Viva Again

We have had a busy couple of weeks around here! Jade and his brother Justin finally redeemed their Christmas present, and went to the NCAA finals here in Portland. They had a great time, and even made it on TV! (This was probably due to the fact they were wearing neon green and orange shirts, reflective vests, and construction hats) Tuesday night Jade's mission President's wife, Sister Linheres ("Sister") flew into Portland and stayed the night with us. She was visiting her daughter who is doing a foreign exchange in Eugene, so Jade picked her up from the airport and in the morning we went to breakfast with Jeremy (Jade's brother) and Marianne (Jade's mom). Then we showed her the Portland temple, and took her to meet her daughter. It was so fun to see Jade interact with her. She's like a mother figure to him, and he was so sweet with her. And did I mention how hot it is to hear my hubby speak fluent Portuguese? On Thursday morning we flew to Las Vegas for a mini-vacation. As always, we had a great time! Highlights of the trip: a pampering day at The Spa at Southern Highlands on Friday: a facial, lunch, and getting my hair blown out. Friday night we went to Southern Highlands for the Governor's Bash, part of the yearly Governor's Invitational event. It was really cool: a private concert by Huey Lewis and the News, catered by swanky restaurants, and topped off with a candy bar, complete with Candy Girls, or Candy Sluts, as Jade called them. The concert was surprisingly cool considering Huey is older than my parents. There were less than 500 people there, so there was really great energy, and they played their hits. Jade even took me for a spin around the dance floor, which was an unexpected surprise. (These pictures were taken with Jade's camera on his phone. There is no zoom. We were seriously about 5 feet away from the band)

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We also got to spend time with some family friends; the Babcocks and the Becksteads, and Chelsey Evans. It was so great to see some of our favorite people that we don't get to spend time with often. I also got to meet up with my girlfriends Bianca (Peyton's Godmother), Catherine, and Kelley (my Stilettos) for Saturday brunch. They hadn't seen Peyton since she became more than just an unresponsive blob, so it was fun to see her interact with her Aunties. Also I got to go to my friend Alicia's wedding! I've been friends with her since the 9th grade, and she's been with her boyfriend (now husband) Tyson almost that long. The wedding was beautiful, Alicia looked stunning, and the reception turned out amazing. I'm so happy for them! Like any important event in my life, this one was not without fiasco. The wedding was at Lake Las Vegas. The venue is beautiful, but there are tons of ducks, which makes for tons of duck poop. Unfortunately I sat in some. I panicked, but my mom told me to stay seated and she would go find something in her car that I could put around my waist. A few minutes later she came back, and I almost died when I saw what she had brought me to change into: my sister's 50's dress that she had worn to her "sock-hop" the night before. Apparently that was the only thing my mom had in her car that I could wear. I'm sure I was quite a sight in my red and black polka dot dress, complete with about 5 layers of toile. Saturday night we saw the movie Taken, which was really good, albeit a little unrealistic. As always, the trip was too short, and now we're back to reality. Last night Jade was checking on Peyton, and he called me into her room, where I saw this:Apparently our little girl got her leg stuck, and was too tuckered out to "un-stuck" herself. She just accepted her situation and passed out. My sweet little angel...

Life Saver (Almost Literally)

Spring seems to be pregnancy-season. Everywhere I look I see pregnant chicks! I was just reflecting on my own pregnancy, and I can hardly believe it's been almost a year since I was pregnant. The time has flown. I was fortunate enough to have an awesome pregnancy (this is the part where my bad-pregnancy friends send me death stares via the Internet), and I seriously LOVED being pregnant. I was also fortunate enough to have a great post-partum period, and within about 3 weeks I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I cannot take any credit for this; I wasn't exercising, it was genetics, nursing, and a little invention called the HipSlimmer. Since I have so many pregnant friends, I decided I needed to do a post on this object that played an instrumental role in me fitting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. The weight wasn't very hard to get off, since I didn't gain very much in the first place. For me, the challenge was getting my hips to un-expand. During pregnancy, women's hips expand in preparation for childbirth. Mine were no exception. Although my hips didn't expand monumentally, they did widen just enough that my jeans wouldn't fit. Lovely. I had been told by friends to wear an ace-bandage around my waist, or a girdle, but nothing was strong enough to move my hips. I needed an old fashioned corset for my hips! By some miracle, I stumbled across the HipSlimmer. It is designed specifically for this purpose. Hallelujah! I wore it every night for about 3 weeks, and I was fitting back into my normal jeans. I couldn't have been happier. I don't know if my hips ever would have gotten back to their pre-pregnancy measurements if I hadn't had the HipSlimmer. It was seriously one of the best investments I've ever made. For all you girls that are pregnant, or are planning on getting pregnant, I definitely recommend it. Add it to your Baby-List, because you will definitely want one of these. I cannot stress enough how great this thing is!

Oh, and since you can't buy this in stores, here's the website: hipslimmer.com

Little Squirt

Peyton had her 9 month doctor's appointment yesterday. Guess what percentile she is in for weight... 1% This means 99% of babies her age weigh more than her! What a little pipsqueak! Not to worry- it's in her genes. I was never on the chart for weight. I had my own chart because I was so puny, and I turned out just fine! She's in the 58% for height, so that's good. At least she won't be a short squirt.

Even though she's not technically getting big, she is getting so grown up. She's starting to get into things when I'm not paying attention. The other day I was in the laundry room, sorting laundry, and I put Peyton on the floor in her room with some toys around her (don't worry- her room is baby-proofed, and the laundry room is next door). After a couple minutes, I peeked into her room to check on her, and this is what I saw:

She has "guilty" written all over that cute little face

She had crawled over to her toy drawer, opened it up, stood up, and was digging around for a toy she wanted. It was so cute. She still makes me laugh every day. Our newest challenge is getting her to stop feeding Tink food off her high chair. I don't think that is a battle I'll ever win. Also, she has decided on a new favorite sleeping position:

I don't understand how that's comfortable, but hey, whatever keeps her sleeping! In other exciting news for Jade, Peyton said "da-da" two times last night! You should have seen his face when she said it. It was almost like he just won the lottery. So sweet.

Viva

Well, we're back! We had a great week in Las Vegas, and enjoyed every minute of the high-70's weather and sunshine. We flew out Monday night, and in a tragic change of behavior, Peyton was miserable on the whole flight plus the surprise layover. That's right- surprise! We're stopping in Reno for an hour right after you just barely got your baby to sleep. Somehow we survived the hellish flight and arrived in Vegas tired, but unscathed. Tuesday we celebrated my momma's birthday at Texas de Brazil- a Brazilian Churrascaria in Las Vegas. It was SO good. We had a great dinner, despite the arrival of "wicked-Peyton" once again. She was supposed to sleep the whole time, but she couldn't pass up the fun, so we caved and let her eat rice off the table. She was perfectly content, but Noni decided to spoil her and give her a lamb bone to suck on (I should say that my mom had taken off all the meat. It was a huge bone- there was no choking hazard, so don't get worried!) Peyton might as well have been in heaven. I didn't have my still camera, but I took video, and if I can ever figure out how to get it on my computer, I'll post the video. It was beyond funny. Needless to say, my mom's birthday was the best night of Peyton's life. We also finally met my grandpa's girlfriend Nelda, and they announced to us their marriage plans. We're so happy that he found someone to take care of him (and vice-versa), and that he found someone to make him happy (and vice-versa). Wednesday we spent all day preparing for our friend Candace's baby shower, and I also took Peyton to Candace's studio to have some pictures taken. As soon as I get them, I'll post a few, because they're bound to be darling. Wednesday was maybe my favorite day because one of my best friends from Utah (Steph) came down to Vegas to play with us! I hadn't seen her since October, and it was so good to spend time with her! Wednesday morning Peyton was napping and we were decorating, when all of a sudden my mom realized she could no longer see Peyton in the video-baby monitor. We were a little worried, so we ran to my mom's room, and almost died laughing at what we saw.

Peyton had woken up and decided she was bored and wanted to look out the window. She never cried, she just decided to entertain herself. Those curtains were closed when we put her down for her nap. She opened them herself.

Thursday was the shower, and it turned out beyond cute. Friday was the day of recovery from the chaos that was Thursday, and Saturday we spent the day with my extended family celebrating my mom's and cousin's birthdays, as well as my grandpa's engagement. Saturday night we flew home, and guess who was on the plane with us... "wicked-Peyton". That was a real treat. At the Las Vegas airport, I did (almost literally) run into Brendan Fraser. That was pretty cool. I have to admit, when I saw him I was pretty glad my schoolgirl dream of marrying him (as George of the Jungle) didn't come true- he hasn't aged well. Saturday night we were so happy to see Tink, but not nearly as happy as she was to see us. She still is following us around, making sure we don't leave without her again. She won't even let us sit down without wanting to sit with us. Last night Jade and I were watching Lost on the computer and our little baby just couldn't resist curling up with Jade. It was so cute I needed to take a picture.Sunday we were back to life as usual, with only one big event: Peyton started crawling! Not the crawl-climb-roll maneuver she had been doing, but a legitimate crawl. Exciting and scary all at once! Also, before we left Peyton reached a huge milestone: she started signing back to me. So far she does "milk", "up", and "more". All my hard work is starting to pay off!

a week of milestones

It was a bittersweet day on Thursday. I put Peyton down for a nap, and was going about my activities, all the while listening in for her on my baby monitor. When I could hear noise, I turned the video on (our monitor has a video screen), and I gasped in horror, threw the monitor on the ground, and ran (literally) upstairs. Peyton had pulled herself up on the crib rail and was standing, looking over the edge. I don't know if she necessarily would have been able to fall over, since the railing was still at chest-level, but the incident was scary enough to motivate me to move her mattress down to the lower setting. My baby is growing up far too fast. Another cute (and less scary) crib incident happened a few days prior. I again went to get Peyton after her nap was over, and walked in to find the cutest sight: Peyton sitting up, playing with her binky, legs sticking straight out between the crib slats. and talking to herself. I laughed out loud when I saw it. It was so sweet. Also last week, Jade started his new job! He officially signed on with New York Life, selling life and health insurance. Today he even wrote his first policies- for his brothers Jeremy and Justin. I'm so happy that he's finally doing something he has wanted to do for years. Congratulations babe- I'm so proud of you for turning a goal into a reality! On Friday, Peyton said "ma-ma". I'm not even joking. She's been saying "ba-ba" for a few weeks now, but I don't count that as a real first word since she's not really using it as a noun (bottle), just kind of saying it because it's a fun new sound. Every time she would say "ba-ba", I would say "ma-ma", and do the sign (ASL), and point to me. So Friday I'm at the salon getting my hair done, and Peyton is playing in her stroller with some toys. She looked over at me and reached for me and said "ma-ma". I almost had a heart attack. I asked the hairdresser "Did she just say momma?" And the hairdresser said "She definitely just said momma". I was floored, and so happy. It has since only happened one time. Today she was playing in her playpen and she was sick of being alone and I walked into the room and she saw me and reached for me and said "ma-ma". It is a wonderful sound, even if it's only happened twice. I would normally write this off as a fluke, but I have now had a second opinion, and deduced it is definitely intentional. Peyton has spoken!

Valentines Day

Since we've been married, Jade and I haven't had the best luck on Valentine's Day. Our first Valentine's Day, when we were dating, Jade set the bar really high and I had the best Valentine's of my life. So naturally, I had high expectations the subsequent years, and both times crashed and burned. Both married Valentine's days have ended in a fight. After the debacle last year, I decided that maybe I just wasn't cut out for Valentine's Day. So I decided we weren't going to celebrate it anymore. I let go of all my romantic notions, bought Jade a little gift (MarioKart for Wii- SO fun!), and figured he would probably get me some chocolates and we could call it a day. Well, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, he came through for me this year, and we had a really great V-day. He brought me breakfast in bed (strawberry and banana french toast and hash browns- yum), and when I got downstairs, he had a cute little setup waiting for me!

And he even remembered his other Valentine! He got her a mini bear like mine!

After breakfast, we went about our Saturday routines, then we dropped off Peyton at Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Kristin's house, and went to dinner at The Reserve. The Reserve is the golf course that Jade worked at all throughout high school and after his mission. It was super nice, and we had a nice long meal without any interruptions. It was the first time we've eaten out at a restaurant together without having Peyton with us. I don't really like leaving Peyton, so usually we bring her wherever we go. Most of the time she just sleeps in her car seat, but it was still so nice not to have to worry about her at all, and just relax and enjoy each other's company. What a great way to break the Valentine's curse!

I've been working so hard at getting a picture of Peyton's first teeth (I didn't post about it, but her second tooth came in about a day and a half after her first. They're the bottom middle teeth). Peyton does not cooperate with this undertaking, at all. So, this is the best I could do. This picture was a 2 person undertaking.

Peyton is now 8 months old. I can hardly believe it. She still crawls around backwards, and scoots and rolls all over the place to get where she needs to go. She is getting into everything now, so I have said farewell to the days of her just sitting nicely and not having to worry about her. She is now eating snacks, like Rice Krispies, and other puffy treats. She loves picking up individual pieces with her thumb and forefinger, and putting them into her mouth. It is so cute to watch because she concentrates so hard and is so determined. Also, she holds her other 3 fingers straight out, so it is even cuter, and when she puts the treat in her mouth, she puts about 3/4 of her hand in her mouth. Adorable. She definitely didn't inherit my patience. Or maybe she did inherit my patience, because she isn't patient at all. When she wants something, she doesn't hesitate to let me know, and she gets really mad if she doesn't get it pronto. I suppose we might consider her spoiled. She is also "pulling up", pulling herself up to a standing position. She really surprises me with how strong she is, considering how tiny she is. She's very tiny. I should note that almost all of her 0-3 month clothes still fit (the ones that don't are just too short for her long body), and most of her 3-6 month clothes are a little baggy on her. Unfortunately for her, she got her dad's feet. She may be a size or two behind in clothing, but she's a size ahead in shoes. She is totally adorable and we love her so much!

(If you're wondering why she's next to a sign, it's because in addition to the hundreds of everyday pictures we take, I take monthly pictures for her scrapbook, so I can put them all together on a page and we can take a quick look at how much she's changed over her first year)

Sunny Portland

I don't understand why the Pacific Northwest has such a bad reputation! I think it has really rained about 10 times in the 4 1/2 months I have lived in Portland. Sometimes it's overcast, but mostly it's just (relatively) warm and mild. The past few days have been around 60 degrees, sunny and BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't be happier with the weather here. Okay that's a lie. I visited Las Vegas last week for Cheyanne's 13th birthday... it was in the mid-70's the whole week I was there. You can't ask for more in (late) January. But I digress. It's awesome weather for Portland. Today Jade, Peyton, Tinky and I even went on a nice bike ride! In other Thelin news, Jade and I are speaking in Sacrament meeting tomorrow, so if I all of a sudden get "deathly ill" tonight, don't worry- you'll know it's temporary. Also, my biggest fear of teething finally became a reality. Peyton bit me while she was nursing. Nothing could prepare you for that sensation. Puppy teeth are notoriously sharper and more painful than dog teeth. I think it must be the same for people teeth. That little mouth is a lot stronger than you would think! Luckily we survived, and it hasn't happened since.

#27

Yesterday was Jade's big 2-7! We had dinner at his favorite restaurant (Outback, of course) on Saturday night, then we had a family dinner for him Sunday night. Jade's mom made his favorite German Chocolate Cake, and we spent the night playing the original Super Mario Brothers and Super Mario Brothers 3 on the Wii. Classic games! Jade's birthday present from me and the rest of the family was a Wii, and it's already set-up and has been played several times since he opened it up last night. Actually, to be honest, he didn't really open up his Wii. Our nephews Gabe (4), Max (4), and Trenton (2 1/2) forgot that the presents were for Jade, and while the adults were dishing up the cake, they were opening Jade's presents. It was so funny. One second we were plating cake, the next second Jade's brother was yelling NO! and we turned around to see a flurry of wrapping paper and ribbon and little arms. It was quite a sight. Happy birthday babe!

If you look closely, you will notice 2 things: 1) Jade is flanked by 2 of the culprits in the unwrapping scandal and 2) the front of the cake has already been picked at by none other than the birthday boy himself. It was just that good.

Faith

Over the past few years I have had some incredible experiences that make the Lord's love for me so indisputable. These things have made my faith grow so much, and I felt like I needed to write them down somewhere because they have shaped my faith and strengthened my testimony of my Savior's love for me.

1) In April 2005 I began to plan a trip down to Las Vegas from Provo (where I was at school) to spend the weekend of my dad's birthday with my family. Mother's Day was only two weekends later, so my dad suggested that I come down for Mother's Day instead. For some reason, I knew I needed to come down the weekend of my dad's birthday. I really have no idea why I was so adamant about coming down that weekend, but I just knew I had to come down. I am so glad I listened to that prompting because that was the weekend that my father passed away.

2) For as long as I can remember, every day of my life, my dad told me "I love you" whenever he ended a conversation with me. We never, ever ended a conversation without saying "I love you." The day that my dad died, I talked to him on the phone for about 10 minutes. It was a great conversation, and at the end of the call, we told each other "I love you", as usual. Just a couple hours later, he was talking to my mom on the phone, and I remembered something I needed to tell him really quickly. I talked to him for probably thirty seconds, then I gave the phone back to my mom. Because we had just had a long conversation a few hours earlier, (and ended that conversation with an "I love you"), and because we only talked for a minute this time, my dad didn't say "I love you", it was just really quick, like "Okay, here's mom". I was prompted to say "I love you" to him. I just blurted it out, when usually I wouldn't have said it since I had just said it. I'm so glad I listened to that prompting because that was the last conversation I had with my dad, and even though it was just a short chat, I'm glad it ended it on a great note.

3) I used to have this car with an electronic key. The key had "lock" and "unlock" buttons on it, and unbeknown to me, if the key's mechanic parts weren't right in place, the key wouldn't start the car. Well, I learned that lesson the hard way. My key broke when I was at school, and I didn't realize it until it was too late; I was at my car, bawling hysterically, because my car wouldn't start, and the only way to make it start (the mechanical piece) was lost at the University somewhere. Even worse, the spare key was in Las Vegas, so I was pretty much toast. At the time I was dating a returned missionary, who told me if we just said a prayer, the Lord would help us. We prayed, then retraced my steps I had taken that day. When we were at my first class, the last classroom we would check, two teachers just happened to walk by and ask us what we were doing. We told them we were looking for a small mechanical device about the size of a nickel. One of the men said "Wait one second, I think I just saw something like that and threw it away." We walked down the hall to a trash can and right underneath a piece of cardboard was the missing piece of my key! It was an incredible miracle. Even though it was such a small thing, it made a huge deal to me, and strengthened my testimony in prayer, and that my Father in Heaven really does care about the little details of my life.

4) I had a friend named Kate, who moved away with her husband for the summer one year. Several weeks into the summer, there was a day where I just couldn't stop thinking about her. I had no idea why she was in my mind, but I had a prompting to just drop her a little note, or a call, or something. I decided on a simple text message telling her I was thinking about her, and I missed her, and I couldn't wait for her to move back to town. About 2 weeks later I found out that the day I text her, her dad passed away. I was so glad I followed the prompting and let my friend know I was there for her, at a time that was very dark in her life.

5) A boy that I dated for a long time passed away very suddenly and tragically. I found his sister online, and wrote her an email just telling her how sorry I was for her loss, and all the memories that I could remember that involved her and her brother. I told her how much he cared for her, and everything I could remember that he had ever told me about her. Later on she wrote me back, saying that she was so happy to get my email because right before her brother died, they hadn't been getting along. She said she was so confused about his feelings toward her, and she was so glad to get an unbiased third party's opinion. I was really grateful that my Heavenly Father inspired me to write to her, to help her heal, in any way I could, even though it was a small gesture.

I am so grateful that I have the Spirit in my life to guide and direct me. I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me so much, and I'm grateful to feel it every day.

Oh my goodness

We got our family pictures back...

TaDa!