve.

Here is everyone, I have no idea why I decided I needed to be front and center of the entire picture...oops!

Marilyn and her darling friends Haven and Diesl...they played all evening! So fun to have friends to play with...I loved watching it and listening to it!

When it was over and all our friends went home, we knew Santa would be coming soon so we hurried and got a few things ready for him and went to sleep as fast as we could!

We opened our Christmas Pajamas (I made them this year...they are a little goofy, but perfectly fabulous for the occasion)

Marilyn will NOT let anyone help her put on clothes anymore...so it took FOREVER, but she got them on! We hurried to sleep cause we knew it was a big day starting the moment we woke up!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Belvin, The Elf

2012-01-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

We were pretty lucky this year because Santa sent an Elf to live at our house on December 1st.

Santa sent him to watch Marilyn to make sure she was being a good girl. This is our first big Santa experience so I am sure he wanted to check up on Missy before he unleashed his booyah on her.

Belvin comes in the morning and then watches all day and sometime in the afternoon or evening (we never got to catch him leave but sometimes we hear his jingle bells) he would go back to Santa and report what he saw for the day.

Marilyn was pretty interested in what was happening, she looked everywhere for our new friend, Belvin.

Then BOOM, she found him...he brought her a note

We loved having Belvin it reminded us to be nice and listen to Mommy and Daddy. Marilyn said a few times "Mommy, Belvin is watching..." I guess he was watching me and Tom too! Every morning we would find Belvin in the weirdest places! Here are a few of our favorites...

Still a week after Belvin left to go back to Santa Marilyn tells me that he is watching us. She loves to remember where he was in the mornings and on some sad mornings we have to remind her that he doesn't live with us anymore. She always comes back with "Mommy, I'not sad. He come back next year!" We miss you Belvin! We will be good, and next year you will have another little dude to watch!

Our Christmas Tree

2012-01-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

So we set out on our own to have a quiet Christmas. We thought since I can't travel (because I am great with child) Christmas would be so quiet and weird. But we forged ahead and started to get our Christmas spirit on, first came the tree. We always get our tree at Lowe's and we have always let Marilyn make the final decision in the end but she hasn't ever had a real opinion until this year...She was pretty excited to take a tree home to our house to live with us.

She gave all the tree's hugs and kisses and told every one they were so beautiful and she decided on this one.

Then Tom and Marilyn hauled our cute little tree up to the front of the store and tied it on our car. We took it home and it felt like the Christmas season had started. It was officially ok to listen to the Glee Christmas Album and I taught Marilyn how to sing Jingle Bells and the plans for December unfolded to make a really fun Christmas season for us, here in St George.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-12-12T18:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Yay! I love thanksgiving! I love spending time with family and not having to worry about normal life things. We got to go to Logan and spend Thanksgiving with Tom's family this year and we had a KILLER time! Everything was perfect, except perhaps the coldness...it was WAY too cold. Now that our bodies have warmed up and become accustom to the heat of the south, Logan is much to cold for me to spend more than 4 seconds outside.

Here are some of my favorite moments...

This is Marilyn and Papa early in the morning on Thanksgiving...she helped him make the turkey. Pretty important job for a 2 year old right??

Mar had a SERIOUS amount of cousin love slash play time...she loved every second!

Uncle Jeff and Uncle Max and Weston were in charge of peeling all the potatoes...A pretty important job if you ask me!

No matter how cold it was Marilyn would not give up on playing in the snow...so we got her bundled up and she out she went!

She even thew a barehanded snowball...against my advice! haha

Dad and Missy got to build the worlds smallest snowman...she was pretty impressed!

So was Maggie...

We loved that Uncle Jeff got to come to Logan with us, since our parents were in Texas with Emily and her family.

How adorable is that face...wow, I love that girl!

Some other things I loved:

Facing the Black Friday crowd at Joann's...amazingly busy!

Sitting on the couch with Jen being a million weeks pregnant together

Watching Marilyn play with her cousins

Finishing my diaper bag (pics to come)

Sitting and chatting with Tom's family...we don't get to talk enough!

Looking at the tree's at Anderson Seed and Garden

Chocolate Mousse

Basically the trip was a-to-the-mazing...we loved it!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

2011-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

Marilyn is learning to sing. She is pretty amazing at it. The best part of it is when she feels the music in her heart and closes her eyes. She is almost as good as Celine Dion I would say. We love when she sings in church, she needs her own book and BELTS out every note (most of which she is making up, or what I like to call "harmonizing"). She is getting so big...

Pumpkins

2011-12-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

Tom and Marilyn also carved a pumpkin...so cute!

Halloween 2011

2011-12-11T09:17:00.000-08:00

I feel I must update this blog immediately because soon enough I will be busy with 2 kids and it will be even more important for me to find the time. I love looking back at the record we have kept of our little life and am determined to keep it going!

We did have a Halloween! Marilyn was adorable (of course). She walked around for weeks telling me she wanted to be a yellow crayon and then Mike Wisouskie (however you spell if) from Monster's Inc. I felt weird dressing her up as a freaky green man monster and just hoped she would
move past this desire. Thankfully, we found this little number...

at a farmers market (random or what??) And we barely remember the whole monster dilemma!

She loved that she was in charge of the horse and made it lay on her...she was pretty cute with that darn horse!

This was at the trunk or treat, the horse was a little hard to walk in and so it came off...but we got it back on in order to hit a few houses for trick or treating!

I also dressed up with my other pregnant buddies...rad shirts right? We made them! We were pretty proud to sport them at the Ward Trunk of Treat! Booyah! Baby had a costume too this year!

Too Big

2011-11-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

Marilyn is TOO big now...see?

The PE

2011-11-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, remember that huge test Tom has been studying like a total maniac for? It's over...here is Tom with his registration paper. He looks happy, however, it was really hard and we won't know if he passes until December. He left on a Thursday night and drove up to Salt Lake with some other work guys who were taking the test. They had dinner and stayed in a hotel. The test was 8 hours on Saturday. I am so proud of Tom! I hope he passed, but the point is...he did his best and it was alot of work for all of us! I will never forget the morning after the test, we got up and went to breakfast. We spent the whole day together and I could feel the tension gone. We will find out around Christmas...YAY FOR TOM!

Marilyn's New Hobbie

2011-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have been sewing a lot for the new baby lately. I walked into the sewing room and this is what I found. She had a complete HEART ATTACK when I told her Mommy had to help her. I mean there is a needle not to mention a machine that could eat a hand right off! Well, I guess I can only hope she turns out to be a better sewer than I am!

Our Friends, the Fullmers

2011-11-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

To celebrate fall and see our good friends, we went to a fall festival with the Fullmers. Marilyn was SO excited all day to see Ayden and baby Aleah. It was so fun! There were animals and pumpkins and slides and ponies made from tires and a fire. It was great!

Marilyn tried to touch the turkeys...it didn't turn out very well

Marilyn and Ayden talked the whole time, I couldn't understand most of what they were talking about, but it was really cute to see them chat and play together!

These were the horses made from tires...adorable right? They swinged (swang? swung?) around and around and it was adorable. Mar loved it!

This is one of the only pictures I got of Jake and baby Aleah...sorta a terrible picture, but there were there!

They must have known I was coming, the rocking chair thing rocked. I am telling you, being 7 months pregnant and walking around all day long is tough...

Marilyn LOVED this fire, she loved sitting on Tom's lap looking at the stars and the fire. It was such a great night, it was cool and fall like-not to mention JJ and AA are ALWAYS good company!

Grammie and Far Far

2011-11-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Grammie and Far Far came to visit and for some reason I didn't have my camera out or something...(which is horrifying). We loved having them come. They got here on Friday and we went to our ward talent show on Friday night. I sang a duet with my friend Adam, it was fun. Any song that starts "Alabama Arkansas, I sure love my Ma and Pa", when my parents are in the audience, rocks. The next day was a blur, we did everything! Fabric shopping twice, talked a lot, went to Kneaders for lunch, Marilyn showed off all of her toys, my Dad and Tom went on a bike ride, we got an ice cream cone and at dinner at Texas Road House. It was a jam packed day. Any time I get to spend with my parents is special, so I am especially grateful they were able to come for a quick visit. I can't believe next time we will see them all together Baby Jeff will be coming! Crazy...

While Grammie was her she convinced Marilyn to let her braid her hair. Since Marilyn screams when I try to brush it after her baths, so I was pretty surprised that she went along with it...but here it is!
It is freaking me A LOT that Marilyn is big enough to have her hair braided...she is too big

Elmo In Play Dough

2011-11-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Tom and Marilyn made this Elmo in play dough. Pure talent? I believe so!

The Thai Chili Pepper

2011-11-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is a Thai Chili Pepper. Some pepper like this are classified as the hottest peppers on the planet. We grow them in our backyard in a pot. Since one could say that I like my food significantly less spicy than Tom, meaning I hate most spiciness, he grows these so he can add them to dinner to add a kick. We have tried and tried to tell Marilyn that we do not eat these peppers. One time I told her that her face would melt off if she did, she looked at me with a "Mom, you're really weird" look and walked away. So we try our best, but as many of you know the only way to learn is to try.

One day I hear Marilyn screaming bloody murder outside in the back yard. I run to her aid and I see her scratching her tongue and spitting all over the place. She is screaming "Mama OUCHIE OUCHIE" At first I don't know what is happening, because this is abnormal behavior. Then I realize she is holding this pepper. If you look closely at the picture, you can see her teeth marks. I gave her a drink and eventually she returned to normal Marilyn, but it was a traumatic experience nonetheless. We learned a valuable lesson though, don't eat Thai Chili Peppers from the plant, ever, no matter what. Now she walks by the plant and furrow's her brow and says "Yuka" and keeps walking. That's my girl!

Uncle Max

2011-11-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

If the name Uncle Max seems less that popular for the last two years in our casual conversation it's because he has been on a mission in Australia! Since Jeff got home, we have been anxiously awaiting Max to come!

Max did get to meet Miss Marilyn before he left to become an Aussie, but she was only this small...adorable? YES! But her spunk had not grown in yet. Tom and Max are pretty close so he has been especially excited to head up for the big homecoming! We had prepped Marilyn pretty excessively so even in her prayers she would say "Unca Max is ission, airport my friends be there" (by friends she means cousins). The day had finally come! We woke up early got all decked out in our driving to Salt Lake Outfits (which were our pajamas). We were off! Marilyn did awesome in the car, we listened to Dora the Explorer about 10 times and before we went crazy we were there! Upon arrival we realized that his plane was an hour delayed...which turned our hour and a half of waiting into two and a half. We found ways to entertain ourselves, but it made the reunion a little sweeter....cause we were pretty bored.

Marilyn LOVED these glasses and made everyone put them on...

June and Marilyn just loved coloring ALL over this amazing poster Grandma and Grandpa made

Pretty amazing that there are 4 babies on the way in 2012! They were all represented on our shirts! We loved sitting in the airport sharing pregnancy highs and lows while all the kids ran around like crazy in the airport!

There were a few pretty resounding games of ring around the rosies.

Then it was time to gather by the stairs, where a freaky airport worker told us all horror stories about how children get caught in the escalators. So we held our kids and our breaths and waited for the moment.

and there he is! He looked so great, so happy. He looked the same as he did before. For some reason I was legitimately concerned he would be different and as a result of that hate me, but I am happy to report that he is happy healthy and darling as ever! (Sorry for calling you darling Max, but you are)

WELCOME HOME MAX! We are so happy to have you home, we missed you like crazy and are excited to hear about your adventure in Australia and to see what you do next. WE LOVE YOU!

Uncle Jeff

2011-10-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

Fall means beautiful weather but it also means that we turn into Jeff's closest relatives! When he leaves for school and moves from Orange County to Salt Lake City, we move into the roll of closest immediate family members. It is a VERY important roll and I take it VERY seriously. Haha so Jeff decided to come down for conference weekend. We felt SO Lucky that he wanted to come and that he spent some quality time with us. Marilyn couldn't get over the fact the Unca Jeff was coming to sleep at our house, and be here in the morning! It was so so so fun!

STUFF WE DID WITH UNCLE JEFF:
Watched Conference
Ate Weggies
BBQed a flank steak and smoked Baby Back Ribs (Jeff requested "Meat" for his Sunday dinner)
Made and Devoured Mashed Potatoes
Drove to Veyo to get a Veyo Pie, we chose peach from the 32 different flavors.
Hiked Jenny's Canyon
Marilyn and Jeff read a million books
Talked alot
We had apple cider floats with friends (Shout out to Hayley Yates who ran the marathon and lived!)

It is a tough roll to be the closest relative and we take it very seriously! JEFF COME AGAIN, ALWAYS!

This is Marilyn calling Grammie on her imaginary phone telling her we are with Uncle Jeff ...so cute!

It's Fall! Yay!

2011-10-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

For a family outing one evening, we went out to Snow Canyon. The weather has changed in St George so we are spending a lot more time outside while it is GORGEOUS! Tom found us a little hike that we could go on and it was pretty amazing. Marilyn was a champ and walked almost the whole way! She loved throwing rocks in the water and playing "Follow Follow Daddy". We brought Maggie and Marilyn was sure to stop and show Maggie every bug and lizard we found along the way. Then we put Maggie first so she could scare away all the big stuff and all of the sudden we moved a lot faster!

This is the doll house Grammie got Missy for her birthday. She still shows it to everyone who comes in (and everyone we talk to on Skype). This is when she made the people "cook dinner" on stools like she does when she helps me make dinner. So cute! She was so proud of this!

We also had National Park Day, and we went up to Zion. It was so pretty up there! It has been a while since we have gone during high season so it was pretty cool to see all the different kinds of people that were visiting. We heard a lot of different languages and a lot of people heard Marilyn's little language. Several people were chuckling on the bus on the way up and back down the canyon when she was singing at the top of her lungs "Wheels On The Bus". She was enthusiastic!

I would like to warn you, she looks ENORMOUS in this next picture, so don't fall over or anything.

Mar Mar felt it was of the utmost importance to show the big rocks (or as she calls them "Far Far Rocks) at Zion her painted toenails!

It has been such a fun last few weeks!

Marilyn's Music Time

2011-10-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Before work everyday, Tom asks Marilyn to think of something they can do together when he gets home for work. It's cute because she talks about whatever they decide on all day, and tells me she and daddy are have special time. She comes up with ideas like take Maggie on a walk, or go to the park, or build a house out of blocks, or play play dough. But this particular day, she came up with the idea of playing guitars and singing together. Of course Tom jumped right on this and immediately upon his return from work, he got out the guitar and the ukulele for Missy. This is what came out of that night.

I think we might have a bright future full of seriously off key singing, but at least it will be entertaining!

Baby Aleah Fullmer

2011-09-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

We are pretty lucky because basically every one of our friends is either pregnant or has recently had a baby. It's pretty rad because Marilyn can get some sort of little idea of what is going to be happening to our little family in January. Her BFF Ayden got a new baby sister yesterday. We were so lucky to get to meet this sweet Baby Aleah at the hospital.

Marilyn picked this outfit out to meet the baby and see Ayden.

She was ready for 3 hours before we were needed to go.

Baby Aleah was 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches long. She had such cubby little cheeks and she was so adorable. Janelle looked AMAZING (it almost made me sick) at the hospital and we saw her 6 hours after she gave birth. We love them, all 4 of them!

We are so happy for Jake and Janelle and Ayden! A family of 4...So great!

Things I forgot to Post About

2011-09-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I felt like I had nothing to post about forever. Then I downloaded the pictures of my camera and remembered so many little things. Thats how it always goes right?

For our trip to Hawaii, we got Marilyn this totally amazing Elmo sticker book for the airplane. She did so amazingly on the airplane that we didn't end up using it so now it has a VERY important place in our home. It is used every single day, mostly to put the stickers on her face like this picture...hey, she is occupied, happy and doing something productive. Love the Elmo sticker book.

I have no idea how I could have forgotten to post about this little baby. Janelle's birthday was on August 22 (which is also my dad's birthday, shout out!)

We love you J-face! You rock!

I'm still pregnant. I'm about 23 weeks along, and everything seems to be fine! Marilyn gives my belly kisses every day and says "Love you, baby" Pretty adorable.

In the last appointment we learned:

- It's still a boy

- He's growing a little big

and

- Marilyn doesn't really care about ultrasounds

This is a conversation I had with Marilyn 2 days ago.

Marilyn: Baby Jeff like Baby Bode?

Me: Yes, he is going to be small and sleepy. And you can hold him and look at his toes and his fingers! It will be so fun! You will love him so much!

Marilyn: Sleepy Sleep at Kristin and Greg house?

Me: Oh, well, actually Baby Jeff is going to sleep at Marilyn's house. He is going to live here like Mommy and Daddy and Marilyn.

Marilyn: Like Maggie?

Me: A little like Maggie, probably more like Baby Bode then Maggie...but also I little more like Maggie then Bode. I don't know sweetie, but he is going to sleep here.

Marilyn: Ok, Love you.

Now every time we leave the house she says "Bye Marilyn's house, Bye Baby Jeff's house too"

Pretty adorable right? Ok, thats all for now.

Logan for Labor Day

2011-09-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

For labor day this year, we thought we would head up to Logan to escape the heat slash bond with Tom's family. We love love love St George and all our friendsies here, but there is definitely something to be said about having family around. We try and see our families every chance we have. So boom, we went there for Labor Day. It was actually the best decision ever because while being a fabulous weekend for doing absolutely nothing and soaking up the family love, it was also our nephew's baptism. We were lucky to be able to attend such a special day for Jakob.

Even though we made no plans for the trip, it seemed to fill up with important visits and events super quickly. Grandpa made Marilyn (and all other toddler aged cousins) a toddler bed out of the old crib and Marilyn LOVED that she had a bed just her size to sleep in. Then, I TOTALLY SCORED at a yard sale when me and Ryan went out. He scored some screaming deals also like a totally rad giraffe, and a cool toy that says letters.

We went to Bear Lake to visit Tom's Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, Marilyn's middle name is Noreen which is Tom's grandma's name so we think it's special when we get to visit them.

Grandma Noreen loves crossword puzzles and apparently so does Marilyn Noreen.

Aunt Cari saved Marilyn's life with these little numbers...an Elmo sweatshirt with matching socks! Pretty rad...Marilyn asks me to wear them every single day!

We went on a labor day celebratory hike. Grandpa made this radical walking stick, she almost died it was so amazing...

Jen, Ryan and Amelia came with us and Marilyn loved that there was someone else her size around. They were so funny together.

This is one of Tom's nature shots...pretty sweet right?

This is Tom's cute parents. We love them. We miss them all the time, and can't wait to see them again because that means UNCLE MAX IS COMING HOME!

Bode Kirk Polatis

2011-08-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Bode Kirk Polatis. He was born August 27th, and was 9 pounds 9 ounces. Kristin was a total rock star! Look at this adorable face!

We are so excited to finally welcome Bode, Marilyn has been seriously excited to meet this sweet baby. She asked me if it was Bode time at LEAST 9 times the day he was born. We went to visit him after church on Sunday and the moment Marilyn walked in she said (more like yelled way to loud) Baby Bode is here!

She looked at his fingers and toes and wondered why his toenails weren't painted...I guess we have a few things to learn about baby boys before ours comes!

We went to see him when they came home and Marilyn was so so so happy he was there again...She is going to be so cute with our little baby boy in January. I can't believe we have a practice brother... We love Bode, and can't wait to watch him grow!

Fishing In Pine Valley

2011-08-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed it is summer, and HOT in St George so we thought it would be super fun and refreshing to go up to Pine Valley and take Missy-Marilyn fishing. All day long she said "Daddy go fishing?" and "Marilyn Bring My Fishing Pole". We got the car packed up with chairs and fishing gear and sunglasses and Marilyn's precious Barbi fishing pole. It was darling to see her waiting by the window looking for Daddy to come home to take us fishing. If you know Tom at all, you know he is a bit of a fishing enthusiast. So he came home prepared. He brought worms and other kinds of artificial lures and baits and off we were!

How pretty is it there, not to mention how adorable is he?

Marilyn loved that she was allowed to get as dirty as she wanted, and seriously it was so gross but she was in heaven!

These cows were right next to us and the second Minnie noticed them, she was off to visit the "Moo's"

We met a snake...he freaked Marilyn out a little bit, but she has talked about that snake on the way home

This is the fish we caught on Marilyn's pole (we only caught 1 other fish), she almost died when she got to touch the fish and it was on her pole. She laughed so hard when it was flipping around and she said "bye bye fishy" when it swam away.

She gave us a thumbs up, Marilyn style

When she saw the fish jumping she started jumping like a little maniac, for at least 20 minutes she jumped non stop.

She loved being outside and getting dirty and catching the fish. She was so happy to get to go fishing with Daddy. We had such a great night!

Washington County Fair

2011-08-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

We always go to the Washington County Fair and this years was no exception. We love going and seeing all the people and listening to the bands and looking at the award winning gardening and drawings. (We have had no need to venture to the rides but I am afraid this might have been our last year without that!) This year Marilyn was DYING to go into the petting zoo...which by the way was amazing. There were millions (exaggeration) of different kinds of animals and Marilyn LOVED petting them and learning their names and talking to them.

She kissed this goat, which made me want to die a little...but I guess it's cute, she loved loved that goat!

She rode a horse, and LOVED it!

She showed the chickens how to do the chicken dance...how she learned I will never know, but at least those chickens know now!

Is this pig huge? Who knew they even got that big!

Basically, Marilyn loved all the animals! We had such a great time watching her interact with them and say hi and talk to them. It was so cute to see her little personality to come out...we love her!!

One Day We Went to Hawaii

2011-08-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

We went to Hawaii, and it was amazing. Marilyn did AWESOME on the 6 hour flight both ways! That was a bit of a worry for me, she is at a hard age to sit still for that long. But we were totally prepared with Dum Dums and beads and movies and magnets and stickers and all that jazz...so the flight was totally successful. We got there one night before my parents and Jeff got there so we stayed in a darling little hotel for 1 night. Emily and Cami were also there, we asked for our rooms to be next to each other...think they could have been any closer? They even connected...how randomly awesome slash weird right?

It was amazing because while Marilyn and Cami were both champs on the plane ride over, they still however struggled with the time change. They both woke up at 3 am and were ready to play...so it was nice to have both rooms where some could sleep and some could run around like maniacs and watch movies and play games. We got them this little tea set to play with...funny right? Cause how did they even know what a tea pot was?

Then, after a LONG morning, my parents arrived and the real fun started! We checked in immediately and the rest of the trip blurred into memories of greatness. Here are some of my favorite moments...

The view from our room...incredible! When Marilyn took her naps in the afternoon, I was either rocking my mom at a hard core game of Peanuts or sitting looking at this view!

Sorta rocks that our anniversary was 2 days before we left! My parents were nice enough to watch Missy so we could go exploring slash celebrating our love.

The lawn in front of our room was UBER important, we played ring-a-round-the-rosies and did summer salts and played tag and laid down and so many other things while we waited for the Dad to get the car. Good times..

We went to this funny place that had bumper boats that shot water at each other? AWESOME! Marilyn liked it for about 10 minutes and then spotted the rock wall, so she peaced out pretty quick...but we had a super fun time!

This was a totally necessary addition to our dress up box right?

We were all pleasantly surprised how well Marilyn and Cami played together! They did so good and were buddies the whole trip!

The beach was amazing...I could have stayed there all day every second!

This is Tom holding Marilyn and Jeff holding Camille in the ocean...So adorable right?

When I was 2 my Mar Mar and Far Far brought me a French Bikini from France, (so it had not top) and said it was only for swimming in their jacuzzi...so OBVIOUSLY for tradition sake, Grammie bought this string bikini for Marilyn (for use only in Hawaii and at her house). She was so cute in it...even though it was ridiculously immodest!

The girls loved looking at the trees and grass from the window...

Basically, it was the best trip ever! We completely relaxed and had tons of time to unwind. I was so sad when it was over because we had to come back to reality and do laundry and work. But mostly I was sad we had to leave my family, we treasure the moments we get with them.

Love you Hawaii...

Here We Go Again...

2011-08-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

I guess it is about time I wrote about this, for some reason this time I have felt little urgency to run to the top of the mountains and scream the news loud as I can yell. We feel content and excited to announce that we are expecting our second baby on January 15th, 2012. (side note: 2012?? Seriously?? What even is that?!) Marilyn will be a big sister and we are pretty excited to welcome another sweet soul into our home.

IT'S A BOY!!!

I literally never thought about having a boy before until the moment the ultrasound technician said "Those are little boy parts". For some reason, I felt like we would have a million little Jorgensen girls running around and since Marilyn is too cute for words and we love her so much, it is hard to imagine a baby that is not a girl. But as time has passed since we found out it was a boy, I have gotten more and more excited. I am excited to see Tom with a little boy, and to have little trucks and Lego's around the house. I am excited to see Marilyn be a big sister and love someone else. We are excited to see what this new adventure brings and who this little guy is. Here we go again...

5 Years Ago on July 28th

2011-08-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

On July 28th 2006, Thomas and I got married in the Newport Beach California Temple. It was such an incredible day!

I can't believe it has been 5 years since we were saying YES, I still feel so lucky and grateful we found each other. Sometimes when I am trying to fall asleep, I like to look back on some of my favorite memories of our dating life and our engagement and then I always reflect on our special day. I love to remember how I wished Tom would ask me out on a date, but it took him 3 months. Now, that is something I LOVE about him, he always thinks things through before he jumps in. I love thinking about our first date to the pumpkin walk in North Logan, wondering what in the heck he was thinking and I wondered if I would ever be able to read this guy. I know now that he is totally present in every moment, but plays cool. I love thinking about the night he kissed me. I still feel so calm every time we kiss. I look back on the night we got engaged. We went on a walk by my apartment and I was so stubborn thinking he was trying to get away with something crazy...but really all he wanted was to ask me a simple question. I still say yes every day. I look back on our wedding day and feel so loved and supported by so many different people. I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of people who were there and by the love we felt. Now, after 5 years of marriage, I feel that love and support from Tom the most. I am so grateful that we love each other, that we got married and sealed in the temple. I am grateful that we chose this life, because we love it.

Here are some of my favorite moments from our first 5 years...here's to MANY MANY more!

The PE adventure begins

2011-08-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I literally never thought this would happen but Tom is eligible to take the PE (professional engineering exam) in October. You have to take 3 years after you graduate, then you can be a PE, if you pass, 4 years after and it is insane that we are there! I remember when Tom took the FE (the fundamentals of engineering exam) and we were newly married. It took 8 hours and it was so stressful. I brought him lunch and worried all day long about this test he had to pass to get a job. It is funny now remembering the worry I felt and the pressure that was there that day. He obviously passed with flying colors and got a killer job because of it. I am so proud of the work he does and how he provides for me and for our family. I have no doubt that after a lot of studying and work, we will have the same result with the PE. Go Tom! YOU CAN DO IT!!

But seriously, this is one of the study aids...freaky right? Ok, back to complete confidence! Love you Tom!

The St George Carousel

2011-07-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

One night, we were particularly restless so we got ready in our swimmie's and went over to the splash pad. To our great surprise there was a legit carousel chilling in the park. Rad right? Obviously we took Marilyn over to it and put her on immediately. She loved every second, she loved listening to the Disney music playing as her horse road around and around. She was screaming "Pan Music! Pan Music!"

The first time around she couldn't quite figure out where to wave...She waved to everyone except me...

Then She figured it out and got it every time after that! So sweet to see her face smiling right at me every time she passed me.

The splash pad was fun too...She loved running wild and getting her hair wet!

And, she seriously slept GREAT that night...all and all, a perfectly fun summer night!

We Went To The Lake

2011-07-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

As you know, it's HOT in St George and we are deep in the middle of a seriously hot summer. Tom keeps telling me it's been a mild summer so far, but I say anything over 105 is too hot. It doesn't matter if it is 107 or 115. Anyway, one way we keep cool is going to the lake. Marilyn LOVES playing in the sand and the water and building things with her dad! It is totally adorable to watch her figure out how to use her sand toys and bring water from the lake to the sand. I have loved spending time outside this year. We are tanner than we have been in years, and we are loving this summer!

Play Dough Fun

2011-07-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Uncle Jeff gave Marilyn Play Dough for her birthday and Tom found the perfect time to use it! Marilyn absolutely loved it! She made hats and tea sets and animals and people. She couldnt' get over how it felt and that she could make it into anything...Tom was so adorable with her too! It was a fun moment to watch...

The Actual Birthday

2011-07-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

Marilyn's actual birthday actually did come...and we were so lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa J here to celebrate with us! Of course we made a cake and Marilyn demanded we all wear aprons. She picked a funfetti cake with pink icing...it was adorable! She loved making the cake with Grandma J, she got to stir and lick the spoon...it was so fun!

Then we had to wait for it to bake...it was pretty hysterical because this picture was taken about 3 minutes after we put it in the oven...she REALLY wanted it to be done!

Grandma and Grandpa took Missy shopping at target to pick out a birthday present and this is what she picked...once she saw the horsie it was all over...nothing else had a chance!

I think the cake tasted as good as she could have imagined...she LOVED it and she was so happy when we sang Happy Birthday and she ate way way way too much cake and ice cream! But seriously, its her birthday...and the last celebration needs to be big!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! Since we had such an eventful weekend with Marilyn's party and tons of family, we took it easy on the actual 4th. Marilyn went to bed on time and that means I did too...We did light off fireworks with some friends after these pics were taken, but I had to put these up on the blog because Marilyn picked our her own outfit...and seriously it's so Marilyn. I had her dressed to perfection all weekend and then this day she picked this outfit...

We LOVED doing sparklers and Marilyn loved wearing not one but two tutu's for the event.

Let the Celebration Begin...

2011-07-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

Marilyn's birthday is on July 10th, so in the future I know that I will try hard to avoid celebrating on 4th of July weekend, but this year it made it nice because my family could come into town to celebrate with us. It was a crazy fun weekend and Marilyn loved that Grammie and Far Far came to our house to play.

The weekend started with an evening out at the St George splash pad, downtown. We brought dinner and the girls ran around like maniacs until Marilyn literally asked me to go home. It was a great way to start because we just sat around and chatted and ate way to much...like we Nielsens do...

Then the next morning, the PARTY started! We had a morning party, a morning breakfast party, a morning breakfast make-your-own waffle party. It was super fun and we were so grateful that everyone came and had fun.

Jeff and Tom were in charge of making the Orange Julius's (J and J 's recipes...which is rad that they let us use it)...basically they are delicious!

Marilyn seriously wanted to wear those pink shoes...I mean did she not notice her PERFECTLY planned and coordinating outfit to both the day and the party? Have no fear, she wore the perfect red patent leather loafers...

Marilyn got some rad gifts...Grammie made this for Marilyn's big girl bed. She got sand toys, and Elmo movie, some pretty amazing sunglasses and this beauty set...

I think Marilyn loved most of all the time we got to spend with Grammie and Far Far and Cami...cause seriously...aren't they so so so cute?

We got Marilyn this trike...she loves it, but it's a little too big so all she can do is sit on it...One day, one day!

Marilyn's Birthday Celebration Begins

2011-07-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

In true Jorgensen fashion, we celebrate birthdays big and for more than one day. (We can't decide whether to celebrate for a whole week for kids, like we do for me...but it seems we did this year). Marilyn's birthday is July 10, 2009. This is what she looked like the day she was born.

I wonder if a mother can ever forget the feeling right after her first baby is born. I remember feeling relieved (that it was over and we were both alive and doing well), I also remember feeling grateful that we had such a beautiful sweet spirit that was ours. I remember feeling nervous, what if I can't do this? But most of all I remember feeling the most love I have ever felt. I felt a new kind of love for someone else, my sweet daughter, Marilyn Noreen Jorgensen.

Other stuff I remember from that day:

* Marilyn's eyes were open from the second she was born until we were moved to our recovery room almost 2 and a half hours later

* I LOVED the water bottle the hospital gave me way too much

* We listened to Jewel's Lullaby CD for 4 hours while I was pushing, and now whenever I hear it I feel calm

* I remember my mom being there supporting every breath I took all night and day

* I knew Tom was nervous, but I never heard him worry out loud. He knew I was nervous too and was so supportive and sweet for the entire 20 hours.

* I remember Mar Mar and Far Far coming in to the delivery room MINUTES after our Marilyn was born...which was shocking but welcome.

I am surprised that I don't remember more horrifying details of labor and delivery, but I guess that's our body's way of helping us move on.

This is Mar Mar the Great (my dad's mom), we named Marilyn after her and we can only hope that Marilyn grows up to have as much spunk and love as she does for everyone and everything in her life. She is SUCH a great example of giving. I am grateful that our Marilyn has a someone as wonderful as my Mar Mar to look up to.

Seriously, look at those eye balls! So amazing...

Boise

2011-06-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

We went to Boise. Tom's family decided it was time to mandate a yearly family reunion (which I couldn't be more happy about). Every time we are all together, I feel like I miss connecting with someone and with this yearly trip I don't feel rushed to talk to everyone. We went to Logan on Wednesday night, and then car pooled with Tom's parents on Thursday. Holly and Justin and their 4 kids recently moved to Boise and we have yet to see their house slash life and they got a new dog that we haven't even met. His name is Tucker and he is enormous, but so friendly and all the kids loved him.

Marilyn loved all the time we got to spend with all her cousins! She especially loved jumping on the tramp with her little posse of girls.

How adorable is the jumpingness of this trip? They literally jumped for 3 days...

We loved everything about the trip. We went to a crazy amazing water park, and Missy loved the wave pool and the river that went around the park. She also loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. She bonded hard core with Anna. How adorable is this pic?

Of course, it took Marilyn about 7 seconds to find the dress up box at this house...and roped in a partner...

We also played a little too much Just Dance on the Wii...and it made me sweaty and gross (which is pretty sick...but it was fun)

We talked alot and laughed alot. We got all caught up on everyones lives and what everyone is up to and what is coming up. All the kids are still adorable and great (and growing up). But it was pretty fun to see them all hang out together and make new memories I am POSITIVE we will hear about for a long time.

We also had the first annual Jorgensen Family Olympics. It was hysterical to see everyone do the different competitions. Jen and Andrea put in alot of prep work and we are grateful, because I really don't think I will ever forget Tom eating 3 saltine crackers and whistling in 11.4 seconds...seriously! It was so fun.

This one we had to knock some plastic cups over using just our "elephant trunk"...our head with a stocking on it...People got pretty into it...

This is when we had to hang 5 nails on a rope...

The classic candy elevator...

How long can you keep the balloons up in the air...looks like Grandpa is almost done...

Marilyn won the baby walk...haha she rocks

Run and keep the kite up as long as possible...love that!

We also made home made root beer and the kids LOVED that...

We will always remember these reunions, we feel connected all over again and so close with everyone. We are so grateful to have such a great family. I feel especially blessed to have married into such a strong family who cares about us and is so supportive and kind. This also made us really excited because next family reunion (will be in St George) and MAX WILL BE HOME. There was definitely a hole there, because Max is a big piece of the group...but it got us excited and reared up and ready for him to come home and feel the same connections I feel when we are together.

And seriously? When does Grandpa do stuff like this?

Brooke's MARRIED!

2011-06-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Brooke Graham is now Brooke Beck. It is so exciting! Look how beautiful she is, she was the perfect bride and the day was gorgeous. It was such a special day. I am grateful to have been able to go in the temple and
witness their marriage. Temple marriage is one of the most special things in this world and I am grateful we could attend. She married Cameron Beck, who is hysterical and loves her so much. His family was so kind and we loved getting to know them. I got to be a bridesmaid and Marilyn was a flower girl. The little girl dresses were amazing. Their were 6 little girls and they all looked perfect! Marilyn and Camille, if I do say so myself, were the cutest. They were all around the same age and it was near impossible to get a pic of them. This is as close as we got.

Basically, we love Brooke and Cameron and we are grateful that they got married and we got to be a part of it. Congrats Brooke, I love you!

Way Early Happy Birthday

2011-06-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, I was lucky because around my birthday I always got to miss school one day and go shopping with my Grandma Mar Mar. It was the best day ever because she would pick me up at school take me to Main Place Mall (or South Coast Plaza, depending on what store was IN that year) we would spend the morning shopping all over the mall and then we would meet my Far Far at lunch, where I would show off my awesome new clothes. Then, I got to change into my favorite outfit and she would take me back to school to show off my new look. It was awesome, I remember one year I got a bright red velvet dress and black tights and black patent leather shoes...wow...I was so awesome...But my favorite year ever, she picked my up at the DMV (after I failed my first attempt at my driving test.) And instead of taking me back to school to face my peers...she took me straight to Nordstrom and we on a shopping frenzy, that year I got some amazing platform shoes that had cork on the bottom? Remember those? Anyway, oh wait...another memory popped in my brain! When I was turning 8 Mar Mar took me to get my baptism dress...and it was amazing...it had tons of beading around the neck and then lace that poked out of the bottom...wow...it was amazing and I got my first high heel shoes that year...amazing!
Anyway, since this is such a vivid memory for me and my siblings, my mom decided she wanted to do the same thing for her grand babies. This year we decided to get Marilyn a toy instead of clothes, because she had way too many clothes...so we off we went to Toy's R Us. First of all, that place is crazy...ok we looked at everything, Barbies and play kitchens, and dollies and Lego's. But then we hit to doll house area...we found the most perfect doll house ever. We knew this was it. Even though Marilyn doesn't turn 2 until July 10th we went a little crazy and gave it to her anyway. We broke it out the minute we got home and the for the rest of the trip Marilyn was lost in doll house land. She named each doll and took the out to show them the backyard. She showed her dollies that it was ok to fall over and showed them how Marilyn falls over. It was basically the cutest thing ever. Marilyn still plays hard core with it everyday for at least an hour...I am excited for this tradition to continue...they are special memories to me and I know they will be fore Marilyn.

Pretend City

2011-06-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

FIRST OF ALL, this is so cute... right? Marilyn as a dentist? love it!

Ok, seriously, Pretend City is the most amazing place on earth. If, of course, you are 2-4 years old (or their mother). When I heard about this place, my first thought was "that sounds a little weird, would it really be fun to play dentist or librarian" Then I thought about Marilyn, and how she loves loves loves to pretend. We dress up almost everyday and she has one baby going night-night and another one eating dinner while her puppies are playing in the kitchen all day long. And my thoughts changed to "We MUST go, she will love this". And it didn't disappoint, Marilyn and Camille loved fishing in the marina, brushing and putting braces on the teeth at the dentist, shopping at the grocery store, and sending out the police at the dispatch center. Not to mention the stage they danced on for 20 minutes or the picking apples and strawberries and planting other vege's at the farm. Check these pics...and go to pretend city.

ALERT: These pictures are mostly terrible because the girls literally would not stop moving...sorry...

Marilyn planted lettuce and carrots in this pretend garden. She loved sitting in the dirt and not getting dirty.

Marilyn and I made a Turkey/Jelly/Tomato/Lettuce/Olive sandwich at the pretend subway...sick but awesome right?

This is the stage, which had crazy amounts of dress up...it had a lights and music board and the kids could change the lighting and the music anytime they wanted. Marilyn didn't love that...but she did love DANCING like a maniac for 20 minutes straight, of course, in true Marilyn style dressed up as a lady bug.

These are REAL chicks... the girls love love loved looking at them and saying "Silly Chick" every time they moved...so cute!

This is the pretend apple tree that Marilyn loved picking and putting back apples. Pretty clever right?

This is the construction zone, where Missy loved banging everything with the hammer and the screwdriver.

This is a pretend house, for some reason (even though we have our own house) Linny loved it...maybe it was the fact it was her size? or that she could moved the furniture around? or that the vacuum was small? or that she could open the fridge anytime she wanted? I don't know...

Grocery shopping...she bought all bananas

This is the art studio, where they have little craft projects to do...our girls just colored and taped stuff to their paper...

The kids got to drive these cars to all the different places...there were parking spots and everything...so cute!

Of course, since her dad is a fishing maniac, Missy loved fishing at the marina...I couldn't figure out if it was the fishing or the water...but she love it

Marilyn at the dispatch center...she got to push buttons to send the police over to the library or whatever...she LOVED it...

Basically it was a perfect afternoon. I got to see Marilyn's little imagination working and her deliriously happy. We are definitely going to go back so Dad can see how rad this place is. Ok, GO...it rocks!

California

2011-06-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

Marilyn and I flew to California to spend a week with my fam. It was such a fun trip. We LOVED seeing Uncle Jeff and listening to him play the guitar and actually see him in person, since he has been gone forever. We also are lucky that Emily and Camille live there cause we had some serious cousin love time. And I can't forget to mention how lucky we feel that we have Grammie and Far Far who are willing to let us take over their house and play with us for a whole week. There are so many things that I LOVED about this trip, such as Marilyn decided it was time to talk in sentences, way too early birthday shopping for my sweet Loo Loo, chatting with my mom until all hours of the night, GNO with Emily and watching the Mav's win game 5 at Islands (we felt pretty awesome and non boring like). We ate great food and played all day every day. The thing I always miss when I come home is the feeling I have when I am home. The feeling of family and togetherness. Tom and I both have amazing families and we are lucky that we can visit any time we want.

Marilyn's First Hair Cut

2011-06-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

I never thought it would happen (mostly because of Marilyn's lack of hair) but it got to the point that we either needed to embrace her complete mullet or get it cut. It still pains me to admit, she was starting to look a little goofy...so I found the cutest kids hair cutting place on earth, Sharkeys Cuts For Kids. (It's on First Street in Tustin) and made an appointment. I was pretty freaked out...I didn't know how Linny would react to scissors so close to her face...and she is a normal 2 year old who can't really sit still for more than one minute. But all those worries went away the moment we walked in. This place was perfect! She got to sit in a Barbie Jeep, and watch Tangled...who could ask for more? I got the first hair cut special where they took her picture and kept the newly cut hair. I can't believe I am one of those Moms, but I feel sentimental about things like this. Tom thinks its gross to keep her hair in a bag forever...ask me later who won this argument and if we still have the hair. The greatest part of this place is that it doesn't stop at the hair cut. They put her hair in piggies, with new clips, painted her fingernails and gave her a sticker and a balloon. She loved it...And she said during all the maddness, "This is so fun!" So I will forever have this memory...Marilyn showing everone her new hair cut and newly painted fingernails, she was so excited! And of course, this made me excited! Booyah, another milestone under our belts!

too big...

2011-06-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

It is seriously freaking me out that Marilyn is a huge kid now...seriously...she is so big. This last week she decided that it was time to start talking in sentences. She says things like "Mama, my foot hurts" and "This is so fun!" and "Please, Marilyn naked". We seriously are loving everything about every second we have had and can't wait to see what comes next...

It's A Fiesta!

2011-06-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMILLE!! Can you believe it? Remember these two bumps?

Now they are enormous 2 year olds that can talk and run and scream and throw tantrums. It is crazy to think that we are old enough to be figuring our way through a 2 year olds mind. But we seriously love it, and sometimes we get to have huge parties that remind us of the million reasons why we love it. On May 21st, Camille turned two and we had a huge fiesta to celebrate (I say we, but I didn't do anything, just showed up and partied hard).

Everything was perfect! The decorations rocked, as evidenced by these pictures, Camille left her mustache on for literally (for real, not in Sara language) an hour. We played games and had a pinata. The little ones almost got what to do during the pinata, but LOVED the candy at the end. Marilyn put 4 pieces of candy in a cup and saved them all for days. Camille, on the other hand, horded as much candy in her arms as she could and would not let go for the rest of the party. So cute how different they are.

It surprised me that Marilyn and Camille (who live 6 hours away from each other) play together so well. I worried that they would act like a typical 2 year old and scream MINE a lot and hate every second of sharing. But it really surprised me that they play so well together. It makes me excited that they will always be friends and really love spending time together. A cousin is a special friend...I think they will always feel like that...

Well, I guess, more parties will come. It is literally shocking to me that we lived all the way until they are 2...now I feel like they will actually be kids and maybe even adults one day. Hopefully every party is as awesome as this one was. I think we will always remember Camille in her mustache and Alden in his many costumes. Happy Birthday Camille...We Love You!

Future Mrs. Brooke Beck

2011-05-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

My oldest and dearest friend Brooke Graham (soon to be Brooke Beck) is getting married! It is probably the most exciting thing that is happening on the planet on June 11...actually definitely the most exciting thing. But before we get to the wedding we obviously had to do a bridal shower! It was such a fun day! It was at my parents house, and so many wonderful women were there to shower Brookie with love. It had a vintage theme, we served the fruit in tea cups and the other snacks on glass plates. The flowers were all in mason jars...it was so fun! We had such a great time planning it and putting it all together. Brooke is such a kind person and it was such a great experience to be able to do this for her. We had a great time! And Cam was even represented on video tape answering a few questions about Brooke. My favorite question that was asked is "What is something about Brooke that she doesn't think you know?" Sorta a hard question...I know, I made it up...But he had a great answer, he said "She is really intelligent" How sweet is that right? He must really love love love her, just like I do...well he might love her a little more than I do...he better, or I will scratch his eyes out! I can't wait until June 11th, the Newport Beach Temple is going to be the best day in a long time! I love her, and I wish her luck on this new adventure with Cam. GO BECKS!! YOU ROCK!

My Mom did these arrangements...aren't they outrageously gorgeous?? She rocks!

A Hiking We Will Go

2011-05-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

We went on a hike one day as a little family...it was pretty fun! Marilyn loved it! She saw some bugs and climbed on huge rocks! She was pretty tired after the whole thing and it was such a fun day in beautiful St George! This is the Pioneer Park, we call it the rock park, because there are huge rocks there to climb on...pretty good name right? Love that! Loved this day!

Seriously? Look at that little nose....it's TOO cute!

It's Official!

2011-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

It's official! I am a Certified Master Preserver! Pretty exciting stuff! As you know, Kristin and I have been taking a class through the USU extension office about all things canning and we are proud to say we officially passed the test, got our certificate and are now the most fabulous canners the world has ever known. (OK this might be a slight exaggeration...but I am pretty sure we are at least on the list!) We met some fun friends like Janie and her daughter Lauren.

Janie and Lauren pretty much were already masters....but I am glad they came! We were paired up to make things together and we laughed and talked the whole time every week! I hope that one day I can be as cool as Janie. She rocks!

We had to take a test, which is freaky, but I got 100% so I rocked it! We learned about pressure canning, water bath canning, pickling, making jams and jelly, making pie fillings, and dehydrating. It was such a cool class and it really inspired me to try some new things and I have been starting to experiment a little with canning! Last weekend I made jalapeno jelly....which is weird, but I have a super adventurous husband so it will be well worth it! Here are some pictures of our last class (courtesy of Janie)

This is our teacher, Carolyn, she rocked and knows everything there is to know about canning...seriously if you have a question call the USU extension office and ask her...she will know!

This is us taking the test...it was pretty intense

These are all the delicious things we pickled, cauliflower, carrots, beans, pears and a few salsas (which we didn't pickle)

It was such a fun class. I feel like I have a handle on canning and have the knowledge to build up a food storage for my family! Booyah...I am a Master Preserver!

A Suprise Jeff Day

2011-05-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up on Thursday to my phone ringing, the only person that ever calls me in the morning is my mom. Usually I am the one that calls her early in the morning with little worries or things I am wondering about. But this morning, she was calling me. I jumped out of bed and ran to my phone, I knew something was up because she was particularly chipper...she said "Guess what?" Obviously, I responded with "WHAT?" She said "Jeff is coming home!"

Jeff (my younger brother) has been serving a mission in Boise, Idaho. He has been scheduled to come home on June 2, so it was defiantly surprise when we heard those words. My parents have been in contact with Jeff's mission president because he has been sick. If you know Jeff at all you know he has a huge personality and is a really strong dude. We missed him a lot, because without his HUGE personality there is a huge hole in our family. Because of this big spirit Jeff has, we were NOT worried that he would have a hard time in Idaho. He had a lot of crazy experiences (like inseminating 2 cows, and of course he sent pictures which were super gross, I WILL NOT POST THEM ON THIS BLOG). The doctors think that the reason he got sick was from drinking unpasteurized milk. It is a little ironic that he went to arguably one of the most boring places in the world and came home with serious infection. Now, don't get me wrong...he came home 2 years after he went out. He served a whole faithful mission and we are too proud of him. The doctors thought he should see a specialist and there happened to be one in Orange County, CA. My mom was pretty stoked that the magically worked out (coincidence right? haha)

We left that night. We drove to my parents house and started the preparation. There was a lot to do because he was coming 3 weeks early! Of course, Marilyn and Camille needed Matching outfits for the airport and we need to make outrageous signs for everyone at the airport. We also needed to get his room ready and make it a little more manly, now that a grown man and not a weird teenage boy would be living in it. We ate a lot and I am proud to say that even through this crazy weekend I stayed away from Diet Coke for the most part! (Big news in my life) It seemed to take forever but the time had finally come. It was 3:00 on Saturday, time to leave our house for the airport.

We might have gotten to the airport a little too early, about 30 minutes, because it felt like I was going to die there. The little girls were running around like maniacs and I think we literally asked every worker there where gate 12 would come down to baggage claim. They all seemed a little too annoyed, but we didn't care time was passing...he was coming! Here is a picture of us waiting...

Jeff left days after Camille was born and about 7 weeks before Marilyn was born, so basically he has never me them...

The girls had a blast running like little maniacs holding hands the whole time...

After an eternity of waiting, it literally seemed like longer than the entire 2 years... people started coming down the escalator. Since the flight came from Salt Lake City everyone knew what was up. We had people congratulating us and telling us how fun it was to see and Elder on the plane. Some one said he is coming and another person told us she sat by him...the suspense was killing us...is it killing you?

Finally we saw him, we saw his cute face and his bright smile. Everyone broke into tears as he came down the escalator. We knew that this hard thing was over...he was home safe and sound and our worries were done...HE WAS HOME!

All the first hugs were so special, please excuse my crying face, I couldn't help myself. It was such a special day and the feeling was so special...we loved every moment. He is home. He is here. And he better come visit, ASAP.

Pinewood Derby

2011-05-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

In our ward, I am the cub master. I know, I know, it is shocking...especially since I have no boys and I didn't really take interest in my brothers cub scouting. I knew nothing about scouting when I was called in almost 3 years ago. It was pretty intimidating. The only thing I remember from my brothers days in scouts was that his cub master made all the boys call her Akela (which is awesome) and that my brother and my dad made an Oscar Meyer Wiener car for the pinewood derby. I have learned a lot and finally feel like I have a grasp on what this calling entails. Our last pack meeting was the pinewood derby, which is the best pack meeting of the year. I got there super early to get the room ready and meet the guy who we rented the track from.

We had a great time, all the cars were AWESOME. It made me remember that even though the calling has some weird hard things that go along with it, in the end it is really really fun. I love seeing how are the boys worked on those cars and how proud they were of them.

First the boys had to weigh in their cars, they had to be 5 ounces. There were a few disputes over the weights, but for the most part the cars were right on the spot.

PS don't I look so rad decked out in my leader shirt? Awesome..

Then they put their cars on this table to wait for their turn to race...

Everyone had a good time watching the cars race, the boys were cheering and screaming every time a race started and finished!

This was my favorite car, seriously a piece of watermelon? I LOVED it...I gave him the "Cubmaster's Favorite" award...so creative!

Easter

2011-04-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the Easter bunny came again! We were pretty excited when we woke up and to our great awe and surprise there were baskets filled with treats...our Easter bunny even had leopard print eggs...how did he know that's what kind of people we are?

Marilyn was delighted that her basket had eggs that she could open and shut...and I think the candy inside was a surprise...last year she had yogurt melts (sorta boring)

The Easter bunny must have communicated with my subconscious because he brought me plastic lids to use for my jars in the fridge which I have wanted FOREVER...might sound boring but it's really amazing!

Linny loved her basket so much she carried it around as her purse for the rest of the morning...until we HAD to leave it at home for church (I know, I'm evil right?!)

Marilyn's "cute chick" jammies...so cute!

I made THIS Easter dress this year...with my new serger! It turned out pretty cute! Marilyn seemed to like it, and she was adorable in it at church...which is really all that matters, right?

We are grateful to be able to celebrate Easter and are grateful that we know the real reason behind this seemingly silly holiday. I loved going to primary on Easter Sunday and hearing the sharing time about the resurrection and how we can remember it in our lives every day. Even though Easter has lots of candy and treats, the real reason for the season is our Savior and his great sacrifice and resurrection for us.

Uncle Jeff

2011-04-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know, my brother Jeff is on his mission in Boise, Idaho! Well, he is almost done...we have missed him like crazy and cannot wait for him to come home! This is a shout out to him!

Dear Uncle Jeff-

I know you are online today, we made this greeting for you. Hope you love it! We absolutely cannot wait to see you in 5 weeks. Marilyn can't wait to meet her Uncle Beff!!

Love,
Tom, Sara and Marilyn

Logan

2011-04-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

We love Logan (more specifically North Logan), UT. We always feel lucky that Tom's family lives there and we get to visit often. We cherish the memories we make on our visits and love to remember the time that we spent there. Last weekend, we had the opportunity to visit because our beloved Grandma J passed away. We were lucky that the funeral fell on a Friday and that we were able to spend the weekend with Tom's entire family and have a lot of cousin time. I literally took 200 pictures just this weekend alone. We crammed a million things into the weekend (like always) and had such a great time reconnecting with family during this time. Here are some of our favorite things we did.

We cleaned the sink at Angies. Which is when they give you a ridiculously enormous amount of ice cream in a "kitchen sink" and you aren't supposed to be able to finish it. There were 22 of us and we polished off 2 of these bad boys! Everyone loved it so much, especially Marilyn.

it was so so so delicious!

this is when Marilyn was bringing out Uncle Troys inner little girl...haha he is surrounded his boys so we think it's good for him!

we even earned this sticker!

cutest thing ever?

this is Marilyn's little cousin Amelia...she is to die for cute!

This is Marilyn and Grandpa having some seriously much needed bonding time watching Elmo's World...Grandpa had surgery on his knee so his movement is limited. Marilyn took full advantage of this and loved cuddling with him!

This is the amazingly adorable rain coat Grandma J got for the 4 little little girls...seriously? is it literally the cutest rain coat on earth?

Marilyn and her cousin just older than her played like crazy the whole time. They read books and played purses and barn. Marilyn even showed her how to use the big girl potty!

This is so adorable because Marilyn fell in LOVE with this purse, it went everywhere with us, even to Jakes rainy soccer game. I got this purse with my wedding dress, it is made from the same fabric and it makes my heart melt that Linny-Loo loves it so so much!

we ate way too many wegies and all the kids loved it!

Marilyn got a new tea set (for filling her second potty chart) and she loved having little tea parties with everyone

Basically, we love love love our Logan visits and we always feel a little lonesome when we get home...but it helps us look forward to our next visit!

I Will Be A Master!

2011-04-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Kristin (my bff) and I are taking a Master Preserver class. We are pretty stoked about it! At the end of 6 short weeks, we will take a test and be nationally certified master preserver. We learn water bath canning, pressure canning, jams and jellies, dehydrating, pickling and freezing. It is pretty much the greatest thing ever. Please excuse Kristin and I in these pictures, we are wearing the same shirt...on accident I swear.

Last week we water bath canned fruit. This is pineapple. It was so delicious! We also canned applesauce, peaches, pears, oranges, grapefruit and a bunch of pie fillings.

This is me, holding the blueberry filling I made...isn't it pretty?

Here we are...holding things that have to do with canning...I don't know what we are doing, but cute right?

This is the peach apple salsa we made. It was so delicious...I really would have never tried it unless I made it at master preserver class...if you know me I am not the most adventurous eater in the world. But I tried it and love love loved it! I even got to use a muslin spice bag! See it? Wow... blah blah blah...I love this class!

Marilyn is getting big...

2011-04-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

Freak me right out...Marilyn is down right big now. She is basically a kid...when did this happen without my knowledge or approval! Here are some really cute things she has done lately...

We were making dinner and turned around to see this...seriously...and since she doesn't eat ANYTHING EVER, I let her continue until I snapped a picture!

This is how Marilyn stands these days...hand on hip ready to take on the world!

She set up this scene in the kitchen while I was cleaning up. She brought the whole thing in piece by piece...so so so cute!

Aunt Cari Came to Visit

2011-04-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

We are lucky that the Johnsons have a place down here that they visit frequently, and therefore visit us frequently. We love having them here! Me and Marilyn get spoiled with cousin play during the day and I feel more connected to what is happening in Tom's family. I also love it when the Johnsons come because I can see that working really hard while Marilyn is young actually can turn out with normal, well adjusted, polite kids when they get older. I am sure they have other things they are dealing with now, but it just gives me hope that life moves on from potty training and hysterical crying fits. I love talking with Cari while she is here because she always seems to have some creative idea on how to teach something to Marilyn, or some other solution to a problem I have been thinking about. One night while they were here I had a pack meeting (the pre-pinewood derby pack meeting) so Tom and Marilyn had a pizza party with the Cari and Troy and their boys (who are almost men now, so weird). In this house full of 6 boys and only 2 girls I came home to find Tangled on and this scene...

Marilyn has a lot of really GREAT aunts we feel super lucky when

we get lucky enough to have them to play with (especially dress up!)!

Happy Kreg Kolb Day!

2011-04-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

On Saturday our ward had a crazy huge fundraiser for a man in our ward named Kreg Kolb. He was diagnosed with ALS and our ward really rallied together to do a we love you Kreg Kolb celebration of life day. So many people came out and it was a really cool event. The young women were in charge of a bake sale and since me and Kristin have a small obsession with cupcakes these days we told them we would make TONS. Literally, thats what we signed up for, to make tons of cupcakes. We made 7 batches, oreo, sour cream blueberry, strawberry shortcake, doughnut cupcakes, pink lemonade, double chocolate fudge mania and churro. It was super fun to make and decorate that many cupcakes, I sorta loved it so much I had thoughts of trying every cupcake recipe I have ever seen, but I stopped before it completely took over my house. Here are the cupcakes! (and we love you Kreg!)

This is a double chocolate fudge cake with chocolate buttercream and sprinkles

This was my favorite cupcake I made all day...I ate it...

Here they all are, well all the ones I made, churro in front, then doughnut then pink lemonade then the chocolate

These are the pink lemonade, a lemon cake with pink lemonade in the batter with whipped cream on top!

We Did It!!

2011-04-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it! The potty chart is full!! I say "we" because even though Marilyn did the deeds I feel like I did the work. We work as a team and a pretty darn good one! Here is Marilyn with her filled potty chart! She didn't quite get it...but she is still cute!

The moment she put the last sticker on the chart we got our buns dressed and in the car. I told her that we were going to the toy store to pick out a toy for filling her chart. She carried her chart the whole way. We made it to Wal Mart and Marilyn showed the welcomer (who was a darling grandma) her chart, she was so proud. We walked together to the back of the store to the girly toy isle. Marilyn's eyes widened when she realized what was going on. It came down to 2 toys a Barbi Belle that came with her horse Phillipe and a Baby Belle Doll. I held them both up and she picked...drum roll please....the Baby Belle Doll!! I told her that because she filled her chart she got this fabulous dolly! Now the wait began we had to drive all the way home before we could open it. But Marilyn started talking to "Baby Belle" before we even got there. She said "Baby Belle Home".

The minute she got Baby Belle out of the box she began taking her around the house showing her everything we own. She said things like "Baby Belle Gi Gi" pointing to our dog Maggie, then "Baby Belle GiGi NiNi" pointing to Maggie's bed. Then she got hold of my phone and said "Baby Belle phone FarFar and Mamie" her way of telling our new little friend this is how we talk to our family. It was sweet to hear her explain in her own little language how our world works. It is getting fun to hear her talk and play. I am excited to see her imagination growing and her brain working!

Quickly, Baby Belle became the most important thing in our world.

She went everywhere...even on the potty!

This is Marilyn and Baby Belle watching Beauty and the Beast...seriously? Can life get cuter?

My Potty Training Adventure...

2011-04-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Marilyn is 21 months old. I have been tracking her development (with relation to potty training) since she was 15 months when she started crying when I wouldn't let her flush the toilet for me. She has hit all the markers. So we decided to try it, even though she is still pretty young. I got her a little potty a while ago and she has played with it for months. I read the book "How To Potty Train You Child In Just One Day". I liked the principles in the book, I liked the idea that by teaching you learn. So we got little Marilynny-Loo-Hoo a potty doll, who she named "Baby Nana". The day started out by Marilyn taking Baby Nana to the potty, "teaching" her how to tell she needed to go and taking her to her little potty.

Clearly, she took everything VERY seriously and carried Baby NaNa around all day (and everyday since).

Here is our setup...it started in the bathroom but was quickly moved to the family room cause we couldn't ever make it all the way to the bathroom.

Here is the living room setup...potty chart and all!

The key for the first few days is to fill Marilyn's body with drinks, so she has to pee ALL the time...then we have a lot of opportunities to teach!

Here they are...

The first day was disastrous, I was covered in pee, frustrated and exhausted. But we slept good and started again the next day. Slowly but surely Marilyn got it! The first ragingly successful moment didn't come until day 3. I almost died waiting for it, but it came! I can't believe that this really is working and Linny is big enough to be working on this...but working we are! Hopefully we can keep our patience and keep working on it, one day at a time!