Long Time Gone

There is something about the Blogger Dashboard that has a way of wiping every desire to blog clean out of my life. I've been eager to post an update for quite some time now (and have actually started on numerous occasions), but as soon as I click that "new post" button all eagerness vanishes and instead I'm faced with the daunting task of typing for who knows how long, just so the few people who find it worth the bother to check our blog anymore will have something new to read. Don't get me wrong. I want to inform all of you of our comings and goings, however ordinary and mundane they may be. I even want to write about all those comings and goings. I just never want to write about them when Blogger (or my journal, for that matter) is open. But fear not! for I will prevail (if for no other reason than to replace that picture of Isaac's scraggly hair with a more recent/representative photo).


June (you know . . . that month way, way back at the beginning of summer . . . )

Amazingly enough I actually did write in my journal about many happenings of this month, so please pardon me as I quote myself.

"Isaac has had a month full of firsts. In preparation for getting 1 year old pictures taken, I finally got up the courage to cut his hair. With Jordan's help and the novelty of actually watching TV (a fabulous VeggieTales episode), I managed to give Isaac a decent non-ragamuffin look and I didn't poke out his eyes with the scissors. Truly a feat for the record books! I realize more each day that the haircut really isn't that even, but overall I'd say it was an acceptable first attempt. We celebrated Isaac's first birthday by spending the morning at the Doctor's office (I was absolutely miserable). We didn't even have time to eat his breakfast cake before the appointment, however Isaac was gracious in accepting it for lunch. As I watched him shove cake in his mouth, I was torn between letting him enjoy the experience and wanting him to take small, baby-friendly bites. In the end he was able to 'have his cake and eat it [however he pleased]' and it all turned out okay.

"[Another] first I want to mention is Isaac's first steps! While my family was over [the Friday before Isaac's birthday], Emily and my dad were working on getting him to walk between them (about 3 feet) and on a couple of occasions he took 3-4 very solid, steady steps! It was very exciting and I managed to get part recorded for Jordan who, sadly, was at work. . . [A couple of weeks later], I set him on his feet after a diaper change and he walked from the changing table to his bedroom door (about 6 or 7 feet!).

"[The last first of the month to mention], Isaac's babbling has really taken off and every now and again he makes 'real word' noises. Granted down and door and done tend to sound very similar, but you can really tell that Isaac knows the difference.

"Jordan is still liking his new job (South Davis Community Hospital) and we are all adjusting to his . . . evening hours. He works 3-11pm every [Monday, Wednesday, Friday and every other Saturday, Sunday]. Overall, not a bad set-up." We especially enjoy the fact that Jordan doesn't leave before Isaac and I wake up and get home after we've gone to bed. It makes family time seem much more plentiful.


July

We started off the ever hot month of July by being uncharacteristically involved in numerous Independence Day festivities. First, we woke up "early" to attend a breakfast put on by my parent's ward. Isaac took the opportunity to use a fork in an almost proper manner for the first time. Upon sitting down for breakfast, he took my fork and proceeded to spear pieces of pancake, bring them up to shoulder level, take them off the fork and shove them into his mouth. After breakfast we took off for to join Jordan's parents for the Kaysville parade. Isaac enjoyed watching the world go by and was especially fond of the beads and beach balls that were thrown to the crowd. He also got a kick out of watching the enormous water fight which signals the end of the parade. Later that evening, after sending Jordan off to work (he was basically assigned the "A" holiday block because the 4th happened to be a week day that he would normally have worked anyway) Isaac and I joined the Johnsen's at their neighbors house for dinner, games, and fireworks. The Allred's house has a nice clear shot of the Kaysville fireworks which are set off near the High School about a block away. Wanting the joy of seeing his reaction, I kept Isaac up way past his bedtime, but he didn't seem to mind. Having recently picked-up the skill of signing "more" (done by touching the fingertips of both hands together), Isaac stood very still to watch the display and during each break would sign "more, more" and wait for the show to continue. Adorable! It was certainly worth keeping him up late.

Later in the month, Isaac and I took off for another week long trip to Washington with my family. The car travel aspect of vacationing was certainly easier with a two month-old than a one year-old, but the family visiting was much more entertaining with an interactive little boy than it had been last year with a tiny sleepy-head. Isaac spared no expense at charming all those around him and even came home with the solid ability to walk (and an obsession with being outside, which as great as that is, has proved rather miserable for the mommy with the personal space heater). He loved having all the extra attention and I loved having the chance to visit with family. Oh, and we (finally) bought a digital camera before the trip . . . you know, so we could post pictures to our blog in a more timely manner . . . hmmm.

While, Isaac and I were traipsing across Washington, Jordan attended the Robert's family party, devoured Harry Potter, and picked up crazy amounts of extra hours at work to finance a little home makeover. I came home to find our bathroom looking much more like a cute bathroom in a home housing adults and much less like the starving-student-who-really-cares-what-the-bathroom-looks-like space that used to occupy our bathroom area. In other words, a very well received surprise.


August

This, the last traditional "summer" month, favored Jordan and I with not one, but two nights out on the town without our ever adorable busy body as well as a vacation which Jordan was able to join us on, not to mention the pleasure of an ultrasound to check out Johnsen baby number three.

Early in the month, our family piled into the van for my OB appointment at which we learned the expected (or rather confirmed the predicted) gender of our third child. While most of you already know, I am continually surprised to find out that some of our close associates (read: most of my family) were somehow not informed of this ever exciting news. So, for those of you who haven't heard, not wanting to break with tradition, Johnsen the third will arrive mid-January bearing the Y chromosome characteristic of his two preceding siblings. While I would still love an excuse to buy adorable little girl clothes, I am thrilled with the prospect of adding another little boy to our family.

For our first "date" Jordan and I were able to go to the screening (free screening, I might add, which makes the "date" even more appealing) of Becoming Jane with Jordan's cousin Megan. While Jordan was a bit put-off by the obvious similarities to Austen's novels, and more particularly Pride and Prejudice, we both enjoyed the movie in general (I more than Jordan, but I didn't expect any differently).

Later that week, we took off to St. George for a weekend getaway with Jordan's family. While the time spent with family, away from the grind of "everyday" life was wonderful, the drive down and back took its toll on Isaac's patience. He slept horribly while we were down there (to the point that he was sleeping in bed with Jordan and I so that any of us could get at least tolerable sleep) and took many nights to get back into a "normal" routine, which even then, left him waking much earlier than he used to. Isaac loved running around with his cousins, Jordan loved being out in the pool, and I loved the family time and shared cooking duty. It's amazing how much more enjoyable meals are when you are only personally in charge of fixing one meal each day.

With our anniversary falling on a Tuesday this year, Jordan was able to have the whole day off without actually taking time off. We celebrated by taking Isaac swimming at the new South Davis Rec Center in Bountiful. He had a lot of fun splashing around and watching Jordan do crazy things. He started shivering pretty constantly not too long after we arrived, so we didn't stay quite as long as we all otherwise could have, but had an enjoyable afternoon none the less. We then dropped Isaac off with his beloved grandparents in order for Jordan and I to have our second evening out. We drove down to Salt Lake and had a wonderful dinner at Biaggis and would have seen a movie had there been anything we were interested in seeing. Instead, we took a trip to Tony Caputo's and bought five bags of pasta (not only pasta, but Jordan's favorite pasta which is not to be found in your average grocery store . . . orechiette).

In sum, we had a wonderful summer and were glad to share it with all of our friends and family.