Happy Birthday!

Sunday was Anna's 2nd birthday! This year she got much more excited about it than she did last year. I'm thinking this is not only because she is older but also because she has seen a number of birthdays here are Kristen's house and has a better idea of just how exciting they are.

The festivities started on Saturday morning. We woke up to donuts! Kristen has a tradition in her family that when someone has a birthday, they get breakfast in bed. That morning Nathan had to get up early to take the two oldest boys somewhere and decided to get the donuts for Anna's breakfast. It was greatly appreciated, almost more so because it was unexpected.


That night we had a party combined with my Grandpa whose 89th birthday was on Monday. We had pancakes, eggs, sausage and fruit salad for dinner. As you can tell, breakfast is Anna's favorite meal of the day (she has been known to eat it several times with each person as they wake up). It was a hit. I also got balloons.

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candles.

She got some great presents (it's so nice when other people get things for Anna so I don't have to) and they all were (still are really) a hit.

I have no idea why it has this random strip at the bottom of the picture.

Jason and I got her a little kitchen. I was thinking of getting her dress-up stuff but then we went to the local children's museum and she spent almost all the time playing in the kitchen and wasn't too interested in the dress-ups. We were able to find it on Craigslist for way cheap and it came with a bunch of dishes and food. It's even nice and small so it fits in our bedroom. I could tell the kitchen was a good call when she would rather play with that than eat her cake.

We also got her a Book of Mormon Illustrated Storybook. We read the first chapter which talks about Joseph Smith and where the Book of Mormon came from. She seemed to pay more attention to our family scripture reading after that. Also, this morning when I was reading my scriptures, she got her book out and started looking at the pictures.

Jacob is such a sweet heart. He wanted to get Anna a present and found these bracelets that he paid for with his own money. She thinks they are great.

Anna loves umbrellas, she can even say 'umbrella' pretty well too. This one is especially fun because it has a duck head on the handle. Between this and the galoshes from Grandpa DeMarco, she is totally set for the rain.

I had wanted to get her a stroller for Christmas but it didn't happen. Now she takes it with her all over the place. Yeah for Aunt Kristen.

She also got two different tutus. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of them yet. She likes to wear them and dance and twirl so maybe I can get a video of that.

The next day (her actual birthday) was more low key. It was spent enjoying her toys. In fact, I had to tell her she could play with her kitchen again when she woke up, finished lunch, got home from church, etc. before I could get her to leave it. I had made such a big cake the night before that we were able to have it again the next night, complete with singing and candles. And she got to eat the cake and ice cream this time. It was a very fun birthday.

Anna's Antics

Sometimes it seems like everything Anna does just cracks us up. Here are some of her most recent antics.


She has a doll that she loves; referring to it as her baby. There have been times when she doesn't want to get her diaper changed, we will change the baby's diaper first and then she will lie down to get hers done. She likes to wipe his bellybutton and even put on diaper rash cream. Well, lately, she has been putting him to sleep in the bathroom. Not surprising since she sleeps in there but still. She will put him in the bathtub, close the door and tell us to be quiet. This morning, she even made pretend crying sound and said he was crying as she closed the door. I asked about the fact that she was leaving him to cry and she said it was so that he could fall asleep. It's never to early to teach your kids about sleep training.


For Christmas, Anna got a really cute puzzle from Jason's parents. It's a princess with different outfits that you can change the skirts and shirts around. The other day, the princess had a red skirt with a pink shirt. She looked at it and said "clash". Naturally, we changed it so that her outfit looked better. Now, if Anna is trying to wear clothes that don't work, I tell her that it clashes and she will let me choose something else.

Ready to go to Grandma's house in the rain.

The other night, while Kristen and I were making dinner, Anna got out a bunch of plates. She wanted to set the table. We were having soup that night so I told her we needed bowls. She got those out instead and put them on the table. Then I gave her the spoons and cups and she put those on too. The best part was that I didn't even have to ask her, she just saw that we were making dinner and did it. Kristen says that's one of the differences between boys and girls.

I think it was that same night Anna said the blessing before dinner all by herself. I have been trying to get her to say it by just repeating what I say but she rarely repeats me. This time, though, I didn't say a thing. We could pick out words like 'Heavenly Father','food', 'bless' and 'amen'. It was way cute and I was really impressed.

As you can tell, I don't put on make-up to clean the bathroom.

In the mornings, I wipe down the bathroom. Sometimes, when Anna is around she likes to help. I give her a baby wipe to wipe whatever she wants while I have my Lysol wipe. She especially enjoys cleaning the toilet. We have this powder you put in the bowl and it foams up, which is way fun. Then there is the fun of using the brush. Sometimes it's hard to get her to stop so I can flush the foam away.

Needless to say, some days it feels like we just laugh at everything she does.

Taste?

Chocolate chip cookie dough, yum yum!

Anna has discovered picking in doughs and batters. She loves it. She will try to pick at every step along the way, including in the empty bowl. All we have to do is get out the mixer and she is asking for a taste. When we make cookies, we have to keep telling her that it's not yummy yet. Once it is, oh man. If we don't watch carefully, she will grab a whole handful at a time.

Happiness ensues

It's not just cookie dough either. Pancake batter, bread dough cornbread batter. I've never been one for these less sweet options but Anna is an equal opportunity picker. I would wonder about it but then we found this picture of me when I was about Anna's age.


Apparently she comes by it honestly.

Columbus and Kirtland

Now that we are done with Christmas and New Year's and having people visiting and all the craziness that goes along with all of that, I can sit down and blog about the trip we took just before Christmas.

Skyline of part of Columbus

Jason and I (Anna stayed home) went to Columbus, OH for 6 days for two job interviews, to drop in on some other firms and to check out the city. We were able to stay with a family from our church that Jason met through the Linked In website. The husband also helped arrange one of Jason's interviews. They turned out to be so nice (it could have gone either way). They have 10 kids but only 4 are still at home. The parents helped us know about places to go to see what Columbus has to offer and we played games with the kids. We even got to sleep in a water bed.

Front of one of the firms we visited

Jason had two interviews the first day and then the second day we just dropped in on a few other firms. I went with him to the interviews and hung out in the lobby then followed them on their tours of the office. It was interesting to see how much I could tell about the places from just sitting in their lobby. Both of the interviews went really well. The general consensus was that if they had work, they would hire him. Jason likes and dislikes things about each one so he doesn't know which one he would prefer.

Open Space in Arena District

Archway saved from the old train station now in the Arena District

Once we got those interviews out of the way, we could play. We spent a bit of time driving/walking around the city. We drove around the university and the downtown and walked around where the arenas are and a neighborhood called the German Village. There we had lunch at a really good deli and the best book store ever. It's called The Book Loft and is the length of a whole block with 32 smaller rooms just packed with books. It feels like they have no more than two or three copies of each book. Each room has different music playing and is a different category. They also have movies and posters and cards. An awesome place to get lost.

Street in German Village (note the brick road)

We were also able to spend our Friday evening there at their science museum. The family we stayed with let us use their membership and the museum was open until 9 that night. We played with the space room, the human body area, the physics toys and rode the unicycle over the lobby. So fun!

Snow (through a screen because it is cold outside)

On Saturday we woke up to a couple of inches of white fluffy snow on the ground. So naturally we decided to drive for three hours up to Kirtland. The roads were all plowed and it wasn't icy so we had a beautiful trip. Neither of us had ever been to Kirtland before and it was a great time to be there.

The visitors center had a nativity display with lots of different styles and sizes. They even had a separate building for the international ones and had them from all over the world.

Whitney Store in Kirtland

After watching a video about the LDS church in Kirtland, we took a tour with a couple of cute sister missionaries. They took us to the N.K. Whitney store where we saw where Joseph Smith lived with his family while they were there. We also saw the room where several of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were written down along with the room that was used for the School of the Prophets. The Spirit was so strong in that room, it was amazing. I can totally see why that was where President Monson wanted to go when he visited the area for a short trip. We also visited the Whitney home and the Johnson Inn that was rebuilt and turned into a multi-media area.

Kirtland Temple

After lunch we went over the the Kirtland Temple. It is owned by the Community of Christ (previously the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and we were able to take a tour. Again we were the only people on the tour and the man who did the tour was nicely chatty. After he learned that Jason was in Architecture, he took us up to the bell tower and we got to look out over the roof line. We also got to go up to the pulpits and see where Joseph Smith sat during the dedication and where Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and Oliver Cowdrey. Sadly, while it was cool to be up there, the Spirit was not strong like in the School of the Prophets room. Even so, it was so neat to be able to visit those places and feel the Spirit that is still there.

Anna did great for Kristen. I guess it was a little bit crazy the first couple of days while Kristen learned just how closely Anna needs to be watched (there was rice on the family room floor for days) but then things went smoothly. After that, Anna just blended in with the family. Kristen said that Anna wouldn't get sad if they talked about us, just happy that we would be coming home. Once Anna said that when I got home, I would give her hugs (which I did once I got home). Amazingly, she stopped using her binkie while we were away. The first night when Kristen was putting her to bed, she couldn't find it and told Anna that she would just have to go to sleep without it. She did with no problem and didn't ask for it after that. I still don't know where it is. Sadly, after we got back, we had retaliation for a couple of days. It was horrible and I couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with me as a mother (and wished I could find that binkie) but then things calmed down and my sweet Anna was back.

We had a great trip and I can see being happy in Columbus.

The Search Continues

When we last left our job hunters, they were looking for jobs in a smaller city in the midwest so it could still feel estern but not be as uptight. Somehow, I'm not really sure how, we kind of started to focus on Columbus, Ohio. There are quite a few firms there and while Jason isn't sure he's really excited about the work that they do, he is willing to give it a chance. Two firms got back to him and said they really liked what he has done and would love to talk to him if he is ever in the area. Sadly, that doesn't seem to include getting him to the area. We thought about sending Jason out if more people expressed interest but no one did. Then Jason got another blessing and it talked about how important it was for both of us to go out there and soon. So we are leaving tomorrow to talk to the two firms that have gotten back to him and leaving Anna here. Jason has tried to set things up with some of the other firms that haven't responded but so far no one else is interested.

So while this has been going on, we have also started looking for work in Denver. The funny thing about Denver is that although Kristen had mentioned Fort Collins, we weren't really interested in something that far west. Then Jason was praying one day and asking about where we should go and the answer came, clear as can be, that we should go to Denver. Sadly, his first reaction was 'but I don't want to go to Denver'. Fortunately, we have enough trust in the Lord to know not to argue with Him, so Jason has been researching and applying to firms in Denver. Fortunately, Jason is more interested in the work that they do in Denver than in Columbus so that's good. He is also starting to hear back from those firms (a pretty quick response time) and while they seem to like what he has done and is interested in him, they don't really have a place for him right now. There are still more to hear back from.

Then, out of left field, he got an email back from a firm outside of Boston saying they are really interested in him and would like to have a phone interview. The interview went really well and lasted for about an hour. At the end of it, the guy said that the position that they have that would be a good fit for Jason would be the Creative Director. Needless to say, Jason was taken off guard. The guy said he would have to talk to the other people there and would be able to get back to him in mid-January at which point, Jason would have an in-person interview.

Needless to say, this has all been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I liked the idea of Columbus but it was hard to get too excited about it because Jason just could not get interested in the work that he would do there. Then I had a hard time getting behind Denver. I don't really have anything against the place but I jut don't know how I feel about living in the mountains and being a 'mountain west person' instead of an 'east coast person' which I already identify with. I think there are enough things to like about the area that I can be ok with it. Then the Boston call kind of threw us for a loop because we had already kind of mentally moved on from Boston and we were not expecting a managerial position like that. Now we aren't sure if we would still like the Boston area or not.

So for now, we are just trying to focus on what's ahead of us - the trip to Columbus tomorrow. Plus, we are tryting not to get worked up over jobs that we haven't been offered yet and remember that anything we get offered (even if we don't like the job or the place) can be leverage for something we like more.

Christmas Lights

Last weekend, we went to the bay and watched a Christmas boat parade. People decorated their boats with lights and drove up and down the bay. We got a place to stand by the edge of one of the restaurants and were able to block the wind a bit until it died down. We weren't sure how hard it would be to find a parking place so we got there pretty early and hung out a while before it started.

We ended up being near other little kids around Anna's age. It was really cute to watch her interact with them. Some of them she liked to jump with, others she would reassure with a hug and at one point, she seemed to be making introductions. There was one little girl that she stood near most of the time and they watched the boats together. She has already learned that things are more fun when they are shared.

The parade lasted a while seeing as no one was going very fast. Some of the boats were more decorated than others but they were all nice. We were in a place where we were able to look down the bay and see them all lined up before they turned around and came back.


Then, last night we went to a neighborhood Christmas festival thing. They closed off a street and the people and businesses along it got all decked out with lights. Some of the houses had carolers (there was even a pretty good rock band), some had live nativities and others had treats. We got some cookies, didn't feel like waiting in line for the cotton candy, laughed at the ice cream and ran out of hands for the hot chocolate.

A guy from our church played the Grinch. You can't see it but he had a little dog up there too. He was totally playing the part and had a huge megaphone. This morning, there was a picture of him in the newspaper.


When we got almost ready to turn around, it started to rain. Lightly at first and then picking up so that before we got back to the car, it was raining pretty hard. Fortunately, we had just bought umbrellas that afternoon so we were mostly dry. Mine is even a golf-sized one so I held it out in front of me and it covered Anna too. I think the rain kept the crowds down because it wasn't too bad.
This house had Scrooge. When we went by the first time, people were waiting but nothing was happening. When we came by the second time, he was out there but it was raining pretty hard by that point so we weren't so interested in stopping to watch.

We have had fun getting involved in local Christmas activities.

Taking Care of Luke

Anna sharing her banana with Luke a little bit ago (she sleeps in wamer jammies now).

Anna loves Luke. He is now about the same age Anna was when we got back from London (totally trippy). They like to play together and when he was out of town with Kristen, she was really excited when he came back. She still calls him 'Baby' and has taken to taking care of him. The other day we were eating lunch at the park and before she could sit down and eat her lunch, she had to make sure Luke was taken care of. First, she went into the diaper bag and got his bottle followed by his thing of formula, bib, baby food and spoon. She would get it out of the bag and take it to him and put it on the tray on his stroller. It was so cute.

Then last night at dinner, she was eating her dinner really well until Luke started fussing. She had to hop right down and take care of him before she could continue. When he hears him crying, she says "Baby sad" and likes to try to comfort him. She will be a great older sister some day.

He loves Anna too. Today Brennan came over to play (Anna also loves to play with Brennan) and they were running around playing tag. Luke kept trying to crawl after them. Sadly, he was never able to catch up but that didn't keep him from trying.